Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

Algoma Central Corporation accepts new Algoma Harvester

5/14 - St. Catharines, Ont. - Algoma Central Corporation announce Tuesday that it has taken delivery of the second of eight new Equinox-class lake bulk carriers from Nantong Mingde shipyard in China. The ship, named Algoma Harvester, is being prepared for the long voyage to Canada and is expected to leave China shortly.

When it arrives in Canada this summer, Algoma Harvester will join its sister ship, the Algoma Equinox, as part of Algoma's 32-vessel Canadian-flagged Great Lakes fleet. The 2014 shipping season is off to a late start following the very harsh winter weather and record ice conditions on the Great Lakes. The addition of Algoma Harvester will provide much needed capacity to help meet the needs of Canadian grain farmers to get last year's record crop to market.

"We are looking forward to the Algoma Harvester's arrival in Canada this summer," said Greg Wight, Algoma President and CEO. "We continue to be pleased with our decision to develop an innovative and advanced vessel and our commitment to sustainability is evident in the performance we are achieving from the Equinox Class vessels."

Andy Torrence





Port Reports - May 14

Marquette, Mich. - Rod Burdick
Herbert C. Jackson loaded ore Tuesday evening at LS&I.

Milwaukee, Wis. - Chris Gaziano
Federal Weser arrived Tuesday morning and was assisted into Terminal #1 by G-tug Oklahoma. The G.L. Ostrander and Integrity departed during the day Tuesday and made their way south for Chicago. The USCGC Alder also came in and made its way over to the Coast Guard station.

Toronto, Ont. - Jens Juhl
Algoma Olympic completed discharging its cargo of salt midnight Monday and sailed at 1 a.m. Tuesday. Two hours later the Algowood arrived with another load of salt.





Ice didn’t loosen stranglehold on U.S.-Flag lakers in April

5/14 - Cleveland, Ohio – U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters moved only 3.8 million tons of cargo in April, a decrease of nearly 50 percent compared to a year ago. Heavy ice, especially on Lake Superior, slowed transits to not much more than crawl at times. In fact, the ice on Lake Superior was so challenging that it was not until May 2 that the U.S. Coast Guard stopping convoying vessels and allowed lakers to operate on those waters without escort.

Iron ore cargos totaled less than 2 million tons in April, a decrease of 52 percent compared to a year ago. With all but one of the U.S. iron ore loading ports located on Lake Superior, ice was again the reason for the plunge in shipments.

Coal shipments in U.S.-flag lakers totaled just 630,000 tons in April, a decrease of nearly 60 percent compared to a year ago. Again, the biggest drop came in loadings at a Lake Superior port.

Limestone cargos totaled 875,000 tons, a decrease of 36 percent compared to a year ago. While no stone originates on Lake Superior, the trade was still impacted by the ice as some of the lower horsepower vessels that serve stone quarries delayed their sailings rather than become beset in ice on the lower Lakes.

Year-to-date U.S.-flag carriage stands at 6.9 million tons, a decrease of 45 percent compared to the same point in 2013. Iron ore cargos are down 46 percent. Coal shipments are off by 41 percent, and loadings of limestone are 47 percent behind last years pace.

Lake Carriers' Association





Inland Seas needs Facebook votes to set sail with $25,000 grant

5/14 - Suttons Bay, Mich. – A group that teaches people about the Great Lakes from aboard a schooner is vying for $25,000 to provide scholarships and scientific equipment to further its work. The deciding factor? Facebook votes.

Based out of Suttons Bay, Mich., the Inland Seas Education Association develops stewards and next generation scientists of the Great Lakes by setting sail with students on a traditionally rigged schooner to engage the community’s interest in the Great Lakes.

To further that mission, it is going after a grant program started in 2012 by the State Farm insurance company. The State Farm Neighborhood Assist is an annual competition that gives away $1 million in $25,000 increments.

“The grant funds would be put into our scholarship fund so that schools who cannot pay for a trip would have a portion of their Schoolship trip paid for,” said Sally Somsel, a longtime Inland Seas Education association volunteer who wrote the proposal.

The money would also help replace broken thermometers, damaged plankton nets, testing chemicals and for other technology upgrades.

“If we want to inspire next generation Great Lakes scientists, they need to see the next generation of scientific instruments and tools,” said Fred Sitkins, Inland Seas executive director. “We want to make sure that’s where we’re investing our money this year, as equipping ourselves to be ready for those next 25 years, to demonstrate to students what they’re going to experience when they enter the science field.”

On Friday the Facebook voting round closes. The top 40 organizations with the most votes will receive a $25,000 grant. To vote for the Inland Seas Education Association, follow the link here. Each person is allowed to vote up to ten times a day. The group has yet to break into the top 40.

Organizations from across the United States and Canada submit applications to compete for the money. During the first round of the competition, the top 200 are picked by the State Farm Youth Advisory Board.

The applicants in competition for the grant have a wide variety of causes. However, they all fall into one of three main categories: community development, education and safety. At the competition’s close, the 40 organizations with the most votes will each receive a $25,000 grant.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the grant would help Inland Seas look toward the next 25 years.

“We’ve now taught 100,000 students on board which is an incredible milestone,” Sitkins said. “And we’ve been doing it a long time and we’ve built up an incredible support base.”

And it’s that support base of employees and volunteers Inland Seas wants to honor this year.

“They’ve helped to create an incredible organization that’s made a huge difference already,” said Sitkins. “And then hoping to instill the fact that we’re looking forward to the next 25 years and surpassing the 200,000 student mark is kind of our next goal.”

But the hopes of Inland Seas go beyond just boosting numbers.

“If we’re able to inspire kids to be scientists, hopefully they will also be so inspired with the Great Lakes that they’ll be scientists with the mission of protecting the Great Lakes themselves. So we would hopefully be caring that mission on for generations to come,” said Sitkins.

Great Lakes Echo





Lake Superior could have ice linger into June

5/14 - Many lakes across northeastern Minnesota still have plenty of ice on them, and that includes the largest of the Great Lakes. At the end of the weekend, Superior was still more than 23% ice covered.

By this time in most years, the ice is long gone. But in 1979, the ice was still around just like this year. Current forecasts show a pretty rapid melt in ice over the next few days with remaining ice cover getting sliced in half by the weekend, but these ice forecasts are still in their infancy with a lot yet to learn about how weather, currents, and water temps play into ice formation. Regardless of current forecasts, it would not shock me if there are at least small pieces of ice still left here and there by the time we get to June.

Fox 9





Marine museum celebrates seasonal opening of vessels May 17-18

5/14 - Oswego, N.Y. – The H. Lee White Marine Museum is gearing up for a season full of events, new exhibits and even the first Lake Ontario CNY Lighthouse Challenge. The museum will open its vessels on May 17 in celebration of the new season.

There will be free admission to explore the museum as well as tour the historic vessels, the LT-5 and Derrick Boat 8. The H. Lee White Marine Museum is located at Oswego’s West First Street Pier.

“This year the maritime museum is celebrating two special events, the 80th anniversary of the Oswego Lighthouse and the 70th anniversary of D-Day with several programs featuring these topics,” said Mercedes Niess, executive director. “These reflect important aspect of our area’s history and we hope visitors will enjoy the experience.”

In conjunction with the opening of the vessels on May 17, the museum will also feature a new exhibit by Don Gillespie, a local maritime artist.

The exhibit called “Kindred Spirits, and other relative mysteries” celebrates Oswego’s rich art heritage and will feature original paintings by James G. Tyler, born in Oswego in 1855 who became one of the most notable marine artists of his time, and Charles H. Grant, born in 1886 who studied under the great M.F.H. De Haas at the National Academy in New York.

Gillespie will also display his version of “At the Mercy of Neptune” as well as other marine paintings. He said his hope with this exhibit is to help educate Oswegonians about this rich art heritage and possibly help shed light upon a couple mysteries including what may have happened to W. R. Shayes, who is his great-grandfather.

Museum events later in the summer include a D-Day remembrance celebration on June 7. The D-Day remembrance will honor the 70th anniversary by having programs throughout the day including history lectures, WWII re-enactments as well as a new exhibit illustrating the crucial role that supply ships, like the LT-5, played in the Normandy Invasion.

June 21 and 22 mark the first ever Lake Ontario CNY Lighthouse Challenge. This event lets participants explore the lighthouses of Central New York while celebrating the 80th anniversary of Oswego’s lighthouse.

Participants start their journey at the museum on June 21 and begin touring participating lighthouses along the Coast and Seaway Trail collecting souvenirs along the way.

For more information on the opening of the vessels as well as a complete list of summer events including Kids Pirate Day and Tales of the Haunted Harbor, visit www.hleewhitemarinemuseum.com or call [phone].

Oswego County Today





First in maritime: Sturgeon Bay proclaimed Coast Guard City

5/14 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – Trumpets tooted, cannons saluted and the air was filled with applause in Sawyer Park Saturday as Sturgeon Bay celebrated its designation as a Coast Guard City — the first and only one in Wisconsin. An official act of Congress named Sturgeon Bay the country’s 15th of 16 Coast Guard City on Jan. 23.

The celebration at Sawyer Park included a host of dignitaries, including Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble, and Coast Guard Rear Adm. Fred Midgette, commander of the Ninth Coast Guard District, who presented Sturgeon Bay Mayor Thad Birmingham with the proclamation.

Kleefisch said the Coast Guard’s ties with Sturgeon Bay are strong.

“It goes back 140 years,” she said. “When you think about buoys going out in 1881 to make sure people are protected, it was not only for recreation but for economic development.”

That long heritage has three Coast Guard stations now serving in Sturgeon Bay — the lifesaving station at the canal called Station Sturgeon Bay, the ice breaking cutter the Mobile Bay at Sawyer Park on the city’s west side, and the Marine Safety Detachment station on 15th Street across from the high school. The Safety Detachment does safety inspections for vessels and port facilities and responds to environmental hazards.

Those three stations in one city accomplish almost every mission of the Coast Guard, Midgette said as he addressed a crowd that included personnel from all three stations. He called Sturgeon Bay a “priceless gift for those away from home” and a “real gem” for Coast Guard families whose service requires them to move roughly every three years.

“For those of us who live this nomadic lifestyle, you are respected and loved,” he told the gathering.

Sturgeon Bay Mayor Thad Birmingham thanked several people who started the grass-roots effort to form a steering committee to improve the city’s relationship with the Coast Guard, which ultimately led to the award. And he made two new declarations for the city of Sturgeon Bay — marking July 9 “John Stone Day” and Sept. 1 “Wayne Spritka Day.”

Stone, the commander of the Mobile Bay, will leave his command July 9 as he is being transferred to Washington, D.C. Spritka, the commander of the canal station, is retiring from his lifelong Coast Guard career but plans to continue to live in Sturgeon Bay. Both commanders were presented with plaques in honor of their service.

U.S. Rep Reid Ribble said he talks with many veterans and knows many plan to call Sturgeon Bay home when they retire after serving in the Coast Guard on the Great Lakes. He also highlighted how important the city is to the state of Wisconsin and to national security, not only for commerce and tourism but as a guardian to the largest inland freshwater body of water.

He downplayed his part in helping to pass the designation through Congress but complimented the people of Sturgeon Bay for welcoming those stationed here in protecting the country’s vital water resource.

