Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/17 - Thorold, Ont. – A hydraulic fluid leak this past weekend shut down the Welland Canal for nearly a day and backed ship traffic up from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. “There was a release of hydraulic fluid in Lock 5 around 4 p.m. on Saturday,” said St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. spokesman Andrew Bogora.

“The leak did not spread very far … there was some egress from Lock 5 into Lock 4,” he said, adding the fluid’s movement between the two locks was due to the way they are arranged,” he added.

He said it’s possible a very small amount of the thin fluid made it beyond Lock 4, and if it had, people looking at the canal would have noticed a slight sheen on the water. “The leak was generally contained to Lock 5 though.”

Locks 4 and 5 are part of the flight locks in Thorold, and includes Lock 6. All three are twinned. Bogora said the spill took place in Lock 5 east, and was unrelated to ongoing work on the west flight locks.

The west flight locks are currently being upgraded to a hands-free mooring system, which sees a unit extend from a lock wall to a vertical position and attach double-pads to a smooth area on a ship hull’s surface. Once attached, vacuum suction is used to create a grip to keep a vessel secure, and the unit adjusts to rising or falling water levels in a lock by gliding up or down on track rails recessed within the lock’s concrete wall.

“Navigation in that specific area was closed until 1 p.m. Sunday and that backed up the canal,” said Bogora. Two-way canal traffic resumed at 4:35 p.m. Sunday, and he said the canal was back to normal on Monday.

As for the spill, he said a hydraulic fitting was the cause and it was fixed while seaway crews cleaned up the spill.

There are different parts of the lock that are controlled hydraulically, including the hands-free mooring system and lock gates, but Bogora did not know where the fitting that failed was located.

Welland Tribune


5/17 - DTE Energy Co said on Tuesday it will build more natural gas and renewable power plants and shut all of its coal units by 2040, reducing carbon emissions by more than 80 percent from 2005 levels by 2050.

The Belle River Power Plant will be retired in 2030 and the Monroe Power Plant will be retired in 2040. The company had previously announced that the St Clair, River Rouge and Trenton power plants will be retired by 2023. DTE will be coal-free when the Monroe Plant is closed. All the coal-fired plants will be replaced by new natural gas fired power plants along with new renewable energy sources.

The plants currently receive their coal via lake freighter.

“We have concluded that not only is the 80 percent reduction goal achievable – it is achievable in a way that keeps Michigan's power affordable and reliable," DTE's chairman and chief executive officer, Gerry Anderson, said in a statement.

Detroit-based DTE said its efforts to cut carbon emissions will result in a 30 percent reduction by the early 2020s, 45 percent by 2030, 75 percent by 2040 and more than 80 percent by 2050.

The company said it will achieve these reductions by adding more renewable energy, transitioning its 24/7 power sources from coal to gas and continuing to operate its zero-emission Fermi 2 nuclear power plant.

Reuters


5/17 - Detroit, Mich. – The Coast Guard is reminding boaters to prepare for cold water despite warmer air temperatures. Although air temperatures are predicted to exceed 80 degrees this week, water temperatures from Lake Huron to Lake Erie are still only in the high 40s and low 50s. Warm and sunny days may lead to an increase of boaters, but water temperatures are still cold.

The Coast Guard urges boaters preparing to get back out on the water this season to take caution and give proper attention to the risks of drowning and hypothermia from being immersed in cold water.

“Even if boaters don’t plan to enter the cold water that still persists throughout the Great Lakes, they should be prepared for emergencies where they might find themselves unexpectedly in the water,” said Cmdr. Robert Berry, chief of response at Coast Guard Sector Detroit.

The Coast Guard urges boaters to follow these cold water safety tips:

• Always wear a life jacket, and be sure there is one for each passenger on board. Wearing a life jacket can prevent a person from becoming completely submerged if falling into the cold water, and help prevent involuntarily inhaling water from the natural gasp reflex, which can cause drowning. A life jacket can keep you afloat and dramatically increase your chances of survival.

• Dress appropriately for the water temperatures and not the air temperatures when going out onto the water.

• Whether powerboat, sail or paddlecraft, make your on-water activities social. Share where you're going and when you'll be back with family and friends; file a floatplan.

• Use the buddy system and never go out on the water alone.

• Wear reflective clothing to make it easier for searchers to spot you if you fall overboard.

• Carry and register a Personal Locator Beacon in addition to a VHF-FM marine radio to immediately alert the Coast Guard and local response agencies of potential distress.

“Hypothermia is real, and it can kill you,” said Cmdr. Harry Ko, senior medical officer for the Coast Guard’s Ninth District. "Hypothermia occurs when the core temperature drops below 95 degrees Fahrenheit and can occur in as little as 15 minutes - every organ system is affected. Cold water can cause muscle cramping, increase in heart rate, elevated blood pressure and death. It is important to note that small children and people with preexisting heart conditions are more at risk.”

USCG


On 17 May 1887, WILLIAM RUDOLPH (wooden propeller "rabbit,” 145 foot, 267 gross tons. built in 1880, at Mount Clemens, Michigan) was raised from Lake St. Clair. She sank in the fall of 1886. She was towed to the Wolverine Drydock in Port Huron, Michigan where she was repaired. She lasted until 1913, when she was beached as shore protection near Racine, Wisconsin.

ALTON C. DUSTIN (Hull#708) was launched May 17, 1913, at Lorain, Ohio by the American Ship Building Co. for Cleveland Steamship Co. (John Mitchell, mgr.) Renamed b.) J.A. CAMPBELL in 1915 and c.) BUCKEYE MONITOR in 1965. Sank on December 16, 1973, in position 43.3N x 30.15W, in Atlantic Ocean, while in tandem tow with ROBERT S. MCNAMARA and German tug SEETRANS I, bound for scrapping at Santander, Spain.

NORTHCLIFFE HALL collided with the Cuban salty CARLOS MANUEL DE CESPEDES in the St. Lawrence River above the Eisenhower Lock on May 17, 1980. Built in 1952, by Canadian Vickers as a,) FRANKCLIFFE HALL (Hull#255), renamed b.) NORTHCLIFFE HALL in 1959, and c.) ROLAND DESGAGNES in 1976, she sank after running aground on May 26, 1982, near Pointe aux Pic, Quebec.

E.G. GRACE arrived at Ramey's Bend May 17, 1984, in tow of the tugs GLENEVIS and GLENSIDE for scrapping.

On May 17, 1941, The Ludington Daily News reported that the former carferry PERE MARQUETTE 17, which had been purchased by the State of Michigan for use at the Straits of Mackinac, was to be renamed b.) CITY OF PETOSKEY. She was scrapped at Ashtabula, Ohio in 1961.

The schooner ST. ANDREWS was launched at A. Muir's shipyard on the Black River in Port Huron, Michigan on 17 May 1875. This was a rebuild job, but Mr. Muir stated that it was the most complete rebuild he ever undertook since there was only a portion of the keel and bottom left from the old hull. Her new dimensions were 135 foot keel x 30 feet x 14 feet, 425 tons (an increase of 102 tons).

At about 9 a.m., 17 May 1885, the tug E.T. CARRINGTON (wooden side-wheel tug, 76 foot, 57 gross tons, built in 1876, at Bangor, Michigan) was towing a raft of logs from L'Anse to Baraga, Michigan, when she caught fire and burned to the water's edge. The crew was rescued by the steam yacht EVA WADSWORTH. The CARRINGTON was later rebuilt and lasted until 1907.

1916 – ROCK FERRY, a wooden steamer, ran aground due to fog off Main Duck Island, Lake Ontario but was salvaged and repaired.

1924 – ORINOCO sank about 6 miles off Agawa Bay, Lake Superior, while upbound with coal. The wooden steamer had sought shelter behind Michipicoten Island while towing the barge CHIEFTAIN, but then tried to return to Whitefish Bay. ORINOCO began to leak under the stress and was lost.

1957 – The composite hulled steamer YANKCANUCK ran aground in mud at Whitby but was released in what proved to be her final season. She was laid up at Sault Ste. Marie at 1014 hours on June 27.

