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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Dec 9, 2014 6:25:00 GMT -5
Lubie crewmember dies after fall into Lake Huron
12/9 - St. Ignace, Mich. – The Coast Guard recovered a 55 year-old Polish man from Lake Huron late Sunday morning, after the crew of the motor vessel Lubie, a 622-foot Bahamian-flagged bulk carrier, reported him missing. The man's name is not being released.
At approximately 9:30 a.m., a search and rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie received a telephone call from someone aboard the motor vessel Lubie, reporting a crewmember was missing and may have fallen overboard. At the time of notification the Lubie was underway roughly 10 miles northeast of Rogers City, Michigan, travelling from Marinette, Wisconsin, to Windsor, Ontario.
The crew last saw the man about one hour before notifying Sector Sault Ste. Marie. He was last seen before going to work on deck wearing blue coveralls or a blue jumpsuit.
Watchstanders at Sector Sault Ste. Marie immediately issued an urgent marine information broadcast, launched a crew aboard a 45-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station St. Ignace, Michigan, and a crew aboard a Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Michigan. The crew of the freighter also reversed course and began searching their previous track line. More than two hours later, the Lubie crew reported spotting the man face down in the water.
The Coast Guard response boat crew recovered the man, who was unconscious and unresponsive, and transferred him to awaiting EMTs at Station St. Ignace. He was declared deceased by local medical authorities. A local medical examiner is performing an autopsy.
The water temperature was approximately 39 degrees Fahrenheit. The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the accident.
USCG
Poe Lock sets a tonnage record
12/9 - Soo Locks - The Poe Lock set a tonnage record on Nov. 21. In a 24-hour period, 17 boats carried 545,520 net tons through the lock that day. It would take at least 21,820 semi-trucks to carry this much cargo.
USACE
Mackinac Island company to build new $3.8M ferryboat
12/9 - Onaway, Mich. – A company that provides ferry service to Mackinac Island is having an 85-foot, 281-passenger vessel added to its fleet, company executives said.
Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry planned to announce the $3.8 million project Monday, describing the watercraft as the first ferryboat known to have been constructed in Michigan. The work will take place at Moran Iron Works in Onaway.
“The idea of building a climate-controlled ferry for our customers right here in Michigan — instead of sending the work elsewhere — really appealed to us,” said Bill Shepler, CEO of the ferry company.
The vessel will be christened “Miss Margy,” after Shepler’s mother. It is scheduled for completion in time to begin hauling passengers between the mainland and the resort island next July.
The keel will be laid in mid-January and the hull completed over the next four months, after which the craft will be launched in Rogers City and taken to the Shepler’s facility in Mackinaw City for seat installation and painting.
Miss Margy will feature an air-conditioned cabin and a ventilation system to remove condensation from windows, providing a better view during bad weather. It will have a top speed of about 40 mph.
“An all-aluminum hull, three of the most modern and powerful marine engines on the Great Lakes, along with the most advanced cabin comforts, make this project sophisticated and challenging,” said Tom Moran, CEO of Moran Iron Works.
Shepler’s is one of three companies providing Mackinac Island service. Its fleet already includes five passenger ferries and a cargo vessel.
Moran and Shepler’s previously have worked together on modifications of two vessels, but this will be their first ferry building venture. Ferries usually are constructed in shipbuilding centers such as Louisiana or Sturgeon Bay, Wis.
“But for this project, we liked the idea of watching it being built and having a say in how it was being built,” Shepler said.
Detroit Free Press
Port Reports - December 9
Buffalo, N.Y. – Brian W.
The Ashtabula - Defiance was rounding Point Pelee Monday and on her way to the Sand Supply Wharf on the City Ship Canal. They should be arriving around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Prescott, Ont. - Joanne N. Crack
Through town Sunday night and early Monday morning were Tim S. Dool, Kom and Brant. Monday upbounds Algoma Olympic sailed through to Hamilton, Ont. at 04h52, HHL Mississippi at 4:59am to Chicago and Algonova tanker at 6:11am. The Flinterstar came down at 6:20am. The downbound Americaborg, heading through to Sorel, QC at 10:40am met up with the upbound Whitefish Bay just above the Ogdensburg/Prescott Bridge at 10:25am heading to Duluth to load coal. The Blue Phoenix sailed down to Les Escoumines, QC at 2:50pm and Mottler down to Montréal, QC at 6:07pm. Monday evening, expected through is Algoma Transport up to Burns Harbor, Indiana. Expected early Tuesday morning is the Elbeborg down to Montréal, QC.
Charting a course for Canadian Miner cleanup
12/9 - Sydney, N.S. – The province should have soon have a better idea what the discovery of additional contaminants aboard the former Canadian Miner could mean for the timeline and budget of its cleanup.
Geoff MacLellan, minister of Transportation and Public Works, said officials planned a meeting between contractor RJ MacIsaac Construction of Antigonish and Nova Scotia Lands should clarify where things stand.
Last month, word came that asbestos levels found on the derelict ship stranded off Cape Breton are almost five times more than estimated in federal reports. About 30,000 litres of diesel was also discovered aboard, when a study had indicated it had all been removed.
“That final conversation still hasn’t taken place, so we’re proceeding as planned at this point,” MacLellan said.
About 30 tonnes of asbestos was discovered aboard the vessel by the contractor, well in excess of the 6.6 tonnes of asbestos federal reports estimated to be on the ship.
The project was originally expected to cost $11.9 million.
It’s also expected that weather conditions could play a factor in whether costs and timelines can be met.
The 12,000-tonne, 223-metre bulk carrier ran aground on Scatarie Island after a tow line snapped in rough seas during transit to Turkey from Montreal in September 2011. Scatarie Island is a provincially protected wilderness area and it is home to a lucrative fishery.
Although progress has generally been good, the schedule of completing the salvage has been affected by the complications.
“The contractor … has had some major productivity in terms of where they’ve been working around the engine room in the aft section of the vessel, so that’s been 90 per cent removed to this point, and they’re now cutting the vessel into large pieces and they’ll pull the pieces on the shoreline so that they ensure safer cutting,” MacLellan said. “Things are moving as planned.”
The federal government has stated the ship isn't blocking navigation and it doesn’t contain any pollutants. It has said the responsibility to remove the Miner lies with its owner, Arvina Navigation.
MacLellan said he has renewed efforts to have Ottawa — including Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, and the Department of Environment — revisit the issue of costs associated with the Miner removal in light of the additional contaminants discovered.
“We’re eagerly awaiting feedback from the feds and we truly hope that given the circumstances they’ll help us out, not only with some of the logistics for the cleanup but certainly with the overall cost,” MacLellan said.
Cape Breton Post
Obituary: Capt. Jimmie Hobaugh
12/9 - Capt. Jimmie Hobaugh of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., passed away at his home on Dec. 5.
On the night of November 10, 1975, Capt. Hobaugh deployed his command – the 180 foot bouy tender Woodrush – from the port of Duluth in search of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which had gone missing on Lake Superior in hurricane force winds. It took him 24 hours to fight his way all the way across the lake to the last reported location of the Fitz. In his later years, Capt. Hobaugh oversaw the Museum Ship Valley Camp in Sault Ste. Marie.
Arrangements are incomplete at this time, but will be announced by C.S. Mulder Funeral Home and Cremation Services.
Today in Great Lakes History - December 9
While tied up at Port Colborne, Ontario, waiting to discharge her cargo of grain, a northeast gale caused the water to lower three feet and left the EDWIN H. OHL (steel propeller bulk freighter, 420 foot, 5141 gross tons, built in 1907, at Wyandotte, Michigan) on the bottom with a list of about one foot. The bottom plating was damaged and cost $3,460.19 to repair.
Cleveland Tankers’ JUPITER (Hull#227) was christened December 9, 1975, at Jennings, Louisiana, by S.B.A. Shipyards, Inc.
JEAN PARISIEN left Quebec City on her maiden voyage December 9, 1977.
CLIFFS VICTORY ran aground December 9, 1976 near Johnson’s Point in the ice -laden Munuscong Channel of the St. Marys River.
The FRANK C. BALL, b.) J.R. SENSIBAR in 1930, c.) CONALLISON in 1981) was launched at Ecorse, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works as (Hull #14) on December 9, 1905.
ARTHUR B. HOMER was towed by the tugs THUNDER CAPE, ELMORE M. MISNER and ATOMIC to Port Colborne, Ontario, December 9, 1986, and was scrapped there the following year.
HILDA MARJANNE was launched December 9, 1943, as a.) GRANDE RONDE (Hull#43) at Portland, Oregon, by Kaiser Co., Inc.
The keel for Hall Corporation of Canada’s SHIERCLIFFE HALL (Hull#248) was laid on December 9, 1949, at Montreal, Quebec by Canadian Vickers Ltd.
On 9 December 1871, CHALLENGE (wooden schooner, 96 foot, 99 tons, built in 1853, at Rochester, New York) missed the piers at Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in heavy weather, stove in some of her planking and sank. She was a particularly sleek craft, actually designed as a yacht and once owned by the U.S. Light House Service as a supply vessel.
On 9 December 1874, the Port Huron Times reported that "the old railroad ferry steamer UNION at Detroit is having machinery taken out and preparing to go into permanent retirement, or perhaps to serve as a floating dining room for railroad passengers."
1910: JOHN SHARPLES of the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Co., stranded on Galops Island in the St. Lawrence due to low visibility. The vessel was holed fore and aft and not released until April 1911 with the help of the tug HECLA.
1943: SARNIAN, the first member of what became the Upper Lakes Shipping fleet, stranded on Pointe Isabelle Reef, Lake Superior, while downbound with 162,489 bushels of barley. The vessel was not refloated until July 24, 1944, and never sailed again.
1956: FORT HENRY, a package freighter for Canada Steamship Lines, hit Canoe Rocks approaching the Canadian Lakehead, cutting open the hull. It reached the dock safely, quickly unloaded, and went to the Port Arthur shipyard for repairs.
1968: NORTH CAROLINA lost power and sank in Lake Erie five miles west of Fairport, Ohio, in rough weather. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued the three-member crew. The hull went down in about 30 feet of water and is a popular dive attraction.
1980: The salt-laden KINGDOC (ii) was released by the tugs POINT VALIANT and IRVING BIRCH after an earlier grounding at Pugwash, NS
1983: The saltwater ship d) IAPETOS was struck by Iraqi gunners in the Khor Musa Channel about 30-40 miles from Bandar Khomeini, Iran. It was abandoned and struck again by a missile and bombs on March 29, 1984. The vessel began Seaway service as a) JAROSA in 1965 and returned as b) IVORY STAR in 1973 and c) TURICUM in 1975. It was refloated about 1984 and scrapped at Sitalpur, Bangladesh.
2001: The former HAND LOONG, a Seaway trader beginning in 1977, sank as b) UNA in the Black Sea off Sinop, Turkey, enroute from Algeria to Romania with 11,000 tons of iron ore. Seventeen sailors were rescued but one was missing and presumed lost.
2003: STELLAMARE capsized on the Hudson River at Albany, N.Y., while loading turbines. The cargo shifted and three members of the crew were lost. The ship was righted, refloated and repaired as c) NANDALINA S. It was broken up for scrap at Aliaga, Turkey, as d) DOUAA A. in 2011. This heavy-lift freighter first came through the Seaway in 1989 and returned inland from time to time.
2011: VSL CENTURION lost its stern anchor while downbound in the Welland Canal at Port Colborne. Shipping was held up until it was found. The ship first visited the Seaway as a) SAGITARRIUS in 1990 and became d) PHOENIX SUN in 2012.
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Dec 10, 2014 6:52:07 GMT -5
gcaptain.com/giant-pieter-schelte-sets-sail-rotterdam/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gcaptain+%28gCaptain.com%29“Remarkable” year of grain and steel boosts Seaway season 12/10 - With just one month left of the season, St. Lawrence Seaway cargo shipments are expected to finish ahead of 2013 after a remarkable year of grain exports and steel imports. According to the St. Lawrence Seaway, total cargo shipments reached 34.6 million metric tons for the period from March 25 to November 30 — up 5 percent over the same period last year. Seaway management expects the season will close ahead of last year by a similar margin. Grain shipments (Canadian and U.S.) tallied 10.1 million metric tons, up 44 percent over 2013. The vast majority of that uplift has come from record Canadian crops, but U.S. grain to date is also up by 30 percent. Grain shipments through the Port of Toledo have been at their highest level in four years. Renewed construction activity and automotive manufacturing lifted steel shipments by 80 percent to 2.2 million metric tons this season with ports including Detroit, Toledo, Milwaukee and Cleveland all benefitting from the increase. Nearly 2 million metric tons of new business also helped to offset decreases in iron ore and coal shipments this year. Close to a fifth of that total has been salt imports heading to destinations such as Detroit, Toledo and Milwaukee. These have been supplementing a huge demand by cities, towns, businesses, schools and hospitals for road salt from domestic mines. Salt shipments are up by 47 percent to 3 million metric tons. Chamber of Marine Commerce Sundaisy E freed from St. Lawrence River grounding 12/10 - Quebec City, Que. – The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is deploying a team of investigators to Batiscan, Que., where the bulk carrier Sundaisy E ran aground Monday on the St. Lawrence River. The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence. The vessel – which may have lost power due to a generator failure – was refloated Tuesday with the help of the tug Ocean Bravo, after which they were heading for a Trois-Rivieres anchorage. Sundaisy E was headed for Hamilton, Ont. Canada NewsWire McKeil Marine names newest tug 12/10 - Tim McKeil is the name selected for the latest tug to join the McKeil Marine fleet. Built in 1991 in Japan, the 4800 bhp tug was originally named Pannawonica 1. It was recently delivered from Australia via South Africa, to Sydney, Nova Scotia. It was registered in St. John's, Newfoundland December 9 as Tim McKeil. Mac Mackay Toledo river drawbridge opened for ship last week; now it's stuck in up position 12/10 - Toledo, Ohio – Officials in Toledo are trying to lower a river bridge that's stuck in the up position for the second time in a week. The Martin Luther King Memorial drawbridge got stuck last Tuesday. Then it happened again Friday after it partially opened for a ship. It was still stuck open Monday. WTVG-TV in Toledo reports that crews are dealing with electrical and mechanical issues as they try to figure out what happened. The city says an electrical component that needs to be replaced wasn't immediately available, and a clutch may also have to be replaced. The bridge, which sits over the Maumee River, first opened to traffic in 1914. WTVG-TV Steel shipments surge through the St. Lawrence Seaway trade corridor 12/10 - Washington, D.C. – The St. Lawrence Seaway reported that year-to-date cargo shipments of 35 million metric tons moved through the system for the period March 28 to November 30. Total cargo volume is up 5 percent due predominantly to formidable tonnage of steel, salt, and grain shipments. “Steel, salt, and grain tonnage numbers registered double digit increases (80, 48, and 44 percent, respectively) over last year’s performance,” said Administrator Betty Sutton of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. “Solid cargo improvement, continued infrastructure investments, and start-up of the first foreign liner service to a U.S. Great Lakes port in two decades (Spliethoff’s Cleveland Europe Express) are just three highlights in a season that has us optimistic about our System’s future.” “The story in Milwaukee is steel,” said Paul Vornholt, Port of Milwaukee Acting Director. “November continued a year-long trend that has the Port of Milwaukee logging one of its highest tonnages of steel in recent decades. Among the factors affecting steel volumes are global and regional economic conditions, reliability, efficiency of delivering steel through the Seaway, and cost-effective port operations.” Shipments at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor are projected to exceed last year’s total by over 25 percent, with a steady stream of vessels scheduled through the end of the year. “If this pace continues, the port’s annual shipments could challenge the all-time record set in 1994,” said Jody Peacock, vice president for the Ports of Indiana. “We’re seeing major increases in our highest volume cargoes and steel is leading the way, up more than 100 percent year-to-date versus 2013. Grain and salt shipments are also more than double last year’s total, while limestone and project cargoes are on the rise as well.” Also in November, the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor handled an unusual project cargo shipment that included a fuel processing unit and heavy-haul trailer that weighed a combined 885,000 pounds. The large unit was unloaded at the port’s RO-RO (roll-on, roll-off) dock and had to be transported at night with a police escort over a pre-certified highway route to an Ohio refinery. Despite some weather related delays, positive momentum continued into November at the Port of Toledo. Overseas salt, steel, and pig iron arrived on a parade of Polsteam, Canfornav and Flinter vessels at Midwest Terminals. Some of those vessels traveled just up the Maumee River to re-load Toledo soybeans for direct export. Shipments of corn and soybeans from ADM and The Andersons were also loaded onto lake vessels for export to Canada where some grain was then trans-shipped for overseas destinations. “I believe it’s fair to say that manufacturing has rebounded in the Toledo Region and industry is taking advantage of the Port for direct access to international suppliers of steel and raw materials,” said Joe Cappel, Director of Cargo Development for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “The combination of a strong demand for steel and aluminum, a good grain harvest and the opening of our new Ironville Terminal have been a recipe for success this season.” Weather was also a factor at the Port of Oswego Authority in November. “While there were some delays, the port continues to be on target with aluminum shipments,” said Zelko Kirincich, Port Executive Director and CEO. “We received three shipments of aluminum on McKeil barges totaling 20,228 MT and we expect a peak in December as the season comes to a close.” “In November, the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority handled 42,437 tons of material including steel and aluminum, said Executive Director John Loftus. “This is a nearly 7 percent increase over November 2013 and yet another example of southeast Michigan’s industrial growth and sustainability.” St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation Port Reports - December 10 Calcite, Mich. – Denny Dushane John G. Munson loaded at the South Dock in Calcite on Tuesday and was expected to depart around 7 a.m. Due on Wednesday is the Philip R. Clarke arriving in the late evening for the South Dock. There is nothing scheduled from December 11-14. Stoneport, Mich. – Denny Dushane Three vessels were scheduled on Tuesday, with the John G. Munson arriving first in the morning followed later in the day with the Great Republic in the late afternoon. Herbert C. Jackson is also due on Tuesday in the late evening. Two vessels are due in on Wednesday, with the Cuyahoga arriving first in