Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

On 20 May 1872, the ironclad passenger/package freight steamer MERCHANT struck a rock and sank at the mouth of the Detroit River. No one was injured. The wrecking tugs MAGNET and HERCULES took off the cargo of railroad iron and general merchandise, then attached two pontoons, but the vessel would not budge. On 26 May, the steamers MACKINAW and SWEEPSTAKES joined the scene and d two more pontoons. With all the steam pumps working, the MERCHANT still would not budge. Two days later, two more pontoons were added and the MERCHANT finally floated free and was towed to Detroit for repairs. She had two holes in her hull, one of which was a gash 23 feet long.

On May 20, 1909, while lying at the Lackawanna Coal Dock at Buffalo, New York, the LeGRAND S. DEGRAFF was struck by the SONORA, which caused $4,000 in damage to the DEGRAFF. Later renamed b.) GEORGE G. CRAWFORD in 1911. She was scrapped at Duluth, Minnesota in 1976.

The STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT sank on Lake Huron two miles above Port Huron, Michigan in a collision with the steamer AUGUST ZIESING on May 20, 1960, with no loss of life.

On May 20, 1967, during docking maneuvers in the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River, the W.W. HOLLOWAY's KaMeWa propeller shaft sheared off and the propeller reportedly sank to the bottom.

The RENOWN (Hull#396) was launched May 20, 1912, at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. for the Standard Oil Co. Renamed b.) BEAUMONT PARKS in 1930 and c.) MERCURY in 1957.

WILLIAM A. McGONAGLE (Hull#154) was launched May 20, 1916, at Ecorse, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. Renamed b.) HENRY STEINBRENNER in 1986.

On 20 May 1862, BAY CITY (wooden propeller tug, 199 foot, 480 tons, built in 1852, at Trenton, Michigan) sprang a leak in a storm and sank near Port Burwell, Ontario. She then washed in to shallow water. Her crew was rescued by the tug WINSLOW. Her engine and boiler were removed in June and July of that year.

On 20 May 1875, the passenger package freight vessel GLADYS was launched at D. Lestor's yard in Marine City, Michigan for the Toledo & Saginaw Transportation Company. Her dimensions were 135 feet overall x 26 feet x 10 feet. She had twelve staterooms and along with ample cargo space. The pilot house was forward, 8 feet square and 11 feet high. The engines, from the old ESTABROOK and, previous to that, from DAN RHODES, were two high-pressure double engines acting on one shaft with an 8 foot propeller. She also had a pony engine to feed water to the boilers and wash the decks. She was sold Canadian in 1877, and renamed NORTHERN BELLE and lasted until November 1898, when she burned on Georgian Bay.

1923 – The steel bulk carrier EDWARD U. DEMMER sank in the deep waters of Lake Huron after a collision with the SATURN at 0740 hours, in heavy fog, while about 40 miles southeast of Thunder Bay Island. All on board were saved.

1924 – STATE OF OHIO, an iron sidewheel passenger steamer, burned at Cleveland on this date in 1924. It was rebuilt as a barge but stranded on the main breakwall at Lorain on December 17, 1929, and became a total loss.

1928 – CLEARWATER stranded near Trinity Bay, in the St. Lawrence while inbound with a cargo of pulpwood and was blown on the beach. The brand-new vessel was abandoned to the insurers but the hull was salvaged in July, repaired and returned to service later in the year as TRENORA. It last sailed as KEYSHEY in 1963.

1942 – TORONDOC of the Paterson fleet went south for the bauxite trade during World War Two. German broadcasts reported that it was torpedoed and sunk by U-69 on this date. All of the 23-member crew were lost when the ship went down in the vicinity of the French island of Martinique.

1945 – CALGARY had operated on the Great Lakes from 1912 to 1916 but left for the sea and was converted to a tanker in 1921. The ship was renamed b) BACOI and served on coastal runs for Standard Oil and even returned to the Great Lakes in 1938. It suffered an explosion and fire while in the Cape Cod Canal on this date in 1945 and had to be beached. It was scrapped at Jersey City in 1948.

1946 – The Georgian Bay area passenger ship MANITOULIN stranded at Clapperton Island but was released the next day by the tug NORTHERN.

1960 – The STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT settled on the bottom of Lake Huron, with her decks above water, after a collision in fog with the upbound AUGUST ZIESING. The former was refloated, sold to Redwood Enterprises and came into Canadian service as ELMDALE. The latter resumed trading for U.S. Steel after bow repairs.

1960 – PAUL H. TOWNSEND was hit from behind by the British freighter TYNEMOUTH on foggy Lake Huron while trying to avoid the wrecked STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT and the anchored AUGUST ZIESING. The PAUL H. TOWNSEND had stern plates damaged while the salty sustained bow damage. TYNEMOUTH had become a regular Seaway trader in 1959 and made 18 trips inland through 1967. It ran aground off Fuga Island, the Philippines as b) EASTERN RIVER on April 24, 1971, and became a total loss.

1981 – The West German freighter VIRGILIA made 30 trips to the Great Lakes between 1959 and 1967. It was renamed b) MARIA in 1974 and suffered an engineroom fire in the Red Sea and had to be abandoned while enroute from Mersin, Turkey, to Bombay, India, on this date in 1981. The hull was towed to shallow water and beached about 5 miles south of Suez. It was later sold, via auction, and apparently scrapped as c) FARIDA II at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, in 1989.


The British freighter Filleigh was only two years old when it came to the Great Lakes for the first time in 1959. The 460 foot long by 60 foot, 3 inch wide general cargo carrier made three trips through the Seaway during its inaugural year of operation but does not appear to have returned.

The vessel was sold and 1960, resold in 1963 and headed south for service under the flag of Peru as b) Ucayala on the latter occasion. Another sale in 1969 brought the final name of c) Anna Maria S. and this continued in service until it was wrecked 37 years ago today.

The vessel was on a voyage from Gdynia, Poland, to Tripoli when it ran aground about 15 miles southwest of Bornholm, Denmark, on May 20, 1978. The ship was refloated on May 29 and arrived at Kiel, West Germany, the following day for survey.

The news was not good as Anna Maris S. was declared a total loss and sold for scrap. It departed Kiel for Hamburg on Sept. 7, 1978, and was broken up at the latter location by Eckhardt & Co.


Help wanted: S.S. Badger

Lake Michigan Carferry is accepting applications for immediate placement in the engine department aboard the historic S.S. Badger. Candidates must possess a valid MMC with QMED endorsement and a valid TWIC card. Position will be for 2015 sailing season from May to Oct and offer competitive wages. Visit our web site at www.ssbadger.com/contact-us/join-the-badger-crew.html to obtain a printable LMC application. Email to [e-mail] or fax to 231-843-4558 For more information contact Laurie at 231-843-7223.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Spring water levels of Lake Huron highest since 1998

5/21 - The news continues to be positive on the water levels front for Lake Huron—a far cry from this time only a few short years ago.

The Manitoulin Expositor spoke with Environment Canada’s Derrick Beach last Friday who reminded this newspaper that the Lake Huron water levels came back to average levels after a time of record lows in September 2014 and have risen ever since. An unseasonably cool and wet summer last year started the rise, which didn’t stop – Lake Huron skipped its usual seasonal decline, which, on average, begins in July.

There were some slight dips in levels this winter, Mr. Beach explained, but levels have been back on the rise since March, slightly slower than average but above the period of recorded data (96 years) nonetheless. “The cold winter seemed to have kept water levels more or less stable,” he said. “This really sets us up nicely to continue (the rise) right through the summer.” (The period between January 2014 and December 2014 saw the largest rise in levels for Lake Huron in 96 years; the water rose 96 centimetres in that period of time.)

In April, water levels sat 46 centimetres higher than in April of 2014, 15 centimetres higher than the 96-year average.

This has been a largely dry spring, which is also reflected in the numbers, Mr. Beach explained. “The increases we’re seeing now are slightly below average, especially compared to last year.” (Last year saw a high spring runoff coupled, due to plenty of winter snow and ice, with a rainy spring to make levels rise dramatically.) As of Friday, the lake continues to rise, but is still slightly below the average climb for this time of year, he added.

However, even if Lake Huron faced an extremely dry summer, “dry levels still wouldn’t pull it down below average,” Mr. Beach observed.

If Lake Huron sees an average amount of summer precipitation this year, Mr. Beach anticipates Lake Huron could see water levels rise between 20 and 30 centimetres above last year’s numbers.

“Even with dry weather, we’re still looking pretty good,” he reiterated.

The last time Lake Huron reached above-average levels for its monthly comparisons, as was the case in April and now, likely, May, was in December of 1998.

Manitoulin Expositor





New USACE Soo Lock bulkheads fabricated by Moran Iron Works

5/21 - Onaway, Mich. –Moran Iron Works, Inc. was contracted to fabricate, galvanize, and deliver two bulkheads for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District for installation in the Soo Lock complex located in Sault Sainte Marine, Michigan.

The bulkheads are used when dewatering the locks to enable a safe work environment for maintenance and repairs to be performed during the annual lock closure each winter.

Fabrication was completed on time, and delivery took place in May 2015 to accommodate an expedited turnaround requirement. The bulkheads will be installed in the locks in early June 2015.

