The Baie Comeau, a self-unloading bulk freighter owned by Canada Steamship Lines, passed through the Poe Lock in Sault Ste. Marie about 8:15 a.m. on Monday, May 16 while en route to Nanticoke, Ontario from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, reports M Live.
About Baie Comeau
The Baie Comeau, named for the city of Baie-Comeau in Quebec, locked through the Soo after a busy weekend at the shipping complex, which saw 21 vessels, including tour boats and survey boats as well as large cargo-carrying freighters, lock through the day prior.
Maintenance work
All shipping traffic is currently passing through the Poe Lock while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers performs maintenance on the smaller MacArthur Lock.
The Army Corps is busy with construction on a new Poe-sized lock that will be built where the unused Sabin Lock, the farthest north of the four-lock complex, is now.
The Army Corps received $479 million from the recent bipartisan infrastructure law to complete funding for the estimated $1.3 and $1.5 billion construction project.
The second lock
The project will create a second lock big enough to handle the 1,000-foot freighters which carry iron ore and other commodities between Lake Superior and ports on the lower Great Lakes where mills turn the ore into steel used in automobiles and manufacturing.
Lockmaster Chris Albrough said having a second Poe-sized lock will increase efficiency at the shipping chokepoint, cutting down on what’s essentially a one-lane road for the largest ships, which often must wait hours for a lockage window.
“With the new lock, we’re anticipating the delays will be significantly less,” said Albrough. “On days we’re backed up with traffic, we can essentially have one-way traffic through each lock.”
The project is expected to finish in 2030.
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Source: M Live
