Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/4 - Muskegon, Mich. – For years, "lower, ever lower" was the big water-level story in West Michigan.

News stories focused on the problems created for boaters and shippers. Great Lakes freighters had to lighten their loads to navigate areas with less water depth. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged Lake Michigan harbors including Muskegon and Grand Haven. Sailboats had problems getting onto interior bodies of water like Muskegon Lake.

On the bright side, lakefront parks and property owners got lots more beach.

Now the situation has flipped. After a couple snowy winters coupled with decent rainfall amounts in warmer months, Muskegon-area river, stream and lake levels are the highest they've been in many years.

That's meant a variety of things for the area – the good, the bad and the ugly, depending on your point of view.

"There's always going to be these competing challenges from societal demands," said Alan Steinman, executive director of Grand Valley State University's Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute. "What do you value more?"

For the area's ecology, rising water levels are mostly a plus after years of low water.

"We have a need for fluctuating water levels so we can have that functional wetland edge that provides filtering for pollutants," said Kathy Evans, environmental planner for the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission and staff support for the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership. "It's a dynamic system. Changes are good."

Wetter wetlands might also help drown out invasive plant species like phragmites, the dense reeds that have been clogging shoreline areas in recent years, Evans suggested.

Stationary water levels over many years are bad for the native ecology of coastal wetlands. "It's a good opportunity for the invasives to come in," Steinman said. "It's not good habitat for the fish, not good for the bugs. As much as the homeowners might want that, it's really poor for the ecosystem."

So changing water levels, with a cycle of ups and downs, helps the environment. But there are a couple caveats.

While rising water is mostly good for the environment, it does depend on the source -- if heavy storms cause fertilizer-rich or contaminated soil and pavement runoff to flow into lakes and streams, that's not a good thing, Steinman points out.

Rising water levels are a big boon to shipping interests and recreational boating.

"So far it's hurt our service business because people are not wrecking their boats," joked Jeff Covey, general manager of Great Lakes Marina on Muskegon Lake. But seriously, "the water levels are awesome," Covey said. "It makes boating so much easier, so much nicer."

It's easier to get boats in and out of the water. Inland lakes like Muskegon and White Lake have fewer shallow areas that can damage boats, canoes and kayaks. No one has to descend ladders to board their craft.

"There's plenty of water in the marina," Covey said. "We're back up to where the average depth should be. That's a big change, considering we couldn't even get a lot of sailboats into the marina three years ago. Now we can."

With higher lake levels, marinas don't have to dredge as often. Neither does the federal government, responsible for keeping shipping lanes open.

"Obviously from a shipping capacity, it's great for navigation," Steinman said. Great Lakes freighters no longer have to lighten their loads, and dredging costs go down.

On the other hand, higher water levels do cause more sediment movement. That could build up sand bars in some spots that need to be dredged. "But in general you're going to have more draft so ships can move without dredging," Steinman said.

And that leads to the most noticeable negative about higher lake levels: beach erosion. For those with long memories, the bane of the 1980s has returned to West Michigan after a long absence.

"Our beach has been reduced in size by probably about a third to a half," said Pat Whalen, unit manager for P.J. Hoffmaster State Park along Lake Michigan in southern Norton Shores. On parts of the Hoffmaster shoreline, there's virtually no beach left at all.

The situation is similar at Muskegon County's Pioneer Park along Lake Michigan north of Muskegon Lake.

At Pioneer, the park's beach depth has dropped from 20 feet down to 3 to 5 feet, according to senior park ranger Jeff Winters. And there, as at Hoffmaster and other beaches, a lot of driftwood and dead grass have been washing up on the beach.

But, like Whalen, Winters isn't too concerned.

"We have years where it's up, years where it's down. It's kind of a bell curve," Whalen said. "Mother Nature always does this to us."

Tanya Cabala, a member of the newly formed White Lake Environmental Network and longtime White Lake-area environmental activist, makes a similar point.

"People have short memories," Cabala said. "You would think that most people who live on the shoreline or were thinking about living on the shoreline would understand that lake levels fluctuate. In times of low lake levels, people build too close to the water."

"We fail as humans to take the long view," Steinman said. "We always focus on the short term. If you look at the last 150 years, eventually water levels are going to come back. What's unprecedented is how long it stayed low.

"We caution people, when you look at these water levels over history, they fluctuate. Sometimes they fluctuate wildly. It doesn't surprise me. People's memories surprise me."

MLive

6/4 - Toledo, Ohio – This year marks the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. In its honor, the National Museum of the Great Lakes has announced its plans to remember this important event and the 29 crewmembers who perished in the disaster.

Nicknamed the “Toledo Express” because of its frequent arrivals in the port, most of the crew on the fateful journey in 1975 called the Toledo area their home – more than any other community. The boat’s Captain, Ernest McSorely, resided in Ottawa Hills at the time of the disaster.

The museum will provide a series of Fitzgerald-related programs between June and November to help educate the general public as to the historic nature of the loss and to remember the souls of those lost to the frigid waters of Lake Superior.

This Saturday, June 6, 57 years after the Edmund Fitzgerald was launched, the museum will begin offering a specialty tour aboard the Col. James M. Schoonmaker. On the tour, museum staff will take visitors to specific areas of the Schoonmaker to explore technical and historical topics related to the Fitzgerald’s sinking.

“A lot of people have heard about leaky hatches, downed fence rails and broken radar, but until you actually see this equipment first hand, the terms are just words” said Christopher Gillcrist, the museum’s executive director. “Our tour introduces the visitor to the mystery of the Fitzgerald with concrete visual examples.” All major theories of her sinking will be explored. Additionally, the tour will feature newly-uncovered information concerning individuals related to the disaster. For example, the museum will identify individuals who were scheduled to be on the ill-fated journey but didn’t make it aboard, and the identity of the first person Columbia Steamship Company, the operators of the Fitzgerald, contacted when it became obvious the ship had sunk.

The National Museum of the Great Lakes has also announced a new initiative to help broaden an appreciation and understanding of the historic role of the Fitzgerald in maritime history. Over the next year the staff and volunteers of the museum will conduct 29 educational programs at no charge to service groups, museums, historical organizations and other community organizations. Each program will be offered in honor of one of the 29 crewmembers that perished. Three different programs related to the Fitzgerald, and a new program on the Fitzgerald’s life prior to the accident, will be available to local organizations on a first come, first served basis.

In addition, the National Museum of the Great Lakes has entered into a cooperative agreement with other maritime museums to promote the history of the Fitzgerald. The agreement creates the “Edmund Fitzgerald Historic Trail,” which features four other museums with significant Fitzgerald artifacts and displays, including the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, the Museum Ship Valley Camp, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, and the Lakes Superior Maritime Visitor Center. “Each of the participating museums has something to tell about America’s most famous shipwreck. The historic trail lets people know where they can find the museums that tell this story,” said Gillcrist.

Finally, the museum is planning a major event on November 10, in Toledo. Plans for the commemorative event will be announced in August.

National Museum of the Great Lakes


In 1955, J. L. MAUTHE established a new Great Lakes cargo record for a coal cargo delivered to an upper lakes port. She loaded 18392 tons of coal at the Toledo C&O dock.

1943, BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS, Captain Harry Ashby, delivered a record cargo of 19343.5 net tons of iron ore at Cleveland. The ore was loaded at Two Harbors, Minnesota.

In 1947, the Canada Steamship Lines steamer EMPEROR, loaded with ore and bound for Ashtabula, hit the rocks off Isle Royale at 4:10 a.m. The vessel sank within minutes but the crew was able to launch 2 lifeboats. Captain Eldon Walkinshaw, First Mate D. Moray, and 10 other crew members drowned when one of the lifeboats overturned. Twenty-one other survivors were rescued by the U.S.C.G. cutter KIMBALL.

On 04 June 1872, while carrying wooden barrel staves from Bay City, Michigan to Buffalo, New York, the bark AMERICAN GIANT encountered rough weather off Port Stanley, Ontario, on Lake Erie. Heavy seas carried off her deck cargo of 25,000 staves and the vessel became waterlogged. As the crew considered abandoning, the steamer MENDOTA saw their plight and took the GIANT in tow for Buffalo where they arrived the following day. For days afterward, other vessels reported the litter of barrel staves floating in the middle of Lake Erie.

At 2:00 a.m., 04 June 1891, in heavy fog, the NORTHERN QUEEN (steel propeller freighter, 299 foot, 2,476 gross tons, built in 1889, at Cleveland, Ohio) struck the schooner FAYETTE BROWN (wooden schooner, 178 foot, 553 gross tons, built in 1868, at Cleveland, Ohio) about ten miles off Dummy Light on Lake Erie. The BROWN, which was loaded with stone blocks, quickly sank in over 60 feet of water. One of the schooner's crewmen climbed aboard the QUEEN while the others barely had time to scramble up the schooner's masts. Accounts of the accident differ. The schooner's skipper claimed that the NORTHERN QUEEN continued on her journey while the schooner's crew clung to the masts while the skipper of the NORTHERN QUEEN claimed that he tried to find survivors, but lost the wreck in the fog and reluctantly continued on his journey, figuring that there were no survivors. Nevertheless, about an hour after the disaster, the steamer ROBERT MILLS (wooden propeller freighter, 256 foot, 1,790 gross tons, built in 1888, at Buffalo, New York) came along, heard the cries of the unfortunate seamen clinging to the masts and rescued them. No lives were lost.

On 04 June 1881, the OGEMAW (wooden propeller freighter, 167 foot, 624 gross tons) was launched at Simon Langell's yard in St. Clair, Michigan for Mr. Wood & Company of Cleveland, Ohio.

CLIFFS VICTORY sailed on her maiden voyage in ballast from South Chicago, Illinois, in 1951.

On June 4, 1968, the keel for OTTERCLIFFE HALL (Hull#667) was laid at Lauzon, Quebec, by Davie Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., for the Hall Corporation of Canada. Renamed b.) ROYALTON in 1983, c.) OTTERCLIFFE HALL in 1985, d.) PETER MISENER in 1988 and e.) CANADIAN TRADER in 1994. She arrived at Alang, India, for scrapping on January 7, 2005.

EDGAR B. SPEER (Hull#908) was christened on June 4th 1980, at Lorain, Ohio, for the Connecticut Bank & Trust Co., Hartford, Connecticut, managed by the Great Lakes Fleet of the United States Steel Corp., Duluth, Minnesota.

In 1988, IRVING S. OLDS departed Duluth under tow of tug SALVAGE MONARCH, headed for overseas scrapping. She was scrapped by Sing Cheng Yung Iron & Steel Co., in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, scrapping began on November 24, 1988.

June 4, 1940 - Oiler George Riemersma, 50, died of a heart attack while at work on the PERE MARQUETTE 21.

June 4, 1942 - John A. Clancey, 58, general manager of the Grand Trunk Western Railway and president of the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Carferry Co. died suddenly of a heart attack while at his desk in Detroit.

