Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/24 - Hamilton, Ont. – His father-in-law takes care of the peach orchard when Evgeniy Veadychenko is away at sea. There are hundreds of trees and many kinds of peaches in the orchard, and sometimes Evgeniy is away for half the year, so the old man gets plenty of work.

Evgeniy has just two children – many fewer than he has peach trees – but they are even more work. His son is a toddler and enjoys causing havoc. Evgeniy calls him the “human atom bomb.”

Their home is near Odessa, a big city with a zoo where his son learned not to be afraid of elephants. Today, the Ukrainian sailor is about 8,000 kilometres away in Hamilton. He has been aboard a bulk carrier called the Andean for seven months, and this week the ship is docked in the Southern Ontario city while it delivers a load of steel.

Evgeniy is flipping through Facebook pictures of his children in the Mission to Seafarers here, a clubhouse and chapel for visiting sailors. Two staff and four volunteers spend the year helping seamen run errands, manage labour disputes, connect with their families and occasionally even pray. Around Christmas, bitter weather and sailors anxious to get home for the holidays make the work all the more vital.

Evgeniy celebrates Christmas on Jan. 7, in accordance with his Orthodox faith, but Dec. 25 has another meaning for him. It’s his daughter’s birthday. She’s turning six this year. The Andean will probably be in Duluth, Minn., when she blows out the candles.

“My whole world is 17 men,” he says.

Thousands of homesick and seasick sailors call at Hamilton every year aboard some 700 ships, both lakers and the ocean-going vessels known as “salties” in the freshwater harbors of the world. Within 12 hours of a ship’s arrival in Hamilton, Mission to Seafarers workers will go aboard with a bag of chocolates and the long-distance calling cards that are always in demand amid the chronic isolation of a mariner’s life.

The organization is run by the Anglican Church and has chapters in about 50 countries, but the work of the Hamilton chapter is relentlessly local. Sometimes, a ship will stay in Hamilton for as long as two weeks, unloading steel and loading grain. In that span, staffers Dan Phannenhour, Ronda Ploughman and Janice Maloney-Brooks will serve as all-purpose helpmeets to the crew.

Seafarers don’t ask for much, said Mr. Phannenhour, a Lutheran pastor. “They want to go to Niagara Falls, they want to go to Walmart – those are the two big things.”

There isn’t as much call for strong rum and fast women in today’s seaports as there might once have been. Modern sailors are often upwardly mobile, middle-class family men from relatively poor countries, such as the Philippines and Ukraine; once on dry land, they’re likelier to gravitate toward the nearest WiFi hot spot than to the local tavern.

Judith Alltree, executive director of the Mission to Seafarers Southern Ontario (comprising Oshawa, Toronto and Hamilton), remembers one Ukrainian sailor who was intent on buying a Canadian diamond ring for his girlfriend, because Canadian diamonds were more ethically sourced than African ones. Such are the rather staid, bourgeois preoccupations of the 21st-century seafarer.

Some missions are elaborate. The facility in Sorel, Que., has a bar. Houston’s boasts a basketball court and a pool.

In Hamilton, the facilities are humbler. Sailors are usually content with creature comforts and a way of calling home, so the mission obliges with WiFi passwords and chocolate bars. A pool table (favored by Filipino sailors) and a foosball table (popular with Eastern Europeans) provide sober diversion.

The mission’s work bends around the customs of the floating United Nations that is the world’s commercial seafaring corps. Sailors on Dutch ships need to be driven around less because they usually have bikes on board. Mr. Phannenhour has more trouble meeting Indian crews because they insist on treating him as an “honored guest” and serving him food in the officers’ mess. And since about 40 per cent of the world’s 1.7 million seafarers are Filipino, the Toronto mission has a cupboard full of Tagalog Bibles.

Still, whatever their customs, all sailors are alike in suffering the deprivations of life at sea. Atlantic crossings this year were especially rough. One captain recently told the mission that his crew had gone nine days without sleep or hot meals because of choppy seas. Pair that with voyages that can last almost a year and routinely surpass six months, often on contracts that are unilaterally extended, and sailors rejoice at the sight of land.

“It’s a hard, dangerous career,” Ms. Alltree said. “They don’t see their family for months on end. They put themselves in harm’s way to feed their families and to make sure we can have cheap clothing [and] we can drink coffee from Brazil.”

Sailors are often uncannily upbeat despite these hardships and more generous than they can afford to be. “You can’t out-give a seafarer,” Mr. Phannenhour said, who once repaid for his assistance with a dinner of curried lamb. One ship’s cook made a cake for Ms. Maloney-Brooks.

That warmth and resilience has been on display in recent weeks aboard the Ardita, a cargo ship that has been detained in Hamilton since April because of an ownership dispute.

They have only visited shore a handful of times since spring, but with Christmas on the horizon, their spirits seem to have been buoyed. After the season’s first big snowfall, they built a snowman on the Ardita’s deck and posed for selfies with it. They are expected to be flown home for Christmas, as most crews are this time of year.

Evgeniy and his colleagues aboard the Andean seem likely to prove an exception. He doesn’t think he’ll make it home for Jan. 7. The ship still has to traverse a series of tricky locks through the Great Lakes en route to Duluth. While passing through the locks, the crew works through the night, with two-hour intervals of sleep.

“It’s like you’re a machine, but a broken machine,” Evgeniy says with a tired laugh.

On Christmas, he usually goes to church with his family. He is a pious man. “My nationality is Christian,” he says. “I was born in one country, now live in another country, maybe I die in another country. All the time, God stay one.”

Last week, Ms. Alltree gave Evgeniy a box of good English chocolate in the Hamilton mission. Wearing an anchor-shaped crucifix, she said, “Merry Christmas.”

Globe & Mail



In 1981, the steamer ENDERS M. VOORHEES laid up for the last time at the Hallett Dock #5 in Duluth, Minnesota.

