Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

Lakes limestone trade skips a beat in September

10/20 - Cleveland, Ohio – Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.3 million tons in September, a decrease of 8 percent compared to a year ago. The decrease came almost entirely at Canadian quarries. Shipments from the three quarries fell 257,000 tons compared to a year ago, a decrease of 43 percent.

Year-to-date, the Lakes limestone trade stands at 21.1 million tons, an increase of 9 percent. U.S. quarries account for much of the increase. Loadings from the quarries in Michigan and Ohio have increased by more than 1.5 million tons.

Lake Carriers’ Association


On this day in 1916, the whaleback JAMES B. COLGATE sank off Long Point in Lake Erie with a loss of 26. The lone survivor was Captain Walter J. Grashaw who was picked up two days after the sinking. Captain Grashaw had sailed as First Mate on the COLGATE for ten years and was conducting his first trip as Captain. The "Black Friday" storm also claimed the MERIDA, D.L. FLYER, and M.F. BUTTERS.

On 20 October 1875, the wooden schooner F.C. LEIGHTON was loaded with ore when she struck a rock in the St. Marys River and sank a few miles from Detour, Michigan. A tug was sent right away to raise her.

On 20 October 1916, MERIDA (steel propeller bulk freighter, 360 foot, 3,261 gross tons, built in 1893, at W. Bay City, Michigan) was heavily loaded with iron ore when she encountered the "Black Friday" Storm on Lake Erie. She sank about 24 miles east of Erieau, Ontario. All 24 onboard were lost. A few days later the wheelhouse was found floating 15 miles south of Port Stanley. 21 bodies were eventually found, but not the bodies of Capt. Harry L. Jones or crewman Wilfred Austin. The wreck was found in 1975 by Larry Jackson, a commercial fisherman.

The SCOTT MISENER of 1954 proceeded to the Port Arthur shipyard for dry docking and repairs on October 20th, after striking bottom October 15, 1973, near Whaleback Shoal on the St. Lawrence River.

The JAMES S. DUNHAM was launched October 20, 1906, for the Chicago Navigation Co. (D. Sullivan & Co., mgr.) Duluth, Minnesota. Renamed b.) LYNFORD E. GEER in 1926, and c.) OTTO M. REISS in 1934. Scrapped at Castellon, Spain in 1973.

PETER A.B. WIDENER was launched October 20, 1906, for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. (later the U.S. Steel Corp. in 1952), Cleveland, Ohio.

The tug RESCUE was sent from Port Huron to Tawas, Michigan to release the 246-foot barge OCEAN that was grounded. After pulling the barge free, Capt. Fitch of RESCUE began towing her down Lake Huron, but the storm got so bad that he was about to turn back and run for Tawas. However, the captain of OCEAN yelled that they were all right and to go ahead down the lake. Soon the seas got the better of the barge. The tug kept with her until she was about to sink. Then the line was cut, the tug turned about, ran under her lee, and rescued her crew of 9 from the lifeboat. The barge sank. On the way down Lake Huron, opposite Port Sanilac, the RESCUE picked up 6 men and 1 woman from the wrecked barge JOHN F. RUST. In this one trip, the RESCUE earned her name by rescuing 16 persons!

October 20, 1898 - The SHENANGO NO 2 (later PERE MARQUETTE 16) was arriving Milwaukee when her steering gear failed, causing her to crash into a grain elevator that was under construction.

October 20, 1926 - The keel was laid for the twin screw lake passenger and railcar ferry WABASH (Hull#177) of the Toledo Shipbuilding Co.

On 20 October 1863, E. S. ADAMS (3 mast wooden bark, 135 foot, 341 gross tons, built in 1857, at Port Robinson, Ontario) was carrying 18,500 bushels of wheat on a clear night when she collided with the American bark CONSTITUTION resulting in the loss of the ADAMS. One life was lost. Neither vessel was blamed for the accident.

On 20 October 1854, JOHN J. AUDUBON (wooden brig, 370 tons, built in 1854, at Black River, Ohio) was carrying railroad iron from Buffalo to Chicago when she was struck amidships by the schooner DEFIANCE on a dark night, halfway between Thunder Bay and Presque Isle, Michigan. AUDUBON was cut almost in half. Both vessels sank quickly. No lives were lost.

On 20 October 1844, DAYTON (2-mast wooden schooner, 69 foot, 85 tons, built in 1835, at Grand Island, New York) capsized and sank in Lake Erie off Dunkirk, New York in a terrific gale. All onboard were lost.

[yachtsmanwilly]

U.S.-flag lakers’ cargo down 8 percent in September

10/21 - Cleveland, Ohio – U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters carried 9.8 million tons of cargo in September, a decrease of 8 percent compared to a year ago, and a decrease of 1 percent compared to the month’s long-term average. Iron ore cargos decreased 20 percent. Coal cargos increased 10 percent. Limestone loadings increased 6 percent.

Year-to-date U.S.-flag cargos total 62.2 million tons, an increase of 3.6 percent compared to the same point in 2014, but a decrease of 1.4 percent compared to the long-term average for the first three quarters. Iron ore cargos have decreased 3.5 percent. Coal shipments are up 9.4 percent. Limestone loadings have increased 12 percent.

Lake Carriers’ Association

Bay State, ship in deadly 1862 Lake Ontario wreck, found

10/21 - Rochester, N.Y. – More than 150 years since it sank to the bottom of Lake Ontario with at least 16 people on board, the steamship Bay State has been located. It is the latest find by Jim Kennard and Roger Pawlowski, without question the most accomplished shipwreck sleuths in western New York. The two Rochester-area men have used sophisticated sonar technology, remote-operated underwater vehicles and teams of divers to locate a sunken flotilla of boats and ships in the Great Lakes.

The Bay State, 137 feet long and built in Buffalo in 1852, was one of the first propeller-driven steamships on the Great Lakes. It set out from Oswego on Nov. 4, 1862, bound for Ohio with a full load of general merchandise.

Shortly after departing, the weather turned bad. The ship appears to have attempted to turn back toward Oswego, but the force of the storm ripped it apart and sank it. The ship was found last month in deep water off the southern shore of Lake Ontario near Fair Haven, Cayuga County.

An empty lifeboat, wreckage and packages from the ship's cargo came ashore near Fair Haven, but no survivors. There were between 16 and 18 people on board, including seven passengers.

Like all non-military shipwrecks in New York waters, the debris that was the Bay State belongs to the state. There is no plan to haul it up.

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle


Public welcome to attend USS Milwaukee commissioning

10/21 - Milwaukee, Wis. – The U.S. Navy will commission the USS Milwaukee in Milwaukee on Nov. 21, the same day as the Downtown Milwaukee Holiday Parade. Free tickets are now available. The commissioning takes place Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. in Veterans Park.

Various ships have been commissioned throughout the United States, but few can boast Milwaukee’s connection to the community. The USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) will be commissioned in her namesake city, in the state she was built, among the hands that built her. Of the five ships named Milwaukee, the USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) ship is the only one built in Wisconsin.

Tickets for the USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) Commissioning can be acquired at www.ussmilwaukeelcs5.org/index.php?i=Tickets


Obituary: Peggy Scruton

10/21 - One of the great ladies of the Great Lakes died on Saturday, October 10. Peggy Scruton finally lost her long battle with cancer, but knowing her, she never really gave up ... she just wore down.

Peggy, her husband Murray, and her son Mike operated Scruton Marine Services for over 20 years in Port Dover, Ontario, but Peggy was involved in the maritime industry most of her life. After Murray died a few years ago, Peggy carried on as a maritime broker and continued to buy and sell tugs, passenger boats, barges, engines, anchors and other nautical equipment until the day she died. The day before my last visit in August she had sold a tug and a wheelhouse, and was proud of it.

Private services will be held next June in her much loved garden, and will be followed by a Port Dover air horn salute with all the commercial vessels of Port Dover taking part. It will be an appropriate tribute.

Peggy is survived by her father, three brothers, three sons and a daughter, and nine grandchildren. She was 76. Three long and two short, Peggy!

Rev. Al Hart


The John Purves spent many years on the Great Lakes but also sailed on saltwater. It was built in 1919 for the U.S. War Shipping Board by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co. at Elizabeth, N.J. The tug briefly served the U.S. Navy as a floating radio station on the Caribbean before coming to the Great Lakes for log rafting service as Butterfield about 1922.

The 142-foot-long tug saw World War II service on the Pacific but returned inland after the war and resumed rafting service. It joined the Roen Steamship Co. in 1956 and was renamed John Purves in 1957.

This vessel served Roen in several capacities including helping in the salvage of Makefjell at Muskegon in 1962 and towing the bulk carrier C.H. McCullough Jr. for several months in the iron ore trade between Escanaba and Indiana Harbor in 1969.

Later that year, on Oct. 21, 1969, the John Purves was towing Derrick Scow 43 to Rogers City when the barge sank on Lake Huron.

John Purves had several subsequent owners and had been idle when it was donated to the Door County Museum for preservation in 2003. It is a popular attraction at Sturgeon Bay, Wis.



On this day in 1980, the converted ELTON HOYT 2ND loaded her first cargo of 1,000 tons of pellets at Taconite Harbor. After field-testing her new self-unloading gear, she loaded 21,000 tons of pellets for delivery to Chicago.

The Anchor Line's CONEMAUGH (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 251 foot, 1,609 gross tons, built in 1880, at West Bay City, Michigan), and the Union Line's NEW YORK (wooden propeller package freighter, 269 foot, 1,922 gross tons, built in 1879, at Buffalo, New York) collided on the Detroit River at 7:30 p.m. The CONEMAUGH sank close to the Canadian shore. She was carrying flour and other package freight from Chicago to Buffalo. She was later raised and repaired, and lasted until 1906, when she was lost in a storm on Lake Erie.

The JOHN B. AIRD arrived at Sarnia, Ontario, on October 21, 1990, for repairs after suffering a conveyor belt fire a week earlier.

The JAMES A. FARRELL and fleet mate RICHARD TRIMBLE were the first vessels to lock down bound in the newly-opened Davis Lock at the Soo on October 21, 1914.

On October 21, 1954, the GEORGE M. HUMPHREY set a record when she took aboard 22,605 gross tons of iron ore at Superior, Wisconsin. The record stood until 1960.

The crew on the SAMUEL MATHER was safely removed from the badly exposed steamer on October 21, 1923, by the Eagle Harbor life saving crew. She had run aground on the 19th. Renamed b.) PATHFINDER in 1925, sold Canadian in 1968, renamed c.) GODERICH. Renamed d.) SOO RIVER TRADER in 1980, e.) PINEGLEN 1982. Scrapped at Port Maitland in 1984.

It was announced on October 21, 1986, that Canada Steamship Lines and Upper Lakes Group would merge CSL's Collingwood shipyard and ULS' Port Weller shipyard and create Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering (1986) Ltd.

On October 21, 1941, AMERICA (steel tug, 80 foot, 123 gross tons, built in 1897, at Buffalo, New York) was on a cable along with the tug OREGON off Belle Isle in the Detroit River trying to pull the steel bulk freighter B. F. JONES off a bar. The cable tightened, pulling AMERICA out of the water and spinning her upside down. Six of the crew of 13 lost their lives. AMERICA was later recovered. AMERICA was renamed b.) MIDWAY in 1982 and c.) WISCONSIN in 1983.

October 21, 1954 - Capt. Allen K. Hoxie, skipper of the MILWAUKEE CLIPPER, retired.

On October 21, 1886, W. L. BROWN (wooden propeller freighter, 140 foot, 336 gross tons, built in 1872, at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, as NEPTUNE) was carrying iron ore from Escanaba for DePere, Wisconsin. A storm struck while she was on Green Bay. She sprang a leak one mile from Peshtigo Reef and went down in 76 feet of water. No lives were lost. All of her outfit and machinery were removed the following summer. This vessel's first enrollment was issued at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 22 April 1873, as NEPTUNE, but this enrollment was surrendered at Milwaukee on 30 September 1880, endorsed "broken up." However she was re-enrolled as a new vessel at Milwaukee on 15 June 1880, having been rebuilt by A. L. Johnson at Green Bay, Wisconsin, as the W. L. BROWN.

1912: Two were lost when the wooden steamer PINE LAKE sank in the Detroit River near Belle Isle following a collision with FLEETWOOD (i). The hull was later dynamited as a hazard to navigation.

1913: C.W. ELPHICKE began leaking in a storm on Lake Erie and was beached near the Long Point lighthouse. The downbound, grain-laden wooden freighter was a total loss but the crew was saved.

1969: JOHN PURVES was towing Derrick Scow 43 bound for Rogers City when the latter was lost.

[yachtsmanwilly]

US, Canadian coast guards prepare for Great Lakes icebreaking season

10/22 - Cleveland, Ohio – The U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards along with other federal and industry representatives met at the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in Cleveland Tuesday and Wednesday for the 2015 Great Lakes International Icebreaking Meeting.

The meeting was held to review the previous ice season and lessons learned, and to share the status of forces, new policies and guidance for the upcoming 2015-2016 icebreaking season.

The Great Lakes icebreaking season is divided into two separate operations conducted via international cooperation and close coordination between U.S. and Canadian crews to tackle extreme ice conditions across the Great Lakes.

Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, plans and runs Operation Taconite, an ice breaking operation facilitating the flow of commerce across Lakes Superior and Michigan, the northern half of Lake Huron, the St. Marys River and the Straits of Mackinac.

The 2014-2015 operation spanned 122 days, utilized seven U.S. Coast Guard and three Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers, devoted more than 3,000 hours breaking ice for convoys and assisted in 677 commercial vessel transits to move an estimated 23.7 million tons of dry bulk and liquid cargoes with an estimated value of $829 million.

These crucial commodities sustain industrial production and power generation for the Great Lakes region during the winter months. Icebreakers provided direct assistance for 353 of the transits.

An additional 3,658 hours of icebreaking established and maintained tracks through the ice-choked waterways of Georgian Bay, Straits of Mackinac, Green Bay, southern Lake Michigan, St. Marys River, and across Lake Superior.

Coast Guard Sector Detroit coordinates Operation Coal Shovel, an ice breaking operation facilitating the flow of commerce across southern Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair and Detroit River systems, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. It commenced January 9, 2015, and concluded April 17, 2015.

Operation Coal Shovel spanned 100 consecutive days and included 2,430 hours of U.S. icebreaking. During the season, Operation Coal Shovel facilitated 153 vessel transits that moved a total 29 million tons of cargo worth more than $2 billion. Coast Guard icebreakers also provided emergency flood mitigation for five communities.

USCG





Domestic carriers called critical to Great Lakes supply chain

10/22 - Washington, D.C. – During the month of September, domestic vessels plied the waters of the Great Lakes delivering essential commodities to supply customers throughout the region.

“Domestic ships play an incredibly important role in moving cargo that supplies power generation, construction and manufacturing companies, as well as for local governments who depend on lakers to bring in salt for winter road safety,” said Mark W. Barker, president of The Interlake Steamship Co. “Interlake takes great pride in helping drive the economy in the region.”

