Today in Great Lakes History

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Today in Great Lakes History - March 17

WESTCLIFFE HALL (Hull#519) was launched March 15, 1956, at Grangemouth, Scotland, by Grangemouth Dockyard Co. Ltd., for the Hall Corp. of Canada.

March 15, 1949 - The Ann Arbor carferry fleet was laid up due to a strike called by the boat crews. The fleet was idled until March 22nd.

On 15 March 1882, GRACE PATTERSON (wooden propeller tug/freighter, 111 tons, built in 1880, at Grand Haven, Michigan) was carrying lumber and lath when she stranded near Two Rivers Point, Wisconsin on Lake Michigan. She caught fire and was totally destroyed. Lifesavers rescued the crew.

Mr. Russell Armington died on 15 March 1837. He operated the first shipyard at St. Catharines, Ontario from 1828, until his death.

On 15 March 1926, SARNOR (wooden propeller freighter, 228 foot, 1,319 gross tons, built in 1888, at W. Bay City, Michigan, formerly BRITANNIC) caught fire at Kingston, Ontario near the La Salle Causeway. She burned to a total loss.

1942: The first SARNIADOC of the Paterson fleet was lost with all hands on the Caribbean en route from Trinidad to the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was apparently torpedoed by U-161 in the night hours of March 14-15, 1942, while in the south for the wartime bauxite trade.

1969: The bulk carrier ALEXANDER T. WOOD, remembered by many for its regular early Seaway service in the ore and grain trades as well as for a collision with the Finnish flag freighter MARIA in the Detroit River on August 12, 1960, was lost on this day in 1969 as VAINQUER. The latter had been to the Great Lakes in 1968 but sank following a boiler room explosion in the Gulf of Mexico with the loss of one life. It was en route from Vera Cruz, Mexico, to New Orleans with a cargo of sugar.

1976: The rail car barge HURON rolled over and sank at the Windsor dock due to an uneven deck load. The 1875 vintage vessel had operated across the Detroit River as a steamer until March 1971 and then as a barge. It was refloated and returned to service.

1980: The Liberian vessel FRATERNITY was built in 1963. It visited the Great Lakes in 1967 and operated briefly as ARYA NIKU in 1975-1976 before becoming FRATERNITY again under Greek registry. Fire broke out in #1 and #2 cargo holds en route from Hamburg to Karachi on this date in 1980. An explosion followed the next day and the crew abandoned the ship in the Red Sea. The hull was beached March 17 around the border of Eritrea and Sudan but was refloated April 1 and deemed a total loss. After unloading at Sharjah, the hull was towed to Gadani Beach, Pakistan, arriving at the scrapyard on May 19, 1981.

1984: The Greek freighter ELINA likely made only one trip to the Great Lakes, coming inland in 1982 to load frozen meat at Kenosha, WI. It laid up at Emden, West Germany, on June 13, 1983, only to catch fire on March 15, 1984. The damage was extensive and the hull was towed into Gijon, Spain, for scrapping on April 23, 1984.


Woes continue for Toronto’s floating restaurant

3/17 - Toronto, Ont. – Finding a buyer for Captain John’s floating restaurant Jadran may have just reached a new level of impossibility.

Ports Toronto is going to Federal Court Tuesday seeking approval for a new auction of the ship with such stringent conditions — a buyer must have $50 million worth of insurance before it can be towed one inch from the foot of Yonge St. — that they are likely to sink any hope of finding a new buyer, marine experts say.

On top of that, scrap metal prices have fallen further since the first failed auction of the ship last summer, making the rusting relic worth about $200,000 less than it was just two months ago, estimates one veteran ship scrapper.

“Maybe the City of Toronto should be looking at it as a permanent landmark and sink it right there — and I’m only half joking,” said Wayne Elliott, a scrapper with more than 100 vessels under his belt.

One marine expert, who asked not to be named, estimated the insurance requirements at about 10 times the norm. But the port authority says they are “in line with industry standards” and “readily available” liability protection in case the ship sinks, pollutes Lake Ontario or someone gets hurt during the towing and scrapping or refurbishment.

“The insurance requirements were carefully considered and suggested by our broker as a reasonable request for a qualified buyer who will be transporting the ship,” said Ports Toronto spokesperson Erin Mikaluk.

Elliott’s Marine Recycling Corp. of Port Colborne was the No. 2 bid for the Jadran last July, although his negative bid would have seen the port authority have to pay $303,756 for his company to tow and scrap the ship. The costs would likely be higher now, he says.

The court awarded the ship to Toronto entrepreneur James Sbrolla, instead, who eventually handed over $33,501 but failed to meet the court-ordered deadline of August 22 to have the ship removed from its prime spot at the foot of Yonge St.

After winning the ship, Sbrolla partnered with Priestly Demolition and came up with a plan to essentially demolish the 300-foot ship in the Parliament St. slip just to the east of its current home. That raised environmental and other concerns for the port authority which returned Sbrolla’s money last fall.

The port authority is now seeking the court’s approval to restart the bid process with more stringent conditions meant to ensure the ship is safely removed from Toronto’s waterfront by May 11.

Ports Toronto finds itself more under the gun than ever right now. The ship’s condition has visibly deteriorated even since last summer and condo developers are preparing to launch a 36-storey third phase of the Residences of Pier 27 that will flank the derelict ship, which was shut down by the city almost three years ago.

Toronto Star



Port Reports - March 17

St. Marys River
The USCG Mackinaw was busy Monday breaking out Soo Harbor and the lower Soo Locks approaches. The Poe Lock is still dry, but should be flooded soon in anticipation of the eventual upbound passage of the Mackinaw and the March 25 opening of the shipping season.

Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – Jim Conlon
Late Friday evening the Algoma Central’s Algolake was floated out of the graving dock at Bayship and Monday morning the CSL Laurentien was floated in to install the rudder/Kort nozzle and complete the repowering job. The Selvick tugs have been busy moving ships at Bayship this winter. This warm weather has moved a lot of the ice out of their way, making the job easier.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Extensive Great Lakes ice cover quickly melting

3/18 - Northern Michigan – It appears spring is finally here, and with the end to another brutal winter comes the end of another year of extensive Great Lakes ice coverage.

According to George Leshkevich, physical scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, total Great Lakes ice coverage peaked Feb. 28 at approximately 88.7 percent combined among the five lakes.

Though some of the lakes — Erie, Huron and Superior — approached almost complete ice cover, the total of 88.7 percent fell short of the ice coverage mark set last year on March 6, and approximately 6 percent short of the record set in 1979 at 94.7 percent.

“The way things are going now, we are looking at an earlier breakup and an earlier ice-off date (compared to 2014),” Leshkevich said. “Last year was extreme.”

According to statistics compiled by the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, out of all of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie reached the highest ice coverage percent at 98.09 percent on Feb. 18.

Lake Ontario also experienced its peak ice coverage Feb. 18, when 82.6 percent of the lake was covered in ice. Coming in at No. 2 for highest total ice coverage was Lake Huron, recording an ice coverage of 96.28 percent on March 6. Lakes Superior and Michigan both reached their maximum ice coverage Feb. 28, with Lake Michigan recording 72.8 percent ice coverage and Lake Superior 95.5 percent.

Since reaching those numbers, warmer temperatures and larger amounts of sunlight among other factors have begun to break up the large quantities of ice.

“It is going down now,” Leshkevich said in regard to the melting ice. “Even if we get another cold snap, it would have to be really cold for really long to turn things around.”

Leshkevich said the ice coverage patterns this year are about normal, as the lower Great Lakes — Erie and Ontario — typically reach maximum ice coverage between the middle and end of February, while the upper Great Lakes — Michigan, Superior and Huron — usually reach peak ice coverage sometime during the first half of March.

Unless there is another cold spell, the ice cover should continue to melt as spring approaches, unlike 2014 when Leshkevich said some amount of ice cover remained on Lake Superior until June 6.

Petoskey News Review


Indiana Harbor blast furnace will be down for months

3/18 - ArcelorMittal will idle the No. 3 blast furnace at Indiana Harbor, and it will stay offline for months in a previously scheduled outage.

The Luxembourg-based steelmaker has been making preparations to shut down the blast furnace at ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor West in East Chicago for planned maintenance next week. Stove repairs are needed.