On 26 December 1916, the wreck of the wooden self-unloading freighter TOPEKA was leveled by dynamiting. She sank just off Windsor/Sandwich, Ontario, in the Detroit River on 15 April 1916, in a collision with the small steamer CHRISTOPHER. Her machinery was removed prior to dynamiting.

1909: The former whaleback steamer COLGATE HOYT, operating on the East Coast since 1906, was wrecked as c) THURMOND in a storm at Tom's River Bay, NJ enroute from Newport News, VA to Portland, ME with a cargo of coal.

1973: The Liberian freighter ADELFOI, a Seaway caller in 1972 and 1973, was under tow on the St. Lawrence due to engine trouble. The ship broke loose and came ashore at St. Laurent, Ile d'Orleans and became a total loss. It was refloated on May 9, 1974, and eventually towed to Santander, Spain, for scrapping.

1982: BELMONA was newly built when it visited the Great Lakes in 1962. It sank as e) RHODIAN SAILOR south of Taiwan after the holds were flooded in a storm. The ship was carrying bagged cement and there was only one survivor.

[yachtsmanwilly]

SAVIC, b.) CLIFFS VICTORY cleared the Welland Canal on Christmas night 1985, and finally anchored at Pointe aux Trembles near Montreal, Quebec, on December 27, awaiting another load of scrap. The SAVIC remained there the entire winter, because the underwriters ordered that her hull be re-enforced by welding straps to her stress points for her overseas journey.

THOMAS W. LAMONT as a single tow arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, on December 27, 1987, where she was scrapped. The LAMONT was one of the last bulkers that retained her telescoping hatch covers to the very end.

1985:The wooden sailing ship CIUDAD DE INCA sank in shallow water at Portsmouth, Ontario, during a snowstorm. The vessel was refloated January 10, 1986, with machinery but no structural damage. It had come inland for the Lake Ontario Tall Ships Extravaganza in 1984. Due to an earlier problem, it had to stay out of American waters where it was subject to an arrest warrant due to the sinking of the MARQUES, owned by the same company, in a Tall Ships race from Bermuda to Halifax.

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/28 - Trois-Rivieres, Que. – Canadian maritime law restrictions could discourage a fourth-generation ship owner and his wife from sailing their renovated cruise ship to the north country during cruises along the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System in 2018.

Michel Harvey and Maryse Camirand, who own Croisieres M/S Jacques-Cartier, will upgrade their 180-foot-long Jacques-Cartier to take up to 66 passengers throughout the St. Lawrence River, Great Lakes and near the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The couple will run their first season from May to October 2018.

Yolaine Masse, the marketing and sales representative for the company, said the couple will take passengers to large cities to learn about local cultures and nature preserves to hike and bird watch. Cruises will also feature kayaking, paddling, picnics and barbecues with local food.

“It’s a whole other dimension it could add to the Thousand Islands,” said Gary S. DeYoung, executive director of the 1000 Islands International Tourism Council.

Customers will have the option to choose from one of three multiple-day cruises including a 10-day cruise, a seven-day cruise and a five-day cruise.

The 10-day cruise, Ms. Masse said, will take passengers to Kingston, Quebec city, Montreal and one or two of the Thousand Islands.

The seven-day cruise will depart from Quebec City and show passengers multiple lighthouses along the St. Lawrence River. The five-day cruises will explore the St. Lawrence Islands and the Saguenay Fjord. Mr. Harvey and Mrs. Camirand will determine specific stops and prices for their three cruises and any other potential cruise options in January or February.

“We have a good idea, but we are still in negotiations,” Ms. Masse said. “Right now, we are finalizing the five, seven and 10 days.”

While the Jacques-Cartier is a Canadian ship, Mr. Harvey and Mrs. Camirand considered hosting international cruises and stopping at north country U.S. ports.

“Anytime someone comes into Clayton — we welcome that,” said Tricia L. Bannister, the executive director of the Clayton Chamber of Commerce.

Ms. Masse said that if they choose to sail across the border, making them an international carrier, cabotage laws would require them to stop at non-Canadian ports like Ogdensburg and Clayton, which could affect their proposed tours. Rather than docking at ports, however, Ms. Masse said that small ships like the Jacques-Cartier could dock in small bays near cities. Remaining a Canadian vessel and staying in Canadian waters, the company would not be required to dock at ports.

Cabotage laws are designed to protect national maritime interests from foreign-flagged ships. Essentially, it prohibits foreign ships from traveling from one port to another within a country.

“Most of the time, (international ships) are doing Boston and Montreal,” Ms. Masse said.

In order to host multiple-day tours, Mr. Harvey and Mrs. Camirand will invest $5 million to build enough cabins for 66 passengers, expand the dock tail by 40 feet and install a spa, sauna and terrace on the deck, Ms. Masse said. Renovations will begin next spring.

“Almost the entire ship is changing,” she said.

Michel Harvey and Mrs. Camirand purchased the company and the vessel from Michel’s father and mother, Luc Harvey and Sermande Laurendeau, last September.

Luc Harvey and Mrs. Laurendeau operated Croisieres M/S Jacques-Cartier for 40 years and sailed the Jacques-Cartier across the St. Lawrence River from Kingston to the Riviere-du-Loup, stopping at the Ottawa, Richelieu and the Saguenay rivers. Luc Harvey and Ms. Laurendeau would host hourly and daily expeditions until they retired in 2012.

“There were no cabins (originally),” Ms. Masse said. “That is why we are having $6.6 million in Canadian dollars to transform the ship.”

Mr. DeYoung said the 1000 Islands International Tourism Council has attempted to encourage more cruise lines to sail to the Thousand Islands for 15 years. While the number of ships docking in the region have increased over the past two years, he said that garnering interest from international cruise lines is still difficult.

“The impact could be really great,” he said.

