Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

23 days at anchor on Lake Superior, ship finally arrives in Twin Ports

6/12 - Duluth, Minn. – After 23 days of hanging around outside the Aerial Lift Bridge, the Federal Mattawa came in early Tuesday evening. The grain carrier was given the go-ahead to ply its way to the CHS dock in Superior, where it was deemed there was enough grain to fill the ship.

Crew members on the ship have seen ice come and go. They’ve seen dozens of other ships come and go.

And they’ve seen more than three weeks pass since they anchored outside of the Duluth Harbor Basin on May 19. A series of events had the saltie bobbing endlessly in the corner of Lake Superior, much to the puzzlement of avid shipwatchers in Duluth.

Adele Yorde, spokeswoman for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, said the long wait for the Federal Mattawa has been “unusual,” much like the season so far, as ice conditions on Lake Superior slowed shipping into May.

The ship started on the St. Lawrence Seaway in late April and, after dropping cargo in Hamilton, Ont., made its way to Thunder Bay by May 8. It was “repositioned” to Duluth because of backups in the Canadian port, Yorde said, and then has had to wait out other salties loading grain, and then a grain shortage.

She suspects the shortage culprit is the preference for oil trains over grain on lines from the Dakotas.

Steve Sydow, operations manager at Daniel’s Shipping Services, has been assigned to the ship. He said because it hadn’t cleared customs, the crew wasn’t able to come ashore. The crew is well stocked from its stop in Montreal a month ago.

“They’re not laying around,” Sydow said earlier Tuesday, before he knew the ship could come in. They were catching up on sleep lost with the intense navigating through the seaway locks and the ice, he said. They were also doing routine maintenance and housekeeping.

“It’s time they normally wouldn’t get,” Sydow said of the international crew members. “They’re not out on the hatches sunning themselves.”

Sydow’s job has been to handle communications with the ship regarding grain availability. He had been waiting to hear from CHS early Tuesday and then the call came in. The wait was over.

Duluth News Tribune





Port Reports - June 12

Duluth, Minn. – Daniel Lindner
Federal Mattawa, which has been at anchor off Duluth since May 19, finally arrived under the Aerial Lift Bridge at 6:30 on Tuesday evening. She went to CHS 1, where she is now loading grain. Also, the BBC Chile arrived on her first visit at 10 Tuesday night. She is discharging wind turbine parts at Port Terminal, and will be shifting to Riverland Ag to load grain. In other traffic, St. Clair departed from CN just after midnight Wednesday, and Mesabi Miner left with coal a few hours later. Cason J. Callaway arrived at 2:15 p.m. with limestone for C. Reiss Terminal, and will also be loading iron ore pellets at CN. CSL's Baie St. Paul finished up Wednesday's traffic, arriving at 3:50 p.m. for Midwest Energy. For Thursday, Baie St. Paul is due to depart early in the morning, followed by the arrival of Ashtabula/tug Defiance, due in the morning to load an unusual cargo of iron nuggets at Hallett #5. Cason J. Callaway is expected to depart from CN in the late afternoon, and finally, Baie Comeau is due in the early evening to load coal at Midwest Energy.

Cleveland, Ohio – Great Lakes Towing Co.
On Wednesday morning, June 11, the luxury yacht Freedom docked at Great Lakes Shipyard for dockside repairs before continuing to Chicago, Ill., later that evening.





U.S., Canadian vessel operators announce joint ballast water principles

6/12 - Cleveland, Ohio – Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) and Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA), the trade associations representing U.S.- and Canadian-flag vessel operators on the Great Lakes, Wednesday released the five principles they believe should guide the U.S. and Canadian governments as they regulate the ballast water on their vessels. The principles should govern their vessels operating in the Great Lakes, St Lawrence River, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canadian eastern and Arctic waters to the limit of the Canadian exclusive economic zone (Operating Area).

Agreed Principles of the LCA/CSA
1. Single Ballast Water Rule for all Canadian and US flag domestic vessels in the Operating Area (Domestic Vessels).

There are a multitude of jurisdictions that exercise authority over the bi-national waterway within the Operating Area. Domestic Vessels should operate under a uniform single standard or compatible set of national rules that are fair and rationally based, that result in requirements that are technically and operationally achievable, considering vessel age, type, and operating characteristics, and are economically feasible resulting in a positive benefit to cost ratio. Since treatment systems do not currently exist and are not expected to exist in the near future, Domestic Vessels operating exclusively within the Operating Area should continue implementing Best Management Practices as they have since 1993, and not be required to install ballast water treatment systems.

2. Any Rule must recognize the unique operating requirements and diversity of environmental conditions faced by Domestic Vessels.

The IMO rule should not be the basis for governing a ballast water treatment rule for Domestic Vessels. The IMO rule does not recognize the unique operating requirements and diversity of environmental conditions faced by Domestic Vessels within the Operating Area. The cost of compliance given these challenges and constraints could impose substantial economic harm. Furthermore the IMO rule does not recognize the difference between the risk of AIS transfer versus the risk of AIS introduction by foreign vessels.

3. The U.S. Coast Guard’s Alternative Management System cannot be endorsed as a solution for domestic Vessels.

The AMS program was only intended to be as protective as salt-water exchange/flushing for foreign flag vessels and therefore must not be viewed as an endorsement of any foreign type-approved ballast water treatment system for use by Domestic Vessels.

4. LCA and CSA Members have a common interest to advocate for a single rule in the Operating Area to Governments and Regulators.

LCA and CSA Members agree to jointly and severally advocate for Canadian Ballast Water regulations for Domestic Vessels that incorporate the principles espoused herein and advocate for recognition of such Canadian regulations by the U.S. Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency.

5. LCA and CSA Members have a common interest to promote ballast water research and technological evaluation aimed at the unique requirements of Domestic Vessels operating in a unique environment

Participation in shared research and evaluation is a priority of both the LCA and CSA. These efforts shall be aimed at determining the potential risk of AIS transfer from the ballasting operations of Domestic Vessels within the operating area and to assess ballast water treatment technologies for the development of best management practices and to assess the feasibility of such technologies for domestic vessels.

Lake Carriers’ Association





St. Catharines street may be named after friend of marine industry

6/12 - The St. Catharines, ON city council has approved a request to name a street in honor of Lou Cahill, a Canadian public relations pioneer. Lou was a leader in his field and a long time friend of the marine industry as well as marine historians around the Great Lakes.

Before it becomes official, the plan must go to St. Catharines city staff for approval and then a public meeting but it is hoped that everything will be in order for the official naming on July 10, which had been Lou's birthday.

Lou organized activities such as the Top-Hat Ceremony at the start of the Welland Canal Navigation season, Merritt Day, to coincide with the anniversary of the 1828 opening of the First Welland Canal, and various events and celebrations up and down the Welland Canal corridor. He was instrumental in having Canada Post issue a commemorative postage stamp in 1978 recognizing the 150th Anniversary of the opening of the canal. He was also very supportive for what has become the Welland Canal Boatnerd weekend each fall.

A street north of King St. in the city of St. Catharines will become known as Lou Cahill Way once the final approval has been acquired.

Lou Cahill passed away in 2008 but left a significant impact on the public relations industry, the marine scene and many individuals whose lives he touched during his career.


Lookback #207 – Yellowstone in fatal collision on June 12, 1978

6/12 - Yellowstone was a former C-4 class troop ship from World War Two. The 523-foot-long vessel was launched at Richmond, Calif., on June 28, 1945, and completed as Marine Perch in October after the war had ended.

The ship was used to bring troops home from the Pacific war zones, carry Italian Prisoners of War back to Naples, Italy, and ferry soldiers back from Europe to America.

It also saw some passenger service on charter before being laid up in the Reserve Fleet. The ship was sold to Rio Grande Transport Inc. in 1965 and converted to the bulk carrier Yellowstone at Tampa, FL that year.

Yellowstone made its first transit of the Seaway in May 1978 and loaded grain at Duluth for Algeria and Tunisia. This cargo was topped off to saltwater draft at Baie Comeau.

Thick fog proved to be a menace as the ship neared the Mediterranean 36 years ago today. Yellowstone was southeast of Gibraltar when the Ibn Batouta, an Algerian freighter, struck the vessel just off the engine room inflicting significant damage. Yellowstone was taken in tow but sank the next day, June 13, 1978. The casualty list read two sailors dead and three more missing.

Ibn Batouta was never a Seaway trader but it too was a collision victim. It sank in the Red Sea, with the loss of 12 lives, on March 9, 2009, following a collision with the OXL Sultan



Today in Great Lakes History - June 12

On 12 June 1898, SAKIE SHEPHERD (wooden propeller freighter, 100 foot, 189 gross tons, built in 1883, at Huron, Ohio) burned while at the dock in Courtright, Ontario. The fire was discovered at 1:00 a.m. and the crew just had time to escape. The schooner YOUNG AMERICA also caught fire and had damage done to her stern. The SHEPHERD was towed to Detroit where she was rebuilt and lasted until 1903, when she sank in Lake Huron.

On 12 June 1900, the UNIQUE (wooden propeller, 163 foot, 381 gross tons, built in 1894, at Marine City, Michigan) was sold at public auction at St. Clair, Michigan to satisfy a mortgage. W. J. Laidlaw of Ogdensburg, New York purchased her for $20,000 for the Rapid Transit Co. to run between Ogdensburg and Kingston, Ontario. In 1904, her upper cabins were removed and she was rebuilt as a yacht. She lasted until 1915, when she burned in New York City harbor.

"STUBBY", the bow and stern sections of the STEWART J. CORT welded together, passed Port Colborne, Ontario on June 12, 1970, bound for Erie, Pennsylvania under her own power. STUBBY's bow and stern sections were later separated at Erie Marine, Inc., a Div. of Litton, and joined to the 816 foot hull mid-body.

The NANTICOKE (Hull#218) departed Collingwood, Ontario in 1980, beginning her maiden voyage for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd.

In 1959, the BENSON FORD of 1924 ran aground in the Amherstburg Channel on her upbound trip with coal for the Rouge Plant. After five days of lightering and with tug assistance, she was freed. Damage amounted to 41 bottom plates, which took 30 days to repair.

On 12 June 1832, the wooden schooner GUERRIER was sailing from Oswego, New York for Detroit when she capsized in a squall off Bar Point on Lake Erie. Captain Pember and the crew and most of the passengers made it to the Canadian shore, but one family was trapped in the cabin. The husband was able to keep his head above water in the upside down cabin, but through the night, one by one, his four children and then his wife slipped from his grasp and perished. The following day, Capt. Stanard took his steamer NIAGARA to the wreck and rescued the man.

On 12 June 1900, the steel tow barge BRYN MAWR (Hull#41) was launched at South Chicago, Illinois by the Chicago Ship Building Co., for the Pittsburgh Steamship Company.

The wooden propeller freighter MILWAUKEE (264 foot, 1,770 gross tons) was launched at Quayle & Sons yard in Cleveland, Ohio on 12 June 1879, for the Western Transportation Company of Buffalo, New York. She had supporting arches above decks. In 1902, she was renamed YONKERS and rebuilt as a barge in 1911. She lasted until 1917-1918 when she stranded, then burned.