"The outage is expected to last until late Q2 2015 or until additional capacity is required to meet customer demand," ArcelorMittal spokeswoman Mary Beth Holdford said. "The stove repairs on No. 3 blast furnace will improve the efficiency and reliability of the asset and ultimately allow ArcelorMittal and the Indiana Harbor facility to be well positioned to meet future customer requirements."

Overall demand for domestic steel is low as cheap imports have flooded in, and national capacity utilization has sunk below 70 percent, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

ArcelorMittal will continue to operate its No. 4 and No. 7 blast furnaces at the century-old steel mill, which employs around 4,850 workers on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. The 3,100-acre steelmaking complex, the largest in North America, makes steel for cars, appliances and contractor applications, among other uses.

"The outage will not impact our ability to meet customer demand," Holdford said,

The No. 3 blast furnace can make as much as 4,500 tons of iron per day, Steel Market Update estimates. It was last down for maintenance in 2013, when a turbo blower failed, causing an unplanned outage.

NWI Times


March 18

In 1967, under the command of Captain Ray I. McGrath, the Columbia Transportation Company's HURON (steel propeller self-unloader bulk freighter, 415 foot, 4,810 gross tons, built in 1914, at Ecorse, Michigan) cleared Fairport, Ohio, and headed to Toledo, Ohio for a load of coal. She was the first freighter to sail in the new season. She sailed on the same day that the U. S. Steel's Bradley Fleet of seven vessels started fitting out.

On 18 March 1906, the Goodrich Line's ATLANTA (wooden propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 200 foot, 1,129 gross tons, built in 1891, at Cleveland, Ohio) was sailing from Sheboygan, Wisconsin for Milwaukee. When she was 14 miles south of Sheboygan, fire was discovered in the aft hold and quickly spread to the engine room. She ran out of steam, making the fire pumps inoperable. There were 65 persons aboard and Capt. Mc Cauley gave the order to abandon. The fish tug TESSLER came to help and only one life was lost. As the TESSLER was steaming to port, the Goodrich Line's GEORGIA came into view and took on all of the survivors. The hull of the ATLANTA was beached by the TESSLER. Later, the burned hull was purchased by D. O. Smith of Port Washington.

ARSENE SIMARD (Hull#404) was launched March 18, 1972, at Sorel, Quebec, by Marine Industries Ltd., for Branch Lines Ltd.

PERE MARQUETTE 21 (Hull#209) was launched March 18, 1924, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. She was christened by Mrs. Charles C. West, wife of the president of Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co.

The straight-deck bulk carrier SYLVANIA (Hull#613) was launched March 18, 1905, at West Bay City, Michigan by West Bay City Ship Building Co., for the Tomlinson Fleet Corp.

On 18 March 1890, CITY OF CHICAGO (steel sidewheeler, 211 foot, 1,073 gross tons) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan by F. W. Wheeler & Co. (Hull#68) for the Graham & Morton Line. CITY OF CHICAGO was lengthened to 226 feet at Wheeler's yard one year later (1891). She was again lengthened in 1905-06, this time to 254 feet. On the same day and at the same yard the 3-mast wooden schooner A.C. TUXBURY was stern launched.

On 18 March 1928, M. T. GREENE (wooden propeller freighter, 155 foot, 524 gross tons, built in 1887, at Gibraltar, Michigan) burned to a total loss near Brigdeburg, Ontario, on the Niagara River.

1923 The wooden steamer JAMES P. DONALDSON was built in 1880 and often worked in the lumber trade. At the end, it was used by N.M. Paterson & Sons Ltd. to bring wet grain to the company elevator for drying. The ship caught fire at the Canadian Lakehead on this date and the remains were sunk off Isle Royale, Lake Superior, on May 6, 1923.

1991 The Canadian Coast Guard ship GRIFFON collided with the fishing trawler CAPTAIN K. sinking it in Lake Erie. Three lives were lost.

[yachtsmanwilly]

SKY's Chompin at the BIT !!

Ice breaking tug moving through the Black River

3/19 - Port Huron, Mich. – An ice-breaking tug was hired by the city of Port Huron to clear the Black River Monday. City Manager James Freed said it was a proactive move to help reduce the chances of flooding.

"We have been monitoring the water levels up and down the Black River," Freed said. "This morning we felt it was necessary to protect the property along the river. The canal district could have flooded, causing millions of dollars of damage."

Freed said the canal gates were opened in order to let ice flow out of the Black River from both ends.

Work began around 10 a.m. and wrapped up around 4:30 p.m. The tug broke ice from the point where the Black River spills in to the St. Clair River up the Black River 100 yards south of where Interstate-94 meets the river.

Dan Mainguy, Port Huron Fire operations chief, said there was not an imminent risk of flooding, but the ice was soft enough to open up the river before ice backups occur.

In Port Huron Township, Fire Chief Craig Miller said they are monitoring the waters. He said if flooding becomes a problem, the Port Huron Township Fire Department has a stash of sandbags that residents can use.

While the Black River is starting to flow, the St. Clair River still has about 80 percent ice coverage, said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Dalton Smith.

"The coverage amount changes daily because the ice is constantly flowing so there are spots of open water," Smith said. "Down by Algonac coverage is more like 100 percent because it bottlenecks down there. Near Port Huron ice flows down from the lake every day."

Port Huron Times Herald





Michigan legislators urge Corps to reconsider new Poe Lock

3/19 - Washington D.C. – Practically all of Michigan's members of Congress signed a letter Tuesday urging the Army Corps of Engineers to prioritize consideration of a long-awaited replacement of a key shipping lock at Sault Ste. Marie, saying a failure at the Poe Lock would devastate Great Lakes shipping traffic.

"Should the Poe Lock experience an unscheduled outage, there is currently no redundancy available," said the letter signed by both of the state's U.S. senators and 13 of its 14 U.S. House members. "The estimated economic impact of a 30-day unscheduled outage ... is approximately $160 million."

In the letter, Michigan's delegation — led by U.S. Rep. Dan Benishek, R-Crystal Falls — argued for the Corps to publicly release a so-called sensitivity analysis intended to determine the cost-benefit ratio of replacing the lock, which members of Congress have been pushing for decades.

A letter last year from then-U.S. Sen. Carl Levin and other Great Lakes senators to Jo-Ellen Darcy, who heads up the Army Corps, noted that an earlier cost-benefit ratio study apparently incorrectly assumed that rail lines would be able to handle traffic through the lock if there were a closure.

In Tuesday's letter, also to Darcy, members of the delegation said they understand the analysis has been completed and want to see it, with an eye toward knowing what value the Corps puts on replacing the 1,200-foot-long lock, which is 48 years old. It is the only lock big enough to handle 70% of the vessels, called "lakers," passing between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.

Corps officials didn't immediately respond to calls for comment from the Free Press. As recently as 2007, Congress approved a replacement lock being built and, in 2009, work began on some preliminary work. But tight funding for a project then estimated at about $580 million dried up, and the Corps has relied on maintaining the existing structure through annual appropriations. Next year's budget calls for $3.7 million to be spent on the Soo Asset Renewal program.

"If the Locks were out of commission for even a day, the economic impact would be severe," said Benishek, who represents the Upper Peninsula and part of the northern Lower Peninsula. "If you've ever seen a laker move through the locks, you know how narrow that passageway is, and that there is no room for error."

The Corps is certainly aware of the importance of the Poe Lock: As recently as last month, in a "Great Lakes Navigation Update," Corps officials noted that vessels passing through the locks are "capable of seriously damaging or destroying them" including potentially through acts of terrorism.

Benishek, in releasing the letter to Darcy, noted that a recent study said an unplanned closure of the Soo Locks would have a severe impact not only on the regional economy, but also on broader U.S, trade, most notably affecting the steel and automobile industries.

Detroit Free Press



Bayham seeks federal help for $6 million in connection with Project Ojibwa

3/19 - A rural Elgin county municipality is hoping the federal government will shoulder at least some ofthe burden of a $6 million loan associated with the HMCS Ojibwa submarine in Port Burwell.

The Municipality of Bayham says it’s being asked to cover costs associated with Project Ojibwa, a campaign that brought the submarine to Port Burwell in 2012.

HMCS Ojibwa -- a Cold War-era, Oberon-class submarine -- opened for tours in 2013, drawing just under 30,000 people in its inaugural season.

Elgin Military Museum in St. Thomas spearheaded the campaign and borrowed against a $6 million letter of credit Bayham provided to Royal Bank Canada, according to Bayham administrator Paul Shipway.

Bayham has been told the museum is in default of its repayment obligations toward the $6 million loan, Shipway said.