the morning followed by the Pathfinder in the evening. Joseph H. Thompson will round out the schedule on Thursday arriving in the morning to load. There is nothing scheduled on Friday. Saginaw, Mich. – Todd Shorkey The tug G.L. Ostrander and the cement barge Integrity were inbound on the Saginaw River early Tuesday morning. The pair called on the Lafarge Cement dock in Essexville to unload. They were expected to be outbound early Wednesday morning. Toledo, Ohio – Denny Dushane Cason J. Callaway was expected to arrive in Toledo to load at the CSX Coal Dock on Tuesday in the late evening hours. Also due at CSX is the 1,000 footer Walter J. McCarthy Jr., which is due on Wednesday in the morning. The James L. Kuber has two trips scheduled at CSX, with the first one on Thursday in the late afternoon followed by a return on Friday in the late evening to load. There is nothing due at the Midwest Terminal Stone Dock. Due at the Torco Dock is the John J. Boland on Wednesday in the early morning followed by the James L. Kuber on Thursday in the morning. Due in on Friday is the Lewis J. Kuber, arriving during the late afternoon. American Valor remains in layup near the Lakefront Docks. Several other vessels were in port at the time of this report, among them USCG Bristol Bay doing work in Toledo along with the tug Barbara Andrie and a barge. Tug Paul L. Luedtke was also in port as was the salty Federal Schelde from Barbados further upriver at one of the grain elevators. Tug Wilf Seymour along with its barge Alouette Spirit were also upriver at one of the Toledo docks. Tug Ken Boothe Sr. and barge Lakes Contender departed Toledo early in the morning Tuesday after unloading iron ore at Torco. Entering port was the tug Petite Forte and barge St. Marys Cement for the St. Marys Cement Dock in Toledo. Buffalo, N.Y. – Brian W. Lower Lakes Towing's articulated tug-barge Defiance-Ashtabula arrived with a load of sand out of Brevort, Mich., at 11 a.m. Tuesday for the Sand Supply Wharf on the City Ship Canal. They met a small Sevenson push tug and barge in the Buffalo River Entrance Channel, and the two sets of vessels passed their respective ways with no problems around 11:30. The Defiance-Ashtabula unloaded sand until 7 p.m. and then backed out for the lake, clearing the Buffalo breakwall around 8:15 p.m. Ship Movements - Montreal to Great Lakes and Seaway ports – Andre Blanchard Ships in Montreal then moving on to the Great Lakes/Seaway Algoma Harvester - ETD: Dec 9, then on to Thunder Bay, ON Algoma Guardian - ETD: Dec 12, then on to Thunder Bay, ON Adriaticborg - ETD: Dec 9, then on to Baie-Comeau, QC Americaborg - ETD: Dec 11, then on to Sorel, QC Ships expected in Montreal then moving on to the Great Lakes/Seaway Duzgit Dignity - ETA: Dec 13, then on to Mississauga, ON MCT Stockhorn - ETA: Dec 11, then on to Hamilton, ON Algoeast - ETA: Dec 11, then on to Sarnia, ON Pineglen - ETA: Dec 12, then on to Thunder Bay, ON Oakglen - ETA: Dec 12, then on to Windsor, ON Adfines Star - ETA: Dec 9, then on to Mississauga, ON Two former Wagenborg vessels renamed 12/10 - Two former Wagenborg vessels, each making at least one visit to the Great Lakes/Seaway system, have been renamed. Markborg, which carried that name from 1997-2002 before being renamed MSC Suomi from 2002-2004, is now sailing as the Bozok of Cook Islands registry. From 2004-14 the vessel reverted back to its original name of Markborg. She first came inland in 1997 and last visited as such in 2009. Her Wagenborg fleetmate Drecthborg, which first came inland in 2006 and last visited in 2011, now sails as the Svetlana of Malta registry. Prior to her rename, it held the name of Drecthborg until July 2000, at that time becoming the MSC Skaw from 2000-2002. It reverted back to Drecthborg from 2002-2003, before becoming the Normed Rotterdam from 2003-2005. At that time it took back the name of Drecthborg, and held that name from 2005 until 2014. Denny Dushane Coast Guard to clean, paint, repair lighthouse near Cheboygan 12/10 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – The U.S. Coast Guard is proposing to conduct repairs on an active aid to navigation located near Cheboygan, Mich., and is inviting the public to comment on the undertaking. The ATON is the 14-foot Shoal Light, located in a narrow strait between Bois Blanc Island and Cheboygan. Coast Guard crewmembers will conduct work that includes repairing or replacing hinges on warped shutters; repairing or replacing glass stops with new fasteners; cleaning and repainting the interior of the lighthouse and lantern room in the current color scheme; repairing glass and glazing; cleaning vents and installing new screens; and repainting the exterior of the lighthouse in the current color scheme. The lighthouse was last repaired and repainted in 2002 by the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw. These repairs will not directly or indirectly alter any of the characteristics of the historic property. USCG Lookback #388 – John D. Leitch hit bottom above Eisenhower Lock on Dec. 10, 2005 The John D. Leitch is still an active traveler around the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence as part of the Algoma Central Corp. fleet. It has only had a few incidents since it was built by Port Weller Dry Docks in 1967. Completed as Canadian Century for Upper Lakes Shipping, the 730-foot-long by 75-foot-wide self-unloader was designed to carry coal to Ontario Hydro's steam generated power plants. It had a single cargo hold for easier cleaning. During the first year, Canadian Century delivered 1.7 millions tons of coal. As the years passed it carried other commodities including grain and taconite ore and set several cargo records. The ship was given a new loop-belt unloading system in 1975-1976 after the original bucket elevator system was damaged. Then, in 2001-2002, the Canadian Century returned to Port Weller Dry Docks where it was widened to 78 feet increasing trip capacity by 1,450 tons of cargo. It resumed service as the John D. Leitch, honoring the long time owner and President of the Upper Lakes fleet. It was nine years ago today, on Dec. 10, 2005, that the John D. Leitch hit bottom above the Eisenhower Lock while traveling downbound. The hull was opened and the leaking vessel was delayed for seven hours for temporary repairs before it was cleared to proceed. In 2011, with the sale of the Upper Lakes fleet, the John D. Leitch joined the Algoma Central Corp. While most of the ships involved in the transaction were given new names, the John D. Leitch continues to serve Algoma with the name unchanged. Today in Great Lakes History - December 10 The steamer EDWARD Y. TOWNSEND loaded the last cargo of ore for the 1942 season at Marquette. CEDARGLEN, a.) WILLIAM C. ATWATER, loaded her last cargo at Thunder Bay, Ontario on December 10, 1984, carrying grain for Goderich, Ontario. Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co. of Cleveland, Ohio bought NOTRE DAME VICTORY on December 10, 1950. She would later become b.) CLIFFS VICTORY. IRVIN L. CLYMER was laid up at Superior, Wisconsin on December 10, 1985, for two seasons before returning to service April 30, 1988. An explosion occurred in IMPERIAL LEDUC's, b.) NIPIGON BAY ) forward tanks on December 10, 1951. This happened while her crew was cleaning and butterworthing the tanks. Five crewmembers were injured with one eventually dying in the hospital. Multiple explosions caused extensive damage in excess of $500,000. On December 10, 1905, WILLIAM E. COREY finally was pulled free and refloated after grounding on Gull Island Reef in the Apostle Islands in late November. FRANK A. SHERMAN laid up for the last time at Toronto, Ontario on December 10, 1981. Donated by Cleveland-Cliffs to the Great Lakes Historical Society on December 10, 1987, the WILLIAM G. MATHER was to become a museum ship at Cleveland's waterfront. PAUL H. CARNAHAN and her former fleet mate, GEORGE M. HUMPHREY, arrived safely under tow at Kaohsiung, Taiwan on December 10, 1986, for scrapping. On 10 December 1891, a fire started on MARY (2-mast wooden schooner, 84 foot, 87 gross tons, built in 1877, at Merriton, Ontario) when an oil stove in the kitchen exploded. The vessel was at anchor at Sarnia, Ontario and damage was estimated at $10,000. The CORISANE (2-mast wooden schooner-barge, 137 foot, 292 gross tons, built in 1873, at Marine City, Michigan) was tied up alongside MARY and she also caught fire but the flames were quickly extinguished. She was towed away from MARY by the ferry J C CLARK. PERE MARQUETTE 3 ran aground in 1893, north of Milwaukee. 1922: The wooden freighter JAMES DEMPSEY, built in 1883 as a) JIM SHERIFFS, was destroyed by a fire at Manistee, MI. 1963: The Canadian coastal freighter SAINTE ADRESSE went on the rocks off Escoumins, QC and was leaking in high winds while on a voyage from Montreal to Sept-Iles. Local residents helped lighter the cargo of beer and ale. The remains of the hull were visible at low water for several years. 1975: PAUL THAYER went aground in Lake Erie off Pelee Island. It was lightered to WOLVERINE and released Dec. 12 with extensive damage. 1994: The Maltese registered YIANNIS Z. entered Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago, in leaking condition after apparently hitting bottom while enroute from Manzanillo, Cuba, to Peru. The ship was arrested for non-payment of the crew. The vessel had been a Seaway trader in 1970 as a) MATIJA GUBEC. The hull was sold at public auction on August 28, 1997, and apparently partially dismantled to become a barge. It was noted sinking at its moorings on October 14, 2006, under the name f) KELLYS MARK and subsequent fate is unknown. 2005: JOHN D. LEITCH hit bottom above the Eisenhower Lock and began leaking.
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Dec 11, 2014 7:13:53 GMT -5
Seaway benefits from boost in grain, steel
12/11 - St. Catharines, Ont. St. Lawrence Seaway cargo shipments are expected to top 2013's totals, powered by a grain exports and steel imports surge.
The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation reports its total shipments reached 34.6 million tonnes from March 25 to Nov. 30.
That's up 5% over the same period last year, and it's anticipated the full season will surpass last year's by a similar margin.
Bruce Hodgson, St. Lawrence Seaway director of market development, said a brutal winter meant the loss of about four shipping weeks due to drawn-out ice conditions.
"But then we rebounded, with grain continuing to be strong," he said. "And we expect it should remain strong until the end of the season."
Hodgson said the grain crop last year was a record one, with a "huge amount of carryover that was left in the system."
"And it was decent quality ... so once we got rid of the ice, we had a very strong start."
Grain shipments in Canada and the U.S. to Nov. 30 were at 10.1 million tonnes, up 44% over 2013. That's the most Canadian grain shipped through the Seaway for that period in 13 years.
Exports of grain through ports like Hamilton and Port Colborne are also significantly up this fall.
Meanwhile, boosted activity in construction and automotive manufacturing in Canada and the U.S. pushed up steel shipments by 80% this season to 2.2 million tonnes.
"Steel has been strong," said Hodgson. "The U.S. economy has shown good signs of recovery and a big part of what's driving our iron and steel is the auto sector, which continues to be strong."
The Seaway says nearly 2 million tonnes of new business also helped offset decreases that otherwise took place in iron ore and coal shipments this year.
"This certainly (positively) impacts our tolls and revenue," Hodgson said. 'And we are seeing next year continue to be strong for the iron and steel business."
The St. Lawrence Seaway is slated to close this year on New Year's Eve at 4 p.m. and is expected to re-open sometime in mid-to-late March. Last year's close took place on Jan. 1 at 2 p.m.
St. Catharines Standard
Great Lakes steel production shoots up by 18,000 tons
12/11 - Raw steel production soared to 673,000 tons in the Great Lakes region last week, after a three-week surge sputtered out the previous week.
U.S. steel production increased by 2.2 percent in the week that ended Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate. Local production rose by 18,000 tons, or about 2.7 percent. Most of the raw steel production in the Great Lakes region takes place in Indiana and the Chicago area.
Production in the Southern District, typically the nation's second biggest steel-producing region, rose to 640,000 tons, up from 634,000 tons the previous week.
Total domestic raw steel production last week was about 1.877 million tons, up from 1.835 million tons a week earlier.
Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity utilization rate of 78 percent last week, up from 76.3 percent a week earlier. The capacity utilization rate had been 74.6 percent a year earlier.
U.S. mills shipped 8.5 million net tons in October, a 1.6 percent increase over the same period last year, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Domestic steelmakers have been losing ground all year to imports, which captured 30 percent of the market share last month, according to U.S. Commerce Department data.
A World Trade Organization ruling may affect America's ability to restrict the flood of imports. An appellate body sided with India on a case on whether the United States can assess the impact of both dumped and subsidized imports when determining the injury inflicted on U.S. steelmakers.
"The WTO decision today significantly weakens the effectiveness of U.S. trade laws. U.S. law expressly requires the ITC to cumulate dumped and subsidized imports when they are under simultaneous investigations," President and CEO Thomas Gibson said.
"The WTO Appellate Body has once again created an obligation not agreed to by our trade negotiators, and this ruling will make it very difficult for domestic industries to obtain an effective remedy when facing both dumped and subsidized imports at the same time. This ruling is very detrimental to steel businesses and workers who continue to battle a flood of dumped and subsidized imports coming into this country unfairly — and at record levels."
NWI Times
Port Reports - December 11
Ship movements – Andre Blanchard
Ships currently in Hamilton, ON
Lugano - Bulk Carrier - arrived Dec 7.
Wilfred M. Cohen - Tug - arrived Dec 8
Andean - Bulk Carrier - arrived Dec. 6
Ships recently departed from Hamilton, ON
Spruceglen - Bulk Carrier - departed Dec 9 for Quebec, QC
Algoma Olympic - Bulk Carrier - departed Dec 9.
Ships expected in Hamilton, ON
Sundaisy E - Bulk Carrier - ETA: Dec 10
Ojibway - Bulk Carrier - ETA: Dec 11
Peter R. Cresswell- Bulk Carrier - ETA: Dec 12
Ships Expected in Oakville, ON
Algoma Hansa - ETA: Dec 11 - Due to depart Quebec on Dec 9
Ships expected in Toronto, ON
Mr. Joe - Tug - ETA: Dec. 11
Whistler - Bulk Carrier - ETA: Dec. 11
Ships currently in Thunder Bay, ON
Algoma Montrealais - Bulk Carrier - arrived Dec 5.
Zelada Desgagnes - Bulk Carrier - arrived Dec 8
Tecumseh - Bulk Carrier - arrived Dec 9
Federal Ems - Bulk Carrier - arrived Dec 7
Ships recently departed from Thunder Bay, ON
USCGC Katmai Bay (WTGB 101) - Icebreaking Tug - departed Dec. 9
Algoma Spirit - Bulk Carrier - departed Dec 9 for Baie Comeau, QC
Ina - Bulk Carrier - departed Dec 9
Vancouverborg - Bulk Carrier - departed Dec 9
Ships Expected in Thunder Bay, ON
Nogat - Bulk Carrier - due Dec 10
Federal Elbe - Bulk Carrier - due Dec 10.
Federal Yukina - Bulk Carrier - due Dec 10
American Mariner - Bulk Carrier - due Dec 11
Dimitrios K - Bulk Carrier - due Dec 11
Algosea - Tanker - due Dec 11
Algosoo - Bulk Carrier - due Dec 11
Algomarine - Bulk Carrier - due Jan 5
Ships currently in Trois-Rivieres, QC
Sundaisy E- Bulk Carrier - arrived on Dec 9 (passing through to Hamilton, ON)
Zeus I - Bulk Carrier - arrived Dec 9
Chestnut - Bulk Carrier - arrived Dec 7
Melissa Desgagnes - Bulk Carrier - arrived Dec 8
Federal Rhine - Bulk Carrier - arrived Dec 8.
Ships recently departed from Trois-Rivieres, QC
Algowood - Bulk Carrier - departed Dec 9
Kom - Bulk Carrier - departed Dec 9 (leaving Great Lakes and Seaway)
Salarium - Bulk Carrier - departed Dec 9
Federal Skeena - Bulk Carrier - departed Dec 9 (leaving Great Lakes and Seaway)
Milan Express - Container Ship - departed Dec (passing through to Montreal, QC)
Algoma Navigator - Bulk Carrier - departed Dec 9 (passing through to Contrecoeur, QC)
Ships expected in Trois-Rivieres, QC
Australiaborg - Bulk Carrier - due Dec 10
Spartan/Spartan II - Tug and Barge - due Dec 10
MCT Stockhorn - Tanker - due Dec 12
Ultra Esterhazy - Bulk Carrier - due Dec 12
Lowlands Opal - Bulk Carrier - due Dec 15
Black Forest - Bulk Carrier - due Dec 18
Flevoborg - Bulk Carrier - due Dec 26
Prescott, Ont. – Joanne N. Crack
Tuesday evening, Thalassa Desgagnes went up to Nanticoke, Ont., Kaministiqua down to Sorel, QC and the Shoveler headed up to Toledo.
Early Wednesday morning, Spruceglen went down to Quebec City, QC. Wednesday the Birchglen sailed down to Baie Comeau, QC at 4:46am, Algowood was upbound at 6:18am followed by the Ojibway headed up to Hamilton, Ont. at 6:50am. The Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin came down through at 10h15. Canadian Coast Guard Ship, Griffon arrived into home Port of Prescott at 11:17am and was secure in port at 11:27am. Iryda came down at 13h58, John D. Leitch was up to Burns Harbor at 6:05pm and Salarium came up and into the Port of Johnstown, 6:23pm. Algoeast headed down to Tracy, QC cleared town at 7:12pm
Expected through early Thursday morning, are Whistler up to Toronto, Ont. and Algoma Hansa to Oakville, Ont.
Traffic warning issued for Gladstone
12/11 - Commercial vessel traffic will be utilizing the port of Gladstone, Mich., beginning Saturday. The Tug Defiance with barge Ashtabula are expected to transit into and out of Little Bay De Noc December 13 through the 18th.
The Coast Guard is warning recreational users of the ice to use caution near the ice, and stay away from shipping channels and the charted Lake Carriers Association (LCA) track lines.
USCG
Cannon found in Detroit River going on display
12/11 - Detroit, Mich. – An 18th century British cannon that was found in the Detroit River in 2011 is going on display this weekend following a three-year restoration.
An event is planned Wednesday afternoon where the cannon will be shown to media. It will be displayed at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle.
Detroit police divers found the cannon during a training exercise in July 2011. It was pulled out of the water a few months later.
The cannon was located 20 feet underwater behind downtown's Cobo Center. The Detroit Historical Society says that based markings on the cannon it was made in East Sussex, England, in the mid-1740s. It was embossed with the crest of King George II.
The Detroit Historical Society says the cannon likely was used in various conflicts before being moved to Fort Lernoult in Detroit. When the British abandoned Detroit in 1796 the society says the cannon probably ended up in the river after soldiers were ordered to destroy some weapons.
Several other cannons have been found in the same area of the river.
Detroit Historical Society Senior Curator Joel Stone and a team at the society's Collections Resource Center were key in the restoration project. Work on the cannon started in 2013 at the Cranbrook Institute of Science in suburban Detroit, where it was displayed for special exhibit.
The Dossin Great Lakes Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays at Belle Isle, an island park in the Detroit River. Admission is free.
Detroit Free Press
Two men hijack fishing boat to slip into United States
12/11 - Buffalo, N.Y. – The search continued Wednesday for two young men who hijacked a fishing boat on Lake Ontario in order to enter the United States from Canada Tuesday afternoon.
One of the men spoke only French and the other spoke both French and English, with a New Jersey accent, said U.S. Border Patrol Agent Michael Zimmerman.
A father and son said the men approached them at the Queenston, Ont. docks and offered to pay $200 to be taken out fishing. The father was unable to go out, but his 17-year-old son, who captained the boat, told Niagara County sheriff’s deputies that he took the two men late Tuesday morning for a day of fishing on Lake Ontario.
He said after about two hours on the water, they appeared to lose interest in fishing and offered to pay more to get closer to the U.S. side in order to take pictures. When they got closer, the teen said man with the New Jersey accent threatened him with a knife and told him to drop them off in the United States, according to the Niagara County sheriff’s report.
The captain brought the boat to shore near Fort Niagara and the two men fled on foot.