The Journal


HENRY FORD II was laid up in the Rouge Steel slip at Dearborn, Michigan, on December 28, 1988.

On 28 December 1907, CALDERA (steel propeller freighter, 504 foot, 6,328 gross tons) was launched at W. Bay City, Michigan.

On 28 December 1881, the steamer R J GORDON arrived in Port Huron from Marine City on her maiden voyage with a large number of passengers. She was powered with a steam engine with an 18-inch cylinder and 20-inch stroke. Her dimensions were 116 feet long with a 26-foot beam. She cost nearly $20,000 and was built to run between Algonac and Lexington.

1980: DUNAV reported taking water in heavy seas off Central Japan, enroute from Hamilton, Ontario, via Los Angeles, to Tsingtao, China, with steel and was never seen again. Thirty-one sailors perished.

1980: HOLMSIDE, a Seaway trader beginning in 1960, hit a jetty while inbound at Casablanca, Morocco, as b) CABINDA and sank in the outer harbor with the loss of 9 lives.

1980: The former PRINS ALEXANDER, a Seaway trader for the Oranje Lijn beginning in 1959, struck a reef off Shadwan Island as f) POLIAGOS and sank in the Gulf of Suez. It was loaded with bagged cement and enroute from Piraeus, Greece, to Giza, United Arab Republic.

2011: An arson fire gutted the former NORMAC, most recently a restaurant ship at St. Catharines.

2011: MISSISSIPPIBORG ran aground leaving Pictou, Nova Scotia, with paper, but was refloated on the high tide only to go aground again on a second try. It had been a Seaway trader in 2011


Yachtsmanwilly and Ppat purchased a new tender for the fleet from Blue Seas Solutions(LLC) .

[yachtsmanwilly]

B. F. JONES was launched December 29, 1906, as a.) GENERAL GARRETSON.

KINSMAN INDEPENDENT was launched in 1906, as a.) WILLIAM B. KERR (Hull#72) at Chicago, Illinois, by Chicago Ship Building Co. for the Weston Transit Co.

Kinsman's new GEORGE M. HUMPHREY was christened on December 29, 1926.

GOLDEN HIND was laid up for the last time on December 29, 1985, at Toronto, Ontario.

On 29 December 1813, ARIEL (4-gun armed schooner, 112 tons, built in 1813, at Erie, Pennsylvania, as part of Perry's fleet) ran aground in a squall at Black River (now Buffalo) and was burned by the British.

CAROLINE (wooden sidewheeler, 71 foot, 46 tons, built in 1822, at New York City, New York) was chartered to transport arms and munitions to Navy Island near Buffalo. On 29 December 1837, she was commandeered by about 60 Canadian rebels under the command of a Royal Navy officer at Schlosser on the Niagara River. In the fight that followed, she was set afire, abandoned and allowed to drift down the river. Some sources say that she went over the falls. This incident caused hostile feelings along the U.S. northeastern frontier for many months.

1935: The Norwegian freighter AGGA came to the Great Lakes as early as 1923 and returned on several occasions until at least through 1934. It had gone aground in the St. Lawrence on October 27, 1924 and again on November 25, 1925. The 1905-vintage cargo carrier was wrecked on this date at Gunnorstenarne, Sweden.

1974: The Swedish freighter RAGNEBORG was newly built when it came to the Great Lakes in 1947 and was a regular inland trader through 1963. The vessel was sailing as c) CHAVIN when the engine broke down and it was towed into Puerto Cortes, (not sure if it was Costa Rica or Honduras), and beached. It never sailed again and was still there as late as 1978.

1979: A spark from a welder's torch spread from the conveyor belt and gutted the pilothouse and officer's quarters of the NICOLET at Toledo. The vessel was rebuilt with a new pilothouse at Lorain and returned to service on April 4, 1981.

On December 30, 1987, the THOMAS WILSON, under tow in the North Atlantic heading to be scrapped, parted her towline and sank near position 34.08'N by 61.35'12"W (approximately in line with Cape Hatteras, North Carolina) early the next day.

GEORGE M. HUMPHREY (Hull#796) was launched December 30, 1926, for Kinsman Transit Co. at Lorain, Ohio, by the American Ship Building Co. Renamed b.) CAPT JOHN ROEN in 1945, c.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS in 1948 and d.) CONSUMERS POWER in 1958, scrapped at Taiwan in 1988.

The first steel carferry, PERE MARQUETTE, was launched in nearly completed form on December 30, 1896. The ship was built for the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad (predecessor to the Pere Marquette) and entered service just a few weeks later.

1981: VISHVA DHARMA came through the Seaway when new in 1970. The vessel was in a collision on this date with the ADMIRAL S. ALTINCAN and sustained damage to the forecastle and sides. The ship reached Istanbul, Turkey, enroute to Russia on January 7, 1982. The damage was repaired and it survived until scrapping at Bombay, India, in 1988.

[yachtsmanwilly]

While on the North Atlantic under tow for scrapping, ASHLAND parted her towline but was tracked by U.S. Coast Guard aircraft and was retrieved by her tug on January 2nd, 1988, some 300 miles off course.

The 3-masted wooden schooner M. J. CUMMINGS was launched at the shipyard of Goble & MacFarlane in Oswego, New York. Her owners were Mrs. Goble & MacFarlane, Daniel Lyons and E. Caulfield. Her dimensions were 142 foot 6 inches X 25 foot 2 inches X 11 foot 6 inches, 325 tons and she cost $28,000.

January 2, 1925 - The ANN ARBOR NO 7 (Hull#214) was launched at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Corp. She was sponsored by Jane Reynolds, daughter of R. H. Reynolds, marine superintendent of the railroad. Renamed b.) VIKING in 1983.