If the museum does not come up with the money by March 20, the municipality is on the hook for the entire $6 million, Shipway said.

So Bayham has reached out to MP Joe Preston and MPP Jeff Yurek, seeking a solution that won’t require the municipality to shoulder the entire burden.

There is some historical precedent involving a vessel in Hamilton that went from private to provincial hands and is now in federal hands, Shipway said.

“They stepped in and took care of everything,” Shipway said. “So we're looking for the same sort of support that was shown in the GTA-H would be shown in rural Ontario.”

Without financial help, the municipality would pay about $275,000 this year out of reserves and future payments would come out of the municipal tax levy.

That would mean a 10.5% levy hike next year unless council can find a way to lower other costs, Shipway said.

“If it does hit the levy, we're going to work towards ensuring that the Municipality of Bayham tax rates continue to stay one of the lowest in Elgin county,” Shipway said.

“And the municipality's known for its people, its community and its companies, not this one incident.”

Elgin Military Museum executive director Ian Raven did not comment directly on the issue of payment defaults when reached by phone on Friday afternoon.

But the museum issued a statement later in the day, saying it is in talks with the bank to explore potential solutions.

There are a number of reasons for the situation to have developed as it has, the museum said. Original cost estimates received by the museum for the project were vastly exceeded when final invoices arrived.

And other work was found to be required that none of the project experts had anticipated, generating more costs, the museum said.

Delays beyond the museum's control in the movement and preparation of the vessel pushed back the start of operations, which reduced revenue generated in the submarine's opening seasons, the museum said.

The statement pointed to other circumstances like record cold and snow in the last two winters, saying they further limited the museum's ability to operate the site and generate year-round revenue.

And some revenue, such as promised federal funding, did not materialize, the museum said.

“The museum intends to continue operations while our team works to develop new proposals and strategies to bring the project to a successful conclusion for all parties.”

Bayham is holding a public information session on the matter March 16 at 7 p.m. at the Vienna Community Centre.

Tillsonburg News


W. R. STAFFORD (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 184 foot, 744 gross tons, built in 1886, at W. Bay City, Michigan) was freed from the ice at 2:00 a.m. on 19 March 1903, by the Goodrich Line’s ATLANTA. When the STAFFORD was freed, the ice then closed around the ATLANTA and imprisoned her for several hours. Both vessels struggled all night and finally reached Grand Haven, Michigan, at 5 a.m. They left for Chicago later that day in spite of the fact that an ice floe 2 miles wide, 14 miles long and 20 feet deep was off shore.

CARTIERCLIFFE HALL was launched March 19, 1960, as a.) RUHR ORE (Hull # 536) at Hamburg, Germany, by Schlieker-Werft Shipyard.

INDIANA HARBOR (Hull#719) was launched March 19, 1979, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, by Bay Shipbuilding Corp.

CITY OF GREEN BAY was launched March 19, 1927, as a.) WABASH (Hull#177) at Toledo, Ohio, by Toledo Ship Building Co., for the Wabash Railway Co.

ALFRED CYTACKI was launched March 19, 1932, as a.) LAKESHELL (Hull#1426) at Newcastle-on-Tyne, England by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd.

On 19 March 1886, the PICKUP (wooden passenger/package freight steamer, 80 foot, 136 gross tons, built in 1883, at Marine City, Michigan, was renamed LUCILE. She lasted until she sank off the Maumee River Light (Toledo Harbor Light), Toledo, Ohio, Lake Erie, on August 8, 1906.

1916 The canal-sized PORT DALHOUSIE saw only brief service on the Great Lakes. It was built in England as TYNEMOUNT in 1913 and came to Canada as PORT DALHOUSIE in 1914. It left for saltwater in 1915 and was torpedoed and sunk by UB-10 while carrying steel billets to Nantes, France. It went down March 19, 1916, south and west of the Kentish Knock Light vessel and 12 lives were lost.

1978 BELKARIN was a Norwegian cargo carrier that made one trip inland in 1963. It struck a sunken warship in Suez Bay on March 19, 1978, as c) NAHOST JUMBO and the engine room was holed. The vessel, en route from Aqaba, Jordan, to Holland, settled in shallow water. The hull was refloated in January 1979 and sold for scrap.

1990 On March 19, an explosion in a container on board the Norwegian freighter POLLUX at La Baie, QC, killed two sailors, seriously injured a third as well as 7 Alcan dock employees. The ship made its first trip up the Seaway coming to to Port Weller Dry Docks May 18 for repairs. It was renamed there and left the lakes in August as d) NOMADIC POLLUX. This ship returned inland in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and was back as e) BALTICLAND in May 2004.

1993 An explosion and fire rocked the tanker SHIOKAZE in the North Sea en route to Rotterdam killing one member of the crew. The vessel had first been a Seaway trader in 1986 and returned in 1998 as DILMUN TERN bound for Hamilton with palm oil. It was scrapped, after 30 years of service, arriving at Alang, India, on June 14, 2010, as c) THERESA III.

2002 A hull crack of close to 13 feet was found on LAKE CARLING off Cape Breton Island while traveling from Sept-Iles to Trinidad with iron ore. Originally ZIEMIA CIESZYNSKA, the vessel first came to the Great Lakes in 1993 and was renamed LAKE CARLING at Chicago in October. The crack widened to 25 feet before the vessel could reach safety but the damage was repaired and it returned to service. The original name was restored in 2004 and the vessel was last on the lakes in 2009.

2003 A fire in the after end of the CALEDONIA on the Heddle Dry Dock in Hamilton was contained to one deck. The vessel was there for conversion to a sailing ship and the work was eventually completed. The ship had visited the Great Lakes as the coastal freighter PETREL in the late 1970s but was much more at home around Maritime Canada and Hudson Bay. As a sailing ship, it carries 77 passengers and visits Caribbean ports.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Wisconsin budget would cut money for port projects

3/20 - Superior, Wis. – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget will cut funding to Wisconsin's Harbor Assistance Program. The fund helps pay for harbor projects like dock repairs, ship building and more, Last year, the program received nearly $13 million.

Under the current budget proposal, all bonding for ports has been eliminated, which leaves barely $1 million for harbor improvements.

If this goes through, Fraser Shipyards in Superior says facility improvements will slow down considerably and cause a major set back in developing infrastructure.

Director of Operations Tom Curelli says although highways and bridges are also important, the waterborne transportation is vital for the economy.

"The waterways is pretty important. For a boat to come in and be able to use those waterways it needs a dock facility, material handling, cargo handling, transportation, interfaces and all those kinds of things that this grant helps with," Curelli said.

Fraser's multi-million dollar dock improvement project will not be affected because it has already been approved. But any future projects will be affected.

There is still a lot of discussion within the current proposal. A final decision will be made this summer.


On 20 March 1885, MICHIGAN (Hull#48), (iron propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 215 foot, 1,183 tons) of the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railroad was sunk by ice off Grand Haven, Michigan.

The sidewheeler NEW YORK was sold Canadian in 1877, hopefully at a bargain price, because when she was hauled out on the ways on 20 March 1878, at Rathburn's yard in Kingston, Ontario, to have her boiler removed, her decayed hull fell apart and could not be repaired. Her remains were burned to clear the ways.

On 20 March 1883, the E. H. MILLER of Alpena, Michigan (wooden propeller tug, 62 foot, 30 gross tons, built in 1874, at East Saginaw, Michigan) was renamed RALPH. She was abandoned in 1920.

1938: ¬ A fire of an undetermined cause destroyed the passenger steamer CITY OF BUFFALO while it was fitting out for the 1938 season at the East 9th St. Pier in Cleveland The blaze began late the previous day and 11 fire companies responded. The nearby CITY OF ERIE escaped the flames, as did the SEEANDBEE.

2011” ¬ The Indian freighter APJ ANJLI was built in 1982 and began visiting the Great Lakes in 1990. It was sailing as c) MIRACH, and loaded with 25,842 tons of iron ore, when it ran aground 3 miles off the coast of India on March 20, 2011. Four holds were flooded and the crew of 25 was removed. The hull subsequently broke in two and was a total loss

[yachtsmanwilly]

Duluth, Minn.
John G. Munson left her layup berth at Superior on Sunday, fueled, then headed over to load taconite at the CN dock. Expected to depart on Monday, she will likely make the first downbound passage at the Soo Locks, en route to Gary, Ind.

