Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

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

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

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

[Avenger]

That last one sounds like an insurance job for sure.

[yachtsmanwilly]

2/22 - Alpena, Mich. – To say this winter in Northeast Michigan has been mild would be an understatement, according to the National Weather Service.

For the most part snow has been scarce in the area and if the warm trend continues there will be little to thaw in the coming weeks. Meteorologist Mike Boguth said Monday the lack of snow likely will not have an impact on water levels in the Great Lakes.

Boguth said he doesn’t expect water levels to rise or fall significantly after winter ends. He said most snow in the area is a result of lake evaporation and when it snows streams and rivers redeposit it back into the lake.

Although Northeast Michigan is well below its average snowfall amounts, Boguth said precipitation totals aren’t that far out of line. He said there has been enough rain and snow to keep the lakes from slipping back into the low levels they saw a few years ago.

“We aren’t in any type of drought this winter and there has been very little evaporation of the lakes, so unless things were to change greatly, the lakes should be at or near what they were last year,” he said.

Boguth said the Great Lakes haven’t come close to freezing over and unless there is an unexpected and extended Arctic blast that plants itself over the state, it is unlikely they will accumulate much ice before spring. He said it is expected water temperatures will climb faster this year because of the lack of ice on them.

“We are almost at a record low for ice cover. There really isn’t any ice cover and we don’t see any extreme cold coming anytime soon,” Boguth said. “That means we just shouldn’t see that much ice generation.”

Boguth said this winter is an anomaly when historical snowfall and temperature data is reviewed. He said the area still will have some cold days and snow events, but overall this winter is one for the record books.

“Last winter was mild and we didn’t think we would be able to beat it,” he said. “We were wrong and now we expect this winter to be in the top 10 in terms of how many records were broke.”

Alpena News


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

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

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

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


Thunder Bay, Ont. – Most of Lake Superior remains ice-free at mid-February, which improves the chances of an early start to navigation this spring.

Data obtained by tbnewswatch.com from The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., shows only 8.2 per cent of the largest great lake is currently ice-covered, which is virtually identical to the situation last year at the same time.

George Leshkevich, who manages the facility for the U.S. government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, noted that "Last year was a strong El Nino year, and that seems to be kind of carrying over to this year, too, although maybe it's not as strong."

Leshkevich said any ice that has formed is essentially in bays and harbors along various parts of the shoreline, but "the rest is pretty much open water." It's in sharp contrast to Feb. 13, 2014 when nearly 95 per cent of Lake Superior wore a blanket of ice.

"We're seeing a lot more variability [in ice cover] now," he said. "We get a couple of severe years, then a couple of more mild years, and we've seen these swings since about 1998."

The average mid-February ice cover on Lake Superior over the past five decades has been about 37 per cent. In the spring of 2014, navigation opened in Thunder Bay several weeks later than normal due to the heavy ice cover.

But the amount of ice on Superior in any given winter has the potential to have impact beyond just shipping. It can also slow the arrival of warmer weather in spring, and may even affect fish spawning.

Soo Today

[yachtsmanwilly]

2/23 - Duluth, Minn. – U.S. Steel on Tuesday filed a claim in State District Court in St. Paul asking a judge to order the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to finish work on specific pollution limits before issuing a new permit for the company's Minntac taconite operations.

The filing, called a writ of mandamus, asks the judge to order the PCA to complete work on site-specific pollutant limits and other regulations before issuing a permit for the company’s tailings basin.

The last Minntac water pollutant permit was issued in 1987 and expired in 1992. The company has applied for reissuance and has been allowed to operate under the old permit as environmental groups have called for an updated version.

The company said that, if the regulatory issues aren’t resolved “U.S. Steel could be required to make significant and unnecessary capital investments in Minntac that could put the facility at a competitive disadvantage, threatening the future viability of the operation and the jobs employed at the operation.”

Minntac is the largest producer of taconite iron ore in the U.S. and employs nearly 1,500 people.