Bulk cargo shipments at the Port of Monroe have remained steady as the Port continues to diversify its operations. Coal is delivered by 1,000-foot vessels from American Steamship Co. and The Interlake Steamship Co. to DTE Energy’s Monroe Power Plant multiple days per week. Lakers also deliver limestone twice monthly for the plant’s scrubbers. In what can only be described as the perfect cargo scenario, the limestone is transformed into synthetic gypsum and then transported by Pere Marquette Shipping to multiple wallboard and cement manufacturers.

In September, the port signed the first agreement of its kind between a public port and public utility for the complete management and marketing of a plant-produced by-product. The Port of Monroe will now manage nearly all synthetic gypsum produced at Monroe Power Plant in an amount of 400,000 to 600,000 tons annually. This will ensure the continued growth of outbound cargoes and tonnage increases across the port’s docks.

The port also received the first commercial port funding from the State of Michigan and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in which the Michigan Strategic Fund will loan the port over $3 million to construct new dock facilities with deeper draft along the ports riverfront.

“The port’s continued growth and subsequent State investment is proof positive that cargo breeds cargo, and that domestic lakes shipping is as vitally important as it has ever been,” said Port Director Paul C. LaMarre III.

The Port of Toledo terminals were busy in September being restocked for winter with salt supplies. The Port Authority also leased warehouse space to MidAmerican Salt, a major salt importer and new tenant, for bagging, storage and distribution. “We’re fortunate to have multiple terminals in the port with the capability for handling salt,” said Joe Cappel, Vice President for Business Development. “The Port of Toledo’s centralized location allows local governments, the State of Ohio and many private companies to obtain salt from the terminals who are taking advantage of the maritime mode coupled with good highway access.”

The Port of Milwaukee handled a steady stream of arrivals and departures during September. The port saw 27 vessel or barge calls carrying cargoes with coal, cement, and salt. Jeff Fleming, spokesperson for the port, said “September was a busy month with 12 shipments of cement for the construction industry coming in from places like Alpena, Mich. We also had coal shipments for Midwest Energy utility production, and salt from Goderich, Ont., for use this winter.”

The Port of Green Bay saw a 123 percent increase in cement in September versus the same time last year reflecting the strong regional economy and associated construction activity. According to Dean Haen, port director, “Cement is generally the first and last commodity to move into and out of the port each shipping season. We usually see a surge at the end of the year and we anticipate traffic to remain steady for the balance of this shipping season.” In addition to the cement traffic, the port also receives salt, limestone, coal, and stone.

Great Lakes Seaway Partnership





Brewery tanks flowing through Indiana port

10/22 - Portage, Ind. – Great Lakes cargo shipping has been slowing, but brewery tanks have been pouring into the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor. Last month, the bulk carrier HHL Nile brought a shipment of 16 beer fermentation tanks for Lagunitus Brewery in Chicago through the deepwater port on Lake Michigan.

"The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway allows companies to ship large tanks and project cargos right into the heart of the Midwest, which greatly reduce the cost and complications of trying to move dimensional cargo across the country by land," Port Director Rick Heimann said.

"This was the second delivery for Lagunitas this season following the 29 beer tanks the port handled for the brewery last year. With the popularity of craft breweries, more beer tanks are being shipped bringing the port’s total so far in 2015 to 36, including 12 tanks in June for Bell's Brewery in Michigan and four to Revolution Brewing in Chicago."

Year-to-date cargo shipments through the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes through the end of September total 22 million metric tons. That's a 12 percent decline from last year.

In September, grain shipments rose 60 percent, and dry bulk cargo was up by 8 percent.

"Cargo shipments into the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System remained solid during the month of September," said Betty Sutton, Administrator for the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp.

"September was the second-busiest month on record this navigation season with ocean-going vessels arriving at U.S. Great Lakes ports with increased tonnage of project cargo, dry bulk commodities and general cargo."

Iron ore and coal shipments declined in September, and liquid bulk cargoes fell by 11 percent.

"Aluminum shipments to auto manufacturing states of Michigan, Ohio and New York were once again on the rise as were containerized goods arriving on the Cleveland Europe Express liner service," Sutton said.

"Many of the ships that arrived with high value cargo departed the Seaway System with wheat and soybeans bound for Canada, Europe, Central America, North Africa and Scandinavia."

NW Indiana Times


The 358-foot-long rail car ferry Milwaukee was lost 86 years ago today. It went down in heavy seas off Racine, Wis., when it was swamped with the loss of all hands, noted between 46 and 53 sailors. Also on board were 29 railway freight cars on the voyage between Milwaukee and Grand Haven, Mich.

Milwaukee had been built at Cleveland in 1903 and first sailed as a) Manistique, Marquette and Northern No. 1. It was equipped with three sets of tracks and could handle up to 30 railway cars.

It joined the Pere Marquette Line after the Manistique, Marquette and Northern Line went out of business in Nov. 1903 and continued between Manistique and Northport before later switching to Manistique and Ludington. The ship reverted to its old route in 1906.

Renamed b) Milwaukee by the Grand Trunk Railway in 1908, the ship now concentrated on the route between Grand Haven and Milwaukee until it was lost on Oct. 22, 1929.

A fishing trawler snagged the hull of what proved to be the Milwaukee in 1963 and it was later identified. The ship rests upright on the bottom in 200 feet of water. The History Channel featured the loss in a television special on March 6, 2005.


On October 22,1903, while being towed by the GETTYSBURG in the harbor at Grand Marais, Michigan, in a severe storm, the SAVELAND (wooden schooner, 194 foot, 689 gross tons, built in 1873, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin) was torn away and thrown against some pilings which punctured her hull. She sank to her main deck and was pounded to pieces by the storm waves. No lives were lost.

The tug PRESQUE ISLE completed her sea trials on October 22, 1973, in New Orleans.

On October 22, 1986, ALGOCEN spilled about four barrels of diesel fuel while refueling at the Esso Dock at Sarnia.

TOM M. GIRDLER departed South Chicago light on her maiden voyage, October 22, 1951, bound for Escanaba, Michigan, where she loaded 13,900 tons of ore for delivery to Cleveland, Ohio.

THORNHILL of 1906 grounded on October 22, 1973, just above the Sugar Island ferry crossing in the St. Marys River.

On October 22, 1887, C.O.D. (wooden schooner-barge, 140 foot, 289 gross tons, built in 1873, at Grand Haven, Michigan) was carrying wheat in Lake Erie in a northwest gale. She was beached three miles east of Port Burwell, Ontario, and soon broke up. Most of the crew swam to shore, but the woman who was the cook was lashed to the rigging and she perished.

On October 22, 1929, the steamer MILWAUKEE (formerly MANISTIQUE MARQUETTE AND NORTHERN 1) sank in a gale with a loss of all 52 hands. 21 bodies were recovered. Captain Robert Mc Kay was in command.

On October 27, 1929, a Coast Guard patrolman near South Haven, Michigan, picked up a ship's message case, containing the following handwritten note: "S.S. MILWAUKEE, OCTOBER 22/29 8:30 p.m. The ship is taking water fast. We have turned around and headed for Milwaukee. Pumps are working but sea gate is bent in and can't keep the water out. Flicker is flooded. Seas are tremendous. Things look bad. Crew roll is about the same as on last payday. (signed) A.R. Sadon, Purser."

On October 22, 1870, JENNIE BRISCOE (wooden schooner, 85 foot, 82 tons, built in 1870, at Detroit, Michigan) was raised from where she sank off Grosse Ile, Michigan, a couple of months earlier. She was in her first season of service when she collided with the propeller FREE STATE and sank there. Her raised wreck was sold Canadian in 1871, and she was rebuilt as the propeller scow HERALD.

In a severe gale on 22 October 1873, the three barges DAVID MORRIS, GLOBE, and SAGINAW from Bay City grounded and sank off Point Pelee on Lake Erie.

On October 22, 1887, DOLPHIN (wooden schooner-barge, 107 foot, 147 tons, built in 1855, at Milan, Ohio) and G. D. NORRIS (2-mast wooden schooner, 128 foot, 262 gross tons, built in 1856, at Cleveland, Ohio) were both carrying lumber and were in tow of the steamer OSWEGATCHIE in a storm on Lake Huron. The towline broke when the vessels were off Harbor Beach, Michigan. The DOLPHIN capsized and foundered. All 6 or 7 onboard perished. The NORRIS sank to her decks and her crew was rescued by the passing steamer BRECK. The NORRIS drifted ashore near Goderich, Ontario.

1929: N.J. NESSEN, a wooden bulk freighter, stranded in Lake Erie off Leamington, ON. The ship had been anchored for weather but the wind switched to the south, leaving it exposed. The hull broke up, but all on board were saved.

1929: YANTIC, a former wooden naval reserve training ship tied up at Detroit for use as a heating plant, sank at the dock. All 3 on board got off safely.

1979: J.N. McWATTERS struck the lighthouse at the main entrance to Cleveland with heavy damage to the structure.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On this day in 1949, the new Canada Steamship Line steamer HOCHELAGA successfully completed her sea trials in Georgian Bay. She departed Collingwood the next day to load her first cargo of grain at Port Arthur.

On October 23,1887, the small wooden scow-schooner LADY ELGIN was driven ashore about one mile north of Goderich, Ontario, in a severe storm that claimed numerous other vessels. By October 26, she was broken up by the waves.

The CARL GORTHON, was launched October 23, 1970, for Rederi A/B Gylfe, Hsingborg, Sweden. Sold Canadian in 1980, renamed b.) FEDERAL PIONEER and c.) CECILIA DESGAGNES in 1985. In 2000, she was used as a movie set, unofficially renamed LADY PANAMA.

The rail car ferry GRAND RAPIDS was launched October 23, 1926, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, for the Grand Trunk-Milwaukee Car Ferry Co., Muskegon, Michigan. She entered service in December of 1926.

WILLIAM B. SCHILLER (Hull#372) was launched October 23, 1909, at Lorain, Ohio, for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio.

October 23, 1953 - The steamer SPARTAN arrived Ludington on her maiden voyage. Captain Harold A. Altschwager was in command.

On October 23, 1868, F. T. BARNEY (wooden schooner, 255 tons, built in 1856, at Vermilion, Ohio) collided with the schooner TRACY J BRONSON and sank below Nine Mile Point, Northwest of Rogers City in Lake Michigan. The wreck was found in 1987, and sits in deep water, upright in almost perfect condition.

On October 23, 1873, the wooden steam barge GENEVA was loaded with wheat and towing the barge GENOA in a violent storm on Lake Superior. She bent her propeller shaft and the flailing blades cut a large hole in her stern. The water rushed in and she went down quickly 15 miles off Caribou Island. No lives were lost. This was her first season of service. She was one of the first bulk freighters with the classic Great Lakes fore and aft deckhouses.

On October 23, 1883, JULIA (2-mast wooden schooner, 89 foot, 115 gross tons, built in 1875, at Smith's Falls, Ontario) was coming into Oswego harbor with a load of barley when she struck a pier in the dark and sank. No lives were lost.

1906: The wooden steamer SHENANDOAH backed into a wharf at South Chicago and then went full ahead into the opposite wharf. The captain was found to be drunk and his certificate was suspended.

1917: KATAHDIN was built at West Bay City in 1895 but was sold off-lakes in 1899. The ship was damaged as b) EXPORT in a collision on this date with the Japanese freighter TOKAYAMA MARU in the Delaware River. As a result of the accident, the ship was scrapped in 1918.

1956: GREY BEAVER ran aground on Stoney Crest Island, near Alexandria Bay, NY while downbound with wheat from Toronto to Trois Rivieres, QC. The vessel was released with bottom damage and required a trip to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

1968: NORMAN P. CLEMENT, damaged by a grounding and then an on board explosion, was scuttled in the deep water of Georgian Bay near Christian Island.

1987: CANADIAN ENTERPRISE stranded in the Amherstburg Channel. The ship was lightered of 1,840 tons of coal and then pulled free by 4 tugs before going to Thunder Bay for repairs.


10/23 - When the Seaway opened in 1959 there was an abundance of unemployed canal-sized ships that had become redundant. Most were sold for scrap and broken up at Canadian ports around the Great Lakes and down the St. Lawrence. Others, particularly post World War II additions, found work on saltwater routes. Some became barges, while the Norman P. Clement was converted to a tanker.

This ship had been built at East Cowes, England, and sailed from Liverpool on April 3, 1924. On board was a cargo of manganese ore for Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. In the following years, the ship served as part of the fleet of the Eastern Steamship Co. and, beginning in 1936, the Upper Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Co.

During World War II, the vessel was painted gray for service on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. While given gun placements, I do not believe it was ever armed. Norman P. Clement returned to regular Upper Lakes & St. Lawrence service hauling coal, grain and pulpwood after the battles were over. On May 27, 1955, the ship began carrying iron ore and it took on the first such load at Contrecoeur, Que., for Toledo, Ohio.

Once the Seaway was opened, Norman B. Clement served at Toronto as a grain storage barge but was taken to Sarnia in 1962, rebuilt as a chemical tanker for Chembarge Ltd. and converted to burn oil. It re-entered service delivering chemicals north from Sarnia and occasionally to Lake Ontario ports.

On Oct. 7, 1968, Norman P. Clement ran aground at Britt, Ont., but was refloated and taken to Collingwood for repairs. An explosion on board the ship on Oct. 16 left 11 workers injured and the ship was declared a total loss due to contamination by the chemicals.

Forty-seven years ago today, on Oct. 23, 1968, the Norman P. Clement was towed to the deep waters of Georgian Bay, near Christian Island, and scuttled.


40 years later, Fitzgerald’s legend lives on in a Lightfoot song and at museum

10/23 - Whitefish Point, Mich. – From the sandy shore strewn with bleached driftwood and smoothed stones, a former Coast Guard station looms, capped by the oldest lighthouse on Lake Superior.

Just 100 or so yards away, its red-roofed buildings now form the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, which details 13 of the thousands of wrecks scattered across the five lakes. There's the Carl D. Bradley, which sank in Lake Michigan in 1958 with the loss of 33 lives. Another 28 died when the Daniel J. Morrell went down in Lake Huron in 1966. Few remember those wrecks. As Bruce Lynn, the museum's executive director, observed, "Nobody wrote a song about them."

The name that sticks out is the Edmund Fitzgerald, cast in the minds of a generation by Gordon Lightfoot's haunting ballad.

All 29 sailors remain at the bottom of Lake Superior, more than 500 feet below the surface, after the freighter foundered during a vicious storm 40 years ago this November 10.

Scores of ships have sunk along the notorious shoreline between Whitefish Point and Munising, 80 miles to the west in Michigan's remote and rugged Upper Peninsula. In addition to visiting the museum, people can see wrecks firsthand along the lakeshore, both from land and sea.

Every half-hour or so, Lightfoot's song sets a somber mood as guests move through the part of the museum devoted to the lakes' most famous disaster.

At the exhibit's core is the ship's 200-pound bronze bell, raised 20 years ago with the blessing of the families of those who perished. Nearby are a large model of the Fitzgerald and flotsam such as oars and a rocket flare from lifeboats that were never launched.

"(Visitors) want to know more about this wreck," Lynn said. 'What is your theory? What do you think happened?' People ask us that all the time."

