Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

9/20 - Port Huron, Mich. – Local and regional industry officials said things are continuing to look up for seaway shipping in the Great Lakes, with another climb in freight and traffic throughout the system so far this year.

According to the Chamber of Marine Commerce, the St. Lawrence Seaway reported last week it was more than 13 percent ahead of 2016 as of Aug. 31 in overall shipping tonnage. Chamber President Bruce Burrows cited optimism in a statement, adding that “given the North American economic conditions,” seaway cargo levels would ultimately top last year’s performance.

Dan Gallagher, president of the Port Huron-based Lake Pilots Association, said it, too, is keeping busy — pilot traffic up 15 percent to 20 percent over last year. He said 2016 was up 20 percent over the year prior. Lake Pilots, he said, handle primarily foreign shipping, including currently, “a lot of steel inbound.”

“Last couple of years have been really good for us,” Gallagher said. “It’s the U.S. economy. Great Lakes steel, automotive is doing better and, of course, it takes more steel for the vehicles. General cargo. The grain going in and out, that’s worldwide. Our cargo’s a little bit different than most of them domestically.”

General cargo tonnage on the Great Lakes was 40 percent ahead of 2016. Iron ore shipments reached close to 4.7 million metro tons — 54 percent more than last year — so far in 2017.

One shipping company, according to a release, cited strengths in shipping aluminum ingots through the lakes’ system, including to Toledo, Ohio, and Detroit.

Glen Nekvasil, president of the Cleveland, Ohio-based Lake Carriers’ Association, said he wasn’t able to comment on 2017 traffic.

A release from that association last February, however, reported U.S.-flagged Great Lakes freighters moved 83.3 million tons of cargo in 2016 — iron ore for steel production remaining the primary cargo at 44.1 million tons, followed by limestone at 21.2 million. It said 2017’s cargo numbers would be settled by the state of the economy.

Tonnage and traffic, however, isn’t the only sign officials can point to in terms of growth. Gallagher said his agency has increased the number of pilots by 40 percent. Currently, he said Lakes Pilots has 14.

Port Huron Times Herald


9/20 - Duluth, Minn. – Rep. Rick Nolan has a billion-dollar suggestion for President Donald Trump's plan to spend a trillion dollars on infrastructure.

"If he doesn't put it on, I'll be offering it in committee," said Nolan, D-Crosby, during a news conference in Duluth on Monday to advocate spending for a new lock at the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., which connect Lake Superior with the rest of the Great Lakes.

It hasn't yet been determined how much the new lock would cost, but early indications are the number will be at least $1 billion, Nolan said. To hear Nolan and a group of Great Lakes Commission members tell it, the cost of not acting could be much greater.

"The Homeland Security Department has projected that a six-month unplanned closure of the Poe Lock at the Soo would result in a nightmare scenario for our economy," said John Linc Stine, vice chairman of the commission, which is in Duluth for its annual meeting.

Specifically, it would put 11 million people out of work, Nolan said. It would produce a $1.1 trillion hit on the nation's gross domestic product, added Vanta Coda, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

The nightmare could play out, said Tom Rayburn of the Lake Carriers' Association, because although the Soo Locks consists of two operational locks, only the 49-year-old Poe Lock can handle most Great Lakes shipping traffic.

"Of our 49 vessels, 32 are actually restricted to the Poe Lock itself by length and by width," Rayburn said. "That represents about 85 percent of our cargo-carrying capacity."

A three-day shutdown during the summer caused by a vessel running aground in the St. Mary's River provided a glimpse of what the damage could be, Coda said. The Army Corps of Engineers estimated it cost vessel operators $2.9 million.

A new lock, which Rayburn said could be built in 6-10 years, would replace the 74-year-old MacArthur Lock and provide redundancy — if one lock were closed for whatever reason, traffic still could continue through the other.

Nolan introduced legislation that would authorize construction of a new lock with Rep. Jack Bergman, a first-term Republican from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. With eight states bordering the lakes, the measure has strong bipartisan support, he said.

That region, if it were a separate country, would have the fourth-largest economy in the world, Nolan said, citing economic analysts. "It is imperative for both national security and for economic reasons that we muster up the will and find the money and the resources to rebuild the Soo Locks," he said.

Duluth News Tribune



John Jonathon Boland was born on 20 September 1875, in New York. Along with Adam E. Cornelius, he formed the partnership of Boland and Cornelius in 1903, and was one of the founders of the American Steamship Company in 1907. He died in 1956.

On September 20, 1986, vandals started a $5,000 fire aboard the laid up NIPIGON BAY at Kingston, Ontario, where she had been since April 1984.

GEORGE A. STINSON's self-unloading boom was replaced on September 20, 1983. The boom had collapsed onto her deck due to a mechanical failure on the night of April 19, 1983, at Detroit, Michigan. No injuries were reported. She continued hauling cargoes without a boom until replacement could be fabricated. She was renamed b.) AMERICAN SPIRIT in 2004.

On September 20, 1980, EDGAR B. SPEER entered service for the U.S. Steel Fleet.

CHARLES E. WILSON sailed light on her maiden voyage from Sturgeon Bay September 20, 1973, bound for Escanaba, Michigan, to load ore. She was renamed b.) JOHN J. BOLAND in 2000.

CHARLES M. WHITE was christened at Baltimore, Maryland, on September 20, 1951.

On 20 September 1873, W. L. PECK (2 mast wooden schooner-barge, 154 foot, 361 gross tons) was launched at Carrollton, Michigan.

On 20 September 1856, COLONEL CAMP (3-mast wooden bark, 137 foot, 350 tons, built in 1854, at Three Mile Bay, New York) was carrying wheat to Oswego, New York, when she collided with the wooden steamer PLYMOUTH and sank in just a few minutes. No lives were lost.

1970: MARATHA ENDEAVOUR, enroute from Chicago to Rotterdam, broke down in the Atlantic and sent out a distress call. The ship was taking water but survived. The 520-foot long vessel had been a Seaway trader since 1965 and returned as b) OLYMPIAN in 1971. The ship arrived at Huangpu, China, for scrapping as c) HIMALAYA on January 9, 1985.

1980: The Canadian coastal freighter EDGAR JOURDAIN was built at Collingwood in 1956 as MONTCLAIR. The ship had been a pre-Seaway trader to the lakes and returned as b) PIERRE RADISSON in 1965, c) GEORGE CROSBIE in 1972 and d) EDGAR JOURDAIN beginning in 1979. It was wrecked at Foxe Basin, off Hall Beach in the Canadian Arctic, after going aground. The ship was abandoned, with the anchors down, but disappeared overnight on December 15, 1982, while locked in shifting pack ice. It is believed that the vessel was carried into deeper water and, at last report, no trace had ever been found.

1982: BEAVERFIR served Canadian Pacific Steamships as a Seaway trader beginning in 1961. The ship stranded off Barra de Santiago, El Salvador, as d) ANDEN in a storm on this date in 1982 after dragging anchor. Sixteen sailors from the 26-member crew perished.

2011: MINER, a) MAPLECLIFFE HALL, b) LEMOYNE (ii), c) CANADIAN MINER broke loose of the tug HELLAS and drifted aground off Scaterie Island, Nova Scotia, while under tow for scrapping at Aliaga, Turkey. The ship was a total loss and, in 2013, was still waiting to be dismantled and removed.

[yachtsmanwilly]

9/21 - Lake Huron’s water levels are the highest they’ve been at this time since 1997. Derrick Beach of Environment and Climate Change Canada told The Expositor that while the lake has begun its seasonal decline, dropping four centimetres so far this month, the wet spring and summer contributed to a stay in this drop.

Mr. Beach explained that the current levels of 176.92 metres are 45 centimetres above the August average and 18 centimetres above this time last year while the beginning-of-September numbers saw Lake Huron at 44 centimetres above average for the beginning of September and 16 centimetres above the beginning-of-September 2016 numbers.

Lake Huron is still, however, 46 centimetres below the record high of 1986.

Mr. Beach says he and his counterparts at ECCC expect levels to stay high into the fall and likely well above average into the new year, even if dry fall weather occurs. “It’s left us certainly higher than we’ve seen,” Mr. Beach said of the summer weather, noting that all the Great Lakes are experiencing above-average levels.