“This is not about government, but about how the people of this Coast Guard City have embraced them here in Sturgeon Bay, educated their children, supported them in retirement and made them part of Sturgeon Bay,” he said.

Door County Advocate





Lookback #178 – Malinska aground in Lake Ontario on May 14, 1991

5/14 - The Yugoslavian bulk carrier Malinska stranded off Main Duck Island, while outbound with a cargo of steel coils, 23 years ago today. The 730-foot-long vessel was only four years old at the time of the accident. After being lightered and refloated, Malinska was sent to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

This vessel was built by R.O. Brodogradiliste at Rijeka, Yugoslavia. It was delivered in May 1987 and spent different amounts of time on charter to Fednav and to Misener.

With changes overseas, Malinska was re-registered in Malta as part of the Croatia Line in 1992 and traded regularly through the Seaway and into the Great Lakes. The ship joined Viken Shipping A.S. of Norway in 1997 as Daviken and continued Great Lakes service. It again had a cargo of steel on board when it grounded in Lake St. Clair after losing power on Oct. 21, 2000. Four tugs were needed to pull the ship free.

Daviken made a total of 33 voyages into the Great Lakes before it was sold to the Algoma Central Corp. in March 2008. Renamed Algoma Discovery, the vessel remains capable of deep sea trading but spends most of its time now in the grain and iron ore trades between Lake Superior and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.


Today in Great Lakes History - May 14

On 14 May 1881, CITY OF ROME (wooden propeller freighter, 268 foot, 1,908 gross tons) was launched by Thomas Quayle & Sons in Cleveland, Ohio. She was the largest vessel on the Lakes when she was launched. She lasted until 1914, when she burned near Ripley, New York on Lake Erie.

On May 14, 1959, the SHENANGO II and the HERBERT C. JACKSON both entered service. While the vessels have been fleet mates since 1967, the SHENANGO II was built by the Shenango Furnace Company. She operates today as the c.) HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR, renamed last spring.

On May 14, 1943, the THOMAS WILSON entered service as the first of the sixteen vessels in the "Maritime" class.

The HOCHELAGA's self-unloading boom was installed on the RICHARD REISS, which had lost her boom April 13, 1994, when it collapsed at Fairport, Ohio. The REISS’ replacement boom was installed on May 14, 1994 by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd.

BLACK HAWK (wooden schooner, 98 foot, 178 gross tons) was launched in East Saginaw, Michigan on 14 May 1861. Thomas A. Estes was her builder. She was active until abandoned in the Kinnickinnic River at Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1908. On 13 October 1913, she was filled with flammable material and burned off Milwaukee as a public spectacle for the Perry Centennial Celebration.

On May 14, 1905, the new Anchor Line passenger steamer JUNIATA made her maiden voyage from the yards of the American Shipbuilding Company in Cleveland, Ohio to Detroit, Michigan. Sailing under the command of Capt. Edward J. Martin she left Cleveland at 7:05 in the morning and arrived at Detroit shortly before 4. On board, in addition to several officials of the line was her designer, Frank E. Kirby. Detroiters were treated to the sight of seeing both the JUNIATA and TIONESTA together for the first time as TIONESTA was loading for Duluth, Minnesota when the JUNIATA arrived from Cleveland and tied up alongside her older sister. The JUNIATA later departed for Chicago where her furnishings were installed.

On 14 May 1861, COMET (wooden side-wheeler, 174 foot. 337 gross tons, built in 1848, at Portsmouth, Ontario) collided with the 2-mast wooden schooner EXCHANGE, ten miles off Nine-Mile Point on Lake Ontario. Then an explosion rocked the COMET and she was destroyed by fire 2 or 3 lives were lost, but the survivors reached Simcoe Island in a lifeboat.

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., May 14, 1900. - The tug W.A. ROOTH of the Great Lakes Towing company fleet was caught between the barge JOHN A. ROEBLING and the steamer HENRY C. FRICK in the American canal last night and sunk. The crew escaped without injury. The tug was towing the barge ROEBLING out of the canal and in some manner got between the ROEBLING and the big steamer FRICK. Her sides were crushed in and she went down immediately in twenty feet of water.

1917 – SAXONA and PENTECOST MITCHELL collided head-on in the St. Marys River near Detour and both ships sank with their bows locked together. The former was refloated and repaired as LAKETON while the latter was also salvaged and remained in the U.S. Steel fleet.

1921 – The barge MIZTEC broke loose of the steamer ZILLAH in a storm and sank with all hands in Lake Superior northeast of Vermilion Point.

1952 – JAMES NORRIS began her sailing career, loading a cargo of grain at Fort William.

1991 – The Yugoslavian bulk carrier MALINSKA ran aground off Main Duck Island, Lake Ontario, while outbound from the Great Lakes with a cargo of steel coils. It was lightered and released. The ship had been a Seaway trader since 1987 and now sails in the Algoma fleet as c) ALGOMA DISCOVERY.

[ppat324]

On 15 May 1901, the GILCHRIST (Hull #603) (steel propeller freighter, 356 foot. 3,871 gross tons) was launched at the West Bay City Ship Building Co. in West Bay City, Michigan, for the Gilchrist Transportation Company of Cleveland, Ohio. She lasted until 1943, when she was sunk in a collision on Lake Superior.

On May 15, 1997, the "This Day in History" feature started on this web site.

The PHILIP R. CLARKE, first of the AAA class of vessel, began her maiden voyage from Lorain, Ohio, on this date in 1952.

After extensive renovation at Fraser Shipyard, the IRVIN L. CLYMER departed Superior, Wisconsin on May 15, 1981, and went to Duluth, Minnesota, to load 11,154 tons of taconite ore for Lorain, Ohio.

On May 15, 1971, the STONEFAX was sold and was scrapped at Santander, Spain.

On 15 May 1854, GARDEN CITY (wooden passenger/package side-wheeler, 218 foot, 657 tons, built in 1853, at Buffalo, New York) was sailing from Chicago to the Soo in a storm when she went on Martin Reef, west of Detour, Michigan, and was wrecked. Her passengers were picked up by the steamer QUEEN CITY.

May 15, 1992 -- The BADGER was rededicated and began a new career as a non-railroad carferry.

At 3:30 a.m., 15 May 1874, the tug TAWAS came along side of the schooner ZACH CHANDLER several miles off shore from Sand Beach, Michigan on Lake Huron. The boiler of the TAWAS exploded and she sank. Capt. Robinson, 2nd Engineer Dyson, Firemen Thomas Conners and James McIntyre, and Lookout Dennis Burrow were all on the tug and died in the explosion. The blast tore the CHANDLER's sails and rigging, and caused the death of one of her officers when he was struck on the head by a flying piece of debris. The CHANDLER drifted away in the heavy seas, but returned to pick up five survivors from the water. The TAWAS was built at Vicksburg, Michigan by Myron Williams in 1864. Her dimensions were 95-foot x 18-foot, 6-inches x 8-foot, 6-inches. She carried the two old engines from the tug BLISH, which when new were 11-1/2 inches x 20 inches, but having been bored out several times, were 15 inches x 20 inches at the time of the explosion. Her boiler was built by Mr. Turnbull of Corunna, Ontario.

1907 – SAXON ran aground near Caribou Island, Lake Superior, and dumped about 1,000 tons of ore overboard before being released. The ship went to the Atlantic in 1918 and was scrapped at Copenhagen, Denmark, as c) ANNE JENSEN in 1927.

1923 – PERE MARQUETTE 4 and PERE MARQUETTE 17 collided in fog off Milwaukee and the former sustained severe damage above the waterline and was laid up.

1929 – RALPH BUDD stranded at Saltese Point, near Eagle Harbor, Mich., and was abandoned to the underwriters. The grain-laden vessel was released by Reid and sold to Canadian interests. It was scrapped at Hamilton as b) L.A. McCORQUODALE of the Upper Lakes Shipping fleet in 1966.

1963 – LOBIVIA, WESTMOUNT and ROGERS CITY were in a three-way collision in the St. Clair River at Port Huron but there was only minor damage.

1967 – GOLDEN HIND was loaded with grain when it stranded off Cassidy Point, Lake Erie, and was holed in the forward compartment.

1968 – The stern cabins of HOMER D. WILLIAMS were damaged from a collision with WHEAT KING in the St. Marys River and this ship was repaired at Lorain. The latter vessel received bow damage that was repaired at Port Weller.

1972 – The Dutch freighter COLYTTO first came through the Seaway in 1963 and made 8 trips to the end of 1966. It was swept ashore by a typhoon near the mouth of the Limpopo River off the coast of Mozambique as b) CAPE NERITA on this date in 1972. All on board were rescued but the ship was abandoned on the beach as it was not feasible to dig the ship out by a canal. The nearest road was 25 miles away so the hull was not scrapped either.

1999 – The former sandsucker NIAGARA II was scuttled as an attraction to divers off Tobermory, ON.

[yachtsmanwilly]

KIWIs next big adventure...



52 foot Tiara


Lake Michigan finally thaws after months of record-breaking ice

5/16 - Grand Rapids, Mich. – Lake Michigan was ice-free as of Wednesday, May 14, after months of history-breaking coverage, according to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. The lake set a 41-year record with 93.29 percent coverage on March 8, beating the previous record of 93.1 percent in 1977.

"I was quite surprised how much we had this winter and how long it stuck around," said Wayne Hoepner, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids.

An overabundance of ice significantly delayed the start of Great Lakes' shipping season. If Coast Guard ice-breaking ships were able to forge a path for commercial ships, crews retraced their steps as stiff winds would blow ice back into place soon after. Some officials said cutters had to break down chunks of ice upwards of 8 feet or greater in size.

It's highly unlikely additional ice will form in the weeks ahead, even with an occasional cool snap, Hoepner said. He explained air temperatures need to be about 20 degrees cooler than freezing to have extensive ice formation, and that's not in the forecast.

NOAA reports summertime swimming conditions will be slow to come as the water temperature is averaging in the mid-30s to low-40s across much of the lower basin.

While Lake Michigan is ice-free, Lake Superior continues to lag behind at about 21 percent coverage. A tiny portion of Lake Huron should melt off in the next few days, joining lakes Erie and Ontario as being ice-free as well.

The weather service says about 8.2 percent of the Great Lakes' surface remains frozen.



Coast Guard ends ice breaking operations on the western Great Lakes

5/16 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie concluded domestic ice breaking operations Thursday morning.

Operation Taconite, the nation’s largest ice breaking operation, began December 6, 2013. During the 160 days of the operation, nine U.S. Coast Guard and three Canadian Coast Guard ice breakers spent 5,001 hours assisting 946 commercial vessel transits; 517 of these movements required direct assistance from one or more ice breakers. An additional 5,597 hours of ice breaking established and then maintained tracks through the ice-choked waterways of Georgian Bay, Straits of Mackinac, Green Bay, southern Lake Michigan, St Marys River and across Lake Superior in its entirety. U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard aviators flew 43 sorties in direct support of the ice breaking operation.

An estimated 33 million tons of dry bulk and liquid cargoes, valued at $1.2 billion U.S., were shipped during the 160-day operation. These commodities were crucial to sustaining industrial production and power generation for the Great Lakes region during the winter months.

Statistically, this ice season will be one for the record books. Although official statistics have not been released, it is reported the 2013-14 season produced the thickest and most expansive ice cover the Great Lakes has experienced in 35 years.

