Port Milwaukee crane operator John Dermyer takes a brief break from unloading steel coils from the Federal Satsuki. The ship had recently arrived from IJmuiden in the Netherlands. Federal Marine Terminals dockworkers from the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 815 handled the coils and transported them to port warehouses. The ship was then loaded with 20,000 tons of agricultural products and headed back to Europe. “It was this steel in and agriculture out model that the Port utilized so effectively in 2016, leading to the receipt of the Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award,” said Peter Hirthe, senior trade development representative at Port Milwaukee. The award, handed out by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., recognizes ports for annual increases in international cargo. Port Milwaukee was part of moving 447,000 metric tons through the St. Lawrence Seaway last year, a more than 50 percent increase. The port also recently changed its name, dropping the word “of,” and adopted a new logo and tagline. The changes were intended to highlight the port’s role in domestic and international transportation. “Port Milwaukee adds efficiency, reliability and flexibility to the transportation system, and we connect businesses throughout our region to markets across North America and around the world,” Mayor Tom Barrett said.
