Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - January 20

20 January 1980 - The E. M. FORD (406 foot, 4,498 gross tons, built in 1898, at Lorain, Ohio as a bulk freighter, converted to self-unloading bulk cement carrier in 1956, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin) was raised at her dock in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She sank on Christmas Eve of 1979, when gale force winds forced her from her moorings and repeatedly slammed her bow into the dock facing. Crews had to remove a solid three feet of hardened cement and patch her holed bow before she could be re-floated.

NORDIC BLOSSOM was launched January 20, 1981 as the a.) NORDIC SUN.

On January 20, 1917, American Ship Building's Lorain yard launched the steel bulk freighter EUGENE W. PARGNY for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

January 20, 1911 - The ANN ARBOR NO 5 made her first trip into Kewaunee. On 20 January 1923, CHOCTAW (steel propeller packet, 75 foot, 53 gross tons, built in 1911, at Collingwood) burned at her dock at Port Stanley, Ontario.

On 20 January 1978, HARRY L. ALLEN (formerly JOHN B. COWLE, built in 1910) burned at her winter lay-up berth at Capital 4 grain elevator dock in Duluth. She was declared a total loss.

1907: WILLIAM NOTTINGHAM broke loose in wild winds and flooding at Buffalo. When the storm subsided, the ship had come to rest high and dry about 440 yards from the channel. A total of 12 vessels stranded in the storm but this one was the biggest challenge. A new channel had to be dug to refloat the vessel.

1960: LAKE KYTTLE, under tow as b) JAMES SHERIDAN, foundered in a storm on Long Island Sound. The ship had been built at Manitowoc in 1918 and converted to a barge at River Rouge in 1927 before returning to the sea about 1945.

1962: The Liberty ship FIDES was a Seaway visitor in 1961. It went aground at Grosser Vogelsand, in the Elbe Estuary and broke in two as a total loss.

1975: The tug CATHY McALLISTER sank alongside the dock at Montreal after suffering some grounding damage on the St. Lawrence. The vessel was salvaged on February 13, 1975. It was scrapped at Port Weller as d) DOC MORIN in the fall of 2011.

1979: ZAMOSC first came to the Great Lakes in 1971. It was enroute from Montreal to Antwerp when in a collision with the JINEI MARU off Terneuzen, Holland. The damaged ship was beached but it heeled over in the sand and had to be broken up.

1981: The former SILVER FIR, a Seaway caller in 1977, ran aground and became a total off Libya as d) GALAXY II.

1983: The YDRA sustained an engine room fire and went aground about a mile east of Bizerta, Tunisia, as a total loss. All on board were saved and the hull is still there. The ship first came to the Great Lakes as a) MANCHESTER PORT in 1966 and was back as b) BIOKOVO in 1972.

1990: IMPERIAL ACADIA received major damage at the island of Miquelon due to a storm and had to be transported to Halifax aboard the semi-submersible MIGHT SERVANT for repairs. The vessel arrived at Chittagong, Bangladesh, for scrapping as e) RALPH TUCKER on October 26, 2004.


Ship-watching season has arrived at Sturgeon Bay

1/20 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – The big Great Lakes freighters have started making their way to Bay Shipbuilding Co. in Sturgeon Bay for their winter layup.

By week's end 16 vessels are scheduled to arrive for maintenance and docking during the off-season for Great Lakes shipping. At least four made their way through the Sturgeon Bay canal and between the downtown bridges over the weekend.

The 2014-15 winter fleet at Bay Ship, in the order of their scheduled arrival:

• CSL Laurentien (740 feet long), owned by Canada Steamship Lines, arrived Nov. 29 for repowering.
•Tug Invincible (100), Grand River, Dec. 20.
•Tug Rebecca Lynn (113), Andrie, Dec. 27.
•CSL Assiniboine (740), CSL, Dec. 28, for repowering.
•Algolake (730), Algoma, Jan. 2.
•Hon. James L. Oberstar (806), Interlake, Jan. 12.
•Edgar B. Speer (1,000), Key Lakes, Jan. 16.
•Buffalo (634), American, Jan. 17.
•Paul R. Tregurtha (1,013), Interlake, Jan. 18.
•Wilfred Sykes (690), Central Marine, Jan. 18.
•American Century (1,000), American, Jan. 19.
•Walter J. McCarthy Jr. (1,000), American, Jan. 19.
•Joseph L. Block (728), Central Marine, Jan. 22.
•James R. Barker (1,000), Interlake, Jan.22.
•Cason J. Callaway (767), Key Lakes, Jan. 23.
•Arthur M. Anderson (767), Key Lakes, Jan. 29.

In addition, the tug Samuel De Champlain arrived Nov. 29 and departed Jan. 5.

Green Bay Press Gazette





Work progressing on dismantling Canadian Miner wreck

CanMiner-Jan9.jpg (138529 bytes)1/20 - Sydney, N.S. – What's left of the derelict former lakes vessel Canadian Miner is becoming less by the day as crews work through the winter to dismantle the ship. "They're making pretty good progress now," said Gary Campbell, president of Nova Scotia Lands, which is managing the removal of the Miner on behalf of the province. "They're cutting the ship in sections now and they've got a big set of cable and chain pullers out there that they hook onto the sections and actually bring them to shore where it's a lot safer and easier for the other equipment, the big shears, to cut the pieces up."

Antigonish firm RJ MacIsaac Contruction, which was awarded the $12-million contract to remove the vessel, began work on the Scatarie Island site early last fall and the project is now expected to be completed sometime this spring.

Officials originally hoped the job would be finished by the end of 2014, but a number of delays and setbacks put things behind schedule.

"There was a whole number of things that took longer than I think they had originally anticipated," said Campbell.

Everything from getting rock for the berm, to securing the proper permits, to sourcing the right equipment presented challenges, as did the fact that asbestos levels on the ship were five times more than estimated and 30,000 litres of diesel was discovered aboard, when a study had indicated it had all been removed.

Difficult weather conditions and the need to repair or replace equipment as the job goes on have also added to the project's timeline.

Campbell said the company has brought in some new gear, including a diamond cable cutter, to cut apart the ship.

"The toughest part was the aft section where the engine room was and then the forward section where the bridge and those things were. Both of those have pretty much been taken care of," he said. "Hopefully by the end of next month or early March, they'll have everything brought in and brought to shore where they can cut it up into the various sizes they need to ship it off site."

Crews will then work to load the pieces of the ship onto barges.

"The options were they'd bring them into Sydney and ship them out, or bring them up to the strait at Port Hawkesbury and they'll undoubtedly now be looking for their best deal for the scrap value," he said. "They'll be talking to various scrap companies across the country."

Campbell said they expect the Miner removal project to be completed in the spring, noting officials will be monitoring any impacts on the upcoming lobster season.

"We'll have to be careful around moving barges to take stuff off shore if there's lobster traps everywhere, so that will be an issue that'll have to be watched," he said.

Once all pieces of the Miner are taken off Scatarie Island, crews will then have to clean up the site, remove the rock berms and dismantle the camp.

Campbell said the cost of the project will exceed the original $12-million price tag, but the final tally will be determined in the months ahead.

"There was a lot of things that we hadn't planned for so we're discussing with the contractor right now what the extra costs will be," he said.

The Canadian Miner, a 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.

Cape Breton Post





Great Lakes rebound, but rising levels pose problems

1/20 - The Great Lakes are coming back, but the rising water levels are reminding some Michiganians to be careful what they wish for.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials are predicting that Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie will likely be several inches above their long-term average in June. Lake Ontario's level, which is controlled, should be right at its historic level. Lake St. Clair, which is not part of the Great Lakes, will be 10 inches over that mark.

This is a reversal of fortunes from the past dozen years, when Michigan's boating season outlook included lake levels that fell below their historical average. Those low waters have meant headaches for anglers, marina operators and the shipping industry.

Many in and around the lakes have been waiting for lake levels to rebound closer to their historical averages because they allow commercial vessels to carry more cargo, recreational boats to get in and out of marinas and harbors more easily, and property owners to enjoy their more traditional shorelines. They also help stop the development of algae in shallow areas, which have created toxic blooms.

But the return of higher waters isn't necessarily welcomed by all, including the homeowners along Shore Drive in the southwest Michigan community of New Buffalo.

Since Halloween, when a major storm on Lake Michigan sent 20 foot-plus waves crashing onto shore for more than a day, the stability of the small bluff where homes sit has been a question mark. In years past, when the water level was as much as three feet lower, the storm wouldn't have been as much of a problem for the community near the Indiana border.

In the last two months, however, the ground between the water and the houses has been eaten away. As her backyard gradually disappeared, one homeowner moved out, fearing for her safety.

"The homeowner did not feel comfortable staying there, so she actually vacated the property and had all of the utilities disconnected," said Jay Guetschow, New Buffalo's acting city manager. "Our building inspector is keeping tabs on it because if it erodes back further to expose the foundation, then he'll have no choice but to tag it as uninhabitable."

Beaches around Michigan widened in recent years as the lake waters receded. The exposed sands can be washed or eroded away quickly.

"We expect to see rapid changes to the beaches," said Guy Meadows, director of the Great Lakes Research Center at Michigan Technological University. "What has built up over time can sometimes go away in a single storm."

The shifting sands can also make for dangerous beaches. Only the Polar Bear Club is likely to be swimming in the lakes anytime soon, but unstable beaches also can increase the opportunity for the creation of riptides. The dangerous tides, often linked to drownings, are created when currents break through off-shore sandbars, creating something like a jet stream.

The dilemma is different for marina owners 90 miles to the north of New Buffalo at Barrett Boat Works in Grand Haven.

Two years ago, with levels several feet below where they are now, the marina oversaw a $40,000 project to lower the facility's docks. Now that the waters are higher, it may be time to raise them.

"We spent a lot of money to lower the docks ... to make it easier for people to get in and out of the boats — which was great two years ago," general manager Randy Styburski told WXMI last month. "But now that the water level is higher, now when you pull a boat in there, you've got three feet of boat that you have to climb over to get back in ..."

Two years ago, these kinds of problems seemed unlikely. Early in 2013, Lakes Michigan and Huron set the record for the lowest mean average for any month since researchers began keeping track. The mean level for January — 576.02 feet above sea level — beat the March 1964 mark of 576.05.

Conditions since have been on a quick upward trajectory.

"This trend stretches across two years of very wet conditions," said Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "The spring of 2013 was extremely wet, and we all remember the winter of 2013-2014 with the record levels of snow. And since then, 2014 was a very wet year across the board."

The Army Corps makes lake level predictions six months ahead of time and the estimates for June show:

• Lake Superior will be close to last year's level and five inches above its historical average.

• Lakes Michigan and Huron: 14 inches above last year and eight inches above their historical average.

• Lake St. Clair: eight inches over last year and 10 inches above its historical average.

• Lake Erie: six inches over last year and nine inches above its historical average.

• Lake Ontario will be slightly below its level of last year and right around its historical average.

The increases will be welcomed by the shipping industry, which was forced to take less cargo on ships when lowered waters produced shallower ports. The decreased payloads translated into millions of dollars in lost revenues in recent years, according to officials with the Lake Carriers' Association.

Those losses were compounded by last year's harsh winter weather that shut down shipping, resulting in an estimated loss of $705 million and 3,800 jobs.

With no relief in sight from Mother Nature, industry officials had been pushing for the federal government to address a backlog of dredging projects at ports around the Great Lakes. Now, the rising levels are being greeted as a positive, but not a cure-all.

"It's certainly great news if the water levels are going to remain up there," said Glen Nekvasil, vice president of the Lake Carriers' Association. "But there is still the need for the dredging work. Projections have been wrong before, and the lake levels are always fluctuating."

Detroit News





Port Reports - January 20

Duluth, Minn. – Daniel Lindner
Mesabi Miner arrived Duluth at 6 a.m. on Monday, and stopped at the Calumet Fuel Dock to fuel before heading to Midwest Energy for the winter. John G. Munson, the final ship expected in Duluth for this winter, is due to arrive early Tuesday morning for Fraser Shipyards.

Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – Daniel Lindner
Walter J. McCarthy Jr. and Wilfred Sykes arrived in Sturgeon Bay for winter layup on Monday. A few more ships are still expected to arrive in the next few days for the winter.

Toledo, Ohio – Jim Hoffman. Denny Dushane
Tuesday should see the Great Republic and Philip R. Clarke arrive at Toledo for winter layup. They will be going over to the Lakefront Dock and tie up at the dock where the American Fortitude was laid up. Sam Laud arrived on Monday. The cutter Hollyhock was anchored in western Lake Erie near The Toledo Ship Channel and most likely will be assisting these boats in to Toledo. Ice is estimated at 1 to 2 feet thick with thicker amounts of up to 5 foot in areas of windrowed ice in the ship channel. Eventually the James R. Barker, Defiance/Ashtabula, and Calumet will be arriving at the Torco Ore Dock to unload ore. They are presently anchored in Lake Huron above Port Huron waiting for clearance by the Coast Guard to sail down the St. Clair River. Eventually, after the Calumet, the Victory/James L. Kuber will also be bound for the Torco dock to unload ore. She is at Escanaba waiting to load. Conneaut, Ohio – Tom Heagerty
Three U.S. Steel boats were in the harbor at the same time on Monday. Arthur M. Anderson unloaded ore and then moved to the coal dock to load. Roger Blough was unloading ore and the Cason J. Callaway was docked behind her waiting her turn. Thunder Bay is anchored outside the wall waiting to load coal and Presque Isle may be on her way also.

Port Colborne, Ont. – Nathan Attard
Algowood arrived Monday afternoon for winter layup.

Toronto, Ont. – Jens Juhl
The Toronto Port Authority standby ferry David Hornell V.C. went into service on Saturday and Sunday while the Marilyn Bell was alongside at Hanger #1 undergoing repairs to its rubber rub rail. Early Sunday the Toronto Drydock tug M.R.Kane broke ice in the ship channel in preparation for the arrival of the Stephen B. Roman.