The Port Huron Times reported "The new trim and tidy tug, the P L JOHNSON, built for Capt. Sol Rummage, passed up last night with her first tow. She is of medium size and wears the national colors on her smokestack for which some of the boys call her a floating barber shop."

On 4 June 1859, GENERAL HOUSTON (2-mast wooden schooner, 83 foot, 123 tons, built in 1844, at French Creek, New York) was bound from Port Huron for Buffalo with a load of lumber. During a terrific gale, she missed the mouth of the Grand River near Fairport, Ohio and went on the pier where she broke up. Fortunately no lives were lost. The lighthouse keeper on the pier where she broke up later refused to light the lantern while the wreck was in place for fear of drawing other vessels into it. The U. S. Government quickly contracted to remove the hulk from the channel, but a month later, a storm did the job for free, obliterating the wreck so completely that it was reported to have just "disappeared." June 4th is the anniversary of the famous race between the TASHMOO and the CITY OF ERIE, an exciting race that included many thousands of dollars in wagers, great advance publicity, and the use of many other boats to watch the action along the way. The drama was such that carrier pigeons were released at various times to take the latest updates to waiting newspaper reporters. The CITY OF ERIE won the race in a very close match, and the story has been retold in several books about the Great Lakes.

1961: C.A. BENNETT went aground in the Wiley-Dondero Channel of the Seaway while trying to avoid the REDFERN and was released with her own power.

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/5 - Alpena, Mich. – Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Michigan is rolling out the buoys and starting another season of work on Lake Huron — the highlight of which is searching for and studying shipwrecks.

This year, there's far more real estate to investigate: The sanctuary in northern Michigan secured federal approval to expand its size by nearly tenfold, from 450 square miles to 4,300 square miles.

"We're building large data sets — eventually, we hope, of the entire area," sanctuary superintendent Jeff Gray said. "That data is great as we find these wrecks, which are some of the best preserved wrecks in the entire world."

Sanctuary officials estimate the expanded territory, which incorporates waters off Alcona, Alpena and Presque Isle in the northeastern Lower Peninsula to the maritime border with Canada, doubles the number of shipwrecks it can explore to roughly 200.

Even more Great Lakes shipwreck protection and exploration could launch in the years ahead as other regions seek to join Thunder Bay, the only freshwater national sanctuary. Wisconsin officials, for instance, have applied for their own sanctuary on Lake Michigan with Thunder Bay's support.

Once known as "Shipwreck Alley," Thunder Bay is accessible to divers, swimmers, boaters and paddle-boarders, who can view some of the wrecks in shallow, clear water.

Among the better-known wrecks is the Isaac M. Scott, a coal carrier that sunk in the Great Storm of 1913, which scuttled 11 vessels in 16 hours and killed 150 mariners. Another is the New Orleans, a wooden side-wheeler that hit a reef on a foggy night in 1849; all 300 aboard were rescued.

For the undiscovered or unexamined wrecks, Gray said teams perform "high-definition mapping" using side-scan sonar. Before advances in technology, the workers were "interpreting blobs," he said, but now "you're practically looking at photos."

The mapping "also tells us what the bottom is like, where fish could be living, where they could be coming back to lay their eggs. And also about the geology, the hydrology of the lake as well," he said.

The expansion approved last year was a long-sought coup for the sanctuary, which was created in 2000 and is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the state of Michigan. Now, officials in and around the Lake Michigan shoreline community of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, seek to establish their own.

Backers of the Wisconsin National Marine Sanctuary, which is undergoing an environmental impact study, say they have gotten support and inspiration from Thunder Bay. They see a similar opportunity to preserve and explore scores of shipwrecks in an 875-square-mile area while boosting education, economic development and tourism.

Leslie Kohler, chairman of the Sailing Education Association of Sheboygan, said she and other members of Wisconsin's sanctuary steering committee have visited Thunder Bay and Gray was recently in Wisconsin for a community presentation about sanctuaries.

"They've got a great facility," Kohler said of Thunder Bay. "If we could do a job like that, we think it would be marvelous."

Detroit Free Press





Canadian Coast Guard moves communications from Thunder Bay

6/5 - Thunder Bay, Ont. – Mariners on Lake Superior in the Thunder Bay area can no longer radio a city-based operator for help if they run into trouble. Since May 29, vessel operators have been talking to a communications base in Sarnia as part of a national project to modernize marine communications and traffic services.

The change does not affect coverage for mariners, said Greg Lick, the Canadian Coast Guard's director general of operations.

"The radio towers that connect mariners to the center, the radar towers which give us a radar picture of certain areas, those towers will remain exactly the same," he said. "They're just being connected with the modern technology to different centres."

He said that modernization makes the centers more efficient and allowed the coast guard to consolidate a number of centers. The emergency response for mariners in trouble remains the same — with no changes to the vessels or staffing at Thunder Bay's Coast Guard search and rescue base, Lick said.

Communications staff working in Thunder Bay were offered other positions or options, he added. The change is part of a national project to modernize the marine communications and traffic services at centers across the country.

"We've actually updated the technology, which was ‘80s and ‘90s technology. We've updated that to very modern communications systems," Lick continued.

"So we've always talked about it as sort of moving from the rotary or maybe the push-button phone up to a smart-phone technology. That's a good example or comparison."

CBC




Over the winter of 1960 - 1961, CHARLES M. SCHWAB was rebuilt by joining the forward end of the original SCHWAB with the after end of the former oil tanker GULFPORT. On this date in 1961, Captain Raphael "Dewey" Marsden conducted sea trials with the vessel on Lake Erie between Lorain and Cleveland.

On 05 June 1884, the wooden 3-mast 139-foot schooner GUIDING STAR, which went ashore 12 miles north of Milwaukee on 06 November 1883, was finally abandoned when all efforts to release her had failed. About two-thirds of her cargo of coal was salvaged.

On 05 June 1888, the wreck of the tug FRANK MOFFAT was removed from the St. Clair River at Sombra, Ontario by the Canadian Government. The tug was wrecked when her boiler exploded in November 1885.

In 1972, ROGER BLOUGH (Hull#900) was christened at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. for U.S. Steel Corp.

Also in 1972, PARKER EVANS was in collision with the upbound Erie Sand steamer SIDNEY E. SMITH JR just below the Blue Water Bridge, at Port Huron, Michigan. The SMITH sank in 20 minutes with no loss of life. The EVANS, with bow damage, proceeded to Port Weller Dry Docks for extensive repairs. As a result of this accident, on October 4, 1972, alternate one-way traffic between the Black River Buoy and Buoys One and Two in Lake Huron was agreed upon by the shipping companies. Also a call-in system was initiated to monitor traffic between the Detroit River Light and Buoys 7 and 8 in Lake Huron by the newly established Sarnia Traffic.

On 05 June 1979, while carrying corn on Lake Superior, CARTIERCLIFFE HALL (steel propeller bulk freighter, 730 foot, 18,531 gross tons, built in 1960, in Germany as a.) RUHR ORE) caught fire 10 miles north of Copper Harbor, Michigan. Her crew abandoned ship in two life rafts and one lifeboat. Six died in this tragedy while five were injured; four (including Captain Raymond Boudreault) were injured seriously enough to be flown to the University of Michigan Burn Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. U. S. Steel's THOMAS W. LAMONT rescued 17 at 4:52 a.m. while CSL’s LOUIS R. DESMARAIS rescued two more. The CARTIERCLIFFE HALL was towed to Thunder Bay by the tug PENNSYLVANIA the following day.

June 5, 1947, the Pere Marquette Railway was acquired by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.

LIGHTSHIP 103, (HURON) had her keel laid June 5, 1918, at Morris Heights, New York by Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp. Upon her retirement in 1971, the lightship was acquired by the City of Port Huron for use as a museum.

On 5 June 1864, COL A B WILLIAMS (2 mast wooden schooner, 110 foot, 150 tons, built in 1856, at Big Sodus, New York) was carrying coal on Lake Huron when she collided with the big ore-laden bark TWILIGHT. The WILLIAMS sank in 85 feet of water, 3 miles below Port Sanilac. Her crew was rescued by the TWILIGHT.

Shortly before midnight, Sunday, 5 June 1870, the WABASH and EMPIRE STATE collided in Lake Huron about 10 miles above Fort Gratiot Light. The WABASH sank and the EMPIRE STATE was damaged. The steamer JAY GOULD took the passengers off both vessels.

1943: FRANK ARMSTRONG, upbound on her maiden voyage, collided with the C.S.L. bulk carrier GODERICH in the St. Mary's River. Both sustained significant damage.

1991: OLYMPIC POWER was a year old when it first came through the Seaway in 1969. The vessel was sailing as c) FREE POWER when a fire broke out in the engine room off Oman on this date in 1991 and the ship had to be abandoned by the crew. One sailor was lost. The hull was a CTL and it reached Alang, India, for scrapping on February 8, 1993.

1998: The small Danish flag freighter, SEA STAR came to the Great Lakes with steel for Cleveland in April 1998. The vessel returned to the sea and sank in the Caribbean two months later on this date after a collision with the tuna boat MASA YOSHI MARU. SEA STAR was traveling from Colombia to Haiti with 2000 tonnes of bagged cement. Two members of the crew were lost.

[yachtsmanwilly]

June 8 1951, CLIFFS VICTORY entered Cleveland with a load of iron ore from Marquette. The VICTORY completed the one-way trip in 37 hours - 20 hours faster than the best previous time.

On 08 June 1854, J. YOUNG SCAMMON (2-mast wooden brig, built in 1845, at Chicago, Illinois) was sheltering from a storm at S. Manitou Island on Lake Michigan when she dragged her anchors, stranded and broke in three pieces. She was driven in so close to the shore that the crew was able to use a broken spar to climb to the beach. No lives lost.

On 08 June 1897, RITA MC DONALD (wooden propeller tug, 72 foot, 69 gross tons) was launched by J. Davidson (Hull #84) at West Bay City, Michigan. She lasted until 1920, when she was abandoned in Chicago, Illinois.

In 1978, the LEWIS WILSON FOY was christened for the Bethlehem Steel Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Renamed b.) OGLEBAY NORTON in 1991. She now sails as AMERICAN INTEGRITY.

In 1938, the GOVERNOR MILLER (Hull#810) a sister ship to the WILLIAM A. IRVIN, began her maiden voyage, leaving Lorain, Ohio. The GOVERNOR MILLER was only the second Great Lakes vessel to be powered by a steam turbine with a direct drive to the propeller shaft via reduction gear.

In 1976 - the Midwest Energy Terminal at Superior, Wisconsin, loaded its first cargo of low-sulfur coal. The steamer JOHN J. BOLAND of 1953, took the honors as the first vessel to load at this dock. She was sold Canadian and renamed b.) SAGINAW in 1999.

On this date in 1977, the HARRY .L ALLEN was the first freighter to load at Burlington Northern's Dock #5 in Superior, Wisconsin.

