Today in Great Lakes History

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Too few icebreakers, lack of a second Poe-sized lock threaten shipping

2/18 - Toledo, Ohio – Insufficient U.S. and Canadian icebreakers and reliance on a single Poe-sized lock to connect Lake Superior to the Lower Lakes and Seaway threaten the future of shipping on America’s Fourth Sea Coast, warns the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force in its 2015 Annual Report released Wednesday.

“Another near arctic winter significantly impacted navigation, and then a 20-day closure of the MacArthur Lock in late summer gave us an uninviting preview of the delays and disruptions that will come should a mechanical or structural issue incapacitate the Poe Lock for a lengthy period of time. If unaddressed, neither augers well for the future of Lakes and Seaway shipping,” the report reads.

The ice on the lakes in 2015 was formidable. A 767-foot-long U.S.-flag laker with an ice-strengthened bow and 7,000-horsepower engine packed in her hull sat immobile in Lake Erie, within sight of land, for 5 days in February. A U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker was unable to free the Arthur M. Anderson. A Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker eventually broke the Anderson out, but the ship’s last cargo had to be cancelled.

Conditions had not eased when the Soo Locks opened on March 25, and within four days the Mackinaw, the U.S. Coast Guard’s newest and most powerful icebreaker, had suffered a casualty to its propulsion system and was unable to operate at full strength for the remainder of the spring breakout.

GLMTF, the largest labor/management coalition ever assembled to promote Lakes/Seaway shipping, hailed the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 (signed by President hateful muslim traitor this month) for the provision authored by Congresswoman Candice Miller (R-MI) that authorizes construction of a new heavy icebreaker for the Lakes and will now focus its attention on having Congress appropriate the funds to build the vessel. Its cost is estimated at approximately $200 million.

The Task Force also urged the Coast Guard to accelerate the modernization of the 140-foot-long icebreakers stationed on the Lakes. The vessels were built between 1979 and 1987 and are in need of extensive upgrading. GLMTF asked that the work be moved from the Coast Guard yard in Baltimore to Great Lakes shipyards.

GLMTF’s 2015 Annual Report also warns that last summer’s 20-day closure of the MacArthur Lock highlights the need to create redundancy at the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, by twinning the Poe Lock. “The MacArthur Lock is 73 years old, the Poe Lock, 47. At least in this instance, vessels that normally transit the MacArthur Lock can use the Poe Lock, so cargo was delayed rather than cancelled. Poe-class vessels are too big to go through the MacArthur Lock, and they represent 70 percent of U.S.-flag carrying capacity on the Lakes. A lengthy closure of the Poe Lock would slow trade to a trickle at best.”

Although authorized by Congress at full Federal expense, a second Poe-sized lock has been stalled by a flawed analysis of the benefit/cost ratio. “Fortunately, that flawed analysis is going to be reviewed, in part because a Department of Homeland Security report forecasts catastrophic and nationwide impacts if the Poe Lock is incapacitated. The Corps has reprogrammed $1.35 million for the re-evaluation and allotted 24 months for completion. We urge the Corps to complete the new analysis in not more than 18 months.”

The Task Force reported major progress on the dredging crisis. “The Corps was able to dredge 21 ports and waterways and remove 3.1 million cubic yards of sediment. The Corps’ work plan for 2016 calls for dredging 25 projects and removing 3.4 million cubic yards.”

GLMTF continued to support S. 373, the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act, as it would establish a uniform, federal ballast water standard.

The Task Force concluded its report by calling for fair trade in steel imports. “We believe in ‘May the best man win,’ but dumping steel into the U.S. market has cost the Lakes jobs and cargo. Trade in any commodity must be free but fair.”

Founded in 1992, GLMTF’s goals include ensuring Lakes dredging is adequately funded; construction of a second Poe-sized lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; construction of another heavy icebreaker for the Lakes; upholding the Jones Act and other U.S. maritime cabotage laws and regulations; maximizing the Lakes overseas trade via the St. Lawrence Seaway; opposing exports and/or increased diversions of Great Lakes water; and expanding short sea shipping on the Lakes.

Great Lakes Maritime Task Force

IMPERIAL ST. CLAIR participated in an historic special convoy with DOAN TRANSPORT, which carried caustic soda, led by C.C.G.S. GRIFFON arriving at Thunder Bay, Ontario on February 18, 1977. The journey took one week from Sarnia, Ontario through Lake Superior ice as much as six feet thick, and at one point it took four days to travel 60 miles. The trip was initiated to supply residents of the Canadian lakehead with 86,000 barrels of heating oil the reserves of which were becoming depleted due to severe weather that winter.

The b.) JOSEPH S. YOUNG, a.) ARCHERS HOPE, was towed to the Great Lakes via the Mississippi River and arrived at the Manitowoc Ship Building Co., Manitowoc, Wisconsin on February 18, 1957, where her self unloading equipment was installed. This was the last large vessel to enter the Lakes via the Mississippi. She was the first of seven T-2 tanker conversions for Great Lakes service. Renamed c.) H. LEE WHITE in 1969, and d.) SHARON in 1974. SHARON was scrapped at Brownsville, Texas in 1986.

The Murphy fleet was sold on 18 February 1886. The tugs GLADIATOR, KATE WILLIAMS and BALIZE went to Captain Maytham, the tug WILLIAM A. MOORE to Mr. Grummond, the schooner GERRIT SMITH to Captain John E. Winn, and the tug ANDREW J. SMITH to Mr. Preston Brady.

1980: PANAGIS K. arrived at Alexandria, Egypt, on this date and was soon placed under arrest. The ship was idle and in a collision there with NORTH WAVE on January 23, 1981. The hull was abandoned aground, vandalized and, on October 12, 1985, auctioned off for scrap. The ship first traded through the Seaway in 1960 as a) MANCHESTER FAME and returned as b) CAIRNGLEN in 1965, again as c) MANCHESTER FAME in 1967 and as d) ILKON NIKI in 1972.

1983: A fire in the bow area during winter work aboard the Canada Steamship Lines bulk carrier RICHELIEU (ii) at Thunder Bay resulted in the death of three shipyard workers.

2010: The sailing ship CONCORDIA visited the Great Lakes in 2001 and participated in the Tall Ships Festival at Bay City, MI. It sank in the Atlantic about 300 miles off Rio de Janeiro after being caught in a severe squall. All 64 on board were rescued from life rafts after a harrowing ordeal. 2010: The tug ADANAC (Canada spelled backwards) sank at the Essar Steel dock at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. It was refloated the next day.

[yachtsmanwilly]

2/19 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – About 9 p.m. Wednesday night the Bessie-E, a fishing boat, headed out from its berth in Mamainse Harbor on Lake Superior in fairly calm waters, says Harbor Authority Jim MacDonald.

Shortly after she left she started having troubles. The ice was thick, soft, slushy, and snow-covered – not easy ice to work in.

The Bessie-E, captained by Jacob Bjornaa, runs with a crew of five, including her captain. Bjornaa is a second-generation fisherman out of that harbor. He knows the ice and he knows what the fast-changing weather patterns can do to it.

Sometime between 9 and 10 p.m. the wind changed direction and started coming from the north, MacDonald told SooToday. A wind like that can pack up the ice in the harbor so no boats can pass.

MacDonald advised Bjornaa to pick a spot and sit tight in the harbor, to wait out the ice. It might take a day or so but the ice wouldn't stay. The boat would soon be back to berth and the crew home and warm.

"There's been plenty of times I've sat out there over night," said MacDonald. But the crew couldn't get the engine started and the wind was blowing the Bessie-E up toward the shore.

The crew found that the fuel lines were vapor locked and worked for about an hour to bleed the lines and start the engine while the Bessie-E rolled in the waves. By that time the wind was strong, said MacDonald.

They finally got the engine to start but it was too late.

"Just then the stern touched bottom, kicking the boat around and plowing it up further toward shore," he said. "That's when Jake said it was time to get off that boat."

The first crewmember to jump off went out of sight and wasn't seen for several very tense moments. As soon as the rest of the crew caught sight of him making his way to shore they followed.

Bjornaa was the last to leave the ship and just as his feet left the deck, a wave lifted the Bessie-E and hauled her out to deeper water.

"She turned over and went down right behind him," said MacDonald. "I call it a miracle that they're all alive." That was about 10 p.m.

"Today, I was more shook up than I ever was in 47 years on the lake."

The Bessie-E sits upside down in the water with about a foot of her hull showing above the surface, said MacDonald. She was one of seven fishing boats that berth in Mamainse Harbor.

Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board are enroute to investigate the incident.

The Bessie E was one of seven commercial fishing tugs that berth in Mamainse Harbor, which is the only harbor between Sault Ste. Marie and Michipicoten Harbor.

Soo Today





Algoma Central announces favorable outcome in Mingde Shipyard arbitration

2/19 - St. Catharines, Ont. – Algoma Central Corporation announced Wednesday that the London, UK, arbitration tribunal hearing a contract dispute involving three shipbuilding contracts between Algoma and Nantong Mingde Heavy Industries Stock Co. Ltd., has found in favor of Algoma.