Cruise ship Saint Laurent coming to the Great Lakes this season

1/20 - A new cruise operation, Haimark Line, is getting ready to make its debut in the Great Lakes/Seaway market this summer.

Haimark’s vessel Saint Laurent, now undergoing a $3.5 million major refurbishment, is scheduled to sail in May. The 105-stateroom craft may be familiar to inland shipwatchers as the former Cape May Light, which came to the lakes in 2001 under the ownership of American Classic Voyages Co. That company went out of business after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S. crippled the travel industry and economy. Cape May Light was eventually operated as Sea Voyager, but remained largely unused aside from a charter to the US government to house aid workers after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

“We are extremely proud to unveil our first ocean going vessel and have already sold 50 percent of the 2015 departures,” said Tom Markwell, managing partner of sales and marketing, in a press release.

Saint Laurent’s itineraries in the Northern Atlantic includes coastal New England and the Canadian Maritimes and will pass through the waterways of the Bay of Fundy, the St. Lawrence Seaway, Georgian Bay and the Five Great Lakes. The new itineraries include: 10-day, “Canada’s Atlantic Coast and the St. Lawrence Seaway”; 10-day, “The Five Great Lakes – A Freshwater Paradise” and 10-day, “Georgian Bay and The Five Great Lakes.” In addition, the 13-day, “Historic Coastal America” traverses the entire Atlantic Seaboard and will feature many famous and historic US ports along the way.

Haimark Line is a sister company to the Denver, Colo.-based luxury river expedition and destination management company, Haimark Ltd., as well as Haimark Travel, which operates cruises worldwide, including to Southeast Asia, the Peruvian Amazon and other areas.

For additional information, contact Haimark Line at 1-855-HAIMARK Haimark Line





St. Lawrence River: 334 spills in 10 years

1/20 - Montreal, QC – The 28,000 litres of diesel that spewed into the St. Lawrence River last week — and led to a municipal drinking water advisory in Longueuil, Que. — is just the latest in a long list of oil spills into the river.

There were 334 spills involving ships in the St. Lawrence River between February 2002 and November 2012, according to federal documents obtained by Radio-Canada.

The documents also show the limits of the system used by the federal and provincial governments to track the extent of spills and their potential environmental impacts.

Most of the cases involved diesel, but the documents indicate fuel oil, heavy oil and lubricating oil also leaked into the river.

The amounts varied: Half of the spills were for an amount less than 10 litres. One-quarter were for between 10,000 and 50,000 litres. One-quarter were of an "unknown quantity."

A capsized tug near Trois-Rivières, for example, leaked an unknown amount of diesel into the water in December 2014. Neither the provincial nor federal governments could say how much of the 22,000 litres of diesel on the ship went into the water.

Michel Plamondon, a spokesman for the Canadian Coast Guard, said "10,000 litres of pure hydrocarbons were recovered," but said it's impossible to know how much additional oil leaked into the water.

That's a major problem according to Steven Guilbeault, the co-founder and senior director of the environmental group Équiterre.

"We have no information, so is it tens of thousands of litres that end up in the Saint Lawrence River and all of a sudden we’re wondering why beluga whales are doing so bad and the species is declining? We should know. We should have better information," Guilbeault said, adding that much of the onus falls on the companies to report the extent of spills.

The numbers detailed in the documents don't include spills stemming from a source other than a ship, such as the generator leak at the water filtration plant in Longueuil.

Transport Canada said it could not comment on the numbers Radio-Canada obtained, but a spokeswoman told CBC News that reporting spills is a complex process. She said there are many factors that can influence how a spill is reported — such as where the ship is located when it begins to leak — which in turn can affect which government body is responsible for the cleanup.

CBC





Lookback #429 – Fides wrecked in the Elbe Estuary on Jan. 20, 1962

The Liberty ship Fides was a Great Lakes trader making one trip through the Seaway in 1961. It lasted less than a year after appearing on the inland seas.

Fides had been built as James A. Wilder and launched at Los Angeles, CA on Jan. 14, 1944. The 441-foot, 6-inch-long cargo carrier was completed before the month was out and soon hauling war-time cargoes for the United States Maritime Commission. In May 1947, the vessel was sold to the Italian Government and renamed Fides. It was resold to private interests in 1948 and put in 14 years of trading before being wrecked.

On Jan. 20, 1962, 53 years ago today, the vessel ran aground at Grosser Vogelsand, a sand bank in the Elbe Estuary, while on a voyage from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Gdynia, Poland, with a load of iron ore. Before any salvage could be completed, the hull broke in two and became a total loss.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Port Reports - January 21

Duluth, Minn. – Daniel Lindner and Denny Dushane
John G. Munson arrived Duluth at 9:24 a.m. on Tuesday morning, becoming the last ship to arrive Duluth for winter layup. The Munson's arrival brings a total of five ships spending the winter in Duluth. This is the smallest layup fleet Duluth has had in quite a few years.

American Integrity, arrived Jan. 7, at Port Terminal Berth 6
Kaye E. Barker, arrived Jan. 12, at Fraser Shipyards
Indiana Harbor, arrived Jan. 17, at Enbridge Dock
Mesabi Miner, arrived Jan. 19, at Midwest Energy
John G. Munson, arrived Jan. 20, at Fraser Shipyards

Milwaukee, Wis. – Denny Dushane
The 1,000-footer Edwin H. Gott arrived in Milwaukee on Tuesday morning for winter lay-up. This brings to five the total number vessels that will be spending the winter here. The others are are the tug G.L. Ostrander/barge Integrity, tug Samuel de Champlain with the barge Innovation, Burns Harbor and the Stewart J. Cort. This is the first time in many years that the Gott has laid-up in Milwaukee.

Toledo, Ohio – Denny Dushane
Three more vessels – Philip R. Clarke, St. Clair and Great Republic – arrived in Toledo for winter lay-up on Tuesday, bringing the total number of vessels to 13. The list of the vessels wintering in Toledo now includes the Algorail, which is at the Ironhead Shipyard Drydock for its five-year Coast Guard inspection/survey; American Courage at the CSX Coal Dock; American Mariner at CSX #1 Wall; St. Clair and American Spirit at CSX #2 Wall; H. Lee White at the CSX #3 Wall; Sam Laud at the Old Interlake Iron Co. Dock, and Manistee and the tug Ken Boothe Sr. / barge Lakes Contender at Midwest Terminals of Toledo Dock. The tug Olive L. Moore and barge Lewis J. Kuber are laid up across from the Torco Ore Dock slip. Great Republic and Philip R. Clarke are laid-up at the Torco Slip #2, East Wall. American Valor remains in long-term lay-up near the Lakefront Docks. Among the vessels expected to arrive for unloading at the Torco Dock will be the James R. Barker, tug Defiance/barge Ashtabula, Calumet along with the tug Victory/barge James L. Kuber in the next few days ahead.





All invited to ISMA Grand Lodge Dinner, Ball Feb. 6

1/21 - Duluth, Minn. – The International Ship Masters Association, the Great Lakes region’s largest fraternal organization of vessel captains, crewman and executives, will hold its 125th consecutive Grand Lodge National Convention at Duluth Feb. 5-8. The Twin Ports Lodge 12 will host the event.

This year’s convention theme is "Deep Blue Is The New Green.”

Boatnerds and the general public are invited to the elegant Grand Lodge Dinner and Ball the evening of Friday, Feb. 6. It will be held at the Duluth Entertainment & Convention Center’s Harborside Ballroom. As in the past this dressy affair, with its stunning views of the Aerial Bridge and Twin Ports harbor, will be the maritime social event of the year. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Richard Stewart of the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute, a recognized and leading educator in the development of green fuels for marine use. As well, there will be a Silent Auction and music provided by the 16-piece North Shore Big Band.

Dinner choices include prime rib, king salmon or cheese tortellini. Reservations must be made by phone before Wednesday, Jan. 28. Cost is $55 per person, payable only online at PayPal.com, using [e-mail] by Wednesday, Jan. 28. Social hour is at 5 p.m., with the dinner, program and ball starting at 6:30 p.m. Dress is requested to be uniform or business attire. Please call [phone] with your meal choice and reservation.

ISMA Lodge 12





Lookback #430 – Former Veslefjell abandoned by the crew on Jan. 21, 1978

The former Fjell Line freighter Veslefjell was sailing as e) Marlen when it began leaking in heavy weather while on a voyage from Aigion, Greece, to Nigeria with a cargo that included cement and fibre pipes.

The crew took to the lifeboats 37 years ago today and their ship was last seen in position 30.01 N / 11.37 W which put it in the vicinity of the Canary Islands. It is listed as “presumed sunk.”

This ship was a pre-Seaway and early Seaway caller to the Great Lakes. It began inland service in 1951, the year it was built and was a regular caller to American and Canadian ports around the inland seas.

On April 17, 1958, the last year before the Seaway, Veslefjell opened the Lachine Canal heading upbound on April 17 for Chicago with 1,200 tons of liquor, bicycle parts and miscellaneous cargo from Belgium, France, Germany and Holland.

In 1960 the ship was lengthened from 258'7” to 297'4” at Sunderland, England, and re-registered from 1550 to 1851 gross tons. Capacity was now listed at 3355 deadweight, which allowed additional profitable service into the Great Lakes. Veslefjell made a total of 11 trips through the Seaway and was last inland in 1962.

The ship was sold and renamed Sea Carrier in 1962, Veslefjell again in 1964, Asteri in 1965 and finally Marlen in 1969.

Skip Gillham





Help Wanted

Pilots
Western Great Lakes Pilots Association is currently accepting applications for open Applicant Pilot positions starting Spring 2015. All interested parties should visit: wglpa.com for general information about pilotage in District #3 which encompasses Lakes Huron, Michigan, the St. Marys River, and Lake Superior.

For Applications please visit: www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg552/pilotage.asp

Operations Staff
Central Marine Logistics is accepting application for Operations staff in commercial cargo ship management. Responsibility will include management of vessel schedules, coordinating stevedoring operations, cargo documentation, and customer relations of waterborne cargo movements on Lake Michigan. Position requires attending various ports on Lakes Michigan and boarding large vessels. Some overnight travel required. Qualifications include a marine background, good communication, organizational and computer skills.

Based in Griffith Indiana, Central Marine Logistics is an operator of bulk freighters sailing on the Great Lakes and steamship agent for numerous foreign vessels trading on Lake Michigan.

Interested candidates should contact [e-mail]


Today in Great Lakes History - January 21

On 21 January 1895, CHICORA (wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel, 199 foot, 1,123 gross tons, built in 1892, at Detroit, Michigan) was bound from Milwaukee for St. Joseph on a mid-winter run when he foundered with little trace. All 25 on board were lost. The ship's dog was found wandering on the beach by St. Joseph, Michigan, a few days later. A well-organized search for the wreck continued until mid-June. Many small pieces of wreckage were washed ashore in the spring.

On January 21, 1978, the Multifood Elevator #4 at Duluth, Minnesota, caught fire and collapsed onto the deck of the steamer HARRY L. ALLEN, which was laid up beneath the elevator. Her pilothouse was destroyed by fire. Severe warping and cracking of her plating occurred when cold water was poured onto her red-hot deck. Declared a constructive total loss, she was scrapped at Duluth in 1978.

1904: HENDRICK S. HOLDEN was torn loose by flooding on the Black River at Lorain, Ohio, and the vessel smashed a coal dump. It also crushed and sank the tug GULL on its way into Lake Erie. The bulk carrier last sailed as VANDOC (i) in 1965.

1921: G.J. BOYCE had been sold off-lakes in 1916. It was inbound for a Cuban port when it lost its rudder. The wooden schooner stranded near Porto Padre and broke up as a total loss.

1928: The Lake Michigan rail car ferry MADISON struck a sand bar off Grand Haven and went aground with close to $50,000 in damage. High winds and ice were a factor.

1959: High winds at Buffalo tore the MacGILVRAY SHIRAS loose when a heavy current swept the Buffalo River. The wayward vessel struck MICHAEL K. TEWSBURY and MERTON E. FARR and eventually demolished the Michigan Ave. Bridge. The damaged SHIRAS was not repaired and arrived in Hamilton in June 1959 for scrapping.

1978: VESLEFJELL was sailing as e) MARLEN when abandoned by the crew after developing leaks in heavy seas near the Canary Islands. The vessel was enroute to Nigeria with cement when it went down. It had been a Great Lakes trader beginning in 1951 and last called inland in 1962.

[yachtsmanwilly]

New laker CWB Strongfield registered

1/22 - The new laker CWB Strongfield was registered January 20, 2015 in Winnipeg, home of its owners the Canadian Wheat Board. It was assigned Official Number 838693, and its gross tonnage was listed as 24,451. Builders are Nantong Mingde Heavy Industry Stock Co Ltd, Jiangsu, China. Build date was given as 2013, indicating the year construction started, rather than when it was completed.

Mac Mackay





Last vessel of 2014 shipping season enters Duluth-Superior harbor

1/22 - Duluth, Minn. – The last cargo vessel of the 2014 shipping season arrived in the Duluth harbor Tuesday morning. The John G. Munson is one of five ships that will lay up in the Duluth-Superior harbor this winter for maintenance and repair.

Mild winter weather so far has allowed ships to catch up on cargo deliveries after record ice cover drastically slowed shipping last winter. December shipments on the Great Lakes increased nearly 35 percent compared to a year ago.

"It's a bittersweet moment, I think, for all the folks who tried so hard to catch up with the very rough ice conditions at the start of the season," said Adele Yorde, spokeswoman for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. "We were able to see a nice cargo surge in December and January this time around."

The next shipping season on Lake Superior will begin in late March, when crews return to prepare for the reopening of the Soo Locks between Lake Superior and Lakes Michigan and Huron. "It's called fit-out," Yorde said. "They get everything started up again, fire up the engines, get everything working, because they'll want to get in a queue to be downbound and ready for the locks to open on March 25."

Minnesota Public Radio





Great Lakes water levels to hit 20-year high

1/22 - Detroit, Mich. – Great Lakes water levels are predicted to rise nine inches above average this summer. Lakes will be more than two feet higher than the record low experienced in January 2013. Tom O’Brien is with the US Army Corps of Engineers Lake Michigan Area. He says higher water levels allow commercial vessels to carry heavier cargo, and recreational boats to move around more easily. But he says they don’t help everyone.