Manitoulin Expositor



On 21 September 1892, the whaleback steamer JAMES B. COLGATE (steel propeller whaleback freighter, 308 foot, 1,713 gross tons) was launched by the American Steel Barge Co. (Hull #121) at W. Superior, Wisconsin. She only lasted until 1916, when she foundered in the "Black Friday Storm" on Lake Erie with the loss of 26 lives.

ALGOWAY left Collingwood on her maiden voyage in 1972, and loaded salt for Michipicoten, Ontario, on Lake Superior.

On 21 September 1844, JOHN JACOB ASTOR (wooden brig, 78 foot, 112 tons, Built in 1835, at Pointe aux Pins, Ontario but precut at Lorain, Ohio) was carrying furs and trade goods when she struck a reef and foundered near Copper Harbor, Michigan. She was owned by Astor’s American Fur Company. She was reportedly by the first commercial vessel on Lake Superior.

On 21 September 1855, ASIA (2-mast wooden schooner, 108 foot, 204 tons, built in 1848, at Black River, Ohio) was carrying corn from Chicago for Buffalo when she collided with the propeller FOREST CITY off the mouth of Grand Traverse Bay. ASIA went down in deep water in about 10 minutes, but her crew just had enough time to escape in her boat. The schooner HAMLET picked them up.

1907: The passenger ship PICTON, a) CORSICAN caught fire and burned at the dock in Toronto. The hull was later converted to a barge and was, in time, apparently abandoned near the Picton Pumping Station.

1907: ALEX NIMICK, a wooden bulk freighter, went aground near west of Vermilion Point, Lake Superior, and broke up as a total loss. The vessel was enroute from Buffalo to Duluth with a cargo of coal and six lives were lost

1921: The 3-masted schooner OLIVER MOWAT sinks in Lake Ontario between the Main Duck and False Duck Islands after a collision with KEYWEST on a clear night. Three lives were lost while another 2 sailors were rescued from the coal-laden schooner.

1924: The whaleback self-unloader CLIFTON, the former SAMUEL MATHER, foundered in Lake Huron off Thunder Bay while carrying a cargo of stone from Sturgeon Bay to Detroit. All 25 on board were lost.

1946: A second typhoon caught the former Hall vessel LUCIUS W. ROBINSON as b) HAI LIN while anchored in the harbor at Saipan, Philippines, on a voyage to China.

1969: AFRICAN GLADE, a Seaway caller in 1963, lost power in the Caribbean as c) TRANSOCEAN PEACE and was towed into Port au Spain, Trinidad. The repaired ship departed for Durban, South Africa, in April 1970 only to suffer more boiler problems enroute. The vessel was sold for scrapping at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, later in the year.

1977: HELEN EVANS suffered steering problems and went aground on Whaleback Shoal while upbound with iron ore in the St. Lawrence. There was minor damage and the vessel was released September 23.

1982: CALGADOC left the Great Lakes in 1975 and saw service in the south as b) EL SALINERO. The ship sank on this date in 1982 on the Pacific off the coast of Mexico.

1985: ELTON HOYT 2ND struck the 95th Street Bridge at Chicago and headed to Sturgeon Bay for repairs. 1988: The small tug MARY KAY sank in a Lake Ontario storm enroute from Rochester to Oswego. The former b) CAPT. G.H. SWIFT had recently been refitted and went down after a huge wave broke over the stern. It had seen only brief service on Lake Ontario after arriving from the Atlantic in 1987.

1993: The tug DUKE LUEDTKE sank in Lake Erie about 12 miles north of Avon Point when the ship began taking water faster than the pumps could keep up. One coastguardsman was lost checking on the source of the leak when the vessel rolled over and sank.

[yachtsmanwilly]

9/22 - Duluth, Minn. – The two boats from Duluth’s Vista Fleet were tampered with, unmoored and left unoccupied and adrift for hours early Thursday near the Aerial Lift Bridge.

The Vista Star and Vista Queen were able to be driven back to the dock and secured without apparent damage, avoiding what could have been a catastrophic loss for Justin Steinbach, owner of the popular tourist and event boats. Police are investigating the incident, including a review of surveillance video and photos.

“Only if somebody knew our operation would you know how to untie the boats the way they did,” said Steinbach, who couldn’t recall any obviously disgruntled workers or former workers.

Steinbach arrived to the scene a short time after being alerted by phone at about 6:20 a.m., using authorities and on-call crew members to reach the boats and drive them back to their berths behind the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center within 40 minutes.

A DECC worker was the first to spot and report the vessels adrift. Steinbach estimated the boats were unmoored and on the open water of Superior Bay for four hours or more.

Steinbach was cooperating with the Duluth Police Department on what he said was a criminal investigation when the News Tribune arrived on a sunny morning to see police combing through the Vista Queen in the Minnesota Slip off Harbor Drive, just up from the William A. Irvin museum ship.

Steinbach said there also is video from a surveillance camera positioned along Harbor Drive, of a suspect working alone to free the Vista Queen.

Lt. Jeff Kazel of the Duluth police would only confirm that the case has been assigned and is currently under investigation.

“Somebody came between midnight and 2 a.m. and untied our boats,” Steinbach said, describing how the suspect accessed places on-deck in each boat and even turned the smaller Vista Queen around from shore using their hands — guiding it down the slip and out into the harbor.

“It takes us two people to unmoor at a minimum,” Steinbach said, describing how the person worked a series of exercises to shut down the shore power that runs generators, beer and food coolers and more — including pulling a thick electrical cord connected to power on land that would itself hold the boats to the deck under still conditions.

The Vista Star appeared to have bounced along the seawall behind the Sports Garden, Steinbach said, but suffered no apparent visible damage. Steinbach said it doesn’t appear as if the two ships connected with one another at any point.

Steinbach described “the height of the drama” as being a U.S. Coast Guard vessel maneuvering itself between the Vista Queen and the freighter John D. Leitch as it arrived under the Aerial Lift Bridge at about 7 a.m. “The Coast Guard was in radio contact with the ship,” Steinbach said.

The potential for running aground and even sinking the boats was a $1.5 million proposition, he said.

At its peak earlier this season, the Vista Fleet employed more than 50 people — lots of college students working for the summer, but also a well-heeled layer of experience, especially among its four captains who each have been with the fleet for a half-dozen years and more, Steinbach explained.

The Vista Star had been out the previous night and put away by 5 p.m., but the Vista Queen hadn’t been in use since a private party Tuesday, he said. The Vista Star was back underway for a tour at about noon Thursday.

Even if the vessels were not damaged, Steinbach said he would have to fill out a marine casualty report with the Coast Guard — a necessity anytime a vessel runs aground, sinks, crashes or is tampered with in any way.

Duluth News Tribune


On September 22, 1958, the EDMUND FITZGERALD entered service, departing River Rouge, Michigan for Silver Bay, Minnesota on its first trip. The FITZGERALD's first load was 20,038 tons of taconite pellets for Toledo. The vessel would, in later years, set several iron ore records during the period from 1965 through 1969.

While in ballast, the ROGER M. KYES struck bottom in Buffalo Harbor September 22, 1976, sustaining holes in two double bottom tanks and damage to three others, whereupon she proceeded to Chicago for dry docking on September 27, 1976, for survey and repairs. Renamed b.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS in 1989.

While being towed from Duluth, Minnesota by the Canadian tug TUSKER on September 22, 1980, the D. G. KERR rammed into the breakwater at Duluth causing $200,000 in damages to the breakwater. The tow apparently failed to make the turning buoy leaving Duluth Harbor.

On September 22, 1911 the HENRY PHIPPS collided with and sank her Steel Trust fleet mate, the steamer JOLIET of 1890, which was at anchor on the fog-shrouded St. Clair River near Sarnia, Ontario. The JOLIET sank without loss of crew and was declared a total loss. The PHIPPS then continued her downbound journey and collided with the Wyandotte Chemical steamer ALPENA, of 1909, but incurred only minor damage.

