Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - September 29

September 29, 1930, for the first time in the history of Pittsburgh Steamship Company, the boats of the fleet loaded more than one million tons in a seven-day period. The 64 Pittsburgh boats loaded 1,002,092 tons of cargo between 9/23 and 9/29.

The J. H. SHEADLE (Hull#22) of the Great Lakes Engineering Works, was launched September 29, 1906, for the Grand Island Steamship Co. (Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co., Cleveland, Ohio, mgr.) Renamed b.) F. A. BAILEY in 1924, c.) LA SALLE in 1930. Sold Canadian in 1965, renamed d.) MEAFORD, and e.) PIERSON INDEPENDENT in 1979. She was scrapped at Santander, Spain, in 1980.

Henry Ford II, 70, of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, passed away on September 29, 1987. Mr. Ford's namesake was the Ford Motor Company self-unloader.

On September 29, 1986, the Polish tug KORAL left Lauzon, Quebec with the JOHN E. F. MISENER and GOLDEN HIND enroute to Cartagena / Mamonal, Columbia, for scrapping.

September 29, 1892 - The ANN ARBOR NO 1 was launched.

On 29 September 1872, ADRIATIC (3-masted wooden schooner-barge, 139 foot, 129 net tons, built in 1865, at Clayton, New York as a bark) was in tow of the tug MOORE along with three other barges in Lake Erie in a heavy gale. She became separated from the tow and foundered. The entire crew of 7 was lost. The wooden schooner DERRICK was used in salvage operations. On 29 September 1854, she had just positioned herself above the wreck of the steamer ERIE off Silver Creek, New York on Lake Erie when she went down in a gale. She had spent the summer trying to salvage valuables from the wreck of the steamer ATLANTIC.

On 29 September 1900, the steamer SAKIE SHEPARD was re-launched at Anderson's shipyard in Marine City. She had been thoroughly rebuilt there during the summer.

1974: J.A.Z. DESGAGNES and HAVRE ST. PIERRE collided while trying to pass on the St. Lawrence. The former often visited the Great Lakes but was scrapped in Croatia as e) A. LEGRAND in 2003-2004. The latter, originally a Dutch coastal vessel, worked on the St. Lawrence and around Eastern Canada but was deleted from Lloyds Register in 1999.

1982: ATLANTIC SUPERIOR went aground off Wellesley Island in the American Narrows of the St. Lawrence. This new member of the Canada Steamship Lines fleet was released October 1 and repaired at Thunder Bay. It was back on the Great Lakes in 2012.

EASTERN FRIENDSHIP first came to the Great Lakes in 1986. It had been stranded off the coast of Bangladesh as d) TONY BEST since April 10, 1993. While refloated on June 21, the anchors dragged on July 24 and the ship went aground again. The hull later cracked and the ship sank on this date in 1993.


So after over two hundred years of looking for a Northwest passage, its come to this


First Arctic cargo shipped through Northwest Passage

9/29 - Canadian arctic shipping firm Fednav’s new vessel MV Nunavik is in the midst of a historic journey as it becomes the first commercial vessel carrying a cargo of Arctic origins to make a full, unescorted transit of the Northwest Passage.

Designated with Polar Class 4, the 2014-built MV Nunavik is the most powerful conventional (non-nuclear) icebreaking bulk carrier in the world and will sail year round from Deception Bay in Northern Quebec, transporting product from the Canadian Royalties mine, Fednav says. On it’s current voyage, Nunavik will deliver 23,000 tons of nickel concentrate from Nunavik’s Deception Bay to Bayuquan in northern China.

To make the voyage, the MV Nunavik will be supported by a shore-based team of ice navigation specialists from Fednav and its subsidiary, Enfotec. The vessel will receive regular ice charts including real-time satellite imagery via Enfotec’s proprietary onboard ice-navigation system, IcenavTM.

The route to China via the Northwest Passage is some 40 percent shorter than the traditional Panama Canal route, which is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1,300 tonnes, Fednav says.

“Fednav is proud to have designed this remarkable ship and to plan the first independent commercial voyage through the Northwest Passage,” said Paul Pathy, President and co-CEO of Fednav Limited. “It is through the extraordinary capabilities of the Fednav team, the ship’s crew, and its world-leading technology that we can undertake this journey with confidence.”

gCaptain





Lookback #316 – Former Eastern Friendship sank on Sept. 29, 1993

9/29 - Eastern Friendship, a Freedom Class cargo carrier, was a Seaway visitor for the first time in 1986. It had not been inland under its first two names of Grand Union and Young Soul after being built at Nagasaki, Japan, in 1971.

The 466 foot, 9 inch, long Liberian flag freighter was sold again in 1990 and renamed Tony Best. It had an inglorious finish to its 22-year career.

Tony Best stranded about 250 miles off the coast of Bangladesh on April 10, 1993. The ship was stuck in a remote area and was aground for four weeks with both food and fresh water running out. The Bangladesh Navy made a humanitarian drop of supplies to help the 23 Taiwanese and Burmese sailors who had been in danger of starving and had managed to radio for help.

The ship, on a voyage from China to Chittagong, was finally refloated on June 21, 1993, and made it to port. The vessel went to anchor near the Bhatiary Beaching site but, due to the strong river current, dragged anchor and went aground.

By September the ship was observed on the bottom at low tide and floating at high tide. In time the hull cracked, drifted away and sank in the Bay of Bengal 21-years ago today.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - September 30

On September 30, 1896, SUMATRA (wooden schooner-barge, 204 foot, 845 gross tons, built in 1874, at Black River, Ohio) was loaded with railroad rails in tow of the steamer B.W. ARNOLD in a storm on Lake Huron. The SUMATRA was blown down and foundered off the Government Pier at Milwaukee. Three of the crew was lost. The four survivors were rescued by the ARNOLD and the U.S. Lifesaving Service. The SUMATRA was owned by the Mills Transportation Company.

The 660-foot forward section of the BELLE RIVER (Hull#716) was side launched on September 30, 1976, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, by Bay Shipbuilding Co. Renamed b.) WALTER J. McCARTHY, JR. in 1977.

ARTHUR SIMARD entered service on September 30, 1973, sailing to Montreal, Quebec, to load gasoline.

GOVERNOR MILLER was towed down the Welland Canal on September 30, 1980, in tow of TUG MALCOLM, STORMONT and ARGUE MARTIN on her way to Quebec City.

ROBERT C. STANLEY departed light on her maiden voyage from River Rouge, Michigan, on September 30, 1943, bound for Two Harbors, Minnesota, to load iron ore.

On September 30, 1986, the Canadian Coast Guard vessel CARIBOU ISLE struck a rock in Lake Huron's North Channel and began taking on water. C.C.G.S. SAMUEL RISLEY arrived and helped patch the ship. The pair then departed for Parry Sound, Ontario.

On September 30, 1888, AUSTRALIA (wooden schooner, 109 foot, 159 gross tons, built in 1862, at Vermilion, Ohio) was carrying cedar posts from Beaver Island to Chicago when she encountered a gale. She was laid on beam ends and sprung a leak. She headed for shelter at Holland, Michigan, but struck a bar and foundered in the mouth of the harbor. The wreck blocked the harbor until it was removed on October. 5 Her crew was rescued by the U.S. Lifesaving Service.

On September 30, 1875, AMERICAN CHAMPION (wooden scow-schooner, 156 tons, built in 1866, at Trenton, Michigan) dropped anchor to ride out a gale near Leamington, Ontario, on Lake Erie. The chains gave way and she struck a bar and sank to the gunwales. The crew of eight spent the night in the rigging and the next day a local woman and her two sons heroically rescued each one.

1906: The first FAYETTE BROWN ran into the pier entering Lorain, became disabled and stranded on the beach. The ship was refloated with considerable damage. It last operated as c) GLENMOUNT in 1923 and was scrapped about 1928.

1913: CITY OF LONDON sank off Point Pelee, Lake Erie after a collision with the JOE S. MORROW. The hull was later dynamited as an obstacle to navigation.

1964: DUNDRUM BAY was a pre-Seaway visitor to the Great Lakes on charter to the Hall Corporation. The vessel was driven aground on this date as f) ESITO near Necochea, Argentina, while traveling in ballast. The hull broke in two and was a total loss.

1965: PROTOSTATIS, a Greek Liberty ship, went aground on Traverse Shoal, Lake Ontario, while enroute from Detroit to Genoa, Italy, with a cargo of scrap. The vessel was lightered and refloated with the aid of tugs. It went to Kingston to anchor and reload in the shelter of Wolfe Island.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - October 1

In 1986, the HERBERT C. JACKSON rescued Carl Ward and his nephew after they had been adrift on lower Lake Michigan for 80 hours.

On October 1,1888, the ST CLAIR (3-mast wooden schooner, 156 foot, 296 gross tons, built in 1859, at Montreal as a bark) was carrying coal in a storm on Lake Huron as part of a 5-barge tow of the tug CHAMPION. She broke loose and came to anchor off Harbor Beach, Michigan. The anchor dragged and she sank near the mouth of the harbor. The crew was rescued by the U.S. Life Saving Service. However, this rescue was ill fated since all were taken in the lifesavers surfboat and the boat was rowed 23 miles to Port Sanilac. 100 yards from shore, just a half mile from Port Sanilac, the surfboat capsized and five lives were lost. The wreck of the ST. CLAIR was later lightered, raised and towed out into the lake and re-sunk.

CHICAGO TRADER, a.) THE HARVESTER of 1911, was laid up on October 1, 1976, at the Frog Pond in Toledo, Ohio.

Dismantling commenced October 1, 1974, on the KINSMAN INDEPENDENT a.) WILLIAM B. KERR of 1907, at Santander, Spain.

October 1, 1997 - The CITY OF MIDLAND 41 was towed out of Ludington to be converted to a barge.

On October 1, 1843, ALBANY (wooden brig, 110 tons, built in 1835, at Oswego, New York) was carrying merchandise and passengers when she went aground in a storm and was wrecked just a few miles from Mackinaw City, Michigan.

The steam barge C. H. GREEN was launched at E. Saginaw, Michigan, for Mason, Green & Corning of Saginaw on October 1, 1881. She was schooner rigged and spent her first year as a tow barge. The following winter her engine and boiler were installed. Her dimensions were 197 feet X 33 feet X 13 feet, 920 tons. She cost $70,000.

On October 1,1869, SEA GULL (wooden schooner, 83 tons, built in 1845, at Milan, Ohio) was carrying lumber in a storm on Lake Michigan. She was driven ashore and wrecked south of Grand Haven, Michigan. The wreck was pulled off the beach a few days later, but was declared a constructive loss, stripped and abandoned. She was owned by Capt. Henry Smith of Grand Haven.

1918: The Canadian bulk carrier GALE STAPLES was blown ashore Point au Sable about 8 miles west of Grand Marais. All on board were saved but the wooden vessel, best known as b) CALEDONIA, broke up.

1942: The former CANADIAN ROVER, Hull 67 from the Collingwood shipyard, was torpedoed and sunk as d) TOSEI MARU in the Pacific east of Japan by U.S.S. NAUTILUS.

1946: KINDERSLEY, loaded with 2074 tons of excess munitions, was scuttled in the deep waters of the Atlantic. The former C.S.L. freighter had been on saltwater to assist in the war effort.

1984: ANNEMARIE KRUGER arrived at Finike, Turkey, as e) BANKO with engine damage on this date and was laid up. The ship, a frequent Seaway visitor in the 1960s, was sold for scrap and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, under tow on August 3, 1986, and was dismantled.

1998 The tank barge SALTY DOG NO. 1 broke tow from the tug DOUG McKEIL and went aground off Anticosti Island the next day. The vessel was released and it operated until scrapping at Port Colborne in 2005.


Nisbet Grammer shipwreck from 1926 found in Lake Ontario

10/1 - Rochester, N.Y. – The wreck of a 253-foot, British-built steamship that sank off Lake Ontario's western New York shore after colliding with another vessel nearly 90 years ago, has been found, a team of underwater explorers said Tuesday.

The four-man team from the Rochester area, Ohio and Texas said it found the wreck of the Nisbet Grammer in more than 500 feet of water about eight miles off Somerset, 40 miles west of Rochester.

The ship was hauling a load of grain from Buffalo to Montreal when it collided with the steamship Dalwarnic in dense fog early on the morning of May 31, 1926. The stricken ship sank in less than 15 minutes, but all aboard were saved by the crew from the other steamer.

A six-year search for the sunken ship ended in August when the team's side-scan sonar detected the wreck, said Jim Kennard of Fairport.

The other team members are Roland Stevens of Pultneyville, New York; Craig Hampton of Lorain, Ohio; and former Rochester resident Dan Scoville, who lives in Houston.

The Nisbet Grammer, named for one of its Buffalo-based owners, was launched from a shipyard in England in 1926. It was known as a "canaller," a type of steamship used to transport grain, coal and other products through Ontario's Welland Canal to ports on lakes Erie and Ontario.

The ship was the largest steel steamer to have sunk in Lake Ontario, Kennard said. The team surveyed more than 80 square miles of lake bottom until finding the wreck site in late August, he said.

A remotely operated vehicle was used to obtain video of the shipwreck and identify it as the Nisbet Grammer, Kennard said.

Associated Press





Minnesota companies race to increase taconite shipments before winter

10/1 - Minneapolis, Minn. – Grain and coal aren’t the only commodities that have backed up this year because of railroad congestion and delays.

Taconite shipments from northern Minnesota have also been slowed by the logjam, and industry officials are concerned about moving enough iron ore to their steelmaking customers before the Great Lakes shipping season ends for the year.