The bulkheads are replacing those that were originally installed in the Davis Lock and the Sabin Lock drain tunnels in 1914 and 1919, respectively. The newly fabricated bulkheads are intended to meet a 50-year life expectancy.

Moran Iron Works


Great Lakes surprisingly warm for springtime

5/21 - The surface water temperatures on the Great Lakes have warmed up significantly in the past few weeks. They are now much warmer than this time last year, and even warmer than the 20-year average.

On May 17, Lake Superior had an average surface water temperature of 37.7 degrees. This is 2.5 degrees warmer than May 17, 2014 and 0.8 degrees warmer than the 20-year average. Lake Michigan had an average temperature of 42 degrees May 17, 2015. This is 3.1 degrees warmer than last year and right at the long-term average. Lake Huron is up to 40.9 degrees, which is almost 2 degrees warmer than last year at this time. Lake Erie has warmed up to a lake-wide average of 53.1 degrees, over four degrees warmer than last year and 2.5 degrees above the long-term average. Lake Ontario is almost 5 degrees warmer than this time last year.

The warmer lake temperatures will have a bearing on Michigan's summer. When water temperatures are cold, a cold cycle develops. The cold water keeps the air cold, and in turn allows cold air from Canada to more easily move into Michigan. Last summer's chill was a classic example of this cycle.

Already this late spring the temperature pattern is acting somewhat different from last year. We have had an easier time warming up already this month. The abnormally cold pocket of air in Canada that has been dominating our Michigan weather is still there. The cold pocket isn't as abnormally cold as in the past 18 months, and doesn't seem to be sliding down into Michigan as easily.

So, in all, I think this means this summer will not be as chilly as last summer. I do think the cold pocket up north will occasionally park itself over Michigan this summer, leading to a few days in a row of cool weather.

And if the Great Lakes continue to warm, next winter will have a tougher time being extremely cold.

M Live, Mark Torregrossa



On 21 May 1883, SAILOR BOY (2-mast wooden scow-schooner, 75 foot, 76 net tons, built in 1866, at Algonac, Michigan) was carrying wood from Pierport, Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She anchored outside Milwaukee harbor waiting for a gale to abate but she broke her anchor chains and was driven aground. Her crew of three made it to shore on a line with help from bystanders on the beach.

AMERICAN REPUBLIC's maiden voyage was on May 21, 1981, from Sturgeon Bay light to Escanaba, Michigan, to load ore pellets for Cleveland, Ohio. She now sails as GREAT REPUBLIC.

Interlake Steamship Co.'s HENRY G. DALTON's maiden voyage was on May 21, 1916. She was scrapped at Vado, Italy, in 1973.

UNITED STATES GYPSUM in tow of the German tug FAIRPLAY X was lost in heavy weather on May 21, 1973, near Sydney, Nova Scotia.

G.A. TOMLINSON, a.) D.O. MILLS, stranded near Buffalo, New York, on Lake Erie on May 21, 1974, suffering an estimated $150,000 in damage.

The 143-foot wooden brig JOSEPH was launched at Bay City, Michigan, on by Alexander Tromley & Company. She was built by the owner.

On 21 May 1864, the NILE (wooden passenger/package freight vessel, 190 foot, 650 tons, built in 1852, at Ohio City, Ohio) was sitting at her dock in Detroit, Michigan, with passengers, household goods, and horses and wagons aboard when her boiler exploded, destroying the ship and killing eight of the crew. Large pieces of her boiler flew as far as 300 feet while other pieces damaged houses across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario. A large timber was thrown through the brick wall of a nearby shoe store, striking the cobbler in the back of the head and killing him. At least 13 other crew members and passengers were injured. The wreck was moved to the foot of Clark Street in Detroit in July 1864, where it remained until it was finally dynamited in August 1882.

May 21, 1923 - ANN ARBOR NO 4 was refloated after sinking at Frankfort, Michigan, the previous February.

After spending three weeks in quarantine at Buffalo, New York, because of the discovery of smallpox on board, the steamer JOHN OADES has been released and has started on her way to Duluth.

1919: FERDINAND SCHLESSINGER, enroute from Erie, Pa., to Port Arthur, Ont., with 3,514 tons of coal, began leaking in a storm and sank 15 miles off Passage Island, Lake Superior. The crew was picked up by the ASSINIBOIA

1932: The C.P.R. passenger ship MANITOBA goes aground in Georgian Bay off Cape Croker in heavy fog and has to be lightered before being released the next day.

1942: TROISDOC is the latest member of the Paterson fleet to be a victim of enemy action in World War Two. It was torpedoed by U-558 about 40 miles west of Jamaica and the crew escaped in the lifeboats. The vessel was enroute from Mobile, AL to Georgetown, British Guiana, with 55,700 bags of cement, vegetables, 1600 cases of beer and cigarettes.

1963: The Taiwanese freighter VAN YUNG had visited the Great Lakes in 1960 and 1961. It was laid up at Keelung, Taiwan, on this day due to fire damage and was sold for scrap in October 1963.

1965: Leaks developed in the boiler room of the Norwegian freighter LIONNE and the ship, enroute from Caen, France, to Montreal, sank in the Atlantic. Two members of the crew were lost. The vessel had made 5 trips through the Seaway from 1961 to 1963.

1973: The retired American Steamship Company self-unloader UNITED STATES GYPSUM, under tow for scrapping at Vado, Italy, broke loose in the Atlantic off Sydney, NS and sank.

1979: The second PRINS WILLEM V, a Dutch freighter of 1956 vintage, was damaged extensively by a fire amidships while idle at Port Elizabeth, South Africa as f) ARAXOS. It has been for sale and was scrapped at Durban, South Africa, in 1981.

2007: A fire broke out in the engine room of the Canadian-owned salty UMIAVUT while enroute from Kolundborg, Denmark, to La Corogne, Spain, with 8600 tons of flour. The ship was towed into Brest, France, and repaired. It visited the Great Lakes as b) LINDENGRACHT in 2000 and was back as c) UMIAVUT in 2011.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On 22 May 1901, FRANK H. PEAVEY (steel propeller bulk freighter, 430 foot, 5,002 gross tons) was launched at the American Ship Building Company (Hull #309) in Lorain, Ohio, for the Peavey Syndicate. She lasted until 1934, when she struck the south pier while entering Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and was declared a constructive total loss and scrapped the following year.

A.H. FERBERT (Hull#289) was launched this day in 1942, at River Rouge, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. May 22nd was the tenth National Maritime Day and on that day 21 other ships were launched nationwide to celebrate the occasion. The "super" IRVING S. OLDS was launched the same day at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. This marked the last of the "Super Carrier" build program. The others were the BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS, LEON FRASER and ENDERS M. VOORHEES.

SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY sailed under her own power down the Seaway on May 22, 1969, for the last time and arrived at Quebec City.

BAYFAIR was launched as the a.) COALHAVEN (Hull#134) at Haverton-Hill-on-Tees, U.K. by Furness Shipbuilding Co. in 1928.

While bound for Escanaba, Michigan to load ore, the JOSEPH BLOCK grounded at Porte des Morts Passage, on Green Bay, May 22, 1968, and was released the same day by the Roen tug ARROW. The BLOCK's hull damage extended to 100 bottom plates. Surrendered to the under-writers and sold in June that year to Lake Shipping Inc. Built as the a.) ARTHUR H. HAWGOOD in 1907, She was renamed c.) GEORGE M. STEINBRENNER in 1969, she was scrapped at Ramey’s Bend in 1979.

The 143-foot wooden brig JOSEPH was launched at Bay City, Michigan, on 21 May 1867. She was built for Alexander Tromley & Company.

CITY OF NEW BALTIMORE was launched at David Lester's yard in Marine City, Michigan, on 22 May 1875. Her master carpenter was John J. Hill. She was a wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel built for the Detroit-New Baltimore route. Her dimensions were 96 foot keel, 101 feet overall x 20 feet x 6 foot 6 inches, 130 tons. Her boiler was made by J. & T. McGregor of Detroit. Her engine was built by Morton Hamblin & Company of St. Clair, Michigan. She was rebuilt as a tug in 1910, and lasted until abandoned in 1916.

1914: W.H. GILBERT sank in Lake Huron, about 15 miles off Thunder Bay Island following a collision with CALDERA. There was no loss of life. The hull was located in 1982 and rests at a depth of about 200 feet. CALDERA later became b) A.T. KINNEY and c) HILLSDALE.

1942: FRANK B. BAIRD was sunk by gunfire from U-158 on the Atlantic while bound for Sydney, NS with a cargo of bauxite. All of the crew were saved and later picked up by the Norwegian freighter TALISMAN and landed at Pointe Noire, French Equatorial Guinea

1978: AGIOS NICOLAOS, a Seaway caller in 1968, was about 60 miles north of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, enroute to Kuwait, when an explosion and subsequent fire erupted in the engine room. The ship was gutted, towed into Kuwait and abandoned. The vessel was later broken up. As a) BORGHOLM, it began trading to the Great Lakes in 1953 and made 21 voyages through the Seaway from 1959 to 1967.