“When you’re coming up two feet in water levels with a beach that’s on a one to twenty slope, you know, you’re certainly losing a lot of land out there, probably a hundred feet or more.”

O’Brien says he’s already heard from many property owners about waves and erosion causing damage to their homes. He says last year’s polar vortex is partially responsible for the rising water levels.

WDET





Port Reports - January 22

Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – Daniel Lindner
Two more ships have arrived in Sturgeon Bay for winter layup. American Century arrived at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, and Joseph L. Block arrived in mid-afternoon. American Century was placed in the graving dock, possibly to receive her five-year survey or a new paint job. Their two arrivals brings the total number of ships laid up so far to 13, counting the two tugs in port for the winter. James R. Barker was expected to lay up in Sturgeon Bay on Jan. 22, but is still above the St. Clair River waiting for a downbound passage to deliver her final ore cargo to the Torco dock in Toledo, OH. Both Cason J. Callaway and Arthur M. Anderson are expected to arrive late this week into early next week for the winter.

Erie, Pa. – Gene P.
Roger Blough, after spending a few days cleaning tanks off of Presque Isle, entered the harbor about 9 a.m. Wednesday. It moved slowly thru the ice which looked to be about eight inches thick and then was met in the harbor by the tug New York, which broke up the ice so the Blough could turn and back into the old ore dock on the east side of DonJon shipyard. She will spend the winter in Erie.





Film festival in Alpena will show more than 30 Great Lakes-inspired films

1/22 - Alpena, Mich. – A film about Alpena students competing in an underwater robot competition is among 30 Great Lakes-inspired films that will be shown this week at the Thunder Bay International Film Festival.

Also on tap is Project: Ice, a documentary on the history and science of Great Lakes freshwater supply through ice that has attracted national attention, said Stephanie Gandullla, film festival medial coordinator.

The festival, working in partnership with the San Francisco International Ocean Film, is today through Sunday.

“Through the powerful form of visual communication, the Thunder Bay International Film Festival offers both a means to communicate ocean and Great Lakes issues and brings new and different cultural events to northeast Michigan,” said Gandulla.

Films from the San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival will also be featured. The festival, launched in 2004, showcases films largely unavailable to the general public, according to its website.

Along with viewing the films, attendees can meet professional filmmakers and attend a wrap party on the last day, according to the festival’s program.

Films from the festival’s filmmakers workshop taught by University of Michigan graduate Joseph Rybarczyk will be premiered on Sunday.

The Thunder Bay International Film Festival combines the area’s love for water and film, Mary Beth Stutzman, president of the Alpena Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in a press release.

Events on Wednesday will be held in Rogers City with tickets available for $10. Thursday’s events are free and open to the public, with a portion of wine sales going to the Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Gandulla said. Tickets for the reception and films on Friday are $30, and $5 extra for each following program, according to the press release. Weekend passes can also be bought for $50.

Great Lakes Echo





Lookback #431 – Alcoa Puritian, a lakes trader in 1959, sold for scrap on Jan. 22, 1965

1/22 - Alcoa Puritan was the first of three Alcoa-named ships to enter the Seaway. It was up bound through the newly-opened waterway in 1959 and only made a single trip to our inland shores.

This 417-foot-long steamship was one of the C-1 designed freighters built during World War Two to assist the transportation needs of the war effort. It was constructed by Consolidated Steel and launched at Wilmington, CA on Sept. 27, 1942.

The vessel was named after a previous Alcoa Puritan that had been shelled by gunfire and then torpedoed and sunk on May 6, 1942. It was carrying bauxite from Port au Spain, Trinidad, to Mobile, Ala., at the time. All on board made it to the lifeboats and were saved. The U-boat commander climbed out on deck of his submarine, apologized for having to sink their ship, and wished them well. He did not make it through the war as his submarine was sunk off Brazil in January 1943.

Both of these ships were owned by the Alcoa Steamship Co. and used to transport the vital supplies of bauxite for the production of aluminum. They operated on the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico and could carry 9,524 tons deadweight.

The second Alcoa Puritian was acquired by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce in 1963. The vessel was laid up when it was sold for scrap on Jan. 22, 1965, which was 50 years ago today. The 23-year-old freighter was broken up by the Pinta Island Metals Co. in Mobile, AL beginning in February 1965.

Today in Great Lakes History - January 22

The c.) WOODLAND, a.) FRENCH RIVER) was sold to International Capital Equipment of Canada and cleared the lakes from Montreal January 22, 1991, under the Bahamian flag with the modified name to d.) WOODLANDS.

GOLDEN HIND was sold on January 22, 1973, to Trico Enterprises Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda (Quebec & Ontario Transportation Co. Ltd., Thorold, Ontario, mgr.).

January 22, 1913 - SAINTE MARIE (Hull#127) was launched at Toledo, Ohio, by Craig Shipbuilding Co.

1976: INGRID WEIDE first came to the Great Lakes in 1953, and the West German freighter returned on many occasions including 23 trips through the Seaway to the end of 1965. The vessel stranded as c) DENEB B. off Borkum Island, West Germany, while inbound for Emden with a cargo of stone. The hull broke in two and sank but all on board were rescued.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Less ice means more ore ships on lakes in December

1/23 - Cleveland, Ohio – A relatively mild December on the Great Lakes allowed iron ore shipments to increase dramatically compared to a year ago when an early arriving winter blanketed the system with thick ice. Shipments totaled 6.3 million tons, an increase of 23.6 percent compared to a year ago. The biggest increase came from U.S. ports on Lake Superior. Loadings out of Duluth, Minnesota, Superior, Wisconsin, Two Harbors and Silver Bay, Minnesota, and Marquette, Michigan, totaled 5,124,525 tons, an increase of 41.8 percent compared to December 2013.

The December surge allowed the iron ore trade to erase the deficit with 2013, at least on paper. Lakes-wide, the iron ore trade totaled 59.6 million tons, an increase of 2.2 percent. However, even with higher water levels allowing for bigger loads and the activation of three U.S.-flag lakers that had not been scheduled to operate in 2014, not all the iron ore that was contracted to be hauled was delivered. The heavy ice that carpeted the Lakes between December 2013 and May 2014 delayed and/or cancelled so many voyages that the next seven months were not sufficient to meet all commitments.

January 2015 was not as cooperative ice-and weather-wise as December. A number of delays were incurred and cargo totals, when finalized, will reflect that.

Lake Carriers’ Association





Remains of Canadian Miner may be gone by March

1/23 - About half of the hull of the former Canadian Miner has been removed from Scatarie Island.

Canada Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Geoff MacLellan said Thursday the remaining portions will be cut into smaller pieces and hauled from the area by barge.

“Once the vessel is gone, then the complications become the (work) camp itself. It’s a really complex operation they have there, with different facilities set up; obviously, pretty significantly sized generators. So that will be the challenge, getting those things off on a barge, given the North Atlantic weather.”

MacLellan said the timelines are tricky, but it continues to look like the ship will be completely removed by the end of February.

“The key date now, as we get into the spring, is that fishing season. By mid-May, we should be in a pretty good spot. But, again, we’ll keep that dialogue open with the fishers and with the community.”

Given the discovery of hazardous materials — 30 tonnes of asbestos and 30,000 litres of diesel fuel — MacLellan has previously indicated the province would seek assistance from the federal government for the cost of cleanup. He said the department would wait for a final cost before having further discussions with Ottawa.

“With these additional contaminants, given the fact that it was … Transport Canada that provided the initial numbers that were clearly incorrect, we think they have a financial role to play here,” said the minister.

“The minute we have that, we are going to obviously make it public so that people know the exact number that we’re dealing with, and then we bring it back to the feds.”

MacLellan said the final number will very likely be higher than the $11.9 million budgeted for the removal project. All contaminants have been removed from the site, and he said there is no evidence there was any impact to the surrounding environment.

Chronicle Herald





Port Reports - January 23

Erie, Pa.
Roger Blough has laid up for the winter at the Erie Sand & Gravel Dock. Presque Isle is due at ES&G Friday morning.





North Channel ice breaking could disrupt Harsens Island ferry

1/23 - Harsens Island, Mich. – The U.S. Coast Guard plans to begin icebreaking in the North Channel of the St. Clair River Sunday, possibly disrupting ferry traffic to and from Harsens Island.

Breaking the North Channel is a last resort used during periods of significant ice coverage, according to Commander Kevin Floyd, chief of the prevention department for the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit.

"It's a resource or capability we have, but we don't like to use it very often," Floyd said. "It disrupts Harsens Island and the residents."

Ships will begin breaking ice at 10 a.m. Sunday. Floyd said efforts could last one to two days.

Typically, ice breakers move ice through the South Channel of the St. Clair River to avoid ruining the Harsens Island ferry's track across the river.

But Floyd said ice conditions on the St. Clair River are worse than this time last winter, and the North Channel provides another outlet for ice that's accumulated further up river.

Floyd said brash ice has piled up throughout the river and is two feet or more in spots. He said the ice is plugged near Marine City, raising concerns of flooding near St. Clair. Floyd said the Coast Guard has been working closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to monitor water levels.

"It's been a rough, rough go," Floyd said. "It froze very, very quickly and jammed up very quickly. "This usually happens in spring, but the water levels this year, even before the ice, were significantly higher than last year."

Floyd said the U.S. Coast Guard ship Mackinaw, made for heavy icebreaking, will travel from the northern Great Lakes to assist in ice breaking on the St. Clair River.

On Sunday, U.S. Coast Guard ships Mackinaw, Bristol Bay and Neah Bay and Canadian Coast Guard ships Griffon and Samuel Risley will be assisting in ice breaking on the St. Clair River.

"It's not just one boat by itself," Floyd said. "We'll have a whole team of boats out."

He said, recently, at least one freighter a day has been getting stuck in the ice. Freighter traffic is one-way through the river and all vessels are required to have a U.S. or Canadian Coast Guard escort.

Artie Bryson, supervisor for Clay Township, said island residents are being notified of the possibility of a ferry closure online and through postings at the ferry.

"Right now, we have a good path going across for the ferry," Bryson said. "And, basically, when they send a cutter up and down the channel, it kind of collapses the path and puts the ferry out of business for a while."

Bryson said it also could affect the township's capability of running an airboat across the river in the event of an emergency.

Artie Bryson's brother, Dave Bryson, operates the Harsens Island ferry, and his brother, Bob Bryson, operates an airboat. The Clay Township Fire Department also has an airboat.

He said the township is discussing emergency response with the Coast Guard. Bryson said the township will ensure the fire station on the island is manned and leave a police car there. He said the police department has officers who live on the island.

The township's water department, and DTE and Semco also will stage equipment on the island, Bryson said.

Port Huron Times Herald





McCain defends his Jones Act Amendment in Senate

1/23 - U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Az) took to the floor of the Senate Thursday to defend his amendment to repeal the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, also known as the Jones Act.

Senator McCain is trying to attach the amendment to a bill that would permit the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, known as the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (S.1), which last week past an initial hurdle in the Senate. The amendment specifically targets the U.S. build requirement of the Jones Act.

McCain’s amendment has been met with heavy criticism from both maritime and shipbuilding industry stakeholders and lawmakers alike, such as Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-2) and Congressman Steven Palazzo (MS-4) who, along with 30 other bipartisan House Members, have sent a letter to Senate leadership urging opposition to the amendment, stating that its passing would “gut” the U.S shipbuilding industry.

McCain’s full floor statement is below:

“Mr. President, I come to the floor today to discuss an amendment I have filed to the pending legislation. This is an amendment to modify the Jones Act, an archaic 1920s-era law that hinders free trade, stifles the economy and hurts consumers – largely for the benefit of labor unions. Specifically, my amendment would effectively repeal a law that prevents U.S. shippers from purchasing, or otherwise affordably procuring the services of, vessels built outside the United States for use in American waters.

“From time to time, here in Congress we find that legislation still remains on the books many decades after it has served its original, stated purpose – if it ever had one. I think one of the best examples of this is a law called the Jones Act.

“As many of you know, the Jones Act is simply a continuation of laws passed through U.S. history addressing cabotage (or port-to-port coastal shipping). Those laws have been used to protect U.S. domestic shipping, dating back to the very first session of Congress.

“The Jones Act may have had some rationale back in the 1920s when it was enacted. But today, it serves only to raise shipping costs, making U.S. farmers and businesses less competitive in the global marketplace and increasing costs for American consumers.

“According to a 2002 U.S. International Trade Commission economic study, repealing the Jones Act would lower shipping costs by about 22 percent. The Commission also found that repealing the Jones Act would have an annual positive welfare effect of $656 million on the overall U.S. economy. Since these decade-old studies are the most recent statistics available, imagine the impact that Jones Act repeal would have today: far more than a $656 million annual positive welfare impact – likely closer to $1 billion, truly stimulating our economy in the midst of an anemic economic recovery.

“The requirement that U.S. shippers must purchase vessels in the United States comes at a tremendous cost that is passed onto U.S. consumers. For example:

“Just recently, U.S. container-line Matson placed a $418 million order for two 3,600 twenty-foot equivalent unit (T.E.U.) containerships in a U.S. shipyard. The high price of $209 million per vessel reflects that the ships will be carrying goods within the U.S. and, therefore, governed by the protectionist Jones Act.

“The fact is that Matson’s order at $209 million per ship is more than five times more expensive than those same ships were procured outside the United States. Ships of that size built outside the U.S. would cost closer to $40 million each. For comparison, even Maersk Line’s far larger 18,270 T.E.U. ships cost millions less, at an average of $185 million apiece.

“Further, the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) has found that the cost to operate U.S. flag vessels – at $22,000 per day – is about 2.7 times higher than foreign-flag vessels – just $6,000 per day. A significant factor in these increased costs is obviously the Jones Act.