1967: The small Norwegian freighter RAAGAN dated from 1919 and had been a Pre-Seaway visitor to the Great Lakes as a) ERICH LINDOE, b) GRENLAND and c) HILDUR I. It sank in the North Sea about 60 miles north of the Dutch coast after developing leaks on a voyage from Egersund, Denmark, to Dordrecht, Netherlands, with a cargo of titanium. The crew was rescued.

1976: The XENY, which was towed into Cadiz Roads on January 1, capsized and sank on her side. The ship had caught fire on December 2 and was abandoned by the crew. It had first visited the Great Lakes as a) PRINS WILLEM II in 1955 and had been back as d) XENY in 1971.

1981: The heavy lift vessel MAMMOTH SCAN had heeled over while unloading at Abu Dhabi on October 15, 1980. The ship was righted and under tow when the towline parted off Algeria on December 28, 1980. The listing vessel was brought to Malaga Roads, Spain, on this date, healed over and sank as a total loss.

1987: A fire in the cargo hold of REMADA at Barcelona, Spain, resulted in heavy damage and the ship had to be sold for scrap. It had made one trip through the Seaway in November 1973 as b) ONTARIO.

[yachtsmanwilly]

For the second year in a row the tanker GEMINI (steel propeller tanker, 420 foot, 5,853 gross tons, built in 1978, at Orange, Texas) was the first vessel of the year in Manistee, Michigan. She headed to the General Chemical dock to load 8,000 tons of brine for Amherstburg, Ontario. The vessel arrived at Manistee in 2002, on January first, and Captain Riley Messer was presented a hackberry cane, crafted by local resident Ken Jilbert. A similar cane was presented to the vessel Saturday morning. Sold Canadian in 2005, renamed b.) ALGOSAR (i).

In 1939, the CHIEF WAWATAM ran aground on the shoals of the north shore near St. Ignace, Michigan.

On Jan 3, 1971, BEN W. CALVIN ran aground at the mouth of the Detroit River after becoming caught in a moving ice field.

In 1972, TADOUSSAC cleared Thunder Bay, Ontario, for Hamilton with 24,085 tons of iron ore, closing that port for the season.

1945: While not a Great Lakes event, what is considered the deadliest marine disaster in world history occurred on this date. The little-remembered event claimed the German passenger liner WILHELM GUSTLOFF loaded with over 10,000 refugees and naval personnel fleeing Germany in the latter stages of World War Two. It was torpedoed by a Russian submarine on the Baltic Sea and a reported 9,343 lives were lost. Another 1,239 reached safety.

1979: KOIKU MARU first visited the Seaway in 1967. It ran aground near Tartous, Syria, in stormy weather overnight and had to be abandoned as a total loss.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On January 4, 1978, IRVING S. OLDS was involved in a collision with the steamer ARMCO while convoying in heavy ice in the Livingstone Channel of the lower Detroit River. The OLDS hit a floe of heavy ice, came to a complete stop and the ARMCO, unable to stop, hit the OLDS' stern.

In 1952, the car ferry SPARTAN (Hull#369) was launched at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Christy Corp.

1966: FARO, a Liberty ship that had visited the Seaway in 1965, ran aground in heavy weather off Nojima, Japan, enroute from Muroran, Japan, to Keelung, Taiwan, in ballast. It had to be abandoned as a total loss. It was sold to Japanese shipbreakers in 1967 and broken up.

2012: FEDERAL MIRAMICHI was disabled by a mechanical problem during stormy weather on the English Channel, 12.8 miles northwest of Guernsey enroute from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Paranagua, Brazil, with 22,900 tons of urea. French authorities, fearing the ship could blow ashore, dispatched a tug and the vessel was towed into Cherbourg for repairs. It has been a frequent Seaway trader since 2006.


1/4 - Duluth, Minn. – Even with vessels steaming nonstop in and out of Lake Superior, ship owners play it close to the vest — not willing to “go there” when asked if the race is on to move as much cargo as possible in anticipation of the annual closing of the Soo Locks on Jan. 15.

“CN ore shipments for the remainder of the season are on schedule, as per our operating plan, which is designed to meet our customers’ transportation needs,” is all spokesman Jim Feeny of Canadian National Railway would say.

As owners of the Great Lakes Fleet of ships that include the popular local visitors Arthur M. Anderson, Edwin H. Gott and Roger Blough, CN would appear to be pouring it on as much as all of the other Great Lakes operators. Live maps of marine traffic found online have showed a dozen or more ships at a time on Lake Superior for the past several weeks.

It appears to be a peaking finale to the season throughout the ports of Duluth-Superior, Two Harbors and Silver Bay.

“We’ll wind up with this fourth quarter stronger than we’ve seen the first three going in,” said Adele Yorde, spokeswoman for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. “It was nice to see an uptick in iron ore, and certainly it was great to see advancing grain numbers.”

The season’s last saltie left the Twin Ports just before Christmas to beat the Welland Canal closing Dec. 31. Laker traffic will continue all the way up to the close of the Soo Locks that link lakes Superior and Huron. The locks are a vital link in the supply chain between taconite iron ore mines and steel mills and are scheduled for more maintenance than usual this offseason.

“Folks will start seeing a few of those vessels coming in (to stay),” Yorde said. “There will be ships berthing at our new dock, one on either side, which will be fun for folks to see.” Seven ships will berth locally for winter, and two others will be in port for longer layups, Yorde said. Many of those vessels will be undergoing maintenance and other work.

“It’s a good 10 weeks of work for labor crews ... getting all those ships in ship-shape for the start of the season in late March,” Yorde said. “It sounds like there will be a lot of steel work over the winter.”

With the close of the 2016-17 shipping campaign looming, it’s worth a review of what was a season filled with intrigue:

• In March, scientists announced that the Great Lakes hadn’t seen a confirmed new aquatic invasive species in a full 10 years. If not proof, it stood as a strong indicator that the U.S. Coast Guard’s ballast-flushing program for incoming oceangoing salties has been working.

