Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

Tug tows museum ship Alexander Henry out of Kingston

7/12 - The tug Radium Yellowknife arrived at Kingston, Ont., on Monday to tow the now-former museum ship Alexander Henry out of her long-time home at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes to a storage dock in Picton, Ont.

About a dozen people showed up to watch as crews from Doornekamp Construction removed the ship. It is being towed to Picton at a cost of about $100,000. That’s where it will remain until a study is complete on the options for the vessel.

Museum officials hope it can be relocated, but there are two other possibilities being explored. The study will look at whether the ship should be sunk as an artificial dive reef in Lake Ontario, or sold for scrap.

Alexander Henry served her entire Canadian Coast Guard career on the Great Lakes. She was launched in 1958, commissioned in 1959, and retired from service in 1984 after CCGS Samuel Risley entered service. She has been operated as a museum by the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes, however the museum is being displaced this year after a new owner bought the property.

Ron Walsh, CKWS


Lakes limestone trade down nearly 8 percent in June

7/12 - Cleveland, Ohio – Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.7 million tons in June, a decrease of 7.8 percent compared to a year ago. June’s loadings were, however, just slightly below the month’s 5-year average.

Loadings out of U.S. quarries totaled 2,948,189 tons, a decrease of 10 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments from Canadian quarries totaled 780,907 tons, an increase of 16,770 tons, or roughly one load in a river-class laker.

Year-to-date the Lakes limestone trade stands at 9.8 million tons, a decrease of 1 percent compared to a year ago. Loadings out of Michigan and Ohio quarries have slipped 4 percent to 7,842,580 tons. Shipments from Ontario quarries total 1,950,646 tons, an increase of 233,000 tons.

Lake Carriers’ Association


Michigan security firm lands contract to guard Soo Locks

7/12 - Grand Rapids, Mich. – DK Security announced it has been awarded a one-year federal contract to provide armed security guard services at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie

The Grand Rapids-based firm has hired 25 officers to provide an estimated 650 hours of security services per week at the Soo Locks site, the company said in a news release on Friday, July 8.

The one-year contract includes the option for renewal for up to three years. The news release did not specify the amount involved in the contract.

Read more, and view a photo gallery at this link.

M Live


7/12 - Buffalo, N.Y. – Ever since a year after Buffalo was incorporated as a city in 1832, the Buffalo Lighthouse has illuminated the way for and welcomed millions of immigrants coming in through the Erie Canal.

The lighthouse’s beacon has served as a navigational tool for immigration and commerce, and its edifice is even depicted on Buffalo’s official seal.

But on June 24, the lighthouse’s beam began glowing even brighter after its smaller light was replaced with a larger one that is even more visible to mariners.

The project involved removing the fourth-order Fresnel lens, the glass beehive of concentric prisms that bend light into a narrow beam that makes it more visible. The fourth-order lens was replaced with a larger, third-order Fresnel lens, named for French physicist Augustin Fresnel, who invented it in 1822.

The smaller lens lit the tower from 1987 to 2014, but it was deteriorating and in danger of fracturing. The old lens “way expended its useful life,” said Stasia Vogel, the Buffalo Lighthouse Association’s director of special events and tours.

The new lens is made of acrylic and brass and is modeled to be more historically accurate. Its design replicates the 1865 lens that was housed in lighthouse until 1905.

Ever since a year after Buffalo was incorporated as a city in 1832, the Buffalo Lighthouse has illuminated the way for and welcomed millions of immigrants coming in through the Erie Canal.

The lighthouse’s beacon has served as a navigational tool for immigration and commerce, and its edifice is even depicted on Buffalo’s official seal.

But on June 24, the lighthouse’s beam began glowing even brighter after its smaller light was replaced with a larger one that is even more visible to mariners.

The project involved removing the fourth-order Fresnel lens, the glass beehive of concentric prisms that bend light into a narrow beam that makes it more visible. The fourth-order lens was replaced with a larger, third-order Fresnel lens, named for French physicist Augustin Fresnel, who invented it in 1822.

The smaller lens lit the tower from 1987 to 2014, but it was deteriorating and in danger of fracturing.

The old lens “way expended its useful life,” said Stasia Vogel, the Buffalo Lighthouse Association’s director of special events and tours.

The new lens is made of acrylic and brass and is modeled to be more historically accurate. Its design replicates the 1865 lens that was housed in lighthouse until 1905. The new design projects light up to 15 miles out into Lake Erie.

In late June, the nonprofit Lighthouse Association celebrated the completion of the project with a gala dinner, festival and relighting. The entire lens project cost about $120,000 and was made possible by grants from the East Hill Foundation and the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation.

The old 1987 lens is now displayed in the Heritage Discovery Center on Lee Street.

For association founding members Mike and Stasia Vogel, the re-lit lighthouse is about preserving not only history, but the city’s identity. “It’s our way of giving back to the community, which is what, we think, is the outstanding history of Buffalo,” said Stasia Vogel, also speaking on behalf of her husband.

The Vogels have spent about 30 years working to preserve the historical significance of lighthouses, not only in Buffalo, but across the country.

Now, the nonprofit is working to restore the South Buffalo Light Station, which is the site of the first Marconi radio transmission tower on the Great Lakes and houses the former Great Lakes fog signal testing station. That restoration is estimated to cost about $850,000.

Buffalo News



On this day in 1978, the keel for Hull #909 was laid at Toledo, Ohio, after Interlake Steamship and Republic Steel signed a 25-year haulage contract. Hull#909 was to be named WILLIAM J. DE LANCEY and renamed PAUL R. TREGURTHA in 1990.

On July 12, 2005, the DAY PECKINPAUGH, under tow of the tug BENJAMIN ELLIOT, departed the lakes through the New York State Barge Canal to Lockport, New York for a new life as a traveling history museum.

The BELLE RIVER, renamed b.) WALTER J. McCARTHY JR in 1990, was christened on July 12, 1977, as American Steamship's first thousand-footer and the first thousand-footer built at Bay Shipbuilding.

The H. M. GRIFFITH (Hull#203) was launched July 12, 1973, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards for Canada Steamship Lines. Rebuilt with a new cargo section in 2000, renamed b.) RT. HON. PAUL J. MARTIN.

In 1986, when ENDERS M. VOORHEES was chained together with her sisters, A.H. FERBERT and IRVING S. OLDS, a severe thunderstorm struck Duluth, Minnesota, pushing the trio across St. Louis Bay, eventually grounding them near Superior, Wisconsin. It was discovered that the force of the storm had pulled the bollards out of the Hallett Dock No. 5, thus releasing the ships.

On July 12, 1958, Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd.'s FRANK A. SHERMAN entered service, departing Port Weller Dry Docks, for Duluth and a load of iron ore on its maiden voyage.

On 12 July 1871, ADVANCE (wooden scow-schooner, 49 tons, built in 1847, at Fairport, Ohio), was bound for Detroit from Cleveland with a load of coal. She and the steamer U S GRANT collided near South Bass Island (Put-in-Bay) in Lake Erie and ADVANCE sank. Her crew escaped in the yawl.

On 12 July 1852, CITY OF OSWEGO (wooden propeller passenger-package freight vessel, 138 foot, 357 tons, built in 1852, at Buffalo, New York) collided with the steamer AMERICA and sank off Willoughby, Ohio, a few miles east of Cleveland. 15 lives were lost. This was CITY OF OSWEGO's first season of operation.

On 12 July 1889, T.H. ORTON (wooden barge, 262 gross tons, built in 1873, at Buffalo, New York) anchored off Marblehead, Ohio on Lake Erie to ride out a storm. She dragged her anchors and was driven ashore where she was declared a total wreck. She was recovered and just two years later, at the same place, this incident was repeated.

190:9 The ore laden JOHN B. COWLE (i) was struck amidships by the ISAAC M. SCOTT off Whitefish Point, Lake Superior, and sank with the reported loss of 11 lives. 1917: GEORGE N. ORR was wrecked at Savage Point in the Strait of Northumberland, Prince Edward Island, on her way to New York City and wartime saltwater service. The vessel had been cut in two and towed from the lakes to be rejoined at Montreal. 1969: The deep-sea tug MISSISSIPPI arrived at Bilbao, Spain, with the lakers DONNACONA (ii) and BEN E. TATE, for scrapping.

1977: The stern section of the former canaller BIRCHTON was raised at Halifax after the two parts, which had been created for use as pontoons in the construction of offshore drilling platforms, sank at the dock.

1985: MONTY PYTHON first visited the Great Lakes as a) MONTE ZALAMA in 1970. It returned as b) MONTY PYTHON after being renamed in 1985. The ship drifted aground in the St. Lawrence off La Ronde while loading scrap at Montreal and had to be lightered to P.S. BARGE NO. 1 before floating free on July 18. This saltwater vessel was sold for scrap before the year was out and arrived at Dalian, China, on November 3, 1985, to be dismantled.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Whitefish Bay runs aground near Hamilton Island

7/13 - Summerstown, Ont. – A large cargo ship has run aground east of Cornwall, Ont., in the St. Lawrence Seaway, according to witnesses.

Area residents, who were at their cottage, recall noticing the Canada Steamship Lines Whitefish Bay was off course before it dropped all its anchors around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

According to eyewitness accounts, the ship hit the rocks and the river bottom and then the captain tried unsuccessfully to turn the ship around. The CSL bulk carrier carries 24,430 metric tons of cargo.

Traffic is passing, but no meeting is allowed.

According to MarineTraffic.com, the Whitefish Bay had left St. Catharines Monday and was supposed to arrive in Bathurst, N.B. on Thursday. The Whitefish Bay’s homeport is Montreal. The ship is 24 meters (79 feet) wide and 225 meters (738 feet) long.

A spokesperson for the Transportation Safety Board told Cornwall Newswatch it has been notified of the grounding and they are gathering information. As of 9:20 p.m. Tuesday, the TSB had not made a decision on whether to deploy a team to the area.

Cornwall Newswatch





World's largest Viking ship still coming to Bay City, despite fees

7/13 - Bay City, Mich. – The world's largest Viking ship is reversing course on its decision to pull out of the 2016 Bay City Tall Ship Celebration.

On Tuesday, July 12, officials with BaySail, the Bay City port organizer, said the Draken Harald Hårfagre still plans to sail into Bay City beginning Thursday, July 14, when the event kicks off. Officials from the Viking ship this week said they were canceling the ship's appearance after representatives said they could not cover $400,000 in unexpected waterway fees.

"The fees are not within reason for a nonprofit sail training vessel, it blocks the opportunity for any foreign tall ship to enter the Great Lakes and visit the ports," officials wrote on the vessel's webpage.

The Draken ship captain Björn Ahlander issued a statement Tuesday morning: "Despite the struggle with the pilotage fees Draken Harald Hårfagre and her crew has taken the decision to go through with the Tall Ships Celebration in Bay City.

"There is not room in our budget to go further west into the Great Lakes, but we can not let the people in Bay City down. The Tall Ships Celebration in Bay City is just days away and the planning is in its final stages, it would be great disappointment for us and more importantly to the people we already committed to."

Sarah Blank, spokeswoman for the Draken, said the ship is footing the bill for the pilotage fees to Bay City. She estimates it will take the ship about 24 hours to travel from Fairport Harbor, Ohio to Bay City. At $400 per hour, that could mean nearly $10,000 in fees for the ship.

