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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Jul 16, 2015 4:55:38 GMT -5
7/16 - Nanticoke, Ont. – The Nanticoke Generating Station's days as a major producer of electricity are over. The province stopped burning coal at the plant in 2013 and has now written off the possibility of converting NGS to natural gas or biomass.
Ontario Power Generation announced its decision in a news release Wednesday. The sprawling 800-acre complex may be given over to a solar farm some time in the future. But as for the buildings and related infrastructure, OPG “will no longer preserve and staff Nanticoke GS.”
In an interview, OPG spokesperson Neal Kelly said the eight boiler units and associated technology at Nanticoke could be removed and put to work elsewhere.
“They will either be re-purposed, reused or resold,” Kelly said. “A number of things could happen with these infrastructure assets.”
In its prime, NGS was the largest coal-fired generating station in North America. Its eight boilers combined for a peak output of 4,000 megawatts. With 650 workers, the plant was one of the local area's major employers.
The end came soon after the McGuinty government was elected in 2004. Due to NGS's production of sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide and other smog-causing pollutants, Premier Dalton McGuinty pledged to end all coal-fired power generation in the province within several years. Several deadline extensions were needed before the last coal was burned in December of 2013.
The future of the coal-fired plant in Lambton is somewhat brighter. OPG stopped burning coal at the 2,000-megawatt facility two years ago. However, due to its proximity to a high-capacity natural gas line, the Lambton plant will continue to be maintained by a workforce of 25.
“Lambton is the more prudent risk for preservation,” Kelly said. “But that doesn't mean it will be used in the future.”
Come what may, OPG has no plans to sell the Nanticoke site. With NGS's transmission corridor and its proximity to Lake Erie, Kelly said the province may one day see fit to re-establish a major power generating station in this location.
Simcoe Reformer
Marblehead Light gaining historic replica
7/16 - Marblehead, Ohio – A piece of maritime history is coming to the Marblehead Lighthouse State Park. Located near the mouth of Sandusky Bay on Lake Erie's North Shore, Marblehead Light is one of the oldest on the Great Lakes.
A replica lifesaving station, originally used to help boaters in the 1800s, is under construction just south of the lighthouse.
"We're so pleased with it," park ranger Diane Rozak said. "Lifesaving stations were integral for lighthouse keepers back in the day."
The replica station will attempt to recreate the original structure which stood near the present U.S. Coast Guard station from 1875 to 1921 in Marblehead. It is scheduled to open in time for next season.
It will include a full-size boat that would have been used during the late 1800s. These boats required oars and several people to push from the station into the lake. Rozak said they are building the station as accurately as possible, which includes its proximity to Lake Erie. For instance, the boat garage faces the lake and is very near the water. Originally, the station included a makeshift ramp that would help with getting the boat launched quickly.
"This will be another historically significant place for people to visit" Rozak said. The station will cost approximately $250,000 to build and fill, park manager Mark Manatt said. The Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society has been collecting money for nearly 10 years through donations to help fund the project. Construction started in May.
The structure will include several rooms with displays and will look original both inside and out.
Port Clinton Lighthouse will shine again
7/16 - Port Clinton, Ohio – Port Clinton city council has approved an agreement to bring the historic Port Clinton Lighthouse back to the waterfront. Council, in a unanimous vote, approved the agreement after several changes were made to the contract language Tuesday night.
The lighthouse was built in 1896 on the west pier of the Portage River. It was decommissioned in the 1950s by the U.S. Coast Guard and moved to the D.B. Jeremy's & Sons Marina, which was bought in 1985 by Brand's Marina.
Brand's Marina owner, Darrel Brand, will sign ownership of the lighthouse over to the conservancy now that an agreement has been reached with the city.
The next step is for the city to work with the state to get what is essentially a sub-lease for the portion of land near Derby Pond. That land will tentatively be used specifically for the lighthouse if the state approves, which is considered likely.
Sandusky Register
Pipeline is called an aging, oily threat to Great Lakes
7/16 - Lansing, Mich. – There would never be a petroleum pipeline built today that runs underwater through the Great Lakes like the controversial Line 5, Canadian petroleum transport giant Enbridge's more than 60-year-old, parallel pipelines running through the Straits of Mackinac, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said.
And heavy crude oil — one of the most difficult substances to remediate if a rupture did occur, like the one in the Kalamazoo River in 2010 that led to the worst inland oil spill in U.S. history — will not be moved through Line 5, Schuette said Tuesday in releasing the findings and recommendations of a state pipeline safety task force that officials hailed as a means of protecting the environment and residents, and holding companies accountable.
But while the task force led by Schuette and state Department of Environmental Quality Director Dan Wyant called for greater scrutiny, restrictions and ongoing analysis of Line 5, environmentalists who want the pipeline shut down immediately said the state missed an opportunity to use its power to truly protect the Great Lakes and its residents by turning off the spigot.
If you believe these existing pipelines pose an immediate threat to the Great Lakes — and we do — the task force recommendations amount to a rearranging of deck chairs on Michigan's Titanic of oil pipelines," said David Holtz, chairman of the Sierra Club's Michigan chapter.
"What is needed, and needed now, is to shut down Line 5."
The task force's report and recommendations also failed to address issues related to Michigan's other myriad old, eroding, natural gas pipeline networks; and the slow pace of replacement by the state's two largest natural gas utilities, DTE Energy and Consumer's Energy, that the Free Press first reported on in 2013.
Still, some environmentalists did credit the task force with putting the safety issues related to Line 5 and other petroleum pipelines in Michigan on the front burner — possibly setting the stage to one day stopping the flow of oil through the Straits of Mackinac.
Mike Shriberg, regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Regional Center, called on state officials to act with urgency on the task force's recommendations.
"Delay only further jeopardizes our environment and economy," he said. "It's time to stop playing Russian roulette with the Great Lakes."
The task force recommended:
■ Enbridge be prevented from ever shipping heavy crude oil through its Line 5 pipelines underwater in the Straits of Mackinac.
■ Requiring Enbridge to disclose safety inspection information on the Straits pipelines.
■ Calls for independent analysis of the Straits pipelines, and an independent look at alternatives to them.
■ Statewide, the report calls for increased coordination between pipeline operators, local governments and first responder crews on spill response plans and emergency training.
Wyant said the task force's recommendations "hold pipeline operators more accountable and provide additional protection for our environment."
"The Great Lakes are Michigan's most precious resource and our top stewardship charge," he said. "While we recognize the importance of transporting energy to power Michigan communities, it cannot be at the expense of our environment."
Line 5 was built in 1953; a 645-mile, 30-inch-diameter pipeline running from Superior, Wis., eastward across the Upper Peninsula. The line splits into two, 20-inch-diameter, parallel pipelines underwater through the 4.6 miles across the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac. The pipeline then continues south through the Lower Peninsula, where it crosses the St. Clair River into Sarnia, Ontario.
A University of Michigan study commissioned last year by the National Wildlife Federation found the Straits would be the "worst possible place" for a Great Lakes oil spill, contaminating waters and shoreline in both Lakes Michigan and Huron through the waterway's often shifting currents.
"No amount of preparation would be adequate to prevent utter disaster if Line 5 fails," said Chris Kolb, president of the Michigan Environmental Council.
Enbridge uses the Line 5 pipeline to carry light crude oil and natural gas liquids. In a Feb. 10 letter to Schuette and Wyant, company officials stated: "There have never been any prior, current or future plans to move heavy crudes through Line 5."
Heavy crude oil is considered particularly problematic because it makes traditional petroleum spill cleanup methods less effective, as the oil sinks to the bottom in clumps and adheres with sediments and other materials. The 850,000-gallon oil spill on Enbridge's Line 6B pipeline near Marshall in July 2010 was diluted bitumen, or dilbit, a heavy oil product that prompted a more than 4-year, $1 billion cleanup.
In a statement, Enbridge officials called the pipeline report "important work for the state of Michigan."
"It is important that the people who live, work and recreate near pipelines know that the pipeline is operated safely, particularly in high consequence areas such as the Straits of Mackinac," Enbridge's statement reads.
"Enbridge will review the entire report and will work with the Michigan state government to further understand the recommendations and the additional analysis that is being proposed."
In addition to the state attorney general's office and DEQ, the pipeline task force included the Michigan Public Service Commission, Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Office of the Great Lakes, Michigan Department of Transportation and Michigan State Police, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division.
Additional recommendations include considering legislation to require a state review of oil spill response plans, improved spill reporting and stiffer civil fines. The task force also recommended the legislature consider new laws or rule-making to improve pipeline siting in Michigan.
The task force's report was largely silent on the issue of Michigan's aging, crumbling natural gas pipeline infrastructure, and the slow pace at fixing it. A 2013 Free Press investigation found that Michigan had more than 3,100 miles of old wrought- and cast-iron natural-gas pipelines — the type federal regulators consider the most at risk of corrosion, cracking and catastrophic rupturing — and that the state's two largest utilities had replaced less than 15% of these pipelines — only 542 miles — in the past decade. Only four other U.S. states had more old, iron gas mains than Michigan, and DTE Energy had more wrought- and cast-iron gas pipelines in its system than all but one other utility in the country.
Detroit Free Press
Celebrate Lake Superior Days in Duluth this weekend
7/16 - The Lake Superior Marine Museum Association will take part in the regional celebration of Lake Superior Days on Friday, July 17, Saturday, July 18 and Sunday, July 19 at the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center. A variety of interactive exhibits, presentations and free history pier walking tours (weather permitting) will be featured from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm daily.
LSMMA is sponsoring a special feature – Music in the Park! Saturday and Sunday from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. featuring the Western Harbor Music of Gerry Ouellette. Bring a lawn chair and come on down to enjoy the music and the great scenery. All activities and music are free and open to the public.
Outside the visitor center, Friday – Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. there will be staff from Minnesota Sea Grant, the Minnesota Coastal Program, The Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis River Alliance, Jay Cooke State Park and Lake Superior Magazine. Children’s activities will be held by Jay Cooke State Park on Friday and by the U.S. Forest Service on Saturday.