• In June, the CN freighter Roger Blough ran aground in the far eastern edge of Lake Superior in Whitefish Bay. An elaborate rescue to offload its cargo helped to release the freighter, which returned to work in short order and was visiting the Twin Ports again by August. The U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board have yet to release the conclusions of their investigations.

• Also in June, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx visited the Northland for a round-table discussion on renewing aging infrastructure across all modes of transportation, including the ports.

• In July, a German shipping company whose vessel Cornelia was detained offshore from Duluth for six weeks in 2015 was slapped with $1 million in penalties after its owners pleaded guilty to dumping oily wastewater into the Great Lakes. The Cornelia, under new ownership, returned to Duluth in November to offload cement before it waited offshore several more weeks to secure an outgoing grain contract.

• August saw the start to a series of underwater discoveries, when local adventurers found the Canadian Pacific Railway Locomotive 694 that had plunged into a bouldery grave in Lake Superior 106 years ago. The wrecks of the vessels Antelope and J.S. Seaverns, which sunk 119 and 122 years ago, respectively, also were discovered.

• Also in August, the Norwegian Viking ship Draken Harald Hårfagre pulled out of the Tall Ships Duluth festival after it said it could not afford pilotage fees. Pilotage law requires a local navigator be aboard foreign vessels traveling through the Great Lakes. Multiple foreign ship owners also are suing the Coast Guard over what they claim are increased pilotage fees that equate to a monopoly among the various U.S. pilot groups.

• In September, the first freighter to be repowered in Duluth since at least the 1980s made its way onto Lake Superior for sea trials as the 57-year-old Herbert C. Jackson became the last of Interlake Steamship Co.’s vessels to be modernized with diesel power. The Jackson is now back to work, but the repowering was not without issues. Fraser Shipyards, the last remaining shipyard in the Port of Duluth-Superior, performed the repowering and has appealed nearly $1.4 million in fines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for what it alleges was improper handling of lead and asbestos by Fraser aboard the Jackson. Previously, a welder had filed a lawsuit against Fraser in U.S. District Court in Madison, seeking damages in excess of $75,000 for what he claimed was exposure to toxic levels of lead while performing work at Fraser on the Jackson.

• In October, U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken wrote Foxx asking for a study on maritime bottlenecks and barriers across the Great Lakes, surmising that the system remains underutilized.

• In November, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority wrapped up its two-year, nearly $18 million revitalization of Docks C and D in the Superior Bay across the slip from its existing Clure Public Marine Terminal. The 26 acres feature new steel dock walls, a new rail spur and a roll-on/roll-off dock that will be the first of its kind in Duluth. A grand opening is expected to be held in the spring.

Duluth News Tribune

[yachtsmanwilly]

U.S.-flag fleets to keep Great Lakes shipyards busy this winter

1/5 - Cleveland, Ohio – Temperatures are dropping, but the pace at Great Lakes shipyards is heating up. Winter is their busiest time and this year is no exception. U.S.-flag Great Lakes vessel operators are going to spend more than $80 million to maintain and modernize their vessels for the 2017 shipping season.

“Once again Lake Carriers’ Association members are demonstrating their commitment to Great Lakes shipping,” said James H.I. Weakley, President of the trade association representing the major U.S.-flag carriers.

“As a Department of Homeland Security report has emphasized, many steel mills, power plants and stone quarries do not have viable alternatives for the shipment of their raw materials. If the U.S.-flag Great Lakes fleet is not primed to meet the needs of commerce in 2017, industrial activity and hundreds of thousands of family-sustaining jobs would be in jeopardy. This year’s winter work program ensures the vessels will be ready.”

Much of the work to be done this winter is normal maintenance such as overhauls of engines, cargo hold renewal and replacement of conveyor belts in the unloading systems. Lakers get a real workout during the season. Vessels in the long-haul trades will carry perhaps 50 cargos. Hulls dedicated to the short-haul trades can easily double that total.

Reducing the industry’s carbon footprint is again a major focus. A 1,000-foot-long U.S.-flag laker will become the fifth vessel to have an exhaust-scrubbing system installed in the past few years. The conversion of a steamship to a diesel-powered vessel will also be completed this winter.

Several lakers will be drydocked so their hulls can be surveyed by the U.S. Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping as required by U.S law. Since they operate in a fresh water environment, lakers need only be drydocked every 5-6 years, whereas vessels in the ocean (saltwater) trades are required to be drydocked twice in a 5-year period.

The benign Lakes environment allows for long careers. Two vessels, the Mesabi Miner and the Walter J. McCarthy, Jr., will mark their 40th year of operation in 2017. During those four decades of service those vessels have collectively carried approximately 220 million tons of iron ore and coal.

The oldest vessel expected to see service in 2017, the cement barge St. Marys Challenger, will mark her 111th season on the inland seas. That vessel has carried more than 100 million tons of several types of cargo since being launched as the ore carrier William P. Snyder in 1906

The major shipyards on the Lakes are located in Sturgeon Bay, Superior and Marinette, Wisconsin; Erie, Pa.; and Toledo, Ohio. Smaller “top-side” repair operations are located in Cleveland, Ohio; Escanaba, Mich.; Buffalo, N.Y.; and several cities in Michigan. The industry’s annual payroll for its 2,700 employees approaches $125 million and it is estimated that a wintering vessel generates an additional $800,000 in economic activity in the community in which it is moored.

Great Lakes shipyards continually upgrade their facilities to serve the fleet. For example, Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wis., added an additional 880 feet of dock and berthing space in 2016.

Lake Carriers’ Association


1/5 - Cornwall, Ont. – The St. Lawrence Seaway shipping channel from Montreal to Lake Ontario has shut down for the season. The seaway shut down at noon on Saturday, Dec. 31.