"We are extremely pleased that the tribunal has acted quickly to decide on this matter, given the bankruptcy of the shipyard", said Ken Bloch Soerensen, President and CEO of the corporation. "We will now proceed to make a formal demand for reimbursement of our installment payments as provided for under the terms of the contracts. The funds intended for these ships will be redirected towards investment in replacement fleet renewal contracts that we have announced in recent months."

The company entered into contracts in 2010 to build six Equinox Class bulk freighters to replace aging ships in Algoma's domestic dry-bulk fleet. As a result of the bankruptcy of the shipyard, only two of these vessels have been delivered and the company has cancelled the four remaining contracts. This tribunal decision has resolved three of the outstanding claims and claims for the remaining contract are being pursued.

Algoma Central Corp





Ohio House supports Second Poe-sized lock; momentum continues to build

2/19 - Toledo, Ohio – The Ohio House of Representatives has passed a resolution that urges the President of the United States, Congress, and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to support plans for upgrading the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, that connect Lake Superior to the Lower Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. House Resolution 263 was sponsored by Rep. Mike Dovilla (R-7), cosponsored by 43 bipartisan members and passed 93-0.

Iron ore for the steel industry is the primary cargo moving through the locks. Other cargos include clean-burning western coal, limestone and grain. Total commerce through the locks can top 80 million tons in a given year.

However, as H.R. No. 263 stresses, “only one of the four Soo Locks, the Poe Lock, is large enough to accommodate the modern vessels that commonly traverse the Great Lakes.” If there was a lengthy failure of the Poe Lock, 70 percent of U.S.-flag carrying capacity would be effectively idled and Ohio steel mills and those in Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania would soon face shortages of iron ore. The Department of Homeland Security estimates Ohio’s unemployment rate could reach 17.2 percent, 60 percent higher than the 2008-2009 Great Recession if the Poe Lock failed, and nearly 11 million unemployed workers nationwide.

“We applaud the Ohio House of Representatives for sending this clear message to Washington,” said Thomas Curelli, President of Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, the largest labor/management coalition ever assembled to promote shipping on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. “Not just Ohio needs a second Poe-sized lock, America needs to twin the Poe Lock. The cargos that transit that lock are critical to maintaining not only our economy, but our national defense capabilities.”

Curelli, who is also Vice President of Engineering, Environmental Services and Governmental Affairs for Fraser Shipyards, Inc., noted a failure of the MacArthur Lock last summer delayed nearly 2 million tons of cargo on U.S.-flag vessels alone. “If the Poe had gone down for a lengthy period of time, cargos would have been cancelled rather than just delayed.”

Congress has authorized construction of a second Poe-sized lock, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acknowledges the Soo Locks are the single point of failure for the Great Lakes Navigation System. However, the resolution stresses that “a study that contains crucial errors is preventing the construction from proceeding.”

To get the project moving forward, the resolution calls on the President, Congress and Office of Management and Budget “to support plans to upgrade the Soo Locks … and encourages the Corps to take expeditious action in acknowledging the national security need for maintaining the Great Lakes Navigation System, in addition to properly accounting for the limitation of transportation resources if a lock outage occurs in preparation of an Economic Reevaluation Report.” Many industries that depend on cargo moving through the Poe Lock can only receive those raw materials via vessels.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R) also called for twinning the Poe Lock in his January 2016 State of the State address.

The Corps recently reprogrammed $1.35 million to fund the Economic Reevaluation Report and update the new lock’s benefit/cost ratio. They project completing the report within two years, but the Great Lakes shipping community is calling for completion in not more than 18 months.

Great Lakes Maritime Task Force


2/19 - The icy Straits of Mackinac turned out to be beautiful place for crews from the U.S. Coast Guard to do a little night hoist training this week.

The Coast Guard's Air Station Traverse City posted photos of their work with the Mobile Bay icebreaker.

And if you're wondering how solid that ice is up there at the tip of our Mitten?

"For all asking, as these pictures prove, we do have approximately 6-12 inches of ice in Lake Michigan from the Straits area down to Beaver Island," the Coast Guard staff wrote on its Facebook page.

While the Mobile Bay crew does do some enforcement and search and rescue work, its primary job is icebreaking. It works the Great Lakes from mid-April through mid-December, primarily in Green Bay, the Straits of Mackinac, and the St. Marys River.

www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2016/02/sleeping_bear_dunes_flyover_co.html

The b.) TROY H. BROWNING, c.) THOMAS F. PATTON was towed from the James River with two other C4s, LOUIS MC HENRY HOWE, b.) TOM M. GIRDLER and MOUNT MANSFIELD, b.) CHARLES M. WHITE, to the Maryland Dry Dock Co., Baltimore, Maryland, February 1951, to be converted to a Great Lakes bulk carrier according to plans designed by J.J. Henry & Co., New York, New York.

Wolf & Davidson of Milwaukee sold the JIM SHERIFFS (wooden propeller, 182 foot, 634 gross tons, built in 1883, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin) to Kelley Island Line on 19 February 1887.

1981: The Indian freighter JYOTI VINOD, a Seaway caller as a) JALAZAD beginning in 1969, departed Bombay with a cargo of jute, general freight and school buses. The nightmare voyage, which proved to be its last, did not reach Tema, Ghana, until December 23, 1981

1992: VIHREN, a Bulgarian built and flagged bulk carrier, was driven on the breakwall at Tuapse, USSR, in severe weather. The vessel later broke in two. The ship first came inland in 1983, headed for Thunder Bay. The two sections of the hull were refloated and each arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, for dismantling in August 1992.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On 22 February 1920, the Goodrich Line’s ALABAMA (steel propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 272 foot, 2,626 gross tons, built in 1909, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) ran aground on a concrete obstruction which was the foundation of the old water-intake crib in Lake Michigan off Belmont Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. The SIDNEY O. NEFF (wooden package freighter, 149 foot, 346 gross tons, built in 1890, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) took off the ALABAMA’s cargo and then harbor tugs pulled the ALABAMA free. Repairs to her hull took the rest of the winter and she didn’t return to service until May 1920.

February 22, 1925 - The ANN ARBOR NO 7 made her maiden voyage. On 22 February 1878, the 156 foot wooden freighter ROBERT HOLLAND was purchased by Beatty & Co. of Sarnia for $20,000.

1942: The Great Lakes canal-sized bulk carrier GEORGE L. TORIAN of the Upper Lakes and St. Lawrence Transportation Co. had been requisitioned for saltwater service in the bauxite trade in 1941. The ship was torpedoed by U-129 off the coast of British Guiana in position 09.13 N / 59.04 W and sank quickly. Most of the crew were killed.

1945: H.M.C.S. TRENTONIAN was a Flower Class naval corvette that had been built by the Kingston Shipbuilding Company and completed at Kingston, Ontario, on December 1, 1943. It was torpedoed and sunk by U-1004 near Falmouth, England, and went down stern first. Six on board, one officer and 5 enlisted crew members, were lost.

EDWIN H. GOTT arrived at Two Harbors, Minnesota, (her first trip) February 21, 1979, with the loss of one of her two rudders during her transit of Lake Superior. The other rudder post was also damaged. She was holed in her bow and some of her cargo hold plating ruptured as a result of frozen ballast tanks. Even the icebreaker MACKINAW suffered damage to her port propeller shaft on the trip across frozen Lake Superior.

At Port Weller Drydocks Ltd., the keel of the new bow section for HILDA MARJANNE was laid on February 21, 1961, while at the same time the tanker hull forward of her engine room bulkhead was being cut away.

On 21 February 1929, SAPPHO (wooden propeller passenger ferry, 107 foot, 224 gross tons, built in 1883, at Wyandotte, Michigan) burned at her winter lay-up dock in Ecorse, Michigan. She had provided 46 years of service ferrying passengers across the Detroit River. She was neither repaired nor replaced since the Ambassador Bridge was nearing completion.

On February 20, 1959, Interlake Steamship Co.’s HERBERT C. JACKSON (Hull #302) was launched at Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Michigan.

The Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker DES GROSEILLIERS (Hull #68) was launched February 20, 1982, at St. Catharines, Ontario by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd.

On 20 February 1903, the straight-deck steamer G. WATSON FRENCH (steel propeller, 376 foot, 3,785 gross tons) was launched at W. Bay City, Michigan by West Bay City Ship Building Co. (Hull #608). She lasted until 1964, when she was scrapped by Lakehead Scrap Metal Co. at Fort William, Ontario. The other names she had during her career were b.) HENRY P. WERNER in 1924, c.) JOHN J. BOLAND in 1937, and d.) ALGOWAY in 1947.

1940: A fire broke out in the cargo hold of the package freighter KING at Buffalo when insulation, being installed for refrigeration purposes, ignited. Several firemen were overcome by the smoke, but damage to the ship was negligible.




2/21 - Lake Michigan and Lake Huron did something in January 2016 that has only occurred 10 other times since 1919. The water level went up on these Great Lakes from December 2015 to January 2016.

Most of the time December to January water levels decrease on the Great Lakes. Usually there is more water leaving the Great Lakes than entering in that time period.