Lake Superior Marine Museum Association
DETROIT EDISON, of 1955, departed Quebec City July 16th 1986, along with former fleet mate SHARON, in tow of the U.S. tug PRUDENT, to Brownsville, Texas for scrapping.
The SAGINAW BAY departed Quebec City on July 16, 1985, in tandem with the E.B. BARBER, towed by the Polish tug KORAL for scrapping at Vigo, Spain.
NORTHERN VENTURE, a.) VERENDRYE of 1944, entered Great Lakes service July 16, 1961, upbound light for the Canadian lake head to load grain.
On July 16, 1935, the BRUCE HUDSON capsized on Lake Ontario off Cobourg, Ontario, while in tow of the wooden-hulled tug MUSCALLONGE.
Keel-laying of the CHI-CHEEMAUN (Hull#205) was on July 16, 1973, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. for Ontario Northland Transport Commission.
CATARACT (wooden propeller, 15 foot', 352 tons, built in 1852, at Buffalo) caught fire on 16 July 1861, 5 miles off Erie, Pennsylvania. She became an inferno astern in just a few minutes and this prevented her boats from being launched. Four died. Some were saved by clinging to floating wreckage and some others were rescued by a small fishing boat. The schooner ST PAUL picked up some survivors. Among those picked up by Captain Mosher of the ST PAUL, were Captain McNally and the CATARACT's carpenter. Capt. Mosher had rescued these same two men in 1858, when the propeller INDIANA was lost in Lake Superior.
On 16 July 1873, the new barge MINNEAPOLIS was towed to Detroit for outfitting. She had just been launched four days earlier at Marine City, Michigan. While on the way to Detroit, a Canadian man named Sinclair fell overboard and drowned. On 16 July 1874, The Port Huron Times reported that "the old steamer REINDEER has been rebuilt to a barge by L. C. Rogers at H. C. Schnoor's shipyard at Fair Haven, [Michigan]. Her beautiful horns have been taken down, [she carried a set of large antlers], her machinery and cumbersome side-wheels removed, and she has been fully refitted with center arch and deck frame complex."
July 16, 1961, the PIONEER CHALLENGER entered service. Built in 1943, as a T-3 tanker a.) MARQUETTE, renamed b.) U.S.S. NESCHANIC (AO-71) in 1943, c.) GULFOIL in 1947, d.) PIONEER CHALLENGER in 1961, e.) MIDDLETOWN in 1962, and f.) AMERICAN VICTORY in 2006.
1911 ¬ MAINE, upbound with a load of coal, caught fire in the St. Clair River and was run aground on the Canadian shore. The crew escaped.
1958 ¬ The Swedish freighter ERHOLM and the FRANK ARMSTRONG of the Interlake fleet were in a collision in northern Lake St. Clair with minor damage to both ships. ERHOLM had earlier been a Great Lakes caller as a) ERLAND and later came through the Seaway in 1959-1960. It returned inland again in 1961 and 1962 as c) OTIS. The ship arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping as h) DIMITRA K. on August 25, 1980.
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Jul 17, 2015 6:02:03 GMT -5
Severe algae bloom for Lake Erie
7/17 - Toledo, Ohio – Researchers are warning that Lake Erie may be in for one of the biggest algae blooms in recent years.
A new report from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, which has begun routinely putting together bloom forecasts, found that heavy rains throughout the month of June could lead to the largest bloom of harmful algae in the Great Lake since a record-setting event in 2011 covered 2,000 square miles of water in swirling green slime.
"This forecast allows all those who need to plan to have advance warning," said Richard Stumpf, an oceanographer with NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Science. That means cities will be prepared to start water treatment and organizations that monitor lake quality can be at the ready.
The cyanobacterial algae found in Lake Erie can decimate fish populations by consuming oxygen in the water and creating so-called dead zones. It also produces toxins that are harmful to humans, restricting access to swimming and other lake activities, and requiring drinking water to be treated and filtered.
Blooms are common in August and September -- but some blooms are worse than others. NOAA measures the severity on a 10-point scale. The bloom of 2011 -- the worst observed in the lake -- ranked a 10. Last year's bloom measured 6.5 on the index, which was high enough to contaminate the drinking water of 400,000 people in Toledo.
The estimate is that this bloom is likely to measure 8.7 in severity, and possibly as high as 9.5.
Algae requires a balance of nitrogen and phosphorus to grow. Lakes, Erie included, have plenty of the former, but don't naturally contain enough phosphorus to sustain a major bloom. However, a rainy June caused massive agricultural runoff, feeding the western part of the lake with phosphorus primarily from soil and fertilizer.
Nutrient measurements taken in the lake from March through June, referred to as the spring nutrient load, were at a record high, suggesting a big bloom to come.
Stumpf said that though the forecast is dire, conditions will vary with the winds and "much of the lake will be fine most of the time." The bloom is expected to begin this month and peak in September.
"Last summer's Toledo water crisis was a wake-up call to the serious nature of harmful algal blooms in America's waters," said Jeff Reutter, Ph.D., senior advisor to, and former director of, The Ohio State University's Sea Grant program and Stone Laboratory, in a statement. "This forecast once again focuses attention on this issue, and the urgent need to take action to address the problems caused by excessive amounts of nutrients from fertilizer, manure and sewage flowing into our lakes and streams."
CBS News
Governor christens Shepler's ferry
7/17 - Mackinaw City, Mich. – On Sunday, July 12, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder christened the Miss Margy, an all-aluminum 85-foot ferry manufactured for Shepler's Ferry by Moran Iron Works in Onaway.
The total price tag of the project – which is using products and services of 20 Michigan businesses – is $3.8 million.
At the christening ceremony, CEO Bill Shepler said he was determined to build the state-of-the-art, 281-passenger ferry in Michigan. It is the company's sixth and largest passenger ferry in Michigan.
"When my parents – including my mother, Margaret, Miss Margy's namesake – started this business, they never dreamed that 70 years later they would be helping to lead one of the most robust tourism economies in the nation," Shepler said in a release.
"The state and this region have been crucial to the success of our third-generation business, and we wanted to make sure we gave something back."
According to Moran Iron Works, the boat took more than 12,000 man-hours to build. Gov. Snyder joined Shepler in a ceremonial breaking of a bottle of champagne on the bow to christen the new ferry.
The Miss Margy will make her maiden voyage to Mackinac Island later this summer. It features an air-conditioned cabin, as well as a ventilation system to remove interior condensation from windows during inclement weather. The ferry has a top speed of about 40 mph.
Final work on Miss Margy is being done in a huge tent that has been attached temporarily to the Shepler's Marine Service building, where the christening was held. Spectators can also see work being done inside.
Updates on Miss Margy as she nears completion will be posted on the Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry Facebook page at facebook.com/sheplersferry.
M Live
On this day in 1902, the JAMES H. HOYT, the first boat with hatches constructed at 12-foot centers, loaded 5,250 tons of iron ore in 30.5 minutes on her maiden voyage. Several days later, the cargo was unloaded at Conneaut in three hours and 52 minutes.
On this day in 1961, the C&P dock in Cleveland set a new unloading record when they removed more than 15,000 tons of ore from the holds of the E. G. GRACE in 3 hours and 20 minutes.
The ASHCROFT was towed out of Quebec City on July 17, 1969, in tandem with the steamer SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY by the Polish tug JANTAR for scrapping at Castellon, Spain.
The BROOKDALE, of 1909, lost her self-unloading boom overboard in the Detroit River during a wind and rainstorm on July 17, 1980, while loading salt at the Canadian Rock Salt Dock at Ojibway, Ontario.
The Cleveland Tanker's COMET was towed from Toledo to Ashtabula, Ohio, on July 17, 1973, where she was broken up during the summer and fall of 1973.
WILLIAM J. FILBERT was launched in 1907, as a.) WILLIAM M. MILLS (Hull#348) at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. for the Weston Transit Co. (William M. Mills, mgr.).
On her last trip, the COLONEL JAMES PICKANDS arrived at Cleveland, Ohio on July 17, 1974, with a load of iron ore.
Mohawk Navigation's GOLDEN HIND loaded her first dry bulk cargo on July 17, 1954. She had been rebuilt from the Imperial Oil Ltd.'s tanker a.) IMPERIAL WOODBEND.
On 17 July 1856, TINTO (wooden propeller, 135 foot, built in 1855-56, at Sorel, Quebec) caught fire and burned to a total loss only 2 miles from shore. She was between Snake Island and Nine Mile Point on Lake Ontario. 18 lives were lost. The survivors jumped into the water and were picked up by a boat from shore. A newspaper article stated that she had no lifeboat aboard. Her machinery was later recovered and installed in the AVON.
On 17 July 1883, B PARSONS (2-mast wooden schooner, 218 tons, built in 1856, at Vermilion, Ohio) struck the north pier while entering the harbor at Charlevoix, Michigan during a gale. She sank crosswise in the channel and blocked passage into the harbor for two weeks until she broke up enough to allow vessels to pass. In December, the steam tug S S COE towed the hulk a half mile down the beach and abandoned it.
The Canada Steamship Line's HAMONIC burned at her pier at Point Edward bear Sarnia, Ont., on July 17, 1945. A warehouse next to the HAMONIC 's pier burst into flames from a fire that began from a gasoline motor for conveyor equipment being repaired by workmen. The flames and smoke were carried by a breeze to the HAMONIC. Almost in a matter of minutes the HAMONIC was doomed. She was aflame at dockside. The captain and the engineer were able to move the ship down the dock from the raging flames from the warehouse. Many of the passengers were able to get ashore. Some passengers went ashore by climbing into the bucket of a crane, which hoisted them on shore to safety. Every one of the passengers and crew were saved.
1933: SONORA and WILLIAM NELSON were in a collision in the Bar Point Channel, Lake Erie. The two ships were found at equal fault. The former was scrapped at Ashtabula in 1961 while the latter arrived at Bilbao, Spain, for dismantling as c) BEN E. TATE on July 12, 1969.
1989: SHEILA YEATES, a tall-ship visitor to the Great Lakes, hit an ice pack in fog on the North Atlantic and eventually sank 430 miles south of Greenland after an attempt to tow the leaking ship to safety failed. All on board were saved.
