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Port at Burns Harbor opens 2014 salty season; first ships carry foreign steel

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor opened the 2014 international shipping season on Thursday with the arrival of the M/V Isolda and the M/V Federal Nakagawa. Both ships carried steel from Ijmuiden, Holland, destined for Midwest manufacturers and were being unloaded by port stevedore Federal Marine Terminals with local workers from the International Longshoremen's Association and International Union of Operating Engineers. “Our port is open year-round to river barges and lake vessels depending upon ice conditions, but the arrival of the first ocean vessel signifies the start of the international shipping season,” Rick Heimann, port director at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, said in a statement released on Thursday. “The first ships not only bring important cargoes for local businesses and jobs for dockworkers, but also symbolize that Northwest Indiana's gateway to the world is once again open for business.” The Cyprus-flagged Isolda, a 653-foot bulk carrier built in 1999, stopped in Cleveland before coming to the Port of Indiana. The vessel is skippered by Capt. Arkadiusz Sienkiewicz from Poland and manned by a 23-person crew. The Isolda was also the first ship of the season in 2007. The Federal Nakagawa was built in 2005. The 21-person crew, led by Capt. Rizwan Abdullah Mammoo, hails from India and Sri Lanka. The Hong Kong-flagged vessel also stopped in Cleveland and will next head to Milwaukee.