The T.W. ROBINSON and US.265808 (former BENSON FORD) departed Quebec City in tow of the Polish tug JANTAR bound for Recife where they arrived on September 22, 1987. Scrapping began the next month in October.

MATHILDA DESGAGNES was freed from polar ice in the Arctic on September 22, 1988, by the West German Icebreaker Research Vessel POLARSTERN.

September 22, 1913 - The ANN ARBOR No. 5 struck bottom in the Sturgeon Bay Canal and damaged her rudder and steering gear. After undergoing repairs at Milwaukee, she was back in service the following October.

On 22 September 1887, ADA E. ALLEN (wooden propeller steam barge, 90 foot, 170 gross tons, built in 1872, at Walpole Island, Ontario.) caught fire while moored at Amherstburg, Ontario. She was cut loose and set adrift to prevent the fire from spreading ashore. She drifted to Bois Blanc (Bob-Lo) Island and burned to a total loss.

On 22 September 1882, Mr. H. N. Jex accepted the contract to recover the engine and boiler from the MAYFLOWER, which sank in the Detroit River in 1864. He was to be paid $600 upon delivery of the machinery at Windsor, Ontario. He succeeded in raising the engine on 12 October and the boiler shortly thereafter.

1917: The wooden steamer WILLIAM P. REND, a) GEORGE G. HADLEY, foundered off Alpena while carrying livestock. All 9 crewmembers were rescued.

1951: The Liberty ship THUNDERBIRD visited the Seaway in 1959. Earlier, on this date in 1951, the ship received major bow damage from a head-on collision with the Chinese freighter UNION BUILDER (built in 1945 at Brunswick, GA as a) COASTAL RANGER) at the entrance to Colombo, Ceylon. THUNDERBIRD was also a Great Lakes trader as d) NEW KAILING in 1964 and scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1967.

1979: OCEANIC KLIF first visited the Seaway in 1971. The ship stranded near Las Palmas, Canary Islands, while on a voyage from Kamsar, Guinea, West Africa, to Port Alfred, QC with calcinated bauxite and was abandoned by the crew

[yachtsmanwilly]

9/25 - After a year of scouring the depths of Lake Michigan with a sonar-equipped fishing boat, Steve Radovan finally got a hit on the gray-scale monitor in the captain's cabin in May 2016.

The 71-year-old shipwreck enthusiast powered down the Discovery's engines and dropped a waterproof camera attached to a rope into roughly 300 feet of water. The images revealed a three-masted barquentine, covered in mussels and algae but lying on the bottom still largely intact. After reporting the finding to the state of Wisconsin, he learned the foundered ship was the Mojave.

With a cargo of 19,500 bushels of wheat, the ship had set sail from Chicago en route to Buffalo in 1864. The Mojave was spotted by the crew of a passing ship as it dropped into a trough of stormy waters. A small boat and cabin doors belonging to the lost ship were later recovered on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

"This is the stuff the movie-makers dream of. This is just like it was when it sank to the bottom," Radovan said with a grin, watching the camera's images from his home office. "No human has seen this ship since 1864."

Read more and view a photo gallery at this link: www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-lake-michigan-shipwrecks-20170924-story.html


In tandem tow, MENIHEK LAKE and LEON FALK JR. arrived at Vigo, Spain, on September 25, 1985. The MENIHEK LAKE was scrapped at Vigo, and the FALK was towed to Gijn, Spain, for scrapping.

HENRY C. FRICK departed Bay City on her maiden voyage on September 25, 1905 and rammed and damaged the Michigan Central Railroad Bridge at Bay City.

On 25 September 1869, COMMENCEMENT (2-mast wooden schooner, 75 foot, 73 tons, built in 1853, at Holland, Michigan) was carrying wood in her hold and telegraph poles on deck from Pentwater, Michigan, for Milwaukee when she sprang a leak 20 miles off Little Sable Point on Lake Michigan. The incoming water quickly overtook her pump capacity. As the crew was getting aboard the lifeboat, she turned turtle. The crew clung to the upturned hull for 30 hours until the passing steamer ALLEGHENY finally rescued them. COMMENCEMENT later washed ashore, a total wreck. 1922: AUBE, on her first trip back under this name, went aground off Carleton Island, while carrying 65,000 bushels of grain. Tugs released the stranded vessel the following day.

1978: FRANQUELIN (ii) went aground in the Seaway below Beauharnois. Once refloated, the ship went to Canadian Vickers in Montreal for repairs and was caught there in a labor dispute.

1980: DERWENTFIELD, a British-flag freighter, first came through the Seaway in 1975. The ship grounded on this date as c) CAVO ARTEMIDI off Brazil, while enroute from Vitoria, Brazil, to Rotterdam, Holland, with a cargo of pig iron and broke in two as a total loss.


September 23, 1922, the 306-foot NEPTUNE loaded the first Head-of-the-Lakes cargo of pig iron at Zenith Furnace, Duluth, Minnesota. The 5,000 tons of malleable pig iron was delivered to Buffalo, New York.

September 23, 1975, HERBERT C. JACKSON lost power while upbound on Lake Superior. She was towed back to the Soo by the USS straight decker D.G. KERR.

September 23, 1952, the steamer CHARLES L. HUTCHINSON became the first boat christened at Cleveland since the early years of World War II. The 644-foot HUTCHINSON, Captain T. A. Johnson, was the new flagship of the Pioneer fleet and one of 35 boats in the three fleets operated by Hutchinson & Co. Renamed b.) ERNEST R. BREECH in 1962, c.) KINSMAN INDEPENDENT in 1988. Sold Canadian in 2005, and renamed d.) VOYAGEUR INDEPENDENT. She sails today as the motorship e.) OJIBWAY.

On 23 September 1910, the BETHLEHEM (steel propeller package freighter, 290 foot, 2,633 gross tons, built in 1888, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying general merchandise when she went ashore in a gale on the SW side of S. Manitou Island in Lake Michigan. Lifesavers and the crew unloaded her over several days. Although battered by several storms while ashore, she was eventually pulled free and repaired. She lasted until 1925, when she was scrapped.

The scow WAUBONSIE was launched at the Curtis yard in Fort Gratiot, Michigan on 23 September 1873. 1935: HURRY-ON was a Great Lakes visitor in 1934 when it loaded bagged flour at Port Colborne. The ship was lost off Port Hood Island, near Judique, NS, after developing leaks and a list. The lifeboat swamped twice and five were lost.

1961: CRYSTAL JEWEL, inbound for London in thick fog, was in a collision with the B.P. Tanker BRITISH AVIATOR. The captain was seriously injured and his daughter was killed. The vessel first visited the Great Lakes in 1960 and was enroute from Duluth to London with a cargo of grain at the time of the accident. The vessel grounded and, after being released, was taken to Rotterdam where the entire mid-ship superstructure was replaced. The ship made many more trips through the Seaway and returned as b) MELTEMI in 1970. It was scrapped at Busan, South Korea, after arriving as d) TETA on July 17, 1979.

1980: FERNLEAF first visited the Seaway in 1965 and returned as b) AALSUM in 1974. The ship was detained at Basrah, Iraq, in 1981 as c) INICIATIVA on this date in 1980 and declared a total loss in December 1981. It was salvaged in 1993 and renamed d) DOLPHIN V but perhaps only for a trip to the shipbreakers. The vessel arrived at Gadani Beach December 27, 2003, and dismantling began at once.

2000: Vandals attacked the museum ship NORGOMA at Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., breaking windows, light fixtures and setting off fire extinguishers, leaving an estimated $15,000 in damage.


9/23 - Standing on the shores of the Great Lakes on a sunny late-summer day, it’s virtually impossible to think of those sparkling waves as a death trap. But divers have seen what those angry lakes can do to a ship.

Becky Kagan Schott, noted underwater photographer, joined Stateside to discuss what it’s like to document these untouched wrecks. “To see something that’s basically been lost to time — maybe over a century or longer — and to be the first human eyes laid on that and to be able to share that with the world, it’s pretty incredible.”

In particular, Schott has been part of a team exploring the Daniel J. Morrell, a ship that sank in 1966 with only one survivor.