Shirley Roberts, executive director for BaySail, confirmed the Draken is still coming to Bay City, "but currently has no plans to go any further."

The Draken is scheduled to sail to Chicago following the Bay City celebration and then make stops in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Duluth, Minnesota, and Erie, Pennsylvania. The ship is expected to leave the port in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, Tuesday evening, Blank said.

Blank said the crew will evaluate whether the ship can afford to sail to Chicago following the Bay City festival.



Algoma's straight-deck bulk freighter ALGOWEST was christened at Collingwood on July 13, 1982. She was converted to a self-unloader in 1998, and renamed b.) PETER R. CRESSWELL in 2001.

SASKATCHEWAN PIONEER (Hull#258) was launched July 13, 1983, at Govan, Scotland, by Govan Shipbuilders Ltd. for Pioneer Shipping Ltd. (Misener Transportation Ltd., mgr.). Renamed b.) LADY HAMILTON in 1995. Purchased by Voyageur Marine Transport in 2006, she now sails as KAMINISTIQUA.

The LIGHTSHIP 103 was opened to visitors on July 13, 1974, at the city's Pine Grove Park along the St. Clair River.

The rebuilt BOSCOBEL was launched at the Peshtigo Company yard at Algonac, Michigan, on 13 July 1876. Originally built in 1867, as a passenger/package freight propeller vessel, she burned and sank near Ft. Gratiot in 1869. The wreck was raised, but no work was done until January 1876, when she was completely rebuilt as a schooner-barge at Algonac. She sank again in the ice on Lake Erie in 1895, and was again raised and rebuilt. She lasted until 1909, when she sank in the middle of Lake Huron during a storm.

On 13 July 1876, the Port Huron Weekly Times listed the following vessels as being idle at Marine City, Michigan: Steam Barges BAY CITY, D W POWERS and GERMANIA; steamer GLADYS; schooners TAILOR and C SPADEMAN; and barges MARINE CITY and ST JOSEPH.

On 13 July 1876, The Detroit Tribune reported that "the captain of a well-known Oswego vessel, on his last trip to Oswego, found that the receipts of the trip exceeded the expenses in the neighborhood of $250, and stowed $210 of the amount away in a drawer of his desk on the schooner. The money remained there some days before the captain felt the necessity of using a portion of it, and when he opened the drawer to take out the required amount he found that a family of mice had file a pre-emption claim and domiciled themselves within the recess, using the greenbacks with the utmost freedom to render their newly chosen quarters absolutely comfortable. A package containing $60 was gnawed into scraps the size of the tip of the little finger, while only enough of the larger package containing $150 remained to enable the astonished seaman to determine the numbers of the bills, so that the money can be refunded to him by the United States Treasury Department. The captain made an affidavit of the facts, and forwarded it and the remnants of the greenbacks to Washington, with the view of recovering the full value of the money destroyed. He is now on the way to Oswego with his vessel, and no doubt frequently ruminates over the adage, "The best laid schemes of mice and men . . .”

1941: The first COLLINGDOC was inbound with coal for the Thames River when it struck a mine off Southend, England, and sank. There were at least two casualties. The hull was later refloated and sunk along with another ship, believed to be the PONTO, as part of the Churchill Barriers off Scapa Flow, in the northern United Kingdom. In time, sand has blown in and covered much of the hull with only the cement-encased pilothouse visible at last report.

1978: OLAU GORM, best remembered as one of 4 freighters that had to spend the winter of 1964-1965 on the Great Lakes due to ice closing the Seaway, ran aground as f) FAST BREEZE in the Red Sea. The ship was enroute to from Piraeus, Greece, to Gizan, Saudi Arabia, and was refloated, with severe damage, on July 16. It was soon sold to Pakistani shipbreakers and was broken up at Gadani Beach in 1979.

[yachtsmanwilly]

7/14 - Summerstown, Ont. – A spokesman for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans says a power failure on board the Whitefish Bay caused it to run aground in the St. Lawrence River Tuesday night.

Rachelle Smith said the ship was carrying 28,000 tons of coal, 480 tons of heavy fuel oil and 53 tons of diesel fuel when it ran aground 12 kilometers downstream from Cornwall, Ont. near Hamilton Island.

The crash was heard by nearby cottagers and the boat scraped against the rock and the river bottom around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

There were no injuries, structural damage, or reported pollution and the ship didn’t take on any water, Smith wrote. The vessel operator and owner, Canada Steamship Lines, is now working on towing and refloating the ship.

Seaway traffic is getting through on the north side of the channel and no ships are allowed to meet or pass. The tugboat Ocean Georgie Bain tried to release the ship Wednesday afternoon but was not successful. Other tugs are expected Friday.

Cornwall Newswatch





Viking vessel hits snag on way to Duluth

7/14 - Duluth, Minn. – Caught in a storm of controversy, the pilots who ride aboard and guide foreign ships and sailing vessels through unfamiliar waters on Lake Superior say not to blame them if a Norwegian Viking ship fails to make it into Tall Ships Duluth in August.

The Draken Harald Hårfagre was scheduled to make its stateside debut this summer and be among the highlights of the festival in Duluth and other port festivals throughout the Great Lakes beginning this weekend.

But the widely anticipated replica, one of two foreign vessels on tall ships dockets along with the Spanish El Galeón Andalucía, will stop in Bay City, Mich., this week before possibly turning around for home if it can't raise some $400,000 in pilotage fees.

"We have nothing to do with deciding whether a ship or boat does or doesn't require pilots — that's up for government to decide," said John Swartout, current president of the Western Great Lakes Pilot Association based in Superior on Tower Avenue. "Any non-United States or non-Canadian vessel that is not strictly recreational and that is over 35 meters in length is required by U.S. law to retain a U.S. or Canadian pilot. The (U.S.) Coast Guard determined those two vessels fit that description."

The local pilots make up the westernmost of three U.S. districts chartered by the Coast Guard to provide pilotage service.

Swartout said they reached out to the leadership of the Draken Harald Hårfagre last fall with a price quote for its services. How the vessel then came to believe it didn't qualify for pilotage fees is a matter for debate.

A news release from the ship company Monday said it believed it had been exempted from the requirement of pilotage for being just less than 35 meters in overall length. The $400-per-hour rates and $400,000 estimated price tag for passage throughout a months-long journey culminating in New York City in September "are not within reason for a nonprofit sail training vessel," the ship's news release said. "It blocks the opportunity for any foreign tall ship to enter the Great Lakes and visit the ports."

The news sent ripples throughout the community of tall-ships enthusiasts, who took to social media to express their displeasure. More than 800 comments were recorded on the vessel's Facebook page Tuesday related to the controversy.

"The people who are advocating for this are people who are aficionados, have historical interests or are fans who laid down money based on the lineup for tall-ships festivals," said retiree Jack Turbes of Denver, who started a petition on Change.org requesting the Coast Guard rescind the pilotage requirement. More than 7,000 people had signed as of Tuesday evening. A crowdfunding effort was also underway online, attempting to raise $100,000.

Pilotage regulations were established by U.S. Congress in 1960 and are part of the cost of doing business for foreign freighters carrying tons of cargo worth millions of dollars.

"This is the law," said Tall Ships Duluth executive producer Craig Samborski. "There's no doubt it's compulsory to have a pilot aboard."

While acknowledging the Viking ship probably wasn't considered when drafting the 1960 legislation, Swartout said it would take an act of Congress for the Coast Guard to waive the fee.

"They're getting paid a spartan fee and doing it out of a nonprofit and educational mission," Samborski said. "It's kind of a devastating thing to see unfold."

In Green Bay, where the Draken Harald Hårfagre is scheduled to be the weekend before its expected arrival in Duluth August 18-21, event spokesman Terry Charles said his group would be willing to pitch in more money to defray pilotage costs — but only if other ports along the way did the same.

"It's disappointing," he said. "It's been something people have been excited about. It's unlike anything we've had before when you've got somebody rowing here with oars."

Turbas cited the Viking Leif Erikson and his banishment from Iceland in discussing the ordeal. His enthusiasm for the ship was purely academic.

"I'm landlocked," Turbas said. "I'm not going to be anywhere near the boat. But there's a nice big fat number we've got to reach to get somebody's attention."

Whether that number is 7,000 signatures or $400,000, nobody could yet say for sure.

Duluth News Tribune





Lake Huron continues to post above average water levels despite poor rain

7/14 - Lake Huron – Despite the dry conditions Manitoulin Island has experienced so far this summer, Lake Huron is holding its own in the water levels department, posting above-average levels for July.

“There are interesting things going on with Lakes Huron and Michigan,” said Derrick Beach, editor of Environment Canada’s LEVELNews.

Beach explained that in November and December, the period that would normally see a seasonal decline, Lake Huron saw a small rise – a first in a century of record-keeping. Beach said there are two reasons for this: warmer temperatures that saw precipitation falling as rain directly into the lake, rather than snow or ice, and the fact that there were no major temperature spikes, the kind that cause evaporation.

March added to the mix of conditions that lent itself to keeping the levels high, as Lake Huron saw double the average levels of precipitation fall that month which made up for the lack of spring runoff.

“This set us up for April to June,” Beach continued. These three months saw well below the average precipitation numbers, but the beginning of July levels are still above average, by 28 centimetres, and 12 centimetres above last year’s levels for the same time—the highest levels since 1998.

“So we’re doing well,” he said. “It’s the sum of all the different parts.”

Lake Superior, however, has seen record breaking precipitation recently, which has also helped keep Lake Huron’s numbers high; that and the fact that the beginning of July precipitation figures for Lakes Huron and Michigan are actually higher than average for the watershed, this thanks to rains in Michigan.

Beach said that should Lake Huron see extremely dry conditions for the rest of the summer, the Great Lake will still see above average levels until November. “There’s enough water in the system to provide a buffer,” he added. “We’re predicting that we’ll stay well above average.”

Manitoulin Expositor



The AMERICAN REPUBLIC (Hull#724) was launched July 14, 1980, by the Bay Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for the American Steamship Co. She was renamed b) GREAT REPUBLIC in 2011.

While upbound in the St. Lawrence River on July 14, 1970, for Saginaw, Michigan, with a load of pig iron from Sorel, Quebec, the EASTCLIFFE HALL, of 1954, grounded in mud near Chrysler Shoal six miles above Massena, New York, at 03:00 hours but was able to free herself. A few hours later, approaching Cornwall, Ontario, she struck a submerged object and sank within a few minutes in 70 feet of water only 650 feet from the point of impact. The submerged object was believed to be an old aid to navigation light stand. Nine lives were lost. Divers determined that her back was broken in two places. After salvaging part of the cargo, her cabins were leveled and her hull was filled.

In 1988, the JOHN T. HUTCHINSON and tow mate CONSUMERS POWER passed through the Panama Canal heading for the cutter’s torch in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. On 14 July 1908, MENTOR (wooden propeller tug, 53 foot, 23 gross tons, built in 1882, at Saugatuck, Michigan) burned south of Chicago, Illinois. No lives lost. Her original name was HATTIE A. FOX.