1969 – The tug COLINETTE sank in Toronto Bay after the hull was punctured while docking the freighter ATLANTIC HOPE at Pier 35. All on board were saved and the vessel was raised and repaired. It apparently survives as a private yacht named NOMADA.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/18 - Great Lakes steel production fell to 640,000 tons last week, a relatively steep 6.8 percent decline.

Steel mills in the Great Lakes region cranked out 687,000 tons of metal the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Most of the steel made in the Great Lakes region is produced in Lake and Porter counties in Northwest Indiana.

So far this year, U.S. steelmakers have produced 32.9 million tons of steel, about 3.2 percent more than they did during the same period in 2016. Steel mills have been running at a capacity of 74.3 percent so far this year, up from 72.1 percent through the same time last year.

Domestic steelmakers used about 74.1 percent of their steelmaking capacity in the week that ended May 13, down from 74.5 percent the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Capacity utilization was also 74.1 percent during the same time period in 2016.

Overall U.S. steel output dropped by 9,000 tons last week to 1.72 million tons, a 0.5 percent decrease, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Output in the Southern District, the second largest steel-producing region, which spans mini-mills across the South, rose to 639,000 tons last week, up from 592,000 tons the previous week. NW Indiana Times




On 18 May 1872, the 3-mast wooden schooner MARQUETTE was holed in northern Lake Huron by a floating log. The crew manned the hand-operated bilge pumps but could not keep up with the incoming water. The steamer ANNIE YOUNG took the MARQUETTE in tow even though she was sinking and headed for Cheboygan, Michigan. During the tow, the schooner stopped sinking and arrived in port no lower in the water than she had been earlier. An investigation revealed that a large fish got caught in the hole and plugged it.

The WILLIAM C. ATWATER departed Sandusky, Ohio May 18, 1925, on her maiden voyage loaded with coal bound for Duluth, Minnesota. She was the first freighter on the Great Lakes equipped with a gyro compass. She was renamed b.) E. J. KULAS in 1936, c.) BEN MOREELL in 1953, d.) THOMAS E MILLSOP in 1955, e.) E. J. NEWBERRY in 1976, and f.) CEDARGLEN in 1982. She was scrapped at Port Maitland, Ontario in 1994.

Bethlehem Steel's steamer JOHNSTOWN cleared Erie May 18, 1985, for Quebec City under tow bound for Spain for scrapping. This vessel was the first post-war built U.S. laker to be scrapped.

On May 18, 1903, the MAUNALOA hit and sank the 69-foot wooden tug EDWARD GILLEN at Superior, Wisconsin.

May 18, 1992 -- The BADGER made her maiden voyage for the newly formed Lake Michigan Carferry Service.

On 18 May 1853, CITIZEN (wooden schooner, 54 tons, built in 1847, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was driven aground 6 miles north of Chicago. The U. S. Navy steamer MICHIGAN tried in vain to pull her off, breaking a 14" hawser in the process. She was reportedly the first vessel built at Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

On 18 May 1882, AMERICAN EAGLE (wooden propeller, passenger packet & tug, 105 foot, 161 gross tons, built in 1880, at Sandusky, Ohio) was racing off Kelley's Island on Lake Erie when her boiler exploded. Six lives were lost. She was later raised and repaired and lasted until 1908.

18 May 1894: A big storm swept the Lakes on 18 May 1894. The next day, the Port Huron Times gave the following account of the shipwrecks in that storm: "The big storm on Lake Michigan has cost the lives of many men. Only 2 men were saved from the schooner M J CUMMINGS, 6 lost. The C C BARNES is ashore at Milwaukee but the crew was saved. The schooner MYRTLE was wrecked just outside the government pier within a half mile of Michigan Blvd. in Chicago with 6 lost. The schooner LINCOLN DALL went to pieces at Glencoe, 8 miles north of Chicago. She was 196 tons. The schooner JACK THOMPSON, 199 tons, wrecked off 25th Street. The schooner EVENING STAR, 203 tons, wrecked off 27th Street but her crew was saved. The schooner MERCURY of Grand Haven, 278 tons, wrecked off 27th Street and her crew rescued. The schooner J LOOMIS McLAREN, 272 tons, wrecked off 27th Street. The schooner RAINBOW of Milwaukee, 243 tons, wrecked off 100th Street; the crew was rescued. The schooner C J MIXER, 279 tons, wrecked off 100th Street; crew rescued. The schooner WM SHUPE waterlogged and ashore at Lexington, Michigan on Lake Huron. Four were drowned in an attempted rescue. The scow ST CATHARINES is ashore at Rock Falls near Sand Beach. The crew reached shore safely but the boat will fare badly."

1919 – CITY OF MEAFORD, a wooden-hulled passenger freighter was destroyed by fire at the dock in Collingwood.

1922 – GLENFINNAN, downbound with grain, and MIDLAND KING collided in fog southeast of Passage Isle, Lake Superior, and both masters received two-month suspensions.

1928 – The whaleback steamer JOHN ERICSSON was heavily damaged in a collision with the A.F. HARVEY of the Pittsburgh SS Co. in fog on Lake Huron. The latter was lost as b) CEDARVILLE in another collision on May 7, 1965.

1971 – TRANSPACIFIC was entering the harbor at the island of St. Pierre in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to get technical help for a malfunctioning radar when the ship stranded on the rocks. The West German freighter, a regular Seaway trader since 1959, was abandoned. The hull has gradually broken apart by the elements over the years.

[yachtsmanwilly]

No news is good news... no fatalaities, no sinkings, no embargos, no tarrifs. ws

[Avenger]

Is Boatnerd on the fritz again?

[yachtsmanwilly]

yeah... one of the news guys passed on the three whistle side. They'll be back after the "CLOUD" clears. I just got home from the boat job. Had the weather radio on; its all a soylent voice over now (MAC voice that is...) And just about everywhere is "CLOWWWWDY". I am getting so fed up with being in the CLOWWWWD and all the dum fone tones That I am about ready to pop the safeties. FWIW., they are already wired down but thats beginning to fail. ws

5/19 - On Thursday, May 18, the U.S. Senate commerce committee passed a Coast Guard reauthorization bill with provisions that would transfer authority over ballast water from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Coast Guard.

The bill passed on a bipartisan voice vote, although several Democrats on the committee, including Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, withheld support over changes to ballast water regulation, saying that the bill as written "does not protect our waters from further incursions from non-native species."

The shipping industry has advocated the transfer for several years, arguing for uniform nationwide discharge pollution rules that would end overlapping state and federal regulations on ballast water, which ships carry in their hulls to provide stability. Because the water can transfer exotic species, bacteria and viruses around the globe, it is regulated as a form of pollution.

The shipping industry argues the Coast Guard is a more appropriate authority to regulate ballast water because the service already enforces discharge permit violations and certifies onboard ballast water systems.

"The status quo, two federal vessel discharge regulations enforced by two different agencies, plus, at latest count, 25 state regimes, is unworkable," the Lake Carriers Association said in a 2016 report.

Read more at this link: www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/05/vida_ballast_water_coast_guard.html#incart_river_home


5/19 - Milwaukee, Wis. - A Wisconsin-based petroleum distributor is planning to construct a $3 million pipeline at the Port of Milwaukee that will allow the company to ship bulk supplies of ethanol over the Great Lakes.

The project by U.S. Oil to ship the flammable colorless liquid would represent the first shipments of a fuel or fuel additive from the port in years. The company's plans brought sharp questions from members of the Milwaukee Common Council on Wednesday and representatives of an environmental group.

The Common Council's Public Works Committee approved an amendment to a lease agreement with the company that calls for the lease of an additional 0.89 acres of port property. The measure next heads to the full council.

The land would be used to construct a pipeline of approximately 1,000 feet that would connect U.S. Oil's tank yard at the port to the port's liquid cargo pier.

Petroleum products have been shipped in and out of the port over the decades, but not in recent years, according to Lawrence Sullivan, chief engineer for the port. Sullivan started to work at the port in 1966 and he said in an interview that he can not recall when the shipping of products like gasoline and heating oil ended.

