June 27 - The Port of Duluth, USA, has taken top honours in the Railway Industrial Clearance Association's (RICA's) Port Service Awards for North America, named in first place, along with the Port of Mobile, in the Association's final rankings for this ye
In two of the individual categories - those evaluating "facilities" and "overall service" - the Port of Duluth ranked at the top of RICA's leader board.
In the final rankings, RICA's Top Ten Ports include: Duluth and Mobile (tied for first), Houston, Albany, Savannah, Charleston, Corpus Christi, NN/Norfolk/LPD, Tacoma and Tampa.
The Clure Public Marine Terminal, Duluth's only breakbulk and general cargo facility, is owned by the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and has been operated by Lake Superior Warehousing Co Inc (LSWCI) as the terminal operator since 1991.
"Being ranked first by RICA is a significant honor for us," said Jonathan Lamb, LSWCI vice president and general manager, "because it is presented by a group that deals specifically with dimensional cargoes and was awarded by the very people we serve." Ballots were cast by representatives of several facets of the cargo-handling/transportation industry including, among others: railroads, ocean carriers, logistics providers, manufacturers, and trucking companies.
"This award comes on the heels of yet another milestone in the port's history," said Adolph Ojard, Port Authority executive director. "Just this month, we passed the one million mark in freight tonnes of wind turbine components handled through the Port of Duluth."
The two photos below show heavy lift cargo handling capacity through the Port of Duluth - a power generator headed to South Dakota for installation at a power plant there; plus a unit train of wind turbine nacelles en route from Duluth-Superior to Wyoming.