Specifically the company is seeking site-specific guidelines for waterways downstream of the Minntac tailings basin where a slurry of waste rock and water is disposed of. The company contends that waterways downstream do not need some protections for so-called beneficial uses.

The PCA in November issued a new draft permit for Minntac, just days after a lawsuit was filed by environmental groups demanding an updated permit.

The lawsuit was dropped in December, with a stipulation that the PCA continue to move the permit forward.

But by issuing the draft permit before site-specific pollutant standards are finished the PCA “put the cart before the horse,” U.S. Steel alleges in the writ.

“PCA is proceeding with the permitting process in an order that is inconsistent with its owned state plans to first adopt a wild rice sulfate standard,” the writ adds. “The NPDES permitting process (for Minntac) should not proceed until the applicable water quality standards are established.”

“Based on more than 1,000 public comments on this draft permit, it appears that U.S. Steel is out of alignment with the majority of commenters who want to ensure standards are met through the permitting process,” PCA spokesman Dace Verhasselt said in a statement. “Under the thorough permitting process, legal challenges, including requests for contested case hearings, are allowed. U.S. Steel has requested a contested case hearing, but is now also choosing this additional litigation, which will further delay any resolution to this matter. We would have preferred the permitting process run its course. MPCA is committed to ensuring Minnesota’s clean water and environmental standards are rigorously protected.”

Environmentalists have argued that the Minntac facility releases several problem pollutants in the discharge and groundwater seepage from its giant tailings basin, especially sulfate, which at high levels is known to harm wild rice.

The PCA’s recent draft permit for Minntac appears to, for the first time, call for a phased-in sulfate regulation, although it seems to apply to groundwater and not the facility's actual surface discharge.

U.S. Steel “is simply trying to delay any specific requirements that they stop polluting. They are trying to keep operating without rules as they have for years,” said Paula Maccabee, attorney for the group WaterLegacy.

Current state water pollution regulations require sulfate discharges be limited to just 10 milligrams per liter of water, although those limits are under review by regulators and highly criticized by the state's mining industry. But a 2015 state law also prohibits the PCA from enforcing that sulfate limit until more research is conducted on its value.

Past testing showed Minntac emitting sulfate levels as high as 1,320 milligrams per liter, with an average of 954 milligrams per liter.

Taconite industry supporters have said the sulfate pollution is not impairing local waterways and that forcing taconite plants to further treat discharge would cost millions of dollars and would make Iron Range plants noncompetitive in an increasingly global iron and steel market.

Duluth News Tribune

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

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

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

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

[yachtsmanwilly]

ARE YOU SHITTING ME ??

Conveyor belt system to move cargo at Soo Locks raises questions

2/24 - Washington, D.C. – Members of Michigan’s congressional delegation raised concerns Thursday that the Army Corps of Engineers may be considering an unorthodox alternative in a cost-benefit study that, if true, could potentially hurt the case being made for a new super-size navigational shipping lock at a key chokepoint on the Great Lakes.

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, led the letter to Army Corps brass, again urging quick completion of a study into proposals to build a new shipping lock at Sault Ste. Marie. But they also questioned reports that the Corps may be weighing the estimated $626-million cost of a new lock against that of a conveyor belt system around the Soo Locks.

“It is our understanding that (the Corps) is reevaluating the (cost-benefit ratio) for this project by calculating the transportation rate savings based on an alternative mode of transporting commodities around the falls at the Soo Lock(s) using a conveyer (sic) belt system,” the letter read. “(T)his alternative has never been considered for other lock and dam projects."

The letter, which was also signed by 10 other members of the state’s congressional delegation, noted that historically cost-benefit studies for projects such as navigational locks have looked at the alternative costs involved in transportation of goods via rail or truck – not conveyor belts. “We therefore encourage (the Corps) to ensure that the … reevaluation of the Soo Locks project is conducted in a manner that is consistent with other navigation lock and dam project evaluations.”

Read more at this link: www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/02/22/soo-locks-army-corp-study/98255258/


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

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

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

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

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

[skycheney]

Trump, I know you're busy right now, but this conveyor thing is ridiculous. You need to intervene and get this lock built, ASAP.

