Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

The 71-foot tug and patrol boat CARTER H. HARRISON was launched at Chicago, Illinois, on 29 May 1901, for the City of Chicago Police Department.

STADACONA (Hull#66) was launched in 1909, at Ecorse, Michigan, by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Stadacona Steamship Co. (James Playfair, mgr.). Renamed b.) W.H. MC GEAN in 1920, and c.) ROBERT S. McNAMARA in 1962.

JAMES R. BARKER (Hull#905) was float launched in 1976, at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the Interlake Steamship Co.

May 29, 1905: The PERE MARQUETTE 20, while leaving Milwaukee in a heavy fog struck the scow HIRAM R. BOND of the Milwaukee Sand Gravel Company. The scow sank.

In 1909, the ANN ARBOR NO 4 capsized at Manistique, Michigan, as a result of an error in loading a heavy load of iron ore.

On 29 May 1889, BAVARIA (3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 145 foot, 376 gross tons, built in 1873, at Garden Island, Ontario) was carrying squared timber when she broke from the tow of the steamer D D CALVIN and began to founder near Long Point in Lake Erie. Her crew abandoned her, but all eight were lost. The abandoned vessel washed ashore with little damage and lasted until 1898 when she was destroyed in a storm.

PLEASURE (wooden passenger ferry, 128 foot, 489 gross tons) (Hull#104) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan by F.W. Wheeler & Co. on 29 May 1894. She was a small but powerful ferry, equipped with a 1600 h.p. engine. She operated on the Detroit River year round as a ferry and small icebreaker for the Detroit, Belle Isle and Windsor Ferry Company. She was broken up at Detroit in 1940.

1943: LAKE GEORGE was built for French interests at Ashtabula in 1917 but was launched for and named by the U.S. Shipping Board. It was seized as e) FOLOZU by the Japanese at Shanghai on December 8, 1941, and sunk as f) EISHO MARU after being torpedoed by the U.S.S. TAMBOR in the South China Sea.

1964: A. & J. MERCURY was seized on this date while upbound in the Welland Canal to load coal at Ashtabula for non-payment of stevedore fees at Toronto and Hamilton. While eventually released, it was re-arrested on a complaint by the S.I.U. over non-payment of crew wages. The ship was later put up for auction and resumed service as d) SANTA MONICA. It was scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, as e) COSMOS TRADER in 1969. A. & J. FAITH, a fleetmate, was seized by the U.S. Marshal at Cleveland while about to leave for Singapore. It remained idle until being sold and renamed c) SANTA SOFIA in August.

1969: The new self-unloader TADOUSSAC launched itself prematurely at Collingwood. Two workers were killed and several others injured.

1974: BANIJA, a Yugoslavian freighter, was inbound in ballast at Port Weller through fog when it hit the pier and required repairs before continuing to Duluth to load. This vessel arrived at Alang, India, as b) STOLIV for scrapping on May 1, 1987.

[yachtsmanwilly]

High water has Seaway considering suspending shipping

5/30 - Brockville, Ont. – Heavy rainfall has kept the St. Lawrence River at record highs, leading to the possibility that water-level authorities might shut down shipping on the Seaway to allow the dam at Cornwall to release more water.

Rob Caldwell, Canadian regulation representative of the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board, said the board has opened the taps at the Moses-Saunders power dam at Cornwall to record levels. The outflow volume at Cornwall is 10,200 cubic metres per second, equaling the highest outflow since recording began there 117 years ago.

The flow is at the maximum volume that the system can take before the Seaway is closed to ships, he said. With rain forecasted to contribute another centimetre to the Lake Ontario levels over the next three days, the board will have to decide whether to open the taps further and shut down the Seaway at least temporarily, he said.

Caldwell said that closing the Seaway has a precedent. In 1993, the board shut the Seaway for a couple of days a week for a seven-week period. He said improvements in ship technology in the last 25 years means the freighters can withstand higher water volumes before shipping has to be suspended.

The board’s water experts also will have to determine how much more water that a downstream Hydro Quebec dam can handle before deciding whether to increase the flows at Cornwall.

But Caldwell adds that the water flows in the Brockville area should be relatively stable despite the rain. The system reached a high point last week but since then levels have slowly declined. Although the rain will push the levels back up. they are not expected to surpass the high of last week. Caldwell said the big danger is wind, particularly from the east, which raises the chop in the river and could lead to flooding.

The Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority, which includes Brockville in its jurisdiction, has added its voice to warn residents in flood-prone and low-lying areas who might see water-level increases into June if wet weather continues. But the authority feels that the flood danger for properties along inland lakes and rivers has largely passed.

While things along the St Lawrence River are gradually stabilizing, it is far from business as usual. Most docks are still under water, and many gas docks remain closed - as are most municipal docks in the area. The bulk of the summer island residents have yet to arrive, so the extent of damage on the Thousand Islands is unknown.

Mayor Joe Baptista of the Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands warns that the wake from passing boats poses a real hazard to infrastructure on the shore. He urges boaters to slow down and respect wake control measures to minimize the impact. The CRCA reminds residents to cut off electricity to buildings or structures in flood-prone areas. Gasoline and other chemicals should be moved to higher ground.

South of the border, the U.S. Coast Guard warns boaters to drive carefully. The high water has changed landmarks and submerged rocks. And there are lots of hazards floating in the river: docks, oil cans and junk washed out from people’s boathouses, for example.

In Lake Ontario, the levels are the highest since 1918 when records started to be kept. Last week the lake levels were at 75.86 metres, which is eight cm above the previous high for this time of the year set in 1952, according to the CRCA.

Recorder.ca



On 30 May 1896, ALGERIA (3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 285 foot, 2,038 gross tons) was launched by J. Davidson (Hull #75) at West Bay City, Michigan. She lasted until 1906, when she foundered near Cleveland, Ohio.

COLUMBIA STAR began her maiden voyage in 1981, from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, to load iron ore pellets at Silver Bay, Minnesota, for Lorain, Ohio. She was the last of the 1,000 footers to enter service and, excluding tug-barge units or conversions, was the last new Great Lakes vessel on the American side.

During the economic depression known as the "Panic of '73", shipbuilding came to a standstill. Orders for new vessels were cancelled and worked was stopped on hulls that were on the ways. On 30 May 1874, the Port Huron Times reported that a recovery from the "Panic of '73" resulted in a surge of shipyard work at Marine City. "Shipyards are getting ready to start business again with full force. Mr. Fin Kenyon has begun building a steam barge for Kenyon Bros. [the PORTER CHAMBERLAIN]; Mr. George King is going to build a steam barge for Mr. Henry Buttironi [the GERMANIA]; Messrs. Hill and Wescott are going to build a side wheel passenger boat for Mr. Eber Ward [the NORTHERNER]; Mr. David Lester will build another steam barge [the CITY OF DULUTH]. There is one barge on the stocks built by Mr. Hill for Mr. Morley, that will soon be ready to launch [the N K FAIRBANK].

At about 1a.m. on 30 May 1882, the lumber hooker ROCKET, carrying shingles from Manistee to Charlevoix, capsized about four miles abreast of Frankfort, Michigan on Lake Michigan. The tug HALL found the vessel and towed her inside the harbor. The crew was saved, but the vessel was split open and was a total wreck.

1900: SEGUIN, an iron-hulled steamer, was released with the help of the tug FAVORITE after being stuck near Mackinaw City after going off course due to thick fog.

1918: The first IMPOCO came to the Great Lakes for Imperial Oil in 1910. It was sunk by U-101 as b) WANETA enroute from Halifax, NS, to Queenstown, Ireland, with a cargo of fuel oil. The vessel was torpedoed 42 miles SSE of Kinsale Head on this date and 8 lives were lost.