“There is no doubt that these inflated costs are eventually passed on to shipping customers. In the energy sector, for example, the price for moving crude oil from the Gulf Coast to the Northeastern United States on Jones Act tankers is $5 to $6 dollars per barrel, while moving it to eastern Canada on foreign-flag tankers is $2. That can mean an additional $1 million per tanker in shipping costs for oil producers. This increased cost is why, according the Congressional Research Service, more than twice as much Gulf Coast crude oil was shipped by water to Canada as was shipped to Northeastern U.S. refineries over the last year – all in an effort to avoid paying Jones Act vessels shipping rates.

“The implications of this act touches just about every American who buys gasoline. It is American consumers who pay exorbitantly higher prices because of a law that protects the shipbuilding industry and domestically-manufactured ships that transport crude and other refined products.

“But, it’s not just the energy sector that deals with the distorted effects of the Jones Act. Cattlemen in Hawaii that want to bring their cattle to the U.S. mainland market, for example, have actually resorted to flying the cattle on 747 jumbo jets to work around the restrictions of the Jones Act. Their only alternative is to ship the cattle to Canada because all livestock carriers in the world are foreign-owned.

“I am deeply concerned about the impact of any barrier to free trade. I believe U.S. trade barriers invite other countries to put up or retain their own barriers and that, at the end of the day, the U.S. consumer and the economy at-large pays the price.

“Throughout my career, I have always been a strong supporter of free trade. Opening markets to the free flow of goods and services benefits America, and benefits our trading partners. Trade liberalization creates jobs, expands economic growth, and provides consumers with access to lower cost goods and services. Simply put, free trade means greater growth, greater growth means more jobs, and more jobs mean greater individual prosperity for more Americans.

“And yet, as clear as the benefits of free trade are, actually taking action to remove trade barriers and open markets can be almost impossible here in Congress. Special interests that have long and richly benefited from protectionism flex their muscles and issue doomsday warnings about the consequences of moving forward on free trade. And, judging from the hysterical reaction by some of the special interests to my simply filing this amendment, the debate over the Jones Act will be no different.

“Mr. President, the domestic shipbuilding requirement of the Jones Act is outdated and must to be abolished.

“U.S. consumers are free to buy a foreign-built car. U.S. trucking companies are free to buy a foreign-built truck. U.S. railroads are free to buy a foreign-built locomotive. U.S. airlines are free to buy a foreign-built airplane. Why can’t U.S. maritime commercial interests more affordably ship goods on foreign-made vessels? Why do U.S. consumers, particularly those in Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico, need to pay for ships that are five times more expensive?

“If there was ever a law that has long ago outlived its usefulness – if it ever had any – it is the Jones Act. On the Jones Act, it is time to change course – today.”

gCaptain





Centuries-old Erie Canal boats discovered at bottom of Lake Ontario

1/23 - Rochester, N.Y. – The wrecks of two 19th-century canal boats have been found on the bottom of Lake Ontario, an unusual discovery because such vessels typically weren’t used on open water, a team of New York shipwreck hunters said Wednesday.

The three-member team from the Rochester area said they discovered the boats using side-scan sonar last year while searching for shipwrecks on Lake Ontario’s eastern end. The sunken canal boats – one 65 feet long and the other 78 feet long – were found within a few miles of each other about midway between Oswego and Sackets Harbor, said Jim Kennard of Fairport.

The discovery was made by a team of shipwreck explorer funded by the National Museum of the Great Lakes.

Two professional divers using apparatus for deep-water work captured video images of the wrecks, located more than 200 feet below the surface, Kennard said. The wrecks’ identifications haven’t been determined, but Kennard and fellow explorers Roger Pawlowski of Gates and Roland Stevens of Pultneyville believe the vessels were built in the mid-1800s when the Erie Canal was widened to accommodate larger boats.

Records of more than 600 Lake Ontario shipwrecks didn’t turn up a match for either canal vessel, the explorers said.

Kennard said the two shallow-draft boats were probably being towed by steamboats when they sunk. Both showed damage indicating that their cargoes may have shifted during fast-changing weather conditions typical for Lake Ontario, he said.

Kennard said the vessels were likely older boats whose owners tried to get one more voyage out of them hauling cargo on the lake, which is connected to the Erie Canal by the Oswego Canal.

“They took a chance,” Kennard said. “It didn’t work.”

The Guardian





Lookback #432 – The first Cartierdoc was launched on Jan. 23, 1928

The original Cartierdoc was a small, bulk carrying canal-sized ship. It was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson and launched at Wallsend, England, on Jan. 23, 1928. This was the latest addition to the Paterson Steamship Co. fleet when it was completed in March 1928.

The 1,919-gross-ton vessel crossed the Atlantic and soon settled into the Great Lakes trades. It was deepened by four feet at Montreal in 1949 and this enabled it to carry 3,000 tons deadweight or 110,000 bushels of grain.

When the Seaway opened on April 25, 1959, this vessel, in tandem with the Hastings of Canada Steamship Lines, was part of the second lockage on that historic day.

After being idle at Kingston, Cartierdoc was sold to Marine Salvage and towed to Port Colborne during the spring of 1962. There it was stripped to the deck for use as a chemical storage barge for Tank Truck Transport at Point Edward, Ont.

Renamed Chembarge No. 3, it would appear that the ship did not make a revenue voyage and was resold and arrived at Windsor, under tow, on Nov. 18, 1963.

There was some thought of sinking the hull as a breakwall at Windsor but the ship remained idle at Ojibway until resold and towed to Muskegon, Mich., departing Oct. 28, 1967. The hull was sunk the next year as a breakwall at Palasaides, Mich., along with Imperial Hamilton and Ann Arbor No. 5.

During 1969-1970, Chembarge No. 3 was clammed out and dismantled. The career that started with its launching 87 years ago today, had come to an end.



Today in Great Lakes History - January 23

January 23 - The CELTIC (wooden schooner-barge, 190 foot, 716 gross tons, built 1890, at W. Bay City, Michigan) broke away from the steamer H.E. RUNNELS during a fierce gale on Lake Huron on 29 November 1902, and was lost with all hands. No wreckage was found until 23 January 1903, when a yawl and the captain’s desk with the ship’s papers were found on Boom Point, southeast of Cockburn Island.

GEORGE A. STINSON struck a wall of the Poe Lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on January 23, 1979. The damage was estimated at $200,000.

The rail car ferry GRAND HAVEN sailed on her first trip as a roll on/roll off carrier from Port Burwell on January 23, 1965, loaded with 125 tons of coiled steel bound for Cleveland and Walton Hills, Ohio.

1983: The Greek freighter CAPTAIN M. LYRAS visited the Seaway in 1960 and 1961 and returned as b) ANGELIKI L. in 1965. It arrived at Gadani Beach on this date as c) ANAMARIA for scrapping.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Coast Guard begins breaking ice despite protests; ships delayed

1/26 - Port Huron, Mich. – The U.S. Coast Guard began breaking ice in the North Channel of the St. Clair River despite protests.

On Saturday, four people stood at the mouth of the North Channel with picket signs that said “no cutter in North Channel.” The protesters were back Sunday morning.

The protesters were concerned that cutting the ice would disrupt the cleared path from Harsens Island to Algonac, preventing residents from traveling to the island and back safely.

Lt. Commander Jillian Lamb, command center chief for the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit, said the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bristol Bay began cutting around 10 a.m. this morning.

Bob Bryson, who operates an airboat on Harsens Island, said near 20 protesters stood on the edge of the ice on Harsens Island in the North Channel from 9:30 to 11 a.m. this morning.

Bryson said the protesters left once the cutter began working.

Meanwhile, The U.S. Coast Guard will be breaking ice in the St. Clair River throughout the night.

Lt. Commander Jillian Lamb, command center chief for the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit, said progress has been slow. U.S. Coast Guard ships Bristol Bay, Neah Bay and Mackinaw were joined by the Canadian Samuel Risley and Griffon, working through the ice in the river's channels Sunday.

Lamb said the Coast Guard stopped trying to escort freighters through the area, and is instead focusing on clearing the ice. She said the majority of the overnight work will be in the river.

It is hoped that by Monday evening a convoy of freighters will be able to pass through the river.

Port Huron Times Herald





Lookback #435 – Wirta launched at South Shields, England, on Jan. 26, 1948

The Finnish freighter Wirta made one visit to the Great Lakes in 1960 and returned on three occasions in 1961. The vessel was sailing under its third name by the time it came inland.

The ship had been built at South Shields, England, and it was launched there as a) Viktun, 67 years ago today. The 405-foot, 10-inch-long vessel was completed in May and entered service under the flag of Panama.

It was sold and registered in Switzerland as b) Calanda in 1951 and moved to Finnish service as c) Wirta in 1955. During most of its career, this ship sailed on saltwater routes.

In 1965, the freighter was sold again, this time for Liberian flag service, and renamed d) Marindi Jubami. The ship made its first, and perhaps its only, trip through the Seaway that year.

Another sale in 1969 brought the name e) Karina I, and this was shortened to f) Ina following a sale for scrap in 1973. The former Seaway trader was under tow when it broke loose and sank in the Atlantic, west of Spain, on Dec. 19, 1973

Today in Great Lakes History - January 26

In 1994 THALASSA DESGAGNES (steel propeller tanker, 131.43 meters, 5,746 gross tons, built in 1976, in Norway, as the a.) JOASLA, renamed b.) ORINOCO in 1979, c.) RIO ORINOCO in 1982) entered service for Groupe Desgagnes.

The keel for CLIFFS VICTORY, a). NOTRE DAME VICTORY (Hull#1229) was laid on January 26, 1945, at Portland, Oregon, by Oregon Shipbuilding Corp.

THOMAS F. COLE (Hull #27) was launched January 26, 1907, by the Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ecorse, Michigan, for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

J. F. SCHOELLKOPF JR. was launched January 26, 1907, as a.) HUGH KENNEDY (Hull#349) at Lorain, Ohio, by the American Ship Building Co.

ST. LAWRENCE NAVIGATOR was launched in 1967, as a.) DEMETERTON (Hull#619) at South Shields, United Kingdom, by John Readhead & Sons, Ltd.

On 26 January 1898, the CITY OF DULUTH (wooden passenger/package freight vessel, 202 foot, 1,310 gross tons, built in 1874, at Marine City, Michigan, as a passenger vessel) was carrying passengers, corn, flour and general merchandise from Chicago to St. Joseph, Michigan, during a late season run when she struck an uncharted bar in a storm inbound to St. Joseph. She was heavily damaged and driven ashore 350 feet west of the north pier where she broke up. The Lifesaving Service rescued all 24 passengers and 17 crew members using breeches' buoy.

1986: The saltwater ship f) MARIKA L. was sold at auction to Scrap Hellas Ltd. on this date The vessel had arrived at Eleusis, Greece, under tow, on April 25, 1981, after an engine room fire on the Mediterranean. The ship had been arrested and partially sunk prior to being sold. It made one trip through the Seaway as a) DONATELLA PARODI in 1965 and was ultimately resold for scrapping at Aliaga, Turkey.

CSL St-Laurent arrives at the Panama Canal

1/25 - CSL St-Laurent, the second of two new Trillium-class bulk carriers built in China at the Yangfan Shipyard, arrived on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.

CSL St-Laurent departed from Yangfan on Dec. 13, beginning their maiden voyage to Canada. The vessel, after departing China, made a brief stop in Davao, Philippines, for fuel on Dec. 19 before arriving at the Panama Canal. It was expected to take the CSL St-Laurent between 50-60 days to complete her maiden voyage to Canada. The CSL St-Laurent brings to a close CSL's new-build program that was started in 2012 with the Baie St. Paul.

Denny Dushane





Islanders protesting North Channel ice breaking by Mackinaw

1/25 - Algonac, Mich. – A group of Harsens Island residents is protesting the U.S. Coast Guard's plan to break ice in the North Channel of the St. Clair River.

Four people were at the mouth of the North Channel on Saturday with picket signs telling the Coast Guard to "Go Home." They plan to protest again from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, when the ice breaking begins.

Susan Bryson, one of the protest organizers, said the group wants the Coast Guard to know the plan is dangerous.

"The cutter (Mackinaw) is going to come down the North Channel," she said. "The North Channel is our only access for the ferry to go back and forth. It will disrupt the path we already have and will landlock us for a long time."

The ferries from Champion's Auto Ferry maintain a clear path from the mainland to Harsens Island. Champion's provides the only commercial access to the island.

"I'm against the cutter coming down the North Channel," Bryson said. "The reason is the ferry would not be able to run."

The Coast Guard plans to break ice in the North Channel to relieve brash ice in the South Channel that reportedly is two feet or more in spots. Lt. Commander Jillian Lamb, command center chief for the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit, said the Coast Guard does not want to break ice in the North Channel, but feels it must to move ice through the river system.

She said the Coast Guard is sensitive to residents' concerns. The Coast Guard intends to start ice breaking on Sunday, she said. Residents, however, believe the North Channel will jam with ice as it has in the past.

"It may relieve the South Channel a little bit, but it has no benefit coming down the North Channel," Bryson said. "We're just trying to get our voices heard. They don't realize how dangerous it is when they come down the North Channel."

Mike Balan has lived on Harsens Island for 16 years. "The North Channel empties into Anchor Bay," he said. "It's shallow down there ... There's no place for the ice to go. I'm retired, so I stocked up on toilet paper and frozen foods," he said. "I don't have to leave the island. I feel sorry for the working people and students. They're going to be the ones to suffer."

Bud Breitmeyer has a cottage on Russell Island, where the St. Clair River splits into the North and South channels. He operates the ferry to Russell Island. He pointed to a ledge of ice in a boat well that had formed a couple of feet above the current surface of the ice.

"We need the water," he said. "The water dropped two feet because of the blockage (up river near Marine City)."

He said he thinks the Coast Guard does a good job, but he's concerned what will happen if the North Channel jams with ice.

"I've been out here 40 years battling Mother Nature and I've learned if she wants to move her furniture, she's going to move it," he said. "To break up what we've got now, I'm afraid of what could happen. If we come through here and make a path with anything at all, I'm afraid it's going to jam up. I've seen the ice where the Coast Guard came and broke it up for the freighters, and that flooded the city of Algonac and Russell Island."