In February 2014, the tanker Algocanada’s u bound transit of the St Marys River, escorted by USCGC Katmai Bay, took eight days to complete. Under normal ice conditions, an up bound movement is executed in 12 hours. USCGC Katmai Bay stopped the escort twice to refuel.

In March 2014, the first westbound crossing of the Straits of Mackinac took four days. The crossing featured the Joyce L. Van Enkevort and her barge Great Lakes Trader. The tug is the most powerful tug on the Great Lakes. It was escorted by USCGC Mackinaw, the U.S. Coast Guard’s most powerful ice breaker on the Great Lakes. Under normal conditions the voyage would be completed in 12 hours.

The first eastbound crossing of Lake Superior (Duluth, Minn. to the Soo Locks), facilitated by USCGC Mackinaw, took nine days (26 March-04 April) to complete. Under normal ice conditions, the typical crossing would take 24 hours to complete.

The first load of iron ore (Two Harbors, Minn., to Gary Harbor, Ind.) took 13 days to deliver. This is normally a three-day voyage.

USCG





Port Reports - May 16

Duluth, Minn. - Daniel Lindner
There was quite a parade of traffic on Wednesday night. The Three Rivers finally finished loading grain at CHS 1 and departed late Wednesday night. Mamry arrived from anchor and went to CHS 1 and began loading her cargo. Great Lakes Trader and tug Joyce L. VanEnkevort also arrived and headed to Graymont to discharge limestone. American Mariner and Whitefish Bay both departed late Wednesday night after loading their cargoes. On Thursday, Lakes Contender and her tug Ken Boothe Sr. departed from CN at 8 a.m. The Greek saltie Apollon arrived about a half an hour later and anchored in the inner harbor. After undergoing inspections, she departed for the main harbor anchorage outside of port at 11:30. Finally, Great Lakes Trader departed from CN around 8:30 on Thursday night. For Friday, James R. Barker is expected to arrive in the early morning for CN, Duluth to load iron ore pellets. Next, Cason J. Callaway is due mid-morning with limestone for Hallett #5. She'll be shifting to CN after unloading. Algoma's newly painted Capt. Henry Jackman is due in the evening with salt for Hallett #8. She will then be loading iron ore at Burlington Northern in Superior. Finally, Paul R. Tregurtha is due to arrive late on Friday evening to load coal at Midwest Energy.

Clayton, NY - Ned Goebricher
Thursday the landing craft Maple Grove of Clayton was in Oswego Harbor to transport New York State DEC fish trucks onto Lake Ontario to stock trout and salmon hatchlings.




Marine Heritage Days: Sephie sailed from Kincardine Harbor in early 1900s

5/16 - Kincardine, Ont. – The launch of a vessel is an ancient maritime tradition attended with great ceremony. The Dominion Day christening of the schooner Sephie in 1889 was no exception. In fact, it attracted a more-than-usual amount of interest as a special train with 15 “heavily-laden” passenger coaches was routed to Goderich for the occasion.

An estimated 5,000 people crowded Harbour Hill and lined the docks to cheer the launch of the newest addition to the inland sailing fleet.

Sitting proud in her cradle, the Sephie’s three masts were bedecked with colorful flags and pennants awaiting her launch. After a seven-hour delay, due to a false launch and a thunderstorm, Miss Bessie Chilton officially christened the schooner, Sephie, as she “glided over the ways and gracefully took her place on the bosom of the water” as described by “The Huron Signal.”

Named after either Sephie MacLean, the four-year-old daughter of Captain John C. McLean, or Sephie Williams, daughter of Joseph Williams, the schooner was one of 70 vessels built in Goderich Harbour at the Marlton Shipyard between 1848 and 1912.

At 140-feet long, with a 27-foot, six-inch beam, and a draught of 10 feet, six inches, the wooden-hulled Sephie was the longest vessel Marlton had built.

Joseph Williams, a Goderich lumber merchant, and William Marlton, her builder, co-owned the vessel. The superintendent of construction, Peter McPhail, designed her to carry a load of 320,000 feet of lumber or 20,000 bushels.

It was the lumber trade that Sephie was engaged in as she plied Lake Huron between Sarnia and Georgian Bay. Her maiden voyage was to run to Blind River in the North Channel of Lake Huron for a load of lumber. “The Buffalo Evening News” called her a “staunch little ship” that deserved her reputation as “the best schooner along the east cost of Lake Huron.”

Yet it was during the Great Storm of November 1913 that she became a Great Lakes legend. Captain Hugh McKinnon, nicknamed “Hollering Hughie” on account of his booming voice, commanded the Sephie.

“The Port Huron Times-Herald” described him as “one of the old type of mariners,” that is to say, a skilled and experienced seaman.

Although the Toronto Meteorological Office issued a marine bulletin warning that a “storm of unusual severity was sweeping its way across the continent,” without a wireless radio, Captain McKinnon would not have received it.

The Heavy Gale Signals posted along the Great Lakes harbors of refuge on Saturday, Nov. 6, were beyond the sight of the Sephie’s crew.

However, for Captain McKinnon, an experienced seaman, the rapidly-falling barometer, rising lake swells, and stiffening winds provided the warning he needed. Hollering Hughie’s great lungs roared the appropriate commands for the crew to prepare to weather the storm.

As the storm approached, it can be assumed that Captain McKinnon ordered the crew aloft to reef in the topsails and lower the mainsails. He headed the Sephie to the lee of Cape Smith on the far eastern tip of Manitoulin Island to avoid the worst of the strong nor’ west gale.

Finding his wooden-hulled craft rocking violently, Captain McKinnon dragged his anchor and let out the anchor chains to steady the ship. It is not known how many hours the crew struggled to keep the Sephie afloat, but before it could be dashed to pieces against Manitoulin’s rocky shore, Captain McKinnon deliberately sank her near shore.

The crew abandoned ship and headed to the beach in a lifeboat. They were found by a band of Ojibwa Indians who gave them food and shelter until the storm was over.

In the storm’s aftermath, “The Port Huron Times-Herald” reported that Captain Tom Reid of the Reid Wrecking Company, found the Sephie undamaged on the bottom of Cape Smith and confidently reported that she could be pumped out and refloated.

It was a testament to the skill of her captain and crew that she resumed work as a lumber ship that fall. The survival of the Sephie was truly a miracle when one considers the number of larger steam-powered, iron-hulled vessels wrecked in the Great Storm.

Despite the Sephie’s miraculous escape, it was obvious that the age of sail was fast drawing to a close. Even in 1889, “The Signal” recorded the arrival and departures of far more steamers than sailing vessels. In November, 1916, “The Buffalo Evening News” observed that she was “the first schooner to arrive in Buffalo Harbour in a long time under her own canvas.” The Sephie’s trip to Buffalo was her last run as a Great Lakes schooner.

Her last trip must have been bittersweet for Peter McPhail, her construction superintendent, who looked on her with pride at the Sephie’s 1889 launch. He accompanied her for her last voyage on the lakes.

Captain Peter McKinnon, Hollering Hughie’s brother, was her captain (Hollering Hughie had died in 1916). He had been aboard for eight years and weathered the Great Storm with her.

It was a leisurely and nostalgic journey as it took the Sephie over two weeks to make her final lumber run from Blind River to Buffalo.

It may have been at this time that the Sephie’s anchor chains and capstan were brought to Goderich by McPhail. Fittingly, the anchor chains are overlooking the harbor by the lighthouse and Great Storm plaque.

In 1917, the Sephie was either sailed or more likely towed across the Atlantic Ocean where she was re-rigged as a barkentine and spent her last years navigating the Channel Islands. She was scrapped in 1923.

Marine Heritage Days are planned in Kincardine for Aug. 22-24, featuring Walker House Museum exhibits, children’s events and more. The Kincardine News will be featuring articles on past ships and captains who called Kincardine home over the years, as a lead up to the event.

The Shoreline Beacon


Lookback #180 – Robert Hobson hit the seawall at Port Huron on May 16, 1972

5/16 - The current caused by Lake Huron funneling into the St. Clair River at Port Huron has occasionally played havoc with ships. It is sure to be a hazard if a vessel should lose power navigating that stretch of water.

The bulk carrier Robert Hobson, of the Interlake Steamship Co. fleet, received bow damage when it hit lost power and hit the barrier 42-years ago today. The 600 foot long vessel both caused and received damage in the accident.

Robert Hobson had been built at Lorain, Ohio in 1927 and was the last of four sisterships to join the Interlake fleet. It operated into the 1975 season before tying up at Ashtabula, OH. Following a sale to Marine Salvage for scrap, the ship was towed to Port Colborne on August 9, 1975, and laid up at Ramey's Bend.

The ship gained a reprieve with a resale to the Quebec & Ontario Transportation Co. and returned to service later in the year as their third Outarde. It continued trading through the end of the 1983 season and was laid up at Toronto on Dec. 21. While part of the sale of Q. & O. to Desgagnes Navigation in 1984, the ship never operated on their behalf.

Another sale, once again for scrap, led to Outarde being towed up the Welland Canal on Aug. 16, 1985, en route to a berth in the outer harbor of Port Colborne.



Today in Great Lakes History - May 16

On 16 May 1894, the SHENANDOAH (wooden propeller freighter, 308 foot, 2,251 gross tons) was launched by J. Davidson (Hull #60) in West Bay City, Michigan. She lasted until 1924, when she was abandoned.

CANADIAN PROSPECTOR passed upbound in the Welland Canal May 16, 1979, with Labrador ore bound for Ashtabula, Ohio. This was her first trip after being reconstructed.

W. R. WOODFORD (Hull#626) was launched May 16, 1908, at West Bay City, Michigan by West Bay City Ship Building Co. for W. A. & M.A. Hawgood. Renamed b.) N.F. LEOPOLD 1911, and c.) E. J. BLOCK in 1943. She was scrapped at Port Colborne, Ontario, arriving in 1998.

IRVIN L. CLYMER departed Superior, Wisconsin, on May 15, 1981, and went to Duluth, Minnesota, to load 11,154 tons of taconite ore for Lorain. On May 16, 1981, having departed Duluth in 35 mph winds and 10-foot seas, the CLYMER began taking on water in her ballast tanks. She returned to Duluth, and was quickly repaired.

On May 16, 1972, in dense fog, the ROBERT HOBSON struck the Peerless Cement dock at Port Huron, Michigan when her bow was caught by the strong current at the mouth of the St. Clair River. Damage to the hull was estimated at to $100,000.

In 1985, the steamer PONTIAC was towed down the Welland Canal by the Mc Keil tugs GLENEVIS, ARGUE MARTIN and STORMONT bound for Quebec City. She would later be scrapped in Spain.

The tug B. W. ALDRICH burned at Ludington, Michigan, on 16 May 1874. The damage was estimated at $5,000 and she was rebuilt.

May 16, 1997 - The BADGER's planned first voyage of 1997 was delayed for one day because of a faulty boiler tube.

E. W. OGLEBAY (steel propeller bulk freighter, 375 foot. 3,666 gross tons) was launched at F. W. Wheeler's yard (Hull #114) at West Bay City, Michigan, on 16 May 1896. She lasted until she stranded on Shot Point, 10 miles east of Marquette, Michigan, on Lake Superior, during a heavy northeast gale and blizzard, on December 8, 1927. Shortly afterwards the hull was gutted by fire and declared a constructive total loss. The hull was removed, partially scrapped, and used as dock at Drummond Island, Michigan.

