Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

Freighter sells for record US $13.98 million in online auction

2/8 - A freighter belonging to a bankrupt shipyard has been sold for 96 million yuan (US $13.98 million) in online judicial sale, thus becoming the most expensive ship ever sold at an online auction in China, Shanghai Maritime Court said today.

The Nantong Minde Heavy Industry Co, based in Jiangsu Province, had made the ship for a Canadian buyer (Algoma Central Corp.). But the shipyard went bankrupt in July 31, 2015, when the ship (likely the CWB Strongfield) was just being completed. The buyer then cancelled the order, the court said.

Later, local court asked Shanghai Maritime Court to initiate its sale. The auction was started on Taobao.com on January 26, and the ship was sold to a Singaporean.

Shanghai Daily





World’s oldest working fireboat breaks up ice on Buffalo River

2/8 - Buffalo, N.Y. – A piece of Buffalo history was out on the Buffalo River Monday. The fireboat Edward M. Cotter was breaking up some sheets of ice. Officials say they are staying on top of Tuesday’s expected warm-up.

The Edward M. Cotter is considered the world’s oldest working fireboat. View a video at this link: wivb.com/2017/02/06/worlds-oldest-working-fireboat-breaks-up-ice-on-buffalo-river/

WIVB


2/8 - The Canadian Coast Guard was called to assist a disabled cargo ship Tuesday about 32 nautical miles off the coast of Port aux Basques. The Thorco Crown, a 13-year-old vessel, registered to Antigua and Barbuda, was en route to Montreal from Argentia when it issued a mayday call due to a fire in the engine room.

The ship was passing through the Cabot Strait area at the time. According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the fire was extinguished but the ship had become disabled.

The coast guard said there was no immediate danger to the crew, vessel or environment. However, an environmental response team was on site watching the situation. The vessel is being monitored by the Canadian Coast Guard ship Sir William Alexander and the Joint Rescue Centre Halifax, and the owners of the Thorco Crown have hired the tug Svitzer Bedford to tow her to Port-aux-Basques on Wednesday, according to INNAV.

The Thorco Crown is a merchant cargo ship with a crew of 13 and is not currently carrying cargo, according to DFO. It transited the Seaway many times under the name Victoria.


2/8 - C The lake level forecast for the Great Lakes this summer generally shows most of the Great Lakes are expected to be a few inches lower than last year’s peak water level.

The forecast is available at this link: www.mlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2017/02/forecast_for_this_summers_grea.html#0


While in lay-up on February 8, 1984, a fire broke out in WILLIAM G. MATHER's after accommodations killing a vagrant from Salt Lake City, Utah, who started the fire that caused considerable damage to the galley.

On 8 February 1902, ETRURIA (steel propeller freighter, 414 foot, 4,653 gross tons) was launched at W. Bay City, Michigan by West Bay City Ship Building Co. (Hull#604). She was built for the Hawgood Transit Company of Cleveland but only lasted three years. She sank in 1905, after colliding with the steamer AMASA STONE in the fog off Presque Isle Light in Lake Huron.

1983: EAGLESCLIFFE sank in shallow water at Galveston, Texas, while carrying a cargo of cattle freed for Tampico, Mexico. The ship developed hull cracks and subsequently broke in two during an August 1983 hurricane. The canal sized bulk carrier operated on the Great Lakes as a) EAGLESCLIFFE HALL (ii) from 1956 through 1971 and went south in 1974.

1990: LE SAULE NO. 1 received a hole in the bow after striking the Yamachiche Beacon in the Lake St. Peter area of the St. Lawrence and went to Sorel for lay-up. The damage was later repaired at Les Mechins.

[yachtsmanwilly]

2/9 - The cargo ship which has been disabled and floating off the southwestern coast of Newfoundland since Tuesday was still waiting to be towed Wednesday night. The motor vessel Thorco Crown has been adrift since a fire in the engine room stopped it from moving about 32 nautical miles off the coast of Port aux Basques. Rough seas

The owners of the Antigua and Burbuda-registered ship called a private tow company to come assist, and it arrived Wednesday morning. However, rough sea conditions made it too difficult to attach the towline, and the tug is still on scene waiting for conditions to improve.

Canadian Coast Guard Ship Sir William Alexander has been there monitoring the situation since the mayday call on Tuesday.

As of Wednesday evening, the Thorco Crown was 9.5 nautical miles (17.6 km) northwest of Cape Ray, and Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) said wind conditions were continuing to push the ship further from land.

The Thorco Crown was en route to Montreal when the fire and breakdown happened, and had just left from dropping off cargo in Argentia. A dock worker told CBC that the cargo contained drill pipe for the Hebron oil project, and that it had left port for Montreal around 9 p.m. Sunday evening.

13 crewmembers are still on the 13-year-old ship, and DFO says no safety concerns or environmental impacts have been observed.

CBC


2/9 - Manitoulin Island – Lake Huron has done it again—posted above average water levels throughout January and into the beginning of February, despite the lack of ice cover or precipitation.

According to Derrick Beach, editor of Environment Canada’s LEVELNews, lakes Michigan and Huron were 18 centimetres above the January monthly average of 176.4 metres and by the beginning of February, 22 centimetres above average for this time of year.

“Comparing to last year, Lake Huron is six centimetres below (last year’s figures),” Beach said, noting the dry fall and winter to date. However, “on average, the lake will fall three centimetres in January—but this year, it’s actually risen one centimetre in January,” Beach added.

Even though there is only 10 percent ice coverage on the whole of the Great Lakes, the conditions for evaporation have not been great because of the prolonged absence of sunny days—good news for Lake Huron. Beach explained that fluctuating temperatures are needed for evaporation, which hasn’t been seen.

“This puts us pretty close to where we were last year,” Beach said. “And sets us up for another above-average spring.”

Manitoulin Expositor


EAGLESCLIFFE, loaded with 3,500 tons of grain, sank two miles east of Galveston, Texas on February 9, 1983, after the hull had fractured from a grounding the previous day. She began taking on water in her forward end en route to Galveston. To save her the captain ran her into shallow water where she settled on the bottom in 20 feet of water with her bridge and boat deck above water. All 16 crewmembers and one dog were rescued. She was built for the Hall Corp. of Canada in 1957 at Grangemouth, Scotland as a.) EAGLESCLIFFE HALL, renamed b.) EAGLESCLIFFE in 1973.