On 8 June 1847, CHESAPEAKE (wooden side-wheeler, 172 foot, 412 tons, built in 1838, at Maumee, Ohio) was fully laden and had 97 aboard when she rammed the schooner JOHN F PORTER on a dark night off Conneaut, Ohio. As she started to sink, she was run to shore in an effort to save her, but she sank a mile short of the beach. Lake Erie was fairly calm and the crew and passengers tried to get to shore in boats and makeshift rafts. Most made it and many were also picked up by the steamer HARRISON. Estimates of the number of dead vary from 7 to 13. The wooden side-wheel tug and upriver packet TRAFFIC (75 foot, 50 tons, built in 1853, at St. Clair, Michigan) sank near Sebewaing, Michigan on 8 June 1868. She was recovered and repaired, but only lasted a little longer than a year since she burned in Saginaw in October 1869.

1933: WILHELMINE, dated from 1888 and was one of the world's earliest tankers, ran aground off Morgan Point, west of Port Colborne, while enroute from Chicago to Liverpool with 2,700,000 lbs of lard. The crew were removed and the ship abandoned. The hull was refloated June 3 but was not repaired and may have been dismantled at Ashtabula.

1954: The tug EDWARD C. WHALEN sank in Lake Superior near Corbeil Point. It was salvaged in 1955 and rebuilt a decade later as b) JOHN McLEAN. It survives in the Purvis Marine fleet as c) ADANAC.

1977: CYDONIA first came through the Seaway in 1962 and returned as b) VERMONT I in 1969. It was under tow due to rudder damage as e) JOY when a fire broke out in the engineroom near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The vessel was rocked by three explosions and sank in the Gulf of Mexico.

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/9 - St. Paul, Minn. – The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has approved a certificate of need for the proposed Sandpiper pipeline route through northern Minnesota as it goes from North Dakota's Bakken oil fields to Superior, Wisconsin.

The proposed route goes from the oil field near Tioga, N.D., near Williston, to Superior, Wis., where ocean-going vessels can dock just below Duluth on Lake Superior.

While the PUC agreed 5-0 Friday that the $2.6 billion, 610-mile pipeline - about 300 miles across Minnesota – is necessary, they didn't foreclose the possibility of more changes on its proposed path, the Associated Press reported.

The PUC said it still might reroute Enbridge's proposed route away from environmentally sensitive lakes, streams and wetlands in northern Minnesota. Enbridge Energy will still have to go through a lengthy review of its proposed route and a proposed alternative. Enbridge says it would like to have it operating in 2017.

At a capacity of 375,000 barrels a day across Minnesota, the Sandpiper would carry the equivalent of about 525 rail tanker cars, each holding 714 barrels, or about five trains of crude oil, every day.

Enbridge says Sandpiper is needed to move the growing supply of North Dakota crude safely and efficiently to market. But environmentalists and tribal groups say the risk of leaks is too high.

North Dakota regulators have already approved Sandpiper. North Dakota produces about 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, about 13 percent of U.S. production; roughly two-thirds of it leaves the state by train.

Recent explosive derailments of oil trains have informed the debate over building new pipelines.

South Dakota Capital Journal


6/9 - The Lamb Island lighthouse, built in 1876, is among 74 lighthouses recently granted heritage site designation, according to the chair of the Canadian Lighthouses of Lake Superior.

The lighthouse site, at the south end of the Nipigon Straights in Lake Superior, will be designated under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, Paul Capon said.

The official list of protected lighthouses isn't expected to be made public until the end of the summer, but Capon said he's been told by Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq that Lamb Island is on the list.

The Lamb Island lighthouse was replaced by a light tower in 1961, but two dwellings, two outbuildings and a boathouse remain on the site.

Two other Lake Superior lighthouse sites, Porphyry Point and Shaganash, are receiving $20,000 in funding from Trans Canada Trail as part of the Lake Superior Water Trail. The national trail system overlaps the Lighthouse Trail from the island archipelago to Rossport.

The money will be spent on signs "to orientate and direct tourists guests and visitors on an interpretive journey through Lake Superior," a news release from the Canadian Lighthouses of Lake Superior said.



39 potential bidders for U.S. Steel in Hamilton, Nanticoke

6/9 - Hamilton, Ont. – A small glimmer of hope for workers at the former Stelco plants in Hamilton and Nanticoke has been ignited with news 39 potential bidders have expressed interest in buying the mills.

The court-appointed monitor overseeing USSC's restructuring under creditor protection revealed in a report Friday that of 102 companies offered the chance to buy the distressed mills, 39 took the step of submitting expressions of interest in the factories, the land they sit on and, most exciting for workers, in buying the company so that it will continue operating as a productive business.

"The interest now is in who they are and what they want to do here," said Bill Ferguson, president of the United Steel Workers local in Nanticoke.

"We've known all along there are people willing to buy this plant, now we want to sit down with them and find out what they intend."

U.S. Steel Canada, a unit of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp., filed for creditor protection in September and almost immediately started a process to find a buyer for the former Hilton Works in Hamilton, later accelerating a similar process for the Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke.

The multi-stage process called for expressions of interest to be filed in May followed by clarification questions about those bids until June 3.

In his most recent report, monitor Alex Morrison described the potential bidders as "global and North American steel producers, coke producers, steel and metal industry participants, land redevelopers, and private equity and financial investors."

The potential offers are now being evaluated by the company and its advisers to produce a short list deemed to have the financial strength and intent to carry out their proposals. No deadline for that process has been publicly revealed.

A case conference to plan the next steps in the complicated legal process is planned for Tuesday.

The monitor's report clearly demonstrates the first stage of the sale and restructuring process (SARP) has generated substantial interest, company spokesperson Trevor Harris said.

"This is certainly a positive development and speaks to the quality of our assets and the employees that support the day-to-day business of our company," he wrote. "As we progress through the second phase of the SARP, additional information will be made available at the appropriate time."

Union leaders, however, say they intend to stage a demonstration outside the courthouse to remind lawyers they are dealing with workers lives, not just balance sheets.

"We'll be out front with a few signs before it starts trying to make the point again," said Gary Howe, president of the USW local in Hamilton.

Howe said he isn't personally surprised there is interest in buying the Hamilton plant.

"Everyone would like to see someone making steel in Hamilton again because that's the best way to protect the pension and (retirement benefits) and employment in Hamilton," he said.

Even if a potential buyer were to restart some level of steelmaking in Hamilton, he added, there would still be the opportunity to sell some of the company's excess land along the bayfront for economic development.

USSC sits on 813 acres of land, much of which could be redeveloped for industrial uses, solving a critical problem that has hampered Hamilton's economic development efforts.

It is known that the Hamilton Port Authority submitted an early stage proposal for some of that land. The HPA has a long history of reviving former factory sites into new productive uses.

One question workers will be asking of any potential new owner of the mills is what contract concessions, if any, will be demanded as part of a purchase.

That question, Howe said, will not be warmly received by workers. "We paid the price to earn our pensions and benefits," he said. "A lot of people died early because of working there. We knew the risks when we started working there, but in return there were things we were promised like a pension and benefits."

Hamilton Spectator



TASHMOO (steel side-wheel excursion steamer, 308 foot, 1,344 gross tons, built in 1900, at Wyandotte, Michigan) hosted Admiral George Dewey on her inaugural trip from Cleveland, Ohio, to Detroit, Michigan, on 09 June 1900. Admiral Dewey had just returned from his conquest of the Philippines during the Spanish American War and was a national hero. TASHMOO entered regular service for the White Star Line two days later.

The Lubeck, Germany-built, 305-foot Greek freighter CASTALIA of 1953 struck the north tower pier of the Mackinac Bridge at 7 p.m. on 09 June 1968, in dense fog. The bridge was not damaged and the ship took on water, but was able to proceed to Chicago without assistance.

LIGHTSHIP 103 was delivered to the 12th District Headquarters at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 9, 1921, to begin her Great Lakes career.

June 9, 1983, ALGOWEST loaded a record 1,047,758 bushels of wheat at Thunder Bay, Ontario.

ROGER BLOUGH began sea trials in 1972.

June 9, 1911, The ANN ARBOR NO 1 was raised by Smith Wrecking Company of Muskegon after being considered a menace to navigation by the Coast Guard (she had been sunk by the south breakwater at Frankfort, Michigan, after burning on March 8th). She was taken to Muskegon, and repaired sufficiently to become a sand scow for the Love Construction Company. The cost of raising her was $8,000. On 9 June 1884, ANNAPEE (2-mast wooden scow-schooner, 71 foot, 118 gross tons, built in 1867, at Ahnapee (Wolf River), Wisconsin) was bound from Torch Lake, Michigan, for Milwaukee with a load of railroad ties and cordwood when she stranded in fog on North Point in Lake Michigan, 2 1/2 miles from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Later a strong wind blew her into the rocks and she broke up. No lives were lost and part of her cargo was saved.

On 9 June 1882, the LIZZIE A. LAW (wooden schooner, 196 foot, 747 gross tons, built in 1875, at Port Huron, Michigan) collided with the R.B. HAYES (wooden schooner, 147 foot, 668 gross tons, built in 1877, at Gibraltar, Michigan) near the foot of Lake Huron. Although the LAW suffered severe damage, she completed her trip to Buffalo and was repaired there. The LAW lasted until 1908, when she was lost in a storm.

1909 ASSINIBOIA and CRESCENT CITY were washed through the Canadian Lock at Sault Ste. Marie when the upbound PERRY WALKER struck the lower gate. All three ships were damaged but were repaired and returned to service.

1963 The newly built SILVER ISLE of Mohawk Navigation and the PRINS ALEXANDER of the Oranje Line, collided in fog and rain on the St. Lawrence near Kingston. Both ships required repairs. The former was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 2010 as ALGOISLE while the latter struck a reef and sank in the Red Sea as f) POLIAIGOS on December 28, 1980.

1979 The French freighter MELUSINE first came to the Great Lakes in 1962 and returned as b) LENA in 1978. It sank the French fishing vessel ANTIOCHE III in the English Channel with the loss of 4 lives on this day in 1979. LENA was scrapped at Ferrol, Spain, in 1982, after suffering engine damage on a voyage from Bilbao, Spain, to Detroit.

1998 COMMON VENTURE began Great Lakes trading in 1980. It broke loose of its moorings in a cyclone as f) PEARL OF DAMMAN and grounded at Kandla, India, on this date in 1998. The ship was loaded with sulphur and sustained considerable damage. Following a sale for scrap, the 27 year old carrier arrived at Alang, India, September 12, 1998, for dismantling.

1998 TOKAI MARU was a first time Seaway caller in 1977 and a return visitor as b) EASTERN HERO in 1993. This ship was also blown aground off Kandla, India, by the same cyclone. It was now d) SURPRISE and became a total loss. This ship arrived at Alang October 8, 1998, and was broken up.

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/10 - Middleburg Heights, Ohio – The Interlake Steamship Company will repower its last steamship – the Herbert C. Jackson – with a highly-automated diesel propulsion system in the final phase of a 10-year, $100 million modernization effort to create the most efficient, reliable and environmentally-friendly fleet on the Great Lakes.