There is no definitive answer. What is known is that a massive storm with 35-foot waves and winds of nearly 100 miles an hour battered the ship. It began taking on water and listing to one side.

At around 7 p.m. Nov. 10, 1975, Capt. Ernest McSorley radioed a nearby ship, the Arthur M. Anderson. "We are holding our own," the veteran sailor reported. At that moment, the Anderson had the Fitzgerald on its radar. Then, a blizzard obscured the signal.

"When the snow squall lifted, there was no longer a Fitzgerald. There was no blip," said Terry Begnoche, the museum's former manager. "They disappeared in an instant. There was no distress call — nothing — from the crew."

That lack of a "mayday" means only one thing to Begnoche: The already stricken vessel had succumbed to a mammoth wave that crashed over its bow. "We believe the ship never recovered," he continued. "It kept on going straight down."

The "Fitz," as it's often called, is just one of an estimated 300 to 600 ships lying at the bottom of Lake Superior along the infamous stretch of shoreline. Veteran sailor Joe Lindquist takes passengers to a couple of them during the shipwreck tours he operates out of Munising.

Peering into the chilly, clear water through the Miss Munising's glass hull, guests see both the Bermuda, a wooden schooner that sank in 1870, and the Herman H. Hettler, a steam barge that went down in 1926.

"They were trying to escape a violent snowstorm," Lindquist explained of the Hettler. "They were in zero visibility. And as they entered the channel … ran hard aground on a rock reef."

Torn in two, the Hettler sank in about 35 feet of water. From Lindquist's boat, both the boat and a 2,500-pound anchor are clearly visible. So is the Bermuda, one of only a few intact wrecks.

"The ship was overloaded and had been leaking at the seams," Lindquist said. "They decided to run it ashore in Munising Bay to keep it from sinking." But the often-capricious lake had other ideas.

"Somehow the lake grabbed the Bermuda and pulled her from shore," he recalled. While some of its crew members were safely on shore seeking help, three others drowned.

Between Munising and Whitefish Point, waves crash against the sandstone cliffs of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Along a 42-mile stretch of the lake, which is bigger in size than each of 10 U.S. states, stunning vistas abound.

The remains of a few shipwrecks cling to the miles of sandy beaches. The beam from the Au Sable lighthouse, opened in 1874, can be seen 18 miles away.

The Whitefish Point light tower is even older; it went into operation in 1849. On the night the Fitz sank, the beacon was plunged into darkness by a power failure. Guests can climb to the top on guided tours.

Each Nov. 10 at the museum, the ship's bell is removed from its glass case and rung 30 times, once for each of the 29 men on the Edmund Fitzgerald with a final clang to remember all the others lost on the lakes.

Begnoche was on Lake Superior, above the Fitz, when that bell was cut from the bow and brought to the surface in July 1995. "I saw it come up out of the water," he recalled. "It was pretty emotional. It actually started to ring."

Chicago Tribune

[yachtsmanwilly]

Coast Guard investigating unknown substance near Kelley's Island Shoal

10/26 - Cleveland, Ohio – The Coast Guard is responding to a report of a discharge of an unknown substance from the site of a sunken barge near Kelley's Island Shoal in Lake Erie, Sunday.

Due to the report, the Coast Guard has established a safety zone 3 nautical miles east of Kelley's Island Shoal extending 1,000 feet around position 41-38'21"N, 082-29'35"W.

Friday evening crews at Marine Safety Unit Toledo, Ohio, received a report from the Cleveland Underwater Explorers, of a leak of an unknown substance emanating from the barge and an odor of solvent, but they did not observe the leak underwater. CLUE divers were investigating the wreck to determine if it was the barge Argo which sank during a storm in 1937.

MSU Toledo deployed pollution responders with boat crews from Coast Guard Station Marblehead, Ohio, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Crews reported smelling a strong odor of a solvent on Friday and Saturday.

An initial overflight was conducted by a Coast Guard Air Station Detroit aircrew on Saturday, with MSU Toledo pollution responders aboard, who reported observing a 400 yard discoloration on the water near the site. A second overflight on Sunday morning was unable to locate any discoloration.

A Unified Command of federal and state authorities is being established. NOAA scientific support and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency are working with the Coast Guard as part of the Unified Command to take all necessary actions to ensure the safety of the public and the environment.

"What has been reported from responders is consistent with a lighter-end petroleum-based solvent that would quickly dissipate when it reaches the air," said Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Migliorini, commanding officer of Marine Safety Unit Toledo. "Although we're still working to identify the product, the primary concern is for an inhalation hazard for the responders on-scene."

T and T Salvage has been contracted to identify and secure the leak and will be on-scene as early as Tuesday. Additionally, Coast Guard Atlantic Strike Team personnel are expected to begin air monitoring on Monday to ensure safety of the responders in the safety zone and to provide response assistance.

The safety zone will remain closed to all traffic until canceled. No vessel may enter, transit through or anchor within the regulated area without permission from the Coast Guard patrol commander, Station Marblehead, which may be contacted via VHF-FM ch. 16.

USCG


Today in Great Lakes History - October 26

On October 26, 1878, the new steamer CITY OF DETROIT (composite side-wheel passenger-package freight steamer, 234 foot, 1,094 gross tons, built in 1878, at Wyandotte, Michigan) arrived in Detroit from Cleveland with 276 tons of freight, mostly iron, on deck, and no freight in her hold. This experiment was tried to see if the steamer would show any signs of "crankiness,” even under a load so placed. She responded well and lived up to the expectations of her designers.

On October 26, 1882, the sunken schooner-barge NELLIE McGILVRAY was dynamited as a hazard to navigation by the Portage River Improvement Company. She sank at the entrance to the Portage Canal in the Keweenaw Peninsula on August 28, 1882, and all attempts to raise her failed.

LOUIS R. DESMARAIS was christened October 26,1977. She was reconstructed at Port Weller Drydocks and renamed b.) CSL LAURENTIEN in 2001.

HUTCHCLIFFE HALL and OREFAX were sold October 26, 1971, to the Consortium Ile d'Orleans of Montreal, made up of Richelieu Dredging Corp., McNamara Construction Ltd. and The J.P. Porter Co. Ltd.

On October 26, 1977, the MENIHEK LAKE struck a lock in the St. Lawrence Seaway sustaining damage estimated at $400,000.

On October 26, 1971, the ROGERS CITY's A-frame collapsed while unloading at Carrollton, Michigan on the Saginaw River. Her unloading boom was cut away and temporary repairs were made at Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Michigan.

The tug ROUILLE was launched on October 26, 1929, as Hull#83 of Collingwood Shipyards Ltd.

The schooner HEMISPHERE, which was being sought by the U.S. Marshals at Detroit and the St. Lawrence River, escaped at the Gallop Rapids and has gone to sea.

On October 26, 1851, ATLAS (wooden propeller, 153 foot, 375 tons, built in 1851, at Buffalo, New York) was carrying flour from Detroit to Buffalo when she was blown to shore near the mouth of the Grand River (Lorain, Ohio) by a gale, stranded and became a total loss. No lives were lost.

On October 26, 1895, GEORGE W. DAVIS (wooden schooner, 136 foot, 299 gross tons, built in 1872, at Toledo, Ohio) was carrying coal in a storm on Lake Erie when she stranded near Port Maitland, Ontario. A few days after the stranding, she floated off on her own, drifted two miles up the beach and sank. No lives were lost.

1900: The consort barge MARTHA sank in Lake St. Clair after a head-on collision with the E.P. WILBUR. The vessel was refloated, repaired and was last known as the grain storage barge C.S. BAND of the Goderich Elevator Company before being scrapped at Toronto in 1976-1977.

1912: KEYSTORM stranded in the St. Lawrence on Scow Island Shoal near Alexandria Bay, NY due to a navigational error in fog. After about 5 hours, the ship slid off into deep water and sank. The coal-laden freighter was enroute from Charlotte, NY to Montreal.

1915: The former wooden steamer GLENGARRY was operating as a barge when it sank at Montreal on this date following a collision with the J.H. PLUMMER. It was later pumped out only to sink again at Quebec City in 1920.

1917: PORT COLBORNE, a Great Lakes canal ship serving overseas in World War 1, was wrecked near Land's End, England, while enroute, in ballast, from Rouen, France, to Barry Roads, U.K. The hull could not be salvaged and was broken apart by the elements.

1924: E.A.S. CLARKE, anchored in the Detroit River due to fog, and was hit by the B.F. JONES (i), holed and sunk. The ship was eventually refloated and, in 1970, became c) KINSMAN VOYAGER before going to Germany for brief service as a storage barge in 1975.

1926: The first NEW YORK NEWS broke loose in a storm at Shelter Bay, QC and, without radio contact, was feared lost. The vessel was later found, with all hands safe, hard aground. The ship was refloated, repaired and survived until scrapping at Port Dalhousie as c) LABRADOC in 1961.

1961: STEEL PRODUCTS, under tow for scrapping, broke loose and stranded in Lake Erie near Point Abino, ON. The ship was unsalvageable and had to be dismantled on site.

1967: The barge WILTRANCO broke loose in a storm and was blown hard aground west of Buffalo. The hull was refloated two days later only to strand once more.

1968: R. BRUCE ANGUS was hard aground in the St. Lawrence and had to be lightered to P.S. BARGE NO. 1, a former fleetmate, as a) EDWIN T. DOUGLASS, before being released October 29.

1979: URANUS, a former West German visitor to the Great Lakes, had to be beached on the River Schelde as d) MARIANNE GEN following a collision with the EMPROS. The vessel was a total loss and was cut in pieces for removal in 1983.

2008: BALSA II first came through the Seaway in 1982. It was inbound for New Georgia, Soloman Islands, to load logs when it stranded on a reef. While refloated, the ship was detained as the area of the strand had been a marine protected site.


Canadian ship temporarily stranded near Ogdensburg reaches Johnstown

10/25 - Ogdensburg, N.Y. – A Canadian ship that had been stranded near Ogdensburg for several days because of mechanical problems has taken refuge at the port of Johnstown, Ont., according to Canadian Seaway officials.

The 640-foot Great Lakes vessel Ojibway had been anchored near Prescott, Ont., across from the city of Ogdensburg, after experiencing an unspecified mechanical problem, according to Andrew K. Bogora, a spokesman for the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., which monitors shipping along the Great Lakes shipping channel.

Mr. Bogora said the ship originally was anchored in Canadian waters near Prescott and did not pose a hindrance to other ships traversing the St. Lawrence River due to the fact that it was not blocking the shipping channel.

He said Friday afternoon the ship was able to make it about 5 miles downstream to the Port of Johnston, where it is now anchored. He said he did not know the condition of the ship.

The Ojibway’s homeport is Nanticoke, Ont., on the Canadian side of Lake Erie across from Erie, Pa. The ship is used primarily to haul grain for cereal and flour production.

Mr. Bogora said he does not know what kind of mechanical problems the ship encountered, but said Canadian Seaway officials are notified whenever a ship stops moving or deviates from its designated course. He said the fact the vessel was able to move downriver to the Port of Johnstown under its own power is a positive development.

“The fact that it is moving is always a good thing,” Mr. Bogora said.

Built in 1952, the Ojibway has had multiple owners and names over the years. The 7,000-ton vessel is capable of carrying approximately 18,000 tons of cargo per trip during the summer season, and fully loaded is capable of reaching speeds of up to 14 miles per hour.

Watertown Daily Times


Shipwreck discovered in Lake Erie could be toxic, long-sought Argo

10/25 - Cleveland, Ohio – An amateur shipwreck hunter may have stumbled upon one of the greatest threats to the Great Lakes. Federal and local officials have scheduled a news conference Sunday morning to discuss the threat posed by a shipwreck about 15 miles northeast of Lakeside, Ohio.

Tom Kowalczk, a member of the Cleveland Underwater Explorers, discovered the underwater mass in August. His sleuthing led him to believe he had found the Argo, a long-sought vessel ranked by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the shipwreck with the greatest potential to create an environmental disaster on the Great Lakes.

Whether or not the discovery is the tank barge Argo – which foundered during a storm nearly 80 years ago in western Lake Erie and may still hold 126,000 gallons of volatile oil in its corroding steel husk – remains a mystery.

Even if it is some other long forgotten wreck, something is leaking from the site of the wreckage.

The National Museum of the Great Lakes on Saturday announced that divers with the Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE) saw a glob of petroleum product float to the surface when they examined the site. Now the U.S. Coast Guard is working to identify and cut off the source.

A Coast Guard helicopter spotted a 400-yard by 20-yard patch of discoloration over the site, said Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Migliorini, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in Toledo. Overflights will continue through the weekend and a team will be sent to the scene Monday morning.

Officials from the museum, Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will brief the media Sunday morning in Toledo on the mission.

The Argo is a bit of a mystery. Historical records show it sank during a storm on Oct. 20, 1937, in 40 feet of water off Canada's Pelee Island. It was about 13 miles north of Lakeside and being pulled by a tugboat. No one knows who operated the Argo, where she departed from or where she intended to go.

NOAA estimates the vessel could have gone down carrying thousands of gallons of benzol and crude oil. The Argo was 35 feet wide, 120 feet long and 12 feet deep, according to historical documents.

Between 2010 and 2013, NOAA identified 89 shipwrecks that posed a potential threat to American waters. Five of those shipwrecks were on the Great Lakes. The Argo is the most hazardous of the five.

Kowalczk, who has discovered dozens of shipwrecks since he picked up the hobby in the late 1960s, was on his 27-foot fishing boat Dragonfly when he made the find. Using a side scan sonar system that can image the length of nearly two football fields to his port and starboard sides, Kowalczk picked up a large object protruding from the lakebed hundreds of feet from his boat.

Kowalczk came about and made another pass, and another. After scanning the object multiple times at various distances, he realized he discovered yet another shipwreck. "Every time I see one, it raises up that level of adrenaline," Kowalczk said in an interview Thursday.

On the night of his discovery, Kowalczk went home and studied the sonar images and referenced them with historical records, searching for a match. He found one - the Argo. But is it the Argo?

Kowalczk's discovery was brought to the attention of NOAA and the Coast Guard, which contracted a diver on Wednesday to inspect the barge for the first time. The vessel was completely encrusted with mussels. It measured 34 feet wide and 94 feet long, with its intact hull rising five to seven feet from the sediment. The discrepancy didn't lead investigators to automatically rule it out as the Argo.

"It's highly probable that this could be the Argo," NOAA Resource Protection Coordinator Lisa Symons said on Friday morning. "It's not uncommon that vessels like this are retrofitted. We don't have blueprints, and historic reports may be inaccurate. There's a lot of information lost to history."

Divers went down again on Friday and not only saw and smelled pollution, they measured the barge at 34 feet wide and 121 feet long – almost an exact match for the Argo.

"Being able to play a role and being able to, in essence, ensure the waters of Lake Erie are preserved, it gives us a great sense of accomplishment," said Christopher Gillcrist, executive director of the National Museum of the Great Lakes.

NOAA estimates the Argo's haul of benzol – a very light and buoyant petroleum distillate –has crept out of the vessel since it sank. The Argo's crude oil, however, could still be trapped inside.