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Jul 20, 2015 5:53:49 GMT -5
7/20 - Saturday's fun in the sun on Lake Erie turned dark when the Jet Express and Pelee Islander had a close call at the Jackson Street Pier.
Jet Express boat No. 4 was pulling out into the narrow channel for the 2:40 p.m. departure, said Capt. Lance Woodworth, general manager of the Put-in-Bay Boat Line Co., known as the Jet Express.
There were 145 passengers onboard the Jet Express. It is unknown how many the Pelee Islander had on board. “Our captain went to turn for a routine port to port turn," Woodworth said. "The boat did not respond as he expected."
It was then the captain pulled the lever into reverse and a collision with the Pelee Islander was avoided. The Jet Express turned around and went back to the dock. The passengers departed the ferry. “Safety is our priority,” Woodworth said.
Mechanics inspected the systems but could find nothing wrong.
The No. 4 boat recently had two new engines installed, a $1 million project. Woodworth doesn't believe that had anything to do with what happened. He will continue to investigate to determine what led to the close call.
By 4 p.m. the boat was back in service, ferrying people across Lake Erie to the islands.
A man on the Pelee Islander said he had never experienced anything similar in the 25 years he has been crossing the waters of Lake Erie to visit Sandusky. “It was close," the man said, declining to give his name. "I would say 5 meters.”
A couple sitting at the back of the Pelee Islander also discussed what they experienced. The boat was coming into dock when the couple looked up to see the Jet Express very close. “We heard the horn sound,” the woman said.
Local businessman Shaun Bickley, who is a licensed captain, was on shore and witnessed the event. He said the Pelee Islander was running west in the lower channel. “The Jet pulled out and entered the federal channel. The Pelee Island Express had the right of way. I can't tell you why the Jet Express pulled out like it did,” Bickley said.
Witnesses said the Jet Express left the dock and entered the channel too fast. Woodworth was not on the boat and could not comment on that allegation.
Bickley called the Coast Guard to report what he witnessed. Lt. Ryan Junod, public information officer for the Coast Guard, confirmed they received two complaints.
The Coast Guard talked to Jet Express officials, but as of Saturday evening had yet to talk to those with Pelee Islander. Junod said the Pelee Islander did not file a complaint.
There were no injuries. The Coast Guard has not heard that either captain is alleging a violation of the rules of the water. Unless that changes, there is nothing further for the Coast Guard to do, Junod said.
Sandusky Register
7/20 - Barrie, Ont. – Waters levels in the Great Lakes are the highest they’ve been in nearly two decades.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, water levels in Lake Huron went up five centimetres in June. It may not sound like much, but that's on top of 20 centimetres the lake has gone up since May of last year.
The lake reached record lows in late 2012, but precipitation amounts in the Lake Huron basin have been 18 per cent higher than the long-term average this year, which has helped boost inflows of water. Levels are now higher than they have been in 17 years.
Tour boat operator Kevin Johnston says ice cover over the past two winters has also helped reduce evaporation.
“So we are losing water if it isn't frozen in the winter and in the spring and summer that will lead to lower water levels,” he says. “So having those snappy cold days in February has helped at least from what we can see here.”
Water levels are expected to remain stable through the month of August. Typically water levels start to go down in the autumn.
CTV News
7/19 - Marinette, Wis. – The nation's ninth littoral combat ship, the USS Little Rock, was launched into the Menominee River at the Marinette Marine Corporation shipyard on Saturday.
The ship's sponsor, Mrs. Janee Bonner, christened Little Rock (LCS 9) with the traditional smashing of a champagne bottle across the ship's bow just prior to the launch.
"It is such an honor and a privilege to serve as the sponsor of the future USS Little Rock and to be a part of this major milestone along the way to her assuming her place as part of the great U.S. Navy fleet," Bonner said.
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, who served as an officer aboard the cruiser USS Little Rock, presented the keynote address.
Following christening and launch, Little Rock will continue to undergo outfitting and testing before delivery to the Navy later this year.
"This future USS Little Rock will use interchangeable mission modules that empower her to face a variety of high-priority missions, from Anti-Surface Warfare to Anti-Submarine Warfare to Mine Countermeasures," said Vice President of Littoral Ships & Systems, Joe North. "She is ideally suited to navigate the reefs and shallows in the Asia-Pacific, as so well demonstrated by USS Fort Worth on her current deployment."
The Little Rock is one of seven littoral combat ships under construction at Marinette Marine.
The Lockheed Martin-led industry team is building the Freedom variant, and has already delivered two ships to the U.S. Navy. USS Freedom (LCS 1) successfully deployed to Southeast Asia in 2013 and is currently operating out of her homeport in San Diego, California. USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) is currently deployed in Southeast Asia, serving in the U.S. 7th Fleet to strengthen international relationships, engage in multi-regional naval exercises and further LCS capabilities using manned and unmanned assets.
Milwaukee (LCS 5) was christened and launched in 2013, and is slated to be delivered to the Navy this fall. Detroit (LCS 7) was launched in 2014. Sioux City (LCS 11) is in construction, and Wichita (LCS 13) had its keel laid in February 2015. Billings (LCS 15), Indianapolis (LCS 17) and St. Louis (LCS 19) are in the construction phase.
PR Newswire
7/19 - Buffalo, N.Y. – As the 10-year effort to remove toxic sediment from the Buffalo River nears completion this summer, the focus now shifts to shoreline access and habitat restoration along this once-dead river.
After nearly five years of planning and design work, construction is beginning at RiverBend and seven other locations along the Buffalo River that are essential for removing the river from the federal list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern by 2016.
To celebrate this next phase in the river's restoration, New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Congressman Brian Higgins, together with other state officials and local leaders, met Monday across from the RiverBend site. Restoration work there will transform the shoreline into a healthy and viable ecosystem and enhance recent economic development activity at this former brownfield site.
"This revitalization effort is a product of a thoughtful and historic public-private partnership that is restoring habitats and strengthening our local economy," Hochul said. "It was almost unheard of decades ago to imagine this site attracting new outdoor recreational opportunities - like fishing and boating - to our beloved shorelines. Today, it is clear that this investment has finally brought this dream into a reality."
"Federal investments combined with community-based action are bringing the Buffalo River back to life and breathing new life into our city," Higgins added.
When fully implemented, the projects will restore nearly two miles of shoreline and 20 acres of habitat at eight sites on the lower Buffalo River: RiverBend (east and west shorelines), River Fest Park, Blue Tower Turning Basin, Old Bailey Woods, Ohio Street Boat Launch, Toe of Katherine Street Peninsula and Buffalo Color Peninsula.
Approximately $4.7 million from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) is being provided for the restoration work through a regional partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Great Lakes Commission. NOAA and the GLC have partnered with Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper to design and implement the restoration projects by 2016. The GLRI is a federal program that is cleaning up heavily polluted areas and addressing other problems in the Great Lakes.
"The Buffalo River restoration is a global example of the how the health of our economy is directly linked to the health of our water, ecosystems and surrounding communities," said Jill Jedlicka, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper executive director. "This groundbreaking collaboration of public, private and nonprofit sectors helped transform a regional economy that now values clean and accessible waterways as a critical component to economic revitalization and improved quality of life for our residents and visitors.”
The upcoming work builds on more than two decades of planning by local, state and federal partners, including Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Forest Service. In addition to habitat and brownfield improvements, the projects will increase natural and stable shoreline, treat stormwater, enhance and restore habitat, control and manage invasive species, reduce erosion and control sedimentation.
Over the past decade, the Buffalo River Restoration Partnership has leveraged more than $75 million to remove toxic pollutants from the river and implement other significant improvements. In one of the largest river cleanups in the history of the Great Lakes, nearly 1 million cubic yards of heavily polluted sediment is being removed from the Buffalo River and the City Ship Canal.
wnypapers.com
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Jul 21, 2015 5:32:02 GMT -5
7/21 - Cleveland, Ohio – With foreign steel now commanding nearly 32 percent of the U.S. market, it was inevitable that iron ore cargos hauled in U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters would take a hit, and that hit came in June. Cargos totaled 4.4 million tons, a decrease of 17 percent compared to May and 10 percent compared to a year ago.
“Although not unexpected, the slowdown in iron ore is troubling,” said James H.I. Weakley, President of Lake Carriers’ Association. “On average it takes about 1.5 tons of iron ore to make a ton of steel, so foreign steel that is dumped into the U.S. market takes ore and other cargos off the lakes.
“It is imperative that the government enforce our trade laws, and if they are ineffective, our legislators need to enact ones that protect American workers and industries. Unfair trade has decimated the American steel industry and its suppliers more than once since the early 1980s. Even right now three U.S.-flag lakers that are well-suited to the iron ore trade are idle, and there’s little prospect they will see service this year.”
Weakley further noted that two blast furnaces in the Great Lakes region have been banked and two large iron ore mines, one in Minnesota and one in Michigan, have been idled. Other ore mines have scaled back production.
Foreign steel’s intrusion into the U.S. market has been growing steadily over the past few years. Just five years ago imports accounted for 20 percent of the market.
Shipments of all the various cargos in U.S.-flag lakers totaled 10.3 million tons in June, a decrease of 1.4 percent compared to a year ago. Even though limestone cargos increased 11 percent to 3,052,346 tons, that trade too felt the impacts of unfair trade in steel. Shipments of fluxstone, used as a purifying agent in the steelmaking process, were down because of unfair trade in steel.
Year-to-date, U.S.-flag carriage stands at 31.6 million tons, an increase of 17 percent over the iced-over first half of 2014, but 1.6 percent off the 5-year average.
Lake Carriers’ Association
The JAMES DAVIDSON and KINSMAN INDEPENDENT arrived under tow at Santander, Spain, on July 21, 1974, for scrapping.
On July 21, 1975, the GEORGE D. GOBLE arrived at Lorain, Ohio, with an unusual deck cargo loaded at American Ship Building Company's yard at South Chicago, Illinois. She was carrying the deckhouses for two Interlake Steamship Company thousand-foot self-unloaders being built at AmShip's Lorain yard. These vessels were completed as the JAMES R. BARKER and MESABI MINER.