1979: IRISH PINE made 19 trips through the Seaway from 1960 through 1964 for Irish Shipping. It arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on this date in 1979 as c) ARAMON. The ship had been traveling from Piraeus, Greece, to Port Sudan, Sudan, when the cargo of bitumen solidified in the holds. The vessel was sold for scrap and dispatched to Kaohsiung to be dismantled by the Taiwan Ship Scrap Co. Ltd., with the cargo still on board. Work began on July 18, 1979


Great Lakes museum marks National Maritime Day with discounted admission

5/22 - Toledo, Ohio – The National Museum of the Great Lakes announced that it will offer discounted admission to the museum and Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship on Friday to commemorate National Maritime Day.

Visitors to the National Museum of the Great Lakes who purchase a regular museum only admission price will receive free admission to board the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship – a savings of $4 per person. Additionally, each person, couple or family will receive one complimentary signed and numbered lithographic print by marine artist James Clary.

National Maritime Day was established in 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and has been celebrated every year since with a presidential proclamation. Christopher Gillcrist, Executive Director of the National Museum of the Great Lakes stated that the objective of National Maritime Day is to raise awareness of the important role maritime life has played in the historic development of this country.

National Museum of the Great Lakes

[yachtsmanwilly]

Help wanted: Licensed marine engineer, Allied Marine Niagara Region

5/26 - Requirements include a minimum 2nd class Marine Engineer ticket. Applicants must have a minimum of 5 years experience, be able to multitask, have excellent mathematical skills and troubleshooting capabilities. Marine and Industrial experience would be an asset. Availability to work shift work if required. Must be bondable, have a valid drivers license and passport. We will provide competitive hourly wage to commensurate with experience, comprehensive benefit package and participation in our company profit sharing plan.

Please Email resumes to [e-mail] or apply in person at 118 West St., Port Colborne, Ontario.



On 26 May 1888, BLANCHE (2-mast wooden schooner, 95 foot, 92 gross tons, built in 1874, at Mill Point, Ontario) was carrying coal with a crew of five on Lake Ontario. She was lost in a squall somewhere between Oswego, New York and Brighton, Ontario.

In 1979, the FRED R. WHITE JR. departed the shipyard on her maiden voyage to load iron ore pellets at Escanaba, Michigan for Cleveland, Ohio.

The J.A.W. IGLEHART began its maiden Great Lakes voyage in 1965, for the Huron Portland Cement Co. The straight deck bulk freighter FRANKCLIFFE HALL began its maiden voyage in 1963. Deepened and converted to a self-unloader in 1980. She was renamed b.) HALIFAX in 1988.

SCOTT MISENER (Hull#14) was launched in 1954, at St. Catharines, Ontario by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. for Colonial Steamships Ltd. She was scrapped at Alang, India in 1990.

In 1923, the ANN ARBOR NO 4 was towed to the shipyard in Manitowoc, Wisconsin by the ANN ARBOR NO 5 with the assistance of the tug ARCTIC. The NO 4 was completely overhauled and had all new cabins built on her main deck.

QUEEN OF THE LAKES was launched at the Kirby & Ward yard in Wyandotte, Michigan on 26 May 1872. She was the first iron-hulled vessel built in Michigan.

On 26 May 1873, the iron propeller revenue cutter GEO S. BOUTWELL (Hull#15) was launched at D. Bell Steam Engine Works in Buffalo, New York. Her dimensions were 140 feet x 22 feet x 17.5 feet, 151 gross tons. She served out of Savannah, Georgia (1874-1899) and Newbern, North Carolina (1899-1907).

The tug GORMAN, which was sunk by the steamer CITY OF BUFFALO was raised today. She is not much injured. The local steamboat inspectors have taken up the case of the collision. The crew of the tug claim that their boat was run over by the CITY OF BUFFALO and the appearance of the wreck carries out their declaration, for the tug shows that the steamer struck her straight aft.

1926 The self-unloader ALPENA delivered the first cargo of coal, 4,000 tons, to the new Detroit Edison steam generating power plant at Marysville, MI.

1982 ROLAND DESGAGNES ran aground off Pointe au Pic, Q.C . The ship floated free with the high tide only to sink on May 27 at 4 am due to hull damage. All on board were saved and the cargo of salt dissolved. The hull rests upright on the bottom in about 300 feet of water.

1984 The Norwegian freighter WILFRED first visited the Seaway in 1966. It went aground on this day in 1984 as b) PSILI at Buenos Aires, Argentina. The vessel was refloated and returned to service. It last sailed as c) GLORY BAY and arrived at Dalian, China, for scrapping on September 18, 1986.

Training ship for Great Lakes sailors draws attention during brief stop

5/25 - Buffalo, N.Y. – The imposing ship seemed to appear out of nowhere Saturday morning, docked just past the USS Croaker and USS Little Rock on Buffalo’s Inner Harbor. It turns out the 224-foot, black-hulled boat – emblazoned with its name “State of Michigan” – was simply on a break from its long tour of duty navigating the Great Lakes.

Onboard were 56 students – or cadets – in their first year of learning how to be sailors and officers in the commercial shipping industry. The State of Michigan, it turns out, is their 1,800-horsepower floating classroom – a training ship for the Great Lakes Maritime Academy based in Traverse City, Mich.

Originally built as a submarine surveillance ship, the State of Michigan had sailed from Toledo, Ohio, and pulled into Buffalo about 9 a.m.

The ship has been stopping in Buffalo around the Memorial Day weekend each of the last three years, though it doesn’t stay long. At 3:45 p.m. Saturday, crews were hauling in the gangplank and stood in single file to haul in the thick ropes that tied the ship to the dock.

Mike Surgalski, a ship officer and chairman of the Deck Department overseeing navigation and deck operations, took a few minutes to explain the ship’s presence as the cadets prepared to cast off and head to Cleveland, the ship’s next port of call.

The first year of the four-year Maritime Academy program is meant to help students not only learn about the nuts and bolts of being a commercial sailor and member of the Merchant Marine, but to adjust to the confining life aboard a ship, he said.

The academy is a public college, not a military program, though it does attract some veterans. Of all the first-year cadets onboard, half are students right out of high school, he said. Of the remaining, a dozen or so are veterans of the U.S. military, and the rest are working toward second careers, he said. The typical age of the students is 27, Surgalski said. About 10 percent of the cadets are female.

The stop in Buffalo, like many other stops along the Great Lakes city ports, are meant to relieve the drudgery of ship work and onboard living.

Along the third deck railing, dozens of bicycles were parked. At every port stop, two-thirds of the students are allowed off the ship to explore while the remaining third remains onboard to complete day work. Surgalski, one of 11 professional crew members, had only made it as far the Tim Horton’s in the HarborCenter building, but he was impressed with the new development.

“It’s very pretty,” he said. “Wow.”

With the Canalside carnival underway and the other new attractions drawing fun seekers downtown, the sidewalks were packed with adults and children, many stopping to look at the ship and wonder what it was doing here. Surgalski was surprised to learn the waterfront isn’t always so crowded.

“OK, I’ve got to go,” he finally said, after swinging shut the gate where the gangplank was and placing two crew members to hold it shut. A punctual departure was important if the crew was going to make it to Cleveland in time to watch the Indians play the Cincinnati Reds at 1 p.m. Sunday.

“We’ll definitely be back here,” he said. “It’s too beautiful to pass up.”

Buffalo News


Crews prep ex-restaurant ship Jadran for trip to breakers

5/25 - Marine Recycling Corp. workers have been working all weekend getting the Jadran ready for its final voyage to Port Colborne. Both anchors and chains have been removed. A heavy hawser has been passed down each hawse pipe with the inboard ends secured to the anchor windlass drums. The outboard ends have been shackled together to form a formidable towing bridle. Back aft a heavy hawser is attached to two pairs of bollards, and this will be used to hook up the "tail end Charlie" braking/steering tug.

In preparation for passing through the Welland Canal, anything that could make hard contact with the lock wall and get torn off has been removed. Both bridge wings have been cut off and stowed inboard. Up forward, the starboard cargo boom has been swung inboard and stowed. It had been used to support the shore power cable. The six metal lifeboats have been canted inboard and secured.

For the past two days workers have been using a four-inch portable pump to top up the ballast tanks in order to optimize stability and get the ship into proper towing trim. Measured by recently painted in draft marks the Jadran is drawing about 12 feet forward and 13 feet aft. A two-foot wide horizontal white towing bar has been painted across the bow and the stern at the 16 feet draft marks.

Welders have been busy welding metal blanks over the overboard discharge openings located at or just above the water line. On the port side there are more than two dozen discharges. When the Jadran was built back in 1957 all sorts of stuff went over the side, including every thing from the galley sink. Apparently during last winter's deep freeze one of the overboard discharge valves froze, cracked and flooded the aft shaft compartment. Given the dubious integrity of the piping and valves connected to these through hull openings, they are all a potential source of serious down flooding.

For the final voyage, the Jadran's image has been much improved. The rusty boarding ramps have been torched off. The cheap plywood sheets have been removed from the starboard main deck promenade. The "Captain John" sign and the gaudy string lights along the bow cap rail are gone. A big new Canadian flag snaps briskly in the breeze from the stern flagstaff and below it flies the MRC house flag. The bow flagstaff sports the MRC house flag and the Green Marine flag.

The towing job will be done by the McKeil Marine "M team" – the tugs Molly M1 and the venerable Jarrett M (ex Atomic).