It’s been a challenging year for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System. As of the end of November, nearly six per cent less cargo had moved through the transportation network – mainly due to losses in coal, dry bulk goods and iron ore. In fact, all categories of shipping were down except for one – a nearly 20 per cent jump year-over-year for liquid bulk shipments.

As for shutting down the seaway, the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Griffon was in Cornwall on Dec. 21 as she worked to remove buoys from the St. Lawrence River. The buoys are replaced with winter ice spars (a winterized marker).

The Griffon was sporting a new makeover, having gone through a retrofit in Quebec City, which included new water piping, electrical work, galley refurbishment and a main engine overhaul. Her home port is Prescott, Ont.

Brockville NewsWatch


NYC fireboat finds new home in Door County

1/5 - Door County, Wis. – Mike Cole says it will probably be more than four years before the public sees it and, when it does, it won’t look much like its former self. But, regardless, his new boat has a story.

Unlike the fireboat Fred A. Busse that is spending its retirement from the Chicago Fire Department providing tours on Sturgeon Bay during the warmer months, the future for the Kevin C. Kane looks far different. The Kane served as a fireboat in the New York City Fire Department for more than 20 years and was an active participant in some of that city’s extraordinary events during that span.

The Kane lent assistance during 9/11, serving as one of the evacuation and relief vessels after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center’s twin towers in 2001. Nearly a decade later, the fireboat would be called upon again when US Airways Flight 1549 suffered catastrophic engine failure and was forced to make a water landing in the Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009.

It was neither of those momentous events that led directly to why that vessel finds itself in Door County, but rather another.

The Kane was damaged in Hurricane Sandy, the epic superstorm that ravaged the East Coast in October 2012. The boat was also in need of a mechanical upgrade, so the city opted for a replacement and auctioned it off. Unaware of the initial sale, Cole received a break when the person who purchased the 52-foot boat decided he didn’t want it and put it up for sale.

Cole owns Iron Works Construction in Baileys Harbor and one might think that a fireboat wouldn’t necessarily be ideal for marine construction. But Cole, who saw an advertisement for the boat in a trade publication, saw an opportunity to get a larger tug he had been looking for at a decent price.

“It’s a good boat,” said Cole, who added that the fire department might have seen the hurricane damage as an opportunity to get a new vessel. Cole admitted lightheartedly that he can’t find the damage.

Cole saw it as an opportunity to take a well-built vessel and convert it into a working tug. When finished, it won’t look much like the vessel that nuzzled up to the side of the floating US Airways plane eight years ago on the Hudson River. But Cole is excited to write an entirely new chapter that hopefully won’t require it to make any of the many emergency responses that were part of its illustrious career with the FDNY.

Cole is confident the Kane, named for an FDNY firefighter who was killed in the line of duty, could have served for decades to come. Built in 1992, it went up for auction alongside the John D. McKean that had been in service since 1938.

“It’s got big horsepower to pull and push,” said Cole. “It was built for heavy seas. It had a top speed of 34 knots.”

Cole used the word “had” since he’s taken 15,000 pounds of firefighting equipment off the boat, including its five water guns and pumps. “It came a foot out of the water and it’ll probably do 36-40 knots when we’re finished,” he said.

But Cole will be adding some weight back on as he converts a one-deck vessel with a pilot house to three, adding crew quarters for those jobs that will require multiple days away from home port.

Cole said his initial interest in the vessel was enough to fly to New York to see the boat and inspect it. He bought it but was disappointed to find that what he had been told about its condition wasn’t exactly true. What turned out to be a couple parts replacements proved to be a bigger job that delayed bringing the vessel back to Door County. What was expected to be about a 12-day trip involving repairs, sea trials and return to Door County, lasted 10 additional days with the boat arriving a day before Thanksgiving.

“But the response to the boat was amazing, especially in New York from former firefighters,” said Cole, who added that the vessel was an item of curiosity for its entire trip back, which began with a trip through the Erie Canal.

“Actually, I didn’t know much about its history until I got to New York,” said Cole, who got an inkling when he stepped into the pilothouse. “Right there on the ceiling is a handwritten card with the cell numbers for the fire chief as well as the numbers for the mayor and governor.”

Cole said he isn’t planning on removing the well-worn card.

While the FDNY may have sold the Kane prematurely, it was paid its due respect for services rendered. “It was assigned to (FDNY) Marine Company No. 6,” said Cole, who said its identification plate now hangs in the company’s station. “I was told they had a formal ceremony with the Kane family when the boat was retired.”

After hearing about the esteem in which Kane is held within the fire department and the deeds the boat and its crew performed in his name, Cole said he isn’t about to change the name of the vessel.

“His name will live on with this boat,” said Cole, who expects to have more than a few locals and visitors alike ask him who Kevin C. Kane is once it again hits the water. He’ll have quite a story to tell.

Green Bay Press Gazette

www.capecodfd.com/PAGES%20Special/Fireboats_FDNY_07_Old-M6.htm



The keel was laid January 5, 1972, for ALGOWAY (Hull#200) at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards, Ltd.

The wooden tug A. J. WRIGHT caught fire on 5 January 1893, while laid up at Grand Haven, Michigan. She burned to the water's edge. Her loss was valued at $20,000. She was owned by C. D. Thompson.

In 1970, PETER REISS broke her tail shaft while backing in heavy ice at the mouth of the Detroit River.

On January 5, 1976, Halco's tanker CHEMICAL TRANSPORT cleared Thunder Bay, Ontario, closing that port for the season.

1976: A.S. GLOSSBRENNER struck bottom entering Port McNicoll and had to be unloaded immediately due to the extensive hull damage. The ship was repaired at Port Weller Dry Docks in the spring. The vessel became b) ALGOGULF (ii) in 1987 and c) ALGOSTEEL (ii) in 1990.