1942: FRED W. GREEN was attacked by three German submarines in the South Atlantic and sunk by U-506 with the loss of five lives including the master. The vessel had been built for saltwater service at Ecorse, Mich., as CRAYCROFT in 1918 and returned to the Great Lakes in 1927 before departing again for deep sea trading in November 1941.

1969: The Toronto Islands ferry SAM McBRIDE ran aground in fog after missing the dock at Centre Island.

[rsmith]

Really? No way this is true

worldnewsdailyreport.com/fisherman-captures-3000-pound-great-white-shark-in-great-lakes/

[Avenger]

Right, and Elvis shot it.

[yachtsmanwilly]

May 30, 2017 7:22:49 GMT -5 rsmith said:

Really? No way this is true

worldnewsdailyreport.com/fisherman-captures-3000-pound-great-white-shark-in-great-lakes/

Howz about them fresh water shrimps??? ws


worldnewsdailyreport.com/canadian-fishermen-catch-record-breaking-320-lbs-shrimp/

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/31 - Detroit, Mich. – President Donald Trump's spending plan for 2018 includes $77.6 million for operation and maintenance of Great Lakes shipping channels and related infrastructure, including the lock system at Sault Ste. Marie.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Detroit District oversees operations in Michigan and parts of Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The budget proposes $38 million for navigation, hydropower and recreation projects at the Soo Locks. It seeks smaller sums for navigation or flood risk management at other locations, including Duluth, Minnesota; Fox River and Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Detroit, Saginaw and Holland, Michigan. Also sought is $15 million for dredging projects around the district and $4.4 million to monitor lake levels and water flow.

All the requested funding requires congressional approval.

Associated Press


5/31 - Cleveland, Ohio – The crew of a Coast Guard Cutter Alder small boat rescued three people early Monday evening when the crew witnessed a 15-foot sailboat capsize in Duluth Harbor. No injuries were reported.

At around 6 p.m., CDT, the crew onboard the Alder's small boat was underway for line-handling drills near the Duluth lift bridge when they witnessed the sailboat capsize in the harbor about a mile from their location.

When the Alder's crew arrived on scene, they rescued the three people from atop the overturned sailboat, moved them to the Coast Guard boat and transferred them to a Coast Guard Station Duluth boat when it arrived on scene.

"The cutter fleet diligently trains to fulfill the Coast Guard's motto 'Semper Paratus, Always Ready'," said Cmdr. Anthony Maffia, the chief of the Coast Guard Ninth District Waterways Management branch. "Every year each cutter completes over 200 drills of various scenarios to ensure they remain proficient in their duties and are always ready to answer any call."

The three boaters relayed that they had been in the water for less than five minutes. The water temperature was reported to be in the mid-30s at the time of the incident. The sailboat was righted by the Station Duluth crew and towed to a local marina.

USCG



5/31 - Buffalo, N.Y. – Reusing Buffalo's abandoned grain silos is something talked about but rarely done. Light shows are projected nightly on the Outer Harbor's Connecting Terminal. Silo City comes alive several times a summer with artistic events at its cluster of grain elevators.

Now, the most challenging project so far has been completed: Buffalo RiverWorks this past weekend opened a $2.2 million brewery in silos that were once part of the Wheeler-GLF grain elevator.

"We were able to salvage these silos to create what we think is the first brewery built inside a silo in the world," said William Casale, general manager for the Pearl Street Family of Companies, which includes Pearl Street Grill & Brewery and the Pan-American Grill & Brewery.

"I think the uniqueness of it is going to be worth it in the long run," Casale said.

Jessie Fisher, executive director of Preservation Buffalo Niagara, hailed the new use. "The grain elevators more than anything else in Buffalo are our defining image on the world architectural stage," Fisher said.

"We have the largest extant collection of them in the world," said Fisher, who did her graduate thesis at the University of Washington on the reuse of grain elevators. "The brewery is perfect, because it's that marriage of grain and the Great Lakes beer comeback happening in New York State with the push to have more local beer production."

Abstract Architecture, Kromac Design and RiverWorks employees overcame the engineering challenges. They used four of the six silos that sport vinyl Labatt brewing logos. The biggest challenge was cutting through rebar-reenforced concrete to open up space. A second floor was added inside the silos, and all of the work had to be done without the benefit of utilities, mechanicals or plumbing.

Read more and see photos at this link: buffalonews.com/2017/05/29/brewery-opens-riverworks-silo/



5/31 - The Coastal Shipping Vessel ‘Nanny” was attempting to rendezvous with the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker George Pearkes to negotiate passage to open waters. However the ship ran into difficultly near Samson’s Island and reached out to the CCG.

“She (the Nanny) tried to leave last night… she’s in the process of trying to turn around now,” Acting Superintendent of Ice Operations Atlantic, Trevor Hodgsons, told the Pilot on Thursday. “It became a search and rescue operation, she (the Nanny) almost ran aground on Tickle Island.”

Conditions in the bay are so severe Hodgson says the CCG is requesting operators keep their vessels ashore, and out of danger.

“Even something like the Nanny, we’re not really able to escort through this type of ice,” Acting Superintendent of Ice Operations Atlantic, Trevor Hodgsons, told the Pilot. “So that’s an Arctic tanker that we can’t get through right now.”

This is the second time the Arctic rated crude oil tanker was ran into trouble negotiating ice flows this season. The ship was disabled earlier this year after sustaining rudder damage as a result of heavy ice in Notre Dame Bay.

Coastal Shipping Limited denies the ship ran into any trouble however. In an email statement to the Pilot, Coastal Shipping representative Paul Gersok claimed the ship returned to port solely due to ice conditions.

“Due to heavier than anticipated, and changing direction of ice floes overnight, both the Nanny and the George Pearkes were unable to rendezvous,” said Coastal Shipping representative Paul Gersok in an email to the Pilot. “The Nanny was therefore instructed to return to Lewisporte this morning, which she has now done.”

Gersok disputed the CCG’s statement the ship was at any time disabled, or in any jeopardy stating the ship returned to port “under her own steam and power.”

“There was no damage, disablement or injury,” Gersok continued in the email. “She (the Nanny) will depart again tomorrow, once the George Pearkes itself negotiates a clear passage to Lewisporte.”

Coastal Shipping Limited did not respond to further inquiries regarding the alleged near miss with Tickle Island. Nor did the company offer any explanation for the discrepancy in information, or whether the ship contained any cargo.

The Nanny is an Arctic crude oil tanker built in 1993, capable of carrying up to 9 millions liters of fluid according to information available on the maritime database website MarineTraffic.

View photos at this link: www.lportepilot.ca/news/local/2017/5/29/canadian-coast-guard-rescues-the-nanny.html



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Email [e-mail].



CITY OF SAGINAW 31 cleared Manitowoc in 1973, in tow of the tug HELEN M. MC ALLISTER; this was the first leg of her tow to the cutter’s torch that ended at Castellon, Spain.

The wooden barge FANNY NEIL was launched at the Muir, Livingstone & Co. yard in Port Huron, Michigan on 31 May 1870. As was usual in those days, her name was not made public until the streamer bearing her name was unfurled at the launch.

May 31, 1924 - PERE MARQUETTE 21 arrived Ludington, Michigan, on her maiden voyage. Captain Charles E. Robertson was in command.

The wooden tug MOCKING BIRD was launched at 7:00 p.m. on 31 May 1873, (12 days late) at the Port Huron Dry Dock Company yard. Her master builder was Alex "Sandy" Stewart. Her dimensions were 123 foot x 23 feet x 8.4 feet, 142 gross tons. The engine (26.5 inches x 30 inches) was at the Cuyahoga Works in Cleveland, Ohio at the time of launch, ready to be installed. Although this launch was 12 days late, it still did not go smoothly since MOCKING BIRD got stuck in the river. However, with some assistance from another tug, she was pulled free and was afloat at the dock by midnight. She lasted until abandoned at Marquette, Michigan in 1918.