“Daniel J. Morell has quickly become one of my favorite shipwrecks anywhere in the Great Lakes, and that’s pretty much due to Dennis Hales’ story,” Schott said. “His story of survival — it really touched me and it’s really powerful to me to go down and see the two halves of this shipwreck ripped apart, and to see what Mother Nature can do. It’s just really haunting.”

View photos and listen to the podcast at this link: michiganradio.org/post/diver-shares-what-it-s-photograph-great-lakes-shipwrecks


9/23 - On Sept. 21, 1924, the steamship Clifton left Surgeon Bay, Wis., carrying a load of stone to Detroit. The freighter was seen passing through the Straits of Mackinac at 10:20 a.m., and was last seen by a tug boat on upper Lake Huron that evening,

A gale came up, sweeping across the lake. The storm was violent and unrelenting. The Clifton would founder, taking with it the lives of all 28 sailors on board. Three days later, when the Clifton didn’t arrive in Detroit as scheduled, a thorough search of the Lake Huron coast line – from Oscoda (near Alpena) to Port Huron – had failed to reveal any trace of the missing ship.

Eventually, wreckage from the Clifton, began drifting ashore on the Canadian side of Lake Huron, indicating that the whaleback freighter sank.

Read more and view photos and a video at this link: www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/09/21/clifton-discovered-lake-huron/691889001


Police ID Vista Fleet suspect after releasing video

9/23 - Duluth, Minn. – The Duluth Police Department has identified a suspect in this week’s Vista Fleet tampering, which left two cruise vessels unoccupied and adrift overnight in the vicinity of the Aerial Lift Bridge.

Deputy Chief Laura Marquardt said criminal charges are expected in the “near future” against a 47-year-old man from Excelsior, Minn., who she identified as the “sole actor” in the incident. The announcement came at noon Friday, shortly after police released surveillance video of the early Thursday morning incident.

“The video is pretty telling,” Lt. Jeff Kazel said. “This was a person who had to have some knowledge of boats. We definitely think there was intent.”

The video shows the man guiding the Vista Queen through the raised and open Minnesota Slip Bridge before setting the vessel out into the Superior Bay. Police said in a news release that the clock associated with the video showed 2:47 a.m. as the man was in the act of moving the Vista Queen on Thursday. The company’s larger vessel, Vista Star, was also unmoored from its dock behind the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

The police also revealed that it was the Aerial Lift Bridge operator who called 911 to report the Vista Fleet boats adrift in the bay. Vista Fleet owner Justin Steinbach had previously said that he’d been alerted to the situation early in the morning by a DECC employee.

The ships were unmoored and adrift for roughly four hours. Steinbach has previously said he felt fortunate the boats were returned to their docks undamaged. He said the tourist-and-event boats are worth a combined $1.5 million.

Duluth police said they received a 911 call from the lift bridge operator at 6:16 a.m. on Thursday alerting them to the two boats of the fleet being adrift. Both boats were brought back successfully within the hour.

The boats were cleared by the only freighter to pass under the lift bridge during the incident, the John D. Leitch, which arrived while the boats were being recovered by the authorities and Vista Fleet crews. The U.S. Coast Guard also assisted in the recovery of the boats.

“If the ore boat going through would have hit one of them it would have caused serious damage — if not sunk it,” Kazel said.

View a police video of one of the boats drifting away at this link: www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/crime/4332175-police-id-vista-suspect-after-releasing-video

Duluth News Tribune


9/24 - Duluth, Minn. – Police have arrested a man suspected of unmooring two large cruise boats and setting them adrift in the Duluth harbor.

Deputy Police Chief Nick Lukovsky says charges are pending against the 47-year-old Excelsior man. He says the suspect acted alone in the incident, which was caught on security video. Harbor officials found the 100-ton Vista Star and 60-ton Vista Queen tour boats drifting unmanned early Thursday.

The vessels’ owner, Justin Steinbach of Vista Fleet, says unmooring the huge boats is a complicated and technical task. He was first baffled as to how and why it happened, but the company now says the suspect is a boat mechanic.

Police provided a surveillance video, posted on the Duluth News Tribune website, showing the suspect walking outside a pier railing and pulling the vessel along. The Vista Queen came within 20 feet of colliding with the 730-foot-long Canadian vessel John D. Leitch. (Editor’s note: Some news reports are incorrectly referencing a 1,000-foot Canadian freighter. The Canadian fleet has no vessels that size.)

The vessels were not damaged and nobody was injured.

Pioneer Press


9/24 - Rogers City, Mich. – The emergency-steering wheel owned by a Rogers City family for decades will soon be in its new home.

The Stone family has donated the wheel to the city of Rogers City for the next 40 years so it can be part of the beautification project at the intersection of Third and Erie streets and represent a piece of Rogers City’s rich maritime heritage.

The centerpiece of the project/display will be a restored Fresnel lens that was on the Port of Calcite breakwater. The wheel will be placed between the lens and the front of Family Dollar.

For Marilyn Stone, the wife of the late captain Paul Stone, the wheel has been following her around for the better part of a half-of-a-century. She lives in a well-kept farmhouse along County Road 441 in Belknap Township.

The wheel had been along the road on a concrete pad for the past several years. It was replaced by a large granite rock that sparkles. The wheel is now in the department of public works garage waiting to be moved to its place of honor.

“That wheel has been following me forever – like a dog,” said Marilyn. “We were on Woodward (in Rogers City) and I don’t know where it came from.” It is believed to have come from the Great Lakes’ freighter the T.W. Robinson, but that may never be confirmed.

According to Mark Thompson, Presque Isle County Historical Museum curator/executive director, who sailed the lakes, higher-ranking officers were afforded the opportunity to claim these types of pieces when ships were decommissioned.

“I know it showed up in my yard on Woodward,” said Marilyn. “I had (Paul) chain it down so the kids’ legs would not get caught in the thing, and it needed to be painted.” When they moved from Woodward to another home on Larke Avenue, the wheel followed.

“I was sure, it was not going to follow because it was so heavy,” she said. “Well, Bill Gross used a crane to move it. When we moved out here (Belknap) T thought that was the end of the wheel (and) I don’t have to look at that anymore. Paul put a piece of cement in and it ended up in my front yard.” That’s where it was for 17 years, come rain, shine, or blizzard.

Born in Onaway, Paul grew up along Section 12 Highway south of Rogers City. He finished high school at 16, went to a business school for a year before spending the rest of his working days on the Great Lakes. “He went sailing when he was about 17,” said Erik Stone, Paul and Marilyn’s son, who has been a Rogers City attorney for many years.

Paul served in the Merchant Marines during World War II, transporting supplies across the Atlantic Ocean. “A lot of sailors from Rogers City did that at the time,” added Erik. “A lot of sailors had to get permission to do that because the steel industry was essential to the war effort.

“There are good stories about the only spitzer game ever played on the Atlantic.” Many merchant mariners never came back. The proportional casualty rate for the United States Merchant Marines may have either exceeded that of any of the uniformed military services, or slightly less than the United States Marine Corps. Marilyn said her husband did not talk about his time serving the country.

Upon returning, Paul went back to the peaceful waters of the Great Lakes. He sailed for a total of 41 years. “He was a true sailor,” said Marilyn. “He was a good captain. He would do a winter run when they thought the ships could run all winter and the men that went with him were all volunteers. So, that tells you what a good captain he was. Everybody trusted him.”

Marilyn not only was a sailor’s wife for four decades, but her Dad John Miller was a sailor too. “So, I did not know any difference. I was raised that way and that’s how I raised my kids. Our routine went according to when the boat was coming in. He was a good sailor and a good dad.” Paul retired in 1978. His last 10 years of sailor were as captain.

The ship that wheel came off of was more than likely decommissioned at the Port of Calcite. Just like his mother, Erik does not know how it ended up his front lawn. “I don’t know where there is anything like this,” said Erik. While the traffic control light in Rogers City is gone from the intersection, Erik believes the new display will give people a reason to stop and take photos, including the Stone family wheel.

“It will be a good interactive display for the city,” said Erik. “We want it displayed like it is so that people can pose with it like I just did and I think people will do that.” “I think it is wonderful,” said Marilyn. “Paul would like (the display). He loved Rogers City.”