1897 – I.W. NICHOLAS (ii) stranded at Point Aux Pins in fog and was released two days later. The ship needed drydocking for repairs.

1904 – The sidewheel passenger ship CANADA sank on her side off Sorel after a collision with the CAPE BRETON. Five of the 110 on board perished. The ship was refloated and rebuilt at Sorel in 1905 as ST. IRENEE which later became part of the C.S.L. Fleet.

1919 – GERMAN was cut in two to leave the Great Lakes in 1918 and renamed b) YANKEE. It sank after a collision with the Italian steamer ARGENTIA off Fire Island, NY, while enroute from Norfolk, VA to Boston MA with coal. The hull has been found and is in two pieces on the ocean floor.

1977 – The VERA CRUZ first came to the Great Lakes in 1964 as a 10-year old Liberian flag freighter. It foundered in the Arabian Sea as c) BUKOM ISLAND on June 12, 1974, during a cyclone. The ship was enroute from Umm Said, Qatar, to Singapore with a cargo of bagged fertilizer and seven lives were lost.

1978 – YELLOWSTONE had been built as the C-4 troop carrier MARINE PERCH in 1944. After being laid up in the Reserve Fleet, it was rebuilt as a bulk carrier and renamed at Tampa in 1965. The ship was downbound in the Seaway with grain from Duluth to North Africa in May 1978 and sank after a collision in fog with the IBN BATOUTA on June 12, 1978. YELLOWSTONE was taken in tow but went down June 13 about 14 miles south of Gibraltar. Five lives were lost.

1993 – The deep-sea tug VORTICE was abandoned after fire broke out near the Canary Islands, while on a voyage from Bari, Italy, to Veracruz, Mexico. The vessel was laid up, unrepaired, and then towed to Canada for McKeil Marine. It received partial repairs but was sold and left the lakes for additional work. It returned inland as e) NORFOLK in 2005 and now serves Lafarge North America Inc. as f) SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Investigators to look into Atlantic Erie grounding

6/13 - Port Colborne, Ont. – Atlantic Erie was aground Thursday morning off Port Colborne. About 10 a.m. the vessel was on a normal course for the Port Colborne piers when the vessel turned for unknown reasons, stopping about two miles to the South East. Thursday afternoon the tug Seahound was along side. She is aground in water from 15-20 feet deep with flooding reported in her forepeak, her forward draft was 26-feet.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is deploying a team of investigators to Port Colborne to assess the grounding of the Atlantic Erie. The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence.

Nathan Attard, CBC





Great Lakes are ice-free at last

6/13 - For the first time since November, the Great Lakes are ice-free as of Thursday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The last holdout was Lake Superior, where ice remained near Marquette, Mich., as recently as late last week.

Over Memorial Day weekend, ice chunks on Lake Superior were large enough to provide dramatic backdrops for sunbathers on a warm May day.

The U.S. Coast Guard put in over 2,000 hours of ice-breaking operations this winter, the agency reported today. At one point in early March, more than 92% of the lakes were ice-covered, the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory reported, the second-highest percentage on record.

Though the good news is that summer will begin in 11 days, the "less good" news is that the amount of daylight each day will begin to shrink a few days later, signaling the slow crawl toward the winter of 2014-15.

USA Today





Support sought for Badger landmark designation

6/13 - On May 22, The National Parks System Advisory Board (NPSAB) voted to recommend to Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell to recognize the SS Badger for National Historic Landmark status.

Please lend your support in obtaining this important designation for the S.S. Badger. Your email will be forwarded to Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior, who has the final approval of this designation.

To lend support for the SS Badger, follow this Link

Dave Wobser





Annual St. Clair Marine Mart set for Saturday

6/13 - The 33rd Annual Marine Memorabilia Market will be held this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Riverview Plaza Mall in downtown St. Clair, Mich. Nearly 30 vendors will be offering items that are related exclusively to Great Lakes shipping. The market will have available for sale historical artifacts, artwork, books, photographs, advertising, memorabilia and more. It is one of only a few such annual events in the region. Admission is free.





Lookback #208 – Grounded Yakima caught fire on June 13, 1905

6/13 - The wooden freighter Yakima ran aground in Lake St. Clair on June 10, 1905. The 292-foot, 6-inch-long vessel was waiting to be salvaged when it caught fire and burned 109 years ago today.

Yakima had been built at Cleveland in 1887 and served the Wilson Transit Co. The ship had twin smoke stacks as well as four masts and became the first laker with electric lights.

The vessel joined the Gilchrist Transportation Co. in 1901 and suffered another grounding in Sept. 1902, while trying to come to the aid of the City of Rome. Yakima was released with rudder damage.

The fire of June 13, 1905, ended the career of Yakima. The hull was refloated and taken to Sarnia for lay-up. It sat idle there, with most of the machinery removed, until the remains of the vessel were taken out into Lake Huron and scuttled about 1928.

Divers came across the hull in 77 feet of water in June 1993. They reported that is upright but all the machinery, except for the crankshaft, were gone.


Today in Great Lakes History - June 13

On 13 June 2003, after completing her conversion from American to Canadian registry, Lower Lakes Towing's newly-acquired MICHIPICOTEN, a.) ELTON HOYT 2ND, departed the Government dock at Sarnia, Ontario. First she went to the Shell Oil dock in Corunna, Ontario to fuel, then she departed for Marquette, Michigan to load ore for Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

On 13 June 1902, METROPOLIS (wooden side-wheel steamer, 168 foot, 425 tons, built in 1868, at Detroit, Michigan) caught fire and burned to a total loss at her dock in Toledo, Ohio. She was only used occasionally for excursions and spent most of her time tied up to the dock.

On June 13, 1983, JOHN B. AIRD began its maiden voyage for Algoma Central Railway, a load of coal from Thunder Bay to Nanticoke, Ontario.

IRVING S. OLDS carried a record 17,817 gross tons of iron ore on June 13, 1943, from Lake Superior and transported a total of 736,800 short tons of various bulk cargoes the next year.

On the morning of June 13, 1905, running downbound on Lake Superior, the heavily-laden SYLVANIA encountered heavy fog as she approached the Soo. Confused whistle signals resulted in the SYLVANIA glancing off the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., steamer SIR HENRY BESSEMER, which sustained a 175-foot port side gash from the SYLVANIA's anchor. The BESSEMER required $40,000 in repairs and the SYLVANIA's damage totaled $10,000, which included a new anchor and shell plating which was completed at the Craig Shipbuilding Co., Toledo, Ohio.

June 13, 1930 - Shortly after leaving Menominee, Michigan, fireman Walter O'Leary of the ANN ARBOR NO 7 became ill. The carferry proceeded at full speed to the nearest doctor at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where surgery was performed to remove gallstones.

June 13, 1974 - The CITY OF GREEN BAY, formerly WABASH was sold to Marine Salvage Company to be scrapped. She was scrapped at Castellon, Spain in 1974. On 13 June 1903, CHARLES H. DAVIS (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 145 foot, 391 gross tons, built in 1881, at Saginaw, Michigan) was carrying limestone on Lake Erie off Cleveland when she developed a leak which quickly got worse and admitted water faster than her pumps capacity. She sank near the Cleveland breakwater. She was an unusual vessel, reportedly built of pine and pointed at both ends with her planking set diagonally.

1905 – The wooden steamer YAKIMA had stranded in Lake St. Clair on June 10, 1905, but caught fire and burned on this date while waiting to be salvaged. The remains were later towed into Lake Huron and scuttled.

1906 – The newly-built J. PIERPONT MORGAN carried a record 13, 294 tons of iron ore out of Escanaba for Chicago.

1944 – CANADIAN OTTER was built at Welland in 1920 but, in 1944, was sailing as f) FUKOKU MARU as a Japanese army cargo ship. It was sunk by aircraft from U.S.S. ESSEX while in a convoy from Philippines to Japan in the overnight hours of June 13-14, 1944.

1959 – A fire in the crew quarters of the FEDERAL PIONEER, docked at Section 51 in Montreal, was quickly controlled with only minor damage and sailing was delayed by three hours. The ship was a frequent Seaway trader for Federal Commerce and Navigation, now known as FedNav, and arrived at Hsinkiang, China, for scrapping on January 21, 1971.

1978 – Seven men were lost aboard the ANCO DUKE while cleaning tanks out in the Pacific. They were likely overcome by fumes. The ship later came to the Great Lakes as c) LAKE ANETTE in 1980, as d) SATU MAR in 1984 and as e) TOVE COB in 1987. It was scrapped in Bangladesh in 1993.

1978 – The bulk carrier ARCTIC hit the Cherry Street Bridge at Toledo on its first trip and had to return to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

1980 – TROYAN first came through the Seaway in 1972. The ship began leaking in heavy weather as c) SUNRISE and foundered June 13, 1980, in the outer anchorage at Bombay, India, while enroute from Japan to Damman, Saudi Arabia, with bagged cement.

2004 – The SINGAPORE STAR first came to the Great Lakes in 1982. It caught fire in the accommodation area while on the Black Sea as c) BARBADOS OKTAY on June 13, 2004. The ship was carrying scrap steel from Novorossiysk, Russia, to Eregli, Turkey. The blaze was put out with tug assistance but the ship was sold for scrap and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, to be broken up on July 19, 2004.

[yachtsmanwilly]

USCG investigating Bois Blanc Island ferry collision

6/14 - Cheboygan, Mich. – The Coast Guard is investigating a collision between an island ferry and a tugboat pushing a barge.

Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie said the accident happened around 8:55 Thursday morning. The Bois Blanc Island ferry Kristen D and an as-yet-unnamed tug sideswiped each other.

No one was hurt, and neither vessel received any major damage. How the collision happened is still under investigation.

9 & 10 News





Plan being developed to refloat Atlantic Erie

6/14 - Port Colborne, Ont. – While Transport Canada is monitoring a grounded laker off Port Colborne, the company managing the CSL-owned self-unloading bulk carrier said a plan to refloat it is being developed.

In a release, V. Ships Canada said the Atlantic Erie, built in 1985, ran aground Thursday near Port Colborne. Transport Canada said the Canada Steamship Lines vessel grounded at approximately 10:45 a.m., east of the Welland Canal.

The vessel, filled with petroleum coke, ran aground in water 15- 20 feet deep, her draft at the bow read 26-feet.

V.Ships Canada said there were no reports of pollution or injuries, and the vessel remains aground with two tugs, the Ecosse and Salvor, in attendance.

“Emergency notifications have been made and response resources have been activated including divers to survey the vessels hull. A plan to re-float the vessel is being developed and a second vessel is en-route should it be necessary to remove a portion of the cargo,” the company said, adding the main focus is to re-float the vessel safely.

Transport Canada said in a release that the vessel sustained damage to the hull.

“While it is taking on water, pumps are able to control the ingress. There is an action plan in place to remove some of the cargo from the vessel to lighten it. A tugboat, which is already on scene, will assist in moving the vessel to deeper waters,” it said, adding the ship will berth at Port Colborne and undergo further inspection once refloated.