On 31 May 1900, the KEWAUNEE (wooden propeller steamer, 106 foot, 143 gross tons) was launched at Kewaunee, Wisconsin for James Smith, Ben Kuhlman & William Keeper. In 1902, she was rebuilt as a lightship and, in 1913, she was converted to a sand dredge. She lasted until 1935, when she was abandoned.

1918: GEORGE G. BARNUM (later the self-unloader HENNEPIN) and the CHESTER A. CONGDON were in a minor collision due to fog off Whitefish Point, Lake Superior. The latter was lost later that year after stranding and then breaking up on Canoe Rock, Isle Royale, Lake Superior.

1926: NISBET GRAMMER sank after a collision with DALWARNIC in fog off Thirty Mile Point, Lake Ontario, while downbound with a cargo of grain. All on board were rescued from the 3-year old member of the Eastern Steamship Co. fleet. It went down in about 500 feet of water.

1974: The first GORDON C. LEITCH was aground for 3 hours, 55 minutes at Buoy 2 on the St. Clair River and freed herself with only minor damage.

[Avenger]

May 30, 2017 18:28:27 GMT -5 yachtsmanwilly said:

May 30, 2017 7:22:49 GMT -5 rsmith said:

Really? No way this is true

worldnewsdailyreport.com/fisherman-captures-3000-pound-great-white-shark-in-great-lakes/

Howz about them fresh water shrimps??? ws


worldnewsdailyreport.com/canadian-fishermen-catch-record-breaking-320-lbs-shrimp/

How can you doubt it? The picture looks so real.

[yachtsmanwilly]

It was on the internet... IT MUST BE REAL!!!! ws

On 01 June 1903, ISAAC ELLWOOD (steel propeller freighter, 478 foot, 5,085 gross tons, built in 1900, at W. Bay City, Michigan) broke the record for ore when she carried a cargo of 8,579 tons out of Duluth harbor. This broke the record held by JOHN SMEATON (steel barge, 458 foot, 5,049 gross tons, built in 1899, at Superior, Wisconsin), which was 8,571 tons of ore.

ASA CHILDS (wooden scow schooner, 125 foot, 204 gross tons, built in 1866, at Mentor, Ohio) was carrying lumber in a storm on Lake Michigan when she was driven ashore at Highland Park just north of Chicago, Illinois on 01 June 1879, and was a total loss. The crew escaped in the lifeboat.

On 01 June 1914, the St. Joseph-Chicago Steamship Company bought the EASTLAND (steel propeller passenger steamer, 265 foot, 1,961 gross tons, built in 1903, at Port Huron, Michigan) from the Eastland Navigation Company for $150,000.

In 1943, IRVING S OLDS collided with the 524 foot steamer CHARLES O. JENKINS in heavy fog 28 miles northeast of Cleveland on Lake Erie and was holed eight feet above the water line. The OLDS was able to help the badly damaged JENKINS back to Cleveland by lashing the two vessels together. After a grueling seven hours the JENKINS was beached in the outer harbor to prevent her from sinking. The OLDS was repaired in time to carry a new record of 17,817 gross tons of iron ore on June 13, 1943. In 1952, the steamer J.L. MAUTHE (Hull#298) was launched at Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Michigan, for the Interlake Steamship Co.

The WHITEFISH BAY, loaded with 950,000 bushels of spring wheat, was honored as she carried the billionth metric ton of cargo through the Eisenhower Lock in 1983.

On June 1, 1907, the Great Lakes Engineering Works launched the bulk steamer WILPEN (Hull#28) at Ecorse, Michigan, for the Shenango Steamship Co., a subsidiary of Shenango Furnace Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Renamed b.) DAVID P. THOMPSON in 1926, and converted to a self-unloader in 1957, at Superior, Wisconsin. She was renamed c.) JOSEPH S. YOUNG in 1969, and scrapped at La Spezia, Italy in 1979.

H. LEE WHITE departed Sturgeon Bay in ballast on her maiden voyage for the American Steamship Co., on June 1, 1974, to load iron ore at Escanaba, Michigan for Indiana Harbor.

June 1, 1902 - While northbound for Manistique, Michigan, the ANN ARBOR NO 1 went aground in a heavy fog about noon on South Manitou Island, but was able to free herself and to proceed undamaged.

June 1, 1938 - PERE MARQUETTE 21, under the command of Captain Arthur Altschwager, was released from a sand bar in the outer harbor at Manitowoc at 1:06 p.m. today after being aground for six hours. Her sister ship, the PERE MARQUETTE 22, commanded by J.F. Johnson, freed the ferry after taking a line and pulling the big ship back off the bar.

June, 1958, The ANN ARBOR NO 6 was taken out of service for extensive refitting. She was renamed b.) ARTHUR K. ATKINSON.

On 1 June 1887, LUCINDA VAN VALKENBURG (wooden schooner, 129 foot, 302 gross tons, built in 1862, at Tonawanda, New York) collided with the iron steamer LEHIGH in fog and sank near Thunder Bay Island on Lake Huron. The crew was safely taken aboard the LEHIGH and brought to Port Huron.

On 1 June 1892, the steel bulk freighter CHOCTAW was launched at the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company (Hull #17) in Cleveland, Ohio for the Lake Superior Iron Company. Her dimensions were 207 feet x 38 feet x 18 feet and she had a triple expansion steam engine 17 feet, 29 inches, 47 inches x 36 inch stroke. She was built as "monitor" type vessel based on whaleback design with all her cabins aft. She lasted until sunk in a collision in 1915.

1923: The barge BROOKDALE of Canada Steamship Lines was sunk near Montreal after a collision with MAPLEDAWN. The wooden hulled vessel, originally the schooner MORAVIA, was refloated and scrapped.

1943: A collision on foggy Lake Superior between BATTLEFORD and PRINDOC sank the latter off Passage Island. All on board were saved from the downbound, wheat-laden bulk carrier of the Paterson fleet.

1944: The first NEWBRUNDOC had been built at Toronto in 1921 and had previously sailed as CANADIAN ENGINEER and b) DONALD E.McKAY. The ship became f) SAVLATORE in 1934 and, with the outbreak of war, was now the enemy. It was bombed and sunk by British aircraft as part of a German convoy in the Aegean Sea and all hands were lost.

1966: RIO ALTO, a Liberty ship, came to the Great Lakes under Liberian registry in 1963. It developed leaks on the Pacific while enroute from Manati, Puerto Rico, to China as d) AKTOR and sank on this date 860 miles SSW of San Diego, CA in 1966.

1967: RENVOYLE struck the docked SYLVANIA while turning at Port Huron and the latter sank against the dock. The former, a C.S.L. package freighter, received bow damage and was laid up and then sold for scrap. SYLVANIA was refloated, repaired and returned to service.

1979: GEORGES HERBERT, a wooden goelette that occasionally came to the Great Lakes, sank in the Gulf of Mexico while carrying a cargo of corn.

2011: CANADIAN RANGER, under tow on the St. Lawrence, got spun around 180 degrees by a wind gust above the Iroquois Lock and had to be towed through the lock stern first before being realigned below the lock. It reached the scrap yard at Aliaga, Turkey, on July 13, 2011.


Dams in Massena drain enormous amounts of water from lake, river

6/1 - Massena, N.Y. – High water on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River has been causing havoc for weeks. The group that regulates water levels is trying to fix that.

"The board has authorized the New York Power Authority and Ontario Power Generation to increase flows up to the maximum in what we've seen in recent decades," said Tony David, a member of the International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Board. The board regulates water levels on the lake and river.

For a week, the board has had water flowing out of the Moses-Saunders and the Long Sault Power dams in Massena at a rapid rate. It has been releasing more than 300,000 cubic feet of water per second. That's enough to fill over 52,000 Olympic sized swimming pools a day.

