Today in Great Lakes History

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Coast Guard, agencies to conduct security exercise in Cleveland area Wednesday

4/20 - Cleveland, Ohio – Members of the U.S. Coast Guard and about two dozen other response agencies will come together in the greater Cleveland area Wednesday to participate in a full-scale exercise designed to enhance federal, state, and local coordination in conducting preventative radiological nuclear detection in the eastern Great Lakes.

Boaters may notice increased law enforcement activity near ports in Cleveland; Lorain, Ohio; and Fairport Harbor, Ohio, but should be aware there are no known threats in the area and the exercise is being conducted to meet a triennial training requirement.

Exercise activities will be limited to specific areas and should not significantly impact marine traffic.

The primary focus of the exercise is to practice, evaluate, and make recommendations for enhancing radiological nuclear detection capabilities.

The homeland security exercise is based on the Area Maritime Security Training and Exercise Program. The AMSTEP is focused on building relationships within the federal maritime security domain to write, review and update the area maritime security plan, in addition to supporting other transportation entities that rely upon secure ports. As the federal maritime security coordinator, the Coast Guard has the lead in coordinating such exercises.

USCG





Shipwreck seminar tonight aims to educate locals

4/20 - Traverse City, Mich. – Maritime archaeology will meet environmental stewardship in Suttons Bay when the Inland Seas Education Association hosts a seminar about Lake Huron shipwrecks.

Stephanie Gandulla, a maritime archaeologist with the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, in Alpena, will lead the seminar Tuesday night. ISEA Executive Director Fred Sitkins said the sanctuary’s overarching work — even though it’s focused on shipwrecks off the Lower Peninsula’s northeast shores — dovetails with the his group’s mission of fostering connections between the Great Lakes and the region’s residents.

“We want them to develop a passion, and a sense and a level of care for this resource so they make decisions to protect it in the future,” Sitkins said. “We both do a really good job of that; of helping to build a connection to the Great Lakes.”

The waters in and around Thunder Bay have claimed more than 200 vessels, while researchers have discovered nearly 100 shipwrecks in the area.

Similar shipwrecks — along with long-defunct piers and docks — dot the sandy bottom of Grand Traverse Bay and Lake Michigan, too. Last summer a group of Northwestern Michigan College-affiliated researchers located three underwater archeology sites near Northport harbor, about a dozen miles from ISEA’s Education Center in Suttons Bay where Tuesday night’s seminar will take place.

Mark Holley, an NMC adjunct professor and leader of the Nautical Archaeology Society’s International Training Program, said the field school is scheduled to start again this summer. Researchers will spend about two weeks in mid-June looking for six more wrecks supposedly resting on the bottom of Northport Bay.

The ships in question, mostly three-masted schooners, largely operated — and sank — in the area between 1880 and 1910, Holley said.

“These are further out in the bay,” he said of the wrecks. “They’re noted in the historical records, but nobody has found them yet.”

Gandulla’s seminar will also explore the sanctuary’s history, from its controversial inception in 2000 to its acceptance as a valuable community asset in the Alpena area less than 15 years later, according the ISEA written statement.

ISEA and sanctuary officials plan to partner again in July, when the ISEA’s Inland Seas schooner will visit Alpena and take local students on an overnight sailing trip, Sitkins said. Students will also have a chance to work with archaeologists and get an in-depth, educational look at the work they do in the sanctuary while staying aboard the ship.

Tuesday’s seminar is free and scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

Record Eagle


On 20 March 1885, MICHIGAN (Hull#48), (iron propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 215 foot, 1,183 tons) of the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railroad was sunk by ice off Grand Haven, Michigan.

The sidewheeler NEW YORK was sold Canadian in 1877, hopefully at a bargain price, because when she was hauled out on the ways on 20 March 1878, at Rathburn's yard in Kingston, Ontario, to have her boiler removed, her decayed hull fell apart and could not be repaired. Her remains were burned to clear the ways.

On 20 March 1883, the E. H. MILLER of Alpena, Michigan (wooden propeller tug, 62 foot, 30 gross tons, built in 1874, at East Saginaw, Michigan) was renamed RALPH. She was abandoned in 1920.

1938: ¬ A fire of an undetermined cause destroyed the passenger steamer CITY OF BUFFALO while it was fitting out for the 1938 season at the East 9th St. Pier in Cleveland The blaze began late the previous day and 11 fire companies responded. The nearby CITY OF ERIE escaped the flames, as did the SEEANDBEE.

2011” ¬ The Indian freighter APJ ANJLI was built in 1982 and began visiting the Great Lakes in 1990. It was sailing as c) MIRACH, and loaded with 25,842 tons of iron ore, when it ran aground 3 miles off the coast of India on March 20, 2011. Four holds were flooded and the crew of 25 was removed. The hull subsequently broke in two and was a total loss.

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Port Clinton conservancy has a 'lot of work' to place lighthouse

4/21 - Port Clinton, Ohio – The Port Clinton Lighthouse Conservancy members didn't take much time to congratulate one another on receiving the deed to the light from Brands' Marina last week. There's too much work to do.

Last week, Dalton Brand of Brands' Marina signed over ownership of the 119-year old wooden pier light that members of the Conservancy worked for years to painstakingly restore.

The city's Safety-Service Director Tracy Colston and Conservancy President Rich Norgard signed a license agreement that authorizes the placement of the lighthouse to a parcel north of the Derby Pond in Waterworks Park.

"We don't have a lot of time for back-slapping and congratulating each other," Norgard said. "We've got a lot of work to do."

Work includes securing a building permit with Ottawa County, as well as approval from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to dig into the soil to place the light.

Then comes groundbreaking, which Norgard says they are aiming to do in mid-May. Preparing the grounds for the light includes a concrete pad or foundation and then four concrete piers that the light will rest on top of. "We'll be doing landscaping with stone so it will look like it did when it was one the west pier," Norgard said.

Electric wiring will be added as well as re-routing the pathway so visitors will have and ADA accessible way to get to the light.

The Conservancy will also be creating a system for docents, people who will help bring visitors to and from the light, and setting up a schedule for when the light will be open for tours. The city is designating parking space at Waterworks Park for visitors to park their vehicles and walk over, he said.

Then comes moving the estimated 12,000 pound, 26-foot tall wooden lighthouse - a feat which Norgard expects will draw national attention. The light will be loaded onto a barge and floated down the Portage River to its new home on the shoreline. "It's going to be a major coordination effort between us and the city, the police and fire departments and the Coast Guard," Norgard said. "It's a pretty big deal."

Norgard said there was no firm date on placement for the light but they hope to have it in place by mid-July, close to the lighthouse's 120th birthday.

The wooden lighthouse went into service on July 15, 1896, on the pier. Norgard believes the structure was likely built in Detroit and brought here on a barge.

The structure is about 26 feet tall, and pier lights like it were common on the Great Lakes at that time, Norgard said. Few remain, however, because they were made of wood that often did not survive the elements.

The Port Clinton Lighthouse keeper had a home that was the former Garden at the Lighthouse restaurant on Perry Street, Norgard said. A branch of Croghan Colonial Bank was recently built on the site.

Each day, the keeper would go to the lighthouse and light the oil lamp. The interior of the lighthouse still has the original cabinets he used to store the oil and other items, and the cleaning station where he worked with those materials.

"The craftsmanship is wonderful," Norgard said. "It pretty much looks the same as when they put it on the pier in 1896."

The lighthouse remained in service until 1952, when it was replaced by a metal pole with a blinking light. It survived the elements because of its copper roof, which is a good protector of wood, and maintenance work its owners over the years completed to help save it, Norgard said.

Dave Jeremy, owner of the former Jeremy's Marina, which today is Brands' Marina, took the lighthouse and moved it to his marina in order to preserve it. He and Darrell Brand, owner of Brands' Marina, painted it and kept it in good shape, Norgard said.

Norgard believes the light may be one of the oldest remaining pier lights on the Great Lakes and could be placed on the National Register, which the Conservancy is researching.

"It's definitely unique," he said. "There's not another light like it."

Port Clinton News Herald

21 April 1907 Peter West, a fireman on the JOHN C. GAULT (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 218 foot, 519 gross tons, built in 1881, at Buffalo, New York, converted to a bulk freighter in 1906, at Detroit, Michigan) fell overboard and drowned in Lake Huron. The news was reported to Capt. J. W. Westcott when the GAULT sailed past Detroit, Michigan, on 23 April 1907.

On 21 April 1863, SEABIRD (wooden side-wheel steamer, 638 tons, built in 1859, at Newport [Marine City], Michigan) was purchased by Capt. A. E. Goodrich from Capt. E. Ward for $36,000. She served primarily on the Lake Michigan west-shore and Lake Superior routes until she burned in 1868.

EDWIN H. GOTT cleared Two Harbors, Minn., with her first cargo, 59,375 tons of iron ore, on April 21, 1979, bound for Gary, Indiana.

Interstate Steamship's a.) WILLIS L. KING (Hull#79) by the Great Lakes Engineering Works, departed on her maiden voyage with a load of coal from Toledo, Ohio on April 21, 1911, bound for Superior, Wisconsin. Renamed b) C. L. AUSTIN in 1952 and was scrapped at Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1985.

On April 21, 1988, P & H Shipping Ltd.'s, d.) BIRCHGLEN, a.) WILLIAM MC LAUGHLIN, was towed off the Great Lakes by the tugs ELMORE M. MISNER and ATOMIC bound for Sydney, Nova Scotia, to be scrapped. Panda Steamship Co., G. A. Tomlinson, mgr.'s a.) WILLIAM H. WARNER (Hull#784) by American Ship building Co., was launched April 21, 1923. Renamed b.) THE INTERNATIONAL in 1934, c.) MAXINE in 1977, d.) J. F. VAUGHAN in 1981 and e.) OAKGLEN in 1983. Scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 1989.

Pittsburgh Steamship Co's, HOMER D. WILLIAMS (Hull#720) by American Ship Building Co., Lorain, Ohio, was launched in 1917.

April 21, 1998 - PERE MARQUETTE 41 (former CITY OF MIDLAND 41) was towed to Sturgeon Bay from Muskegon for the remainder of the conversion. She was towed by the tugs MARY PAGE HANNAH and the CARL WILLIAM SELVICK.

On 21 April 1868, GERTRUDE (2-mast wooden schooner, 137 foot, 268 tons, built in 1855, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying corn from Chicago to Buffalo when she was cut by the ice four miles west of Mackinaw City and sank in deep water. Her crew made it to shore in the yawl.

1963: The hull of the Swedish freighter HELGA SMITH cracked en route from Montreal to Kristiansand, Norway, and the crew abandoned the ship. The vessel was taken in tow but sank April 23 while ten miles off Cape Broyle, Newfoundland. The ship had been completed in December 1944 and had been a Seaway trader since 1960.

1981: The Italian freighter DONATELLA PARODI first came inland in 1965 at the age of 8. It was sailing as f) MARIKA K. when a fire broke out in the engineroom on this day in 1981. The vessel was en route from Varna, Bulgaria, to Karachi, Pakistan, when the blaze erupted on the Mediterranean some 60 miles east of Crete. The ship was abandoned by the crew but towed to Eleusis, Greece. It was laid up, later put under arrest and was partially sunk. Following an auction, the hull was pumped out, towed into Aliaga, Turkey, on May 18, 1987, and broken up.

1986: ALGOPORT was inbound at Grand Haven, MI with a cargo of salt when it hit the seawall.

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22 April 1873 - ST. JOSEPH (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 150 feet, 473 gross tons, built in 18,67 at Buffalo, New York) was sold by the Goodrich Transportation Company to Charles Chamberlain and others of Detroit, Michigan, for $30,000.

On 22 April 1872, Capt. L. R. Boynton brought the wooden propeller WENONA into Thunder Bay to unload passengers and freight at Alpena, Michigan. The 15-inch-thick ice stopped him a mile from the harbor. The passengers got off and walked across the ice to town. Later, because of the novelty of it, a couple hundred people from Alpena walked out to see the steamer. In the evening, Capt. Boynton steamed back to Detroit without unloading any of the cargo.

American Steamship Co.'s, ST. CLAIR (Hull#714) was christened April 22, 1976, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Corp.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE of 1930, laid up for the last time at Toronto on April 22, 1986.

CSL's HOCHELAGA lost her self-unloading boom during a windstorm at Windsor, Ontario, on April 22, 1980. As a consequence, she made 10 trips hauling grain as a straight-decker.

CHARLES M. WHITE was commissioned April 22, 1952, at South Chicago, Illinois. She was soon recognized as one of the fastest ships on the Great Lakes because of her ability to reach speeds in excess of 17 knots (19.6 mph).

On 22 April 1871, the 210-foot, 4-masted wooden schooner JAMES COUCH was launched at Port Huron, Michigan. She was named for a prominent Chicago businessman of the time.