Presque Isle Advance

[yachtsmanwilly]

9/26 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – 2017 is a year for smashing records at the Soo Locks. Sunday the American Integrity broke the all-time record for the largest load through the locks with 75,095 tons of iron ore, beating the record held for the last two weeks by the Edwin H. Gott. She was loaded to a draft of 29'7" on her way to Indiana Harbor.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District





Great Lakes/Seaway iron ore trade up more than 10 percent in August

9/26 - Cleveland, Ohio – Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway totaled 6.7 million tons in August, an increase of 10.1 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments also bettered the month’s 5-year average by 6.2 percent.

Shipments from U.S. Great Lakes ports totaled 6.3 million tons in August, an increase of 18 percent compared to a year ago. However, loadings at Canadian terminals in the Seaway totaled 360,000 tons, a drop of nearly 50 percent.

Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 36.8 million tons, an increase of 12.2 percent compared to the same point in 2016. Year-over-year, loadings at U.S. ports total 33.8 million tons, an increase of 15.2 percent. Shipments from Canadian ports in the St. Lawrence Seaway total 3 million tons, a decrease of 13.3 percent.

Lake Carriers’ Association represents 13 American companies that operate 49 U.S.-flag vessels on the Great Lakes and carry the raw materials that drive the nation’s economy: iron ore and fluxstone for the steel industry, aggregate and cement for the construction industry, coal for power generation, as well as sand, grain and other dry-bulk cargos. Collectively, these vessels can transport more than 100 million tons of cargo per year. More information is available at www.lcaships.com.

Lake Carriers’ Association



9/26 - A diver has died while exploring a shipwreck in Lake Superior off the shores of northeastern Minnesota. The Lake County Sheriff's Office says it received a call of a diver in distress Saturday afternoon. The diver was in the water near the Madeira shipwreck. First responders were unsuccessful in reviving the diver, whose name was not immediately released. The Madeira went down in a storm on Lake Superior in 1905. The shipwreck is off the shore of Split Rock State Park.

The Associated Press


9/26 - Ohio’s oldest shipwreck could be joining the National Register of Historic Places. Recommended by the state’s historic preservation board this month, the Anthony Wayne would be the first shipwreck in Ohio waters to receive the designation.

In 1850, the Anthony Wayne, a steamer, sank after an explosion, killing all of its passengers. The ship sank about seven miles northwest of Vermillion, west of Cleveland. The ship was discovered, but kept secret by divers who believed there was gold on board. It was publicly discovered by the Cleveland Underwater Explorers just 10 years ago.

Chris Gillcrist is executive director of the National Museum of the Great Lakes. He says the historic place label is a reminder of Ohio’s place in the country’s maritime history.

“The Great Lakes were the super highway of the 19th century for moving people and product across the United States. This boat was part of that culture, part of that business model.”

The Department of the Interior now has 90 days to agree or disagree with the distinction before it can be added to the National Register.

Listen to an audio report at this link: wksu.org/post/ohios-oldest-shipwreck-could-join-national-register-historic-places#stream/0



September 26, 1930, the schooner OUR SON, launched in 1875, sank during a storm on Lake Michigan about 40 miles WSW of Big Sable Point. Seventy-three year old Captain Fred Nelson the crew of OUR SON were rescued by the self-unloader WILLIAM NELSON.


September 26, 1937, the Canadian Seaman's Union signed a tentative wage contract. Sailors would continue a two watch system (working 12 hours every 24 hours) and be paid the following monthly wages: Wheelsmen and Oilers - $72.50, Watchmen and firemen - $67.50, Second Cooks - $52.50, deckhands and coal passers - $50.00, porters - $45.00, Chief Cooks on the Upper Lakes - $115.00, and Chief Cooks on Canal boats $105.00.

September 26, 1957, Taconite Harbor, Minnesota loaded its first cargo of 10,909 tons of taconite pellets into the holds of the Interlake steamer J. A. CAMPBELL.

On 26 September 1892, JOHN BURT (3-mast wooden schooner, 138 foot, 348 gross tons, built in 1871, at Detroit, Michigan) was carrying grain in a strong northwest gale. Her rudder broke and she was blown past the mouth of Oswego harbor and was driven hard aground. Two died when the vessel struck. The U.S. Lifesaving Service rescued the remaining five crewmembers. The vessel quickly broke up in the waves.

CHI-CHEEMAUN cleared the shipyard on September 26, 1974.

H. M. GRIFFITH was christened on September 26, 1973 at Collingwood for Canada Steamship Lines.

C.C.G.S. GRIFFON (Hull#664) was launched September 26, 1969 by Davie Shipbuilding Ltd., Lauzon, Quebec for the Canadian Coast Guard.

ROGER M. KYES returned to service on September 26, 1984; she had grounded off McLouth Steel and ended crosswise in the Detroit River's Trenton Channel a month before. She was renamed b.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS in 1989.

The BELLE RIVER was sideswiped by the Liberian FEDERAL RHINE, of 1977, at Duluth on September 26, 1985. Both vessels received minor damage.

On 26 September 1914, MARY N. BOURKE (wooden schooner-barge, 219 foot, 920 gross tons, built in 1889, at Baraga, Michigan) was docked at Peter's Lumber Dock in St. Mary's Bay, 15 miles north of St. Ignace, Michigan. The crew was awakened at 9:30-10:00 p.m. by smoke coming from her hold and they escaped. The BOURKE burned to the waterline and the fire spread ashore, destroying the dock and a pile of lumber.

At 3 a.m., 26 September 1876, the steam barge LADY FRANKLIN burned while moored near Clark's dock, about three miles from Amherstburg, Ontario in the Detroit River. One life was lost. This vessel had been built in 1861, as a passenger steamer and ran between Cleveland, Ohio and Port Stanley, Ontario. In 1874, she was converted into a lumber freighter, running primarily between Saginaw, Michigan and Cleveland. The burned hull was rebuilt in 1882.

1979: MAHONI, an Indonesian-registered freighter, went aground on the west coast of Taiwan and was abandoned by the crew. The ship was refloated in June 1980 and sold to Taiwanese shipbreakers for scrapping at Kaohsiung. It had been a Seaway saltie as b) CLARI beginning in 1968 and returned as c) ARNIS in 1970.

[yachtsmanwilly]

September 27, 1959: The West Neebish Channel, through which downbound traffic normally passes, was temporarily closed to permit dredging to the maximum Seaway depth of 27 feet. Two-way traffic was instituted in the Middle Neebish Channel until dredging was completed.

On 27 September 1877, the HIPPOGRIFFE (wooden schooner, 295 tons, built in 1864, at Buffalo, New York) had just left Chicago for Buffalo, loaded with oats, on a fine day with clear weather. The crew saw EMMA A. COYNE (wooden schooner, 155 foot, 497 tons, built in 1867, at Detroit, Michigan) approaching from a long way off loaded with lumber. The two vessels' skippers were brothers. The two schooners collided about 20 miles off Kenosha, Wisconsin. The COYNE came along side and picked up the HIPPOGRIFFE's crew a few minutes before that vessel rolled over and dove for the bottom.

The CITY OF GENOA arrived with the first cargo of iron ore for the new factory at Zug Island, reported The Detroit Free Press on September 28, 1903.

The H. M. GRIFFITH experienced a smoky conveyor belt fire at Port Colborne, Ontario on September 27, 1989. Repairs were completed there.

ROGER M. KYES proceeded to Chicago for dry-docking, survey and repairs on September 27, 1976. She struck bottom in Buffalo Harbor September 22, 1976 sustaining holes in two double bottom tanks and damage to three others.

GEORGE M. HUMPHREY under tow, locked through the Panama Canal from September 27, 1986, to the 30th on her way to the cutter’s torch at Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

The tanker IMPERIAL COLLINGWOOD (Hull#137) was launched September 27, 1947, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. for Imperial Oil Ltd., Toronto, Ontario. Renamed b.) SEAWAY TRADER in 1979, sold off the Lakes in 1984, renamed c.) PATRICIA II, d.) BALBOA TRADER in 1992.

September 27, 1909 - The ANN ARBOR NO 4 entered service after being repaired from her capsizing at Manistique, Michigan the previous May.