1905 – The second THOMAS W. PALMER, a composite bulk carrier, collided with HARVARD of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company off Stannard Rock, Lake Superior in dense fog and was nearly cut in two. The crew was able to walk to safety aboard HARVARD before their ship sank.

1919 – D.R. HANNA sank in Lake Huron 6 miles off Thunder Bay Light after a collision with the QUINCY A. SHAW. All hands were saved but the sinking of the grain laden 552-foot freighter was the largest insurance loss on the lakes to that time. The hull has been located upside down in 90 feet of water.

1941 – The Norwegian freighter REINUNGA began Great Lakes visits in 1926 and was forced to spend the winter of 1932-1933 at Dain City along the Welland Canal. The vessel, which dated from 1902, was bombed and sunk by German aircraft as d) KYTHERA at Suda Bay, Crete, on this date in 1941.

1962 – ARGENTEUIL, a former Canadian Coast Guard buoy tender, was rebuilt as a coastal freighter in 1961. It sank in the St. Lawrence near Lauzon, QC, with the loss of 3 lives on this date in 1962.

1975 – MANCHESTER RAPIDO provided a container shuttle service in the Seaway beginning in 1971, went aground off Pasajes, Spain, on March 15, 1975, and then sank. The hull was refloated May 16, 1975, for repairs and a return to service. 1987 – MARIA ANNA SCHULTE first came inland in 1958. It ran aground as e) LUCKY VIRGIN off San Andras Island, Colombia, while en route from Colon, Panama, to Aruba in 1974 and had to be abandoned as a total loss.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Great Lakes deal in Congress may boost dredging efforts

5/18 - Washington, D.C. — A compromise measure on water resources development unveiled in Congress Thursday could result in more spending for dredging Great Lakes harbors and shipping channels, though it wasn’t immediately known how much more might be available.

The conference committee report — congressional shorthand for a compromise reached on competing versions of legislation between the U.S. House and Senate — emerged Thursday on the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, a measure which has been stalled for months.

U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, was the only Michigan member of Congress to serve on the House-Senate conference committee. She said the agreement, which will be voted on next week in both chambers, includes a proposal she and others in the state delegation pushed to designate the Great Lakes as one comprehensive navigation system.

By doing so, Great Lakes projects could be prioritized nationally and become eligible for more funding by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, rather than competing against one another.

“This new designation will finally allow the Great Lakes to present a unified front when competing against coastal regions for federal funding and resources.” Miller said.

The legislation also includes increased expenditures through the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, which is funded through taxes on shippers but only part of which has been made available for projects in recent years. Last year, the Free Press wrote how billions in surplus funds was instead being used to reduce the deficit, even as Great Lakes harbors were in dire need of dredging.

The measure calls for expenditures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to increase each year so that by fiscal year 2025, 100% of the collections go to operation and maintenance activities across the U.S. — but only if congressional appropriators agree to increase the Army Corps of Engineers’ civil works budget.

Under the agreement, 10% of funds would be allocated to address the maintenance and dredging needs of smaller harbors, with the rest going to high- and moderate-use harbors; and a total of 10% of any increase in funding in any year compared to fiscal 2012 would be dedicated to Great Lakes projects.

Another section of the legislation also requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Army Corps of Engineers, National Park Service and U.S. Geological Survey, to help slow the spread of so-called Asian carp by providing technical assistance, coordination and support to state and local governments. The Corps would be authorized to modify existing projects to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.


Ice on Lake Superior still higher than anytime in past 40 years

5/18 - Lake Superior still has some ice on it. In fact, Lake Superior has more ice on it as of yesterday than it has had at any other time this late in the season in the past 40 years.

A high-resolution satellite image from May 14 shows a patch of ice floating out the in the eastern part of Lake Superior. Some of the shoreline areas on southern Lake Superior are still covered in ice.

Anne Clites, physical scientist at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (NOAA-GLERL) looked at the years when ice cover was high. Comparing those years to now, we have more ice on Lake Superior now. In fact, we have double the previous high amount.

As of May 15, 2014 Lake Superior is reportedly 14.48 percent covered in ice. Compare this to the two highest late season ice years, 1979 and 1996. On May 14, 1979, Lake Superior had 7.5 percent ice cover. So we are almost double that amount of ice. On May 15, 1996, Lake Superior had 5.9 percent ice cover. Lake Superior still has a lot more ice this year. On May 31, 1996, Lake Superior's ice cover was still reported at 0.1 percent coverage.

At this pace, we will still have a small amount of ice on Lake Superior in June.



Today in Great Lakes History - May 19

On 19 May 1894, LORETTA (wooden propeller freighter, 140 foot, 395 gross tons, built in 1892, at Sebewaing, Michigan as a schooner) was driven ashore near the mouth of the Au Sable River at Oscoda, Michigan in a terrible gale. She was heavily damaged but the crew was rescued. She was salvaged and put back in service but only lasted for two more years when she burned.

SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY (Hull#164) was launched May 19, 1906 at Wyandotte, Michigan by Detroit Ship Building Co. for the National Steamship Co. She was scrapped at Castellon, Spain in 1969.

On May 19, 1973, the whaleback tanker METEOR was moved from the Pipeline Tankers dock to a permanent berth on Barkers Island at Superior, Wisconsin to serve as a museum ship.

B.F. JONES and EDWARD S. KENDRICK, towed by the Polish tug KORAL, arrived for scrapping at Castellon, Spain, near Barcelona on the Mediterranean Sea, on May 19, 1973, a trip of over 4,000 miles. The LAKE WINNIPEG in tow of the tug IRVING CEDAR arrived in Portugal on May 19, 1985. She was the largest Canadian laker and the first Seaway-sized ship, as of that date, to be scrapped.

On 19 May 1835, PARROTT (wooden 2-mast schooner, 43 foot, 20 tons, built in 1834, at Ashtabula, Ohio) sailed for Detroit, Michigan carrying iron, glass, whiskey, and hogs on deck. She never made it. The following day, west of Ashtabula, many of the hogs swam ashore and later a lot of gear from the boat drifted to the beach. No storm was mentioned and all six onboard lost their lives. She had been enrolled to a new owner the day before she set sail.

On 19 May 1876, the Port Huron Times reported that Capt. Alexander McDougall, formerly master of the steamer JAPAN, had built a large steam fish boat named SASKIWIT at Buffalo during the winter and was then sailing from there to Marquette, Michigan.



Port Reports - May 19

Duluth, Minn. - Daniel Lindner
CSL Laurentien departed from CN at 6:40 a.m. on Sunday morning. She was the only ship of the day, but Monday is expected to be busier. Federal Mattawa is due to arrive for anchor off Duluth in the early morning to wait for an opening at CHS 1. Spruceglen is expected to arrive Duluth on her first visit of the season, arriving in the morning for Midwest Energy. CSL's Thunder Bay is also due in the morning for Midwest Energy to load coal after Spruceglen. Next is Capt. Henry Jackman, expected in the late afternoon with salt for Hallett #8. She will then shift to Burlington Northern in Superior to load taconite. Arthur M. Anderson is expected to arrive Duluth in the evening with limestone for Hallett #5. She will shift to CN, Duluth to load after discharging. Mamry is then expected to depart from CHS 1 in the evening. The Greek saltie Apollon, currently anchored, will then arrive to load grain at CHS 1.

Saginaw River - Todd Shorkey
The tug Zeus and her tank barge, Robert F. Deegan, were outbound from the Dow Chemical dock on Saturday. The pair had arrived to unload on Friday. The tug Gregory J. Busch was outbound from the Saginaw River Saturday afternoon. The Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber remained tied up at the Writ Stone Dock in Bay City as of late Sunday night. Strong currents in the Saginaw River are preventing the pair from turning safely and heading outbound for the lake.

Buffalo, N.Y. – Brian W.
Sunday the American Mariner was unloading at General Mill's Frontier Elevator, the Rebecca Lynn and barge A-397 remained at Noco in Tonawanda. The Bristol Bay was notched up in her buoy barge and headed out the North Entrance that morning.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Cheboygan River dredging to start in August

5/20 - Cheboygan, Mich. – Cheboygan Clerk/Treasurer Kenneth Kwiatkowski reported the dredging of the Cheboygan River will begin in late August and continue through September.

The dredging was made possible when Congress appropriated additional funding for ongoing work in the fiscal year 2014 Energy and Water Development Appropriations act as contained in the 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act.

The U.S. Army Corps of engineers developed an allocation plan, which included $46.5 million in additional funds for the entire Great Lakes, for high priority work packages based on criteria established by Congress. The Cheboygan River dredging project is slated to receive $610,000 of those funds.

Kwiatkowski said the contract for the dredging will be let in early August, and 30,000 cubic yards of river bottom will be moved from the river beginning in late August.

“The main focus will be on facilitating the (U.S. Coast Guard Cutter) Mackinaw and the oil tanker that comes in to U.S. Oil,” explained Kwiatkowski. “The other thing they had us do was give them a wish list. … Once they are done with their initial work and they still have additional capacities they might hit some of these areas,” he added.

Cheboygan Mayor Richard Sangster said the wish list includes some of the high spots in the turning basin and some areas near the State Street Bridge.

“There were some (areas) up by the bridge that Curt Plaunt (Plaunt Transportation) had questions with, some pilings that have come exposed and a few navigational hazards if they have time. Mr. Plaunt is going to get ahold of them with those waypoints to tell them exactly where they are at,” said Sangster.

Councilwoman Winifred Riddle asked Sangster what plans there were for the material removed from the river. “Sometimes that is rich in nutritional value for the ground,” said Riddle.

Sangster said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineering would be getting back with the city with the plan to dispose of the material.

“Since it's their project, they have the choice, but we have the access to put it on our property to dry it off if need be,” said Sangster.


Lookback #184 – Torondoc torpedoed and sunk in Caribbean on May 20, 1942

5/20 - The first Torondoc was operated on the Caribbean during World War Two helping to transport bauxite when it was torpedoed and sunk 72 year ago today.

Torondoc had a full cargo when it sailed from Trinidad on May 18, 1942, for St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. The ship never arrived and was ultimately listed as “lost with all hands”. German broadcasts claimed that the ship was sunk by U-69 on May 20 in a position of 14.45 N / 62.15 W. All 23 on board died.

Subsequent information suggests that Torondoc actually went down west of Martinique on May 21 but for the purposes of this report we will use the date provided by the German broadcast.

Torondoc had been built at Newcastle, England, and launched on April 14, 1927. It crossed the Atlantic for Great Lakes service in the Paterson Steamships fleet and carried grain, coal, ore and pulpwood. The 260 foot long bulk carrier was registered at 1927 gross tons.

A second Torondoc, the former Saracen, was added to the Paterson fleet in 1954 and survived until scrapping at Toronto in 1962.



Today in Great Lakes History - May 20

On 20 May 1872, the ironclad passenger/package freight steamer MERCHANT struck a rock and sank at the mouth of the Detroit River. No one was injured. The wrecking tugs MAGNET and HERCULES took off the cargo of railroad iron and general merchandise, then attached two pontoons, but the vessel would not budge. On 26 May, the steamers MACKINAW and SWEEPSTAKES joined the scene and d two more pontoons. With all the steam pumps working, the MERCHANT still would not budge. Two days later, two more pontoons were added and the MERCHANT finally floated free and was towed to Detroit for repairs. She had two holes in her hull, one of which was a gash 23 feet long.

