CLEVELAND, Ohio - It was a novel concept when the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority came up with the idea last year. Local businesses could have their products loaded on a ship in the Port of Cleveland and send them directly to Europe.

No more having to rely on a circuitous route: first by rail or over road to East Coast ports, and then on to Europe - a journey that usually takes several weeks. Direct service takes only two weeks.

But with any novel concept, even the best of them, comes this question: Once tested, would it float or sink?

It has been smooth sailing for the Cleveland-Europe Express.

Because of demand, the CEE is doubling the frequency of its service between Port of Cleveland and the Port of Antwerp this year. (The ship makes one stop, near Montreal.) That means there will be two calls per month in Cleveland. Or should that be at least two calls? In May, there were four.

So far this shipping season, not only have the number of calls increased, but so has the amount of cargo. It has tripled since last year. The CEE handles an assortment of containerized cargo including scrap metal, foodstuffs, retail goods, and even machinery.

David Gutheil, the port's vice president for maritime and logistics, said vessels traveling Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes have traditionally carried non-containerized cargo. For example, they would bring in industrial items, such as steel coils from Europe and returned with grain.

He said port officials knew the potential demand for containerized shipping existed. It just had to be cultivated.

"We knew we needed to make more frequent vessel calls to really gain additional traction in the container market," Gutheil said. "If you want to handle more containers, and more of that type of business, you need more frequent vessels at the Port to enable the containers to move. So far, we have seen our container volume increase dramatically because of the increase in the frequency of the calls."

The increase in trips and cargo isn't the only new thing about the CEE this year. The Port has a new relationship with Amsterdam-based Spliethoff Group, its vessel partner.

"Last year, we were chartering the vessel, which is equivalent to renting a car," Gutheil said. "This year, we're basically an investor in the service.

"We're contributing $2.5 million, but we are also guaranteeing that we have at least two calls per month all season," he said.

Bart Peters, Spliethoff's director of the Atlantic Department, based in Amsterdam, said his company welcomes the partnership.

"The potential is huge; but someone had to get it started," he said of developing Cleveland as a formidable international port. "The port of Cleveland had the vision to make a commitment. They have the same vision we see.

"Cleveland is the only city in the whole Midwest with a direct international connection, which is really something special," Peters said.

But it will be difficult to realize the vision that Spliethoff and Port officials share without more local businesses seeing how a direct route to Europe will make it easier for them to create and grow markets abroad.

Peters says this is the common scenario: Usually a ship full of imports docks in the Port of Cleveland. Often when it leaves for the Port of Antwerp, it is usually only half-full with goods from Cleveland-area businesses.

Spliethoff often does a lot of one-on-one with local businesses to help them see the advantages of direct shipping.

"Most people don't understand the logic of sea-going vessels," Peters said. Cleveland is really doing a brave thing to get things started and create Cleveland as a seaport - an international port in the midst of the USA. That is a revolution."

Abbey Greenfield of River Recycling in Cleveland said more area businesses probably have not considered exporting because it is not the easiest endeavor, especially for smaller companies. She should know. Greenfield is the fourth generation of a family-owned business, started in 1919, that processes brass and bronze scrap metal. The company, which has been exporting for 25 years, started going to Europe about a decade ago.

"We are a small company, and the process of exporting can be very cumbersome when you don't have a designated logistics department," she said. "There is a lot that goes into it: Coordinating bookings and customs and shipping paper work. It is a lot to handle, when you have containers going everywhere all the time."

The journey to Europe could also be cumbersome. River Recycling would ship its exports by rail to an East Coast port, where they would sit for a week or two before getting clearance for the journey to Europe.

This is how things have worked since the CEE:

"One phone call, and they take care of everything," she said. "They make everything so easy. It has been wonderful."

This lack of hassle has been good for business in other ways, too.

"Originally, we only thought about going from Cleveland to Antwerp," she said. "It opened our eyes that they could take something elsewhere in Europe. We are not only shipping to Antwerp, but other cities."

Jennifer Fay was living in San Francisco when she helped start Retap North America, which makes and sells reusable water bottles, with her Danish business partners. The bottles are made of Borosilicate glass, which is durable and lightweight. They are manufactured in Europe, including the Czech Republic and Germany.

Fay believed the Midwest would be an ideal location from which to distribute the bottles throughout the United States.

"Staying in San Francisco would have meant more days on the water," she said. It would have been more expensive and not as ecologically sound to ship the bottles from there all around the United States.

These reusable water bottles from Retap are imported via the Cleveland-Europe Express

However, there was a problem: no direct shipping service from Europe.

"We decided to move to Cleveland for many reasons," she said. "One of the primary reasons was the Cleveland-Europe Express."

The company opened locally early this year. The bottles arrive on the CEE. They are then taken to the company's warehouse in Solon, where they are distributed to retailers and customers throughout the country.

Shipping successes like those of River Recycling and Retap help keep the vision of Cleveland developing into a thriving international port alive for Peters. He sees Cleveland as the focal point for an entire Midwest operation.

"We are also reaching out in other Great Lakes destinations," he said. "This is the Cleveland-Europe Express, so the goal is to develop Cleveland as a hub for the Midwest -- as the logistical hub, where all trade is coming together."