The ALEXANDER LESLIE was launched February 9, 1901, as a.) J T HUTCHINSON (Hull # 405) at Cleveland, Ohio by American Ship Building Co.

The HOMER D. WILLIAMS suffered extensive fire damage to her side plating and forward lower cabins during her lay-up at Toledo, Ohio on February 9, 1971. The fire was started by a spark from welding that caused the tarpaulins stored in the hold to catch fire.

February 9, 1995 - The founder of Lake Michigan Carferry, Charles Conrad, died at the age of 77.

In 1899, JOHN V. MORAN (wooden propeller package freighter, 214 foot, 1,350 gross tons, built in 1888, at W. Bay City, Michigan by F. W. Wheeler & Co. (Hull#44) was cut by the ice and developed a severe leak during a mid-winter run on Lake Michigan. The iron passenger/package freight steamer NAOMI rescued the crew from the sinking vessel. The MORAN was last seen on the afternoon of 12 February 1899, drifting with the ice about 20 miles off Muskegon, Michigan. She was a combination bulk and package freighter with hatches in her flanks as well as on her deck.

1964: The Collingwood built tug PUGWASH (Hull 85 - 1930) was torn from its moorings at Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. The vessel drifted out to sea and sank.

2009: The SONATA suffered engine failure in the Gulf of Finland and had to be towed to Talinn, Estonia, for repairs. It was arrested there, sold at auction and broken up for scrap locally. The ship had been a Great Lakes visitor first as c) RENTALA in 1988 and was back as d) MARY W. in 1990 and f) LANGESUND in 2000.

[yachtsmanwilly]

2/10 - Duluth, Minn. – Cliff’s Natural Resources, the nation's largest supplier of taconite iron ore, rode the recovering domestic steel industry back to profitability in 2016, posting a net income of $199 million compared to a net loss of $748 million in 2015. The Cleveland-based company on Thursday announced its revenues were $754 million last year, up 58 percent over a crippling 2015.

In the fourth quarter of 2016 Cliffs recorded a net income of $81 million, up from a net loss of $58 million for the last quarter the year before, according to the company's quarterly report issued Thursday.

The company sold 6.9 million tons of taconite in the final quarter of 2016, a 53 percent increase over the same period in 2015 “a result of improved steel market conditions driving increased pellet demand and new customer’’ contracts, the company said in its report.

CEO Lourenco Goncalves predicted Thursday that the domestic steel and iron ore industries will continue to improve in 2017, noting the price of hot rolled steel has jumped from $490 per ton to $630 per ton over the past three months – showing demand is up even as production increases.

Cliffs credited tough U.S. sanctions on foreign-government-subsidized steel that regulators agreed was being “dumped’’ below cost into the country. With that flow of foreign steel slowed, demand for U.S.-made steel increased, and so did demand for its basic ingredient — taconite iron ore.

The company raised its projected 2017 revenues from $530 to $850 million based on improved sales, projecting sales of 19 million tons of Minnesota and Michigan taconite, a hefty increase over 2016.

That Cliffs has bounced-back is no surprise to most Northlanders who had watched the company's operations slow and even close in 2015, with hundreds of workers laid off, and then reopen and return to near full production last year — including NorthShore Mining in Silver Bay/Babbitt and United Taconite in Eveleth/Forbes. The company also operates and is part owner of Hibbing Taconite and owns and operates the Tilden operations in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Goncalves on Thursday said his company is in solid shape to withstand any pressure from a potentially revived Magnetation iron ore operations or even the completion of the former Essar Steel Minnesota project, saying he has locked-up contracts for several years – namely with AK Steel, ArcelorMittal and Algoma Steel – all companies that Magnetation and Essar had hoped to sell to. Goncalves said he’s also landed another new customer, ArcelorMittal Canada.

Goncalves also said the reopening of Keetac operations in Keewatin by U.S. Steel won’t impact his company's production even though U.S. Steel said it planned to sell Keetac’s production on the open market, not use it in its own steel mills, at least in the short term.

“I’m having a hard time trying to determine where U.S. Steel is going to sell those pellets,’’ Goncalves said.

Goncalves, who wasn’t shy about opposing Donald Trump as a presidential candidate, on Thursday said Trump’s “America first’’ trade policies will help his company in 2017.

“President Trump delivers a message that’s positive for Cliffs… and our customers, domestic steel mills,’’ Goncalves said, adding that. 2017 “will be a good year for Cliffs.”

Cliffs’ stock price has made a remarkable resurgence of late, following its sales and profits, hitting $11.18 per share Thursday morning, up from $9.52 on Wednesday and a low of $1.67 early in 2016. (It’s still nowhere near the $80 per share seen in 2012 before the global iron ore market crashed in 2014.)

Iron ore prices have indeed rebounded globally, nearly doubling from just over $40 one year ago to about $80 today. While U.S. iron ore demand is less tied to the global market, which is dominated by China, it does impact sales for companies like Cliffs that sell all of their product to other companies rather than using it in their own steel mills.

“We finally have sanity back in the seaborne iron ore market,’’ Goncalves told industry analysts during Thursday’s financial report conference call.

Duluth News Tribune





Disabled Thorco Crown tow arrives in North Sydney

2/10 - The disabled freighter Thorco Crown arrived safely in North Sydney Thursday night. According to the site Marine Traffic, the tugs Svitzer Bedford was on the bow while Kaliutik was on the stern.

The Thorco Crown became disabled after a fire in the engine room Tuesday when it was passing through the Strait of Bell Isle. It was about 32 nautical miles (59 kilometres) from Port aux Basques at the time. The ship was supposed to be towed by a private tug on Wednesday, but rough seas hindered efforts to connect the tow cable.

The Canadian Coast Guard ship Sir William Alexander was finally able to connect the line to the Thorco Crown on Thursday morning. It was being towed to Sydney, N.S., and was about 24 nautical miles (44 kilometres) from Sydney Harbor as of 3 p.m.