They are described as being in their mid-20s. The French-speaking man was about 6 feet tall and 175 pounds and wearing a bright blue coat and white winter hat. The other was 5 feet, 11 inches tall and 200 pounds, with black hair and a short trimmed beard, wearing a black sweater, track pants and white Nikes.
Niagara County Chief Deputy Steven Preisch said Wednesday that his department and Border Patrol had extra units searching for the two men. He added that Lewiston-Porter Central School was in lockdown and restricted outdoor recess.
According to the Coast Guard, the teenager piloting the boat cooperated with the demands and took the men to shore near Four Mile Creek State Park in New York.
Both men had phones and began making calls as they fled the scene on foot.
The teen went to Station Niagara and reported the hijacking. Coast Guard crews completed a shoreline search with no sightings.
A resident in the 500 block of Lake Road told deputies that he had seen the two men in his backyard at the same time. The resident asked the men if they were OK and they held up their phones saying, “We’re all set.”
Zimmerman said Border Patrol’s Integrated Border Enforcement Team has been deployed since the incident is a crossborder crime. It includes Border Patrol, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the U.S. Coast Guard, the officers at the ports and Homeland Security.
“For Buffalo-sector all of our border is a water border,” Zimmerman said. “We’ve seen boats come across, rafts come across, kayaks, canoes, pretty much anything that you can come across the water on. This is a little more uncommon because of the way they crossed.”
He said at this point they don’t know why the men crossed.
“There is always a concern for safety when someone enters the country illegally. But most of the time the goal of that incursion is to get to some location for whatever so the danger to the immediate public is fairly minimal,” Zimmerman said.
Once Coast Guard investigators gathered all the information and evidence they needed, they took the young captain and his vessel back to Queenston.
Anyone with information or who might have seen the men is asked to call 911, or Border Patrol at 1-800-331-0353 or their local police agencies.
Buffalo News
U.S. House OKs $300 million a year for Great Lakes
12/11 - Washington, D.C. – The U.S. House passed a bill Tuesday authorizing $300 million a year to be spent over the next five years on water quality efforts in the Great Lakes states.
The legislation, co-sponsored by several members of Michigan's congressional delegation, now goes to the U.S. Senate in the hopes it will be passed before year's end.
The measure doesn't guarantee funding for what's known as the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, but at least provides a congressional authorization which members of the appropriations committee can use to justify including that spending in future appropriations bills.
Over the last five years, Congress has provided a total of $1.6 billion for the initiative, which helps to pay for water cleanup efforts in the Great Lakes states, preventing and controlling invasive species, reducing runoff and restoring habitats.
Detroit Free Press
Lookback #389 – Clayton closed the old St. Lawrence Canals for the season on Dec. 11, 1954
12/11 - In less than five years the St. Lawrence Seaway would be open but, in the interim, the old St. Lawrence Canals were very busy. With smaller locks and narrower channels, the system was often choked with ice by early December. The 1954 season ended 60 years ago today with the upbound passage of the Clayton.
Clayton would only sail for another four years. It tied up at Ogdensburg, N.Y. with storage grain at the end of 1958 and was there when sold to Marine Salvage. Steam was raised for the trip to Port Colborne and it arrived there at noon on May 14, 1959.
This was one of several redundant Misener canallers tied up at Port Colborne and in 1960 it was broken up for scrap at Ramey's Bend.
Clayton had been built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson and launched as the first Farrandoc in May 1929. It crossed the Atlantic for service in the Paterson fleet and worked on their behalf until 1942. The ship was requisitioned by the United States Maritime Commission on Dec. 24, 1942, and delivered at Mobile, Alabama.
Farrandoc carried bauxite ore on behalf of the Alcoa Steamship Co., with registry in Panama, and then went overseas to serve the British Ministry of War Transport.
It was sold to Capt. Scott Misener late in 1946 and renamed Clayton in 1947.
Skip Gillham
Today in Great Lakes History - December 11
On 11 December 2002, after last minute dredging operations were completed, Nadro Marine’s tugs SEAHOUND and VAC took the World War II Canadian Naval Tribal-class destroyer H.M.C.S. HAIDA from her mooring place at Toronto’s Ontario Place to Port Weller Dry Docks where a $3.5M refit was started in preparation for the vessel to start her new career as a museum ship in Hamilton, Ontario.
TEXACO CHIEF (Hull#193) was launched December 11, 1968, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd.
The H. LEE WHITE collided with the Greek salty GEORGIOS on December 11, 1974, near St. Clair, Michigan, and had to return to Nicholson's dock at Detroit, Michigan for inspection.
On December 11, 1979, while about 11 miles off Manitou Island near the Keweenaw Peninsula, the ASHLAND's engine stalled due to a faulty relay switch. Caught in heavy weather and wallowing in the wave troughs, she put out a distress call. True to Great Lakes tradition, four vessels immediately came to her assistance: two 1,000 footers, LEWIS WILSON FOY and EDWIN H. GOTT, along with WILLIS B. BOYER and U.S.C.G. cutter MESQUITE.
WILLIAM CLAY FORD loaded her last cargo at Duluth on December 11, 1984.
PERE MARQUETTE 21 passed down the Welland Canal (loaded with the remnants of Port Huron's Peerless Cement Dock) on December 11, 1974, towed by the tugs SALVAGE MONARCH and DANIEL MC ALLISTER on the way to Sorel, Quebec where she was laid up.
The fishing boat LINDA E vanished on Lake Michigan along with its three crewmen on December 11, 1998.
Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd.’s WHEAT KING was laid up for the last time December 11, 1981.
On 11 December 1872, the Port Huron Times listed the following vessels in winter lay-up in Port Huron: Sailing Craft: A H MOSS, FOREST HUNTER. MARY E PEREW, SEA BIRD, REINDEER, T S SKINNER, L W PERRY, ADAIN, LITTLE NELLIE, MAGGIE, PRINCE ALFRED, CAPE HORM, KITTIE, JOHNSON (wrecker), CHRISTIANA, HOWE, C G MEISEL, AUNT RUTH, W R HANNA, IRONSIDES, GOLDEN FLEECE, JOHN L GROSS, WARRINGTON, ANGLO SAXON, MOORE, LADY ESSEX, ANNIE, FORWARDER (sunk), GROTON, NORTHWEST, FRED H MORSE, GEM OF THE LAKES, D J AUSTIN, CZAR, JAMAICA, ANNIE (scow), AND HATTIE. Side wheel Steamers: 8TH OHIO, WYOMING (lighter). Propeller Steam Barges: W E WETMORE, SANILAC, CITY OF DETROIT. Tugs: KATE MOFFAT, TAWAS, HITTIE HOYT, FRANK MOFFAT, J H MARTIN, JOHN PRIDGEON, BROCKWAY, GLADIATOR, CORAL, GRACE DORNER (small passenger vessel), AND C M FARRAR.
On 11 December 1895, GEORGE W. ADAMS (wooden schooner-barge, 231 foot, 1444 gross tons, built in 1875, at Toledo, Ohio) was in tow of the steamer CALEDONIA with a load of coal, bound from Cleveland for Chicago. Her hull was crushed by ice and she sank near Colchester Shoals on Lake Erie. A salvage operation on her the following summer was a failure.
1911: A fire broke out in a wooden grain elevator at Owen Sound. The KEEWATIN was moored nearby for the winter but not yet locked in ice. The ship was moved to safety but the elevator was destroyed.
1963: MANCOX went aground in Lake St. Clair, near Peche Island, enroute from Sault Ste. Marie to River Rouge.
1984: The Yugoslavian freighter BEOGRAD, outbound in the Seaway with soybeans for Brazil, collided with the FEDERAL DANUBE at anchor near Montreal and had to be beached. The hull was refloated and arrived at Montreal for repairs on December 27. It was scrapped at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, as b) MURIEL in 1999. FEDERAL DANUBE (i) now operates for Canada Steamship Lines as c) OAKGLEN (iii).
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Dec 12, 2014 6:28:46 GMT -5
Lakes ore trade finally shakes off last winter, in November
12/12 - Cleveland, Ohio – Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 5.9 million tons in November, an increase of 5.8 percent compared to a year ago. That increase finally pushed the year-to-date total ahead of 2013’s pace. Through November, shipments stand at 53,249,990 tons, an increase of 86,721 tons.
While the increase is minute, the achievement is huge. The winter of 2013/2014 was the most brutal in decades. The U.S. Coast Guard started breaking ice on December 6, the earliest on record. Iron ore shipments slipped 20 percent in December and then plunged 37 percent in January. A few cargos moved in February, but one voyage that should have taken 50 hours stretched 10 days.
Ice conditions worsened in March, and when the first convoy left Duluth/Superior at the western end of Lake Superior, one vessel had to return to port to repair ice damage. For the other two vessels, what should have been a 62-hour voyage to Gary, Indiana, proved to be an 11-day endurance contest. Although some iron ore was able to move out of Escanaba, Michigan, the trade’s March total was 43 percent behind a year ago.
There was little relief in April. The U.S. and Canadian coast guards had to convoy vessels across Lake Superior until May 2. It wasn’t until April 13 that a vessel was able to enter Marquette Harbor and load ore. As April came to an end, the Lakes iron ore trade totaled just 6.2 million tons, a decrease of 43 percent compared to the same point in 2013. Even at the end of June, iron ore cargos were still down by 17 percent. Between May and September, three U.S.-flag lakers that had not been scheduled to operate this season were activated to help narrow the gap in iron ore and other cargos.
Although ice has formed on Lake Superior and elsewhere two weeks earlier than last year, shipping has yet to be significantly impacted. Once vessels need assistance, the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards will initiate icebreaking. Operation Taconite supports the movement of iron ore to steelmakers and western coal to utilities. Operation Coal Shovel keeps coal moving from lower Lakes ports.
Lake Carriers’ Association
Great Lakes water level slump over, future unclear
12/12 - Traverse City, Mich. – Scientists say the longest period on record of abnormally low Great Lakes water levels has ended, but it’s uncertain whether the recovery is temporary or the beginning of a new long-term trend.
The slump began in the late 1990s. It continued for 15 years, culminating early last year when Lake Michigan and Lake Huron set low-water records. Since then, levels have sharply rebounded.
In September, the levels of all five of the Great Lakes were above average for the first time since the drop-off began, said Drew Gronewold of the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor.
Between January 2013 and this November, Lake Superior rose 2.3 feet, while Lakes Michigan and Huron rose 3.2 feet.
Gronewold and Keith Kompoltowicz of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the recovery is due primarily to heavy rain and snowfall in the region over the past two years.
They predict that levels will remain above normal for the next six months on all the Great Lakes except Lake Ontario, which may be a couple of inches below normal.
Beyond that, “it becomes difficult for us to predict whether or not water levels might drop again, stay at this level or go higher,” Gronewold said.
The recovery is good news for commercial shippers, recreational boaters and others who have had to worry about running around in harbors and shallow channels.
But Kompoltowicz says some owners of shoreline property are concerned about erosion.
Detroit News
Full steam ahead at Essar Steel Minnesota site
12/12 - Now that financing has been secured, it's full steam ahead for Essar Steel Minnesota. Eyewitness News took a tour of the construction site in Nashwauk on Thursday. It's been more than two years since we've been there.
CEO and President Madhu Vuppuluri was one of our guides. He told us that around 300 contractors and Essar Steel employees are working to put up the massive steel buildings and pour concrete.
"We have some crews working six days a week, and 10 hours a day," he said. It will ramp up to 700-800 workers. And they have one of the biggest cranes in the United States on site.
It's an aggressive schedule, because they want to have taconite pellets rolling off the line by the end of 2015.
Work had slowed on the project site after August of 2012. For 26 months, the company worked on securing the last piece of financing they needed, for the $1.8 billion dollar venture.
Vuppuluri said that Essar Global, their parent company, made a significant investment of around $800 million. The rest was from investors like a group of Indian banks, and most recently, North American financial institutions.
A great deal of the equipment needed to run the mine is already in storage. And most of the concrete foundations have been poured. Based on their internal timeline, Vuppuluri said that they are actually ahead of schedule.
When we asked him about the capacity of iron ore out there now compared to demand, and how their operation will fit in, he said that the 7 million tons produced at Essar each year will replace the tonnage that will be lost when the Empire Mine in Michigan closes.
Also, he acknowledged the low price of iron ore right now. "We are a long term player. We are still fully committed to this project. And we are confident we will definitely come out a winner, by virtue of technology and operating cost."
Vuppuluri said they will be the most environmentally-friendly taconite plant, because of the new technology they are using. Many of the buildings and equipment will also be bigger than the current plants.
The plan is to transport the Essar pellets from the site to the Twin Ports, and then ship them to Canada and Chicago.
Some contractors had experienced delays in payments to the tune of millions of dollars. But Essar said that all contractors on site are current with payments.
WDIO
Port Reports - December 12
Marquette, Mich. – Rod Burdick
A busy Thursday at the Upper Harbor found Herbert C. Jackson loading ore, Presque Isle unloading coal and Lakes Contender at anchor waiting to load.
Stoneport, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Cuyahoga loaded on Thursday and was expected to depart around 6 p.m. Also due in on Thursday was the Joseph H. Thompson at noon. There are no vessels scheduled for Friday. On Saturday, four vessels are due to arrive with the Pathfinder arriving first in the early morning to load followed by Cason J. Callaway, Manistee and Calumet.
Calcite, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Philip R. Clarke loaded on Thursday and was expected to depart around 6 p.m. There are no vessels scheduled from Friday-Sunday. Great Republic is due to arrive on Monday in the late evening for the North Dock and the John G. Munson is due in on Tuesday in the early morning for the North Dock.
Toledo, Ohio – Denny Dushane
The barge James L. Kuber and tug Victory are expected to arrive during the morning hours on Friday to unload iron ore at the Torco Dock. Making a rare visit to Toledo and the Torco Dock is the barge Lewis J. Kuber and tug Olive L. Moore, due with an iron ore cargo on Saturday in the early morning. The barge Lakes Contender and the tug Ken Boothe Sr. are due at the Torco Dock to unload an iron ore cargo on Sunday in the early morning hours followed by the Adam E. Cornelius at noon. There is nothing scheduled for the Midwest Terminal Stone Dock. Due at the CSX Coal Dock to load will be the James L. Kuber on Friday in the late morning; they are due to return to load on Saturday in the late afternoon. H. Lee White rounds out the CSX Coal Dock lineup, arriving on Sunday in the late evening to load. American Valor remains in long-term layup near the Lakefront Docks. Vessels in port at the time of this report included the John J. Boland, tug Barbara Andrie with a barge, Algoma Olympic and the Algomarine.
Rochester, N.Y. – Billy Allen
The Stephen B. Roman traveled up the river surrounded by a winter scene as it made its way to Lake Ontario at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
Prescott, Ont. - Joanne N. Crack
On Thursday the Algoma Equinox passed down to Port Cartier, QC at 9:02am, Whistler up to Toronto, Ont. at 11:17am, Algoma Hansa up to Oakville, Ont. at 11:54am, Stella Polaris up to Thunder Bay, Ont. at 2:23pm, Federal Mayumi down to Quebec City, QC at 2:38pm and Federal Kumano down to Montréal, QC at 5:06pm Expected through Thursday night is the upbound Heloise headed to Toledo, Ohio and Oakglen coming down. Early Friday morning, expected through are the articulated push tug Everlast with Norman McLeod Barge down to Quebec and the upbound Tim S. Dool headed to Thunder Bay, Ont.
Golden commodity: Road salt price skyrockets
12/12 - Milwaukee, Wis. – Scrambling to cope with tight supplies, private snow-removal contractors are paying soaring prices for road salt, and even commissioning oceangoing ships to ferry it to the Port of Milwaukee from as far away as Africa. The harsh winter of 2013-'14 all but exhausted the mountains of salt that had been stockpiled for use in clearing ice and snow from roads and parking lots in the region and beyond, contractors say.
Typically, there are still supplies left when spring arrives. Not so this past year.
"We and our customers started with essentially zero inventory," said Tara Hart, spokeswoman for Compass Minerals International Inc., one of the country's largest salt producers.
And with the big producers strapped for salt, their first obligation is to fill contracts with cities, counties and states, said Joe Kassander, vice president of Birchwood Snow & Landscape Contractors Inc., a Milwaukee firm that clears the lots at shopping centers and big-box stores across the state.
"So," Kassander said, "guys like me fly to Morocco, try to find salt and get it shipped back to Wisconsin."
Literally. Birchwood had little choice. The company clears some 35 million square feet of pavement for customers such as Home Depot, Woodman's, Kmart and Best Buy, typically on multiyear contracts, and knew it wouldn't be getting its usual supplies.
"Telling them we don't have salt is not acceptable," Kassander said.
He traveled to Morocco in July, checked the salt mined by a company called JMS and found it a little unusual — it's light brown — but more than acceptable.
He agreed to buy 26,000 tons and arranged to have it transported to Milwaukee on a Jamaican-flagged ship, the Puffin. The cost: $3.9 million. That works out to $150 a ton. Last year, Birchwood bought salt for $63 a ton.
And the Puffin, which arrived on Sept. 25, was only the first of three salt-laden vessels to dock here. Another major contractor, The MCR Group LLC, took deliveries from Venezuela in November and from Egypt this month.
Like Kassander, MCR owner Matt Ryan was boxed in by the shortage of salt from the usual suppliers.
"I might have got none," Ryan said. "It would have been very difficult." So he contracted for delivery of a total of 37,000 tons from Venezuela and Egypt, some of which he is selling to other contractors.
Ryan, Kassander and others said they knew of no overseas salt shipments landing in Milwaukee before. "Never," said Jim Bernhardt, owner of Metropolitan Maintenance & Landscaping Inc., West Allis.
Nor has Bernhardt, who has been in the business for 27 years, ever seen prices at their current levels — $125 to $200 a ton. "That's if you can find it," said Matt Stano, owner of Stano Landscaping Inc., Milwaukee.
Commercial customers can look for higher prices too. Last year Stano paid $65 to $75 a ton. This year, he said, he's paying twice that amount for some of the salt MCR bought in Egypt. "Our customers are going to have to pony up," he said.
The winter of 2013-'14 and its now notorious "polar vortex" socked much of the U.S. with extensive snow and cold. Milwaukee was in the middle of the mess, with the 10th-coldest winter on record and nearly 55 inches of snow — almost 20 above average.
"Contractors expect to go salting 30 times a year," Kassander said. "Last year we went salting 51 times." That sort of activity leveled the piles of stored salt and paved the way for this season's shortages.
Stano said the main suppliers — Compass, Morton Salt Inc. and Cargill Inc. — sliced allotments to private contractors by 50% or more.
Morton and Cargill didn't directly respond to inquiries about allotments for private contractors.
Hart, of Compass, said the company is "meeting all of our contractual obligations ... It may be less than what they got last year, but all of our customers from last year are getting something from us."
Much of the salt used here comes from underground mines in Ontario and Ohio. But more imports from overseas could be on the horizon.
"I think this is how it's going to be for awhile," Kassander said.
Ryan sees a need for a secondary salt market in Milwaukee and already is laying plans to do further importing. In the meantime, he and others are marveling at unprecedented price levels.
"The stuff is like gold," Ryan said.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Deep-water port under development in Escanaba
12/12 - Escanaba, Mich. – Basic Marine has begun the development of Escanaba's north shore, which will become the home of a new deep-water port.