The issue came to light when Sen. Amy Klobuchar raised it recently at a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing. She said one mining company in Minnesota has 250,000 tons of taconite sitting on the ground and another has 85,000 tons stockpiled as a result of rail service disruptions.

“In total we have 2 million tons of iron ore pellets that we want to send out — and make money for our country and get more jobs — that are just sitting there in a pile,” she told Ed Hamberger, president and chief executive of the Association of American Railroads.

The pellets are produced near mines and transported by special rail cars to Duluth, Superior and Two Harbors. At the ports they are loaded onto vessels and carried to steelmakers in Cleveland; Gary, Ind.; and other ports on the lower lakes.

The backups were apparently caused by a shortage of locomotives and train crews to move the rail cars from the mines to the ports, combined with last winter’s weather that shortened the shipping season.

Farmers, grain elevator managers, coal shippers, utilities and Amtrak executives have complained about rail delays across much longer distances between Minnesota and western states. At federal hearings this year in Washington and Fargo, N.D., and at other meetings, they have testified that service has been poor and freight rates have skyrocketed. Some accused the rail firms of giving preference to more lucrative North Dakota oil shipments.

Rail firms have denied that they favor crude oil over other cargoes and have told the Surface Transportation Board that regulates railroads that the slowdowns are a result of increased shipments of all commodities, not just oil.

The taconite industry has kept a low profile and has not criticized railroads publicly, but after Klobuchar’s remarks, Cliffs Natural Resources issued a short statement that confirmed that its Minnesota mines, like other industrial facilities, “have been significantly impacted by the national logjam of rail service in the United States.”

The company needs to provide timely delivery of iron ore pellets to its steelmaking customers, the statement said, and “these [railroad] conditions create substantial and irreversible negative consequences because there is finite shipping season on the Great Lakes.”

Cliffs operates iron ore mines at United Taconite in Eveleth served by CN (Canadian National Railway Company) and Hibbing Taconite, served by BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe). It also owns a mine near Babbit linked to its Northshore Mining taconite processing plant in Silver Bay.

The shipping season typically closes from Jan. 15 to March 25, said Adele Yorde, public relations manager for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. Mining companies try to move out as much iron ore as possible before winter, she said, so that it can be stockpiled and used by steelmakers during the eight to 10 weeks that the lakes are frozen.

“Four months is what they have left,” said Yorde, referring to the mining firms. “And the last few weeks get to be slower in terms of delivery time because of ice” that begins to thicken, she said.

Craig Pagel, president of the Iron Mining Association of Minnesota, declined to provide details about how reduced rail service has affected the industry. “These delays along with ice conditions this spring have had a negative effect we hope is rectified soon,” he said. “In our case shipping is an integral part of the ironmaking and steelmaking industry.”

Pagel said that the iron mines are now producing “at near-capacity levels, and we hope to continue to produce at those levels.”

That wasn’t true earlier this year, at least for Cliffs Natural Resources.

In a letter to the Surface Transportation Board last April, the company’s director of rail transportation Randel Thomas said: “Inconsistent rail service has had severe impacts on our operations throughout the winter of 2013-2014, keeping our facilities from operating at capacity.”

Thomas said that instead of shipping pellets to stockpiles at dock facilities on the Great Lakes, it had to “submit approximately 250,000 long tons to ground storage at our mines.”

Thomas also wrote in the April letter that “all steelmakers are experiencing pellet shortages and are preparing to bank blast furnaces” because of their inability to get enough pellets. He mentioned both rail service delays and cold weather as contributing to the problems.

BNSF spokeswoman Amy Mcbeth declined to comment specifically on how the company’s service to taconite firms has changed in the past year, or what sort of improvements might be under discussion.

“All customers have been impacted by our service challenges this year,” she said. “We are working with them directly on their service issues while we continue to execute our short and long-term efforts to improve service across our network.” Some of those changes BNSF announced previously include adding double track at strategic points along the northern corridor, hiring additional crews and purchasing more locomotives.

CN spokesman Patrick Waldron said in a statement that any issues with taconite were the result of weather, and that for his company, “this is not about locomotives or equipment supply.” Waldron said that last year’s “historic winter and freeze” caused a shorter shipping season and created “challenges in moving the inventory across the entire iron ore supply chain.”

CN serves Minnesota mines near Mountain Iron (Minntac,) Virginia (Minorca) and Forbes (United Taconite), he said.

Waldron said that the railroad and shipping cycle is now back in sync with all the necessary CN railroad equipment in service. “That work will continue through the end of the season when CN expects inventory stockpiles to be at normal levels,” he said.

Pagel at the Iron Mining Association said he’s optimistic that problems, if any still exist, will be resolved.

“Finding solutions is more important than finding blame,” he said.

Minneapolis Star Tribune





Port Reports - October 1

Marquette, Mich. – Rod Burdick
On an uncommon visit, tug and barge Presque Isle unloaded coal from Ashtabula into the Upper Harbor hopper on Tuesday. Presque Isle last visited Marquette in 2011 but loaded ore.

Alpena, Mich. – Ben & Chanda McClain
On Monday evening the tug G.L Ostrander and barge Integrity loaded product at Lafarge. Tuesday was a busy day with three vessels in port. The Alpena arrived at Lafarge early Tuesday morning to load cement. Around lunchtime the Alpena departed and passed the inbound Manistee out in the bay. The Manistee tied up at Lafarge and unloaded coal. Later in the evening the tug Samuel de Champlain and barge Innovation came in and tied up under the silos.





St. Clair River sewage spills a continuing problem

10/1 - Sarnia, Ont. – The city of Sarnia has spent millions of dollars to prevent raw sewage from spilling into the St. Clair River, but it still remains a problem for some downriver communities, especially after a heavy rain.

Jeff Wesley, former Wallaceburg mayor and now one of Wallaceburg’s municipal representatives to Chatham-Kent council, says it’s unacceptable that Sarnia has had 10 sewage spills so far this year. And he doesn’t believe that the problem is easing.

Wesley made the comments at a meeting of the Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission, of which he is a member. The PUC’s general manager, Tom Kissner, will be contacting the city government in Sarnia to discuss the problem.

Meanwhile, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley says the city has spent almost $100 million to separate sewers and to update the municipality’s sewage plant.

“We have basically mitigated spills on the St. Clair (River) from the municipality. And that has been a very difficult task to bring about,” Bradley said.

On occasion when there are storms, there are issues with capacity, Bradley said.

“We're not standing back. It is something that we will continue to try and address. We're not standing back and saying we've done all this, let's not worry about all these other issues.”

Bradley said Sarnia has been working on improvements to 38 kilometres of sewers, and said that work will not be stopping.

He also said Sarnia has eliminated or mitigated the combined sewers going into the St. Clair River.

In the late 1990s, the city was the biggest polluter on the St. Clair River.

“That's done. Now we're just dealing with the issues we deal with on occasion from the sewage plant when it's pushed to overcapacity,” Bradley said.

Sarnia completed a four-year project between 2007 and 2011 to upgrade its wastewater system with a sewer separation project to reduce the amount of raw sewage from going into the St. Clair River after heavy rains.

The infrastructure project was the biggest in Sarnia's history, costing $34.9 million. The massive project oversaw the development of almost seven kilometres of new sewers.

Sarnia Observer





MARAD awards $400,000 to research LNG bunkers for the Great Lakes

10/1 - The Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute (GLMRI) has announced it has been awarded $400,000 by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) to research liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative marine fuel on the Great Lakes.

The funds come from a cooperative agreement between MARAD and the U.S. Department of Transportation. GLMRI has been researching the viability of LNG aboard marine vessels in the Great Lakes region and the LNG supply chain since 2011.

The institute's general meeting earlier this year also brought together experts and attendees to discuss LNG, with a focus on "greening the supply chain.”

In addition to furthering research, the institute will also support educational workshops on the potential economic and environmental benefits associated with fueling with LNG.

GLMRI is a joint program between the University of Wisonsin-Superior and University of Minnesota Duluth.

Earlier this year, energy major Shell said it was slowing down plans for LNG fuel production in North America, including sites intended to serve the Great Lakes.

Ship & Bunker





Team passionate about shipwreck preservation studying zebra mussels on whaleback

10/1 - Duluth, Minn. – A non–profit group, passionate for the preservation of historic Great Lakes shipwrecks, is busy on the bottom of Lake Superior studying an historic shipwreck. But it's not the shipwreck itself that's at the center of the team's attention. Rather, it's what's thriving on it.

In June 1902, the Thomas Wilson whaleback freighter sank over 70 feet down to the bottom of Lake Superior about a mile outside the Duluth Harbor after colliding with another ship.

112 years and 3 months later, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society is using the shipwreck as a means to study the prevalence of the invasive Zebra and Quagga mussels in the largest of the Great Lakes.

From a historic standpoint, project leader and author Steve Daniel says the reason for their team's interest is simple: "Because we really don't like them on shipwrecks," smiled Daniel. "We like to see the shipwrecks in the Great Lakes."

In the lower Great Lakes, where the water is warmer, Daniel says Zebra Mussels often cover the historic wrecks.

"They can get up to five layers thick, to the point where you end up looking at a bulgy, rounded shape of something, and you can't see the details of the ship," said Daniel. "When it's warm, zebra mussels tend to proliferate."

But Daniel says Superior's cooler, darker waters act like preservatives on shipwrecks, and could also be a reason why the Wilson isn't as plastered by the invasives.

"Lake Superior is about 40 degrees down at around 100 feet," said Daniel. "[Sunday] it happened to be 53 degrees on our computers."

The team has been diving on the site for over five years, examining the exact same spots each year on the shipwreck. GLSPS President Phil Kerber says the mussel populations have fluctuated almost every year.

"Most of the time it does increase, unfortunately, because of the problem we do have," said Kerber, while team members packed up their dive gear.

Kerber says the first two years saw a population increase, which tapered off the third year, then dropped the fourth year, and increased again last year.

In search of a solution, the team says they've tried removing the mussels in the past by scraping them off the vessel.

"I think it was probably a lost cause to try to do that," said Daniel, "because they did come back."

But Kerber says there are promising signs about 4 ½ miles out from the Wilson, aboard the Mayflower shipwreck.

"There was absolutely no Quagga and Zebra mussels on that ship," said Kerber, "but it's deeper, and it is colder."

The Wilson is much closer to the mouth of the harbor, where the St. Louis River's warmer water flows into Superior, along with zebra mussel populations.

If Superior's colder water has kept the invasives at bay thus far, the team says that's cause for greater concern when the lake goes through a warm streak.

There is a silver lining to the invasive mussels. Experts say they filter feed, which in turn cleans the water. But most agree that the up side is far outweighed by the myriad of issues they pose to boaters, and the native ecosystem.

Northland News Center





Toledo Port honored at freight conference

10/1 - Toledo, Ohio – The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority has been honored again for increasing the amount of cargo it receives or sends out through the St. Lawrence Seaway.

During a port-sponsored luncheon Wednesday in Columbus as part of the Ohio Conference on Freight, port President Paul Toth received the Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award from the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The 4.1 million metric tons of freight shipped between Toledo and ports in eastern Canada or overseas during 2013 marked a 5 percent increase over 2012.

The largest commodity was 1.6 million tons of iron ore mined in Canada and consumed by steel mills in southern Ohio and Kentucky, Seaway administrator Betty Sutton said. Other primary cargoes included imports of steel and aluminum while soybean exports from Toledo also helped the increase.

Toledo Blade





Lookback #318 – Kindersley scuttled with excess war munitions on Oct. 1, 1946

Kindersley was one of those rare Great Lakes canal-sized ships that was called to saltwater service in both world wars and managed to survive the perils of weather and enemy action in each conflict.

Originally known as A.S. McKinstry, the ship came to the Great Lakes after being built at Glasgow, Scotland, in 1909. It joined the newly formed Canada Steamship Lines in 1913 and went overseas during the war. On October 2, 1918, the ship escaped a torpedo attack on the English Channel and was able to return to the Great Lakes in 1920.

C.S.L. renamed it Kindersley in 1927 and the ship left again for overseas in 1941. German aircraft caught Kindersley off Blyth, Scotland, on Aug. 17, 1941, and left the ship afloat but severely damaged.

Kindersley was repaired and continued to operate for the duration of the war. There would be no return to freshwater after this conflict. The ship was loaded with 2,074 tons of surplus munitions, taken out to sea, and scuttled in the deep water of the Atlantic Ocean on October 1, 1946.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - October 2

On her maiden trip in 1905, the PETER WHITE grounded outside the Lackawanna breakwall. After lightering 200 tons, she proceeded to the Lackawanna Steel mill where the remainder of the cargo was unloaded.

On this day in 1979, the ELTON HOYT 2ND unloaded her last cargo as a straight decker at the Ashtabula & Buffalo Dock, Ashtabula, Ohio.

On October 2,1901, M. M. DRAKE (wooden propeller freighter, 201 foot, 1,102 gross tons, built in 1882, at Buffalo, New York) and her consort MICHIGAN (3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 213 foot, 1,057 gross tons, built in 1874, at Detroit, Michigan) were loaded with iron ore while sailing in a strong gale on Lake Superior. The MICHIGAN began to leak and the DRAKE came around to take off her crew, but the two vessels collided. Both sank off Vermilion Point, Michigan. One life was lost. As the vessels sank, the passing steamers NORTHERN WAVE and CRESCENT CITY stood by and rescued the crews.

Upper Lakes Shipping's new self-unloader CANADIAN OLYMPIC was christened on October 2, 1976, at St. Catharines, Ontario. Her name honored the Olympic Games that were held at Montreal that year.

TADOUSSAC (Hull#192) departed Collingwood on her maiden voyage for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd. on October 2, 1969, to load iron ore at Fort William, Ontario.