On 22 April 1872, EVA M. CONE (wooden schooner, 25 tons, built in 1859, at Oconto, Wisconsin) was carrying lumber from Port Washington to Milwaukee on an early-season run when she struck on ice floe, capsized and sank just outside of Milwaukee harbor. Her crew made it to safety in her lifeboat.

1917: NEEPAWAH, formerly part of Canada Steamship Lines, was captured by U53 a German submarine and sunk by timed bombs. The vessel had been carrying pyrites from Huelva, Spain, to Rouen, France, and went down about 120 miles west of Bishop's Rock.

1924: BROOKTON lost her way in heavy snow and ran aground on Russell Island Shoal near Owen Sound. The vessel was released the next day with the help of a tug. Her career ended with scrapping at Hamilton as g) BROOKDALE (i) in 1966-1967.

1947: HARRY YATES (ii) stranded on Tecumseh Reef, Lake Erie, but was soon released. The vessel became c) BLANCHE HINDMAN (ii) in 1960 and was scrapped at Santander, Spain, in 1968.

1955: Fire destroyed the historic wooden passenger steamers MAID OF THE MIST and MAID OF THE MIST II at their winter quarters in Niagara Falls, ON. The blaze broke out due to an errant welding spark during the annual fit-out and the Niagara Falls Fire Chief suffered a heart attack and died at the scene.

1968: ALHELI, a Lebanese registered Liberty ship, made three trips to the Great Lakes in 1964. The vessel began leaking 900 miles east of Bermuda while en route from Almeria, Spain, to Wilminton, DE, with fluorspar on this date and was abandoned by the crew. The ship went down April 24.

1972: CHAMPLAIN arrived in Canada from overseas in 1959 and saw occasional Great Lakes service. It became f) GILANI in 1970 and toppled on her side at Vercheres due to the swell from a passing ship on April 22, 1972. The ship was refloated several days later.

1973: An explosion in the engine room of the C.P. AMBASSADOR blew a six-foot-hole in the side of the hull during a storm about 420 miles east of Newfoundland. The ship was abandoned, save for the captain and chief engineer, and was towed into St. John's, NF on May 4. It had been a Great Lakes visitor as a) BEAVEROAK beginning when new in 1965. The damage was repaired and the vessel resumed service on July 14, 1973. It was eventually scrapped as f) FLAMINGO at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, following arrival on April 30, 1984.

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NEW 770 TON TRAVELLIFT !


Great Lakes Towing, shipyard could expand onto 10 acres of Cleveland waterfront land

4/25 - Cleveland, Ohio – The city of Cleveland could sell roughly 10 acres of waterfront land to a 116-year-old maritime business, for a shipyard expansion a decade in the making.

The Great Lakes Towing Co. operates a fleet of tugboats and oversees the Great Lakes Shipyard, which runs along an old shipping channel that juts west near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. Through land deals with the city, that shipyard could more than double its footprint, turning overgrown, long-contaminated property into a year-round boat-building site.

Founded in July 1899, Great Lakes charted a course that speaks to Cleveland's onetime affluence, its industrial growth, its protracted struggles - and its recent attempts at reinvention.

The company's roster of founding shareholders includes industrialist John D. Rockefeller; Jeptha Wade, a telegraph pioneer who helped establish Lake View Cemetery and donated land to the city for Wade Park; and members of the Hanna, Mather and Steinbrenner families.

Great Lakes Towing went gangbusters for decades but flagged in the 1960s, as the steel business declined and Cleveland's economy softened. For more than 80 years, the shipyard – first on Jefferson Road in the Flats and, since the 1950s, on Division Avenue near the waterfront – focused on repairs and maintenance of the company's own tugboats, which traverse the Great Lakes to provide towing services, cargo hauling, ice-breaking and emergency assistance.

In the early 1980s, Great Lakes expanded into repair work for other people's boats. The company's welders and other employees now fix at least 30 vessels each year, from ferries to freighters. The towing operation serves more than 40 ports stretching from Duluth, Minnesota, to Buffalo, New York.

A decade ago, the shipyard got into the fabrication business.

Workers there produce 1.5 boats per year. Company president Joe Starck hopes that annual tally will increase to 5.5 boats after the land acquisitions from the city and a $10 million expansion project.

"We decided that we would take this old tugboat company and invest," said Ronald Rasmus, the towing company's chairman and one of two primary owners of the Great Lakes Group, Inc. family of businesses. The majority shareholder is Sheldon Guren, an attorney and real estate investor who now lives in Florida.

The proposed land deals with Cleveland would cap off a run of investments that started in 2006, when Great Lakes left its longtime corporate offices at Terminal Tower and moved to a new headquarters complex at the shipyard.

In 2011, the company acquired a massive lift – the third-largest such contraption in the world – that pulls boats out of the water in a sling, of sorts, and trundles them across the shipyard to be set on blocks. The lift, made in Wisconsin and sent here in 25 truckloads, can tote boats weighing up to 770 tons. Great Lakes had to reinforce the ground beneath it to support the lift's weight.

With more land, the shipyard can prop up more boats, adding to its capacity for repairs and construction. Great Lakes plans to build a manufacturing facility large enough to accommodate its lift, to shield ships from rough winter weather and make the shipyard's work – and its workforce – less subject to seasonal shrinkage.

This week, the towing operation and shipyard had about 70 workers on site, plus 35 to 40 out on tugboats or in other locations. At its busiest times, the business might have 120 workers in Cleveland.

Starck and Rasmus want to provide steadier employment for their welders, who are in high demand and who can be hard to track down or rehire if there's a gap between jobs.

Those welders repair marine research vessels, work on government and U.S. Coast Guard ships and build boats for clients as far away as Honduras and Guatemala. Over the next few years, the towing operation itself will become a bigger shipyard client, since the company plans to gradually phase out its older tugboats and replace them with newly built models. Some of the Great Lakes tugboats have hulls that date to the 1930s.

"Replacing our own fleet would be an excellent way to keep workers between projects," Rasmus said, adding "we could not do that without more land."

Potential shipyard site has a checkered past

The land Great Lakes wants to buy sits at West 53rd Street and Crescent Avenue, west of the shipyard and the city's red-roofed Garrett A. Morgan Water Treatment Plant. The towing company would pay a market price for the real estate, and the money would flow into the city's industrial and commercial land bank, which puts together sites for clean-up and development.

The most recent appraisal, which is several years old, placed the value of the land near $35,000 an acre. So Great Lakes might be looking at a $350,000 acquisition, though a firm price hasn't been established. The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District needs to buy a slice of land at the westernmost end of the site for a pump station tied to a tunnel project that will start in 2018.

If Cleveland City Council signs off on legislation introduced this month, Great Lakes could buy roughly half of the site this year, making way for its new building - the first phase of expansion.

Another piece of property, near the western end of the old river channel, is contaminated and needs to be cleaned up before a sale.

Land along the south side of the old shipping channel once was labeled as a polluted, high-priority site by the Environmental Protection Agency. Old city maps show a ship-building operation of some sort, including the once-dominant American Ship Building Co., on the property for more than a century.

In the 1960s, The Plain Dealer bought 15 acres there as the potential site for a new building, which the newspaper never constructed. In 1980, a fire broke out in a building where a tenant was keeping paints and solvents. The EPA and the Coast Guard cleaned up the site and later recouped most of the cost from The Plain Dealer and other companies.

The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority acquired the property in 1998 and gradually sold off land to the city and Great Lakes, which was renting its aging shipyard. The towing company considered leaving Ohio for Illinois or Indiana but opted, after discussions with the port, the city and Cuyahoga County, to stay and build its current complex.

The Great Lakes Shipyard site isn't an environmental problem. Neither is one piece of city land, controlled by the water department and set back from the channel. And the Ohio EPA is reviewing documents about the history and clean-up work performed on a second piece of city property, just southwest of the shipyard.

The lingering challenge is the western portion of the site, which includes a long boat slip where dirt laced with an industrial legacy swirls into the Cuyahoga River. Contaminated sediments at the far end of the old channel cause tumors in fish.

The city and the port authority hope to use money from the EPA's Great Lakes Legacy Act to drain that slip, fill it with clean dirt and cut the land off from the channel using bulkheads. That project is being designed and priced out.

"It's a way to get more property to the shipyard and also cure a lingering environmental problem," said Jim White, the port's director of sustainable infrastructure programs. "The city doesn't want to own a piece of property that has no economic value. And by getting it cleaned up, they can get it into the hands of a taxpayer and employer."

David Ebersole, the city's assistant director of economic development, hopes the property clean-up will be done next year, making a land sale to Great Lakes possible before 2018.

"This is a critical property for the growth of their company," Ebersole said of Great Lakes, which has been talking to the city for years. "If they cannot expand onto this property, it's a severe crimp on their growth."

The city predicts that the shipyard expansion could yield 10 new jobs and $500,000 in new payroll. Great Lakes works with Max S. Hayes High School, part of the Cleveland public school system, and Cuyahoga Community College to train and hire welders and mechanics.

At a recent Cleveland City Planning Commission meeting, Rasmus said that at least half of every dollar of revenue that Great Lakes brings in flows out to suppliers and vendors in Ohio, including companies located in Cleveland.

"We always look at jobs," he told the commission. "Job creation, it's a big thing for us. We know that that's a big problem in our city."

Follow this link for pictures

Cleveland.com


Tours resume on tug John Purves; volunteer docents needed

4/25 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – The Door County Maritime Museum will resume tours of the Tug John Purves in Sturgeon Bay on Sunday, May 1, while facing a continuing problem with securing enough volunteer guides for the famed vessel.

The immaculately restored 149-foot tugboat has proven to be an extremely popular attraction since opening to the public in August of 2008 following a remarkable five-year restoration project. Many of those same volunteers now are members of the docent team that conducts the 45-minute tours.

Talk to the volunteer guides and you find that they enjoy traversing aboard one of the largest and most powerful tugs on the Great Lakes as much as those who visit. Anyone of any age interested in becoming a tug guide and sharing this significant piece of Door County history is asked to contact the museum at [phone] or emailing Jon Gast at [e-mail]. Weekend tug guides are especially needed this summer. Everything will be provided to start this rewarding experience, including opportunities to shadow existing guides to aid the learning process.

Built in 1919 and christened the Butterfield, the John Purves has a colorful past that even included World War II duty in the Aleutian Islands. The tug made its way to Sturgeon Bay in 1956 when purchased by Roen Steamship Company. It was eventually sold, but the tug now again carries the Roen colors and has been outfitted to appear much as it did while operated by Roen in the 1950’s and ‘60s. Capt. John Roen, company owner, renamed the tug in honor of his long-time employee and business manager.

The cost of the tour is included in the museum’s $13 admission fee ($10 for youth ages 5-17) or is also offered separately for $6. Tours begin at 10:30 am and generally go until 3:30 pm. Due to the current shortage of guides it is recommended to contact the museum at [phone] for a status of the tours. The museum is located at 120 N. Madison Ave. between the two downtown bridges.

The Door County Maritime Museum



25 April 1890 - The Collins Bay Rafting Company’s tug ALANSON SUMNER (wooden propeller tug, 127 foot, 300 gross tons, built in 1872, at Oswego, New York) burned at Kingston, Ontario. She had $25,000 worth of wrecking machinery onboard. The SUMNER was repaired and put back in service.

On 25 April 1888, JESSIE MAGGIE (wooden schooner, 63 foot, 49 gross tons) was re-registered as a 2-masted schooner. She was built on a farm in Kilmanagh, Michigan, in 1887, as a 3-masted schooner and she was launched near Sebewaing, Michigan. It took 16 spans of oxen to haul her over frozen ground to the launch site. She lasted until 1904.

Interlake Steamship’s WILLIAM J. DE LANCEY (Hull#909) of American Ship Building Co., was christened April 25, 1981. Renamed b.) PAUL R. TREGURTHA in 1990.

On April 25, 1973, the self-unloading boom on Canada Steamship Lines a.) TADOUSSAC of 1969, collapsed while she was at Sandusky, Ohio. She sails today as b.) CSL TADOUSSAC.

In 1925, the ANN ARBOR 4 was back in service after running aground on February 13th off Kewaunee, Wisconsin.

In 1973, it was announced that the CITY OF SAGINAW 31, would be scrapped, after a fire which destroyed her cabin deck in 1971.

Hall Corp. of Canada's bulk canaller a.) ROCKCLIFFE HALL (Hull#615) by Davie Shipbuilding & Repair Ltd., was launched April 25, 1958. Converted to a tanker in 1972, renamed b.) ISLAND TRANSPORT, and c.) ENERCHEM LAKER in 1987.

Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS (Hull#824) by American Ship Building Co., was launched April 25, 1942.