On 21 July 1875, the schooner ELVA, which was built in Port Huron, Michigan, in 1861, for Capt. Sinclair, was sailing from Holland, Michigan, for Milwaukee, Wisconsin loaded with stove bolts. She capsized 12 miles from Milwaukee. Her crew took to the boats and made a landing in Kenosha and then rowed to Milwaukee. A tug was sent for the schooner and she was recovered.
In 1900, R. J. GORDON (wooden propeller passenger-package freighter, 104 foot, 187 gross tons, built in 1881, at Marine City, Michigan) was placed back in service carrying freight and passengers between Chicago and Grand Haven. She had burned in September 1899 at Chicago but was rebuilt during the winter.
On 21 July 1875, the old barge HURON, which had been in use for a number of years as a car ferry for the Grand Trunk Railroad at Port Huron/Sarnia, was sold to Sandie and Archie Stewart. They planned to convert her to a dry-dock by adding three feet to her sides and removing her arches. The sale price was $1,500 in gold.
1910 TRUDE R. WIEHE was destroyed by a fire at Portage Bay, Green Bay.
1911 Thirty plates were damaged when the WACCAMAW went aground in the St. Lawrence. The ship was later repaired at Buffalo.
1959 A collision in western Lake Erie between the CHARLES HUBBARD and the Swedish freighter SIGNEBORG resulted in damage to both ships. Both were repaired and continue in service. The latter is scrapped at La Spezia, Italy, after arriving as d) ALFREDO, on November 10, 1971. The former was sunk as a breakwall at Burns Harbor in 1966 after being idle at Milwaukee for several years. The hull was reported to have been subsequently scrapped there.
1964 The French freighter MARQUETTE began Great Lakes trading in 1953 and was lengthened in 1959 with the opening of the Seaway. Fire erupted enroute from Chicago to Marseilles, France, and the vessel was abandoned in the Atlantic. The gutted ship was towed to Brest, France, and was sold to French shipbreakers. All on board were saved.
1965 A smoky fire, that could be seen for miles, broke out in the cargo of rubber aboard the ORIENT TRADER at Toronto and the hull was towed into Toronto Bay and beached while firefighters battled the blaze. The Greek flag vessel was sold for scrap but before it departed for overseas, is was used in several episodes of the CBC television series “Seaway.” The hull was towed into Valencia, Spain, on July 11, 1966, for dismantling.
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Jul 22, 2015 6:50:49 GMT -5
7/22 - Cornwall, Ont. – The company responsible for the removal of two capsized tugboats from the St. Lawrence River released a statement announcing the blocking off of part of the river for the removal of the one of the tugboats.
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard has been responding to concerns about oil appearing on the water.
The two tugboats, Lac Manitoba and LCM 131, capsized on June 22 when strong currents overwhelmed the boats as they approached the Seaway International Bridge. Nadro Marine Limited owns the Lac Manitoba and Waterfront Construction owns LCM 131. The removal of both tugboats is being handled by McKeil Marine Limited.
Removal of the boats was delayed earlier this month due to strong currents that prevented workers from reaching the tugs.
In a statement released on July 17, Nadro announced that they were to be establishing a safe zone on Monday, July 20. They expected the safe zone to be in effect until around Aug. 15.
"For public safety, we are reminding everyone to remain outside of the boundaries to ensure we can efficiently move ahead with salvage of the Lac Manitoba," Nadro Marine general manager Jamie Nadrofsky said in the statement.
On Monday, crews were seen working on a barge around the Lac Manitoba. The barge was anchored via mooring lines attached to the Seaway International Bridge.
Over the weekend, pictures were sent to The Standard Freeholder via social media of oil appearing in the water.
Nadro declined to comment on the oil in the water or provide any further details on the expected timeline for removing the tugboats, deferring to McKeil. McKeil did not respond to questions regarding when both tugboats can be expected to be removed.
According to the superintendent of the Canadian Coast Guard's Environmental Response program JJ Brickett, the salvage team's contracted pollution response company responded to a spill from a piece of equipment being used in the recovery operations on Friday. A biodegradable hydraulic fluid leaked from a winch line. Brickett estimated the quantity to be approximately 100 litres.
"Canadian Coast Guard Environmental Response personnel were on scene to monitor the response; the product dissipated," Brickett said via email. "All that was observed was a sheen which was deemed at the time to be unrecoverable."
Brickett noted that the Coast Guard is taking precautions and using a hazing device to scare away birds from the area.
Cornwall Standard-Freeholder
On this day in 1961, the barge CLEVECO, originally lost with a crew of 22 during a December 02, 1942, storm on Lake Erie, was floated by salvagers, towed outside the shipping lanes, and intentionally sunk.
PERE MARQUETTE 22 (Hull#210) was launched on July 22, 1924, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. for the Pere Marquette Railway Co. One hundred years ago on 22 July 1900, the tug MATT HESSER was launched at Lorain, Ohio, by H. D. Root for Captain Burke of Erie.
The M.I. MILLS (wooden propeller tug, 122 foot, 152 tons, built in 1867, at Marine City, Michigan), which sank in a collision with the bark UNADILLA on 9 May 1873, was found on 22 July 1873, in 90 feet of water in Lake Huron off Sand Beach, Michigan. Plans were made to raise her at the cost of $5,000. This effort was unsuccessful as was another abortive attempt in 1895.
1965 MARIVIKI dated from 1940 as a) TEMPLE INN and visited the Seaway in 1960. The ship was beached in Colla Bay, near Mormugao, India, after developing leaks on a voyage from Madras, India, to Constanza, Romania. The hull later broke in two and was a total loss.
1967 A small fire erupted in the machine shop of the West German freighter TRANSAMERICA while a crewman was welding in Milwaukee. The blaze was soon brought under control. The ship last operated in 1978 as f) ARISTOTELES before being broken up at Gadani Beach, Pakistan.
1968 The Paterson bulk carrier CANADOC, loading at the Continental Elevator in Chicago, was struck on the starboard side by the Belgian vessel TIELRODE as it passed upsteam under tow. The latter returned through the Seaway as c) GEORGIOS C. in 1977 and was scrapped at Huangpo, China, as e) OPORTO in 1985.
1970 ULYSSES REEFER caught fire in Toronto resulting in an estimated $30,000 in damage. The ship first came inland in 1969 and returned as c) ITHAKI REEFER in 1972 prior to being scrapped at Blyth, Scotland, in 1973.
1989 MAR CATERINA, downbound at the Snell Lock, struck the fender boom and all Seaway navigation was temporarily delayed. The ship began Seaway trading as b) ASTORGA in 1985. As of 2012, the vessel is apparently still operating as e) ASPHALT TRADER.
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Jul 23, 2015 5:56:58 GMT -5
7/23 - Lake Michigan – It was 3:30 a.m. and Jeff Voss was tired. Voss, a tool & die shop owner when he's not diving on shipwrecks, had been at the wheel since midnight, kept awake by Red Bull and the monotonous duty of keeping the boat on course while simultaneously monitoring the sonar.
Somewhere below, a phantom lay waiting. Voss and his fellow wreck sleuths had been patiently combing a 10-square-mile grid of Lake Michigan off Muskegon for the past three days in a modified 25-foot Bayliner, "mowing the lawn" with side-scan sonar in search of lost propeller steamer that had slipped gently below the icy lake surface more than 116 years ago.
Voss was about to go wake fellow searchers Jack van Heest and David Trotter to hand-off the boring job when the sonar picked up a structure. Paydirt..
"All of a sudden — boom. There it was," Voss said. "The bottom out there is flat and then this big image shows up on the print out."
Excited, Voss yelled for the others to wake up and record the GPS coordinates of the discovery. Trotter, a 40-year veteran of Great Lakes shipwreck hunting, rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he looked down at the sonar image.
"Yep," he said. "That's it for sure." It was June 5, 2015 and the grave of the John V. Moran was a mystery no more.
Although Trotter was sure the big target on sonar was the Moran, the rest of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association (MSRA) team wanted to be absolutely certain before ringing the dinner bell on the discovery announcement.
The Holland-based wreck hunting team had watched with dismay as a pair of treasure hunters from Muskegon had chummed the waters earlier this year with an announcement of a discovery they thought was the "Holy Grail" of Great Lakes wrecks — explorer Robert de La Salle's Le Griffon — but which turned out to be a 19th century tugboat with boilers and steel riveting.
Diving on the Moran was the only way to know for sure. Unfortunately, the wreck is located under 365 feet of cold lake water — as deep as the deepest wreck ever dived in Lake Michigan, the Carl D. Bradley, which rests about 380 feet down 12 miles southwest of Gull Island. Diving such wrecks requires significant technical skill and hours of decompression on the ascent.
Valerie van Heest and Craig Rich, MSRA co-directors, felt any scuba dives should be delayed until August or September. In the meantime, they turned to the Michigan State Police department's Underwater Recovery Unit, which owns a remotely operated submersible that can operate at depth for hours. A scuba diver would be limited to roughly 15 to 18 minutes on the Moran. The state agreed to join the dive, which took place July 8.
"This was a good training dive for them because it was so deep," said van Heest, a Holland graphic designer, author and local historian.
When the ROV reached the wreck, its cameras showed a ship sitting upright on the bottom, entirely intact, looking for all the world as if it were still moored at the dock. It's unequivocally one of the best-preserved wrecks in the Great Lakes, she said.
"Not a railing is missing," said Rich, a master diver and former Holland City Council member. "The mast is standing. The lights are standing. The anchors are in position. There's even glass still in the windows. The only thing missing from this wreck is the smokestack."
Prior to July 8, the last time anyone saw the Moran was Sunday, Feb. 12, 1899.
The 214-foot steamer, built in 1888 in Bay City, Mich., was only 11 years old when it took its final voyage — a routine, Muskegon-bound dash across an ice-covered lake that left Milwaukee at noon on Feb. 9 carrying a cargo of flour, animal feed, peas, oil cake and other miscellaneous freight.
The Crosby Transportation Company had owned the ship for less than a year. The $50,000 cargo was the largest the Moran had yet carried. The flour on board, 9,550 barrels of it, was of a select brand destined for Amsterdam.
