80 Percentage of the world's merchants ships that could travel through the seaway in 1959
5 Percentage of the global container fleet still small enough to fit in 2005
4 Percentage of seaway's total traffic that is transoceanic
30.5 Total cargo in millions of tonnes carried on the seaway in 1960
74.3 Total cargo in millions of tonnes in 1979
40.7 Total cargo in millions of tonnes in 2008
9,078 Number of vessels using the seaway in 1960
4,232 Number of vessels in 2008
240 Kilometres that a tonne of freight can travel by ship on a single litre of fuel
100 Kilometres by train
30 Kilometres by truck
2.7 Billions of dollars saved annually in transportation and handling costs by using seaway instead of other modes of transport
Sources: St Lawrence Seaway Management Corp.; Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway Study, fall 2007, Pandora's Locks.
Erin Anderssen