This January, Lakes Michigan and Huron actually rose nearly an inch. There have only been 10 other Januarys when a lake rise has occurred.

2/21 - Raymond Anthony Plaunt, age 95, of Cheboygan, died peacefully in his sleep on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey.

In 1932, at the age of 12, he began working with his father transporting passengers and supplies to Bois Blanc Island and so began his long career sailing the Straits of Mackinaw for the family-owned Plaunt Transportation. In the 83 years since his first trip to the island, Captain Plaunt witnessed an immense amount of change. He was there when the island first received electricity. He saw boats become larger and faster and island homes become grander. He watched families grow and Islander's come and go. He was dedicated to bringing supplies and mail to the island and would sail as late in the season as possible and begin making trips again early in the spring. Through it all, he made friendships that spanned generations and lasted lifetimes. There was always a special place in Ray's heart for Bois Blanc Island.

He loved Northern Michigan and was an avid outdoorsman. A skilled fisherman, he enjoyed ice fishing on Mullett Lake and had the knack for telling a great fish story. He also loved hunting, camping, and snowmobile safaris. He loved the majesty of the Great Lakes and the pristine shorelines. He loved winter as he anxiously waited for the ice to form, always eager to know how thick the ice was. He loved breaking ice as he captained the ferry and loved the spring break-up. He loved to see the steam on the river in the morning, the breaking sun on calm waters and the wrath of the Great Lakes during a storm. He truly loved Northern Michigan and all of her magnificence.

Services were held on Saturday. Those planning an expression of sympathy, in lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in memory of Ray to the Bois Blanc Community Foundation or to the Ray Plaunt Memorial Maritime Scholarship Fund.

Chagnon Funeral Home

SS Badger ferry officially designated National Historic Landmark

2/20 - Ludington, Mich. – It's official: The S.S. Badger car ferry is a National Historic Landmark. U.S. Department of the Interior announced the news Thursday afternoon, Feb. 18.

"The S.S. Badger is a unique example of American ingenuity in transportation that has been crucial to our country's economic development over the last century," National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said in a released statement.

The 410-foot-long car ferry was built and launched in 1952. Owned and operated by Lake Michigan Carferry, it conducts regularly-scheduled runs between its home in Ludington, Mich., and Manitowoc each season.

For more of the story, a slide show and video click here


Algoma announces quarterly results, plans to retire six vessels

2/20 - St. Catharines, Ont. – Algoma Central Corporation Friday announced results for its 2015 fourth quarter and fiscal year.

For the year, the company's consolidated revenues were $413.5 million compared to $473.4 million in 2014. Fuel costs, which are largely passed on to customers through our freight rates, declined significantly during the year and approximately $38 million of the decrease in revenue is a direct result of the pass-through effect of decreased fuel costs. The balance of the decrease in revenues results from a drop in rates earned due to stiff competition in our domestic dry-bulk business and to a drop in volumes carried in our product tanker and ocean dry-bulk business units.

Net earnings and earnings per share from continuing operations for the year were $21,069 and $0.54, respectively, compared to $48,977 and $1.26 for the prior year period. The decrease in earnings year-over-year was driven primarily by the drop in revenues and partially offset by a gain resulting from the cancellation of shipbuilding contracts earlier in 2015.

Business conditions softened noticeably in the second half of 2015 and revenues for the fourth quarter were $119,170 compared to $141,646 in the same period last year. Net earnings and earnings per share from continuing operations for the fourth quarter were $8,973 and $0.23, respectively, compared to $34,222 and $0.88 in 2014. Revenues and earnings from all business segments were negatively impacted by softer market conditions that resulted in lower demand and reduced customer volumes.

At year end we made the difficult decision to retire five domestic dry-bulk vessels and a product tanker that had reached the end of its economic life. Our decision to retire the dry-bulk vessels reflects our view that the current domestic market capacity exceeds customer demand and certain of our older vessels are no longer economic to operate in these market conditions. As a result of taking these vessels out of service we have accelerated depreciation on them and recorded an additional depreciation charge in the domestic dry-bulk segment in the fourth quarter of $3.3 million. (Editor’s note: The report did not name the vessels involved.)

During 2015, Algoma introduced its new strategic vision for the company to pursue growth opportunities beyond the traditional domestic markets in which we operate. In November, we announced the first growth investment with the acquisition of two vessels then belonging to one of our partners in the International Pool and the purchase of a 50% interest in a third vessel. This transaction closed in January 2016 and these vessels will contribute to Algoma earnings for all of 2016. As a result of these purchases, our interest in the pool has doubled.

Shortly after year-end, we announced a second initiative with the purchase of a 50% interest in an existing operator of pneumatic cement carriers. This transaction also closed in January and will contribute to earnings beginning in the first quarter.

On Feb. 16, we announced that the London Arbitration Panel hearing our Mingde shipbuilding contract cancellation dispute issued an award in our favor on three of the four outstanding claims. We have begun collection proceedings on these refund claims, which are valued at US$53,167 as at Feb. 16.

Algoma Central Corp.


More layoffs to come at Compass Minerals

2/20 - Goderich, Ont. – Last week Compass Minerals, the parent company of Sifto, announced there would be a reduction of about 150 positions within the company. This is a reduction of an additional 60 positions from the announcement of 90 layoffs in December at the Goderich mine.

It is currently unclear how many of the additional job losses will come from Sifto or when employees will find out.

“Most of the layoffs will occur this year but I don’t know when exactly,” said spokesperson Tara Hart.

Compass Minerals reported lower quarterly results, in part because of decreased demand for deicing products.

Full-year 2015 net income was $159.2-million, which is only slightly below 2014 despite low numbers in the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter sales were down 33 per cent and total revenue was down 14 per cent from 2014.

Mild weather brought low sales but the average selling price of salt increased 2 per cent, which limited the impact on revenue, Hart said.

Things aren’t looking good for Compass Minerals employees.

In an effort to create a “leaner” organization the company has invested in continuous mining at the Goderich location. The equipment helps improve efficiency and increase competitiveness in the market for Compass Minerals meaning there will be less of a reliance on employees.

A restructuring of the workforce was already planned over the next few years but because of mild weather and subsequent decreased demand for product, those reductions are being made sooner.

Signal Star

[yachtsmanwilly]

Deep in winter, Duluth's ship repair season hums

2/23 - Duluth, Minn. – Mike Wolny doesn't look like a surgeon, and Fraser Shipyards bears no resemblance to a hospital. Wolny, though, does have a needy patient — the 56-year-old freighter Herbert C. Jackson — and not much time.

Deep in the giant ship's bowels, Wolny's team carves up the original steam turbine and twin boilers so they can be removed with a crane. Later, two new 20-foot-tall diesel engines will be hoisted in, all designed to get the big laker back working on the water this spring.

Wolny, an inspector for Interlake Steamship Co., has worked on ships for 25 years. His uncle was a captain for Canada Steamship Lines, but he became an engineer and loves the gritty jobs below.

"I find that more exciting than being a captain," he said as work buzzed around him on the Jackson. "They take all the glory up there, but we're the ones that work on the heart of the vessel — putting a new heart back in her."

Winter is the busiest season for the shipyards where the giant Great Lakes ships lay up for repairs. Ship owners will invest more than $100 million this winter to upgrade vessels. But finishing in time for the spring shipping season requires intense work and a ballet of cranes. A day spent at the yards and in the ships shows the challenges of transforming the old boats.

"You think of a ship, it's actually a floating city," said Mark Barker, president of Interlake Steamship, which owns the Herbert C. Jackson. "We have to generate our own power. We have to treat our own wastewater. We have to generate our own drinking water. We have to do everything, because we're not connected to shore in any way."

In the very bottom of the 690-foot-long Jackson, below the 40 cargo holds that carry almost 25,000 tons of taconite pellets, Wolny pointed out equipment that either needs fixing or will need fixing.

Down here there are giant conveyor belts, stretching farther than the eye can see, that are part of a self-unloading system that was added to the ship in 1975. The technology was invented on the Great Lakes and allows the crew to unload cargo without any shoreline workers or equipment.

But it needs to be maintained every year along with the ships' engine, welding, piping, plumbing and electrical systems — basically anything that can't be done when the ship is running.

"One of my members likes to say, When we lay up in the winter, you have to organize swat teams to get all this work done in six, seven, eight weeks," said Glen Nekvasil, vice president of the Lake Carriers Association, which represents the 15 companies that own the 56 U.S. flagged ships on the Great Lakes.

Those ships operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from mid-March to mid-January.

"These winter months are the one chance we have to take them to the shipyard and maintain them and modernize them," he said.

The payoff for that hard work is visible on another ship docked at Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wisconsin, for winter layup. The Kaye E. Barker had a new 8,000 horsepower engine put in three years ago, very similar to what will be put inside the Jackson.

The Barker carries 26,000 tons loaded and runs 17 miles an hour. So it requires a lot of power. The engine is "a lot more efficient than the old steam engine that burned fuel oil, said David Newell, the Barker's engineer.