But the specter of a new round of fuel shipments — in this case, corn-based ethanol that will go primarily for the export market — is raising questions.

It comes as public concerns have risen in Milwaukee and in other cities over a surge in crude oil shipments via rail and the potential for rail cars to derail and explode.

A rail car accident in November 2015 sent ethanol into the Mississippi River when 32 cars derailed — one of a string of accidents and derailments that have occurred in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest as the oil industry uses rail to augment pipelines to move crude.

Ald. Nik Kovac wanted assurances from U.S Oil officials that they would not be shipping crude out of the port at some point in the future. He noted that officials from the company were quoted in a media report several years ago that they were interested in shipping oil out of Milwaukee.

Richard H. Sawall, director of business development for Appleton-based U.S. Oil, said the company considered that three or four years ago, but has no such plans now. Crude oil is not currently shipped on the Great Lakes. One worry about crude is that it is heavier than ethanol and can sink.

Sawall said his company, a unit of U.S Venture Inc., also based in Appleton, plans to use the pipeline to transport ethanol from Wisconsin-based distillers and export it by barge to Canada because of a surplus of ethanol in the Midwest.

U.S. Oil operates a large petroleum terminal on the city's northwest side. It bought the 530,000-barrel capacity site at 9125 N. 107th St. from Marathon Petroleum Corp. in 2015. It currently ships ethanol on the Great Lakes from a facility in Green Bay.

In Milwaukee, Sawall said the company has an air permit from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to house ethanol in its storage tanks at the port. It does not have an air permit to store crude oil, he said.

Ald. Jim Bohl sought to clarify how the ethanol would be shipped and he tried to assess from the company the potential safety threat of an increased volume of tanker truck traffic. Company officials said safety plans are in place and its activities include oversight from the U.S. Coast Guard in Milwaukee and other government agencies.

In the event of the accident, the company said some, but not all, of the spilled contents can be recovered; but that one potential environmental hazard of a spill is the loss of dissolved oxygen near a spill. Aquatic species consume dissolved oxygen.

Eric Hansen, a member of Citizens Acting for Rail Safety, said U.S. Oil's plans represent a large new influx of ethanol — and potentially crude oil at some point in the future. He said he believes the public should have more information on the volume of ethanol to be shipped and the route tanker trucks will take to the port.

"Is this the future we want for our harbor?" asked Hansen.

Journal-Sentinel


5/19 - St. Catharines, Ont. – Water levels on Lake Ontario were at their highest Monday since records started being kept in 1918, says Gail Faveri, secretary of the Canadian Section of the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board.

“It was 75.85 metres – three centimetres higher than the record in June 1952,” said Faveri, adding the readings come from an average of seven gauges in Ontario and New York.

As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, she said the outflow from Lake Ontario was increased to 9,200 cubic metres per second to alleviate flooding on both sides of the border.

Earlier in the day, the outflow from the lake, through 32 turbines at the Moses Saunders Dam between Cornwall, Ont., and Massena, N.Y, was 8,900 cubic metres per second. “Last week, the outflow was 6,670 cubic metres per second for the whole week,” she said.

Outflows from Lake Ontario are adjusted according to the inflow of water from Lake Erie and various rivers, creeks and streams in the watershed. An outflow of 300 cubic metres per second over a week would only change the level on Lake Ontario by one centimetre, but would increase levels on lakes Saint-Louis and Saint Pierre in Quebec by 10 to 12 centimetres

Faveri said the board must be conscious of what conditions are downstream, on the St. Lawrence River and the two lakes in Quebec. “If we added more flow into the St. Lawrence, we would be damaging people further downstream. We have to balance what we do,” she explained.

Many municipalities along the St. Lawrence between Kingston and Cornwall, below Cornwall, and in areas of Quebec along the river and lakes have already experienced flooding damage, thanks in part of heavy rainfall throughout April.

With the Ottawa River feeding into St. Lawrence River at Lake Saint-Louis at all-time highs on May 8, the board was unable to increase the outflow from Lake Ontario.

Faveri said the turbines at Cornwall and Massena, 16 on each side of the border, are very accurate when it comes to controlling the outflow. Even with the release of more water, Faveri said there’s still a large inflow coming from Lake Erie through Niagara Falls and the Welland Canal. Lake Erie water levels are also above average.

She said even a small amount of rainfall can cause the lake levels to rise. Fifteen millimetres of rain can cause as much as a five-centimetre rise in water levels, and that’s not factoring in runoff from throughout the basin.

While the amount of water being let out of the lake was increased Wednesday afternoon, Faveri said it could increase to as much as 10,000 cubic metres per second, which would cause problems for shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway between Cornwall and Montreal.

St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. issued a mariner’s notice about the increased outflows from the lake and the effect it could have on vessels.

“These flows will create velocities higher than normal in the navigation channels and variations in the normal current patterns may occur. Mariners are advised to take these conditions into account when transiting the Montreal-Lake Ontario Section,” the Seaway said in its notice.

It has already issued a few notices on speed reductions on the lake and other areas of the seaway due to high water levels.

“If the board determines that it is necessary to increase outflows to above 10,200 cubic metres per second, it will be necessary to suspend navigation intermittently prior to which another notice will be issued,” Faveri said. “Mariners are to operate at the lowest safe speeds to minimize their wake, particularly when navigating close to shore.”

St. Catharines Standard


On 19 May 1894, LORETTA (wooden propeller freighter, 140 foot, 395 gross tons, built in 1892, at Sebewaing, Michigan as a schooner) was driven ashore near the mouth of the Au Sable River at Oscoda, Michigan in a terrible gale. She was heavily damaged but the crew was rescued. She was salvaged and put back in service but only lasted for two more years when she burned.

SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY (Hull#164) was launched May 19, 1906 at Wyandotte, Michigan by Detroit Ship Building Co. for the National Steamship Co. She was scrapped at Castellon, Spain in 1969.

On May 19, 1973, the whaleback tanker METEOR was moved from the Pipeline Tankers dock to a permanent berth on Barkers Island at Superior, Wisconsin to serve as a museum ship.

B.F. JONES and EDWARD S. KENDRICK, towed by the Polish tug KORAL, arrived for scrapping at Castellon, Spain, near Barcelona on the Mediterranean Sea, on May 19, 1973, a trip of over 4,000 miles. The LAKE WINNIPEG in tow of the tug IRVING CEDAR arrived in Portugal on May 19, 1985. She was the largest Canadian laker and the first Seaway-sized ship, as of that date, to be scrapped.

On 19 May 1835, PARROTT (wooden 2-mast schooner, 43 foot, 20 tons, built in 1834, at Ashtabula, Ohio) sailed for Detroit, Michigan carrying iron, glass, whiskey, and hogs on deck. She never made it. The following day, west of Ashtabula, many of the hogs swam ashore and later a lot of gear from the boat drifted to the beach. No storm was mentioned and all six onboard lost their lives. She had been enrolled to a new owner the day before she set sail.

On 19 May 1876, the Port Huron Times reported that Capt. Alexander McDougall, formerly master of the steamer JAPAN, had built a large steam fish boat named SASKIWIT at Buffalo during the winter and was then sailing from there to Marquette, Michigan.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On 22 May 1901, FRANK H. PEAVEY (steel propeller bulk freighter, 430 foot, 5,002 gross tons) was launched at the American Ship Building Company (Hull #309) in Lorain, Ohio, for the Peavey Syndicate. She lasted until 1934, when she struck the south pier while entering Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and was declared a constructive total loss and scrapped the following year.

A.H. FERBERT (Hull#289) was launched this day in 1942, at River Rouge, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. May 22nd was the tenth National Maritime Day and on that day 21 other ships were launched nationwide to celebrate the occasion. The "super" IRVING S. OLDS was launched the same day at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. This marked the last of the "Super Carrier" build program. The others were the BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS, LEON FRASER and ENDERS M. VOORHEES.

SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY sailed under her own power down the Seaway on May 22, 1969, for the last time and arrived at Quebec City.

BAYFAIR was launched as the a.) COALHAVEN (Hull#134) at Haverton-Hill-on-Tees, U.K. by Furness Shipbuilding Co. in 1928.

While bound for Escanaba, Michigan to load ore, the JOSEPH BLOCK grounded at Porte des Morts Passage, on Green Bay, May 22, 1968, and was released the same day by the Roen tug ARROW. The BLOCK's hull damage extended to 100 bottom plates. Surrendered to the under-writers and sold in June that year to Lake Shipping Inc. Built as the a.) ARTHUR H. HAWGOOD in 1907, She was renamed c.) GEORGE M. STEINBRENNER in 1969, she was scrapped at Ramey’s Bend in 1979.

The 143-foot wooden brig JOSEPH was launched at Bay City, Michigan, on 21 May 1867. She was built for Alexander Tromley & Company.

CITY OF NEW BALTIMORE was launched at David Lester's yard in Marine City, Michigan, on 22 May 1875. Her master carpenter was John J. Hill. She was a wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel built for the Detroit-New Baltimore route. Her dimensions were 96 foot keel, 101 feet overall x 20 feet x 6 foot 6 inches, 130 tons. Her boiler was made by J. & T. McGregor of Detroit. Her engine was built by Morton Hamblin & Company of St. Clair, Michigan. She was rebuilt as a tug in 1910, and lasted until abandoned in 1916.

1914: W.H. GILBERT sank in Lake Huron, about 15 miles off Thunder Bay Island following a collision with CALDERA. There was no loss of life. The hull was located in 1982 and rests at a depth of about 200 feet. CALDERA later became b) A.T. KINNEY and c) HILLSDALE.

1942: FRANK B. BAIRD was sunk by gunfire from U-158 on the Atlantic while bound for Sydney, NS with a cargo of bauxite. All of the crew were saved and later picked up by the Norwegian freighter TALISMAN and landed at Pointe Noire, French Equatorial Guinea

1978: AGIOS NICOLAOS, a Seaway caller in 1968, was about 60 miles north of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, enroute to Kuwait, when an explosion and subsequent fire erupted in the engine room. The ship was gutted, towed into Kuwait and abandoned. The vessel was later broken up. As a) BORGHOLM, it began trading to the Great Lakes in 1953 and made 21 voyages through the Seaway from 1959 to 1967.

1979: IRISH PINE made 19 trips through the Seaway from 1960 through 1964 for Irish Shipping. It arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on this date in 1979 as c) ARAMON. The ship had been traveling from Piraeus, Greece, to Port Sudan, Sudan, when the cargo of bitumen solidified in the holds. The vessel was sold for scrap and dispatched to Kaohsiung to be dismantled by the Taiwan Ship Scrap Co. Ltd., with the cargo still on board. Work began on July 18, 1979

On 21 May 1883, SAILOR BOY (2-mast wooden scow-schooner, 75 foot, 76 net tons, built in 1866, at Algonac, Michigan) was carrying wood from Pierport, Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She anchored outside Milwaukee harbor waiting for a gale to abate but she broke her anchor chains and was driven aground. Her crew of three made it to shore on a line with help from bystanders on the beach.

AMERICAN REPUBLIC's maiden voyage was on May 21, 1981, from Sturgeon Bay light to Escanaba, Michigan, to load ore pellets for Cleveland, Ohio. She now sails as GREAT REPUBLIC.

Interlake Steamship Co.'s HENRY G. DALTON's maiden voyage was on May 21, 1916. She was scrapped at Vado, Italy, in 1973.

UNITED STATES GYPSUM in tow of the German tug FAIRPLAY X was lost in heavy weather on May 21, 1973, near Sydney, Nova Scotia.

G.A. TOMLINSON, a.) D.O. MILLS, stranded near Buffalo, New York, on Lake Erie on May 21, 1974, suffering an estimated $150,000 in damage.

The 143-foot wooden brig JOSEPH was launched at Bay City, Michigan, on by Alexander Tromley & Company. She was built by the owner.

On 21 May 1864, the NILE (wooden passenger/package freight vessel, 190 foot, 650 tons, built in 1852, at Ohio City, Ohio) was sitting at her dock in Detroit, Michigan, with passengers, household goods, and horses and wagons aboard when her boiler exploded, destroying the ship and killing eight of the crew. Large pieces of her boiler flew as far as 300 feet while other pieces damaged houses across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario. A large timber was thrown through the brick wall of a nearby shoe store, striking the cobbler in the back of the head and killing him. At least 13 other crew members and passengers were injured. The wreck was moved to the foot of Clark Street in Detroit in July 1864, where it remained until it was finally dynamited in August 1882.

May 21, 1923 - ANN ARBOR NO 4 was refloated after sinking at Frankfort, Michigan, the previous February.

After spending three weeks in quarantine at Buffalo, New York, because of the discovery of smallpox on board, the steamer JOHN OADES has been released and has started on her way to Duluth.

1919: FERDINAND SCHLESSINGER, enroute from Erie, Pa., to Port Arthur, Ont., with 3,514 tons of coal, began leaking in a storm and sank 15 miles off Passage Island, Lake Superior. The crew was picked up by the ASSINIBOIA

1932: The C.P.R. passenger ship MANITOBA goes aground in Georgian Bay off Cape Croker in heavy fog and has to be lightered before being released the next day.

1942: TROISDOC is the latest member of the Paterson fleet to be a victim of enemy action in World War Two. It was torpedoed by U-558 about 40 miles west of Jamaica and the crew escaped in the lifeboats. The vessel was enroute from Mobile, AL to Georgetown, British Guiana, with 55,700 bags of cement, vegetables, 1600 cases of beer and cigarettes.

1963: The Taiwanese freighter VAN YUNG had visited the Great Lakes in 1960 and 1961. It was laid up at Keelung, Taiwan, on this day due to fire damage and was sold for scrap in October 1963.

1965: Leaks developed in the boiler room of the Norwegian freighter LIONNE and the ship, enroute from Caen, France, to Montreal, sank in the Atlantic. Two members of the crew were lost. The vessel had made 5 trips through the Seaway from 1961 to 1963.

1973: The retired American Steamship Company self-unloader UNITED STATES GYPSUM, under tow for scrapping at Vado, Italy, broke loose in the Atlantic off Sydney, NS and sank.

1979: The second PRINS WILLEM V, a Dutch freighter of 1956 vintage, was damaged extensively by a fire amidships while idle at Port Elizabeth, South Africa as f) ARAXOS. It has been for sale and was scrapped at Durban, South Africa, in 1981.

2007: A fire broke out in the engine room of the Canadian-owned salty UMIAVUT while enroute from Kolundborg, Denmark, to La Corogne, Spain, with 8600 tons of flour. The ship was towed into Brest, France, and repaired. It visited the Great Lakes as b) LINDENGRACHT in 2000 and was back as c) UMIAVUT in 2011.



On 20 May 1872, the ironclad passenger/package freight steamer MERCHANT struck a rock and sank at the mouth of the Detroit River. No one was injured. The wrecking tugs MAGNET and HERCULES took off the cargo of railroad iron and general merchandise, then attached two pontoons, but the vessel would not budge. On 26 May, the steamers MACKINAW and SWEEPSTAKES joined the scene and d two more pontoons. With all the steam pumps working, the MERCHANT still would not budge. Two days later, two more pontoons were added and the MERCHANT finally floated free and was towed to Detroit for repairs. She had two holes in her hull, one of which was a gash 23 feet long.

On May 20, 1909, while lying at the Lackawanna Coal Dock at Buffalo, New York, the LeGRAND S. DEGRAFF was struck by the SONORA, which caused $4,000 in damage to the DEGRAFF. Later renamed b.) GEORGE G. CRAWFORD in 1911. She was scrapped at Duluth, Minnesota in 1976.

The STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT sank on Lake Huron two miles above Port Huron, Michigan in a collision with the steamer AUGUST ZIESING on May 20, 1960, with no loss of life.