The six-month diesel conversion, which is slated to begin in mid-December, is the fifth major overhaul to Interlake’s fleet and its fourth steam-to-diesel conversion since 2006.

Built in 1959, the Jackson’s vintage steam turbines and automation would require costly upgrades for the ship to remain a reliable workhorse in the fleet.

“This repowering illustrates Interlake’s continuing commitment to shrink its environmental footprint by reducing emissions throughout our fleet,” says Interlake President Mark W. Barker. “We have a long-term vision for our industry and we are investing in our equipment and our ships to offer the most reliable, efficient delivery within an industry that is the greenest form of transportation available.”

The company is in discussions with potential shipyards to do the repowering work. The 6,250-BHP propulsion package will include a pair of MaK – six-cylinder M32E engines which will give the ship enhanced propulsion capabilities and reliability. In addition, the repowered Jackson will receive a twin-input, single-output Lufkin gear box with twin pto shaft generators, a Schottel controllable-pitch propeller system and Gesab exhaust gas economizers along with an auxiliary boiler. The Economizers allow the ship to harness the waste heat and energy from the main engine exhaust and produce “free steam” to heat the accommodations and for heating various auxiliary systems and fuel oil services. These installations will net the Company even greater emission reductions.

“It’s a sad day leaving the era of steamships behind but it’s a good day as we move forward,” says Barker about the last steamship being repowered. “We only have nine months a year to carry close to 20 million tons of cargo for our customers. It’s critical for us to be able to do that without any delays. To meet that goal, we have to invest and keep our ships outfitted with the best equipment in the industry.”

“The engineering team at Interlake is excited to be working with the professionals at Toromont Cat, a division of Toromont Industries Ltd., on another project,” says Phil Moore, Fleet Superintendent at Interlake. “The Toromont group provided engineering services, the MaK equipment and auxiliary propulsion systems on the successful diesel engine replacement of the Paul R. Tregurtha. Toromont made it an easy choice to work with them again on the Herbert C. Jackson repowering.”

Since 2007, Interlake has reduced its emissions dramatically. For example, through 2014, the Company estimates it has lowered its particulate matter by 30%, sulfur oxides by 54% and carbon dioxide by 47%. In April 2015, Interlake debuted the installation of exhaust gas scrubbers on the bulk carrier M/V Hon. James L. Oberstar, becoming the first U.S.-flag fleet to test the emission reduction technology on the Great Lakes.

The steamer Lee A. Tregurtha was the first ship to be repowered with a highly-automated Bergen diesel engine power plant in 2006. Similar engines were installed in the Hon. James L. Oberstar (then the steamer Charles M. Beeghly) in 2009. In 2010, the motor vesse; Paul R. Tregurtha, Interlake’s largest freighter at 1,013-feet long, underwent a diesel engine replacement using MAK engines. The steamer Kaye E. Barker was the last steamer to be repowered with Bergen diesels in 2012. The design and engineering of the power plants have been led by Ian Sharp, Director of Engineering for Fleet Projects. Sharp is currently completing the design of the Herbert C. Jackson’s new propulsion plant.

Interlake Steamship Co.


6/10 - U.S. manufacturing is expected to keep ship traffic on the St. Lawrence Seaway bustling this season after a strong start for general cargo shipments through the navigation system.

According to the St. Lawrence Seaway, shipments of steel, aluminum, wind turbines and other heavy machinery were up by 5 percent to 629,000 metric tons from April 2 to May 31. Steel and Canadian aluminum headed to U.S. Great Lakes ports such as Oswego, Detroit and Toledo to be used in the thriving automotive industry. Local manufacturers also exported mining equipment via the Port of Milwaukee to Europe.

Looking ahead, U.S. energy projects are expected to boost wind turbine shipments in the Great Lakes this season. The Port of Duluth-Superior has already booked 20 ships for its general cargo dock this year, including multiple loads of wind turbine components. The Port Authority recently broke ground on its $17.7 million Port of Duluth Intermodal Project – a dock redevelopment project that will further enhance its heavy-lift and project cargo capacity.

While it was another late start to the season due to icebreaking constraints, grain from Canada and the U.S. continued to flow out of the St. Lawrence Seaway to export markets, totaling 1.9 million metric tons so far this season, up 7 percent over 2014. And dry bulk shipments, including road salt, coke for steel production, and construction materials totaled 1.7 million metric tons, up four percent.

Despite these star performers, year-to-date total cargo shipments via the St. Lawrence Seaway were 6.4 million metric tons, down by 7 percent compared to 2014 due to low global prices for North American iron ore and coal exports. Iron ore shipments via the Seaway were down 30 percent, while coal shipments dipped 27.5 percent compared to the same period the year before.

Chamber of Marine Commerce


6/10 - Washington, D.C. – May was a busy month at U.S. ports along the Great Lakes Seaway System.

“Our Canadian and European trading partners kept U.S. Great Lakes ports extremely busy during the month of May,” said Betty Sutton, administrator of the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. “Over 100 vessels arrived in the Great Lakes Seaway System carrying cargoes of windmill components, aluminum, clay, steel and iron ore. Our ports are certainly ramping up for what looks to be another robust navigation season.”

While it may take awhile for shipments of iron ore and other bulk commodities to rebound, the 2015 shipping season is shaping up to be a strong year for project cargo at the Port of Duluth-Superior with upwards of 20 vessels booked so far.

“Our Port Terminal has several heavy-lift shipments on the books for the oil and gas sector as well as multiple shiploads of wind turbine components slated to move through Duluth this year,” said Vanta Coda, Duluth Seaway Port Authority Executive Director. Two ships carrying a total of nearly 140 wind turbine blades arrived in May, along with a load of machinery bound for Minnesota’s Iron Range.

“We also see opportunity for smaller-lot customers to consolidate freight and fill ships now operating in the system with a mix of project cargo, machinery, specialty ag products and containers moving to/from Europe,” Coda added.

Cleveland is also looking up.

“Within the first two months of the 2015 season, international tonnage is up more than 20 percent compared to 2014,” said David Gutheil, Vice President for Maritime and Logistics at the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.

“We have handled numerous new cargo movements during April and May, including steel pipe from Europe that will be installed as a connector to a natural gas pipeline in Ohio. In addition, the Cleveland-Europe Express (CEE) continues to gain traction in the market. CEE tonnage has tripled compared to April and May 2014 due to a significant increase in container movements. We continue to attract business from companies that have tired of continual congestion issues they face when moving their cargo through coastal ports. Spliethoff has also added a full time sales representative to their staff in Cleveland who is solely focused on targeting and securing cargo for the CEE.”

In Milwaukee, cargo volumes are keeping pace with last year’s strong performance,” said Paul Vornholt, Port Director. Among the items shipped from Milwaukee in May was a locally manufactured mining shovel that was efficiently delivered through the Seaway System to Scandinavia.

While grain imports are fairly uncommon at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, there was an exception during May. The port received 20,000 tons of organic corn and soybeans from Europe for distribution to users in the U.S. “May shipments were strong,” said Port Director Rick Heimann. “Our overall year-to-date seaway shipments are right on target with our 2014 record year.”

The Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority shipped 15 General Electric locomotives through the St. Lawrence Seaway in May. The locomotives were constructed at the G.E. facility in Erie with a final destination in Indonesia. “The Port of Erie continues to see increased exports from GE Transportation Systems and is optimistic that the trend will continue,” said Brenda Sandberg, Executive Director of the Port.

The St. Lawrence Seaway reported that year-to-date total cargo shipments for the period April 2 to May 31 were 6.4 million metric tons, down 7 percent over the same period in 2014. General cargo was up 5.11 percent overall with steel and project cargo shipments posting increases of 5.6 and 75 percent over 2014. U.S. grain shipments were up by 40 percent in May over last year. The dry bulk category was up by 4 percent over 2014 with stone and cement in the positive column, at 11 and 10 percent respectively. Iron ore and coal – usually solid performers – were both down by 31 and 28 percent respectively. The liquid bulk category posted a downturn of 10 percent to 583 metric tons.

The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership


On 10 June 1891, the tug AMERICAN EAGLE (wooden propeller tug, 46 gross tons, built in 1865, at Buffalo, New York) collided with the tug ALVA B (wooden propeller tug, 73 foot, 83 gross tons, built in 1890, at Buffalo, New York), which was not in motion, about 2.5 miles west of the Cleveland breakwater. The ALVA B hooked up a line and started towing the AMERICAN EAGLE in, but she sank a half-mile from the harbor entrance.

On 10 June 1891, CHARLES W. WETMORE (steel propeller whaleback freighter, 265 foot, 1,399 gross tons) left the shipyard at West Superior, Wisconsin, on her maiden voyage, bound for Liverpool, England with a cargo of grain. During her trip to the Atlantic Ocean, she shot the St. Lawrence River rapids. In Liverpool, she loaded machinery for Puget Sound. She only lasted until September 1892, when she stranded one mile north of Coos Bay, Oregon in fog. Bad weather stopped salvage attempts and the vessel was abandoned.

Bethlehem's LEWIS WILSON FOY loaded her first cargo June 10, 1978, at Burlington Northern #5, Superior, Wisconsin, with 57,952 tons of Hibbing taconite pellets for Burns Harbor, Indiana. Renamed b.) OGLEBAY NORTON in 1991.

In 1892, the keel for the ANN ARBOR NO 1 (Hull#55) was laid at Toledo, Ohio by Craig Shipbuilding Co.

The ANN ARBOR NO 4 was sold to the Michigan State Ferries in 1937, and renamed b.) CITY OF CHEBOYGAN.

On 10 June 1877, while lying at her dock at Detroit, the wooden side-wheeler R N RICE burned. The damage was estimated at $30,000. After this fire, she was rebuilt as a barge.

The propeller MONTGOMERY burned in the early morning hours of 10 June 1878. The fire started while she was laying at the dock in Point Edward, Ontario. The carferry INTERNATIONAL towed her out into the St. Clair River and cast her off to drift. Fortunately there were no injuries. She finally was beached opposite Batchelor's Mill on the Canadian side by the tugs CRUSADER and J H MARTIN. At 10:00 a.m., she was still burning. The MONTGOMERY was a steam barge of 1,104 tons, built in 1856, and owned by Capt. John Pridgeon. She was fully loaded with 29,000 bushels of corn, 320 barrels of flour, 540 barrels of corn meal, 200 bags of timothy seed and 111 bales of broom corn, besides other freight. The local papers claimed that the spectacle presented by the burning vessel as she drifted down the river was "grand and beautiful". The light was so brilliant that the entire city of Port Huron was illuminated and many people came out to watch. The following day, the wreck was towed to the American side of the river just below Avery's Mill. Whatever was left of her cargo was taken off and sold. Her engines and boiler were so badly warped and twisted from the intense heat that they were worthless except as scrap.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineer dredge MARKHAM (Hull#904) was launched in 1959, at Avondale, Louisiana, by Avondale Marine Ways Inc.