V.Ships Canada said as manager of the vessel it is working closely with the appropriate authorities to determine the cause of the grounding.

“Transport Canada’s role is to protect the safety of life and the environment and to verify compliance with marine safety regulations. The department is monitoring the situation closely,” the agency said.

When berthed, it will inspect the Atlantic Erie to gather further information on the incident and determine that it is cleared to proceed on its voyage.

The Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the incident, as it the lead agency responsible for investigating transportation incidents for cause and contributing factors.

Dave Johnson , Erie Media





Port Reports - June 14

Green Bay, Wis. - Jeff Ruckert
Algosteel was expected to arrive from Goderih with a load of salt for the Fox River Dock Terminal on Friday. Lewis J Kuber was also due, with a load of limestone for Graymont Western Lime Terminal.

Milwaukee, Wis. - Chris Gaziano
Isadora made its way in after sunrise Friday morning for Terminal 1. Algomarine also came in and backed in to the inner harbor with a load of salt.

Oswego, N.Y. - Ned Goebricher
Stephen B. Roman unloaded cement Friday.





Lookback #209 – Tug Ohio crushed at Buffalo on June 14, 1954

6/14 - The tug Ohio, of the Great Lakes Towing Co., was working with the steamer W.F. White at Buffalo when it was crushed against a pier 60 years ago today. The accident made the tug a total loss and it was taken to Cleveland and scrapped in 1955.

Ohio had been built by and for the Great Lakes Towing Co. in 1910. The 81-foot-long harbor tug was a very useful member of the fleet for almost half a century. It was originally based at Toledo to assist vessels in and out of the port, but was later moved to Buffalo.

The original high-pressure steam engine was already second hand in 1910 and had been replaced with a 1250 bhp General Motors Corp. diesel in 1950. The latter was still serviceable after the accident and was removed for installation in the hull of company running mate Nebraska. This latter tug, while still in operation, was repowered again in 1980 when the old engine from Ohio was removed.

A second Ohio, formerly a fire boat at Milwaukee and later the tug Laurence C. Turner, has been active on the Great Lakes for the Great Lakes Towing Co. as Ohio since 1973.

The W.F. White, a self-unloader for Bradley Limestone Division of U.S. Steel at the time of the 1954 accident, was sold and renamed Erindale in 1976. It was scrapped at Port Colborne in 1984-1985.


Today in Great Lakes History - June 14

On this day in 1985, Captain Edward Rogowski passed away. Captain Rogowski started sailing as a deckhand on the 514 foot JOHN SHERWIN in 1936. He retired in 1982 as the first captain of the largest freighter on the Great Lakes, the 1,013 foot PAUL R TREGURTHA.

On this day in 1957, the Interlake Steamship Company freighter HARVEY H. BROWN, Captain Percy E. Mc Ginness, delivered the first cargo of coal to the new taconite loading port of Taconite Harbor, Minnesota.

ROGER BLOUGH departed the shipyard in ballast on her maiden voyage for U.S. Steel Corp. the night of June 14, 1972, for Two Harbors, Minnesota to load 41,608 gross tons of taconite ore pellets. She was nearly a year late because of a fire in her engine room.

On June 14, 1988, the CONSUMERS POWER of 1927, with her former fleet mate JOHN T. HUTCHINSON, departed Lauzon, Quebec, in tow of the Panamanian tug/supply ship OMEGA 809, bound for a scrap yard in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The steamer PRINCESS was sold to Little and Fitzgerald on 14 June 1873. She was built in 1858, at Algonac, Michigan by Z. Pangborn.

The wooden scow TINKER was launched at Leighton & Dunford's yard in Port Huron, Michigan on 14 June 1876.

1954 – W.F. WHITE crushed the tug OHIO against a pier in Buffalo and the latter was a total loss. The tug was refloated and scrapped at Cleveland in 1955.

1977 – ALMAR came to the Great Lakes under Greek registry in 1964. It caught fire in the engine room as c) IJESHA LION at Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and sustained major damage. The hull was abandoned by the owners, towed out to sea and scuttled in 1978

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - June 16


On this day in 1967, the new $6 million Allouez taconite pellet handling facility in Superior, Wisconsin, was dedicated. The first cargo of 18,145 tons of pellets was loaded into the holds of the Hanna Mining Company freighter JOSEPH H. THOMPSON.

At midnight, on Saturday, 15 June 1901, OMAR D. CONGER (wooden propeller ferry, 92 foot, 199 gross tons, built in 1882, at Port Huron, Michigan) burned at her dock on the Black River in Port Huron, Michigan. Her upper works were destroyed, but she was repaired and put back in service. She lasted until 1922, when her boiler exploded, killing four people and destroying the vessel.

On June 15, 1943, the D.M. CLEMSON collided with and sank the GEORGE M. HUMPHREY in the Straits of Mackinac. Both of these 600-footers recovered for long careers. The D.M. CLEMSON was sold for scrap in 1980. The GEORGE M. HUMPHREY was recovered over a year later, renamed the b.) CAPTAIN JOHN ROEN, later converted to a self-unloader, and finished her career as d.) CONSUMERS POWER at the end of the 1985, season before being scrapped in 1988.

In 1989, the ROGER M. KYES was rechristened b.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS by American Steamship Co.

The wooden 180-foot schooner JOHN A. FRANCOMB was launched at West Bay City, Michigan, on 15 June 1889. She was built by F. W. Wheeler & Co. (Hull #61). She lasted until she was abandoned at Bay City in 1934.

GRECIAN (steel propeller freighter, 296 foot, 2,348 gross tons, built in 1891, at Cleveland, Ohio by Globe Iron Works (Hull#40) struck a rock near Detour, Michigan, on 7 June 1906, but made dock at Detour before settling on bottom. After her cargo was removed, she was raised, and towed by her fleet mate SIR HENRY BESSEMER, bound for Detroit Shipbuilding Co. in Wyandotte, Michigan, for repairs, relying on air pressure in her sealed holds to keep her afloat. However, on 15 June 1906, her holds began to fill with water and she sank in Lake Huron off Thunder Bay. Her crew was rescued by SIR HENRY BESSEMER.

1933 – BRENTWOOD ran aground in the St. Marys River and was released on June 19 with about $60,000 in damage. The CSL vessel soon tied up at Midland and was scrapped there in 1937.

1943 – WILLIAM BREWSTER was on her maiden voyage when she collided with the W.D. CALVERLEY JR. and sank on her side in the St. Clair River off Algonac. The ship was not refloated until November and, after repairs, finally left the lakes in June 1944. It operated on saltwater routes until scrapping at Calcutta, India, as e) RAY MAYABUNDAR in 1967.

1962 – NYON, a Seaway visitor in 1961 and 1962, sank in the English Channel, 5 miles south of Beachy Head, after a collision in heavy fog with the Indian freighter JALAZAD. The latter came to the Great Lakes in 1969 and was eventually scuttled off Tema, Ghana, as b) JYOTI VINOD in September 1983.

1965 – BREIM, a Great Lakes visitor from Norway, got stuck in the mud below the Snell Lock at Massena, NY was released the next day after some cargo was lightered. The ship arrived at Visakhapatnam, India, for scrapping as c) CHRISTINA C. on October 24, 1983.

1988 – ALGOWEST and COUDRES D'ILE collided in fog on the St. Lawrence and the small coastal freighter sank with the loss of one life. The former now sails for Algoma as PETER R. CRESSWELL.

2001 – Fire broke out in the engine room of the Cypriot freighter FELIX 60 miles off Las Palmas, Canary Islands and the 21-member crew was removed. The ship first came to the Great Lakes as a) BEGONIA in 1978 and returned as b) TIMUR SWALLOW in 1983 and c) JENNIFER JANE in 1985. The burning vessel was anchored and the fire extinguished June 16. A total loss, the ship arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, under tow as f) ELI on December 1, 2001, and was broken up.


On 16 June 1891, Alexander McDougall himself took his brand-new whaleback steamer JOSEPH L. COLBY (steel propeller whaleback freighter, 265 foot, 1,245 gross tons, built in 1890 at West Superior, Wisconsin) down the St. Lawrence River to the sea. The double-hulled COLBY left Prescott, Ontario at 3 p.m., drawing six feet nine inches aft and five feet six inches forward and started on her wild ride through the rapids. The whaleback freighter plowed through the Galops, Iroquois, Long Sault, Coteau, Cedar, Split Rock and Cascade Rapids. She grated the bottom a number of times and had a number of close calls. Captain McDougall stood immobile throughout the trip but great beads of perspiration broke out on his forehead. When the vessel finally made it through the Cascades and was safe on Lake St. Louis, the French Canadian pilot left and the crew let out shouts of joy with the whistle blowing. The COLBY was the first screw steamer to attempt running the rapids.

On 16 June 1892, GENERAL BURNSIDE (3-mast wooden schooner, 138 foot, 308 gross tons, built in 1862, at Wolfe Island, Ontario) foundered in a powerful northwest gale on Lake Erie near Southeast Shoal Light. Her crew was rescued by the tug GREGORY.

The steamer UNIQUE (wooden propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 163 foot, 381 gross tons) was built by Alexander Anderson at Marine City, Michigan. She was launched stern first at 3:00 p.m. on 16 June 1894. There was quite a crowd assembled to watch the launch. While waiting for the launch, Engineer Merrill of the steamer MARY composed the following verse:

"The new steamer Unique
Made a beautiful suique
On a direction oblique
Into a big crique,
So to spique."

The vessel was painted a bright yellow up to the promenade deck with white cabins and upper works. In 1901, she left the upper lakes and was chartered for the Thousand Islands cruise trade. Later that year, she was sold to Philadelphia buyers for Delaware River service. Her upper cabins were removed in 1904, when she was rebuilt as a yacht. She lasted until 20 November 1915, when she burned to a total loss in New York harbor.

On 16 June 1905, at 2:00 a.m., a fire was discovered around the smokestack of the North Shore Navigation Company's CITY OF COLLINGWOOD (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 213 foot, 1,387 gross tons, built in 1893, at Owen Sound, Ontario) burned at the Grand Trunk Railway docks at Collingwood, Ontario and was destroyed along with the dock and nearby sheds. Four died, but most of crew jumped overboard. Captain Wright had gone to his home on Pine St. about an hour before and was preparing for bed when he heard four whistles sounded by the steamer BRITTANIC, which was laying alongside. He ran to the dock, went aboard and woke the 1st mate J. D. Montgomery and a wheelsman. They had to jump to the dock to escape the flames. James Meade, Lyman Finch, A. McClellan, and another unidentified crewmember who had just joined the vessel at the Soo were all sleeping in the forecastle and lost their lives.

In 1967, the FEUX FOLLETS (Hull#188) was launched at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., for Papachristidis Co. Ltd. She was the last steam-powered lake ship. Renamed in 1972 as b.) CANADIAN LEADER and scrapped in 2012.

