The Port of Monroe, Mich., has established an exclusive partnership with The Great Lakes Towing Company and Great Lakes Shipyard, with the Cleveland-based company providing full service towing and shipyard services.

Great Lakes Towing has relocated the 83'x21' tug Wisconsin, and it is now permanently stationed at the port. This strategic positioning will allow for more responsive and efficient operations for harbor assist, icebreaking, and outside towing of project cargos. With the on-site presence of Great Lakes Shipyard, the Port of Monroe now offers fabrication and repair services for a variety of vessels. Available services include layup and winter work, topside repair, haul out, fabrication, emergency service, and more.

As a deepwater port with 3,000 linear feet of improved dock space, extensive lay down area, and centralized location on the Great Lakes, this new collaboration capitalizes upon strategic positioning, an underserved regional market, and longstanding industry partnerships. The port and Great Lakes Towing plan to expand on existing relationships by offering the best location, efficiency, and economics to new and existing customers.

“The Port of Monroe is extremely proud to partner with The Great Lakes Towing Company and Great Lakes Shipyard to broaden our maritime service capabilities," said Paul C. LaMarre III, the port director at the Port of Monroe. "With increased waterborne commerce comes an ever-present need for safe and efficient towing services as well as the opportunity for year-round vessel repairs and maintenance. Their highly respected reputation and proactive approach to sustainability make them the perfect partner for our rapidly growing port."

The Port of Monroe is Michigan’s only port on Lake Erie and serves as the gateway to Michigan’s multimodal transportation network. It has authorized depths of 21' in Lake Erie to the turning basins, which has an 18' depth.

David Krapf has been editor of WorkBoat, the nation’s leading trade magazine for the inland and coastal waterways industry, since 1999. He is responsible for overseeing the editorial direction of the publication. Krapf has been in the publishing industry since 1987, beginning as a reporter and editor with daily and weekly newspapers in the Houston area. He also was the editor of a transportation industry daily in New Orleans before joining WorkBoat as a contributing editor in 1992. He has been covering the transportation industry since 1989, and has a degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Oswego, and also studied journalism at the University of Houston.