Mutual Steamship Co.'s WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE (Hull#41) by Great Lakes Engineering Works, was launched April 25, 1908. Renamed b.) S B WAY in 1936 and c.) CRISPIN OGLEBAY in 1948. She was scrapped at Santander, Spain in 1974.

The PERCIVAL ROBERTS JR sailed light on her maiden voyage April 25, 1913, from Lorain to load ore at Two Harbors, Minnesota.

On April 25, 1954, CSL's, T.R. MC LAGAN entered service. At 714 feet 6 inches, she took the title for longest vessel on the Great Lakes from the JOSEPH H. THOMPSON, beating the THOMPSON by three inches. The THOMPSON had held the honor since November 4, 1952. MC LAGAN was renamed b.) OAKGLEN in 1990, and was scrapped at Alang, India in 2004.

Whaleback a.) FRANK ROCKEFELLER (Hull#136) by the American Steel Barge Co., was launched in 1896, for the American Steel barge Co., Pickands, Mather & Co., mgr. Converted to a sand dredge and renamed b.) SOUTH PARK in 1927, and converted to a tanker and renamed c.) METEOR in 1945.

On April 25, 1949, CSL's, GRAINMOTOR collided with the abutment of the railroad bridge above Lock 2 of the Lachine Canal.

The wooden schooner OTTAWA was launched on 25 April 1874, at Grand Haven, Michigan. She was owned by Capt. William R. Loutill and could carry 180,000 feet of lumber.

T S CHRISTIE (wooden propeller, 160 foot, 533 gross tons) was launched at F. W. Wheeler's yard (Hull #22) in W. Bay City, Michigan, on 25 April 1885. She was built for the Bay City & Cleveland Transportation Company at a cost of $45,000. Originally built as a double-deck vessel, she was cut down to a single decker at Chicago in 1902.

1941 The CANADIAN SIGNALLER was built at Collingwood as Hull 63 in 1919. It was torpedoed and sunk as d) POLYANA by U-103 en route from from Sunderland, UK to Freetown, Sierre Leone, with a cargo of coal. It was attacked just before midnight April 24 and sank in the early hours on this date with all 25 on board being lost.

1968 The Misener steamer EVERETTON ran aground in the St. Lawrence on this date in 1968. Although the damage was considered minor, the ship was sold to Marine Salvage for scrap, resold to Spanish shipbrakers and arrived under tow at Bilbao, on September 23, 1968, for dismantling.

1998 The wooden goelettes MONT NOTRE DAME and MONT ROYAL were destroyed by a fire at St. Joseph-de-la-Rive, Quebec, where they were being preserved ashore as museum ships. MONT NOTRE DAME was one of the first units in the Transport Desgagnes fleet while MONT ROYAL was known to have been a Great Lakes visitor.


24 April 1882 - The ferry HAWKINS (wooden propeller ferry, 73 foot, 86 gross tons, built in 1873, at Au Sable, Michigan) was renamed JAMES BEARD. She had received a thorough overhaul and was put in service between Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario, on 25 April 1882. She lasted until 1927, when she was abandoned.

On 24 April 1872, the 3-mast wooden schooner JENNIE GRAHAM was sailing up Lake Huron to pick up a load of lumber. She was light and at full sail when a sudden squall caused her to capsize. Two crewmembers were trapped below decks and died. Captain Duncan Graham was washed away and drowned. The remaining seven crewmembers clung to the overturned hull for about an hour and then the vessel unexpectedly turned upwards and lay on one side. The crew was then able to cut away a lifeboat and get in it. They were later picked up by the schooner SWEEPSTAKES. The GRAHAM was salvaged and taken to Port Huron for repairs.

ONTADOC sailed from Collingwood, Ontario, on her maiden voyage on April 24, 1975, for Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to load steel for Duluth, Minnesota. She was renamed b) MELISSA DESGAGNES in 1990. Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s D.M. CLEMSON (Hull#716) of the American Ship Building Co., departed Lorain on her maiden voyage April 24, 1917, to load iron ore at Duluth, Minnesota.

The B.F. JONES left Quebec on April 24, 1973, in tandem with her former fleet mate EDWARD S. KENDRICK towed by the Polish tug KORAL heading for scrapping in Spain. The wooden schooner WELLAND CANAL was launched at Russell Armington's shipyard at St. Catharines, Ontario. She was the first ship built at St. Catharines and the first to navigate the Welland Canal when it opened between St. Catharine's and Lake Ontario on 10 May 1828.

1948 A collision between the HARRY L. FINDLAY and the Canadian tanker JOHN IRWIN occurred in the St. Clair River, near Recors Point on this date. The stem bar was twisted and plates set back on the American bulk carrier and these were repaired at Lorain. It later sailed as c) PAUL L. TIETJEN. The tanker saw further service as c) WHITE ROSE II, d) WHITE ROSE and e) FUEL MARKETER (ii).

1975 The Canadian self-unloader SAGUENAY sustained minor damage in a collision in Lake St. Clair with the Panamanian freighter FESTIVITY on this date. The latter had begun coming to the Great Lakes in 1966. It had been damaged in a grounding on July 18, 1977, and arrived at Bilbao, Spain, for scrapping on November 9, 1977.

1989 GENERAL VARGAS arrived at Green Bay and was being towed by the tug MINNIE SELVICK when the latter was crushed against pilings around a railway bridge and sank. All on board were rescued but the tug was a total loss. The Philippine registered freighter had begun Great Lakes trading as a) BRUNTO in 1977 and reacquired that name in 1994. It was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, as f) LINDEN after arriving on July 19, 2011.

23 April 1907 - The SEARCHLIGHT (wooden propeller fish tug, 40 foot, built in 1899, at Saginaw, Michigan) capsized and sank while returning to Harbor Beach, Michigan, with a load of fish. The vessel had been purchased by Captain Walter Brown and his son from the Robert Beutel Fish Company of Toledo, Ohio, just ten days before. The sale agreement stated that the tug was to be paid for with fish, not cash. All six crew members drowned.

On 23 April 1883, STEPHEN S. BATES (wooden schooner, 97 foot, 139 tons, built in 1856, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was bound from Horne's Pier, Wisconsin, with posts and hardware for Chicago when she was driven into the shallows just north of Grosse Point, Illinois, by a storm and broke up. No lives were lost.

In 1953, the PERE MARQUETTE 22 was cut in half, then pulled apart and lengthened by 40 feet, as part of a major refit at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Also during this refit, her triple-expansion engines were replaced with Skinner Unaflows, and her double stacks were replaced with a single, tapered stack. The refit was completed August 28, 1953.

On April 23, 1966, the b.) JOSEPH S. WOOD, a.) RICHARD M. MARSHALL of 1953, was towed to the Ford Rouge complex at Dearborn, Michigan by her new owners, the Ford Motor Company. She was renamed c.) JOHN DYKSTRA.

Canada Steamship Lines’ FORT YORK was commissioned April 23, 1958.

On April 23, 1980, the ARTHUR B. HOMER's bow thruster failed while maneuvering through ice at Taconite Harbor, Minnesota, resulting in a grounding which damaged her bow and one ballast tank.

The a.) GRIFFIN (Hull#12) of the Cleveland Ship Building Co. was launched April 23, 1891, for the Lake Superior Iron Mining Co. Renamed b.) JOSEPH S. SCOBELL in 1938, she was scrapped at Rameys Bend, Ontario, in 1971.

On April 23, 1972, PAUL H. CARNAHAN arrived at the Burlington Northern Docks at Superior, Wisconsin, to load 22,402 gross tons of iron ore bound for Detroit, opening the 1972, shipping season at Superior.

On 23 April 1859, at about midnight, the schooner S. BUTTLES was fighting a severe gale. She was carrying staves from Port Burwell, Ontario, to Clayton, New York, and sprang a leak while battling the gale. While manning the pumps, one man was washed overboard, but his shipmates quickly rescued him. Capt. Alexander Pollock beached the vessel to save her about 10 miles east of the Genesee River.

On 23 April 1882, GALLATIN (2-mast wooden schooner, 138 foot, 422 tons, built in 1863, at Oswego, New York) was carrying pig iron from St. Ignace, Michigan, to Erie, Pennsylvania, when she sprang a leak in a storm on Lake Erie. She struck bottom on Chickanolee Reef and foundered in shallow water at Point Pelee. Her crew was saved from the rigging by the fishing sloop LIZZIE.

1916 The grain laden COLLINGWOOD stranded in Whitefish Bay due to ice and fog and was not released until April 27.

1929 The canaller IMARI was on its delivery trip from Port Talbot, Wales, to Canada when it lost the propeller blades, due to ice, off Scaterie Island, Nova Scotia. The vessel later sailed the Great Lakes as b) DELAWARE, d) MANICOUAGAN, e) WASHINGTON TIMES HERALD and f) MANITOULIN.

1945 EFTYCHIA, a Greek freighter, came to the Great Lakes for one trip in 1961. Earlier, as the British freighter RIVERTON, it had been torpedoed by U-1023 off southwest England on April 23, 1945, and three lives were lost. The vessel arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, as c) BOAZ ESPERANZA for scrapping on March 20, 1969.

1975 WESTDALE (ii) ran aground at the entrance to Goderich harbour while inbound with grain and was stuck for 15 hours before being pulled free.

1988 QUEDOC (iii) was upbound in the Seaway when it was in a collision with the BIRCHGLEN (I) under tow for scrap, and went aground in Lake St. Louis near Buoy 2A. Four tugs were needed to pull the ship free and it went to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

1991 MARINE TRANSPORT operated around Maritime Canada but had come to the Great Lakes as c) C. OMER MARIE. It ran into ice and sank on April 23, 1991, about 10 miles off Cape Race, NF. The vessel was under R.C.M.P. surveillance when it was lost and all on board were rescued only to be arrested.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/26 - Detroit, Mich. – The Soo Locks are getting a technological upgrade this summer with the replacement of a half-century-old master control system that opens and closes the waterway passage for Great Lakes freighters and leisure boats.

The new computer system meets the demands of an increasingly high-tech maritime transportation industry, even while the two functional shipping lanes show signs of aging.

“It’s just part of the general direction of the industry — everything is getting more digital and automated,” said Jim Peach, assistant area engineer at the Soo Locks.

The automation upgrades come as Michigan’s congressional delegation continues to lobby colleagues in Washington, D.C., for the more than $500 million needed to build a new 1,200-foot-long lock to mirror the Poe Lock, which handles the largest freighters carrying iron ore.

“We’re starting to make some traction with this, but it’s a lot of conversations,” said U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, and vice chair of the Homeland Security Committee.

Last fall, President Barack hateful muslim traitor’s administration authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a $1.35 million cost-benefit study of an additional shipping lock that would take more than two years to complete, corps spokesman Jeff Hawk said.

While the planning and lobbying for a new lock continue, the Army Corps is trying to keep up with rapidly changing technology in the shipping industry and head off a failure of a lock system that sees nearly 80 million tons of goods and raw materials pass through each year.

The new control panels being installed in the lockmaster’s tower and a pier-side shelter are funded within the Army Corps of Engineers’ $31 million annual operating budget for the Soo Locks.

The Detroit News




Maritime memorial planned

4/26 - Owen Sound, Ont. – Owen Sound and Georgian Bluffs have joined forces in a plan to recognize the area's rich maritime heritage. The two municipalities have agreed to work together in an attempt to secure funding for a Maritime Memorial of the Upper Lakes to be located near the Owen Sound harbor and supported by interpretive plaques at numerous sites in Georgian Bluffs, Owen Sound and even Meaford.

"It is a rather fascinating history and it is the reason we are," said Owen Sound Coun. Peter Lemon, chair of the Maritime Memorial of the Upper Lakes Committee. "It is going to be a wonderful project because it will tie a whole bunch of our history together."

The project would include a memorial located in the city, likely near the Marine and Rail Museum at the harbor, with interpretive plaques situated at a number of locations along the coastline detailing the maritime history of each site.

"Basically there will be a tour that starts at Big Bay, down to Presqu'ile, to Cobble, to Balmy Beach, to many spots in Owen Sound, and then around the bay out of Owen Sound to Hibou and on to Leith," said Lemon. "It is about 40 miles of coastline." Lemon said the project was conceived three or four years ago and brought before council at that time, but the timing wasn't right and it was rejected. The current city council has now endorsed the plan providing funding is secured. Georgian Bluffs has been asked and has agreed to come onboard partly because of its own marine heritage that is closely tied into Owen Sound's.

"In order to interpret Owen Sound's history, you also have to interpret Georgian Bluff's," said Lemon. "As a case in point, (Captain William Fitzwilliam) Owen's first landing point was at Cobble Beach."

Owen named the bay after his brother during his preliminary survey of Lake Huron on 1815.

Other areas that could be highlighted with plaques in Georgian Bluffs include Big Bay and Presqu'ile Point, where the wood that powered the steamships in Owen Sound was loaded to be brought down to Owen Sound.