On May 20, 1909, while lying at the Lackawanna Coal Dock at Buffalo, New York, the LeGRAND S. DEGRAFF was struck by the SONORA, which caused $4,000 in damage to the DEGRAFF. Later renamed b.) GEORGE G. CRAWFORD in 1911. She was scrapped at Duluth, Minnesota in 1976.

The STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT sank on Lake Huron two miles above Port Huron, Michigan in a collision with the steamer AUGUST ZIESING on May 20, 1960, with no loss of life.

On May 20, 1967, during docking maneuvers in the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River, the W.W. HOLLOWAY's KaMeWa propeller shaft sheared off and the propeller reportedly sank to the bottom.

The RENOWN (Hull#396) was launched May 20, 1912, at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. for the Standard Oil Co. Renamed b.) BEAUMONT PARKS in 1930 and c.) MERCURY in 1957.

WILLIAM A. McGONAGLE (Hull#154) was launched May 20, 1916, at Ecorse, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. Renamed b.) HENRY STEINBRENNER in 1986.

On 20 May 1862, BAY CITY (wooden propeller tug, 199 foot, 480 tons, built in 1852, at Trenton, Michigan) sprang a leak in a storm and sank near Port Burwell, Ontario. She then washed in to shallow water. Her crew was rescued by the tug WINSLOW. Her engine and boiler were removed in June and July of that year.

On 20 May 1875, the passenger package freight vessel GLADYS was launched at D. Lestor's yard in Marine City, Michigan for the Toledo & Saginaw Transportation Company. Her dimensions were 135 feet overall x 26 feet x 10 feet. She had twelve staterooms and along with ample cargo space. The pilot house was forward, 8 feet square and 11 feet high. The engines, from the old ESTABROOK and, previous to that, from DAN RHODES, were two high-pressure double engines acting on one shaft with an 8 foot propeller. She also had a pony engine to feed water to the boilers and wash the decks. She was sold Canadian in 1877, and renamed NORTHERN BELLE and lasted until November 1898, when she burned on Georgian Bay.

1923 – The steel bulk carrier EDWARD U. DEMMER sank in the deep waters of Lake Huron after a collision with the SATURN at 0740 hours, in heavy fog, while about 40 miles southeast of Thunder Bay Island. All on board were saved.

1924 – STATE OF OHIO, an iron sidewheel passenger steamer, burned at Cleveland on this date in 1924. It was rebuilt as a barge but stranded on the main breakwall at Lorain on December 17, 1929, and became a total loss.

1928 – CLEARWATER stranded near Trinity Bay, in the St. Lawrence while inbound with a cargo of pulpwood and was blown on the beach. The brand-new vessel was abandoned to the insurers but the hull was salvaged in July, repaired and returned to service later in the year as TRENORA. It last sailed as KEYSHEY in 1963.

1942 – TORONDOC of the Paterson fleet went south for the bauxite trade during World War Two. German broadcasts reported that it was torpedoed and sunk by U-69 on this date. All of the 23-member crew were lost when the ship went down in the vicinity of the French island of Martinique.

1945 – CALGARY had operated on the Great Lakes from 1912 to 1916 but left for the sea and was converted to a tanker in 1921. The ship was renamed b) BACOI and served on coastal runs for Standard Oil and even returned to the Great Lakes in 1938. It suffered an explosion and fire while in the Cape Cod Canal on this date in 1945 and had to be beached. It was scrapped at Jersey City in 1948.

1946 – The Georgian Bay area passenger ship MANITOULIN stranded at Clapperton Island but was released the next day by the tug NORTHERN.

1960 – The STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT settled on the bottom of Lake Huron, with her decks above water, after a collision in fog with the upbound AUGUST ZIESING. The former was refloated, sold to Redwood Enterprises and came into Canadian service as ELMDALE. The latter resumed trading for U.S. Steel after bow repairs.

1960 – PAUL H. TOWNSEND was hit from behind by the British freighter TYNEMOUTH on foggy Lake Huron while trying to avoid the wrecked STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT and the anchored AUGUST ZIESING. The PAUL H. TOWNSEND had stern plates damaged while the salty sustained bow damage. TYNEMOUTH had become a regular Seaway trader in 1959 and made 18 trips inland through 1967. It ran aground off Fuga Island, the Philippines as b) EASTERN RIVER on April 24, 1971, and became a total loss.

1981 – The West German freighter VIRGILIA made 30 trips to the Great Lakes between 1959 and 1967. It was renamed b) MARIA in 1974 and suffered an engineroom fire in the Red Sea and had to be abandoned while enroute from Mersin, Turkey, to Bombay, India, on this date in 1981. The hull was towed to shallow water and beached about 5 miles south of Suez. It was later sold, via auction, and apparently scrapped as c) FARIDA II at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, in 1989.

[ppat324]

On 21 May 1883, SAILOR BOY (2-mast wooden scow-schooner, 75 foot, 76 net tons, built in 1866, at Algonac, Michigan) was carrying wood from Pierport, Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She anchored outside Milwaukee harbor waiting for a gale to abate but she broke her anchor chains and was driven aground. Her crew of three made it to shore on a line with help from bystanders on the beach.

AMERICAN REPUBLIC's maiden voyage was on May 21, 1981, from Sturgeon Bay light to Escanaba, Michigan, to load ore pellets for Cleveland, Ohio. She now sails as GREAT REPUBLIC.

Interlake Steamship Co.'s HENRY G. DALTON's maiden voyage was on May 21, 1916. She was scrapped at Vado, Italy, in 1973.

UNITED STATES GYPSUM in tow of the German tug FAIRPLAY X was lost in heavy weather on May 21, 1973, near Sydney, Nova Scotia.

G.A. TOMLINSON, a.) D.O. MILLS, stranded near Buffalo, New York, on Lake Erie on May 21, 1974, suffering an estimated $150,000 in damage.

The 143-foot wooden brig JOSEPH was launched at Bay City, Michigan, on by Alexander Tromley & Company. She was built by the owner.

On 21 May 1864, the NILE (wooden passenger/package freight vessel, 190 foot, 650 tons, built in 1852, at Ohio City, Ohio) was sitting at her dock in Detroit, Michigan, with passengers, household goods, and horses and wagons aboard when her boiler exploded, destroying the ship and killing eight of the crew. Large pieces of her boiler flew as far as 300 feet while other pieces damaged houses across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario. A large timber was thrown through the brick wall of a nearby shoe store, striking the cobbler in the back of the head and killing him. At least 13 other crew members and passengers were injured. The wreck was moved to the foot of Clark Street in Detroit in July 1864, where it remained until it was finally dynamited in August 1882.

May 21, 1923 - ANN ARBOR NO 4 was refloated after sinking at Frankfort, Michigan, the previous February.

After spending three weeks in quarantine at Buffalo, New York, because of the discovery of smallpox on board, the steamer JOHN OADES has been released and has started on her way to Duluth.

1919: FERDINAND SCHLESSINGER, enroute from Erie, Pa., to Port Arthur, Ont., with 3,514 tons of coal, began leaking in a storm and sank 15 miles off Passage Island, Lake Superior. The crew was picked up by the ASSINIBOIA

1932: The C.P.R. passenger ship MANITOBA goes aground in Georgian Bay off Cape Croker in heavy fog and has to be lightered before being released the next day.

1942: TROISDOC is the latest member of the Paterson fleet to be a victim of enemy action in World War Two. It was torpedoed by U-558 about 40 miles west of Jamaica and the crew escaped in the lifeboats. The vessel was enroute from Mobile, AL to Georgetown, British Guiana, with 55,700 bags of cement, vegetables, 1600 cases of beer and cigarettes.

1963: The Taiwanese freighter VAN YUNG had visited the Great Lakes in 1960 and 1961. It was laid up at Keelung, Taiwan, on this day due to fire damage and was sold for scrap in October 1963.

1965: Leaks developed in the boiler room of the Norwegian freighter LIONNE and the ship, enroute from Caen, France, to Montreal, sank in the Atlantic. Two members of the crew were lost. The vessel had made 5 trips through the Seaway from 1961 to 1963.

1973: The retired American Steamship Company self-unloader UNITED STATES GYPSUM, under tow for scrapping at Vado, Italy, broke loose in the Atlantic off Sydney, NS and sank.

1979: The second PRINS WILLEM V, a Dutch freighter of 1956 vintage, was damaged extensively by a fire amidships while idle at Port Elizabeth, South Africa as f) ARAXOS. It has been for sale and was scrapped at Durban, South Africa, in 1981.

2007: A fire broke out in the engine room of the Canadian-owned salty UMIAVUT while enroute from Kolundborg, Denmark, to La Corogne, Spain, with 8600 tons of flour. The ship was towed into Brest, France, and repaired. It visited the Great Lakes as b) LINDENGRACHT in 2000 and was back as c) UMIAVUT in 2011.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Port Reports - May 22

Duluth, Minn. - Daniel Lindner
Duluth was busy with saltie and laker traffic on Wednesday. Overnight, Vancouverborg and BBC Celina arrived the anchorage, joining Elbeborg, Apollon and Federal Mattawa. Elbeborg arrived from anchor at 6:42 a.m. after waiting for fog to clear up, and went to Gavillon to load grain. BBC Celina arrived from the anchorage at 8:30 a.m. and went to CHS 2 to load grain. A few minutes later, Vancouverborg arrived from anchor, only to drop anchor again in the inner harbor. She is waiting for Elbeborg to finish at Gavillon. Also Wednesday, Indiana Harbor arrived at 5:56 a.m. and went to Midwest Energy to load coal, and John G. Munson departed from CN at 9:09 a.m. Finally, Indiana Harbor departed from Midwest Energy at 6:30 p.m. For Thursday, Roger Blough is due to arrive in the early morning for CN. Polsteam's Iryda is next, due in the morning for CHS 1 to load grain. Walter J. McCarthy Jr. is expected in the morning for Midwest Energy. Fellow 1,000 footer James R. Barker is also expected to arrive in the morning for CN. Fleetmate Paul R. Tregurtha is next, due to arrive in the early afternoon for Midwest Energy to load coal after Walter J. McCarthy Jr. BBC Celina, Walter J. McCarthy Jr, and Elbeborg are all expected to depart Thursday evening.

Thunder Bay - John Kuzma
Federal Margaree was at Thunder Bay Terminal. Federal Shimanto was loading at Vittera A. Algosoo was at the Current River Terminal and Labrador Richardson Terminal.

Milwaukee, Wis. - Chris Gaziano
Federal Oshima departed mid-morning for Burns Harbor. H. Lee White departed in the afternoon and made her way north on the lake.

Saginaw River - Todd Shorkey
The tug Manitou arrived on the Saginaw River on Tuesday, tying up at the Lafarge Cement dock in Essexville. She is here to assist the Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber in getting turned so the pair can finally depart after being tied up at Bay City Wirt for over a week due to strong currents in the river. The tug Zeus and tank barge Robert F. Deegan were back again, arriving at the Dow Chemical dock in Bay City during the afternoon on Wednesday. The pair was at the same dock on the 16th.