DFO estimated the cargo ship would arrive at port in Sydney at 8:30 p.m. NT.

CBC


UHLMANN BROTHERS was launched February 10, 1906, as a.) LOFTUS CUDDY (Hull#341) at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. The MARKHAM (Twin Screw Hopper Suction Dredge) was delivered February 10, 1960, to the Army Corps of Engineers at Cleveland, Ohio.

In 1998, The Ludington Daily News reported that a private investment group (later identified as Hydrolink) was planning to start cross-lake ferry service from Muskegon, Michigan to Milwaukee running two high-speed ferries.

On 10 February 1890, NYANZA (wooden propeller freighter, 280 foot, 1,888 gross tons) was launched at F. W. Wheeler's yard (Hull #63) in W. Bay City, Michigan by West Bay City Ship Building Co. In 1916, she was renamed LANDBO and she lasted until abandoned in 1920.

In 1975, a fire onboard CRISPIN OGLEBAY a.) J.H. HILLMAN JR of 1943, caused $100,000 damage to the conveyor and tunnel while she was laid up at Toledo. The forward end of CRISPIN OGLEBAY is now ALGOMA TRANSFER (C.323003).

1973: The CUNARD CAVALIER was launched at Seville, Spain. It first appeared on the lakes in 1978.

1981: A pair of former Seaway traders collided in the Mediterranean off Algiers and one sank. The FEDDY had been inland as b) SUNSEA in 1969, c) SAGA SAILOR in 1971 and as d) ELLY in 1976. It went to the bottom with the loss of 32 lives. This ship had been enroute from Boston to Volos, Italy, with a cargo of scrap steel. The second vessel, SOUNION, survived. It had been to the Great Lakes as a) SUGAR CRYSTAL in 1968 and was back as b) SOUNION in 1979. It sailed until scrapping at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, following arrival as c) MED VITORIA on April 17, 1993.

1982: TEXACO BRAVE (ii) was pushed off course by the ice and current and struck the bridge crossing the St. Lawrence at Quebec City damaging a mast and the radar. The vessel still sails as d) ALGOEAST.

1984: Scrapping of the Italian freighter b) VIOCA got underway at La Spezia, Italy. The ship made 8 trips through the Seaway as a) BAMBI from 1959 to 1964.

1984: The AEGIS FURY arrived at Shanghai, China, for scrapping as e) WELL RUNNER. The ship first came to the Great Lakes in 1972.

[yachtsmanwilly]

POINTE NOIRE was launched February 13, 1926, as a.) SAMUEL MATHER (Hull#792) at Lorain, Ohio by the American Ship Building Co.

February 13, 1897 - PERE MARQUETTE (later named PERE MARQUETTE 15) arrived in Ludington on her maiden voyage, with Captain Joseph "Joe" Russell in command.

1941: The first WESTCLIFFE HALL, overseas to assist in the war effort, was damaged when hit by a bomb while two miles off Whitby High Light. The ship was repaired and returned to the Great Lakes after the war. It last sailed as b) WHEATON in the Misener fleet before scrapping at Hamilton in 1965-1966.

1973: MITERA MARIA loaded street cars on deck during a Great Lakes visit to Toronto in August 1967. The ship sustained fire damage in the engineroom at Karachi, Pakistan, as d) MARBELLA and sold for scrap. The 25-year old vessel was broken up at Gadani Beach in 1974.

RED WING was launched February 12, 1944, as a.) BOUNDBROOK (Hull#335) at Chester, Pennsylvania by Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., a T2-SE-A1 Ocean Tanker. She was renamed b.) IMPERIAL EDMONTON in 1947. In 1959, she was brought to Port Weller Drydocks for conversion to a bulk freighter for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd., renamed c.) RED WING. Scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 1987.

1965: MARGIT, a Danish vessel, came inland in 1964 for one trip. It suffered an explosion and fire in the engine room about 1,000 miles southwest of Honolulu on a voyage from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Calcutta, India, and had to be abandoned. Three members of the crew were killed and the ship was burning fiercely when last seen. The drifting hull later grounded at Wotje Atoll, Marshall Islands, and was found, still burning, on March 11, 1965. The ship was a total loss.

1975: E.B. BARBER was in winter quarters at Port Colborne when a fire broke out in the engine room. Local fire fighters contained and extinguished the blaze.

On 11 February 1994, the tug MARY E. HANNAH and an empty fuel barge became trapped in the ice in the Pelee Passage on Lake Erie. The vessels were freed by the U.S. Coast Guard cutter NEAH BAY and the Canadian Coast Guard ship SAMUEL RISLEY.

E. B. BARBER (Hull#111) was launched in 1953, at Port Arthur, Ontario by Port Arthur Ship Building Co. Ltd.

NIXON BERRY was sold to Marine Salvage for scrap on in 1970, she was the former a.) MERTON E. FARR.

BEN W. CALVIN (Hull#388) was launched in 1911, at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co.

The keel was laid for ROY A. JODREY (Hull#186) on February 11, 1965, at Collingwood, Ontario by Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd. The tanker IMPERIAL CORNWALL was retired on February 11, 1971.

Albert Edgar Goodrich, the founder of the Goodrich Steamboat Line, was born in Hamburg, New York, near Buffalo on 11 February 1826.

February 11, 1918 - Amid blasts of whistles from nearby ships and factories and the cheers of several hundreds of people, the cargo steamer Asp was launched at the Polson Iron Works. Fears that the launching could not be carried out because of the thickness of the ice proved unfounded. Gangs of men cut away the ice barrier and at 3:20 the vessel slipped easily into the water without any mishap. Curiosity was aroused when one of the ice cutters found a three-foot alligator frozen just under the surface of the ice. Whether or not it escaped from some sailor or from the local zoo is not known.

1987: UNILUCK first came through the Seaway in 1977. The vessel was sailing as b) TINA when it reported water entering the engine room and cargo holds in the Sula Sea off the Philippines. The crew said they were abandoning the ship but no trace of them or their vessel was ever found.


2/11 - Houghton, Mich. – Rescue crews from Coast Guard Station Portage, Mich., and the Houghton County Fire Department saved two people after they broke through ice on Portage Lake on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior, Friday.

Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie received a report from Houghton County Emergency Dispatch at about 1:35 p.m. that two persons had broken through ice near the west entrance of Breaker’s Beach on Lake Portage in Houghton County, Mich.

Sector Sault Ste. Marie launched Station Portage's ice rescue team. Houghton County Fire Department and local EMS also responded.

Both persons were able to extricate themselves from the water, but remained trapped on weak ice. By about 2:15 p.m., Houghton County Fire Department personnel saved one man while the Coast Guard ice rescue team saved one woman. The woman suffered minor injuries and was transported by Houghton County EMS to Portage Health Hospital and is in stable condition.

The Coast Guard urges everyone to use caution while enjoying the outdoors. Varying levels of ice thickness are common throughout the Great Lakes region and weather conditions play a major role in the types of ice you may encounter.

USCG


2/11 - Chicago, Ill. – Steelmaker ArcelorMittal reported annual earnings of $1.8 billion last year, the first annual profit it's had since 2011.

The Luxembourg-based steelmaker, one of the Calumet Region's largest employers, had lost $7.9 billion in 2015 and hadn't turned an annual profit in five years. ArcelorMittal ended the year on a strong note with a $809 million profit in the fourth quarter.

“2016 was a year of progress for ArcelorMittal, characterized by improving market conditions, a strong contribution from our Action 2020 program and steps from governments to address unfair trade," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Mittal said. "As a result, (revenue) was comfortably in excess of initial expectations and, furthermore, we have delivered on our commitment to prioritize debt reduction, significantly strengthening our balance sheet and ending the year with the lowest level of net debt since the creation of the company."

Part of ArcelorMittal's 2016 profit was the result of $832 million in one-time savings from employee benefits after it signed a new labor contract with its U.S. workers last year, including nearly 20,000 in Northwest Indiana.

NWI Times

[yachtsmanwilly]

2/14 - Tonnage declined by about 7 percent at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor last year, but it was still the port's third-best year in the last decade. The deepwater port on Lake Michigan handled 2.6 million tons of cargo in 2016, down from 2.8 million tons in 2015. More than 8.6 million tons of cargo have passed through the port since 2014, the best three-year run in its 52-year history.

"Fourth-quarter shipments were especially strong for us and included two export ships of Indiana grain, raw materials for the steel industry as well as several large-dimensional cargoes," Port Director Rick Heimann said.

Last year, the port invested $2.5 million in infrastructure projects, including dredging, the replacement of 2,000 feet of railroad track and the addition of more docks for handling international vessels. Tenant company Ratner Steel is investing $8 million at the port to add 100,000 more square feet to its service center there.

"Watching the Ratner Steel expansion take shape is especially encouraging because it further demonstrates that by using the port's strategic location and multimodal capabilities, a company can gain a competitive advantage and grow its business," Heimann said.

The port saw a 25 percent jump in heavy lift cargoes, including wind tower blades, storage tanks and large cranes from Europe for intermodal yards across the Midwest. Gain shipments shot up 57 percent, mineral and oil shipments rose by 19 percent and coal increased by 11 percent.

NWI Times


2/14 - Lake Erie is mostly open water this winter. Ice covered just 5.6 percent of the lake surface and 12.5 percent of all of the Great Lakes last Friday, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And higher-than-normal temperatures will have chipped away at that. There are and will be consequences.

Ice concentrations significantly below the 1973-2014 winter average of 52.4 percent have all but eliminated ice fishing this winter, will affect the weather through early spring and will increase erosion at Presque Isle State Park.

"With the warmer winters we've had the last two years, we're going to have more erosion and are going to have to do a lot more to make the beaches usable in certain sections of the park," Presque Isle State Park Operations Manager Matt Greene said.

Lake ice, and ice dunes, help protect the beaches and beach habitats. With no dunes and only surface ice close to the shore this winter, that ice, rather than protecting the beaches, can scour away areas where it's pushed by waves and wind, Greene said.

Areas of the park from Beach 6 to the Presque Isle Lighthouse are hardest hit by erosion because of prevailing winds from the west and northwest, and park officials are seeing that this winter, Greene said. Wind and wave-buffeted Mill Road beaches "don't exist right now," he said. "We've moved all of the picnic tables back, and lost a few there."

Park officials added sand at Beach 8 and Mill Road this past fall to supplement a smaller-than-normal 2016 replacement project. The park put down between half and two-thirds the sand it normally does because of a lack of federal funding.

"If we hadn't done that in the fall, the (shoreline) would be into the road right now," Greene said.

Open waters have also taken a toll on ice fishing. The sport is dependent on ice that is thick enough to walk on, and there hasn't been a lot of that this season.

With the lakes largely free of ice, lake-effect snow could be possible through early spring. Lake-effect snow occurs when cold air draws warmth and moisture from lake waters, forming clouds and heavy snow.

GoErie.com



MESABI MINER (Hull#906) was launched on this day in 1977, at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. becoming the fourth 1,000-foot bulk carrier on the Great Lakes and Interlake's second. She had been built under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970 at a cost of $45.1 million.

Ford Motor Co., looking to expand its fleet, purchased the JOSEPH S. WOOD, a.) RICHARD M. MARSHALL on February 14, 1966, for $4.3 million and renamed her c.) JOHN DYKSTRA. In 1983, she was renamed d.) BENSON FORD. Renamed e.) US.265808, in 1985, she was scrapped at Recife, Brazil in 1987.

On February 14, 1973, the LEADALE’s forward cabins burned during winter lay-up at Hamilton, Ontario and were later repaired. Built in 1910, at Great Lakes Engineering Works (Hull#77) as a,) HARRY YATES, for the American Steamship Co. renamed b.) CONSUMERS POWER in 1934, c.) FRED A. MANSKE in 1958 and d.) LEADALE in 1962. Scrapped at Cartagena, Columbia in 1979.

1997: The SD 14 cargo ship PATRICIA M. was a Seaway trader in 1974 and returned as c) SELATAN in 1991. It was sailing as d) NIKA II when it stranded on a breakwall near Veracruz, Mexico, while inbound, in ballast, to load sugar. The hull was refloated on March 8, towed to an anchorage and declared a total loss. It was broken up for scrap at Tuxpan, Mexico, beginning on April 27, 1997.