Feb 24, 2017 7:19:03 GMT -5 yachtsmanwilly said:

ARE YOU SHITTING ME ??

Conveyor belt system to move cargo at Soo Locks raises questions

2/24 - Washington, D.C. – Members of Michigan’s congressional delegation raised concerns Thursday that the Army Corps of Engineers may be considering an unorthodox alternative in a cost-benefit study that, if true, could potentially hurt the case being made for a new super-size navigational shipping lock at a key chokepoint on the Great Lakes.

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, led the letter to Army Corps brass, again urging quick completion of a study into proposals to build a new shipping lock at Sault Ste. Marie. But they also questioned reports that the Corps may be weighing the estimated $626-million cost of a new lock against that of a conveyor belt system around the Soo Locks.

“It is our understanding that (the Corps) is reevaluating the (cost-benefit ratio) for this project by calculating the transportation rate savings based on an alternative mode of transporting commodities around the falls at the Soo Lock(s) using a conveyer (sic) belt system,” the letter read. “(T)his alternative has never been considered for other lock and dam projects."

The letter, which was also signed by 10 other members of the state’s congressional delegation, noted that historically cost-benefit studies for projects such as navigational locks have looked at the alternative costs involved in transportation of goods via rail or truck – not conveyor belts. “We therefore encourage (the Corps) to ensure that the … reevaluation of the Soo Locks project is conducted in a manner that is consistent with other navigation lock and dam project evaluations.”

Read more at this link: www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/02/22/soo-locks-army-corp-study/98255258/


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

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

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

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

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

[yachtsmanwilly]

I think that was one of you know whos' brain farts. You know its a short watermelon season up north...Can you imagine the cross town infrastructure that would be needed for this?? Not just the docks but the marshalling area for the ships and then the cross contamination of transported goods; i.e. taconite vs. corn? I hate rusty cornflakes.

On another point, those Lakota injuns' by that pipeline were worried about polluting their holy grounds, and now the USCOE is worried that a gully washer will send all their garbage into the nearest river causing a giant garbage dam, then theres the "no porta potty" situation. Maybe Trump will let an injun family guard each 100' length of each section for 100K per year. That would change their tune ws

[yachtsmanwilly]

GOLDEN SABLE was launched February 27, 1930, as a.) ACADIALITE (Hull#170) at Haverton-Hill-on-Tees, United Kingdom by Furness Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.

In 1916 MOUNT STEPHEN, formerly of Canada Steamship Lines, struck a mine and sank off Dover, England, while carrying coal as part of a convoy but the crew was rescued.

The former Great Lakes trader GEORGETOWN, built at Buffalo in 1900, sank in 1917 as ETRETAT in a storm off the Bay of Biscay while carrying barreled oil although there was some suspicion of enemy action.

In 1966 the Greek Liberty ship EUXEINOS was abandoned in the Atlantic 360 miles southwest of the Azores after developing leaks the previous day. She had made three trips through the Seaway as MOUNT ATHOS in 1959. The crew as picked up by a passing tanker and delivered to Halifax.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



2/25 - Cleveland, Ohio – The Coast Guard is scheduled to conduct ice breaking operations in the bay of Green Bay west of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., Monday. The Coast Guard Cutter Mobile Bay is scheduled to depart Sturgeon Bay and transit to and from the bay of Green Bay.

Recreational users of the ice should plan their activities carefully, use caution near the ice, and stay away from shipping channels and the charted Lake Carriers Association track lines as the ice is already in an advanced stage of deterioration due to above average temperatures, rain and fog.

Scientists from NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory will be aboard the cutter to document the ice thickness and ice formation. The sampling operations will likely occur in areas traditionally used by recreational users such as, but not limited to, the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal and central areas of Green Bay, north of Peshtigo Reef light but south of Chambers Island. Every effort will be made to minimize the cutter’s wake and subsequent impact on the ice field.



2/26 - Traverse City, Michigan - U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City medically evacuated a man experiencing a life-threatening illness from Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan Saturday morning.