Oswego N.Y. - Ned Goebricher
Wednesday the Stephen B. Roman was unloading cement.





When will Lake Superior ice melt?

5/22 - Duluth, Minn. – It's starting to feel like summer, but it doesn't look like it on Lake Superior. Ice is still stacked up on the Duluth shoreline. "It's definitely something else," Jerry Enget said.

It's not a pleasant sight for some after our brutally cold winter. "It's definitely a lingering trace of the unpleasant cold," said Darren Houser. Lake Superior is still about three percent covered with ice.

"The ice right now is still extensive in some areas," Ron Williams, with the National Weather Service, said. "We've had just tons of ice and it just hasn't been able to melt.”

The areas packed with ice include the head of the lake and the Apostle Islands.

"Starting this weekend, we are going to have a south wind," Williams said. "It will push that ice to the north."

That along with warmer weather will start melting the ice fast. Williams predicts an ice out will take place the first week of June.

Williams said the water is still hovering around 34 degrees. The ice will melt faster once the lake reaches 40 degrees.

WDIO





Port Sanilac floats resort hotel dream

5/22 - Port Sanilac, Mich. – Dave Marschall watches over 68 boat slips tucked inside the Port Sanilac Harbor.

While Marschall knows proposed plans for a hotel at the harbor are very preliminary, he said if those plans come to reality, it could change the village.

“I think it will definitely take off, definitely enhance and bring a lot of tourists and visitors,” the harbor master said.

A Chicago firm has launched a feasibility study to test whether the harbor and the village could sustain a resort hotel. The developer and village will share the cost of the study.

Mike Pattullo, an architect in Petoskey, said his brother Scott started accumulating property on the northern edge of the harbor about eight years ago. After the village approached them about incorporating publicly owned property with their parcels, the brothers drafted a concept.

Mike Pattullo said the preliminary plans include a hotel with 24 suites, cottages and carriage houses, a banquet facility, restaurant and bar, pool and retail space. Because the proposed footprint would include land the current harbor master’s office is on, it would also include room for Marschall and other harbor facilities.

The Pattullo brothers grew up in the Port Sanilac area.

“The goal is to create — both by water and by land — Port Sanilac as a destination,” said Mike Pattullo, president of Shoreline Architecture and Design. “The idea is really to make it for the boaters as well as someone visiting by vehicle. This hotel and its amenities are intended to service both.”

Results from the feasibility study are expected in June. Pattullo said the project would not move forward without winning a recommendation from the study.

“We’re trying to find out what is this product, what are the demands in this area, and of that demand, what are they looking for?” Pattullo said. “We love the area, and we see the opportunity to really create this resort that would be in close proximity to these major markets. But we don’t really know what the real demand is — we have a concept, and the village has brought in a terrific hospitality consultant to look at it.

“Until it comes back, we don’t know yet.”

Tim Cheek, chairman of the Port Sanilac Downtown Development Authority, said a study done a few years ago found the village in need of a hotel.

“I think Port Sanilac is prime for some lodging. We have become a tourist destination,” Cheek said.

Cheek said that how the $25,000 bill for the feasibility study will be split between the DDA and Patullo has not yet been determined.

Cheek said having the project owned and led by people experienced in development is a benefit for the village.

“They are capable of doing something like this. It’s about as win-win as you can get,” he said.

Port Huron Times Herald





River Walk undergoes finishing touches

5/22 - Port Huron, Mich. – Four years ago, with no money in the bank for the project, officials at the Community Foundation of St. Clair County thought it would take eight to 10 years to complete the Blue Water River Walk.

But $6 million worth of work has changed that, and crews are back at the site of the river walk, gearing up for its June 7 grand opening.

“It’s really celebrating and finally recognizing all of the partners that made it possible,” said Randy Maiers, president and chief executive officer at the community foundation.

The foundation and St. Clair County are partners in the development along the St. Clair River shoreline south of the Black River. The river walk is restoring about 4,300 feet of the shoreline while also opening it to the public.

The biggest part of the celebration is acknowledging the about $6 million of investment that has gone into the project through state and federal grants, as well as donations.

“It’s very humbling to see it from ground zero and the very beginning to now,” Maiers said. “When we started this project, we didn’t have a single dollar for it.”

Workers will be installing signs, benches and public art as well as underwater plantings up and down the shoreline.

“All of these pieces really help put the finishing touches on it,” Maiers said.

Workers raised a dock for the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets ship Grayfox, and DTE Energy finished removing the last of 12 utility poles in the area so new underground power could be put in.

A fishing pier is still on the wish list for the project, Maiers said. With no money available for that piece, it could come late this fall or next summer. He said it is expected to cost about $125,000.

“That’s our final big component,” he said.

Another big component is the wetlands at the end of the walk. A Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant was used to buy 2.75 acres of property near the Seaway Terminal from Acheson Ventures. The acquisition of the land was used as the match for the federal grant, which totals $1,039,500, said Mark Brochu, county parks and recreation director.

In addition to being a new habitat for fish and wildlife, the area also will have interpretive features so visitors can get a close look at the native species of the area.

County officials have met with representatives from the Department of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Natural Resources for a pre-permit application meeting, Brochu said.

He said the final permit is expected to be submitted soon. Pending its approval, work could start in late summer or early fall. If that’s the case, the wetland restoration could be done by summer 2015, Brochu said.

Other items included in the plan such as walkways, signage and a fishing pier will be done as funding becomes available.

The county should know by December if it was approved for a grant from the DNR’s Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund to buy an additional 2.1 acres from Acheson Ventures. The land is just west of the location for a planned fishing pier and public access site on the Blue Water River Walk.

Port Huron Times Herald





Door County seeks bids for Cana Island Lighthouse restoration

5/22 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – Over the last five years, the Door County Maritime Museum and Door County Parks Department have successfully raised over $2.5 million through grants and donations for improvements and restoration work at the historic Cana Island Light Station in Baileys Harbor. Additional funding is still needed to complete all restoration projects this summer.

Door County Parks, in close partnership with the Door County Maritime Museum, maintains Cana Island as part of the Door County Parks System. Door County acquired Cana Island from the Federal Government in May of 2007. A condition of the transfer was that Door County would pursue restoration and improvements to the park. Over 40,000 visitors annually now access the island, all seeking historical lighthouse experiences set in the landscape of the Lake Michigan shoreline.

A comprehensive Historic Structure Report was completed in 2009 outlining the stabilization and restoration work needed on the islands historic buildings.

The Door County Parks Department is currently seeking bids for this restoration work along with hazardous material abatement for the Cana Island Light Station. Bids must be submitted to and received by the Door County Parks Department by the first week of June.

The restoration project planned consists of renovating the five historic buildings, including the lighthouse tower, the Keepers Residence, the oil house, barn, and privy. Project work also includes the abatement of hazardous materials including asbestos containing materials and lead based paint.

Specifications, for full particulars and description of the work, product and/or service and instructions may be obtained from the Door County website tab Invitation to Bid/RFP at www.co.door.wi.gov.

To make a donation for the islands preservation effort, Illuminating Our Heritage, please call the Door County Maritime Museum at [phone] or visit www.dcmm.org.





Port of Duluth-Superior to celebrate National Maritime Day Thursday, May 22

5/22 - Duluth, Minn. - U.S. Merchant Marine veterans, current seafarers and maritime industry stakeholders will gather today (May 22) to celebrate National Maritime Day in the Port of Duluth-Superior. The event is set for noon at the Holiday Inn Great Lakes Ballroom (lower level).

The commemorative event, sponsored locally by the Propeller Club of Duluth-Superior, commences with a memorial service to honor seafarers past and present, followed by a luncheon, special presentations, and a keynote address by noted author, historian and maritime expert C. Patrick Pat Labadie, whose program is entitled, Keeping Maritime History Alive.

National Maritime Day is a tradition that recognizes Americas Merchant Marine for their legacy of service and sacrifice, safeguarding our nation and its trade corridors during times of war and peace. The date, May 22, commemorates the sailing of the first steam vessel across the Atlantic Ocean in 1819, the SS Savannahs voyage from Georgia to Liverpool, England.

Today, National Maritime Day is observed across the country as a combined salute to merchant mariners, veterans and the entire maritime industry, focusing attention on the importance of maritime and its value to Americas economy, national security, balance of trade and quality of life.





Help Wanted: Relief steward

5/22 - The Interlake Steamship Company has an immediate need for relief stewards. Qualified applicants should possess a current USCG MMC and DHS TWIC card along with a background in food service. Information concerning working for us can be found at www.interlake-steamship.com. Please send your resume in strictest confidence to [e-mail]





Lookback #186 – Joseph Block surrendered to underwriters after grounding on May 22, 1968

5/22 - It was 46 years ago today that the bulk carrier Joseph Block, en route to Escanaba, Mich., went aground in the Porte des Mortes Passage of Green Bay. While the vessel was released the same day, it was heavily damaged and surrendered to the underwriters as a total loss.

Later in the year, the 61-year-old, 569-foot-long vessel was sold to Lake Shipping. Following repairs at South Chicago, it returned to service in 1969 as the George M. Steinbrenner after being transferred to the Kinsman Marine Transit Co.

The aging vessel was idle at Toledo in 1975 and 1976 but resumed trading on May 4, 1977, using needed parts salvaged from the retired Chicago Trader. But it was only a temporary reprieve and the George M. Steinbrenner was tied up again at Toledo on June 15, 1977.

Following a sale to Marine Salvage for scrap, the ship arrived at Ramey's Bend, Port Colborne, on August 25, 1978, and was gradually dismantled in 1979-80.

Skip Gillham





Today in Great Lakes History - May 22

On 22 May 1901, FRANK H. PEAVEY (steel propeller bulk freighter, 430 foot, 5,002 gross tons) was launched at the American Ship Building Company (Hull #309) in Lorain, Ohio, for the Peavey Syndicate. She lasted until 1934, when she struck the south pier while entering Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and was declared a constructive total loss and scrapped the following year.

A.H. FERBERT (Hull#289) was launched this day in 1942, at River Rouge, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. May 22nd was the tenth National Maritime Day and on that day 21 other ships were launched nationwide to celebrate the occasion. The "super" IRVING S. OLDS was launched the same day at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. This marked the last of the "Super Carrier" build program. The others were the BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS, LEON FRASER and ENDERS M. VOORHEES.

SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY sailed under her own power down the Seaway on May 22, 1969, for the last time and arrived at Quebec City.

BAYFAIR was launched as the a.) COALHAVEN (Hull#134) at Haverton-Hill-on-Tees, U.K. by Furness Shipbuilding Co. in 1928.

While bound for Escanaba, Michigan to load ore, the JOSEPH BLOCK grounded at Porte des Morts Passage, on Green Bay, May 22, 1968, and was released the same day by the Roen tug ARROW. The BLOCK's hull damage extended to 100 bottom plates. Surrendered to the under-writers and sold in June that year to Lake Shipping Inc. Built as the a.) ARTHUR H. HAWGOOD in 1907, She was renamed c.) GEORGE M. STEINBRENNER in 1969, she was scrapped at Ramey’s Bend in 1979.

The 143-foot wooden brig JOSEPH was launched at Bay City, Michigan, on 21 May 1867. She was built for Alexander Tromley & Company.