1982: The Norwegian freighter NORHOLT first came through the Seaway in 1962 and made a total of 15 inland voyages. It was renamed b) SALVADOR in 1966 and returned once in 1967. The ship went aground as c) SAN JUAN off Shadwan Island enroute to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on this date. It was refloated January 22, 1982, towed to Suez Bay and laid up. Fire broke out on August 26, 1982, and the ship was abandoned and later beached. It was taken over by the Suez Canal Authority in 1983 and scrapped.

[yachtsmanwilly]

In 1940, the Columbia Transportation steamer CARROLLTON laid up in the Cuyahoga River with a storage load of 75,000 bushels of potatoes.

On 01 December 1884, the N BOUTIN (wooden propeller tug, 68 foot, 46 gross tons, built in 1882, at Buffalo, New York) sank in ten feet of water near Washburn, Wisconsin. Newspaper reports stated that she was leaking badly and was run toward shore to beach her but no details are given regarding the cause of the leak. She was recovered and repaired.

On December 1, 1974, the Canadian motor vessel JENNIFER foundered on Lake Michigan in a storm. Her steel cargo apparently shifted and she foundered 24 miles southwest of Charlevoix, Michigan. The JENNIFER went to the bottom in water too deep for any salvage attempt.

FRED G. HARTWELL, the last boat built for the Franklin Steamship Co., was delivered to her owners on December 1, 1922, but her maiden voyage didn't occur until early 1923, because of unfavorable weather conditions.

The SASKATOON's ownership was transferred to the Canada Steamship Lines Ltd., Montreal, on December 1, 1913, when the company was formed and all six vessels of the Merchants Mutual Line were absorbed by CSL in 1914.

HUDSON TRANSPORT was put up for sale by Marine Salvage in December 1982.

On 1 December 1875, BRIDGEWATER (3-mast wooden schooner, 706 tons, built in 1866, at Buffalo, New York, as a bark) grounded on Waugoshance Point in the Straits of Mackinac. She was released fairly quickly and then was towed to Buffalo, New York, for repairs. In Buffalo, she was gutted by fire. In 1880-82, the propeller KEYSTONE was built on her hull.

In 1909, the MARQUETTE & BESSEMER NO 2 sank on Lake Erie, 31 lives were lost.

December 1, 1985 - SPARTAN broke loose from her moorings at Ludington in a storm and ended up near Buttersville Island. She was pulled off on December 5, by the Canonie tugs SOUTH HAVEN and MUSKEGON with the help of the CITY OF MIDLAND 41. It took about 10 hours.
LOL

[yachtsmanwilly]

Rescue workers scoop crew from tanker stranded off Cape Breton

1/9 - Little Pond, N.S. – A tanker has run aground off Little Pond, N.S., after experiencing engine failure and rescue crews have successfully removed six people from the stranded ship. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said the vessel's crew is safe and no pollution from Arca 1 has been reported.

Anne Miller, a regional director with the Canadian Coast Guard's Atlantic Region, said the bunkering tanker was heading to Sydney. A bunkering tanker carries fuel for other ships.

"The vessel's hull has not been compromised, and there's no report of pollution. There is approximately 15 tonnes of propulsion fuel on board," she said.

The coast guard says there's no information to suggest weather played a part in the ship's engine failure, but that the storm helped push the vessel closer to the shore. The six crew members who were on board the ship are now in Sydney, N.S., about 32 kilometres south of Little Pond.

The vessel, formerly named Arca and used by Shell Canada as a bunkering tanker at Montreal, was repositioning from Montreal to new owners in Mexico.

Once the crew was off the vessel, Miller said the ship will transfer over to the coast guard's environmental response group, which will try to "mitigate any risk of pollution to the environment." A coast guard aircraft was circling the area Sunday. Miller said it was monitoring and observing any potential pollution from the ship.

Capt. Liam Mather, the public affairs officer with the Joint Rescue Coordinator Centre in Halifax, said the center received a mayday distress call Sunday morning.

The ship "experienced engine failure and went aground near the entrance to Sydney Harbour at approximately 10 a.m.," Mather said.

The coordination centre sent a Cormorant helicopter from 14-Wing Greenwood to help, along with Canadian Coast Guard ships Spindrift and Earl Grey, which are travelling to the area, he said. People in the area said the vessel came close to shore some time through the night.

CBC


On this day in 1973, the CHARLES M. BEEGHLY was the latest running Interlake vessel when she entered winter layup at Toledo, Ohio.

BAIE COMEAU II was laid up on January 9, 1983, at Sorel, Quebec, and was sold the following April to Progress Overseas Co. S.A., Panama renamed c.) AGIA TRIAS.

January 9, 1977 - The last survivor of the PERE MARQUETTE 18 disaster, Mike Bucholtz, died.

In 1974, a combination of wind and ice forced the beset BENSON FORD, of 1924, from the shipping channel in Western Lake Erie, running aground.

1974: MARDINA REEFER ran aground at the breakwall at Stephenville, Newfoundland, while inbound in stormy weather. The ship was scheduled to load pickled herring for Europe but became a total loss. Salvage efforts failed and the hull was pounded on the rocks and eventually split in two. The crew was rescued. The vessel had been through the Seaway in 1973.

1974: LUCIE SCHULTE had been a Pre-Seaway and Seaway visitor to the Great Lakes. It sank in bad weather as b) TEVEGA in the Bay of Biscay while enroute from Antwerp, Belgium, to Casablanca, Morocco, with a cargo of barley. Only one member of the crew survived.

1979: MARIGO M.F. had been a Seaway trader in 1973 and earlier as a) NEGO ANNE in 1971. The ship went aground off Alexandria, Egypt, and sustained hull and water damage. The bulk carrier was not worth repairing and sold to Brodospas of Split, Yugoslavia, for scrap. It arrived August 13, 1979, for dismantling.