The sandsucker AMERICAN last operated in 1956, and laid up at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She was scrapped in S. Chicago in 1984.

JOHN T. HUTCHINSON and CONSUMERS POWER arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan on October 2, 1988, where dismantling began on October 14t by Li Chong Steel & Iron Works Co. Ltd.

On her maiden voyage October 2, 1943, E. G. GRACE cleared Lorain, Ohio, bound for Superior, Wisconsin, to load iron ore.

HOCHELAGA of 1949 departed Toronto October 2, 1993, in tow of the McKeil tugs GLENBROOK and KAY COLE for Montreal, Quebec, and then to the cutter’s torch.

October 2, 1954 - The PERE MARQUETTE 21 sailed into Ludington, Michigan, on her second maiden voyage of her career.

On October 2,1888, OLIVER CROMWELL (wooden schooner-barge, 138 foot, 291 tons, built in 1853, at Buffalo, New York) was being towed by the steamer LOWELL in a storm in Lake Huron when she broke her towline. She rode out most of the storm at anchor, but then she snapped her anchor chains and she was driven ashore at Harbor Beach, Michigan, where she broke up.

The 183 foot, 3-mast wooden schooner QUEEN CITY was launched at W. Bay City, Michigan, on 2 October 1873.

The Port Huron Times reported the following shipwrecks from a severe storm that swept the Lakes over 2-3 October 1887: Schooner CITY OF GREEN BAY lost near South Haven, Michigan; the schooner-barge CHARLES L HUTCHINSON, lost near Buffalo, New York; the steam barge ALBION and her consort the schooner-barge ARK ashore near Grindstone City, Michigan; the 3-mast schooner EBENEZER ashore near Holland, Michigan; the wooden package freighter CALIFORNIA sunk in the Straits of Mackinaw; the schooner HOLMES ashore at Middle Island on Lake Huron; the schooner GARIBALDI ashore near Port Elgin on Lake Huron; the barge MAYFLOWER disabled near Grand Haven, Michigan; the schooner D. S. AUSTIN ashore at Point Clark; and the schooner HENRY W HOAG ashore at Erie, Pennsylvania.

1891: WINSLOW ran aground in fog while inbound at Duluth. The hole in the wooden hull was patched and the ship was released and able to be docked. The vessel caught fire while unloading the next day and destroyed.

1938: The first WINDOC was struck when Bridge 20, a railway bridge across the Welland Canal, was lowered prematurely and removing the stack, spar and lifeboats of the N.M. Paterson steamer.

1953: A collision occurred between PIONEER and WALLSCHIFF in the St. Clair River on this date and the latter, a West German visitor to the Great Lakes, rolled on its side and settled in shallow water. One crew member perished. PIONEER, a Cleveland-Cliffs steamer, was repaired for further service and was later scrapped at Genoa, Italy, in 1961. WALLSCHIFF, on her first and only trip to the Great Lakes, was refloated and departed for permanent repairs overseas in 1954. The vessel was still sailing as g) GOLDEN MERCURY in 2011.

1973: A head-on collision in fog off Gull Island, Lake Michigan between the T-2 tanker MARATHONIAN and Norwegian freighter ROLWI left both ships with massive bow damage. The former had begun Seaway service as f) MARATHON in 1960 and was repaired at South Chicago. It disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle as h) SYLVIA L. OSSA in October 1976. ROLWI, a Norwegian salty, was also repaired and returned inland as b) DOBERG in 1974 and c) LORFRI in 1976. It arrived at Alang, India, for scrapping as e) PEROZAN on February 6, 1996.

1992: The Canadian coastal freighter SIR JOHN CROSBIE was built in St. Catharines by Port Weller Dry Docks in 1962. It sank in the Gulf of Mexico off the west coast of Florida as c) HOLSTEN on this date but all on board were rescued.


Canadian Miner removal from Scatarie Island still on schedule

10/2 - Main-A-Dieu - Work on removing the remains of the former laker Canadian Miner from the coast of Scatarie Island is still on schedule to be completed by the end of November, says the head of the Crown corporation monitoring the cleanup of the derelict ship.

Gary Campbell, president of Nova Scotia Lands, said workers are busy cutting away pieces of the former Great Lakes freighter to get at the asbestos that, for safety reasons, must be removed before the rest of the job can be tackled.

“It’s tedious work getting it out of there especially as they are finding asbestos where they didn’t expect it, like in bulkhead doors,” said Campbell, who recently spent a couple of days at the site. “But they should finish up with the asbestos removal by the end of this week.”

Workers will then use large “Pac-Man”-like hydraulic steel shears to cut the ship apart.

The materials will then be barged to Sydney to be sold as scrap metal which could be worth as much as $3 million to RJ MacIssac Construction, the Antigonish firm that was awarded the $12-million contract.

Due to the awkward location where the Miner came to rest after it broke free of its towline during transit to Turkey in September 2011, the contractor had to build a breakwater with stone barged to the island from Louisbourg, construct a base camp and lay down a road and staging area near the ship.

With unreliable cellular coverage on Scatarie, emergency radio communication also had to be set up.

Julian O’Neil, liason officer for the Main-a-Dieu Community Development Association, confirmed there has been plenty of activity around the small fishing community.

“It's been busy around here and that has people excited,” he said. “There have been helicopters flying back and forth from our ball field to the island and boats going back and forth.”

O’Neil said the community is pleased to see the work finally proceeding after three years.

After the wreck, the federal government denied any responsibility for the costly cleanup, a claim that angered many residents of Cape Breton’s most easterly community, as the Greek tugboat Hellas was operating under federal regulations when the incident occurred.

A previous effort to remove the vessel failed and the Miner has remained in the same location since it ran aground.

Cape Breton Post





New federal rule allows freighters to dump cargo remnants into Great Lakes

10/2 - Buffalo, N.Y. – Environmental groups came up short in their fight to prevent freighters from sweeping or washing limestone, iron ore, coal and other non-toxic remnants of their dry cargo into the Great Lakes.

A federal rule that went into effect earlier this year allows what has been a long-time practice in Great Lakes commerce: shipping vessels, under certain conditions, washing down residues in their cargo holds left behind after their deliveries.

Environmental groups call it legalized pollution. “These lakes have been treated like a garbage dump for three quarters of a century,” Buffalo Niagara RiverKeeper wrote to federal officials during a public comment period. ”Now it is time to start protecting the environment.”

But the U.S. Coast Guard, in making the rule, said “most vessels appear to be minimizing the volume of dry cargo residue they discharge. They treat their cargo as a commodity to be conserved and not wasted.” The new rule also won the blessing of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Shippers contend the practice will not harm the lakes.

“It is just good business to not have cargo residue,” said Glen G. Nekvasil, vice president of the Lake Carriers’ Association, which represents 17 American companies that operate 57 shipping carriers, including Williamsville-based American Steamship Co.

“We are talking about minute quantities of non-hazardous, non-toxic substances,” he said.

A formal written plan for dealing with dry cargo aboard each vessel on the Great Lakes, with placards posted on each ship, went into effect Sept. 15.

“It is a very, very tiny amount. It is just dust,” Nekvasil said. “This washdown is occurring over a very, very long period of time.

“The amount of coal dust on the bottom of the lake is the equivalent of three cups over the size of a football field,” Nekvasil said.

The rule has no sunset clause, so it will remain in effect indefinitely. Lake freighters must keep track of discharges and report them to the Coast Guard through February 2015, said Lisa Novak, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

The record-keeping requirement remains in effect indefinitely, she said.

The rule defines bulk dry cargo residues as those materials that are non-hazardous and non-toxic. It also imposes various restrictions, depending on what’s being dumped and where.

Limestone, for instance, cannot be dumped in Lake Erie within three miles from shore. Coal and salt residues can only be dumped 13.8 miles from shore and iron ore remnants have to be discharged at least six miles into the lake.

“Such a policy appears to be in direct opposition to efforts underway to restore and protect the Great Lakes,” said the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission.

“Regardless of whether these residues would pose a direct and immediate threat to human or environmental health through the practice of cargo sweeping, these materials are inherently not non-toxic and non-hazardous,” said the group, which represents 11 native tribes in the region.

The rule sparked debate from environmental law scholars who argue it might be illegal when considering superseding treaties like the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and the Clean Water Act of 1972, among other laws and rules.

“We believe that ending dry cargo dumping is the only alternative that is consistent with federal and international law,” said the Alliance for the Great Lakes and National Wildlife Federation, a five-member coalition of environmental groups.

Buffalo News





Port Reports - October 2

Sturgeon Bay – Jim Conlon
Tuesday afternoon the USCG icebreaker Mackinaw was released from the large section of the floating drydock at Bay Shipbuilding. The tug Victory is still in the small section under going repairs to her rudders; the James L. Kuber is docked on the end of the piers waiting for the Victory.

Lorain, Ohio – Phil Leon
Joseph H. Thompson departed Lorain at 3:50 p.m. on Wednesday.

Oswego, N.Y. – Ned Goebricher
Tug Petite Forte and St. Marys Cement barge were unloading in Oswego Harbor Wednesday.

Oshawa, Toronto and Hamilton, Ont. – Andre Blanchard
Oshawa: Heloise left Wednesday afternoon. Shortly after she departed, the Radcliffe R. Latimer arrived and maneuvered itself to the dock. Hamilton: Stella Polaris arrived Wednesday and docked at pier 24. Algowood also arrived. Toronto: Capt Henry Jackman arrived Wednesday and docked in the Cherry Street basin/pier.





Holland America cancels cruise after ship breaks down in Quebec City

10/2 - Quebec City, Que. - Passengers on the cruise ship Veendam are going home after the company that owns the ship, Holland America, cancelled the cruise due to technical problems.

The ship, which was due to embark on a seven-night sailing from Quebec City to Boston on Saturday, wasn't able to leave the dock and remains the Quebec City port. The cruise line said there are problems with the ship's propulsion systems. Divers are currently in the water working to repair the ship’s systems.

The majority of the 1,350 passengers aboard are American. The company has compensated the passengers for the cancellation.

The Quebec City port says it wants the Veendam gone by Saturday because six more cruise ships are scheduled to dock, and the Holland America ship is in the way. The ship was put into service in 1996 and was renovated in 2011.

CBC





Seaway System cargo tonnage continues upswing in September

10/2 - Washington, D.C. – The St. Lawrence Seaway reported that year-to-date cargo shipments of more than 24 million metric tons moved through the system for the period March 28 to September 30 – an increase of nearly 5 percent over September 2013. U.S. grain continued its upward trend posting a 14.6 percent increase over the same time last year.

“Cargo tonnage moved through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System during the month of September continues to be robust and reflects positively on the economy and the shipping industry,” said Administrator Betty Sutton of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. “Great Lakes stevedores handled large quantities of steel, grain, sugar, salt, and oversized project cargo carried on more than 200 ships in September. As we head into the busiest time of the shipping season, we anticipate this upward trend in cargo tonnage to continue.”

American Great Lakes Ports Association





Lookback #319 – Marathonian and Rolwi collided head-on in fog on Oct. 2, 1973

10/2 - Both the Norwegian freighter Rolwi and the Liberian bulk carrier Marathonian sustained massive bow damage from their head-on collision in Lake Michigan on Oct. 2, 1973. Each of these ships were familiar with Great Lakes trading but lost their way on the fog covered lake and ran right into one another.

Marathonian had been a T-2 tanker that was built at Portland, Oregon, as Egg Harbor in 1943. It came through the Seaway for the first time in 1960 while sailing under a sixth name of Marathon. The ship was converted to a bulk carrier at Emden, Germany, in 1962 and resumed sailing under the same name. This was changed to Marathonian in 1967 and the ship was back inland for the first time when the accident occurred in 1973.

Marathonian was rebuilt with a new bow at South Chicago and was the last salty to exit the Seaway for the 1973 season. It was sold and renamed Sylvia L. Ossa in 1974 and disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle without a trace. It had last reported in on Oct. 13, 1976. Only the name board and an empty lifeboat were recovered while 37 lives were lost.

Rolwi was built for Great Lakes trading in 1968 and was the largest ocean ship to enter the Seaway when it came inland that spring. The arrival of the Norwegian ship was celebrated at Duluth on May 5 and among the dignitaries was King Olav V of Norway.

Following the accident of 41 years ago, Rolwi was patched at Lorain and then departed the lakes for permanent repair work. It returned through the Seaway as Doberg in 1974 and was back inland again in 1976 as Lorfri.

In later years, the ship operated on saltwater as d) Caspian Sea and e) Perozan before being sold to shipbreakers at Alang, India. It arrived there for dismantling on Feb. 6, 1996.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Coast Guard conducts evacuation of man from freighter in Straits of Mackinac

10/3 - Cleveland - The Coast Guard conducted a medical evacuation of a 36-year-old man from a freighter in the Straits of Mackinac Thursday evening.

Just before 6 p.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, received a report of a crew member who was experiencing shortness of breath, pain in his left arm and tightness in his chest aboard the Mesabi Miner, that was en route to Indiana Harbor, Indiana. Another crew member aboard the vessel, with medical training, was monitoring the man and reported him as conscious and ambulatory.

Sector Sault Ste. Marie watchstanders directed the launch of a boat crew from Coast Guard Station St. Ignace, Michigan, aboard a 45-foot response boat, and conducted a conference call with a duty flight surgeon, who recommended a medical evacuation. The Mesabi Miner changed its course in order to meet the Station St. Ignace rescue crew closer to St. Ignace.

About 10 minutes later, the rescue crew arrived on scene, brought the man aboard their boat and transported him back to St. Ignace where they were met by mergency medical services personnel who stabilized the man and took him via ambulance to McLaren Northern Hospital in Petoskey, Michigan.

