Might oceangoing vessels leave Great Lakes?

CHICAGO | Oceangoing vessels cruise the Great Lakes loaded with Northwest Indiana-made steel and locally grown grain, but they also can carry unwelcome fish and plant life deep inside their hulls.

The invasion of zebra mussels and other non-native species that hitch rides in ships' ballast tanks is a multimillion-dollar problem under scrutiny by the nation's lawmakers.

Removing high-seas vessels from the Great Lakes transportation chain could take a shark-size bite out of the shipping economy at a time when the state and region are positioning themselves as travel hubs.

The cost of eliminating ocean shipping on the Great Lakes could total $55 million annually, increasing transportation costs by 5.4 percent, according to authors of a study presented Wednesday at the Shedd Aquarium.

John Taylor, a marketing and logistics professor at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Mich., and James Roach, a consultant and former Michigan Department of Transportation official, studied traffic in 2002 along the St. Lawrence Seaway into and out of the Great Lakes.

The study could shed light on what's likely to happen if regulations for oceangoing vessels are tightened.

"If the cost of regulation rises, then cargo shippers may change their transportation mode," Taylor said.

Getting grain to market through Canada by rail and highway rather than ship would add $7.3 million yearly to transportation costs, according to the study. Grain movement out of the Midwest from Duluth, Minn., would cost another $3.3 million.

The cost of transporting steel would rise by an annual $26.4 million if rail cars, trucks and barges moved it, as opposed to oceangoing vessels on the Great Lakes, the study said.

Shifting cargo to alternative transportation modes would mean adding another 1.6 trains and 197 trucks per day to the system, the study's authors said.

The added costs go beyond cargo shipments, said Jody Peacock, spokesman for Ports of Indiana, including the port at Burns Harbor, where 154 ships docked so far this year. About half of those are oceangoing, while the other half are equipped only to navigate the lakes.

"You're talking about putting millions of trucks on the road," Peacock said. "You're talking about increased pollution, increased congestion, increased highway funding and maintenance costs."

The steel industry in Northwest Indiana has come to rely on oceangoing vessels, Peacock said.

"Obviously, the whole steel industry has been set up to take advantage of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system. It can take large volumes of cargo right into the heartland of our country.

"It's just much more efficient to shop by water," Peacock said.