Detroit, Mich.
The upbound Alpena made it to Detroit on Sunday, where it fueled at the Mistersky dock. By early evening she was in the lower part of the St. Clair River near Algonac, and by 11 p.m. had made it out into Lake Huron.

Milwaukee, Wis.
Edwin H. Gott departed layup Sunday morning bound for Two Harbors, Minn.





Concerns arise after former Canadian Navy ship Cormorant topples in N.S. harbor

3/23 - Bridgewater, N.S. – Residents in Bridgewater are growing increasingly concerned after a former Royal Canadian Navy ship docked in the town's harbor tilted over due to heavy ice and snow.

The vessel, previously commissioned as HMCS Cormorant, has been sitting in LaHave River with a 40-degree list since Wednesday.

The trouble began a few weeks ago, when the Canadian Coast Guard says ice and snow collected on the ship's deck, causing it to tilt. And when water found its way into the hold on Wednesday, the ship started to sink.

"The vessel seems to be sitting on the bottom, as it sits right now," Keith Laidlaw, a senior response officer with the Coast Guard, told CTV Atlantic. "It hasn't moved through the tide cycles in the last couple of days, so we don't believe it will move anymore, but that is speculation.”

Locals are concerned that the damage incurred to the vessel could lead to chemicals spilling into the river.

"My kids got to grow up (here) and … I don't want him to have to not be able to go into the water here, just because of pollutants," said Donnie Walker.

The ship contains nearly 200 litres of diesel fuel, as well as some lubrication oil and hydraulic fluids in the main engine crankcases.

What was once a proud part of the Canadian Forces, is now considered an eyesore by Bridgewater residents.

"I hope they can get it up there, I don't know what's causing it to go that way, they say it's the ice, but I don’t know," said Margaret Schmeisser.

Local fire crews have been called in by the ship's owners to help clean the ice and snow off the deck. The hope was that inspectors could then gain access to the hatches and inspect the ship's hold.

The Coast Guard says that refloating a ship of this size is expected to be a complex and expensive process, which may require special equipment from outside the province.

The ship, which began as an Italian fishing trawler, was involved in several high-profile missions as a Royal Canadian Navy dive tender.

The onboard mini-sub was used to recover the bell from the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank in Lake Superior in 1975 after it was hit by a storm.

The sub was also used to visit the wreck of the Breadalbane, which was a British merchant barque that was crushed by ice and sank in the Arctic in 1853. Following the disappearance John Franklin's expedition to the Northwest Passage, the Breadalbane helped to supply the vessels that were searching Arctic waters for Franklin and his crew.

The vessel has changed hands a couple times since its days in the navy, and now belongs to a group of creditors who hope to sell it.

Cormorant transited the Seaway during the season 1989, and also the seasons 1994 to 1997.

CTV News, René Beauchamp

The National Transportation Safety Board unanimously voted on March 23,1978, to reject the U. S. Coast Guard's official report supporting the theory of faulty hatches in their EDMUND FITZGERALD investigation. Later the N.T.S.B. revised its verdict and reached a majority vote to agree that the sinking was caused by taking on water through one or more hatch covers damaged by the impact of heavy seas over her deck. This is contrary to the Lake Carriers Association's contention that her foundering was caused by flooding through bottom and ballast tank damage resulting from bottoming on the Six Fathom Shoal between Caribou and Michipicoten Islands.

On 23 March 1850, TROY (wooden side-wheel passenger/package freighter, 182 foot, 546 tons, built in 1845, at Maumee, Ohio) exploded and burned at Black Rock, New York. Up to 22 lives were lost. She was recovered and rebuilt the next year and lasted until 1860.

On 23 March 1886, Mr. D. N. Runnels purchased the tug KITTIE HAIGHT.

The 3,280 ton motor vessel YANKCANUCK commanded by Captain W. E. Dexter, docked at the Canadian Soo on 23 March 1964, to officially open the 1964 navigation season for that port. Captain Dexter received the traditional silk hat from Harbormaster Frank Parr in a brief ceremony aboard the vessel. The ship arrived in the Sault from Windsor, Ontario. Captain Dexter said the trip from Windsor was uneventful and he had no trouble with ice. This was the first time a ship from the Yankcanuck line had won the honor of opening the Sault Harbor.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Soo Locks prepare for first vessel arrivals of 2015 season

3/24 - With less than a day left before the official opening of the Soo Locks at 12:01 a.m. on March 25, the Soo Locks are preparing for the first vessel arrivals.

On March 23 the 1,000-footer Edwin H. Gott, expected to be the first upbound vessel at the locks, was passing Mackinaw Island by 10 p.m. with assistance from the USCG Cutter Biscayne Bay. Meanwhile, at the west end of Lake Superior, the John G. Munson departed Duluth bound for Gary with a load of taconite pellets. The Munson is expected to be the first downbound vessel at the Soo Locks.

This is also the second consecutive season in a row that vessels from the Great Lakes Fleet have opened the Soo Locks. In 2014 the Cason J. Callaway was the first vessel arrival on April 4 to lock through and was also the first downbound vessel. The Callaway's fleetmate the Roger Blough was the first upbound vessel at the Soo Locks in 2014.



Port Reports - March 24

Duluth, Minn. – Ed Labernik
John G. Munson departed Duluth at 4:30 pm Monday. The Munson loaded iron ore pellets at CN Duluth and is downbound for Gary, Ind.

St. Marys River
Spring breakout continues, with the USCG cutter Mackinaw locking upbound on a sunny Monday to conduct ice operations above the locks and on Whitefish Bay in preparation for Wednesday’s season opener. Meanwhile, Roger Blough was expected in the river sometime Tuesday, ice permitting, after passing Port Huron upbound late Monday afternoon.

Escanaba, Mich.
Joyce L. VanEnkevort and barge Great Lakes Trader departed winter layup Monday. Wilfred Sykes is already headed back for another load of taconite, her second of the season.

Sturgeon Bay, Wis.
Edgar B. Speer left winter layup late Monday afternoon, headed for Lake Superior.


Coast Guard plans to open West Neebish Channel on Thursday

3/24 - Vessel Traffic Service St. Marys River will open the waters between Nine Mile Point and Sawmill Point effective 8 a.m. March 26.

The Coast Guard will make every effort to minimize the impact to Neebish Island Ferry operations. However, Neebish Island residents should prepare for minor service interruptions as the ice descending into the Rock Cut will most certainly prevent the ferry from operating normally. In the event of an emergency and ferry service is interrupted, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie is standing by to transport a resident should the need arise to leave the island and can be reached at [phone].


St. Ignace and Mackinac Island waters to open

3/24 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. - The Coast Guard will open the waters between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island at 8 a.m. on March 27.

Great Lakes levels high as spring begins

3/24 - Green Bay, Wis. – An early freeze this winter season helped set the stage for major ice coverage of the Great Lakes, usually a good sign that water levels will remain high for most of the year.

"For the Lake Michigan-Huron basin, we'll be eight to nine inches above average for the next six months," said Lauren Fry, lead forecaster for the Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit, which monitors lake levels.

She made the comment this week, just as winter officially drew to a close at the start of the vernal equinox, which began in this time zone at 5:15 p.m. Friday.

Lake levels are usually at their seasonal low in winter, just before the spring melt-off. Because of good ice cover and heavy snow in the last two years, water levels have been on the high side, Fry said. This winter, the basin didn't experience much snow, but good ice cover limited evaporation, which preserved water levels.

"We were starting at a pretty high water level to begin with," Fry said.

Spring won't bring a large increase to water levels because much of the snow already has melted off, she said.

"The lower part of the basin is already melted, so we're not going to see the big rise in stream discharge to the lakes like we did last year," she said. "That snow is already melted. It's still melting in Superior and Huron, but not like we saw last year."

Green Bay Press Gazette


ALPENA (Hull#177) was launched on March 24, 1909, at Wyandotte, Michigan, by Detroit Ship Building Co. for the Wyandotte Transportation Co.

IRVIN L. CLYMER was launched March 24, 1917, as a.) CARL D. BRADLEY (Hull#718) at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. the third self-unloader in the Bradley Transportation Co. fleet.

The SAMUEL MATHER was transferred on March 24, 1965, to the newly-formed Pickands Mather subsidiary Labrador Steamship Co. Ltd. (Sutcliffe Shipping Co. Ltd., operating agents), Montreal, Quebec, to carry iron ore from their recently opened Wabush Mines ore dock at Pointe Noire, Quebec to U.S. blast furnaces on Lakes Erie and Michigan. She was renamed b.) POINTE NOIRE.