"The final plan is to be a deep water port, that's the objective of this whole thing. Initially, what we're striving to do is do ship repair," Lyle Berro, business development manager for Basic Marine, told the Daily Press of Escanaba. "This will be the only facility on the upper Great Lakes ... that will be able to take a loaded ore freighter and have it be able to come in and have repairs done on it."
To bring the company's plan to fruition, the property's shoreline needed to be dredged to allow ships access to the docks and pier being built. For a fully-loaded carrier to dock, the lake bottom needed to be dredged to around 26 feet.
Dredging the lake has produced large piles of sand on the shoreline, as well as large piles of wood debris from the original merchant dock that was built in the 1840s.
"This is the original merchant dock for Escanaba. The reason Escanaba is here is because of this lake frontage right here that we're working on," said Berro.
The new structures — a large stretch of concrete dock and the extension of a 450-foot pier to construct a 1,200-foot pier — will have their own effect for commerce and shipping even though the ships that dock in the deep water port will not be picking up or dropping off cargo.
"They'll tie up here in the winter time and once the shipping season starts again they'll be closer to the earliest opening ore shipping port on the Great Lakes, right here in Escanaba," explained Berro. "Basic Marine also has Basic Towing and they also have an icebreaking service and they'll be able to get the ships out into the bay, break ice up to the dock, and start the shipping season that much earlier because the ships will be right here."
In the beginning, Basic Marine will be able to host two or three ships, but eventually the goal is to have as many as 10 ships docked over the winter receiving repairs. Each ship will have it’s own work crew to ensure that the ship is ready when the shipping season opens in the spring.
"With ship repair winter tie up here, every ship will require between 20 and 50 skilled trades laborer people — welders, pipe-fitters, electricians, engineers — all kinds of skilled trades will be needed to do winter tie-up repairs," said Berro.
Berro also noted other industries such as machine shops and welding supply companies will benefit from the repairs being done at the new dock. Hotels, retailers, and restaurants could benefit from the people who come in with the ships when they arrive at the port.
"The economic impact once this is up and running will be immense," said Berro.
Associated Press
Port of Green Bay recovers after frigid start
12/12 - Green Bay, Wis. – Despite a late start due to ice, the Port of Green Bay has cleared a cargo figure it uses to mark a “good” year. Through the end of November, the port has handled 2 million tons of cargo, despite a harsh winter that left the Great Lakes frozen into the early weeks of the shipping season.
While cargo numbers for November were down about 24,500 tons from the same time last year, the year-to-date total crossed the 2 million mark, sitting at roughly 2.1 million tons.
“If we end up up for the year, we did it with about a month shorter shipping season because of the persistent ice conditions that existed last spring,” said Dean Haen, director of Brown County Port and Resource Recovery.
The 2013 cargo total for the port was about 2.2 million tons.
Increased exports of sand and petroleum products have offset decreases in the coal and cement coming into the port. Salt, liquid asphalt, and limestone imports helped bolster 2014 figures.
ACE Marine in Green Bay is manufacturing aluminum pieces for the Littoral Combat Ship program in Marinette and shipping them via barge from the port. ACE and Marinette Marine Corp. are both owned by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri.
More unusual cargo was expected to move through the port this week the delivery of a 200-ton natural gas boiler to the Georgia-Pacific’s Broadway Mill, located adjacent to the Fox River. The boiler was made in Canada and shipped to Green Bay on the 436-foot cargo ship Palmerton. An online ship-tracking website indicated the ship could be in Green Bay today.
The St. Lawrence Seaway said Tuesday its also expects its cargo levels to finish ahead of 2013 thanks to increases in grain and steel shipments.
“Renewed construction activity and automotive manufacturing lifted steel shipments by 80 percent to 2.2 million metric tons this season with ports including Detroit, Toledo, Milwaukee and Cleveland all benefiting from the increase,” a monthly report stated.
Through the end of November, the seaway has handled 34.6 million tons of cargo, up about 5 percent from the same time last year.
The Great Lakes shipping season generally concludes in December, and Haen said matching last year’s cargo total isn’t out of the question, but it may be close.
“We’ve got ships moving and we’ve got a stretch of warm weather forecast ... so we should get to a normal closure time of Christmas,” he said.
Green Bay Press Gazette
More Seaway saltie renames
12/12 - The following saltwater vessels have been renamed, with each having made at least one visit to the Great Lakes/Seaway system during their careers. BBC Shanghai, which made its first and only visit to the Great Lakes/Seaway system in 2005, is now the Island Trader of Antigua/Barbuda. The tanker Clipper Kylie, which made its one and only visit inland during the 2007 season, is now the Fortune Jiwon of South Korean flag. Ditte Theresa, another tanker, which visited for the only time in 2003, is now the Bomar Sedna of Malta. The Italian-flagged Domenico Ievoli, another tanker, which came inland for the first and only time in 2005, is now the Medkem Two of Italy. Edgar Lehmann, which came inland for its only visit in 2009, is now the Annetta of Malta. The tanker Ternen, which came inland in 2011 for its only visit, is now the Atlantic Wind of Gibraltar. Ruth Schulte, which last visited in 2011 on its only inland visit, is now the Peninsula VIII of Isle of Man flag. This vessel carried the name Swartberg until November 2006, but later was renamed Clipper Tasmania from 2006-10. It also came inland under that name.
Denny Dushane
Lookback #390 – Sir James Dunn aground near Thousand Islands Bridge on Dec. 12, 1972
12/12 - The Canada Steamship Lines bulk carrier Sir James Dunn was on a late season run through the Seaway when it went aground in the vicinity of the Thousand Islands Bridge on Dec. 12, 1972. The grain-laden steamer was soon released and cleared the waterway with time to spare.
Sir James Dunn was a product of the Port Arthur shipyard and it was launched on Dec. 5, 1951. The vessel was christened by Lady Dunn and joined the C.S.L. fleet on May 1, 1952. The 663 foot, 3 inch long bulk carrier was soon at work on the upper lakes carrying iron ore and coal to Sault Ste. Marie and grain. Once the Seaway opened in 1959, the ship also made occasion trips to the St. Lawrence.
On another occasion, on Aug. 21, 1980, the ship went aground near Champlain, QC and had to go to Montreal for inspection. Then, on April 10, 1981, it got stuck below the Soo Locks but was released the next day.
Sir James Dunn last sailed in 1982 and tied up at Midland on Dec. 22. It remained idle until towed to Toronto in November 1988 for load soybeans for winter storage. It left there, also under tow, in August 1989 and reached Sorel on Aug. 11. From there the ship departed for Aliaga, Turkey, in tandem with her old running mate Georgian Bay, on Aug. 26, 1989.
The pair was delayed when the Sir James Dunn broke loose off the Azores and finally arrived at the scrap yard on Nov. 16, 1989. There the dismantling of the hull proceeded quickly.
Skip Gillham
Today in Great Lakes History - December 12
On 12 December 1898, FANNY H (wooden propeller tug, 54 foot, 16 gross tons, built in 1890, at Bay City, Michigan) was sold by J. R. Hitchcock to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. She underwent a major rebuild in 1908, when she was lengthened to 60 feet.
The push tug PRESQUE ISLE was launched December 12, 1972, as (Hull #322) by the Halter Marine Services, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana.
SPINDLETOP, e.) BADGER STATE was launched December 12, 1942, for the United States Maritime Commission.
WHEAT KING returned to Port Weller Dry Docks on December 12, 1975, for lengthening to the maximum Seaway size of 730 feet overall for the iron ore and grain trade, thus ending her salt water activities.
One unusual trip for the WOODLAND occurred when she arrived at Toronto, Ontario on December 12, 1987, to load a 155-foot, 135-ton self-unloading unit for delivery to the Verolme Shipyard in Brazil, where the Govan-built Panamax bulk carrier CSL INNOVATOR was being converted to a self-unloader.
On Monday December 12, 1898, the AURORA was fast in the ice at Amherstburg, Ontario, when a watchman smelled smoke. The crew tried to put out the fire, but to no avail. They were taken off the burning vessel by the tug C A LORMAN. The ship burned to the water's edge, but was salvaged and rebuilt as a barge.
On December 12, 1956, the once-proud passenger vessels EASTERN STATES and GREATER DETROIT were taken out onto Lake St. Clair where they were set afire. All the superstructure was burned off and the hulls were taken to Hamilton, Ontario, where they were scrapped in 1957.
On 12 December 1872, the Port Huron Times listed the following vessels at winter lay-up at Sarnia, Ontario: Schooners: MARY E PEREW, KINGFISHER, UNADILLA, ONEONTA, AMERICAN, J G MASTEN, PELICAN, UNION, B ALLEN, and CAMDEN; Brigs: DAVID A WELLS, WAGONER, and FRANK D BARKER; Barks: C T MAPLE, EMALINE BATES, and D A VAN VALKENBURG; Steamer: MANITOBA.
On 12 December 1877, U.S. Marshall Matthews sold the boiler and machinery of the CITY OF PORT HURON at auction in Detroit, Michigan. Darius Cole submitted the winning bid of $1,000.
1898: The wooden passenger and freight carrier SOO CITY sank at the dock in Holland, Mi after bucking ice while inbound.
1925: SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY stranded on a rocky shoal inside the breakwall at Fairport, Ohio. Hull repairs were listed at over $18,000.
1966: AMBROSE SHEA, a new Canadian carferry, was hit by a flash fire while under construction by Marine Industries Ltd. at Sorel, Quebec, and sustained over $1 million in damage. Completion of the vessel was delayed by 3 months before it could enter service between North Sydney, NS and Argentia, Newfoundland. The ship arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping as d) ERG on June 22, 2000.
1972: SIR JAMES DUNN went aground in the St. Lawrence near the Thousand Islands Bridge while enroute to Sorel with grain.
1990: CLIPPER MAJESTIC was abandoned by the crew due to an engineroom fire off the coast of Peru. The vessel had been through the Seaway as a) MILOS ISLAND in 1981, MAJESTIC in 1989 and was renamed c) CLIPPER MAJESTIC at Toronto that fall. The damaged ship was towed to Callao, Peru, on December 13, 1990, and repaired. It also traded inland as d) MILLENIUM MAJESTIC in 1999 and was scrapped at Alang, India, as e) MYRA in 2012.
2009: The Canada Steamship Lines bulk carrier SPRUCEGLEN (ii) went aground near Sault Ste. Marie and had to go to Thunder Bay for repairs.
2010: The tug ANN MARIE sank in the Saginaw River while tied up for the winter. It was salvaged a few days later
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Dec 15, 2014 7:20:00 GMT -5
Port Reports - December 15
Calcite, Mich. – Denny Dushane
There were no vessel arrivals Sunday and none scheduled for Monday. Two vessels are due Tuesday for the North Dock. The John G. Munson arrives first in the early morning. The Great Republic is due in Tuesday at noon.
Stoneport, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Calumet loaded on Sunday and was expected to depart around 5 p.m. Two vessels are due in on Monday with the Joseph H. Thompson arriving first in the early morning followed by the Algorail during the late evening. The Pathfinder is due to arrive on Tuesday during the late evening. Due Wednesday will be the Lewis J. Kuber in the late afternoon.
Toledo, Ohio – Denny Dushane
The barge Lakes Contender and tug Ken Boothe Sr. were expected to arrive at the Torco Dock to unload iron ore on Sunday during the late evening hours. Also due at Torco will be the John J. Boland expected to arrive on Tuesday in the late afternoon. There is nothing due or scheduled for the Midwest Terminal Stone Dock. This dock may also possibly be closed for the season. Due at the CSX Coal Dock is the H. Lee White expected to arrive on Monday in the early morning hours. Also due at CSX on Monday will be the Cason J. Callaway in the late morning hours. Vessels in port at the time of this report included the saltwater vessel Heloise of Panamanian flag at the Midwest Terminal Overseas Dock. The tug Barbara Andrie with a barge was also at the Midwest Terminal Overseas Dock. The saltwater vessel Lugano from Switzerland arrived in port from Hamilton and headed upriver to load at one of the grain elevators. The tug Paul L. Luedtke was also in port as was the Saginaw upriver unloading a grain cargo from Thunder Bay at one of the elevators. American Valor remains in long-term layup near the Lakefront Docks.
Oshawa, Ont.
Reports indicate the saltwater vessel Lake Ontario could not enter Oshawa due to excess drafts for this time of the year. Currently anchored at Port Weller Amchorage. Emergency dredging has been mentioned. No word of Seaway inspection on vessel.
Prescott, Ont. – Joanne N. Crack
Saturday night and early Sunday morning the Algoma Progress went up and the Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin down to Port Cartier, QC and the Pineglen up to Thunder Bay, Ont.
Sunday Duzgit Dignity at 11:35am and Adfines Star at 1:46am both came up for Mississauga, Ont., and the Flinter America up for Toledo at 2:16pm. The Manitoba came up at 4:04pm for Thunder Bay, Ont. and Thalassa Desgagnes down for Montreal, QC at 4:21pm
Expected through Sunday evening and night are Vancouverborg down for Montreal, QC., Mamry with a load of grain from Duluth for Montreal, QC., Algoma Guardian up for Thunder Bay, Federal Rhine up for Hamilton, Ont. and Algoma Montrealais loaded with grain for Port Cartier, QC. The Montrealais will further load iron ore at Port Cartier destined for Defasco, Hamilton, Ont.
Early Monday morning expected through are the Everlast articulated push tug with Norman McLeod barge, Baie Comeau down to Quebec City, QC and the Spruceglen up to Thunder Bay, Ont.
Santa Claus’ “existence in doubt”
12/15 - According to Lloyds Registry, Santa Claus is listed as “existence in doubt.” As a result, the former petroleum and chemical tanker was deleted from their listing on Sept. 6, 2011. The “jolly old” tanker was a Great Lakes and Seaway trader under four earlier names.
The vessel was built by Robb Caledon Shipbuilding at Dundee, Scotland. The 431 foot ton tanker was launched on Oct. 19, 1971, and completed as Jon Ramsoy for Norwegian flag service.
The vessel first appeared in the Seaway in 1974, perhaps on charter to the Hall Corporation, as the ice-strengthened tanker was purchased by them before the end of the year. It was registered in Canada under Scotia-Toronto Dominion Leasing on Oct. 9, 1974, as b) Doan Transport.
The ship spent its first winter carrying caustic soda from Texas to Port Alfred, Quebec. The following winter the ship returned to the Atlantic and operated between Montreal, Freeport, Bahamas, Beaumont, Texas, and Rotterdam, Holland, on behalf of Dow Chemical.
Doan Transport struck a swing bridge at Thunder Bay on Oct. 2, 1976, resulting in heavy damage to the structure but only minor damage to the ship.
During the experiment with all season navigation, Doan Transport carried cargoes to Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay in January and February 1977. When the Welland Canal opened for the season on April 4, 1977, Doan Transport was the first downbound customer.
The vessel continued Great Lakes and saltwater service but did have some engine trouble at Thunder Bay on Dec. 5, 1983, and had to leave the lakes under tow. It passed down the Welland Canal Dec. 11, 1983, between the tugs Salvage Monarch and Helen M. McAllister.
This was among the Halco tankers to be acquired by Enerchem Transport Inc. in 1986. The ship was renamed c) Enerchem Catalyst and remained active around the Seaway system. On Jan. 13, 1989, the vessel went aground near Round Island in the Straits of Mackinac and had to be lightered to Enerchem Refiner before it could be released.
Then, on Nov. 28, 1996, the vessel stranded near the breakwall while leaving Port Borden, Prince Edward Island. Enerchem Catalyst was in ballast and was pulled free by Irving Hemlock.
The vessel joined Algoma Tankers Ltd. In 1999 and was renamed d) Algocatalyst. It saw Great Lakes and St. Lawrence service but passed down the Welland Canal for the last time on April 25, 2004.
The ship was laid up at Sorel and sold becoming e) Catalyst but did not depart as such until Feb. 8. 2005.
After brief service, the ship was resold in 2006 and renamed f) Santa Claus. It was registered in the Comoros Islands and appears to have been in service around Nigeria. It was likely laid up for a time or perhaps unceremoniously broken up hence the decision, by Lloyds, to list Santa Claus as “existence in doubt.”
Skip Gillham
Lookback #393 – Former Alikrator caught fire off Spain on Dec. 15, 2008
The Greek freighter Alikrator was built at Sedota, Japan, and launched on March 31, 1982. The 567 foot, 7 inch long by 75 foot, 2 inch wide bulk carrier first came to the Great Lakes in August 1983 headed for Chicago before loading grain at Sarnia for the return voyage to the sea.
The ship was re-registered in Bahamas in 1996 and then sold and renamed Doxa, Cyprus flag, in 2002. As such, it never entered the Seaway.
A fire broke out in the accommodations area while the ship was moored in the Arousa Estuary, off Vilagarcia, Spain, eight years ago today. The crew evacuated but one member was lost and another eight sailors received injuries. Rescue vessels put out the fire.
Doxa was towed to Vilagarcia for inspection and the news was not good. Damage exceeded the insured value of the vessel so it was towed to Kynasoura, Greece, and laid up as a total loss.
Following a sale to Turkish shipbreakers, the ship's name was modified to become c) Ado and it was towed, as such, to Aliaga, arriving on June 29, 2009. The hull was broken up by Avsar Gemi Sokum Ltd. for recycling.
Skip Gillham
Today in Great Lakes History - December 15
On 15 December 1902, the TIONESTA (steel propeller passenger steamer, 340 foot, 4,329 gross tons) was launched at the Detroit Ship Building Company, Wyandotte, Michigan (Hull #150) for the Erie & Western Transportation Company (Anchor Line). She was christened by Miss Marie B. Wetmore. The vessel lasted until 1940, when she was scrapped at Hamilton, Ontario.
ROBERT KOCH went hard aground December 15, 1985, on Sheldon Point off Oswego, New York, loaded with 2,000 tons of cement, when her towline parted from the tug R & L NO 1. Dragging her anchors in heavy weather, she fetched up on a rocky shelf in 16 feet of water 300 yards off shore. She spent the winter on the bottom but was released in July 1986 and taken to Contrecoeur, Quebec, for scrapping. The dismantling was finally completed at Levis, Quebec, in 1990-1991.
NORTHCLIFFE HALL departed Kingston on December 15, 1974, headed for Colombia with a load of newsprint. She traded briefly in the Caribbean and then laid up at Houston, Texas, later to return to the lakes.
On December 15, 1972, GEORGIAN BAY was reported as the last ship to pass through the city of Welland as the new $8.3 million by-pass channel was to be ready for the beginning of the 1973, shipping season. (Actually two other ships, the TADOUSSAC and PIC RIVER, followed her through.)
The JOHN E. F. MISENER, a.) SCOTT MISENER, was laid up for the last time on December 15, 1982, at Port McNicoll, Ontario.
JOE S. MORROW (Hull#350) was launched December 15, 1906, at Lorain, Ohio by the American Ship Building Co.
RED WING was laid up for the last time at Toronto on December 15, 1984, due in part to the uneconomical operation of her steam turbine power plant.