CITY OF NEW BALTIMORE was launched at David Lester's yard in Marine City, Michigan, on 22 May 1875. Her master carpenter was John J. Hill. She was a wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel built for the Detroit-New Baltimore route. Her dimensions were 96 foot keel, 101 feet overall x 20 feet x 6 foot 6 inches, 130 tons. Her boiler was made by J. & T. McGregor of Detroit. Her engine was built by Morton Hamblin & Company of St. Clair, Michigan. She was rebuilt as a tug in 1910, and lasted until abandoned in 1916.

1914: W.H. GILBERT sank in Lake Huron, about 15 miles off Thunder Bay Island following a collision with CALDERA. There was no loss of life. The hull was located in 1982 and rests at a depth of about 200 feet. CALDERA later became b) A.T. KINNEY and c) HILLSDALE.

1942: FRANK B. BAIRD was sunk by gunfire from U-158 on the Atlantic while bound for Sydney, NS with a cargo of bauxite. All of the crew were saved and later picked up by the Norwegian freighter TALISMAN and landed at Pointe Noire, French Equatorial Guinea

1978: AGIOS NICOLAOS, a Seaway caller in 1968, was about 60 miles north of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, enroute to Kuwait, when an explosion and subsequent fire erupted in the engine room. The ship was gutted, towed into Kuwait and abandoned. The vessel was later broken up. As a) BORGHOLM, it began trading to the Great Lakes in 1953 and made 21 voyages through the Seaway from 1959 to 1967.

1979: IRISH PINE made 19 trips through the Seaway from 1960 through 1964 for Irish Shipping. It arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on this date in 1979 as c) ARAMON. The ship had been traveling from Piraeus, Greece, to Port Sudan, Sudan, when the cargo of bitumen solidified in the holds. The vessel was sold for scrap and dispatched to Kaohsiung to be dismantled by the Taiwan Ship Scrap Co. Ltd., with the cargo still on board. Work began on July 18, 1979

[ppat324]

5/23 - Washington, DC – The U.S. Senate gave final passage to a water resources development bill Thursday that could substantially increase funding for Great Lakes navigation projects, including those in Michigan.

Both Michigan senators -- Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats -- supported the legislation, which now goes to President Barack hateful muslim traitor, who is expected to sign it into law quickly. The bill passed with only 4 votes against in the U.S. House earlier this week.

“Protecting our lakes and maintaining our ports, harbors and waterways is essential to keeping the economy growing and preserving Michigan’s natural beauty for generations to come,” said Stabenow. She noted it also gives the federal authorities greater tools to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.

As the Free Press wrote last week when the House-Senate compromise was unveiled, the legislation doesn’t spell out how much more could be available for Great Lakes projects but should result in an increase in funding. Congressional appropriators are still left to determine how much is spent on water projects overall each year.

The bill calls for expenditures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, built on fees collected from shippers, to increase each year so that by 2025 all of that collected is used for operation and maintenance activities. The Free Press has written how much of the fund has gone unspent despite a backlog in projects; the new legislation calls for 10% of funding increases to be dedicated to the Great Lakes.

Levin, in particular, had been agitating for years to increase funding for projects from the trust fund.

U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, was the only Michigan member of Congress to serve on the House-Senate conference committee that developed the compromise. It also included a proposal she authored along with U.S. Reps. Dan Benishek, R-Crystal Falls, and Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, to designate the Great Lakes as a comprehensive navigation system when the Army Corps of Engineers prioritizes projects.

Huizenga said that new classification “means harbors throughout the region will be able to handle more cargo, which will lead to increased economic activity and most importantly, more jobs” and put the Great Lakes on “equal footing” with other water systems in the U.S. when it comes to prioritizing infrastructure projects.

The legislation passed the Senate overwhelmingly, 91-7.




UNIQUE (wooden propeller passenger steamer, 163 foot, 381 gross tons, built in 1894, at Marine City, Michigan) was sold to Philadelphia parties for service on the Delaware River. She left Ogdensburg, New York, on 23 May 1901, for Philadelphia. Her name was changed to DIAMOND STATE. In 1904, she was rebuilt as a yacht and lasted until 1915, when she burned in New York harbor.

The WILLIAM J. DE LANCEY was re-christened on May 23,1990, as b.) PAUL R. TREGURTHA. She is the largest ship on the Great Lakes and was the last Great Lakes ship built at American Ship Building Co., Lorain, Ohio.

American Steamship's H. LEE WHITE completed sea trials on May 23, 1974.

FRED R. WHITE Jr. completed her two-day sea trials in 1979.

The Tomlinson Fleet Corp.'s steel freighter SONOMA (Hull#610) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan, by West Bay City Ship Building Co. on 23 May 1903. She was 416 feet long, 4,539 gross tons. Through her career she had various names: DAVID S TROXEL in 1924, SONOMA in 1927 and finally FRED L. HEWITT in 1950. She was converted to an automobile carrier in 1928, converted back to a bulk carrier in 1942 and then converted to a barge for grain storage in 1955. She was finally scrapped in 1962, at Steel Co. of Canada Ltd. at Hamilton, Ontario.

On 23 May 1889, the wooden steam barge OSCAR T. FLINT (218 foot, 824 gross tons) was launched at the Simon Langell & Sons yard in St. Clair, Michigan. She lasted until 25 November 1909, when she burned and sank off Thunder Bay Island in Lake Huron.

1910: The first FRANK H. GOODYEAR, with a load of ore for Cleveland, was almost cut in two and sank off Pointe aux Barques following a collision in dense fog with the JOSEPH WOOD. Only five sailors survived while another 16 were lost.

1954: EASTDALE, operating on charter to Reoch Transports, ran aground at Collingwood and was refloated May 29. The ship had also visited the Great Lakes as SPRINGDALE and was lost in the Gulf of Bothnia on June 18, 1959, when the cargo of timber shifted in heavy weather.

1959: The Liberian freighter ANDORA, outbound with a cargo of barley, stranded on a shoal below the Snell Lock and proved to be a difficult salvage. The ship initially broke free, spun around and grounded again and was not released until June 18. The cargo was unloaded but ANDORA was deemed not worth repairing and arrived at Savona, Italy, for dismantling on August 15, 1959.

1974: The Canadian tanker CARDINAL, best known as the former IMPERIAL WINDSOR, was badly damaged following a collision with the HENRY STEINBRENNER (iii), in Lake Erie off Point Pelee. The former was never repaired and subsequently scrapped, while the latter went to Lorain for about $100,000 worth of repairs.

1974: A fire broke out in the engine room of the ONTARIO during a voyage from Santos, Brazil, to Montreal and assistance was requested. The Canadian owned vessel had been upbound through the Seaway for the first time on November 8, 1973. The blaze was put out and the ship arrived at Montreal June 6, 1974. It was sold the following month to Tunisian buyers and scrapped as c) REMADA following another fire at Barcelona, Spain, on January 2, 1987.

1988: The first ALGOCAPE, which had run aground in the Lake St. Louis section of the St. Lawrence on May 21, was refloated on this day and cleared to proceed to Baie Comeau, QC, to unload.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - May 27 CANADIAN PIONEER (Hull#67) was launched May 27, 1981, at St. Catharines, Ontario, by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd. She was renamed b.) PIONEER in 1987.

NANTICOKE was christened in 1980, for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd.

CHARLES DICK (Hull#71) was launched in 1922, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. for National Sand & Material Co. Ltd.

The PETER REISS left Duluth, Minnesota May 27, 1910, on her maiden voyage with iron ore for Ashtabula, Ohio. She was converted to a self-unloader in 1949, and scrapped at Ramey's Bend in 1973.

HENRY STEINBRENNER was towed from Toledo's Lakefront Dock in 1994, for the scrap yard at Port Maitland, Ontario.

The tug SMITH burned near Bay City, Michigan, on 27 May 1872. Her loss was valued at $7,000 but there was no insurance on her.

The ferry SARNIA made her first trip as a carferry between Port Huron and Sarnia on 27 May 1879. She had burned in January 1879, then was converted to a carferry and served in that capacity during the summer. In September, 1879, she was converted to a barge.

The tug GORMAN, sunk by the steamer CITY OF BUFFALO was raised. She is not much injured. The local steamboat inspectors have taken up the case of the collision. The crew of the tug claim that their boat was run over by the CITY OF BUFFALO and the appearance of the wreck carries out their declaration, for the tug shows that the steamer struck her straight aft.

27 May 1898 - The tug WINSLOW arrived in Bay City, Michigan, from Georgian Bay with a raft of logs for Eddy Bros. & Co. The tug NIAGARA arrived from the same bay with a raft for Pitts & Co. The sawmills along the Saginaw river are now nearly all in operation.

1933 GEORGE M. COX hit Rock of Ages Reef in Lake Superior on its first trip after previous service as PURITAN. The vessel had 121 passengers and freight on board when it struck the reef in the early morning in fog. The ship hung at a precarious angle until all were rescued and then, during an October storm, the vessel slid back into deep water.



Senators push for new Great Lakes shipping lock at Sault Ste. Marie

5/27 - A group of U.S. senators is pressing federal officials to reconsider building another navigational lock at Sault Ste. Marie to provide a link for Great Lakes freighters.

The Poe Lock is the only one of the Soo Locks that can accommodate large vessels hauling most of the freight between Lake Superior and the other lakes. If the Poe were disabled for long, it would disrupt shipments of iron ore, coal and other crucial commodities.

In a letter to the Corps this week, Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan and 10 colleagues said an agency cost-benefit analysis wrongly concluded that all cargo shipped through the locks could be transported by rail if necessary.

The senators asked the Corps to redo the analysis and make construction of a second Poe-sized lock a priority.

Detroit Free Press





Cargo barges traffic increases on New York canal system

5/27 - Cargo barges are becoming a more common sight on the state's 524-mile canal system as shippers begin to appreciate their ability to move oversize shipments or heavy items that might tax a truck or rail car.

The nearly 100,000 tons of cargo shipped last year were the most in two decades, more than double the 43,000 tons shipped in 2012.

Canal officials say they expect another busy season this year.

One of the largest shippers is Troy-based NYS Marine Highway Transportation Co., which last year moved grain from Canada to New York state across Lake Ontario and through the Oswego and Erie canals, and delivered concrete vaults used to contain spent nuclear fuel to a site in Wisconsin, after picking them up in Virginia. The company also exported soybeans, and brought back a small shipment of cheese from Kewaunee, Wis., on Lake Michigan.

The cheese, said Rob Goldman, one of the owners, was "just for fun." Transformers, condensers and other so-called project cargo also moved by barge, Goldman said.

Shane Mahar, a spokesman for New York State Canal Corp., said some shipments on the canal were delivered to the GlobalFoundries semiconductor plant in Malta or to General Electric Co. in Schenectady. And much of the grain was delivered to an ethanol plant in Fulton, Oswego County.

Two years ago, Goldman's company moved fighter aircraft to the Empire State Aerosciences Museum at Schenectady County Airport.

Western New York producers of components for the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement are considering using the canal to move the parts to the construction site on the Hudson River.

The state canal system began operating on extended summer hours Thursday, with most locks and lift bridges operating on request from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Sept. 10, and several high-volume locks and lift bridges operating from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Boaters this year will be able to buy two-day, 10-day and season-long canal passes online, Mahar said.

"Most people have smartphones and travel with iPads" or other tablet devices, he said, and can display their electronic passes on the devices' screens.

