Binational St. Lawrence Seaway Web Site Goes Platinum
November 5, 2003
Cornwall, November 5, 2003 – The binational St. Lawrence Seaway Web site (www.greatlakes-seaway.com) set a significant milestone last month, serving its 1,000,000th page of information since the beginning of the year. Consistently ranking at the top of Internet search engine results on matters concerning the Seaway/Great Lakes, the Web site has become an authoritative source of information, serving users in over 85 countries.
If printed, the 1,000,000 pages would stack up to form a paper tower equivalent in height to a sixty-story building, about the same height that ships are raised by the Seaway’s locks between Montreal and Lake Erie. On-line since February 2001, its popularity and growth reflects the value that it provides to a multitude of user communities, ranging from shipping companies filing transactions to clear ships for passage to hobbyists who avidly watch vessels plying Seaway waters.
“We felt strongly that providing Seaway stakeholders with a one-stop-shopping outlet featuring the latest information would be well-received,” said SLSDC Administrator Albert Jacquez, “so seeing these numbers keep rising is gratifying and convinces us that we are meeting an important need.”
Richard Corfe, the SLSMC President and CEO, stressed the diversity of information available on the binational site and how efficiently it delivers the message that the Seaway provides industry with a competitive advantage. “Through the Internet, our stakeholders all over the world have immediate access to important Seaway updates, starting with navigation data, safety announcements, our latest news releases and reports, and going on to more detailed, subscription-based, e-business software applications,” he said. “You can’t get more comprehensive and up-to-the-minute Seaway commercial navigation information on any other site, anywhere.”
The www.greatlakes-seaway.com site has become an important resource facilitating the search for transportation partners and suppliers. Pages highlighting the various port facilities within the system consistently rank as the most popular resource on the site. As policy makers grapple with decisions that will influence the next 50 years of transportation within the heartland of North America, the Web site is also becoming a key means of advocating the advantages of marine transportation. With a user base growing by over 50 percent year over year, the site is effectively getting the message out to many thousands of users every month.
One of only a handful of binational Web sites, the Seaway site is jointly managed by Canada’s St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) and the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC).