The award, presented by Heavy Lift & Project Forwarding International, recognizes port authorities and terminal operators for investments and initiatives supporting heavy-lift and project cargo handling. Duluth Cargo Connect was selected by an international panel of project cargo shippers, freight forwarders, ocean carriers and industry analysts. Other finalists included operators in the Netherlands and Italy. 

The award submission highlighted a $19.4 million pier redevelopment that converted a former grain terminal property into an expansion of the Clure Public Marine Terminal. Completed in 2025, the latest phase included a $10.5 million reconstruction of Berths 10 and 11, adding 1,200 linear feet of steel dock wall, new bollards and reinforced concrete decking. 

The rebuilt berths entered service in April, when the tug Meredith Ashton and a 240-foot deck barge carrying project cargo became the first vessel in decades to dock at Berth 10. 

Duluth Cargo Connect also invested $2 million in nine forklifts, including a unit with a 70-ton capacity, and $750,000 in U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection infrastructure. The organization has expanded its warehousing capacity to more than 800,000 square feet through new construction and additional facilities. 

The redevelopment of the 26-acre pier spans more than three decades. A grain terminal built on the site in 1907 closed in the 1980s, and the Duluth Seaway Port Authority demolished it in 1997. Reconstruction began in 2015 with support from a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The property was renamed the Clure Terminal Expansion pier in 2016 after completion of a truck- and rail-served roll-on/roll-off dock. 

The pier now has four heavy-lift-capable berths. Combined with the adjacent Clure Terminal, Duluth Cargo Connect offers six heavy-lift berths, 300-ton mobile cranes, two rail-mounted gantry cranes with a 120-ton tandem-lift capability and more than 40 acres of secured outdoor laydown space. The facilities supported wind energy cargo records in 2019 and 2020. 

The terminal also operates within Foreign Trade Zone No. 51 and offers on-site customs inspections. Additional services include custom crating, component separation, inventory management, ship parceling and trucking coordination. 

Feature photo courtesy of Duluth Seaway Port Authority