1940 – PAIPOONGE was cut in two and left the Great Lakes for saltwater service in 1919. It was registered in Latvia as d) KAUPO when it was sunk as a blockship at Dieppe, France, on this date in 1940. The hull was reported as refloated and scrapped in 1946-1947.

1942 – CONTINENT came to the Great Lakes in 1939-1940. The Newfoundland owned freighter was on a bareboat charter to the U.S. Army when it sank, following a collision with the American tanker BYRON D. BENSON, while enroute from New York to Bermuda.

1967 – The former Norwegian Seaway salty FRO was abandoned in sinking condition as c) WINSOME after a fire broke out in the cargo holds and spread throughout the ship on June 10, 1967. The vessel was enroute to Bangkok, Thailand, when it sank in the South China Sea.

1968 – JOHN T. HUTCHINSON suffered damage above the waterline when it was in a collision with the SUSANNE REITH at the head of Lake St. Clair. The latter, a West German salty, was on her first trip to the Great Lakes. This ship was eventually scrapped after arriving at Alang, India, as m) ALFA I on October 18, 2000.

1977 – RUTHIE MICHAELS came inland in 1970 and last reported in as d) EUROBULKER on June 10, 1977. The ship was enroute from Djibouti, to Bandar Shahpoir, Iran when it disappeared with the entire crew of 29. The ship is believed to have sunk off the coast of Oman perhaps as late as June 12.

1998 – The Greek flag bulk carrier OLYNTHIA first traveled the Seaway in 1978. It ran aground off Veraval, India, as d) OCEAN CRUISER in a tropical cyclone while bound for the United Arab Emirates. While released, it appears that the 26-year-old ship never sailed again and was broken up at Bharnvar, India, due to the damage.

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/11 - Cleveland, Ohio – Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.8 million tons in May, an increase of 16.6 percent compared to a year ago, and the highest monthly total recorded since June 2012. In terms of tons, shipments from U.S. quarries registered the largest gain: 326,000 tons.

Unlike a year ago, the limestone trade was not hampered by the aftereffects of a brutal winter. The Lakes were basically ice-free, whereas in 2014, ice formations lingered well into May and a number of vessels were idled for a period to repair ice damage suffered in March and April.

Year-to-date shipments of limestone total 5.9 million tons, an increase of 37.7 percent compared to the same point in 2014. However, as impressive as that increase is, it could have been greater. A number of vessels that primarily serve the short-haul stone trade delayed their sailings this April rather than become beset in ice. The Coast Guard Authorization Act passed by the House of Representatives includes a provision that authorizes the Commandant to design and build a new icebreaker for its Great Lakes fleet. The Senate has yet to take up its Coast Guard bill.

Lake Carriers Association


6/11 - Toronto, Ont. – As she sits tied up at a Port Colborne scrapping yard, Captain John’s floating restaurant is yet again drawing a crowd.

A Boston-Miami investor group has offered about $100,000 to save the former Toronto tourist attraction from being cut up into recyclable pieces. And they aren’t alone.

One person has even inquired over what it would take to get the 90-metre ship, the Jadran, a new engine and put it back in business — a $10 million to $15 million proposition.

“I’ve probably talked four or five people out of being interested, just to do them a favour, really,” says veteran ship scrapper Wayne Elliott, who oversaw the towing of the ship from Toronto’s waterfront last month after years of legal battles over its fate.

“We’ve heard from a number of people and with some, it seems to be just emotion and not really well thought-out. Many don’t even have a final plan or a final destination for the ship.”

But some, like Boston-based John Scales, do. And there’s nothing in the contract that Elliott’s Marine Recycling Corporation has with Ports Toronto, Waterfront Toronto and condo developer Cityzen — worth an estimated $500,0000 — that says the ship has to be scrapped.

Marine Recycling was simply contracted to remove the Jadran from Toronto’s waterfront, where it was a fixture for 40 years.

Scales is part of a three-person group of marine enthusiasts that has been trying to buy the Jadran for more than a year now. It had offered Ports Toronto $3,000 for the rusting ship, largely because of the high costs of moving it to drydock, before adding on the millions needed in restorations.

But now that Elliott’s Marine Recycling Corporation has done the heavy lifting — towing Captain John’s on May 28 to its Port Colborne scrapyard — Scales’ group has upped its price and is more determined than ever to give the ship yet another life, this time as a restaurant or entertainment venue.

The group already had three Ontario waterfront communities and about a dozen in the U.S. express interest in making a home for the ship once it’s restored, says Scales.

The investor group envisions a two-stage restoration — the first to get the three upper decks back in shape as an entertainment venue, the second to find some sort of use for the lower decks, which used to contain sleeping cabins in the days when the Yugoslavian ship was part of a luxury cruise line.

“We already have two good restaurant firms interested in leasing it for five years,” Scales added in a telephone interview after recently driving to Port Colborne from Boston to take yet another look at the ship.

“Captain” John Letnik has already offered to help out, in a bid to save his life’s work from destruction.

“I got as close as I could,” said Scales, of the ship, where crews have had a more challenging time than expected removing all the asbestos. “It’s sitting lower in the water (because of ballast Marine Recycling added to boost its towing stability) and looks longer and leaner.”

Elliott said his office has also had lots of calls from folks looking to buy mementos or artifacts from the ship now that it’s in “the funeral parlour of the shipping industry.” “Obviously, if something still has good value, it does seem a bit of a shame to scrap it,” said Elliott, who’s been overwhelmed by the unusual outpouring of affection for a ship days away from the end of its life.

“I’m not saying this is a top candidate (for saving from the scrap heap.) My personal belief is likely none of these ideas could work out in time. So we’re carrying on with the next steps in the absence of something that sounds viable.”

Toronto Star


Thunderstorms create seiche on Lake Michigan

6/11 - Thunderstorms rumbled across Northern Michigan overnight with some damage in the Central U.P. and led to an interesting weather event on Grand Traverse Bay.

While no severe weather was reported locally in our viewing area, thunderstorms that crossed parts of Northern Lower Michigan did dump a quick round of heavy rain, and even produced a 47 mph wind gust west of Bayshore in Charlevoix County and led to what may have been a mini-seiche, a somewhat rare event on Grand Traverse Bay. On Wednesday morning, several people reported a large wave approaching the shoreline. Once it reached the shore, it sloshed over the docks and well up onto the beach flooding parts of some properties up and down that area.

A seiche can by caused and in this case is being called the likely culprit, by strong thunderstorm winds. As the storms crossed into Lake Michigan from Upper Michigan/Wisconsin, the winds along/ahead of the storms pushed the water towards the Michigan shoreline. Once the storms moved off Lake Michigan and moved inland, the water that had pushed up then sloshed back across the lake. It's the same effect as sloshing waves in a bathtub. This oftentimes leads to rapid fluctuations along the shoreline with the water quickly rising and then receding.

According to Jeff Lutz at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Gaylord, the water levels measured at Port Inland located between Naubinway and Manistique in the U.P. had some large fluctuations Wednesday morning. At 9:06 a.m., the water went from a level of 580.18-ft. to 579.23-ft. at 9:24 a.m. That is almost a drop of a foot in only 18 minutes. Odds are that as the water level dropped there, the water was sloshing back towards Northwest Lower Michigan and with the record high water levels right now, along with funneling effect of Grand Traverse Bay, some flooding occurred as that wave splashed ashore.

UpNorthLive.com



TASHMOO (steel side-wheel excursion steamer, 308 foot, 1,344 gross tons, built in 1900, at Wyandotte, Michigan) entered regular service for the White Star Line at Detroit, Michigan, on 11 June 1900.

On 11 June 1903, HORACE H. BADGER (wooden 3-mast schooner, 129 foot, 263 gross tons, built in 1867, at Conneaut, Ohio as a 2-mast schooner, formerly KATE GILLETT) was carrying coal in a storm on Lake Erie. She was driven onto the breakwater at Cleveland, Ohio and broke up in the storm waves. The crew of seven was rescued by the Life Saving Service. This vessel had been wrecked twice before; once at Cross Village, Michigan, in 1895, and again near Alpena, Michigan in 1896.

ATLANTIC SUPERIOR (Hull#222) was float-launched at Thunder Bay, Ontario, by Port Arthur Ship Building Co. Ltd., in 1982, for Federal Commerce & Navigation Ltd., Montreal, Quebec (Canada Steamship Lines Ltd., mgr.), built for the Caribbean trade. MESABI MINER was christened at Duluth, Minnesota in 1977; she became the fourth thousand-foot bulk carrier on the Great Lakes and Interlake Steamship Co.'s second. CARL D. BRADLEY (Hull#718) cleared Lorain, Ohio, in her gray and white livery in 1917, on her maiden voyage light bound for Calcite, Michigan, to load limestone. She was the first Great Lakes commercial ship equipped with both Morse code telegraphy as well as ship-to-shore radio in 1922, which was standard on only 20 vessels by 1924. Renamed b.) JOHN G. MUNSON in 1927, c.) IRVIN L. CLYMER in 1951, she was scrapped at Duluth, Minnesota, in 1994-5.

June 11, 1981 - The BADGER steamed out of Ludington en route to Milwaukee under an MDOT subsidy that was approved earlier in March.

The propeller E. B. HALE was launched at Cleveland, Ohio, at the yard of Quayle & Sons on 11 June 1874. Her length was 217 foot keel, 227 foot overall. She was owned by Capt. Bradley, Mr. Thomas Quayle and Mr. Loomis, and she cost $100,000. The wooden rabbit J. S. RUBY was launched at Fair Haven, Michigan, on 11 June 1881. Her dimensions were 106 feet 6 inches x 21 feet x 7 feet. She was towed to Port Huron for the installation of her boiler and engine that were built by the Phoenix Iron Works. She lasted until burned to a total loss off Stag Island in the St. Clair River on November 9, 1891.

1872 – Fire broke out aboard the passenger steamer KINGSTON about 18 miles upstream after the ship had left Brockville for Toronto. The ship was beached and the superstructure was destroyed but there were only two casualties. The hull was rebuilt at Montreal and later sailed as BAVARIAN, ALGERIAN and CORNWALL before being scuttled in Lake Ontario about 1929.

1936 – AYCLIFFE HALL sank in fog shrouded off Long Point, Lake Erie after a collision with the EDWARD J. BERWIND. All 19 on board were rescued. After salvage efforts failed, the rigging was blown clear by explosives. The EDWARD J. BERWIND was repaired and last sailed as LAC STE. ANNE in 1982.

1942 – HAVTOR, a Norwegian freighter, first came to the Great Lakes in 1932 and returned as late as 1939. It was sunk by a German submarine enroute from Reykjavik, Iceland, to Pictou, Nova Scotia, and 6 of the crew were lost.

1950 – The Italian freighter MARIA PAOLINA G. had been built in Canada as FORT ISLAND in 1944. It was downbound from the Saguenay River when it struck the Canada Steamship Lines passenger steamer ST. LAWRENCE, which had turned to dock at Tadoussac. Injuries were reported by 25 people and 30 cabins were damaged aboard the CSL ship.