Areas in Owen Sound that would be highlighted include the east bluff overlooking the bay where large cannons were situated. The plaques would also highlight Owen Sound's contribution to local marine history including the first dry dock of the upper lakes, the first iron ship of the upper lakes and the huge number of ships that sailed out of the city, including those of the Owen Sound Transportation Company.

"Much of Western Canada was settled out of the port of Owen Sound," said Lemon. "The people came north to Owen Sound by train, got on ships and sailed to the lakehead and then went by wagon out west."

In Meaford, locations could include Hibou Point and the location of the docks at Leith.

Lemon said the research being conducted for the project has turned up "treasure troves" of historical photographs that local officials didn't even know existed of Owen Sound from around 1900 and before. Many were found in the archives of the Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library.

"There is a bunch of them that haven't seen the light of day around here in a really long time," Lemon said.

Georgian Bluffs has also been asked to participate by the city because the provincial funding they hope to secure has to be applied for by municipalities with a population under 20,000.

Lemon said the intent is for the project to be part of Canada's 150th and Owen Sound's 160th celebrations in 2017.

Lemon said he expects the total cost of the project to surpass $100,000, and along with funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, there are also plans to seek out some local and corporate donations and hopes to attract some community partners. The Owen Sound legion branch has already joined on as a partner.

Lemon said he expects a design for the memorial to be chosen much like how the design of the Black History Cairn at Harrison Park was. Lemon, who also chaired the committee for that project, said he would like to see artists submit their concepts for the project.

"We will be shortly seeking artists and it will be an open competition and then we will narrow it down until we have selected someone," said Lemon. "Hopefully they will come up with something that is meaningful and representational."

Georgian Bluffs Mayor Al Barfoot said the partnership makes sense because the marine heritage of the two municipalities is so intertwined.

"It really shows good co-operation between the municipalities to have a joint project that benefits both of us," said Barfoot.

Owen Sound Sun Times



4/26 - Cleveland, Ohio – The Great Lakes Towing Company announces the addition of Nikita Skeeter, a maritime professional with over 25 years of experience in shipbuilding and production management, as General Manager of Great Lakes Shipyard.

Skeeter’s management experience includes multiple, simultaneous shipyard projects with budgets up to $1 billion, as well as responsibilities for more than 400 maritime professionals and production tradesmen including: Design, engineering, welding and pipefitting, electrical, painting, carpentry and more. The breadth of Skeeter’s management experience ranges from design to development, commercial to government vessels, diesel to LNG and LPG, domestic to foreign cargo vessels, and special projects such as offshore structures and jackup drilling rigs.

Prior to joining Great Lakes Shipyard, Skeeter spent seven years working at shipyards in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and previously worked for Newport News Shipbuilding and NORSHIPCO (Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Corporation), a subsidiary of BAE Systems Ship Repair. Skeeter holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Florida International University and a Master of Science in Electromechanical Engineering Technology from University of Miami.

The addition of Skeeter takes place as the shipyard continues work on the construction of the new 3,400 H.P. tugboat for Regimen de Pensiones y Jubilaciones del Personal de la Empresa Portuaria Quetzal, Guatemala, Central America (Regimen). Plans are also in place to proceed with construction of a second tug for NYPA’s Niagara Power Plant operation in Buffalo, New York, as well as five (5) new Damen Stan Tugs 1907 ICE for The Towing Company’s harbor towing operations.

Great Lakes Towing Company


26 April 1891 NORWALK (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 209 foot, 1007 gross tons) was launched by William DuLac at Mount Clemens, Michigan. At first, she was not able to get down the Clinton River to Lake St. Clair due to low water. She lasted until 1916, when she was sold to Nicaraguan buyers and was lost in the Caribbean Sea that autumn.

On 26 April 1859, the wooden schooner A. SCOTT was carrying limestone blocks for a large Presbyterian church being built at Vermilion, Ohio. The vessel was driven ashore near Vermilion by a gale and was quickly pounded to pieces. Her insurance had expired about ten days earlier. No lives were lost.

Algoma's new straight deck bulk freighter ALGOWEST (Hull#226) of Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., was launched April 26, 1982. She was converted to a self-unloader in 1998, and renamed b.) PETER R. CRESSWELL in 2001.

Sea trials were conducted April 26, 1984, on Lake Ontario for the CANADIAN RANGER.

An unfortunate incident happened on the SEWELL AVERY as four crew members were injured, one critically, when a lifeboat winch housing exploded shortly after a lifeboat drill in 1978.

Paterson's CANADOC (Hull#627) by Davie Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., was launched April 26, 1961.

BENSON FORD (Hull#245) of the Great Lakes Engineering Works was launched in 1924.

In 1982, carferry service from Frankfort, Michigan ended forever when railroad service to that port was discontinued and the remaining boats (ARTHUR K. ATKINSON, VIKING, and CITY OF MILWAUKEE) were laid up. CITY OF MILWAUKEE is preserved as a museum ship by the Society for the Preservation of the CITY OF MILWAUKEE.

On 26 April 1902, M. P. BARKLOW (wooden schooner, 104 foot, 122 gross tons, built in 1871, at Perry, Ohio), loaded with salt, was anchored off South Bass Island in Lake Erie to ride out a gale. Nevertheless she foundered and four lives were lost, the skipper, his wife, their son and one crewman.

On 26 April 1926, THOMAS GAWN (2-mast wooden schooner-barge, 171 foot, 550 gross tons, built in 1872, at Lorain, Ohio as a 3-mast schooner) sprang a leak and sank at River Rouge, Michigan in the Detroit River. The wreck was removed the following month and abandoned. She had a 54-year career.

1902 The wooden schooner barge GRACE B. GRIBBLE was holed by ice and sank in Lake Erie off Point Pelee after the hull was punctured by an ice flow. Three sailors were lost.

1958 CIANDRA, a Great Lakes visitor from West Germany as early as 1953, ran aground in the St. Clair River at the south end of Stag Island on this date in 1958. Due to a dispute, there was no pilot on board at the time. The ship was stuck for about 3 hours. It later burned and capsized at Singapore as e) MESONGO on September 9, 1977, and was refloated and then scrapped in 1979.

1981 The Norwegian freighter ASKOT visited the Great Lakes from 1959 to 1962 and returned under the flag of Greece as DIAKAN MASCOT in 1972. It was observed lying off Aden, as c) TYHI with the engine room flooded on this date in 1981. The hull was later refloated and arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakstan, for scrapping on April 28, 1982.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/27 - Buffalo, N.Y. – Buffalo is going to be part of U.S. Navy history. A new combat vessel will officially join the Navy’s fleet during ceremonies on the city’s waterfront later this year or early next year.

The new USS Little Rock, a Littoral Combat Ship, will be commissioned at Canalside next to the decommissioned ship of the same name, the first time an event will have happened with the vessels in such proximity in the Navy’s history.

The new Little Rock will enter active duty next to the former cruiser, now a floating museum in the Buffalo & Erie County Naval and Military Park. The event also will mark the first time in the city’s modern history that a ship entered the Navy’s fleet here.

The man in charge of the ship will be Commander Paul Burkart, who graduated from high school outside Rochester, N.Y., in 1985.

Littoral Combat Ships get their name because they operate in waters close to shore. The new Little Rock will be 378 feet long and 56 feet wide and will weigh about 3,000 tons. That’s shorter and lighter than ships in the destroyer class.

“We’re going to be fast and agile. We’ll go above 40 knots – other Navy ships don’t quite make it that fast,” Burkart said.

The ship will be able to undertake three types of combat missions: anti-submarine, anti-mine and surface warfare. Because of its abilities, the ship also will be well suited to take on illicit-trafficking operations in places like the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, as well as counter-piracy operations like around the Horn of Africa, Burkart said.

The ship will have a helicopter launch pad, a ramp for small boats and will have new water jet-propulsion.

A core crew of 50 will operate the ship, plus 20 to 23 more sailors depending on the mission-specific equipment brought aboard. That means the total size of the crew will peak at fewer than 100, far fewer than the 250 to 350 sailors aboard a destroyer, Burkart said.

“It takes fewer people because it’s more automated,” the graduate of Churchville-Chili High School said. In his 30-plus year career in the Navy, this will be Burkart’s 10th ship.

A core crew of 50 will operate the ship, plus 20 to 23 more sailors depending on the mission-specific equipment brought aboard. That means the total size of the crew will peak at fewer than 100, far fewer than the 250 to 350 sailors aboard a destroyer, Burkart said.

“It takes fewer people because it’s more automated,” the graduate of Churchville-Chili High School said. In his 30-plus year career in the Navy, this will be Burkart’s 10th ship.

He enlisted in the Navy in Buffalo in 1984, before his senior year in high school. He eventually took part in an enlisted commissioning program, which allowed him to rise through the ranks as an officer.

The new Little Rock, named after the capital of Arkansas as was its namesake, will be the ninth ship of the LCS class. It was christened last July 18 at Marinette Marine Corp.’s shipyard in Marinette, Wis., with an estimated cost of $360 million. There are two variants within the LCS class – the Freedom variant, which has a conventional hull; and the Independence variant, which is a trimaran, or multi-hull boat. The Little Rock is a Freedom variant.

Once the ship is commissioned, it will undergo several months of tests of its combat systems and then mission-specific testing before it is ready to be deployed.

The decommissioned Little Rock was put into service as a light cruiser in 1945 and decommissioned in 1949. It was recommissioned as a guided missile cruiser in 1960 and decommissioned in 1976. It opened to the public in the naval park in 1979.

When the new Little Rock arrives in Buffalo from the Menominee River north of Green Bay for its commissioning event at Canalside, members of the public will be able to tour the ship as part of weeklong festivities.

Buffalo News





Pearl Mist cruise ship will make several stops in Muskegon this summer

4/27 - Muskegon, Mich. – A cruise ship is coming to Muskegon. And this time it won't be a surprise. The Pearl Mist, a 100-stateroom vessel that made an unexpected stop in Muskegon in September 2015, will make 10 planned stops from June to August this summer.

The ship is expected to arrive for the first time at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 9. The Great Lakes cruise ship is operated by Pearl Sea Cruises, which takes passengers on a seven-day adventure from Chicago to Toronto.

Passengers will board the ship in Chicago before traveling to a different port each day. Holland and Muskegon kick off the day-long excursions before the ship takes guests to Mackinac Island and several locations in Ontario including Sault Ste. Marie, Little Current, Parry Sound and Midland.

Read more and view photos at this link





World's largest Viking ship sets sail for Minnesota

4/27 - Duluth, Minn. – The world's largest Viking ship is on its way from Norway to America. The Draken Harald Hårfagre set sail Saturday and will dock in Duluth as part of the Tall Ships Duluth 2016 festival in August.

Along the way, the re-creation of what the Vikings would call a "Great Ship" will sail to Iceland, Greenland, Canada and through the Great Lakes, simulating the Vikings' challenge of crossing the North Atlantic Ocean to explore the world 1,000 years ago.

The ship is named after Harald Fairhair, the king who unified Norway into one kingdom. It is 115 feet long and 27 feet wide, and construction began in 2010. Built with techniques from archaeological findings, using old boatbuilding traditions and the legends of Viking ships from the Norse saga, the Draken Harald Hårfagre is believed to be the largest Viking ship built in modern times, according to the ship's website. The Draken Harald Hårfagre features an oak hull and a 3,200-square-foot sail. It carries a crew of 32 men and women under the command of Captain Björn Ahlander.

In Duluth, the Draken Harald Hårfagre will be one of several tall ships from around the world on display, along with the World's Largest Rubber Duck. The festival dubbed "The Greatest Spectacle on Lake Superior" runs Aug. 18-21.

Besides Tall Ships Duluth, the Draken Harald Hårfagre will make ports of call in Quebec City and Toronto, Bay City, Mich., Chicago, Green Bay, New York City and ports in Ohio and Connecticut.

Minneapolis Star Tribune





Researchers discover 'tsunamis' on Great Lakes

4/27 - Duluth, Minn. – They may not wipe out entire cities or occur after earthquakes, but two University of Wisconsin researchers say the Great Lakes have tsunamis that can wreak havoc of their own.

The freshwater phenomena have been dubbed meteotsunamis — short for meteorological, or caused by weather — and are different from rip currents, seiches or storm surge floods.

Meteotsunamis are a rapid rise in water level formed by strong storms that move from land over water. The rise in water level often occurs under any visible waves on the surface.

Once that push in water level hits shallow water near shore, the research shows, they can peak up to 18 feet tall on the Great Lakes, although most are much smaller.

Seiches, by comparison, are slower-building changes in water level often spurred by varying barometric pressure differences over the same lake, with water levels sloshing back and forth across the lake. Storm surges push water up onto land during prolonged wind events, literally pushing water from one end of the lake to the other.