Bryson said when the ferry shuts down, islanders have to use airboats to get to the mainland.

"There's children that have to take the airboat to school," she said. "... You have to take the airboat across to get to the ambulance. ... People can't get to work."

Bryson's husband, Bob, operates an airboat but, "we don't want to do the airboat. That ice will be so jagged that it will be dangerous."

Balan said riding the airboat soon loses its appeal. "The airboat is fun and a novelty the first time you take it, but the second time it isn't," he said.

Some airboat owners had talked about trying to block the Mackinaw and other Coast Guard craft, but Bryson said she was not sure if they were still planning that action.

"We have never really voiced our opinion, and why haven't we?" she said. "Maybe it will make a difference."

Port Huron Times Herald





Port Reports - January 25

Thessalon, Ont.
CSL’s Whitefish Bay and Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin were unloading coal from Sandusky late last week. The Soo-based tug Wilfred M. Cohen has been assisting with ice. The coal is bound for Essar Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.





Lawmakers: Repealing Jones Act would have a 'harmful effect on our economy'

1/25 - A small cadre of lawmakers came together this week to jointly voice their concern about an amendment being pushed by Sen. John McCain that would end preferential treatment for American-made ships.

Repealing the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 has been something of a pet project for the Arizona republican for some time now. Earlier this month, his aversion to the law, widely known as the Jones Act, surfaced again.

But this time, it was attached to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline legislation. McCain, who is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced an amendment to the legislation that could come up for a vote as early as this week.

Industry groups have also came out against the amendment, claiming it would ruin the shipbuilding industry and disturb the networks of suppliers that support it.

Under the law, only ships owned by American citizens, operating with a predominantly American crew and built in the United States, can operate on the nation's waterways between U.S. ports.

Coastal Alabama is home to a number of shipyards, who jointly support more than 5,000 jobs. Austal USA alone employs upwards of 4,000 people, building littoral combat ships and the joint high speed vessels for the U.S. Navy. There's also BAE Systems, Horizon Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding in nearby Pascagoula, Miss.

While the Jones Act is concerned specifically with vessel operators carrying cargoes, industry advocates say it's those medium-sized companies that help support the base of suppliers and a ready workforce that big defense contractors rely on.

"If you don't have the competition of suppliers and vendors that support the commercial side of things; you have less competition; you have less workforce [and] you have less capability for the Austals of the world and the Ingalls of the world," said Matt Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America.

"Those shipyards benefit from the fact that we have healthy commercial shipbuilding and ship repair..."

The impact is not lost on federal lawmakers, at least not the 32 of them who signed on to the letter, including U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne. The 1st Congressional District ranks 12th out of 435 districts for jobs related to Jones Act industries, Byrne said, adding that the law is "vitally important" to the country's maritime economy.

Joe Mayhall, a vice president at Signal Ship Repair, said the episode is a familiar one witnessed by the maritime industry. And that the threat, although they never gain much support, is taken to be a real one.

Signal employs about 250 workers at its shipyard in Mobile, and another 250 workers at other locations on the Gulf Coast.

"We take it seriously everytime it comes up," Mayhall said, "but do we think that he has much support -- no we don't think he has much support at all."

The Arizona republican has been a known critic of the 95-year-old law, speaking out against its "unnecessary, protectionist restrictions" on foreign-flagged ships.

Citing a Congressional Research Service report, McCain says it costs more to move crude oil from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast U. S. relying on a Jones Act tanker, whereas a foreign-flagged tanker could do the same job for less than half the cost.

The argument doesn't add up, Paxton said in response to McCain's rationale, pointing to a Government Accountability Office report. The document released by the federal government's watchdog agency highlighted the added cost of doing business in the U.S. foreign ships would also have to pay due to regulations.

"If you were to repeal the Jones Act, you would repeal the U.S. build requirement," Paxton said, "but these foreign vessels who would have better price bargains would still still have to meet environmental regulations; they would have to meet tax regulations; they would have to meet workforce regulation; they would have to pay better wages."

alabama.com





Lookback #434 – Max Manus suffered an engine room explosion on Jan. 25, 1964

By the time that the Norwegian freighter Max Manus came through the Seaway for its only visit in 1959, the ship had survived some wild adventures.

The vessel had been built at Sunderland, England, and completed in August 1937 as Troma for Norwegian service. The 129.3 metre long ship was unloading South American grain at Moss, Norway, when that country was overrun by invading German forces.

The ship was taken over by the Nazis to work on their account during the war. On Oct. 18, 1940, the vessel went aground in the Storebelt off Denmark and, in January 1942, it suffered ice damage while on a voyage from Hamburg, Germany, back to Norway.

Troma struck a mine off Holland on May 4, 1942, and had to be towed to Rotterdam for repairs. Shortly after returning to service, it hit another mine on July 10, 1942, and again was taken back to Rotterdam.

Then, for the third time that year, the vessel again hit a mine while bound from Rotterdam to Horten, Norway, but made in to port for additional repairs. The ship was damaged in an air attack at Hamburg, on July 25, 1943, and, while at the shipyard in Oslo, it was sunk in an act of sabotage on Nov. 24, 1944.

With the arrival of a hard fought peace, the ship was refloated in 1946 and taken to Antwerp, Belgium, for repairs. It returned to service as the Max Manus, named for the Norwegian resistance hero who was involved in its sabotage while under German control.

Max Manus was a success on deep sea routes and made a routine visit to the Great Lakes in 1959, likely to pick up grain. It was sold and renamed Flora N. in 1963.

The ship was discharging cement at Ibiza, Spain, when an engineroom explosion touched off a fire on Jan. 25, 1964 (51-years ago today). Local officials arranged to tow the blazing vessel out of the port and it was beached to burn itself out. Three members of the crew perished as the midsection was gutted and the heat buckled the deck. The hull was abandoned but may have been subsequently broken up on site or moved to a scrapping berth.

On January 25, 1988, the tanker L’ORME NO 1 was involved in an accident at Ultramar Refinery near Quebec City when attempting to tie up during foggy weather. She struck the dock and the impact started a fire that extensively damaged the wharf and the forward section of the ship.

Scrapping on E. J. BLOCK began at Port Colborne, Ontario, on January 25, 1988.

JOSHUA A. HATFIELD (Hull#782) was launched January 25, 1923, at Lorain, Ohio, by the American Ship Building Co.

The W.C. RICHARDSON was launched January 25, 1908, as the a.) WAINWRIGHT (Hull#175) at Wyandotte, Michigan, by the Detroit Ship Building Co.

On 25 January 1890, ALEX NIMICK (wooden propeller, 298 foot, 1,968 gross tons) was launched at W. Bay City, Michigan. She was built by J. Davidson (Hull # 30).

1964: MAX MANUS dated from 1937 and appeared on the Great Lakes for one trip in 1959. An engine room explosion and fire at Ibiza, Spain, as c) FLORA N. took the lives of three crew and extensively damaged the midships area of the vessel. The freighter had been discharging cement but was towed out of the port and beached three miles south as a total loss.

1981: MANUEL CAMPOS first came through the Seaway when new in 1968. It sank off Crete on this date as c) DENIZ SOMNEZ after developing a severe list in heavy seas. The vessel was traveling from Sfax, Tunisia, to Mersin, Turkey, with a cargo of phosphate ore and all 34 on board were lost.

1992: NORDSTERN came through the Seaway in 1968 and returned as b) GEORG RUSS in 1975 and c) CAPTAIN VENIAMIS in 1984. It was beached on the South Korean coast on this date after the hull began to flood during heavy weather on a long voyage from Europe to Yantai, China. The vessel was refloated on February 1 but was declared a total loss, sold to Chinese shipbreakers and arrived at Qinhuangdao under tow for scrapping on March 1, 1992.

2003: An arson fire aboard LA GRANDE HERMINE, a replica sailing ship, at Jordan Harbour, Ontario, destroyed the wooden superstructure and interior of the idle ship. The vessel was built in 1914 as a ferry across the St. Lawrence and had several subsequent uses under a variety of names. The listing and burned out hull has become a tourist attraction with many passers-by stopping to take photos. The vessel has become a southern Ontario landmark and was well known to boat watchers heading to the Welland Canal.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - January 27

In 1912, the Great Lakes Engineering Works' Ecorse yard launched the steel bulk freighter WILLIAM P. SNYDER JR (Hull #83), for the Shenango Furnace Co.

LEON FALK JR. closed the 1974 season at Superior by loading 17,542 tons of ore bound for Detroit.

January 27, 1985 - CITY OF MIDLAND 41 had to return to port (Ludington) after heavy seas caused a 30-ton crane to fall off a truck on her car deck.

On 27 January 1978, ALLEGHENY, the training vessel of the Great Lakes Maritime Academy (built in 1944, at Orange, Texas as a sea-going naval tug) capsized at her winter dock at Traverse City, Michigan, from the weight of accumulated ice. She was recovered but required an expensive rebuild, was sold and renamed MALCOLM in 1979.

On 27 January 1893, Charles Lonsby and Louis Wolf purchased the 161- foot wooden steam barge THOMAS D. STIMSON for $28,000. The vessel was built in 1881, by W. J. Daley & Sons at Mt. Clemens, Michigan, as a schooner and was originally named VIRGINIUS. She was converted to a steamship in 1887.

1972: The Canadian coastal freighter VOYAGEUR D. hit a shoal off Pointe au Pic, Quebec, and was holed. It was able to make the wharf at St. Irenee but sank at the dock. The cargo of aluminum ingots was removed before the wreck was blow up with explosives on November 8, 1972.

1978: A major winter storm caught the American tanker SATURN on Lake Michigan and the ship was reported to be unable to make any headway in 20-foot waves. It left the Seaway for Caribbean service in 2003 and was renamed b) CENTENARIO TRADER at Sorel on the way south.

2002: SJARD first came through the Seaway in 2000. It was lost in a raging snowstorm 350 miles east of St. John's Newfoundland with a cargo of oil pipes while inbound from Kalinigrad, Russia. The crew of 14 took to the lifeboat and were picked up by the BEIRAMAR TRES.

2006: PINTAIL received extensive damage in a collision off Callao, Peru, with the TWIN STAR. The latter broke in two and sank. PINTAIL began Seaway service in 1996 and had been a regular Great Lakes trader as a) PUNICA beginning in 1983. The ship arrived at Chittagong, Bangladesh, for scrapping as c) ANATHASIOS G. CALLITSIS and was beached on September 19. 2012. It had also traded inland under the final name in 2008 and 2009.


Sen. John McCain's maritime proposal sunk, for now

1/27 - Newport News, Va. – Sen. John McCain appears to have been stymied – at least for now in his attempt to repeal a 1920 law that protects U.S. shipping, which will be welcome news to the maritime industry.

The Arizona Republican had wanted to repeal a key provision of what is commonly called the Jones Act, a law that governs shipping in America's coastal waters and between domestic ports, including the Great Lakes. His move sparked an uproar in shipping circles from Virginia and around the country.

Critics had said it would cost jobs in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry, which would have translated into a problem for the Navy and contractors such as Newport News Shipbuilding, because it would have reduced the industry's skilled labor pool. The Norfolk-based Virginia Ship Repair Association had opposed McCain, as did the Shipbuilders Council of America.

McCain had attached the provision as an amendment to an unrelated bill on the Keystone Pipeline. Amendments on Keystone came up for debate last Thursday night, but McCain's was never considered, according to the office of Sen. Mark Warner, whose staffers followed the action.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cut off debate late in the evening and scheduled a final vote on Keystone for next week, according to media reports.

Thursday's action doesn't mean McCain's idea is dead. The powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee could attempt to revive the issue by other means.

If and when the debate restarts, McCain will face opposition from not only the maritime industry, but House members in Hampton Roads and elsewhere who are concerned about shipbuilding jobs.

Before Thursday's vote, 32 House members from both parties sent a letter to Senate leaders urging them to leave the Jones Act alone, expressing "serious concern" at McCain's proposal.

Among the signers were three Republicans from Hampton Roads: Randy Forbes of Chesapeake, Rob Wittman of Westmoreland and Scott Rigell of Virginia Beach.

The signers also included Rep. Steve Palazzo, a Mississippi Republican whose district includes Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries, as is the Newport News shipyard.

Another signer was Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn. His district includes General Dynamics Electric Boat of Groton. Electric Boat and Newport News work in partnership as the sole builders of nuclear-powered submarines.

"One of the reasons our Navy is strong is because of the U.S. shipyard industrial base," the letter states. "This measure, however, would gut the nation's shipbuilding capacity and have far reaching impacts across the nation."

Daily Press, Newport News, Va.





Ice disrupts coal shipments from Lake Superior region

1/27 - At least one Great Lakes coal cargo could not be loaded this month due to heavy icing and several others were delayed, and this week's winter storm has the potential to further disrupt shipments, a Lake Carriers' Association official said Monday.

"For sure, I know we lost at least one 1,000-footer coal load out of Superior and a number of other coal cargoes have been at least delayed," said Glen Nekvasil, vice president of the Lake Carriers' Association. "So there will be impacts on the coal trade in January."

The 1,000-foot freighter, the largest on the lakes and capable of carrying 88,000 tons of coal, had been traveling on connecting channels near Lake Superior when the locks were closed and the cargo cancelled, Nekvasil said.

The Great Lakes came to a "virtual standstill" last winter due to heavy ice that cost an estimated $700 million, according to the association. This week's winter storm has the potential to further affect coal traffic, Nekvasil said.

"A lot of boats have finished their season, but this storm will have impacts on boats that are still running," he said.

Despite a nearly 1 million st increase in coal shipments that took place on the Great Lakes in December, shipments for the year totaled 24.5 million st, down slightly from 2013, according to the association.

Lake Superior ports decreased 6.2% to 14.1 million st while loadings out of Chicago fell 34%, according to the year-end report.

Platts





Cutters wrap North Channel ice breaking Monday

1/27 - Algonac, Mich. – Icebreaking operations on the North Channel of the St. Clair River were expected to wrap up sometime Monday, said Commander Kevin Floyd, chief of the prevention department for the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit.