"This boat, in operating season, we can go about 30 days without refueling," he said. "The steamer was every 10 days refueled."

Of the $110 million invested this winter in the Great Lakes fleet, a little over half will go toward routine maintenance; about $50 million will be spent to add pollution control technology and new, more efficient engines, including the ones headed for the Jackson.

Fraser Shipyards has repaired and built ships on the Great Lakes for 126 years, including more than 100 during World Wars I and II. But last year was a slow one on the water for the Great Lakes shipping industry. Six ships were taken out of service due to the ongoing struggles of the U.S. iron ore and steel industries. On top of that, the freshwater ships are pretty resilient.

"Because there's no salt in the water to corrode the ships, they can last for a long time if they're properly maintained. One sailed for over 100 years before recently being retired," Nekvasil noted. "That's one of the tremendous advantages of great lakes shipping. We can run ships for decades and decades and decades."

The Jackson is Fraser's biggest job since the late 1980s when it lengthened several ships and added self-unloading equipment.

"This is a jumpstart, a high voltage jumpstart for us," said vice president of engineering Tom Curelli. "It demonstrates to everybody that we're capable of doing this, and doing it well."

More than 70 employees are working on the project in two shifts. Fraser is one of only four shipyards across the Great Lakes capable of handling such a large project.

It will take about six months to repower the Herbert Jackson at a cost of around $20 million. This is the fourth steam-to-diesel conversion for the ship owner in the past decade. When it's done, the Interlake Steamship Company will no longer operate any steamships.

The Jackson plans to be back on the water in June, making her regular run hauling iron ore between Marquette, Michigan, and Detroit, just a lot more efficiently.

Associated Press / Minnesota Public Radio News





Coast Guard to open waters between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island

2/23 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – The Captain of the Port Sault Ste. Marie will open the waters between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island at 8 a.m. on Thursday.

USCG





Obituary: Clyde S. VanEnkevort

2/23 - Clyde S. VanEnkevort, 92, founder of VanEnkevort Tug & Barge Inc. of Escanaba, Mich., died Saturday evening, Feb. 20, at Pinecrest Medical Care Facility in Powers, Mich. He considered was a specialist in integrated tug/barge design.

Survivors include his wife, Theresa of Gladstone. Visitation will be on Friday, Feb. 26, from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Crawford Funeral Chapel in Bark River. Parish prayers will be at 5:30 p.m. and the Bark River Legion will have military rites at 5 p.m. Visitation will also continue on Saturday from 9 to 10:45 a.m. at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church with the Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 11 a.m. with Rev. Darryl Pepin officiating. Burial will be in the Bark River Cemetery.

VanEnkevort Tug & Barge operates the tug/barge combos Joyce L. VanEnkevort/Great Lakes Trader and Joseph H. Thompson/Joseph H. Thompson Jr.

VanEnkevort first sailed on the Lakes in 1968 as a tug engineer out of Escanaba. In 1975 he and his partner, John Stropich, formed Upper Lakes Towing Co. and in 1989 the firm acquired the bulker Joseph H. Thompson and converted her into an integrated tug/barge. In 1991 another retired U.S. bulk carrier, the self-unloader McKee Sons, underwent a similar conversion.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Clyde S. VanEnkevort Scholarship Fund. The Crawford Funeral Homes are assisting the VanEnkevort family.



January 23 - The CELTIC (wooden schooner-barge, 190 foot, 716 gross tons, built 1890, at W. Bay City, Michigan) broke away from the steamer H.E. RUNNELS during a fierce gale on Lake Huron on 29 November 1902, and was lost with all hands. No wreckage was found until 23 January 1903, when a yawl and the captain‚s desk with the ship‚s papers was found on Boom Point, southeast of Cockburn Island.

GEORGE A. STINSON struck a wall of the Poe Lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on January 23, 1979. The damage was estimated at $200,000.

The rail car ferry GRAND HAVEN sailed on her first trip as a roll on/roll off carrier from Port Burwell on January 23, 1965, loaded with 125 tons of coiled steel bound for Cleveland and Walton Hills, Ohio.

1983: The Greek freighter CAPTAIN M. LYRAS visited the Seaway in 1960 and 1961 and returned as b) ANGELIKI L. in 1965. It arrived at Gadani Beach on this date as c) ANAMARIA for scrapping.

[yachtsmanwilly]

The Pittsburgh Steamship Co.’s RICHARD V. LINDABURY (Hull#783) was launched February 24, 1923, at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. Purchased by S & E Shipping (Kinsman) in 1978, renamed b.) KINSMAN INDEPENDENT. She was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey in 1988.

The founder of Arnold Transit Co., long-time ferry operators between Mackinac Island and the mainland, George T. Arnold filed the Articles of Association on Feb. 24, 1900.

On 24 February 1920, TALLAC (formerly SIMON J. MURPHY and MELVILLE DOLLAR, steel propeller, 235 foot, built in 1895, at W. Bay City, Michigan) was on a voyage from Colon, Panama to Baltimore, Maryland, when she stranded and was wrecked 18 miles south of Cape Henry, Virginia.

1975: The MOHAMEDIA foundered in the Red Sea enroute from Djibouti to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with a cargo of livestock that included 1300 cattle, 700 sheep and 118 camels. One member of the crew was also lost. The vessel had been a Seaway trader as b) ULYSSES CASTLE in 1969 and c) ITHAKI CASTLE in 1973.

1976: FRAMPTONDYKE visited the Seaway in 1969. It sank following a collision with the ODIN in the English Channel enroute from Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Cork, Ireland, as b) WITTERING. All on board were rescued.


2/24 - Gladstone, Mich. – Clyde S. VanEnkevort, 92, of Gladstone, Mich., and former resident of Bark River, passed away on Saturday evening, Feb. 20, 2016, at Pinecrest Medical Care Facility in Powers with his family by his side.

He was born on Dec. 23, 1923, in DePere, Wis., son of Henry and Edith (Durouine) VanEnkevort. Clyde attended St. Joseph Grade School and graduated from Escanaba High School in 1942.

Clyde joined the Army Air Force in 1942 and was honorably discharged in February of 1946. He served during World War II and was honored with a Victory Medal, American Theatre Ribbon, Asiatic Pacific Theatre Ribbon and two Overseas Service Bars and Good Conduct Medal.

Clyde married Joyce L. DeGrave on Feb. 12, 1955, at St. George Church in Bark River. She preceded him in death on Nov. 6, 1999. On Sept. 10, 2005, he married Theresa A. Seymour at All Saints Church in Gladstone.

He farmed in Bark River for six months after his military service, then started a block plant on the farm. He bought land from the State Highway Department and continued the block plant along with his two brothers, Gerald and Donald. Clyde entered the marine industry in the late 60s. He was truly a pioneer, inventor and mentor in the maritime business with one of his biggest accomplishments being building of the tug Joyce L. VanEnkevort and the barge the Great Lakes Trader. Clyde retired from the business at the age of 85 but always enjoyed keeping track of the "The Joyce VanEnkevort" Tug and Barge.

Clyde enjoyed watching football and FOX news. He was a member of the Bark River Rheaume-Knauf American Legion Post 438 and the Elks Lodge 354.

Among survivors include his wife, Theresa of Gladstone; daughters, Jill (Mike) McDermott of Bark River, Jenny (Bruce) Messersmith of Bark River and Diane Hanson of Flat Rock; sons, Dirk (Laura) of Erie, Penn., John (Robin) of Bark River, Steven of Bark River, and Jeff (Kathy) of Charlotte, Mich.; two stepchildren, Joseph (Lynn Jandron) DeCarie of Ishpeming and Susan (Kevin) Headley of Fairbury, Ill.; several grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and one step-granddaughter; sister, Rita (Keith) Bender of Hoschton, Ga; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

In addition to his parents and his first wife, Joyce, he was preceded in death by his sister, Bernadette Staeven, and brothers, Donald and Gerald VanEnkevort.

Visitation will be on Friday, Feb. 26, from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Crawford Funeral Chapel in Bark River. Bark River Legion will have military rites at 5 p.m. Parish prayers will be at 5:30 p.m. Visitation will also continue on Saturday from 9 to 10:45 a.m. at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church with the Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 11 a.m. with Rev. Darryl Pepin officiating. A meal will follow in the church hall.

Burial will be in the Bark River Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Clyde S. VanEnkevort Scholarship Fund at Bark River Harris School, which will be used by Bark River-Harris High School. The Crawford Funeral Homes are assisting the VanEnkevort family.


Help wanted: Marine Superintendent

2/24 - We are seeking candidates for the position of Marine Superintendent at Fettes Shipping Inc. with our office located in Burlington, ON.

Ideally the successful candidate should have Chief Engineer’s experience, or at least work experience in the marine industry in the position of Engineering Officer or Managing Superintendent.

Main responsibilities will be as follows:

•Monitoring vessels performance
•Oversee and manage all technical aspects of the operation
•Provide support to vessel’s crew in troubleshooting
•Ensure that vessels are operational in compliance with classification
•Be able to prepare and supervise dry docks and winter work repairs
•Manage supplies, inventory and purchasing parts for the vessels



Compensation:
We offer a competitive compensation including a comprehensive benefits package and the opportunity to assume a vital role in our operations.