The man's current condition is unknown.





Export/import activity drives St. Lawrence Seaway cargo up 5% over 2013

10/3 - Total cargo shipments on the St. Lawrence Seaway have now surpassed 2013 levels by 5 percent due to strong North American import/export activity.

According to the St. Lawrence Seaway, total cargo tonnage from March 25 to September 30 reached 24.4 million metric tons.

Grain exports continue to be strong with total shipments (including Canada and the U.S.) reaching 6.8 million metric tons, up 70 percent over the same period last year. U.S. grain totaled 796,000 metric tons, up 15 percent over the same period last year.

Corn shipments from Port of Toledo to Ontario and Quebec for ethanol production and animal feed, for example, increased significantly over the past two months.

The Seaway’s general cargo tonnage — including specialty steel imports as well as aluminum and oversized project cargo like machinery or wind turbines — as of September 30 had topped 1.9 million metric tons, up 73 percent. Specialty steel imports accounted for 1.7 million metric tons of that overall number.

Steel has been a hot commodity throughout the Great Lakes region, with shipments from overseas heading to ports in Toledo, Cleveland, Detroit, Burns Harbor, Milwaukee, Oshawa and Hamilton to be used in domestic automobile production and construction.

The Port of Green Bay has also seen a 50 percent increase in foreign exports of petroleum products such as ethanol, diesel and gasoline for the period up to August 30. The products have been travelling to Sarnia, Ontario and the Montreal, Quebec region.

Municipal stockpiling of road salt ahead of the coming winter has also driven shipments via the Seaway up by 32 percent this season to 1.9 million metric tons.

These areas of strength have helped to offset decreases in shipments of other commodities through the navigation system.

Chamber of Marine Commerce





Port Reports - October 3

Alpena, Mich. – Ben & Chanda McClain
Mississagi arrived at the Alpena Oil dock before noon on Wednesday. It unloaded a cargo of road salt. On Thursday morning the tug Defiance and barge Ashtabula arrived at Lafarge and unloaded coal. Also at Lafarge on Thursday morning was the tug G.L Ostrander and barge Integrity loading cement.

Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – Daniel Lindner
The USCG Mackinaw, which has been drydocked in Sturgeon Bay for most of this past summer, was out in the bay of Green Bay during the afternoon. She was presumed to be conducting some sort of sea trials, possibly testing out new engines. The 240-foot icebreaker docked in Sturgeon Bay again on Thursday night. Lower Lakes Towing's barge James L. Kuber remains docked at Bay Shipbuilding, waiting for her tug, Victory, to have repairs to her rudders completed.

Lorain, Ohio – Phil Leon
Algoway was inbound at 8:20 p.m. Thursday.





Author of “Steamboating” to speak at National Museum of the Great Lakes

10/3 - Toledo, Ohio – The National Museum of the Great Lakes will host the first of its fall lecture series speakers Saturday, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. when the museum will welcome back Toledo native Ryan Barone, author of the book “Steamboating.”

Visitors will have the opportunity to hear Barone spin tales and share photos of his daily like aboard the S.S. Lee A. Tregurtha and as an officer aboard the Coast Guard cutters Bramble and Hollyhock. Following Barone’s appearance, he will be on hand to sign copies of his book, which is for sale in the museum’s store.

Barone was born and raised in Toledo, where he developed a life-long love affair with the Great Lakes shipping community. His 1994 summer voyages aboard the S.S. Lee A. Tregurtha inspired his memoir, “Steamboating,” which describes daily life aboard a Great Lakes steamship though the eyes of a teen-aged crewmember. He has traversed the length of all five Great Lakes as a merchant mariner and as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard. A licensed master of 100-ton vessels, Barone moved to the Washington, DC, area in 2006, and served for a time as a tour boat captain on the Potomac River. He currently works for the Maritime Administration, where he manages the maintenance program for the Ready Reserve Fleet.

The series will also include Christopher Gillcrist (Executive Director of the Great Lakes Historical Society) on Wednesday, October 22, and Paul LaMarre III (Executive Director of the Port of Monroe) on Wednesday, Nov. 12. A Spring Lecture Series is in the works as well.

The Fall Lecture Series is included in the cost of admission to the National Museum of the Great Lakes. Museum members are free.

National Museum of the Great Lakes





Lookback #320 – Liberty ship Trikeri swung sideways in the Welland Canal on Oct. 3, 1963

Trikeri, a Liberian flagged Liberty ship, made only one appearance on the Great Lakes. It was up bound in the Welland Canal 51 years ago today when it swung sideways in the waterway in the vicinity of Welland.

The vessel may have gone aground briefly and it took four hours for the ship to be realigned and traffic to return to normal. The rest of the trip to the Great Lakes was without incident.

Trikeri was the fourth name for this 1944-vintage steamer. It was built at Houston, Texas, and was operated for the United States Maritime Commission as Laura Drake Gill until being sold to the Matson Navigation Co. in October 1946.

The rename of Hawaiian Lumberman was probably an apt description of its duties in the Matson fleet. It continued in their service until becoming Cape Henry in 1960 and finally left American flag service when it became Trikeri in 1962.

Originally Greek flag, the ship had been re-registered in Liberia by the time it came to the Great Lakes.

Following its single visit inland, the ship resumed saltwater service. The 441 foot, 6 inch long steamer was sold again in 1965 and finished its career as Dahlia. After a sale to Taiwanese shipbreakers, the vessel arrived at Kaohsiung on Dec. 27, 1966, and it was broken up in 1967.

Skip Gillham





Today in Great Lakes History - October 3

On October 3,1887, EBENEZER (3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 103 foot, 158 gross tons, built in 1847, at Buffalo, New York) was driven ashore off the breakwater at Holland, Michigan, during a storm. She had sprung a leak in the terrific storm, lost her deck load of shingles and struck the pier trying to get into the harbor. She broke in two but was later raised and rebuilt. She lasted until 1903.

On October 3,1887, CITY OF GREEN BAY (3-mast wooden schooner, 145 foot, 346 gross tons, built in 1872, at Green Bay, Wisconsin) was carrying iron ore from Escanaba to St. Joseph, Michigan, on Lake Michigan and having difficulty in a strong westerly gale. She sprang a leak and anchored four miles from South Haven and put up distress signals. The wind and waves were so bad that the crew could not safely abandon the vessel. She slipped her anchor and was driven on to a bar at Evergreen Point, just 500 feet from shore. The crew scrambled up the rigging as the vessel sank. The South Haven Life Saving crew tried to get a breeches buoy out to the wreck, but their line broke repeatedly. So much wreckage was in the surf that it fouled their surfboat. Soon the masts went by the board and the crew members were in the churning seas. Six died. Only Seaman A. T. Slater made it to shore. The ineffective attempts of the Life Saving crew resulted in Keeper Barney Alonzo Cross being relieved of his command of the station.

The E. G. GRACE was delivered to the Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland on October 3, 1943. The GRACE was part of a government program designed to upgrade and increase the capacity of the U.S. Great Lakes fleet during World War II. In order to help finance the building of new ships, the U.S.M.C. authorized a program that would allow existing fleets to obtain new boats by trading in their older boats to the government for credit. As partial payment for each new vessel, a fleet owner surrendered the equivalent tonnage of their existing and/or obsolete vessels, along with some cash, to the Maritime Commission.

October 3, 1941 - The CITY OF FLINT 32, eastbound from Milwaukee, collided with the PERE MARQUETTE 22 westbound. The PERE MARQUETTE 22 headed directly for Manitowoc for repairs while the CITY OF FLINT 32 continued to Ludington where she discharged her cargo, then headed for the shipyard in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

The barges BELLE CASH and GEO W. HANNAFORD, owned by Capt. Cash of East China Township, Michigan, were driven ashore on Long Point in Lake Erie on 3 October 1875.

On October 3, 1900, the steel freighter CAPTAIN THOMAS WILSON left Port Huron on her maiden voyage for Marquette, Michigan, where she loaded 6,200 tons of iron ore for Cleveland, Ohio.

ARK (3-mast iron-strapped wooden scow-schooner-barge, 177 foot, 512 tons, built in 1875, at Port Dalhousie, Ontario) was in tow of the steam barge ALBION (wooden propeller, 134 foot, 297 gross tons, built in 1862, at Brockville, Ontario) on Lake Huron when a terrific storm struck on October 3,1887. Both were loaded with lumber. Both vessels were driven ashore near Grindstone City, Michigan. The U.S. Lifesaving Service rescued the crews. The ALBION was pounded to pieces the next day and the ARK was declared a total loss, but was recovered and was sailing again within the month.

1907: The wooden tug PHILADELPHIA dated from 1869 and briefly served in the Algoma fleet. It was wrecked at Gros Cap, Lake Superior, on this date in 1907.

1911: The wooden freighter A.L. HOPKINS had cleared Bayfield the previous day with a full load of lumber and foundered in a storm on this date near Michigan Island, Lake Superior. Buoyed by the cargo, the hull floated a few more days before it disappeared. All 15 on board were picked up by the ALVA C. DINKEY.

1928: The steel bulk carrier M.J. BARTELME ran aground at Cana Island, Lake Michigan. The bottom was ripped open and the ship was abandoned. It was dismantled on site in 1929.

1953: The superstructure of the idle passenger steamer PUT-IN-BAY was burned off in Lake St. Clair and the remains of the iron hull were later dismantled at River Rouge.

1963: The Liberian flag Liberty ship TRIKERI, on her only trip to the Great Lakes, swung sideways in the Welland Canal near Welland, blocked the waterway and delayed traffic for 4 hours. The ship arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping as e) DAHLIA on December 27, 1967.

1963: A fire broke out in the cargo hold of the FRED CHRISTIANSEN while downbound at Sault Ste. Marie. The stubborn blaze took 4 hours to put out and was believed caused by some of the grain igniting as it was close to a steam line. The Norwegian freighter began Seaway trading in 1959 and returned as b) HERA in 1964. It arrived at Pasajes, Spain, under this name for scrapping on May 30, 1974.

1969: JOSEPH H. ran aground at Bic Island, in the St. Lawrence while enroute from Milwaukee to Russia with a cargo of rawhides. The Liberian-flag vessel sustained heavy bottom damage. It was refloated on October 6, taken to Levis, QC, and subsequently broken up there for scrap. The ship was operating under her fifth name and had first come through the Seaway as a) GRANADA in 1959.

1980: POLYDORA first came inland for four trips as a) FERNFIORD in 1963 and returned under her new name in 1964 on charter to Canadian Pacific Steamships. The ship had been at Marina di Carrara, Italy, and under arrest as d) GEORGIOS B., when it sailed overnight without permission. A fire in the engineroom broke out the next day and, while taken in tow, the ship foundered east of Tavolara Island, Sardinia.

1999: MANCHESTER MERCURIO traded through the Seaway in a container shuttle service beginning in 1971. It was abandoned by the crew and sank off the coast of Morocco as f) PHOENIX II on this date in 1999.

2000: The tug KETA V. usually operated on the St. Lawrence for Verreault Navigation but came to the Great Lakes with barges for Windsor in 1993. It ran aground and sank near Liverpool, NS on this date in 2000 but all on board got away safely on life rafts.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - October 6

On October 6, 1893, DAVID STEWART (3-mast wooden schooner, 171 foot, 545 gross tons, built in 1867, at Cleveland, Ohio) foundered in a gale off Pigeon Bay, Ontario, on Lake Erie. She crew clung to the frozen rigging for 14 hours until saved by the fish tug LOUISE of Sandusky, Ohio. The STEWART was carrying iron ore at the time of her loss.

Herb Fraser & Associates completed repairs on the ALGOSOO at the Welland Dock on October 6 1986. She had suffered a serious fire at her winter mooring on the west wall above Lock 8 at Port Colborne, Ontario, on March 7, 1986.

The bow section of the barge PRESQUE ISLE arrived Erie, Pennsylvania, on October 6, 1972 under tow of the tugs MARYLAND and LAURENCE C. TURNER. The total cost to construct the tug/barge 1,000- footer was approximately $35 million.

October 6, 1981, the Reoch self-unloader ERINDALE's bow was damaged when she hit the Allanburg Bridge abutment running down bound in the Welland Canal. Built in 1915, as a.) W. F. WHITE, she was renamed b.) ERINDALE in 1976.

In 1980, the LAC DES ILES grounded in the Detroit River just below Grassy Island, the result of a faulty steering mechanism. She freed herself a few hours later. The damage caused by the grounding ended her career. She was scrapped at Port Colborne in 1985.

This day in 1870, the schooner E. FITZGERALD was launched at the Fitzgerald & Leighton yard at Port Huron, Michigan. Her dimensions were 135 feet x 26 feet x 11 feet.

In 1875, the MERCHANT (iron propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 200 foot, 750 tons, built in 1862, at Buffalo, New York) was carrying lumber on Lake Michigan when she stranded on Racine Reef near Racine, Wisconsin. Then she caught fire and was gutted before she could be refloated. She had stranded on that same reef twice previously. She was the first iron cargo ship built on the Lakes and the first one lost.

On October 6, 1873, JOHN A. MC DOUGALL (wooden schooner-barge, 151 foot, 415 gross tons) was launched at Wenona, Michigan. She was built at the Ballentine yard in only five weeks.

On October 6, 1889, PHILO SCOVILLE (3-mast wooden schooner, 140 foot, 323 tons, built in 1863, at Cleveland, Ohio) was sailing from Collingwood for Chicago when a storm drove her into the shallows and wrecked her near Tobermory, Ontario. Her captain died while trying to get ashore through the rocks. The Canadian Lifesaving Service saved the rest of the crew. At first the vessel was expected to be recovered, but she broke up by 10 October.