The name and hometown of the man are not being released and there is no Coast Guard imagery.

Early in the morning search-and-rescue coordinators at Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie received notice from officials on the island of a man needing a medical evacuation. After consulting with a Coast Guard flight surgeon, a rescue air crew launched from Air Station Traverse City in an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter.

Two attempts at reaching the island were made. The first aircrew departed the air station around sunrise, but encountered heavy fog, snow and icing conditions and was forced to return to the airport. A second crew from the air station was able to reach Beaver Island later in the morning under slightly improved weather conditions.

The helicopter transported the man to Cherry Capital Airport, where an awaiting ambulance took him to Munson Medical Center.

The Coast Guard Air Station in Traverse City operates five helicopters that conduct search and rescue operations for Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Huron and the surrounding Great Lakes region.

The Coast Guard cutter Biscayne Bay, based in St. Ignace, MI, and an HC-130J Hercules aircraft from Elizabeth City, NC were also dispatched in the event the helicopter did not reach Beaver Island.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Coast Guard seeking public comment on removal of lenses at 2 Michigan lighthouses

2/28 - Cleveland, Ohio – The U. S. Coast Guard is proposing to remove the Fresnel classical lenses from two Michigan lighthouses. The impacted lighthouses are Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner Lighthouse and Frankfort North Breakwater Light.

The Fresnel classical lenses will be replaced with modern LED lanterns, which are more dependable and energy efficient. The lenses are being removed to preserve them. Due to the harsh environmental conditions, temperature fluctuations, and ultraviolet rays, the lenses slowly deteriorate in lighthouses.

The removed lenses may be loaned to local museums so they can be displayed to the public and maintained in a controlled environment. Public comments about the lens removal can be made by e-mailing [e-mail].

USCG


NOAA scientists to document ice during Coast Guard operations

2/28 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – The U.S. Coast Guard will conduct ice breaking on the bay of Green Bay Monday, and they’ll have some important guests on board. Scientists from NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory will be aboard the cutter, working to document ice thickness and formations. The scientists will sample in areas used for recreation.

NOAA is teaching its satellites to read ice formations, and developing an algorithm that reads ice for coverage, thickness, and by type. The samplings will help scientists validate the satellite’s readings. The cutter is expected to be out for five hours.

The U.S. Coast Guard says crews will do everything possible to minimize the wake. They urge recreational users to use caution and stay away from shipping channels and the track lines. The ice conditions are deteriorating because of the above average temperatures, rain, and fog.


2/28 - Port McNicoll, Ont. – Eric Conroy, president and CEO of Friends of Keewatin (the RJ and Diane Peterson Keewatin Foundation) has announced the appointment of Fred Blair as general manager of the S.S. Keewatin project. In addition to his continued responsibility for the condition of the ship, Blair will work with department managers to coordinate the day-to-day operation of the project, reporting directly to Conroy.

“Fred is a remarkable find, and perfectly suited to the role of general manager in both qualifications and temperament,” Conroy said. “He worked with us last year to great effect. Our managers encouraged me to nominate him to this position, and our board agreed with their recommendation. His appointment is effective immediately.”

Blair has specialized in woodworking and marine repair, renovation and upgrading all his adult life. He operated a series of progressively more complex businesses, culminating in Custom Craft Marine and Custom Craft Cabinets – the latter winning contracts with national corporations, as well as awards of merit – before downsizing and moving his business to Port McNicoll.

“For a wood and marine craftsman, Keewatin is an irresistible project!” Blair said. “The quality of materials and workmanship in play a century ago is as simplified as it is complex. The challenge is to mend or restore to match as closely as possible, and I take this very seriously. It is a pleasure to work with so many others with the same kind of respect for the ship.”

Blair’s appointment will allow Conroy to focus on fund raising, government grants, marketing, promotions, public and government relations, seeking out opportunities to utilize Keewatin and the adjacent park, as well as leading the project.