Floyd said five ice breakers – U.S. Coast Guard cutters Mackinaw, Neah Bay, and Bristol Bay and Canadian Coast Guard ships Griffon and Samuel Risley – have worked since Sunday morning and all through the night to break ice on the St. Clair River.

“It has improved the flow of ice and water in the St. Clair River,” Floyd said. “It has helped tremendously.”

The operation has shut down ferry service to and from Harsens Island, as well as airboat services to and from the island. Champions Auto Ferry President Dave Bryson said the ferry will remain closed while U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard vessels continue breaking ice in the North Channel.

“When they finish up ice breaking, then we’ll have to go out and see if we’ll be able to break a path through,” Bryson said.

Bryson said his brother, Bob Bryson, will be unable to operate his airboat to and from the island until ice breaking is complete.

Floyd said a plug near Marine City was increasing the risk of flooding near St. Clair, and freighters trying to transit through the river were becoming beset in the ice. He added that breaking the North Channel is a last resort. It increases flow by allowing ice to transit through both the South and North channels.

“It’s actually the worst ice conditions they’ve seen in over 20 years on the St. Clair River,” he said.

About a dozen freighters are waiting to transit through the river, Floyd said. He hopes to have them moving through either tonight or tomorrow morning.

Floyd said the Coast Guard contacted police, fire, EMS and the St. Clair County Emergency Operation Center to discuss the North Channel break and the disruption to transportation.

He said, in the event of a medical emergency, the Coast Guard would provide transportation to the mainland.

Algonac Community Schools Superintendent John Strycker said about 30 students usually take the ferry from Harsens Island to the mainland for classes. Strycker said the school district is in contact with some of the parents on the island, and is sending homework to the affected students.

On Saturday and Sunday morning, people stood at the mouth of the North Channel with picket signs that said “No cutter in North Channel.” The protesters were concerned that cutting the ice would disrupt the cleared path from Harsens Island to Algonac, preventing residents from traveling to the island and back safely.

Port Huron Times Herald





Iron ore collapses to lowest in five years

1/27 - Singapore – Iron ore retreated to the lowest level in more than five years as a slowdown in China hurt the outlook for demand in the world’s biggest user while the largest mining companies add to supply, boosting a surplus.

Ore with 62 percent content delivered to Qingdao, China, tumbled 4.3 percent to $63.54 a dry metric ton, according to data by Metal Bulletin Ltd. That’s the lowest price on record going back to May 2009, and was the biggest one-day fall since Nov. 18. The commodity is 11 percent lower this year.

The raw material has been in a bear market since March after Rio Tinto Group, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Vale SA spent billions of dollars to boost low-cost output even as China slowed. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. joined global banks on Friday in cutting price forecasts for 2015, predicting a return to a bull market is probably more than a decade away. The love affair between China and iron ore is cooling, the bank said.

The decline in prices is mainly due to “slower demand growth for steel in China, together with the expected new iron ore supply,” Vanessa Lau, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd., said before the figure was released. Steel mills in China are also cutting output before the Lunar New Year, putting further pressure on prices, she said, referring to the national holiday next month when industrial activity slows.

The commodity may average $66 a ton this year from an earlier prediction of $80, Goldman Sachs said in the Jan. 23 report. The New York-based bank is at least the fifth lender this month to lower price estimates after Citigroup Inc. and UBS Group AG were among those cutting forecasts.

Gripped by a property downturn and excess capacity, China’s economy expanded 7.4 percent last year, the slowest pace since 1990, data on Tuesday showed. Crude-steel production rose 0.9 percent in 2014 compared with 7.5 percent the previous year, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics. That was the weakest growth in steel output in data going back 24 years.

The world’s biggest miners are still expanding iron ore output, betting that higher-cost suppliers and including sites in China will be forced to close. BHP produced 56.4 million tons in the three months to Dec. 31, 16 percent more than a year earlier, the Melbourne-based company said on Wednesday. Rio plans to boost output to 330 million tons this year after an 11 percent rise to 295 million tons in 2014.

The expansions will probably continue as the major producers are still mining at a profit, Goldman said. That will expand the global surplus from 47 million tons this year to 260 million tons by 2018, the bank estimated.

Shippers from Australia are gaining market share in China, accounting for 59 percent of imports last year from 51 percent in 2013, according to customs data on Friday. Brazil’s share was 18 percent from 19 percent, while exports from the rest of the world fell to 23 percent from 30 percent.

Rio fell as much as 3.1 percent to 2,795 pence in London, and traded at 2,852 pence 12:54 p.m. local time, while BHP lost 2.1 percent to 1,395 pence. In Brazil, Vale’s shares are 4.7 percent lower this year after falling 41 percent in 2014.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., the largest U.S. producer, will stop paying a dividend as it tries to cut borrowings amid the slump in iron ore prices, according to a statement on Monday. The elimination will give the Cleveland-based company $92 million a year of extra free cash to pay down debt, it said.

Montreal Gazette





New art exhibit to open at National Museum in Toledo

1/27 - Toledo, Ohio – The National Museum of the Great Lakes will open "Great Lakes Masters: 150 Years of Great Lakes Marine Art" to the public on Feb. 8 in Toledo. The art exhibit features original works of art by eight different artists who are or were active on the Great Lakes since the 1860s.

"The practice of marine art goes back centuries,” said Christopher Gillcrist, executive director of the museum. “On the Great Lakes it truly begins to take off around the mid 19th century as the region became more populated."

Three of the 19th century artists featured are V. D. Nickerson, Howard Sprague and Huntington. Biographical information on these artists is limited, but Huntington is the most elusive of these early ship portrait painters.

In the first 75 years of the 20th century, Kinley Shogren became one of the most prolific Great Lakes portrait painters, delivering hundreds of private commissions. Rolf Stoll, not typically considered a Great Lakes painter, delivered two fascinating Cleveland lakefront scenes in the early 1930's.

Living artists in the exhibit are Alexander Cook, Paul LaMarre Jr. and Robert McGreevy. Cook is an artist member of the American Society of Marine Artist. His works have been used to grace the covers of several Great Lakes books as well as at the museum. LaMarre's talents, often compared to those of Shogren, are highly sought by shipping companies and private collectors. McGreevy's exacting detail often defines his work. Many consider his work to be the most historically researched paintings today.

"Great Lakes Masters: 150 Years of Marine Art" runs through March 22, 2015 at the National Museum of the Great Lakes. Regular admission fees apply. A "Living Legends Reception" featuring LaMarre and McGreevy will be held on Saturday Feb. 7 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Membership in the National Museum of the Great Lakes/Great Lakes Historical Society is required for the reception. Individual can join the museum by calling 419-214-5000.

National Museum of the Great Lakes





Hamilton’s 2014 cargo results show highest overseas tonnage in a decade

1/27 - Hamilton, Ont. – The Port of Hamilton has released its tonnage results for the 2014 shipping season. Total cargo volumes were 10,526,732 metric tonnes (MT) in 2014, representing a 5% increase over 2013.

The port welcomed 157 overseas vessels in 2014, with the balance (462) operating within the Canada/US Great Lakes. Overseas tonnage was 2 million MT, a gain of 39% year-over-year and the highest volume of overseas cargo in a decade.

The Port of Hamilton is the largest port in Ontario. A multimodal hub with full Seaway-depth marine capacity, goods can be imported from, and exported to, anywhere in the world. Direct rail and truck service puts some of North America’s largest consumer markets within a day’s reach.

“Efficient transportation can offer a critical advantage in global markets where margins are tight,” said Hamilton Port Authority President & CEO Bruce Wood. “More shippers in more markets are finding value in bringing their cargo through Hamilton.”

As the 2014 results show, the composition of cargo transiting the Port of Hamilton comprises a diversified mix representing the port’s service to the entire regional economy.

Agriculture
Agricultural commodities have grown steadily, from 12% of total tonnage in 2010, to more than 19% of the port’s tonnage today. Grain from all over southern Ontario is exported to international markets through the Port of Hamilton; and the port is also a primary gateway for imported fertilizer used on Ontario farms.

Steel
Many overseas vessels in 2014 carried finished steel, imported from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and South America. Finished steel tonnages totaled more than half a million tonnes and exceeded the port’s five-year average by 68%. The growth is due in part to dampened global prices for the commodity, as well as increased demand in regional manufacturing and construction sectors.

Manufacturing / Project Cargo
The Port of Hamilton’s strong connection with the region’s manufacturing industry was also behind the high volume of project cargo shipments in 2014. Project cargo shipments totaled 58,647 m3 (or 14,000 MT), an increase of 51% over 2013. A range of interesting project cargoes transited the port in 2014, such as: windmill blades and turbines; power plant components; construction machinery and vehicles; steel cables and pipes; and even a recreational yacht.

“Our job is to help Ontario businesses compete,” said Wood. “We’ve brought together a set of transportation and logistics supports that give our customers a competitive edge.”

Hamilton Port Authority





Lookback #436 – Saturn rode out winter storm on Jan. 27, 1978

Winter navigation comes with its hazards on the Great Lakes. It was 37-years ago today that the tanker Saturn finally got relief from a bout of wild weather out on Lake Michigan.

The vessel was still delivering fuel products on Jan. 26-27, 1978, when it encountered 80 knot winds and twenty foot waves. The surging seas made it very difficult to make any headway but the storm passed and the vessel survived the relentless pummeling of nature.

Saturn had been built at Jennings, Louisiana, in 1974 and was the first new powered tanker constructed for Cleveland Tankers in many years. The 384 foot, 6 inch long vessel had a double-skinned hull and was used to handle bunker fuels and asphalt as well as other petroleum products.

The ship was built with the ability of the pilothouse, stack and masts to be raised and lowered to enable navigation under fixed bridges that made docks unavailable to higher profile ships.

Saturn later sailed for Enerchem USA and, in 1991, spent much of the year trading on Lake Ontario between Oakville and Oswego. Then, in 1992, the ship made two trips to Hamilton with liquid asphalt.

The ship headed down the Seaway for the last time on Oct. 3, 2003. It was tied up at Sorel when sold to Mar Shipping and registered in Panama as b) Centenario Trader. The vessel departed for the south on Nov. 14, 2003, and service as a bunkering tanker on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - January 28

SELKIRK SETTLER (Hull #256) was launched January 28, 1983, at Govan, Scotland, by Govan Shipbuilding Ltd. She sails today as SPRUCEGLEN for Canada Steamship Lines.

At 4 a.m. on 28 January 1879, the ferry SARNIA was discovered on fire while lying at Fitzgerald's yard in Port Huron. All of the cabins were destroyed although the fire department had the fire out within an hour. About $3,000 damage was done. She was in the shipyard to be remodeled and to have a stern wheel installed. Arson was suspected.

On 28 January 1889, The Port Huron Times announced that the Toledo & Saginaw Transportation Company went out of business and sold all of its vessel and its shipyard. The shipyard went to Curtis & Brainard along with the PAWNEE and MIAMI. The BUFFALO, TEMPEST, BRAINARD and ORTON went to Thomas Lester. The C.F. CURTIS, FASSET, REED and HOLLAND went to R. C. Holland. The DAYTON went to J. A. Ward and M. P. Lester. The TROY and EDWARDS were sold, but the new owners were not listed.

1965: TRANSWARREN, a T-2 tanker, made three trips through the Seaway in 1960. The vessel began flooding on the Atlantic and sent out a distress call enroute from Bahamas to Ijmuiden, Holland. The ship made it to Ponta Delgada, Azores, for repairs but these were only temporary. On arrival at drydock in Marseilles, France, the vessel was declared a total loss and sold to Spanish shipbreakers at Castellon.

1966: The passenger ship STELLA MARIS came to the Great Lakes in 1959. It caught fire while bunkering at Sarroch Roads, Italy, as e) WESTAR after being refitted for the Alaska trade. Two died, another three were injured and the ship was declared a total loss. It arrived at La Spezia, Italy, for scrapping on April 30, 1966.

1975: CHRISTIAN SARTORI was the closest ship to the CARL D. BRADLEY when it sank in Lake Michigan on November 18, 1958, and helped in the search for survivors. The West German freighter continued to travel to the Great Lakes through 1967 and returned as b) CHRISTIAN in 1968. It ran aground at Puerto Isabel, Nicaragua, on this date after breaking its moorings as e) ROMEO BERNARD. The vessel had to be abandoned as a total loss.

1983: JALAJAYA went aground at the Los Angeles breakwater after the anchors dragged in bad weather. The ship was released and operated until tying up at Bombay, India, on October 3, 1987. It was subsequently scrapped there in 1988. The vessel had not been in service long when it first came through the Seaway in 1967.

1986: ADEL WEERT WIARDS, caught fire as c) EBN MAGID enroute from northern Europe to Libya. The vessel docked at Portland, U.K., on the English Channel, the next day but, following two explosions and additional fire on January 30, it was towed away and beached. The vessel was a total loss and scrapped at Bruges, Belgium, later in the year.




Coast guards conclude St. Clair River operations

1/28 - Detroit, Mich. – After three days of concentrated effort, U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers concluded flushing operations and cleared two significant plugs in the St. Clair River as part of Operation Coal Shovel.

The combined efforts of the Coast Guard cutters Bristol Bay, Mackinaw, Neah Bay and Canadian Coast Guard ships Griffon and Samuel Risley to break the St. Clair River, South Channel, Middle Channel and North Channel, relieved near-flood-stage water levels throughout the St. Clair River while reestablishing current and ice flow in the area.

Following flushing operations, the Mackinaw remained overnight in the North Channel and by Tuesday afternoon had redirected ice damns caused by the flushing in an effort to clear the local ferry's path so it may resume normal operation.

Working with maritime industry partners, U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers developed a plan to clear 12 commercial vessels, north and south of the St. Clair River, that were unable to transit the river due to severe ice conditions.

Throughout the remaining winter season, U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers will continue escorting commercial vessels in the St. Clair River and the Great Lakes as weather conditions dictate.