"It's as much as allowable because we're keeping the river downstream at Montreal at flood stage," said David.

And even though there's a lot of water going through the dams, it will still take some time before water levels on the lake and river are back to normal

"If we have a string of dry weather, it could be sooner, but if it continues kind of like how we're doing now, it could be into August before we really see some significant reductions," said David.

David says the board is going to continue releasing water at this rate until water levels are back to the way they should be.

www.wwnytv.com



6/1 - Forbes, Minn. –Jeff Kayfes was sitting in a bucket seat, hands on dual joysticks, trying to line up his unloading machine with a cog on a rail car full of limestone and dolomite. This limestone unloading job is new for Kayfes who was still getting used to his bird's-eye view from above the rail car and the video-game controls in his hands. But after 41 years as a steelworker at United Taconite, it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

"It's not that different than unloading ore cars, which is what I did before ... except that I'm sitting up here now and not down at eye level," Kayfes said Tuesday. "It takes a little getting used to."

With the flick of his wrist Kayfes opened up the trapdoor on the bottom of the rail car and 50 tons of the mixed rock — workers here call it fluxstone — tumbled onto a conveyor belt.

Off the rock went to be merged with taconite iron ore and made into a valuable little iron-rich pellet called the Mustang, destined for ArcelorMittal's Furnace No. 7 at Indiana Harbor in East Chicago, Ind., the largest blast furnace steel mill in the U.S.

Kayfes, like the other 474 workers at United Taconite, was part of an on-the-job celebration Tuesday by Cliffs Natural Resources for the new pellet that has breathed new life into a facility that was idle at this time last year, a victim of the downturn in the domestic steel industry and domestic iron ore industry that feeds it.

Now, less than one year after nearly all of them were on indefinite layoff, they are not only back on the job making taconite pellets, they're making an all-new pellet for Cliffs' largest customer, a new product that should add years, if not decades, to United's life.

"It's good to be back. I was off six months," Kayfes said. "We needed this."

By "this" he meant the $75 million Cliffs spent on the project finished earlier this month on-time and under budget. Every day 60 rail cars of the limestone-dolomite mix from Michigan come up the train tracks from the Duluth waterfront. Here at the United processing plant it's mixed with taconite iron ore from the nearby Thunderbird mine in Eveleth.

The button was pushed to start the new pellet production at 3 a.m. on May 12. Starting June 2, the first shipments of the Mustang pellet will be heading south to the steel mill.

"We now have a more marketable product that will carry us forward,'' said Brian Zarn, a United employee and president of Steelworkers Local 6860.

Cliffs' investment was praised at Tuesday's celebration at the plant by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan as well as other state lawmakers and local dignitaries. In turn, Cliffs' CEO Lourenco Goncalves praised the Minnesota Democrats for their efforts pushing for stiff federal trade penalties against below-cost foreign steel that had flooded the U.S. market, displacing American-made steel and triggering an Iron Range mining recession that saw more than 2,000 workers laid off.

That push-back against foreign steel has led to more demand for U.S. made steel, officials say, and more demand for Minnesota taconite. "We're back on track and this time we're going to keep it on track,'' Nolan said of the Iron Range mining industry.

Flux pellets aren't new for the Iron Range, and Cliffs made a nearly identical pellet at its now-shuttered Empire Mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. But Cliffs ran out of ore there and made the decision to transfer the ArcelorMittal order to United, which can produce about 5 million tons of taconite pellets annually. About 40 percent of the plant's annual production will be the Mustang pellet. When that order is filled by late autumn the plant will produce traditional acid pellets for the rest of winter for other customers.

"It will be a seasonal thing. We'll fill one order, then move to the other pellet, then back," said Ryan Korpela, plant manager.

The flux pellets mix limestone and dolomite with iron at the front end of the process, instead of at the steel mill, Korpela said, saving the steelmaker time, energy and money.

"They like us to have the headaches," he said. "But it ends up working better for everyone, so we're glad to do it."

Duluth News Tribune

6/1 - Heavy spring rains have swelled Lake Ontario to its highest level in nearly a century -- a situation that could force officials who operate the St. Lawrence Seaway to balance the need to protect low-lying communities against the economic incentive to keep the vital shipping artery open.

The St. Lawrence Seaway connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes through a series of channels, canals, and locks. It handles more than 35 million tonnes of cargo per year and supports an estimated 227,000 jobs.

The International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board has the outflow taps at the Moses-Saunders Power Dam in Cornwall, Ont., opened as wide as possible to get rid of the glut of rain water while still allowing shipping to continue.

“It is indeed the highest flow rate that shipping has ever encountered on the St. Lawrence Seaway,” St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. spokesperson Andrew Bogora told CTV Ottawa on Tuesday.

The board decided to keep the dam’s flow rate at a record-setting 10,200 cubic metres per second on Monday, and will reassess that call next Monday.

Pushing the outflow beyond 10,200 cubic metres per second would halt shipping due to unsafe currents -- a rare situation, but not an unprecedented one.

“In 1993, navigation was permitted five days a week and suspended for two to permit the high flow rates,” Bogora said. “That could be an alternative if the demand materializes.”

CTVNews.ca

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/2 - The Seafarers’ International Union of Canada (SIU) and it’s members has announced that an agreement has been reached with Canada Steamship Lines (CSL), ending the SIU’s planned strike action against the company.

A government of Canada mediator played a role in the negotiations, assisting SIU and CSL to avoid a strike that would have significantly impacted both parties.

The terms of the agreement will be released once members have provided an additional review and the opportunity for final sign off.

SIU


6’2 - Milwaukee, Wis. – U.S. Venture wants to lease less than an acre of land next to property it already uses at the Port of Milwaukee. The extra piece would give the company a path to create a pipeline to the city pier that handles liquid cargo.

"It's always been our desire to connect to the liquid cargo pier so that we can handle water shipments, and the primary cargo that we've been looking at for a number of years is ethanol," says Richard Sawall, director of business development. He outlined U.S. Venture's plans at a recent Common Council committee meeting.

"Wisconsin has a very strong ethanol industry and it's an export market for the state, so we've always looked at Jones Island as an outlet for that product for international markets, primarily," Sawall says.

Sawall says the company wants to truck ethanol to Milwaukee's port, then transfer it onto barges. The company says the system would be designed so no ethanol would seep into Lake Michigan during the transfer. The ethanol would be pumped through a pipeline to a hose that connects to the barge.

The company says it would put emergency plans in place, to contain and clean up ethanol, in the unlikely event of a spill. Yet the firm admits that a mishap could kill off a number of fish.

That kind of scenario worries the group Citizens Acting for Rail Safety. Members testified at the committee meeting, saying ethanol is volatile, and arguing that the flammable cargo would put the harbor and the whole community at risk.

Meanwhile, Ald. Jim Bohl says he's worried about a possible increase in trucks hauling ethanol through the city on their way to the port.

"It's all part of the same chain. And we are talking about safety for citizens in this community -- above and beyond the water. It's part of the whole process," Bohl says.

Ald. Nik Kovac says he's concerned about the city establishing an infrastructure to handle liquid cargo, perhaps even crude oil. Kovac says by doing so, the city could become a hub.

"The idea that infrastructure is destiny really does concern me, made famous, you know, in the movie we've all seen -- Field of Dreams -- 'if you build it, they will come.' If you build pipes, people are going to put stuff in (those) pipes because they've got capital investments," Kovac says.

The Common Council will vote Wednesday not on whether to allow shipments of flammable cargo from Milwaukee's port. Rather, members will vote on U.S. Venture's desire to lease the small parcel that would enable the company to extend a pipeline to the city’s liquid cargo pier. The company already has permission to use the pier.

wuwm.com



6/2 - Hamilton, Ont. – City officials are scrambling to find the best way to manage massive erosion along shorelines in Hamilton, trying to figure out whether this summer is a high-water aberration or a sign of the new normal.

