US & Canada: The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway - Closing of the 2019 navigation season
The UK P&I Club have received the following notice from the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, regarding the closing of the 2019 navigation season.
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The Seaway Corporations have been working collaboratively with stakeholders, including water flow regulators, over the past several months to identify possible measures that would support efforts to lower Lake Ontario water levels. We are reviewing conditions experienced during the 2019 season and will work with mariners to determine if options exist to sustain safe navigation at even higher flows during the 2020 navigation season. The information resulting from the efforts to explore higher water outflow possibilities from Lake Ontario will be used by the Seaway Corporations to better inform decisions on how to best manage Seaway operations next spring.
Mariners are reminded that there is always a possibility that unanticipated conditions may occur during the closing period. Should this happen, there is a chance that the dates outlined below, for the Montreal-Lake Ontario Section or the Welland Canal, may change.
Several factors, such as inadequate dredging, ice accumulation, or even scheduled lock maintenance, that impact one part of the system can create ripple effects throughout the maritime system as a whole, resulting in possible vessel damage or shipping bottlenecks.
We have been working with over 200 members of our correspondents network to produce a comprehensive document that outlines challenges and changes for crew changes in ports.
In the second episode of the UK Club ask an expert series focusing on ballast water the topic of Type Approval US Vs IMO, old G8 Vs BWM Code – Limitations of the Type Approval is examined with Dr Li Gang from SGS.
In this, the third and final episode addressing BWM, the topic of Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement of the Ballast Water Management Convention is examined with Dr Guillaume Drillet from SGS.
