Spring debut of the Cleveland-Europe Express is expected to swell Ohio exports.
The Dutch freighter Kwintebank left Cleveland harbor empty Monday after unloading specialty steel from Sweden. A new plan is designed to insure more ships leave carrying Ohio exports. CLEVELAND, Ohio--The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority is ready to announce direct, scheduled cargo service between Cleveland and northern Europe, a new transportation link that could swell Ohio exports and maybe double the volume of cargo handled at the Port of Cleveland.
With the spring debut of the Cleveland-Europe Express, Cleveland will become the first Great Lakes city to offer regularly scheduled cargo and container shipping to Europe.
Details of the plans, long in the making, are scheduled to be announced at a press conference Wednesday.
"For freight, this is like announcing Cleveland to Heathrow air passenger service," said Will Friedman, the port's president and chief executive officer. "It's a game changer for us. We'll suddenly be competing in a market we never competed in before."
The recent call of the Dutch-owned Kwintebank to Cleveland harbor typifies trade at Ohio's busiest port. The Seaway-class ocean freighter left empty Monday after unloading specialty steel from Sweden, bound for other Great Lakes ports to pick up grain for Europe.
The pattern of steel in, grain out, makes Cleveland a busy but import-laden port in a state with increasing exports. Many Ohio manufacturers must truck and rail their products to East Coast ports to reach Europe, as there are seldom ships available to them in Cleveland, Friedman said.
That's going to change. The agreement between the port authority and a private European shipper calls for a regular cargo run between Cleveland and Antwerp or Rotterdam, monthly at first, later increasing to every two weeks. The trip takes 12 to 14 days.
A study by a maritime consulting firm determined the port should attract at least 10 percent of Ohio's European exports, which would increase the amount of cargo handled at the port by 250,000 to 400,000 tons annually.
That would result in about 125 new jobs in and around the docks, according to the study, and more than $3 million in new state and local tax revenues.
Meanwhile, Ohio manufacturers will have a new option for exports of their machinery, paints, polymers, medical devices and airplane parts; a regularly scheduled ship that they can rely on.
"That's the most important feature of all," Friedman said. "We believe this service will save time and money for companies that are moving goods between the Midwest and Europe" and make them more competitive.
He acknowledged that no private shipper has sought to offer the connection on its own because of the challenges that Great Lakes shipping presents: including locks, tolls and a Seaway that closes for winter.
"What was needed was a public-private partnership to address the barriers," Friedman said. "We're not waiting. We took the initiative."
David Gutheil, the director of maritime and logistics at the port, noted Cleveland is well positioned to take a leadership role as the first major U.S. port on the Great Lakes. Ocean freighters steaming on to, say, Chicago, face three more days of sailing.
"We're probably in the best place geographically to make this work," he said.