February 17 - The Ports of Indiana handled more than 7.7 million tonnes of cargo at its three ports in 2010 - an increase of eight percent over the previous year.

The port said that new cargoes including heavy lift shipments helped propel the state port system to its largest annual tonnage since 2006. The heavy lift shipments included building-size storage tanks, transformers and ship engines as well as a windmill project that required 11 shiploads of components.

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor shipped 14-times more heavy lift cargo in 2010 than the previous year, which resulted in a 43 percent increase in overall shipments and a total tonnage of 1.8 million.