On 14 July 1891, T H ORTON (wooden barge, 262 gross tons, built in 1873, at Buffalo, New York) anchored off Marblehead, Ohio, on Lake Erie to ride out a storm. She dragged her anchors and was driven ashore where she was declared a total wreck. She may have been recovered though. Just two years earlier, this vessel went through a similar incident at the same spot.

1891: ATHABASCA and PONTIAC collided head-on in the Sugar Island Channel of the St. Marys River and the latter settled on the bottom. The former arrived at Sault Ste. Marie, with wreckage draped across her bow. Both ships were repaired and returned to service.

1931: The bulk canaller TEAKBAY hit a rock in the Brockville Narrows of the St. Lawrence and went aground while enroute from Sandusky to Quebec City with coal. It was refloated but was listing and in need of repairs.

1964: DANIEL PIERCE, a former Great Lakes tanker, ran aground at Guanica, Puerto Rico. The ship was leaking sulphuric acid into the bilges mixing with salt water. The town was evacuated due to the potential for an explosion. The hull was condemned and eventually scrapped.

1966: The Israeli freighter ELAT, on her second trip to the Great Lakes, and LEMOYNE were in a collision near Lock 2 of the Welland Canal, with only minor damage. ELAT arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping by September 7, 1982, while LEMOYNE was broken up at Santander, Spain, in 1969.

1993: CALCITE II lost steering and ran aground in the Amherstburg Channel of the Detroit River. The ship was lightered, released with the help of the tugs PATRICIA HOEY, OREGON and STORMONT and, after unloading at Ecorse, headed for Toledo to be repaired.

[yachtsmanwilly]

St. Lawrence Seaway facing uncharted waters over Europe, domestic shipping

7/15 - Cornwall, Ont. – The head of the St. Lawrence Seaway says the upcoming season will be questionable given the political developments in Europe and an already tough domestic shipping year.

“As you know, we continue to see a lot of volatility,” CEO Terence Bowles told the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation’s annual general meeting recently.

“Now we’ve got the Brexit (British referendum to leave the European Union) that’s just come on. Something we didn’t expect but nonetheless, affects our European customers which are very important to the seaway, so we need to see where that is going,” President Terence Bowles told the senior staff and stakeholders.

Bowles said the year started a little bit slow but he’s hopeful the U.S. economy and other economies will continue to improve. “But definitely depends a lot on the state of those economies.”

In an interview with Cornwall Newswatch, Bowles said Europe is a big market in terms of carriers bringing material to North America.

“What happens in Europe for us is very important and the Europeans have been coming out of quite a bad period , very little growth. Now they’re getting up to two per cent growth. We were starting to be optimistic but with what’s happened now (Brexit), I don’t know more than anybody else but what’s going to happen,” he said.”There’s certainly more uncertainty, when there’s uncertainly, definitely not good for business.”

“Will that slow down things in Europe, I certainly hope not,” the CEO said. “We’re going to keep a close eye on it.”

Bowles said domestic shipping is being challenged this year. “Our domestic shipping is having a very hard year this year. The CSLs and the Algomas et cetera. Ocean shipping is doing quite well but 80 per cent of our business is domestic. Overall it’s the economy, so the economy has to improve – Canada, U.S., Europe are the big key ones for us,” he said.

The seaway finished the 2015 navigation season with a little over 36 million tons of cargo moved through the waterway. That’s a drop compared to the nearly 40 million tons that was shipped in 2014-15. The volume drop is primarily due to fewer coal shipments.

“That was down some nine per cent versus the year and it certainly reflects the very difficult economic conditions that prevail over the year,” Bowles said.

But the so-called “grain boom” continued, with volumes well-above the five year average. “We would remember that grain was at record levels the previous year so even though we had a very good result it was slightly lower but all in all a very good result on grain,” Bowles remarked.

The CEO also spoke of “very sweeping changes” in the iron ore and steel industry and with China increasing steel volumes has hurt and put “stress” on the domestic industry.

Bowles said the seaway has made “significant inroads” on modernizing the locks with hands-free mooring systems, in order to keep their costs down and make the seaway more competitive. The modernization also led to reductions in staff – mostly through attrition and retirement.

The seaway cut 19 full-time equivalent positions, not entirely through the mooring project but other areas of the corporation.

Seaway revenue was down nearly eight per cent to $71.9 million (compared to $77.9 million in the previous year). Easing the strain the on bottom line was the fact that operating expenses were also down four per cent to $63.1 million (compared $65.8 million in the previous fiscal year).

The seaway had a larger operating deficit of $107.5 million ($91.8 million last year). But a transfer from the federal government (through the Capital Fund Trust) of $130.5 million, leaving an actual surplus of $23.1 million.

Cornwall Newswatch



July 15, 1991 - The Spanish, 1975-built, 7,311 gross ton, ocean motor bulk carrier MILANOS, anchored in the Detroit River since July 2, began the long slow trip home. Auxiliar de Transporte Maritimos, the ship’s owners, decided it would be cheaper to tow the crippled ship home for repairs rather than have the repairs performed locally. The ship's engine seized after the crankshaft broke. She departed Detroit, bound for Montreal under tow of Malcolm Marine's TUG MALCOLM and McKeil's tug ARGUE MARTIN. The tow passed down the Seaway on July 19.

On July 15, 1961, the d.) WALTER A. STERLING, now f.) LEE A. TREGURTHA), entered service on the Great Lakes for Cleveland Cliffs Steamship Co., after conversion from a T-3 tanker. The next day, on July 16, 1961, the d.) PIONEER CHALLENGER, now f.) AMERICAN VICTORY, entered service for the Pioneer Steamship Co (Hutchinson & Co., mgr.).

The CHICAGO TRADER was launched as a.) THE HARVESTER (Hull#391) at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. in 1911, for the Wisconsin Steel Co.

In 1946, the NORISLE (Hull#136) was launched at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. for the Dominion & Owen Sound Transportation Co. Ltd. In 1934, the ANN ARBOR NO 4 collided with the steamer N. F. LEOPOLD in a heavy fog.

On Saturday, 15 July 1871, an argument between Captain James Bradley and Mate John Reed started while the schooner ROBERT EMMETT was docked at Erie, Pennsylvania unloading iron ore. They were still shouting at each other as the ship sailed out of the harbor. In short order, the ship turned around and anchored in the harbor. At 3 the following morning, Reed rowed ashore, went directly to the police station and charged that Capt. Bradley had assaulted him with a knife. At dawn, as the police were on their way to question Capt. Bradley, they found him stepping ashore from the deck of a tug, fuming that Reed had stolen the ship's only small boat. Bradley and Reed were at each other again and the police arrested both men. Bradley then filed charges against Reed for mutiny, assault and theft of the ship's boat. The case went to court the very next day. Justice of the Peace Foster saw his courtroom packed with curious sailors and skippers. Reed and Bradley were both still fuming and after listening to just a little testimony, Foster found both men guilty, fined them both and ordered both to pay court costs. The matter didn't end there since Reed later had to get a court order to get his personal belongings off the EMMETT. There is no record of what the disagreement was that started this whole mess.

The iron side-wheel steamer DARIUS COLE (201 foot, 538 gross tons) was launched at the Globe Iron Works (Hull #10) in Cleveland, Ohio on 15 July 1885. During her career, she had two other names b.) HURON 1906 - 1921, and c.) COLONIAL 1921 - 1925. She burned off Barcelona, New York, on Lake Erie on 1 September 1925, while on an excursion. The hull was beached and later towed to Dunkirk, New York, for scrapping.

1885: The rail car ferry LANSDOWNE and the CLARION were in a collision on the Detroit River.

1895: CIBOLA caught fire and burned at the dock at Lewiston, NY, with the loss of one life. The hull was towed to Toronto and used in a fill project.

1943: GEORGE M. HUMPHREY sank off Old Point Mackinac Light following a collision with the D.M. CLEMSON. The ship was salvaged in 1944 and rebuilt at Sturgeon Bay as b) CAPTAIN JOHN ROEN in 1945 and became c) ADAM E. CORNELIUS in 1948 and d) CONSUMERS POWER in 1958.

1977: The ore- laden CADILLAC went aground in the St. Marys River after missing a turn in fog. It was released the next day with the help of 3 tugs.

1986: The C.S.L. self-unloader MANITOULIN went aground at Sandusky, off Cedar Point, after losing power. The ship was released with the help of tugs.

1998: LITA hit the knuckle at the Eisenhower Lock and sustained damage to the starboard side. The vessel later hit bottom of the channel near the Snell Lock but there was no additional damage. The ship was enroute from Toledo to Algeria. The 11,121 gross ton saltwater vessel was still in service as of 2012.

[Avenger]

Today in Great Lakes History - July 18

On this day in 1974, Interlake Steamship decommissioned the COLONEL JAMES PICKANDS after 48 years of service due to continuing problems with her boilers and engines.

AGAWA CANYON struck an abutment at Welland Canal's Bridge 11, at Allanburg, Ontario, on July 18, 1977, while downbound with salt for Kingston, Ontario, and sustained a 30-foot gash just above the waterline at the port bow.

The canal tanker COMET (Hull#705) of the American Ship Building Co., at Lorain, Ohio, entered service on July 18, 1913, for ocean service. Sold Mexican and renamed b.) COMETA in 1928. She returned to the lakes in 1936, renamed c.) COMET for Cleveland Tankers. She was lengthened in 1940. She was scrapped at Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1973.

The WILLIAM J. FILBERT was in collision with the KINSMAN INDEPENDENT, of 1907, at the Burlington Northern Dock on July 18, 1970, when the Steel Trust steamer lost control in the current entering the slip.

The entire forward superstructure of the b.) JOHN DYKSTRA, a.) BENSON FORD of 1924, including the forecastle deck, was delivered to South Bass Island in Lake Erie on July 18, 1986, on the barge THOR 101 towed by the tug GREGORY J. BUSCH. The superstructure was moved for use as a summer home where it remains. The hull of the DYKSTRA was sold to Marine Salvage, Port Colborne, Ontario and was towed from Cleveland, Ohio, July 10th by the tugs ARGUE MARTIN and GLENBROOK to Ramey's Bend arriving there on July 12, 1986, where she was scrapped.

WILLIAM A. REISS was launched July 18, 1925, as a.) JOHN A. TOPPING (Hull#251) at River Rouge, Michigan, by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Columbia Steamship Co.

WILLIAM G. MATHER completed her sea trials on July 18, 1925.

On 18 July 1858, ANDROMEDA (2-mast wooden schooner, 112 foot, 568 tons, built in 1848, at Madison Dock, Ohio) was carrying 800 barrels of salt from Oswego to Chicago. She sprang a leak suddenly and foundered 20 miles from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The crew escaped in her boat, many just in their underwear. They arrived at Manitowoc the next day.

On 18 July 1872, the schooner D. L. COUCH of Detroit (formerly AVCORN) sank about 10 miles from Long Point on Lake Erie. Two lives were lost.

The wooden propeller freigjhter N. K. FAIRBANK (205 foot, 980 gross tons) was launched in Marine City, Michigan by W. B. Morley on 18 July 1874. She was then towed to Detroit, where her engines were installed by William Cowie. She had two direct-acting condensing engines 34 foot x 32 inches on one shaft and her boiler was installed on her main deck. She only lasted until 1895, when she stranded and burned near Port Colborne, Ontario. The remains of the hull were sold to Carter Brothers of Port Colborne and it was rebuilt and enrolled as a new vessel with the name ELIZA H. STRONG. The STRONG lasted until she burned in 1904.