At some point in the voyage, ice created a hole in the hull and the ship began to flood. As water began to overwhelm the pumps, Captain John McLeod, fearing a boiler explosion, ordered the crew of 24 into the lifeboats.
Thankfully for the crew, the Moran had been paced across the lake by sister steamer Naomi, which heard the distress whistle. The ship pulled alongside around 12:30 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 10 and took the stricken vessel's crew aboard.
The Naomi tried for several hours to tow the ship, which was sinking by the stern. When that proved to be futile, everything of value was stripped, the cargo was transferred or thrown overboard and the Moran was abandoned to her fate.
Because the sinking occurred along a heavily trafficked route, several other ships passed by the Moran as it slowly settled into the water. The last confirmed sighting of the ship happened a couple days later, on Sunday afternoon, when a passing railcar ferry radioed shore to report the ship still afloat.
The ship's owners tried to mount a rescue mission, but an equipment failure on the dock in Milwaukee delayed the expedition.
Cold and alone, the Moran slid under the ice, not to be seen for more than a century.
When ships sink from a gash or immediate hull breach, wreck hunters typically find the vessel's upper decks missing — usually blown apart from the force of internal air pressure escaping the incoming rush of lake or ocean water. Such is the case with the Moran's identical sister ship, the Eber Ward, which rests in the Straits of Mackinac; sunk there 10 years after the Moran went down.
The Moran, however, is remarkably intact.
"The fact that we're seeing this in such perfect condition confirms a slow sinking," which is a very rare occurrence," said van Heest.
The MSRA team has found numerous wrecks and partnered on the discovery of others since inception in 2001. The group has a "hit list" of undiscovered Lake Michigan wrecks that include the Andaste, a steamer lost in 1929, and the Chicora, a steamer lost in 1895. Both sunk with all hands during a storm.
Because there were no casualties on the Moran, the wreck's location was better known. However, that's no guarantee of discovery. Tiny variations in the historical account can have a major impact on a potential search grid.
In the Moran's case, there was debate as to whether the ship was closer to Grand Haven than Muskegon. Van Heest said the group recently found primary documents during their research that helped winnow a manageable search grid.
"You're connecting the dots," she said. "You're thinking outside the box, trying to hone in on primary sources — never what someone else has written in books. You go old newspapers, court documents, company records, enrollment papers."
The group is holding onto the ship's location for the moment. Dives are planning to answer further archeological questions and determine where, exactly, water initially breached the hull. The team also hopes to explore the ship's interior.
The discovery and documentation efforts on the John V. Moran, as well as other local shipwrecks, was put on display Wednesday in the exhibit "Mysteries Beneath the Waves" at the Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven.
Shipwrecks like the Moran, lost on the same Michigan-to-Wisconsin route that the Lake Express ferry runs today, "help connect us with our past. That's one of the most extraordinary things about a discovery," said van Heest.
M Live
Fork FOOTBALL
7/23 - Port Clinton, Ohio – The Border Battle played a role in getting two people arrested and locked up at the Ottawa County Jail. A Michigan-Ohio State football argument on the Jet Express allegedly prompted a fight that resulted in assault charges.
Witnesses say the rivalry argument turned physical between two couples with a woman pulling another woman’s hair and the two men throwing punches at each other. The Border Battle rages every November … but on the water in July?
"That's ridiculous,” says Gary Mahoney, a Sparty fan about to board the Jet Express.
Around 1:45 Sunday morning Port Clinton police arrested a couple from Oregon, Ohio. They’re accused of assault on the Jet Express as the boat was headed to the dock.
The fight between 25-year-old Ashley Artiaga, 31-year-old Ian Schuster, and complete strangers on the top deck, allegedly began because of an argument over Michigan-Ohio State football.
"They were arguing, cursing at each other,” says Ben Freeman, a witness from Cincinnati who was in town for a fishing trip. “As the argument went on, the Michigan fan's girlfriend stood up, pulled the hair of the Ohio State's fan's girlfriend … the wife, actually. He tried to defend his wife by shoving the Michigan fan's girlfriend. The Michigan fan stood up and tried to defend his girlfriend. And after that they mutually started to fist fight and swing on each other. It was crazy.”
"It happens,” says Todd Blumensaadt, owner of the Jet Express. “They get very passionate about their teams."
Blumensaadt says these boats make seven thousand trips a year to Put-in-Bay and Kelleys Island from the Port Clinton dock. "We haul a lot of people, bring a lot of people together,” says Blumensaadt. “This was like 1:42 a.m., so I'm guessing there may be a few drinks involved in this one."
The Jet Express puts extra security on the boats on the weekends.
A few times a year they have to call police, but Blumensaadt says, "No gun fights, no knife fights. We have a security table here. Everybody is checked. You're not allowed to have a weapon on the boat."
Meanwhile, folks boarding the Jet Express are baffled that the college football rivalry landed two people in handcuffs.
"It seems kind of silly,” says Larry Money of Port Clinton. “But maybe certain people get into it. I know people are that way and I really don't understand why. You've got to know when to draw the line,” says Mahoney. “Sports are good, but when it reaches that point, obviously it's way overboard."
13ABC.com
On this day in 1908, the 556-foot ELBERT H. GARY arrived to a 21-gun salute to deliver the first cargo of Minnesota ore at the new United States Steel mill in Gary, Indiana.
The keel for the TEXACO CHIEF (Hull#193) was laid July 23, 1968, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., for Texaco Canada Ltd. Renamed b.) A.G. FARQUHARSON in 1986, and c.) ALGONOVA In 1998. She was sold for further service overseas in 2007.
CANADOC sailed on her maiden voyage July 23, 1961.
Upper Lakes Shipping Co. Ltd.'s, RED WING was christened on July 23, 1960, as the first all-welded vessel to emerge from Port Weller Dry Docks.
On 23 July 1878, H R PRESTON (wooden quarter-deck canal boat built in 1877, at Oneida Lake, New York) was carrying 250 tons of ashes from Picton, Ontario to Oswego, New York, in tow of the tug ALANSON SUMNER along with three other canal boats when they encountered a storm on Lake Ontario. About 15 miles from Oswego, the PRESTON broke her towline and was taken alongside the SUMNER with some difficulty. About a mile out of port she lost her hold tarps and began to sink quickly. She was cut loose from the tug and her two crewmen were saved by the Oswego tug WM AVERY. Though she was lying heavily on the bottom in 50 feet of water, her wreckage came ashore near 4 Mile Point in early September.
1918: PETER REISS and the GLENSHEE were in a collision at the #3 ore dock at Duluth. Fog and the current were blamed for the accident, with only limited damage to both ships.
1934: An explosion and fire aboard the tanker barge EN-AR-CO during fit-out at Toronto resulted in the loss of 4 lives. The ship was rebuilt as a coal barge and was finally scrapped at Hamilton in 1969.
1955: The tug HELENA capsized at South Chicago while taking on coal from a scow and two sailors were lost. The vessel was refloated on July 26. It survives today as c) DANIEL McALLISTER, a museum ship on display in the Lachine Canal at Montreal.
1968: The former tanker ORION was operating as a sand barge when it sank in Lake Erie about 1,000 feet off the Lorain lighthouse due to choppy seas. The hull was raised by the Corps of Engineers, beached August 2 and assumed to have been subsequently scrapped.
1985: FOTINI D.E. first came through the Seaway in 1976 and, in 1980, became the first overseas vessel to load grain at the port of Goderich. It ran aground on this date in 1985, enroute from Venezuela to a U.S. Gulf coast port, and was abandoned as a total loss on July 31.
7/22 - Cornwall, Ont. – The company responsible for the removal of two capsized tugboats from the St. Lawrence River released a statement announcing the blocking off of part of the river for the removal of the one of the tugboats.
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard has been responding to concerns about oil appearing on the water.
The two tugboats, Lac Manitoba and LCM 131, capsized on June 22 when strong currents overwhelmed the boats as they approached the Seaway International Bridge. Nadro Marine Limited owns the Lac Manitoba and Waterfront Construction owns LCM 131. The removal of both tugboats is being handled by McKeil Marine Limited.
Removal of the boats was delayed earlier this month due to strong currents that prevented workers from reaching the tugs.
In a statement released on July 17, Nadro announced that they were to be establishing a safe zone on Monday, July 20. They expected the safe zone to be in effect until around Aug. 15.
"For public safety, we are reminding everyone to remain outside of the boundaries to ensure we can efficiently move ahead with salvage of the Lac Manitoba," Nadro Marine general manager Jamie Nadrofsky said in the statement.
On Monday, crews were seen working on a barge around the Lac Manitoba. The barge was anchored via mooring lines attached to the Seaway International Bridge.
Over the weekend, pictures were sent to The Standard Freeholder via social media of oil appearing in the water.
Nadro declined to comment on the oil in the water or provide any further details on the expected timeline for removing the tugboats, deferring to McKeil. McKeil did not respond to questions regarding when both tugboats can be expected to be removed.
According to the superintendent of the Canadian Coast Guard's Environmental Response program JJ Brickett, the salvage team's contracted pollution response company responded to a spill from a piece of equipment being used in the recovery operations on Friday. A biodegradable hydraulic fluid leaked from a winch line. Brickett estimated the quantity to be approximately 100 litres.
"Canadian Coast Guard Environmental Response personnel were on scene to monitor the response; the product dissipated," Brickett said via email. "All that was observed was a sheen which was deemed at the time to be unrecoverable."
Brickett noted that the Coast Guard is taking precautions and using a hazing device to scare away birds from the area.
Cornwall Standard-Freeholder
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Jul 24, 2015 6:02:31 GMT -5
On July 24, 1980, 34 ships were delayed when the BALTIC SKOU, a 595 foot Danish-flag freighter built in 1977, ran aground after losing power three miles east of the Snell Lock, near Massena, New York. The ship, loaded with sunflower seeds, was headed for Montreal and the Atlantic Ocean when the grounding occurred. No injuries or pollution resulted from the accident and the vessel did not take on any water.