Friends of Keewatin


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[yachtsmanwilly]

3/1 - Cleveland, Ohio – The 2017 Great Lakes shipping season began Tuesday with the departure of the U.S.-flag tug/barge unit Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder departed her winter lay-up berth in Erie and sailed to Cleveland, Ohio, where she will initiate the shuttle of iron ore from Cleveland Bulk Terminal to the ArcelorMittal steel mill at the end of the navigable portion of the Cuyahoga River on Wednesday. The vessel will load approximately 15,000 tons that was mined from Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range.

The next vessel to get underway will be the cement carrier Bradshaw McKee/St. Marys Conquest on March 1. The vessel will depart Charlevoix, Mich., with 8,000 tons of cement for Milwaukee.

The western coal trade will resume on March 22 when the Paul R. Tregurtha loads 62,000 tons at Superior Midwest Energy Terminal in Superior, Wis., for delivery to the power plant in Silver Bay, Minn.

The locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., that connect Lake Superior to the lower four Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway reopen on March 25. The Soo Locks typically handle more than 80 million tons of cargo in a season, about 80 percent of which transits the Poe Lock, the largest chamber at the Soo.

In 2016, U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters moved 83.3 million tons of cargo. Iron ore for steel production remained the fleet’s primary cargo, 44.1 million tons. Limestone loads for construction and steel production totaled 21.2 million tons. Coal cargos, most of which were for power generation, totaled 13 million tons. Other cargos included cement, salt, sand and grain.

Cargo totals in 2017 will be determined by the state of the economy, but a number of issues will determine the industry’s future. Regulation of ballast water is perhaps the most critical. Currently two federal agencies and 25 states regulate the discharge of ballast water, but legislation to end this patchwork approach has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. S. 168, The Commercial Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (CVIDA) consolidates the fractured system currently in place into a single, nationwide, federal ballast water discharge standard that employs the most stringent standard currently available.

Reliance on a single Poe-sized lock at the Soo continues to threaten the U.S. economy. More than 90 percent of the cargo U.S.-flag lakers move through the Soo Locks transits the Poe Lock. A 2016 U.S. Department of Homeland Security study forecasts that a six-month closure of the Poe Lock would bring steel production and heavy manufacturing to a virtual stop and leave nearly 11 million Americans standing in the unemployment line.

A second Poe-sized lock has been authorized at full federal expense, but a flawed analysis of the project’s benefit/cost (b/c) ratio by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has stalled construction. The Corps has acknowledged the b/c ratio must be reexamined and a report is due by year’s end. A U.S. Department of Treasury report issued last month estimates a second Poe-sized lock could have a b/c ratio as high as 4.0, or nearly three times higher than the 0.73 estimated by the Corps.

Despite the mild winter of 2016/2017, the need for a second heavy icebreaker to bolster the U.S. Coast Guard’s aging fleet remains urgent. The cargos that were delayed or canceled by the massive ice formations during the winters of 2014 and 2015 cost the U.S. more than $1 billion in economic activity. The damage the ice caused during the 2013/2014 winter cost U.S.-flag vessel operators more than $6 million to repair. A number of vessels’ sailings were delayed in the spring of 2015 to avoid further damage.

A second heavy icebreaker was approved in the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015. Lake Carriers’ Association is now focusing its efforts on funding the $240 million icebreaker.

Although the last two Water Resources bills have increased funding for dredging Great Lakes ports and waterways, approximately 15 million cubic yards of sediment still need to be removed to allow for full loads. For example, if the Cuyahoga River was maintained to project dimensions, the Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder would have carried another 3,800 tons.

Lake Carriers’ Association


3/1 - Detroit, Mich. – A unique border battle is brewing in Detroit as a small ferry owner said the owner of the Ambassador Bridge is trying to put him out of business. Greg Ward has been crossing the Detroit River with his ferry for nearly 30 years. His boat carries trucks that aren't allowed to cross the bridge or use the tunnel because of hazmat regulations.

But Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun wants to change the regulations, saying he feels deliberately singled out by the state. The state controls where hazardous or dangerous cargo can go on its roadways. Moroun said he should be able to decide what travels on his bridge.