With a meteotsunami, the increase in water level usually passes quickly, researcher Adam Bechle told the News Tribune. The events seem to be spurred by both the storm intensity and rapid change in barometric pressure.

Bechle and co-University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Chin Wu now believe that several historical disasters on the Great Lakes previously attributed to seiches were actually caused by meteotsunamis. Their results were published in a recent edition of the "Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans" and released Monday by University of Wisconsin Sea Grant.

It's the first study to link Great Lakes wave events to meteotsunamis.

Bechle told the News Tribune Monday that the scientists applied their hunch to wave-related disasters and incidents on the Great Lakes and compared historical water level data with historical radar data showing when storms hit.

"The meteotsunami may only produce a couple of feet difference in water level. But pair that with a 2-foot wave on top and suddenly there's 4 feet of water coming at you when you only expected 2-foot waves. That can be a problem,'' Bechle said.

In one case in 1954 in Montrose Harbor in Chicago, people along the waterfront who were fishing took cover during a storm, only to return to piers on the waterfront when the storm passed. That's when a single wall of water hit, knocking people into the lake and causing seven drownings.

"We think that's a classic case of a Great Lakes meteotsunami and not a seiche,'' Bechle said. "We've seen the same sort of pattern in events on all of the Great Lakes at various times."

Wu, a professor with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, estimates that on average, about 80 meteotsunamis occur in the Great Lakes every year. Most are small, only five or so are larger than 2 feet.

Wu happened to witness a meteotsunami on the St. Louis River estuary while he was working on an unrelated project on June 29, 2015. As a storm front passed overhead, Wu photographed what he estimated was a 2-foot high meteotsunami rise in water level beyond the smaller waves on the surface. Wu said he was in a boat just off Duluth's Raleigh Street.

"The water was calm at 11 a.m. Around 11:20 a.m. a squall line storm with wind of approximately 31 mph and a rapid jump in atmospheric pressure'' hit the area, Wu told the News Tribune. The boat he was in was pushed toward the Wisconsin shore and "within two minutes the water levels'' went up about 2 feet in addition to the choppy waves spurred by the wind.

The researchers found that spring is the most likely season for the mini-tsunamis and the pair are working to forecast what type of storm events are mostly likely to cause them to give people a heads-up before they occur.

Joined by David Kristovich from the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Wu and Bechle analyzed 20 years of water level records from Lake Michigan. They compared possible meteotsunami events with historical radar imagery showing when storms occured to find the link.

Other Great Lakes events attributed to seiches but which the researchers say most likely were caused by meteotsunamis include:

• Sept. 5, 2014: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Lake Superior experienced shoreline flooding from a single water-level surge.

• July 13, 1995: Large waves were reported on lakes Superior, Huron and Erie, but no deaths.

• July 4, 1929: A 20-foot wave surged over the pier in Grand Haven State Park, Grand Haven, Mich., killing 10 people.

• July 13, 1938: A 10-foot wave struck Holland State Park in Holland, Mich., drowning five people.

• May 27, 2012: Three swimmers were rescued after a meteotsunami swept them a half-mile into Lake Erie near Madison, Ohio.

Bechle said most meteotsunamis happen during April through June, the beginning of the season for convective thunderstorms. "There's a strong association between convective thunderstorms and meteotsunamis," Bechle said. "It's not a definitive cause, but they occur very close in time to each other."

The researchers found the largest meteotsunamis in southern Lake Michigan, near Chicago, where the shallow depth and concave floor of Lake Michigan appear to play a role in storm-spurred water levels.

The researchers have developed a mathematical formula that can be used to forecast meteotsunamis and they are working with Eric Anderson at NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab in Ann Arbor, Mich., to establish a forecasting method to provide meteotsunami warnings.

Meteotsunamis also are known to occur on oceans where they have caused considerable damage with waves up to 40 feet high, the researchers note in their report. Regular ocean tsunamis, often called tidal waves, are spurred by underwater earthquakes and are not weather related.

Duluth News Tribune


Kingston marine museum gets eviction notice, plans to move

4/27 - Kingston, Ont. – The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes has been given notice to move by its new landlord, developer Jay Patry. “It’s incredibly unfortunate. We tried working with them diligently for four months,” Patry told the Whig-Standard. “Our first priority was to keep them in the space.”

Patry purchased the lakefront property, including the building housing the museum, the historic drydock and an adjacent piece of development property, from the federal government in January. According to the terms of the deal with federal officials, the new owner has to give the marine museum 120 days notice to terminate the lease. Patry did that on Friday.

The developer said he has been meeting with both museum and city officials to find a way to share the cost of renting the space. He also asked the museum to come back with a plan to reduce the amount of space they use in the building.

He said the museum has not paid any rent to Patry Inc. since his company bought the property for $3.2 million.

“I can’t be the only person who pays the rent. After seven or eight meetings, every time, they showed up with no work done,” Patry said. “They said repeatedly they wanted to stay in the space and they couldn’t pay rent.”

According to Patry, museum officials told him they would prefer to buy the museum building but that they needed another 18 months to raise the money.

“We gave them until April 24 to come to us with a full purchase plan. I will continue to negotiate with them, but I have to put a timeline on them — 120 days — it started on Friday,” he said. “After four months they hadn’t done anything. I did exactly what I said I would do.”

Patry said he’s also allowed the museum to collect revenues off about 25 parking spaces. He said he wasn’t evicting the marine museum but asking its officials to come up with a cost-sharing arrangement before the lease runs out.

“We’ve done a lot to try to keep them there. The city’s doing a lot to keep them there. And they’re doing nothing,” Patry said. “They feel they’re too busy to deal with this. I’m saying this has to be your No. 1 priority. It’s not my goal to throw them out.”

The marine museum must now find a new location.

“We are moving,” said Christopher West, the chairman of the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes board of directors. “The museum has to pack up and find a new home.” West said the outcome was a “huge missed opportunity for the city. It’s history now. It’s really a tragedy for Kingston and, I would say, for Canada.”

He said the 120-day deadline from Patry came as a surprise. “We were in difficult but constructive discussions and I don’t know why Mr. Patry has ended them, but we are now in Plan B.” That Plan B includes “some very preliminary discussions with the city of Hamilton.”

“We are just floating the idea of moving our museum, lock, stock and barrel, to the port of Hamilton where they have a lot of waterfront land that they are redeveloping,” he said. “We are looking at any and all possibilities now. That’s just one on a long list of possibilities. Of course we would prefer to stay in Kingston, but it’s not easy finding a space.”

West said the museum has a lease with Patry’s company for $2 a year. “We don’t owe him any rent. That’s a complete misstatement of the facts. We have not reneged on any rent. We are fully paid up on rent for the year 2016 until Dec. 31, 2016,” he stated.

“Mr. Patry’s requirements for rent are far beyond anything that would be sustainable for the museum. Far beyond what would be sustainable for any museum in Kingston of our size. We are a roughly $300,000-a-year operation. You can’t add, let us say, another $200,000 a year in rent on top of that and be viable.”

He said the actual rent Patry wanted was “even more than that.”

“Typically, Class A types of museums such as ours operate on a rent-free basis where it is subsidized or absorbed by some level of government.” Other museums don’t have to pay that kind of money, so it would put the marine museum at a financial disadvantage, he said.

“It is just not on that we could be the exception that has an extraordinary rent bill on top of everything else we do. That’s the real sticking point here. We understand Mr. Patry is running a business. He is not in the museum business. He is in the real estate business and he is looking for what he describes as commercial rent. Well, no museum of the caliber of ours would operate on the basis of paying commercial rent. None.”

Cynthia Beach, Kingston’s commissioner for corporate and strategic initiatives, said the city is not an immediate party between the negotiations between Patry and the museum but has offered assistance to the museum in case it does have to move.

“We have had some discussions with them in terms of what their plans are to do next, but obviously we just received the notice the same time that they did last Friday, so we are not sure just what choice they are going to do with moving ahead,” she said.

“If they have decided that their only path is to move, then council has already given them some funds to help with their moving plans and we still have some of those funds available that we can help them get a plan to move. But, again, we are going to wait and see how best that can assist them.”

Kingston Whig-Standard



27 April 1889 - ROMEO (wooden propeller excursion steamer, 70 foot, 61 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler (Hull #51) at West Bay City, Michigan, for service on the Òinland route (Oden, Michigan to Cheboygan, Michigan & Bois Blanc Island) along with her sister JULIET (wooden propeller excursion steamer, 70 foot, 61 gross tons), launched the following day. The vessels had twin screws for maneuverability along the northern rivers. ROMEO lasted until 1911, when she was abandoned at Port Arthur, Texas. JULIET was converted to a steam yacht and registered at Chicago. She was abandoned in 1912.

The H.A. HAWGOOD (4-mast wooden schooner, 233 feet) was launched at 2:00 p.m. on 27 April 1886, at F.W. Wheeler's shipyard in W. Bay City, Michigan.

On April 27, 1993, the WOLVERINE ran aground on Surveyors Reef near Port Dolomite near Cedarville, Michigan, and damaged her hull.

The ASHCROFT, up bound on Lake Erie in fog, collided with Interlake's steamer JAMES H. REED on April 27, 1944. The REED, fully loaded with ore, quickly sank off Port Burwell, Ontario, with a loss of twelve lives. The ASHCROFT suffered extensive bow damage below the water line and was taken to Ashtabula, Ohio, for repairs. Later that morning on Lake Erie fog still prevailed and the PHILIP MINCH of the Kinsman fleet collided with and sank the crane ship FRANK E. VIGOR. This collision occurred at 0850 hours and the ship, loaded with sulphur, sank in the Pelee Passage in 75 feet of water. All on board were saved.

On April 27, 1973, the bow section of the SIDNEY E. SMITH JR was towed to Sarnia by the Malcolm tugs TABOGA and BARBARA ANN. The two sections of the hull were scuttled and landfilled to form a dock facing.

Shenango Furnace's straight deck steamer WILLIAM P. SNYDER JR left Ecorse, Michigan, in ballast on her maiden voyage April 27, 1912, for Duluth, Minnesota, to load iron ore.

On April 27, 1978, the TROISDOC was down bound with corn for Cardinal, Ontario, when she hit the upper end of the tie-up wall above Lock 2, in the Welland Ship Canal.

On April 27, 1980, after loading pellets in Duluth, the ENDERS M. VOORHEES stopped at the Seaway Dock to load a large wooden stairway (three sections) on deck which, was taken to the AmShip yard at Lorain. It was used for an open house on the newly built EDWIN H. GOTT in 1979.

On April 27, 1953, the steamer RESERVE entered service.

On April 27, 1984, the CHARLES M. BEEGHLY struck the breakwall while departing Superior, Wisconsin on her first trip since the 1981 season. The vessel returned to Fraser Shipyards in Superior for repairs.

On 27 April 1876, the Port Huron Times reported, "The steam barge MARY MILLS arrived up this morning and looks 'flaming'. Her owner said he did not care what color she was painted so long as it was bright red, and she has therefore come out in that color."

On 27 April 1877, the 40-foot 2-mast wooden schooner VELOCIPEDE left Racine, Wisconsin, for Muskegon, Michigan, in fair weather, but a severe squall blew in and it developed into a big storm. The little schooner was found capsized and broken in two off Kenosha, Wisconsin, with her crew of 2 or 3 lost.

1914 - The BENJAMIN NOBLE disappeared with all hands in Lake Superior. The wreck was finally located in 2004 and it lies 10 miles off Two Harbors, MN. The discovery was confirmed in July 2005.

1915 The COLLINGWOOD stranded near Corsica Shoal while downbound in Lake Huron with a load of grain.

1965 After being forced to spend the winter at Toronto when an early build up of ice prevented it from leaving the Great Lakes, the Greek freighter ORIENT MERCHANT ran aground near Port Colborne and required repairs at Port Weller Dry Docks. The ship had begun Seaway trading in 1960 and was scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, arriving on November 17, 1967, as ZAMBEZI.

1970 The Israeli freighter ESHKOL began Great Lakes trading right after being built in 1964. The ship was in a collision with the fishing boat MELISSA JEAN II in the Cabot Strait on this date in 1970. It arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping as ESKAT on September 29, 1982.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Former crew, avid boat watchers tracking Algomarine's final journey

4/28 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – After more than four decades traversing the Great Lakes, the Algomarine has embarked on one last voyage. Dana Andrews, the vessel’s chief engineer, has been using his Facebook account to document the trip, which began on Monday.

“Very emotional for me and all the hundreds of good men and women that have sailed on her,” writes Andrews, a St. Joseph Island resident, in a post.

The Algomarine, a 730-foot self-unloading lake freighter owned by Algoma Central Corp., left Goderich Monday morning with its final load of salt. It will make its way to Montreal, to be towed overseas and scrapped in Turkey.

Boat watchers have been tracking the voyage and posting photos on Facebook.