Forty-five miles of the canal system in western New York — Lock CS-1 on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal and the Erie Canal between Three Rivers and Lock E-25 in Mays Point — remain closed because of heavy rainfall last weekend.

The canal system also suffered heavy damage from tropical storms Irene and Lee in 2011, causing delays for boaters. "If Mother Nature played nice," Mahar said Thursday, "we'd be open every day."

Times Union





Competition springs up between Canadian, U.S. tour boats at Niagara Falls

5/27 - Niagara Falls, Ont. – For more than 150 years, the Maid of the Mist tour boats have been all alone below Niagara Falls as they’ve ferried tourists close enough to be drenched by the spray.

But this tourist season, a second set of boats is navigating the Niagara Gorge.

The Maid of the Mist Steamboat Co. continues to launch from the American shore but lost its Canadian contract to rival Hornblower Niagara Cruises, which set sail from across the river last week.

The Maid of the Mist, with its two 600-passenger steamship-style vessels, and Hornblower’s pair of 700-passenger catamarans offer virtually the same daytime experience: sailing poncho-clad passengers up to the 16-story walls of whitewater for views unrivaled on land.

Hornblower’s $25 million entry into the market includes plans for evening cocktail and fireworks cruises, as well as a redesigned plaza, self-serve ticket kiosks, double-deck loading docks and a pavilion that sells souvenirs by day and becomes party space at night.

“I’m big on tradition,” Hornblower Chairman and Chief Executive Terry MacRae said from a conference room overlooking the gorge Thursday as passengers pulled on red hooded ponchos and lined up to be part of first-day excursions. “But putting modern amenities in place is good business practice.”

About 200 feet across the Niagara River, groups of passengers in blue lined up for rides on the Maid of the Mist.

The captains agreed to alternate departure times for the 15- to 20-minute rides, one loading and unloading passengers while the other makes his figure eight through the gorge.

“The Maid of the Mist experience itself remains what it’s always been, an incredible voyage to the base of Niagara Falls,” said Kevin Keenan, a spokesman for the company that has carried celebrities and heads of state among its 85 million passengers since 1846.

For its part, the Maid of the Mist has added free Wi-Fi on board this season, renovated the ships’ restrooms and redesigned its website.

Both companies offer online ticketing. Hornblower charges adults about $18 (U.S.) for daytime cruises and the Maid of the Mist charges $17.

“We do appreciate the path that was paved by our competitor, the Maid of the Mist, in years past. It’s great we can build on that and expand it and provide some new amenities,” said MacRae, whose company operates cruises to the Statue of Liberty in New York City and Alcatraz Island in California.

San Francisco-based Hornblower was awarded a 30-year contract to operate the Niagara Falls tours in 2012 after the Niagara Parks Commission, for the first time, put the Ontario rights up for bid. The company was chosen over five other bidders, including Maid of the Mist.

The Maid of the Mist operates its trips from New York under a separate 40-year contract, good through 2042, with the New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Daily Freeman





Lookback #191 Roland Desgagnes sank on May 27, 1982, off Pointe au Pic, Quebec

5/27 - The Roland Desgagnes, built at Montreal as the first Frankcliffe Hall in 1952, ran aground in the St. Lawrence on May 26, 1982. The ship floated free with the high tide but sank within hours the next day around 0400 hours. The crew was rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard ship Ville-Marie.

Built as the first diesel powered canaller in the Hall Corporation of Canada fleet, Frankcliffe Hall mainly served in the ore, grain, coal and pulpwood trades. Due to the smaller engine room required for a diesel-powered ship, this vessel had a greater capacity than most of the other canal traders of that era.

Halco changed the name to Northcliffe Hall in 1962 and operated the ship through the 1970 season before it was laid up at Prescott. The vessel was towed to Kingston in 1971 and remained there until sold to offshore interests. It departed, under her own power, on Dec. 15, 1974, for Sorel. Following stops at Sorel, Halifax and Saint John, NB, the ship headed south with a cargo of newsprint later in the spring as Northcliffe.

The vessel was idle again, this time at Houston, Texas, when it was resold to Groupe Desgagnes. It returned north as Roland Desgagnes in 1976 and combined Great Lakes and St. Lawrence trading until it was lost 32 years ago today.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Money is sure as hell no substitute for good taste is it??? This is #2 hull of this design out of Palmer Johnsons' out of Sturgeon Bay... $50M as a WAG





Today in Great Lakes History - May 28

On 28 March 1997, the USS Great Lakes Fleet's PHILIP R. CLARKE set a record for a salt cargo on a U.S.-flag laker when she loaded 25,325 tons at Fairport, Ohio for delivery to Toledo, Ohio. The previous record was 25,320 tons carried by American Steamship's AMERICAN REPUBLIC in 1987.

On 28 March 1848, COLUMBUS (wooden sidewheeler, 391 tons, built in 1835, at Huron, Ohio) struck a pier at Dunkirk, New York during a storm and sank. The sidewheeler FASHION struck the wreck in November of the same year and was seriously damaged.

1935: THOMAS LYNCH and the Norwegian freighter BA collided on a foggy Lake Superior and the former received a hole above the waterline. The saltwater vessel dated from 1921 and was torpedoed and lost in the North Atlantic on July 8, 1941, as c) INGA I.

1942: JACK was torpedoed by U-155 and sunk on the Caribbean while about 100 miles southwest of Port Salut, Haiti. There were 37 lives lost among the 63 reported on board. The ship had been built at Lorain, Ohio, as a) LAKE FRESCO in 1919 and returned inland for package freight service as b) JACK in 1925.

1942: TINDEFJELL came to the Great Lakes for the Fjell Line beginning in 1937. It was taken over by the Germans in April 1941, while at a Norwegian port, and renamed SPERRBRECHER 174 in December. It is reported to have hit a mine and sunk off Dunkirk, France, on this date in 1942.

1982: The tug COMANCHE had an electrical fire while at DeTour, MI, and the blaze destroyed the cabins and pilothouse. The hull was surrendered to the underwriters on June 14 and it later sank while under tow off Ludington on December 12, 1985.

2006: The pilot boat PLACENTIA PILOT was built at Wheatley, ON, in 2000 and left the Great Lakes that December for service at Newfoundland. The ship hit the rocks and had to be beached while trying to put a pilot on the tanker TUVAQ. The ship was listed as a total loss but was salvaged. At last report, it was on a trailer at Port Hawkesbury, NS, pending repairs as b) STRAIT EAGLE.



Navigation suspended as Federal Kivalina loses steering

5/28 - Collins Landing, N.Y. – Shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway in the area of the American Narrows was halted Tuesday after a ship lost its steering and had to anchor near the Thousand Islands Bridge.

Nancy T. Alcalde, spokeswoman for the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., said the downbound Federal Kivalina reported losing its steering at 1:47 p.m. Tuesday, causing it to drop anchor about a third of a mile from the bridge. The ship was not grounded, she said, and the bridge remained open.

Witnesses at the scene said the ship dropped the bow anchors while approaching the bridge, allowing the ship to perform a 360-degree turn, thus preventing the ship from traveling downriver and risking collision with the bridge.

Alcalde said no pollution was released into the river and no one was injured. The U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards were en route to the scene Tuesday afternoon, with the U.S. Coast Guard leading the investigation into the incident.

A tugboat operated by Abaco Marina, Clayton, went to the scene soon after the incident, but returned to Clayton pending a plan for the ship’s removal. The 656-foot ship, bearing a Hong Kong flag, is carrying canola meal, Alcalde said.

Watertown Daily Times





Rand signs contract for new Canadian-flagged river class conversion

5/28 - Rand Logistics announced Tuesday that it has entered into a contract for the construction and assembly of a new forebody which will be affixed to the aft section of the company's recently-acquired Danish-flagged chemical tanker Lalandia Swan. When introduced into service in the second half of calendar 2015, this vessel will increase the size of Rand's fleet to 17, including 10 Canadian flagged and 7 U.S. flagged vessels, and will be the first new Canadian flagged river-class self-unloader introduced into service on the Great Lakes in over 40 years.

The conversion project will take place in Jiangyin, China at the Chengxi Shipyard. Chengxi Shipyard Co., Ltd. is one of the leading shipyards in China and is highly regarded globally for its specialized ship repair and large-scale conversion projects.

"We are very pleased to be working with the Chengxi shipyard on this important project for our company," said Scott Bravener, president of Lower Lakes Towing.

"As previously disclosed, much of the tonnage that will be dedicated to our 17th vessel is a result of market share gains that we have been awarded beginning in the 2015 sailing season. Subsequent to introducing the vessel into service, we will operate five of the seven Canadian-flagged river-class vessels in the market. The new vessel will not only have the largest carrying capacity of any existing Canadian river-class self-unloader, but it will also be the most efficient river-class vessel on the Great Lakes."

Rand Logistics





Port Reports - May 28

Marquette, Mich. - Rod Burdick
Mesabi Miner unloaded western coal Tuesday evening at the Upper Harbor.

St. Marys River
Traffic Tuesday included three vessels of the Polish Steamship Co. The vessels Ina, Regalica and Pilica were all upbound during daylight hours. Another saltie, the Alert, also headed upbound Tuesday.

Lorain, Ohio
Algoma Progress cleared the Charles Berry Bridge Tuesday at 8:20 a.m. outbound.

Toronto, Ont. - Jens Juhl
Tuesday afternoon the Stephen B. Roman was back at the Essroc Cherry Street terminal unloading cement. At Redpath Sugar, Polsteam's Resko was in the final stage of discharging sugar out of holds five and six. Tuesday afternoon welders were aloft in the Ship Channel Bridge doing some maintenance on the old structure.





Lookback #192 – Thomas Lynch in Lake Superior collision on May 28, 1935

5/28 - Thomas Lynch was one of the big ore carriers that sailed in the United States Steel fleet for over half a century. The 601-foot-long bulk carrier had been built at Chicago in 1907.

Fog was blamed for the collision in Lake Superior with the Norwegian freighter Ba on May 28, 1935. The laker, more than twice the size of the ocean going visitor, received a hole in the bow above the water line. The big laker was in no danger but had to go for repairs.

Thomas Lynch was laid up at Lorain, Ohio, in 1960 and remained idle until sold to Upper Lakes Shipping in 1965. It resumed trading as Wiarton in October of that year and was an asset to the Canadian company in the ore and grain trades until the end of the 1970 season.

Wiarton was tied up at Toronto late in 1970 and resold to United Metals the next year. The ship departed for Hamilton under tow of the tugs Argue Martin and Judge McCombs on Oct. 8, 1971, but managed to avoid scrapping. The hull was resold to the Steel Company of Canada and sunk as a dock facing, in the most easterly position of a trio of hulls, off the company property in Hamilton. All three ships had been stripped to their decks.

An anchor removed from the Wiarton and a commemorative plaque were later put on display in a ceremony outside the St. Catharines Museum at Lock 3. The event in 1972 marked the 40th Anniversary of the opening of the Welland Canal and the anchor and plaque are still there.

The 236-foot, eight-inch long BA dated from 1921 and had originally sailed as Marvel. It became BA in 1924 and first came to the Great Lakes in 1932. It was also damaged in the accident of 79 years ago today but survived. It became Inga I in 1936 and lasted until being torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic on July 27, 1941.