1911: The wooden steamer TAMPA sank in the Detroit River after a collision with the JOHN W. GATES of U.S. Steel. The former was raised and moved to Marine City and then, after being partially dismantled, was sunk in 1915 as a breakwall to halt erosion off the Belle River.

1938: ISLET PRINCE (ii), enroute to Owen Sound for a new service, stopped for the night behind Chantry Island, Southampton, and was struck by lightning. The ship caught fire, but all on board were rescued before the vessel sank the next day.

1954: LAKE GADSDEN was built at Manitowoc, in 1919, and lost near Corrubedo Light, off the coast of Spain, as g) SAN NICOLAS after going aground. The vessel slid back into deep water and sank.

1960: IRISH MAPLE, a Great Lakes visitor beginning in 1966, sank the 479 gross ton DENBIGH COAST in the River Mersey after a collision. IRISH MAPLE remained in service until reaching the scrapyard at Karachi, Pakistan, as c) ANNOOR on October 24, 1981.

1967: NEW YORK NEWS (iii) buckled and sank while loading salt at Pugwash, NS. The ship was raised and towed to Halifax in two sections for repairs. It survives in 2012 as e) WOLF RIVER, but has not operated for years.

1984 PANAGIOTIS S., a Seaway trader beginning in 1975, suffered severe fire damage aft in the Gulf of Aden, while on a voyage from Antwerp, Belgium, to Calcutta, India. The ship was a total loss and, while sold and renamed d) OTIS, it was taken to Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping. PANAGIOTIS S. had also visited the Great Lakes as a) VIZCAYA in 1972 and EMILIA LOVERDOS in 1975.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Tugboat engineers accused of polluting Lake Huron

7/19 - Absorbent diapers, a garden hose and a blue bucket were just some of the tools used in a scheme to dump oily bilge water from a Great Lakes tugboat into Lake Huron, causing a slick spotted from the air that was twice the length of a football field.

And now, two engineers from the tug Victory are accused of conspiring to discharge the oil-contaminated water into Lake Huron and other areas of the Great Lakes. They're also accused of releasing the dirty water at night to make it difficult to detect the resulting sheen.

According to a federal grand jury indictment handed up last month, Jeffrey Patrick, chief engineer aboard the Victory, and William Harrigan, first assistant engineer, allegedly released the oily water into Lake Huron from mid-May 2014 through the end of that June. The indictment does not say when or where other discharges occurred.

"The Great Lakes are some of Michigan’s greatest assets, and we need to ensure that we protect them for generations to come,” said U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, who is overseeing the prosecution.

The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington in Bay City.

Harrigan was arrested Tuesday in his hometown of Portland, Maine, and was released Wednesday. His Portland lawyer, Toby Dilworth, declined comment. Patrick was arrested in May in Marquette. His lawyer, John Mitchell of Cleveland, also declined comment.


KPS nixes Sault steel plant purchase

7/19 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – A potential purchase of Essar Steel Algoma by an American private equity firm is now off the table.

KPS Capital Partners could not reach an agreement with the Ontario government, a source familiar with the situation told The Sault Star. No details were given. That deal was a criteria for the plant purchase. The New York-based firm is also no longer pursuing the purchase of U.S. Steel Canada's operations in Hamilton. KPS planned to merge to the two steel mills into one company.

“They've withdrawn from both processes,” the source, who did not want to be identified, said.

The Ontario government is “prepared to work with any bidder that puts forward a responsible proposal,” said Sault Ste. Marie MPP David Orazietti. “The government did not compel KPS to withdraw from the process. That's a decision made solely by KPS based on whatever factors they based it on.”

Brenda Stenta, manager of corporate communications for Essar Steel Algoma, said the withdrawal by KPS is “simply a pause in the process.”

“Algoma will continue to move forward in an expedient manner to ensure that we achieve the optimal solution that positions Algoma, and all of our stakeholders. for a strong future,” Stenta said in an email.

The Sault Ste. Marie steelmaker went into creditor protection last fall. KPS was announced as a suitor to buy Essar on June 17. The bid included cash and assumption of certain liabilities.

The steel plant learned a consortium agreement between KPS and certain term lenders was terminated. Essar says the term lenders “remain committed” to Essar's continued operation.

“However, they require time to deal with this change in circumstance,” said Stenta. Essar wants an adjournment of the motion for approval of the asset purchase agreement. The request goes to Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Tuesday.

“While it is unfortunate that KPS has withdrawn from the consortium, I am pleased that the term lenders remain committed to closing the transaction,” said Essar Steel Algoma CEO Kalyan Ghosh in a statement. “Algoma will seek to work with its stakeholders to achieve the optimal outcome for the future of Algoma, its employees, pensioners and the customers we serve.”

United Steelworkers Local 2251 wants Ontario Steel Investment Ltd., created by Essar Global, to purchase Essar Steel Algoma.

“Essar Global continues to be more aligned with the best interests of our people, our pensioners and our benefits,” said president Mike Da Prat on Friday.

His union represents about 2,200 hourly workers.

With KPS pulling out, more bidders could come forward, said USW Local 2724 president Lisa Dale.

“The more bidders that are in the process (the) better,” she said. “We're willing to talk and deal with anyone and everyone.” Local 2724, unlike Local 2251, has not signed an agreement with OSI.

The local is concerned with a “grossly underfunded” pension fund, pensions for its approximately 500 retirees and some contract language it wants “cleaned up.” Dale also wants to see a new owner commit to capital investments in the steel mill.

“We realize that in order to restructure a company that there will have to be some sort of concessions, but they shouldn't all be solely on the backs of our workers.”

Local 2724 represents about 500 workers. Orazietti anticipates more companies will be interested in purchasing Essar.

“I believe there are other opportunities through the bid process that will emerge,” he said.

Sault Ste. Marie Construction Association is frustrated some of its members that are unsecured creditors are being “disregarded” during the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act proceedings.

“Regardless of who becomes the new owner of our local steel mill, the term lenders, Ontario Steel Investment, or any others, there has been no indication of money to be paid to our members who are owed millions of dollars,” said executive director Adam Pinder in a statement.

SSMCA members filed paperwork detailing money owed to them by Essar Steel Algoma in time for a Feb. 26 deadline. They have not received any information since then, said Pinder.

“Their only course of action is to monitor the court filings and to read media reports,” he said. “As one can imagine, this creates a lot of anxiety for everyone involved.”

Sault Star



Viking ship faces uncertain fate; will go port-to-port based on ability to pay fees

7/19 - Duluth, Minn. – The crew of a Norwegian Viking ship was sweating out an uncertain fate Friday, unable for now to afford to move on from a tall ships festival this weekend in Bay City, Mich., despite festival commitments in Chicago, Green Bay and Duluth next on the docket.

"In my personal opinion everything should work itself out, but it's not without extreme amounts of stress and headaches," said Woody Wiest, part of the senior leadership aboard the Draken Harald Hårfagre, a one-of-a-kind replica at the center of a week-long controversy involving the U.S. Coast Guard and a heretofore little-known practice called pilotage.

"It's taken a lot of energy for all of us to push through when it's definitely not in the budget to do so," said Wiest, citing pilotage rates of $9,100 per day.

The storm of controversy began to swirl this week when the operators of the Draken Harald said in a news release that the vessel may turn back for home for having to pay the hefty pilotage fees the operators had previously believed they were exempt from paying.

The plight of the Draken Harald hit news outlets across the Great Lakes and became a cause célèbre for social media commentators who appeared outraged that the Coast Guard wouldn't waive the pilotage fees it governs.

The vessel is scheduled to appear at Tall Ships Duluth from Aug. 18-21. For now, Wiest said it will go port-to-port based on its ability to raise money to pay pilotage rates.

"I've talked with the New York Times and Wall Street Journal," said Lorne Thomas, chief of external affairs for the 9th Coast Guard District in Cleveland, as a way of defining the scope of the controversy. "Social media has been very active, too, but this really isn't something new to the Coast Guard."

Pilotage law has been in place since 1960, and requires that foreign vessels welcome aboard local pilots to help guide ships and non-recreational sailing vessels through unfamiliar waters on the Great Lakes.

Before the 3-year-old vessel made its first Great Lakes voyage, Wiest said the operators worked diligently in an effort to understand both the American and Canadian rules regulating the Great Lakes, even flying to Canada before the expedition to gain further understanding.

"If there was miscommunication or misunderstanding," he said, "we worked really hard to make sure there wasn't."

But something changed after the ship entered the St. Lawrence Seaway and the boat was told to take on a pilot somewhere between Quebec City and Toronto.

"You don't argue with the Coast Guard," Wiest said.

The plight of the Draken Harald has cast a spotlight on the practice and cost of piloting foreign vessels through the Great Lakes.

"Probably this will be the last time we sail into the lakes with our replicas until things change," said Eduardo Almagro Blanco, in an email to the News Tribune.

Blanco is the general manager for another foreign tall ship, the Spanish El Galeón Andalucía. While the El Galeón has made multiple voyages across the Great Lakes over the past several years, Blanco said the rising costs associated with pilotage would likely be a future deterrent that keeps the ship from entering the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

"We really respect (the pilots) and appreciate their help for safe sailings and we will fully pay their fees," Blanco said. "However, we think it is an unfair situation for non-commercial foreign tall ships."

Both Blanco and the operators of the Draken Harald argue that their missions are educational in nature and note that they do not leave the lakes with millions of dollars' worth of heavy cargos like the more common sea freighters.

"Tall ships have been coming for a couple decades and they've all been told the same thing and they've all been able to comply," the Coast Guard's Thomas said.

But even freighter operators — long familiar with building pilotage rates into their business models — are taking umbrage with the fees of late. Multiple shipping associations and foreign ship operators filed suit against the Coast Guard in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on May 31.

The suit alleges substantial and unlawful increases in pilotage rates, calling them "the largest single cost items for foreign-flag vessels" that enter the system. The lawsuit asks for the Coast Guard's most recent ruling on pilotage rates, which includes a 58 percent increase by the end of 2017, to be declared unlawful and calls for a rate reduction of at least 21 percent. The Coast Guard has yet to respond to the lawsuit and is being defended by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

For now, the Draken Harald carries the banner for pilotage reform. And it's garnering support to its cause. As of Friday, the charitable foundation for Sons of Norway, a Minneapolis-based financial services and cultural organization, had raised almost $25,000 in a campaign aimed at raising the $430,000 estimated for the Draken Harald to complete its summer-long odyssey through the Great Lakes.

A Change.org petition calling for relief for the Draken Harald from the Coast Guard had more than 10,000 signatures on Friday. Festival organizers around the Great Lakes, too, told the News Tribune earlier this week they were open to increasing appearance fees paid to the vessel in an effort to help with the pilotage costs.

"Everybody wants to see the ship," Wiest said.

Wiest explained that the journey from Bay City, Mich., to Draken Harald's next stop in Chicago could be up to a six-day sail. In order to trim costs, the ship's leadership agreed it would run the Draken Harald to Chicago under engine power, a three-day endeavor.