“When I found out the Algomarine was going to be scrapped, I thought 'That’s one of the most beautiful boats that’s on the seaway, and if we’re going to see it, we’ve got to go,'” said Darryn Shabley, of Ridgetown, Ontario.

Shabley made the nearly three-hour journey with his wife, Melissa, and two sons, Owen, 5, and Cameron, 10, to the Welland Canal to see the Algomarine pass through on Tuesday. Cameron held up a banner reading 'Farewell Algomarine. Best Wishes' for crew aboard the boat.

Shabley, a farm equipment mechanic, said he and his sons have recently taken up boat watching. “1000 footers are cool, but there’s nothing that looks as nice as a classy lake freighter,” said the father.

Brett Massender now works aboard the Algoma Discovery, but spent three seasons on the Algomarine, which he managed to photograph as the two vessels passed in the Welland Canal on Tuesday.

"It was great to see her pass by one last time. It’s amazing it worked out the way it did. Almost a shot in the dark to be able to pass by so close," said Massender. "I spent three great seasons on her which kind of started my career with Algoma. So It even though it wasn't my first ship it was definitely the most memorable."

The Algomarine was originally launched in 1968 as the Lake Manitoba. It was purchased by Algoma Central Corp. 1986, and shortly thereafter renamed. Until recently, the bulk carrier was a regular visitor to Essar Steel Algoma and Ontario Trap Rock in Bruce Mines.

Soo Today





Split Rock Lighthouse gets preservation grant

4/28 - Silver Bay, Minn. – The state's federal lawmakers have announced a $68,000 preservation grant for Split Rock Lighthouse -- money that will help outline long-term management and preservation efforts of the iconic North Shore lighthouse.

U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, along with U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, announced the financial support from the National Park Service, in partnership with the Maritime Administration. The grant was awarded to the Minnesota Historical Society, which operates Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, and will be used toward a $136,000 cultural landscape report.

The cultural landscape report will provide guidance on potential preservation activities and will serve as a tool for long-term management of the historic site.

"Preserving this monument is critical not only to our local economy, but also to future generations who will continue to marvel at its beauty and historical importance," Nolan said in the news release.

Split Rock Lighthouse is located on the North Shore of Lake Superior, southwest of Silver Bay. The lighthouse was first built in 1910 by the United States Lighthouse Service as a response to the famous Mataafa Storm of 1905 where 29 ships were damaged or destroyed on Lake Superior. It has been restored to replicate what it looked like in the 1920s, including the original tower, lens, fog signal building, oil house, and the three keepers' houses. The light in Split Rock Lighthouse was retired in 1969 by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Superior Telegram

Historic Dodge yacht Delphine, built in Michigan, for sale at $22 million

4/28 - Detroit, Mich. – A Michigan-built ship launched nearly 100 years ago before burning, sinking, being restored, serving as a flagship in WWII and, decades later, being restored again, is back to its original state as a luxury yacht.

And it's for sale.

The SS Delphine was built in 1921 for Horace Dodge, co-founder of the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company. The 257-foot yacht is for sale at €19.7, or about $22.4 million.

Currently in Portugal, the SS Delphine is the largest U.S.-built steam yacht from the 1920s that's still in existence, according to its owner.

The yacht was built by Great Lakes Engineering in River Rouge, a city just southwest of Detroit, and named after Horace Dodge's daughter Delphine.


U.S. Steel losses bigger than expected

4/28 - Duluth, Minn. – U.S. Steel suffered larger-than-expected losses in the first quarter of 2016 — some $340 million for the three months, or $2.32 per share.

The company, in a conference call with industry analysts, reported Wednesday that it was hurt by continued low prices and decreased demand as well as a continued stream of foreign steel imports. Industry analysts had expected a smaller loss per share.

The loss is up from $75 million in the first quarter of 2015. Revenues were down 28 percent from last year and total steel shipments were down 12 percent over last year.

The company lost a stunning $1.5 billion in 2015, but company leaders say they are poised to return to profitability as the U.S. government continues to take action to slap tariffs on unfairly traded foreign steel.

While conditions improved in recent months, with more steel mills producing more domestic steel, U.S. Steel joined most other domestic producers in saying the depressed oil industry coupled with cheap steel from abroad continues to eat into their business.

Company officials Wednesday said they don't have any plans for reopening their Keetac taconite iron ore mining and processing facility in Keewatin, which has been idled for a year with some 400 people on layoff. They said Keetac's future is tied to the future of oil industry steel pipe demand — or possibly sales to other steel companies.

Prospects look better for continued production at the company's Minntac operations in Mountain Iron, which is supplying the raw material for most of the company's still-operating steel mills.

"Our Keetac facility remains idled and the increased efficiencies at Minntac provide the lowest pellet costs for our current steelmaking requirements. Minntac can support the steelmaking facilities we are currently operating," the company said in a written report. "We would not expect to restart Keetac unless we restarted the steelmaking operations at Granite City Works or entered into long-term pellet supply agreements with third-party customers."

The Granite City, Ill. steel mill has been idle since December, with some 2,000 workers on layoff. Most of the steel produced at the mill goes to Texas, where it's made into steel pipe used in the oil industry — a market that has gone flat as oil prices have plummeted.

U.S. Steel officials said they may also seek to sell taconite iron ore pellets from Minnesota to other steelmakers, such as ArcelorMittal. That could help spur the reopening of Keetac, but it also could have a domino effect on other producers, such as Cliffs Natural Resources.

Selling ore to other steelmakers is "something we'd certainly be open to," U.S. Steel President Mario Longhi said in Wednesday's conference call. The company declined to say if it was involved in any negotiations for such sales.

Longhi said his company is the lowest-cost producer of taconite pellets in the U.S and that it could restart Keetac quickly if a contract is signed to sell ore.

Domestic steel production up

The American Iron and Steel Institute this week reported a little good news. Total steel production in the U.S. hit 1,684,000 tons in the week ending April 23, up more than 2 percent from the same week in 2015. Steel mill utilization hit 72 percent last week, up from 69.8 percent for the same week last year.

Duluth News Tribune


Coast Guard uses skiff ice boat to rescue injured man in Lake Erie

4/28 - Marblehead, Ohio – The U.S> Coast Guard medically evacuated a man off of a dredging barge in Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio, Wednesday evening. The man's name and home town are not being released.

At approximately 5:45 p.m., a caller to the Coast Guard Station Marblehead, Ohio, reported two men on a dredging barge who needed help due to injuries.

The barge was 50 yards off shore in water too shallow for a Coast Guard response boat to get to come alongside, so a rescue team traveled to the location by truck. The rescue team launched from the shore in a skiff ice inflatable boat, normally used for ice rescue, and brought one man back to awaiting emergency medical services.

The other man said he wished to stay aboard the barge and waited for a commercial salvage company, which towed the barge to Johnson Island in Lake Erie.

USCG



28 April 1856 - TONAWANDA (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 202 foot, 882 gross tons) was launched by Buell B. Jones at Buffalo, New York.

On 28 April 1891, the whaleback barge 110 (steel barge, 265 foot, 1,296 gross tons) was launched by the American Steel Barge Co. in W. Superior, Wisconsin. In 1907, she went to the Atlantic Coast and lasted until she suffered an explosion, then sank after burning, near the dock of Cities Service Export Oil Co., at St. Rose, Louisiana, on March 3, 1932.

The 660-foot-long forward section of Bethlehem Steel's a.) LEWIS WILSON FOY (Hull#717) was launched April 28,1977, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Renamed b.) OGLEBAY NORTON in 1991 and c.) AMERICAN INTEGRITY in 2006.

Nipigon Transport Ltd.'s straight deck motorship a.) LAKE WABUSH (Hull#223) by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., was christened and launched April 28, 1981. Renamed b.) CAPT HENRY JACKMAN in 1987, and converted to a self-unloader in 1996.

On April 28, 1971, while up bound from Sorel, Quebec, for Muskegon, Michigan, with a load of pig iron, LACHINEDOC struck Rock Shoal off Little Round Island in the St. Lawrence River and was beached.

On April 28, 1906, Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s J. PIERPONT MORGAN (Hull#68) by Chicago Ship Building Co., was launched. Renamed b.) HERON BAY in 1966.

April 28, 1897 - The F&PM (Flint & Pere Marquette) Steamer NO 1, bound from Milwaukee for Chicago, ran ashore just north of Evanston. She released herself after a few hours.

The barge LITTLE JAKE was launched on 28 April 1875, at East Saginaw, Michigan. She was owned by William R. Burt & Co. Her dimensions were 132 feet x 29 feet x 9 feet.

On 28 April 1877, the steam barge C S BALDWIN went ashore on the reef at North Point on Lake Huron during a blinding snow storm. The barge was heavily loaded with iron ore and sank in a short time. The crew was saved by the Lifesaving Service from Thunder Bay Station and by the efforts of the small tug FARRAR.

1971 ZENAVA, the former REDFERN, ran aground, caught fire and sank off Burin, NF while under tow from Rose Blanche, NF to Marystown, NF. The former bulk canaller was being used to transport, freeze and store fish.

1976 The first ALGOSEA was inbound on its first trip to the Great Lakes when it hit the wall below Lock 1 of the Welland Canal and then, below Lock 2, the ship was blown sideways across the canal after problems with the cables. The ship was enroute to Port Colborne for conversion to a self-unloader; it was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 2011 as SAUNIERE.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/29 - Port Colborne, Ont. – The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. is nearing completion of fence installation along the Welland Canal in Port Colborne. The installation began in March and is about 90 per cent complete.

For Port Colborne residents and city council, the fencing is seen as an eyesore. During Monday night’s city council meeting Ward 4 Coun. Barbara Butters brought up the issue and said the canal is a tourist sight and a “must-see attraction.”

She referred to a staff report that indicated tourism contributes more than $2.5 billion to Niagara’s overall economy annually. Staff compiled the report because council is concerned how the fencing will impact tourism in Port Colborne.

Council members agreed at the meeting there needed to be a change to the fencing. The city will ask the Seaway and Transport Canada to make adjustments to any fencing or other non-operational or non-mandated structures.

Port Colborne would like to see the fencing “replaced with great thought and attention to aesthetic detail,” municipal staff said in the report.

“Anyone who drives along Welland Street can see it is kind of like being fenced in and reminds you of a prison yard. We shouldn’t have to see that,” Ward 2 Coun. Angie Desmarais said.

The Seaway has to follow guidelines to ensure marine safety, Andrew Bogora, Seaway communications officer, said in an interview Wednesday. He said the fencing is related to the marine security. Bogora said after 9/11 federal safety legislation evolved over the years and it continues to evolve. The Seaway must comply with regulations.

“We understand that these changes can be disconcerting after many years of witnessing relatively ‘open access’ to some areas of the Welland Canal,” the Seaway said in a news release.

The Seaway said the security is a reflection of the “difficult times” after 9/11, adding this is just one of many security measures being taken by Transport Canada to ensure public safety.

Welland Tribune


4/29 - On Monday, April 25, Essar Steel Algoma settled its contract dispute with Cliffs Natural Resources, in principle. The settlement, which resolves all claims between the parties, is subject to documentation and requisite court approval.

Pursuant to the settlement, the parties have agreed to re-instate the contract. Cliffs will resume supply of iron ore pellets to Essar Steel Algoma for a portion of the company's remaining 2016 requirements and then return to the contract's existing terms in 2017 and beyond.

Essar Steel Algoma Chief Executive Officer Kalyan Ghosh commented on the settlement. "We are very pleased to have this litigation behind us, and are grateful for the focused efforts of all involved in facilitating a speedy resolution,” he said.

“In light of the current Sale and Investment Solicitation Process, this agreement provides interested parties with assurance of supply of quality iron ore, and ensures Algoma can remain a low cost producer."

Essar Steel Algoma Inc.


Lake Express ferry features upgrades to bridge, more crossings in 2016

4/29 - Muskegon, Mich. – Management at the Lake Express have high hopes that this season will be lucky No. 13.

The high-speed car ferry that operates between Milwaukee and Muskegon will make its first trip of the 2016 season on Friday, April 29.

It's been a busy offseason for the 192-foot-long ship highlighted by a complete overhaul of its bridge or command center. Features to improve radar and navigation are among the upgrades.

"The bridge really is the brains of the ship," said vice president of Sales and Marketing Aaron Schultz. "We replaced everything and so far it's checking out aye OK. This is the stuff that the ship handlers rely on. It's a 12-year-old ship but in a lot of ways its state-of-the-art.

Read more and view photos at this link



29 April 1896 - W. LE BARON JENNEY (steel tow barge, 366 foot, 3422 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler & Company (Hull #120) at West Bay City, Michigan for the Bessemer Steamship Company of Cleveland, Ohio. She went through eight owners during her career, ending with the Goderich Elevator and Transit Company, Ltd. who used her as a grain storage barge under the name K.A. Powell. She was scrapped in Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1974.