Upbound in the Welland Canal on June 16, 1963, loaded with iron ore for Chicago, U.S. Steel's BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS suffered bow damage in collision with Canadian steamer RALPH S. MISENER. In 1918, the WILLIAM P. SNYDER JR was in collision with the steamer GEORGE W. PERKINS in Duluth Harbor resulting in damage of $5,000 to both vessels.

On 16 June 1861, ANDOVER (2-mast wooden schooner, 98 foot, 190 tons, built in 1844, at Black River, Ohio) was carrying lumber in a storm and ground on Pointe aux Barques reef on Lake Huron. Though not thought to be seriously damaged, she resisted all efforts by the tug ZOUAVE to release her. She was finally stripped and abandoned.

On 16 June 1887, CHAMPLAIN (wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel, 135 foot, 438 gross tons, built in 1870, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying passengers, merchandise and horses on Lake Michigan when an engine room lamp exploded. The fire spread so quickly that the pumps could not be started. She headed for Fisherman's Island, Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan, but struck a bar and sank a mile short of the beach. 22 of the 57 persons aboard died, most from drowning. Although initially declared a total loss, the hull was towed into Harbor Springs, Michigan, then taken to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and rebuilt as CITY OF CHARLEVOIX. She was also lengthened to 165 foot. She lasted until 1924, when she burned at her lay-up dock in Manistee, Michigan. At that time, she was named KANSAS.

Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Ahoy & Farewell II, the Fr. Dowling Collection and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.





Atlantic Erie refloated

6/15 - Port Colborne, Ont. – Shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday the Atlantic Erie was able to back off the area where it ground on Thursday after unloading part of her cargo into the Robert S. Pierson. She moved to the anchorage area off the Port Colborne entrance to the Welland Canal where she will reload the cargo and eventually resume her trip.






Port Reports - June 15

Milwaukee, Wis. - Chris Gaziano
Isadora departed during the overnight hours Saturday for Thunder Bay. The Algomarine departed in the early afternoon and made her way north on the lake. The Samuel de Champlain and barge Innovation arrived in the early evening for the LaFarge terminal.

Buffalo, N.Y. – Brian W.
American Mariner arrived Saturday morning for General Mills.





Lookback #210 – Coudres de L'ile sank after collision with Algowest on June 15, 1988

6/15 - The small Canadian coastal freighter Coudres de L'ile was no match for the big laker Algowest when they collided in the foggy St. Lawrence 26 years ago today. One life, that of the cook on the small ship, was lost.

Coudres de L'ile dated from 1954 and originally sailed under the Dutch flag. The 200-foot-long vessel came to Canada in 1972 and provided service between Montreal and the lower St. Lawrence until it was lost off Point au Boisvert, while carrying a cargo of scrap, on June 15, 1988.

The straight deck bulk carrier Algowest was Hull 226 from the Collingwood shipyard and had entered service for Algoma Central on July 21, 1982. It set several cargo records in the early years including 27,308.21 metric tonnes of barley at Thunder Bay for Baie Comeau, Quebec, on the first trip.

Following the collision, Algowest was repaired at the Welland Dock. It was taken to Port Weller Dry Docks for conversion to a self-unloader in December 1997 and resumed trading on July 13, 1998.

The name was changed to Peter R. Cresswell, in a ceremony at Wharf 2 of the Welland Canal, on October 14, 2001. As such, it honors the retired long-time President of Algoma Central and his contribution to the growth and development of the company. The ship is still an active member of the Algoma fleet.

[yachtsmanwilly]

U.S. Coast Guard rescues 2 women stranded on Lake Huron

6/17 - The U.S. Coast Guard has rescued two Canadian women stranded on a raft on Lake Huron, near Sarnia, Ont., on Sunday evening.

The U.S. Coast Guard says it sent an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter to assist in the rescue of two women who got stranded on a raft on Lake Huron, near Sarnia, Ont., on Sunday evening.

A call came in at 6:30 p.m. ET from authorities on the Canadian side of the border, seeking assistance in locating the two women. According to a news release, the women had been pushed away from shore by winds and were unable to make their way back.

A helicopter was sent from Detroit and a rescue boat was launched from Port Huron, Michigan. The women were located by the rescue boat and taken to a Canadian Coast Guard ship.

Dave Elit, a marine controller at the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton, Ont., told CBC News that the women who were stranded made the initial call for help from a cellphone. That call allowed authorities to get a basic track on their location. From there, the U.S. Coast Guard was called in to assist their Canadian counterparts.

Elit said that the women were rescued about 50 minutes after their initial call. Information on the identity of the women was not immediately available. However, they were believed to be approximately 20 years of age. A U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson told CBC News they were Canadians.

USCG, CBC




Lookback #212 – Jay Gould began to leak and then sank on June 17, 1918

6/17 - The Jay Gould changed owners and changed duties but retained her same name from 1869 until the ship was lost 96 years ago today.

The wooden-hulled vessel was designed to carry freight and passengers and proved to be the first ship of the 1884 navigation season to arrive at Duluth when it docked on May 9. Jay Gould was modified in 1906 and then rebuilt as a bulk carrier/sandsucker at Detroit in 1916. It was owned by the Rochester Sand & Gravel Co. at the time of her loss.

The 235-foot-long Gould had taken on a cargo of coal at Cleveland for delivery to Sandwich, Ontario, when it began leaking about 8 miles southeast of Southeast Shoal. With no way to save their ship, the crew abandoned the vessel and was picked by the ore carrier Midvale.

On June 18, 1918, the Jay Gould sank in Lake Erie to a depth of about 40 feet of water. The hull was later dynamited as it was a hazard to navigation.

Skip Gillham





Today in Great Lakes History - June 17

On June 17, 1895, the J. W. Westcott Co. inaugurated its unique mail delivery service.

On 17 June 1878, the Canadian schooner JAMES SCOTT of Port Burwell capsized and sank in Lake Erie. The captain's wife, their child and two seamen were drowned.

The wooden schooner MONTEREY, which stranded on Sleeping Bear Point on Lake Michigan in early December 1890, was released on 17 June 1891.

The SCOTT MISENER (Hull#11) was christened on June 17, 1951, for Colonial Steamships Ltd. She was the first vessel built at Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. Renamed b.) JOHN E. F. MISENER in 1954, she was scrapped at Cartagena, Columbia, in 1986.

The PATERSON of 1954 collided with the steamer EDMUND W. MUDGE in 1957, in fog on the St. Clair River opposite Marine City, Michigan.

The WILLIAM A. IRVIN was towed to the Duluth Convention Center on June 17, 1986, by the tugs SIOUX and DAKOTA to be on station as a museum ship at the new $3 million convention facility.

June 17, 1998 - The barge PERE MARQUETTE 41 and tug UNDAUNTED arrived Ludington, Michigan from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, after the remainder of the conversion there.

The propeller OWEN SOUND was launched at Collingwood, Ontario, on 17 June 1875. She measured 900 tons and could carry 30,000 bushels of grain.

1909 – The iron hulled passenger and freight steamer CAMPANA had been cut in two to leave the Great Lakes in 1895, but the hull broke in 1909 where the sections had been rejoined and sank in the St. Lawrence at Point St. Michael a few miles below Quebec City.

1918 – JAY GOULD was loaded with coal and towing the barge COMMODORE when it began leaking and then sank eight miles southeast of Southeast Shoal, Lake Erie. The hull was later dynamited as a hazard to navigation. The barge was overwhelmed by the seas and rolled in the trough for about two hours before it also sank. All on board both ships were saved.

1941 – The Lake Ontario passenger steamer KINGSTON ran aground on a shoal in the St. Lawrence 15 miles SW of Ogdensburg, NY after losing her way in thick fog. The passengers were transferred to RAPIDS PRINCE and the ship was released with the aid of pontoons and repaired at Kingston.

1998 – MOUNTAIN BLOSSOM was downbound in the Seaway when it struck the approach wall at the Eisenhower Lock, opening a crack in the hull that allowed about 50 gallons of xylene to escape. The immediate area was evacuated but the problem was quickly cleaned up. The ship was a regular Great Lakes trader from 1986 to 2007 and was scrapped at Xinhui, China, after arriving on January 10, 2010.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Father Dowling Collection, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Detroit Marine Historian, Marine Historical Society's Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.





Atlantic Erie undergoing repairs, inspection at Port Colborne

6/16 - Port Colborne, Ont. – With Nadro Marine’s tug Vac pushing against the port bow, the Atlantic Erie made its way into the Welland Canal at Port Colborne Sunday, three days after it ran aground on Lake Erie.

The vessel docked on the east side of the canal, at the Snider Dock, where it will wait to be inspected by officials. Late in the day, a diver was doing some underwater welding; several small steel plates about 12 inches by 18 inches were been taken into the water.

The CSL-owned self-unloading bulk carrier was headed toward the entrance of the canal when ran aground for a reason yet to be determined east of the Port Colborne piers Thursday morning.

On Friday plans were made to refloat the ship by unloading some of the Atlantic Erie’s cargo of petroleum coke into another vessel.

There were no reports of pollution or injuries, despite the vessel taking on water in the bow area. Pumps were being used to control the water coming into the vessel.

On Saturday the Robert S. Pierson was along the starboard side of the Atlantic Erie. The CSL ship had its self-unloading cargo boom over the holds of the Robert S. Pierson, transferring some of the petroleum coke to the Lower Lakes ship.

The tugs Vac and Ecosse were on the port side of the CSL ship during the unloading. At 3 p.m. Saturday, Atlantic Erie had been lightened and refloated and moved away from where it was grounded. It moved to the Port Colborne anchorage and sat there until it came into the canal just after 4 p.m. Sunday.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Port Reports - June 18

Marquette, Mich. – Rod Burdick
On Tuesday at the Upper Harbor, James R. Barker unloaded coal and John J. Boland loaded ore.

Alpena, Mich. – Ben and Chanda McClain
Manitowoc unloaded coal at Lafarge on Monday. The tug Wendy Anne came into port and was tied up in the river on Monday. Also making a stop in the river on Monday was the yacht Pepper XIII. The tug Samuel de Champlain and barge Innovation loaded cement at Lafarge on Tuesday followed by fleetmate G.L Ostrander with barge Integrity. The Alpena is expected to return on Wednesday morning.

Oswego, NY – Ned Goebricher
On Tuesday, the English River unloaded cement.





Deer rescued from Welland Canal

6/18 - St. Catharines, Ont. – A young deer was frightened and wet but no worse for wear after it was pulled from the Welland Canal in Thorold Monday. Thorold firefighters and St. Lawrence Seaway personnel were able to lure the young doe close enough to shore to the slip the cable from an animal rescue catch pole around its neck and haul it to safety.

“It was pretty stressed out, but it’s not the first time or the last time a deer gets into the canal,” Todd Menard, inspector with the Lincoln County Humane Society, said. “I’m not sure how long the deer was in the water, but there is no way that animal would have survived.

“At this location at Lock 7, the walls are very steep. The deer, once it is trapped in here, needs assistance to get out. All it can do is swim around.”

The deer’s legs were tied, and it was loaded onto a Seaway authority John Deere Gator utility vehicle and taken into the woods on the east side of the canal and released.