[yachtsmanwilly]

Feds looking for stewards for 3 lighthouses

5/27 - In an effort to save taxpayer dollars and preserve the past, the U.S. General Services Administration is looking for stewards to care for three historic lighthouses.

They are being offered at no cost, to eligible state or local governments, nonprofit corporations, historical preservation group, or community development organizations as part of the National Lighthouse Preservation Act program.

One of the lighthouses, the Detroit River Light, has been standing since 1885. It is near the end of Bar Shoal in Lake Erie, south of the entrance to the Detroit River.

The Detroit River Light is a 49-foot-high cast iron plate tower. It is 22 feet in diameter at the white base and 18 feet in diameter at the black top. It resembles a vessel, with the pointed end directed toward the mouth of the river to break ice flows coming downriver.

A steward may use the lighthouses for education, park, recreation, cultural or preservation purposes and must maintain them according to the secretary of the interior's standards for rehabilitation.

The U.S. General Services Administration works with federal agencies to dispose of unneeded properties, including lighthouses, said Cat Langel, U.S. General Services spokeswoman.

Also in need of a steward is the Minneapolis Shoal Light, which marks the entrance to Little Bay De Noc in Delta County, and the North Manitou Shoal Light.

The three lighthouses occupy Great Lakes Public Trust bottomlands owned by the state of Michigan. They will also serve as active navigation aids and will remain the property of the Coast Guard, said Langel.

If no qualified applications are received, the National Lighthouse Preservation Act program authorizes the U.S. General Services Administration to sell the lighthouses through public auction.

To date, 25 lighthouses in Michigan have been transferred under the act or sold. Across the country, 114 lighthouses have been sold or transferred out of federal ownership.

For more information on the program and how to apply, visit disposal.gsa.gov.

Detroit News





Mesabi Nugget, Mining Resources idled indefinitely

5/27 - Duluth, Minn. – Steel Dynamics, the parent company of Mesabi Nugget and Mining Resources, announced Tuesday that the two Iron Range facilities will remain idled indefinitely, affecting about 200 workers.

The workers found out at a meeting on Tuesday, at the Mt. Iron Community Center. SDI wanted to break the news to them in person, rather than over the phone.

"I've never been laid off before. But I feel like the layoff payments and severance are generous. I'm not worried about myself. I'm single, and I'll be fine. But I am worried about the families who will be affected," said Heather Nelson, who worked at Mesabi Nugget for three years.

"I was expecting a layoff," explained Rich Yuretich, who worked at Mining Resources. "But not to the timeline that they're talking about. We'll make it through. I have a millwright degree, and I'll try to get on somewhere else."

VP of Iron Resources Dave Bednarz was there to talk to the employees. "We are going to maintain the facilities, with the hope being that the market will turn around and we can re-start them. They did immensely good work at Nugget to make things more profitable over the past 12 months. In this market though, it's still impossible."

He and other SDI leaders are meeting individually with each affected employee, to see if he or she would like to relocate to other SDI facilities.

Mesabi Nugget in Hoyt Lakes and Mining Resources in Chisholm had already been idled. Steel Dynamics now says the two facilities will remain idle for at least two years because of low iron prices, which had made the facilities unprofitable.

"Current global currency dynamics and world iron ore supply / demand factors support lower pig iron prices. We currently do not see strong drivers that would suggest a reversal of this trend for some time," CEO Mark D. Millett said in a press release. "Our Minnesota operations were intended to serve as a hedge to high pig iron and scrap prices. While this lower raw material cost environment certainly advantages our steel operations, it has resulted in an uneconomic situation for our iron nugget operations."

A small group of workers will be retained to maintain the Iron Range facilities. The company said it is attempting to find jobs for the affected workers at Steel Dynamics facilities elsewhere in the country.

Mesabi Nugget is a joint venture between Steel Dynamics and Kobe Steel, while Mining Resources is a joint venture between Steel Dynamics and Magnetation. Steel Dynamics is based in Fort Wayne, Ind.

WDIO





Duluth Seaway Port Authority to break ground Wednesday on Intermodal Project

5/27 - Duluth, Minn. – On Wed., May 27, the Twin Ports maritime community will gather with business leaders, elected officials and dignitaries from across the state and nation to officially break ground on the Port of Duluth Intermodal Project – the largest infrastructure project undertaken by the Duluth Seaway Port Authority since the construction of the Clure Public Marine Terminal prior to the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959.

Those in attendance at the 10 a.m. ceremony will be celebrating not only the revitalization of this 28-acre dock but also Duluth’s working waterfront. The long-awaited rebuild and expansion of Dock C&D will put a vacant, underutilized dock back into maritime service after more than 20 years. The completion of this project will enhance the Port Authority’s intermodal capabilities, expand its capacity to handle more heavy-lift and project cargo, and enhance the competitiveness of this entire region by increasing freight capacity via the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway system.

The $17.7 million redevelopment project was funded, in part, by a $10 million Transportation Infrastructure Generation Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). An additional $2.75 million in funding has been provided through the Minnesota Port Development Assistance Program (PDAP); $990,000 was awarded by the State of Minnesota’s (DEED) Contamination Cleanup Grant program; and the Duluth Seaway Port Authority is investing over $3.9 million of its own capital in this infrastructure renewal project.

The redevelopment process will include replacing corroded sheet piling and deteriorated wooden dock walls, resurfacing the deck, reinforcing heavy-lift capacity and constructing a new roll-on/roll-off dock. The project also involves dredging adjacent waters for vessel berths, installing road and rail connections, plus adding enhancements for safety and security. Port officials expect this first phase of reconstruction to be completed in the fall of 2016.

Duluth Seaway Port Authority





Freighter from 1980 Duluth drama reaches the end of its journey

5/27 - Its name blacked out, its forward progress dependent on the tug towing it, a once-powerful Great Lakes freighter that frequented the Twin Ports in years past glided through Ontario’s Welland Canal earlier this month, on its way to end its career in a scrapyard.

The 690-foot, 62-year-old American Fortitude – formerly the Courtney Burton, and before that the Ernest T. Weir – once carried taconite, grain and other cargo across the lakes. For a time, it was the flagship of Oglebay Norton’s Columbia Transportation fleet, replacing the Edmund Fitzgerald after that vessel’s tragic sinking in a Lake Superior storm in 1975.

And on April 8, 1980, the ship — then sailing under the name Courtney Burton — had a memorable mishap while trying to enter the ice-choked Duluth ship canal.

“The captain and crew of the Courtney Burton and about 300 Canal Park spectators spent an anxious hour Tuesday afternoon as the 690-foot ore carrier was pushed broadside by waves and wind to within 150 yards of the Duluth ship canal breakwater,” the next day’s News Tribune reported.

The ship canal was filled with ice chunks from pier to pier, with the jumbled ice estimated at 10 to 20 feet thick in places and northeast winds blowing at 10 to 20 mph. The captain of the Burton, Sam Ring, later told the Duluth Herald that he had made a run at the ice pack at about 6-8 mph and utilized all of its 7,000 horsepower in an effort to power through the ice and get into the harbor.

When that failed, the Burton tried backing out — but ice and waves pushed it perpendicular to the piers. Ring called for two tugs to help him break free, but they couldn’t make it through the ice.

“It was a very, very serious situation,” Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Douglas Lundberg, captain of the buoy tender Mesquite, later told the News Tribune.

Eventually Ring was able to work his ship free, following a path along the Park Point shore and back out to open water.

“Oh, yes, we’ve had conditions like this before,” a jokingly nonchalant Ring told the Herald the next day in a ship-to-shore phone call.

The freighter was built in Lorain, Ohio, and launched in 1953 as the Ernest T. Weir, honoring the founder of the ship’s owner, National Steel Corp. According to a history of the vessel on the website boatnerd.com, the Weir sailed to Superior to pick up a load of iron ore on its maiden voyage.

The ship was on Lake Superior in the same storm that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald on Nov. 10, 1975, the boatnerd.com history reported. In 1978, the Weir was acquired by Oglebay Norton to serve as the flagship of its Columbia Transportation fleet, replacing the Fitzgerald.

The Weir eventually was renamed the Courtney Burton to honor a longtime chairman of Oglebay Norton who also was the grandson of company co-founder Earl Oglebay.

In 2006, Oglebay Norton sold the Burton and five other freighters to the American Steamship Co., and it was renamed the American Fortitude. It sailed for a few seasons longer until it went into layup in Toledo, Ohio, in late 2008, the Port Colborne (Ontario) Leader reported.

In December, the ship left Toledo under tow and passed through the Welland Canal from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It spent the winter docked in Oswego, N.Y.

Zelko Kirincich, executive director of the Port of Oswego Authority, told the Syracuse Post-Standard earlier this year that the American Fortitude had been sold to a Texas holding company to either be sold overseas, or scrapped.

On May 11, the ship left Oswego under tow. On May 14, it arrived at the International Marine Salvage scrapyard in Port Colborne to be dismantled.

Duluth News Tribune

May 27 CANADIAN PIONEER (Hull#67) was launched May 27, 1981, at St. Catharines, Ontario, by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd. She was renamed b.) PIONEER in 1987.

NANTICOKE was christened in 1980, for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd.