2000: ZAFIRO, a Seaway trader in 1984, sank as d) ZAFIR off Calabria, Italy, after a collision with the ESPRESSO CATANIA while carrying 6000 tons of cement clinker. Thirteen sailors were lost or missing.

[yachtsmanwilly]

2/15 - Keweenaw Peninsula – Kevin Desautels and Seth Honemann were in Duluth, Minn. when they received notice that the Copper Harbor Light had gone out. Despite heavy snowfall from the night before, the petty officers for the U.S. Coast Guard set out to restore power at the lighthouse located in northeastern Keweenaw County.

Desautels and Honemann drove five hours in lake effect snow that December morning to arrive in Copper Harbor, according to a U.S. Coast Guard Facebook post detailing the mission. Arriving at an unplowed road leading up to the lighthouse, the duo suited up in full climbing gear and hiked more than a mile in about 36 inches of snow.

The light wasn't extinguished, but was not receiving power. With the help of a local electrician, the group replaced bad fuses in the transformer and restored the light's power.

The lighthouse was originally built in the mid-1800s to assist in the transport of copper from the Upper Peninsula. It now houses a museum about the lighthouse and Lake Superior maritime history, and is a designated Michigan State Historic Site.

View photos and a map at this link: www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2017/02/when_this_upper_peninsula_ligh.html


In 1961, HARRY R JONES, a.) D.G. KERR arrived at her final port of Troon, Scotland, where she was cut up for scrap the same year.

1990: The tug LOIS T. was swamped while docked at Hamilton and sank in a storm. The vessel was pumped out, refloated and repaired. It now serves as the Port Colborne based tug CHARLIE E.

1993: BELLE ISLE, an SD-14 cargo carrier, visited the Seaway when new in 1971. It was sailing as g) VAST OCEAN when it reported in on this day as sailing on the Sea of Japan. It was never heard from again and disappeared with all hands on a voyage from Vanimo, Russia, to Shanghai, China.


2/15 - Jersey City, N.J. – Rand Logistics, Inc., a leading provider of bulk freight shipping services throughout the Great Lakes region, on Monday announced its financial results for the fiscal year 2017 third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. Here are some highlights of the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016 versus the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2015.

Financial Results
• Total sailing days were 1,281 compared to 1,292 in the prior year period. • Freight (RAIL) and related revenue generated from company-operated vessels (which excludes fuel and other surcharges) remained relatively flat at $35.9 million compared to $35.9 million during the year ago period.

• Freight and related revenue per sailing day increased $190, or 0.7%, to $27,998 compared to $27,808 per sailing day in the year ago period.

• Vessel operating expenses decreased $2.2 million, or 8.8%, to $22.2 million compared to $24.4 million during the year ago period. Vessel operating expenses per sailing day decreased $1,512, or 8.0%, to $17,350 from $18,862.

• Vessel margin per day increased $2,108, or 21.0%, from $10,027 in the prior year period to $12,135 this quarter.

• EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) increased $2.4 million, or 26.7%, to $11.4 million from $9.0 million during the year ago period.

• Net loss was $0.6 million, or $0.03 per share on a fully diluted basis, compared to a net loss of $4.2 million, or $0.23 per share, in the prior year period.

Here are some highlights of the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2016 versus nine months ended Dec. 31, 2015.

Financial Results
• Total sailing days were 3,435 compared to 3,798 in the prior year period.

• Freight and related revenue generated from company-operated vessels (which excludes fuel and other surcharges) decreased $12.2 million, or 10.3%, to $106.5 million compared to $118.7 million during the year ago period.

• Freight and related revenue per sailing day decreased $260, or 0.8%, to $31,001 compared to $31,261 during the nine-month period ended Dec. 31, 2015.

• Vessel operating expenses decreased $17.9 million, or 22.1%, to $63.1 million compared to $81.0 million during the year ago period. Vessel operating expenses per Sailing Day decreased $2,947, or 13.8%, to $18,368 from $21,315.

• Vessel margin per day increased $994, or 7.9%, from $12,586 in the prior year period to $13,580 in the nine-month period ended December 31, 2016.

• EBITDA, before restructuring charges and impairment charges on a retired vessel, decreased $0.7 million, or 1.9%, to $36.4 million from $37.1 million during the prior year period.

• Net loss was $1.0 million, or $0.05 per share on a fully diluted basis, compared to net income of $10.0 million, or $0.54 per share, in the year ago period.

"We were generally pleased with our operating and financial performance in both our fiscal 2017 third quarter and the 2016 sailing season," said Ed Levy, president and CEO of Rand. "Improving demand conditions in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016, including incremental business generated from both new and existing customers, helped to drive a 26.7% increase in EBITDA, bringing year to date EBITDA near to the prior year level.

“We achieved our 2016 sailing season results while sailing 363, or 9.6%, fewer days and carrying 6.7% less tons versus the 2015 season. We successfully offset weak demand for certain of the commodities we transport and the continued weakness in the Canadian dollar through effective operating cost controls and aggressive management of our vessel capacity. These initiatives resulted in an increase in vessel margin per day of 7.9%, or $994, on a year over year basis.

“In January 2017, we operated for approximately 125 sailing days, which was an increase of 48.8% compared with 84 days sailed in January 2016.

“We are finalizing our nominations for the upcoming sailing season. Consistent with the last four months, we believe that demand will be firmer this year versus last year at this time. Many of our customers are expressing a higher confidence level in their business and are indicating that their requirements for the upcoming sailing season are based on orders that they have already been awarded versus their expectation of demand.” Levy concluded,

“Our intention for the 2017 sailing season is to continue to drive efficiencies by managing our capacity and operating expenses. This will position us to leverage vessel margin per day with improvements in the demand environment.”

[skycheney]

Feb 15, 2017 7:25:48 GMT -5 yachtsmanwilly said:

2/15 - Keweenaw Peninsula – Kevin Desautels and Seth Honemann were in Duluth, Minn. when they received notice that the Copper Harbor Light had gone out. Despite heavy snowfall from the night before, the petty officers for the U.S. Coast Guard set out to restore power at the lighthouse located in northeastern Keweenaw County.