But even with a change in strategy, the ship doesn't yet have enough money to make it to Chicago. "We're going to pay our bills — that's the idea," Wiest said. "We know we can't leave Bay City yet. It's a really hard place to be in."

Duluth News Tribune



On this day in 1970, ARTHUR B. HOMER established a new Great Lakes loading record when she loaded 27,530 tons of ore at Escanaba. This eclipsed the previous record of 27,402 tons set by the EDMUND FITZGERALD.

EDWIN H. GOTT (Hull#718) was float launched July 19, 1978, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Co. for U. S. Steel Corp.

CLARENCE B. RANDALL sailed light on her maiden voyage July 19, 1943, from Ashtabula, Ohio, bound for Two Harbors, Minnesota. She was renamed b.) ASHLAND in 1962. The ASHLAND was scrapped at Mamonel, Columbia, in 1988.

N. M. Paterson & Sons, CANADOC (Hull#627) was christened on July 19, 1961. The registry of GORDON C. LEITCH, of 1954, was closed on July 19, 1985, as 'sold foreign'. She was scrapped at Setubal, Portugal, in 1985.

JOHN P. REISS in tandem tow with the carferry CITY OF SAGINAW 31 arrived at Castellon, Spain, prior to July 19, 1973, for scrapping.

JOSEPH S. YOUNG, a.) ARCHERS HOPE, was christened at Buffalo, New York, on July 19, 1957. The YOUNG was the first of seven T2 tanker conversions for Great Lakes service.

On 19 July 1831, the wooden schooner HENRY CLAY was carrying 800 barrels of salt and passengers from Oswego, New York to the Welland Canal on her maiden voyage when she capsized in a squall and sank about 10 miles off Port Dalhousie, Ontario, on Lake Ontario. About 11 persons were aboard and at least 6 of them lost their lives. Three were saved by the steamer CANADA.

On 19 July 1900, the name of the Toledo tug A. ANDREWS JR was changed to PALLISTER.

On 19 July 1871, J. BARBER (wooden propeller steamer, 125 foot, 306 tons, built in 1856, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying fruit from St. Joseph, Michigan, to Chicago when she caught fire and sank 14 miles off Michigan City, Indiana. Five lives were lost.

1893: LIZZIE A. LAW stranded in the Pelee Passage, Lake Erie, following a collision with the DAVID VANCE. It was refloated September 14.

1921: After losing her way in fog, the BINGHAMPTON stranded on Gannet Rock Ledge, near Yarmouth, NS enroute from Boston to Reval, France, and Riga, Latvia, with relief supplies. The vessel was abandoned and later caught fire. The ship had been built at Buffalo as H.J. JEWETT in 1882 and left the lakes, in 2 pieces, in 1915 for saltwater service.

1981: BERGFALCK was registered in Singapore when she first came through the Seaway in 1976. The ship was sailing as b) BERGLIND when in a collision with the CHARM off Cape Breton Island. It was taken in tow but sank July 20. The hull was later refloated and taken out to sea and scuttled in the fall.

1982: FARO, a Norwegian freighter dating from 1960, visited the Seaway in 1970. It was gutted aft from a fire that began in the galley at Ghazawet Roads, Algeria, as b) ARGOLICOS GULF. It was sold for scrap and arrived as Castellon, Spain to be dismantled on October 1, 1982.

1992: ROSARIO, a Greek flag SD 14, visited the Great Lakes in 1978. It began leaking in the Indian Ocean as c) AL RAZIQU on this date in 1992 and was escorted into Mombasa, Tanzania, on July 29. The ship was allowed to sail to Alang, India, for scrapping and, after a resale, to Karachi, Pakistan. However, the vessel was sold again, taken to Dubai for repairs, and resumed trading as d) DELTA III. It developed a heavy list as e) CHALLENGE on August 2, 1993, after leaving New Mangalore, India. Attempts to tow the ship to shallow water fell short when the hull rolled over and sank with the loss of 3 lives.

Herbert C. Jackson was removed from the drydock at Fraser Shipyards on Sunday morning, assisted by the G-tugs Arkansas and Kentucky. The 1959-built ship has received new diesel engines, a new controllable-pitch propeller, the hull was sandblasted and painted, and there were other refurbishments. There is still work to be done on the vessel before she can return to service, but that will be done dockside.

[yachtsmanwilly]

7/20 - Cape Vincent, N.Y. - The St. Lawrence Seaway Pilots Association Inc. and two other pilot associations have moved to join a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Coast Guard over pay rates for pilots.

Several operators of ports, vessel operating companies and maritime trade associations filed suit in May in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Washington, claiming, among other things, that a proposed 58 percent increase in pilotage fees implemented over 2016 and 2017 was arrived at using flawed data.

While the suit is against the Coast Guard, the pilot associations have filed a motion to intervene in the action because the pilots “have a direct and substantial interest in this case that cannot be adequately represented by any other party.”

“The suit has been filed against the (Coast Guard) and its head as required by the Administrative Procedure Act, but its immediate goal is to take money from the pilotage system and from the pilots and their associations themselves,” the motion states.

Under federal law, all ocean-going vessels operating on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system must hire local pilots to assist with navigation as these pilots are familiar with local conditions. The Coast Guard regulates all aspects of Great Lakes pilotage and sets pilotage rates annually.

This is done through agreements with the three pilots associations, including the St. Lawrence Seaway Pilots Association, which is based in Cape Vincent. In 2015, there were 36 registered pilots available for service, a number the Coast Guard wants to increase to 48 by the start of the 2017 shipping season and to 54 by the close of the season. The Coast Guard maintains that there is a shortage of qualified pilots, which has prompted it to propose an increase in targeted compensation from about $235,000 in 2015 to $326,000 in 2016 in order to attract new pilots. The compensation includes benefits and ancillary costs, in addition to wages.

The coalition of shipping concerns contends that the Coast Guard violated the Administrative Procedures Act by making arbitrary and unsubstantiated decisions during the development of the 2016 pilotage rates.

In its federal lawsuit, the coalition is asking that the new rules be sent back to the Coast Guard for revision. It is also asking, among other things, that the Coast Guard be ordered to reduce 2016 pilotage rates by about 20 percent.

In a memorandum of law accompanying the pilot associations’ motion to intervene, the pilots contend they have “direct and unique interests” in the litigation and meet the requirements to intervene. The pilots’ filings note that, while the pilots would be supporting the Coast Guard’s position in the instant lawsuit, the pilots and the agency have a history of disagreeing over piloting regulations that has included prior litigation.

The pilots contend that their support of the Coast Guard in the lawsuit “does not eliminate this inherent tension” between the two sides.

A judge has not yet ruled on the pilots’ motion. The Coast Guard has also not filed a response to the suit.

Watertown Daily Times


Crews battle wildfire on Poverty Island

7/20 - Fayette, Mich. – The Bureau of Indian Affairs is responding to a wildfire on Poverty Island in Lake Michigan, south of Big Bay de Noc, off the Garden Peninsula.

Many boaters and fishermen have been reporting the flames because it is visible for a considerable distance across the lake, the BIA stated in a press release. The fire covered at least 10 acres of the 200-acre island over the weekend. The responding crew worked through the weekend to combat the blaze.

The fire flared up last Thursday, likely from a fire that was first reported on June 30. A fire crew from the BIA responded to the fire from June 30 through July 4.

The island is entirely federal land, owned by the Bureau of Land Management. The bureau signed a delegation of authority letter permitting the BIA to respond to the wildfire there.

The only structures on the island are a lighthouse that is no longer in operation and the vacant lighthouse keeper's quarters. A BIA spokesman said the fire is thought to have originally ignited from a lightning strike.

Escanaba Daily Press



City of Milwaukee museum group seeks return of painting it accidentally sold

7/20 - Manistee, Mich. – Wanted: the return of an original work of art depicting the historic train ferry S.S. City of Milwaukee.

A commissioned painting of the vessel was recently sold by mistake at the museum ship’s gift shop, and members of the Society for the Preservation of the S.S. City of Milwaukee are hoping the individual who bought the artwork will come forward and return it to the museum.

A novice cashier sold the framed original on June 11, 2016, for $20, the cost of a print. The purchaser, who paid cash, can email [e-mail] if he or she would like to return it.

The 75 year-old City of Milwaukee is permanently moored and open to the public in Manistee, Mich. The mission of the Society for the Preservation of the S.S. City of Milwaukee is to preserve and maintain the railroad car ferry S.S. City of Milwaukee as an educational and historical artifact, and to preserve, collect and maintain objects of educational and historical significance that pertain to the maritime industry of the Great Lakes region and this area.


LEON FALK JR. was christened at Cleveland, July 20, 1961, after one trip to Duluth, Minnesota, for ore.

HORACE JOHNSON (Hull#805) was launched July 20, 1929, at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

JAY C. MORSE (Hull#438) was launched on July 20, 1907, at Cleveland, Ohio by American Shipbuilding Co. for the Mesaba Steamship Co. (Pickands & Mather & Co., mgr.) Sold Canadian in 1965, renamed b.) SHELTER BAY, used as a storage barge at Goderich, renamed c.) D. B. WELDON in 1979. In 1982, her pilothouse was removed and is used as a museum in Goderich Harbor. The WELDON was scrapped at Thunder Bay in 1984.

At the end of June, 1877, the ferry MYRTLE began running between Port Huron and Sarnia. However, on 20 July 1877, The Port Huron Times reported that "The ferry MYRTLE has been taken off the route on account of the extreme dullness of the times."

The scow DIXIE burned during the night of 20 July 1875, while lying at Kenyon's dock in East China Township on the St. Clair River.

1940: The first LACHINEDOC ran aground at Ile-aux-Coudres but was refloated the same day after 600 tons of coal were jettisoned. The vessel became b) QUEENSTON in 1946 and was sunk as a dock facing at Bob-Lo Park in 1962.

1963: Thick fog prevailed overnight on the St. Lawrence contributing to three accidents. The TRITONICA sank after a collision with the ROONAGH HEAD off Ile d'Orleans with the loss of 33 lives. To the west, the Swiss freighter BARILOCHE ran into the CALGADOC (ii) and then veered into the CANADOC (ii) before all ships on the water went to anchor. BARILOCHE later visited the Seaway as b) ST. CERGUE in 1967 and as c) CALVIN in 1978. It was scrapped at Shanghai, China, in 1985.

ROONAGH HEAD received significant bow damage in her collision but was repaired and operated until she arrived at Castellon, Spain, for scrapping on September 14, 1971.

1964: ZENICA went aground in the Straits of Mackinac enroute to Chicago and was lightered by the MARQUIS ROEN and released. She passed downbound at Port Huron under tow. This vessel was beached at Karachi, Pakistan, for scrapping as f) CONSTANZA on June 1, 1980.

1965: The Norwegian freighter LYNGENFJORD sustained stern damage when it backed into the SALMELA while leaving the dock at Montreal. The former made 35 trips to the Great Lakes from 1959 through 1967 and was scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, after arriving prior to May 3, 1980, as c) EASTERN VALOUR. The latter, a British vessel, began Great Lakes service in 1965 and arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping on April 21, 1985, as c) ELENI.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Viking ship sailing to Chicago again

7/21 - Duluth, Minn. – The Norwegian Viking ship that's taking its Great Lakes tour of tall ships festivals one stop at a time as it closely monitors an ability to fund its trip left Bay City, Mich., on Wednesday bound for Chicago.

