Manitowoc Harbor, Wisconsin is located on the west shore of Lake Michigan about 79 miles north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and about 106 miles from Sturgeon Bay Harbor and the Lake Michigan Ship Canal. In late April of this year, it had a visit from the largest ship to grace the harbor in the last 20 years.
The Algoma Intrepid, a 650-foot self-unloading dry bulk carrier was docked in Manitowoc for about two days to unload grain into the Briess Malt marine tower at the port which then will feed materials to malt plant through an underground tunnel that is three blocks long.
Public on hand to see the ship commented that, “a ship that big bringing in grain, to make beer is about the most Wisconsin thing ever.”
Briess Malt operates over 150 grain silos at their site in Manitowoc and has stated that reestablishing the ability to bring in raw materials through the harbor with allow them to meet the growing demand from customers for craft beer and food.
It has been shown that moving goods by ship is the safest and most efficient way to transport cargo. A ship being able to transport 1 ton of cargo 647 miles on a single gallon of fuel, with 477 miles by rail, and only 145 miles by truck. For every member of the public that is injured or killed in a ship related accident, 80 injuries and 21 deaths occur by rail transport and 824 injuries, and 79 deaths caused by truck transport.
With those numbers we can see the importance of shipping among the great lakes and the importance of maintaining our harbors. To see a full list of the harbors maintained by the Chicago district and further information on inland navigation check out the following link: https://www.lrc.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/