USCG





Boat that replaced ill-fated Edmund Fitzgerald docked for winter at Oswego

1/28 - Oswego, N.Y. – Need a bigger boat? There are few larger than American Fortitude - a 690-foot vessel docked this winter at the Port of Oswego Authority. For perspective, it's longer than two football fields and in its prime once carried 21,057 tons of iron ore.

The boat's time on the Great Lakes, however, has come to end. A Texas holding company now owns it and is considering whether to cut it up for scrap or sell it for use overseas, according to Zelko Kirincich, executive director of the Oswego Port Authority.

"It has a rich history. It's one of the longest, fastest vessels on the Great Lakes. It is steam powered and in great shape. Unfortunately it's out of class and requires a lot of labor to keep it up," Kirincich said.

The boat was built in 1953 as a straight deck bulk carrier with coal-fired boilers by the former American Ship Building Co. in Lorain, Ohio. Its original name was the Ernest T. Weir, after Ernest Tener Weir who formed the National Steel Corp. in 1927, according to BoatNerd.Com.

In 1978, the Oglebay Norton's Transportation Division acquired the vessel and renamed it the Courtney Burton in honor of a grandson of one of the company officials. It became the flagship of the company's fleet, replacing the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald.

The Courtney Burton's last cargo load for Oglebay Norton, according to boardnerd.com, was loaded at Calcite, Mich. on June 3, 2006 and delivered to Superior, Wis., on June 6. Upon its arrival, an announcement was made of its sale and five other vessels to the American Steamship Co., of Williamsville, N.Y.

Following the sale, it was renamed American Fortitude. At Superior harbor, it was loaded with grain from General Mills and transported it to Buffalo. It continued to transport bulk loads of agricultural products.

The ship has been idle since tying up at Toledo on Nov. 11, 2008, reported Niagarathisweek.com.

According to Duluth Shipping News, "On Nov. 26, 2014, American Fortitude left Toledo under tow of the tug Evans McKeil, presumably destined for a scrapyard in Brownsville, Texas."

The vessel is scheduled to stay in Oswego until the St. Lawrence Seaway opens in April.

Syracuse.com





Windsor’s ports see drop in cargo as parkway construction nears completion

1/28 - Windsor, Ont. – Construction of the $1.4-billion Herb Gray Parkway boosted cargo shipments at Windsor’s ports to historical record levels in 2013.

But with parkway construction nearly completed, the local ports returned to more normal levels in 2014 with total shipment volumes dropping by 9.9 per cent to just over 5.43 million tonnes, according to the Windsor Port Authority.

The volumes equate to the port’s five-year average.

“The huge volumes of construction aggregates required for the Herb Gray Parkway pushed total tonnages handled in 2013 above six million,” said David Cree, the port authority’s CEO. “We had anticipated a drop off in this commodity and that accounts for the overall decline in total cargo.”

All other major cargo handled in the port – which includes salt, grain and petroleum – experienced “solid gains” of between 25 and 60 per cent, he said.

“We are very proud the port played such a significant role in the development of the new parkway,” said Charlie Pingle, chairman of the port authority. “We are positioned to play a similar role in the construction of the new bridge and plaza.”

The port has helped generate 1,000 jobs and more than $130 million of direct and indirect spending in the local community, he said.

“Projections for the future, remain very positive,” Pingle said. “The port of Windsor will continue to be an important partner in Windsor’s growth and development.”

Windsor Star





Help wanted: Lower Lakes Towing

Lower Lakes Towing is continuing expansion into the Great Lakes market and is looking for sailors from Captain/Chief Engineer to Deckhand/Chef. Lower Lakes is a company started by sailors for sailors. If you wish to join our family or would like more information please send resumes or questions to:
Capt. Brandon Durant [e-mail] or Jill Soenen [e-mail]





Lookback #437 – Former Christian Sartori blown aground on Jan. 28, 1975

1/28 - The West German general cargo freighter Christian Sartori was built at Hamburg in 1955. The 255-foot, 10-inch-long vessel served Sartori & Burger and included some Great Lakes as well as deep sea trading.

Christian Sartori was on Lake Michigan when the Carl D. Bradley was lost on Nov. 18, 1958, and helped in the search for survivors as it was the closest ship at the time that the big laker broke in two and sank.

The deep-sea ship was lengthened to 285 feet, 4 inches overall in 1959 and resumed Great Lakes trading through the new Seaway with 3 trips inland in 1959. It had made a total of 18 voyages in and out of the Great Lakes through the new system to the end of 1967.

The vessel was sold and registered in Cyprus in 1968 and returned to the lakes in 1968 as b) Christian.

It subsequently became c) Independent Pioneer in 1970, d) Renaissance in 1973 and e) Roman Bernard early in 1975. All were under Liberian registry.

Roman Bernard broke loose at Puerto Isabel, Nicaragua, on Jan. 28, 1975, and was blown aground in the wild weather. The ship was considered a total loss and abandoned.

However, it was salvaged and repaired managing to sail again as Caribcliffe, Texacano and Texana before being broken up for scrap in March 1981.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - January 30

ELMDALE was launched in 1909 as a.) CLIFFORD F. MOLL (Hull#56) at Ecorse, Michigan, by the Great Lakes Engineering Works.

CHIEF WAWATAM was held up in the ice for a period of three weeks. On January 30, 1927, she went aground at North Graham Shoal in the Straits. She was later dry-docked at Great Lakes Engineering Works in Detroit where her forward propeller and after port wheel were replaced.

January 30, 1911 - The second PERE MARQUETTE 18 arrived Ludington, Michigan, on her maiden voyage.

On 30 January 1881, ST. ALBANS (wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel, 135 foot, 435 tons, built in 1869, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying general merchandise, flour, cattle and 22 passengers in Lake Michigan. She rammed a cake of ice that filled the hole it made in her hull. She rushed for shore, but as the ice melted, the vessel filled with water. She sank 8 miles from Milwaukee. The crew and passengers made it to safety in the lifeboats. Her loss was valued at $35,000.

On 30 January 2000, crews began the removal of the four Hulett ore unloaders on Whiskey Island in Cleveland.

1999: The SD 14 freighter LITSA first came through the Seaway in 1977 as a) SANTA THERESA and was the last saltwater ship of the year downbound through that waterway in 1981. It was sailing as e) LITSA when fire broke out in the engine room off Senegal on this date. The blaze spread through the accommodation area and the crew got off safely. The hull was first towed to Dakar, Senegal, and then, after a sale to Turkish shipbreakers, it arrived at Aliaga on August 6, 2001.


Port Reports - January 30

Toledo. Ohio – Jim Hoffman
On Thursday, the Canadian Coast Guard cutter Samuel Risley was entering Lake Erie from the Detroit River escorting the Calumet and the Victory/James L. Kuber to Toledo, Ohio. Both boats were bound for the Torco Ore Dock to unload ore. Meanwhile the Defiance/Ashtabula will be departing the Torco Ore Dock bound for the Detroit River just before the Calumet and James L. Kuber arrive at Toledo. The cutter Risley most likely will escort the Ashtabula back to Detroit. The next ore boat due in Toledo will be the Manitowoc, anchored in the Detroit River waiting for the James L. Kuber to finish unloading. After the Manitowoc, the Ashtabula makes a return trip to unload ore at the Torco Ore Dock with a tentative eta for Sunday Feb. 8. The Ashtabula ETA will depend on weather and ice conditions.

Erie, Pa. – Gene P.
The Canadian Coast Guard vessel Griffon cut out the Thunder Bay in Lake Erie and escorted her into the Erie harbor about 9 a.m. Thursday. The icebreaker continued to break ice in the DonJon west slip where the Thunder Bay is to spend the winter. The ice appeared to be 8-10 inches, but had been broken a few weeks ago with the arrival of the Roger Blough and the Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder.





A busy season at the Duluth/Superior docks

1/30 - Duluth, Minn. – Before Phil Moore led a media tour of a massive ship in dry dock Wednesday, he offered a few words of advice for the novices in tow.

“Keep one hand for the ship and one hand for yourself,” the fleet superintendent of the Ohio-based Interlake Steamship Co. said as a reminder to use the handrails.

The ship, a 767-foot iron ore and coal-hauler named the Kaye E. Barker, is docked at Fraser Shipyards in Superior. The tour wound across catwalks, up narrow staircases and onto the deck that towers above the deep cargo holds of its interior.

The ship bustled with workers in oil-stained coveralls and overalls. They moved freely, clipping in and out of scaffolding when necessary. The media members moved gingerly.

“There’s no falling here,” said Todd Pietrowski, a 30-year Fraser man clad in welding leathers. “If you did, we’d have to finish you off with a hammer. It’d be the only humane thing to do.”

Looking over the side of the Barker at the dry dock floor several stories below, Pietrowski’s words resonated. Even when the ship is not being rocked by waves, theirs is not a job for the faint at heart.

The Barker is one of five ships wintering in Duluth during an off season that started Jan. 15 with the closing of the Soo Locks, which separate Lake Superior from the lower Great Lakes, and ends when the locks reopen March 25. Compared with the 10-year average of 10 ships in layup in the Duluth-Superior port, 2015 is a down year. But there are reasons for that, said Tom Curelli, Fraser’s director of operations.

“Five is a little low, but last year there were some issues with extreme weather, and people were being a little more conservative this year,” he said. “They were less aggressive because they didn’t want to get stuck in a bind.”

Additionally, a sixth ship scheduled for Duluth, the 1,000-foot Edwin H. Gott, did not make it through the Soo Locks in time because of ice delays.

Still, Fraser has more than 200 workers hustling along different local docks, addressing the ships that are berthed here.

In the roughly nine weeks of offseason, there is much to do. The Barker requires several new plates of steel along what’s called the turn of the bilge — the steel that curves low along the length of both sides of the vessel to meet at a point underneath.

“It’s a nice wear point,” Curelli said of the turn of the bilge.

Much of the other work is routine maintenance. Two men, among a small group near the exposed metal flower that is the propeller, strained in tandem to rachet a come-along. They were replacing seals, inspecting rudder bearings, all as part of a mandatory five-year dry dock inspection.

Normally “ship-shape with everything stowed away,” Moore said, it’s all now open work space. Tool boxes that are typically battened down are rolled into the aisles, displaying sockets the size of coffee cans and wrenches that look like splitting mauls. There are welding machines everywhere, and the red and green lines that indicate acetylene and oxygen, respectively, snake along the length of the top deck and to all points that require attention.

“The name of the game with ships is keeping them highly maintained,” Moore said.

The Barker was built in 1951 and was repowered in 2012, exchanging a steam engine for diesel. There is a place along the hull, too, where rivet construction meets up with a more modern welded section.

“Here’s a piece of trivia,” said Curelli. “In the late 1970s, this boat was lengthened by 120 feet.”

The ship is also now what Moore called “highly automated with an unmanned engine room” that has computer access points throughout the vessel. But near the end of the tour, in the pilothouse at the bow of the ship, one can still find the ship’s wooden wheel. It’s under a sheet of plastic, like all the rest of the currently dormant instrumentation, and protected from the sparks and dust from the work going on around it.

Out of dry dock, a typical route for the Barker will find her running from Marquette, Mich., to steel plants in Detroit, Moore said. That will come soon enough. In the meantime, there’s plenty of work to do.

Duluth News Tribune





Great Lakes Shipyard awarded contract by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

1/30 - Cleveland, Ohio – Great Lakes Shipyard has been awarded a repair contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Buffalo District for two tugs and two barges.

The shipyard will perform drydocking, maintenance and repairs of the 109-foot tug Cheraw and 53-foot tug Mike Donlon, and the 120-foot deck barges BD-6259 and BC-6472. Work includes underwater hull cleaning and maintenance, as well as inspection and testing of propulsion systems; overhaul of sea valves and shaft bearings and assemblies; and other routine cleaning, inspections, maintenance and repairs. In addition, the scope of work includes major overhauls of the propulsion engines, fendering replacements, and major steel renewals.

This will be the first time the Corps’ tugs and barges have been drydocked using Great Lakes Shipyard’s 700-metric-ton capacity Marine Travelift. All four vessels will be hauled out within a few days of arrival. Work will commence immediately and proceed on all vessels on a concurrent basis until completed in April.

Great Lakes Shipyard





Coast Guard rescues two from icy Saginaw River

1/30 - Cleveland, Ohio – A U.S. Coast Guard crew rescued two men from the Saginaw River after they fell through the ice with their snowmobiles near the Consumers Power Plant early Thursday morning.

Just after 8 a.m., the watchstander at Coast Guard Station Saginaw River, in Essexville, Mich., received a report of a person through the ice at the mouth of the Saginaw River near the Consumers Power Plant.

A Station Saginaw River crew responded aboard a 20-foot airboat, arrived on scene and rescued two men from the water. One was reported to be responsive, while the other was reported as unresponsive.

Both men were transferred to emergency medical services personnel and taken to McLaren Bay Region hospital in Bay City, Mich.

"Ice is very unpredictable in nature and it's important that outdoor enthusiasts remember to prepare before heading out," said Chief Petty Officer Gabriel Settel, the assistant command center chief at Coast Guard Sector Detroit. "Ice is especially unpredictable near power plants, water intakes and other structures where current and other factors significantly affect it."

Coast Guard crews plan to assess the scene and monitor the situation for any potential pollution related to the snowmobiles.





Lookback #439 – Massive loss of life when Wilhelm Gustloff sank on Jan. 30, 1945

While we normally look at Great Lakes and Seaway related events in this series, today will be an exception, as the tragic loss of the Wilhelm Gustloff, 70 years ago today, is not likely known by many of our readers.

This passenger liner was built in 1938 to provide recreational and cultural activities for German workers. The original plan was to name the ship Adolf Hitler but the latter individual decided to change the name to Wilhelm Gustloff in honor of a colleague who had been assassinated in 1936. Due to the changing political climate in Europe, the ship did not see much service in the intended capacity.

Wilhelm Gustloff was soon involved in the political struggle. On May 24, 1939, it arrived Vigo, Spain, and loaded 1,405 men who had helped overthrow Gen. Franco and returned them to Hamburg.