Desautels and Honemann drove five hours in lake effect snow that December morning to arrive in Copper Harbor, according to a U.S. Coast Guard Facebook post detailing the mission. Arriving at an unplowed road leading up to the lighthouse, the duo suited up in full climbing gear and hiked more than a mile in about 36 inches of snow.

The light wasn't extinguished, but was not receiving power. With the help of a local electrician, the group replaced bad fuses in the transformer and restored the light's power.

The lighthouse was originally built in the mid-1800s to assist in the transport of copper from the Upper Peninsula. It now houses a museum about the lighthouse and Lake Superior maritime history, and is a designated Michigan State Historic Site.

View photos and a map at this link: www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2017/02/when_this_upper_peninsula_ligh.html


In 1961, HARRY R JONES, a.) D.G. KERR arrived at her final port of Troon, Scotland, where she was cut up for scrap the same year.

1990: The tug LOIS T. was swamped while docked at Hamilton and sank in a storm. The vessel was pumped out, refloated and repaired. It now serves as the Port Colborne based tug CHARLIE E.

1993: BELLE ISLE, an SD-14 cargo carrier, visited the Seaway when new in 1971. It was sailing as g) VAST OCEAN when it reported in on this day as sailing on the Sea of Japan. It was never heard from again and disappeared with all hands on a voyage from Vanimo, Russia, to Shanghai, China.


2/15 - Jersey City, N.J. – Rand Logistics, Inc., a leading provider of bulk freight shipping services throughout the Great Lakes region, on Monday announced its financial results for the fiscal year 2017 third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. Here are some highlights of the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016 versus the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2015.

Financial Results
• Total sailing days were 1,281 compared to 1,292 in the prior year period. • Freight (RAIL) and related revenue generated from company-operated vessels (which excludes fuel and other surcharges) remained relatively flat at $35.9 million compared to $35.9 million during the year ago period.

• Freight and related revenue per sailing day increased $190, or 0.7%, to $27,998 compared to $27,808 per sailing day in the year ago period.

• Vessel operating expenses decreased $2.2 million, or 8.8%, to $22.2 million compared to $24.4 million during the year ago period. Vessel operating expenses per sailing day decreased $1,512, or 8.0%, to $17,350 from $18,862.

• Vessel margin per day increased $2,108, or 21.0%, from $10,027 in the prior year period to $12,135 this quarter.

• EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) increased $2.4 million, or 26.7%, to $11.4 million from $9.0 million during the year ago period.

• Net loss was $0.6 million, or $0.03 per share on a fully diluted basis, compared to a net loss of $4.2 million, or $0.23 per share, in the prior year period.

Here are some highlights of the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2016 versus nine months ended Dec. 31, 2015.

Financial Results
• Total sailing days were 3,435 compared to 3,798 in the prior year period.

• Freight and related revenue generated from company-operated vessels (which excludes fuel and other surcharges) decreased $12.2 million, or 10.3%, to $106.5 million compared to $118.7 million during the year ago period.

• Freight and related revenue per sailing day decreased $260, or 0.8%, to $31,001 compared to $31,261 during the nine-month period ended Dec. 31, 2015.

• Vessel operating expenses decreased $17.9 million, or 22.1%, to $63.1 million compared to $81.0 million during the year ago period. Vessel operating expenses per Sailing Day decreased $2,947, or 13.8%, to $18,368 from $21,315.

• Vessel margin per day increased $994, or 7.9%, from $12,586 in the prior year period to $13,580 in the nine-month period ended December 31, 2016.

• EBITDA, before restructuring charges and impairment charges on a retired vessel, decreased $0.7 million, or 1.9%, to $36.4 million from $37.1 million during the prior year period.

• Net loss was $1.0 million, or $0.05 per share on a fully diluted basis, compared to net income of $10.0 million, or $0.54 per share, in the year ago period.

"We were generally pleased with our operating and financial performance in both our fiscal 2017 third quarter and the 2016 sailing season," said Ed Levy, president and CEO of Rand. "Improving demand conditions in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016, including incremental business generated from both new and existing customers, helped to drive a 26.7% increase in EBITDA, bringing year to date EBITDA near to the prior year level.

“We achieved our 2016 sailing season results while sailing 363, or 9.6%, fewer days and carrying 6.7% less tons versus the 2015 season. We successfully offset weak demand for certain of the commodities we transport and the continued weakness in the Canadian dollar through effective operating cost controls and aggressive management of our vessel capacity. These initiatives resulted in an increase in vessel margin per day of 7.9%, or $994, on a year over year basis.

“In January 2017, we operated for approximately 125 sailing days, which was an increase of 48.8% compared with 84 days sailed in January 2016.

“We are finalizing our nominations for the upcoming sailing season. Consistent with the last four months, we believe that demand will be firmer this year versus last year at this time. Many of our customers are expressing a higher confidence level in their business and are indicating that their requirements for the upcoming sailing season are based on orders that they have already been awarded versus their expectation of demand.” Levy concluded,

“Our intention for the 2017 sailing season is to continue to drive efficiencies by managing our capacity and operating expenses. This will position us to leverage vessel margin per day with improvements in the demand environment.”

So the Copper Harbor light went was fixed in December, but the story isn't written and posted until mid February? Hmmm.... them internets sure is slow up there.

[yachtsmanwilly]

It took the service guys two month to walk back... They were quoted as saying "We had a bit more snow and decided to tough it out for a while.." Another 6 feet of snow that night slowed the progress... ws

Read some more about the light...
www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2016/07/dnr_teams_up_with_archaeologis.html


2/16 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – Michigan Representative Lee Chatfield says building a new Soo Lock would not only benefit national security and economy, but also create local jobs. It's estimated building a new lock would create as many as 250 jobs in the area.

The Economic Development Corporation in Sault Ste. Marie says it would be huge. The type of contracting and construction jobs would be quality jobs, and last for years.

"In our community we have a tremendous amount of folks that have contracting abilities and skills, a lot of carpentry-able bodies and we feel that we can handle it," Economic Development Corporation executive director Jeff Holt said. "The community really needs this."

