By Leo Ryan. AJOTWhile a cargo recovery trend of 2010 has continued in the early months of 2011, US-flag operators on the Great Lakes have found themselves grappling with what has been categorized as ‘a state of emergency’ over the Obama Administration’s plan to slash the Great Lakes dredging budget by 32% in 2012. “What was a dredging crisis is now a State of Emergency for each of the eight Great Lakes states,” declared John Baker, President of the Toledo-based Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF), in a recent statement. “Never in my 51 years in this industry have I seen such a total abandonment of the federal government’s responsibility to maintain the Great Lakes navigation system,” he said in late March. If the budget proposal is passed by Congress, the Task Force estimated that only 11 of the 83 ports on the Great Lakes will be dredged. The plan would reportedly see the removal of the smallest amount of sediment since the US Army Corps of Engineers started keeping record more than half a century ago. “Approximately 3.5 million cubic yards of sediment build up in Great Lakes ports and waterways each year,” said the GLMTF. “Funding for dredging has been inadequate for years, so 15.5 million cubic yards already clog the system, and consequently thousands of tons of cargo are left behind each time a vessel leaves port. “The Administration’s budget will dredge only 1.6 million cubic yards next year, so the backlog will balloon to more than 17 million cubic yards unless Congress provides more funds,” the Task Force said. Vessels Forced to Operate well Below Capacity Over the past few years, ore carriers have been transporting 5,000 tons less than a full load due to draft restrictions, and situation is poised to get worse, shipping executives say. “An inch less draft can translate into 250 tons of cargo,” James Weakley, President of the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) told AJOT. “And this impacts too on foreign-flag and Canadian ships that call at US Great Lakes ports.” The situation has been exacerbated by low water levels. “We are finding ourselves carrying about 7% less cargo than last year at this time, and the situation could get worse,” commented Mark Barker, President of Interlake Steamship Company. “This is really unfortunate with evidence of economic recovery and resumption of activity at various steel mills,” he added. US Great Lakes shipping circles deplore the fact that an insufficient portion of the Harbor Maintenance Tax Fund (HMTF) revenues of $1.6 billion annually is allocated to pressing dredging needs on the Great Lakes. “Give the Corps of Engineers $200 million of the $5.65 billion surplus in the HMTF and the Lakes dredging crisis is no more,” states Weakley. Collectively, the 55 US-flag vessels operated by 17 companies can transport more than 115 million tons of cargo annually when high water offsets the inadequate dredging, the LCA estimates. The US-flag Great Lakes freighters carried 88.7 million tons of dry-bulk cargo last year, representing a 33.4% increase over 2009, according to the industry association. “Shipments, however, were nearly 10% off the industry’s five-year average, a fact that shows the U.S. economy has yet to fully recover from the recession,” the LCA said. The largest increases have come in iron ore cargoes for the steel industry. Shipments in U.S. bottoms totaled 42 million tons, an increase of 75% versus 2009. Nonetheless, this rebound has to be put in perspective: the 2009 iron ore shipments from U.S. Great Lakes ports plunged to their lowest level since 1938. Coal cargoes totaled 21.5 million tons, an increase of 4.1% over 2009, but fell short of the trade’s five-year average by almost 13%. In the first quarter of 2011, the iron ore trade stood at 4.8 million tons, an increase of 17.2% from a year-earlier. Five of the seven ore ports are located on Lake Superior. Long Fleet Commercial Life in Fresh Water Meanwhile, contrary to the case of Canadian i