"We're hoping this is an anomaly, however, with the design plans we are looking at, we have to take into consideration there is a possibility that water levels could be this high again or continue at this level," says Kara Bunn, the city's manager of parks and cemeteries.

She says emergency repairs are being done along the Breezeway Trail near the Burlington Lift Bridge and on the Waterfront Trail near Confederation Beach Park amid Lake Ontario water levels that are the highest ever in records going back to 1918.

A two-stage approach is being used that involves "protecting assets by rebuilding and securing so no more damage can take place" and later on rebuilding habitat into a "final fix that deals with potential high water that may come in the future."

But like most long-term solutions to big problems, there could be huge costs. "We're still trying to figure out what the costs are going be. We're talking about this internally about where we're going to find funding to do this work," Bunn said.

Water is so high and erosion so extensive along the waterfront trail between Bayfront Park and Princess Point that crews are waiting until the water recedes before they can properly assess damage.

Hamilton Spectator



On 02 June 1958, the Liberian-flagged freighter MOUNT DELPHI sank enroute to Karachi, Pakistan. She was built by the British American Shipbuilding Company at Welland, Ontario, during the final years of World War I. She had 12 different owners during her career and had been seized by Vichy interests at Casablanca, Morocco, in 1940, and then by the Italian government in 1942.

On 02 June 1893, CORSICAN (wooden schooner, 112 foot, 210 gross tons, built in 1862, at Olcott, New York) was carrying coal from Cleveland, Ohio to St. Ignace, Michigan, on a foggy night on Lake Huron. She collided with the iron steamer CORSICA and sank quickly off Thunder Bay Island. All six onboard went down with her. The wounded CORSICA was beached near Ossineke, Michigan, was later patched and proceeded to Ashtabula, Ohio.

In 1973, the SYLVANIA, downbound light in fog, collided with the FRANK PURNELL just north of the Detroit River Light at 05:23 hours. The SYLVANIA suffered minor bow damage and went to Toledo for repairs.

On 2 June 1855, J.W. BLAKE (wooden scow-schooner, 68 foot, 33 tons, built in 1853, at Dover, Ohio) was carrying lumber in a storm four miles off Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, when she capsized. Her crew escaped in her yawl, but it was a very close call for one who was asleep below decks when she capsized. The vessel was later recovered and put back in service.

June 2, 1988 - The CITY OF MIDLAND 41 took on 17 truckloads of lake trout, which were planted off Beaver Island.

On 2 June 1882, INDUSTRY (wooden schooner, 63 foot, 30 tons, built in 1847, at Michigan City, Indiana) capsized and sank just a half-mile from South Haven, Michigan. The three crewmen clung to the wreck for a while as rescue attempts were made from shore, but they all perished. The wreck later drifted to the beach about five miles south of town and went to pieces.

1943: The W.W. HOLLOWAY and HARRY WM. HOSFORD collided in foggy lower Whitefish Bay and the latter steamer had to be beached at Point Iroquois to avoid sinking.

1958: WAR RACCOON was built at Welland in 1919. It was sailing under Liberian registry as l) MOUNT DELPHI when it hit a rock and was beached at Grand Island, near Mormugao, India, on a voyage from Mouimein, Burma, to Karachi, Pakistan. The ship was a total loss.

1968: CASTALIA, a Greek flag freighter, struck the north pier of the Mackinac Bridge, in dense fog and made a small gouge in the structure. The ship was holed and leaking but cleared to proceed to Chicago. It was on its first trip through the Seaway and was later scrapped as c) NEW ENGLANDER after arriving at Bilbao, Spain, on July 4, 1973.

1978: The bulk carrier ARCTIC was christened in a ceremony at Port Weller Dry Docks in St. Catharines.

1981: The sidewheel Toronto Island ferry TRILLIUM was unable to stop in time at the mainland dock. It struck the restaurant ship NORMAC and the latter sank two weeks later.

2000: ALGOWOOD buckled amidships while loading stone at Bruce Mines. The hull was patched, strengthened, refloated and towed to Port Weller Dry Docks to be lengthened and repaired.

[yachtsmanwilly]

In Green Bay last night, 4 knuckleheads hit a dock at 60mph AT MIDNITE, IN THE RAIN,... could figger out how to works the gas pedal...


6/5 - Detroit, Mich. – The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating after a 17-foot boat and a 400-foot cargo vessel collided in Lake St. Clair near St. Clair Shores on Sunday morning.

The incident involving a small recreational boat and the Esta Desgagnes happened about 11:15 a.m., said Coast Guard spokeswoman Lauren Laughlin. Marine inspectors are working to determine what caused the crash. The occupant of the recreational boat was thrown from the boat after the collision. He swam to a buoy, where a Coast Guard rescue crew from the St. Clair Shores station found him.

The master of the involved cargo vessel, the Esta Desgagnes, a Canadian-flagged chemical tanker home-ported in Quebec, Canada, immediately hailed the Coast Guard on VHF channel 16 to report the collision and that the operator of the recreational vessel was in the water.

The boater, who was not identified, was not hurt in the collision or from being in the water. His boat sank, Laughlin said. The man’s age was not immediately available, and the condition of the cargo vessel was not immediately known.

The Coast Guard reminds the boating public to stay well clear of cargo vessels on the Great Lakes and river systems. These large vessels are typically restricted in their maneuverability due to their deep drafts and can only operate in marked navigational channels. Recreational boaters should be fully aware of their own vessel’s capabilities and limitations, as well as the depth of water where they intend to transit.

“We were relieved to be able to recover the small boat operator unharmed,” said Lt. Ben Chamberlain, a command duty officer for Coast Guard Sector Detroit. “It is our hope that recreational boaters will maintain situational awareness to avoid these kinds of scenarios when enjoying the beauty of the Great Lakes. We also continue to implore boaters to wear their life jackets. No one plans for these kinds of emergencies to happen to them, but when they do occur, wearing a life jacket can be the difference between life and death.”

The Detroit News, USCG


Over the winter of 1960 - 1961, CHARLES M. SCHWAB was rebuilt by joining the forward end of the original SCHWAB with the after end of the former oil tanker GULFPORT. On this date in 1961, Captain Raphael "Dewey" Marsden conducted sea trials with the vessel on Lake Erie between Lorain and Cleveland.

On 05 June 1884, the wooden 3-mast 139-foot schooner GUIDING STAR, which went ashore 12 miles north of Milwaukee on 06 November 1883, was finally abandoned when all efforts to release her had failed. About two-thirds of her cargo of coal was salvaged.

On 05 June 1888, the wreck of the tug FRANK MOFFAT was removed from the St. Clair River at Sombra, Ontario by the Canadian Government. The tug was wrecked when her boiler exploded in November 1885.

In 1972, ROGER BLOUGH (Hull#900) was christened at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. for U.S. Steel Corp.

Also in 1972, PARKER EVANS was in collision with the upbound Erie Sand steamer SIDNEY E. SMITH JR just below the Blue Water Bridge, at Port Huron, Michigan. The SMITH sank in 20 minutes with no loss of life. The EVANS, with bow damage, proceeded to Port Weller Dry Docks for extensive repairs. As a result of this accident, on October 4, 1972, alternate one-way traffic between the Black River Buoy and Buoys One and Two in Lake Huron was agreed upon by the shipping companies. Also a call-in system was initiated to monitor traffic between the Detroit River Light and Buoys 7 and 8 in Lake Huron by the newly established Sarnia Traffic.