"There were some sheens seen about the time the ship sank," Schweitzer said. "Did some of it escape? Did all of it escape? That is the question."

M Live, Cleveland.com


Exercise aids preparation for potential St. Lawrence Seaway disaster

10/25 - Alexandria Bay, N.Y. – Resuming ship traffic on the St. Lawrence Seaway as quickly and as safely as possible after a natural or man-made disaster was the topic of a bi-national exercise led last Thursday by the U.S. Coast Guard at Riveredge Resort.

The exercise follows a 2011 initiative by the U.S. and Canadian governments called Beyond the Border, which is designed to address threats to cross-border commerce and promote bi-national law enforcement activities to mitigate the threats. Thursday’s exercise focused on potential disruptions in trade that could be caused by an interruption in shipping on the Seaway and a “Maritime Commerce Resiliency” plan to restore traffic after a disaster.

The more than 100 participants, from law enforcement to shippers to environmentalists, considered a scenario in which a foreign cargo vessel had become grounded near an international bridge, spilling fuel into the St. Lawrence River. For many, the scenario called to mind the April 21 grounding of the freighter Juno under the Thousand Islands Bridge, although no fuel or cargo was spilled in that incident and no one was injured.

“These incidents don’t know a border,” said Frederick “Fritz” Wasco, a security and preparedness specialist with the Coast Guard’s District 9 in Cleveland. “These man-made disasters occur no matter where the border exists.”

Discussions ranged from which organization should oversee and provide leadership during a traffic disruption to which organizations should be notified immediately. Talks included protocols each organization should follow, how communication should be passed through each organization and standardization of terminology used so that each organization understands the others’ lexicon so there is no confusion among communicators.

“What we hope to accomplish is enhanced notification and communication,” said T.J. Mangoni, a response team supervisor with the Coast Guard’s District 9. “It’s already good, but this is perpetual education.”

Participants agreed that when a ship goes aground, time is of the essence in evaluating the extent of the potential danger, whether it is merely a ship that has lost power and presents no environmental hazard or a ship that is damaged and spilling oil. Determining that dictates the level of response.

“That’s the challenge,” Mr. Mangoni said. “Getting everyone on the same page immediately.”

Mr. Wasco said developing a framework for contacts and how to formulate a response to a disaster, especially when two countries are involved, is part of an ongoing process for the Coast Guard and the other stakeholders. The information gathered Wednesday will be incorporated with information gleaned at future exercises to come up with a plan for a quick return to shipping traffic should a disaster take place on the St. Lawrence River or elsewhere on the Great Lakes system.

“This exercise exceeded my expectations in that all of the stakeholders had great discussions to make sure our two nations work together to recover expeditiously,” Mr. Wasco said.

Participating in the exercise aside from the Coast Guard were the Canadian Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Canada Border Services Agency, St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. and St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., Transport Canada, state Department of Environmental Conservation, Thousand Islands Bridge Authority, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and Save the River, among others.

Watertown Daily Times



Today in Great Lakes History - October 25

On this day in 1975, a 96-foot mid-body section was added to the ARTHUR B. HOMER at Fraser Ship Yards, Superior, Wisconsin. The HOMER became the largest American-flagged freighter to be lengthened. This modification increased her length to 826 feet and her per-trip carrying capacity to 31,200 tons.

On October 25, 1872, the crew of the small tug P. P. PRATT (wooden propeller steam tug, 14 tons, built in 1866, at Buffalo, New York), went to dinner at a nearby hotel while the tug was docked in Oswego, New York. While they were gone, the tug's boiler exploded. A large piece of the boiler, weighing about five hundred pounds, landed on the corner of West First and Cayuga Street. A six-foot piece of rail impaled itself in the roof of the Oswego Palladium newspaper's offices. Amazingly, no one was hurt. The hulk was raised the following week and the engine was salvaged.

On October 25, 1888, AMETHYST (wooden propeller tug, 14 gross tons, built in 1868, at Buffalo, New York) caught fire and burned to a total loss at Duluth, Minnesota.

ALGOBAY departed on her maiden voyage October 25, 1978, from Collingwood light for Stoneport, Michigan, to load stone for Sarnia, Ontario.

STERNECLIFFE HALL entered service for the Hall Corporation of Canada on October 25, 1947.

HURON arrived at Santander, Spain, October 25, 1973, in consort with her sister WYANDOTTE, towed by the German tug DOLPHIN X. for scrapping.

October 25, 1895 - SHENANGO No. 2 (later PERE MARQUETTE 16) was launched in Toledo, Ohio. She was built by the Craig Shipbuilding Company for the United States & Ontario Steam Navigation Company and later became part of the Pere Marquette carferry fleet.

The engines of the propeller WESTMORELAND, which sank in 1854, near Skillagalee Reef in Lake Michigan, were recovered and arrived at Chicago on October 25,1874.

ARK was built on the burned out hull of the steamer E. K. COLLINS as a side-wheel passenger steamer in 1853, at Newport, Michigan, but she was later cut down to a barge. On October 25,1866, she was being towed along with three other barges down bound from Saginaw, Michigan, in a storm. Her towline parted and she disappeared with her crew of six. The other three tow-mates survived. There was much speculation about ARK's whereabouts until identifiable wreckage washed ashore 100 miles north of Goderich, Ontario.

On October 25,1833, JOHN BY (wooden stern-wheeler, 110 foot, built in 1832, at Kingston, Ontario) was on her regular route between York (now Toronto) and Kingston, Ontario when a storm drove her ashore near Port Credit, a few miles from York. Her terrible handling in open lake water set the precedent that stern-wheelers were not compatible with lake commerce.

On October 25,1887, VERNON (wooden propeller passenger/package-freight steamer, 158 foot, 560 tons, built in 1886, at Chicago, Illinois) foundered in a gale 6 miles northeast of Two Rivers Point on Lake Michigan. The death toll was estimated at 31 - 36. The sole survivor was picked up on a small raft two days later by the schooner POMEROY. He was on the raft with a dead body. Most casualties died of exposure. There were accusations at the time that the vessel was overloaded causing the cargo doors to be left open which allowed the water to pour in during the storm. This accusation was confirmed in 1969 (82 years after the incident) when divers found the wreck and indeed the cargo doors were open.

1911: The wooden schooner AZOV began leaking on Lake Huron. The ship came ashore north of Goderich and was broken up by the elements.

1980: The former SILVAPLANA, a Swiss saltwater vessel, was abandoned by the crew after going aground 125 miles SW of Pyongyang, North Korea, as d) HWA HO. The hull later broke in two and was a total loss. The vessel had traded through the Seaway beginning in 1959 and returned as b) CAPE MISENO in 1969.

1985: MAXI PORR first came inland under West German registry when new in 1965. It went aground on this date as b) LUANA while inbound at Port Sudan from Naples and heavily damaged. The vessel was refloated on November 20 but declared a total loss, sold to Pakistani shipbreakers and later arrived at Gadani Beach for scrapping.

1994: OCEAN LUCKY, an ocean going freighter registered in St. Vincent, sank following a grounding off the southern tip of Taiwan. All on board were rescued. The ship had begun Great Lakes trading in 1977 as b) FEDERAL ST. CLAIR and returned as c) TRANSOCEAN PEARL in 1981.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Great Lakes Shipyard hits milestone with commissioning, keel-laying ceremony

10/27 - Cleveland, Ohio – Tug Joncaire II, the first of two tugboats to be built for New York Power Authority – Niagara Project, was commissioned during a ceremony hosted by Great Lakes Shipyard and attended by more than 200 on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

The sponsor of the commissioning ceremony was Karen W. Penale, Real Estate Administrator – Western Region, New York Power Authority – Niagara Project. “With the traditional breaking of the bottle of Champaign, she declared “I name this tugboat Joncaire II. May God bless here and all who will sail on her.”

“Today we celebrate the completion of one project and the beginning of another,” said Joseph P. Starck, Jr., [resident, The Great Lakes Towing Company & Great Lakes Shipyard, as he described the commissioning ceremony and the subsequent keel laying of the new tugboat for Regimen de Pensiones y Jubilaciones del Personal de la Empresa Portuaria Quetzal, Guatemala, Central America.

Great Lakes Shipyard was contracted by New York Power Authority (NYPA) to build and deliver two new tugboats for the Niagara Power Plant’s winter operations in Buffalo, N.Y. The new tugs will augment and replace aging vessels that are used for the installation, removal, and maintenance of the Lake Erie-Niagara River Ice Boom and various associated marine construction projects. Construction for the first tug began last April. The second tug is scheduled for delivery in late 2017.

The new tugs will be specially reinforced with heavy stems and shell reinforcement for operations in seasonal ice. The design of the conventional drive tugs includes elevated pilothouses for improved visibility when maneuvering, as well as a spacious work deck aft to facilitate ice boom connections.

The tug construction contract is the company’s second major order from NYPA. In 2010, Great Lakes Shipyard built the agency’s new 80’ x 34’ Ice Boom Operations Barge, which incorporates a Terex 80-ton pedestal mounted lattice boom crane.

A separate ceremony followed marking the keel laying of a new 3,400 H.P. tugboat to be built for Regimen de Pensiones y Jubilaciones del Personal de la Empresa Portuaria Quetzal, Guatemala, Central America (“Regimen”). Representing the owner at the ceremony was Eduardo De Jesus Paiz Lemus, Presidente Junta Administrador.

Great Lakes Group


Essar taconite plant rises amid industry decline

10/27 - Nashwauk, Minn. – On a brisk, breezy October day, 18 big cranes reached for the sky over the sprawling Essar Steel Minnesota taconite plant just north of town where more than 700 construction workers were on the job.

Iron beams and steel siding hung from cables as ironworkers in bucket-lifts grabbed dangling pieces and secured them into place, players in what looked like the world's largest erector set.

The first thing that strikes the eye is the size of the project — everything about the work is big — from the 240-ton capacity ore-hauling trucks being readied to the massive building that will house the taconite-baking furnaces and the hulking, 9-story-deep underground concrete edifice where boulders of raw ore will be crushed to a useable size.

The $1.9 billion taconite mine and processing plant is among the largest and most expensive construction projects in Minnesota history.

Progress is obvious. Drill rigs and giant ore shovel loaders are being tuned up. The furnaces that will bake the pellets hard are being assembled. A ceremony marking the first major explosion ripping taconite iron ore off the mine wall could come within weeks.

Buddy Harvick, a Texas native who now lives in South Range, just south of Superior, was working for Grand Rapids-based Tristan Fabricators LLC, one of dozens of contractors on the job. Harvick was helping curl and weld a giant piece of steel for another big component at Essar.

"This is a huge project,'' Harvick said "It's good to have this much work close to home."

It will be Minnesota's first new full-scale taconite mine and processing plant in more than 35 years, with an easy-access, high-quality ore deposit that could last 80 years. (The mine and processing are at nearly the same site as the old Butler Taconite operation which was closed and dismantled in the mid-1980s.)

Despite a decade of delays and a constant string of controversies, the Essar Steel Minnesota project now appears headed toward reality. The question seems no longer if the long-delayed Essar project will be completed but when, with the company promising its first freshly-baked pellets rolling off the line in mid-to-late 2016.

"It will be 180 rail cars of taconite per day, 365 days,'' said Mitch Brunfelt, the company's director of government and public affairs. The plant can access both CN and BNSF tracks to move the ore to Lake Superior for shipment.

Construction will peak soon at more than 800 people on the job, Brunfelt said. Essar employees, now at 125, will ramp up to 350 by July. Several of the people applying, and several new hires, are Mesabi Nugget employees who are now on indefinite layoff, Brunfelt noted.

Essar plans on producing 7 million tons of processed taconite pellets annually — headed to ArcelorMittal for its steel mill outside Chicago, as well as Essar's own steel mill in Algoma, Ontario. Brunfelt said the plant's future production is essentially spoken for.

Yet the new plant is coming online during one of the worst downturns in mining in 30 years, with cheap foreign steel made with cheap foreign iron ore pushing the market down. The U.S. steel industry is struggling to compete, meaning it needs less Minnesota ore.

And despite the massive investment and promise of new jobs on the Iron Range — the first full-size new plant since 1977 — it seems pessimism, scepticism and outright concern over the ultimate impact of the Essar project is quashing most jubilation among Iron Range residents and officials.

"You've heard of stadium fatigue among the people of Minnesota, about people being tired of using taxpayer money to build stadiums for rich athletes and owners? Well, up here among the people who live and work around Nashwauk, there is a great deal of Essar fatigue,'' said state Rep. Tom Anzelc, DFL-Balsam Township. "People have been hearing about how great this is going to be for a decade. But, quite frankly, now they aren't going to believe it until they see smoke coming out of (smokestacks at) that place, and not before."

Brunfelt explained that Essar will produce about as much finished taconite pellets as Hibbing Taconite just a few miles to the east. But Essar will be able to mine, process and ship the ore to customers much more cheaply than Hibbtac or other Minnesota producers, he said. Essar will produce the same tonnage with one-third the employees and one-third the number of haul trucks, Brunfelt claimed, which will sharply reduce costs.

It will also be the only North American plant that can produce both traditional fluxed pellets for blast furnaces and also "DR-grade'' pellets to be made into directly-reduced iron that can be used in electric mini-mills.

"Everything designed into this (project) is aimed at reducing production costs,'' like having the initial processing site just one-quarter mile from the mine, Brunfelt said. "How they laid out everything really helps add to the efficiencies. And the technology now is so much better. This is all new from the bottom up."

Essar had to beat global financial bushes for months to find money to finish the project, with $800 million secured late in 2014. Essar has about the same amount of its own money invested in its project.

The progress here has come despite the fact the global price of iron ore, which peaked at nearly $200 per ton a few years ago, has dropped to about $53 today. That's near or even below the cost of some other Minnesota producers to get the stuff out the door.

"I think the fact that you see all this construction at a time when the iron ore industry is in a global downturn is indicative of Essar's commitment to Minnesota," Brunfelt said.

While Essar has gained a reputation for not paying its bills — it has owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to contractors on the project — Essar Steel Minnesota's New York-based CEO has vowed to become current on all bills by the end of the month.

Critics, however, and even some supporters, note that the plant is being built at a time when its product simply isn't needed. They say there is no new demand for U.S. iron ore which continues to be squeezed by reduced demand for domestic steel — all because of cheap foreign ore going into cheap foreign steel that is flooding the U.S. market.

It's not just a U.S. issue, with steel prices down about 40 percent in the past year, British authorities say they may lose 5,000 steelmaking jobs because Chinese manufacturers continue to produce steel at below cost and sell it overseas. Britain and the U.S. have alleged unfair trade steel "dumping'' by China and other nations.

Evidence of the global crisis remains vivid across the Iron Range:

• Mesabi Nugget, the state's first iron nugget plant, has shuttered, perhaps permanently, as has its Chisholm-based supplier of ore that was half-owned by Magnetation.

• Grand Rapids-based Magnetation, forced into bankruptcy earlier this year, also closed two of its other ore-producing plants, and now is operating only its all-new Plant 4 under the veil of bankruptcy reorganization. The company hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 by spring, but it's likely dozens of Minnesota suppliers to the mining company will be paid only pennies on the dollar for the bills Magnetation owes them.