PETER ROBERTSON was launched March 24, 1906, as a) HARRY COULBY (Hull#163) at Wyandotte, Michigan, by Detroit Ship Building Co. for the L. C. Smith Transit Co., Syracuse, New York.

On 24 March 1874, the 181-foot, 3-mast wooden schooner MORNING STAR was launched at E. Saginaw, Michigan, by Crosthwaite.

On 24 March 1876, CITY OF SANDUSKY (wooden side-wheel passenger/package freight vessel, 171 foot, 608 gross tons, built in 1866, at Sandusky, Ohio) burned and sank in the harbor at Port Stanley, Ontario.

On 24 March 1876, MINNIE CORLETT (wooden scow-schooner, 107 gross tons, built before 1866) was sailing light from Chicago, Illinois, to Two Rivers, Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan when she stranded and then sank. No lives were lost.

1905: The wooden passenger and freight carrier LAKESIDE was built in Windsor in 1888. It spent most of its life operating between Niagara and Toronto. During fit out on this date in 1905, the ship sank at the dock in Port Dalhousie when water was sucked in through the seacock after the engine filling the boiler shut down. The hull was refloated and returned to service until the DALHOUSIE CITY was built in 1911.

1981: The West German freighter ANNA REHDER first came through the Seaway in 1967 when it was two years old. It was sold and renamed LESLIE in 1973. The captain last reported his position on this date in 1981 and that they were encountering heavy weather while en route from Boulogne, France, to Umm Said, Qatar. There was no further word and it is believed that the ship went down with all hands in the Atlantic off the coast of Spain. A ring buoy was later found north of Cape Finnestere.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Ice and cold delay opening of St. Lawrence Seaway

3/25 - Toronto, Ont. – It may officially be spring, but lingering cold weather has prompted the St. Lawrence Seaway to delay its opening, originally scheduled for Friday, until April.

“To no one’s surprise, the extended bout of cold weather has adjusted many plans including the Seaway’s,” said spokesman Andrew Bogora, noting the thickness of ice sheets on the Seaway and on the Great Lakes is a factor. “Due to the recent cold snap, the melting of ice has taken place at a leisurely pace,” he said.

The Seaway is now slated to open to ships on April 2 – the first time that’s happened that late since 1997. It usually opens around March 25, give or a take a few days.

Even when the Seaway — which extends from Montreal to mid-Lake Erie, using a system of locks — does open, it will be a slow ramp-up. “It will likely be a week before shipping picks up in earnest,” said Bogora.

Robert Lewis-Manning, president and CEO of the Canadian Shipowners Association, said his members supported the delay. “There’s no point sitting in ice because it’s not delivering cargo,” he said.

But with the target opening date looming, Lewis-Manning worries that the incredible winter conditions that remain from Lake Superior to the East Coast means additional Coast Guard ice breakers won’t be moved to the Great Lakes as they were last year.

“Demand on the East Coast is greater than it was. It’s forcing the Coast Guard to spread their assets thinly,” he said, pointing to the exceptional ice buildup on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Earlier this month, passenger ferry service was suspended between Quebec and Newfoundland at one point, and a Marine Atlantic ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland got stuck in ice, and had to have an ice breaker rescue it.

“It is stop-and-go about how the Coast Guard may be able to respond to the conditions in a week’s time,” Lewis-Manning said. “We need predictability and reliability for customers who are shipping. This doesn’t just affect the ship owners. It affects the supply chain.”

Because many ships are docked across the Great Lakes for maintenance, some may need assistance from ice breakers to get out of ports.

“In parts of the Great Lakes, deliberate escorts will be needed at the beginning, especially Lake Erie and Lake Superior,” he said.

The locks at Sault Ste. Marie are scheduled to open at midnight on Wednesday — with a U.S. freighter carrying iron ore from Duluth, Minn., expected to be the first to cross downstream. Four empty freighters will be heading the opposite direction to collect iron ore.

“Last year’s winter was record-setting. It was the worst ice in 35 years, in terms of coverage and thickness,” said Mark Gill, director of vessel traffic services for the U.S. Coast Guard in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

When the locks there opened last year on March 25, the first ship didn’t pass through until April 4.

“This year, the ice coverage is similar, but we have nowhere near the thickness. It’s up to 35 per cent less,” he said in a telephone interview, noting on eastern Lake Superior some ice is only 2 feet compared with 4 feet a year ago.

But that doesn’t mean it is easy work. “You still have to smash through it and break it. It’s a contact sport,” said Gill, but added Lake Erie and Lake Ontario have more ice than last year, leading to the Seaway’s later opening.

“It gives Mother Nature a chance to warm up,” he said.

The U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard co-ordinate their efforts with eight U.S. ice breakers and two Canadian ones — Griffon and Samuel Risley — on the Great Lakes, with the possibility of two additional Canadian ones coming, said Gill. “We have enough to make due,” he said, adding if a path is opened, sunlight and warmer air can help. “Once we get some traffic going, it helps to demolish the ice.”

In an emailed statement, the Canadian Coast Guard said it has to prioritize activities for services over a vast area.

“A number of large winter storms in February, accompanied by strong winds and cold temperatures, have contributed to the rapid development of thick ice,” said Johnny Leclair, regional director of fleet for the Canadian Coast Guard’s Central and Arctic region.

Leclair said in the email that the ice breaker Martha L. Black should arrive in the Seaway by Wednesday, and the ice breaker Pierre Radisson, based near Quebec City, will head to the Great Lakes within the next week.

The Star


3/25 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – As night fell Tuesday, the upbound Edwin H. Gott, followed by the Roger Blough, were stopped until daylight below Mission Point. The cutter Mobile Bay was hove to near Nine Mile and the cutter Mackinaw was above the locks. The Gott, expected to be the first upbounder for the season, followed by the Blough, will tie on the locks pier to await an improvement in ice conditions above the locks before passing through. The locks officially open at 12:01 a.m. today.

At 10 p.m. Tuesday, John G. Munson and the cutter Alder were downbound off Marquette. The Munson will be the first downbound passage.

The public is invited to the annual open house to celebrate the first day of shipping at the Soo Locks Visitors Center, hosted by the Soo Locks Visitors Center Association. Join them for light refreshments, hopefully some nice views of the Gott and Blough from the park and a chance to share boat stories with like-minded folks. The open house runs from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Wednesday.

This will not be the first time that the Gott has opened the shipping season at the Soo Locks. In 2004 the Gott was also the first vessel. This will also be the second consecutive season that a vessel from the Great Lakes Fleet has also opened the Soo Locks. In 2014 the Cason J. Callaway became the first vessel on April 4 to open the Soo downbound, while fleetmate Roger Blough was the first upbound vessel.

Prior to the 2014 season, the Interlake Steamship Co. had their vessels open the Soo Locks from the 2010-2013 shipping seasons. The last time that a Canadian vessel opened the Soo Locks was during the 2009 season, when the tanker Algosar became the first vessel.


2015 S.S. Badger Gathering reservations now being taken

3/25 - Plans have been completed for the annual Boatnerd Gathering aboard the S.S. Badger for a round trip from Ludington, Mich. to Manitowoc, Wis. and return on Saturday, May 30. While in Manitowoc, Boatnerds will have an option to reboard the Badger for a Wisconsin Shoreline Cruise or visit the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. Staying on board the Badger on Friday night, May 29, is also an option. Friday night guests will be treated to guided tours of the pilothouse and engine room, and buffet breakfast on Saturday morning. Only 28 staterooms are available. Make your reservation today.


Seven Pacesetter ports announced

3/25 - Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation has announced that seven U.S. ports in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System are receiving the prestigious Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award for registering increases in international cargo tonnage shipped through their ports during the 2014 navigation season compared to the previous year.

The winners of the Pacesetter Award for 2014 are the Port of Indiana - Burns Harbor, the Port of Erie, the Port of Duluth-Superior, the Port of Milwaukee, the Port of Cleveland, the Port of Toledo, and the Port of Oswego.

“The Great Lakes Seaway System realized a 7.6 percent tonnage increase from 2013 to 2014, a strong performance that reflects the increasing strength of the overall economy,” said SLSDC Administrator Betty Sutton. “Marine transportation remains a catalyst for jobs and productivity for the local economies where these ports are situated and throughout the Great Lakes region.”