ALGOSOO (Hull#206) was launched July 24, 1974, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. for Algoma Central Railway, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. BURNS HARBOR’s sea trials were conducted on July 24, 1980, during which she performed an emergency stop in 3,160 feet loaded to a depth of 25/26 feet. She was the third 1,000-footer built for Bethlehem and the tenth on the Great Lakes.
ST. CLAIR (Hull#714) was launched July 24, 1975, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, by Bay Shipbuilding Corp. for the American Steamship Co.
WILLIAM G. MATHER left River Rouge, Michigan, on her maiden voyage July 24, 1925, for Ashtabula, Ohio to load coal for Port Arthur/Fort William, Ontario.
The wooden steamer OSCAR TOWNSEND was launched at 2:20 p.m. at E. Fitzgerald's yard in Port Huron on 24 July 1873. The launch went well with a few hundred spectators. She was built for use in the iron ore trade by the Lake Superior Transportation Co. Her dimensions were 210 feet overall, 200 foot keel, 33 foot 10 inches beam and 15 foot depth. She had three masts and was painted deep green.
On 24 July 1847, CONSTITUTION (wooden passenger/package freight side-wheeler, 141 foot, 444 tons, built in 1837, at Charleston, Ohio) struck a pier in Sandusky harbor, stove a large hole in her bow and sank. Her machinery was later recovered and installed in J D MORTON.
1915: EASTLAND rolled over and sank on her side at Chicago with the loss of 835 lives. It was the worst marine accident in Great Lakes history.
1960: The idle tanker COASTAL CASCADES was being used for occasional storage when she sank at the dock at Montreal. The hull was salvaged in August and dismantled at Montreal in 1961-1962.
1970: The 226-foot Danish freighter NORDLAND SAGA made one trip through the Seaway in 1965. It was wrecked off Oman as c) ADEL of the Dubai National Shipping Corp., while enroute from Bombay, India, to Dubai with a cargo of steel bars and generals.
1974: The former GRAINMOTOR left the Great Lakes in 1966 for saltwater service. It was lost as c) ANDY enroute from Pensacola, Fla., to Guayaquil, Ecuador, in the Caribbean on this date off Isla de Providencia.
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Jul 27, 2015 5:26:35 GMT -5
On 27 July 1884, ALBERTA (steel propeller passenger/package freight vessel, 264 foot, 2,282 gross tons, built in 1883, at Whiteinch, Scotland, by C. Connell & Co.) collided in fog six miles north north west of Whitefish Point on Lake Superior with the JOHN M. OSBORNE (wooden propeller "steam barge", 178 foot, 891 tons, built in 1882, at Marine City, Michigan. The OSBORNE had two barges in tow at the time. ALBERTA stayed in the gash until most of OSBORNE's crew scrambled aboard, then pulled out and the OSBORNE sank. ALBERTA sank in shallow water, 3 1/2 miles from shore. 3 or 4 lives were lost from the OSBORNE, one from ALBERTA in brave rescue attempt while trying to get the crewmen off the OSBORNE. This was ALBERTA's first year of service. She was recovered and repaired soon afterward. She was the sister of the ill-fated ALGOMA which was lost in her first year of service. The wreck of the OSBORNE was located in 1984, 100 years after this incident.
On 27 July 1900, the steel freighter RENSSELAER (Hull#402) was launched in Cleveland, Ohio, by the American Ship building Co. for the Pittsburgh Steamship Company.
1897 – SELWYN EDDY and MARIPOSA collided head-on in dense fog off Manitou Island, Lake Superior. The damage was light, as both ships were proceeding slowly due to the conditions.
1912 – G. WATSON FRENCH, later the first ALGOWAY, was in a collision with the MATAAFA in Lake St. Clair and the latter was heavily damaged and almost sank.
1931 – The Canada Steamship Lines bulk canaller BARRIE went aground at Les Ecureuils Shoal in the St. Lawrence while enroute to Quebec City.
1944 – The FORT PERROT was damaged by a torpedo in the English Channel south of Hastings, while providing support for the ongoing invasion of Normandy and the liberation of Europe. As c) DORION, this ship made two trips to the Great Lakes in 1959. The vessel was scrapped at Yokohama, Japan, as e) ANTONIOS S. after arriving on June 17, 1963.
1987 – The ANDREW H. went aground off Cornwall Island, in the St. Lawrence, after experiencing steering problems. The ship, loaded with steel for Dofasco in Hamilton, was lightered by MAPLEHEATH and released on August 2. The cargo was reloaded at Valleyfield. The ship first came inland as EKTOR in 1976. It arrived at Alang, India, for scrapping as e) BLUEWEST on January 31, 1998.
1999 – The SPIRIT OF 98 went aground on a rock in the Gulf of Alaska 40 miles southeast of Juneau, forcing the passengers to abandon the ship. Flooding was checked and the ship released and repaired. As c) VICTORIAN EMPRESS, the ship saw passenger service on the St. Lawrence and came into the Great Lakes to Lake Ontario beginning in 1990.
7/26 - Chicago, Ill. – It was 100 years ago that thousands of employees of Western Electric's Hawthorne facility were looking forward to a day of fun and fellowship. Men, women and children, dressed in their finest, arrived at the Chicago River near the Clark Street bridge to board one of several ships that would take them across Lake Michigan to Michigan City's Washington Park. There, they planned to picnic and then take an evening cruise back to the city.
However, 844 of those who had purchased their tickets to board the SS Eastland would die before the ship left dock. The ship, with some 2,500 people aboard, rolled at the dock, dumping people in the water and trapping others inside. It was, and still is, the greatest loss of life on the Great Lakes, often compared to the sinking of the Titanic three years earlier.
The Eastland Disaster, however, never rose to the infamy of the Titanic. Those aboard, said Ted Wachholz, founder of the Eastland Disaster Historical Society, weren't rich or well known. They were hardworking people, many first- or second-generation immigrants.
The Eastland was the first ship to load that day, said Jim Retseck, co-president of the Michigan City Historical Society. There were five other ships ready to take passengers across the lake. There were 7,000 tickets sold that day at 75 cents each, said Retseck, adding that was a lot of money for workers who averaged an income of $14 to $16 per week.
"In the early 1900s, Michigan City's lakefront was a playground. There was a beach and restaurants. There was a new electric merry-go-round and a water slide," he said.cThis would have been the fifth year for the trip and company picnic.
The Eastland, Retseck said, had a history of being an unstable ship.
"Sydney Jenks, the architect of the ship, was not a ship builder," Retseck said. "The Eastland was built as a cargo ship."
It was 38 feet wide, 265 feet long and built to ride high in the water, he said, adding it was built for speed, not stability. The theory of why it rolled that day, he said, was because people ran to the port side to wave to people boarding another ship. However, there was no other ship boarding.
"They could have been waving to a boat passing. There was a fire boat and a boat with a movie camera that day," he said.
Bottom line, the SS Eastland rolled, leaving 175 widows and 83 widowers. Along with 228 teens, 58 infants and young children died.
Wachholz said there was a trial after the disaster, but no one was found guilty in the deaths of the 844 people. Earlier this summer, the Eastland Disaster Historical Society, along with professors from the John Marshall Law School, held their own trial.
"It had a terrible track record for 12 years. It was well know for being an unstable ship. They would modify it, but never test it," said Wachholz, adding shortly after the tragedy, the responsibility of inspecting ships was moved to the U.S. Coast Guard.
For decades, the tragedy was just a footnote. Retseck has been researching the Eastland disaster for about 40 years.
"I've always been interested in the Great Lakes history, especially Lake Michigan," he said. "I've been interested in the Eastland for 40 years. It was forgotten. It was the worst loss of life on the Great Lakes."
For Wachholz, it was more personal. His wife's grandmother, Borghild "Bobbie" Aanstad, then 13, was a survivor. He, his wife and his sister-in-law founded the organization 17 years ago.
Three years ago, Wachholz left his job in finances for a nonprofit to devote his full time to making sure not only the 844 were remembered, but also the survivors and those involved in the rescue efforts.
While there is no brick and mortar museum, the society has an extensive website documenting the tragedy and those involved. There is also a historical marker at the site and a memorial in the Bohemian National Cemetery where many victims of the tragedy are buried. A photo exhibit will be on display through Labor Day at the Nisei Lounge along the Chicago River and a beer — the 844 — has been brewed especially to remember the tragedy.
Retseck's and Wachholz's groups both are planning memorial services this weekend. In Chicago, it will be a three-day event that Wachholz said will attract hundreds of people from as far as Ireland and Hawaii to commemorate the disaster.
In Michigan City, a memorial made up of 844 six-inch anchor chain links, will be dedicated.
NWI Times
7/26 - Milwaukee, Wis. – Water levels on Lake Michigan have undergone a remarkably quick transformation and are now more than 3 feet higher than January 2013 when they hit an all-time low.
Some areas of metro Milwaukee that once enjoyed wide strips of sandy beaches as recently as a year or two ago have been swallowed by rising lake levels, causing property damage and coastal erosion. Yet the change has been a boon for commercial shippers, which now can carry more cargo.
"It's been a very dramatic rise from the record low," said Anne Clites, a physical scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
Water levels have been rising on all of the Great Lakes, according to the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Great Lakes lab. Lake Michigan now stands about 1 foot higher than the long-term average.
The lab's researchers say that unusually wet conditions in 2013 and 2014 played a major role in ending a 15-year period on Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Superior when water levels were below average. Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are considered a single body of water.
In an article written in March by Clites, colleague Andrew D. Gronewold and other researchers in Earth & Space Science News, the scientists reported: "The recent surge represents one of the most rapid rates of water level change on the Great Lakes in recorded history and marks the end of an unprecedented period of below-average water levels that began in 1998."
The lab's researchers, and other scientists, have concluded higher precipitation, combined with two cold winters, were key factors for why the lakes are higher today.
Extensive ice cover the last two winters has not only limited evaporation, but Clites said it's kept Lake Michigan water cooler longer in the summer. Cooler water slows evaporation. Frigid temperatures in the winter of 2013 and 2014 produced the most ice cover on the Great Lakes in at least 25 years, the research lab found.
"The levels of Lake Michigan and Huron in particular are like a bank account," said Paul Roebber, a professor in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences. Rainfall is the income, and evaporation is the withdrawal.