• U.S. Steel idled its Keetac operations, mothballed the plant and now has laid off nearly all 412 workers. The company also temporarily laid off a good share of its Minntac operations in Mountain Iron, although most of those are now back on the job.

• Cliffs Natural Resources halted operations at its United Taconite operations in July saying it had too much inventory and not enough orders. It's not clear if or when its 420 workers will be called back.

It's Cliffs which stands to lose most when Essar opens. While U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal, which own and operate the Minorca mine in Virginia, produce pellets mostly aimed for their own steelmaking furnaces, Cliffs owns no steel mills and depends on selling pellets on the open market.

Cleveland-based Cliffs, already in tumult after massive downsizing and hostile takeover in the past two years, will almost certainly close its remaining iron ore production in Michigan's Upper Peninsula when Essar opens — the Empire-Tilden operation, which currently supplies ArcelorMittal, which already has an agreement to buy Essar pellets.

Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves last January warned that an operating Essar operation would flood the U.S. market and harm existing Cliffs operations in Minnesota. He recently went further, saying he'd have to shut down a Minnesota plant the day Essar opens.

"All they (Essar) are doing is adding supply that the industry doesn't need," Goncalves told the News Tribune in January. "It doesn't do any good for the region. The (new Essar jobs) that would be generated will be destroyed somewhere else. And the jobs that would be destroyed would be Cliffs jobs."

Last week Cliffs issued a statement that it has no plans to permanently shut down any Minnesota operations, although no date has been set to reopen United.

The Nashwauk project was first proposed by a company called Minnesota Iron and Steel, back in 2004, with state and IRRRB funding offered in 2007 and pollution and mining permits approved in 2008 through an expedited process. Essar took over in 2008 and appeared ready to start work. But almost nothing happened until 2012, in part because of the global economic recession. Work started, stopped and started again before stopping in 2014 yet again. Short on cash, Essar apparently was unable to pay many of its contractors. Several filed claims, liens and suits against Essar and pulled off the job.

Finally, in fall 2014, Essar obtained the $800 million in financing needed to finish the project. Work began in earnest last winter.

Essar also has been unwilling, or unable, to repay $67 million owed the state from a 2007 economic development deal. Some critics, including Cliffs' Goncalves, say unless Essar pays the money back as stipulated, owed because it is not creating steel at the Nashwauk site, the state is subsidizing his competition, helping flood the current, delicate balance between supply and demand in the U.S. iron and steel market.

Others, including most Iron Range lawmakers, agree.

"If Essar wants to build a taconite plant with 350 jobs, they are free to do so. It's the state subsidy that's the problem. ... They are permitted and appear to have the infrastructure in place for a taconite plant,'' state Rep. Carly Melin, DFL-Hibbing, told the News Tribune. "I do not, however, support the state of Minnesota subsidizing a taconite plant and that was never contemplated or agreed upon between the parties."

Essar Steel Minnesota is a subsidiary of Mumbai, India-based Essar Group, a $20 billion firm with about 70,000 employees worldwide.

"If they would just agree to build the iron part of the original project, all of this would be settled, and we could be celebrating this new project,'' Anzelc said of Essar. "But they won't do it. So we're left with this quandary."

State officials said last week that there has been no final deal reached on how and when Essar Steel Minnesota will repay nearly $67 million in state financing due because the company has failed to meet its end of a 2007 economic development deal.

Gov. Mark Dayton earlier this month met with top Essar officials who said they were close to agreeing on a repayment plan. Essar also vowed to make good on all past-due payments to contractors on the Nashwauk project.

Dayton asked Essar corporate leaders to decide by Monday whether to accept his compromise to pay $10 million toward the bill now and work out a payment plan for the remaining $57 million to be paid back as the plant operates.

Essar’s predecessor on the Nashwauk taconite mine and processing plant project received the state money, in addition to another $6.7 million from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, in exchange for the promise of 350 jobs at an all-new taconite mine and processing plant but also another 100 jobs at an iron nugget and steelmaking operation.

Under the 2007 agreement, the jobs needed to be all in place by October 2015, or the money had to be paid back.

The taconite project is under construction, but still many months from operations, and the company has scuttled plans for the steelmaking operations, at least in the near future.

State officials are under pressure from Iron Range lawmakers and established taconite companies to force Essar to pay up so the state isn’t seen as subsidizing a new taconite mine that will simply compete with existing mines for the foundering domestic steel industry’s reduced demand for ore.

The IRRRB already has moved on several occasions to delay Essar’s repayment of its loan until the company begins production.

Duluth News Tribune


On this day in 1979, the MESABI MINER delivered her first cargo of coal to Port Washington, Wis. The 21- foot draft restriction of the harbor limited the cargo to 39,000 tons.

While in tow of the tug MERRICK on October 27, 1879, the NIAGARA (wooden schooner, 204 foot, 764 gross tons, built in 1873, at Tonawanda, New York) collided with the PORTER (wooden schooner, 205 foot, 747 gross tons, built in 1874, at Milwaukee, Wis.), which was in tow of the tug WILCOX at the mouth of the Detroit River. The PORTER sank but was salvaged and repaired. She lasted another 19 years.

PAUL THAYER was christened on October 27, 1973, at Lorain, Ohio. Renamed b.) EARL W. OGLEBAY in 1995 and MANITOWOC in 2008.

While the JAMES R. BARKER was upbound October 27, 1986, on Lake Huron above buoys 11 & 12, a high-pressure fuel line on the starboard engine failed causing an engine room fire, which was extinguished by on-board fire fighting equipment. Fortunately no one was injured.

On her maiden voyage, the HOCHELAGA departed Collingwood on October 27, 1949, for Fort William, Ontario, to load grain for Port Colborne, Ontario.

FRANCIS E. HOUSE was laid up at Duluth on October 27, 1960, and remained idle there until April, 1966, when she was sold to the Kinsman Marine Transit Co., Cleveland and renamed c.) KINSMAN INDEPENDENT. She was scrapped at Santander, Spain in 1974.

On October 27, 1973, the HENRY LA LIBERTE struck an embankment while backing from the Frontier Dock Slip at Buffalo, New York, and damaged her steering gear beyond repair. As a consequence she was laid up there.

RED WING and FRANK A. SHERMAN departed Lauzon, Quebec, on October 27, 1986, in tandem tow by the Vancouver based deep-sea tug CANADIAN VIKING bound for scrapping in Taiwan.

On October 27, 1869, ALFRED ALLEN (wooden schooner, 160 tons, built in 1853, at Pultneyville, New Jersey, as J. J. MORLEY) was bound for Toledo, Ohio, with 500 barrels of salt when she went on the Mohawk Reef near Port Colborne, Ontario, in a blizzard. She washed free and drifted to the mainland beach where she was pounded to pieces. No lives were lost.

During a snowstorm on the night of October 27, 1878, the propeller QUEBEC of the Beatty Line ran aground on Magnetic Shoals near Cockburn Island on Lake Huron. She was four miles from shore and one of her arches was broken in the accident.

October 27, 1854 - Well-known Pere Marquette carferry captain Joseph "Joe" Russell was born in Greenfield, Wisconsin.

1937: EASTON, of the Misener's Colonial Steamship Co., arrived at Meaford, ON with a cracked cylinder in the engine. The ship was there to load a cargo of baled hay for Fort William and bushels of apples. The trip was canceled and the vessel was sent for repairs.

1965: The Liberty ship PANAGATHOS traded through the Seaway in 1962 and 1963 under Greek registry and was back in 1965 under the flag of Liberia. The vessel ran aground off Ameland Island, 4 nautical miles from the Hollum Lighthouse, Holland, enroute from Amsterdam and Hamburg to the U.S. East Coast with a cargo of steel. The ship was abandoned as a total loss and the hull remained there until at least 1970.

1965: A fire broke out aboard the Egyptian freighter STAR OF SUEZ while upbound in the Seaway east of the Snell Lock. The ship was docked at Cornwall and the local fire company doused the blaze. The cargo of cotton in #3 hold was mostly offloaded. The ship lasted until scrapping at Split, Yugoslavia, in 1980.

1976: A fire in the bilge of the tug CHRIS M. at Toronto destroyed the ship's wiring. The vessel had become unpopular at the waterfront area but was rebuilt as the powered 3-masted schooner EMPIRE SANDY in 1983.

1982: The French ore carrier FRANCOIS L.D., a regular Great Lakes caller since 1962, struck the breakwall at Cape Vincent, NY while westbound in fog. There was heavy damage to the structure and the ship had a dent in the bow.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Coast Guard evacuates man from tug near Cleveland

10/28 - Cleveland - The U.S. Coast Guard conducted a medevac of a 51-year-old man from a tug in Cleveland's Inner Harbor near Whiskey Island, late Monday afternoon.

The man's name and name of the tug is not being released.

At around 4:30 p.m. Coast Guard Sector Buffalo received a report from the tug of a 51-year-old crew member who was not breathing and had no pulse.

Sector Buffalo directed immediate launch of the ready crew from Coast Guard Station Cleveland Harbor to respond to the critical situation. The crew quickly arrived on scene, transferred the man to their 45-foot response boat where they began defibrillation, and administered CPR while transiting to awaiting emergency medical services personnel at Edgewater Marina.

It was reported that during the transit to Cleveland Metro Hospital, the man regained a pulse and is listed in critical condition.





Gale warning posted for later in week

10/28 - Gale warnings have been issued for Thursday as the remnants of Hurricane Patricia are forecast to combine with a local weather system over Northern Michigan bringing gale force winds. This weather system is expected to send ships to anchor across the lakes.


Dock rehab continues

10/28 - Historically, roll-on/roll-off cargoes into the port of Duluth are large pieces of industrial equipment or machinery that are treated with unconventional means.

Like other ports, they're jacked up to accommodate motorized carriers slid underneath that feature the 80-100 tires required to move massive weights from barge to dock.

But the barge-to-dock maneuvers that happen at the end of the Clure Public Marine Terminal employ timbers at an odd angle and plenty of human innovation.

"It's kind of a Rube Goldberg arrangement," said Jim Sharrow, director of port planning and resiliency for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and one of the people whose brain is tested whenever it's time to roll off a heavy cargo.

But thanks to the $17.7 million rehabilitation of Docks C and D across the slip from the Clure terminal, the port of Duluth will feature a proper roll-on/roll-off dock, possibly as soon as later this fall.

What's visible now just off the road from Helberg Drive are roughly 80 H-beams of steel jutting out of the water of Superior Bay. The pilings have been driven anywhere from 105-170 feet into the lakebed. Sharrow described the steel pilings as coming in 70-foot lengths that are welded together.

The water is shallow near the shoreline at the end of the dock and the lakebed is soft. That's why the pilings have been driven so deep.

"We've done borings, and first of all you get through the material used to build the dock — anything they could find: used bricks, chunks of wood, you name it — and below that it's mostly just sand, some areas of clay and the original alluvial sedimentary materials," Sharrow said. "You get into layers of organics and sand."

The pilings were driven using vibration hammers and pile drivers until each one found its bearing — some deeper, some shallower. The pilings don't reach any sort of bedrock, Sharrow said, only resistance on all sides.

Sometime in November, the contractor, Lunda Construction of Black River Falls, Wis., will pour the concrete cap that will serve as the surface of the roll-on/roll-off (or RORO) dock. The finished product will feature a security fence and be precisely perpendicular to the dock — both vast improvements over the current arrangement.

"That's something we haven't had is a designated RORO dock," said Sharrow, adding that Duluth should make use of the RORO dock at least a couple of times per shipping season.

RORO cargoes in oceanic ports can be loads of vehicles that roll off ships that feature hinged drawbridges in their bows. But typically on the Great Lakes, roll-off cargoes come on barges and can weigh 500 tons or more.

Duluth News Tribune



On this day in 1939, the Pittsburgh steamer D. G. KERR, Captain H. D. Mc Leod, rescued six men from the cabin cruiser FRANCIS J. H. that was disabled and sinking on Lake Erie.

On this day in 1953, the McKEE SONS loaded her first cargo of 17,238 tons of stone at Port Inland for delivery to East Chicago. Originally built as the C-4 MARINE ANGEL, the McKEE SONS was the first ocean vessel converted to a Great Lakes self-unloader.

On this day in 1978, a new 420 foot tanker built at Levingston Shipbuilding, Orange, Texas, was christened GEMINI during ceremonies at Huron, Ohio. The GEMINI was the largest American flagged tanker on the lakes with a capacity of 75,000 barrels and a rated speed of 15.5 mph. Sold Canadian and renamed b.) ALGOSAR in 2005.

On October 28, 1891, DAVID STEWART (3-mast wooden schooner, 171 foot, 545 gross tons, built in 1867, at Cleveland, Ohio) was dragged ashore off Fairport, Ohio, by a strong gale. She was stranded and declared a total loss. However, she was salvaged and repaired in 1892 and lasted one more year.

CANADIAN PIONEER's maiden voyage was on October 28, 1981, to Conneaut, Ohio, to take on coal for Nanticoke, Ontario.

CANADIAN TRANSPORT was launched October 28, 1978, for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd., Toronto, Ontario.

FRED G. HARTWELL (Hull# 781) was launched October 28, 1922, by American Ship Building Co. at Lorain, Ohio, for the Franklin Steamship Co. Renamed b.) MATTHEW ANDREWS in 1951. Sold Canadian in 1962, renamed c.) GEORGE M. CARL. She was scrapped at Aviles, Spain, in 1984.

D. M. CLEMSON (Hull# 716) was launched October 28, 1916, at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio.

CHARLES M. WHITE was launched October 28, 1945, as a C4-S-A4 cargo ship a.) MOUNT MANSFIELD for the U.S. Maritime Commission (U.S.M.C. Hull #2369).

On October 28, 1887, BESSIE BARWICK, a 135 foot wooden schooner built in 1866, at St. Catharines, Ontario, as a bark, left Port Arthur for Kingston, Ontario, with a load of lumber during a storm. For more than ten days, her whereabouts were unknown. In fact, a westerly gale drove her into the shallows of Michipicoten Island and she was pounded to pieces. Her crew was sheltered by local fishermen and then made it to the Soo in a small open boat.

On October 28, 1882, RUDOLPH WETZEL (wooden propeller tug, 23 tons, built in 1870, at Buffalo, New York) was racing for a tow with the tug HENRY S SILL when her boiler exploded 12 miles north of Racine, Wisconsin. She quickly sank. All three on board were killed and none of the bodies were ever found.

1901: The wooden schooner JULIA LARSON sank in a gale a half-mile northeast of Grand Marais, MI. The ship was later recovered and returned to service.

1928: The newly built DEEPWATER ran aground at Sugar Loaf Point, west of Port Colborne, in fog. The ship was lightered and released four days later and went to Montreal for repairs. The vessel later sailed the lakes as b) KEYMONT and c) HAMILDOC (ii) before being scrapped at Port Dalhousie in 1962.

1939: The tug R.P. REIDENBACH, with E.A.S. CLARKE (ii) under tow at Ashtabula, rolled over and sank with the loss of 2 lives. It was refloated, became b) CONNEAUT in 1941 and was scrapped at Ashtabula about 1964.