The self-unloader ROGERS CITY cleared Lauzon, Quebec, on December 15, 1987, in tow of the Maltese tug PHOCEEN on the first leg of her tow to the cutter’s torch.
On December 15, 1988, Purvis Marine's ANGLIAN LADY departed Mackinaw City with the CHIEF WAWATAM under tow, arriving at the Canadian Soo the next day. During the winter of 1988-89, Purvis removed items tagged by the state of Michigan (including the pilot house) and began converting her into a barge.
On 15 December 1888, GEORGE W. ROBY (wooden propeller, 281 foot, 1,843 gross tons,) was launched at W. Bay City, Michigan. She was built by F. W. Wheeler (Hull#45).
Below is a winter lay-up list as published in the Port Huron Times on 15 December 1876. At Port Huron -- Steam barges: ABERCORN, BIRKHEAD, BAY CITY, H D COFFINBURY, WILLIAM COWIE, N K FAIRBANK, GERMANIA, GEORGE KING, V H KETCHUM, MARY MILL, MARY PRINGLE, E W POWERS, D F ROSE, SALINA, TEMPEST. Propellers: CITY OF NEW BALTIMORE. Tug: CORA B Schooners and Barges: T Y AVERY, BUCKEYE STATE, GEORGE W BISSEL, KATIE BRAINARD, D K CLINT, DAYTON, S GARDNER, A GEBHART, C G KING, T G LESTER, MARINE CITY, H R NEWCOMB, J H RUTTER, REINDEER, C SPADEMAN, SAGINAW, ST JOSEPH, TAYLOR, TROY, C L YOUNG, YANKEE. At Marysville -- D G WILLIAMS, 7 tow barges, JUPITER, and LEADER.
1915: The passenger and freight steamers MAJESTIC and SARONIC of Canada Steamship Lines caught fire and burned while laid up at Point Edward, Ontario.
1952: The three-masted barquentine CITY OF NEW YORK came to Chicago for the World's Fair in 1933 and was also on display at Cleveland while inland. The famous ship had been active in Antarctic exploration and the Arctic seal hunt. The shaft broke on this date in 1952 and the vessel stranded off Yarmouth, N.S. Released at the end of the month, the vessel caught fire and stranded again off Chebogue Point as a total loss.
1973: RICHARD REISS (ii) broke loose in a gale at Stoneport, Michigan, and went aground with heavy bottom damage. The ship was refloated, repaired at South Chicago, and returned to service in 1974. It has been sailing as d) MANISTEE since 2005.
1983: CARIBBEAN TRAILER spent much of the summer of 1983 operating between Windsor and Thunder Bay. It was outbound from the Great Lakes when it was caught pumping oil in the St. Lawrence. The vessel remained active on saltwater routes until arriving at Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping on August 29, 2009.
1987: The French bulk carrier PENMARCH began regular Seaway service when new in 1974. It was also back as b) PHILIPPI in 1985 and became c) MIMI M. in 1987. The ship was attacked by Iraqi aircraft December 15 and again on December 16, 1987. It reached Bushire, Iran, December 22 with heavy damage and was ultimately sold to shipbreakers in Pakistan.
2008: ALIKRATOR began Great Lakes trading in August 1983. It was moored in the estuary at Vilagarcia, Spain, as b) DOXA when a fire broke out in the accommodations area. One life was lost and another 8 sailors injured. The ship was sold for scrap and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, for dismantling as c) ADO on June 29, 2009.
Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.
Port Reports - December 14
Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – Jim Stiefvater
Beaver Island Ferry Emerald Isle departed Bay Shipbuilding for Lake Michigan on Saturday morning.
Prescott, Ont. – Joanne N. Crack
The Algoma Harvester went up Friday night headed for Thunder Bay, ON. Through early Saturday morning the MCT Stockhorn up to Hamilton, Ont., Frontenac down and into the Port of Johnstown, Ont. to unload salt, Chestnut up to Hamilton, Ont., and Algoma Discovery down to Baie Comeau, QC. Saturday morning the Fortunagracht came up for Hamilton, Ont. at 6:08am, Jarrett M tug also up to Hamilton, Ont. at 06:26am, Algoma Spirit down for Baie Comeau, QC at 7:25am, Algoeast up to Nanticoke at 7:54am, Atlantic Huron down to Sydney, Australia at 9:43am, the Federal Schelde down to Quebec City, QC at 10:39am.
Through Saturday afternoon we had the John B. Aird down for Port Cartier, QC at 12h38, Ina down for Port Gent, Belgium at 2:40pm and the Vega Desgagnes down to Montréal, QC at 3:37pm. The Frontenac departed the Port of Johnstown in ballast up for Thunder Bay, Ont. at 3:37pm, clearing town at 3:43pm. The Spartan tug and Spartan II barge headed up at 4:48pm to Chicago, Algonova down to Tracy, QC at 5:14pm, Algocanada up to Sarnia, Ont. at 5:21pm and the Ojibway came down at 5:53pm for Port Cartier, QC.
Expected through Saturday night are Algoma Progress down to Port Cartier, QC., and upbound Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin.
Early Sunday morning, expected to sail through is the Pineglen up to Thunder Bay, Ont.
Last survivor of Chicago’s 1915 Eastland disaster dies
12/14 - Chicago, Ill. – The last known survivor of the 1915 capsizing of the Eastland in the Chicago River that killed 844 people has died.
Marion A. Eichholz, 102, formerly of Berwyn, Illinois, died Nov. 24, according to the Eastland Disaster Historical Society and her death notice.
Eichholz turned 3 a week before she boarded the SS Eastland on July 24, 1915, with her mother and father for Western Electric Co.’s annual employee outing to Michigan City, Indiana.
The vessel rolled to its port side around 7:30 a.m. on the rainy morning with an estimated 2,500 people aboard and its bowline still tied to the wharf between Clark and LaSalle streets.
In the end, 22 entire families were among the 844 who died.
Though just a toddler, Eichholz recalled some vivid memories of the day in an account published on the historical society’s website:
“My mom … and my dad … were seated on the upper deck, and I was standing by mom’s chair. Suddenly, the boat listed and I fell against the railing. Mom pulled me back to her side.
“People began to panic, and women were running and screaming. Dad picked me up in his arms, stood on the railing, and jumped into the river,” she said in the account.
Her mother was thrown a rope after going into the water while still seated in the boat, she said.
“I remember Dad swimming with me in one arm. I was crying, and my strap slippers were dangling from my ankles. We were picked up by a tugboat and brought to shore,” she said in the account.
Eichholz is survived by a sister and seven nieces and nephews, according to her death notice.
Chicago Tribune
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Dec 16, 2014 6:09:14 GMT -5
Congress offers strong support for Jones Act
12/16 - Washington, DC – The United States Congress last week enacted the strongest statement of support for the Jones Act and the American domestic maritime industry since the Merchant Marine Act of 1936.
The measure was included as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 3979), which noted that the national security benefits of the domestic maritime industry and the Jones act are “unquestioned.” The bill states that the Jones Act and the American domestic maritime industry are vital to “the national security and economic vitality of the United States and the efficient operation of the United States transportation system.” The legislation has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, and is expected to be signed into law by the President.
Sen. John McCain recently vowed to work to repeal the act.
“Today, Congress reaffirmed its support for the American domestic maritime industry, the Jones Act, and the critical role both play in the national security and economic vitality of our nation,” said American Maritime Partnership Chairman Tom Allegretti.
“It is hard to imagine a more emphatic and unambiguous statement of support for the Jones Act than this legislation. The fact that it originated from both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees is only further evidence of the national security benefits of the Act and the American domestic maritime industry. In fact, this is the strongest Congressional statement of support for the Jones Act since the Merchant Marine Act of 1936.”
The Congressional statement of support for the Jones Act as part of the National Defense Authorization Act specifically states:
“The national security benefits of the domestic maritime industry are unquestioned as the Department of Defense depends on United States domestic trades’ fleet of container ships, roll-on/roll-off ships, and product tankers to carry military cargoes;
“The Department of Defense benefits from a robust commercial shipyard and ship repair industry and current growth in that sector is particularly important as Federal budget cuts may reduce the number of new constructed military vessels; and
“The domestic fleet is essential to national security and was a primary source of mariners needed to crew United States Government-owned sealift vessels activated from reserve status during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom in the period 2002 through 2010.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) recently noted the Jones Act contributions to America’s national security, saying “without the Jones Act, vessels and crews from foreign nations could move freely on U.S. waters, creating a more porous border, increasing possible security threats and introducing vessels and mariners who do not adhere to U.S. standards into the bloodstream of our nation.”
According to a report from the Lexington Institute, “Without the Jones Act, the Department of Homeland Security would be confronted by the difficult and very costly task of monitoring, regulating, and overseeing all foreign-controlled, foreign-crewed vessels in internal U.S. waters.”
American Maritime Partnership
Port Reports - December 16
Marquette, Mich. – Rod Burdick
A busy Monday at the Upper Harbor found John J. Boland loading ore, Hon. James L. Oberstar unloading coal and Herbert C. Jackson and Michipicoten at anchor, waiting to load ore.
Stoneport, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Joseph H. Thompson loaded Monday and was due to depart around 11:30 a.m. Also due in on Monday was the Algorail, expected to arrive in the late evening to load. The Pathfinder is due in on Tuesday in the early evening to load. Due to arrive on Wednesday is the Lewis J. Kuber in the late afternoon to load.
Calcite, Mich. – Denny Dushane
There were no vessel arrivals on Monday. Due in on Tuesday will be the John G. Munson, arriving in the morning for the North Dock, followed by the Great Republic, also on Tuesday in the late afternoon, for the North Dock.
Toledo, Ohio – Denny Dushane
H. Lee White loaded coal at the CSX Coal Dock on Monday. Also due at CSX was the Cason J. Callaway on Monday in the early afternoon to load. Philip R. Clarke is due at CSX on Wednesday in the morning, to be followed by the Algosteel also on Wednesday in the late morning. John J. Boland is also due at CSX on Wednesday in the early evening. There is nothing due at the Midwest Terminal Stone Dock and it appears that this dock is closed for the season. Due at the Torco Dock is the John J. Boland, arriving on Wednesday in the late morning to unload iron ore. The Manitowoc is due on Thursday in the late evening, followed by the James L. Kuber on Friday in the early morning. Lakes Contender rounds out the schedule, also arriving on Friday during the late morning at Torco to unload. Vessels in port at the time of this report included tug Paul L. Luedtke, tug John Francis, tug Barbara Andrie and a barge at the Midwest Terminal Overseas Dock along with the saltie Heloise. Cason J. Callaway was unloading stone at the Midwest Terminal Overseas Dock. Saginaw was also in port and may have been departing after unloading a grain cargo from Thunder Bay. Further upriver was the tug Karl E. Luedtke.
Precott, Ont. - Joanne N. Crack
Sunday night the Vancouverborg, Mamry, Algoma Guardian, Federal Rhine and Algoma Montrealais all sailed through.
Early Monday morning, the Everlast tug with Norman McLeod barge and the Baie Comeau went through. Monday, Orla at 5:55am and Spruceglen at 7:52am both went up for Thunder Bay. The Juno came down with a load of grain from Duluth for Montreal, QC at 2:49pm and the Baie St. Paul sailed through at 6:38pm heading up to Conneaut, Ohio. Expected through Monday evening and night are Algoma Olympic down for Baie Comeau, QC and Thunder Bay down for Quebec City, QU.
Early Tuesday morning expected through is CSL Niagara heading down to Quebec City, QC
National Museum heads toward 1,500 new members
12/16 - Toledo, Ohio – The National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio has announced that 1,429 people joined the museum since its opening week in late April of this year.
To reach 1,500 new members by the end of the year, the museum is offering a special holiday package for subscribing members. In addition to the traditional benefits, new members will receive the museum’s complimentary 2015 Calendar, as well as a free signed and numbered lithographic print of Kinsman Independent, Kinsman Enterprise or the Joseph Frantz. The prints are by James Clary, who has been painting Great Lakes scenes for decades.
National Museum of the Great Lakes
Lookback #394 – Cabot rolled on its side and sank at Montreal on Dec. 16, 1966
The Cabot was a coastal freighter for the Clarke Transportation Co. and operated by Newfoundland Steamships between Montreal and Newfoundland. The ship had been built by Davie at Lauzon, in 1965 and rolled on its starboard side and sank while loading at Montreal on Dec. 16, 1966.
The 470 foot, 11 inch long vessel had just finished loading when it went over at 3 a.m., 48 years ago today. Two lives were lost and another nine on board received injuries.
Cabot was righted on Jan. 18, 1967, and repaired for a return to service. It last operated in the freight trade in 1982 and was laid up at Montreal and then Sorel before being sold to Upper Lakes Shipping.
ULS brought Cabot to Port Weller Dry Docks on May 17, 1983, where the forebody was cut off and towed to Port Maitland for scrap. The stern, with engine room and accommodations, was then joined to the forebody of Northern Venture to form Canadian Explorer. The latter was retired in Dec. 1997 and the stern from the Cabot was cut off in 1998 and joined to the Hamilton Transfer to form Canadian Transfer.
The latter vessel became a self-unloader in the U.L.S. fleet and then spent 2011 as Algoma Transfer before being retired at Goderich on Dec. 23. The ship remained idle there until departing under tow of the Leonard M. on May 22, 1914. It arrived at Port Colborne two days later for scrapping by International Marine Salvage, so after serving three ships, the last of the Cabot that survived the accident of 48 years ago today has been broken up.
Skip Gillham
Today in Great Lakes History - December 16
In 1949, the tow line between the tug JOHN ROEN III and the barge RESOLUTE parted in high seas and a quartering wind. The barge sank almost immediately when it struck the concrete piers at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Eleven crewmembers, including Captain Marc Roen, were safely taken off the barge without difficulty.
On 16 December 1922, the JOSHUA W. RHODES (steel propeller bulk freighter, 420 foot, 4,871 gross tons, built in 1906, at Lorain, Ohio) struck bottom in the middle of the St. Clair River abreast of Port Huron, Michigan. Damages cost $6,179.32 to repair.
In 1983, HILDA MARJANNE's forward section, which included a bow thruster, was moved to the building berth at Port Weller Dry Docks where it was joined to CHIMO's stern. The joined sections would later emerge from the dry dock as the b.) CANADIAN RANGER.
IMPERIAL BEDFORD (Hull#666) was launched December 16,1968, at Lauzon, Quebec, by Davie Shipbuilding Co.
Canada Steamship Lines’ J.W. MC GIFFIN (Hull#197) was launched December 16, 1971, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards.
Litton Industries tug/barge PRESQUE ISLE departed light from Erie, Pennsylvania, on December 16, 1973, on its maiden voyage bound for Two Harbors, Minnesota. This was the latest maiden voyage date at that time. There, the PRESQUE ISLE loaded 51,038 long tons of taconite pellets for delivery to Gary, Indiana. After this ice-covered trip, the vessel returned to Erie for winter lay-up. PRESQUE ISLE was the second thousand-foot vessel on the Great Lakes (the Erie-built STEWART J. CORT which came out in 1972, was the first).
While in tandem tow on the way to scrapping with the former Ford Motor Co. steamer ROBERT S. McNAMARA, BUCKEYE MONITOR developed a crack in her deck amidships. The crack extended down her sides to below the waterline and she sank at 0145 hours on December 16, 1973, at position 43¡30'N x 30¡15'W in the North Atlantic.
BENSON FORD, a) RICHARD M. MARSHALL made her last trip to the Detroit’s Rouge River where she was laid up on December 16, 1984.
The PIC RIVER was the last vessel to use the old Welland City Canal on December 16, 1972, as the new Welland by-pass opened the following spring.
WOLFE ISLANDER III arrived in Kingston, Ontario on December 16, 1975. Built in Thunder Bay, she would replace the older car ferries WOLFE ISLANDER and UPPER CANADA on the Kingston - Wolfe Island run.
WILLIAM A. IRVIN sustained bottom damage in Lake Erie and laid up December 16, 1978, at Duluth, Minnesota.
The Maritimer THOMAS WILSON operated until December 16, 1979, when she tied up at Toledo. During that final year, the vessel carried only 30 cargoes and all were ore.
On 16 December 1906, ADVENTURER (wooden propeller steam tug, 52 foot, built in 1895, at Two Harbors, Minnesota) broke her moorings and went adrift in a gale. She was driven ashore near Ontonagon, Michigan on Lake Superior and was pounded to pieces.
On 16 December 1954, the 259-foot bulk carrier BELVOIR was launched at the E. B. McGee Ltd. yard in Port Colborne, Ontario. She was built for the Beaconsfield Steamship Co. and sailed in the last years before the Seaway opened. During the winter of 1958-59, she was lengthened 90 feet at Montreal. She left the lakes in 1968, and later sank in the Gulf of Honduras with the loss of 21 lives.
1939: GLITREFJELL was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by U-59 while sailing southwest of Norway. The vessel was newly built when it first came to the Great Lakes in 1934.
1941: The Norwegian freighter NIDARDAL, best remembered as LAKE GORIN, a World War One-class laker, foundered in the Atlantic P: 56.07 N / 21.00 W enroute from Freeport, Bahamas, to Manchester, England, with sulphur.
1962: ARISTOTELES of 1943 sank in the Atlantic 250 miles off Cape Vincent, Portugal, after developing leaks. The vessel, enroute from Detroit to Calcutta with steel, had first come inland in 1961. All on board were rescued by the Liberty ship HYDROUSSA, which had also been a Seaway trader in 1962.
1964: DONNACONA (ii) was disabled by a fire while downbound in Lake Huron and the forward cabin was burned out before a distress call could be sent. The ship was found, brought to safety and repaired.
1966: CABOT was loading at Montreal when the ship rolled on her side at Montreal and sank in 30 feet of water. Two lives were lost. It was righted on the bottom and refloated in January 1967 for a return to service. The stern of this vessel was cut off to help form CANADIAN EXPLORER in 1983 and has been part of ALGOMA TRANSFER since 1998.
1975: THORNHILL (i) went aground in the St. Marys River, was lightered and released.
1979: ARCHANGELOS ran aground in the St. Lawrence while outbound from the Great Lakes with a cargo of scrap. The ship was lightered and released December 21. It had to spend the winter in the harbor at Port Weller as it was too late to depart the Seaway that year.
1980: D.G. KERR (ii), enroute overseas to Spain for scrapping, was lost in the Atlantic, after it began leaking in bad weather.
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Dec 17, 2014 6:10:03 GMT -5
Lakes limestone trade dips in November
12/17 - Cleveland, Ohio – Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 2.7 million tons in November, a decrease of 4.4 percent compared to a year ago. Limestone cargos also trailed the month’s long-term average by 9.2 percent. The trade was impacted by weather in November, with many vessels anchoring or taking longer routes to avoid heavy weather.
Year-to-date the limestone trade stands at 25.7 million tons, a decrease of 2.4 percent compared to the same point in 2013. The gap has narrowed considerably since the spring when heavy ice delayed full-scale resumption of limestone loadings. At the end of April, shipments were down 54 percent. Even come the end of July the trade was 6 percent off last year’s pace.