On 05 June 1979, while carrying corn on Lake Superior, CARTIERCLIFFE HALL (steel propeller bulk freighter, 730 foot, 18,531 gross tons, built in 1960, in Germany as a.) RUHR ORE) caught fire 10 miles north of Copper Harbor, Michigan. Her crew abandoned ship in two life rafts and one lifeboat. Six died in this tragedy while five were injured; four (including Captain Raymond Boudreault) were injured seriously enough to be flown to the University of Michigan Burn Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. U. S. Steel's THOMAS W. LAMONT rescued 17 at 4:52 a.m. while CSL’s LOUIS R. DESMARAIS rescued two more. The CARTIERCLIFFE HALL was towed to Thunder Bay by the tug PENNSYLVANIA the following day.

June 5, 1947, the Pere Marquette Railway was acquired by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.

LIGHTSHIP 103, (HURON) had her keel laid June 5, 1918, at Morris Heights, New York by Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp. Upon her retirement in 1971, the lightship was acquired by the City of Port Huron for use as a museum.

On 5 June 1864, COL A B WILLIAMS (2 mast wooden schooner, 110 foot, 150 tons, built in 1856, at Big Sodus, New York) was carrying coal on Lake Huron when she collided with the big ore-laden bark TWILIGHT. The WILLIAMS sank in 85 feet of water, 3 miles below Port Sanilac. Her crew was rescued by the TWILIGHT.

Shortly before midnight, Sunday, 5 June 1870, the WABASH and EMPIRE STATE collided in Lake Huron about 10 miles above Fort Gratiot Light. The WABASH sank and the EMPIRE STATE was damaged. The steamer JAY GOULD took the passengers off both vessels.

1943: FRANK ARMSTRONG, upbound on her maiden voyage, collided with the C.S.L. bulk carrier GODERICH in the St. Mary's River. Both sustained significant damage.

1991: OLYMPIC POWER was a year old when it first came through the Seaway in 1969. The vessel was sailing as c) FREE POWER when a fire broke out in the engine room off Oman on this date in 1991 and the ship had to be abandoned by the crew. One sailor was lost. The hull was a CTL and it reached Alang, India, for scrapping on February 8, 1993.

1998: The small Danish flag freighter, SEA STAR came to the Great Lakes with steel for Cleveland in April 1998. The vessel returned to the sea and sank in the Caribbean two months later on this date after a collision with the tuna boat MASA YOSHI MARU. SEA STAR was traveling from Colombia to Haiti with 2000 tonnes of bagged cement. Two members of the crew were lost.

In 1955, J. L. MAUTHE established a new Great Lakes cargo record for a coal cargo delivered to an upper lakes port. She loaded 18392 tons of coal at the Toledo C&O dock.

1943, BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS, Captain Harry Ashby, delivered a record cargo of 19343.5 net tons of iron ore at Cleveland. The ore was loaded at Two Harbors, Minnesota.

In 1947, the Canada Steamship Lines steamer EMPEROR, loaded with ore and bound for Ashtabula, hit the rocks off Isle Royale at 4:10 a.m. The vessel sank within minutes but the crew was able to launch 2 lifeboats. Captain Eldon Walkinshaw, First Mate D. Moray, and 10 other crew members drowned when one of the lifeboats overturned. Twenty-one other survivors were rescued by the U.S.C.G. cutter KIMBALL.

On 04 June 1872, while carrying wooden barrel staves from Bay City, Michigan to Buffalo, New York, the bark AMERICAN GIANT encountered rough weather off Port Stanley, Ontario, on Lake Erie. Heavy seas carried off her deck cargo of 25,000 staves and the vessel became waterlogged. As the crew considered abandoning, the steamer MENDOTA saw their plight and took the GIANT in tow for Buffalo where they arrived the following day. For days afterward, other vessels reported the litter of barrel staves floating in the middle of Lake Erie.

At 2:00 a.m., 04 June 1891, in heavy fog, the NORTHERN QUEEN (steel propeller freighter, 299 foot, 2,476 gross tons, built in 1889, at Cleveland, Ohio) struck the schooner FAYETTE BROWN (wooden schooner, 178 foot, 553 gross tons, built in 1868, at Cleveland, Ohio) about ten miles off Dummy Light on Lake Erie. The BROWN, which was loaded with stone blocks, quickly sank in over 60 feet of water. One of the schooner's crewmen climbed aboard the QUEEN while the others barely had time to scramble up the schooner's masts. Accounts of the accident differ. The schooner's skipper claimed that the NORTHERN QUEEN continued on her journey while the schooner's crew clung to the masts while the skipper of the NORTHERN QUEEN claimed that he tried to find survivors, but lost the wreck in the fog and reluctantly continued on his journey, figuring that there were no survivors. Nevertheless, about an hour after the disaster, the steamer ROBERT MILLS (wooden propeller freighter, 256 foot, 1,790 gross tons, built in 1888, at Buffalo, New York) came along, heard the cries of the unfortunate seamen clinging to the masts and rescued them. No lives were lost.

On 04 June 1881, the OGEMAW (wooden propeller freighter, 167 foot, 624 gross tons) was launched at Simon Langell's yard in St. Clair, Michigan for Mr. Wood & Company of Cleveland, Ohio.

CLIFFS VICTORY sailed on her maiden voyage in ballast from South Chicago, Illinois, in 1951.

On June 4, 1968, the keel for OTTERCLIFFE HALL (Hull#667) was laid at Lauzon, Quebec, by Davie Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., for the Hall Corporation of Canada. Renamed b.) ROYALTON in 1983, c.) OTTERCLIFFE HALL in 1985, d.) PETER MISENER in 1988 and e.) CANADIAN TRADER in 1994. She arrived at Alang, India, for scrapping on January 7, 2005.

EDGAR B. SPEER (Hull#908) was christened on June 4th 1980, at Lorain, Ohio, for the Connecticut Bank & Trust Co., Hartford, Connecticut, managed by the Great Lakes Fleet of the United States Steel Corp., Duluth, Minnesota.

In 1988, IRVING S. OLDS departed Duluth under tow of tug SALVAGE MONARCH, headed for overseas scrapping. She was scrapped by Sing Cheng Yung Iron & Steel Co., in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, scrapping began on November 24, 1988.

June 4, 1940 - Oiler George Riemersma, 50, died of a heart attack while at work on the PERE MARQUETTE 21.

June 4, 1942 - John A. Clancey, 58, general manager of the Grand Trunk Western Railway and president of the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Carferry Co. died suddenly of a heart attack while at his desk in Detroit.

The Port Huron Times reported "The new trim and tidy tug, the P L JOHNSON, built for Capt. Sol Rummage, passed up last night with her first tow. She is of medium size and wears the national colors on her smokestack for which some of the boys call her a floating barber shop."

On 4 June 1859, GENERAL HOUSTON (2-mast wooden schooner, 83 foot, 123 tons, built in 1844, at French Creek, New York) was bound from Port Huron for Buffalo with a load of lumber. During a terrific gale, she missed the mouth of the Grand River near Fairport, Ohio and went on the pier where she broke up. Fortunately no lives were lost. The lighthouse keeper on the pier where she broke up later refused to light the lantern while the wreck was in place for fear of drawing other vessels into it. The U. S. Government quickly contracted to remove the hulk from the channel, but a month later, a storm did the job for free, obliterating the wreck so completely that it was reported to have just "disappeared." June 4th is the anniversary of the famous race between the TASHMOO and the CITY OF ERIE, an exciting race that included many thousands of dollars in wagers, great advance publicity, and the use of many other boats to watch the action along the way. The drama was such that carrier pigeons were released at various times to take the latest updates to waiting newspaper reporters. The CITY OF ERIE won the race in a very close match, and the story has been retold in several books about the Great Lakes.

1961: C.A. BENNETT went aground in the Wiley-Dondero Channel of the Seaway while trying to avoid the REDFERN and was released with her own power.

On 03 June 1882, the schooner C. BELL was launched at the yard of Mason, Corning & Company in East Saginaw, Michigan. Her dimensions were 185 feet x 30 feet x 11 feet, and she cost $20,000.