Commodities accounting for almost all of the increases in international cargo handled by the seven Pacesetter port winners included asphalt, petroleum products, aluminum, steel, and grain.

High value project cargo such as locomotive cars, electrical transformers and fermentation tanks were also handled during the 2014 navigation season.

American Great Lakes Ports Association


Report on health of Canada’s waters accuses Ottawa of willful negligence

3/25 - Canada is taking its vast freshwater resources for granted, wrecking them in the process, says a scathing new report.

Titled Blue Betrayal, it also warns that climate change; industrial farming; melting glaciers; oil, gas and mineral extraction; and dumping of waste — sometimes toxic waste — into our waterways are all growing threats to our diminishing water supplies.

The report, authored by Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians, a non-governmental organization, accuses Ottawa of turning its back on water resources to advance the interests of the energy industry.

“On both sides of the border, we continue to see the Great Lakes as a dumping ground for our toxic waste, and more recently, as a carbon corridor to transport tar sands bitumen, fracked gas and fracking wastewater,” Barlow said on Monday, calling those the “most dangerous energy sources on Earth.”

A big chunk of the report talks about the steps Ottawa has taken that have made freshwater resources more vulnerable, such as targeting scientific institutes and projects that did important work. Included in that list is the plan to dismantle the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA), the world’s leading freshwater research institute.

The facility has been saved, at least temporarily, by the Ontario and Manitoba governments.

The report also accuses past Liberal and Conservative governments of allowing Canada’s lakes, rivers and groundwater to deteriorate.

Environment Canada did not respond to a request for comment.

The report comes on the heels of World Water Day, marked last Sunday. It doesn’t paint a healthy picture of the Great Lakes, a source of livelihood for more than 40 million people in Canada and U.S.

It says there are at least 204 pollutants in the Great Lakes, including plastic in various forms. Fish in the Great Lakes are loaded with contaminants such as mercury, dioxins and lead, it adds. The state of the Great Lakes is particularly worrisome for environmentalists because of blue-green algae, which has made a comeback in recent years.

Mark Mattson of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper says Toledo’s drinking water advisory last summer was a wake-up call that “we can’t take the Great Lakes for granted.”

Toledo’s nearly 500,000 residents were told not to use water for drinking, cooking or bathing in August 2014 after tests at a treatment plant showed dangerous toxin levels due to a toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie, from which the city draws its drinking water.

“You don’t expect communities around the Great Lakes to have any drinking water advisories,” said Mattson. “We mainly see these advisories in small, rural communities … because the Great Lakes can mask these problems for much longer than these small places.”

This report isn’t the only one this week warning of the dire consequences of misusing water resources: a United Nations report, released in New Delhi, warned there could be a 40 per cent shortfall in water globally in 15 years unless countries dramatically change their use of the resource.

The world’s population is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050 and more groundwater will be needed for farming, industry and personal consumption, said the report.

Demand for water will increase 55 per cent by 2050, it said. But many underground water reserves are already running low and rainfall patterns are predicted to become more erratic with climate change, the report pointed out.

The Star



Today in Great Lakes History - March 25

HENRY G. DALTON (Hull#713) was launched March 25, 1916, at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co., for the Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio – the company's first 600 footer.

FRANK R. DENTON was launched March 25, 1911, as a.) THOMAS WALTERS (Hull#390) at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. for the Interstate Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio.

On March 25, 1927, heavy ice caused the MAITLAND NO 1, to run off course and she grounded on Tecumseh Shoal on her way to Port Maitland, Ontario. Eighteen hull plates were damaged which required repairs at Ashtabula, Ohio.

The steamer ENDERS M. VOORHEES participated in U.S. Steel's winter-long navigation feasibility study during the 1974-75 season, allowing only one month to lay up from March 25th to April 24th.

March 25, 1933 - Captain Wallace Henry "Andy" Van Dyke, master of the Steamer PERE MARQUETTE 22, suffered a heart attack and died peacefully in his cabin while en route to Ludington, Michigan.

1966: The French freighter ROCROI made one trip through the Seaway in 1959. The ship arrived at Halifax on this date in 1966 with interior damage after the 'tween decks, loaded with steel, collapsed crushing tractors and cars beneath. The vessel was repaired and survived until 1984 when, as e) THEOUPOLIS, it hit a mine en route to Berbera, Somalia, on August 14, 1984. The vessel was badly damaged and subsequently broken up in India.

1973: The former MONTREAL CITY caught fire as b) RATCHABURI at Bangkok, Thailand, on March 24, 1973. It was loading a cargo of jute and rubber for Japan on its first voyage for new Thai owners. The vessel was scuttled and sank on March 25 in Pattani Bay, South Thailand. The ship began coming through the Seaway for the Bristol City Line when new in 1963.

[yachtsmanwilly]

3/25 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – The mighty 1,000-footer Edwin H. Gott tried her best to be the first boat to lock through the Soo Locks late Wednesday morning, but in the end she was bested by ice in the lock chamber and had to back out and tie up at the east center pier to wait for conditions to improve. Fleetmate Roger Blough was tied up astern of her.

Wednesday evening the Corps tug Whitefish Bay was working to clear ice from the Poe Lock wall, while USCG Mobile Bay was cutting track in the upper approaches. By 8:30 p.m., the Gott was making a second run at the lock; this time she was successful and by 9:30 was clearing the lock.

The Gott initially started going upbound through the locks around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. A welcoming party of community leaders and residents celebrated the Gott and its crew as it passed by during a heavy snow squall. But the excitement was short-lived as ice brought the passage to a crunching halt.

Also, on Wednesday evening, the downbound John G. Munson and USCG cutter Alder were nearing Whitefish Point. If all goes well, the Munson will be the first downbound passage sometime on Thursday.

The Soo Locks shut down for routine maintenance January 15. Since then, more than 200 men and women have been working to repair lock valves, install fender timbers and make other seasonal repairs.

In total, the agency spent $9.5 million on various projects to enhance the reliability of the Poe and MacArthur locks. These projects included steel repair on Gate #3 of the Poe Lock; filling/emptying valve repair on the Poe Lock; replacement of the pintal bearing on Gate #1 of the Poe Lock; rehabilitation of the MacArthur Lock's electrical system; upgrading the compressed air distribution system that assists with ice control at both locks; and miscellaneous small maintenance projects. These improvements ensure the safety of the vessels and crews that will transit the locks over the next nine months.

"We're looking forward to the new shipping season," said Mark Barker, president of the Interlake Steamship Company based in Ohio. "Coming off the second consecutive year of heavy ice on the lakes, our vessel, the Mesabi Miner, finally left the Port of Duluth-Superior late Monday evening after loading coal at the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal."

"While the ice isn't as bad as last year, it is still challenging," said Tim Heney, CEO of the Thunder Bay Port Authority. As the largest grain export port on the lakes, the Soo Locks are essential to Thunder Bay since 100 percent of their trade moves through the locks down to the Welland Canal and out through the Seaway. "The majority of our grain leaves the Port on Lakers for transloading onto ocean vessels in Quebec destined for customers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. We also load ocean vessels for direct export," added Heney.

Up North Live, Duluth News Tribune,

[yachtsmanwilly]

Port Inland, Mich.
Wilfred Sykes is tentatively scheduled to be the first vessel arrival at Port Inland for the 2015 shipping season. They are expected to arrive on Sunday, March 29 during the morning to load.

Sturgeon Bay, Wis.
Early Thursday morning the Great Lakes Fleet ship Edgar B. Speer returned to Bay Shipbuilding and went right into the graving dock for possible underwater repairs. A video posted to Youtube Thursday showed the Speer making contact with the wall of the Sturgeon Bay ship canal.

Muskegon, Mich.
The cement barge Innovation arrived at Muskegon harbor at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Stoneport, Mich.
The tug Joyce L. Van Enkevort and barge Great Lakes Trader became the first vessel for the 2015 shipping season to load at Stoneport. They had arrived on Tuesday and departed on Wednesday and are due back to load once again on Tuesday, March 31 in the morning.

Sarnia, Ont.
Algoma Olympic, a 730-foot-long self-unloading freighter owned by the Algoma Central Corporation of St. Catharines, Ont., became the first vessel to depart from Sarnia for the 2015-16 shipping season. Algoma Olympic departed during the morning of March 26 enroute to Superior, Wis. to load taconite ore pellets at the BNSF #5 ore dock. The remaining vessels in winter lay-up in Sarnia include the Cuyahoga and Calumet, Robert S. Pierson, CSL Niagara, Peter R. Cresswell, Capt. Henry Jackman and Algosteel. The tanker Algosar also remains in lay-up at the former CN Rail Ferry Dock just downriver from the Sarnia Harbor area. Algoma Hansa arrived in Sarnia Thursday afternoon for short-term layup.