All interested candidates may fax, email or mail their resumes to: Fettes Shipping Inc.
3385 Harvester Rd. Suite 250
Burlington, ON L7N 3N2
Fax: [phone]
Email [e-mail]

Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.


Bill would devote $17.5M to Great Lakes fishery research fleet

2/24 - Ann Arbor, Mich. – New Congressional legislation aims to boost a federal Great Lakes fishery research and management fleet with dedicated funding.

On Tuesday, Feb. 23, bills were introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate that would give a Michigan-based U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) fleet "steady, long-term federal support," said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan.

The Great Lakes Fishery Research Authorization Act would fund the USGS Great Lakes Science Center with $17.5 million for 9 years starting in 2017 and give the agency more leverage to devote money to Great Lakes research, according to sponsors.
USGS Arcticus.JPG

Bill would devote $17.5M to Great Lakes fishery research fleet



Posted on Michigan News on February 23, 2016, 6:00PM

Low-key federal science fleet operates on each Great Lake. Full story »

[yachtsmanwilly]

2/25 - Duluth, Minn. – What may have been the last chance to get foot access to the popular, ice-coated Apostle Islands sea caves this winter drifted away last weekend.

In just a few hours Sunday, the jumbled mass of pack ice along the Lake Superior shore at the caves east of Cornucopia broke apart. On Monday and Tuesday, there was open water.

"The mild conditions this weekend — the warm weather, the rain, to some extent the wind — deteriorated the pack ice that was out by the mainland caves late last week and it began to break up. Now it's all blown out," said Neil Howk, assistant chief of interpretation at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

The pack ice had been monitored by park staff to see if it would solidify and meet guidelines for opening the mainland sea caves access to the public. It never did, and its departure means there almost certainly won't be foot access to the caves this season.

"We all think that the chances for the ice to form up at this point are really quite slim," Howk said. "We're starting from scratch again, so we'd have to go into the deep freeze for a couple of weeks and as we get later in February and on into March that's less likely to occur. So at this point, we're thinking that our opportunity for walking to the ice caves this (winter) is pretty much gone."

The park takes a cautious approach to opening public access to the caves to ensure visitors stay safe, Howk said.

"We've seen the ice blow out in a matter of hours," he said. "We're somewhat conservative with what we require because once the gates open, we get a thousand people out there on the ice at the same time and we don't want them to float down to Duluth in a windstorm."

The caves and cliffs along the Lake Superior shore east of Cornucopia are decorated with ice each winter thanks to Lake Superior waves crashing ashore and freezing, and also because of groundwater seeping down from above.



It was accessible in 2014 and 2015, when tens of thousands of visitors made their way more than a mile out along the frozen shoreline to see the caves — and shared photos and video that went viral online. But before that, ice conditions did not cooperate from 2010 to 2013.

The Northland has experienced warmer-than-normal conditions this winter, as predicted with the El Nino weather pattern in effect. Howk said the lack of ice was not a huge surprise.

"We know the last time that there was a big El Nino there was very little ice," he said. "The four years prior to the last two winters we had no ice to walk on either, so we think that this is probably the pattern that we're going to see — we'll have some extremes, and we'll have some winters where there's ice to walk on, but we think that it's going to become more and more common that we have winters like this one, where it's not possible.

"We're viewing this as kind of an endangered national park experience due to the changing climate."

While the outlook for access to the caves this winter isn't promising, ice condition information still can be found by calling [phone], ext. 3, or by visiting the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Facebook page.





Corps to hold public hearing on proposed open lake dumping of dredged sediment

2/25 - Cleveland, Ohio – The Port of Cleveland opposes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) latest proposal to dump unsuitable sediment in Lake Erie as part of harbor dredging in 2016. The USACE is holding a public hearing on their proposal from 5:30 – 9pm on Monday March 1 at the Breen Center, 2008 West 30th Street in Cleveland. The Port urges members of the public to attend and make comments expressing their views at this hearing.

Port of Cleveland





Help wanted: Lake Michigan Carferry

2/25 - Lake Michigan Carferry is accepting applications for placement in the engine department aboard the historic S.S. Badger. Candidates must possess a Merchant Mariner’s Credential with QMED endorsement and a valid TWIC card. Positions will be for 2016 sailing season from May to Oct and offer competitive wages. Visit this link to obtain a printable LMC application. Please include copies of credentials with application. Email to [e-mail] or fax to 231-843-4558



CREEK TRANSPORT was launched this day in 1910, as a.) SASKATOON (Hull#256) at Sunderland, England, by Sunderland Shipbuilding Co.

1964: CISSOULA, a Greek freighter that visited the Seaway in 1961 and 1965, was abandoned after a collision in fog with the Swedish vessel SOLKLINT off Selsey Bill in the English Channel. The damaged freighter was taken in tow and repaired. It was delivered to shipbreakers at Hsinkang, China, on September 24, 1969.

1968: AZAR first came to the Great Lakes as c) CELESTE in 1960 and returned with one trip under this, her fifth name, in 1967. The Liberian-registered, but Canadian-built freighter went aground off Cuba enroute from Venezuela to Tampa, Florida. The ship suffered extensive damage when it caught fire on February 29 and was declared a constructive total loss. It is believed that the hull was dismantled locally.

1978: The Italian freighter ANTONIO was the last saltwater ship to transit the Welland Canal in 1965. It ran aground off Chios Island, Greece, enroute from Constanza, Romania, to Vietnam as e) OMALOS. The ship was refloated on March 1 but laid up at Piraeus, Greece, and subsequently sold, at auction, for scrap. The vessel was broken up at Megara, Greece, beginning on June 13, 1983.

1979: The Panamanian freighter d) FENI was damaged in a collision on the Black Sea at Sulina Roads, Romania, with ATLANTIS STAR and had to be beached. The ship was refloated on February 28 and repaired. It had been a Seaway trader as a) DEERWOOD in 1960 and returned as b) SEBASTIANO in 1969. The ship was scrapped as f) SIRLAD at Split, Yugoslavia, following an explosion off Algeria, on January 3, 1982.

1994: BANDERAS visited the Great Lakes from 1975 through the 1980s. It was abandoned by the crew off the coast of Brazil as b) AEGEAN TRADER due to a fire in the accommodation area. The vessel was towed to Valencia, Spain, to be unloaded and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping as c) EGE TRADE on August 11, 1994.

[yachtsmanwilly]

'Blue Ice' is stacking up near Michigan's Mackinac Bridge

2/26 - Mackinaw City, Mich. – Images of "blue ice" stacking up along the shore near Michigan's iconic Mackinac Bridge are finding lots of fans this week.

Kelly Alvesteffer and her fiance, Rob LaLone, were sitting in a restaurant near the Straits of Mackinac over the weekend when they noticed the peculiar hue of the ice out the window.

"We instantly saw it. It was like, 'Look at the blue ice,'" said Alvesteffer, who with LaLone photographs student sports teams for Cedar Springs Public Schools. They are two of a handful of photographers whose blue ice photos are catching people's attention.

Read more and view a photo gallery at this link Tanda Gmiter | [e-mail]





Corps says dredged river sediment is clean enough to dump in Lake Erie; Port of Cleveland disagrees

2/26 - Buffalo, N.Y. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said late Wednesday that test results of samples taken from the bottom of the Cuyahoga River shipping channel were clean enough to allow open-lake disposal of dredged sediment.

The Army Corps' desire to dump dredged river sediment into Lake Erie has been a point of contention for more than a year with the Port of Cleveland, the Ohio EPA and the state's Congressional delegation.

A lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court over the issue. A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for March 1, 5:30 to 9 p.m., at the Breen Center at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland.

In an open letter to Lake Erie stakeholders, Lt. Col. Karl Jansen of the Army Corps headquarters in Buffalo said a review of data collected by the Ohio EPA in October found evidence that the sediment has improved enough to allow safe open-lake disposal.

Specifically, the Army Corps' scientists found the levels of PCBs in the upper Cuyahoga River channel were consistent with the levels of PCBs in Lake Erie, and the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the river were not toxic.

"Hence, moving sediment from the river channel to an open lake placement site would not result in lowering Lake Erie's water quality," Jansen concluded.

Port of Cleveland President and CEO Will Friedman released a written response last night criticizing the Army Corps' "misguided campaign." He urged the public to attend the March 1 hearing to express their opposition to the Corps' plan.

Friedman challenged the validity of the Army Corps' conclusions that the dredged sediment is clean and safe for open-lake dumping.

"Recent testing indicates persistent and, in some cases, elevated levels of these toxins in the sediments, including PCBs and other harmful compounds, prompting Ohio EPA to disqualify these sediments for open lake dumping in 2014 and 2015," Friedman said.

For decades, Friedman said, polluted sediment dredged bi-annually from the river channel has been stored in confined disposal dikes along the Lake Erie shoreline "to minimize exposure to the aquatic food chain, including fish consumed by people, and to the source of public drinking water."