On May 20, 1967, during docking maneuvers in the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River, the W.W. HOLLOWAY's KaMeWa propeller shaft sheared off and the propeller reportedly sank to the bottom.

The RENOWN (Hull#396) was launched May 20, 1912, at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. for the Standard Oil Co. Renamed b.) BEAUMONT PARKS in 1930 and c.) MERCURY in 1957.

WILLIAM A. McGONAGLE (Hull#154) was launched May 20, 1916, at Ecorse, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. Renamed b.) HENRY STEINBRENNER in 1986.

On 20 May 1862, BAY CITY (wooden propeller tug, 199 foot, 480 tons, built in 1852, at Trenton, Michigan) sprang a leak in a storm and sank near Port Burwell, Ontario. She then washed in to shallow water. Her crew was rescued by the tug WINSLOW. Her engine and boiler were removed in June and July of that year.

On 20 May 1875, the passenger package freight vessel GLADYS was launched at D. Lestor's yard in Marine City, Michigan for the Toledo & Saginaw Transportation Company. Her dimensions were 135 feet overall x 26 feet x 10 feet. She had twelve staterooms and along with ample cargo space. The pilot house was forward, 8 feet square and 11 feet high. The engines, from the old ESTABROOK and, previous to that, from DAN RHODES, were two high-pressure double engines acting on one shaft with an 8 foot propeller. She also had a pony engine to feed water to the boilers and wash the decks. She was sold Canadian in 1877, and renamed NORTHERN BELLE and lasted until November 1898, when she burned on Georgian Bay.

1923 – The steel bulk carrier EDWARD U. DEMMER sank in the deep waters of Lake Huron after a collision with the SATURN at 0740 hours, in heavy fog, while about 40 miles southeast of Thunder Bay Island. All on board were saved.

1924 – STATE OF OHIO, an iron sidewheel passenger steamer, burned at Cleveland on this date in 1924. It was rebuilt as a barge but stranded on the main breakwall at Lorain on December 17, 1929, and became a total loss.

1928 – CLEARWATER stranded near Trinity Bay, in the St. Lawrence while inbound with a cargo of pulpwood and was blown on the beach. The brand-new vessel was abandoned to the insurers but the hull was salvaged in July, repaired and returned to service later in the year as TRENORA. It last sailed as KEYSHEY in 1963.

1942 – TORONDOC of the Paterson fleet went south for the bauxite trade during World War Two. German broadcasts reported that it was torpedoed and sunk by U-69 on this date. All of the 23-member crew were lost when the ship went down in the vicinity of the French island of Martinique.

1945 – CALGARY had operated on the Great Lakes from 1912 to 1916 but left for the sea and was converted to a tanker in 1921. The ship was renamed b) BACOI and served on coastal runs for Standard Oil and even returned to the Great Lakes in 1938. It suffered an explosion and fire while in the Cape Cod Canal on this date in 1945 and had to be beached. It was scrapped at Jersey City in 1948.

1946 – The Georgian Bay area passenger ship MANITOULIN stranded at Clapperton Island but was released the next day by the tug NORTHERN.

1960 – The STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT settled on the bottom of Lake Huron, with her decks above water, after a collision in fog with the upbound AUGUST ZIESING. The former was refloated, sold to Redwood Enterprises and came into Canadian service as ELMDALE. The latter resumed trading for U.S. Steel after bow repairs.

1960 – PAUL H. TOWNSEND was hit from behind by the British freighter TYNEMOUTH on foggy Lake Huron while trying to avoid the wrecked STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT and the anchored AUGUST ZIESING. The PAUL H. TOWNSEND had stern plates damaged while the salty sustained bow damage. TYNEMOUTH had become a regular Seaway trader in 1959 and made 18 trips inland through 1967. It ran aground off Fuga Island, the Philippines as b) EASTERN RIVER on April 24, 1971, and became a total loss.

1981 – The West German freighter VIRGILIA made 30 trips to the Great Lakes between 1959 and 1967. It was renamed b) MARIA in 1974 and suffered an engineroom fire in the Red Sea and had to be abandoned while enroute from Mersin, Turkey, to Bombay, India, on this date in 1981. The hull was towed to shallow water and beached about 5 miles south of Suez. It was later sold, via auction, and apparently scrapped as c) FARIDA II at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, in 1989.


5/20 - High water levels on the St. Lawrence River are slowing down the start of boating season and damaging tourism businesses in the Thousand Islands region. On Tuesday, the Township of Frontenac Islands declared a state of emergency and began distributing sandbags.

Nearly 1,000 sandbags and six pumps weren't enough to keep out water out of the basement of the Boathouse Country Inn and Restaurant in Rockport, Ont. The worst may be yet to come. "We're hearing that the water level isn't going to start going down for at least another several weeks," said general manager Kathleen Allen.

Allen said the restaurant is running its pumps 24 hours a day and has teams reinforcing sandbag walls as the river swells. "That's a bit daunting. We're at our limit now with sandbags and what we're able to do with pumping water out of the basement. So I'm not sure where we're going to go from here."

Allen also manages Rockport Boatlines, which had to cancel its popular Boldt Castle cruises to Heart Island because the docks are under water. The cancellation has affected 400 tourists who had already bought tickets, Allen said.

The high waters have also led to a delay in the season at Ed Huck Marine in Rockport, according to co-owner Scott MacCrimmon. "We've never seen the water levels so high," he said. Some people who bought boats from the business have put off delivery because their cottage docks are under water, MacCrimmon said.

The Victoria Day weekend is traditionally the start of boating season, said MacCrimmon, but this year only two-thirds of the marina has launched and their fixed docks and the gas dock remain under water. He warned boaters to be careful about creating excessive wakes on the water.

"River traffic needs to be super-conscious about their wake," he said. "In the summer that's an annoyance and it will rock people's boats at their docks. This time of year, you're putting water right over their seawalls and encroaching on their property."

The high water has also brought with it unusually large debris. "Right now, we're seeing much larger objects," MacCrimmon said. "We're seeing people's floating docks that have broken free, we're seeing entire tree limbs and so on in the water."

Fisheries and Oceans Canada data shows the water level of the St. Lawrence in Kingston, close to the Township of Frontenac Islands, has increased from 1.3 metres on May 1 to 1.6 metres on Thursday. The river usually peaks in mid-June.

CBC


Coast Guard asks public to mark barrels used to secure docks, piers on Lake Ontario

5/20 - Buffalo, N.Y. – The Coast Guard is requesting that members of the public who are using barrels and drums in order to weigh down piers and docks to place a large, red X on those objects so that they can be identified as non-hazardous if they become adrift.

With the increased water levels throughout the region and along Lake Ontario and tributaries, many homeowners are using barrels to mark their docks and to help weigh them down. This is also helping to mark potential hazards posed by otherwise submerged and unseen docks.

If any barrels become adrift and the contents are unmarked, by law the Coast Guard responds to them as a potentially hazardous substance since the contents are unknown and could possibly contain dangerous chemical or petroleum products. Significant diligence is required for processing unidentified containers, which can possibly include hiring a hazardous material contractor to recover the barrel out of the waterway and to verify there is no risk to the public or environment from the contents.

The cost can exceed $5,000 per container. Additionally, Coast Guard personnel are required to stay on scene with the container. This would potentially take personnel away from other local emergency responses or search and rescue cases in the region. For further information, contact the Coast Guard Sector Buffalo Command Center at 716-843-9527

USCG


5/20 - Washington, D.C. – A U.S. Senate Committee today approved a measure that would set a single national standard for ballast-water discharges from maritime vessels, preempting states from enacting stricter standards and, critics say, exposing the Great Lakes to greater danger from invasive species.

This morning's voice vote by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee represented a key hurdle crossed by the so-called Vessel Incidental Discharge Act, which maritime shippers have backed for years, arguing that a confusing patchwork of regulations wastes money and time while doing little to help water quality.