1980: BILL CROSBIE was carrying steel when it got into trouble on the Atlantic on January 4, 1980. The vessel, a Seaway trader in 1974, was listing badly when it was brought into St. John's, Newfoundland, only to roll over and sink at the wharf on this date. The hull was towed out to sea, bottom up, on November 3, 1980, and scuttled 12 miles off shore.

1983: SANTONA stranded in the Red Sea off Sudan at North Jumna Shoal. The hull was refloated but sold for scrap. It arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, on April 4, 1983, for dismantling. It was a busy Seaway trader and had made 36 trips to the Great Lakes from 1959 to 1967.

On 08 January 2004, McKeil Marine’s CAPT. RALPH TUCKER was the first vessel of 2004 to arrive at the port of Manistee, Michigan. Once docked at the General Chemical facilities, Captain Bill Sullivan and Chief Engineer Otto Cooper were each presented with hand-carved Hackberry canes. This was a notable way for the vessel to start her last year of operation. Later that year she was sold for scrap.

JOHN HULST (Hull#286) was launched in 1938, at River Rouge, Michigan, by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

On 8 January 1877, the tug KATE FELCHER burned at East Saginaw, Michigan. Her loss was valued at $3,000, but she was insured for only $2,000. She was named after the wife of her owner, the well-known Capt. James Felcher of East Saginaw.

In 1939, several tugs helped release the CHIEF WAWATAM, which had been aground since January 3. In 1974, BENSON FORD, of 1924, became beset by ice in Western Lake Erie.

January 8, 1976, LEON FALK JR. closed the season at Superior, Wisconsin, after she departed the Burlington-Northern ore docks.

1996: The research ship CALYPSO, a converted wooden minesweeper, served noted deep-sea diver Jacques Cousteau for many years. It came to the Great Lakes in 1980 and explored several wrecks including the EDMUND FITZGERALD and GUNILDA. It sank at Singapore following a collision on this date. The hull was refloated but never repaired. Subsequently, there were disputes over ownership, with a later report saying the vessel would be displayed at the Bahamas as a tourist attraction.



Son of founders tell the history of the Selvick Towing

1/8 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. - – You are not likely to find any resistance to the claim the green tugboats on the south side of the Sturgeon Bay Canal are a landmark.

Not many waterfronts boast a fleet of tugboats. They are like ducks in a row begging for attention. Artists pull up their easels to paint renditions and photographers position themselves for the best perspective like any other attraction in Door County.

About 75 people learned more about the history of tugs owned by Selvick Marine Towing Corp. during the Door County Maritime Museum’s popular Maritime Speaker Series with guest Steve Selvick on Thursday night. The seven working tugs are moored side-by-side between the Michigan Street and the Maple-Oregon Street bridges in Sturgeon Bay. Their names are Cameron O, Donny S, William C. Gaynor, Jimmy L, Sharon M. Selvick, Susan L, and led by William C. Selvick.

New to the Selvick fleet, the Gaynor arrived Jan. 3. During the winter, four to six tugs are required to break/crush ice while other tugs push/tow a freighter neatly into berthing at nearby Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding.

Speaker Selvick began the program with a clarification. He is no longer with the family operation; his sisters Sharon Opiela and Susan Londo run the business. He has stepped back to focus on marine insurance for Door County Insurance Agency Inc.

Originally, the triplets purchased the business created by their parents, William and Bonnie Selvick, in 1969.

In the past 47 years, it hasn’t always been about tugboats. The towing company has operated or purchased barges and freighters under the company’s umbrella along with the 18 tugboats.

Steve Selvick outlined the company’s rich history in a slide presentation as he stood at the back of the room, making sure he saw every photograph himself. At the same time, it was a personal journey of his family scrapbook. Each vessel requires recognition, inspires a thought or a colorful memory.

When Steve arrived at the slide of the Steven M. Selvick tugboat, he gently put on the brakes. It’s the tug of his namesake. “And it’s sunk,’’ he smiles. And it is also a treasure.

The story goes that after 80 years of service, the tug was intentionally sunk near the Mackinac Bridge spanning Upper and Lower Michigan. It had many names and even served the U.S. Navy in 1946 for a couple of years. It also played an important role in the construction of the bridge in the 1950s and this is its final resting place.

It was retired and sold to the Alger Underwater Preserve for $1 and sunk in 1996. Its primary purpose is for a historical attraction for SCUBA divers. It lies in 65 feet of water and the pilothouse is visible at about 40 feet down. It is also a designation for a glass-bottom boat tour navigating the Munising Bay.

As the story goes, a sinking is not easy, or is it? “The tough part,’’ Selvick said, is “everybody had to approve it.’’ That includes such agencies as the DNR, U.S. Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers. “Then they had to take it apart piece-by-piece to inspect it, clean it, and put it back together,’’ Selvick said.

When they were nearly finished putting the retired tug back together, an unfortunate incident happened. It accidentally sunk. “They had to raise it, totally take it apart and re-clean it and re-inspect,’’ he said. The ceremonial sinking took place June 1, 1996. The fanfare included commemorative T-shirts, balloons and other souvenirs. Steve was the guest of honor. “It was my moment of fame, I guess,’’ he said, smiling.

A visible waterfront tugboat in the canal is the Donny S. The 143-foot, 2,000 bhp horsepower tug was built in 1950 in Texas. It was renamed in 2014. “It’s the next chapter,’’ explained Selvick. In 2014, the triplets started selling their business to marine captain and veteran ship-docking, ice-breaking and towing expert Donny Sarter (and wife Julie). The transition is expected to be completed within the next half-dozen years. They will be joined by their sons Brian and Brett.

The next monthly Maritime Speakers Series is slated for 7 p.m. Feb. 2 featuring Richard Purinton on his travel experiences last fall to the Falkland Islands and South Georgia aboard the National Geographic Explorer.

Green Bay Press Gazette