Lake Carriers’ Association
Steel shipments into Port of Milwaukee approach pre-recession peak
12/17 - Milwaukee, Wis. – Steel shipments into the Port of Milwaukee have rebounded strongly this year, with tonnage hitting its second-highest level since 1970.
A mixture of coil, structural and plate steel now being unloaded off a ship called the Federal Mattawa will bring the port's steel imports for 2014 to 179,000 tons.
Steel imports peaked here in 2006, at 201,000 tons. They fell dramatically as the economy slid into recession, bottoming out at 61,000 tons in 2011.
With the recovery and increased manufacturing activity, imports have risen again. The most dramatic gains have come this year, with tonnage up about 60% from 2013.
The Federal Mattawa, which carried steel from Germany, Finland and the United Kingdom, will be the last ship bringing overseas cargo to Milwaukee before the St. Lawrence Seaway closes for the season later this month.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Port Reports - December 17
Erie, Pa. – Jeffery Benson
The barge McKee Sons / barge Invincible departed Erie Tuesday afternoon after spending nearly 2 years in layup. Waterfront reports indicate the McKee Sons will be taken to Muskegon, Mich., after which the tug will go to Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. McKee Sons has been chartered for several years by Grand River Navigation, however it appears that arrangement is now at an end.
Prescott, Ont. – Joanne N. Crack
Through town Monday evening and night were the Algoma Olympic for Baie Comeau, QC and the Thunder Bay for Quebec City, QC.
Early Tuesday morning the CSL Niagara went down for Quebec City, QC. Tuesday, Stella Polaris headed down for Montreal, QC at 7:09am and CSL’s Oakglen up for Thunder Bay, Ont. at 10:16am, Nogat down for Montreal, QC at 11:09am, Ocean Laprairie tug for Quebec at 11:28am Vega Desgagnes up for Sarnia, Ont. at 12:19pm and the Flintersky up to Windsor, Ont. at 2:41pm. Expected through Tuesday night are the Kaministiqua up for Hamilton, Ont., and the Federal Saguenay down with a load of grain from Duluth for Montreal, QC, and well as Manitoba heading down and presumably into Port of Johnston, Ont.
Expected through early Wednesday morning are all upbound, Algoma Navigator for Burns Harbor, Claude A. Desgagnes for Toledo and Algonova.
What to do with Marquette’s old ore dock?
12/17 - Marquette, Mich. – One of the big questions at the Marquette City Commission meeting on Monday was what to do with the old ore dock.
G.E.I. Consultants prepared and presented a report highlighting the current state of the ore dock, and some recommendations for its future. According to G.E.I. reps the ore dock is in great condition.
It was built in 1931, and ceased operations in the early '70s. Since then, despite foregoing routine maintenance, the ore dock is structurally sound.
Still, according to Mike Carpenter of G.E.I Consultants, "They would want to do a fair amount of restoration to the structure. Take care of all of those areas where the concrete's popped off, and where the reinforced steel is showing. The bumpers all around the perimeter of the structure are all deteriorating. Those should probably be replaced."
For the future recommendations include do nothing but start routine maintenance to prevent deterioration; update the structure and make it publicly accessible; or, have the city sell it or keep it for commercial or private use.
Right now the commission has not made a decision and plans to discuss the options in the future.
UpperMichiganSource.com
More cargo moving this year on the St. Lawrence Seaway
12/17 - Sarnia, Ont. – Strong grain and steel shipments fueled a 5% increase in cargo moving so far this year through the St. Lawrence Seaway.
That strong shipping season came during the first year Sarnia Harbour on the St. Clair River had been owned and operated by the city after it took over responsibility for the facility in March from Transport Canada.
"We've had a pretty good year, so far," said Peter Hungerford, the city's director of economic development and corporate planning. "We didn't have the benefit of a lot of detailed records from Transport Canada, in terms of past usage," he said. "But our sense is that we've had, I'll say, at lease an average year, if not better than average, in terms of the number of ships that we have coming in and out."
Approximately 30 ships have stopped at the Cargill grain elevators in Sarnia so far this year, he said.
Hungerford said the seaway reported 3,452 transits through its system through the end of November this year, compared to 3,511 during the same period in the previous shipping season. "But their general cargo is up, a lot," he said. "The liquid bulk was down, the dry bulk was up, the coal was down, the iron ore was down, the grain was up a lot."
Across the seaway, as of the end of November, grain shipments were up 44% over 2013. The seaway also says its overall cargo totals are expected to finish ahead of 2013, by the time the system is scheduled to close on New Year's Eve.
The seaway reported that nearly two million tonnes of new business helped offset decreases in iron ore and coal shipments this year. Salt shipments, for example, were up 47%. Construction and automotive manufacturing in Canada and U.S. is said to have help increase steel shipments by 80%.
Hungerford said Sarnia officials are also hopeful they'll see a good winter at the harbor that earns the city fees from the ships using the facility. "We've had a lot of interest from the shipping companies, making arrangements for ships to come in."
During a good year, eight to 10 ships spend the winter at Sarnia Harbor for repairs and maintenance, helping boost the local economy. But, how many ships end up in harbor each winter can be dictated by the weather, Hungerford said.
"They could plan on sending us 10 ships, but if they get caught somewhere by ice, we wouldn't get as many," he said. "But, we believe that we're going to have a full harbor. The North Slip, the Government Dock and the Sydney Smith Wharf will have ships."
Hungerford said Cargill has also taken ships at its docks, some winters. Sarnia Observer
Lookback #395 – Third Stadacona ran aground at Little Current on Dec. 17, 1977
There have been four ships named Stadacona in the Canada Steamship Lines fleet although only three have traded on the Great Lakes. The third Stadacona had loaded iron ore pellets at the Manitoulin Island community of Little Current when it ran aground 37 years ago today while departing the port.
Stadacona was stuck for several days, which is never a good thing this late in the year, before being refloated.
The vessel was built at Port Arthur, ON and launched as Thunder Bay on Aug 2, 1952. It served C.S.L. mainly on the upper lakes as a straight deck bulk carrier until the Seaway opened in 1959. The 663 foot, 3 inch long steamer was rebuilt as a self-unloader, back at Port Arthur, in 1968 and operated briefly before becoming Stadacona the next year.
Stadacona kept busy in the ore, coal and stone trades until tying up at Windsor on July 31, 1990. Following a sale for scrap, it departed under tow on Sept. 21, 1992, and eventually found its was to Zhangjiagang, China, arriving in tandem with the retired Whitefish Bay, in Feb. 1993.
Interestingly, the newly built Thunder Bay and Whitefish Bay left China for Great Lakes trading on behalf of Canada Steamship Lines 20 years after their namesakes arrived in the country to be dismantled.
Skip Gillham
Today in Great Lakes History - December 17
While breaking ice off Colchester Reef, Lake Erie on 17 December 1917, the HENRY CORT (steel propeller whaleback bulk freighter, 320 foot, 2,234 gross tons, built in 1892, at W. Superior, Wis., formerly a.) PILLSBURY) was in a collision with the MIDVALE (steel propeller bulk freighter, 580 foot, 8,271 gross tons, built in 1917, at Ashtabula, Ohio). The PILLSBURY sank in thirty feet of water 4 1/2 miles from Colchester Reef. Her crew walked across the ice to the MIDVALE. The wreck was located on 24 April 1918, four miles from its original position, with seven feet of water over her and raised later that year to be repaired.
C. L. AUSTIN was launched December 17, 1910, as a.) WILLIS L. KING (Hull#79) at Ecorse, Mich., by Great Lakes Engineering Works.
With an inexperienced Taiwanese crew, boiler problems and the collapse of Lock 7's west wall in the Welland Canal, the departure of SAVIC (CLIFFS VICTORY) was delayed until December 17, 1985, when she departed Chicago, Illinois, under her own power.
Paterson’s NEW QUEDOC sank at her winter moorings at Midland, Ont., on December 17, 1961, with a load of storage grain. The sinking was caused by the automatic sea valves that were accidentally opened.
The ROGERS CITY was laid up for the last time at Calcite, Mich., on December 17, 1981.
On December 17, 1955, in heavy fog, the B.F. AFFLECK collided head-on with her fleetmate HENRY PHIPPS in the Straits of Mackinac. Both vessels were damaged but were able to sail under their own power for repairs.
In 1905, the Anchor Line steamer JUNIATA was launched at the yards of the American Shipbuilding Company in Cleveland, Ohio. The JUNIATA was the first large passenger boat built in Cleveland since the NORTH LAND and NORTH WEST. Today the JUNIATA exists as the National Historic Landmark MILWAUKEE CLIPPER in Muskegon, Mich.
On 17 December 1875, the steamboat JENNISON of Captain Ganoe's line, which ran between Grand Rapids and Grand Haven, burned at Grand Rapids. She was laid up for the winter just below the city on the Grand River. She was insured for $12,000.
1957: The Great Lakes-built LAKE HEMLOCK foundered in Long Island Sound.
1964: The former T-2 tanker GOOD HOPE, operating as a bulk carrier, ran aground in a blizzard at Ulak Island, in the Aleutians, as d) SAN PATRICK. The ship had loaded wheat and cattle feed at Vancouver for Yokohama, Japan, and all on board perished. It had been a Seaway trader in 1962.
1972: THOMAS SCHULTE began Great Lakes trading in 1957 and returned through the Seaway in 1959. It was sailing as c) CAPE SABLE when it sank with the loss of 13 lives in a gale 100 miles west of La Corunna, Spain. The vessel was enroute from Antwerp, Belgium, to Algiers, Algeria, with general cargo when it went down.
1977: STADACONA (iii) went aground after clearing the Manitoulin Island community of Little Current with a cargo of ore pellets. The ship was stuck for several days.
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Dec 18, 2014 6:07:27 GMT -5
CSL St-Laurent sets sail on maiden voyage, completing CSL’s Trillium Class
12/18 - Montreal, Que. – The second of Canada Steamship Lines’ two new Trillium Class Great Lakes bulk carriers, CSL St-Laurent, was delivered on Nov. 26 and set sail on her maiden voyage on Dec. 13. She departed at 20:00 CST from Yangfan shipyard on Zhoushan Island, China, en route to Canada where she is set to operate throughout the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
The vessel is commanded by Captain Kevin Crouse and Chief Engineer Paul Beaudet, and is expected to take approximately 50-60 days to complete her voyage.
CSL St-Laurent marks the successful completion of CSL’s newbuild program, which began with the delivery in December 2012 of the award-winning Trillium Class self-unloading laker Baie St. Paul. Three other Trillium Class self-unloading Lakers have since been introduced to the Great Lakes fleet (Baie Comeau, Thunder Bay and Whitefish Bay), and two bulk carriers, CSL St-Laurent and her sister ship, CSL Welland, will both begin operating at the start of the 2015 season.
The Trillium Class newbuild program also oversaw the delivery of three Panamax self-unloaders for CSL Americas (Rt. Hon. Paul E. Martin, CSL Tecumseh and CSL Tacoma) and two other vessels of the same class and design for Norway-based Torvald Klaveness.
“CSL St-Laurent is a huge milestone in CSL history. Her maiden voyage completes one of the greatest newbuild programs in CSL’s 100-year history – one that will bring significant competitive advantage to our customers for years to come. These ships are the result of a lot of hard work and dedication by a great many talented CSL employees,” said Louis Martel, President of Canada Steamship Lines.
CSL St-Laurent features an IMO Tier II compliant main engine as well as the latest environmental and safety technologies. Like all Trillium Class vessels, she will use less fuel, reduce emissions significantly, and provide overall operational efficiency to the benefit of customers and the environment alike.
The maiden voyages of CSL St-Laurent and CSL Welland have them on a course that will take the ships across the East China Sea and Pacific Ocean, through the Panama Canal and up the east coast of North America to her new home in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
CSL
Cleveland budgets for 2015 port investments
12/18 - Cleveland, Ohio – The board of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority voted this week to accept an annual budget for 2015; it includes $20 million in capital investments to enhance maritime operations and sediment management.
“This budget allows the Port to continue investing in our strategic priorities in maritime, sustainability, river renewal, and development finance, while ensuring our overall financial stability,” said Will Friedman, President and CEO, Port of Cleveland.
The strength of the Port’s balance sheet also allows it to continue investing in its European liner service, Cleveland-Europe Express (CEE), which was launched in April. The Port is expanding CEE service in 2015 to two sailings a month between Antwerp and Cleveland, as announced in September.
“Our experience and discussions with shippers revealed that it is critical we offer more frequent sailings to better serve the needs of those moving containerized freight into global markets,” said Friedman.
Port of Cleveland
Port Reports - December 18
Stoneport, Mich. – Denny Dushane
There were no vessel loadings Wednesday. Due in on Thursday will be the Cason J. Callaway arriving in the morning, followed by the Lewis J. Kuber at noon. John G. Munson is also due in on Thursday, arriving in the late afternoon. Due in on Friday will be the Calumet arriving in the early morning to load. There is nothing due on Saturday.
Calcite, Mich. – Denny Dushane
Great Republic loaded on Wednesday and was due to depart around 1 p.m. Also due in on Wednesday was the Arthur M. Anderson, arriving in the late evening to load at the South Dock. Expected to arrive on Thursday will be the Joseph H. Thompson in the morning for the South Dock. There are no vessels scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Due in on Sunday will be the Lewis J. Kuber in the early morning for the North Dock and the Philip R. Clarke, also in the early morning for the South Dock.
Toledo, Ohio – Denny Dushane
Algosteel was expected to arrive at the CSX Coal Dock on Wednesday to load in the late morning, however, they were delayed by high winds and went to anchor in the Western end of Lake Erie to wait for the winds to subside. Philip R. Clarke was also expected to arrive and load at CSX on Wednesday in the early evening. The John J. Boland is due at CSX to load on Thursday in the early morning followed by the Saginaw also on Thursday in the early afternoon. The Midwest Terminal Stone Dock appears to be closed for the season as nothing is scheduled for that dock. Due at the Torco Dock to unload iron ore is the John J. Boland, arriving in the early evening on Wednesday. Manitowoc is due at Torco to unload iron ore on Thursday in the late evening. Other vessels in port included the tug John Francis, saltwater vessel Whistler and the tug Paul L. Luedtke.
Prescott, Ont. – Joanne N. Crack
Tuesday evening the Manitoba came down and into the Port of Johnstown to load soybeans.
Early Wednesday morning the Algoma Navigator went up for Burns Harbor at 3:36am, Claude A. Desgagnes up for Toledo at 4:05am and the Algonova up at 5 am. Later Wednesday the Algosar was up to Sarnia, Ont. at 6:40am, tug Jarrett M. at 12:35pm down to Quebec and Lugano down with a cargo of grain from Toledo for Quebec City, QC at 2:46pm. Manitoba departed Port of Johnstown down for Quebec at 4:32pm. Expected through Wednesday night was Lubie down for Montreal, QC. and Whitefish Bay with a cargo of coal from Duluth for Quebec City, QC.
Early Thursday morning expected through are the Birchglen up for Hamilton, Ont. and Thalassa Desgagnes up for Sarnia, Ont.
Seaway notice #23 – Ice boom, Melocheville Anchorage
12/18 - Mariners are advised that the ice booms in the Melocheville anchorage area of the Beauharnois Canal have been installed. Use of the anchorage is not recommended.
Lookback #396 – Carmi A. Thompson blown loose in gale force winds on Dec. 18, 1921
Gale-force winds pounded the eastern end of Lake Erie 93 years ago today. The shipping season was almost over and many vessels had tied up for the winter and their crews had gone home.
The bulk carrier Carmi A. Thompson was along those spending the winter at Buffalo and it broke loose in the storm of Dec. 18, 1921. The 550-foot-long vessel, a member of the Producers Steamship Co., was pulled from the dock and blown ashore wedged between the Merton E. Farr and Louis W. Hill.
The Carmi A. Thompson was not released until Jan. 5, 1922, and was found to have damaged 156 hull plates. These were repaired or replaced and the ship returned to service later in the year.
The vessel had been built at Lorain, Ohio, in 1917. It later joined the Midland Steamship Co. and traded on their behalf until sold to Comet Enterprises, part of the Quebec & Ontario Transportation Co. in 1962. It was renamed Thorold the next year and served as the company flagship for a time.
A steering problem resulted in the Thorold hitting a wall In the Welland Canal in August 1971 and the ship received temporary repairs at Port Weller Dry Docks. It was retired at the end of the season and, following a sale to Marine Salvage for scrap, arrived at Ramey's Bend, Port Colborne, on Dec. 18, 1971, 50 years to the day it ran into trouble at Buffalo.
Thorold was renamed Thoro, freeing the name for a new addition to the Q. & O. fleet, before it was broken up in 1972.
One of its foes of 1921, the Merton E. Farr, was later sold to Misener and sailed as their Nixon Berry from 1966 until scrapping at Vado, Italy, in 1970. The other, the Louis W. Hill, was a sister-ship to the Carmi A. Thompson. This vessel is still with us as the historic museum vessel Valley Camp at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Skip Gillham
Today in Great Lakes History - December 18
The 425-foot Finnish tanker KIISLA ran aground while transiting the North Entrance of Buffalo Harbor on the 29th of December 1989. The ship was inbound with xylene for the Noco Product Terminal in Tonawanda when it strayed from the navigation channel due to reduced visibility from heavy snow squalls and grounded near the #1 green buoy of the Black Rock Canal. She was towed off the rocks by tugboats from Buffalo and then tied up at the Burnette Trucking Dock (formerly the Penn Dixie Dock) on the Buffalo River for Coast Guard inspection. A diver found a 47-inch by 5-inch crack below the waterline at the #1 ballast tank, with a large rock firmly wedged in the outer hull plating, but with no damage to the inner hull or cargo tanks. The ship was cleared to head back to Sarnia to off-load her cargo before repairs could be made.
In 1921, 94 vessels were laid up at Buffalo with storage grain when a winter gale struck. The 96 mile-per-hour winds swept 21 vessels ashore and damaged 29 others. Three weeks were required to restore order to the Buffalo waterfront.
Canada Steamship Lines NANTICOKE (Hull#218) was launched December 18, 1979, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd.
The tug AMERICA freed the ore carrier IRVING S. OLDS in 1956, after the OLDS grounded entering the River Raisin from Lake Erie. The OLDS stuck at a 45-degree angle to the channel, while entering for winter lay up.
Canada Steamship lines GEORGIAN BAY (Hull#149) was launched during a snowstorm on December 18, 1953, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd.
JOHN T. HUTCHINSON was laid up for the last time December 18, 1981, at Cleveland, Ohio.
On December 18, 1921, gale force winds drove the CARMI A. THOMPSON ashore at Buffalo, New York where she was laid up with grain for winter storage. She ended up wedged between the LOUIS W. HILL and the MERTON E. FARR. The THOMPSON was released on January 5, 1922, but required the replacement of 156 hull plates before her return to service.
The Goodrich Transit Co.’s ALABAMA (Hull#36) was launched in 1909, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. Reduced to a barge in 1961.
