(Cuyahoga County) - The international shipping season begins today at the Port of Cleveland with the arrival of the first foreign vessel.
Port President and CEO Will Friedman says for the first time, there's container shipping thru their Cleveland-Europe Express service.
Friedman tells Newsradio WTAM 1100, the port has been growing for the past 5 or 6 years, but he's concerned that if Washington erects international trade barriers that trend could be reversed.
It's estimated that the port has a $3.5 billion impact on Greater Cleveland and supports 20,000 thousand jobs.
The Port of Cleveland handles the bulk of raw material shipments for regional manufacturing, as well as exporting some local resources including salt mined from under Lake Erie, materials quarried locally, and Ohio farm surpluses.
Eight international cargo berths and docks consist of 110 acres of land alongside Lake Erie on the east side of the Cuyahoga River, while the Cleveland Bulk Terminal transshipment facility occupies 44 acres just west of the river.
(Photos by Ken Robinson/WTAM)
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