On 27 September 1884, WALDO A. AVERY (wooden propeller, 204 foot, 1,294 gross tons) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan. Her construction had been subcontracted by F. W. Wheeler & Co. to Thomas F. Murphy.

On 27-29 September 1872, a big storm swept the lower lakes. On Lake Huron, the barges HUNTER and DETROIT were destroyed. The tug SANDUSKY rescued the 21 survivors from them. The schooner CORSAIR foundered off Sturgeon Point on Saginaw Bay at 4 p.m. on Sunday the 29th and only 2 of the crew survived. The barge A. LINCOLN was ashore one mile below Au Sable with no loss of life. The barge TABLE ROCK went ashore off Tawas Point and went to pieces. All but one of her crew was lost. The schooner WHITE SQUALL was sunk ten miles off Fish Point -- only one crewman was saved. The schooner SUMMIT went ashore at Fish Point, 7 miles north of Tawas with two lives lost.

1911: The water-logged wooden steamer THREE BROTHERS was beached off South Manitou Island, Lake Michigan. The cargo of lumber was salvaged but the 23-year-old vessel was left to rot.

1912: The wooden steamer GEORGE T. HOPE, loaded with 2,118 tons of iron ore, foundered in Lake Superior near Grand Island when it began leaking in heavy weather. All on board were saved.

1934: SASKADOC departed Erie, Pa., for the short run to the Welland Canal with 7,500 tons of coal and the hatches left open. The vessel encountered a storm on the lake, developed a list and arrived 11 hours late.

1943: NORMAN B. MACPHERSON, a small canaller in the Upper Lakes fleet, went aground on Hammond Shoal in the American Channel of the St. Lawrence near Alexandria Bay, N.Y.

1969: OPHELIA was a Great Lakes caller before the Seaway opened. The West German freighter also made 16 trips inland from 1959 to 1964. It was under Greek registry when it was abandoned off Sibu, Sarawak, with a fire in the engine room, on this date in 1969. The vessel was enroute from Sibu to Kuching, China, and the hull drifted aground as a total loss.

1991: OGDENSBURG was built as a barge to ferry rail cars across the St. Lawrence between Prescott and Ogdensburg. The vessel had joined McKeil as a regular deck barge in 1988 and broke loose in a storm on this date in 1991 while working off Blanc Sablon, Q.C. carrying heavy construction equipment. Refloated, the hull was towed to Hamilton and became one of three former railway barges rebuilt as a floating drydock

[yachtsmanwilly]

9/28 - Traverse City, Mich. – If you were walking around Traverse City on Tuesday you might have heard some accents you might not typically recognize. Hundreds of European tourists arrived on a cruise ship that docked in West Grand Traverse Bay. The M/S Hamburg is a German cruise ship that takes hundreds of tourists throughout the Great Lakes.

The cruise starts with some stops in Canada, then the west side of Lake Michigan and finally into Traverse City.

"If you're a business that depends on tourists coming to town the quantity of the people means a lot," said Identity Resort Wear Owner Ronen Givon. He said it was great to have the extra tourists in town. "The more people come to town, the more chances you have that they'll come in the stores, the more chances you'll have to sell to them, the more chances you have to make more money," said Givon.

Traverse City Tourism President Trevor Tkach said though September is usually a slower month, it’s been good this year. "It's becoming more and more prevalent," said Tkach. "Not just boats but you see more groups and more international travelers coming to the area and to Michigan."

Tkach said he's always open to ideas that will continue to grow Traverse City as a tourist destination. "We're optimistic that we will plant a seed and those folks will want to come back and visit this area in the future," said Tkach.

Traverse City isn't the only part of northern Michigan getting an economic boost from this cruise. The ship docked at Mackinac Island on Wednesday. The Hamburg will be coming back to northern Michigan in October.

UpNorthLive



9/28 - Great Lakes water temperatures have gone up significantly in the past two weeks, which is usually a time period of quickly falling water temperatures.

The six-day stretch of record heat around Michigan is the cause of the sharp rise in surface water temperatures. Surface water temperatures on the Great Lakes have been cooler than normal for the second half of summer. Now the rapid warming at a time when lake water is usually cooling has brought water temperatures much above the long term average.

For a look at how each Great Lake has warmed in the past 15 days, and current water temperatures compared to the long term average, visit this link: www.mlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2017/09/great_lakes_water_temps_soar_a.html



9/28 - The American maritime industry is firing back against harsh criticism of the Jones Act by certain lawmakers in Washington and in the media amid the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico.

Over the past 24 hours, attacks on the Jones Act have intensified after the Department of Homeland Security seemed to deny a request to waive Jones Act requirements for Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria, saying a waiver was not needed at this time because there are enough American ships bringing supplies to the island. To make matters worse, the attacks come as Trump Administration faces growing criticism that it is not doing enough to help the U.S. commonwealth with recovery.

“The limitation is going to be port capacity to offload and transit, not vessel availability,” a spokesman for the DHS said Tuesday.

On Wednesday, however, the DHS said it had not made up its mind on the issue and it was still considering a request by members of Congress to waive the shipping restrictions, but so far it had not received any formal requests from shippers or other branches of the federal government to waive the law.

“We are considering the underlying issues and are evaluating whether a waiver should be issued,” a senior Homeland Security official told reporters via teleconference on Wednesday.

Read more at this link: gcaptain.com/american-maritime-industry-fights-back-false-claims-regarding-jones-act-relief-efforts-puerto-rico



On September 28, 1980, BURNS HARBOR entered service, departing Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, bound for Superior, Wisconsin, to load pellets.

THOMAS WILSON left Toledo on September 28, 1987, in tow of the tug TUSKER for overseas scrapping. WILSON had been laid up since December 16, 1979.

On 28 September 1891, THOMAS PARSONS (2 mast wooden schooner, 135 foot, 350 tons, built in 1868, at Charlotte, New York) was carrying coal out of Ashtabula, Ohio, when she foundered in a storm a few miles off Fairport in Lake Erie.

On 28 September 1849, W.G. BUCKNER (wooden schooner, 75 foot, 107 tons, built in 1837, at Irving, New York) was carrying lumber in a storm on Lake Michigan when she sprang a leak, then capsized. The man to whom the cargo belonged was aboard with his wife and five children. One child was washed overboard while the wife and three children died of exposure. The schooner ERWIN took off the survivors plus the bodies.

1921: The W.H. RITCHIE caught fire and sank at Port Arthur, ON where it had become a bulk grain transport vessel. The remains were uncovered during dredging work in 1961.

1946: BRIG. GEN. M.G. ZALINSKI, built at Lorain in 1919 as a) LAKE FROHNA and later operated inland in the package freight trade as b) ACE, hit the rocks off Pitt Island, British Columbia. The vessel was enroute from Seattle to Whittier, Alaska, with a cargo of army supplies, and sank in 20 minutes. All on board were rescued by the tug SALLY N. and taken to the fishing village of Butedale.. The hull was located in June 2011 and is upside down.

1960: CHICAGO TRIBUNE and SHENANGO II were both damaged in a collision in the St. Clair River off Marysville.

1973: FRANK R. DENTON and FEDERAL SCHELDE (i) collided in the St. Marys River with minor damage to both ships. The former was scrapped at Ashtabula in 1985-1986. The latter began Seaway service when new in 1968, returned as b) C. MEHMET in 1977 and was delivered to the scrappers at Nantong, China, on March 16, 1999.

1998: ANDROS TRANSPORT, a Fortune Class cargo ship, first came through the Seaway in 1978. Flooding occurred in the engineroom in the Caribbean off Trinidad as d) GRIGOROUSSA on this date while traveling in ballast. The crew of 15 were removed and the ship was towed into Port au Spain. It was declared a total loss, sold to Mexican shipbreakers, and arrived at Tuxpan, under tow for dismantling on December 4, 1998.

[yachtsmanwilly]

9/29 - Duluth, Minn. – The 47-year-old Twin Cities-area man accused of setting the two Vista Fleet boats out into the harbor last week had also been suspected of causing damage to property in Canal Park the same night, as well as allegedly threatening to blow up the Club Saratoga.