On 18 December 1899, 115 (steel whaleback barge, 256 foot, 1,169 gross tons, built in 1891, at Superior, Wisconsin) was carrying iron ore in a storm on Lake Huron when she broke from her tow steamer well out in the lake. She went ashore five days later at Pic Island off Thunder Bay, Ontario, and broke up. Her crew was thought to be lost, but they showed up days later after a long trek through the wilderness.
On 18 December 1959, BRIDGEBUILDER X (propeller tug, 71 foot, 46 gross tons, built in 1911, at Lorain, Ohio) foundered in a storm while enroute from Sturgeon Bay to N. Fox Island on Lake Michigan. Two lives were lost. She had been built as the fish tug PITTSBURG. In 1939, she was converted to the excursion boat BIDE-A-WEE. Then she was converted to a construction tug for the building of the Mackinac Bridge and finally she was rebuilt in 1958, as a logging tug.
1909: Ice punctured the hull of the F.A. MEYER, formerly the J. EMORY OWEN, on Lake Erie while enroute from Boyne City, Michigan, to Buffalo with a cargo of lumber. The crew was rescued by the sailors aboard MAPLETON.
1915: The canaller PRINCE RUPERT, requisitioned for World War 1 service, was lost at sea enroute from Newport News, Virginia, to Trinidad with a cargo of coal. It foundered P: 34.40 N / 74.45 W.
1932: A fire in the coal bunker of the BROWN BEAVER, laid up at Toronto with a winter storage cargo of wheat, brought the Toronto Fire Department to extinguish the blaze.
1947: The tug EMERSON was Hull 5 at the Collingwood shipyard and completed in 1903. The ship stranded at Punta Sardegna, in the Maddalena Archipelago, as f) GIULIANOVA. The hull broke in two January 8, 1948, and sank.
1950: The tug SACHEM sank in Lake Erie and all 12 on board were lost. The hull was later located, upright on the bottom. It was refloated October 22, 1951, reconditioned and returned to service. The ship became c) DEREK E. in 1990.
1962: RIDGEFIELD, a Liberty ship that visited the Great Lakes in 1961 and 1962, ran aground at the east end of Grand Cayman Island in ballast on a voyage from Maracaibo, Venezuela, to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The hull was never removed and visible for years.
1968: The Canadian Coast Guard vessel GRENVILLE was trapped in an ice flow and rammed against the St. Louis Bridge along the Seaway. The crew was removed safely by stepping on to the bridge before the ship sank. It had been retrieving buoys. The hull received considerable ice damage over the winter but was refloated in June 1969, towed to Sorel and scrapped.
1975: TECUN UMAN visited the Seaway in 1969. It disappeared without a trace in heavy seas 250 miles east of Savannah, Georgia, enroute from Mobile, Alabama, to Port Cartier, Quebec, as b) IMBROS. All 22 on board were lost.
1985: FEDERAL ST. LAURENT (ii) collided with the Mercier Bridge in the Seaway with minor damage to both the ship and the structure. The vessel was scrapped at Chittagong, Bangladesh, as c) DORA in 2003.
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Dec 19, 2014 6:37:00 GMT -5
Lakes coal trade slows a bit in November
12/19 - Cleveland, Ohio – Coal shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 2.6 million tons in November, a decrease of 3 percent from a year ago. Shipments were affected by weather-related delays.
Shipments from Lake Superior ports totaled 1.5 million tons, a slight decrease from a year ago. Loadings on Lake Michigan totaled 209,000 tons, a decrease of 33 percent compared to a year ago. Lake Erie was the one port range to register an increase. Loadings totaled 840,000 tons, an increase of 9 percent.
Year-to-date the Lakes coal trade stands at 21.4 million tons, a decrease of 4.8 percent compared to the same point last year. The deficit was much worse earlier in the season when heavy ice blanketed the Lakes. As April came to an end, shipments were down nearly 48 percent.
Lake Carriers' Association
Green Bay shipping season continues smooth sailing
12/19 - Green Bay, Wis. – After the earliest end to the shipping season in Green Bay history last year, companies with docks along the Fox River are breathing a sigh of relief.
By early December last year, ships battled several inches of ice, and by December 15th, the shipping season ended. For an $88 million dollar a year industry, losing time ships can sail is costly.
“When the raw materials are delivered by ship, that’s the most cheapest way to transport them and it helps these companies weather the winter, whereas if they start running out of product mid-winter they have to then switch modes of transportation to truck or train which is at a higher cost to them,” says Dean Haen, Brown County Port Director.
Haen adds that some of that additional cost is ultimately passed on to the consumer.
But this year, it’s a much different scene on the Fox River with open water instead of ice. Cement supplier Lafarge is awaiting at least one more ship carrying 1,200 tons of cement, critical for its winter supply.
“That affects us in spring when they start road construction and building construction, there’s a tendency to be a shortage at that time of the year,” says terminal manager Jim Haese.
Port officials expect ships to sail into Green Bay through the end of the month, and maybe longer.
Each day will help make up for the headaches caused by last year’s frigid winter.
“We lost a month in the beginning of the year due to persistent ice conditions and us having a little bit more time at the end is welcomed,” says Haen.
WBAY
Port Reports - December 19
Silver Bay, Minn.
Joseph L. Block will be making a rare trip to the lower lakes. She will load in Silver Bay for Cleveland and then backhaul a coal cargo from Toledo.
Marquette, Mich. – Rod Burdick
Fleetmates James L. Kuber and Manitowoc arrived at the Upper Harbor to load ore on a sun-splashed Thursday.
Lorain, Ohio – Phil Leon
Algoma Enterprise arrived at 9:55 a.m. Thursday and headed to the Jonick dock.
Port Colborne, Ont. – John Kees
Algoway is at the Port Colborne Stone Dock, Wharf 12 on the Welland Canal for repair/replacement of its damaged unloading boom. The broken end of the boom is currently on the wharf. It looks as if it will be laying up there for the winter as it has many mooring lines and one of its anchors on the dock. At present no other ships are tied up in Port Colborne
Erie, Pa.
The McKee Sons and tug Invincible departed long term lay-up Tuesday with a reported destination of Muskegon. The pair had been in lay-up since December 2012.
Buffalo, N.Y. – Brian W.
English River was unloading at LaFarge Thursday morning. American Mariner was downbound on Lake Huron with an ETA for Buffalo of 11 p.m. Friday.
Prescott, Ont. – Joanne N. Crack
Through Wednesday night was Whitefish Bay heading down with a cargo of coal from Duluth for Quebec City and Lubie down for Montreal.
Early Thursday morning the Birchglen went up for Hamilton, Ont., and Thalassa Desgagnes went up at 02:51am for Sarnia, Ont. Barnacle went down at 6:35am destined for Kaliningrad, Russia. The Algoma Montrealais, what is very likely her final upbound before being retired, went up at 7:54am heading to Thunder Bay, Ont. Sten Bergen was up at 12h42. Performance tug went up at 1:43pm and Robinson Bay tug & barge up to Clayton, NY at 1:55pm. The Eider came down at 3:56pm for Les Escoumins, QC., and the Federal Yukina at 6:57pm down for Montreal, QC. Through Thursday evening and night expected through are Sundaisy E up for Hamilton, Ont., and Pacific Huron with a cargo of grain from Duluth down for Gibraltar.
Expected through early Friday morning are Victorious articulated push tug with John J. Carrick barge for Oshawa Ont., American Fortitude in tow of tug Ocean Ross Gaudreault, assisted by Jarrett M, up for Port Colborne, Ont., Mapleglen up for Ashtabula and Jana Desgagnes down for Montreal, QC.
Lookback #397 – Former Shura Kober sent out a distress call on Dec. 19, 1998, and then disappeared
12/19 - The Shura Kober was one of the many Soviet freighters to fly the “Hammer and Sickle” on the Great Lakes. The ship was built at Rostock, East Germany, in 1971 and made its first trip through the Seaway that year.
The 350-foot-long vessel operated for the Russian government for many years but, in the end, had several owners and four different names. It did not come back through the Seaway under any of the subsequent names.
It was renamed Albena in 1997, Peggy M. and then Marelie in 1998 but did not last long under the final name. The ship was trading on the Mediterranean when it sent out a distress signal on Dec. 19, 1998. That was the last that was heard from the Marelie. The 27-year-old vessel is believed to have gone down north of Cyprus and there were no survivors.
Skip Gillham
Today in Great Lakes History - December 19
On 20 December 1944, the icebreaker MACKINAW (WAGB-83) was commissioned in the U. S. Coast Guard.
The b.) SAMUEL MATHER, a.) WILLIAM MC LAUGHLIN was towed from Ashtabula, Ohio on December 20, 1975, to Port Colborne, Ontario where her boilers were converted to oil-fired burners by Herb Fraser & Associates and renamed c.) JOAN M. MC CULLOUGH (C.370162), renamed d.) BIRCHGLEN in 1982 and scrapped at Sydney, Nova Scotia in 1988.
Cleveland Cliffs steamer FRONTENAC's scrapping process was completed in Superior, Wisconsin on December 20, 1985.
The CRISPIN OGLEBAY of 1908, hauled her last cargo, a load of salt, into Rochester, New York on December 20, 1973, and then was laid up at Kingston, Ontario, for the winter.
The keel was laid for the PERE MARQUETTE 22 on December 20, 1923.
In 1910, the PERE MARQUETTE 18 was launched at South Chicago. She was the only Great Lakes carferry to be built in Chicago.
December 20, 1979 - The Interstate Commerce Commission approved the termination of the C&O's Milwaukee run. C&O ended the run the following year.
On 20 December 1867, ALIDA (wooden propeller packet/tug, 81-foot, 58 gross tons, built in 1856, at Saginaw, Michigan) had her boiler explode in the Saginaw River. She caught fire and burned to a total loss. This little packet/tug was the only steamer to regularly venture up the Saginaw River beyond the mouth of the Flint River.
On 20 December 1873, the Great Western ferry MICHIGAN was finally launched at the Jenkins yard in Walkerville, Ontario. Her launching was originally scheduled for 18 December, but she stuck on the ways. She was built for use on the Detroit River and her dimensions were 282 feet x 72 foot 6 inch beam.
1963: CORFU ISLAND, a Seaway trader in 1959, was wrecked in the Gulf of St. Lawrence at Grindstone Light, Magdalen Island. The engine broke down in heavy weather but all on board were saved.
1965: CASABLANCA went aground at Santo Antao Island, Cape Verde, and became a total loss. The small Dutch freighter had been a pre-Seaway trader in 1957.
1973: A fire broke out in the accommodation area of the MEDATLANTIC while enroute from Valencia, Spain, to Casablanca, Morocco. There was extensive damage. The ship was declared a total loss and broken up. It had been a Great Lakes trader as a) HELGA SMITH and b) MICHIGAN and was last inland in 1961.
1975: CARITA drifted ashore on Cape Breton Island after a power failure two days earlier. All on board were saved but the hull broke into four pieces. It was outbound from Thunder Bay with a cargo of peas and oats for Port au Spain, Trinidad, on its only trip to the Great Lakes.
1976: MEDUSA CHALLENGER stranded in Lake St. Clair when winds and ice pushed the ship aground.
1979: FLORES, a pre-Seaway trader in 1958, was laid up at Baia, Italy, with collision damage when it got loose and went aground during a Dec. 20-21 overnight storm and became a total loss
1985: The former Israeli freighter NAHARIYA grounded off Darien Rock, Trinidad, as f) GUAICAMACUTO and sank enroute from Venezuela to El Salvador. The ship had first come through the Seaway in 1962.
1986: The former HARALD RINDE first traded through the Seaway in 1968. It dragged anchors off Istanbul and went aground on this date as e) YAVUZ SELIM. The ship capsized Dec. 31 and became a total loss.
2005: FEDERAL KIVALINA got stuck in the ice at Lock 7 while downbound and tugs were needed to free the ship the next day.
2010: ORNA was hijacked on the Indian Ocean and taken to Somalia for ransom. The ship had been a Seaway trader as a) ST. CATHARINESS, b) ASIAN ERIE, c) HANDY LAKER, d) MOOR LAKER and e) ORNA. It was later set on fire by the pirates but eventually released when a ransom was paid. It was spotted anchored off Sharjah, on Nov. 20, 2012, and the after end appears to have been completely gutted by the blaze.
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Dec 22, 2014 6:22:48 GMT -5
Rebirth of Highway H20: Quickest way to clean out Manitoba
12/21 - Thunder Bay, Ont. – Inside the Thunder Bay, Ont. grain elevator of Richardson International — a castle-scale, century-old complex of poured concrete, ice cold on this December night — men bustle, preparing a load of Prairie grain. Amid a bewildering forest of belts and pipes and riveted boxes, silver cylinders spin great batches of wheat, separating out broken pieces and chaff.
The Kaministiqua is tied up adjacent to the elevator, here on the northwest shore of Lake Superior. It is named for the Kaministiquia River, which flows into Thunder Bay. The ship’s owner took out the third “i” because a 13-letter name is unlucky.
She is a 730-foot Great Lakes bulk carrier ship, a giant, rectangular tin can purpose-built in 1983 at Govan Shipbuilders in Glasgow, Scotland, to fit through the St. Lawrence Seaway. Longshoremen have worked all day to load her with 20,000 metric tonnes of western amber durum wheat, which arrived via Canadian Pacific Railway from Saskatchewan. The Kaministiqua is now waiting on 5,000 metric tonnes of Manitoba soybeans, coming in on the Canadian National Railway. That train is late, so sailors have time to go ashore for a drink … or two … before the ship sails to Sorel, Que., where the grain will be transferred to ocean freighters bound for Morocco where it will be used to make couscous.
In its heyday, circa 1983, Thunder Bay moved 18 million tonnes of grain. After the railways twinned their westward rails and sent more grain through Vancouver and Prince Rupert, B.C. this port dwindled.
Today, Thunder Bay is coming back. In 11 months to Nov. 30, the port has shipped 7.2 million metric tonnes of grain, a 56% increase over last year.
“The boys have just about had enough,” says Patrick “Paddy” Johnson, head of the Thunder Bay Grain Trimmers, the crews that load the ships. “Early January, we’ll still be loading some stragglers. We are more hopeful and excited than we were in quite a few years.”
Already 377 Canadian and foreign ships have docked here, up from 280 ships in the same period last year. With Prairie farmers producing record harvests and railways clogged with crude oil, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway are suddenly looking again like a relatively economic and efficient way to move bulk cargo to market.
“The railways were so far behind on their mandate,” says Gerry Heinrichs, the director of terminal operations for Richardson. “They say, ‘Oh, crap, let’s just keep pounding the grain to Thunder Bay, because that’s the quickest way to clean out Manitoba.’”
Such is the crush of ocean-bound “saltie” ships loading grain here that Mr. Heinrichs invented the Gerry Heinrichs International Culinary Award. At the end of the season, he presents the awards to the ship that serves him the most delicious lunch or dinner on board. “Now the agents make sure I get an invite,” he says. ‘Time for the Geritol generation to go’
SATURDAY, DEC. 6, 13:30. The MV Kaministiqua is cruising at 12 knots (about 22km/h), heading southwest on Lake Superior through Whitefish Bay. Having sailed from Thunder Bay 18 hours earlier, she is a few leagues from the spot where, as Gordon Lightfoot recounted, another laker, the Edmund Fitzgerald, sank in a gale in November 1975. Today sun pours into the bridge through dozens of windows that deckhand Clint Ford is polishing with Windex. The greatest of the Great Lakes is smooth, and the southern fried rock of the Allman Brothers Band fills the wheelhouse. Captain Cameron Misener is at the helm. For each of the past three days the captain has worn a new Allman Brothers t-shirt with his bushy white beard; he has seen the band in concert more than 200 times. Today, the captain announces, is Greg Allman’s birthday. “My hero. He’s 67.”
As the Kam, as the crew calls the ship, skims over the calm waters and through chunks of ice, she passes others: the Roger Blough, sailing for Two Harbors, Minn.; the Dutch-registered Vancouverborg; the Peter R. Cresswell of Algoma Central Corp. Capt. Misener goes out to the port bridge deck to offer a bow to the Cresswell’s captain, Peter Schultz, whom he calls, “the best captain on the Great Lakes.”
Capt. Misener was born in 1959, the year the royal yacht Britannia sailed up the St. Lawrence River carrying Queen Elizabeth II to inaugurate the St. Lawrence Seaway, one of the biggest civil engineering feats of the 20th century. Today the seaway feels in many ways as dated as the Allman Brothers, a relic whose hits are long past, quaint and passé. The Kaministiqua, too, is faded, its cabins lined with fake-wood paneling and furnished with knobby wood furniture suited to a ’70s rec room. Its plumbing is somewhat suspect. The linoleum is scuffed in the crew’s mess. And rust spreads on the smokestack, next to a huge painting of an aboriginal face inside a ship’s wheel — the logo of Lower Lakes Towing Ltd., the Kam’s fourth and current owner.
But a funny thing happened as Canada’s inland marine industry prepared to sail off into the sunset: it began roaring back to life. Colleges now can’t keep up with demand for crew from Canada’s ship fleets. The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation is spending $500-million over five years on new equipment and structural repairs. Great Lakes ship companies are spending $1-billion for 35 new vessels. And through all this renewal sails the Kam, an undermanned, dogged workhorse that so far has called on Thunder Bay 12 times this year.
“The Lower Lakes guys are the cowboys of the Great Lakes,” Mr. Heinrichs says, and he may not be far off. The Kaministiqua had trouble leaving Thunder Bay: the engine room accidentally started the motor full astern, rather than neutral, and the ship began sailing with two crew still ashore. In the wheelhouse, the captain punched the emergency stop button. The captain, angry and exasperated, heaped blame on his older crewmen, some in their senior years. “It’s time for the Geritol generation to go,” he thundered.
A fourth-generation sailor on the Great Lakes, Capt. Misener, 55, has seen Canada’s inland marine industry in its glory days. His grandfather, Robert Scott Misener, in 1912 founded what became Scott Misener Steamships, the largest fleet on the Great Lakes. Robert Misener built a hospital for Port Colborne, Ont. where his grandson was born.
Capt. Misener was 17 when he first sailed the lakes. At summer’s end his mother came to the Welland Canal as the ship entered a lock, and yelled, “Tell Cam to get off the boat and finish high school!” So he did.
Sailing has been hell on his personal life. He has survived three long-term relationships. “I left my first wife after 10 years, after her third affair,” he says. “I’ve been cleaned out twice. Never again.” Financially, he’s secure now: he holds over $1 million in stocks and mutual funds. “TD [stock] split last year,” he smiles. “I’m laughing.”
With his rock T-shirts and beard, he may look like a warmed-over hippie, but the crew call their captain a reliable and fair leader. “Nobody goes to bed wondering what’s going to happen,” says Daryl Bridle, a wheelsman.
Back in the St. Mary’s River, the ship winds past lighthouses and shoreline mansions. The captain talks of rock ‘n’ roll. “The only band I didn’t see was Zeppelin and The Who, and I had tickets for The Who but I couldn’t get there because I got shipped out.”
