Shipping Facts
Duluth Shipping facts
- The Port of Duluth-Superior welcomes around 900 vessels each year and handles an average of 35 million short tons of cargo every year
- It’s 2,342 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to Duluth-Superior
- Iron ore and coal account for about 80% of the Port of Duluth-Superior’s total tonnage
- Two main types of ships visit the Port regularly
- Lakers – bulk carriers specially built for the Great Lakes
- Salties – Seaway-max vessels
- The St. Lawrence Seaway, which provides access from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, has become a lifeline to doing business with the rest of the globe
- The St. Lawrence Seaway transports 80% of the iron ore used in US steel production
- The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway creates more than 1/3 of the continent’s gross national product
Boating lingo
- Bow – front end of a boat
- Stern – rear end of a boat
- Underway – when a boat is moving, by motor, wind, etc.
- Amidships – central part of a boating vessel
- Topside – moving from the lower deck of a boat to an upper deck
- Quarters – living and sleeping areas of a vessel
- Head – toilet facilities
- Hull – the structural body of the boat that rests in the water
- Dry Weight – weight of the boat without fuel and freshwater
- MAYDAY – a radio distress call
Lake Superior fun facts
- Lake Superior contains 10% of all planet Earth’s fresh surface water
- The deepest point of Lake Superior is 1,333 feet deep but it averages at 483 feet
- Lake Superior is the biggest lake in the world by surface area
- There are 78 species of fish found in the lake
- Lake Superior stretches 160 miles wide and is 350 miles long
- The lake rarely freezes over completley
- The average temperature is 40 degrees Fahrenheit
- Lake Superior roughly contains 3-quadrillon gallons of water
- The retention time of water is 191 years – for example, when it rains this water will stay in the lake for that long
- Lake Superior is only about 10,000 years old – essentially a geological newcomer
- Because of its temperature, Lake Superior is very clean
Outdoor Duluth Facts
Duluth has 129 municipal parks, totaling 3,264 acres and that is only the beginning of what the Duluth outdoor scene offers.