The Draken Harald Hårfagre (or Fairhair) is scheduled to be in Duluth for the tall ships festival on Aug. 18-21.

The official website for the Draken Harald showed the vessel having left early in the day, traveling up the western shore of Lake Huron on its way to Lake Michigan. The five-day Chicago festival begins July 27 on the Navy Pier. The replica Viking ship is scheduled to stop in Green Bay after that.

Online fundraising efforts have surpassed $60,000 in an effort to support the pilotage costs associated with the ship's months long voyage across the Great Lakes. The Sons of Norway Foundation has raised $57,000, while a quartet of Go Fund Me sites have added more than $5,000 to the mix.

The crew of the ship has been sweating out an uncertain fate since early in the month, when it learned it would be responsible to have a local pilot on board to help guide the ship through the lakes. All commercial vessels entering North American waters require pilots. On the coasts, pilots are required from coastal buoys inward. On the Great Lakes, the U.S. and Canadian governments require a pilot to travel aboard a foreign vessel throughout its journey.

Prior to departing Norway last winter, the crew of the Draken Harald had studied its first voyage to the United States and Canada and believed the ship was a half-meter short of the 35-meter minimum cutoff length for ships that must hire pilots, and therefore exempt from having to pay. But the U.S. Coast Guard disagreed, requiring pilotage of the boat as it reached Lake Ontario. At pilotage rates of roughly $9,100 per day, it's been a difficult proposition for the Draken Harald. The ship's leadership has been committed to completing its schedule provided it can continue to raise money on the fly.

Duluth News Tribune


RNC Lake Erie security has U.S. Coast Guard on additional patrols

7/21 - Cleveland, Ohio – Cleveland's U.S. Coast Guard station has collected additional response boats and more personnel from across the country to accommodate stepped up security patrols for the Republican National Convention.

The Coast Guard is also closing zone four to boat traffic at Collision Bend on the Cuyahoga River during RNC convention, until 1 AM the next morning.

Captain Brian Roche told newsnet5.com the Coast Guard is using a central radar station and a temporary command center to coordinate the addition boats that are on 24/7 patrol along the north coast.

"Because of the security for this event we have numerous boats on the water 24/7, we can't handle that with just this station," said Roche.

"We do have one of our 140 foot cutters off shore, and it has a large radar picture to help us track vessels. And if we need do something because somebody won't respond, we'll address that."

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral June Ryan was in Cleveland to check on the stepped-up security effort .

The U.S. Coast Guard is patrolling up to 30 miles off of the Cleveland shoreline, and is working with more than a dozen other enforcement agencies.

Roche said the security plan was more than a year in the making, and includes the addition of more than 100 additional guard members for the RNC.

WEWS-TV


7/21 - Duluth, Minn. – Several inches of rain and grounds saturated with water have had an impact on Lake Superior. For the last several days the water near several harbors off the lake has taken on a reddish or brown tone.

Researchers from the Minnesota Sea Grant say that is because of the heavy rainfall, high winds, and sediment runoff that's made it's way from other areas into Lake Superior. Flooding is also causing environmental concerns for Lake Superior.

"With the severe rain we saw sewage overflow and land water runoff," said Hilare Sorensen. "We're getting other stuff along with the clay and sediment in the water that definitely could have harmful impacts to the ecosystem."

Researchers say it will take some time before they will know what exactly those harmful impacts could be. The water on Lake Superior could stay brown several more days, even weeks.

Fox 21 KQDS


7/21 - Eagle Harbor, Mich. – Renovations are complete at the Eagle Harbor Lifesaving Station Museum. The work includes a fresh paint job, new roof and an excavated boat railway. The museum is one of the latest stations built in the Great Lakes back in 1912.

"The government placed these stations in strategic locations through the early years starting in the late 1800s when they've started establishing these stations through out the Great Lakes," says museum chairman Mark Rowe.

The Eagle Harbor Boat House is the only building remaining from the Eagle Harbor Life-Saving Station, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It's not too late to check out the Eagle Harbor Lifesaving Museum for yourself. The site is free of charge and will remain open until October. Museum hours are 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily, and donations are gratefully accepted by the Keweenaw County Historical Society.

WLUC



The JAMES DAVIDSON and KINSMAN INDEPENDENT arrived under tow at Santander, Spain, on July 21, 1974, for scrapping.

On July 21, 1975, the GEORGE D. GOBLE arrived at Lorain, Ohio, with an unusual deck cargo loaded at American Ship Building Company's yard at South Chicago, Illinois. She was carrying the deckhouses for two Interlake Steamship Company thousand-foot self-unloaders being built at AmShip's Lorain yard. These vessels were completed as the JAMES R. BARKER and MESABI MINER.

On 21 July 1875, the schooner ELVA, which was built in Port Huron, Michigan, in 1861, for Capt. Sinclair, was sailing from Holland, Michigan, for Milwaukee, Wisconsin loaded with stove bolts. She capsized 12 miles from Milwaukee. Her crew took to the boats and made a landing in Kenosha and then rowed to Milwaukee. A tug was sent for the schooner and she was recovered.

In 1900, R. J. GORDON (wooden propeller passenger-package freighter, 104 foot, 187 gross tons, built in 1881, at Marine City, Michigan) was placed back in service carrying freight and passengers between Chicago and Grand Haven. She had burned in September 1899 at Chicago but was rebuilt during the winter.

On 21 July 1875, the old barge HURON, which had been in use for a number of years as a car ferry for the Grand Trunk Railroad at Port Huron/Sarnia, was sold to Sandie and Archie Stewart. They planned to convert her to a dry-dock by adding three feet to her sides and removing her arches. The sale price was $1,500 in gold.

1910 TRUDE R. WIEHE was destroyed by a fire at Portage Bay, Green Bay.

1911 Thirty plates were damaged when the WACCAMAW went aground in the St. Lawrence. The ship was later repaired at Buffalo.

1959 A collision in western Lake Erie between the CHARLES HUBBARD and the Swedish freighter SIGNEBORG resulted in damage to both ships. Both were repaired and continue in service. The latter is scrapped at La Spezia, Italy, after arriving as d) ALFREDO, on November 10, 1971. The former was sunk as a breakwall at Burns Harbor in 1966 after being idle at Milwaukee for several years. The hull was reported to have been subsequently scrapped there.

1964 The French freighter MARQUETTE began Great Lakes trading in 1953 and was lengthened in 1959 with the opening of the Seaway. Fire erupted enroute from Chicago to Marseilles, France, and the vessel was abandoned in the Atlantic. The gutted ship was towed to Brest, France, and was sold to French shipbreakers. All on board were saved.

1965 A smoky fire, that could be seen for miles, broke out in the cargo of rubber aboard the ORIENT TRADER at Toronto and the hull was towed into Toronto Bay and beached while firefighters battled the blaze. The Greek flag vessel was sold for scrap but before it departed for overseas, is was used in several episodes of the CBC television series “Seaway.” The hull was towed into Valencia, Spain, on July 11, 1966, for dismantling.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Burns Harbor port continues high performance

7/22 - Burns Harbor, Ind. – Despite an overall slow start for ports along the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the Port of Indiana Burns Harbor is reporting near-record volume. Officials say more than 1.1 million tons of cargo has been handled so far in the shipping season, which is the third-highest total on record.

The two previous years were the best on record for the Portage operation. Year-to-date, shipment tonnage is still 14 percent above the previous five-year average and last month's totals were second-highest for any June on record. Ports of Indiana officials say key cargos making it through the port include coal, steel, limestone, fertilizer and oils, as well as some large project cargo.

Port Director Rick Heimann says "new shipments of intermodal cranes helped drive June's maritime port cargo numbers above the same period last year. "We've had multiple large cranes and containers of crane components arrive by ship from Europe that will be used to handle containers in multiple intermodal yards around the Midwest. June cargo volumes were also helped by new outbound shipments of recycled rubber and strong volumes of bulk commodities for use in the steel-making process by ArcelorMittal."

The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. says the shipping season throughout the seaway has been slower than anticipated to this point.

Administrator Betty Sutton says "although the overall cargo numbers remain down when compared to the same time frame last year, in June we were above the five-year average. Imports arriving in the Great Lakes Seaway System kept longshoremen busy during the month of June.

About 45 ships arrived from 19 different countries with high value cargo like windmill components, machinery, aluminum ingots, steel, sugar, and general cargo. Prior to leaving the system, vessels loaded export cargos that consisted of wheat, corn, soybeans, potash and general cargo loaded in containers."

From March 21 to June 30, shipments along the seaway were down nearly 7.7 percent.

Inside Indiana News


Wildfire continues to smolder on Poverty Island

7/22 - Poverty Island, Mich. – The federal government says a historic lighthouse is being protected from a wildfire on an uninhabited island in northern Lake Michigan. Humidity and rain are keeping the fire under control on Poverty Island, but the fire continues to smolder in crevices, roots and old logs.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs says firefighters plan to return when there are drier conditions. A sprinkler system is in place to protect the lighthouse and other buildings, which are made of brick and wood.

The fire, likely started by lightning, was reported on June 30 and had burned 26 acres by Sunday. The 200-acre island is managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Associated Press


Canada predicts bumper grain harvest; railways vow to move it

7/22 - Calgary, Alberta – With prairie farmers poised to harvest a potential monster crop in 2016, Canada’s railways say they are confident they can move the grain to market without a replication of the transportation logjam that plagued producers three years ago.

“Grain is king right now. We’re happy about it,” Canadian Pacific Railway president and chief operating officer Keith Creel said on a conference call with analysts Wednesday.

Creel said strong growing conditions in Western Canada are spurring predictions of a bumper crop — good news for the Calgary-based railway, which saw its earnings decline by a disappointing 16 per cent in the second quarter and is hoping that a massive grain haul will help it improve its revenues later this year.

The Western Grain Elevator Association — which represents the majority of the large grain companies operating in Western Canada — is projecting the size of the 2016 harvest to range between 63 million and 74 million metric tonnes, significantly higher than the five-year average of 61 million metric tonnes.

The biggest crop of all time in Canada was harvested in 2013, when farmers pulled in a record-breaking 76.8 million tonnes. However, that year, a transportation backlog — exacerbated by a brutally cold winter — left billions of dollars of that crop stranded in bins and elevators across the prairies, unable to get to market.

Calgary Herald


Coast Guard saves 2-year-old child who fell from vessel in Chicago

7/22 - Chicago, Ill. – Crewmembers from Coast Guard Station Wilmette Harbor in Chicago saved the life of a 2-year-old girl after responding to a notification that she had fallen off of a vessel and into the water near Navy Pier Thursday afternoon.

The girl was recovered from the water and was on board the vessel when the Coast Guard boat crew arrived on scene, but was unresponsive. The girl's parents report she was wearing a life jacket when she fell off the vessel.

Coast Guard Seaman Amanda Wolf, a crewmember from Station Wilmette Harbor, went aboard the vessel and used her EMT training to assess the condition of the child. She quickly began performing chest compressions and CPR on the child while the vessel made its way back to Navy Pier.

Because of her training and fast action, Wolf was able to resuscitate the child and had her fully responsive by the time the vessel made it back to Navy Pier. Once at Navy Pier, the vessel was met by EMTs from the Chicago Fire Department. The child was then transferred to a local hospital for observation.