1910: The wooden freighter MUSKEGON, formerly the PEERLESS, was damaged by a fire at Michigan City, IN and became a total loss.

1958: SHIERCLIFFE HALL hit bottom in the St. Marys River and was intentionally grounded off Lime Island with substantial damage. The ship was refloated and repaired at Collingwood.

1966: EMSSTEIN and OLYMPIC PEARL collided south of St. Clair, MI and the former had to be beached before it capsized. This West German freighter made 19 trips to the Great lakes from 1959 through 1967 and arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping as d) VIOLETTA on May 28, 1978. The latter, on her first trip to the Great Lakes, had bow damage and was also repaired. This ship arrived at Alang, India, for scrapping as b) AL TAHSEEN on May 6, 1985.

1972: ALGORAIL hit the pier inbound at Holland, MI with a cargo of salt and settled on the bottom about 12 feet off the dock with a gash in the port bow. The vessel was refloated in 24 hours and headed to Thunder Bay for repairs.

1982: CONTINENTAL PIONEER made 8 trips through the Seaway from 1960 through 1964. A fire broke out in the accommodation area as c) AGRILIA, about 20 miles north of Porto Praia, Cape Verde Islands and the heavily damaged ship was abandoned before it drifted aground in position 15.06 N / 23.30 W.

Lookback #323 – Shiercliffe Hall damaged, intentionally grounded on Oct. 6, 1958

10/6 - Steam-powered canallers like Shiercliffe Hall were still very valuable in the final year before the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. This ship suffered an interruption in service 56 years ago today when it landed hit the rocks off Neebish Island in the St. Marys River and had to be intentionally grounded on Lime Island.

The 259-foot-long bulk carrier in the Hall Corporation fleet did not have a good year in 1958. Earlier, on July 15, 1958, the ship went aground in the St. Lawrence near Alexandria Bay, New York, and had to be lightered before tugs could pull the damaged hull free. It had not been back in service long before the accident of Oct. 6, 1958. Further assistance was needed, and this time Shiercliffe Hall went to Collingwood for repairs.

When the Seaway opened on April 25, 1959, ships the size of Shiercliffe Hall were no longer essential to connect Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence at Montreal. While many went for scrap, a few were lengthened and others sold for saltwater service. As one of the newer canal-sized ships, Shiercliffe Hall continued to find work in the coal, grain and pulpwood trades before tying up for good at Toronto on May 1, 1968.

Following a sale to United Metals, the vessel left under tow of the tug Lac Como and arrived at Hamilton June 21, 1973. Scrapping of the now 23-year-old bulk carrier was virtually completed by the end of the year.





Freighters sound a salute, Flower Lady sends her thanks

10/6 - Harsens Island, Mich. – This is a cool September day, a brilliant sunny Tuesday, and the usual stiff breeze clips off the south channel of Harsens Island. An older woman with a walker stands on the back deck of her home, watching a giant freighter slip through the St. Clair River toward Lake Huron.

The ship passes by her property, just a couple of hundred yards away. Outside the pilot house, high above the splitting water, there's a man on the deck — presumably the captain, but who can tell from here — and he's waving the sailors wave, arms swinging over his head, crossing and dropping to his sides again.

"Hellooooooooo, Arlene!" the man shouts, and there's a pause, and then the Indiana Harbor blasts its horn: One long blow, then two short ones.

Arlene Earl is out there watching, like she always hopes to be. Even after the breast cancer, the malignant brain tumor and the seizures, Earl is there, with the aide of her caregiver, and she's waving back, and then she raises her handheld radio. "Flower Lady going to channel 8," she speaks into her two-way. "Thank you for the nice salute."

The Flower Lady. That's what they call Earl. That's what happens when you spend more than three decades donating thousands of fresh bouquets to captains and crews of Great Lakes freighters. "Flower Lady" is a title bestowed on her by generations of the men and women on these fresh water monsters, but that simplistic moniker belies the deeper story behind it. These regular exchanges on days like today, at the home of a now fragile 75-year-old woman, are not just about flowers. They are about a give-and-take relationship forged many years ago between her and the crews sliding by her home aboard these behemoths. It's about what they did for her, and what she has done for them.

The relationship started because of Uncle Norm.

Not so long ago, the Earl home teemed with life on the southern edge of Harsens Island. Arlene and her husband, Dick, built the house in the late 1950s, and it looks out over the wide St. Clair River and across to Walpole Island. The waterway connects Lake St. Clair with Lake Huron, so it's a superhighway for freighters hauling iron ore, grain and coal. The largest "lakers" are 1,000 feet long and can carry 70,000 tons of ore.

The Earl home offers a front-row view from the backyard. They erected a flagpole, modeled after a ship's mast, that stands sentry over a dock that ends in a seating area. There's a replica lighthouse in one corner of the yard, courtesy of Dick, who was a master carpenter among other things. This yard hosted numerous parties, picnics and family reunions. The Earls were exceptionally social.

Into this environment, they brought Uncle Norm in the 1980s. Norman Lacroix was Dick's uncle, and Lacroix had spent years on the Great Lakes as a ship's engineer. He later suffered with Alzheimer's.

Retired, Lacroix was living in Lakeland, Fla. On one of their visits, Arlene and Dick noticed that the Alzheimer's was progressing. Arlene remembers checking the refrigerator and finding several gallons of milk and ice cream, and nothing else. The bedsheets hadn't been changed. He wasn't taking his medicine. She asked Uncle Norm if he wanted to go for a ride in the car, and they drove straight to Harsens Island.

Lacroix didn't mind. He grew up there, and two sisters still called the island home. And there was another draw: the steady traffic behind the home. Uncle Norm would plop down in a deck chair every day and wait. When the freighters came by, he'd wave the sailors wave, arms flapping up high, back down, repeat.

Arlene thought this brought Lacroix joy — until one day when he came to the kitchen, where she was cooking.

"The tears were just coming down his cheek," she said in a recent interview. Lacroix told her: "They don't remember me."

"I said, 'Norm, go back out. They'll be somebody coming by. ... At first, he didn't want to stay here. You get the Alzheimer's, you want to stay in your own environment, you know? So I said, 'No, Norman, this is your home. Now go back out, they'll be some more ships coming.' Now, maybe that wasn't fair to him, but I didn't know what to do with him. He followed me around, up the stairs and down, wherever I went."

Norm loved to dance. So, dance they did. They took each other's hand and danced, right in their home. Earl said he believed she was an old friend from Tashmoo Park, a Harsens Island gathering place that closed in 1951. People went there to swim, ride rides and dance.

"He says, 'You remember me,' and I said, 'I do.' He said, 'I think we had our last dance at Tashmoo.' I said, 'You're exactly right.' He said, 'Why don't we dance here?' ... It seemed to be every day, we had to dance. That was OK."

But if a ship came by, the dancing would stop. Lacroix would go out to wave. The sad old man broke Earl's heart.

So, she decided to write letters, directed to the ships. She addressed them: "To the captain and crew of (blank)." And she'd fill in the ship's name. She thinks she sent about 60, in all.

"I would just say, 'My name is Arlene Earl,' blah, blah. 'And we're taking care of Norman Lacroix, retired chief of the Reserve. He's living in our home now.' That kind of thing. 'I would appreciate if you could give him a salute between 11 and 13, the markers on the water.' "

Soon enough, Lacroix came into the house again with tears on his face. But these were tears of joy.

"They remember me!" he told Earl.

Soon, more ships were saluting. And then more. Earl knew she had to thank them. Enter the Flower Lady.

Sending flowers is a natural for Arlene Earl. Her great-grandfather founded Chris Engel's Greenhouse in 1883 in southwest Detroit. The shop was handed down through the generations, and Arlene grew up in the business. She ran the shop until recently, traveling the 90-minute route daily from Harsens to Woodmere Street.

So, when the ships began saluting outside her home after Uncle Norman moved in, she started sending bouquets.

"I was brought up in a world that if somebody gave you something, you thanked them," she said. "How many people are out there today who will give you anything?"

This giving quickly grew beyond a one-time deal. Before long, Earl was sending flowers through the J.W. Westcott mail boat about five times a year, around the major holidays. Folks at the Westcott, a business in the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge that has been around even longer than the flower shop, were happy to accommodate.

"We would probably put flowers on as many as 50 or 60 vessels, when she brought in the batches, like at spring fit out and Father's Day and Thanksgiving," said Paul Jagenow, a longtime Westcott employee.

The mail boat would motor out to the center of the river, sidle alongside the massive freighters and hand up the bouquets just like the mail — by putting them into a bucket that would then be hoisted high above to the towering ships.

The flowers "always put a smile on their face," Jagenow said recently.

In return, the sailors flooded the Earl home with thank-you letters and cards. Arlene has kept many, and they spill from several stuffed photo albums.

From the Courtney Burton: "If every sailor, on every ship, were to thank you every day, it still would not begin to express what the colorful flowers you send us mean in our monochromatic world."

The John G. Munson: "The fellows in the crew came to me after we received the flowers and they commented that there still a lot of good people in the world. When someone you don't even know will show that much appreciation just for blowing a salute on the whistle. You just don't know how much this meant to us especially since we didn't get home for Easter."

The Calumet: "You are so wonderful to think of us like this — but, of course you would. You never forget do you?"

Jack Callahan, 68, a Great Lakes captain who retired in 2008 and lives in Brownstown Township, said it was common to be on a ship for two months straight, and before cell phones and the Internet, there was a feeling of incredible isolation.

His crews, most recently on the Kaye E. Barker, always looked forward to the warmth of the flowers.

"We always put them in the dining room because they brought a sense of home to us," said Callahan. The crew members, mostly men, were moved.

"These are macho guys. ... But every one of them took care of them, and would water them. ... They might not have said it but you could see it in their eyes."

Callahan made sure Earl was saluted — every time his ship passed.

"If I wasn't on the bridge, it was standing orders when we went by her house," he said. "Because this is an appreciation of what she does and what she's done."

Norman Lacroix lived with the Earls for several years, until the Alzheimer's grew so severe that it was dangerous to keep him near the water. The Earls placed him in a home for patients with the disease. He died in 1993.

But Arlene Earl kept sending flowers, year after year. She sent baskets this year for Father's Day, with the help of her sister, Linda Washburn of Grosse Ile, and plans to do it again around Thanksgiving.

"You have generations on these freighters. It's just nothing but beautiful to see, generation upon generation," Washburn said. "And when they can get a wave, or a butterfly kiss, or a package of flowers, they smile, and they know the people along these homes along the river, they care."

Later in his life, Dick Earl had heart trouble. He wanted Arlene to sell the flower shop so they could travel together. She says she didn't want to sell the family shop, but eventually did.

Dick died in 2010 at age 74. Arlene and the family welcomed people to a memorial service at the island home, where Dick was laid out for a viewing in the living room. Washburn said people lined up in the rain to get inside and pay their respects.

Arlene Earl still visits the flower shop she used to own when she is feeling up to it. Sometimes, relatives sleep over at her home. She says she misses her husband. Recently, dozens of people on the island dressed up for a sock-hop fund-raiser for her, headlined by an Elvis impersonator.

Now she has her own health struggles: Two bouts with cancer. Surgery and radiation. Seizures.

Ask her how she feels, and she might snap back: "Oh, I feel fine. How are you feeling?"

But then she'll concede that her back has been hurting, the result of a fall just weeks ago that cracked three ribs, and the neighbor friend who helps care for her then might add more ice to the pack on her back.

Still, Earl insists none of this will stop her from doing what she wants to do. Nothing has yet.

So, on this blue-sky Tuesday in September, here's Arlene Earl, the Flower Lady, pulling herself out of a chair, making her way to her back deck and hailing the passing freighter.

She's waving her arms in the sailors wave, the man on the pilot's deck is waving back, and then he shouts: "Hellooooooooo, Arlene!"

And the Indiana Harbor blasts a deep, resonating salute.

Click here for the full story with video

Detroit Free Press





Port Reports - October 6

St. Marys River
Indiana Harbor was experiencing bow thruster issues and was being assisted to the Carbide Dock in Soo Harbor late Sunday night.

Port Inland, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Great Lakes Trader was expected to arrive on Sunday during the early afternoon to load. Two vessels are due for arrivals on Monday with the Great Republic due in first in the late morning followed by the H. Lee White in the evening. Wilfred Sykes wraps up the schedule and is due to arrive on Tuesday in the morning.

Cedarville, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Three vessels are expected on Monday, with the Manitowoc due in first during the early morning. Next will be the Pere Marquette 41/Undaunted in the mid-afternoon. Rounding out the schedule will be the Philip R. Clarke in the early evening Monday. There are no vessels scheduled to load Tuesday and Wednesday.

Calcite, Mich. – Denny Dushane
John J. Boland loaded at Calcite on Sunday and was expected to depart around 11:30 a.m. There are no vessels scheduled to load for the remainder of Sunday and nothing scheduled to load on Monday.

Toledo, Ohio – Denny Dushane
Sam Laud was expected to load at the CSX Coal Dock on Sunday during the late evening. Also due to load coal at the CSX Coal Dock is the John D. Leitch on Monday in the early morning. James L. Kuber is due to load on Tuesday in the morning. The Saginaw is due to load on Wednesday in the late afternoon, followed by the Hon. James L. Oberstar on Wednesday in the early evening. There is nothing schedule for the Midwest Terminal Stone Dock. Vessels arriving at the Torco Dock to unload iron ore cargoes include the American Mariner on Sunday during the early evening. The James L. Kuber is due on Tuesday in the early morning. Following them will be the Hon. James L. Oberstar due on Wednesday in the late afternoon. John J. Boland is due on Sunday, October 12 in the late afternoon and the James L. Kuber is also due on Sunday, October 12 in the late evening. American Fortitude and American Valor both remain in long-term layup near the Lakefront Docks. Several other vessels were in port at the time of this report including the tug Evans McKeil and a barge along with the tug Huron Service and a barge. The tug Paul L. Luedtke was also in port. Three saltwater vessels remain in port – two of them, the Helosie of Panama and the Andean of Cyprus, at the Midwest Terminal Overseas Dock. The saltie Fritz of Liberia still remains detained at the Midwest Terminal Overseas Dock.