1959: The tug BROWN BROTHERS, enroute to Port Burwell under tow of the tug LUKE, was overwhelmed by the waves and sank off Long Point with no loss of life. Originally a fish tug, the vessel served as the b) IVEY ROSE from 1946 to 1950 pushing the barge T.A. IVEY in the Lake Erie coal trade.

1964: BORGFRED, a Great Lakes visitor in 1952, caught fire in the engine room as g) GIANNIS and sank off Malta two days later while on a voyage from Romania to Algeria.

1970: WEARFIELD, a British freighter began Great Lakes visits in 1964 as the largest saltwater ship to yet use the Seaway, was blown aground at the entrance to the Soo Locks due to high winds on this date in 1970. It took over 5 hours to release the vessel. Service ended on arrival at Shanghai, China, for scrapping as f) FAIR WIND on March 15, 1985.

1979: PIERSON INDEPENDENT ran aground in the St. Lawrence near Brockville while downbound with a cargo of corn. The ship was released but then beached as it was taking on water. Temporary repairs allowed the vessel to be refloated again on October 31 and it sailed to Trois Rivieres to be unloaded. 2007: SEA MAID, a small Danish freighter, came through the Seaway in 1997 with steel for Cleveland. It was wrecked as d) OMER N. 18 miles west of Gedser, Denmark, and was dismantled in sections at Grenaa, Denmark, in 2008.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Gale warnings for all of Michigan's Great Lakes; 15-foot waves expected

10/29 - Gale warnings are in effect for all of Michigan waters of the Great Lakes for Thursday. Strong westerly winds will develop Wednesday night.

Winds gusting to 45 mph will cause high waves to develop on the east shore of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The Lake Michigan shore between Saugatuck and Grand Haven will take the brunt of the storm in Michigan. Wave heights are expected to build to 15 feet by Thursday morning.

The west wind means the highest waves on Lake Huron will be on the Canadian shoreline. On Lake Superior, a north wind will build waves to over 10 feet on the northeastern shoreline of the Upper Peninsula.

By Wednesday evening, some lake vessels were already headed to anchor.

M Live





Marysville DTE plant to come down Nov. 7

10/29 - Marysville, Mich. – In less than two weeks, the Marysville power plant is coming down. Public Safety Chief Tom Konik said the city granted a blast permit for Nov. 7 for the implosion of the former DTE Energy power plant.

Crews began to dismantle the plant in spring 2014 to make way for new development at the site. Commercial Development Company purchased the plant from DTE Energy in May 2014. The 12-story plant operated from 1922 through 2001. It was decommissioned in 2011.

Last week, Marysville unveiled conceptual plans for the site — plans that included a multi-floor hotel, condominium housing, shops, outdoor seating, a park and riverfront promenade.

In September, the city set conditions that had to be met before the building could be imploded. Konik said nearly all of those requirements have been met, and the remaining ones will be met prior to the implosion.

Some of the conditions Marysville set for implosion included an independent confirmation that hazardous material had been removed from the site, a model displaying post-blast dust dispersal, and safety assurances from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Konik said experts have researched potential issues that might arise because of dust or vibrations created by the roughly 8.5-second implosion. While dust is unavoidable, Konik said, officials have mapped out areas that could be impacted and will spray water on the building and grounds to mitigate potential issues. Water trucks and other cleanup equipment will be standing by in the event of any issues.

Konik said the city’s water intake will be closed just prior to the implosion as a precaution, but he doesn’t expect the anticipated dust to affect downriver intakes.

The implosion is scheduled for 8 a.m. Nov. 7, but Konik said roadways will be shut down in the exclusion zone from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Gratiot Boulevard from Ravenswood Road to St. James Street will be shut down as part of the exclusion zone. Busha Highway from Gratiot Boulevard to Huron Boulevard also will be closed during that time.

Konik said, while the implosion is not a “spectator’s sport,” the best view of the implosion would be at Market Square on Gratiot Boulevard in Marysville, across the river in Canada, or by boat outside the exclusion zone on the St. Clair River.

Businesses within the exclusion zone – Blue Water Aggregate, Linwood Bar, and All State Insurance – will make other accommodations during the implosion.

Residents within the exclusion area must either leave the area during that time or stay indoors as the noise of the blast will reach high levels. Konik said Sitetech Inc. will have an area for residents in the exclusion zone to stay if they wish to leave their homes during the implosion. Residents in the exclusion zone will be contacted before the implosion.

Mike Brehse, project manager with Sitetech Inc., said he expects the cleanup after the implosion to take about six months.

Port Huron Times Herald





Great Lakes ballast water regulation will be issue facing new Canadian leader

10/29 - A Canadian official said that he hopes his country's new elected leaders and the U.S. can work out an agreement on ballast water for Great Lakes ships.

Roy Norton, the consul general for the Canadian government in Chicago, said he expects to stay in that post as Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau replaces Conservative Party head Stephen Harper as Canadian prime minister. Norton said he'd like to see the U.S. government, the Great Lakes states and Canada end their differences over regulations affecting the cleaning of ballast water in ships passing through the Great Lakes.

"If we can harmonize those, it would (be) best from an enforcement point of view. It would give clarity to the shipping industry, for example," said Norton.

It's not quite clear when any deal could be reached. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to write stricter rules for ballast water.Scientists said that they believe many of the invasive species harming the Great Lakes arrived in ballast, the water that helps vessel stability.

Wisconsin Public Radio


10/29 - Port Huron, Mich. – The signs on the doors at the Great Lakes Maritime Center at Vantage Point in Port Huron state the center will be closed Dec. 19 and will not reopen until March 12.

"It’s very simple actually," said Mike DeLong, director of operations for Acheson Ventures, which owns the maritime center. "We’re going back to our mission of what that building is, and that's ship watching."

The maritime center was built in 2005. Since that time, it has become a haven for ship watchers and a place for community events with a connection to the maritime industry and the Great Lakes.

DeLong said freighter traffic slows during the winter. "We have decided during the winter months … we want to go back to our mission of what that building was built for," he said.

The Soo Locks that connect Lake Superior to the lower lakes close Jan. 15 and open on March 15. DeLong said some ships will have starting laying up for the winter when the maritime center starts its winter break on Dec. 19. He said the maritime center will be host to the Blessing of the Fleet on March 19.

He said Backstreet Waterfront Deli and BoatNerd.com have been informed about the winter break and will not be in the building during that time. Pete Belcher, who owns the deli with his wife, Debbie, said they will take a long vacation and visit relatives. They have been at the maritime center since 2012.

"This is the first time we've had this much time off," he said. "We're going to enjoy it and be back open when the maritime center opens. We have regulars and a lot of them are snowbirds."

Frank 'Freighter Frank" Frisk, said the BoatNerd.com website will continue to update freighter watchers. He said he will be meeting with the website's board of directors to see what they want to do. "There’s 40 people that work on the website every day, including me," he said.

"I’m sure there won't be any problems because BoatNerd was up and running before they moved into this building."

People will still be able to walk along the seawall at Vantage Point, Delong said. He said the winter closure was not done to save money. The motive, he said, is to re-emphasize ship watching.

The Great Lakes Maritime Center will also be closed Thanksgiving Day.

Great Lakes Maritime Center


10/29 - Cape Breton – Crews are removing the final remnants of the ill-fated former laker Canadian Miner from Scatarie Island off Cape Breton and people who live in the area are getting ready to celebrate.

Antigonish contractor R. J. MacIsaac has removed the last bits of scrap and the workers camp from the shoreline where the bulk carrier ran ashore more than four years ago.

Nova Scotia Lands has been overseeing the cleanup work. President Gary Campbell says after some weather delays, the only work that remains is some tidying up. "By the end of this weekend, everything will be out of there. Next week, they'll get the site back to normal and next week, we'll be back to the way it was before the Miner landed on the shore," he said.

The Miner was being towed from Montreal to Turkey to be cut up for scrap when the tow line snapped in September 2011. Over time, weather and waves eroded the body of the vessel, which raised concerns for nearby fishing grounds.

Roughly 30 tonnes of asbestos was removed during the salvage. The provincial government has estimated the final bill will be more than $14 million. Piece by piece, the ship was dismantled and by August there was a huge heap of scrap metal.

Campbell says the island is being returned to its original, pristine condition. "We picked up the topsoil and saved it and the grass and everything and that will be all be put back in place," he said said. Campbell says some rock will be left behind to protect the shore, but most of the rock has been taken back to the mainland.

The Main-A-Dieu Community Development Association, which fought for the ship's removal for the past four years, is now preparing to host a huge community celebration.

"You can succeed. We're a prime example. So many people said no and ignored our pleas to clean up the Miner. We kept going and look what we did," said Amanda MacDougall.

She says the group is meeting next week to plan a big party. They're even considering the idea of printing T-shirts with the words, "I survived the MV Miner."

The removal of the Miner was expected to be completed by November 2014, but work was delayed when 30 tonnes of asbestos were found. Originally, it was estimated that there would only be 6.6 tonnes of asbestos present.

CBC


The whaleback barge 127 (steel barge, 264 foot, 1,128 gross tons) was launched by the American Steel Barge Company of W. Superior, Wisconsin, on 29 October 1892. She lasted until 1936, when she was scrapped at New Orleans, Louisiana.

On 29 October 1906, the schooner WEST SIDE (wooden schooner, 138 foot, 324 gross tons, built in 1870, at Oswego, New York) was carrying pulpwood from Tobermory, Ontario, to Delray, Michigan, when she was caught in a severe gale on Lake Huron. There was no shelter and the vessel was lost about 25 mile off Thunder Bay Island. The skipper and his crew, consisting of his wife and three sons aged 10 to 18, abandoned in the yawl. They all suffered from exposure to the wind and waves, but luckily the FRANK H. PEAVEY (steel propeller freighter, 430 foot, 5,002 gross tons, built in 1901, at Lorain, Ohio) picked them up and brought them to Port Huron, Michigan.

ALGOLAKE (Hull# 211) was launched October 29, 1976, at Collingwood Shipyards, Ltd. for the Algoma Central Railway.

On October 29, 1986, the JAMES R. BARKER, which had suffered an engine room fire, was lashed side-by-side to the thousand-foot WILLIAM J. DE LANCEY and towed to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin for repairs.

The pieced-together CANADIAN EXPLORER (Hull#71) was christened on October 29, 1983, at Port Weller Dry Docks. She was created from the bow section of the NORTHERN VENTURE and the stern of the CABOT. The stern of the EXPLORER is now the stern of the ALGOMA TRANSFER.

The National Transportation Safety Board ruled on October 29, 1991, that Total Petroleum was responsible for the fire that destroyed the tanker JUPITER because of faulty moorings and exonerated the BUFFALO from primary responsibility.

On the afternoon of October 29, 1987, while upbound with coal from Sandusky, Ohio, the ROGER M. KYES went aground on Gull Island Shoal in Lake Erie's Middle Passage and began taking on water. About 3,000 tons of coal was transferred to the AMERICAN REPUBLIC after which the KYES freed herself the next morning. Damage from the grounding required extensive repairs. She was renamed b.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS in 1989.

The tug portion of the PRESQUE ISLE departed New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 29, 1973.

The H. C. HEIMBECKER's last trip started at Thunder Bay, Ontario, with a load of grain bound for Owen Sound, Ontario where, on October 29, 1981, it was discovered that one of her boilers was cracked. When unloading was completed on October 30th, the HEIMBECKER proceeded under her own power to Ashtabula, Ohio, for scrapping.

On 29 October 1892, ZACH CHANDLER (3 mast wooden schooner-barge, 194 foot, 727 gross tons, built in 1867, at Detroit, Michigan) was carrying lumber from Ashland, Wisconsin, in tow of the steamer JOHN MITCHELL when the two became separated in a northerly gale in Lake Superior. The CHANDLER was overwhelmed and broke up on shore about three miles east of Deer Park, Michigan. Five of the crew made it to shore in the lifeboat and the Lifesaving Service saved two others, but one perished. Three years earlier, the CHANDLER stranded at almost the same spot and sustained heavy damage.

On 29 October 1879, AMAZON (wooden propeller freighter, 245 foot, 1,406 tons, built in 1873, at Trenton, Michigan) was carrying "provisions" - 900 tons of freight plus 7,000 barrels of flour - from Milwaukee to Grand Haven, Michigan. She struck the notorious bar off of Grand Haven in a gale and broke up. All 68 aboard survived. Her engine was later recovered.

On 29 October 1880, THOMAS A. SCOTT (4-mast wooden schooner-barge, 207 foot, 1,159 tons, built in 1869, at Buffalo, New York as a propeller) was riding out a storm at anchor one mile off Milwaukee when she was struck by the big steamer AVON (wooden propeller, 251 foot, 1,702 gross tons, built in 1877, at Buffalo, New York). The SCOTT sank quickly. She had been bound from Chicago for Erie, Pennsylvania, with 44,000 bushels of corn. Three of her crew scrambled onto the AVON while the seven others took to the yawl and were towed in by the Lifesaving Service.

1887: VERNON, enroute from Cheboygan to Chicago, foundered off Two Rivers, Wisconsin, in a sudden and violent Lake Michigan storm. Only one on board was saved while another 36 lives were lost.

1907: CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS, a wooden passenger steamer recently brought into Canadian registry, caught fire while stopped at Tobermory for the night while enroute from Wiarton to Manitoulin Island. The blazing ship was cut loose, drifted into the bay and sank.

1917: RISING SUN stranded at Pyramid Point, Lake Michigan, in snow and the 32 on board were rescued before the ship was broken apart by the surf.

1924: GLENORCHY sank in Lake Huron, six miles ESE of Harbor Beach after a collision with the LEONARD B. MILLER. Dense fog mixing with smoke from forest fires were blamed for the accident. All on board were saved. No lives were lost but the GLENORCHY sank and the estimated damage to the two vessels was $600,000.

1926: TORHAMVAN, built at Midland as CANADIAN LOGGER, was wrecked off Newfoundland after going aground in fog enroute to Montreal. Area residents rescued the crew.

1929: The passenger and freight carrier WISCONSIN foundered off Kenosha, Wisconsin, with the loss of 16 lives.

1942: NORLUNA, built at Chicago in 1919 as LAKE GETAWAY, stranded in Ungava Bay, off the coast of Labrador near Fort Chimo, and was a total loss.

1951: After unloading grain at Buffalo, the PENOBSCOT was in a collision on the Buffalo River with the tanker barge MORANIA 130, pushed by the tug DAUNTLESS NO. 12. The barge was carrying gasoline and a terrible fire broke out. A total of 11 sailors, including two on the freighter, died from burns.

1959: MARISCO had visited the Great Lakes as a) MOYRA and b) HEIKA. The ship foundered in the Gulf of Laconia, off Gythion, Greece, after developing a leak in the engineroom. It was enroute from Varna, Bulgaria, to Genoa, Italy, with iron ore.

1968: GLOUCESTER CITY began Great Lakes trading in 1966. The ship was sailing as b) ST. JOHN when it put into Fort Dauphin, Malagasy Republic, with engine trouble on a voyage from Montreal to Djakarta, Indonesia. Two days later the vessel broke its moorings in a gale and was blown on a sandbank as a total loss.