"Without (this change), thousands of commercial vessels will spend billions of dollars installing ballast-water management systems to meet the federal standard but will still be at risk of fines and penalties for violating several different state standards these (systems) can't meet," the Lake Carriers Association, representing vessel operators.

Read more at this link: www.freep.com/story/news/2017/05/18/ballast-water-discharge-great-lakes/329956001/


5/20 - Ludington, Mich. – The license plates read Texas, North Carolina, Ontario, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan. The names continued as cars passed the ticket gate, awaiting entrance.

Friday morning, the Lake Michigan Carferry’s SS Badger departed for its first day of the 2017 sailing season. In the ship — launched in 1953 — were more than 200 people and dozens of vehicles make a journey from Ludington, Mich. to Manitowoc, Wis. Some of them were on the ship for the first time.

“I’m excited to be here,” said Don Bullion, who had his first day on the job as part of the company crew. “We just moved here to Ludington. I’m retired. I told my wife I never planned on working, then I saw the posting for the Badger.”

Ludington Daily News

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/23 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – The government of Canada is investing $790,000 in infrastructure for the Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site.

Terry Sheehan, Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie, made the announcement recently on behalf of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, Catherine McKenna. As part of the Canal’s official 2017 season launch, a ribbon cutting was held to celebrate the completion of significant improvements to the site’s entry road as part of the infrastructure program.

The infrastructure investment will be dedicated to upgrading the Emergency Swing Dam, including the replacement of decking and handrails, improvements to the wicket chain stop blocks and pivot type turntable, and adding new support piers and structural steel coating.

The recently completed Sault Ste. Marie Canal’s entry road reconstruction project, announced in 2015, included improvements to the storm water and road bed, road surface, curbs, walkways, and surrounding landscapes. As part of this project, visitors will be able to enjoy a newly paved, extended parking lot as well as new sidewalks and improved lighting.

The Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site, built in 1895, was once the world’s longest lock, the first to operate using electricity and the last link in an all-Canadian navigational chain from the Atlantic to Lake Superior. Today the canal, used by recreational craft, is a great spot for boat watching and picnics.

Parks Canada is investing $3 billion dollars over 5 years to support infrastructure work to heritage, visitor, waterway and highway assets located within national historic sites, national parks and national marine conservation areas.

Sault Online



5/23 - Toledo, Ohio – The National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo will hold its second annual shipwreck symposium (session 1) June 3, 2017 and (session 2) on October 7. Wreck-a-Palooza is a two-day event covering shipwreck discoveries across the Great Lakes. Each day will have two speakers and a box lunch.

Session 1 on June 3 features Bruce Lynn of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point speaking on the wreck of the schooner Nelson. Reported as the “First Disaster of the Season” in May 1899, the Nelson went down so fast that one eyewitness said that she sank as “quickly as one could snuff out a candle.” She sank on Lake Superior’s southeast shoreline, in the vicinity of the Deer Park Life-Saving Station. What happened to her? How was she discovered? And why has this shipwreck been called “particularly tragic” when most, if not all shipwrecks have a tragic story?

Also in Session 1, Professor Ben Ford of Indiana University of Pennsylvania will explore recent research on the Dunham boats used for inland trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. Of particular note is the wreck of a Dunham boat found in Lake Oneida and how it related to Great Lakes history. In October Caitlyn Zant and Tamara Thomson will present their research.

Pricing for the symposium ranges from $12 to $75 depending on how many sessions in which one enrolls. More information is available at www.inlandseas.org or by calling 419-214-5000 extension 0.

National Museum of the Great Lakes



UNIQUE (wooden propeller passenger steamer, 163 foot, 381 gross tons, built in 1894, at Marine City, Michigan) was sold to Philadelphia parties for service on the Delaware River. She left Ogdensburg, New York, on 23 May 1901, for Philadelphia. Her name was changed to DIAMOND STATE. In 1904, she was rebuilt as a yacht and lasted until 1915, when she burned in New York harbor.

The WILLIAM J. DE LANCEY was re-christened on May 23,1990, as b.) PAUL R. TREGURTHA. She is the largest ship on the Great Lakes and was the last Great Lakes ship built at American Ship Building Co., Lorain, Ohio.

American Steamship's H. LEE WHITE completed sea trials on May 23, 1974.

FRED R. WHITE Jr. completed her two-day sea trials in 1979.

The Tomlinson Fleet Corp.'s steel freighter SONOMA (Hull#610) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan, by West Bay City Ship Building Co. on 23 May 1903. She was 416 feet long, 4,539 gross tons. Through her career she had various names: DAVID S TROXEL in 1924, SONOMA in 1927 and finally FRED L. HEWITT in 1950. She was converted to an automobile carrier in 1928, converted back to a bulk carrier in 1942 and then converted to a barge for grain storage in 1955. She was finally scrapped in 1962, at Steel Co. of Canada Ltd. at Hamilton, Ontario.

On 23 May 1889, the wooden steam barge OSCAR T. FLINT (218 foot, 824 gross tons) was launched at the Simon Langell & Sons yard in St. Clair, Michigan. She lasted until 25 November 1909, when she burned and sank off Thunder Bay Island in Lake Huron.

1910: The first FRANK H. GOODYEAR, with a load of ore for Cleveland, was almost cut in two and sank off Pointe aux Barques following a collision in dense fog with the JOSEPH WOOD. Only five sailors survived while another 16 were lost.

1954: EASTDALE, operating on charter to Reoch Transports, ran aground at Collingwood and was refloated May 29. The ship had also visited the Great Lakes as SPRINGDALE and was lost in the Gulf of Bothnia on June 18, 1959, when the cargo of timber shifted in heavy weather.

1959: The Liberian freighter ANDORA, outbound with a cargo of barley, stranded on a shoal below the Snell Lock and proved to be a difficult salvage. The ship initially broke free, spun around and grounded again and was not released until June 18. The cargo was unloaded but ANDORA was deemed not worth repairing and arrived at Savona, Italy, for dismantling on August 15, 1959.

1974: The Canadian tanker CARDINAL, best known as the former IMPERIAL WINDSOR, was badly damaged following a collision with the HENRY STEINBRENNER (iii), in Lake Erie off Point Pelee. The former was never repaired and subsequently scrapped, while the latter went to Lorain for about $100,000 worth of repairs.

1974: A fire broke out in the engine room of the ONTARIO during a voyage from Santos, Brazil, to Montreal and assistance was requested. The Canadian owned vessel had been upbound through the Seaway for the first time on November 8, 1973. The blaze was put out and the ship arrived at Montreal June 6, 1974. It was sold the following month to Tunisian buyers and scrapped as c) REMADA following another fire at Barcelona, Spain, on January 2, 1987.

1988: The first ALGOCAPE, which had run aground in the Lake St. Louis section of the St. Lawrence on May 21, was refloated on this day and cleared to proceed to Baie Comeau, QC, to unload.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/24 - Trois Rivières, Que. – The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has launched an investigation into a fatal accident involving the geared bulk carrier Nord Quebec at the port of Trois-Rivières in Québec.

According to media reports, a 38-year-old Filipino crewmember of the bulk carrier was killed after he was hit in the head by a steel cable during a docking maneuver at the port on Monday. The TSB, describing the incident as a “berthing occurrence,” said it is sending a team of investigators to the port to gather information and assess the incident.

The 36,546 Nord Quebec is flagged in Singapore and was built in 2013. AIS data showed that the vessel was moored at the port as of Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when exactly the ship had arrived in Trois-Rivières.

gCaptain


5/24 - Detroit, Mich. – The Detroit-Wayne County Port Authority on Monday unveiled a new riverfront attraction and educational resource.

The "Portal View," a used shipping container placed in front of the Port Authority building near Atwater and Bates streets, houses an interactive computer system provided by BoatNerd, displaying the locations of vessels on the Great Lakes.

It was introduced in recognition of National Maritime Day.

Read more, and view photos, at this link: www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2017/05/riverfront_attraction.html


5/24 - People are keeping a close eye on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, hoping they’ve reached a peak. Lake Ontario is higher now than it’s been since record keeping began a hundred years ago.