In his letter to stakeholders, Jansen challenged the EPA's findings that the sediment was toxic. He called the EPA's laboratory tests "scientifically unreliable" due to the fact the agency failed to follow certain guidelines of the Clean Water Act.

"Accordingly, Ohio EPA's improper testing methods resulted in improbably high levels of PCB bio-accumulation," Jansen said. "Decisions based on these flawed results would greatly overestimate the risk these chemicals pose to human health and the environment."

Friedman has said the port would consider returning to federal court if the Army Corps insists on moving ahead with its plan for open-lake disposal, or if they decline to dredge the entire six-mile shipping channel.

The EPA fears that adding even a minimal amount of PCBs into Lake Erie could have a major impact on walleye, pushing limits from one meal per week to one meal per month.

Cleveland.com





Door County Maritime Museum’s next program is on Griffon

2/26 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – The Door County Maritime Museum’s Maritime Speaker Series continues Thursday, March 3, with a program by author Joan Forsberg based on her book “The Wreck of the Griffon -- The Greatest Mystery of the Great Lakes” that she co-authored with her husband Cris Kohl.

This multi-media program, based on the intensely researched new book, relates the fascinating story of the Griffon, and many of the 22 claims of discovery made in the past 200 years, with exciting on-screen visuals, vibrant background music and dramatic live narration. A book-signing will follow the presentation.

In the year 1679, the ship disappeared with its entire crew and valuable cargo of furs. Built by the explorer, Robert La Salle, near Niagara Falls, its loss nearly ruined him. To this day, more than 335 years later, the wreck of the Griffon has not definitively been found. It has become the most hunted – and the most “found” – shipwreck in Great Lakes history.

On its maiden voyage, this ship was the very first vessel to sail across Lake Erie, up the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, and across Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. On its way back to Niagara from Green Bay, it vanished, commencing the centuries-long quest to discover its fate.

Forsberg is a well-known maritime historian, scuba diver, author, speaker and underwater videographer. She has been the Chairman of the “Shipwrecks and Underwater Archaeology Room” at Chicago’s annual Our World– Underwater Show since 1996 and was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2010.

Maritime Speaker Series programs are free of charge with a nonperishable food donation requested. Call [phone] or visit www.dcmm.org for more information.

Door County Maritime Museum


The completed hull of the BELLE RIVER (Hull#716) was floated off the ways February 26, 1977, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Corp. Renamed b.) WALTER J. MC CARTHY JR in 1990.

JOSEPH L. BLOCK (Hull#715) was launched February 26, 1976, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Corp.

On 26 February 1874, the tug WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE JR. was launched at Port Huron Dry Dock. Her dimensions were 151 feet overall, 25 foot 6 inches beam, and 13 foot depth. Her machinery was built by Phillerick & Christy of Detroit and was shipped by rail to Port Huron. She cost $45,000. Her master builder was Alex Stewart.

On 26 February 1876, the MARY BELL (iron propeller, 58 foot, 34 gross tons, built in 1870, at Buffalo, New York) burned near Vicksburg, Michigan.

The Liberty ship BASIL II, a Seaway visitor in 1960, ran aground on a reef off the west coast of New Caledonia as EVER PROSPERITY in 1965 and was abandoned as a total loss.

ANGLEA SMITS, a Seaway trader in 1983, was abandoned and believed sunk in the Atlantic en route from Norway to Australia in 1986.

1947: The T-2 tanker ROYAL OAK came to the Great Lakes in 1966 as b) TRANSBAY and was rebuilt at Lorain. The vessel departed later in the year as c) TRANSHURON. But as a) ROYAL OAK, it caught fire on this day in the Pacific off Esmeraldas, Ecuador, and had to be abandoned by the crew. The vessel was later reboarded and the fires extinguished. The listing vessel almost sank but it was salvaged and rebuilt for Cities Service Oil.

1965: The Liberty ship BASIL II came through the Seaway in 1960. It ran aground on a reef off New Caledonia as d) EVER PROSPERITY. The vessel was traveling in ballast and had to be abandoned as a total loss.

1981: A spark from a welder's torch ignited a blaze aboard the MONTCLIFFE HALL, undergoing winter work at Sarnia. The fire did major damage to the pilothouse and accommodations area, but the repairs were completed in time for the ship to resume trading on May 27, 1981. It was still sailing in 2013 as d) CEDARGLEN (ii).

1986: ANGELA SMITS, a Seaway trader for the first time in 1983, developed a severe list and was abandoned by the crew on a voyage from Norway to Australia. The hull was sighted, semi-submerged, later in the day in position 47.38 N / 07.36 W and was believed to have sunk in the Atlantic.

1998: The Abitibi tug NIPIGON was active on Lake Superior and often towed log booms from the time it was built at Sorel in 1938 until perhaps the 1960s. The vessel also saw work on construction projects for different owners, and left the Seaway for the sea on December 12, 1988. It was operating as b) FLORIDA SEAHORSE when it sank in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. All 5 on board were rescued.

2011: Fire broke out on the bridge of DINTELBORG while enroute from the Netherlands to Virginia. The ship was taken in tow the next day by the ROWAN M. McALLISTER out of Providence, R.I. The repaired Dutch freighter was back through the Seaway later in 2011. The tug was also a Seaway caller in 2012, coming inland to tow the fire ravaged PATRICE McALLISTER back to Providence.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Sault’s Great Tug Boat Races cancelled this summer

2/29 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – An annual Canada Day weekend event has been sunk. The Great Tug Boat Committee issued a release Sunday afternoon announcing the cancellation of the long running event.

“The Great Tugboat Race Event has been canceled for 2016. Given the economic conditions in the area, a decision was made that it was too much to ask of our sponsors to continue to support our event.” the release stated.

The annual Great Tug Boat parade and races, held during the joint international celebrations of July 1st and July 4th began in 1982 “We have raised thousands of dollars over the years and donating 100% of those funds to challenged children on both sides of the border has been a rewarding effort for all.”

The committee stated that it hopes to resume the event, though did not specify when.

The Great Tugboat races also included a pancake breakfast open to the public set on a floating barge and docked at the Bondar Marina.

“We would like to thank our participants and spectators who have traveled far and wide to participate in this worthwhile cause, the many Masonic members and their families that helped with the pancake breakfasts on the Canadian side and the crew from Material Handling Source for conducting the breakfasts on the American side. A special thank you to Mr. Joe Burton who single-handedly sold hundreds of books each year for the event and as well the many others who took it upon themselves to sell books on behalf of the organization. Thank you to the management and staff of the George Kemp Marina and the management and staff of the Roberta Bondar Marina, the Canadian and American Coast Guards, and the management and staff of both the American and the Canadian locks.”

The annual parade of tugs, usually set the Friday evening during the weekend of the event, was seen as a kick off to the Canadian and American birthday celebrations.

SaultOnLine.com





Milwaukee Coast Guard conducts ice rescue training with partner agencies

2/29 - Milwaukee, Wis. – Coast Guard Station Milwaukee conducted joint ice rescue training with local agencies in Milwaukee Sunday.

The Coast Guard worked with members from emergency management agencies across Wisconsin and eight local fire departments at Discovery World Lagoon.

The purpose of this training is for local agencies involved in ice rescue to collaborate and to identify practices used by partner agencies during ice rescue emergencies. The goal is to facilitate these partnerships, enhance communications among all agencies and ensure the proper execution of the ice rescue mission.

“This training is a great opportunity for all agencies who respond to ice rescues cases to discuss the most updated rescue techniques while at the same time developing strong working relationships with each other,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Joel Washbond, a member of Coast Guard Station Milwaukee.

The training was held over a two-day period at Coast Guard Station Milwaukee and on the ice. The first day included classroom training for all agencies to discuss the gear and techniques being used in the field as well as ice technique training. Day two culminated with departments conducting ice rescues in the frozen water.

“The scenario-based training is a great chance to put all of the skills of the rescuers to the test in a real-life environment and it gives the responders a chance to actually know what it feels like for the victims they are trying to assist,” said Washbond.

The Coast Guard reminds all mariners of the dangers of ice and cold water. Ice on Lake Michigan and inland waterways is unpredictable and dangerous, and ice thickness can vary even in a small area. Outdoor enthusiasts should only go out on the ice if they are appropriately dressed for a potential fall through and are physically capable of self-rescue.

USCG

VENUS (steel propeller bulk freighter, 346 foot, 3,719 gross tons) was launched on 28 February 1901, by the American Ship Building Company (Hull #307) at Lorain, Ohio for the Gilchrist Transportation Company, converted to a crane-ship in 1927. She was renamed b.) STEEL PRODUCTS in 1958, and lasted until 1961, when she was scrapped at Point Abino, Ontario, the spot where she had run aground and partially sunk while being towed for scrap.

The lighthouse tender MARIGOLD (iron steamer, 150 foot, 454 gross tons, built in Wyandotte, Michigan) completed her sea trials on 28 February 1891. The contract price for building her was $77,000. After being fitted out, she was placed into service as the supply ship to the lighthouses in the Eleventh District, taking the place of the WARRINGTON. The MARIGOLD was sold in 1947, converted to a converted to dredge and renamed MISS MUDHEN II.