Tug clears shipping lane on Muskegon Lake

3/27 - Muskegon, Mich. – The Great Lake shipping season has begun with Wednesday's opening of locks at Sault Ste. Marie. And in Muskegon Thursday morning, a large tug was cutting a shipping channel in the ice to one of the busiest commercial docks on Muskegon Lake.

The tug Barbara Andrie cleared a path from Lake Michigan to the Lafarge dock downtown. Lafarge operates a cement mixing facility on Muskegon Lake and will soon resume receiving material by freighter.

The Coast Guard in Muskegon was already warning anglers to stay off Muskegon Lake after two fishermen fell through the ice this past weekend. The breaking of the ice Thursday morning is another signal the ice on Muskegon Lake is not safe and should soon be gone.

WZZM13


Great Lakes ice compared to last year shows astonishing difference

3/27 - Great Lakes ice has been decreasing quickly in the past few weeks. Given all the extreme cold we had in February, there is an astonishing difference in the amount of ice currently on the Great Lakes when compared to last year.

It was a record-setting snowy and cold November and February in much of Michigan. The early cold caused ice to develop on the Great Lakes earlier than anytime in the last 40 years. The February cold created more ice, with Great Lakes ice cover peaking this year in early March.

As of March 16, 2015 the entire Great Lakes were 55 percent covered with ice. But on the same day last year, ice cover was much higher: 75 percent.

The image of Lake Superior ice is very dramatic. Last year on March 16 Lake Superior was 91 percent ice covered. This year it is still icy, but only with 72 percent ice cover. Lake Michigan was down to 31 percent ice cover March 16, 2015 compared to 52 percent last year on that date.

M Live



The steamer b.) EDWARD S. KENDRICK was launched March 27, 1907, as a.) H.P. McINTOSH (Hull#622) at West Bay City, Michigan, by West Bay City Ship Building Co. for the Gilchrist Transportation Co., Cleveland, Ohio.

Nipigon Transport Ltd. (Carryore Ltd., mgr., Montreal, Quebec) operations came to an end when the fleet was sold on March 27, 1986, to Algoma Central's Marine Division at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

On 27 March 1841, BURLINGTON (wooden sidewheeler, 150 tons, built in 1837, at Oakville, Ontario) was destroyed by fire at Toronto, Ontario. Her hull was later recovered and the 98-foot, 3-mast schooner SCOTLAND was built on it in 1847, at Toronto.

On 27 March 1875, the steamer FLORA was launched at Wolf & Davidson's yard in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her dimensions were 275-foot keel x 27 foot x 11 foot.

On 27 March 1871, the small wooden schooner EMMA was taken out in rough weather by the commercial fishermen Charles Ott, Peter Broderick, Jacob Kisinger and John Meicher to begin the fishing season. The vessel capsized at about 2:00 p.m., 10 miles southwest of St. Joseph, Michigan and all four men drowned.

C E REDFERN (wooden schooner, 181 foot, 680 gross tons) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan by F. W. Wheeler (Hull #65) on 27 March 1890. Dimensions: 190' x 35' x 14.2'; 680 g.t.; 646 n.t. Converted to a motorship in 1926. Foundered on September 19, 1937, four miles off Point Betsie Light, Lake Michigan. The loss was covered in an unsourced news clipping from Sept. 1937: Freighter Wrecked Eleven Are Saved. Ship Founders in Lake Michigan. Sault Ste. Marie, Sept. 20 - (Special) - Eleven members of the crew of the 181-foot wooden-hulled freighter C. E. Redfern, which foundered in Lake Michigan on Saturday night four miles northwest of Point Betsie Lighthouse, were rescued by coastguard cutter Escanaba. The men were landed safely at Frankfort, Michigan, and it is reported that considerable wreckage of the cargo of logs, decking and deckhouse of the ill-fated vessel were strewn about and floating towards shore.

1916: The steel bulk carrier EMPRESS OF MIDLAND came to the Great Lakes for the Midland Navigation Co. in 1907 and left in 1915 when requisitioned for war service in 1915. The vessel hit a mine laid by UC-1 nine miles south of the Kentish Knock Light on this date in 1916. The ship developed a starboard list and 18 took to the lifeboat. Five more sailors jumped into the English Channel and were picked up by the lifeboat. The vessel, en route from Newcastle, UK to Rouen, France, with a cargo of coal, subsequently sank.

1964: The Victory ship MORMACPINE came through the Seaway on 13 occasions between 1960-1967. Fire broke out in the cargo hold on this date in 1964 while en route to Bermuda and U.S.C.G. HALF MOON escorted the vessel to safety. The ship resumed trading until arriving at the scrapyard in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on July 18, 1970.

1965: The Norwegian tanker NORA began Great Lakes visits in 1960. It caught fire and burned in the English Channel after a collision with the large tanker OTTO N. MILLER 10 miles south of Beachy Head in dense fog at 0737 hours on March 27, 1965. The vessel was a total loss and arrived at Santander, Spain, under tow for scrapping in June 1965.

1979: FEDERAL PALM was built by Port Weller Dry Docks in 1961 and left the Great Lakes for Caribbean and later South Pacific service. The passenger and freight carrier was sailing as b) CENPAC ROUNDER when it was blown aground by Typhoon Meli on Vothalailai Reef in the late night hours of March 27, 1979. The hull was refloated on April 27 but was beyond economical repair and arrived at Busan, South Korea, for scrapping in June 1979. The image of this Great Lakes built ship has appeared on postage stamps issued for both Grenada and Tulavu.


Shipping, ferry service to be delayed in Georgian Bay due to ice

3/26 - Owen Sound, Ont. – In Owen Sound harbor, three large ships, including the ferry that carries travellers to Manitoulin Island remains frozen firmly in place and for the first time in 18 years, the official opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway is being delayed until April 2 because of heavy ice conditions.

The Canadian Coast Guard is expected to send an icebreaker to free these ships sometime in early April, but the ferry Chi-Cheemaun could be delayed even longer because the vessel is designed for summer operation and floating chunks of ice could damage it.

The president of the Owen Sound Transportation Company, Susan Schrempf, says the Chi-Cheemaun's spring sailing schedule has been pushed back to May 5 after it makes its annual cruise north to Tobermory.

“The sailing schedule has been delayed, but only by a few days based on our experience in 2014,” says Schrempf. “We did not want to wait until the last minute to make this announcement. “

The company says now that the decision has been made to delay the start of the ferry season, it will not reschedule again even if the ice does clear from the bay.

CTV


Pipe Island Passage to open

3/26 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – The Captain of the Port will open Pipe Island Passage in the lower St. Marys River effective at 8 a.m. March 28. A Coast Guard icebreaker will conduct icebreaking operations to open the Pipe Island Passage, north and east of Pipe Island.

USCG





Shipwreck fragment reappears along Lake Michigan

3/26 - Empire, Mich. – Finding pieces of shipwrecks is relatively common in northern Michigan, but when and where they will show up is hard to predict.

The melting ice and high water levels helped a fragment of a shipwreck reappear on the shoreline in Empire. It's believed to be from the Jennie & Annie schooner that came ashore in 1872.

"The water levels change, the lakeshore’s currents change, storms come along and the beach gets eroded, and those things are here or they are offshore and sometimes they come ashore," said Laura Quackenbush, a historian with the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

It’s a piece they've seen many times before, with the last time being in 2012. But due to the changing water levels, they never know when it'll appear. “It just changes all the time,” said Quackenbush.

She said the Manitou Passage was one of the most traveled stretches of Lake Michigan, causing lots of shipwrecks in the area.

"Since a lot of boat traffic came through here especially in the 19th century without the kind of navigation equipment we have today lots of them foundered, came ashore, were wrecked or beached and were refloated along the shoreline," said Quackenbush.

She said whether you're diving or wandering the beach, it's possible to stumble upon shipwrecks.

"You may look at this today and then you may not see it for five or 10 years and may come back when you bring your grand kids and go ‘oh, there it is again’,” said Quackenbush. “So it makes that kind of wonderful, that self-discovery which is possible with the shoreline shipwrecks."