Gregory Mark Sullwold, of Greenwood, Minn., was charged by summons Wednesday, Sept. 27, with felony theft-indifferent to owner rights, and if convicted faces up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

Sullwold is suspected of unmooring both Vista boats, the three-deck Vista Star and smaller Vista Queen, from their docks behind the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center in the early morning hours of Sept. 21. The boats were left unoccupied and adrift for several hours on Superior Bay near the Aerial Lift Bridge.

As the investigation into the vessel tampering advanced, one officer remembered dealing with Sullwold earlier that night, for alleged mischief in Canal Park including the alleged threat against the Club Saratoga.

Sullwold was arrested Sept. 22 by Duluth police on an unrelated warrant out of Hennepin County, where Sullwold faces domestic assault charges. During an interview with Duluth Police Department investigators, the complaint states, Sullwold confessed to the Vista Fleet tampering.

Sullwold "was particularly interested in, as he put it, the boats floating on the harbor," the complaint states. "He also seemed to boast of his knowledge in boats."

Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Jon Holets said Thursday that there have been no other referrals made to the county attorney's office for the other alleged Canal Park incidents outlined in the criminal complaint.

The complaint describes a narrow brush that occurred between the 66-foot Vista Queen and the 730-foot lake freighter John D. Leitch, which was making entry into the Duluth ship canal while the Vista vessels were adrift.

According to the complaint, the crew of the Leitch was notified of the unmanned vessels by the Aerial Lift Bridge operator, who'd also called 911 to report the situation.

"The Leitch attempted to slow, but given her size, she continued through the Duluth ship canal where the Vista Queen lay in her path. As the Vista Queen was boarded, the Leitch, unable to stop or divert course, bore down on the abandoned vessel, narrowly missing the Queen, endangering the rescuers and crew of the Leitch," the complaint states.

A combined emergency response from the U.S. Coast Guard, the Duluth Fire Department, and two Vista Fleet employees "who were able seamen, capable of piloting the empty vessels," ferried the vessels back to dock.

Because the crime occurred "in such a historic, iconic and important area," said the complaint, police had access to "a plethora of video," including one disseminated widely by media of a sole suspect on shore, leading the Vista Queen down the Minnesota Slip, under the Minnesota Slip Bridge and out into the open water. The Vista Star and Vista Queen were recovered without apparent damage.

Sullwold's first appearance in court is set for Oct. 31. He had been held in both the St. Louis and Hennepin county jails in the wake of the Vista Fleet incident, but was not being held in either facility as of Thursday morning.

Duluth News Tribune


9/29 - Detroit, Mich. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, has awarded a contract for major construction repairs at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The contract for more than $2.8 million to replace MacArthur Lock embedded anchorages was awarded to Morrish-Wallace Construction Inc., of Cheboygan, Mich., (d.b.a.) Ryba Marine Construction.

Ryba Marine will replace crucial aging and deteriorating infrastructure at the Soo Locks, the St. Marys River navigational locks, in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. This contract involves removing existing gate anchorages, then fabricating and installing new embedded gate anchorages behind the existing embedded gate anchorages and the connection to the lock gate leaf. The work includes constructing new primary and secondary embedded anchorages for operating Gate 5 of the MacArthur Lock.

The work will be performed during the annual winter maintenance shutdown of the Soo Locks facility from January to mid-March 2018 with the project completion by June 2018.

"This is an important investment that will help buy down risk on the aging MacArthur Lock," said Lt. Col. Dennis Sugrue, district engineer. "The MacArthur Lock accommodates smaller vessels on the Great Lakes and takes pressure off the Poe Lock through which the vast majority of our commodities move."

The MacArthur Lock was built in 1943 and has a length of 800 feet between the sills, a width of 80 feet, and a depth of 31 feet.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District


9/29 - Ottawa, Ont. – Transport Canada says a ship has been fined for allegedly exceeding a speed limit set to protect endangered whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Due to the increased presence of North Atlantic right whales in the area, Transport Canada last month imposed a temporary mandatory speed limit of 10 knots on vessels of 20 metres or more.

The speed restriction applies to vessels travelling in the western Gulf of St. Lawrence, between the Quebec north shore and just north of Prince Edward Island. Related Stories

Transport Canada says the shipping industry in general has been respecting the speed limit, but it says a $6,000 penalty was issued Tuesday to the Pearl Mist for alleged non-compliance.

The vessel owner has 30 days to pay the penalty or to ask the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada to review the facts of the alleged violation or the amount of the penalty.

Eleven North Atlantic right whales have died since June in the Gulf of St. Lawrence -- an unprecedented number of deaths for the marine mammal that is at imminent risk of extinction with an estimated population of just 500 around the world.

The Canadian Press



9/29 - U.S. ship pilots on the Great Lakes have urged the US Coast Guard (USCG) to disavow what they say is a “biased and flawed” study suggesting that steeply increasing pilotage rates would reduce the Great Lakes’ international steel and grain shipments.

Pilots’ associations said Martin Associates, which the USCG hired for the study, had “a significant conflict of interest that disqualifies it from being considered in any way as a neutral and unbiased source of analysis” in the pilots’ dispute with shipping interests over rates.

In a letter to USCG Commandant Admiral Paul F. Zukunft, the pilots’ associations said Martin had performed studies “by many of the very same organizations that are leading the effort to reduce American pilotage fees, including organizations that are currently suing the [USCG] in that effort.”

“The [USCG] ought not to be expending taxpayer dollars on a study that could very reasonably be viewed as an advocacy document for one side of the public debate on pilotage,” the presidents of the St. Lawrence Seaway Pilots Association, Lakes Pilots Association, and Western Great Lakes Pilots Association told the USCG. The USCG commissioned the study while considering revised pilotage rates for the 2017 shipping season. Those revised rates, which roll back a 2016 rate increase, are set to take effect Monday. Meanwhile, a federal court ruling is pending on an industry lawsuit challenging rate the 2016 increases.

John C. Martin, president of Martin Associates, defended the study. He said his firm provided an unbiased report after being hired by the USCG through a public selection process, and that its clients, affiliations, and previous work were fully disclosed. Martin has prepared hundreds of port economic impact studies during the last 30 years.

“There was no hidden agenda,” Martin said. “Any accusation of collusion is false. We provided a logistical cost model of the potential economic impact of pilotage charges on the Great Lakes’ competitive position.” He said the USCG set the scope of work and vetted the study, which he said updated one his firm prepared in 2004. Pilots and industry groups have disagreed sharply over the pilotage rates that the USCG sets annually. Industry groups complain that continuation of sharp rate increases in 2014 to 2016 could push shippers to avoid the Great Lakes. The three pilots’ associations serving the US portions of the lakes say recent increases merely helped make up for a $20 million shortfall over the previous decade.

“American Great Lakes pilots are the lowest paid pilots in the country, considering the difficult routes and hours,” said Capt. George Haynes, vice president of the Lakes Pilots Association. He said higher pay is needed to attract qualified applicants for pilot jobs, and that recent increases have allowed associations to bring on trainees to increase US Great Lakes pilots’ ranks to 54 from 45.

The USCG's current rates are set to provide Great Lakes pilots with about $332,000 in annual pay, compared with more than $450,000 at some coastal ports. Steve Fisher, executive director of the American Great Lakes Ports Association, said a better benchmark would be the $270,000 average for captains of US-flag Great Lakes vessels.

The Martin study projected that increasing US pilots’ rates by 40 to 90 percent could reduce grain shipments from the lakes by 586,000 tons, or about 29 voyages of vessels carrying grain outbound and steel or other general cargoes inbound from Europe and other origin points.

Pilots’ associations said that no increases of that scale have been proposed, and that cargo volumes on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway have risen during the last two years, despite the increases between 2014 and 2016.

“The Martin methodology of using hypothetical scenario with a fictional 40 to 90 percent increase for 2017 is flawed,” the pilots’ associations said in a joint statement. “There is no evidence that one ton of cargo or one job was lost to pilotage fees in 2016 or 2017.”