JOHN B. AIRD was christened in 1983, at Thunder Bay for Algoma Central Marine, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

After successfully completing her sea trials on June 3, 1951, CLIFFS VICTORY entered service for Cleveland Cliffs Steamship Co., a little under six months from the time she was purchased from the U.S.M.C.

PATERSON (Hull#113) of the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., entered service for N.M. Paterson & Sons Ltd., on June 3, 1954, by carrying 440,000 bushels of wheat from Port Arthur, Ontario. She was scrapped at Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1985.

On 3 June 1870, T.F. PARK (wooden side-wheeler, 170 foot, 450 tons, built in 1851, at Chatham, Ontario) caught fire and burned to the waterline at the dock near the Detroit & Milwaukee Grain Elevator at Detroit, Michigan. The hull was later removed after being struck by several vessels.

On 3 June 1875, the iron carferry HURON (238 foot, 1,052 gross tons) was launched at Point Edward, Ontario for the Grand Trunk Railway. Miss Jessie S. Hughes of Toronto christened the vessel with a bottle of wine. The hull's iron plates were manufactured in Scotland and shipped to Point Edward where they were assembled. Work began on 12 August 1874. Her engine and boiler were built at Dundas, Ont. This vessel ran between Windsor and Detroit for over a century. Her hull is still in existence, submerged in the old Great Lakes Engineering Works slip in River Rouge, Michigan.

1911: The passenger steamer NORTH WEST was gutted by a fire while fitting out at Buffalo. The hull remained idle until it was cut in two in 1918 for a tow to saltwater, but the bow section sank in Lake Ontario. The stern was rebuilt on the St. Lawrence as MAPLECOURT and returned to the lakes, again in two sections, in 1922.

1923: WILLIAM B. SCHILLER and HORACE S. WILKINSON collided in Whitefish Bay. The former was anchored when hit on the port side at #5 hatch. The SCHILLER’s captain pulled up the hook and raced for shore so as to sink in shallow water. It went down in about 40 feet and was salvaged on July 2.

1940: JOHN J. RAMMACHER and WILLIAM A. REISS (ii) collided just after midnight beneath the Blue Water Bridge at Sarnia-Port Huron and both ships were damaged.

1999: HOPE I lost power in the Seaway while downbound with wheat and stranded above Morrisburg. The hull was holed and the ship was released with the aid of tugs on June 5. The ship first came inland as a) NOSIRA MADELEINE in 1983 and returned as c) HOPE I for the first time in 1993, and then as d) HOPE in 2004. It was last reported as f) H. PIONEER in 2011.


Opinion: Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow
For the economy, invest in the Soo Locks

6/3 - Detroit, Mich. – If you have grown up in Michigan, chances are you have seen a freighter making its way across the Great Lakes or down the Detroit River. You may know that the Soo Locks are the gateway for these freighters, which navigate the lakes to connect our military and manufacturers with raw materials like iron ore and our farmers and food processors with grains and other commodities. Every year, an average of 7,900 freighters carry 80 million tons of materials through the Soo Locks. The locks are the only viable and economically feasible way to transport the vast majority of this cargo.

What you might not realize is that there have been no comprehensive improvements to the two operating locks at Sault Ste. Marie, the MacArthur Lock and Poe Lock, in nearly 50 years. Of those, only the Poe Lock, is large enough to handle 70% of the cargo that passes through the locks.

A report by the Department of Homeland Security concluded it was “hard to conceive” of another lock and dam that is more consequential to the North American economy. A six-month closure of the Poe Lock would bring steel production and manufacturing industries to an effective halt. That would lead to a nationwide recession, causing unemployment in Michigan to spike above 20%.

A failure of this lock would have devastating consequences for Michigan and the country. Imagine if our automakers and suppliers had no access to raw materials and could not produce cars or parts. Imagine if construction companies could not start projects that create jobs in Michigan and across the country. Imagine if our military did not have the steel it needed to build tanks and aircraft carriers.

Given the locks’ critical importance to our economy, Michigan’s members of Congress met at the Soo Locks Friday for a bipartisan tour. This tour was an opportunity for us to focus on the crucial role the locks play in our state and country’s economy and national security. We are committed to working together to secure the funding to upgrade and build a replacement lock, ensuring this vital gateway for commerce and jobs remains open.

Read more and see a video at this link: www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2017/06/02/stabenow-economy-invest-soo-locks/362539001/

200-year-old Erie Canal back in service as shipping route for giant beer tanks

6/3 - Rochester, N.Y. – The first two of 12 massive beer tanks being delivered to upstate New York's Genesee Brewery are scheduled to be off-loaded at the company's downtown Rochester facility this weekend.

The fermentation tanks built in China arrived this week in suburban Rochester via barges on the Erie Canal. They started their 362-kilometre voyage two weeks ago at the waterway's terminus near Albany.

The tanks are 6.1 metres wide and 18.3 metres tall, making them too big to be hauled long distances by truck or rail. Genesee says a truck hauling the first two tanks will leave the Gates canal area late Friday or early Saturday for the roughly 8 kilometre trip to the brewery.

Off-loading is set to start early Saturday morning.

The Associated Pres


6/3 - Washington. D.C. – Most of Michigan's congressional delegation signed a bipartisan letter Wednesday urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expedite its study of upgrading vital shipping locks on the river connecting Lakes Huron and Superior.

Only one of the four aging locks in Sault Ste. Marie is large enough to handle ships that carry 70 percent of the cargo through the corridor. For years, the delegation and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder have been pushing to replace two outdated locks with a new one capable of handling the largest freighters.

According to the lawmakers, the Army Corps is re-evaluating its original economic analysis of constructing a new shipping passageway at the Soo Locks complex due to “erroneous assumptions” in its initial study that left the project unable to compete for federal funding.

The new study, expected by December, is reportedly considering a pulley-conveyer belt system around the Soo Locks as an alternative to the typically cost-efficient transport of commodities by vessel.

“We write to ensure that USACE engages stakeholders and considers appropriate transportation alternatives to ensure an accurate benefit-cost ratio analysis for the project, which is critically important to our states and the entire country,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Lansing and Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga of Zeeland, who co-chair the Senate and House Great Lakes Task Forces, respectively.

The lawmakers urged the Army Corps to conduct the Soo Locks re-evaluation “in a manner that is consistent with other navigation lock and dam project evaluations regarding alternate transportation modes, and that every step is taken to expedite the completion of this critically important analysis.”

A January report commissioned by the U.S. Treasury found that spending $600 million to construct a new lock at the facility could provide an economic benefit of up to $1.7 billion. The report designated the Soo Locks modernization plan as one of 40 infrastructure projects “of major economic significance” to the nation.

Through the National Governors Association, Snyder has asked the Trump administration to fully fund a replacement for the Davis and Sabin locks, which are nearly 100 years old and no longer in use. The Soo Locks transport roughly 80 million tons of raw goods and materials a year, including iron ore.

Having another 1,200-foot-long lock — built on the site of the existing Davis and Sabin locks — would allow for better maintenance and keep shipping traffic moving when the 1,200-foot-long Poe lock needs repairs.

The delegation highlighted a study by the Department of Homeland Security in October 2015 that concluded the Poe lock is a weak link in the North American industrial economy and that a six-month closure of the lock could plunge the U.S. economy into recession. After that analysis, the Corps agreed to re-evaluate its benefit-cost analysis of upgrading the Soo Locks.

In their letter, the lawmakers urged the Corps to calculate the rate of savings through other modes of transportation as has historically been done for other lock and dam projects. They indicated that it would mean considering alternate transportation via rail or truck, rather than transporting commodities around the Soo Lock falls using a conveyer belt system.