Owen Sound, Ont.
On a cool breezy fall Sunday, Saginaw unloaded at Great Lakes Elevator. The research vessel Sturgeon was tied up in the inner harbor.

[Avenger]

Great story about the Flower Lady Bill, thanks.

Here's the missing link to the video:

www.freep.com/story/news/local/2014/10/05/flower-lady-great-lakes/16724405/

[yachtsmanwilly]

Thanks scrod! Im just really surprised that this gets read as much as it does. Sometimes the FB really looks like a morgue! ws

Canadian Miner removal a major undertaking

10/7 - Scatarie Island, N.S. – The scenic shores of Scatarie Island have been temporarily transformed into a bustling industrial work site as a crew of 30 works to dismantle the derelict motor vessel Canadian Miner.

A group of about 20 people — including government officials, media, and members of the local Main-a-Dieu community — were given a tour of the site Monday under picture-perfect, sunny conditions and warmer-than-normal fall temperatures. It's the type of weather Mark MacIsaac hopes they see a lot more of as they work to complete the removal by the end of November.

"The real kicker is the fall — what is the weather going to be like here in the fall?" said MacIsaac, project manager with Antigonish firm RJ MacIssac Construction, which was awarded the $12-million contract to remove the vessel. "The weather and sea conditions may dictate whether you can work on particular days, but I think we're set up so that the sea conditions would have to pretty extreme for us to not be working."

While the Miner removal is the biggest project the company has ever taken on, MacIsaac said 35 years of experience in marine work and construction has prepared them for it.

Several key steps in the removal process have already been completed, including the set up of a camp on the island, the construction of a breakwater, staging area and road, and the removal of asbestos and garbage from the vessel.

Next up is the actual shearing of the ship, which MacIsaac said will get underway later this week. When that is complete and the steel is barged away for scrap, the site cleanup will begin.

"You have to take all that you did to prepare the area and reverse it, so you have to take your camp off, and take all material away and remediate the site, so you leave it untouched," he said.

Todd MacEachern, site superintendent and safety officer, described the camp as a "little village" and said it's quite comfortable for the 15-30 people who are working on the site at any given time, from 6:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. each day.

"All the comforts of home are here, there's nothing lacking," he said. "We've got nine trailers here. Some are bunkhouses, some are washroom/shower facilities, and storage areas."

There's also a kitchen staff on site to make meals for the workers. While preparing haddock for supper that night, cook Jackie Kennedy of Albert Bridge said she was enjoying her work on the site.

"It's really nice," she said. "The guys are awesome to work with and everybody gets along. It's really good."

Geoff MacLellan, the provincial minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, said protecting the environment was the province's primary concern when it committed to paying for the removal of the Miner.

"When you see the beauty of the Scatarie in the context of this very derelict vessel and the size of the Miner, I think it really rings true that this was a good decision to make and this boat had to be cleaned up one way or the other," he said. "It's good to see a local company like RJ MacIsaac doing tremendous work here and getting the job done."

The province has gone ahead with the removal of the Miner while it continues to ask the federal government to step up and absorb some of the costs and responsibilities of the project.

"Certainly the province would have liked the federal government to help out but that isn't the case at this point," MacLellan said. "We are still hopeful, but at this point there haven't been any strong signals that the federal government will be around to help us out."

MacLellan's other message to federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt has been for them to beef up regulations for private companies towing ships through the waters around Nova Scotia, so a situation like this doesn't happen again. In the meantime, MacLellan was pleased with what he saw on site Monday.

"By being here on the ground and seeing exactly what's happening here on Scatarie, I can tell Nova Scotians we've done the right thing, no question," he said.

Rob Jessome, general supervisor with Nova Scotia Lands, which is managing the removal of the Miner on behalf of the province, visits the Scatarie Island site regularly, monitoring and overseeing safety and environmental audits.

"It's a busy little spot of activity and there's some talented workers and there's some talented labor and operators out there that are doing quite a job," he said. "They're out there in the middle of nowhere, where nobody really sees what they do, but they're utilizing their talents out there quite well."

Sean Howard, a member of the Main-a-Dieu Community Development Association, was among a group of concerned area residents that pushed for the removal of the Miner for close to three years.

"I've seen the ship before and been horrified by it, so to come out and see such an impressive operation on the brink of the most exciting work, which is the cutting up (of the ship), after lots of hard work behind the scenes ... it's very moving, very encouraging," he said. "Fingers crossed that they get the conditions they need now to finish the job."

Cape Breton Post





Kentucky man high bidder on Sturgeon Bay Lighthouse

10/7 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – A Kentucky man appears to be the new owner of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal North Pierhead Lighthouse. The U.S. General Services Administration confirmed that Gordon Krist of Paris, Kentucky, placed the high bid of $48,500 before the auction closed on September 12th.

Bob Desh of the Door County Maritime Museum says Krist bought just the lighthouse itself.

There were four bidders in the online government auction. According to the GSA, more than 100 lighthouses have been sold or transferred out of federal ownership since 2000.

Door County Daily News





Port Reports - October 7

Port Inland, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Great Republic arrived during the late morning to load Monday. Two vessels are scheduled for arrivals on Tuesday, with the H. Lee White due in first during the late morning followed by Wilfred Sykes in the early afternoon. There are no vessels scheduled to load Wednesday.

Cedarville, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Manitowoc arrived during the early morning on Monday to load. Two other vessels were scheduled for arrivals on Monday. The first due in was the Pere Marquette 41/Undaunted in the early afternoon followed by the Philip R. Clarke in the late evening. There are no vessels scheduled for both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Stoneport, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Pathfinder loaded at Stoneport on Monday and was expected to depart around 10 in the morning. Also due to arrive on Monday was the Cason J. Callaway in the early evening. The Lewis J. Kuber rounds out the schedule arriving on Tuesday in the early evening hours to load.

Calcite, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Joseph H. Thompson loaded at the South Dock on Monday and was due to depart around noon. Two vessels are due on Tuesday during the morning with the Pere Marquette 41/Undaunted arriving first during the for the South Dock. Later in the morning the American Mariner is scheduled to arrive for the North Dock. There are no vessels scheduled for Wednesday. Three vessels are due for arrivals on Thursday with the Adam E. Cornelius arriving first in the early morning for the North Dock. Calumet is also due in the early morning for the North Dock. Cason J. Callaway is also due in the mid-afternoon for the South Dock. There are no vessels scheduled to load on Friday.

Toledo, Ohio – Denny Dushane
John D. Leitch loaded coal at the CSX Coal Dock on Monday. Due to load on Tuesday is the James L. Kuber in the morning. Two vessels are due to load at the CSX Coal Dock on Wednesday with the Saginaw due first in the early afternoon followed by the Hon. James L. Oberstar in the early evening. The John D. Leitch returns to load at the CSX Coal Dock Thursday in the late afternoon. There is nothing scheduled for the Midwest Terminal Stone Dock. At the Torco Dock, the James L. Kuber is due to unload iron ore on Tuesday in the early morning. The Hon. James L. Oberstar is due on Wednesday in the late afternoon. James L. Kuber returns to unload at the Torco Dock on Sunday, October 12th in the late evening. Due in on Monday, October 13 in the early morning is the John J. Boland. The salties Heloise of Panama and Andean of Cyprus are still at the Midwest Terminal Overseas Dock, as is the saltwater vessel Fritz of Liberia, which is still detained. The tug Huron Service and barge remain in port as does the tug Paul L. Luedtke.





Duluth Seaway Port Authority hopes to make up for delays in rail shipping

10/7 - Duluth, Minn. – However briefly, the shipping industry last week weighed in on the difficulty of getting grain to market using railways clogged with Bakken oil.

“Though we see a liability in supply chains with rail service still struggling, momentum all around is generally positive,” Vanta Coda, Duluth Seaway Port Authority executive director, said in a release by the American Great Lakes Ports Association.

“Heading into October here at the Head of the Lakes, we expect to see continued gains on the deficit experienced at the start of the season,” Coda said. “Iron ore shipments have rebounded significantly, the early autumn grain lineup looks favorable, and we’re expecting above-average movements of general cargo at our Clure Public Marine Terminal.”

Coda was responding to news that the St. Lawrence Seaway’s year-to-date total of 24 million metric tons through the system in 2014 was a nearly 5 percent increase over September 2013.

The St. Lawrence Seaway connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. There are more than 100 commercial ports in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system.

U.S. grain was up 14.6 percent over the same time a year ago.

“Cargo tonnage moved through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system during the month of September continues to be robust and reflects positively on the economy and the shipping industry,” said administrator Betty Sutton of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp.

“Great Lakes stevedores handled large quantities of steel, grain, sugar, salt and oversized project cargo carried on more than 200 ships in September,” Sutton said. “As we head into the busiest time of the shipping season, we anticipate this upward trend in cargo tonnage to continue.”

Duluth News Tribune





Push ahead to raise more shipwrecks onto the National Register of Historic Places

10/7 - Alpena, Mich. – Deep below the chill waters of northwestern Lake Huron, four doomed ships have been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

While nobody other than SCUBA divers are likely to see them up-close, their history and their tragedy are now increasingly accessible to the public.

The new official recognition of their importance is expected to spur efforts to list more of the Great Lakes’ hundreds of shipwrecks on the National Register, which the National Park Service describes as “the official list of the nation’s historic places worthy of preservation,” whether publicly or privately owned.

“There are so many shipwrecks in Michigan waters that this is a long-term project. We’re focusing on ones that are more complete and hold more of the history,” said Sandra Clark, director of the Michigan Historical Center.

“We’re always conscious of the conservation ethic. It’s better to leave things on the bottom of the preserve,” Clark said, adding that National Register status “reinforces the value of the shipwrecks and the idea these are historic treasures that should be preserved for future generations.”

There’s plenty of work ahead if government agencies, local groups or individuals want to get more wrecks placed on the National Register.

Lake Huron alone has 33 percent of the known wrecks in the Great Lakes, according to the Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven.

Lake Michigan (21 percent) is second, with at least 1,000 ships lost, including more than 200 that grounded along the Michigan side of the lake, “most the victims of storms, some poor seamanship and others ever-changing sandbars,” a museum exhibit explains. Lake Erie followed with 19 percent, Lake Superior with 14 percent, Lake Ontario with 9 percent and Lake Clair with 3 percent.

Wisconsin and Minnesota have a variety of wrecks on the National Register.

Among those in Wisconsin are the schooners Gallinipper, lost in a squall in 851 near Sheboygan; the Hetty Taylor, sunk in another squall near Sheboygan in 1880; and the Fleetwing, lost in an 1888 gale at Garrett Bay.

Those in Minnesota include the steam naval sloop U.S.S. Essex that was burned in 1931 after the state Naval Reserve scrapped it in Duluth; the Samuel P. Ely, which sank at Two Harbors in a storm in 1896; and the canaller Benjamin Noble, lost at Two Harbors in a 1914 storm.

Indiana has only one, the Muskegon, built in 1872 and scuttled in 1911 off Michigan City after being severely damaged by fire.

Michigan had only a few listed before the four Thunder Bay wrecks were added. Among them:

• J. Hackett, a steamer that sank in Lake Michigan in the Upper Peninsula’s Menominee County in 1905.
• Hennepin, A steamship that sank in Lake Michigan in Allegan County in 1927.
• Byron, a schooner that sank in 1868 in Lake Huron in Presque Isle County.

Russ Green, the deputy superintendent of Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary based in Alpena, Mich., said there are 92 known sites within the sanctuary’s borders and another 100 “yet to be discovered just in our neck of the woods because Lake Huron is the crossroads of the Lakes.”

The papers nominating the vessels as national historic sites said, “These submerged archaeological sites form nearly a complete collection of Great Lakes vessel types from small schooners and pioneer steamboats of the 1830s, to enormous industrial bulk carriers that supported the Midwest’s heavy industries during the twentieth century.”

In early September, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which runs the sanctuary, expanded its boundaries from 448 square miles to 4,300 square miles adjacent to Alpena, Alcona and Presque Isle counties stretching to the Canadian border.

The four newly listed wrecks – the schooner M.F. Merrick, the bulk freighter Etruria, the passenger/package freighter Pewabic and the schooner Kyle Spangler – sank between 1860 and 1905. Two of them were discovered by researchers working with students from Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw.

The best known of them, the Pewabic, went down near Alpena in Lake Huron’s worst maritime disaster. A few months after the Civil War ended it collided with another ship and sank, dragging “250 tons of native copper” from Keweenaw Peninsula mines in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and “many of its 125 passengers” to the bottom in only four minutes, the National Register nomination said.

Green said the sanctuary’s Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena will interpret the four wrecks through exhibits and artifacts.

“The maritime landscape is the story,” he said. “If you look at Lake Huron, it’s flat. We’re telling you that under it is history. It’s literally locked in time with ice-cold waters.”

The Michigan Historical Center’s Clark cited several major reasons to seek federal designation for shipwrecks.

“In reality, not that many people can see a shipwreck, but when you get something on the National Register, you have the information in a place where a lot more people can read about it and benefit from the work done,” she said.

In addition, listing may reinforce the state’s legal ownership of all wrecks on Michigan’s bottomlands.