CHARLES DICK (Hull#71) was launched in 1922, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. for National Sand & Material Co. Ltd.

The PETER REISS left Duluth, Minnesota May 27, 1910, on her maiden voyage with iron ore for Ashtabula, Ohio. She was converted to a self-unloader in 1949, and scrapped at Ramey's Bend in 1973.

HENRY STEINBRENNER was towed from Toledo's Lakefront Dock in 1994, for the scrap yard at Port Maitland, Ontario.

The tug SMITH burned near Bay City, Michigan, on 27 May 1872. Her loss was valued at $7,000 but there was no insurance on her.

The ferry SARNIA made her first trip as a carferry between Port Huron and Sarnia on 27 May 1879. She had burned in January 1879, then was converted to a carferry and served in that capacity during the summer. In September, 1879, she was converted to a barge.

The tug GORMAN, sunk by the steamer CITY OF BUFFALO was raised. She is not much injured. The local steamboat inspectors have taken up the case of the collision. The crew of the tug claim that their boat was run over by the CITY OF BUFFALO and the appearance of the wreck carries out their declaration, for the tug shows that the steamer struck her straight aft.

27 May 1898 - The tug WINSLOW arrived in Bay City, Michigan, from Georgian Bay with a raft of logs for Eddy Bros. & Co. The tug NIAGARA arrived from the same bay with a raft for Pitts & Co. The sawmills along the Saginaw river are now nearly all in operation.

1933 GEORGE M. COX hit Rock of Ages Reef in Lake Superior on its first trip after previous service as PURITAN. The vessel had 121 passengers and freight on board when it struck the reef in the early morning in fog. The ship hung at a precarious angle until all were rescued and then, during an October storm, the vessel slid back into deep water.

[yachtsmanwilly]

USS Cod subs for other fighting boats in film project

5/28 - Cleveland, Ohio – The USS Cod Submarine Memorial will be impersonating three sister World War II subs for the next two weeks as part of filming for a series of documentaries for the National Geographic Channel and the Smithsonian Channel.

The documentaries are being shot by Parallax Film Productions of Canada, using local actors and reenactors. The Cod is docked on North Marginal Road, between East Ninth Street and Burke Lakefront Airport.

Paul Farace, memorial president, said the Cod was chosen because it is identical to three Navy submarines depicted in the documentaries, plus it is one of the most complete and historically accurate of the 17 memorial subs located around the U.S.

Farace said six documentaries are planned in the series -- three dealing with American sub commanders during the war, and three about German U-boat commanders.

The three American commanders include Dudley Morton, skipper of the USS Wahoo. Farace described him as a gung-ho guy, whose "battle cry was 'Shoot the sons-of-a-bitches!'"

Commander Richard O'Kane, the second featured skipper, made a reputation aboard the USS Tang for sinking Japanese ships and rescuing Allied airmen shot down over the Pacific.

Commander Sam Dealey of the USS Harder was "very aggressive, known as the destroyer killer," Farace said. All three subs were sunk during the war.

Farace said the sub's volunteer crew has been hard at work getting the Cod camera-ready. Filming will take place both inside and outside the sub, during the day and at night, according to Farace.

"Apparently they can 'erase' the city, and the North Coast Harbor will be standing in for the South China Sea and the Yellow Sea," he added.

A special pump was rigged so the deck could be covered with water to make it look like the submarine had just surfaced. Farace and his wife cut red plastic circles to be fitted in goggles for night vision scenes.

The Cod's conning tower, normally closed to public tours to minimize the risk of damaging delicate, vintage equipment, will be opened to filming. So far there are no plans to fire the Cod's deck gun for the filming, Farace said.

This isn't the first time the Cod has been the subject of lights, cameras and action. Farace said the sub has been used in about a half-dozen film projects over the years, including work for National Geographic and the History Channel.

One of the first stipulations made of any filmmaker is that the project not interfere with public tours of the sub, Farace said. "We never close the boat to the public for any reason," he said. "She belongs to the American people."

From prior film projects "we've developed a technique for holding people up for a moment, waiting for a break (in the filming) before walking through," he said. The Cod is open daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The old sub benefits from the project in several ways, Farace said.

"It's certainly an ego boost for our crew to see someone else appreciating our restoration work," he said. "And it certainly helps to get a little bit of money that otherwise wouldn't be in our coffers to help restore and preserve a 72-year-old submarine.

"But another important aspect of this applies to our mission of educating the public," he added. "The documentary will help carry on the memory of these famous ships and captains."

Cleveland.com





Shepler’s new ferry Miss Margy makes first voyage – by land

5/28 - Onaway, Mich. – The newest addition to the Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry fleet, the $3.8 million, 85-foot Miss Margy, hit the road Wednesday for her maiden voyage aboard a semi-trailer moving between Moran Iron Works in Onaway to Rogers City.

The all-aluminum ferry, constructed at Moran, was carefully transported across 21 miles of backroads where utility wires have been erected high enough to allow passage to Moran’s deep-water Port Calcite Collaborative.

Over the next few days, a crane will lift Miss Margy into the water and Shepler’s CEO Bill Shepler will pilot the ferry, named after his mother, to the Shepler’s dock in Mackinaw City. He’ll be accompanied on the 50-mile journey by his son, Billy, the company’s fleet captain.

Updates on Miss Margy’s journey will be posted on the Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry Facebook page. www.facebook.com/sheplersferry

Once at the dock on Friday, she’ll be decked out in an eye-catching banner so that the hundreds of attendees at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference can see her on their return trip to the mainland. Shepler’s is providing ferry service for the annual conference, which attracts the state’s leading political leaders, including Gov. Rick Snyder and legislators from across the state.

The ferry will be christened by Gov. Snyder and Bill Shepler during a special ceremony in Mackinaw City on July 12. She will carry her first passengers a few weeks later.

The 281-passenger ferry includes an air-conditioned cabin, as well as a ventilation system to remove interior condensation from windows – important amenities for passengers during extremely warm or inclement weather. The ferry, Shepler’s largest, will have a top speed of about 40 mph. Shepler’s currently has a fleet of five passenger ferries and one cargo vessel.

Although ferries are usually constructed in ship-building centers such as Louisiana and Wisconsin, Shepler’s wanted to keep the work in Michigan and partnered with Moran to get the job done.

“Construction has required some 12,000 man hours on the shop floor over the last four months, keeping a crew of 13 plenty busy,” said Jason Willis, project manager at Moran. “Both Moran and Shepler’s have an amazing amount of local talent to have completed such an incredible project.”

Shepler’s





Detroit making waves for water taxis

5/28 - Detroit, Mich. – Water taxis could join the flotilla of pleasure crafts, tugboats, barges, dinner cruises and freighters on the Detroit River. The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy hopes to offer the service on the U.S. side by 2016.

Efforts are underway to raise approximately $4.2 million, allowing the non-profit to operate six water stops and 14 trolley stops in the downtown core. Long-range plans could include a water taxi stop in Windsor.

“There’s definitely an opportunity,” said William Smith, the DRC’s chief financial officer. “It’s a little ways down the line.”

The proposed fare would be US$1 for a trolley ride and $7.50 for a water taxi.

The DRC has already been working with the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority for some time on a passenger ferry service between Detroit and Windsor. “We’ve had discussions about crossing the water,” Smith said. “It’s a matter of getting the customs issue in order.”

The Detroit/Wayne Port Authority hoped to have a pilot project offering international passenger service in place for this weekend’s Belle Isle Grand Prix but couldn’t clear all the hurdles in time.

“We’re still working with border agencies on both sides to figure out exactly how to make it happen,” said Kyle Burleson, the authority’s deputy director. “We’re still hoping for August.”

The authority’s other pilot project involves a ferry service for Aug. 8-11 to coincide with a large Detroit convention that will see participants stay at hotels on both sides of the border. “We want to do a pilot project to show there’s a market here,” Burleson said. “If we can run it for a weekend, I think that will show there’s a serious desire for it.”

The Windsor Port Authority is working with U.S. officials on the passenger ferry.

“We’re trying to see what the requirements are going to be,” said David Cree, president and CEO of WPA.

While the Detroit Port has space in their Atwater Street headquarters to accommodate customs agents, no such infrastructure exists on the Windsor side.

“We’ve had some preliminary discussions with the mayor’s office about it,” Cree said. “Once we have something more substantial, we’ll sit down with the city.”

Cree said WPA has never looked into water taxis but believes the significant cost for customs services might not make it economically feasible.

Smith said the conservancy is looking at water taxis between 50 to 60 feet long that can hold 125 people.

Phase 1 calls for six stops at Cobo Hall, the Detroit Port Authority, the Renaissance Centre, Rivard Plaza, Stroh River Place and Belle Isle. The service would run May to September.

The Detroit Port Authority is offering U.S.-only ferry service for the Grand Prix. One ferry will shuttle patrons from the Atwater dock to the Harbor Master terminal near the race course entrance Friday with two boats operating Saturday and Sunday.

It’s a US$10 round trip or a three-day pass for $27.

Windsor Star

On 28 March 1997, the USS Great Lakes Fleet's PHILIP R. CLARKE set a record for a salt cargo on a U.S.-flag laker when she loaded 25,325 tons at Fairport, Ohio for delivery to Toledo, Ohio. The previous record was 25,320 tons carried by American Steamship's AMERICAN REPUBLIC in 1987.