USCG



Sturgeon Bay Maritime Week salutes U.S. Coast Guard

7/22 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – The City of Sturgeon Bay will again honor its rich maritime heritage with a collection events taking place July 30-Aug. 13.

Officially titled “Sturgeon Bay Maritime Week: A Salute to the U.S. Coast Guard,” the celebration includes many long-standing annual waterfront events along with new activities. In addition to focusing on Sturgeon Bay’s maritime history, the week honors the area’s local Coast Guard personnel, past and present, for their service and many contributions to the community.

Maritime Week gets underway Saturday, July 30, with a picnic for all active, reserve, retired and veteran Coast Guard personnel and their families. The picnic is hosted by the City’s Coast Guard Committee and sponsored by the Green Bay Council of the Navy League, local veteran groups, merchants and businesses. Festivities begin at 11 a.m. at Sawyer Park in Sturgeon Bay.

Activities continue Wednesday, August 3, when the tall ships come to Sturgeon Bay for an overnight stay. The ships will arrive in the city and participate in a Tall Ship Review through the ship canal and into the bay before docking downtown. The ships will be departing on Thursday for the Green Bay Tall Ship Festival Aug. 5-7.

The Sturgeon Bay Yacht Club also hosts the Coast Guard Person of the Year and Mariner Award Dinner on Monday, Aug. 8. The award recognizes individuals, living and deceased, who’ve had a significant, positive and lasting impact on the Door County maritime community. Sponsored by the Sturgeon Bay Coast Guard Committee and the Navy League, the Coast Guard Person of the Year award recognizes a local active duty Coast Guardsman who exemplifies the service’s core values of Honor, Respect and Devotion to Duty.

The Harmony by the Bay Summer Concert Series continues the Maritime Week festivities on Wednesday, August 10, at Martin Park. Big Mouth and the Power Tool Horns will entertain. The concert begins at 7 p.m. and will open with a salute to veterans from all branches of the armed forces.

Friday, August 12, opens with the first day of the Door County Classic and Wooden Boat Festival on the grounds of the Door County Maritime Museum. Construction and the decoration phase in the Sikaflex Boat Building competition will begin at 4 p.m., with two-person teams working with the limited lumber materials provided.

Saturday, the boat festival blends with the Maritime on Madison festivities, sponsored by the West Side business community. Plenty of music, store sales and kid’s activities are planned. Meanwhile on the museum grounds, dozens of classic boats will be on display, the Sikaflex Challenge concludes with the in-water sea trials at 3 p.m., and the “Art Mart” art exhibition. Enjoy special deck tours of the immaculately restored tug John Purves as well as the museum’s “Sea Dogs” exhibit and interactive Elba pilothouse which allows aspiring ship captains to “steer” the century-old freighter down the Sturgeon Bay shipping channel.

The Evening on the Bay events Saturday at the Sturgeon Bay Yacht Club include kid’s games, live music and the annual “Venetian Night” boat parade, followed by fireworks. All events are open to the public.

Door County Maritime Museum



On this day in 1961, the barge CLEVECO, originally lost with a crew of 22 during a December 02, 1942, storm on Lake Erie, was floated by salvagers, towed outside the shipping lanes, and intentionally sunk.

PERE MARQUETTE 22 (Hull#210) was launched on July 22, 1924, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. for the Pere Marquette Railway Co. One hundred years ago on 22 July 1900, the tug MATT HESSER was launched at Lorain, Ohio, by H. D. Root for Captain Burke of Erie.

The M.I. MILLS (wooden propeller tug, 122 foot, 152 tons, built in 1867, at Marine City, Michigan), which sank in a collision with the bark UNADILLA on 9 May 1873, was found on 22 July 1873, in 90 feet of water in Lake Huron off Sand Beach, Michigan. Plans were made to raise her at the cost of $5,000. This effort was unsuccessful as was another abortive attempt in 1895.

1965 MARIVIKI dated from 1940 as a) TEMPLE INN and visited the Seaway in 1960. The ship was beached in Colla Bay, near Mormugao, India, after developing leaks on a voyage from Madras, India, to Constanza, Romania. The hull later broke in two and was a total loss.

1967 A small fire erupted in the machine shop of the West German freighter TRANSAMERICA while a crewman was welding in Milwaukee. The blaze was soon brought under control. The ship last operated in 1978 as f) ARISTOTELES before being broken up at Gadani Beach, Pakistan.

1968 The Paterson bulk carrier CANADOC, loading at the Continental Elevator in Chicago, was struck on the starboard side by the Belgian vessel TIELRODE as it passed upsteam under tow. The latter returned through the Seaway as c) GEORGIOS C. in 1977 and was scrapped at Huangpo, China, as e) OPORTO in 1985.

1970 ULYSSES REEFER caught fire in Toronto resulting in an estimated $30,000 in damage. The ship first came inland in 1969 and returned as c) ITHAKI REEFER in 1972 prior to being scrapped at Blyth, Scotland, in 1973.

1989 MAR CATERINA, downbound at the Snell Lock, struck the fender boom and all Seaway navigation was temporarily delayed. The ship began Seaway trading as b) ASTORGA in 1985. As of 2012, the vessel is apparently still operating as e) ASPHALT TRADER.

[yachtsmanwilly]

As storms hit, captain fought to keep freighter on course in Duluth ship canal

7/24 - Duluth, Minn. – A 729-foot freighter was making its way through the Duluth ship canal when the winds began to howl early last Thursday.

As the strong straight-line winds from severe storms began to quickly turn the Algoma Guardian sideways in the canal, Capt. Monford Organ's main concern was getting the freighter into the Duluth Harbor Basin without any damage.

"I gave her lots of engine and steered her in the opposite way of the wind and got her in fast enough before she set in too much in the wind," Organ, who has captained the Algoma Guardian for five years, recounted Friday.

With the Aerial Lift Bridge up to allow for the Algoma Guardian's entry at 3:30 a.m. Thursday, bridge operator Mark Nyman realized there was nothing he could do except wait it out at the top of the span while the wind sounded like a freight train around him.

"I kind of wondered if the bridge would actually hold and it did. I'm sure it's designed for severe conditions and the bridge did fine," he said. "But the bridge deck itself was shaking quite a bit, back and forth in an east-to-west motion due to the wind. It was a little spooky and she was shaking really good, more so than I've ever felt it shake."

Organ, who hails from Newfoundland, is a veteran of steering a freighter through the Duluth entry and has experienced a lot of storms in his 24 years as a Great Lakes mariner — but none as extreme as trying to navigate through the ship canal on Thursday.

Three times during the storm, the lift bridge's gauge clocked the wind at 70 knots, or 80 miles per hour — but the gauge is in a place where it's not directly in the wind, Nyman said. The Algoma Guardian's wind gauge measured the gusts at 90 knots, or 103 mph.

Up on the lift bridge, "it was shaking pretty gosh darn good," Nyman said. He knew severe weather was predicted, but the wind accelerated to severe levels within seconds of starting. He said he could hear the wind coming like a freight train and "that's when I knew there was going to be trouble," he said.

Although Nyman has worked in the Duluth harbor and as a mariner for years, he's new to the lift bridge operator job — he began in March of this year. He said he's proud to work for the city and a wild ride on the lift bridge in a windstorm comes with the territory.

Nyman gave Organ credit for his skill in guiding the Algoma Guardian safely into the harbor basin, because the freighter going into the side of the canal was a possibility, he said.

"The captain on the Algoma Guardian did a very good job of straightening the ship out and making it through the canal safely," he said. "He should be commended for that because he did an excellent job."

Heading toward the Duluth entry before the storms hit, Lake Superior's calm water was like a mirror, Organ said. He knew thunderstorms were predicted and was hoping to dock before they hit. The freighter was coming into Duluth with a crew of 23 to pick up a load of grain destined for Quebec.

"As soon as I started to come through the piers, bang, she just hit — 80, 85 knots of wind, rain, couldn't see nothing. The ship started to go sideways. ... We got her in, we got her in OK, but it was quite interesting," he said.

The Algoma Guardian has state-of-the-art equipment on board to help with navigation, but radar isn't very dependable when the freighter is in close quarters with the sides of the canal and the wind is acting up, he explained.

"You just gotta go by good judgment and hope for the best," he said.

Entering the canal was the "the point of no return" and his only option was to give the Algoma Guardian "full engine" to move quickly out of the canal, he said. He then turned the freighter as best he could once inside the Duluth Harbor Basin.

"We weren't expecting it, but with quick thoughts and good judgment, we got her in. No damage to ship or property or crew, that was our goal," he said.



Captain concludes 19 years on Drummond Island ferry

7/24 - Drummond Island, Mich. – It's 6 p.m. on July 12, 2016, and Rockie Taghon is showing up for his last shift working on the Drummond Islander 4 ferry.

“This is my last night … I'm done, retired and out of here. At 6 o’clock in the morning I'm done, see ya later,” he says.

“The ferry is unique, but it's also what I'd call one of the drawbacks to the island in that you're whole life revolves around the schedule of the ferry. But when you move to Drummond Island you know that, so all you can do is just make the best of it. It's a hurry and wait game,” Taghon observes.

It's a game he's loved for 19 years.

“Pretty much what we’re going to do next is go that direction, and then when we get done over there, we’re going to go that direction over here. Then as soon as were done with that, we’re going to go back over there. It's rather repetitious,” Taghon explains.

With his infectious laugh and humor, he takes care of every passenger like family. With hug after hug, the islanders say happy retirement.

“Everybody that works on the boat cares about the people of Drummond Island. People don't even realize how much we protect Drummond Island working on this boat. If we see something we think is not quite right, that we don't think should be going on in the island, we'll let the authorities know it. We're not to be messed with over here, we're good people we want to keep Drummond Island a nice place to come and visit, and everybody on this boat works on that point,” says Taghon.

Even freighter captains salute him.

It's now 5:40 a.m. July 13. “This is officially my last trip across the river as captain,” he notes. “Sure have done this a lot of times, no question about that.”

A lot has happened in this one-mile stretch of water between De Tour Village and Drummond Island since Taghon decided to carry on a tradition started by another retired captain, Alex Fisher.

Out of respect for 19 years on the Drummond Islander 4, Taghon gives the ship’s bell one last polish. Then it's time for a new chapter in his life.

“I just want to say thank you to the people of Drummond Island for taking me in, taking my wife and I in, when we came here we didn't know very many people. Now we know just about everybody, and thanks Drummond, it's been a real ride,” Taghon concludes.

9 & 10 News



On July 24, 1980, 34 ships were delayed when the BALTIC SKOU, a 595 foot Danish-flag freighter built in 1977, ran aground after losing power three miles east of the Snell Lock, near Massena, New York. The ship, loaded with sunflower seeds, was headed for Montreal and the Atlantic Ocean when the grounding occurred. No injuries or pollution resulted from the accident and the vessel did not take on any water.

ALGOSOO (Hull#206) was launched July 24, 1974, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. for Algoma Central Railway, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. BURNS HARBOR’s sea trials were conducted on July 24, 1980, during which she performed an emergency stop in 3,160 feet loaded to a depth of 25/26 feet. She was the third 1,000-footer built for Bethlehem and the tenth on the Great Lakes.

