The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will open the Poe Lock, part of the Soo Locks, in Sault Ste. Marie Sunday, March 21, at 7 a.m. This event signals the beginning of the commercial shipping season, allowing Great Lakes freighters to pass around the falls in the St. Marys River 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The locks are opening early after the Corps received several requests from the shipping community and their customers to open early owing to an improved business climate and to replenish critically low iron ore and coal inventories. The planned opening was to be March 25.

“Our workforce is ready to accommodate this request this year, helping the maritime industry serve their customers with significant quantities of raw materials to fill vital needs,” said Lt. Col. James Davis, district commander of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District.

Current ice conditions show there is light ice downstream of the locks and moderate ice conditions from the west approach to the locks up to White Fish Point.

The Soo Locks are the only gateway for ships to navigate safely from Lake Superior through the St. Marys River, down to the lower Great Lakes for ships up to 1,000 feet long and 105 feet wide. More than 4,000 vessels, carrying up to 80 million tons of cargo, maneuver through these locks every year. Most cargo vessels transport iron ore, coal, grain or stone, some of them transporting more than 72,000 tons of cargo in a single load.