Roebber said that although rainfall usually drives lake level changes, the recent fluctuations are due more to changes in water temperatures that affected evaporation.
A key factor driving lower water levels was a period of more than a decade of warmer temperatures and lower-than-average precipitation.
"We were actually breaking 80 degree (water) temperatures for several summers during the period from 1999 to 2013, which is unheard of in the historical record before that," Roebber said.
Lake Michigan-Huron water levels on July 20 stood at 579.92 feet. That is about a 1-foot higher than the long-term average of 578.80 feet, according to NOAA and Army Corps of Engineers data.
Lower water levels limited how much cargo shippers could carry, said Jim Weakley, president of the Lake Carriers' Association.
The trade association represents 16 American companies that ship bulk goods like iron ore, limestone and coal.
"For every inch of navigational depth, our 1,000-footers carry an extra 270 tons of cargo," he said.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
7/25 - Ecorse, Mich. – Dr. Ron Kattoo is running out of options, and that means the Boblo boat Ste. Claire might be running out of time.
The 105-year-old steamer has been tied up at U.S. Steel in Ecorse for more than two decades, but the vessel is being evicted to allow for work along the shoreline this fall. That means Kattoo, who has owned the Detroit icon since 2007, needs to find a new home for the old boat — and he needs to do it fast. The problem is, he hasn’t been having much luck.
Even though there’s no set date for the steamer to be out, “even after finding a new home, moving her won’t be a quick process,” Kattoo said. “The longer we wait, the more peril she is in.”
Just how much peril are we talking?
“If I can’t find anywhere to take her, I’m afraid that we might have to end up scrapping her,” he said. “I don’t want to see that happen, but I’m running out of options here. We can’t stay where we’re at.”
Kattoo needs a dock or slip that is 200 feet long and 16 feet deep, and both for ease of restoration and of relocation, it needs to be near Detroit.
Though it seems like almost anyone would be happy to have such a cherished piece of Detroit history and their childhood sitting at their back doorstep, it isn’t quite that simple.
The last two decades have not been kind to the steamer. Paint has peeled. Wood has rotted. The Ste. Claire’s pilothouse has been removed and parts of the stern have been disassembled. In short, the boat doesn’t look as good as you probably remember it. Kattoo says it will take about $500,000 to get the boat “sitting pretty” enough to be tied up along a public area, where work could continue, and the doctor says he’s “about 80%, maybe 90%, there.”
Detroit Free Press
All laid off workers at Minntac being called back
7/25 - Duluth, Minn. – Finally some positive news for the mining industry. The laid off steelworkers from Minntac are being recalled within the next few weeks, according to the union. Lawmakers confirmed their start date is expected to be in September.
"I think overall this is good, positive news right now. Initially the company was talking about being up and running in early fall as the best case scenario," said Rep. Jason Metsa, of Virginia.
U.S. Steel had started a partial shutdown of its largest taconite plant at the beginning of June. Approximately 400 people were laid off, and the remaining workers were on a 32-hour week schedule.
About 70 maintenance folks have just returned to the plant. Which leaves about 300 who are still on layoff.
"I feel confident people will be back to work, and families will be getting needed paychecks as we roll into back to school time," Metsa added.
U.S. Steel's other facility, Keetac, remains in idle mode with about half of their workforce on layoff. Union leaders from there are hopeful they get call back notices soon as well.
WDIO
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Jul 28, 2015 6:01:38 GMT -5
7/28 - Buffalo, N.Y. – The star-spangled banner still waves in Lake Erie – but in much deeper water. The 4-by-6-foot Stars and Stripes that was anchored between some rocks in Grandview Bay a few years ago had a purpose beyond patriotism: to warn boaters of shallow water and a field of debris from an old dock.
But those rocks and remnants of that dock are now submerged, along with most of the flagpole, as Lake Erie’s rising waters now lap toward the bottom of Old Glory. That’s because the lake has added a lot of water over the last few months – about 2.9 trillion more gallons, or roughly the equivalent of 4.4 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Just a couple of years removed from unprecedented declines in water levels – when Lake Erie dropped every month in 2012 and ran as much as 9 inches below normal between May 2012 and June 2013 – its depth ballooned in June and July because of as much as 400 percent more rainfall in some areas of the Great Lakes watershed this spring and summer.
Lake Erie is averaging 573.31 feet above sea level this month, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers data. That height hadn’t been reached since June 1998.
The lake is now about 24 inches higher than in July 2012. For swimmers and water enthusiasts in this popular spot, what used to be ankle-deep water is now waist-deep.
And according to the Corps of Engineers, this period of high water – levels are forecast to remain as much as 14 inches above normal over the next couple of months – could further exacerbate shoreline flooding and erosion, especially if even more rain falls.
Residents got a taste of that last week when a deluge from thunderstorms flooded streets, driveways and yards. With the water table already high, the ground was saturated. Throw in clogged drainage ditches around the neighborhood and the water quickly raced through the area, seeking ever-lower ground as it moved toward Lake Erie. But debris and a washed-out gravel roadway dammed up some areas as the water approached the already-bloated lake.
Residents are still drying out their yards and basements. That will be something to keep an eye on, especially as summer turns to fall, given the Corps of Engineers’ projections.
When November gales whip up, seiches – storm surges – are often created on the eastern end of the lake. Those storm surges are measured in feet.
Sustained periods of high water in the 1980s, combined with storms, led to significant damage along the lake shore, Pinkel recalled. Hoover Beach was wiped out. Sand dunes near Bennett Beach washed out into the lake. Cliffs in Hamburg and Derby eroded, pulling shale into the lake.
Lake Erie isn’t the only water body affected. Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair, which feeds Lake Erie through the Detroit and St. Clair rivers, are up more than 6 and 17 inches over normal, respectively, according to Corps of Engineers data. Further north, Lake Superior is more than 8 inches higher than normal.
Corps of Engineers officials said dramatic rainfall in the lakes’ watersheds caused the rapid rise in the water level.
“That is a direct result of the extremely wet weather in the Lake Erie basin in June and July,” said Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology for the Corps of Engineers in Detroit. “Parts of the Lake Erie basin over the last 35 days have two, three or four times the normal amount of precipitation.
“That causes all the rivers and streams that feed the lakes to run high and the rainfall that falls down on the lake itself has caused the level of Lake Erie to rise over the last six weeks or so,” Kompoltowicz said.
A survey of meteorological data from seven major metropolitan areas around the Lake Erie watershed shows every city has had above-average precipitation between May and July – some dramatically higher. Nearly 23 inches of rain has fallen in Fort Wayne, Ind., during that time, about double its average. Both Cleveland and Toledo have received roughly 60 to 70 percent more rain than normal.
The higher lake waters have to go somewhere. In Lake Erie’s case, that’s down the Niagara River and over Niagara Falls. So does that mean more water going over the Falls this summer?
“Not necessarily,” according to Keith R. Koralewski, chief of the Corps of Engineers’ water management team. “The higher levels can cause higher flows out of Lake Erie, but the power entities – New York Power Authority and Ontario Power Generation – can withdraw as much water as they need and/or can handle as long as the flow over the Falls meets … criteria set forth by the 1950 treaty between both countries.”
Koralewski said the theory of more water going over the Falls was “plausible” if the U.S. or Canada weren’t retaining extra water. But he said that, through June, the flow over Niagara Falls “has been fairly steady” during daytime hours.
“There was no upward trend even though the Lake Erie outflow had increased during that timeframe,” Koralewski said.
The New York Power Authority declined to provide real-time flow data of the river above the falls, but a historical analysis of the Niagara River flow at Buffalo may provide some support for the hypothesis of more water flowing into the river.
Only in eight years between 1900 and 2013 did the mean July monthly flow of the Niagara River at Buffalo exceed 7,000 cubic meters per second, according to public data from the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. When compared with Corps of Engineers data, those eight years – 1973, 1974, 1976, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1997 and 1998 – also represent the top eight years for Lake Erie water levels on record.
And earlier this month, high water levels in the lower Niagara River resulted in suspended operation of the Maid of the Mist and Hornblower tour boats after the Niagara River Control Center conducted a daytime “spill” of water over the falls.
Buffalo News
7/28 - Muskegon, Mich. – More than three dozen people connected to the shipping industry came to the Port of Muskegon to talk shop and get a closer look at West Michigan's Port City.
The American Great Lakes Ports Association met in Muskegon July 22-23 at Grand Valley State University's Michigan Alternative & Renewable Energy Center. Local officials and businessmen swapped ideas for growing the industry and increasing traffic on the Great Lakes.
Here are a few of the presentations and discussions from the two-day meeting:
1. A businessman's boat-building success story. Ken Szallai, president of the Milwaukee-Muskegon cross-lake boat ferry Lake Express, talked about his efforts to build a boat -- a process that, he said, took 15 years of his life.
Having "the first high-speed auto ferry" on a fixed route in the Great Lakes was seen a challenge to the status quo, he said. When financing finally came through, he only had 11 months to finish designing the boat, build the boat, adjust the docks, and train workers, he said. Everyone working on the boat pitched in and somehow the work was completed.
He remembers taking possession of the aluminum-hulled catamaran at a Southern shipyard a few months before it started ferry service.
"One of the proudest moments of my life was going down to Mobile, Alabama," he said. "It was a beautiful, late spring evening. ... I knew for that one moment the ship was mine."
He also remembered coming to Muskegon for the first time and being greeted by thousands of people, "ten deep on either side" of the channel.
2. An innovation that could change Great Lakes shipping. A new system for treating ships' ballast water was discussed by Marc Gagnon, Director of Government Affairs and Regulatory Compliance for Montreal-based Fednav Limited, an ocean-going dry-bulk shipping company.
Ballast water is typically taken on ships for stability when traveling to a port to pick up a load. The safety practice is thought to have played a role in the introduction of invasive species such as zebra mussels and round goby fish.
Gagnon was frank about the current situation: "Michigan is a problem" from a shipping perspective because of rules about discharging salt water ballast. He also gave an overview of U.S. EPA and Coast Guard rules that will require ships to have ballast water controls in place by 2021.