1978: The Swedish freighter FREDBORG, b) FREDRIK RAGNE, a Great Lakes visitor under both names before and after the Seaway was opened, returned as c) ANASTASSIA in 1968. The vessel was towed out of Tema, Ghana, as e) GAYTA on this date in 1978 and scuttled in the deep waters of the Atlantic.

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/30 - Dashed by giant waves in Lake Superior, the 729-foot iron ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald went down on Nov. 10, 1975. The sinking killed the crew of 29 and made headlines for months as investigators tried to determine what went wrong.

The 40th anniversary has sparked a new exhibit at the Michigan State University Museum, “Iron Hulls and Turbulent Waters,” as well as exhibits and events at other museums across the state and region.

“It’s the Fitzgerald that has caught everyone’s imagination,” said John Beck, adjunct curator at the MSU Museum. “It’s been 40 years and we haven’t had a wreck of that magnitude since.”

Capricious weather on the Great Lakes has claimed other huge ore-carriers, including the Carl D. Bradley, which sank in Lake Michigan in November 1958, killing 33 of its 35 crewmembers, and the Daniel J. Morrell, which went down in Lake Huron in November 1966, killing 28 of its 29 crew members. Lone survivor Dennis Hale, who wrote a book and lectured on the experience, died earlier this year.

The exhibit is in honor of the Fitzgerald, but also “all the men and women who make the ore trade and Great Lakes shipping possible,” Beck said.

It includes 24 photographs taken by James Brozek, who worked in a Milwaukee shipyard during winter months to keep the gigantic ore carriers in good shape. He’ll be at the museum Thursday for a gallery talk and reception and will speak Friday.

It also features two poems by East Lansing poet Cindy Hunter Morgan, whose upcoming book is made up of poems on shipwreck themes. There's also a model of the Henry Ford II.

Beck, who grew up in Escanaba not far from the city’s ore docks, points out that the mighty freighters are part of Michigan’s landscape and integral to the state’s economy. “When you think of iron ore boats you think of sailors, you don’t think of people who repair the boats, people who work on the ore docks themselves, the ship chandlers who make sure that things are provided for the ships so that they can actually sail,” he said.

Paul C. LaMarre III does think of all of those things as the director for the Port of Monroe, Mich. He also led the restoration of the Col. James M. Schoonmaker, built in the same shipyard as the Fitzgerald and now at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo. His father, Paul LaMarre Jr., is known for his Great Lakes maritime art and may have taken the last photo ever of the Fitzgerald, as it unloaded in Detroit.

“That would have been one or two trips prior to the sinking,” LaMarre III said. “The other eerie thing about it is, you can’t see a single person on deck in the photo.”

The Toledo museum has a lift raft from the Fitzgerald. It also has an interactive exhibit that allows visitors to maneuver a virtual submersible around a virtual model of the wreck.

Other artifacts, including lifeboats, are at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point. It hosts a Fitzgerald memorial on Nov. 10 each year, often including family members of the crew.

Here are some Fitzgerald and shipping-related events:

• “Iron Hulls and Turbulent Waters” is on display through Jan. 24 at the Michigan State University Museum, 409 W. Circle Drive, East Lansing, Mich. Events include a reception with James Brozek from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday; and a talk by Brozek at 12:15 Friday in the museum auditorium. A panel discussion is scheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 10 at the MSU Library featuring State Archaeologist Dean Anderson and MSU professors Peter Kakela and Michael Velbel. They’ll discuss the nature and shipping of iron ore and Great Lakes shipwrecks. In addition, Robert Campbell, author of “Classic Ships of the Great Lakes,” will sign books and speak at 7 p.m. Nov. 17 at Schuler Books in Meridian Mall.

• The annual Lost Mariners Remembrance takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, on Belle Isle in Detroit. It feature marine artist Robert McGreevy, who will tell the story of lifesaving crews that patrolled the Great Lakes. There also is a lantern vigil at the Fitzgerald anchor and a performance by singer Lee Murdock. Admission is $10; advance registration is strongly recommended. Call 313-833-1801 for information.

• “Gales of November: The 40th Anniversary of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” takes place at 7 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven. Speaker Jim Spurr will discuss the perils of Lake Superior travel in November, from 1816 through the Fitzgerald sinking in 1975. Admission is $8. Learn more at www.michiganmaritimemuseum.org.

• The 40th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony takes place at 7 p.m. Nov. 10 in the main gallery at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Gallery in Whitefish Point. The museum displays the bell of the wrecked ship as well as its lifeboats and other artifacts. The bell will toll 29 times, once for each member of the crew, and a 30th time for all lost on the Great Lakes. The museum also will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 10. Learn more about the museum and the event at www.shipwreckmuseum.com. • The documentary movie “A Good Ship and Crew Well-Seasoned” will premiere at 6 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Seagate Center in Toledo as part of the National Museum of the Great Lakes’ Fitzgerald memorial activities. Learn more at www.inlandseas.org.

• On Nov. 10 at Split Rock Lighthouse near Two Harbors, Minn., a film about the Fitzgerald will be shown in the Visitor Center theater continuously throughout the afternoon. The lighthouse and the fog signal building will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The lighthouse will close temporarily at 4:30 p.m. while the names of the 29 lost crew members are read to the tolling of a ship’s bell. Following the ceremony, the beacon will be lit and the tower once again opened for visitors to tour. This is the only opportunity each year when visitors can climb to the top of the tower and see the beacon lit and revolving. Admission is adults: $9; seniors: $7; children (age 6-17) $6. Visit www.exploreminnesota.com for more information.

• Author Rochelle Pennington will return to the Door County Marine Museum in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. to address the most famous of all Great Lakes shipwrecks. Pennington, who gained popularity for books on topics such as the Rouse Simmons (Christmas Tree Ship), will delve into the various theories and opposing views relating to the big ore carrier’s demise. Pennington has been researching the Fitzgerald’s sinking for a new book scheduled to be released next spring. Visit www.dcmm.org for details.

Lansing State Journal


10/30 - Duluth, Minn. – Ongoing depressed prices for iron ore and declining prices for hot-rolled steel continue to weigh heavy on Cliffs Natural Resources and its Minnesota taconite mining operations.

The company released its third-quarter financial results Thursday, reporting revenues of $593 million, down 30 percent from 2015. That drop is due mostly to declining U.S. iron ore production, now at 4,099 tons compared to 5,814 at this time last year, a 30 percent drop.

Despite being down, revenues and earnings both beat industry analysts estimates, and the company’s stock price rose a bit Thursday to $2.81 at mid-morning, up about 6 percent for the day but a far cry from the heady days of $100 per share when iron ore and steel prices were high in 2011.

Cliffs had some good news, including reporting that it has slashed the cost of producing taconite at its Minnesota and Michigan taconite iron ore mines from $56 per ton to just under $49 per ton, which has greatly reduced losses as iron ore prices remain low.

The company said the decrease was driven by salaried workforce reductions and overall lower employment costs; reduced maintenance and repair costs based on cost reduction and predictive maintenance initiatives and lower prices for energy.

Cliffs officials say they continue to negotiate in good faith with the United Steelworkers union, with the worker’s contract expiring a month ago. “We are on the same page with our United Steelworkers labor force,’’ said Lourenco Goncalves, Cliffs CEO and president, in a teleconference with analysts Thursday morning. “We remain optimistic a new labor deal will emerge.”

Cliffs also announced that it has produced 60,000 tons of so-called “DR-ready’’ iron ore pellets at Northshore Mining in Silver Bay, which it owns and operates, the company said it has a customer that will purchase the new style of pellet and use them to make iron nuggets that can be used to raise the quality of steel made in electric arc mini-mills. That’s an all-new market for Minnesota-made taconite that has traditionally gone to traditional blast furnaces.

“We are the first industrial-sized producer of DR-pellets in the United States,’’ Goncalves said.

The customer may begin using the pellets in trial steelmaking tests in early 2016, but Goncalves said it remains unclear when steel demand will increase enough to begin making large quantities of the pellets, noting that will require someone to invest in an iron nugget plant somewhere on the Great Lakes.

In addition to Northshore, Cliffs also owns and operates United Taconite in Eveleth/Forbes and is part owner and operator of Hibbing Taconite. It also owns and operate the Tilden and Empire operations in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Cliffs’ officials gave no sign when the United operations may reopen after being shuttered in July due to continued lower sales of taconite iron ore pellets to U.S. steel companies. The shutdown left 420 Iron Rangers out of work.

Goncalves, however, says he remains bullish on 2016 steel production, expecting U.S. trade sanctions on unfairly traded foreign steel may boost U.S. steel production next year.

“Steel prices are going to get better. … We are going to get out of the bottom. We aren’t out if it yet, but we are going to get there,’’ Goncalves said.

Goncalves said Cliffs’ customers will submit their 2016 “nominations’’ for iron ore purchases in November. At that point, Goncalves said, it may be more clear when United might reopen.

“We match our production to what we see in (orders) from our clients, and we’ll know more in the next few weeks,’’ said Kelly Tompkins, Cliffs’ chief financial officer.

The Empire operations, idled earlier in 2015, did reopen recently, Goncalves noted.

The colorful CEO also continued his assault on the Essar Steel Minnesota taconite operation being built in Nashwauk, calling it a “construction site in disarray’’ and challenging Essar’s prediction that the all-new mining and processing facility will be producing pellets in 2016.

Goncalves called it “that stupid development’’ and said Essar’s inviting him to tour the site in July was “one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen’’ and called it “inviting the enemy to look at the inside.”

Goncalves has sparred with Essar for good reason — any new taconite production is likely to eat into Cliffs’ production. Goncalves has said since January that there is no demand for the estimated 7 million tons Essar will produce annually and that the new production will simply force closure of other Minnesota taconite operations, most likely a Cliffs’ operations like United.

Duluth News Tribune


10/30 - Cornwall, Ont. – A pair of shipping companies avoided serious consequences stemming from the double tugboat sinkings in the St. Lawrence River last June. The Lac Manitoba and LCM 131 were victimized by the strong river current that swirls around the in-water bridge pillars.

"Prior to a vessel undertaking any operations, particularly in the presence of strong currents, the operation should be assessed for safety," wrote Transport Canada - marine safety and security director of investigations Marc-Andre Poisson in Marine Safety Information Letter No. 06/15, dated Aug. 28.

"In these occurrences, the suitability of the tugs to carry out the operation, given the river conditions, had not been thoroughly assessed."

First, the Lac Manitoba went upstream of the barge OC 181 to help position it in order for its platform to be used to assist with the removal of the old Seaway International Bridge on June 22. LMC 131 was also utilized to pull another steel cable from the barge to secure it to the bridge footing.

"At one point during the operations, the Lac Manitoba lost power, drifted downriver and collided with the side of the barge," Poisson reported. "After the collision, the current pinned the Lac Manitoba against the barge and the tug listed, down-flooded and heeled over onto its side." The crew safely evacuated the vessel on a life raft.

"Around that time, the steel cable holding the barge in place broke and the barge pivoted on its spud, allowing the current to carry the Lac Manitoba further downstream." Despite the mishap, LCM 131 resumed the operation securing the barge to one of the bridge footings.

"The LCM 131, connected to the barge by a tow line, was manuevering around the bow when the current overpowered the tug, pinning it against the hull of the barge, causing the L.C.M. 131 to list, down-flood and heel over onto its side." The crew escaped onto the barge. There were some minor injuries reported.

The Transport Board investigation learned that three days prior, there was an unsuccessful attempt by Lac Manitoba to push the barge to the bridge. A rescue boat, intended to provide rescue services if need be, was used also to transfer a cable.

Poisson reported also: "Furthermore, the risks of using the rescue boat for a purpose other than intended and outside its primary duties were likely not considered.”

The report cautions Lac Manitoba and LCM 131 owners, Nadro Marine Services Ltd. of Port Dover, Ont., and West Front Construction of Long Sault, Ont., to advise the Transport Board of any action that would prevent such occurrences in the future.

Poisson also notifies the companies that further investigation may be possible. Both companies did not respond to requests for interviews. Both vessels were lifted out of the water by early August.

Cornwall Standard-Freeholder

At least 7 vessels to visit Tall Ships Erie 2016 festival

10/30 - Erie, Pa. – At least seven tall ships, and possibly as many as 10, will appear at the Tall Ships Erie Festival on Sept. 8-11, 201 Flagship Niagara League officials announced Wednesday.

The four-day festival will begin Thursday, Sept. 8, at 4 p.m. with a Parade of Sail in Presque Isle Bay, led by the U.S. Brig Niagara.

As of Wednesday, six other vessels were committed to appearing at the 2016 festival, including the Porcupine, a "representation'' of a War of 1812 gunboat, which is being built at the Bayfront Maritime Center.

Flagship Niagara League Executive Director Shawn Waskiewicz said he would like to bring a top international tall ship to the 2016 festival.

The Tall Ships Erie 2013 festival featured the Norwegian vessel Sorlandet, which was a popular attraction.

"Sorlandet was the star of the show, but she won't be sailing on the Great Lakes next year, so right now we're in negotiations with a couple international vessels,'' Waskiewicz said. "The fleet that we have is a really great fleet, but the ships are a little on the small side, so we're looking to find that one star of the show, like Sorlandet, and I think we're really close to signing a contract.''

Other ships committed to appearing in Erie are the Denis Sullivan, a three-masted schooner whose home port is Milwaukee, Wis.; the two-masted brigantines Pathfinder and Playfair, each of Toronto; the Appledore IV, of Bay City, Mich.; and the Mist of Avalon, of Toronto.

Bayfront Maritime Center officials expect the Porcupine to be ready to launch in April. If organizers attract 10 vessels, seven will provide tours, and three others, including the Porcupine, will have public day sails.

Sept. 9 is restricted to activities for school education tours from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., group tours from 2:30 to 6 p.m., and those who purchase a day pass in advance online.

The festival, presented by Highmark, is open to the public on Sept. 10, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sept. 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Festival tickets will go on sale April 1. For ticket and event information, visit TallShipsErie.org.

goErie.com


Divers begin work at possible Argo barge site

10/30 - Lake Erie – Divers began work Tuesday on what's believed to be the wreck of the Argo, a barge that sank in Lake Erie in 1937 while carrying a large cargo of oil.

High winds forced the divers to stay out of the lake Wednesday, and bad weather was expected Thursday, but it's hoped the divers can resume work Friday, said Lt. Ryan Junod, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard's Marine Safety Unit in Toledo.

"Until the weather improves, continuing to dive on the vessel is not safe," Junod said.

Keeping track of the weather at the site of the wreck won't be a problem. "We have a weather buoy out there to give us a live update," Junod said. "That was provided by NOAA." That stands for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The wreck is about 12 miles northeast of Sandusky and about eight miles east of Kelleys Island, about two miles south of the border that separates the Canadian side of Lake Erie from the American side.

Junod said divers have not found a possible leak yet, but did a general assessment around the site, including taking measurements of the wreck, which lies on a lake bottom that's about 50 feet beneath the surface.