On 29 April 1875, the wooden schooner CLARA BELL of Sandusky was wrecked in a gale off Leamington, Ontario. Captain William Robinson was drowned.

On April 29, 1975, American Steamship’s SAM LAUD entered service.

Launched this date in 1976, was the a.) SOODOC (Hull#210) by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. Renamed b.) AMELIA DESGAGNES in 1990.

On April 29, 1977, while inbound at Lorain, the IRVING S. OLDS hit a bridge on the Black River, which extensively damaged her bow, tying up traffic for several hours .

A fender boom fell on the pilothouse of the steamer GEORGE M. HUMPHREY in the Poe Lock at the Soo in 1971.

On 29 April 1865, L.D. COWAN (wooden schooner, 165 tons, built in 1848, at Erie, Pennsylvania) was driven ashore near Pointe aux Barques, Michigan, in a storm and wrecked.

1909: AURANIA was the only steel hulled ship sunk by ice on the Great Lakes. The vessel was lost in Whitefish Bay after being holed and then squeezed by the pressure of the ice pack near Parisienne Island. The crew escaped onto the ice and pulled a yawl boat to the J.H. BARTOW.

1952: W.E. FITZGERALD hit the Burlington Lift Bridge at the entrance to Hamilton Bay after a mechanical problem resulted in the structure not being raised. The north span of the bridge was knocked into the water, resulting in traffic chaos on land and on the water.

1959: PRESCOTT went aground near Valleyfield, Quebec, while downbound in the Seaway only four days after the waterway had been opened. It got stuck trying to avoid a bridge that had failed to open and navigation was blocked until the CSL bulk carrier was refloated the next day.

1969: HOWARD HINDMAN ran aground at the Little Rapids Cut in the St. Marys River after the steering cables parted. The ship was released and temporarily returned to service but the vessel was badly damaged and soon sold for scrap. It came down the Welland Canal with a cargo of road salt on June 6, 1969, and was towed to Bilbao, Spain, with the HUMBERDOC, arriving on September 6, 1969.

1976: The British freighter GLENPARK was three years old when it first came through the Seaway in 1959. It was sailing as c) GOLDEN LEADER when it ran aground off Goto Island, southwest Japan while on a long voyage from Chungjin, China, to Constanza, Romania. The hull broke in two and was a total loss.

1998: The Panamanian freighter DENEBOLA first visited the Seaway in 1973. The ship was sailing as d) TAE CHON, under the flag of North Korea, when it was in a collision with the YANG LIN in thick fog on the Yellow Sea and sank. The vessel was enroute from Yantai, China, to Chittagong, Bangladesh, when the accident occurred and one life was lost.

[yachtsmanwilly]

A total of 60 ore boats departed Cleveland between March 31 and April 2 to start the 1948 shipping season.

On 02 April 1900, the JOHN MINER (wooden 3-mast schooner, 134 foot, 273 gross tons, built in 1866, at Detroit, Michigan as a bark) was purchased by S. R. Chamberlain from Frank Higgie for $800. She only lasted until 19 October 1902, when she was lost in a storm on Lake Huron.

On April 2, 1951, CLIFFS VICTORY was towed, bound for New Orleans, Louisiana, with her deck houses, stack, propeller, rudder and above deck fittings stored on or below her spar deck for bridge clearance. She was outfitted with two 120-foot pontoons, which were built at the Baltimore yard, that were attached to her hull at the stern to reduce her draft to eight feet for passage in the shallow sections of the river/canal system.

LEON FALK JR. was launched April 2, 1945, as a.) WINTER HILL, a T2-SE-Al, World War II, a single-screw fuel tanker for U.S. Maritime Commission.

CLIFFORD F. HOOD was launched April 2, 1902, as the straight deck bulk freighter a.) BRANSFORD for the Bransford Transit Co., (W. A. Hawgood, mgr.).

SENATOR OF CANADA sailed under her own power on April 2, 1985, to Toronto, Ontario, where she was put into ordinary next to her fleet mate the QUEDOC. She was scrapped in Venezuela in 1986.

WHEAT KING was lengthened by an addition of a 172 foot 6 inch mid-section (Hull #61) and received a 1,000 h.p. bowthruster. This work reportedly cost $3.8 million Canadian and was completed on April 2, 1976.

On April 2, 1953, the straight deck bulk freighter J. L. MAUTHE (Hull#298) of the Great Lakes Engineering Works entered service for Interlake Steamship Co. She operates currently for Interlake as the self-unloading barge PATHFINDER.

April 2, 1975 - The State of Michigan filed a Federal Court suit to stop the Grand Trunk Railway from selling the GRAND RAPIDS. It was felt that selling the ferry would build a stronger case for abandonment of the entire ferry service.

5/1 - Duluth, Minn. – Cliffs Natural Resources beat industry expectations in the first quarter of 2016 with revenues of $306 million and a net profit of 62 cents per share, the company announced Thursday.

It’s a remarkable turnaround from the first quarter of 2015, when Cliffs lost $773 million and was preparing to shutter two of its taconite iron ore operations in Minnesota because its steel mill customers weren’t producing steel and weren’t buying ore.

Lourenco Goncalves, Cliffs' president and CEO, told industry analysts Thursday that the quarterly results “clearly demonstrate how far we have come on our turnaround.”

The company produced taconite pellets for $48 per ton in the first three months of the year and sold them for $84 per ton, said Kelly Tompkins, the company’s chief financial officer, as foreign steel imports into the U.S. began to drop after government action against unfairly traded steel.

Tompkins said Cliffs’ U.S. taconite “shipments are starting to pick up right now,” as its customers’ steel prices have increased from less than $400 per ton in December to $520 per ton this week.

Cliffs earlier this year announced it would reopen its Northshore Mining operations in Silver Bay and Babbitt starting in May thanks to increased orders for more taconite. That reopening puts more than 540 people back to work.

Goncalves said last month he expects to reopen Cliffs’ United operations in Eveleth and Forbes later this year as business picks up. He reiterated that pledge on Wednesday in written comments but stopped short of giving any date for United’s 425 employees to go back to work.

The company also is part owner and operator of Hibbing Taconite and the Empire/Tilden operations in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Goncalves said his company has earmarked $25 million to start retooling United to build a so-called “superflux” taconite pellet to supply ArcelorMittal with a specialty product. That project will take a total of $65 million and help ensure United's future, he said.

“The restart of United Taconite is a necessity in order to supply our biggest customer, ArcelorMittal,” Goncalves said, noting United will take over supplying ArcelorMittal from Cliffs’ Empire mine in Michigan, which is closing permanently this year.

Goncalves said that he continues to be interested in getting involved with the so-far failed effort by Essar Steel Minnesota to build a taconite iron ore mine and processing center in Nashwauk. The Essar project sits about half-built and idled with Essar unable to pay creditors, vendors or contractors and desperately searching for cash to finish the $1.9 billion project.

Goncalves said he expects Essar’s creditors to inherit the project soon. Sources have reported that Essar has hired legal experts to move toward reorganization by bankruptcy or by other means.

“I believe that thing is hopeless” under Essar, Goncalves said. “Bondholders... will end up owning that thing.”

Goncalves said he continues to “like the iron ore that’s in the ground there” because it is suitable for direct-reduced iron “and we will be talking. But that’s not happening yet.”

He said Cliffs’ position as the largest player on Minnesota’s Iron Range makes it a logical choice to be involved in a revived Nashwauk project no matter who ends up owning the project.

“It’s only natural that anyone who wants to do anything on that site will come to talk with us,” he said.

Goncalves also announced Thursday that Cliffs is now selling pellets to U.S. Steel Canada in Hamilton, Ontario, which has fully separated from U.S. Steel in the U.S. Goncalves said Cliffs will supply nearly all of the large steel mills’ iron ore starting in the third quarter.

“They were a captive client to U.S. Steel but they are now a Cliffs client,” Goncalves said.

Goncalves also announced that Cliffs has reached a legal agreement with Essar Steel Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The two companies had been in a legal dispute over a contract but both companies said Thursday that Cliffs will start shipping pellets to the mill by July.

With those additional contracts, Cliffs said it expects to sell 17.5 million tons of taconite iron ore pellets in 2016.

Goncalves said Cleveland-based Cliffs continues to cut costs and outperform expectations as the company buys down what had been crippling debt. Cliffs officials said the company’s total debt at the end of the first quarter of 2016 was $2.5 billion, versus a comparable $2.9 billion at the end of the prior-year quarter.

“The steel market in the United States has started to show consistent signs of a real recovery, with a direct positive impact on our steel clients’ order books and, consequently, a totally expected improvement in our clients' appetite for the pellets we supply them,” Goncalves said in releasing the financial results.

"With Northshore back in operation in the second quarter, United Taconite restarting later this year, and a very efficient and cost-competitive (Australian iron ore mine), Cliffs is well positioned to fully benefit from all the initiatives implemented since August 2014, and deliver a strong financial performance this year."

Goncalves said he would continue to cut costs and seek new sales, and said he would force his competitors out of the market. “They are going to lose their pants,” the colorful CEO said in a teleconference with analysts.

Industry analysts had expected Cliffs to show a small loss per share for the quarter.

Duluth News Tribune


On 2 April 1874, A. H. HUNTER (wooden propeller tug, 58 foot, 28 gross tons) was launched at Saginaw, Michigan. She was built for Donnelly & Clark of Saginaw by Wheeler. The engine was built by Bartlett & Co. of Saginaw. Her boiler and some other equipment were from the almost new tug KATY REID that burned at Salzburg, Michigan in October 1873.

1976: WHEAT KING was refloated at Port Weller Dry Docks. It had arrived on December 12, 1975, and was lengthened to 730 feet over the winter. The ship would only sail six years with the new dimensions and was retired at the end of the 1981 season.


EDMUND FITZGERALD collided with the Canadian steamer HOCHELAGA at the mouth of the Detroit River, May 1, 1970, suffering slight damage at hatches 18 and 19.

STEWART J. CORT departed Erie on her maiden voyage at 0400 May 1, 1972. She was delayed by fog in Western Lake Erie.

The steel-hulled bulk carrier SHENANGO (Hull#62) was launched on May 1, 1909, by Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ecorse, Michigan.

Scrapping began on the CHICAGO TRADER at Ashtabula, Ohio, on May 1, 1978.

The JOHN T. HUTCHINSON (Hull#1010) was launched at Cleveland, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. on May 1, 1943.

The IRVING S. OLDS sustained an eight-foot long crack across her spar deck and eight inches down one side in a storm on Lake Huron May 1, 1963.

LIGHTSHIP 103 (HURON) was launched at Morris Heights, New York by Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp. on May 1, 1920, for the U.S. Lighthouse Service. The SOO RIVER TRADER brought the first shipment of bulk cement to open the $18 million St. Lawrence Cement distribution dock at Duluth, Minnesota on May 1, 1982.

May 1, 1903 - The ANN ARBOR NO 1 sighted a burning vessel about 15 miles out of the Sturgeon Bay Ship canal, the steamer JOHN EMERY OWEN. The crew had already been picked off after the fire started, so the ANN ARBOR NO 1 put out the fire with her fire hoses. The NO 1 then towed the abandoned steamer to Sturgeon Bay and tied her up at the west end of the canal.

On 1 May 1875, CONSUELLO (wooden schooner, 103 foot, 142 gross tons, built in 1851, at Cleveland, Ohio) left Cleveland with a load of black stone for Toledo. Near Kelley's Island, a storm caused the cargo to shift and the ship capsized and sank. When she hit bottom, she jerked upright so the tops of her masts were above the water. Two of the crew, Fred Donahue and James King, were able to cling to the masts and they were rescued after about an hour and a half. Five others, including the captain and his wife, were drowned.

On 1 May 1876, the little steamer W.D. MORTON, which for two years had run as a ferry between Port Huron's Black River and Sarnia, left her dock for the Delaware River where she ran on a centennial excursion route for the exposition held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania She left the Lakes via the Erie Canal.

On 01 May 1858, OGONTZ (wooden propeller steamer, 343 tons, built in 1848, at Ohio City, Ohio) was purchased by Capt. A. E. Goodrich and George C. Drew for $5,600. This was the second vessel in the Goodrich Line. Just two years later, Capt. Goodrich had her machinery removed and she was sold to W. Crostin for $500. He converted her to a sailing vessel and she operated for two more years before she foundered in a storm.

1892: CELTIC, enroute from Fort William to Kingston with wheat and general cargo, sank in Lake Erie east of Rondeau after a collision with the steamer RUSSIA. The accident occurred in fog and one life was lost.

1909: ADELLA SHORES foundered with the loss of 14 lives in a Lake Superior storm while enroute from Ludington to Duluth with barreled salt.