“When we untied her, she looked at us and tried to figure out where she was — and then just took off,” said Kurt Wilkinson, acting captain with the Thorold Fire Department.

Wilkinson said it took the firefighters and Seaway personnel about 30 minutes to rescue the deer from the water.

St. Catharines Standard





Lookback #213 – Albert C. Field sunk by aerial torpedo in English Channel on June 18, 1944

6/18 - The Albert C. Field was built in 1923 by the Furness Shipbuilding Co. of Middlesborough, England. The steamer crossed the Atlantic for Great Lakes trading under the Eastern Steamship Co.

Built for the old canals, Albert C. Field hauled tons of coal and grain and this continued after joining the Upper Lakes and St. Lawrence Transportation Co. in 1936. The steamer operated on their behalf until being requisitioned for war service under the British Ministry of War Transport in 1940.

While overseas, the Albert C. Field usually worked in the coastal coal run. Service was not without incident. The ship grounded off Flamborough Head, in the northeast part of Great Britain, in February 1941 but was released. Then, on March 26, 1941, it was attacked and bombed en route to Hartlepool, England, but the explosive missed the target.

On June 18, 1944, following up on the Normandy Invasion, the vessel was struck on the starboard side by an aerial torpedo. On board was a cargo of ammunition to support the liberation armies but, after being hit, the vessel sank in minutes. The crew of 33, including 10 army and navy gunners, abandoned the Albert C. Field 70 years ago today. The captain and three other sailors perished.


Today in Great Lakes History - June 18

The steamer ILLINOIS was the first vessel to pass through the newly opened Soo Locks in 1855. To help commemorate the 100th anniversary of this event, an open house was held aboard the J. L. MAUTHE. While tied up at the Cleveland Lakefront dock, an estimated 1,700 persons toured the MAUTHE.

During a moonlight charter on 18 June 1936, the TASHMOO (steel side-wheel excursion steamer, 308 foot, 1,344 gross tons, built in 1900, at Wyandotte, Michigan) struck a boulder in the Sugar Island channel in the Detroit River. The vessel docked at Amherstburg, Ontario, where her passengers disembarked as the vessel settled to the bottom in 14 feet of water. Although the damage was not fatal, the salvage crew botched the job. The TASHMOO had one end raised too quickly and her keel broke. This ended this well-loved vessel’s too-short career.

The Soo Locks opened for their first season on 18 June 1855. The first vessel through the locks was the steamer ILLINOIS of 1853.

In 1949, the WILFRED SYKES (Hull#866) was launched at American Shipbuilding Co., Lorain, Ohio, for Inland Steel Co. At the time she was the largest and most powerful vessel on the lakes. The SYKES was also the first boat to have a poop deck. She was converted to a self-unloader in 1975.

In 1964, the bulk freighter SAGUENAY (Hull#647) was launched at Lauzon, Quebec, by Davie Ship Building Ltd., for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd.

In 1968, the ALGOCEN (Hull#191) was launched at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd, for Algoma Central Railway. Renamed b.) VALGOCEN in 2005, she was used as a spoils barge in Keasby, New Jersey. She returned to the lakes in in 2008 as J.W. SHELLEY. Sold and renamed PHOENIX STAR in 2012.

On 18 June 1869, a little less than a week after being launched, the schooner DAVID A. WELLS sailed on her maiden voyage from Port Huron for Menominee, Michigan. On 18 June 1858, the steamship CANADA left the Lakes via the St. Lawrence rapids since she was too large for the existing locks. She had been built by Louis Shickluna at the Niagara Drydock Company in 1853, at a cost of $63,000. She was sold for ocean service after the Depression of 1857. Her hull was rebuilt and she was renamed MISSISSIPPI. She foundered in a gale in the South Atlantic on 12 August 1862.

The venerable side-wheel passenger ferry TRILLIUM (Hull #94) was launched June 18, 1910, at Toronto, Ontario by Polson Iron Works, for the Toronto Ferry Co. 1905 –ETRURIA sank after a collision with the AMASA STONE off Passage Island Light, Lake Superior.

1942 – The steamer THOMAS MAYTHAM of 1892 vintage was rebuilt as the New York State Barge Canal tanker DOLOMITE 2 in 1938 and renamed MOTOREX in 1942. It was sunk by gunfire from U-172 near the Colon entrance to the Panama Canal and all on board were rescued.

1944 – ALBERT C. FIELD, a former Great Lakes bulk canaller, was hit by an aerial torpedo from German aircraft and broke in two and sank in minutes. There were 4 lives lost when the ship was hit in the English Channel while carrying munitions and 130 bags of mail in support of the Normandy invasion.

1959 – SPRINGDALE, a Great Lakes trader in the early 1950s and later operated on charter to Reoch Transports, capsized and sank in the Gulf of Bothnia after the cargo of timber shifted in heavy weather.

1960 – GEERTJE BUISMAN came to the Great Lakes in 1960 and ran aground on Vienne Shoal in northern Lake Michigan while outbound from Chicago with a cargo that included new Nash Rambler automobiles for Europe. The Dutch vessel was stuck for 4 days, and had to be lightered. It returned to the Seaway again in later years and was finally scrapped as f) MOUNT at Varna, Bulgaria, in 2003-2004.

1991 – The saltwater trader AKTI was driven aground 14 miles north of Necochea, Argentina, in a storm and sold “as lies” before being refloated as d) AKTO on July 27. Examination determined that the ship was a total loss but it was rebuilt by Chilean interests as e) RIO CIERVOS. The vessel had been through the Seaway as a) ASIA PROSPERITY beginning in 1974, as b) HAN PACIFIC in 1983, and c) AKTI in 1988. It was scrapped at g) AL GIORGIS after arriving at Chittagong, Bangladesh, on November 17, 2005.

1997 – CANADIAN MARINER ran aground in the St. Lawrence near Crossover Shoal after losing power. The vessel had to be lightered to be released and was repaired by Port Weller Dry Docks. The ship was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 2007.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Repairing ice damage costs U.S.-flag lakes fleet cargo in May

6/19 - Cleveland, Ohio – With three of the largest U.S.-flag lakers out of service for a combined 65 days in May to repair damage suffered in the heavy ice in March and April, cargo movement in U.S. hulls fell nearly 5 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments totaled 9.6 million tons. Had the three 1,000-footers been in operation the whole month, they would have carried another 600,000 tons and the fleet would have registered a small increase over May 2013.

Iron ore cargos totaled 4.6 million tons, a decrease of 6 percent compared to a year ago. The vessels removed from service to undergo repairs are normally heavily engaged in the movement of iron ore.

Coal shipments in U.S.-flag lakers totaled 1.9 million tons in May, an increase of 4.3 percent. The largest gain came in loadings at Lake Erie ports – 41.7 percent. However, shipments out of Lake Michigan fell by nearly 50 percent.

Limestone cargos totaled 2.6 million tons, a decrease of 7.8 percent.

The fleet’s year-to-date totals dramatically illustrate the impacts of the harshest winter in decades. Iron ore cargos are down by 31.3 percent. Coal trails last year by 18.8 percent. Limestone loadings are off by 22.3 percent.

Lake Carriers’ Association





Great Lakes iron ore shipments pick back up

6/19 - Iron ore shipments to Midwestern steel mills are down 26 percent so far this year, after an unforgiving winter choked the Great Lakes with the thickest and most extensive ice in decades.

Lake freighters bound for Northwest Indiana mills struggled with icy conditions well into April, but shipments finally returned to a normal level last month, according to the Lake Carriers Association. Iron ore shipments over the Great Lakes reached 6.4 million tons in May, about the same as what it had been in May 2013.

Shipping companies are trying to replenish ore stockpiles at local mills after the worst ice in 35 years, and would have shipped 600,000 additional tons in May if their fleets were at full strength. But three 1,000-foot-long freighters were out of commission because of damage caused by the heavy ice in March and April. So far this year, about 12.7 million tons of iron ore has been shipped from mines in Minnesota and Michigan to Midwestern steel mills, concentrated primarily in Northwest Indiana.

The largest cargo in May was 67,293, a 2,800 ton increase over last year but less than maximum capacity.

Steel shipments are down 26 percent through the end of May because of brutal ice conditions that slowed passage across the Great Lakes through April. Coast Guard cutters, which spent nearly three times as many hours breaking ice this winter, did not even allow unescorted vessels to cross Lake Superior until May 2.

U.S. Steel had to curtail operations at Gary Works, the nation's largest steel mill, in April because the "unprecedented" amount of ice made it impossible to get enough raw materials from Minnesota's Iron Range. The company has already warned investors that the winter weather will dent its bottom line in the second quarter. The seasonal halt to Great Lake shipping is usually 70 days, but it was more than 120 days this year, CEO Mario Longhi said during the most recent conference call with investors. The shipping woes were expected to limit production and reduce income from operations for the quarter.

Northwest Indiana Times





Icebreaker Mackinaw museum to host anniversary celebration

6/19 - Mackinaw City, Mich. – The Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum will host a 70th anniversary celebration of the launching of the Mackinaw WAGB83 on Saturday, June 28.

Opening ceremonies begin at 9 a.m. with music provided by members of the Straits Area Concert Band and color guard provided by the United States Coast Guard, followed by a historical perspective presentation and various proclamations. The vessel will be open for tours at 9:30 a.m.

At 11 a.m., Ric Mixter presents “Cutter Rescues” — an incredible tribute to powerful cutters that protect our inland seas featuring stories of the Escanaba, Mackinaw, Hollyhock and the Sundew. This lecture also chronicles the amazing rescues of the shipwrecks Cedarville, Nordmeer, Henry Cort and the Carl D. Bradley.

“USCG Mackinaw — An illustrated History of a Great Lakes Queen” author Mike Fornes will be available for questions, discussion and book signing at 12 p.m. There will be a picnic cookout lunch (by donation) from 12:30-2 p.m.

Michael LeButt will present “The Great Lakes and WWII” at 2 p.m., detailing the involvement of the Mackinaw and effects of WWII on the area.

Don Hermanson was aboard the Mackinaw when she made her last icebreaking mission. He interviewed crew and video-taped the voyage — available as the “Icebreaker Mackinaw” DVD. He will be aboard to discuss that mission and to autograph his DVD.

The USCGC Mackinaw WAGC83 was constructed as part of the war effort during World War II. Her construction was authorized just 10 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The heavy demands made on industry for an increase in the production of war materials created a great increase in the tonnage shipment of cargo and raw materials on the Great Lakes.

In the years before the Mackinaw, general navigation on the Great Lakes was closed to shipping due to ice on the average of 4 1/2 months a year. Mackinaw was designed and constructed to reduce this closed season.

The Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum is located at 131 S. Huron Avenue and is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, call [phone].

Soo Evening News





Port Reports - June 19

Milwaukee, Wis. – Chris Gaziano
Prentiss Brown and barge St. Marys Conquest departed for Manitowoc during the day Wednesday after arriving overnight Tuesday. Algorail made her way in on a foggy evening with a load of salt.

Buffalo, NY – Brian W
The Luedtke dredge rig #16 started working up above the CSX bridges in the reach between CP-Draw & Turning Basin #2 yesterday. The local Marine Information Broadcast stated that the Coast Guard expects them to be actively working until late December.