“Occasionally people challenge that ownership. One way you solidly protect that ownership is to go through the process of getting them listed on the National Register. It provides one more step in legal protection.”

Great Lakes Echo





Lookback #324 – Wooden schooner Ann Maria wrecked on a sandbar on Oct. 7, 1902

10/7 - The wooden schooner Ann Maria was built at Conneaut, Ohio, and designed primarily for the lumber trade. The 135 foot long, 256 gross ton sailing ship had several owners and was based out of Alpena, MI when the end came 112-years ago today.

The ship had departed Cleveland with a cargo of coal for Kincardine, ON on Sept. 28, 1902. The tug Wilcox had towed the schooner up bound through the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers before the sailing ship put in at Harbor Beach, MI for repairs to the steering equipment.

Ann Maria departed for Kincardine but hit a sandbar, near the south pier, on its approach to the entrance to the port. The hull was caught by the current and in big trouble.

A rescue boat sent to assist swamped and, in total, five lives were lost among the crew and potential rescuers.

Ann Maria was a total loss. The schooner broke up and, what was not washed ashore, sank. On July 30, 1966, the anchor was raised from the bottom and was put on display at the Town Hall in Kincardine.

Skip Gillham





Today in Great Lakes History - October 7

On October 7, 1968, the NORMAN P. CLEMENT was damaged in a grounding off Britt, Ontario. The Canadian boat was towed to Collingwood for repairs. However, while in dry dock, an explosion occurred on October 16 that injured 11 workers and further damaged the hull. Rather than repair her, the owners had the CLEMENT towed out into Georgian Bay where she was intentionally sunk on October 23, 1968.

On this day in 1939, the E. G. MATHIOTT collided with the steamer CORVUS on the St. Clair River. Damage to the CORVUS totaled $37,647.70.

On this day in 1958, the WALTER E. WATSON, Captain Ralph Fenton, rescued the sailing vessel TAMARA on Lake Huron.

On October 7, 1871, GEM (wooden schooner, 120 foot, 325 tons, built in 1853, at Buffalo, New York) was sailing up bound in a storm on Lake Erie with a load of coal. She began to leak and was run to shore in an effort to save her. However, she went down before reaching shoal water and settled with six feet of water over her decks.

ALGOWOOD was launched October 7, 1980, at Collingwood, Ontario, for Algoma Central Marine, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

PAUL THAYER was launched October 7, 1973, for the Union Commerce Bank Trustee, Cleveland, Ohio and managed by Kinsman Marine Transit Co., Cleveland. She was built under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970, for $12.6 million. Renamed b.) EARL W. OGLEBAY in 1995.

The WILLIAM MC LAUCHLAN (Hull#793) was launched at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co., on October 7, 1926, for the Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Renamed b.) SAMUEL MATHER in 1966, c.) JOAN M. MC CULLOUGH in 1975 and d.) BIRCHGLEN in 1982. Scrapped at Sydney, Nova Scotia, in 1988.

BLACK RIVER, a lake bulk freighter, was built as a steel barge in 1897, by the F.W. Wheeler & Co., she was launched October 7, 1896, as a.) SIR ISAAC LOTHIAN BELL (Hull# 118).

HUTCHCLIFFE HALL was raised October 7, 1962, and taken to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs. She had sunk after a collision a few days earlier.

October 7, 1923 - The ANN ARBOR NO 4 went back into service after being overhauled and having new cabins built on her main deck.

MADISON suffered a fire on October 7, 1987, while lying idle at Muskegon, Michigan, and was badly damaged.

In 1903, ADVENTURE (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 108 foot, 142 gross tons, built in 1875, at Detroit, Michigan, as a schooner) caught fire while tied to the Kelleys Island Line & Transport Co. Dock. The blaze spread so quickly that those on board barely escaped. She was towed from Kelleys Island out into Lake Erie by the tug SMITH to save the dock and the adjacent schooner ANDERSON.

In a severe gale and rain/hail storm on October 7, 1858, the 247-ton schooner OSPREY approached Oswego, New York. As she was about to enter the harbor, the vessel struck the east pier broadside. Her masts and rigging were carried away and she started to sink. Capt. John Parsons got his wife and child out of the cabin to try to escape to the pier. His wife was washed overboard and drowned. Capt. Parsons held on to his child, but another wave struck the wreck and swept the child into the water. George Crine, the mate, was also swept overboard. Those three were lost, but the next wave swung the wreck about with her bowsprit over the pier and the captain and the six remaining crewmen scrambled to safety. The entire town and harbor mourned those deaths and held a dockside service two days later with many prayers and all flags at half-mast. Donations were accepted for the surviving sailors since they escaped with only the clothes on their backs.

On October 7,1873, the PULASKI was launched at the Archibald Muir yard on the Black River in Port Huron. Her dimensions were 136 feet x 26 feet x 11 feet, 349 gross tons. She was a three mast "full canaller", painted white and her private signal was a red M on a white ground bordered with blue. Her sails were made by Mr. D. Robeson of Port Huron, Michigan.

On October 7, 1886, The Port Huron Times reported that "The old side-wheel ferry SARNIA, which was a familiar sight at this crossing [Port Huron-Sarnia] for so many years, and which is said to have earned enough money in her time to sheet her with silver, the hull of which has been for some years back used as a barge by the Marine City Salt Company, has closed her career. She was last week scuttled near the Marine City Salt Works wharf."

1902: ANN MARIA hit a sandbar approaching Kincardine while inbound with a cargo of coal and broke up as a total loss. Four crew and a volunteer rescuer were reported lost.

1917: GEORGE A. GRAHAM was wrecked off Manitoulin Island, Georgian Bay, when the cargo shifted when turning in a storm. The ship ran for the safety of South Bay but stranded on the rocks. All on board were saved but the ship was a total loss.

1919: The wooden steamer HELEN TAYLOR was damaged by a fire in the pilothouse near Hessel, Mich., but was repaired.

1937: M & F DREDGE NO. 14, Hull 39 from the Collingwood shipyard, foundered in the St. Lawrence off Batiscan, QC as b) D.M. DREDGE NO. 14.




1956: The consort barge DELKOTE of the Hindman fleet was adrift for 9 hours in a Lake Superior storm with 13 on board and waves up to 20 feet. The ship had broken loose of the GEORGE HINDMAN but was picked up by the CAPT. C.D. SECORD.

1968: EDWARD Y. TOWNSEND, under tow for scrapping in Bilbao, Spain, broke in two about 400 miles southeast of St. John's, NF, and the bow sank. The stern was apparently retrieved and towed into Santander, Spain, for scrapping on October 28.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Lake Superior water level at highest point for September since '98

10/8 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – Lake Superior's water level keeps rising, at a time when it normally drops.

The International Lake Superior Board of Control said the largest of the Great Lakes went up by 0.8 inches last month. Normally, it drops four-tenths of an inch during September. The current level is the highest for a September since 1998. It's 9 inches higher than in September of last year.

Lakes Michigan and Huron also rose 2 inches last month, as part of a year-long trend in which the two lakes raised a total of 21 inches.

The recent rises are due to more precipitation, less than normal evaporation, and heavier ice covers in a winter that ended later than usual.

WTAQ





Port Reports - October 8

Calcite, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Pere Marquette 41 and tug Undaunted were expected to arrive on Tuesday during the early morning hours for the South Dock. American Mariner was also due to arrive in the late morning Tuesday loading at the North Dock. There are no vessels scheduled for Wednesday. Three vessels are expected to arrive on Thursday, with the Adam E. Cornelius due in first in the early morning for the North Dock followed later by Calumet in the morning also for the North Dock. The Cason J. Callaway rounds out the schedule in the mid-afternoon for the South Dock.

Stoneport, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Lewis J. Kuber was expected to arrive on Tuesday during the early evening to load. Two vessels are scheduled on Wednesday, with the Pathfinder arriving first in the late morning followed by the Great Republic in the mid-afternoon. Due on Thursday is the John G. Munson in the early morning. Rounding out the schedule are two vessels due on Friday both in the morning with the Algoway arriving first followed by the Lewis J. Kuber.

Toledo, Ohio – Denny Dushane
James L. Kuber loaded at the CSX Coal Dock on Tuesday. Due next are two vessels for Thursday with the Saginaw loading in the late morning and the John D. Leitch returning to load also on Thursday in the early evening. The Hon. James L. Oberstar is due to load at the CSX Coal Dock on Friday in the early morning along with the Michipicoten also on Friday in the early morning. Adam E. Cornelius is due to load at the CSX Coal Dock on Sunday, October 12th at about noon. There is nothing scheduled for the Midwest Terminal Stone Dock. At the Torco Dock, the Hon. James L. Oberstar is due on Wednesday in the evening hours to unload iron ore. Arriving on Sunday, October 12th will be the James L. Kuber in the evening hours and the H. Lee White is due to arrive on Tuesday, October 14th during the evening. Several other vessels were also in port at the time of this report and among them were the Tecumseh at one of the Grain Elevators loading a cargo upriver. The Algosoo was also upriver at one of the docks. The tug Wilf Seymour and Alouette Spirit along with the tug Huron Service and a barge and the tug Paul L. Luedtke were also in port. The saltwater vessels Heloise of Panama and Andean of Cyprus remain at the Midwest Terminal Overseas Dock as does the Fritz of Liberia which is still being detained.

Oshawa, Ont. – Andre Blanchard
The Liberian flagged bulker Lady Doris arrived in Oshawa just after 8 a.m. Tuesday. She was assisted by the tugs Ocean Golf and La Prairie. Lady Doris was previously in Montreal. Ocean Golf left Oshawa and returned to Hamilton, Ont.

Bowmanville, Ont. – Andre Blanchard
Sea Eagle II was at the St. Marys Cement Dock earlier Tuesday. Peter R. Cresswell is en-route to Bowmanville and was expected to dock sometime Tuesday.

Hamilton, Ont. – Andre Blanchard
The bulker Federal Elbe arrived in Hamilton on Saturday. She is still anchored in the harbor waiting to dock.

St. Catharines, Ont. – Andre Blanchard
The tanker Adfines Sea has been at the Port Weller Anchorage since Friday. It is likely awaiting further orders. Its last known port stop was Clarkson, Ont.

Nanticoke, Ont. – Andre Blanchard
The tanker Thalassa Desgagnes has been at Nanticoke since 10/03. Also the vessels Algoeast (tanker) and tug Salvor and barge are anchored off of Nanticoke, likely waiting for a chance to dock.





Port receives first shipment of windmill blades in years

10/8 - Portage, Ind. – The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor recently had its first shipment of windmill blades and towers in three years as cargo picked up on the Great Lakes.

The deepwater port on Lake Michigan's southern shore received an all-time high of 16 windmill shipments in 2010, but has not gotten any since 2011. The last windfall of turbine blades and tubes for towers passed through on the way to Chicago-based Invenergy LLC's White Oak wind farm in McLean County, Ill.

"It appears both domestic and international shipments are continuing to grow at better than forecasted levels," said Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor port director Rick Heimann.

Overall, year-to-date tonnage on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway rose 5 percent to 24 million metric tons since the state of the shipping season in late March. Grain led the way with a 14.6 percent year-over-year increase.

"Cargo tonnage moved through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System during the month of September continues to be robust and reflects positively on the economy and the shipping industry," said St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. administrator Betty Sutton. "Great Lakes stevedores handled large quantities of steel, grain, sugar, salt and oversized project cargo carried on more than 200 ships in September. As we head into the busiest time of the shipping season, we anticipate this upward trend in cargo tonnage to continue."

Tonnage at the Port of Indiana Burns Harbor was up 25 percent through the end of August, but the figures through September were not immediately available.

The port does not track whether shipments are imports or exports, since so many of the cargoes are bound for other domestic ports on the Great Lakes or the Mississippi River.

"Salt deliveries for the upcoming winter are already in full swing," Heimann said. "Looking ahead, several port companies are expecting a significant increase in ocean shipments compared to previous projections, primarily of semi-finished steel. We've also seen several more vessels added to the upcoming harbor schedule that were not on the horizon just 60 to 90 days ago.”

NW Indiana Times





Help wanted

Western Great Lakes Pilots Association seeks qualified candidates for pilot training in District Three which encompasses Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. Interested mariners are encouraged to log onto www.wglpa.com for further information.





Have you ever seen a bat on board?

These might be questions that you are not pondering every day, but we would like to get your answers to those!

Currently there is a study being made with the focus on hitchhiking bats on Great Lakes freighters. We have heard that some people have seen bats on board, and we've even received some photographic evidence, but how common these sightings are, it remains a mystery. And we would like to solve this mystery!

In order to be able to solve it, we made a short online questionnaire targeted to regular Lake sailors. This questionnaire takes approximately 10 minutes to complete, so we are not asking for a huge commitment time-wise. It is also completely anonymous, if you wish so, and all the information obtained will be confidential.

So if you are a regular sailor, and think that you would like to participate, please head over to the questionnaire in the following web address: elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/53403/lomake.html

If you would like to get some more information about the study, there is also a forum post in the Regional Discussion section of the Boatnerd discussion forums. It is open for questions and discussion about the study, bats or hitchhiking.

We hope that we get as many responses as we can, so if you know some regular sailors, please let them know about this study! All the responses are helpful, so if you've seen a bat once, that is also valuable information for us. So do not hesitate, and please share your knowledge with us.

- Saska Lohi - Michigan Tech University / the University of Helsinki



Lookback #325 – Dido finished after going aground at Goole, England on Oct. 8, 1971

The Norwegian freighter Dido had been launched at Porsgrunn, Norway, on March 11, 1945, but not completed until Feb. 22, 1949. The 258 foot long freighter began Great Lakes trading in 1951.