The measurements show that the size of the wreck is consistent with the Argo, but it has still not been positively identified, Junod said. The Coast Guard wants to find the Argo's name on the hull or find an identifying number. Still, evidence continues to grow that it's the Argo.

The Coast Guard boat at the scene was joined by T and T Salvage's diving operation. And the Sandusky Fire Department also brought over its boat, manned by paramedics, as a safety measure, Junod said.

The Coast Guard strike team at the scene used "sniffing" equipment to try to detect fumes from a possible oil leak, but did not detect anything. Water samples were taken at the scene for testing.

A Coast Guard helicopter flying over the area found a patch of silver-colored water, about 75 yards wide, 4.5 miles northwest of the sinking site. Officials at NOAA and Environment Canada determined that it could have come from the Argo.

After obtaining permission from Canada's Coast Guard, a U.S. Coast Guard ship entered the area and ran a search to find the patch of colored water but did not find it, Junod said. A NOAA aircraft based in Ann Arbor, Mich., has been flying over the scene taking photographs for analysis. Nothing from a possible leak has been detected so far.

Water samples and marine growth samples have been taken at the scene and sent off to NOAA for analysis. Meanwhile, Ohio Sea Grant prepared and posted a Frequently Asked Questions document on the Argo on the agency's website.

"Exactly what is leaking is unknown at this point, but the Argo was believed to have been carrying 4,762 barrels (over 200,000 gallons) – half benzol (a coal-tar product containing benzene and toluene) and half crude oil," the FAQ says.

It notes that the Coast Guard has told boats to stay away from the site.

Sandusky Register



On 30 October 1863, TORRENT (2-mast wooden schooner, 125 foot, 412 gross tons, built in 1855, at Newport [Marine City], Michigan) was carrying railroad iron from Buffalo to Little Bay de Noc when she foundered in a storm on Lake Erie, 10 miles east of Port Stanley, Ontario. No lives were lost.

On 30 October 1870, JOSEPH A. HOLLON (wooden barge, 107 foot, 158 gross tons, built in 1867, at E. Saginaw, Michigan) was in tow of the tug CLEMATIS (wooden tug, 179 tons, built in 1863, at Cleveland, Ohio) in a terrific gale on Lake Huron. The barge broke free and drifted off. The waves washed completely over her and the captain was swept overboard. Her cabins were destroyed. The next day the wife of the mate and another crewmember were rescued by the bark ONEONTA (wooden bark, 161 foot, 499 gross tons, built in 1862, at Buffalo, New York) and taken to Detroit, but the HOLLON was left to drift on the Lake. The newspapers listed her as "missing". Five days later the vessel was found and was towed into Port Elgin, Ontario. A total of four lives were lost: three were missing and the fourth was found "lashed to a pump, dead, with his eyes picked out.”

The tugs GLENADA and MOUNT MC KAY towed AMOCO ILLINOIS from Essexville, Michigan, on October 30, 1985, and arrived at the M&M slip in Windsor, Ontario, on November 1st. where she was to be scrapped.

The Maritimers CADILLAC and her fleetmate CHAMPLAIN arrived under tow by the Dutch tug/supply ship THOMAS DE GAUWDIEF on October 30, 1987, at Aliaga, Turkey, to be scrapped.

The ISLE ROYALE (Canal bulk freighter) was launched October 30, 1947, as a.) SOUTHCLIFFE HALL for the Hall Corporation of Canada Ltd. (which in 1969, became Hall Corporation (Shipping) 1969 Ltd.), Montreal.

On 30 October 1874, LOTTA BERNARD (wooden side wheel "rabbit", 125 foot, 147 tons, built in 1869, at Port Clinton, Ohio) was carrying general merchandise from Silver Islet to Duluth when she foundered in a terrific gale off Encampment Island in Lake Superior. Three lives were lost. She was capable of only 4 miles per hour and was at the mercy of any fast-rising storm.

During a storm, the schooner ANNABELLA CHAMBERS was wrecked on the islands off Toronto, Ontario, on 30 October 1873. One sailor was washed overboard and lost. The skipper was rescued, but he had the dead body of his small son in his arms.

On 30 October, 1971 - The PERE MARQUETTE 21 was laid up due to a coal strike. She never sailed again as a carferry.

On 30 October 1877, CITY OF TAWAS (3-mast wooden schooner, 135 foot, 291 tons, built in 1864, at Vicksburgh [now Marysville], Michigan as a sloop-barge) was carrying 500 tons of iron ore when she struck a bar outside the harbor at St. Joseph, Michigan, while attempting to enter during a storm. She drifted ashore with a hole in her bottom and was pounded to pieces. One brave crewman swam ashore with a line and the rest came in on it.

1918: The bulk carrier VULCAN went aground off Point Abbaye, on Lake Superior and the pilothouse caught fire and burned. The ship was enroute to Hancock, MI with coal and, after being released, was towed to Houghton, MI. The vessel was repaired and became b) VINMOUNT in 1919.

1960: JOHN SHERWIN went aground several miles above the Soo Locks and received serious bottom damage. The vessel was pulled free on November 7 and went for repairs.

1973: AIGLE MARIN, enroute to Thorold with 600 tons of ferrous chrome, went aground in the Seaway near Cornwall, ON. The tug ROBINSON BAY helped pull this small coastal freighter, a product of the Collingwood Shipyard, free on October 31.

1974: JOHN O. McKELLAR of the Misener fleet went aground in the St. Marys River and had to be lightered before being refloated. It was stuck for 3 days.

1978: The Cypriot freighter KARYATIS came through the Seaway in 1973. The ship, later under the Greek flag, was damaged in a collision on the Western Mediterranean with the SPRING. The latter, as a) IRISH ROSE, had made been a Great Lakes visitor from 1956 through 1958, and was declared a total loss after the collision. It was scrapped at Santander, Spain, in 1979. KARYATIS was repaired and was later broken up at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, as e) NOURA after arrival on April 7, 1987.

1980: The wooden-hulled former coastal freighter AVALON VOYAGER II, enroute to Owen Sound for planned use as a restaurant, had pump problems, lost power and struck bottom off Cape Hurd. The anchors failed to hold. The ship drifted into Hay Bay and stranded again. All on board were saved but the ship was a total loss.

[yachtsmanwilly]

11/2 - Muskegon, Mich. – The last shipment of coal to a soon-to-be shuttered Consumers Energy Plant in Muskegon is scheduled to arrive Nov. 8.

For more than 25 years, 1,000-foot ships have been regularly rolling into the Port of Muskegon with coal for Consumers' B.C. Cobb energy plant. The last such ship to deliver coal to Consumers in Muskegon will be the James R. Barker, a spokesman wrote in an email.

"The Barker is scheduled to be loaded with 58,000 tons of coal in Superior, Wisconsin, on Nov. 5," wrote Consumers spokesman Roger Morgenstern. "After the ship is loaded and underway, we will have a better idea of its arrival time."

The B.C. Cobb plant in Muskegon is set to cease operations by April 2016, officials have said, and go "cold and dark" by June. An electrical switch station will be separated from the power plant, but remain on the site. The rest of the power plant could be demolished by the end of 2018.

Officials have said a total of nine coal-fired power plant units in the state will soon shut down due to tightening restrictions on power plant emissions.

Consumers Energy has been studying how the power plant's prime real estate on Muskegon could be redeveloped. One of the company's top priorities for the plant's future so far has been the shipping industry.

Business leaders and government officials in Muskegon hope to encourage more shipping activity in the future, to make up for the shipping traffic lost by the power plant shutting down.

M Live

Manitowoc shipwrecks program on Nov. 12

11/2 - Manitowoc, Wis. – The Manitowoc County Historical Society will uncover stories of shipwrecks off the Lake Michigan coastline with a “Hungry for History” series presentation Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Heritage Center, 1701 Michigan Ave., Manitowoc, Wis.

The “Hungry for History” series features an evening of educational entertainment and a buffet dinner. Maritime Archaeologist Tamara Thomsen will share stories of current archaeological work on shipwrecks in Manitowoc County, and many of those are included in the newly-proposed National Marine Sanctuary.

Todd Breiby, from Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, will also give an overview of the National Marine Sanctuary designation process. The presentation will begin at 5 p.m., and a catered meal will follow.

Tickets are $20 for Manitowoc County Historical Society members and $25 for non-members, which includes the program and meal. Advanced registration is required for all Hungry for History programs at 920-684-4445. The series is a fundraiser for the Manitowoc County Historical Society.


On 02 November 1924, TURRET CROWN (steel propeller "turret ship,” 253 foot, 1,827 tons, built in 1895, in England) was driven ashore in a gale on Meldrum Point on the north side of Manitoulin Island on Lake Huron. Her hull was wrecked during the storms that winter. She was cut up and removed for scrap the following year.

On November 2, 1984, the tugs ATOMIC and ELMORE M. MISNER towed the ERINDALE, a.) W.F. WHITE, to the International Marine Salvage scrap dock at Port Colborne, Ontario, where demolition began that month.

H.C. HEIMBECKER proceeded under her own power to Ashtabula, Ohio, for scrapping, arriving there November 2, 1981.

On November 2, 1948, FRANK ARMSTRONG collided head-on with the c.) JOHN J. BOLAND of 1905, a.) STEPHEN B. CLEMENT, in a heavy fog on Lake Erie near Colchester, Ontario. Both vessels were badly damaged and resulted in one fatality on the BOLAND. The ARMSTRONG was towed to Toledo, Ohio, for repairs.

In 1972, the A. E. NETTLETON's towline parted from the OLIVE L. MOORE during a snowstorm with gale force winds 17 miles west of the Keweenaw Peninsula on Lake Superior. The barge developed a 15-degree list when her load of grain shifted. Three of her five-member crew were air lifted by a U.S.C.G. helicopter to the MOORE to assist in re-rigging the towline. The NETTLETON was towed the next day into the Lily Pond on the Keweenaw Waterway to trim her cargo.

The WILLIAM C. MORELAND was abandoned to the underwriters on November 2, 1910, as a constructive total loss, amounting to $445,000. She had stranded on Sawtooth Reef off Eagle Harbor, Michigan, on Lake Superior in mid October.

The keel of the new section, identified as Hull #28, was laid down on November 2, 1959. A new forward pilothouse and a hatch crane were installed and her steam turbine engine and water tube boilers were reconditioned. The vessel was named c.) RED WING after the Detroit Red Wing hockey team, honoring a long association with Upper Lakes Shipping and James Norris, the founder of ULS, and his two sons, James D. and Bruce, owners of the National Hockey League team.

In 1971, the Lake Michigan carferry BADGER was laid up due to a coal strike.

On 2 November 1889, FRANCIS PALMS (wooden schooner, 173 foot, 560 tons, built in 1868, at Marine City, Michigan, as a bark) was sailing from Escanaba to Detroit with a load of iron ore when she was driven ashore near Beaver Island in Lake Michigan. Her entire crew was taken off by the tug GLADIATOR that also pulled in vain while trying to free the PALMS. The PALMS was pounded to pieces by the storm waves. November was a bad month for the PALMS since she had previously been wrecked on Long Point in Lake Erie in November 1874, and again at Duluth in November 1872.

During the first week of November 1878, The Port Huron Times reported wrecks and mishaps that occurred during a severe storm that swept over the Lakes on Friday and Saturday, 1-3 November. The information was reported on 2, 4 & 5 November as the reports came in. The same reports will appear here starting today: The Port Huron Times of 2 November 1878: "The schooner L. C. WOODRUFF of Cleveland is ashore at the mouth of the White River with her foremast gone. She is loaded with corn. Three schooners went ashore at Grand Haven Friday morning, the AMERICA, MONTPELIER, and AUSTRALIAN. One man was drowned off the AUSTRALIAN. The schooner WORTS is ashore and full of water on Beaver Island. Her cargo consists of pork for Collingwood. The tug LEVIATHAN has gone to her aid. The schooner LAKE FOREST is ashore at Hammond's Bay, Lake Huron, and is full of water. She has a cargo of corn aboard. The tug A J SMITH has gone to her rescue. The barge S. C. WOODRUFF has gone down in 13 feet of water off Whitehall and her crew is clinging to the rigging at last accounts. A lifeboat has been sent to her relief. The barge RUTTER is in 25 feet of water and all the crew are now safe."

On 2 November 1874, PREBLE (2-mast wooden schooner, 98 foot, 166 tons, built in 1842, at Buffalo, New York as a brig) was lost in a storm off Long Point on Lake Erie and broke up in the waves. The steamer ST PAUL rescued her crew.

On 02 Nov 1862, BAY STATE (wooden propeller, 137 foot, 372 tons, built in 1852, at Buffalo, New York) was bound for Lake Erie ports from Oswego, New York when she broke up offshore in a terrific gale in the vicinity of Oswego. All 22 onboard, including six passengers, lost their lives. The shoreline was strewn with her wreckage for miles.

PAUL H. CARNAHAN was christened at the foot of West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan on 02 Nov 1961. She had been converted from the tanker b.) ATLANTIC DEALER to a dry bulk cargo carrier by American Ship Building Co. at Lorain, Ohio and came out on her maiden bulk freighter voyage just two weeks before this christening ceremony.

1912: JUNO, which had lost the barge P.B. LOCKE the previous day on Lake Ontario, arrived safely at Cobourg and then sank at the dock.

1923: The wooden steamer WESEE caught fire in Lake Erie off Middle Bass Island and burned as a total loss. The crew took to the yawl boats and all were saved.

1956: The former schooner J.T. WING, which had operated as a museum at Belle Isle in Detroit until condemned due to rotting timbers, was burned.

1981: FROSSO K., an SD 14 ocean freighter, suffered an engine room fire enroute from Vancouver to Japan. The ship was towed back to Vancouver November 15 and repaired. It first came through the Seaway in 1974 and arrived at Cartagena, Columbia, under tow, for scrapping on February 15, 1995, as e) MAMER.

1981: The West German freighter POSEIDON first came through the Seaway in 1962 and became a regular inland trader. It was abandoned, in leaking condition on this date, as e) VIKI K. in the Red Sea. There was some suspicion that the vessel was scuttled as part of an insurance fraud. 1988: PETER MISENER struck a shoal while upbound in the Saguenay River for Port Alfred with coke. There was major damage and the ship went to Montreal for repairs.

2001: AUDACIOUS stranded at Keleman Island, Indonesia, but was refloated two days later. The damage was severe and the vessel was laid up at Singapore and then sold to shipbreakers. The ship arrived at Alang, India, to be broken up, on April 27, 2002. The ship visited the Great Lakes as a) WELSH VOYAGER in 1977, and returned as b) LONDON VOYAGER in 1982 and c) OLYMPIC LEADER in 1983. It made its first inland voyage as d) AUDACIOUS in 1996 and its final call in 2000.


Two Barges in Lake Michigan Recovered After Breaking Free From Tow

11/1 - Two barges that broke free and floated away on Lake Michigan are now back where they belong.

The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan says they broke free from tugs Tuesday night.

One barge was spotted just south of Frankfort and the other was found near Pierport in Manistee County.

The Coast Guard says the incident did not pose any environmental danger because both barges were pretty much empty.

The two barges were towed away around noon Friday.

The Coast Guard has not said what caused the barges to break away.

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