Adam McGruther of Ottawa was camping over the weekend at Kring Point State Park in the Thousand Islands. He says the water level was going up and down. "Like this morning you can definitely tell that the water’s changed by three to four inches easily on the shoreline," said McGruther Monday morning. "Overnight it rained quite a bit, but when we got here on Friday we could definitely see it going down, but now it’s come back up a bit."

The high water has flooded boathouses, camps, and docks from eastern Lake Ontario to the Ogdensburg area.

The Antique Boat Museum in Clayton is open for the season, but it has suspended its popular boat rides for the time being, and the state has suspended activities at the Cape Vincent Fisheries Station until further notice.

With the Memorial Day weekend approaching, all the state parks and campgrounds in the region are open. Peyton Taylor is the state parks’ regional director for the Thousand Islands. "Lots of attractions along the river are still open and actually unaffected by the high water. It just depends on where they’re situated," Taylor said as she was inspecting Kring Point for flood damage Monday. "The most important thing that people need to know is — call the facility where you’re planning on going before you go. The conditions change quickly."

Regulators say they’re aggressively pushing water downriver through the Moses-Saunders hydropower dam. But the lake and river are likely to remain high well into summer. The latest from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers forecasts Lake Ontario to remain at roughly the same level for the next month.

North Country Public Radio


5/24 - Mackinac Island, Mich. – Sip n' Sail Cruises is ready to kick off its third season in the Straits of Mackinac this holiday weekend, with expanded options offering water-lovers lots of different trips to choose from.

Feel like tipping back a little bourbon while you motor under the Mackinac Bridge? Then the "Bourbon Under the Bridge" tour might be for you. Want to bring the kids along to capture the perfect photo when the sun sinks below the waves in the Straits? There's a reason the Sunset Cruise has become so popular.

Owner Molly Carmody said staff has expanded Sip n' Sail's cruise options to seven regularly-scheduled events. And its private bookings have increased too, with the Isle Royale Queen III being chartered for everything from wedding and bachelorette sails, to board meetings, birthday parties and memorial celebrations.

"I am so pleased with how people envision our boat and our tours as part of their event planning," Carmody said. "People make it their own, and we happily help."

Read more and view photos at this link: www.mlive.com/travel/index.ssf/2017/05/sip_n_sail_cruises_unveils_201.html


On 24 May 1872, the wooden schooner SAM ROBINSON was carrying corn from Chicago, Illinois, to Kingston, Ontario, in dense fog on Lake Michigan. At 7:30 a.m. the propeller MANISTEE collided with the schooner and almost cut her in two amidships. When the MANISTEE backed away, the schooner went over on its starboard side and its masts smashed the MANISTEE's pilothouse and cabins. Luckily the ROBINSON's crew launched their lifeboat before the schooner sank and they were picked up by the MANISTEE and taken to Milwaukee.

In 1980, the 1,000-foot BURNS HARBOR was christened for the Wilmington Trust Co., (Bethlehem Steel Co., Mgr.) Wilmington, Delaware.

CANADIAN OLYMPIC (Hull#60) was launched in 1976, at St. Catharines, Ontario by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd.

CHICAGO TRADER arrived at Ashtabula, Ohio on May 24, 1977, for scrapping (scrapping did not begin until May 1, 1978, by Triad Salvage Inc.).

CLIFFS VICTORY set a record (by 2 minutes) for the fastest time from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, to Duluth, Minnesota, in 1953. She logged a time of 17 hours and 50 minutes. The CHARLES M. WHITE had been declared the fastest earlier that year by the Cleveland papers.

ALEXANDER B. MOORE was launched at Bangor, Michigan, on 24 May 1873. She was built by Theophilus Boston at a cost of $85,000. She was 247 foot overall, 223 foot keel and could carry 70,000 bushels of grain. Although designed as a 4-mast schooner, she was built as a 3-master. The fourth mast was added two years later.

On 24 May 1875, the schooner NINA was bound from Michael's Bay to Goderich, Ontario, when she sprang a leak and went down in mid-lake. Her crew escaped in the yawl, but was adrift on Lake Huron for two days and two nights with only one loaf of bread to divide among themselves.

1953: The TERNEFJELL of 1948 first came to the Great Lakes that year for the Fjell Line and made 17 inland voyages through 1953. It sank on this date off Start Point in the English Channel following a collision with the DOTTERELL.

1980: LAKE WINNIPEG struck the breakwall at Duluth departing with a cargo of grain, and stranded the next day in the St. Marys River near Detour Village, after a steering gear problem.

1982: CORONADO visited the Great Lakes in 1972 and returned as c) HOLSTENBURG in 1974. It went aground on this date in 1982 as e) ARISTEA T. in the eastern Mediterranean enroute from Port Sudan, Sudan, to Lisbon, Portugal. The ship was refloated on June 6 but deemed a total loss and, on November 2, 1982, was scuttled off Pylos, Greece.

1983: LAKE NIPIGON went aground off Port Colborne following a power failure and was released the next day with bow and bottom damage. The ship was repaired at Montreal.

2005: SEAPRINCESS II first came through the Seaway in 1988 and returned as c) SEARANGER II in 1994. It ran aground as e) STARLUCK off Necochea, Argentina, and about 7,000 tons of wheat had to be removed before the ship floated free. Later in the year, the vessel was sold for scrap and it arrived at Chittagong, Bangladesh, for dismantling on November 21, 2005.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/25 - Ottawa, Ont. – Sunken sailboats, derelict ships and rusted-out bulk carriers — the abandoned stuff of maritime pursuits left to sully the country's coastline seem as inescapably tied to our oceans as tides and sand. But Canada's transport minister is taking aim at the seafaring wreckage he says poses an environmental and navigation risk.

Marc Garneau said Tuesday Ottawa is set to announce a new program that will support the removal of abandoned boats posing a hazard in Canadian waters.

"Sometimes it's very clearly a navigation hazard," he told a business audience gathered in a downtown Halifax hotel ballroom. "And sometimes it's an environmental hazard because quite often they sink and they have residual fuel or other contaminants left in them and at some point in the future we live with the consequences."

About 600 boats have been ditched on Canada's coasts. Garneau said the federal government will work with the provinces and some funding will be available to address the "backlog" of abandoned vessels.

The federal government's $1.5-billion Oceans Protection Plan will ensure liability will remain with the owner of a boat from the moment they purchase it until it's disposed of properly, he said.

"It's one thing for something to sink in an act-of-God storm," Garneau told reporters. "It's another thing to deliberately abandon your vessel and to walk away from it and leave the mess for somebody else to clean up. That's not going to be tolerated."

While most vessels end up sold for scrap or retired to a junkyard, some are abandoned in marinas, docked at a wharf or run aground and left to rust away at sea.

It took four years for the MV Miner (formerly the Great Lakes bulk carrier Canadian Miner) to be removed from the coast of Cape Breton. The 12,000-tonne, 223-metre bulk carrier was being towed from Montreal to Turkey in September 2011 to be scrapped when a tow line broke, causing the vessel to run aground on an environmentally protected stretch of coast near Main-a-Dieu, N.S.

In Shelburne, N.S., the rusted remains of the once notorious MV Farley Mowat wasted away for years, despite multiple court-imposed deadlines to remove the ship. The flat-black ship was part of a small fleet commanded by Canadian environmental crusader Paul Watson.

On April 12, 2008, an RCMP tactical squad stormed the ship and accused its captain and chief officer of violating Canadian law by getting too close to the annual seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The former Norwegian fisheries research vessel was sold for $5,000 in 2009 and was supposed to be refitted, but that never happened. It later showed up in Lunenburg in 2010 and later in Shelburne harbor.

On June 25, 2015, the ship sank in its berth, forcing the Canadian Coast Guard to mount a $500,000 cleanup effort that saw the vessel refloated. More than 2,000 litres of pollutants were eventually removed from the hull.

"Across Canada I've been told there are more than 600," Garneau said. "There are more on the West Coast than the East Coast and they vary from small pleasure craft to some fairly large-sized boats like the Farley Mowat and even larger."