1978 – The hull of the former passenger steamer RAPIDS QUEEN arrived at Toronto under tow from Kingston to be sunk as a breakwall off for the Queen City Yacht Club. It is still there.

1993 – PITRIA SKY first visited the Great Lakes in 1978. It departed Singapore for Shantou in southeast China, as h) HAI HONG 3 on June 11, 1993, but went back out to sea on arrival to ride out a pending typhoon. The ship was never seen again and it disappeared with all hands

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/12 - Quebec City, Que. – After two years of being stranded on the shores of Quebec, the ship known as the Phoenix has finally sailed away.

The freighter was stranded in Sorel-Tracy, which is between Montreal and Trois-Rivières, for more than two years. It first docked there in November 2012.

In the spring of 2013, Ontario-based company Menpas Shipping flew a crew to Sorel-Tracy in order to repair the ship and sail it to Dubai for dismantling. But the ship was never able to leave because crewmembers, many of whom were from India, had not been paid for three months and refused to continue working.

The mayor of Sorel-Tracy, Serge Péloquin, got involved, launching a fundraising campaign in September 2014 to raise enough money to pay the sailors and send them back home.

The ship left Sorel-Tracy on May 22, 2015, but only made it as far as Quebec City before the engine broke down. From there, the Phoenix's departure was delayed again after workers complained they had not been paid.

The International Transport Workers' Federation intervened and was able to recover the back-wages for 15 of the sailors. The Phoenix has now finally departed and is on its way to Dubai.

CBC





Not the long-lost Griffin, rules state

6/12 - Frankfort, Mich. – Michigan state archeologists have completely ruled out the possibility a Lake Michigan shipwreck is the long-lost Griffin.

State Archeologist Dean Anderson and underwater archeologist Wayne Lusardi participated in the dive Tuesday, June 11 of the wreck near Frankfort, along with Michigan State Police divers.

The two Muskegon men who discovered the wreck, Kevin Dykstra and Frederick J. Monroe, in late 2014 came forward with photos of the wreck, saying they thought it could be the Griffin – the earliest known shipwreck on the Great Lakes, missing since September 1679.

Other divers and historians were skeptical.

Tuesday's dive confirmed to state archeologists that it wasn't the Griffin, even though they had already thought so from viewing Dykstra and Monroe's evidence.

"They went out Tuesday because the state values and is interested in learning about the many wrecks on the bottomlands, even if they aren't the Griffin," said State Historic Preservation Office spokeswoman Laura Ashlee. "It was fortunate that Wayne was able to coordinate with the State Police divers who were doing a training dive and was able investigate the vessel Fred and Kevin found."

The group of divers found an 80-foot wooden hull, one too long to have been the Griffin, Ashlee said.

Lusardi "thought it was a tug boat and that there was some steam machinery on it as well," she said. He placed the date of the boat at sometime in the late 19th century or early 20th century.

Also known by the French equivalent Le Griffon, explorer Rene-Robert Sieur de La Salle built and commanded the ship on behalf of King Louis XIV. During its maiden voyage in September 1679, the Griffin departed from the area near present-day Green Bay, Wis. Carrying a crew of six and cargo of furs, the ship was never seen again.

The State of Michigan owns about 1,500 shipwrecks on lake bottoms, Ashlee said. The state gathers information on the wrecks from amateur divers.

"We're interested in what's down there," she said. "We encourage people to report when they find a shipwreck."





Chicago woman sentenced for making hoax distress call in 2013

6/12 - Chicago, Ill. – A Chicago woman was sentenced in federal court Thursday for making a false distress call nearly two years ago that led to several agencies launching a dangerous search and rescue operation in Lake Michigan off of Rogers Park Beach.

Leona Chewning, 24, was sentenced to 180 days of community confinement, three years of probation and $13,613 in restitution for knowingly and willfully causing the Coast Guard to attempt to save lives and property when no help was needed, in violation of Title 14, U.S. Code, section 88(c).

Chewning pled guilty at her arraignment before U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle in federal court in Chicago in January.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Feb. 4, 2013, Chewning called Chicago 911 from Rogers Park Beach stating a person was in distress in the icy water just off a seawall. An ice rescue team from Coast Guard Station Wilmette Harbor responded by land.

A Coast Guard aircrew also launched aboard a Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Traverse City, Michigan. Members of the Chicago Police and Fire departments also responded with personnel and assets.

Chicago Fire Department divers entered the water near the location where Chewning claimed a person fell in, but did not locate anyone. Chewning later admitted that at the time she made the call she knew her report was false. The case was subsequently turned over to the Coast Guard Investigative Services and the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Hoax calls unnecessarily endanger first responders' lives and could divert limited resources away from people who are actually in distress.

Intentionally deceiving the Coast Guard is a felony with a maximum penalty of six years in prison, a $250,000 fine and reimbursement to the Coast Guard for the cost of performing the search.

Although hoax calls are a felony, the Coast Guard reminds those who believe they are in distress that they should not hesitate to call the Coast Guard for fear of prosecution if their situation changes and they are no longer in distress. In that instance, boaters should always notify the Coast Guard they are no longer in need of assistance.

USCG



On 12 June 1898, SAKIE SHEPHERD (wooden propeller freighter, 100 foot, 189 gross tons, built in 1883, at Huron, Ohio) burned while at the dock in Courtright, Ontario. The fire was discovered at 1:00 a.m. and the crew just had time to escape. The schooner YOUNG AMERICA also caught fire and had damage done to her stern. The SHEPHERD was towed to Detroit where she was rebuilt and lasted until 1903, when she sank in Lake Huron.

On 12 June 1900, the UNIQUE (wooden propeller, 163 foot, 381 gross tons, built in 1894, at Marine City, Michigan) was sold at public auction at St. Clair, Michigan to satisfy a mortgage. W. J. Laidlaw of Ogdensburg, New York purchased her for $20,000 for the Rapid Transit Co. to run between Ogdensburg and Kingston, Ontario. In 1904, her upper cabins were removed and she was rebuilt as a yacht. She lasted until 1915, when she burned in New York City harbor.

"STUBBY", the bow and stern sections of the STEWART J. CORT welded together, passed Port Colborne, Ontario on June 12, 1970, bound for Erie, Pennsylvania under her own power. STUBBY's bow and stern sections were later separated at Erie Marine, Inc., a Div. of Litton, and joined to the 816 foot hull mid-body.

The NANTICOKE (Hull#218) departed Collingwood, Ontario in 1980, beginning her maiden voyage for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd.

In 1959, the BENSON FORD of 1924 ran aground in the Amherstburg Channel on her upbound trip with coal for the Rouge Plant. After five days of lightering and with tug assistance, she was freed. Damage amounted to 41 bottom plates, which took 30 days to repair.

On 12 June 1832, the wooden schooner GUERRIER was sailing from Oswego, New York for Detroit when she capsized in a squall off Bar Point on Lake Erie. Captain Pember and the crew and most of the passengers made it to the Canadian shore, but one family was trapped in the cabin. The husband was able to keep his head above water in the upside down cabin, but through the night, one by one, his four children and then his wife slipped from his grasp and perished. The following day, Capt. Stanard took his steamer NIAGARA to the wreck and rescued the man.

On 12 June 1900, the steel tow barge BRYN MAWR (Hull#41) was launched at South Chicago, Illinois by the Chicago Ship Building Co., for the Pittsburgh Steamship Company.

The wooden propeller freighter MILWAUKEE (264 foot, 1,770 gross tons) was launched at Quayle & Sons yard in Cleveland, Ohio on 12 June 1879, for the Western Transportation Company of Buffalo, New York. She had supporting arches above decks. In 1902, she was renamed YONKERS and rebuilt as a barge in 1911. She lasted until 1917-1918 when she stranded, then burned.

1897 – I.W. NICHOLAS (ii) stranded at Point Aux Pins in fog and was released two days later. The ship needed drydocking for repairs.

1904 – The sidewheel passenger ship CANADA sank on her side off Sorel after a collision with the CAPE BRETON. Five of the 110 on board perished. The ship was refloated and rebuilt at Sorel in 1905 as ST. IRENEE which later became part of the C.S.L. Fleet.

1919 – GERMAN was cut in two to leave the Great Lakes in 1918 and renamed b) YANKEE. It sank after a collision with the Italian steamer ARGENTIA off Fire Island, NY, while enroute from Norfolk, VA to Boston MA with coal. The hull has been found and is in two pieces on the ocean floor.

1977 – The VERA CRUZ first came to the Great Lakes in 1964 as a 10-year old Liberian flag freighter. It foundered in the Arabian Sea as c) BUKOM ISLAND on June 12, 1974, during a cyclone. The ship was enroute from Umm Said, Qatar, to Singapore with a cargo of bagged fertilizer and seven lives were lost.

1978 – YELLOWSTONE had been built as the C-4 troop carrier MARINE PERCH in 1944. After being laid up in the Reserve Fleet, it was rebuilt as a bulk carrier and renamed at Tampa in 1965. The ship was downbound in the Seaway with grain from Duluth to North Africa in May 1978 and sank after a collision in fog with the IBN BATOUTA on June 12, 1978. YELLOWSTONE was taken in tow but went down June 13 about 14 miles south of Gibraltar. Five lives were lost.

1993 – The deep-sea tug VORTICE was abandoned after fire broke out near the Canary Islands, while on a voyage from Bari, Italy, to Veracruz, Mexico. The vessel was laid up, unrepaired, and then towed to Canada for McKeil Marine. It received partial repairs but was sold and left the lakes for additional work. It returned inland as e) NORFOLK in 2005 and now serves Lafarge North America Inc. as f) SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On this day in 1967, the new $6 million Allouez taconite pellet handling facility in Superior, Wisconsin, was dedicated. The first cargo of 18,145 tons of pellets was loaded into the holds of the Hanna Mining Company freighter JOSEPH H. THOMPSON.

At midnight, on Saturday, 15 June 1901, OMAR D. CONGER (wooden propeller ferry, 92 foot, 199 gross tons, built in 1882, at Port Huron, Michigan) burned at her dock on the Black River in Port Huron, Michigan. Her upper works were destroyed, but she was repaired and put back in service. She lasted until 1922, when her boiler exploded, killing four people and destroying the vessel.

On June 15, 1943, the D.M. CLEMSON collided with and sank the GEORGE M. HUMPHREY in the Straits of Mackinac. Both of these 600-footers recovered for long careers. The D.M. CLEMSON was sold for scrap in 1980. The GEORGE M. HUMPHREY was recovered over a year later, renamed the b.) CAPTAIN JOHN ROEN, later converted to a self-unloader, and finished her career as d.) CONSUMERS POWER at the end of the 1985, season before being scrapped in 1988.

In 1989, the ROGER M. KYES was rechristened b.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS by American Steamship Co.