Dido returned inland during the early Seaway era with one trip in 1959 and a total of 14 by the time it made its last visit to the Great Lakes in 1963.

The ship spent the rest of its sailing career in saltwater service until going aground off Goole, England, on Oct. 8, 1971. It was departing Goole for Porsgrunn when it stranded 43 years ago today.

Dido was released the next day but returned to Goole and laid up as a total loss. The hull was sold for scrap to Baigent & Thatcher Ltd. and resold to Albert Draper & Son Ltd. in 1972. Dido arrived at Hull, England, for dismantling on Oct. 8, 1972, exactly a year after the fatal grounding.

Skip Gillham





Today in Great Lakes History - October 8

On 08 October 1871, PHILO PARSONS (wooden side-wheel steamer, 221 tons, built in 1861, at Algonac, Michigan) burned to a total loss in the great Chicago fire. She burned so completely that her remains were not located in the Chicago River until 1877. She was the vessel commandeered by Confederate raiders in a plot to capture the iron gunboat U.S.S. MICHIGAN on Lake Erie during the American Civil War. The Chicago fire destroyed many fine vessels while they were docked in the harbor. These included the new propeller NAVARINO, the schooner GLENBULA, the schooner ECLIPSE, the schooner BUTCHER BOY, the bark VALETTA, the schooner ALNWICK, the bark A. P. NICHOLS, the bark FONTANELLA, the fore-and-aft schooner STAMPEDE, the schooner N. C. FORD, and the schooner CHRISTINA NEILSON. The only recorded casualties among the sailors were on the ALNWICK; her mate died and the captain burned his hands severely.

The keel was laid October 8, 1976, for the 660-foot forward section of the BURNS HARBOR, but was completed as b.) LEWIS WILSON FOY for the Bethlehem Steel Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Purchased by Oglebay Norton and renamed c.) OGLEBAY NORTON in 1991, and d.) AMERICAN INTEGRITY in 2006.

The MATHEWSTON (Hull#47) entered service on October 8, 1922. On her maiden voyage she sailed from Port Arthur, Ontario with 11,634 tons of barley and wheat. Renamed b.) RALPH S. MISENER in 1954 and c.) MATHEWSTON again in 1967. Scrapped at Vado, Italy in 1970.

The Canadian registry for MENIHEK LAKE was officially closed on October 8, 1985, with the notation "sold Spain." She was scrapped at Gijon, Spain.

WILLIAM G. MATHER arrived on October 8, 1988, in tow of the Great Lakes Towing Co. tugs WYOMING and ALABAMA at the G&W Shipyard at Collision Bend in the Cuyahoga River to be refurbished.

On 8 October 1906, PASADENA (wooden barge, 250 foot, 1,761 gross tons, built in 1889, at Cleveland, Ohio as a propeller bulk freighter) was carrying coal, in tow of the steamer GLADSTONE, bound for Superior, Wisconsin. The PASADENA went out of control in a gale and her skipper had the tow line cut. She was thrown against a pier near the upper entry to the Keweenaw Waterway and pounded to pieces in a few hours. Two lives were lost, but 8 made it to shore on the floating wreckage.

On 8 October 1854, E. K. COLLINS (wooden passenger/package freight side-wheeler, 256 foot, 1,095 gross tons, built in 1853, at Newport, Michigan) caught fire and beached near the mouth of the Detroit River where she burned to the waterline. About 23 lives were lost. About 43 persons were rescued in small boats and by the steamers FINTRY and GLOBE. There was some speculation that arson was the cause. The hull was recovered in 1857, and rebuilt as the barge ARK.

On October 8, 2000 the tug UNDAUNTED and barge PERE MARQUETTE 41 departed Calumet Harbor loaded with pig iron for Marinette, Wis., under favorable conditions and were later caught by the heavy weather. During the storm, the 5,000 tons of pig iron and the barge's four pieces of heavy loading equipment were washed into Lake Michigan. Both the tug and barge suffered damage in the incident.

1899: The tug RECORD sank at Duluth after a collision with the whaleback steamer JAMES B. NEILSON and one life was lost.

1906: The barge PASADENA, loaded with iron ore for Cleveland and under tow of the steamer GLADSTONE, was cut loose approaching the Keweenaw Waterway. The anchors fail to hold. The ship smashed into the east pier of the waterway and broke up on the rocks. Seven sailors were rescued but two were lost.

1964: A fire aboard West German-flag freighter ERATO at Detroit left two dead when they were trapped in their stern quarters. Another three sailors were injured. The 2-alarm blaze was brought under control and the ship was eventually repaired at Toledo. It arrived at Bombay, India, and laid up as d) VIJAYA DARSHANA on May 26, 1983, and eventually scrapped there beginning in May 1986.

1971: DIDO went aground leaving Goole, U.K. for Porsgrunn, Norway, but returned to Goole the next day after being refloated. The 22-year-old Norwegian freighter was listed as a total loss and sold for scrap. It was taken to Hull, U.K., a year later and dismantled. The ship had been a pre-Seaway trader as early as 1951 and made 14 voyages to the Great Lakes from 1959 through 1963.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Port Reports - October 9

Marquette, Mich. – Rod Burdick
On Wednesday at the Upper Harbor, Algosteel loaded ore and Mesabi Miner unloaded coal. Algosteel's visit was her first since June 2013 and only the second Canadian vessel of the 2014 shipping season in Marquette.

Port Inland, Mich.
Wilfred Sykes departed in the late morning Wednesday. Her place at the stone loader was taken by John J. Boland.

Lorain, Ohio – Phil Leon
Saginaw entered the harbor at 5:20 p.m. Wednesday, headed to Jonick dock 1.

Erie, Pa –Gene Polaski
Manitowoc arrived in Erie harbor at 8 a.m. Wednesday with stone from Cedarville. She unloaded throughout the day then faced strong winds later.

Kingston, Ont. – Ron Walsh
At 2 p.m. Wednesday, the winds were gusting to 50 knots in Kingston harbor. The cruise ship Hamburg was having trouble retrieving a tender and also wanted to leave the harbor. They were drifting and had to coordinate moving with the Wolfe Islander III. They were heading to Prince Edward Bay to anchor in a lee and hoped the wind would go down so they could retrieve 260 passengers that had gotten off in Kingston. They anchored in Prince Edward Bay at 1835, telling Seaway Sodus they would get underway at 1 a.m. on the 9th for a 4:30 a.m. arrival at the Cape Vincent pilot station. Radio traffic indicated they are going to bus the passengers to Iroquois Lock for boarding. The tug Vigilant 1 has been moored in Kingston since Monday, waiting on weather. Wednesday’s gale warning delayed her trip to Hamilton again. She is towing the tug Florence M. The Florence M did not sail this year but is being taken to Hamilton to be examined for a refit. It was so rough in Kingston harbor that a local tour boat had to use the Wolfe Islander III to create a lee so she could reach her dock in front of City Hall. At 6 p.m. winds were still WSW near 30 knots.





Shipwrecks & Scuba Nov. 8 in Huron, Ohio

10/9 - The annual 2014 31st Shipwrecks & Scuba event will be held at Sawmill Creek Lodge in Huron, Ohio, on Nov. 8. From 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. there will speakers, exhibitor booths and dinner banquet.





Lookback # 326 – Crane ship Buckeye blown aground Oct. 9, 1968, on way to scrap yard

Buckeye operated for the Columbia Transportation Co. through the 1967 season and then tied up at Toledo. It was idle until sold to Steel Factors for scrap in 1968 and departed Toledo for the St. Lawrence only to run into bad weather at the eastern end of Lake Erie.

It was 46 years ago today, while approaching the Port Colborne entrance to the Welland Canal, that the ship came ashore to the west of the harbor. The anchors failed to hold in the rough weather and Buckeye landed well up on the beach.

Refloating the hull proved to be a challenge but the ship got free on Nov. 29, 1968, and was docked at the grain elevator for inspection. Once cleared, the tugs Salvage Monarch and G.W. Rogers brought the old crane ship down the Welland Canal on Dec. 14, 1968. This time the destination was Kingston, Ont., and the Buckeye spent the winter there, in the company of the retired Canada Steamship Lines freighters Lemoyne and Midland Prince, to the west of the grain elevator.

The next year, Buckeye was on the move again with Salvage Monarch and Daniel M. McAllister taking her down the Seaway on Aug. 13, 1969. She departed Quebec City for Santander, Spain, behind the tug Fairplay X on Sept. 3, 1969, and arrived on Nov. 4 for dismantling.

Along for the final last ride was another wanderer. The retired laker Peter Robertson (i), had also had the anchors fail, but in a Lake Ontario storm, and she stranded off Jordan Harbor on August 20, 1969. It was quickly released, without damage, and able to reach Quebec City in time to be towed overseas.

Buckeye had been built at Wyandotte, Mich., in 1901 and had previously sailed as a) David M. Whitney, b) Edwin L. Booth, c) G.N. Wilson (i), and d) Thomas Britt (ii) before becoming e) Buckeye (i) for conversion to a crane ship in 1943.

Skip Gillham





Today in Great Lakes History - October 9

On 08-09 October 1871, NAVARINO (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 184 foot, 761 tons, built in 1870, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was lying at a dock when the Chicago fire swept through the city. The vessel tried to pull away from the dock and get to the safety of Lake Michigan, but the wind, which was being drawn into the fire held her against the dock. She burned to a total loss; no lives were lost. Her machinery was later salvaged and used in the new propeller MENOMINEE.

The CHIMO was moved onto the Port Weller Dry Dock on October 9, 1983, where workers began to cut her apart forward of her aft-located pilothouse and engine room. Upon completion Upper Lakes Shipping renamed her b.) CANADIAN RANGER.

GULF MACKENZIE (Hull#435) was launched at Sorel, Quebec, by Marine Industries, Ltd. on October 9, 1976. Renamed b.) L. ROCHETTE in 1985, departed the lakes and renamed c.) TRADEWIND ISLAND in 1995 and d.) KEMEPADE in 2003.

Pioneer Shipping Ltd's SASKATCHEWAN PIONEER arrived in the Welland Canal on her delivery trip October 9, 1983, en route to her formal christening at Thunder Bay, Ontario. Sold off the lakes and renamed b.) LADY HAMILTON in 1995. Brought back to the Lakes as VOYAGEUR PIONEER in 2006. Renamed KAMINISTIQUA in 2008.

JAMES DAVIDSON (Hull# 288) was launched at Wyandotte, Michigan, by Detroit Ship Building Co. on October 9, 1920, for the Globe Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio (G. A. Tomlinson, mgr.)

On October 9, 1984, the PATERSON was sold to Shearmet Recycling, a Thunder Bay, Ontario, ship breaker, and was broken up at their Mission River dock.

COL. JAMES M. SCHOONMAKER sailed from the Great Lakes Engineering Works on her maiden voyage on October 9, 1911, to Toledo, Ohio, where she loaded coal bound for Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The SCHOONMAKER was the largest vessel on the Great Lakes when she came out. For much of the decade this vessel either broke or held many bulk cargo records. Renamed b.) WILLIS B. BOYER in 1969. Since 1987, the BOYER serves as a museum ship in Toledo, Ohio, with her original name recently restored.

On 9 October 1820, ASP (wooden schooner, 57 tons, built in 1808, at Mississauga, Ontario) was carrying lumber and staves when she sprang a leak near Long Point in Lake Ontario. She waterlogged, then capsized. The upturned vessel was driven across the lake and finally went ashore off the Salmon River at Mexico Bay, New York, and broke up quickly. 9 of the 11 onboard lost their lives. She was originally built as the British armed schooner ELIZABETH.

On 9 October 1931, CHARLES H. BRADLEY (wooden propeller, 201 foot, 804 gross tons, built in 1890, at W. Bay City, Michigan) was carrying pulpwood and towing the barge GRAMPIAN. She was traversing the Portage Canal in the Keweenaw Peninsula when she ran onto a bar and stranded. The barge kept coming and plowed into her stern. The BRADLEY caught fire and burned to the waterline. The wreck still lies in 6 to 17 feet of water just off the mouth of the Sturgeon River.

On 9 October 1895, AFRICA (wooden propeller steam barge, 135 foot, 352 gross tons, built in 1873, at Kingston, Ontario) was towing the schooner SEVERN in a storm on Lake Huron when she struck a reef, 15 miles south of Cove Island light on Lake Huron. AFRICA broke up in the storm, all 11 of her crew were lost. SEVERN went ashore near Bradley Harbour and broke up. The crew was rescued by a fish tug from Stokes Bay.

1907: CYPRUS cleared Superior with a cargo of iron ore for Lackawanna, N.Y., on only the second trip. The vessel sank two days later and there was only one survivor. The hull was found on the bottom of Lake Superior in 2007 in 460 feet of water.

1922: TURRET CROWN ran aground off Cove Island, Georgian Bay, but was later salvaged.

1944: The German freighter LUDOLF OLDENDORFF, a Great Lakes trader as a) WESTMOUNT (i) and as e) TRACTOR, was sunk by British aircraft at Egersund, Norway.

1968: BUCKEYE, under tow for scrapping overseas, began drifting in rough weather when the anchors were unable to hold off Port Colborne. The ship was blown aground west of the city and the hull remained stuck until November 29.

2001: The Maltese flag freighter SYLVIA ran over a buoy below the Eisenhower Lock and the mooring chain was wrapped around the propeller. The cable was freed and the ship proceeded to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs arriving October 19 and returning to service on October 27. The ship had previously been inland as a) CHIMO when new in 1981 and first returned as d) SYLVIA in 2000. The vessel was noted as h) INTERCROWN and registered in Cambodia as of 2010.