1917: CASE began leaking on Lake Erie and was beached at East Sister Island, near Point Pelee and the ship caught fire when a lantern was knocked over. Some cargo was salvaged in August but the hull was left to break up in place and today the remains are scattered on the bottom.

1933: WILLIAM SCHUPP stranded on a shoal off Cockburn Island, Lake Huron, while enroute to Fort William in ballast. Once released, the vessel was repaired at Collingwood. It became MONDOC (ii) in 1945 and was scrapped at Deseronto, ON in 1961.

1940: ARLINGTON foundered in a Lake Superior storm on the second trip of the 1940 season. The wheat laden steamer was bound for Owen Sound went down stern first, taking Capt. Burke to his death. The rest of the crew survived and were picked up by the COLLINGWOOD.

1963: CAPE TRANSPORT was mauled overnight in a wild storm on Lake Huron off Harbor Beach. The steering gear was damaged, the radio knocked out and pilothouse windows were smashed. The HOLMSIDE, and later the RALPH S. MISENER, stood by. The ship reached a safe anchorage on May 2. Fleetmate OREFAX sustained damage to the forward cabins while upbound on Lake Huron in the same storm.



30 April 1894 - The TRUANT (wooden propeller tug, 73 foot, 28 gross tons, built in 1889 at Toronto, Ontario) burned to a total loss near Burnt Island in Georgian Bay. The fire started under her ash pan.

On 30 April 1890, the wooden dredge MUNSON and two scow barges were being towed from Kingston, Ontario, by the tug EMMA MUNSON to work on the new Bay of Quinte bridge at Rossmore, Ontario, six miles west of Kingston when the dredge started listing then suddenly tipped over and sank. No lives were lost.

IRVIN L. CLYMER returned to service April 30, 1988, after a two-season lay-up.

HOWARD HINDMAN of 1910, grounded heavily when her steering cable parted at Little Rapids Cut in the St. Marys River, April 30, 1969. Due to the extensive damage, she was sold in May of that year to Marine Salvage Ltd., Port Colborne, Ontario, for scrap and was scrapped at Bilbao, Spain in 1969.

The RED WING tow arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan on April 30, 1987, for dismantling.

On 30 April 1842, the side-wheeler COMMODORE BARRIE collided with the schooner CANADA about 10 miles off Long Point in Lake Ontario. The COMMODORE BARRIE became disabled and then sank about an hour and a half later. Her passengers and crew were rescued by the CANADA.

On 30 April 1878, ST. LAWRENCE (2-mast wooden schooner, 93 foot, 111 tons, built in 1842, at Clayton, New York) was carrying timber when she caught fire from the boiling over of a pot of pitch which was being melted on the galley stove. The vessel was well out on Lake Michigan off Milwaukee. The fire spread so rapidly that the crew had no time to haul in canvas, so when they abandoned her, she was sailing at full speed. The lifeboat capsized as soon as it hit the water, drowning the captain and a passenger. The ST. LAWRENCE sailed off ablaze and was seen no more. The rest of the crew was later rescued by the schooner GRANADA.

1909: RUSSIA foundered in heavy weather in Lake Huron not far from Detour, MI. The ship was en route from Duluth to Alpena and ran into a heavy gale. Sources vary on the loss to life.

1929: D.M. PHILBIN ran aground in a high winds and snow 6 miles west of Conneaut after mistaking the airport beacon for the Conneaut Light and stranding on a sandbar off Whitman's Creek. The hold was flooded to keep the hull safe and it was released with the aid of tugs on May 7. The vessel was renamed c) SYLVANIA prior to returning to service

1984: The fish tug STANLEY CLIPPER sank in a storm on Lake Erie southeast of Port Dover, near Ryerson Island and all three men on board were lost. The hull was located, refloated and rebuilt as the tug NADRO CLIPPER. It currently operates as c) A.I.S. CLIPPER and is often moored below Lock 1 of the Welland Canal when not in service.

1991: The hull of BEECHGLEN buckled while unloading corn at Cardinal, ON, with the bow and stern settling on the bottom. The ship was strapped together, refloated and towed to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs arriving at the shipyard on May 26.

1999: GLORY MAKOTOH, a Panamanian general cargo carrier, sank in the South China Sea off Hainan Island as d) FELIZ TRADER on this date in 1999. The vessel had been a Seaway trader in 1983 under the original name. Eight crewmembers were rescued from the lifeboats but 13 sailors were lost.

2000: The small passenger ship WORLD DISCOVERER visited the Great Lakes in 1975. It hit a reef or large rock off the Solomon Islands on April 30, 2000, and had to be beached on the island of Ngella. The 127 passengers and 80 crew were saved, but the ship was a total loss and potential salvors were driven off by a hostile local population.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/3 - After setting a record low in January 2013, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are above their average levels, and are predicted to increase their depth over the next six months.

Anyone who pays close attention to the Great Lakes may be able to determine whether the water levels are low or high compared to the last year. But to really understand the lake levels, experts say it's important to consider the long view.

Lake levels are monitored by federal agencies like The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Through the 2000s, lake levels were consistently low, for the longest period on record, said Drew Gronewold, a research scientist at NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.

The Lake Michigan and Lake Huron system, which is measured and monitored as one continuous body of water, has an average of 578.8 feet for the entire period that the system has been monitored. Records date back to 1918, according to Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology Army Corp of Engineers in Detroit.

"It's a short history considering the age of the lakes themselves, but it's a good amount of time to establish ranges," Kompoltowicz said.

While the two lakes are measured together, Kompoltowicz said, and both have similar traits and follow similar patterns, each lake is affected by its own characteristics. An easy analogy would be to compare them as siblings. They may go through similar conditions, but behave differently from their kin.

Historically, water levels tend to cycle between highs and lows (you can explore the full dataset through a website run by NOAA). But from the late 1990s to about 2013, the Michigan-Huron levels have been consistently below the average level, said Gronewold. Both December of 2012, and January of 2013, the levels dropped to record lows for that respective month.

"That was one of the longest periods we have on record that we were consistently at record lows," he said. "What's interesting, though, starting in 2013 water levels in Michigan and Huron have been rising. From 2013 to 2014, they either equaled or exceeded the highest rate of rise in our recorded history," Gronewold said.

Kompoltowicz said that the extreme winter in 2013 with high levels of ice and snow provided more precipitation and less evaporation off the lakes than normal. Along with a wetter than average 2013, it caused the water levels to rise.

"Typically from high to low is about a foot. In 2013, it rose about 16 to 18 inches from the low level in January to the peak in July. Then we had the extreme winter in 2013 and a very wet spring, so the water levels in 2014 climbed above average in September. That was the first time it climbed above the average in 15 years," Kompoltowicz said.

As part of the monitoring service, NOAA also creates forecasts in a range of what could be the future water levels at least six months in advance.

"They use computer models that take into consideration how much it's rained in the past, how much it's expected to rain, how warm or cool it's going to be in the future, and in turn how the anticipated changes in precipitation and temperature are going to affect water flowing in to and out of each lake," Gronewold said.

For Michigan and Huron, the peak of the season may see a high of about 14 to 15 inches above the average of the lake level historically, or about six to nine inches above last year's levels.

"It's very likely water levels will follow the typical seasonal cycle, and then probably begin hitting a peak midsummer and begin their decline around early fall," Gronewold said.

Lake levels have a profound effect on Michigan as a whole, and Kompoltowicz said it's impossible to consider any level "perfect." Freighters and boats want higher lake levels to prevent the possibility of getting stuck in shallow water. Freighters might also carry less cargo per trip with lower lake levels, reducing the potential profit margins. But the beachgoers and property owners have larger beaches to enjoy when levels are lower.

On the other hand, when higher water levels are around, the risk of shoreline damage and property damage near the lake is greater.

"There's always someone who's going to want a different water condition. There's no one optimal water level that will make everybody happy," said Kompoltowicz.

Lake levels average and current Lake Superior: 601.7 feet average. 601.9 feet in March 2016.
Lake Michigan-Huron: 578.8 feet average. 579.4 feet in March 2016.
Lake Erie: 571.3 feet average. 572.2 feet in March 2016.
Lake Ontario: 245.2 feet average. 245.9 feet in March 2016.

Check out an interactive website of data on lake water levels by visiting www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/dashboard/GLWLD.html

The Petoskey News





Lake Express begins Milwaukee to Muskegon service

5/3 - Milwaukee, Wis. – The Lake Express ferry set sail across Lake Michigan last Friday for the first time this season. It left Milwaukee around six o'clock in the morning, bound for Muskegon, Michigan. Two-and-a-half hours later, the season's first leg was history.

"For those folks who are driving around the lake they get stuck in traffic in Chicago on a regular basis it takes normally on a good day it takes 6 hours and most people know there aren't that many good days driving through Chicago," said Lake Express president Ken Szallai.

This is the ferry's 13th season. It takes two round-trips a day through June 14, and then adds a third trip per day through September 5.

WKOW


5/3 - Thunder Bay, Ont. – A shipwreck off Trowbridge Island in Lake Superior, south of the Sleeping Giant, is the focus of ongoing efforts to attract tourism to the area.

The large number of wrecks in the lake near Thunder Bay and the north shore means there is a lot of potential to bring in dive tourism, said Richard Harvey, the mayor of Nipigon, and an avid diver.

Current efforts are focused on a sunken freighter named the Theano, which went down just off Trowbridge Island.

"It's right there, it's a deep wreck starting at about 270 feet, so this is not a typical recreational dive," he said. "This is a technical diver's type of site, but it brings attention to our area if we have the success there that we're hoping to have."

That hope includes bringing a world-renowned dive team to the northwest to explore the site, Harvey said, adding that very few people have attempted to dive at the site.

Developing a marketing strategy aimed at expert divers, particularly from Europe, would then be the goal, he said. The promotion of shipwreck sites to divers works well with ongoing projects to restore lighthouses along the north shore of Lake Superior, Harvey added.

"What better experience as a diver, as an international explorer, than to come into an area to stay at an old historic lighthouse and go dive on the wrecks that hit the rocks where that lighthouse is now built," he said.

Other efforts aimed at divers this year include expanding a project that marks area shipwrecks with buoys, in order to better highlight them, Harvey continued. The end goal of that project is to create a type of trail from the U.S. border northeast, initially, to Marathon by putting the mooring buoys on wrecks along that expanse.

"People can come into the area, can start at either end and go right through the entire region, diving every day on a different wreck," he said.

CBC


On May 3, 1959, the first large saltwater vessel to transit the new St. Lawrence Seaway arrived at Duluth. The RAMON DE LARINAGA of 1954, took the honors as the first salty, passing under Duluth's Aerial Bridge at 1:16 p.m., followed by a salty named the HERALD of 1943, sixteen minutes later.

In 1922, the PERE MARQUETTE 16, as the barge HARRIET B, collided with the steamer QUINCY A. SHAW, and sank off Two Harbors, Minnesota.

On 3 May 1840, CHAMPLAIN (wooden side-wheeler, 225 tons, built in 1832, at Chippewa, Ontario) was carrying general merchandise when a storm drove her ashore four miles south of St. Joseph, Michigan. Although abandoned, she was later recovered and rebuilt.

On 03 May 1883, lightning struck and set fire to the barge C F. ALLEN while she was loading at North Muskegon, Michigan. She burned to the water's edge. Her loss was valued at $6,000, but she was not insured.

1905: HESPER was blown aground in 60 mph winds near Silver Bay, MN. The vessel was carried over a reef by a giant wave and broken to pieces. All on board were rescued.

1909: The EDWIN F. HOLMES hit a dredge in the Detroit River. The 108-year-old vessel still survives as the J.B. FORD.

1941: TRAJAN had been built at Ecorse, MI as a) YAQUE in 1915. It returned to the Great Lakes as b) DORIS in 1928 taking out the head gates at Lock 13 of the Welland Canal on September 23 and was back for several trips after becoming c) TRAJAN in 1932. The vessel was bombed and sunk by German aircraft in the North Sea on this date while enroute from Blyth to London with a cargo of coal.

1961: The tug BERT VERGE was towing the retired laker FORESTDALE across Hamilton Bay to the scrapyard at Stelco when it got caught by the wind, pulled over on its beam ends and sank with the loss of 2 lives. The tug was later salvaged and survives today as a pleasure craft out of Port Dover.

1982: A fire in the officer's quarters aboard the rail car barge SCOTIA II broke out at Sarnia. The damage was repaired and the ship resumed cross-river service until making its last run in April 1995.

1987: The Polish freighter ZIEMIA BIALOSTOCKA began Great Lakes service in 1980 after 8 years of deep sea trading. The ship hit the Sidney Lanier Bridge at Brunswick, GA, on this date in 1987 with major damage to the vessel and structure. The ship last visited the Great Lakes in 1996 and arrived at Alang, India, for scrapping on September 20, 1998.