On 28 March 1848, COLUMBUS (wooden sidewheeler, 391 tons, built in 1835, at Huron, Ohio) struck a pier at Dunkirk, New York during a storm and sank. The sidewheeler FASHION struck the wreck in November of the same year and was seriously damaged.

1935: THOMAS LYNCH and the Norwegian freighter BA collided on a foggy Lake Superior and the former received a hole above the waterline. The saltwater vessel dated from 1921 and was torpedoed and lost in the North Atlantic on July 8, 1941, as c) INGA I.

1942: JACK was torpedoed by U-155 and sunk on the Caribbean while about 100 miles southwest of Port Salut, Haiti. There were 37 lives lost among the 63 reported on board. The ship had been built at Lorain, Ohio, as a) LAKE FRESCO in 1919 and returned inland for package freight service as b) JACK in 1925.

1942: TINDEFJELL came to the Great Lakes for the Fjell Line beginning in 1937. It was taken over by the Germans in April 1941, while at a Norwegian port, and renamed SPERRBRECHER 174 in December. It is reported to have hit a mine and sunk off Dunkirk, France, on this date in 1942.

1982: The tug COMANCHE had an electrical fire while at DeTour, MI, and the blaze destroyed the cabins and pilothouse. The hull was surrendered to the underwriters on June 14 and it later sank while under tow off Ludington on December 12, 1985.

2006: The pilot boat PLACENTIA PILOT was built at Wheatley, ON, in 2000 and left the Great Lakes that December for service at Newfoundland. The ship hit the rocks and had to be beached while trying to put a pilot on the tanker TUVAQ. The ship was listed as a total loss but was salvaged. At last report, it was on a trailer at Port Hawkesbury, NS, pending repairs as b) STRAIT EAGLE.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/29 - Toronto, Ont. – They came to see John Letnik. Hundreds of spectators lined the guardrail and fences at Toronto harbor on Thursday morning as the Jadran — the ship that housed Captain John’s floating seafood restaurant at the bottom of Yonge Street — was unhooked from its mooring.

“There were about 400 or 500 people along Queens Quay to see her off,” McKeil Marine marketing manager Brent Kinnaird said of the impressive turnout.

The hashtag #captainjohns was trending in Canada on Twitter Thursday as hundreds of people shared photos, thoughts and memories of the defunct restaurant.

Two McKeil Marine tugboats – the Molly M on the bow and the Jarrett M on the stern – guided the Jadran backward into Lake Ontario at about 10:30 a.m., capping off nine days of preparatory work and three years of uncertainty over the ship’s fate.

The procession arrived at Port Weller at about 3:30 p.m. — an hour ahead of schedule — and tied up below Lock 1 to await inspection from St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. before entering the lock. The journey in its entirety, including moving through the Welland Canal locks, is expected to take about 44 hours,

Several people were at the send-off exclusively to see Letnik, the restaurant’s long-time owner. Captain John’s was located aboard the Jadran from 1975 to 2012, when Letnik, owing more than $1 million in back taxes and fees, saw his water supply cut off by the city.

Marine Recycling Corp. — the Jadran’s owner as of earlier this month — invited Letnik aboard as a paid consultant for the ship’s final voyage, which will end at MRC’s Port Colborne scrapyard.

“He knows more about the ship than anyone,” said Wayne Elliott, Marine Recycling’s director of business development. “He’s part of the crew. He’s the commodore.”

Letnik, meanwhile, said he was excited about the journey. “I feel great. It’s a sad day, but I have to accept the way it goes,” Letnik said. “I hope we’re going to have smooth sailing.”

Thursday’s trip was years in the making. City council voted to seize the Jadran in October 2013 and the ship was sold to entrepreneur James Sbrolla the following July, on the condition that he undock it by an August 22 deadline.

Sbrolla couldn’t follow through and, earlier this month, a federal judge approved the Jadran’s transfer to another buyer — Marine Recycling, who received an undisclosed amount from Ports Toronto to dispatch the ship.

The tow marked a relatively swift end to Captain John’s saga — but Thursday was a celebration as much as anything.

Letnik arrived at the harbor shortly after 9 a.m., sporting a gold-buttoned Captain John’s jacket and a Canadian-flag tie, holding his captain’s hat in his hand. He hugged old friends and held court with invited guests, posing for photos in an enclosed area.

Later, Ports Toronto presented him with a parting gift: a framed, black-and-white snapshot of Letnik with the Jadran in 1977, smiling at the edge of the harbor.

The photo was a tangible snippet of the ship’s history. Captain John’s hosted weddings, bikini contests and other gatherings throughout its four decades in Toronto. By its last few years, the Jadran was a shell of its former self, overwhelmed by mould and debris strewn across its floors.

Boris Spremo — a friend of Letnik’s since 1957, when the two emigrated separately from the former Yugoslavia — preferred to recall the positive. One of his daughters was married on the ship, where he also celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary.

“It’s like a part of me going away, a member of my family,” said Spremo, who often covered events on the Jadran as an award-winning Toronto Star photographer.

“It was just a joyful place in the middle of summer to be aboard. I’ve been around the world five times, and every big city has a ship as a restaurant or a hotel. It was just excellent and beautiful for Toronto. It’s sad to end it this way.”

Kinnaird said he suspects crowds will be seen along the canal as the ship continues its voyage, which is scheduled to end in Port Colborne early Saturday morning.

McKeil Marine has taken on several significant tows in recent history, including the HMCS Ojibwa, a decommissioned submarine that transited the canal on its way to Port Burwell in 2012.

“Our company has the vessels and our crews have the experience to handle fairly significant and high-profile tows in a safe way,” Kinnaird said.

McKeil, he added, has also taken on the challenge of towing vessels “much larger” than Captain John’s in the past.

National Post, Welland Tribune

The 71-foot tug and patrol boat CARTER H. HARRISON was launched at Chicago, Illinois, on 29 May 1901, for the City of Chicago Police Department.

STADACONA (Hull#66) was launched in 1909, at Ecorse, Michigan, by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Stadacona Steamship Co. (James Playfair, mgr.). Renamed b.) W.H. MC GEAN in 1920, and c.) ROBERT S. McNAMARA in 1962.

JAMES R. BARKER (Hull#905) was float launched in 1976, at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the Interlake Steamship Co.

May 29, 1905: The PERE MARQUETTE 20, while leaving Milwaukee in a heavy fog struck the scow HIRAM R. BOND of the Milwaukee Sand Gravel Company. The scow sank.

In 1909, the ANN ARBOR NO 4 capsized at Manistique, Michigan, as a result of an error in loading a heavy load of iron ore.

On 29 May 1889, BAVARIA (3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 145 foot, 376 gross tons, built in 1873, at Garden Island, Ontario) was carrying squared timber when she broke from the tow of the steamer D D CALVIN and began to founder near Long Point in Lake Erie. Her crew abandoned her, but all eight were lost. The abandoned vessel washed ashore with little damage and lasted until 1898 when she was destroyed in a storm.

PLEASURE (wooden passenger ferry, 128 foot, 489 gross tons) (Hull#104) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan by F.W. Wheeler & Co. on 29 May 1894. She was a small but powerful ferry, equipped with a 1600 h.p. engine. She operated on the Detroit River year round as a ferry and small icebreaker for the Detroit, Belle Isle and Windsor Ferry Company. She was broken up at Detroit in 1940.

1943: LAKE GEORGE was built for French interests at Ashtabula in 1917 but was launched for and named by the U.S. Shipping Board. It was seized as e) FOLOZU by the Japanese at Shanghai on December 8, 1941, and sunk as f) EISHO MARU after being torpedoed by the U.S.S. TAMBOR in the South China Sea.

1964: A. & J. MERCURY was seized on this date while upbound in the Welland Canal to load coal at Ashtabula for non-payment of stevedore fees at Toronto and Hamilton. While eventually released, it was re-arrested on a complaint by the S.I.U. over non-payment of crew wages. The ship was later put up for auction and resumed service as d) SANTA MONICA. It was scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, as e) COSMOS TRADER in 1969. A. & J. FAITH, a fleetmate, was seized by the U.S. Marshal at Cleveland while about to leave for Singapore. It remained idle until being sold and renamed c) SANTA SOFIA in August.

1969: The new self-unloader TADOUSSAC launched itself prematurely at Collingwood. Two workers were killed and several others injured.

1974: BANIJA, a Yugoslavian freighter, was inbound in ballast at Port Weller through fog when it hit the pier and required repairs before continuing to Duluth to load. This vessel arrived at Alang, India, as b) STOLIV for scrapping on May 1, 1987.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On 01 June 1903, ISAAC ELLWOOD (steel propeller freighter, 478 foot, 5,085 gross tons, built in 1900, at W. Bay City, Michigan) broke the record for ore when she carried a cargo of 8,579 tons out of Duluth harbor. This broke the record held by JOHN SMEATON (steel barge, 458 foot, 5,049 gross tons, built in 1899, at Superior, Wisconsin), which was 8,571 tons of ore.