The EDC says they're working closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to be prepared to fill jobs if Congress decides to fund a new Soo Lock.

9&10 News





Michigan Gov. Snyder urges support building second Poe-sized Lock

2/16 - Cleveland, Ohio – Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R) has sent a list of projects that will benefit the nation to the National Governors Association (NGA) and a second Poe-sized lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, tops the list. The NGA collected priorities from all the governors and then forwarded them to the White House.

The Soo Locks connect Lake Superior to the lower four Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway and are one of the nation’s most economically vital systems. Year in, year out, more than 80 million tons of cargo transit the Soo Locks, and most of that tonnage moves through the Poe Lock. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) considers it a potential single point of failure in the crucial iron mining – steel production – manufacturing supply chain. So important is the Poe Lock that DHS forecasts nearly 11 million Americans would lose their jobs if the Poe Lock was out of service for just 6 months.

The lock is estimated to cost $672 million and would create approximately 15,000 construction jobs during the 10-year construction period.

Construction of a second Poe-sized lock was authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, but an inaccurate analysis of the benefit/cost (b/c) ratio has stalled the project. The mistaken assumption that the railroads could move the stranded cargo set the b/c ratio at 0.73, but a recent study by the U.S. Department of Treasury estimates the b/c ratio could be as high as 4.0. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has acknowledged that the current b/c ratio is flawed and a new analysis is due by year’s end.

Lake Carriers’ Association





St. Clair Power Plant to be fully restored by July

2/16 - St. Clair, Mich. – DTE Energy officials have said the fire-damaged St. Clair Power Plant in Michigan should be fully restored by July, the Times Herald reported. The coal-fired plant was shut down last August after a fire that lasted nearly 24 hours caused serious damage to the plant’s roof and interior.

Though the repairs, testing, cleaning and inspection of the plant’s power generation equipment, operating systems and infrastructure have been ongoing, the plant was able to resume partial power generation later that year.

St. Clair, along with seven other plants operated by DTE, are scheduled to close between 2020 and 2023. DTE plans to build a $1 billion gas plant next to the current Belle River Power plant in East China for operations in 2022, though the utility needs to go through state regulations and approvals.

Power Engineering

2/16 - This August, the U.S.S. Silversides SS 236 will be celebrating its 30th year docked in Muskegon. The submarine was originally docked at Navy Pier in Chicago after its service in World War II. In 1987 the submarine made the voyage across Lake Michigan to where it currently resides in the Muskegon Channel.

View a photo story here: www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2017/02/see_historic_photos_of_wwii_su.html


EDWIN H. GOTT sailed on her maiden voyage February 16, 1979, in ballast from Milwaukee, bound for Two Harbors, Minnesota. This was the first maiden voyage of a laker ever in mid-winter. She was in convoy with three of her fleet mates; CASON J. CALLAWAY, PHILIP R. CLARKE and JOHN G. MUNSON each needing assistance from the U.S.C.G.C. MACKINAW to break through heavy ice 12 to 14 inches thick the length of Lake Superior. The GOTT took part in a test project, primarily by U.S. Steel, to determine the feasibility of year around navigation.

JAMES E. FERRIS was launched February 16, 1910, as the ONTARIO (Hull#71) at Ecorse, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works.

On February 16, 1977, a four-hour fire caused major damage to the crews' forward quarters aboard the W.W. HOLLOWAY while at American Ship Building's South Chicago yard.

February 16, 1939 - The state ferry CHIEF WAWATAM was fast in the ice in the Straits of Mackinac. She freed herself the next day and proceeded to St. Ignace.

The little tug JAMES ANDERSON burned on Long Lake near Alpena, Michigan, on the morning of 16 February 1883. Arson was suspected.

1943: WAR OSIRIS was built at Port Arthur, Ontario, now part of Thunder Bay, in 1918. It was mined and sunk as c) LISTO near Spodsbjerg, Denmark, while enroute from Larvik, Norway, to Emden, Germany, with iron ore.

[yachtsmanwilly]

2/17 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – U.S. Coast Guard reports ice breaking operations will take place today through Sunday in Northern Green Bay and Little Bay De Noc. The area of operations will be from Rock Island Passage north to Escanaba.

U.S. Coast Guard cutter Biscayne Bay will be conducting ice reconnaissance and training over the three-day period. All ice fishermen should remove their ice shacks and equipment from these areas. Snowmobile, All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) operators, and other recreational users of the ice should avoid shipping channels.





Canadian government seeking to sell ex-coast guard ship Tracy for $250,000

2/17 - Ottawa, Ont. – The federal government is trying to sell a decades-old former Coast Guard ship for as little as $250,000 despite spending $9-million on major repairs to the vessel only eight years ago.

The multi-tasked vessel, known as Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Tracy while in service, is listed on the government’s GCSurplus.ca website, where government-owned assets no longer deemed necessary are made available for purchase. The minimum price for the vessel, built in 1968, is $250,000. The closing date for bids is listed as March 1.

The sale comes after the former Conservative government awarded Quebec-based Verreault Navigation Inc. a $6.8-million contract in 2009 to conduct “major repairs” to the ship, then based in Quebec City.

Richard Beaupré, the firm’s president and chief operations officer, said in an interview on Feb. 15 that the number was actually just over $9-million. Fisheries and Oceans Canada did not immediately confirm the $9-million price tag for the repairs.

The Coast Guard in 2009 expected that the repairs would keep the vessel in service for the following 10 years. But only four years later, the Coast Guard had removed the CCGS Tracy from service.

Mr. Beaupré said he was “surprised” to see the vessel being shopped for so little considering the amount of money invested in repairs, though acknowledged that it wasn’t worth significantly more than the $250,000 price tag.

NDP MP and procurement critic Erin Weir (Regina-Lewvan, Sask.) told The Hill Times that he would ask the House Government Operations and Estimates Committee to investigate the prospective sale, saying it raises “very serious questions” about government decision-making.

Proper planning, he said, would have seen the ship sold in 2009 prior to repairs or it would “have been refurbished in such a way that it would be in service now.”