But he said his company had found a ballast treatment system that will remove much of the problem:
"We are sure about the future of the Great Lakes, because we are building ships to come on the Great Lakes," he said.
The treatment system, JFE Ballast ACE, works by filtering the ballast water and adding chlorine during intake, he said. An agent neutralizing the chlorine is added before the ballast water is released.
The new system can be installed for less than $500,000 on a new boat, he said. Testing on the system has begun and "we hope it will be one of the first systems approved ... for fresh water."
3. Encouragement for the long haul. Muskegon County Commissioner Ben Cross, who is chairman of the county's Port Advisory Committee, said he was encouraged by discussions with other attendees.
"We're not unique by any means," he said. "All other ports started out like us."
He particularly enjoyed talking with ports that have been working at it longer.
"I don't think they just, all of the sudden started doing it," he said. "All in all, we've had our hurdles and had our obstacles, but I believe we're gaining traction. We're making progress."
M Live
7/28 - Ludington, Mich. – Lake Michigan Carferry will offer a new fall shoreline cruise aboard the S.S Badger on Saturday, September 5, along the Manitowoc shoreline headed toward the Two Rivers Kite Fest.
The next day, September 6, the Badger will offer a “Go Green or Go Blue” sports-themed shoreline cruise out of Ludington. Know your fight song and be the best dressed in your teams colors and qualify to win free round trip passes.
Tickets are available for purchase online or by stopping in at the Ludington Ticket Office or calling 800-841-4243. Shoreline cruises will go on rain or shine. For more details, visit ssbadger.com
On July 28, 1973, the ROGER M. KYES (Hull#200) was christened at Toledo, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. by Mrs. Roger Kyes for the American Steamship Co. Renamed b.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS in 1989.
B.A. PEERLESS (Hull#148) was launched July 28, 1952, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. for British American Transportation Co. Ltd. Renamed b.) GULF CANADA in 1969, and c.) COASTAL CANADA in 1984.
The JOHN T. HUTCHINSON was delivered on July 28th to the Buckeye Steamship Co. (Hutchinson & Co., mgr.), Cleveland. The HUTCHINSON was part of a government program designed to upgrade and increase the capacity of the U.S. Great Lakes fleet during World War II. In order to help finance the building of new ships, the U.S.M.C. authorized a program that would allow existing fleets to obtain new boats by trading in their older boats to the Government for credit. The vessel was the ninth Maritimer and fourth of the six L6-S-Al types delivered. "L6" meant the vessel was built for the Great Lakes and was 600 to 699 feet in length. The "S" stood for steam power and "Al" identified specific design features.
On 28 July 1854, BOSTON (wooden propeller, 134 foot, 259 tons, built in 1847, at Ohio City, Ohio) was bound from Chicago for Ogdensburg, New York, with pork, corn, whiskey and produce. On Lake Ontario, about 20 miles off Oak Orchard, New York, she collided with the bark PLYMOUTH and sank in about 20 minutes. No lives were lost. The crew and passengers made it to shore in three lifeboats. The boat that the captain was in sailed 50 miles to Charlotte, New York.
In 1900, the freighter PRINCETON (Hull#302) was launched at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.
On 28 July 1862, CONVOY (2-mast wooden schooner, 130 foot, 367 tons, built in 1855, at Buffalo, New York) was sailing downbound on a dark night on Lake Erie with 18,000 bushels of wheat when she collided with the empty bark SAM WARD and sank quickly in 12 fathoms of water. Her wreck drifted along the bottom and during the shipping season several vessels collided with her.
1922 – The wooden passenger and freight carrier CARIBOU went aground in the North Channel of Georgian Bay near Richards Landing.
1923 – The wooden steamer W.J. CARTER, enroute from Oswego to Cobourg with a cargo of coal, began leaking and sank in Lake Ontario 20 miles south of Point Peter. Nine crewmembers were rescued by the KEYPORT.
1929 – The newly-built canaller C.H. HOUSON was in a collision with the collier WABANA off Cap au Saumon on the St. Lawrence in heavy fog. The investigation of the accident was critical of the operation of both vessels. The former served in the Misener fleet, becoming b) PAUL MANION in 1949, and was scrapped at Deseronto, Ontario, in 1961.
1949 – NORMAN J. KOPMEIER was holed by an underwater obstruction entering Muskegon with a cargo of coal from Chicago. The vessel had to be beached and almost capsized. It was later refloated and repaired. The ship last sailed as e) PINEDALE in 1976 and was scrapped at Hamilton in 1981.
1961 – After loading a cargo of scrap steel for Japan on its first visit to the Great Lakes, the Greek freighter MIHALIS ANGELOS ran aground leaving Toronto harbor. The ship had been one of the “Empire Class” ships of World War Two, being built as a) EMPIRE MASEFIELD. It arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping as f) GLORIA on December 6, 1967.
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Post by yachtsmanwilly on Jul 29, 2015 6:02:33 GMT -5
St. Lawrence River North Channel around tugboats closed to boats
7/29 - Cornwall, Ont. – As cleanup begins in earnest this week on the sunken tugboat Lac Manitoba, the federal transport ministry has shut down the St. Lawrence River to boat traffic.
There had originally been a plan to have a small strip of water against the north shore of Cornwall Island open to boats but that has changed.
The area of the St. Lawrence River that is closed is around the tugboats Lac Manitoba and LCM 131, in the area of the Three Nations Bridge. The closure started Friday and will be in effect until Aug. 5.
The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System’s original draw-down of the river to control the current (which would have affected levels in Lake St. Louis and Lake St. Francis) was cancelled Thursday until further notice.
Cornwall Newswatch
Soo USCG community center dedicated to memory of Capt. Jimmie Hobaugh
7/29 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – Representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard 9th District, Sector Sault Ste. Marie, the Coast Guard Foundation and Capt. Jimmie H. Hobaugh's family named and dedicated the newly-built Capt. Jimmie H. Hobaugh Community Center during a ribbon-cutting ceremony July 27 in Sault Ste. Marie.
Hobaugh was the commanding officer on Coast Guard Cutter Woodrush when it responded to the wreck of the motor vessel Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975. He was also commanding officer of Group Sault Ste. Marie and acted as on-scene commander and oversaw the seven-month salvage operation of the Coast Guard cutter Mesquite when it ran aground in 1989.
After he retired from the Coast Guard, Hobaugh participated in numerous community service organizations and projects in Sault Ste. Marie, including a stint as director of the museum ship Valley Camp. He passed away in December 2014.
The project cost approximately $650,000, and the Coast Guard Foundation donated approximately $400,000 to the project. The community center has a gym and lounge area for Coast Guard members and their families.
USCG
OTTERCLIFFE HALL cleared Lauzon, Quebec, July 29, 1969 on her maiden voyage as the last "straight deck" Great Lakes bulk freighter built with a pilothouse forward.
While at the Manitowoc Ship Building Co. for general repairs and engine overhaul, the CITY OF SAGINAW 31 caught fire on July 29, 1971, destroying her cabin deck and rendering her useless for further use. The blaze was caused by an acetylene torch, and caused over $1 million in damage. She was not repaired. The CITY OF SAGINAW 31 was sold to Marine Salvage Ltd., Port Colborne, Ontario, for scrapping.
On July 29, 1974 the W.W. HOLLOWAY grounded in Lake St. Clair off the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club while running downbound with stone. Lightering into the J.F. SCHOELKOPF JR was necessary before she was freed by four tugs on July 31st.
ENDERS M. VOORHEES departed Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Michigan, on her maiden voyage July 29, 1942, bound for Duluth, Minnesota, to load iron ore. She was the second of five "Supers" for the Pittsburgh fleet to enter service.
July 29, 1974 - PERE MARQUETTE 21 was towed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to be reduced to a barge.
The steam barge MARY ROBERTSON burned near Mackinac on 29 July 1872. Her crew escaped to a schooner-barge they were towing.
The MATERIAL SERVICE foundered in a heavy summer gale in 1936, off the South Chicago lighthouse. She was a canal motor barge not designed for open-lake use.
The side-wheel river steamer DOMINION burned to the water's edge at her dock in the Thames River near Chatham, Ontario, on 29 July 1875. She was built in 1867, at Wallaceburg, Ontario.
1912 – REPUBLIC stranded at Point Louise in the St. Marys River and sustained bottom damage.
1930 – The sandsucker GEORGE J. WHALEN capsized and sank off Dunkirk, N.Y., in heavy seas and 15 sailors perished. Only 6 were rescued and taken aboard the AMASA STONE.
1942 – The first PRESCODOC was torpedoed and sunk by U-160 off Georgetown, British Guiana, with the loss of 15 lives. The bauxite-laden steamer went down quickly, bow first, while enroute to Trinidad and only 5 were saved.
1943 – LOCKWELL and KEYBELL collided above Bridge 11 of the Welland Canal. The former was repaired at Port Dalhousie with $13,450 in damages.
1946 – TEAKBAY went aground on Featherbed Shoal off Carleton Island in the St. Lawrence while bound for Montreal with a load of coal. This member of the C.S.L. fleet was released, with the aid of tugs, the next day and proceeded to Kingston for repairs.
1971 – While undergoing a major refit at Manitowoc, fire broke out aboard the CITY OF SAGINAW 31 destroying the top deck and accommodation area. The damage was listed as between $450,000 and $700,000 and the vessel became a total loss. It was towed to Castellon, Spain, for scrapping.
1979 – The Cayman Islands registered QUIDNET came through the Seaway in 1978 but sank, in a collision with the SEA TIDE at Mamei Curve in the Panama Canal while enroute from Callao, Peru, to Trinidad. The hull was abandoned as a total loss and had to be cut in two before being towed away to a dumping ground. The ship had also been a Great Lakes visitor as b) LUDMILLA C. in 1968.
1993 – The second FEDERAL SCHELDE to visit the Great Lakes was built in 1977 and came inland that year on its maiden voyage with sugar for Montreal and Toronto. The ship received major bow damage after striking the ARARAT in the Orinoco River of Venezuela. It went to Hamburg, Germany, for repairs and resumed service. It became b) TRIAS in 1994 and continued Seaway service until 1999. The ship arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping on December 12, 2000.
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