ASA CHILDS (wooden scow schooner, 125 foot, 204 gross tons, built in 1866, at Mentor, Ohio) was carrying lumber in a storm on Lake Michigan when she was driven ashore at Highland Park just north of Chicago, Illinois on 01 June 1879, and was a total loss. The crew escaped in the lifeboat.

On 01 June 1914, the St. Joseph-Chicago Steamship Company bought the EASTLAND (steel propeller passenger steamer, 265 foot, 1,961 gross tons, built in 1903, at Port Huron, Michigan) from the Eastland Navigation Company for $150,000.

In 1943, IRVING S OLDS collided with the 524 foot steamer CHARLES O. JENKINS in heavy fog 28 miles northeast of Cleveland on Lake Erie and was holed eight feet above the water line. The OLDS was able to help the badly damaged JENKINS back to Cleveland by lashing the two vessels together. After a grueling seven hours the JENKINS was beached in the outer harbor to prevent her from sinking. The OLDS was repaired in time to carry a new record of 17,817 gross tons of iron ore on June 13, 1943. In 1952, the steamer J.L. MAUTHE (Hull#298) was launched at Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Michigan, for the Interlake Steamship Co.

The WHITEFISH BAY, loaded with 950,000 bushels of spring wheat, was honored as she carried the billionth metric ton of cargo through the Eisenhower Lock in 1983.

On June 1, 1907, the Great Lakes Engineering Works launched the bulk steamer WILPEN (Hull#28) at Ecorse, Michigan, for the Shenango Steamship Co., a subsidiary of Shenango Furnace Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Renamed b.) DAVID P. THOMPSON in 1926, and converted to a self-unloader in 1957, at Superior, Wisconsin. She was renamed c.) JOSEPH S. YOUNG in 1969, and scrapped at La Spezia, Italy in 1979.

H. LEE WHITE departed Sturgeon Bay in ballast on her maiden voyage for the American Steamship Co., on June 1, 1974, to load iron ore at Escanaba, Michigan for Indiana Harbor.

June 1, 1902 - While northbound for Manistique, Michigan, the ANN ARBOR NO 1 went aground in a heavy fog about noon on South Manitou Island, but was able to free herself and to proceed undamaged.

June 1, 1938 - PERE MARQUETTE 21, under the command of Captain Arthur Altschwager, was released from a sand bar in the outer harbor at Manitowoc at 1:06 p.m. today after being aground for six hours. Her sister ship, the PERE MARQUETTE 22, commanded by J.F. Johnson, freed the ferry after taking a line and pulling the big ship back off the bar.

June, 1958, The ANN ARBOR NO 6 was taken out of service for extensive refitting. She was renamed b.) ARTHUR K. ATKINSON.

On 1 June 1887, LUCINDA VAN VALKENBURG (wooden schooner, 129 foot, 302 gross tons, built in 1862, at Tonawanda, New York) collided with the iron steamer LEHIGH in fog and sank near Thunder Bay Island on Lake Huron. The crew was safely taken aboard the LEHIGH and brought to Port Huron.

On 1 June 1892, the steel bulk freighter CHOCTAW was launched at the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company (Hull #17) in Cleveland, Ohio for the Lake Superior Iron Company. Her dimensions were 207 feet x 38 feet x 18 feet and she had a triple expansion steam engine 17 feet, 29 inches, 47 inches x 36 inch stroke. She was built as "monitor" type vessel based on whaleback design with all her cabins aft. She lasted until sunk in a collision in 1915.

1923: The barge BROOKDALE of Canada Steamship Lines was sunk near Montreal after a collision with MAPLEDAWN. The wooden hulled vessel, originally the schooner MORAVIA, was refloated and scrapped.

1943: A collision on foggy Lake Superior between BATTLEFORD and PRINDOC sank the latter off Passage Island. All on board were saved from the downbound, wheat-laden bulk carrier of the Paterson fleet.

1944: The first NEWBRUNDOC had been built at Toronto in 1921 and had previously sailed as CANADIAN ENGINEER and b) DONALD E.McKAY. The ship became f) SAVLATORE in 1934 and, with the outbreak of war, was now the enemy. It was bombed and sunk by British aircraft as part of a German convoy in the Aegean Sea and all hands were lost.

1966: RIO ALTO, a Liberty ship, came to the Great Lakes under Liberian registry in 1963. It developed leaks on the Pacific while enroute from Manati, Puerto Rico, to China as d) AKTOR and sank on this date 860 miles SSW of San Diego, CA in 1966.

1967: RENVOYLE struck the docked SYLVANIA while turning at Port Huron and the latter sank against the dock. The former, a C.S.L. package freighter, received bow damage and was laid up and then sold for scrap. SYLVANIA was refloated, repaired and returned to service.

1979: GEORGES HERBERT, a wooden goelette that occasionally came to the Great Lakes, sank in the Gulf of Mexico while carrying a cargo of corn.

2011: CANADIAN RANGER, under tow on the St. Lawrence, got spun around 180 degrees by a wind gust above the Iroquois Lock and had to be towed through the lock stern first before being realigned below the lock. It reached the scrap yard at Aliaga, Turkey, on July 13, 2011.

CITY OF SAGINAW 31 cleared Manitowoc in 1973, in tow of the tug HELEN M. MC ALLISTER; this was the first leg of her tow to the cutter’s torch that ended at Castellon, Spain.

The wooden barge FANNY NEIL was launched at the Muir, Livingstone & Co. yard in Port Huron, Michigan on 31 May 1870. As was usual in those days, her name was not made public until the streamer bearing her name was unfurled at the launch.

May 31, 1924 - PERE MARQUETTE 21 arrived Ludington, Michigan, on her maiden voyage. Captain Charles E. Robertson was in command.

The wooden tug MOCKING BIRD was launched at 7:00 p.m. on 31 May 1873, (12 days late) at the Port Huron Dry Dock Company yard. Her master builder was Alex "Sandy" Stewart. Her dimensions were 123 foot x 23 feet x 8.4 feet, 142 gross tons. The engine (26.5 inches x 30 inches) was at the Cuyahoga Works in Cleveland, Ohio at the time of launch, ready to be installed. Although this launch was 12 days late, it still did not go smoothly since MOCKING BIRD got stuck in the river. However, with some assistance from another tug, she was pulled free and was afloat at the dock by midnight. She lasted until abandoned at Marquette, Michigan in 1918.

On 31 May 1900, the KEWAUNEE (wooden propeller steamer, 106 foot, 143 gross tons) was launched at Kewaunee, Wisconsin for James Smith, Ben Kuhlman & William Keeper. In 1902, she was rebuilt as a lightship and, in 1913, she was converted to a sand dredge. She lasted until 1935, when she was abandoned.

1918: GEORGE G. BARNUM (later the self-unloader HENNEPIN) and the CHESTER A. CONGDON were in a minor collision due to fog off Whitefish Point, Lake Superior. The latter was lost later that year after stranding and then breaking up on Canoe Rock, Isle Royale, Lake Superior.

1926: NISBET GRAMMER sank after a collision with DALWARNIC in fog off Thirty Mile Point, Lake Ontario, while downbound with a cargo of grain. All on board were rescued from the 3-year old member of the Eastern Steamship Co. fleet. It went down in about 500 feet of water.

1974: The first GORDON C. LEITCH was aground for 3 hours, 55 minutes at Buoy 2 on the St. Clair River and freed herself with only minor damage.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On 02 June 1958, the Liberian-flagged freighter MOUNT DELPHI sank enroute to Karachi, Pakistan. She was built by the British American Shipbuilding Company at Welland, Ontario, during the final years of World War I. She had 12 different owners during her career and had been seized by Vichy interests at Casablanca, Morocco, in 1940, and then by the Italian government in 1942.

On 02 June 1893, CORSICAN (wooden schooner, 112 foot, 210 gross tons, built in 1862, at Olcott, New York) was carrying coal from Cleveland, Ohio to St. Ignace, Michigan, on a foggy night on Lake Huron. She collided with the iron steamer CORSICA and sank quickly off Thunder Bay Island. All six onboard went down with her. The wounded CORSICA was beached near Ossineke, Michigan, was later patched and proceeded to Ashtabula, Ohio.

In 1973, the SYLVANIA, downbound light in fog, collided with the FRANK PURNELL just north of the Detroit River Light at 05:23 hours. The SYLVANIA suffered minor bow damage and went to Toledo for repairs.

On 2 June 1855, J.W. BLAKE (wooden scow-schooner, 68 foot, 33 tons, built in 1853, at Dover, Ohio) was carrying lumber in a storm four miles off Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, when she capsized. Her crew escaped in her yawl, but it was a very close call for one who was asleep below decks when she capsized. The vessel was later recovered and put back in service.

June 2, 1988 - The CITY OF MIDLAND 41 took on 17 truckloads of lake trout, which were planted off Beaver Island.

On 2 June 1882, INDUSTRY (wooden schooner, 63 foot, 30 tons, built in 1847, at Michigan City, Indiana) capsized and sank just a half-mile from South Haven, Michigan. The three crewmen clung to the wreck for a while as rescue attempts were made from shore, but they all perished. The wreck later drifted to the beach about five miles south of town and went to pieces.

1943: The W.W. HOLLOWAY and HARRY WM. HOSFORD collided in foggy lower Whitefish Bay and the latter steamer had to be beached at Point Iroquois to avoid sinking.