ST. CLAIR (Hull#714) was launched July 24, 1975, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, by Bay Shipbuilding Corp. for the American Steamship Co.

WILLIAM G. MATHER left River Rouge, Michigan, on her maiden voyage July 24, 1925, for Ashtabula, Ohio to load coal for Port Arthur/Fort William, Ontario.

The wooden steamer OSCAR TOWNSEND was launched at 2:20 p.m. at E. Fitzgerald's yard in Port Huron on 24 July 1873. The launch went well with a few hundred spectators. She was built for use in the iron ore trade by the Lake Superior Transportation Co. Her dimensions were 210 feet overall, 200 foot keel, 33 foot 10 inches beam and 15 foot depth. She had three masts and was painted deep green.

On 24 July 1847, CONSTITUTION (wooden passenger/package freight side-wheeler, 141 foot, 444 tons, built in 1837, at Charleston, Ohio) struck a pier in Sandusky harbor, stove a large hole in her bow and sank. Her machinery was later recovered and installed in J D MORTON.

1915: EASTLAND rolled over and sank on her side at Chicago with the loss of 835 lives. It was the worst marine accident in Great Lakes history.

1960: The idle tanker COASTAL CASCADES was being used for occasional storage when she sank at the dock at Montreal. The hull was salvaged in August and dismantled at Montreal in 1961-1962.

1970: The 226-foot Danish freighter NORDLAND SAGA made one trip through the Seaway in 1965. It was wrecked off Oman as c) ADEL of the Dubai National Shipping Corp., while enroute from Bombay, India, to Dubai with a cargo of steel bars and generals.

1974: The former GRAINMOTOR left the Great Lakes in 1966 for saltwater service. It was lost as c) ANDY enroute from Pensacola, Fla., to Guayaquil, Ecuador, in the Caribbean on this date off Isla de Providencia.


Wolfe Islander III crew rescues boaters in distress

7/23 - Kingston, Ont. – A dramatic rescue took place on Lake Ontario Friday between Kingston and Wolfe Island. A man and woman in what was believed to be a rental sailboat were saved from the water by crewmembers of the Wolfe Islander III.

The boat the couple was in had capsized. The ferry crew spotted them as they were returning to the mainland from the island just after 12. A witness says the ferry turned around and two members of the crew got into the vessel’s rescue boat to retrieve the man and woman from the water. The pair was brought back to the ferry and then to the mainland.

They did not appear to have suffered any injuries.

CKWS


7/23 - Port Huron, Mich. – The Norwegian Viking Ship Draken Harald Harfagre is on its way to Chicago from Bay City, Mich., for the Tall Ships celebration on July 27-31, despite having to pay pilotage fees on the Great Lakes. They have decided to keep participating in the Tall Ships Challenge after a public campaign to collect donations has raised over $65,000.

The organization behind the Viking ship, Draken Expedition America, has claimed that it was caught unaware of U.S. pilotage requirements when they entered the St. Lawrence Seaway in early June after being told by the Canadian Great Lakes Pilotage Authority that they are were exempt because they were less than 35 meters long.

The U.S. pilotage regulations are different and base requirements on whether a foreign-flag vessel is conducting commercial activity on the Great Lakes such as collecting fees to attend events and to provide tours for paying passengers, much like cruise ships. If the Viking ship were not accepting any fees and open to the public for free, they would be exempt from all pilot requirements.

The Draken organization calculated in June that they will need to raise a sensational $430,000 to continue on. They are now estimating $260,000 because they are traveling at a higher rate of speed, which is still too high by our estimate. In October of 2015, the U.S. pilot companies handling pilotage where the events are scheduled, sent estimates of $192,000 for the Viking ship’s transit costs at the request of Tall Ships America Director, Patricia Lock, for their whole itinerary on the Great Lakes. That figure, based on 6 knots speed, was later revised downward by 15% after the new lower rates were published April 1.

The ship is now making additional stops in Alpena, Beaver Island and Frankfort, Michigan and collecting fees for tours. The vessel is traveling under sail and engine making speeds of 8.5 to 10 knots. The latest total round-trip cost estimate for the Viking ship for all the scheduled ports using the starting and ending point of Massena N.Y., on the St. Lawrence River, is $155,000 at 8.5 knots speed.

In November, the spokesperson of the Draken Expedition, Woodrow Wiest, acknowledged that pilotage was mandatory for the entire Great Lakes in an email circulated to all pilotage districts by the U.S. Coast Guard. In addition, a meeting was held in Cleveland in February attended by Patricia Lock, the U.S. Coast Guard Director of Great Lakes Pilotage Todd Haviland and all three U.S. pilotage district presidents to discuss U.S. pilotage rules and rates. It was made clear that there would be no exceptions to the U.S. regulations for the tall ships. The regulations for Great Lakes pilotage are clearly available under both the U.S. and Canadian pilotage authorities’ websites.

The Viking ship organization had all this information before the voyage started from Norway on April 26. Despite an exemption from Canadian pilotage, they voluntarily hired pilots in the Canadian waters of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Welland Canal for fees of CDN $17,000.

The estimated attendance for the five Tall Ship events on the U.S. side is 1.5 million. The foreign-flag tall ships are the most popular at these events. After paying an entrance fee to each event, another $12 on average is charged per person for a dockside tour of the 10 or so participating ships. When you add up these fees, plus cruise fees of $65 to $150 per person and sponsorships of up to $45,000 per port, the total revenue collected by a foreign-flag tall ship could easily exceed $1.5 million just in the U.S. ports alone. The vessel has already stopped in Brockville and Toronto, Ont.

Pilots are hired to direct ships in every port and congested waterway in the world. The reason is to have a local expert navigator to prevent accidents and environmental catastrophes. The foreign-flag tall ships are manned by very capable captains. Even so, we find that they are very appreciative that they have pilots on board for their 3,000-mile Great Lakes transit.

Over the last 30 years, over 40 tall ships that came into the Great Lakes were required by law to have a pilot. They came and left without any public campaign to avert costs. The Viking ship organization was adequately informed in advance of their US pilotage requirements and costs.

Lakes Pilots Association, Inc.


7/23 - Marinette, Wis. – A U.S. Navy combat ship has successfully completed its acceptance trials, an important step before it can be commissioned this fall.

The future USS Detroit passed a battery of tests related to its propulsion plant, handling and auxiliary systems during the July 15 trials on Lake Michigan.

The ship is 389 feet long and can travel 40-plus knots using water jet propulsion, said John Torrisi, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin, which built the ship. As what's known as a littoral combat ship, it is able to operate in as little as 14 feet of water.

The story continues, with photos, here: www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2016/07/22/navy-ship-uss-detroit/87449186/


Canada’s largest icebreaker to set sail for North Pole as part of Arctic claim

7/23 - Halifax, Ont. – Canada’s largest icebreaker is preparing for a critical expedition to the North Pole, marking the country’s final mission in the High Arctic before making an official claim to the barren, but strategically important area at the top of the world.

The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent is scheduled to leave Halifax harbour on Friday, carrying a team of international — and somewhat excited — scientists and high-tech gear for mapping the ocean floor.

The data collected will be used to define the outer limits of Canada’s continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean. Once the data is analyzed, a submission is expected to be presented to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in 2018.

“This work cannot be overstated — it is fundamental to an exercise in Canadian sovereignty and to establish Canada’s last maritime boundary line,” federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Thursday as he stood on a sun-drenched jetty beside the hulking ship.

“This is especially important in the Arctic region, which is facing unprecedented change from both an economic and an ecological perspective.”

For some of the scientists on board, the trek to the pole will provide a rare opportunity to see things that have never been seen before.

“The Arctic Ocean is the smallest ocean in the world but the least studied,” said Mary-Lynn Dickson, a director at the Geological Survey of Canada.

“From a geological perspective, any data that we collect when we’re out on the ship is all new data. It’s all new knowledge that people have never seen before. So the excitement for me and our team ... when we roll out the big maps and we’re looking at it — the excitement is palpable.”

Once at the top of the world, Dickson said she plans to get off the ship — if the ice is stable — and walk around the pole, a stroll that will effectively take her around the world and through every time zone.

When the ship made a similar voyage last year, researchers discovered five underwater volcanoes along the way, said Paola Travaglini of the Canadian Hydrographic Service.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea allows all coastal nations to extend their jurisdiction beyond 200 nautical miles as long as it can prove the boundary is a natural extension.

No less than eight countries surround the North Pole. It is the subject of competing claims, which reflect the area’s growing importance in terms of shipping lanes and potential resource extraction.

“We believe Canada has a very, very strong case that we’re prepared to make under the United Nations Law of the Sea,” LeBlanc said.

“It has to be based on something more than political bluster. It’s got to be based on science and international law. Those two concepts come together beautifully in this mission.”

Canadian Press


On this day in 1908, the 556-foot ELBERT H. GARY arrived to a 21-gun salute to deliver the first cargo of Minnesota ore at the new United States Steel mill in Gary, Indiana.

The keel for the TEXACO CHIEF (Hull#193) was laid July 23, 1968, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., for Texaco Canada Ltd. Renamed b.) A.G. FARQUHARSON in 1986, and c.) ALGONOVA In 1998. She was sold for further service overseas in 2007.

CANADOC sailed on her maiden voyage July 23, 1961.

Upper Lakes Shipping Co. Ltd.'s, RED WING was christened on July 23, 1960, as the first all-welded vessel to emerge from Port Weller Dry Docks.

On 23 July 1878, H R PRESTON (wooden quarter-deck canal boat built in 1877, at Oneida Lake, New York) was carrying 250 tons of ashes from Picton, Ontario to Oswego, New York, in tow of the tug ALANSON SUMNER along with three other canal boats when they encountered a storm on Lake Ontario. About 15 miles from Oswego, the PRESTON broke her towline and was taken alongside the SUMNER with some difficulty. About a mile out of port she lost her hold tarps and began to sink quickly. She was cut loose from the tug and her two crewmen were saved by the Oswego tug WM AVERY. Though she was lying heavily on the bottom in 50 feet of water, her wreckage came ashore near 4 Mile Point in early September.

1918: PETER REISS and the GLENSHEE were in a collision at the #3 ore dock at Duluth. Fog and the current were blamed for the accident, with only limited damage to both ships.

1934: An explosion and fire aboard the tanker barge EN-AR-CO during fit-out at Toronto resulted in the loss of 4 lives. The ship was rebuilt as a coal barge and was finally scrapped at Hamilton in 1969.

1955: The tug HELENA capsized at South Chicago while taking on coal from a scow and two sailors were lost. The vessel was refloated on July 26. It survives today as c) DANIEL McALLISTER, a museum ship on display in the Lachine Canal at Montreal.

1968: The former tanker ORION was operating as a sand barge when it sank in Lake Erie about 1,000 feet off the Lorain lighthouse due to choppy seas. The hull was raised by the Corps of Engineers, beached August 2 and assumed to have been subsequently scrapped.

1985: FOTINI D.E. first came through the Seaway in 1976 and, in 1980, became the first overseas vessel to load grain at the port of Goderich. It ran aground on this date in 1985, enroute from Venezuela to a U.S. Gulf coast port, and was abandoned as a total loss on July 31.