The wooden 180-foot schooner JOHN A. FRANCOMB was launched at West Bay City, Michigan, on 15 June 1889. She was built by F. W. Wheeler & Co. (Hull #61). She lasted until she was abandoned at Bay City in 1934.

GRECIAN (steel propeller freighter, 296 foot, 2,348 gross tons, built in 1891, at Cleveland, Ohio by Globe Iron Works (Hull#40) struck a rock near Detour, Michigan, on 7 June 1906, but made dock at Detour before settling on bottom. After her cargo was removed, she was raised, and towed by her fleet mate SIR HENRY BESSEMER, bound for Detroit Shipbuilding Co. in Wyandotte, Michigan, for repairs, relying on air pressure in her sealed holds to keep her afloat. However, on 15 June 1906, her holds began to fill with water and she sank in Lake Huron off Thunder Bay. Her crew was rescued by SIR HENRY BESSEMER.

1933 – BRENTWOOD ran aground in the St. Marys River and was released on June 19 with about $60,000 in damage. The CSL vessel soon tied up at Midland and was scrapped there in 1937.

1943 – WILLIAM BREWSTER was on her maiden voyage when she collided with the W.D. CALVERLEY JR. and sank on her side in the St. Clair River off Algonac. The ship was not refloated until November and, after repairs, finally left the lakes in June 1944. It operated on saltwater routes until scrapping at Calcutta, India, as e) RAY MAYABUNDAR in 1967.

1962 – NYON, a Seaway visitor in 1961 and 1962, sank in the English Channel, 5 miles south of Beachy Head, after a collision in heavy fog with the Indian freighter JALAZAD. The latter came to the Great Lakes in 1969 and was eventually scuttled off Tema, Ghana, as b) JYOTI VINOD in September 1983.

1965 – BREIM, a Great Lakes visitor from Norway, got stuck in the mud below the Snell Lock at Massena, NY was released the next day after some cargo was lightered. The ship arrived at Visakhapatnam, India, for scrapping as c) CHRISTINA C. on October 24, 1983.

1988 – ALGOWEST and COUDRES D'ILE collided in fog on the St. Lawrence and the small coastal freighter sank with the loss of one life. The former now sails for Algoma as PETER R. CRESSWELL.

2001 – Fire broke out in the engine room of the Cypriot freighter FELIX 60 miles off Las Palmas, Canary Islands and the 21-member crew was removed. The ship first came to the Great Lakes as a) BEGONIA in 1978 and returned as b) TIMUR SWALLOW in 1983 and c) JENNIFER JANE in 1985. The burning vessel was anchored and the fire extinguished June 16. A total loss, the ship arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, under tow as f) ELI on December 1, 2001, and was broken up.


6/13 - Wheatley, Ont. – The president of a Wheatley ship building company is irate his company didn't get a chance to bid on a new $40-million ferry to serve Pelee Island.

“The whole blasted process absolutely stinks,” Andy Stanton of Hike Metal Products said Thursday, shortly after the Ontario Ministry of Transportation announced a Chilean ship-building company, ASENAV, has been awarded the contract to build the new ferry.

The vessel will replace the 55-year-old Pelee Islander, which has a capacity for 196 passengers and 10 vehicles. The new ferry will carry a maximum of 399 passengers and either 34 cars or 16 cars and four tractor-trailers.

With 51 years’ experience building ships, including vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard as well as for port authorities and police and fire services, Stanton said: “In our opinion, we more than qualify to be able to bid on the project whether we would have got it or not.”

He added his company has built vessels “a lot more elaborate than this ferry,” describing it as a “big box car with motors that carries people and cars.”

There's no doubt there is a delivery cost included, because the vessel will have to be sailed up to Ontario, whereas Hike Metal Products is located just kilometres away from Leamington, Stanton said.

The shipbuilder is also upset that no reason has been given why his company didn't qualify to building this project.

“For what it's worth, I'm demanding that this thing be repealed by the premier,” Stanton said. “Here's $40 million of our provincial tax money not just going out of the province, but out of the country,” Stanton said.

He said the two-year project would have provided 300-person years of employment, creating 75 direct jobs and more than 50 indirect jobs. Stanton said Hike Metal Products joined forces with a Quebec ship-building company that did pre-qualify to bid.

“We were going to do some work-share with them in building that ferry if they had got the contract,” he said. Not only did the work not come to Ontario, nobody else in Canada got the work, he added.

The Chatham Daily News received a response from the MTO late Thursday afternoon regarding the contract going to Chile when a local company is apparently qualified.

“Ontario follows non-discriminatory and geographically neutral procurement practices,” stated the MTO in an e-mail. “Ontario is bound by trade agreements such as the Agreement on Internal Trade that may not allow favourable treatment of local proponents, regardless of subsidy that may be offered in another jurisdiction.”

The statement added: “Although Ontario shipyards are not favoured or advantaged with additional points at either stage of the procurement process there may be advantages within certain areas of the build for local shipyards (including delivery, local parts supply, etc.).”

The MTO stated mandatory requirements for the Request for Qualifications were financial capability, shipyard resources and shipyard commitments.

Additional key criteria considered were: past ship building experience, similar ship building experience, and commitment to schedule.

“An independent fairness monitor participated in the procurement, including the evaluations, to ensure a fair, open and transparent process,” the MTO stated. “Now that the procurement process is complete, the ministry would be pleased to meet with Mr. Stanton and any shipyard that requests a debrief about their submission.”

Stanton said he doesn't believe the province “did a thorough evaluation as to what the socio-economic benefits would have been if that ferry was built here, even if it was more expensive.”

Chatham-Kent Essex MPP Rick Nicholls said the provincial government's tendering process needs to be revisited and revamped.

He said the government needs to take a “good, hard look at who in fact is qualified (to bid), especially Canadian, and more specifically, Ontario companies that are in the ship building business.”

Nicholls also questions what kind of after-service will be available if something goes wrong with this new ferry.

“I'm not happy about it, one bit,” the MPP said Thursday. “Chatham-Kent has been hard-hit with layoffs and plant closures.”

Sarnia Observer


On 13 June 2003, after completing her conversion from American to Canadian registry, Lower Lakes Towing's newly-acquired MICHIPICOTEN, a.) ELTON HOYT 2ND, departed the Government dock at Sarnia, Ontario. First she went to the Shell Oil dock in Corunna, Ontario to fuel, then she departed for Marquette, Michigan to load ore for Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

On 13 June 1902, METROPOLIS (wooden side-wheel steamer, 168 foot, 425 tons, built in 1868, at Detroit, Michigan) caught fire and burned to a total loss at her dock in Toledo, Ohio. She was only used occasionally for excursions and spent most of her time tied up to the dock.

On June 13, 1983, JOHN B. AIRD began its maiden voyage for Algoma Central Railway, a load of coal from Thunder Bay to Nanticoke, Ontario.

IRVING S. OLDS carried a record 17,817 gross tons of iron ore on June 13, 1943, from Lake Superior and transported a total of 736,800 short tons of various bulk cargoes the next year.

On the morning of June 13, 1905, running downbound on Lake Superior, the heavily-laden SYLVANIA encountered heavy fog as she approached the Soo. Confused whistle signals resulted in the SYLVANIA glancing off the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., steamer SIR HENRY BESSEMER, which sustained a 175-foot port side gash from the SYLVANIA's anchor. The BESSEMER required $40,000 in repairs and the SYLVANIA's damage totaled $10,000, which included a new anchor and shell plating which was completed at the Craig Shipbuilding Co., Toledo, Ohio.

June 13, 1930 - Shortly after leaving Menominee, Michigan, fireman Walter O'Leary of the ANN ARBOR NO 7 became ill. The carferry proceeded at full speed to the nearest doctor at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where surgery was performed to remove gallstones.

June 13, 1974 - The CITY OF GREEN BAY, formerly WABASH was sold to Marine Salvage Company to be scrapped. She was scrapped at Castellon, Spain in 1974. On 13 June 1903, CHARLES H. DAVIS (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 145 foot, 391 gross tons, built in 1881, at Saginaw, Michigan) was carrying limestone on Lake Erie off Cleveland when she developed a leak which quickly got worse and admitted water faster than her pumps capacity. She sank near the Cleveland breakwater. She was an unusual vessel, reportedly built of pine and pointed at both ends with her planking set diagonally.

1905 – The wooden steamer YAKIMA had stranded in Lake St. Clair on June 10, 1905, but caught fire and burned on this date while waiting to be salvaged. The remains were later towed into Lake Huron and scuttled.

1906 – The newly-built J. PIERPONT MORGAN carried a record 13, 294 tons of iron ore out of Escanaba for Chicago.

1944 – CANADIAN OTTER was built at Welland in 1920 but, in 1944, was sailing as f) FUKOKU MARU as a Japanese army cargo ship. It was sunk by aircraft from U.S.S. ESSEX while in a convoy from Philippines to Japan in the overnight hours of June 13-14, 1944.

1959 – A fire in the crew quarters of the FEDERAL PIONEER, docked at Section 51 in Montreal, was quickly controlled with only minor damage and sailing was delayed by three hours. The ship was a frequent Seaway trader for Federal Commerce and Navigation, now known as FedNav, and arrived at Hsinkiang, China, for scrapping on January 21, 1971.

1978 – Seven men were lost aboard the ANCO DUKE while cleaning tanks out in the Pacific. They were likely overcome by fumes. The ship later came to the Great Lakes as c) LAKE ANETTE in 1980, as d) SATU MAR in 1984 and as e) TOVE COB in 1987. It was scrapped in Bangladesh in 1993.

1978 – The bulk carrier ARCTIC hit the Cherry Street Bridge at Toledo on its first trip and had to return to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

1980 – TROYAN first came through the Seaway in 1972. The ship began leaking in heavy weather as c) SUNRISE and foundered June 13, 1980, in the outer anchorage at Bombay, India, while enroute from Japan to Damman, Saudi Arabia, with bagged cement.

2004 – The SINGAPORE STAR first came to the Great Lakes in 1982. It caught fire in the accommodation area while on the Black Sea as c) BARBADOS OKTAY on June 13, 2004. The ship was carrying scrap steel from Novorossiysk, Russia, to Eregli, Turkey. The blaze was put out with tug assistance but the ship was sold for scrap and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, to be broken up on July 19, 2004.

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/16 - St. Catharines, Ont. - Post-911 security fencing is destroying residents’ enjoyment of the Welland Canal, and St. Catharines doesn’t want any more of it, city council plans to tell the federal government.

The fence issue comes as Seaway officials prepare to remove a four-feet-high decorative fence at Lock 1’s Charles Ansell Park and replace it with one twice as high this year, as mandated by Transport Canada.

“What’s it going to prove?” asked Coun. Bruce Williamson in an interview. “Any real terrorist is going to just drive right through it or get a $20 pair of wire cutters and be through it in five minutes flat.”

The city is sending letters to federal officials and local MPs to state its opposition to canal fences, at the request of Williamson. The letters will also ask that all non-essential fences be removed and that any plans to put up more fencing that blocks views and access to the canal be terminated.