The rail ferry INCAN SUPERIOR (Hull#211) was launched February 28, 1974, at North Vancouver, British Columbia by Burrard Drydock Co. Ltd. She operated between Thunder Bay, Ontario and Superior, Wisconsin until 1992, when she left the Lakes for British Columbia, she was renamed b.) PRINCESS SUPERIOR in 1993.

OUTARDE was launched February 28, 1906, as a.) ABRAHAM STEARN (Hull#513) at Superior, Wisconsin by Superior Ship Building Co.

In 1929, the Grand Trunk carferry MADISON, inbound into Grand Haven in fog and ice, collided with the U.S. Army dredge General G.G. MEADE, berthed on the south bank of the river for the winter. Damage was minor.

1965: The bow section of the tanker STOLT DAGALI, broken in two due to a collision with the passenger liner SHALOM on November 26, 1964, departed New York for Gothenburg, Sweden, under tow to be rebuilt. The ship had been a Seaway trader as a) DAGALI in 1961, 1962 and 1963.

1974: The Dutch freighter AMPENAN visited the Great Lakes in 1960 and 1961. It arrived at Busan, South Korea, for scrapping as c) OCEAN REX.

1995: CHEM PEGASUS, a Seaway trader as far as Hamilton in 2012, was launched on this date as a) SPRING LEO.


2/27 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – The construction of a second Poe-sized super lock in the St. Marys River appears poised to clear a major hurdle that has prevented the estimated $580-million U.S. project from receiving substantial funding in the United States federal budget.

Steve Check, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager for the new lock, confirmed from his Detroit District office that the federal agency has $1.35 million in hand to complete a second economic re-evaluation of the project.

The Corps received the funding envelope with Congressional approval in 2015 by reallocating money from another project that came in under budget, he explained.

The first benefit to cost analysis for a new 1,000-foot lock at the Sault, Check said, was completed by the Corps in 2005. The result of that study was that the benefit of constructing a new lock came in at $0.73, or under one dollar.

Simply put, that meant for every dollar spent on the project, the projected benefit only was 73 cents, Check said.

The most crucial consequence of the 2005 study was that because the benefit was below the one-dollar threshold, the project was not eligible for funding under the Presidential budget.

The results from the 2005 benefit-to-cost-ratio study were flawed because during that process there was an automatic assumption that the commodity that was being transferred by ship could be transported by the next available mode of transportation, Check said. “That’s known now.

“Our process said we must assume that it is there.”

Check, who took over as project manager in 2014, said the Corps was able to do a “sensitivity analysis” with some additional funding for consultation with various industry representatives.

“Essentially, we brought in all the stakeholders to Detroit, including the Lake Carriers’ Association, the rail industry, the mining industry — we had everybody,” he said.

“It was determined from those consultations that the assumption that the next available mode of transportation was available is in fact not there. You couldn’t move all the commodity that would pass through the Sault lock using rail or truck, or a combination of both.”

In the new report, officially to be called the “Second Poe-Sized Lock Economic Re-evaluation Report”, new criteria would be used to assess the need for a twin lock.

“We are going to design this alternative mode of transportation and attempt to cost it out because it doesn’t exist. If it doesn’t exist, what would it cost to make it exist,” Check said.

“We’re going to take that cost and compare it to the cost of a new lock. That would give us our new benefit-to-cost ratio.”

Check is confident that building a new lock will be the clear winner this time over building new rail lines and special rail cars as an alternative mode of transportation.

“We are anticipating that the benefit ratio will be above one, for sure. The rail industry is saying they wouldn’t even take it on unless they had a 50-year contract, and nobody is going to do that.”

Glen Nekvasil, vice-president of the Lake Carriers’ Association, who was present at the 2014 Detroit meetings, said, “The rail companies acknowledged that they do not have the rolling stock to take on that amount of tonnage. In many instances, the customers themselves — the power plants, the steel mills- do not have the rail connections.”

The Lake Carriers’ Association, founded in 1880, represents 15 American companies that operate 56 U.S.-flag vessels on the Great Lakes.

Thirteen of those vessels are 1,000 footers. Nekvasil emphasized, however, that it would not just be the biggest lake freighters that would be stranded if the 47-year-old Poe Lock became inoperable for whatever reason.

“There are 31 of our ships that are limited to the Poe Lock because they are either too long or too wide to use the MacArthur Lock,” he said.

“Those 31 ships represent 70 per cent of our carrying capacity, (over 80 million tonnes of cargo annually), so if we lose the Poe Lock we are pretty much out of business.”

Meanwhile, construction of the new super lock that first received U.S. Congress backing in 1986, and a reaffirmation of their support in 2007, also this year has gained political momentum at the state level.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, in a state address on Jan. 19, identified construction of a second Poe-sized lock a key goal of his administration.

The majority of the 4,000 commercial ships that transit the Sault Locks must use the Poe Lock, he said.

“The Poe Lock is absolutely critical to our future. What would happen if that one lock went down? It would devastate Michigan’s economy. To be blunt, it could devastate the national economy,” the Lake Carriers’ Association reported Snyder as saying in his address.

In its Feb. 16 newsletter, the Lake Carriers’ Association also reported the Ohio House of Representatives has thrown its unanimous support behind construction of another super lock at the Sault.

The newsletter noted the Department of Homeland Security estimated Ohio’s unemployment rate could reach 17.2 per cent if the Poe Lock failed, and cause nearly 11 million unemployed workers nationwide.

At the local level, the City of Sault Ste. Marie Mich. once again has thrown its complete support behind construction of a second lock that has remained relatively stalled for the past five years.

City Manager Oliver Turner said, with the recent announcement that the benefit to cost analysis would be re-evaluated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers using new criteria, the city is “very optimistic” the project would soon be moving forward.

“Based on the information that’s come to my attention, the reassessment will demonstrate and document how important the lock is,” he said.

Turner reiterated, “The city absolutely and strongly supports the construction of a new lock. Not only is it crucial for our regional and national economy, the project has a lot of potential for the shared economies of the twin Saults.”

While the Lake Carriers’ Association and other lobby groups have said they would like the benefit-to-cost re-evaluation to finalize within 18 months, Check said that would not happen.

The final Corps report will take the full 24 months to complete as planned, he said, adding, he will submit his first draft proposal to the agency for final review in July, 2017.

That would likely mean resumption of actual construction of the new lock could not get federal support until the 2018 presidential budget.

The new lock did receive funding of roughly $18 million from the U.S. Congress in 2009, Check said.

Although the new lock was ineligible for presidential funding, Congress can allocate money to anything they want, he pointed out.

“Congress said, ‘Here’s some money. Go start your construction,’” Check said.

“We did some design and construction that included putting in a couple of cofferdams, and some downstream deepening of the river channel.”

As reported by Sault This Week in late October 2009, the new lock would be built at the location of the permanently closed Davis and Sabin locks, built in 1918 and 1919 respectively.

The article went on to say the cofferdams, consisting of two large steel cells, would be built at both ends of the Sabin lock to allow for the water inside to be displaced.

The cofferdams and downstream dredging was finished late in 2010.

Both Check and Nekvasil agreed, however, that once underway the new lock would take between six and ten years to build. Both men also agreed the federal government would not come up with the estimated $580 million to construct the new lock in one lump sum.

“This is a lot of money even in Washington, D.C. One reason it is estimated that the new lock could take up to 10 years to build is that the funding would be incremental,” Nekvasil said. “We have said that $100 million initially would really get things going.”

Asked if he expected to retire before the new lock is done as his predecessor had, Check fired back, “Not if I can help it.”

Sault This Week





Green Bay icebreaking operations scheduled

2/27 - U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, in support of National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration-Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (NOAA-GLERL), will conduct ice breaking in northern Green Bay March 1-3.

Scientists from NOAA-GLERL will be aboard Mackinaw to conduct a number of experiments in the ice. The work will be performed in northern Green Bay, north and east of Chambers Island, south east of Minneapolis and Drisco Shoals between Whaleback Shoal and Rock Island Passage. The work is not expected to disturb shore fast ice near Washington Island or the Door Peninsula.

Recreational users of the ice should plan their activity carefully, use caution near the ice, and stay away from shipping channels and the charted Lake Carriers Association track lines.

USCG

2/27 - Detroit, Mich. – The U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards were scheduled to break ice in the North Channel of the St. Clair River Friday.

The Canadian Coast Guard ship Samuel Risley will break ice in the river near Algonac, Michigan, and Harsens Island.

Due to concentrated ice buildup, the water levels in the area rose between 15 and 20 inches overnight prompting the Clay Township Emergency Operation Center and Champion’s Auto Ferry to request Coast Guard assistance.

Throughout the remainder of the winter, U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers will continue to respond in the St. Clair River and the Great Lakes as weather conditions dictate.

USCG

[yachtsmanwilly]

3/1 - Superior, Wis. – Although Fraser Shipyards is working on seven different vessels this winter, the Herbert C. Jackson has attracted the lion’s share of attention.

