The American Century often draws a crowd when the ship pulls into the Port of Duluth-Superior to load Minnesota iron ore. Kids cheer when the captain blasts the fog horn. A voice on the loudspeaker retells the story of how the 300-meter-long bulk carrier has sailed the Great Lakes for nearly a half century.
It’s a momentary flashback to the waning days of U.S. industrial primacy. The vessel was built in 1981 in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and runs on four General Motors diesel engines that generate more horsepower than a dozen Formula One cars. It set records for coal payloads in the 1990s.
The current owner is American Steamship, a unit of Mainstay Maritime that’s based in Williamsville, New York, and was founded in Buffalo in 1907. But for all the Made-in-America pride, aging “lakers” like American Century have depended on a regional economy that moved in lockstep with Canada. Coal volumes have hit hard times, and U.S. tariffs have disrupted trade in iron ore.
Adding to the uncertainty now is a rift between Ottawa and Washington that threatens lasting damage to supply chains across land and water geared for free-flowing commerce.
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