Up North Live

[yachtsmanwilly]

$244M economic impact shows importance of Lake Erie commercial fishery

3/30 - Windsor, Ont. – Lake Erie’s commercial fishing and processing industry has an economic impact of more than $244 million and includes the world’s largest freshwater commercial fishing industry in Wheatley. Yet few realize that, industry leaders say.

“Most people in Windsor don’t even know there’s a fishing industry here in Lake Erie,” Tony Giacalone, president of fish processor La Nassa Foods in Kingsville, said Wednesday. “There are a lot of politicians who don’t even know we exist.”

The Ontario Commercial Fisheries’ Association wants to change that. It has a new study done by the B.C. business consulting firm MNP with the numbers to show the industry’s significance.

The study says Ontario’s commercial fisheries and related processing industry have an economic impact of about $305 million and $244 million of that was Lake Erie’s share. The commercial fishing boats on Lake Erie have a $50-million economic impact and the fish processing industry has another $194-million impact.

The combined industries have 913 direct jobs, 1,490 jobs overall and an estimated tax revenue of more than $20 million. “It’s been long overdue,” Tim Tiessen, president of the Ontario Commercial Fisheries’ Association, said of the analysis.

The impact is more than double earlier ballpark estimates, which didn’t include things like equipment purchases, transportation expenses and associated jobs. Tiessen said the report will be given to local politicians.

Jane Graham, the association’s executive director, said it will help the industry tell its story.

“We need to be on the radar screen,” she said. “We’re producing a good, healthy product and we need to get out there and be talking about how important we are.”

Giacalone said the industry faces similar pressures of the farm or food industry yet lacks recognition and funding opportunities with upper levels of government. Although the industry has consolidated from more than a dozen processing plants in the early 1980s to six in the Kingsville to Wheatley area, it is still significant for the small towns and a region that needs a diversified economy, Giacalone said.

This year’s commercial fishing quotas announced Tuesday will be about the same for local commercial fisherman.

The overall Lake Erie quota for walleye/pickerel will be 4.114 million fish, down slightly from 4.027 million fish in 2014. That’s for both Ontario’s commercial fishing industry and sport anglers on both sides of the border.

The yellow perch quota is decreasing about five per cent this year overall.

That means similar quotas for Essex County commercial fishermen, a 20 per cent quota increase for Chatham-Kent fishermen and a 20 per cent drop in Elgin County where most of the perch fishery is based, Tiessen said. “We’re pretty disappointed with the 20 per cent cut in Elgin County.”

The quota is set by fishery managers in Ontario, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

By the numbers:
$50M: Lake Erie’s commercial fishing industry is worth $50 million and employs about 715 people including 581 direct full-time equivalent jobs. The industry is estimated to contribute more than $6 million, directly and indirectly, in federal, provincial and municipal taxes.

$194M: Lake Erie’s fish processing industry employs 775 people including 332 direct jobs and has an economic impact of $194 million. The economic impact model calculated the processing industry contributes more than $14.7 million in taxes.

$31.8M: In 2012 the value of the commercial fish catch in Lake Erie was $31.8 million.

84: Walleye, yellow perch and lake whitefish made up 84 per cent of the 2012 commercial catch in Ontario.

Windsor Star



Today in Great Lakes History - March 30

The tanker CHEMICAL MAR arrived at Brownsville, Texas on March 30, 1983, in tow of the tug FORT LIBERTE to be scrapped. Built in 1966, as a.) BIRK. In 1979, she was renamed b.) COASTAL TRANSPORT by Hall Corp. of Canada, but never came to the lakes. She was sold by Hall and was renamed c.) CHEMICAL MAR in 1981.

March 30, 1985 - CITY OF MIDLAND's departure was delayed when her anchor snagged one that she had lost in Pere Marquette Lake the previous summer.

March 30, 1900, the carferry ANN ARBOR NO 2, grounded on the rocks east of the approach to the channel at Manistique, Michigan. She was pulled off quickly by the ANN ARBOR NO 3 and the tug GIFFORD. She was found to have bent a propeller shaft and broken rudder, resulting in a trip to the drydock at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1917: GERMANIC was the last wooden passenger ship built in Collingwood. It was completed there in 1899 and burned there, at the dock, on this date in 1917. The ship was part of Canada Steamship Lines at the time of loss. The hull settled on the bottom but was raised, towed towards Wasaga Beach, and run aground. The remains were torn apart for firewood during the Depression.

1940: The first THORDOC, a) J.A. McKEE, stranded at Winging Point, 10 miles southwest of Louisbourg, N.S., due to heavy fog. The ship was abandoned on April 1 and declared a total loss. This member of the Paterson fleet had been travelling in ballast and had been involved in Great Lakes trading since 1908.


Canadian Miner remains expected to be gone by mid-May

3/28 - Scatarie Island – Nova Scotia Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Minister Geoff MacLellan expects the last of the former laker Canadian Miner to be gone by the time lobster fishing season rolls around in mid-May.

The Miner ran aground on Scatarie Island in September 2011, while on its way to Turkey where it was supposed to be scrapped. The province began cleaning up the site last year, but work was delayed when 30 tonnes of asbestos was found and had to be removed. That moved the finish date from November until February, when the area was hit by a succession of snowstorms.

Now MacLellan expects everything to be completed by mid-May.

"We've had significant improved weather over the last four or five days so the progress has been steady," said MacLellan, who is MLA for Glace Bay. "At this point, there's only one significant piece of the structure still standing and the pieces that have been dismantled and pulled ashore are being prepared for scrap now."




He's even feeling optimistic that it could be gone even earlier.

"We're keeping steady communications with the stakeholders and the local community but we're feeling confident that it will be gone in its entirety by that mid-May point, and certainly with any luck in terms of the weather, it should be long before that."

Cape Breton Post


Special delivery: Paul R. Tregururta to transport Challenger pilothouse to Toledo

3/28 - Toledo, Ohio – When the 1,014-foot-long Paul R. Tregurtha departs winter layup at Bay Shipbuilding at Sturgeon Bay, Wis., in the next few days she will be carrying an extra pilot house.

The Tregurtha has been chosen to transport the pilot house of the former steamer St. Marys Challenger, reduced to a barge last year, to Toledo, Ohio, where it will go on display at the National Museum of the Great Lakes.

The Tregurtha will load iron ore in Escanaba, Mich., and then proceed down the lakes to unload at the Toledo, eventually delivering the artifact to Midwest Terminals International for future installation and exhibition at the nearby museum.

The Challenger, launched in 1906 as the William P. Snyder, was the first of six vessels built for the Shenango Furnace Co. She was later an Interlake vessel under the name Alex D. Chisholm, and was concerted to a cement carrier in 1966 by Medusa Portland Cement. Surviving tumultuous times in the industry when dozens of her iron ore trading counterparts were scrapped, and later being dwarfed by super-ships like the Tregurtha, the Challenger would operate under steam power for 107 years.

She was cut down to a barge in early 2014.

Determining that the object of greatest significance was the Challenger’s main navigation space, the owners had the pilothouse removed. It was sought after by dozens of regional museums.

The preservation effort was led by Great Lakes Historical Society Board Member Paul C. LaMarre III, known for his preservation efforts involving the Toledo museum ship Col. James M. Schoonmaker. LaMarre worked with Ed Hogan, vice president of operations for the vessel’s owner, Port City Steamship Services, and Port City’s Patrick McKee.

“It is a humbling honor to be able to bring two vessels of the Shenango Furnace Co. back together at our museum which we feel represents the past, present, and future of all that the Great Lakes have to offer,” said LaMarre.

Additionally fitting is that St Mary’s Cement continues to operate a marine terminal in the Port of Toledo and has been a staunch supporter of bringing the pilothouse home, he added.

With the help of Mark Barker, GLHS board member and president of the Interlake Steamship Co., the Challenger pilot house will make its final journey atop the fo’c’sle of the Paul R. Tregurtha on its first voyage of the season.

“This is a fitting tribute to one of our former vessels,” Barker said.

Though the pilothouse is expected to be available for viewing in 2016, museum goers can experience the history of the Challenger aboard the Schoonmaker from May through October, as the vessel is home to “Centennial: Steaming Through the American Century,” an exhibit which highlights the works of author and photographer Christopher Winters.

Winters will also be traveling aboard the Tregurtha to chronicle the historic journey, which will be part of a book to be co-authored with LaMarre, to be released through GLHS, and called “Iron Diamonds: The Living Legacy of the Shenango Furnace Co.”

National Museum of the Great Lakes