Williamson told St. Catharines council last Monday that “repellent” chain-link obstacles have been steadily ruining the experience of the waterway for residents and visitors.

“Public access to a collectively owned property is a privilege we have enjoyed nearly as a birthright, and it is being stolen from us,” he told council, “and now they have simply gone too far and do not appear interested in the local point of view.”

The issue goes back to July 1, 2004 when post-9/11 Marine Transportation Security Regulations came into effect.

The controversial new requirements meant fence heights between four and five feet at the canal’s eight locks from Port Weller to Port Colborne needed to be higher. Tourism officials were up in arms. Since then, the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. has been putting up the fencing gradually, with an increase in intensity over the last year.

Bruce Hodgson, director of market development for St. Lawrence Seaway, said the issue at St. Catharines Lock 1 is a tie-up wall by Charles Ansell Park that Transport Canada considers an interchange point a place where a vessel could dock. Interchange points require eight-foot fences across the country.

Hodgson said the Seaway has a license to operate from Transport Canada, and in order to maintain that it needs to meet their requirements. He added St. Catharines is not being singled out and there are other locations the Seaway will have to comply with from a security standpoint.

At Charles Ansell Park, the current four-foot black steel fence with anchor details was paid for by the St. Catharines Rotary Club Lakeshore and built by welders from the Port Weller Drydocks before security measures came into effect.

Hodgson said the Seaway will replace the decorative fence with an eight-foot decorative fence, rather than chain link. The current shorter fence will be returned to the Rotary Club so it can use it elsewhere.

“We’re trying to work with not only the city but the various stakeholders as we move forward with this security initiative wherever we can,” Hodgson said.

St. Catharines Rotary Club Lakeshore president Jon Asplin said they’d like to put some of the current fence back in the park in locations where it’s not a security issue. They’ll determine what to do with the rest of it.

Mayor Walter Sendzik and Grantham Coun. Bill Phillips met with Seaway officials recently about the issue to express the city’s concerns. “The bottom line is, it’s still an eight-foot fence that you cannot look over and take pictures over, you have to take pictures through,” Phillips said.

“The park is used a great deal as a starting point for people who are using the Welland Canal path, whether biking, walking, Rollerblading or just watching the ships.”

Sendzik said the city has had 100 years of goods flowing through the community and council wants to voice its concerns.

Seaway officials said fencing is not just there for potential terrorists, but for community safety. As well, a lot of the dumping and trespassing that occurred on Seaway land prior to the fencing has been reduced.

“Sometimes it may not resonate with people that the business we’re in, we’re a navigational channel and we have to protect our critical infrastructure,” said Alvina Ghirardi, manager of operational services for St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. “And these are the regulations marine security have placed upon us.”

St. Catharines Standard

On 16 June 1891, Alexander McDougall himself took his brand-new whaleback steamer JOSEPH L. COLBY (steel propeller whaleback freighter, 265 foot, 1,245 gross tons, built in 1890 at West Superior, Wisconsin) down the St. Lawrence River to the sea. The double-hulled COLBY left Prescott, Ontario at 3 p.m., drawing six feet nine inches aft and five feet six inches forward and started on her wild ride through the rapids. The whaleback freighter plowed through the Galops, Iroquois, Long Sault, Coteau, Cedar, Split Rock and Cascade Rapids. She grated the bottom a number of times and had a number of close calls. Captain McDougall stood immobile throughout the trip but great beads of perspiration broke out on his forehead. When the vessel finally made it through the Cascades and was safe on Lake St. Louis, the French Canadian pilot left and the crew let out shouts of joy with the whistle blowing. The COLBY was the first screw steamer to attempt running the rapids.

On 16 June 1892, GENERAL BURNSIDE (3-mast wooden schooner, 138 foot, 308 gross tons, built in 1862, at Wolfe Island, Ontario) foundered in a powerful northwest gale on Lake Erie near Southeast Shoal Light. Her crew was rescued by the tug GREGORY.

The steamer UNIQUE (wooden propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 163 foot, 381 gross tons) was built by Alexander Anderson at Marine City, Michigan. She was launched stern first at 3:00 p.m. on 16 June 1894. There was quite a crowd assembled to watch the launch. While waiting for the launch, Engineer Merrill of the steamer MARY composed the following verse:

"The new steamer Unique
Made a beautiful suique
On a direction oblique
Into a big crique,
So to spique."

The vessel was painted a bright yellow up to the promenade deck with white cabins and upper works. In 1901, she left the upper lakes and was chartered for the Thousand Islands cruise trade. Later that year, she was sold to Philadelphia buyers for Delaware River service. Her upper cabins were removed in 1904, when she was rebuilt as a yacht. She lasted until 20 November 1915, when she burned to a total loss in New York harbor.

On 16 June 1905, at 2:00 a.m., a fire was discovered around the smokestack of the North Shore Navigation Company's CITY OF COLLINGWOOD (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 213 foot, 1,387 gross tons, built in 1893, at Owen Sound, Ontario) burned at the Grand Trunk Railway docks at Collingwood, Ontario and was destroyed along with the dock and nearby sheds. Four died, but most of crew jumped overboard. Captain Wright had gone to his home on Pine St. about an hour before and was preparing for bed when he heard four whistles sounded by the steamer BRITTANIC, which was laying alongside. He ran to the dock, went aboard and woke the 1st mate J. D. Montgomery and a wheelsman. They had to jump to the dock to escape the flames. James Meade, Lyman Finch, A. McClellan, and another unidentified crewmember who had just joined the vessel at the Soo were all sleeping in the forecastle and lost their lives.

In 1967, the FEUX FOLLETS (Hull#188) was launched at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., for Papachristidis Co. Ltd. She was the last steam-powered lake ship. Renamed in 1972 as b.) CANADIAN LEADER and scrapped in 2012.

Upbound in the Welland Canal on June 16, 1963, loaded with iron ore for Chicago, U.S. Steel's BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS suffered bow damage in collision with Canadian steamer RALPH S. MISENER. In 1918, the WILLIAM P. SNYDER JR was in collision with the steamer GEORGE W. PERKINS in Duluth Harbor resulting in damage of $5,000 to both vessels.

On 16 June 1861, ANDOVER (2-mast wooden schooner, 98 foot, 190 tons, built in 1844, at Black River, Ohio) was carrying lumber in a storm and ground on Pointe aux Barques reef on Lake Huron. Though not thought to be seriously damaged, she resisted all efforts by the tug ZOUAVE to release her. She was finally stripped and abandoned.

On 16 June 1887, CHAMPLAIN (wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel, 135 foot, 438 gross tons, built in 1870, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying passengers, merchandise and horses on Lake Michigan when an engine room lamp exploded. The fire spread so quickly that the pumps could not be started. She headed for Fisherman's Island, Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan, but struck a bar and sank a mile short of the beach. 22 of the 57 persons aboard died, most from drowning. Although initially declared a total loss, the hull was towed into Harbor Springs, Michigan, then taken to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and rebuilt as CITY OF CHARLEVOIX. She was also lengthened to 165 foot. She lasted until 1924, when she burned at her lay-up dock in Manistee, Michigan. At that time, she was named KANSAS.

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/17 - Toronto, Ont. – Police resumed the search Tuesday morning in the Humber Bay area for Keith White, who has been identified as the man who went overboard on Northern Spirit, one of the cruise ships operated by Mariposa Cruises.

White, 34, was leaning over the railing when he slipped and fell into the water, according to Jet Black, a friend of White's. Passengers then ran frantically to the back of the boat and tried to toss White flotation devices, but the ship had already passed White, Black said. They soon lost sight of White.

Another passenger aboard the ship told CBC News that the crews were slow to respond to the incident. Neetha Godara said staff didn't throw life-saving equipment early enough to White, and the boat kept moving away from him instead of stopping.

Jim Nicholson, present and CEO of Mariposa Cruises, said it took time for the ship to turn around, and police arrived before security staff were able to get into a rescue boat that had been lowered.

The ship was carrying 19 staff members, 10 security personnel and more 400 guests at the time.

Meanwhile, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has launched an investigation on Monday. In a statement released on Monday, White's family said they are confused about how White, who they say is a certified lifeguard, ended up in the water.

The search for White was complicated by fog and strong currents near the Humber River on Monday. The large amount of rain that fell in the last week and the debris floating in the water also made search more difficult, Gerry Klunder, a sergeant with Toronto police's marine unit, told CBC News earlier.

CBC News


On June 17, 1895, the J. W. Westcott Co. inaugurated its unique mail delivery service.

On 17 June 1878, the Canadian schooner JAMES SCOTT of Port Burwell capsized and sank in Lake Erie. The captain's wife, their child and two seamen were drowned.

The wooden schooner MONTEREY, which stranded on Sleeping Bear Point on Lake Michigan in early December 1890, was released on 17 June 1891.

The SCOTT MISENER (Hull#11) was christened on June 17, 1951, for Colonial Steamships Ltd. She was the first vessel built at Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. Renamed b.) JOHN E. F. MISENER in 1954, she was scrapped at Cartagena, Columbia, in 1986.

The PATERSON of 1954 collided with the steamer EDMUND W. MUDGE in 1957, in fog on the St. Clair River opposite Marine City, Michigan.

The WILLIAM A. IRVIN was towed to the Duluth Convention Center on June 17, 1986, by the tugs SIOUX and DAKOTA to be on station as a museum ship at the new $3 million convention facility.

June 17, 1998 - The barge PERE MARQUETTE 41 and tug UNDAUNTED arrived Ludington, Michigan from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, after the remainder of the conversion there.

The propeller OWEN SOUND was launched at Collingwood, Ontario, on 17 June 1875. She measured 900 tons and could carry 30,000 bushels of grain.

1909 – The iron hulled passenger and freight steamer CAMPANA had been cut in two to leave the Great Lakes in 1895, but the hull broke in 1909 where the sections had been rejoined and sank in the St. Lawrence at Point St. Michael a few miles below Quebec City.

1918 – JAY GOULD was loaded with coal and towing the barge COMMODORE when it began leaking and then sank eight miles southeast of Southeast Shoal, Lake Erie. The hull was later dynamited as a hazard to navigation. The barge was overwhelmed by the seas and rolled in the trough for about two hours before it also sank. All on board both ships were saved.

1941 – The Lake Ontario passenger steamer KINGSTON ran aground on a shoal in the St. Lawrence 15 miles SW of Ogdensburg, NY after losing her way in thick fog. The passengers were transferred to RAPIDS PRINCE and the ship was released with the aid of pontoons and repaired at Kingston.

1998 – MOUNTAIN BLOSSOM was downbound in the Seaway when it struck the approach wall at the Eisenhower Lock, opening a crack in the hull that allowed about 50 gallons of xylene to escape. The immediate area was evacuated but the problem was quickly cleaned up. The ship was a regular Great Lakes trader from 1986 to 2007 and was scrapped at Xinhui, China, after arriving on January 10, 2010.