The vessel was taken over by the Kreigsmarine on Sept. 1, 1939, and served in a variety of capacities during the war including as a hospital ship off Danzig and Oslo, as a floating barracks for naval personnel at Gotenhafen (Gdynia), Poland, and finally as an evacuation ship.

With the Russian army advancing on Poland and Germany, the Wilhelm Gustloff loaded an estimated 10,582 refugees and military personnel at Gotenhafen on Jan. 27, 1945, in an effort to transport them to safety.

But the Soviet submarine S-13 sent a torpedo into the hull on Jan. 30, 1945, sinking the Wilhelm Gustloff on the Baltic Sea with the loss of an estimated 9,343 lives.

Another 1,239 on board landed safely at Kolberg, Germany, but this was, and still is, the deadliest maritime disaster in world history and most are not aware.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - February 2

SAMUEL MATHER, a.) PILOT KNOB (Hull #522) had her keel laid February 2, 1942, at Ashtabula, Ohio, by Great Lakes Engineering Works.

February 2, 1939 - CHIEF WAWATAM went to the shipyard to have a new forward shaft and propeller placed.

1913: The wooden passenger and freight carrier MANITOU sustained fire damage at Owen Sound and sank at the dock. The vessel was refloated, repaired and operated to the end of the 1939 season.

1972: IRISH SPRUCE first appeared in the Seaway in 1960. The ship was enroute from Callao, Peru, to New Orleans with zinc and copper concentrates as well as coffee, when it ran aground on Quinta Suero Bank (14,25 N / 81.00 W) off the coast of Nicaragua. The ship had its back broken and became a total loss.

1981: EDOUARD SIMARD and JAMES TRANSPORT collided in the St. Lawrence River east of Port Neuf, Quebec. Both received bow damage.

1981: ARTHUR SIMARD received extensive bottom damage after going aground in the St. Lawrence. It was enroute from Montreal to Sept-Iles, but returned to Trois Rivieres to unload and then to Montreal for repairs.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.






Port Reports - February 1

Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – Daniel Lindner
Finally, after almost a week's delay in Detroit, the James R. Barker arrived in Sturgeon Bay for winter layup just after midnight on Saturday morning. The Barker becomes the 14th ship to lay up in port for the winter. Both Arthur M. Anderson and Cason J. Callaway are expected to arrive for layup in the coming days. All three ships were stuck in the Detroit-St. Clair River area for most of the past week waiting for an upbound convoy.





Lookback #441 – Amethyst stranded off Portugal on Feb. 1. 1974

Amethyst was a Freedom Class general cargo freighter that had been built at Tokyo, Japan. The 466-foot, 9-inch-long vessel was launched on April 28, 1970, and began trading for the Pentilikon Shipping Co. S.A. of Greece in June of that year.

The diesel-powered carrier first came through the Seaway in 1971 and returned on occasion. It was a welcome sight to the passengers aboard the 25-foot cruiser Connie Joe disabled in Lake Erie on June 9, 1973. The Amethyst was able to assist the small boat and its crew.

A year later, on Feb. 1, 1974, it was Amethyst that was in distress. It ran aground off the River Douro, near Leixos, Portugal, while inbound from New Orleans with a cargo of maize.

The ship had gone to anchor but the anchors dragged in heavy weather and the vessel stranded in a perilous position. The crew was forced to abandon ship and, on Feb. 6, Amethyst broke in two and became a total loss.

The hull was later listed as for sale, for scrap, and was likely broken up on location.


Ex-research vessel sinks at Port Weller marina

2/2 - Port Weller, Ont. – The ship was worse for wear, now it’s also under water. The Navicula, a former Canada Fisheries Research Vessel now registered as a pleasure craft, sank at a Welland Canal marina overnight Friday.

“I took this boat in as a favor for another marina,” said Jonathan Marler, general manager of ShipShape Marina Ltd. of Port Weller, which was handling the ship. He said there was concern the 65-footer could sink and the other marina doesn’t have facilities for lifting it out of the water, while ShipShape does.

“I then ran out of time to get out of the water (due to a freeze-up),” Marler said, adding the vessel had been towed from Toronto and hadn’t been operated for a number of years.

“We were going to lift the boat out of the water and cut it up.” Instead, it sank that night at the Seaway Haulage Road docks.

Marler believes ice froze in one of the intakes, burst and filled the boat with water. All that was visible Wednesday was the edge of a hull and rusty mast. The ship was half-encased in ice.

While the 80-tonne vessel contained no fuel, there has been a small release of oil that was being mopped up using special absorbent pads. ShipShape is now using Coastwise Management Inc. to develop a plan to refloat the sunken vessel — something Marler hopes will happen soon.

St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. spokesman Andrew Bogora said the Seaway was advised by the Ministry of the Environment late Tuesday afternoon about the sinking.

“The information we have is there is no fuel on board,” said Kate Jordan, a spokeswoman for the provincial environment ministry. “There is a small oily sheen where it has sunk … that is being contained by ice.” Jordan said it appears to be residual engine oil.

Jordan said there are no drinking water intakes in the area, “so we are satisfied with the containment and monitoring that the Seaway is (ensuring).” Transport Canada has also been notified about the incident.

St. Catharines Standard





Coast Guard saves two from North Maumee Bay

2/2 - Cleveland, Ohio – A Coast Guard crew rescued two people from the North Maumee Bay near the Ohio/Michigan border after they fell through the ice with their snowmobiles early Sunday morning.

Just after 12 a.m., two people contacted the watchstander at Coast Guard Station Toledo, Ohio, to report they had fallen through the ice on their snowmobiles with two other people. They were able to climb to the shore but the two other people were stranded on an unstable ice shelf.

An ice-rescue crew from Station Toledo responded and safely guided the two stranded people to the shore.

All four people declined medical attention. Commercial salvage has been contacted to remove the snowmobiles.

"Ice is very unpredictable in nature, and it's important that outdoor enthusiasts remember to prepare before heading out," said Chief Petty Officer Gabriel Settel, the assistant command center chief at Coast Guard Sector Detroit.

Coast Guard crews plan to assess the scene and monitor the situation for any potential pollution related to the snowmobiles.

USCG





Lookback #442 – The Gezina Brovig sank on Feb. 2. 1970, after main engine blew up

The Norwegian tanker Gezina Brovig made its first two trips to the Great Lakes in 1965 and was back again in 1966. The 537-foot, 4-inch-long vessel had been built at Glasgow, Scotland, and completed as a) Castor in December 1951.

It always sailed under the flag of Norway and became b) Norsk Skald in 1960 and c) Gezina Brovig for Th. Brovig in 1964.

The vessel had a cargo of heating oil on board and was traveling from Aruba, to Bucksport, Maine, when the main engine exploded on Jan. 31, 1970.

The force of the blast sent a piston right through the side of the ship and the vessel sank 45 years ago today some 300 miles northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Coast Guard: Avoid Lake Michigan due to high waves from weekend snowstorm

2/3 - Chicago, Ill. – The Coast Guard is reminding area residents to exercise caution, heed heavy surf warnings and avoid the shoreline of Lake Michigan as remnants of this weekend’s snowstorm continue to create dangerous surf conditions and high waves.

Residents, curiosity seekers and outdoor enthusiasts are urged to stay off of walkways near the lake, as well as rocky terrain, beaches, piers and jetties which may appear safe; however, may be icy and slippery. Waves and winds are extremely unpredictable and can cause onlookers to slip and get washed or pulled into the surf.

As this weekend’s weather system continues to move out of the area, and as winds subside and skies clear, residents should understand that heavy surf and high waves on Lake Michigan will typically take an additional day, at least, to calm.

Hypothermia is the biggest danger after falling into the water, even if one manages to get out immediately. Hypothermia sets in quickly as the human body’s core temperature drops below 95 degrees.

“Survival time is greatly diminished for someone immersed in water below 70 degrees,” said Cmdr. Max Moser, deputy commander of Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan, in Milwaukee.

"Cold water drains body heat up to 25 times faster than cold air. We urge everyone to use extreme caution due to unsafe lake conditions resulting from the past weekend’s storm. Our first priority is to keep people out of dangerous situations."

USCG





Port Reports - February 3

Sarnia, Ont. – Barry Hiscocks
Calumet ended up sitting out in Lake Huron Sunday night to clean out holds. It was too risky to try to tie her up in the dark and with near gale-force winds and very poor visibility. The tug Pride broke the ice out of the North Slip Monday morning as well, after which Calumet arrived for layup.





“Devil's blanket” may be one reason for unusually high number of ice rescues

2/3 - Cleveland, Ohio – Rescues in Saginaw Bay, Michigan, Sunday evening and Lake Erie Monday morning are the latest in an alarmingly high number of Great Lakes ice rescues since Saturday, prompting a Coast Guard reminder of the risk of venturing out onto the ice and of the importance of taking appropriate safety precautions.

Throughout the weekend the Coast Guard, good Samaritans and the Bay County, Michigan Fire Department rescued eight and assisted six people across the lakes, an unusually high number attributed in part to a milder winter and environmental conditions like "the devil's blanket."

The names and hometowns of the rescued and assisted are not being released.

At about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, a 911 operator contacted search-and-rescue controllers at the Coast Guard Sector Detroit Command Center to report a disoriented man on Saginaw Bay in blizzard conditions. The man called 911 from his cell phone, allowing the dispatchers to determine his coordinates before losing communication with him.

The command center contacted Coast Guard Station Saginaw River, in Essexville, Michigan, to dispatch a rescue crew aboard a 20-foot rescue air boat.

The man managed to make another phone call to 911 after he had fallen through the ice and climbed back out. Dispatchers instructed him to turn on his flashlight, and though visibility was less than 1,000 yards, the light made it possible for the rescuers to find him, and they safely transported him to shore.

"My ice rescue crews spend more time on the frozen Saginaw Bay than anyone, and every one of us has learned that ice conditions are unpredictable,” said Master Chief Petty Officer Terry W. Lathrop, officer in charge of Station Saginaw, home of the National Ice Rescue School. “One thing we can say with certainty is that the ice will almost never be as thick as it was last year, so don't go out expecting 30 inches of ice.”

Coast Guard rescuers believe that inaccurate expectations, along with heavy snow cover, contibute to the high number of rescues this weekend.

"Our nickname for heavy snow cover is the devil's blanket, because it covers up visual signs of thin ice and also insulates the water and ice underneath, which prevents new ice from forming in cold temperatures.”

Other common reasons people find themselves in trouble on the ice are lack of familiarization with the area and a failure to check weather forecasts before going out.

Lathrop encourages people to remember the acronym “I.C.E.” when it comes to ice safety and when planning to venture out on the lakes. The acronym stands for Information, Clothing and Equipment:

Information – Check the weather and ice conditions; tell a friend of your intended destination; know who and how to call for help; be familiar with the area you plan to go, especially when going after dark or during inclement weather.

Clothing – Wear sufficient clothing, including a dry suit, to prevent hypothermia. Choose bright colors and reflective garments to aid searchers if you should end up needing help.

Equipment – Never venture onto the ice without proper safety equipment: a marine radio, a Personal Locator Beacon, a life jacket, a compass or GPS, and screw drivers or ice picks which may allow you to pull yourself out of the water should you break through.

The Coast Guard also encourages ice enthusiasts to reach out to local response agencies, snowmobile clubs and ice-fishing bait shops to inquire about ice conditions before heading out.

USCG Ninth District





Lookback #443 – Lutzen wrecked off Cape Cod on Feb. 3, 1939

Lutzen was built by the Canadian Car & Foundry Co. at Fort William, Ont., in 1918. The 135.6-foot-long by 22.6-foot-wide trawler was constructed for the French Navy and departed the Great Lakes for saltwater service.

The ship was sold to John W. Sullivan in 1922 and re-registered in the United States. It moved to A. Black in 1923, also U.S. flag, and to the Sunrise Steamship Co. of Bermuda later that same year.

It was converted to a cargo ship on joining Job Bros. & Co. Ltd. in 1929 and resold to the Northeastern Steamship Co., of St. John's, Newfoundland, in 1932. The vessel was repowered that same year.

Lutzen was carrying frozen fish and fruit when it went aground at Nauset Beach, Chatham, Mass., on Feb. 3, 1939. It stranded near the Old Harbor Coast Guard Station in dense fog 76 years ago today, and rolled over as a total loss.

The hull was likely broken up at that location as scrap steel was a valuable commodity in World War Two and a rusting old freighter would not be popular on a Cape Cod beach.

Skip Gillham





Today in Great Lakes History - February 3

In 1960, The Ludington Daily News reported that the S.S. AVALON, formerly the S.S. VIRGINIA, had been sold to Everett J. Stotts of Artesia, California.

On 03 February 1899, the steamer GEORGE FARWELL (wooden propeller freighter, 182 foot, 977 gross tons, built in 1895, at Marine City, Michigan) burned while laid up near Montreal, Quebec. She had just been taken from the Great Lakes by her new owners, the Manhattan Transportation Company, for the Atlantic coastal coal trade, The loss was valued at $50,000 and was fully covered by insurance. The vessel was repaired and lasted until 1906 when she was lost near Cape Henry, Virginia.

1939: LUTZEN came ashore in dense fog at Nauset Beach, Chatham, Mass., off Cape Cod. The vessel rolled over on its side with its cargo of frozen fish and fruit. The small ship had been built at Fort William, (now Thunder Bay) in 1918.

1970: The tanker GEZINA BROVIG sank 300 miles northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. An explosion in the main engine on January 31 blew a piston through the side of the ship and it gradually sank. The vessel had been a Great Lakes trader beginning in 1965.

1993: The former Spanish freighter MARTA, a Seaway trader in 1981, was sailing as b) PROSPERITY when it began leaking in a storm. The ship subsequently broke in two and sank with the loss of 5 lives. The vessel went down 120 miles west of Sri Lanka while enroute from Jordan to Madras, India.

1996: An engine room fire aboard the C.S.L. self-unloader JEAN PARISIEN at Port Colborne resulted in about $250,000 in damage.