Barge drifts into Ludington shoreline

6/19 - A barge drifted into the Ludington shoreline along M-116 at Ludington State Park on Tuesday. The cables for the barge for a dredging company broke loose in Tuesday morning's high winds and left the platform adrift. The company retrieved it Tuesday afternoon.

MLive





Lookback #214 – Hatch cover boards gave way on Flowergate during loading on June 19, 1962

6/19 - The British freighter Flowergate was built at Burntisland, Scotland, for Turnbull Scott Shipping. The 441 foot, 4 inch long vessel was launched on January 28, 1952, and completed on July 9.

The ship began Seaway trading in 1962 and was loading aluminum at Cleveland 52-years ago today when some of the wooden hatch cover boards broke. A forklift, with two stevedores, fell into the cargo hold and struck a third man. All three were badly injured.

Flowergate made two trips inland in 1962. It was sold and re-registered in Panama as Amenity in 1964 and was back on the lakes the next year. It became a fairly frequent Seaway salty in the 1970s coming or going to overseas destinations such as Leghorn, Italy, Piraeus, Greece, Seville, Spain, Saudi Arabia, and Safi, Morocco.

In June 1975 the vessel was charged with spilling some fuel into Lake Michigan and the cost of clean-up was reported as close to $200,000.

Following a sale for scrap, Amenity arrived at Troon, Scotland, to be broken up on May 9, 1977.

Skip Gillham





Today in Great Lakes History - June 19

On 19 June 1889, NORTH STAR (steel propeller freighter, 299 foot, 2,476 gross tons, built in 1889, at Cleveland, Ohio) collided with CHARLES J. SHEFFIELD (steel propeller freighter, 260 foot, 1,699 gross tons, built in 1887, at Cleveland, Ohio) about sixty miles west of Whitefish Point on Lake Superior in heavy fog. The NORTH STAR kept her bow in the SHEFFIELD's side after the impact, giving the crew time to board. The SHEFFIELD then sank in 8 minutes. Her loss was valued at $160,000. The courts found both vessels to be equally at fault after years of litigation.

In 1954, GEORGE M. HUMPHREY (Hull#871) (named for President Eisenhower's Secretary of Treasury) was launched at Lorain, Ohio, by American Shipbuilding Co, for National Steel Co., M.A. Hanna, mgr.

In 1978, ALGOBAY (Hull#215) was launched by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. for Algoma Central Railway. Renamed b.) ATLANTIC TRADER in 1994, and renamed c.) ALGOBAY in 1996 and d.) RADCLIFFE R. LATIMER in 2012.

On 19 June 1836, DELAWARE (wooden passenger/package freight side wheeler, 105 foot, 178 tons, built in 1833, at Huron, Ohio) was carrying general merchandise and passengers in a storm on Lake Michigan when she was thrown ashore off Niles, Illinois. She broke in two and was wrecked. No lives were lost.

On 19 June 1900, the wooden schooner THOMAS L. HOWLAND was raised and towed to Buffalo, New York for repairs. She had been sunk by the ice off Windmill Point in the Detroit River early in the season.

At 5:30 p.m., on 19 June 1872, the wooden package freight/passenger propeller MONTANA (236 foot, 1,535 gross tons) was finally afloat at Port Huron, Michigan. She was successfully launched at the Port Huron Dry Dock Company on Saturday, 15 June, but she got stuck in the mud. The tugs VULCAN, PRINDEVILLE, BROCKWAY and BURNSIDE were all employed to free her and the MONTANA's engines were also going. It took four days of pulling, hoisting and dredging to free her. The effort to get her free and afloat cost Alexander Muir, her builder, over $3,000 (in 1872 dollars). She lasted until 1914, when she burned near Alpena, Michigan.

1905 – The wooden passenger and freight steamer CITY OF COLLINGWOOD of 1893 vintage was destroyed by a fire at Collingwood and four lives were lost.

1917 – The Canadian bulk carrier NATIRONCO was beached in the Detroit River after a collision with the ASTERN STATES and was deemed a total loss. It was raised and repaired at Toledo and survived until scrapping at Civitavecchia, Italy, as d) SAN CARLO in 1929.

1925 – The wooden freighter MAPLEGLEN (i), is scuttled in Lake Ontario, west of Kingston, near Amherst Island. It had been idle since 1921 and was originally the WYOMING of 1881.

1929 –JOHN HANLAN was torched as a spectacle off the Sunnyside area of Toronto after having failed an inspection to continue service as a Toronto Island ferry. 1933 – MEADCLIFFE HALL sustained rudder damage after being struck by the CALGADOC (i) at Thorold. The grain-laden canaller was towed back to Port Colborne, unloaded, and repaired at Port Dalhousie.

1962 – Hatch cover planks give way at Cleveland aboard FLOWERGATE and a forklift and two men fell into the cargo hold, striking a third man. All were badly injured. The British freighter later returned through the Seaway under Panamanian registry as b) AMENITY and was scrapped at Troon, Scotland, in 1977.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Command changes on USCG cutter Mackinaw

6/20 - Cheboygan, Mich. – The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw has a new commanding officer.

Cmdr. Michael Davanzo transfered the duties and responsibilities of commanding officer to Cmdr. Vasilios Tasikas during a ceremony presided over by Rear Adm. Fred Midgette, commander of the Coast Guard 9th District, on Wednesday.

After three years on the Mackinaw, Davanzo will report to the Afloat Training Group, Atlantic in Norfolk, Va. Tasikas takes command of the cutter after serving in the Office of Military Justice at Coast Guard Headquarters.

Tasikas said he feels the Great Lakes are his home and is truly blessed to be able sail again “on the beautiful freshwater seas.”

Remarks at the ceremony were given by Rear Admiral Fred Midgette, Commander of the U.S. Cost Guard Ninth District, Great Lakes Region, based in Cleveland. He is the senior operation commander in the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway.

He commended Davanzo for his energy and for setting a personal example to all aboard the ship in that he wouldn't ask them to do anything he wouldn't do himself.

“He pushed the crew of the cutter to excel, and they did. He always set the example. He's been serving 37 years and he is still as passionate about the United States Coast Guard as he has ever been. Everything on the ship rises and falls on his leadership.”

Midgette presented Davanzo with a Meritorious Service Medal for his excellent leadership and performance during his tenure with the USCG Cutter Mackinaw.

Cheboygan Daily Tribune





Port Reports - June 20

Marquette, Mich. – Rod Burdick
Kaye E. Barker loaded ore Thursday evening at the Upper Harbor as fleet mate Lee A. Tregurtha arrived to load.

Indiana Harbor, Ind. - Sheldon Rody
On Thursday at 4 pm the Burns Harbor was off loading at the Port of Indiana. It was the only ship in the harbor at that time.

Port Colborne, Ont. – Nathan Attard
Peter R. Cresswell was in at the R&P dock loading stone Thursday evening.





Lookback #215 – Scotiadoc sank after collision with Burlington on June 20, 1953

6/20 - Last September, the wreck of the Scotiadoc was located in the deep water of Lake Superior off Trowbridge Island. The bow rests at a depth of 850 feet while the stern lies at 870 feet. The ship has been there since June 20, 1953.

The accident of 61 years ago today also involved the Burlington. The two bulk carriers collided in heavy fog with the Scotiadoc, a member of the Paterson fleet, going down with the loss of one life. Twenty-nine other sailors were taken safely aboard the Burlington.

Scotiadoc had been built at Cleveland as Martin Mullen in 1904 and came to Canada for Paterson in 1947. It was downbound with a cargo of 239,000 bushels of grain at the time it met up with the Burlington.

The latter, also a Cleveland built bulk carrier, dated from 1899. It had been sold for scrap but gained a reprieve when it was resold for additional service to Canada Steamship Lines in 1948. The ship was acquired to help replace the tonnage lost when their Emperor had gone down the previous fall.

Burlington was a useful addition to the C.S.L. fleet carrying iron ore and coal to Algoma Steel at Sault Ste. Marie in the early years. The ship also worked in the grain trade to the end of the 1966 season. After unloading its last cargo at Toronto in March 1967, Burlington was towed to Hamilton on March 28, 1967, and broken up at the Steel Company of Canada dock in the months ahead.


Today in Great Lakes History - June 20

On this day in 1943, the IRVING S. OLDS departed Two Harbors with 20,543 tons of ore and the BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS departed Two Harbors with 20,386 tons of ore. It was the first time that two lakers departed the same harbor on the same day with cargos in excess of 20,000 tons.

The SENATOR (steel propeller freighter, 410 foot, 4,048 gross tons) was launched by the Detroit Dry Dock Company (Hull #122) at Wyandotte, Michigan, on 20 June 1896, for the Wolverine Steamship Company. She lasted until 31 October 1929, when she collided with the steamer MARQUETTE in fog off Port Washington, Wisconsin, and sank with her cargo of 241 automobiles.

On 20 June 1893, GEORGE STONE (wooden propeller freighter, 270 foot, 1,841 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler & Co. (Hull #98) at West Bay City, Michigan. She lasted until 1909, when she stranded and burned on Lake Erie.

The WILLIAM P. COWAN (Hull#724) cleared Lorain, Ohio on her maiden voyage in 1918. Renamed b.) AMOCO ILLINOIS in 1962. Scrapped at Windsor, Ontario, by M & M Steel Co., in 1987.

In 1903, the twin-screw rail car ferry GRAND HAVEN (Hull#92) was launched at Toledo, Ohio, by the Craig Ship Building Co., for the Grand Trunk Carferry Line, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1953 – The Paterson steamer SCOTIADOC sank in Lake Superior near Trowbridge Island after a collision in wind and fog with the BURLINGTON of Canada Steamship Lines. One man was lost when the starboard lifeboat was swamped after being launched

1954 – The bulk carrier PATRIA, built in Canada during World War Two as the tanker MOOSE MOUNTAIN PARK, was declared a total loss after coming ashore 1 mile northwest of East Point, Santa Rosa Island, California. The ship was salvaged, repaired and made one trip through the Seaway in 1961 as PATAPSCO RIVER before being scrapped at Hirao, Japan, in 1963.

1973 – The bulk carrier ATLANTIC TRADER first traded through the Seaway in 1961 and returned on a regular basis as INVEREWE beginning in 1962. It was back again as d) THEOKEETOR in 1972 but sank June 20, 1973, after a collision with MARINA L. in dense fog off the Baja Peninsula of Mexico. All on board were saved.

1978 – A fire broke out in the cargo of coal aboard WILLIS B. BOYER and the ship docked at River Rouge where part of the cargo was unloaded to get at the fire. The vessel was enroute from Toledo to Silver Bay.

1995 – SAULT AU COCHON, built by Port Weller Dry Docks as a pulpwood barge in 1969, buckled and sank at Forestville, QC. The hull was refloated and taken to Hamilton for repairs later in the year.