The 10 other delegation members who signed the letter are members of the Senate or House Great Lakes Task Force: Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, and Republican Reps. Jack Bergman of Watersmeet, Fred Upton of St. Joseph, Tim Walberg of Tipton, Dave Trott of Birmingham and Paul Mitchell of Dryden as well as Democratic Reps. Sander Levin of Royal Oak, Dan Kildee of Flint Township, Debbie Dingell of Dearborn, and Brenda Lawrence of Southfield.

The Detroit News



6/3 - Milwaukee, Wis. – Milwaukee's Common Council has approved a lease amendment that will likely lead to more ethanol being shipped on the Great Lakes.

The lease is with Wisconsin-based U.S. Oil, a division of parent company U.S. Venture Inc., which wants to build a 1,000-foot-long, $3.5 million pipeline to connect company storage tanks at the Port of Milwaukee to a cargo pier in Lake Michigan.

On their first of two votes on the matter Wednesday, common council members narrowly rejected the plan. There was concern more rail or truck transport of ethanol to the harbor might be dangerous and that the company might someday ship crude oil on Lake Michigan

But Alderman Bob Bauman warned his colleagues that the lease gave the city little choice but to approve the amendment. "All we're doing is giving them a cause of action to either terminate the lease or sue us for breach of contract, and if that's what we want to do, fine," Bauman said.

The council then agreed to reconsider its vote. In a second vote, the measure passed easily. City officials say they still hope to eventually get U.S. Oil to guarantee it won't ship crude oil from the Milwaukee harbor.

U.S. Oil Vice President Mike Koel previously told WPR the Appleton-based company has no plans to ship crude oil and that the company has a track record of responsible shipping, citing an identical practice in Green Bay.

Members of Citizens Acting for Rail Safety's Milwaukee chapter urged the council to reject the lease amendment and silently held up signs during the discussion. In the past, petroleum products have been shipped in and out of the Milwaukee port, but not recently, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The company has approval from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to house ethanol at the Port of Milwaukee.

Wisconsin Public Radio


6/3 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – The 455-foot Zelada Desgagnes pauses while 22 million gallons of water are pumped into the Poe Lock, raising the hefty cargo ship 21 feet so it can continue on to Lake Superior to pick up iron ore, grain or other commodities.

It’s one of about 3,800 ships this year that will pass through the Poe, the largest of four locks at the Soo complex Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and the only one capable of handling ships wider than 76 feet.

“The raw materials that come through here on a massive basis – we can see it with this large ship here – would probably take three or four thousand trucks if these locks were broken and you couldn’t get these ships through,” U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, said Friday.

“If this lock is shut down, the American economy shuts down. It is that significant.”

Peters joined U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Gov. Rick Snyder, U.S. Rep. Fred Upton and other congressional members for a bipartisan tour of the Soo Locks, an engineering marvel that is showing significant signs of age.

They are urging the federal government to authorize as much as $1 billion to construct a new Poe-sized lock at the Soo complex, a critical conduit between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes for transporting goods and raw materials, including iron ore for steel production that is heavily relied on by automakers and other industries.

A mechanical or structural failure at the 49-year-old Poe Lock would be “catastrophic for the nation,” according to a late 2015 report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which concluded a disruption could jeopardize 11 million U.S. jobs and plunge the economy into a severe recession.

“We’re on borrowed time, I think,” Stabenow, a Lansing Democrat, told The Detroit News. “We looked at a pump that was 100 years old. It’s unbelievable the engineering and that it’s still working.”

Stabenow and Republican U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman of Watersmeet on Thursday announced new federal legislation that would authorize spending on Soo Locks upgrades. They are hoping to jump start congressional action while they await the results of a study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine if the benefits of the project would outweigh the cost.

A positive score could make the project a top priority for the Corps, Stabenow said.

The project, estimated to cost close to $1 billion over a 10-year construction period, would replace two smaller decommissioned locks built during World War I with a second Poe-sized lock capable of handling large “lakers” used to transport goods on the Great Lakes.

Lakers carrying iron ore use the Poe almost exclusively because they are too large for the smaller MacArthur Lock, built in 1943. Michigan officials have long pushed for federal action on the Soo Locks modernization project, originally authorized in 1986 but never funded. Their renewed efforts come as President Donald Trump pushes for increased infrastructure spending.

Trump’s proposed budget sets aside $200 billion for infrastructure spending over 10 years. During the 2016 campaign, the president pledged a $1 trillion investment. Trump advisers have been working on an infrastructure funding plan that would involve private money and not rely solely on government aid.

The Soo Locks topped Snyder’s federal infrastructure spending wish list for Michigan, which was transmitted to the White House in February by the National Governors Association. The state House recently approved a resolution, sponsored by Republican Rep. Lee Chatfield of Levering, urging the president and Congress to fully fund construction of a new lock.

“This is critical to the national economy, to all of us,” Snyder said. “We’re talking potentially millions of jobs at risk. We need a second lock.”

Snyder told reporters he has had multiple conversations with White House officials about the Soo Locks project. Peters said Michigan lawmakers are attempting to build a broad coalition with congressional members in other states whose economies are closely tied to the locks.

Much of the iron ore that passes through the Soo complex comes from Duluth, Minnesota, and is shipped to steel processing facilities in Cleveland or Chicago. “This is the heartbeat of the nation that comes through here,” said Upton, a St. Joseph Republican and GOP dean of Michigan’s congressional delegation. “We got to make sure that it’s done.”

U.S. Reps. Dave Trott, R-Birmingham, Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield, and Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, also toured the locks.

Mechanical problems with the 74-year-old MacArthur Lock, which handles roughly 4,100 smaller ships a year, forced an unexpected shutdown in 2015 that delayed transportation of an estimated 1.8 million tons of cargo.

Iron ore is typically transported by massive ships roughly the length of four 747 planes nose to tail. They each carry about 70,000 tons of iron ore, the capacity of approximately 100 rail cars or 3,000 trucks.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to complete its analysis by December, updating a 2005 study that concluded costs of the modernization project would outweigh its benefits. Officials have questioned the assumptions, citing the economic importance of the locks.

A Poe failure would cause an almost complete shutdown of steel production in the Great Lakes, according to the Homeland Security report. Almost all appliance, auto, construction equipment, farm equipment, mining equipment and railcar production in North America could cease within weeks, according to the document.

The Soo project is also important for national security, said Bergman, telling reporters that one of the older locks was built during World War II to ensure the continued transportation of raw material needed to build planes, tanks and other equipment to win the war.

“They got it done then,” said Bergman, a retired Marine general. “It’s our time to get it done now, knowing as we look forward, the potential threats that we face.”

The Detroit News


6/4 - Middleburg Heights, Ohio – The 1,004-foot M/V James R. Barker sailed Saturday from the Twin Ports with 60,000 tons of Mustang superflux pellets – the first cargo of its kind since the new pellet production began at Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.’s United Taconite mine last month.

The inaugural shipment departed the CN/Duluth dock to begin its 2½-day journey to ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor in East Chicago, Ind., where the cargo will be discharged. ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor is the largest integrated steelmaking complex in North America.

“We feel very fortunate to carry the Mustang pellet for Cliffs and ArcelorMittal,” says Brendan O’Connor, Interlake’s Vice President of Marketing and Marine Traffic. “We recognize the tremendous investment made by Cliffs in producing the Mustang pellet and the understandable excitement from ArcelorMittal to receive this improved and customized raw material.”

Production of the specialized Mustang pellet began in May. Cliffs invested $75 million at its Minnesota operation to support the production with a new storage facility, a limestone crusher, conveyors and rail infrastructure.

Mustang pellets, which will be used for the automotive industry and other markets, contain a higher level of calcium added to dolomite and limestone than the standard taconite pellets.

“We are proud to continue our role in providing best-in-class marine transportation of raw materials from the Head of the Lakes to ArcelorMittal on behalf of Cliffs,” O’Connor adds.

The Interlake Steamship Co.