SUNDAY DEC. 7, 22:30 • In the buzzing control room below deck on the Kaministiqua, a telephone rings. Jessica Clement, the fourth engineer, dressed in once-brown overalls now painted in black grease, picks up and has a word with the bridge. She tears the wrapper off a pair of orange earplugs and jogs downstairs across a narrow steel gangway, past the engine to a big block of steel and pipes. She repeatedly pumps a yellow lever, the lube oil hand pump primer, to oil a generator’s bearings. The ship will arrive at a shoal in half an hour, and the third mate needs this so he can start up the steering motors.
Back in the control room, Ms. Clement calls back to the bridge. “Hey Jason, you’re good to go on that.” Fifty-thousand metric tonnes of steel and grain is pounding at 12 knots through Lake Erie in the pitch-black December night — and this slight, black-haired, 24-year-old woman from Timmins, Ont. is keeping it moving. “It’s kind of like Donkey Kong down here because there are only certain ways you can walk around all the machinery,” she explains, as she dunks a cookie into her chocolate milk.
Ms. Clement originally enrolled at Georgian College in Owen Sound, Ont. to study marine navigation. “I found it really dry studying stars,” she says, so she switched to become an engineer. Today she is the only woman in the engine room of a Lower Lakes ship. It isn’t easy being a woman in this world. Once, reporting for work in the engine room of another vessel, a senior officer assumed she was a prostitute and tried shooing her off. On the Kam, she seems to fit in well.
“I’ve always had a really good experience with this company,” she says. “It took me a long time to get used to being away from home and missing out on major life events. Now I like it. It’s something different every day.”
Lower Lakes Towing is a non-union shop. Algoma and Canada Steamship Lines pay benefits and provide uniforms. To attract talent, Lower Lakes pays well — and hires top-drawer cooks. Chef Tony Sorbara’s galley boasts bulk containers of 30 spices; on Dec. 7, for lunch, he serves carrot and ginger soup with seafood Alfredo or pasta carbonara with garlic bread. For supper, as the Kaministiqua glides towards the bright lights of Detroit, the crew sits down to beef tenderloin with tarragon mustard sauce and double-baked potatoes, stuffed with green onions, garlic, cheese and sour cream, plus tomatoes au gratin. For dessert: cream puffs made from scratch.
Lower Lakes asks its crews to work 40 days on, 20 days off, but it doesn’t always work out so neatly. While crossing Lake Huron, Conrad Seymour, the second mate, gets a call from the crewman who is supposed to relieve him. He isn’t going to make it. Mr. Seymour, who had already sailed 60 days, will miss Christmas with his three children. He is no longer with their mother.
From the captain down, almost everyone has at least one failed marriage. The chef tried marriage twice. On the plus side, “when you get off you don’t think about work at all for three weeks,” says Mr. Sorbara, who has become a shark at both poker and pool.
CSL and Algoma run ships with 20 crew. To cut costs, Lower Lakes sails the Kam with 14. (The Edmund Fitzgerald, a ship of about the same size, sailed with 29.) Second Mate Conrad Seymour updates the charts in the wheelhouse of the M/V Kaministiqua as the ship nears Sarnia.
“What we’re doing here [the staffing] I don’t agree with,” Capt. Misener says. “I think it’s dangerous and I think it’s ridiculous. The company thinks they are being innovative: ‘we can do it with less people.’ At whose expense? My engineer made a mistake [starting the motor in reverse, in Thunder Bay]. If he’d have had an assistant he would not have made that mistake.”
MONDAY, DEC. 8, 13:20 • The Kaministiqua ties up at Port Colborne, Ont. Five crew descend a ladder to the pier to take their leave. Five more climb aboard. Mr. Sorbara, the chef, is heading home to Guelph, Ont., to see his girlfriend. “That’s the best Christmas present ever,” he says. “Thank you, thank you, captain.” ‘On course for the future?’
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 10, 08:16 • “Are they having trouble sucking on us, Jason?”
Wet snow falls heavily. The captain’s sardonic question crackles over a radio clipped to the fluorescent orange winter jacket of Jason Davenport, the third mate, standing near the bow of the Kaministiqua “downbound” in the Upper Beauharnois lock of the St. Lawrence Seaway, about 40 kilometres west of Montreal.
From the lock wall protrude three sets of two yellow steel arms equipped with square black suction rings, each the size of a coffee table. The arms move out from the lock wall to the hull of the ship, just above the waterline.
Most of the seaway belongs to the Government of Canada, which operates 13 locks to move a busy traffic of ships between the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes (Lake Superior is 183 metres above sea level). Since the seaway opened in 1959, when a ship arrives in a lock, deckhands have thrown cables to linesmen along the dock wall, to steady the ship as water rises or falls in the locks.
Over the past five years the federal Crown-owned Seaway management corporation has invested $25 million in “hands-free mooring” — a system of steel arms that attach to the ships to stabilize them in the locks. That’s the theory, anyway.
The new technology will “bring about increased operating efficiency,” promises the Seaway’s most recent corporate summary, “On Course for the Future.” The Seaway has budgeted $95-million in federal government money to make the change.
Today, at least, that future is not being friendly. At Beauharnois, Seaway staff radio the Kaministiqua: “Unit 2 is out of service.” Crewmembers resort to the old ways of steel cables. Shouting from the lock wall at Beauharnois, a Seaway employee explains, “We’re still putting the winter tires on them. The rubber on the winter version clings really well.”
Up on the bridge Capt. Misener is upset.
“Don’t tell me when I’m halfway in the lock that you’re going to tie up. We only had the two guys out there,” he says. “I had to scramble two deckhands out there.”
He calls the hands-free machines a waste of money. As we float by he points out the “disgraceful” crumbling, decaying lock walls at Beauharnois. Those battered walls, he says, are where the Seaway should invest. (On the two U.S. locks, Eisenhower and Snell, vertical bands of steel at about one-metre intervals protect the walls from ships’ hulls).
“Five years they have spent trying to get the bugs out of these suction cups,” the captain adds.
Speaking from Cornwall, Ont., Terence Bowles, chief executive of the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, defends the investment in the technology, developed in New Zealand and used at iron ore ports in Australia and the Indian Ocean. Canada is the first country to try suction technology in locks.
“The cups that we use in 90% of the season work extremely well,” says Mr. Bowles. “In winter they become too hard. We need to have a softer kind of rubber compound. We are looking for an all-weather rubber seal.” Of the lock walls, he says, there is a program to keep them in condition. “We think we are up to date.”
Dan McCormick, 68, of Cape Breton Island, is first mate on the Kaministiqua and has sailed on the seaway for over 40 years. He thinks the waterway needs sailors in management.
“They have people working in there who have never sailed. How can they troubleshoot?”
The Seaway insists that of the 65 times the Kaministiqua traveled through various locks that use suction technology in 2014, the system failed only when a National Post reporter was on board.
“We are learning from our experiences, and we have put into place measures since your trip, to ensure that ships are processed more efficiently this month, during adverse weather conditions,” Seaway spokesman Andrew Bogora later said in a statement.
Tonnage through the Seaway has slipped in recent years. Even as it hiked tolls 2.5% in 2013, 2.5% in 2014 and 2% in 2015, the Seaway has lost money; it lost $3.7-million last year. “In the five-year plan [to 2018] we are going to cover our operating costs,” vows Mr. Bowles.
There is some reason for optimism. Right now the seaway is a busy place, with foreign and domestic ships still moving a lot of grain. Overall, traffic is up 5% this year over last year, much of it, apparently, part of this late-season rush. At 4 p.m. on Dec. 9, an announcement from the Seaway crackles over the radio: “There are right now 47 salt water vessels above the St. Lambert Locks. That is up from 22 last year. After today you are designated a wintering vessel. You are not guaranteed to get out of the system.”
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 10, 15:18 • The Kaministiqua enters the St. Lambert lock, the easternmost lock on the river. It’s the day of the funeral of former Montreal Canadiens captain Jean Beliveau and the flags on the Seaway offices flutter at half-staff. Again, the hands-free mooring isn’t working. And the “self-spotting” system, a digital sign designed to tell the captain how far the ship is from the end of the lock, is also malfunctioning. After about 90 minutes in the lock, the Kam prepares to sail eastward.
But rush-hour Montreal traffic flows on the Victoria Bridge to the South Shore. And that bridge needs to rise for the Kam to sail. A voice from the Seaway control room crackles into the wheelhouse of the Kam: “Let’s hope the bridge works.”
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 10, 16:50 • In the St. Lambert locks, Carl Belley boards the Kaministiqua and climbs to the bridge. He is a pilot, a position made mandatory by the federal Pilotage Act: On the St. Lawrence River, these “pilots,” schooled in the shoals and conditions of the river, take control of every single ship sailing east of the seaway locks. Cpt. Misener calls them “pirates.”
“It bothers me that they make double what we do,” Cpt. Misener says. “And I have no power now to make any decisions.”
Many decision-makers in Canada’s maritime industry point to pilots as a pricey tradition that hampers competitiveness. Under one recent rule, if a ship is late more than three hours, the pilot’s association charges the owner $2,500. Pilots bill ship owners by the hour, even when the ship is anchored and the pilot’s asleep.
On the Kam, Mr. Belley the pilot peers out from the wheelhouse at the lock wall through a blizzard. Deckhands shovel thick-wet snow into the river. “We can’t even see the end of the wall,” the pilot announces. “This is not safe.” Once out of the locks, he orders the crew to anchor the Kam in the St. Lawrence River, just off the Port of Montreal. He heads down to a cabin and goes to sleep.
The captain is furious. “I bring a ship down the frickin’ St. Lawrence River in this weather and now I gotta frickin’ stop?” For every hour the ship is late arriving in Sorel, the Kam’s owners will pay $2,000 an hour.
For all the antiquated rules such as pilots, which add costs and slow ships, Canada’s inland marine industry keeps once again gathering steam nonetheless.
In 2010, the federal government removed a 25% tariff on building ships overseas for the Canadian fleet. Big owners including Canada Steamship Lines and FedNav, both based in Montreal, Algoma in St. Catharines, Ont. and Lower Lakes, among others, have in total ordered 35 ships, worth $1 billion, from shipbuilders in China. Three metres longer, a metre wider and about 25 cm deeper, they carry 1,000 tonnes more cargo, while consuming 45% less fuel.
On Dec. 13 the MV CSL St-Laurent, a brand-new bulk carrier, set sail from Yangfan shipyard on Zhoushan Island, China, en route to Canada, where she will fly the Canadian flag and operate in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. She should arrive in mid-February. She is the last of six Canadian-flagged lakers CSL has built since 2012.
“They are huge successes for us,” says Rod Jones, chief executive at CSL, a century-old private Montreal company owned by the family of former prime minister Paul Martin. “This year our fleet is absolutely fully booked. Everything is running flat out.”
Algoma has built three new lakers in China, and ordered five more. “We’re on a large fleet-renewal program,” says Greg Wight, chief executive at Algoma. “These ships go faster and consume less fuel. They are Canadian-flagged vessels with Canadian sailors.” Six ships it will keep; the other two it will operate on behalf of CWB, the former Canadian Wheat Board.
The Kam belongs to Lower Lakes, a company Captain Scott Bravener founded in Port Dover in 1994 with one tug and barge. He has grown the business to 16 ships: nine Canadian-flagged and six U.S.-flagged, which, along with grain, haul Ontario limestone into the Detroit river, Saskatchewan potash to Quebec for shipment to Europe, iron ore to Sault Ste. Marie, and road salt from Cleveland to Toronto. New York-based Rand Logistics bought Lower Lakes in 2006; the company trades thinly on NASDAQ. From a high of US$8.48 in mid-2012, shares have slid to close this week under US$4. Even so, Mr. Bravener is optimistic.
“It has been better in recent years,” says Capt. Bravener. “The steel industry is rebounding. We are holding our own.” Meanwhile the Ontario ports of Oshawa, Hamilton, Goderich and Thunder Bay are all investing in improved facilities.
One of the fleets’ biggest challenges is finding sailors. The Kam sailed with three officers in their late 60s.
“I don’t need the money,” says George Michailopoulos, chief engineer on the Kam, who has sailed for 40 years. “Scott [Bravener, the CEO] talked to me and said, ‘Come on George, give me a couple of years until I can find some young guys.’ The money is good.”
Quite so. Mr. Davenport, the third mate, enrolled in marine navigation at Georgian College in Owen Sound in 2011 after his first career as a financial analyst. He’s 31. Scholarships paid most of his tuition for three years of study. “It’s a six-figure job the day you walk out of college,” he says.
The marine industry is struggling to recruit enough sailors, says Colin MacNeil, marine programs co-ordinator at Georgian College.
“There are quality jobs that pay really, really well,” he says. But they are not for everyone. “Can you be away from friends and family for months on end?” he asks.
THURSDAY DEC. 11, 11:00 • The MV Tim S. Dool, a Saint John-built bulk carrier that belongs to Algoma, has sailed from the Richardson’s elevator in Sorel, opening up a spot for the Kam to unload. On shore, a payloader, typically used to move grain, pushes snow into the river. Using a swing boom, two sailors execute a kind of Tarzan move to land on the snowy dock.
They catch ropes and tie up the big old ship.
At the bow, the first mate, Mr. McCormick, can’t get his cigarette to light in the snow and wind; John Roe, a wheelsman, hands him his, already burning, and Mr. McCormick lights it off the glowing red end.
It’s the last trip through the seaway this year for the Kam. After six days sailing, it will hand off its grain to other ships here, who will take it to its final destination, Casablanca.
Mr. McCormick has made up his mind which holds will be unloaded first. With the ship having endured a week of late arrivals, malfunctioning infrastructure and expensive penalties, he’s not up for an argument. “We’re starting in two and five,” he says. “If they don’t like that, they can kiss off. That’s what she’s dipping: two and five.”
National Post
Port Reports - December 22
Alpena, Mich. – Ben & Chanda McClain
On Friday three vessels called at Lafarge. The Manistee arrived in the morning to unload. Later in the day the Alpena came in to load cement under the silos. The Calumet tied up at the Lafarge dock Friday night to unload coal. On Sunday the tug G.L. Ostrander and barge Integrity were in port taking on cement.
Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – Jim Conlon
Early Saturday evening the tug Invincible came into Bay ship and tied up on the end of the pier next to the small dry dock. The tug left its barge McKee Sons in Muskegon before crossing the lake to the ship yard.
Buffalo, N.Y. – Brian W.
Defiance-Ashtabula departed for Sandusky around midnight Saturday night and the American Mariner came back in to unload more wheat at General Mills.
Oswego, N.Y. – Ned Goebricher
Saturday the tug Salvor and barge Lambert Spirit unloaded aluminum.
Prescott, Ont. – Joanne N. Crack
Through Saturday night were Adfines Sea, Salvor and Algoma Enterprise.
Early Saturday morning, Algowood came down at 3:02am for Becancour, QC and Chestnut came down through at 2:07am for Montreal, QC.
Saturday morning between approx 3:00am to 12-noon, the Federal Mirimichi, Fortunagracht, Birchglen, Algonova, Vega Desgagnes, Zelada Desgagnes and Delturva were all delayed at Prescott Anchorage above the CCG Base. The Federal Mirimichi came down at 11h52 for Montreal, QC, Fortunagracht down at 12:47pm for port of Gros Cacouna, QC., Birchglen down at 1:26pm for Quebec City, QC and Algonova at 2:08pm for Tracy, QC. The Federal Mirimichi, Fortunagracht and Algonova proceeded to Wilson Hill anchorage to await pilot time at Snell. The Vega Desgagnes and Delturva will remain at Prescott Anchorage also awaiting pilot times, and Zelada Desgagnes will wait in Prescott Anchorage until early Monday morning, coordinating with re-scheduling issues at the Port of Montreal.
Expected through Saturday night were the upbound Radcliffe R. Latimer, Sloman Hermes for Mississauga, Ont., Everlast tug with Norman McLeod barge down for Montreal, QC., Wilf Seymour tug with Alouette Spirit barge for Oswego, NY, Puffin down for Quebec City, QC and Algoma Harvester down for Port Cartier, QC.
Early Monday morning, expected through is Maria Desgagnes up for Sarnia, Ont.
Seaway – Ron Beaupre
The American Fortitude tow left the upper wall of Beauharnois Lock at 4 p.m. Sunday upbound for Port Colborne, Ont. The lead tug is Salvor with Jarrett M on the tail. They were running at 6 knots.
Lookback #400 – Former Seaway trader Netanya aground off Cuba on Dec. 22, 1982
12/22 - Netanya began coming to the Great Lakes for the Zim Israel Line in 1960. The 361- foot-long general cargo carrier had been built at Lubeck, West Germany, and completed in March 1960.
The vessel had made 14 trips through the Seaway to the end of 1967 and continued to sail under the flag of Israel until sold and renamed Odette in 1978. It was sold again in 1980 becoming Krios under Greek registry and was wrecked 32 years ago today.
Krios was on a voyage from Havana, Cuba, to Luanda, Angola, when it stranded off Diamond Point, Cuba. The hull was heavily damaged and the ship was declared a total loss.
Salvors took over the freighter and were able to refloat it. The vessel was sold to a Cuban firm for a planned return to service but the machinery was too badly damaged from its exposure to salt water. It seems that the ship saw some service as a barge, possibly under the name Ciego De Avila, but at this point it has become difficult to trace.
Skip Gillham
Today in Great Lakes History - December 22
SAVIC, b.) CLIFFS VICTORY finally arrived at Masan, South Korea, December 22, 1986, for dismantling, which was completed in 1987.
DETROIT EDISON grounded on Gray's Reef in northern Lake Michigan December 22, 1980, inflicting heavy damage to 350 feet of her bottom. She was later sold for scrap.
GORDON C. LEITCH (i), no longer economically able to compete, was laid up on December 22, 1981, and was used for grain storage at Toronto.
RAYMOND H REISS arrived at Ramey's Bend, Port Colborne, Ontario, on December 22, 1980, for scrapping there.
LIGHTSHIP 103 was commissioned December 22, 1920.
On 22 December 1922, CORNELL (wooden propeller tug, 72 foot, 66 gross tons, built in 1888, at Buffalo, New York) foundered somewhere between Cleveland and Erie, Pennsylvania while enroute to new owners in Syracuse, New York. She had a crew of 8. The weather was clear and mild with almost no wind. She had just been put back into service and inspected after several years of idleness. Her ice-encrusted lifeboat was found on 26 December, 25 miles east of Long Point, containing the frozen body of the fireman.
1978: MARTHA HINDMAN hit the breakwall while inbound with a winter storage cargo of grain at Goderich and tore open the hull on the starboard side. The vessel settled on the bottom but was patched, pumped out and unloaded. It returned to service in 1979 as LAC DES ILES.
1982: NETANYA began Great Lakes trading for the Zim Israel Navigation Co. in 1960. It went aground off Diamond Point, Cuba, as c) KRIOS and sustained heavy damage. It was taken over by salvors and, while refloated, only saw brief service as a barge before being dismantled.
2001: The former Fednav bulk carrier FEDERAL SKEENA (i), was too big for the Seaway. It had been sold and was sailing as c) CHRISTOPHER when it disappeared, with all 27 on board lost, in the Atlantic north of the Azores.
2004: CANADIAN PROVIDER hit the dock at Redpath Sugar in Toronto and both the vessel and structure were damaged. The ship was inactive in 2005 but returned to service in May 2006.
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