2007 – KAPITAN RADIONOV first came to the Great Lakes in May 1992 with coal tar for Cleveland. It sank in severe weather on this date in 2007 as i) ALEXANDRA C. after flooding began in the engine room the previous day. The vessel went down 95 miles off Socotra Island, Yemen, while enroute to Australia with ammonium nitrate. All 19 crew on board were rescued.

On June 20, 1959, the SEAWAY QUEEN began her maiden voyage. The vessel was appropriately named, as at the time she was the largest Canadian vessel on the Great Lakes, the 2nd largest on the Great Lakes overall (behind the EDMUND FITZGERALD), and she entered service the same week that Queen Elizabeth II and President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicated the St. Lawrence Seaway. She was one of the more popular and classic looking vessels on the Great Lakes. June 20, 1936 - PERE MARQUETTE 21 was blocked in Manitowoc following an accident that disabled the Manitowoc Tenth Street Bridge, making it impossible to raise the structure.

June 20, 1993 - BADGER struck the Ludington breakwall while arriving Ludington. She was sent to Sturgeon Bay for repairs. Ten operating days and 21 sailings were lost.

The 230-foot wooden freighter JAMES DAVIDSON (Hull#4) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan, for James Davidson at his shipyard on 20 June 1874. JAMES DAVIDSON was wrecked in Lake Huron in 1883.

The MINNEHAHA, a wooden "clipper" schooner, was launched at James A. Baker's shipyard in Oswego, New York, on 20 June 1857. Her dimensions were 110 foot keel, 125 foot overall, x 25 foot 6 inches x 10 foot 6 inches. She could carry 13,000 bushels of grain. Mr. James Navagh, her master builder, received a gold watch and chain worth $200 in appreciation of his fine work on this vessel.

On Wednesday night, 20 June 1877, the schooner EVELINE (wooden schooner, 118 foot, 236 gross tons, built in 1861, at Litchfield, Michigan) was struck by lightning about sixty miles out from Alpena, Michigan. The bolt shattered the mainmast, throwing three large pieces over the vessel's sides. The large spar was split perpendicularly in two and the lightning bolt followed the grain of the wood in a circular manner until it reached the main boom jaw, which is enclosed in a band of iron fastened by a large bolt. This bolt was literally cut in two. The mate, George Mayom, had the left side of his body blistered and the skin burned off from the shoulder to the foot. His right leg, hands and arm were also severely burned, and he suffered internal injuries and bled freely. The vessel made it to port and she was repaired. She lasted until September 1895, when she sank off Kewaunee, Wisconsin.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Seaway salties scrapped

6/23 - Two familiar saltwater vessels that were regular callers to the Great Lakes/Seaway system have been scrapped. The first, San Teodoro, formerly Yarmouth and Federal Oslo, was beached at Alang on June 18, 2014. This vessel carried the name of Paolo Pittaluga from 1985-1991 and first came inland with that name in 1986. Also scrapped was the Sifnos Mare, more familiar to boatwatchers as Spar Jade and Federal Aalesund. The ship carried the name of Fiona Mary from 1985-1993 and first visited with that name in 1985. Later, the ship came inland as the Federal Aalesund in 1993. It carried that name from 1993-1997 and was named Spar Jade from 1997-2011. The ship last visited with that name during the 2010 season. It was renamed to Sifnos Mare in 2011 and never returned with that name.





Port Reports - June 23

St. Marys River
Sunday morning and early afternoon saw plenty of traffic in the vicinity of the Soo Locks. Downbounders included BBC Chile, Presque Isle, Hon. James L. Oberstar, CSL Assiniboine, Lakes Contender and Strandja. Upbound traffic included Algoway, Herbert C. Jackson, James R. Barker and Manitoba. The training vessel State of Michigan was busy in the lower river Sunday as well.

Sturgeon Bay, Wis. - Daniel Lindner
Philip R. Clarke, which remains the only laker in Sturgeon Bay that is still in winter layup, was expected to depart Sturgeon Bay late Sunday night or early Monday morning. The ship posted a destination of Cedarville, Mich, with an ETA of 2 p.m. on Monday. The Clarke operated late into this past winter, arriving Sturgeon Bay for winter layup on February 16. However, she remained laid up while her fleetmate John G. Munson once again entered service after spending the 2013 season idle at Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wis. It was unlikely that the Clarke would be sailing this season, but the increase in cargo demand due to the long and harsh winter brought the ship back into the Great Lakes cargo trade.

Milwaukee, Wis. – Chris Gaziano
Both Prentiss Brown with barge St. Marys Conquest and the G.L. Ostrander with barge Integrity came in on a foggy Sunday morning. The G.L. Ostrander departed late in the afternoon for Muskegon Mich.

Port Inland, Mich.
Calumet was expected to arrive at Port Inland during the evening hours on Saturday to load. Great Republic is expected to arrive during the early morning hours on Monday to load. Rounding out the schedule will be the Wilfred Sykes, arriving on Monday just before midnight.

Cedarville, Mich.
Two vessels are on the schedule for arrivals on Monday, with Wilfred Sykes arriving first in the early morning hours to followed by the Manitowoc in the mid-afternoon hours.

Calcite, Mich.
The barge Ashtabula and tug Defiance arrived early in the morning hours on Sunday to load at the South Dock. American Mariner was also expected to arrive in the late afternoon hours on Sunday for the South Dock to load. There are no vessels scheduled for Monday. Two vessels are due in on Tuesday, with the Saginaw arriving in the early morning hours followed by the American Courage in the mid-afternoon hours. Both vessels will be loading at the South Dock.

Stoneport, Mich.
Manistee loaded at Stoneport on Sunday with no departure time listed. Lewis J. Kuber was also expected to arrive at Stoneport on Sunday during the late evening hours to load. The Pathfinder is expected to arrive on Monday in the early afternoon hours. Rounding out the schedule will be the Joseph H. Thompson on Tuesday in the early morning hours.

Alpena, Mich. – Ben and Chanda McClain
The Alpena was in port on Saturday loading cement at Lafarge. On Sunday morning Mississagi arrived at the Alpena Oil Dock to unload salt from Goderich, Ont.

St. Clair Mich. – Bob Markus
Sunday morning Indiana Harbor arrived at the DTE St. Clair Power Plant with a load of coal from Duluth. She was still off loading at 7 p.m.

Toronto, Ont. – Jens Juhl
John D. Leitch departed at 9:30 Sunday morning after delivering a load of salt at Cargill. The Polsteam bulker Irma is in the final stage of discharging sugar out of the aft holds. Discharging stopped Saturday and Sunday and this gave the crew an opportunity to partake in the Wine and Spirits Festival at Sugar Beach adjacent to the Redpath dock.

Toledo, Ohio
Thunder Bay of Canada Steamship Lines was expected to arrive at the Torco Dock in the late morning hours on Sunday to unload. For Monday two vessels are due with iron ore cargoes – Atlantic Huron is due first followed by the Lakes Contender. At the CSX Coal Dock, Algoma Progress is due to load on Monday in the morning, followed by the H. Lee White during the late evening hours. Manitowoc rounds out the coal dock lineup arriving on Wednesday in the late evening hours to load. There is nothing due at the Midwest Terminal Stone Dock. Two other vessels were in port at the time of this report. Algoma Progress was unloading cargo at one of the upper river docks on the Maumee River. This cargo was loaded from Trois Rivieres, Quebec. The saltwater vessel Ruddy of Cyprus registry was at the Midwest Terminal Overseas Dock.





Lookback #218 – Altadoc in collision with E.A.S. Clarke on June 23, 1948

6/23 - The second Altadoc was crossing Lake Superior towing the consort barge Kenordoc and headed for the Canadian Lakehead ports when it was in a collision with the E.A.S. Clarke of the Interlake Steamship Co. 66 years ago today.

The accident occurred near the Apostle Islands and both ships, although damaged, remained afloat. Each was repaired and put in more years of service before going for scrap.

Altadoc was built at Chicago as Maricopa in 1896 and joined the Paterson fleet, gaining her fourth name, in 1945. It operated into the Seaway era and then became the grain storage barge D.W. Weldon (i), at Goderich in 1962. It was towed to Thunder Bay for scrapping in August 1974.

E.A.S. Clarke was also the second ship of this name to sail the lakes. Ironically, the original E.A.S. Clarke was also in the Paterson fleet at the time of the collision and was sailing as the first Canadoc.

E.A.S. Clarke (ii) had been built at Superior, Wis., and launched a H.P. Bope on October 19, 1907. It was renamed on joining Interlake in 1913 and became Kinsman Voyager for brief service in the Kinsman fleet in 1970. This ship was towed to Hamburg, West Germany, in 1975 and used for grain storage until resold to Spanish shipbrekaers in 1978. It arrived at Santander, Spain, under tow on August 29, 1978, and was dismantled by Recuperaciones Submarinas S.A.


Today in Great Lakes History - June 23

Thirty one years ago this morning, the NEPCO 140, carrying six million gallons of No. 6 bunker oil and being pushed toward Oswego by the tug EILEEN C., grounded on the shore of Wellesley Island in the American Narrows section of the St. Lawrence River, just upstream from Alexandria Bay, N.Y. The grounding occurred about 1:35 a.m. in heavy fog and was followed by a second apparent grounding further up river, just before the barge reached the Seaway anchorage site off Mason's Point, some four miles above the initial grounding site. In all, over 300,000 of the thick crude was spilled into the River, creating the largest slick ever to pollute an inland U.S. waterway to that day.

Seaway traffic was halted immediately, sending at least 20 ships to anchor. Within hours, over 20,000 feet of boom were deployed, but the spill moved steadily down river, coating granite shoreline, trapping waterfowl, forcing boat owners to pull their boats, and oozing into sensitive marshland, particularly Chippewa Bay in New York waters. Some oil eventually reached as far down the river as Lake St. Lawrence and coated shoreline along the Long Sault Parkway on the Canadian side of the lake. Clean-up lasted into the fall and cost in excess U.S. $8 million.

On 23 June 1903, the tug O.W. CHENEY steamed out of Buffalo harbor in heavy fog to tow the steamer CHEMUNG into the harbor. The tug ran too close to the oncoming steamer, was struck by the bow, and the CHENEY overturned and sank. Three crewmen were killed; two survivors were picked up by the tug FRANK S. BUTLER. On 23 June 1969, RALPH MISENER (steel propeller bulk freighter, 730 foot, 19,160 gross tons, built in 1968, at Montreal, Quebec) transited the Soo Locks upbound for the first time. She had an innovative self-unloading system with twin booms. The movable crane was equipped with a chain of buckets so it could discharge cargo from either side. This unloading system only lasted until 1976, when it was severely damaged in a squall on Lake Michigan. The vessel was then converted from a combination self-unloader/bulk carrier to a bulk carrier. She was renamed b.) GORDON C. LEITCH in 1994.

In 1926, the GLENMHOR (Hull#16), the name was soon corrected to GLENMOHR, was launched at Midland Ontario by Midland Shipbuilding Co., for Great Lakes Transportation Co., (James Playfair). She was 6 feet wider and 4 feet shallower than the largest ship at that time. Purchased by Canada Steamship Lines in 1926, renamed b.) LEMOYNE. Scrapped at Santander, Spain in 1969.