For all the Ambassador Bridge trucks that travel to and from Canada, you won't see gasoline tankers, explosives or radioactive cargoes. Moroun said he can't understand the regulations and he is suing the state to change them.

In a statement, the bridge company said, "Supplies important to manufacturing and the auto industry currently are required to drive 60 miles out of their way or pay a ransom to cross the border on a barge."

The barge is the Detroit Windsor Truck Ferry, pushed by the tug Stormont.

"MDOT (Michigan Department of Transportation) has no issue with the highly regulated and controlled cargo using the state-owned crossing at Port Huron. The Ambassador Bridge should be available for trucks to take the shortest and safest route," the bridge company's statement said.

"It puts us out of business if they're successful," Ward said. Ward started the truck ferry in 1990 and has battled Moroun for years.

"It's a very small economic gain for them, but it probably gives them some pleasure in causing as much grief they can for anyone who opposes them," Ward said.

Ward said he has a bull's-eye on his back. The new Gordie Howe Bridge would likely make the ferry obsolete, and he said he could live with that. "I don't necessarily want to go out of business, but I understand the greater good, and we need to have a redundancy in a transportation system," Ward said. "If it's at our cost, so be it."

In 2008, Moroun asked the state to look at the issue and management decided not only to prevent hazardous materials from crossing the bridge, it increased restrictions. While the state doesn't comment on pending litigation, MDOT spokespeople said federal standards would require increased public safety as a reason to change the rules, and they don't believe changing the regulations would do that.

ClickOnDetroit.com


3/1 - Ashland, Wis. – The Ashland Harbor Breakwater Light has guided ships in navigating the area for 101 years and now gets another mission. The light was added to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in 2014 and has recently had new weather monitoring equipment added to it.

The light will now serve as a weather and water quality sentinel, providing real time data on environmental conditions with support from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. A hydrologist with the U-S Geological Survey will monitor the data from offices in Middleton, Wisconsin. The equipment will measure temperature, precipitation and wind speed above the water and waves, water currents and lake levels from underwater sensors.

KDAL


Coast Guard, federal, state and local agencies, to hold rescue exercise in Milwaukee

3/1 - Milwaukee, Wis. – The U.S. Coast Guard and more than 20 federal, state and local agencies will conduct a full-scale, mass rescue and recovery exercise at multiple locations near the Milwaukee waterfront and on Lake Michigan Thursday.

Events will take place at different locations, including McKinley Marina, General Mitchell Airport and in the city of Cudahy. The Coast Guard, Milwaukee County, and the city of Milwaukee will serve as the primary response agencies with other area fire and law enforcement agencies participating under a mutual aid process.

The joint exercise scenario involves an airplane crash into Lake Michigan about 5 miles offshore. The crash site will be simulated by the Coast Guard Cutter Mobile Bay anchored off shore from McKinley Marina. The exercise is designed to test coordinated emergency response efforts and provides the participating agencies the opportunity to evaluate the coordination between multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional response plans for mass rescue operations in a cold weather and ice rescue environment.

The simulated rescues will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a Coast Guard rescue helicopter from Air Station Traverse City, Mich., conducting simulated medical evacuations. Coast Guard cold-water rescue teams, utilizing Port of Milwaukee tugs, will be the next on scene followed closely by rescue teams from the Wisconsin Department Natural Resources, Milwaukee Police Department, and the rescue dive team from the Milwaukee Fire Department.

In a separate exercise simulation, ice fishermen will need to be rescued from the city of Cudahy on the shores of Lake Michigan. The Cudahy Fire Department and St. Francis Fire Department will work alongside Coast Guard teams to locate, treat and transport these additional patients to area hospitals.

"Exercises like this are vital for emergency preparedness," said Capt. Amy Cocanour, commander of Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan. "It gives us the opportunity to test our response plans and ensure that our planning and training efforts integrate with our partner response agencies for an effective and efficient response to real events like this."

Local residents should not be alarmed about the increased presence of law enforcement and first response agencies near the Port of Milwaukee Thursday morning and should be aware an exercise is in progress.

USCG


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

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

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

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

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

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