The Canadian Press


5/25 - Great Lakes steel production rose to 646,000 tons last week, an increase of 0.9 percent. Steel mills in the Great Lakes region cranked out 640,000 tons of metal the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Most of the steel made in the Great Lakes region is produced in Lake and Porter counties in Northwest Indiana.

So far this year, U.S. steelmakers have produced 34.6 million tons of steel, about 3 percent more than they did during the same period in 2016. Steel mills have been running at a capacity of 74.3 percent so far this year, up from 72.1 percent through the same time last year.

Domestic steelmakers used about 74.7 percent of their steelmaking capacity in the week that ended May 20, down from 74.1 percent the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Capacity utilization was also 74.1 percent during the same time period in 2016.

Overall U.S. steel output increased by 13,000 tons last week to 1.741 million tons, a 0.75 percent increase, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Output in the Southern District, the second largest steel-producing region, which spans mini-mills across the South, rose to 651,000 tons last week, up from 639,000 tons the previous week.

NW Indiana Times


On 25 May 1889, JAMES GARRETT (3-mast wooden schooner, 138 foot, 266 gross tons, built in 1868, at Sheboygan, Wisconsin) was driven ashore at Whitefish Bay near Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan in a gale. She was pounded to pieces by the end of the month. No lives were lost.

On May 25, 1898, PRESQUE ISLE (Hull#30) was launched at the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company in Cleveland, Ohio. The vessel is much better known as the cement carrier E.M. FORD, recently scrapped.

May 25, 1941: The former Pere Marquette carferry PERE MARQUETTE 17 was re-christened CITY OF PETOSKEY.

The wooden schooner J C DAUN was in her first year of service when she encountered a squall in Lake Erie on 25 May 1847, and she capsized five miles off Conneaut, Ohio. Four of the 11 on board were able to make it to her upturned keel, but one of them died of exposure during the night. In the morning, the schooner UNCLE SAM rescued the three remaining survivors. Later the steamer SARATOGA found the DAUN floating upside down, fully rigged with the bodies of some of the crew still lashed to the rigging. The DAUN was righted a few days later and towed in by the schooner D SMART.

On 25 May 1854, DETROIT (wooden side-wheeler, 157 foot, 354 tons, built in 1846, at Newport, Michigan) was sailing from Detroit to Chicago with two lumber scows in tow. On Lake Huron, she collided with the bark NUCLEUS in heavy fog and sank. The exact location (15 miles off Pointe aux Barques) was not known until the wreck was discovered in 200 feet of water on 5 June 1994, by Dave Trotter and his determined divers.

1906: HOWARD L. SHAW was in an unusual accident and passed between the cable of the CORALIA and her barge MAIA, raking the top of the pilothouse, deck, stack and spars before the ship went aground. The hull of HOWARD L. SHAW survives today as a breakwall at Toronto.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/26 – Montreal, QC - M/T Damia Desgagnés, the world’s first dual-fuel asphalt tanker, was christened at the Port of Montreal on May 18. The 14,700 dwt asphalt-bitumen-chemical tanker is the first in a series of four carriers built by Turkish Besiktas Shipyard for Canadian shipping company Desgagnés Group.

The vessel, which was handed over to its owner at the beginning of April, can be powered by any of three types of fuel – heavy fuel oil, marine diesel oil or liquefied natural gas (LNG).

With a gross tonnage of 11,978 tons, Damia Desgagnés features a length of 135 meters and a width of 23.5 meters. The ship’s tanks offer a carrying capacity of 14,950 cubic meters when filled at 98%. In addition, the tanker can carry over 13,500 tons of asphalt at a draft of 7.8 meters in seawater.

In response to Desgagnés Group’s desire to opt for an eco-friendly fuel, Gaz Métro and the Port of Montreal have announced that an LNG supply solution for marine fuel will now be available at the Port of Montreal.

Groupe Desgagnés, Gaz Métro and the Port of Montreal joined efforts in developing an LNG supply system that will be operated by a Gaz Métro subsidiary. This system will be available to all shipowners in Quebec, including the fleets passing through the Port of Montreal, according to the port.

“I would like to commend the leadership and vision of Groupe Desgagnés, which was the first commercial ship owner to order vessels destined to navigate in Québec able to use LNG as marine fuel… LNG is currently one of the best solutions available to replace petroleum products in the maritime sector, due to its environmental assets. In particular, it respects new Canadian and international maritime transportation standards that aim to minimize the emission of air pollutants (NOx and SOx),” Sophie Brochu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gaz Métro, said.


5/26 - Cleveland, Ohio – The U.S. Coast Guard completed operation Spring Restore Tuesday, five days ahead of schedule. Spring Restore involves the re-installment of 1,216 federal navigational aids, including lighted and unlighted buoys and beacons.

Due to a light ice year, crews were able to commence the operation on March 14, two full weeks earlier than normal. Seven aids-to-navigation teams and five cutters, with additional support from the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation and the border lakes Lamplighters, participated in the operation.

Crews also assisted the Canadian Coast Guard with the placement of multiple weather buoys on Lake Ontario.

Additionally, several challenges were overcome during the operation. The USCGC Alder was unable to participate due to an inoperable crane and above average water levels in Lake Ontario delayed some aids being commissioned due to debris associated with high water.

USCG


On 26 May 1888, BLANCHE (2-mast wooden schooner, 95 foot, 92 gross tons, built in 1874, at Mill Point, Ontario) was carrying coal with a crew of five on Lake Ontario. She was lost in a squall somewhere between Oswego, New York and Brighton, Ontario.

In 1979, the FRED R. WHITE JR. departed the shipyard on her maiden voyage to load iron ore pellets at Escanaba, Michigan for Cleveland, Ohio.

The J.A.W. IGLEHART began its maiden Great Lakes voyage in 1965, for the Huron Portland Cement Co. The straight deck bulk freighter FRANKCLIFFE HALL began its maiden voyage in 1963. Deepened and converted to a self-unloader in 1980. She was renamed b.) HALIFAX in 1988.

SCOTT MISENER (Hull#14) was launched in 1954, at St. Catharines, Ontario by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. for Colonial Steamships Ltd. She was scrapped at Alang, India in 1990.

In 1923, the ANN ARBOR NO 4 was towed to the shipyard in Manitowoc, Wisconsin by the ANN ARBOR NO 5 with the assistance of the tug ARCTIC. The NO 4 was completely overhauled and had all new cabins built on her main deck.

QUEEN OF THE LAKES was launched at the Kirby & Ward yard in Wyandotte, Michigan on 26 May 1872. She was the first iron-hulled vessel built in Michigan.

On 26 May 1873, the iron propeller revenue cutter GEO S. BOUTWELL (Hull#15) was launched at D. Bell Steam Engine Works in Buffalo, New York. Her dimensions were 140 feet x 22 feet x 17.5 feet, 151 gross tons. She served out of Savannah, Georgia (1874-1899) and Newbern, North Carolina (1899-1907).

The tug GORMAN, which was sunk by the steamer CITY OF BUFFALO was raised today. She is not much injured. The local steamboat inspectors have taken up the case of the collision. The crew of the tug claim that their boat was run over by the CITY OF BUFFALO and the appearance of the wreck carries out their declaration, for the tug shows that the steamer struck her straight aft.

1926 The self-unloader ALPENA delivered the first cargo of coal, 4,000 tons, to the new Detroit Edison steam generating power plant at Marysville, MI.

1982 ROLAND DESGAGNES ran aground off Pointe au Pic, Q.C . The ship floated free with the high tide only to sink on May 27 at 4 am due to hull damage. All on board were saved and the cargo of salt dissolved. The hull rests upright on the bottom in about 300 feet of water.

1984 The Norwegian freighter WILFRED first visited the Seaway in 1966. It went aground on this day in 1984 as b) PSILI at Buenos Aires, Argentina. The vessel was refloated and returned to service. It last sailed as c) GLORY BAY and arrived at Dalian, China, for scrapping on September 18, 1986.