Frank Stanek, a spokesperson for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which the Canadian Coast Guard falls under, said in a statement that the minimum bid price for the ship was the result of an independent appraisal that valued it at $250,000.

The 2009 repairs were necessary to “stop further deterioration” of existing equipment, modernize its systems, and “extend vessel life to meet regulatory and operational requirements,” he said, noting the final price tag also included “significant” unrecoverable labor costs.

The decision to sell off the vessel comes as the Coast Guard grapples with a problem-plagued program to replace its aging fleet of ships.

According to the GCSurplus website, the CCGS Tracy was removed from active service in 2013, and is currently resting at the dock of the Coast Guard base in Prescott, Ont., located some 90 kilometres from Ottawa, along the St. Lawrence River. The ship is described on the Coast Guard website as a “buoytender,” a vessel responsible for maintaining and replacing buoys, which are navigational floating devices.

In addition to its age, capability, and condition, Mr. Stanek said the decision to remove the ship from service in the winter of 2012 resulted from a government initiative that reduced the Canadian Coast Guard’s workload in servicing certain types of navigational aids.

Mr. Stanek agreed the Coast Guard is in need of more ships. But the needed ships are “modern, multi-taskable ships,” and the CCGS Tracy “is a buoytender and did not meet these criteria. An investment in an aging vessel with limited capabilities is not sustainable or desirable and does not support the multi-taskable nature of the fleet needed to deliver our mandate.”

hilltimes.com



Michigan Rep. Chatfield introduces resolution to promote new Soo Lock

2/17 - A Northern Michigan state representative is behind the latest attempt to promote building a new shipping lock in the Soo. Last week state representative Lee Chatfield introduced a resolution calling for action from the federal government.

Congress approved the building of a twin to the Poe Lock in Sault Ste. Marie back in the 1980s, but never funded the project.

"For too long politicians have been talking about funding this dating all the way back to 1986 when we realized the need for an additional Soo Lock to be built," Rep. Chatfield said. "I think it's time that we stop talking about it and start funding it."

It may be the off-season for shipping, but the push to build a new Soo Lock is stronger than ever. Chatfield's resolution is the latest attempt to build momentum. "The construction of an additional Soo Lock is a priority of ours and we want to make that known formally to the President," Rep. Chatfield said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says they must complete a cost benefit ratio first. A previous ratio took into account that goods going through the locks could be moved by other transportation, like train or truck.

"I think the assumption in the past was that there were alternatives, fairly transparent and fairly quick alternatives to navigation," U.S. Army Corps of Engineers branch chief of operations Jim Peach said. "That really isn't true."

Studies from both the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Treasury Department indicate the economic benefits would far outweigh the hefty $700 million price tag. "The cost benefit ratio after this reassessment will be different," Peach said.

Rep. Chatfield says the next step is bringing experts to testify to the Committee on Commerce and getting legislators from other Midwest states on board. "I think it's important to coalesce other states around us to introduce and pass similar resolutions where Congress knows we're serious about this," said Rep. Chatfield.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expects to have the cost benefit ratio completed by December.

9 & 10 News





Coast Guard urges extreme caution on ice, water as warm temperatures approach

2/17 - Cleveland, Ohio – The Coast Guard is warning that warmer temperatures predicted to overtake the Great Lakes region beginning Friday could pose safety concerns for those planning to recreate on or near ice or cold water.

Unseasonably warm air temperatures will cause frozen waters to melt at an alarming rate and may cause misperceptions about Great Lakes water temperatures, which will remain dangerously cold, posing safety concerns for anyone venturing onto the lakes.

Ice is unpredictable and the thickness can vary, even in small areas. Warm temperatures and currents, particularly around narrow spots, bridges, inlets and outlets, are always suspect for thin ice. Stay away from cracks, seams, pressure ridges, slushy areas and darker areas since these signify thinner ice. In addition, ice near shore of a frozen lake may be unsafe and weaker because of shifting, expansion, wind and sunlight reflecting from the bottom.

The Coast Guard urges everyone to use common sense and reminds people who venture out onto melting and weakening ice that they are not only putting their own lives in danger, but the lives of first responders.

USCG

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

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

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

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

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

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

[yachtsmanwilly]

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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


2/19 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – The winter repair season has begun at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding with 16 vessels from the Great Lakes bulk carrier fleet in for winter repair. The vessels include five 1,000-foot bulk carriers, eight medium-size ships between 600 and 700 feet long, and three tugs.

The scope of the repairs is as wide as the variety of ships at dock. The repairs include vessel repowering from steam propulsion to diesel; steel and piping repairs; bulkhead renewals; machinery inspection and repairs; exhaust scrubber installation; painting; and, regulatory inspections, according to a news release from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding.

The shipyard's recent expansion allows the company to provide services for a variety of vessels, the release said. The three-acre expansion to the now 55-acre shipyard included new manufacturing buildings and additional computer-aided manufacturing equipment. The shipyard is equipped with a 7000-ton floating dry-dock and two graving docks.

The repairs are time sensitive, said Todd Thayse, Fincantieri vice-president and shipyard general manager. “We have a very robust lineup of vessels that need to be ready to sail around mid-to-late March,” Thayse said.

“Our workforce here at FBS is well prepared for this yearly challenge, as many of these seasoned professionals have more than 20-years experience," Thayse added. "In fact, many have worked before on building some of the same vessels we now have in for repair. Our management team is focused on customer satisfaction, and we employ all of our assets on a 24-hour, seven-day week basis to ensure that we meet the critical deadline of each ship.”

In addition to the heavy schedule, Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding has six vessels under construction that will operate as articulated tug barge units. They are scheduled for delivery in 2017 and 2018.

Green Bay Press Gazette


2/18 - The opening of the 2017 navigation season is scheduled to take place on March 20 at 8 a.m.

Vessel transits will be subject to weather and ice conditions. Restrictions may apply in some areas until lighted navigation aids have been installed. Early ship traffic will be limited to a maximum draft of 26 feet, 3 inches in the Montreal/Lake Ontario section of the Seaway until the South Shore Canal is ice-free or April 15. The maximum draft then increases 3 inches through that section and the Welland Canal.

Opening of the Sault Ste. Marie locks is scheduled for March 25.