In 1929, the WILLIAM G. CLYDE (Hull#804) was launched at Lorain, Ohio, by American Shipbuilding Co., for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. Converted to a self-unloader and renamed b.) CALCITE II in 1961. Renamed c.) MAUMEE in 2001. Launched in 1972, was the ALGOWAY (Hull#200) at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., for Algoma Central Railway.

The first whaleback barge, 101, was launched along the shore of St. Louis Bay near Duluth, Minnesota, on 23 June 1888. Captain Alexander Mc Dougall, the inventor and designer, was there along with his wife, her sister-in-law and several hundred spectators. As the vessel splashed in to the bay, Mrs. Mc Dougall is supposed to have muttered, "There goes our last dollar!"

On 23 June 1900, the 450 foot steel steamer SIMON J. MURPHY (Hull#135) was launched at Wyandotte, Michigan, by the Detroit Ship Building Co., for the Eddy - Shaw Transportation Co. of Bay City, Michigan.

On 23 June 1873, B. F. BRUCE was launched at Crosthwaite's yard in East Saginaw, Michigan. She is not properly a schooner, but what is known as a "three-and-after" in nautical terms. Her capacity was 50,000 bushels of grain (800 tons) and the building cost was $50,000.

1942 – EUGENE J. BUFFINGTON struck Boulder Reef, Lake Michigan and the hull cracked in two places. The vessel as on the rocks for 25 days until it coould be strapped together and refloated. The ship was towed to Chicago for one of the largest repair jobs in Great Lakes history.

1948 – CRETE and J.P. MORGAN JR. were in a head-on collision, in fog, off the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior. Both ships suffered extensive damage. Two were killed, 3 more injured, aboard the latter steamer. ALTADOC and E.A.S. CLARKE also collided in fog near the Apostle Islands but the damage, while requiring repairs, was less serious.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - June 24

On June 24, 1971, a fire broke out in the engine room of the ROGER BLOUGH at the American Ship Building, Lorain, Ohio, yard, killing four yard workers and extensively damaging her Pielstick diesel engines. Extensive repairs, which included replacement of both engines, delayed her delivery for nearly a year.

The WILLIAM E. COREY (Hull#67), was launched at Chicago, Illinois by Chicago Ship Building Co., the first flagship for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Sold to Canadian registry and renamed b.) RIDGETOWN in1963. Sold for use as a breakwall at Nanticoke in 1970, and since 1974, she has been used as a breakwater in Port Credit, Ontario.

CANOPUS (2-mast wooden brig, 386 tons, built in 1855, at Huron, Ohio) was carrying 16,500 bushels of wheat when she collided with the bark REPUBLIC between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. on 24 June 1865. The CANOPUS sank in about 20 minutes off Clay Banks on Lake Erie. No lives were lost.

The wooden scow MYRA of Ashtabula, Ohio, was lost in a terrible squall on Lake Erie off Elk Creek on 24 June 1875. Three lives were lost.

1938 – REDFERN received minor hull damage when the steering cable broke near Dain City, on the Welland Canal and the vessel hit the west bank. It was taken to Port Colborne for repairs.

1955 – MANZZUTTI was taking water after the cargo of pulpwood shifted in heavy seas near the Straits of Mackinac. The vessel was initially in danger of sinking but reached safety.

1962 – JOHN A. FRANCE (ii) was aground in the upper St. Marys River and some of the cargo of grain was lightered before the ship could be refloated.

June 24 – The recently repaired PARKER EVANS and the ANNA KATRIN FRITZEN collided in heavy fog in Lake Huron with minor damage. The latter, a West German freighter and Seaway trader since 1961, and a return visitor as b) KATRIN in 1974, was scrapped at Bilbao, Spain, due to engine problems, in 1977.

1980 – CARTIERCLIFFE HALL, upbound with a cargo of iron ore, went aground in the Seaway near Cornwall, Ont. due to a steering problem and was released the next day with the aid of three tugs.



Port Reports - June 24

St. Marys River
Boatnerds who arrived early for this week’s Engineer’s Day activities were treated to salutes at Mission Point from Algoma Equinox and Lee A. Tregurtha.

Marquette, Mich. – Rod Burdick
A busy, foggy Monday at the Upper Harbor had visits by Herbert C. Jackson, Michipicoten and Kaye E. Barker.

Oswego, N.Y. – Ned Goebricher
Tug Margot and NYS Marine Highway barge Weeks 104 came through Oswego harbor loaded with transformers. Allouette Spirit delivered aluminum to port authority dock.





Mining could see comeback: Plans afoot in UP of Michigan, neighboring states

6/24 - White Pine, Mich. – A way of life dating back more than a century appeared over in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when the last copper mine closed in 1995, idling more than 1,000 employees and turning this once-thriving company town into a forlorn outpost.

Now a Canadian company is planning a new mine at the site a few miles from Lake Superior, where screeching gulls hover over empty buildings and broken glass litter parking lots.

If Highland Copper Co.’s plans go forward, the area will be astir once more as underground ores are blasted, hauled to the surface and crushed at a mill to extract minerals.

White Pine’s impending rebirth is almost miraculous to local residents who have borne the brunt of its demise, but it’s part of something even bigger: a surprising resurgence of a mining industry that once was an economic pillar in three Upper Midwestern states but has been in serious decline.

In the past few years, at least six open-pit or underground mines have been proposed or started in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, the first such ventures in decades.

Additionally, four new Minnesota operations are using refined technology to extract iron from waste rock mined long ago. Other companies are exploring the region’s ample deposits of iron, copper, nickel and other metals, which have become more marketable because of improved technology and rising demand in the U.S. and China.

“I thought there was no way it was ever coming back,” said Dan Kessler, who was 34, married and the father of two young children when the White Pine closure left him jobless. Now, he says, if the project comes through, “I’d like to see the schools open again.”

The developments are causing planners to reconsider their strategies for the region, which had focused on finding a new economy to supplement old land-based industries. Some are concerned about the earlier era’s legacy of toxic waters and denuded forests.

“A potential step backward,” said John Austin, director of the nonprofit Michigan Economic Center. That’s unless, he said, mining operations can be held to rigorous standards.

Some planners want to concentrate on developing a “blue economy” based on clean industry and responsible use of fresh water.

No one expects a return to mining’s heyday, when the Upper Peninsula produced nearly all the nation’s copper and more than 20,000 toiled in Minnesota iron operations alone. Employment at the typical mine likely will be in the hundreds – no panacea in a region where double-digit jobless rates are common. But local economies will benefit from spinoff jobs and tax payments, said Michigan Technological University economist Gary Campbell.

The Eagle Mine, a nickel and copper operation scheduled to begin production this fall, will pump $4 billion into Marquette County over its eight-year lifespan and employ about 300 while generating economic activity that will create 1,200 additional jobs, its managers say.

The mine is “extremely welcome,” said Amy Clickner, director of the Lake Superior Community Partnership in Marquette County. But the enthusiasm is tempered by the boom-and-bust history of the extraction industries. The region still bears the scars.

Of the mines that once dotted the northland, none are left in Wisconsin. Michigan has only two iron operations. The industry is strongest in northeastern Minnesota, where six iron mines supply Great Lakes steel mills, but it employs many fewer than during the boom times.

But now, Highland Copper Co. plans two mines and is conducting exploratory drilling in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, one-time epicenter of the region’s copper industry.

PolyMet Mining has proposed Minnesota’s first copper and nickel mine in modern times. Gogebic Taconite is seeking permits for what would be the world’s largest open-pit iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin. Aquila Resources plans an Upper Peninsula zinc and gold mine.

Environmentalists, tribes and landowners have filed 11 legal challenges to block the Eagle Mine, located in a scenic forest. The other projects also face bitter opposition.

The companies say newer mines will leave considerably smaller footprints than before.

Associated Press





Lookback #219 – Silvaplana lightered and refloated on June 24, 1964

6/24 - It was 50 years ago today that the Swiss freighter Silvaplana was towed off a mud bank in the St. Clair River. The 487 foot, 2 inch long vessel was downbound with a mixed cargo of alfalfa pellets, flax seed, powdered milk and some iron ore pellets when it got stuck.

Silvaplana had pulled into the Sun Oil Dock at Sarnia for fuel. The ship got caught by the current while turning to go down bound and was blown backwards on a mud bank off St. Clair, Mich. The salvage barge T.F. Newman lightered some cargo and tugs from McQueen Marine pulled the ship free.

Silvaplana was built at Rijeka, Yugoslavia, in 1956 and began Great Lakes trading, with two trips inland, in 1959. It was back on several occasions and had made ten Seaway calls to the end of 1967. It returned as Capo Miseno in 1969 and into the early 1970s.

In the early 1960s, this ship carried an unwanted “guest” who was without legal status. No country would accept him and after an effort to swim ashore at Liverpool, England, was intercepted by the authorities, he was returned to the vessel. Not sure how the issue was finally resolved.

Silvaplana became Hwa Po in 1977. This ship went aground some 125-150 miles west of Pyongyang, North Korea, on October 25, 1980, and had to be abandoned by the crew. The Singapore flag freighter broke in two as a total loss before it could be refloated.

Skip Gillham





Wilfred Sykes’ Capt. Treece asks for vote in Weather Channel photo contest

6/24 - Eric Treece, captain of the Wilfred Sykes and formerly of the Edward L. Ryerson, is asking for Boatnerd votes in a Weather Channel photo contest titled “It’s Amazing Out There.” He is currently just a few votes out of third place. To vote click here





45 years later: Cuyahoga River pollution much lower than day the river burned

6/24 - Cleveland, Ohio – Gaze down the Cuyahoga River near where its mouth opens into Lake Erie, and you will see rowers and boaters, people on jet skis and others just fishing.

In other words, you will see a lot of people enjoying the river. Forty-five years ago, that wasn’t the case.

On that date, June 22, 1969, the river caught fire, sparking a national debate about environmental standards and making Cleveland the butt of national jokes.

“We came down, and we saw it burning,” said Angelo Cammarato, who was a teenager at the time. “And we thought it was very unusual for the river to be burning.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that unusual.

Thanks to decades of unregulated dumping, the river had a high concentration of industrial waste and raw sewage in it. Between 1949 and 1961, the river had caught fire at least four times.

But it was the 1969 fire on the river that helped spark the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, passage of the Clean Air Act, and in Cleveland, the formation of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.

“Since then, we’ve done a lot to significantly reduce pollution in the Cuyahoga River and on Lake Erie,” said Jeannie Chapman, manager of Community and Media Relations for the district.

Chapman said the proof is in the number and types of fish that are now in the river.

“We have seen fish species we haven’t seen in decades,” she said.

Chapman said the region now dumps only about half the pollution into Lake Erie and its waterways that it did on the day the river burned.

In 20 years, she said that number will be under 10 percent.

Meantime, people are once again enjoying the river that runs through the heart of the city.

“It’s hard for me to grasp (that the river burned),” said Ella Thompson, as she fished. “Now, there are so many fish, and it is so calm.”

And it should only get better in the years to come.