1958: WAR RACCOON was built at Welland in 1919. It was sailing under Liberian registry as l) MOUNT DELPHI when it hit a rock and was beached at Grand Island, near Mormugao, India, on a voyage from Mouimein, Burma, to Karachi, Pakistan. The ship was a total loss.

1968: CASTALIA, a Greek flag freighter, struck the north pier of the Mackinac Bridge, in dense fog and made a small gouge in the structure. The ship was holed and leaking but cleared to proceed to Chicago. It was on its first trip through the Seaway and was later scrapped as c) NEW ENGLANDER after arriving at Bilbao, Spain, on July 4, 1973.

1978: The bulk carrier ARCTIC was christened in a ceremony at Port Weller Dry Docks in St. Catharines.

1981: The sidewheel Toronto Island ferry TRILLIUM was unable to stop in time at the mainland dock. It struck the restaurant ship NORMAC and the latter sank two weeks later.

2000: ALGOWOOD buckled amidships while loading stone at Bruce Mines. The hull was patched, strengthened, refloated and towed to Port Weller Dry Docks to be lengthened and repaired.

6/2 - Cleveland, Ohio – The Coast Guard is scheduled to hold a change-of-command ceremony for its 9th District, which spans the five Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway and parts of the surrounding states, at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center Wednesday afternoon.

Vice Adm. William "Dean" Lee, Coast Guard Atlantic Area commander, will preside over the ceremony to transfer command of the 9th District from Rear Adm. Fred Midgette to Rear Adm. June Ryan.

Midgette assumed command of the 9th District in June 2013. Following the change-of-command ceremony, Midgette will report to Coast Guard Headquarters to fill the position of special flag assistant to the vice commandant.

Ryan reports to the 9th District from her position as the military advisor to the secretary of Homeland Security.

Headquartered in Cleveland, 9th District units are responsible for all Coast Guard operations throughout the five Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway and parts of the surrounding states including 6,700 miles of shoreline and 1,500 miles of the international border with Canada. The 6,000 active-duty, Reserve, civilian and Auxiliary men and women deliver multi-mission services in search and rescue, maritime safety and security, environmental protection, maritime law enforcement, aids to navigation, and icebreaking.

U.S. Coast Guard

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/3 - Milwaukee, Wis. – Lakefront strollers have been eying a large, seemingly out-of-place cargo vessel with curiosity as it remains anchored on open water — now for more than a week.

"We're in the same boat as everybody else in not knowing why they've been hunkered out there this whole time," said Paul Fladten, public relations manager for nearby Discovery World, whose captains and crew members have learned little about the ship despite sailing by it and exchanging waves and honks with its passengers.

The Lugano, a bulk carrier ship, could stay glued to its spot about a mile from the McKinley Marina indefinitely, according to Wayne Johnson, a Port of Milwaukee harbor master.

Johnson said the ship has been anchored and awaiting its next load of cargo since May 25, after a 10-day stint unloading barley at the Nidera grain elevator.

"Right now he doesn't have anywhere to go," Johnson said. "He's an orphan."

It's not unheard of for vessels to remain within un-docked port jurisdiction, which extends halfway across Lake Michigan, but it is unusual for that stay to extend beyond a few days, he said.

Employees of Harbor House, a seafood restaurant, were immediately struck by the ship, whose stern they've observed changing directions overnight while the boat remains fixed in its location, according to Patrick Erdman, assistant general manager.

"Typically they would be there, unload, load and be gone within the matter of a day," he said.

But Johnson said the Lugano is welcome to linger so as long as it stays out of the shipping channel and doesn't present a hazard to other boats.

"It's not something that happens all the time; they just wind up there," Johnson said, "and they can stay out there as long as they want."

He said he expects that soon, though, the Lugano's crew will have to order a grocery delivery since they can't leave the ship without docking.

The Swiss-owned "salty" — a term for oceangoing vessels — can carry about 20,000 tons and is based out of a port in Basel, Switzerland.

Journal Sentinel





On Lake Michigan, a cleaner coal-powered ship ferries on

6/3 - Ludington, Mich. – A slice of history sails across Lake Michigan, carrying cars between Ludington, Mich., and Manitowoc, Wis. It's the SS Badger: the largest coal-fired passenger ship still operating in the United States.

For years, the ship was the focus of environmental scrutiny because of its practice of dumping waste coal ash directly into the lake. The pollution nearly stopped the Badger from steaming again — but now, the ash-dumping has ended.

And this summer, after a half-century on the waters, the Badger is still ferrying on.

With the blast of a horn, Captain Jeffery Curtis informs the city of Ludington that the Badger is leaving the port. Then he talks to the helmsman at the wheel and gives orders to the boiler room crew — with a bell.

The bell is connected to a communication device called a Chadburn. Curtis says the Badger, which has been sailing since 1953, is one of the only ships on the Great Lakes that still uses one.

"We are still working as if we were in mid-century here, so we have engine-order telegraphs to communicate our needs to the engineers down in the engine room," he says.

The pilothouse has a lot more brass and fewer computers than you'll see in newer ships, hearkening back to when seven ferries operated out of Ludington. Now it's the only one.

Bryce Goddard of Cleveland, Tenn., braved a chilly but sunny morning to sit out on the deck watching Michigan fade away.

"I keep waiting for this shoreline to disappear, but it just lasts forever," she says. "Which I'm glad of. That's my last view of Michigan for a long time, probably."

Inside, passengers play bingo, watch a movie or TV, take a nap, read a book or use the Wi-Fi — because, yes, there is Wi-Fi on a coal-powered ferry.

This trip almost wasn't possible. After decades of letting the Badger pollute the lake, the Environmental Protection Agency issued an ultimatum: Stop dumping or be grounded.

Finally, this off-season, the boat's owner installed a $2 million solution: a set of blue pipes that collect ash each trip, about 500 tons per year.

Once a week, that ash gets trucked to Charlevoix, Mich., for use in making cement products. Badger engineer Chuck Cart says it wasn't easy to install this new system.

"We don't have a lot of space here, so we needed to design a bin that would fit in the space that we weren't using to haul cars and trucks," he says.

The boat trip is only three to five hours shorter than driving around the lake, and there are certainly faster ferries at other Lake Michigan ports. But Mary Lou Deutsch of Traverse City, Mich., says that's not the point.

"Life isn't for going fast. Life is for enjoying the ride. And this has been delightful," she says.

And now that the Badger runs a bit greener, a leisurely ride across Lake Michigan is no longer a guilty pleasure.

NPR



On 03 June 1882, the schooner C. BELL was launched at the yard of Mason, Corning & Company in East Saginaw, Michigan. Her dimensions were 185 feet x 30 feet x 11 feet, and she cost $20,000.

JOHN B. AIRD was christened in 1983, at Thunder Bay for Algoma Central Marine, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

After successfully completing her sea trials on June 3, 1951, CLIFFS VICTORY entered service for Cleveland Cliffs Steamship Co., a little under six months from the time she was purchased from the U.S.M.C.

PATERSON (Hull#113) of the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., entered service for N.M. Paterson & Sons Ltd., on June 3, 1954, by carrying 440,000 bushels of wheat from Port Arthur, Ontario. She was scrapped at Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1985.

On 3 June 1870, T.F. PARK (wooden side-wheeler, 170 foot, 450 tons, built in 1851, at Chatham, Ontario) caught fire and burned to the waterline at the dock near the Detroit & Milwaukee Grain Elevator at Detroit, Michigan. The hull was later removed after being struck by several vessels.

On 3 June 1875, the iron carferry HURON (238 foot, 1,052 gross tons) was launched at Point Edward, Ontario for the Grand Trunk Railway. Miss Jessie S. Hughes of Toronto christened the vessel with a bottle of wine. The hull's iron plates were manufactured in Scotland and shipped to Point Edward where they were assembled. Work began on 12 August 1874. Her engine and boiler were built at Dundas, Ont. This vessel ran between Windsor and Detroit for over a century. Her hull is still in existence, submerged in the old Great Lakes Engineering Works slip in River Rouge, Michigan.

1911: The passenger steamer NORTH WEST was gutted by a fire while fitting out at Buffalo. The hull remained idle until it was cut in two in 1918 for a tow to saltwater, but the bow section sank in Lake Ontario. The stern was rebuilt on the St. Lawrence as MAPLECOURT and returned to the lakes, again in two sections, in 1922.

1923: WILLIAM B. SCHILLER and HORACE S. WILKINSON collided in Whitefish Bay. The former was anchored when hit on the port side at #5 hatch. The SCHILLER’s captain pulled up the hook and raced for shore so as to sink in shallow water. It went down in about 40 feet and was salvaged on July 2.

1940: JOHN J. RAMMACHER and WILLIAM A. REISS (ii) collided just after midnight beneath the Blue Water Bridge at Sarnia-Port Huron and both ships were damaged.

1999: HOPE I lost power in the Seaway while downbound with wheat and stranded above Morrisburg. The hull was holed and the ship was released with the aid of tugs on June 5. The ship first came inland as a) NOSIRA MADELEINE in 1983 and returned as c) HOPE I for the first time in 1993, and then as d) HOPE in 2004. It was last reported as f) H. PIONEER in 2011.