Wednesday, state Sen. Janet Bewley, D-Delta, travelled through the 689-foot laker, which is undergoing an engine transplant. When it sails out of Superior in June, the Interlake Steamship Co. vessel will no longer be steam-powered.

"I heard about the re-engine and the fact that they’re actually taking out one set of engines and putting in another," said Bewley, senator for the 25th District. "This is the ultimate in recycling. I mean, think about it. We have a ship that was made in 1959 that’s got a lot of good years left in her and what do you need to do? Well, you need to make her more efficient and more compatible with today’s fuels and with the industry itself."

The fact that Interlake Steamship Co. chose Fraser and Northern Engineering for this multi-million-dollar re-powering project is a feather in our cap, Bewley said, and a source of maritime industry employment. But those weren’t the only reasons the senator dropped by the Superior shipyards for a tour.

"I just wanted to see it," she said. "If it’s big and dirty, I love it. So I got to go on board and take a look around."

The scope of the project, with work taking place on multiple levels inside as well as outside, amazed her.

"Imagine if you will we had this ship with its stack on it. They take the stack off, move it aside, gut it, take everything out and down to the sides of the ship," Bewley said. "And then put in the newest and the best machinery involved to power this vessel for another 20-30 years. It’s just the right thing to do and the right place to do it."

A crew of 60 is working on the ship in two shifts, orchestrating the many components and processes involved in replacing the Herbert C. Jackson’s engine. The project gives passers-by a look at what makes a laker tick, Bewley said.

A barge beside the dry dock holds the scrap; the vessel’s reusable components are being pulled out and set to the side; new engines rest next to the stack, ready to be lowered in. The dual-fuel engines are more efficient and EPA compliant, said Fraser Shipyards President James Farkas.

"It’s just utilizing a cleaner fuel, a more efficient fuel and I guess actually safer as well," he said. "New engines are more compact. The old engines have a lot of steam lines. Steam, as you can imagine, super-heated water, it’s dangerous so it’s a safer way to go about it as well."

The Herbert C. Jackson is a common visitor to the Twin Ports

"She generally loads taconite and/or coal up here in Minnesota, normally out of Duluth or Superior, and sails it down river through the Soo Locks and into Detroit, Chicago, and Muskegon, Cleveland, those sorts of areas," Farkas said.

He said that although she’s an old ship, she’s still effective due to upgrades.

"We think about the navigation systems, the electronics systems, those are all upgraded on the vessel, now the engines will be upgraded as well with a new fuel-efficient engine," Farkas said. "It just allows that ship to maintain its usefulness."

With 225 years of combined experience, Fraser Shipyards and Northern Engineering are integral in keeping ships like the Jackson afloat. Every winter, boats dock in Superior for structural and mechanical upgrades. The enterprise is a good fit for the busy Twin Ports harbor.

"The vessels are here often, because of the amount of stuff that’s loaded here … so it’s important for there to be a group of people capable of providing services to keep those ships sailing safely," he said.

Bewley and Farkas encouraged motorists to drive along Connor’s Point and take a look at the work in progress.

"It’s a great opportunity for people to see exactly what kind of things could have been inside of that ship," Bewley said.

Superior Telegram



HENRY FORD II (Hull#788) was launched on March 1, 1924, at Lorain, Ohio by the American Ship Building Co. She served as flagship of the Ford Motor Company fleet for many years and was eventually sold to Interlake Steamship Company when Ford sold its Great Lakes division. It was renamed b.) SAMUEL MATHER, but never sailed under that name. It was scrapped in 1994, at Port Maitland, Ontario by Marine Recycling & Salvage Ltd.

In 1881 the steamship JOHN B. LYON was launched at Cleveland, Ohio by Thomas Quayle & Son for Capt. Frank Perew. She was a four mast, double-decker with the following dimensions: 255 foot keel, 275 feet overall, 38 foot beam, and 20 foot depth.

On March 1, 1884 the I.N. FOSTER (wooden schooner, 134 foot, 319 gross tons, built in 1872, at Port Huron, Michigan) was sold by Clark I. Boots to E. Chilson. This vessel lasted until 1927, when she was abandoned in Buffalo, New York.

1926 - The passenger ship WHITE STAR of Canada Steamship Lines burned at Hamilton. It then became a coal barge and was rebuilt in 1950 as the diesel powered, self-unloading sandsucker S.M. DOUGLAS. It operated mainly on the St. Lawrence and was sunk as a breakwall at Kingston, ON in 1975.

1972 - The Dutch passenger and freight carrier PRINSES ANNA first visited the Great Lakes in 1967. It was lost in Osumi Strait, 18 miles south of Cape Sata, Japan, as HWA PO while on a voyage from Nagoya to Whampoa, China. The cargo shifted and 20 of the 36 on board were lost when the ship went down.

1980 - The Swedish freighter BARBARA was 4-years old when it first came inland in 1966. It returned through the Seaway as BARKAND in 1968 and as MARIANNA in 1969. The ship was under a fourth name of MARIA BACOLITSA and in bound from Brazil with pig iron for Constanza, Romania, when it went down on the Black Sea with all hands. An S.O.S. had been sent out without giving the location and rescuers were helpless to lend any assistance.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On 02 March 1889, the U.S. Congress passed two acts for establishment of a light station at Old Mackinac Point and appropriated $5,500 for construction of a fog signal building. The following year, funds were appropriated for the construction of the light tower and dwelling.

March 2, 1938 - Harold Lillie, crewmember of the ANN ARBOR NO 6, stepped onto the apron as the carferry was approaching and fell into the water and suffered a broken neck.

March 2, 1998, a fire broke out on the ALGOSOO causing serious damage to the self-unloading belts and other nearby equipment. Almost 12 years earlier in 1986, a similar fire gutted the aft cabins.

On 02 March 1893, the MARY E. MC LACHLAN (3-mast wooden schooner, 251 foot, 1,394 gross tons) was launched at F. W. Wheeler's yard in West Bay City, Michigan as (Hull #96). The launch turned into a disaster when the huge wave generated by the vessel entering the water hit the freighter KITTIE FORBES (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 209 foot, 968 gross tons, built in 1883, at W. Bay City, Michigan). The FORBES had numerous spectators onboard and when the wave struck, many were injured and there was one confirmed death.

1972 - HARMATTAN, a Seaway trader beginning in 1971, arrived at Karachi, Pakistan, for scrapping after suffering missile damage at sea from Indian Naval units during a conflict between the two countries.

1976 - BROOK, a former Seaway trader as EXBROOk beginning in 1968, arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping.


3/2 - Cleveland, Ohio – World Shipping, Inc. has expanded its Great Lakes Vessel Operations Agency Network to include Canadian ports in addition to all U.S. Great Lakes ports. Effective March 1, 2016, World Shipping Inc. will open a fully-staffed agency office in Hamilton, Ont., to provide vessel owners and operators the same service at Canadian ports as the company has provided to U.S. Great Lakes ports since its founding in 1960.

The Canadian Great Lakes Vessel Operations Network includes the ports of Hamilton, Mississauga, Oakville, Toronto, Oshawa, Picton, Welland Canal, Port Weller, Port Colborne, Thorold and Nanticoke.

The expansion of the Great Lakes Vessel Operations Network closes a gap in the Eastern region of the Great Lakes by creating a continuous network of vessel operating offices servicing Lake Ontario and the Welland Canal ports, providing the customers of World Shipping, Inc. with the opportunity to use a single agent, while transiting beyond the St. Lawrence Seaway for all Great Lakes ports on both the U.S. and Canadian side.

World Shipping, Inc.


3/2 - Middleburg Heights, Ohio – The Interlake Steamship Company’s tug Dorothy Ann and barge Pathfinder departed winter layup Tuesday to begin early-season shuttles of iron ore for ArcelorMittal, a leading integrated steel and mining company with blast furnaces at the head of the Cuyahoga River.

A workhorse of Interlake’s nine-vessel fleet, the combined 711-foot Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder is one of Interlake’s two River-Class vessels, a designation given to ships that can traverse the narrowest harbors of the Great Lakes.

With its unique Z-drive (360-degree) propulsion systems, the Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder is the most maneuverable vessel in the U.S. Great Lakes fleet.

“We are excited to kick off our 2016 navigation season with longest River-Class vessel capable of transiting the winding Cuyahoga River,” says Brendan O’Connor, Interlake’s Vice President of Marketing and Marine Traffic.

This spring also signals the successful completion of the company’s more than $100 million in fleet modernization as well as continuous emission-reduction improvements.

“These significant investments represent Interlake’s long-term commitment to the Great Lakes shipping industry and the customers we serve,” O’Connor says.

Propelled by a vision to create the most efficient and environmentally friendly fleet on the Great Lakes, Interlake will complete its steam plant conversion program that began in 2006 with its final vessel, the Herbert C. Jackson. The Jackson will sail in June as a modern and efficient River-Class vessel when its current repowering is completed at Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wis.

Interlake is also installing exhaust gas scrubbers on two additional vessels – the James R. Barker and the Lee A. Tregurtha – at Fincanteri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

Interlake Steamship Co.