The USCG agreed there was no evidence that recent increases have driven cargo away. “Our data indicates that demand for pilotage services in 2016 was greater than 2015 and that demand for pilotage service through June 2017 is trending around 20 percent higher than the 10-year average for the 2017 shipping season,” the USCG said in Federal Register notice of its revised rates.

The USCG sets rates annually for the three pilots’ associations whose members work on different sections of the Great Lakes. Pilots operating in Canadian waters are regulated by their country’s federal government. Elsewhere in the United States, pilotage rates are set at the local or state level.

Journal of Commerce



9/29 - Toledo, Ohio – For nearly a week, the Maumee River that runs through the downtown has looked like the Chicago River after it’s dyed for St. Patrick’s Day. An algal bloom has turned the river, western edge of Lake Erie from here up to Canada florescent green, alarming residents and prompting local officials to lobby the Environmental Protection Agency to take action, even calling on President Donald Trump to intervene.

“There is something very wrong with our country when our rivers and lakes turn green,” Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson wrote in a letter to Trump this week.

Phosphorus-rich fertilizers and manure running off from large livestock farms into Lake Erie, some carried by the Maumee River, have fed the growth of the bloom.

The mayor has called on Gov. John Kasich and the federal government to declare the western basin of Lake Erie impaired so to force the federal government to respond with a plan to improve the water quality.

Read more and view photos as this link: www.detroitnews.com/story/news/environment/2017/09/28/lake-erie-algae-bloom/106064754/



September 29, 1930, for the first time in the history of Pittsburgh Steamship Company, the boats of the fleet loaded more than one million tons in a seven-day period. The 64 Pittsburgh boats loaded 1,002,092 tons of cargo between 9/23 and 9/29.

The J. H. SHEADLE (Hull#22) of the Great Lakes Engineering Works, was launched September 29, 1906, for the Grand Island Steamship Co. (Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co., Cleveland, Ohio, mgr.) Renamed b.) F. A. BAILEY in 1924, c.) LA SALLE in 1930. Sold Canadian in 1965, renamed d.) MEAFORD, and e.) PIERSON INDEPENDENT in 1979. She was scrapped at Santander, Spain, in 1980.

Henry Ford II, 70, of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, passed away on September 29, 1987. Mr. Ford's namesake was the Ford Motor Company self-unloader.

On September 29, 1986, the Polish tug KORAL left Lauzon, Quebec with the JOHN E. F. MISENER and GOLDEN HIND enroute to Cartagena / Mamonal, Columbia, for scrapping.

September 29, 1892 - The ANN ARBOR NO 1 was launched.

On 29 September 1872, ADRIATIC (3-masted wooden schooner-barge, 139 foot, 129 net tons, built in 1865, at Clayton, New York as a bark) was in tow of the tug MOORE along with three other barges in Lake Erie in a heavy gale. She became separated from the tow and foundered. The entire crew of 7 was lost. The wooden schooner DERRICK was used in salvage operations. On 29 September 1854, she had just positioned herself above the wreck of the steamer ERIE off Silver Creek, New York on Lake Erie when she went down in a gale. She had spent the summer trying to salvage valuables from the wreck of the steamer ATLANTIC.

On 29 September 1900, the steamer SAKIE SHEPARD was re-launched at Anderson's shipyard in Marine City. She had been thoroughly rebuilt there during the summer.

1974: J.A.Z. DESGAGNES and HAVRE ST. PIERRE collided while trying to pass on the St. Lawrence. The former often visited the Great Lakes but was scrapped in Croatia as e) A. LEGRAND in 2003-2004. The latter, originally a Dutch coastal vessel, worked on the St. Lawrence and around Eastern Canada but was deleted from Lloyds Register in 1999.

1982: ATLANTIC SUPERIOR went aground off Wellesley Island in the American Narrows of the St. Lawrence. This new member of the Canada Steamship Lines fleet was released October 1 and repaired at Thunder Bay. It was back on the Great Lakes in 2012.

EASTERN FRIENDSHIP first came to the Great Lakes in 1986. It had been stranded off the coast of Bangladesh as d) TONY BEST since April 10, 1993. While refloated on June 21, the anchors dragged on July 24 and the ship went aground again. The hull later cracked and the ship sank on this date in 1993.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On September 30, 1896, SUMATRA (wooden schooner-barge, 204 foot, 845 gross tons, built in 1874, at Black River, Ohio) was loaded with railroad rails in tow of the steamer B.W. ARNOLD in a storm on Lake Huron. The SUMATRA was blown down and foundered off the Government Pier at Milwaukee. Three of the crew was lost. The four survivors were rescued by the ARNOLD and the U.S. Lifesaving Service. The SUMATRA was owned by the Mills Transportation Company.

The 660-foot forward section of the BELLE RIVER (Hull#716) was side launched on September 30, 1976, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, by Bay Shipbuilding Co. Renamed b.) WALTER J. McCARTHY, JR. in 1977.

ARTHUR SIMARD entered service on September 30, 1973, sailing to Montreal, Quebec, to load gasoline.

GOVERNOR MILLER was towed down the Welland Canal on September 30, 1980, in tow of TUG MALCOLM, STORMONT and ARGUE MARTIN on her way to Quebec City.

ROBERT C. STANLEY departed light on her maiden voyage from River Rouge, Michigan, on September 30, 1943, bound for Two Harbors, Minnesota, to load iron ore.

On September 30, 1986, the Canadian Coast Guard vessel CARIBOU ISLE struck a rock in Lake Huron's North Channel and began taking on water. C.C.G.S. SAMUEL RISLEY arrived and helped patch the ship. The pair then departed for Parry Sound, Ontario.

On September 30, 1888, AUSTRALIA (wooden schooner, 109 foot, 159 gross tons, built in 1862, at Vermilion, Ohio) was carrying cedar posts from Beaver Island to Chicago when she encountered a gale. She was laid on beam ends and sprung a leak. She headed for shelter at Holland, Michigan, but struck a bar and foundered in the mouth of the harbor. The wreck blocked the harbor until it was removed on October. 5 Her crew was rescued by the U.S. Lifesaving Service.

On September 30, 1875, AMERICAN CHAMPION (wooden scow-schooner, 156 tons, built in 1866, at Trenton, Michigan) dropped anchor to ride out a gale near Leamington, Ontario, on Lake Erie. The chains gave way and she struck a bar and sank to the gunwales. The crew of eight spent the night in the rigging and the next day a local woman and her two sons heroically rescued each one.

1906: The first FAYETTE BROWN ran into the pier entering Lorain, became disabled and stranded on the beach. The ship was refloated with considerable damage. It last operated as c) GLENMOUNT in 1923 and was scrapped about 1928.

1913: CITY OF LONDON sank off Point Pelee, Lake Erie after a collision with the JOE S. MORROW. The hull was later dynamited as an obstacle to navigation.

1964: DUNDRUM BAY was a pre-Seaway visitor to the Great Lakes on charter to the Hall Corporation. The vessel was driven aground on this date as f) ESITO near Necochea, Argentina, while traveling in ballast. The hull broke in two and was a total loss.

1965: PROTOSTATIS, a Greek Liberty ship, went aground on Traverse Shoal, Lake Ontario, while enroute from Detroit to Genoa, Italy, with a cargo of scrap. The vessel was lightered and refloated with the aid of tugs. It went to Kingston to anchor and reload in the shelter of Wolfe Island.


In 1986, the HERBERT C. JACKSON rescued Carl Ward and his nephew after they had been adrift on lower Lake Michigan for 80 hours.

On October 1,1888, the ST CLAIR (3-mast wooden schooner, 156 foot, 296 gross tons, built in 1859, at Montreal as a bark) was carrying coal in a storm on Lake Huron as part of a 5-barge tow of the tug CHAMPION. She broke loose and came to anchor off Harbor Beach, Michigan. The anchor dragged and she sank near the mouth of the harbor. The crew was rescued by the U.S. Life Saving Service. However, this rescue was ill fated since all were taken in the lifesavers surfboat and the boat was rowed 23 miles to Port Sanilac. 100 yards from shore, just a half mile from Port Sanilac, the surfboat capsized and five lives were lost. The wreck of the ST. CLAIR was later lightered, raised and towed out into the lake and re-sunk.

CHICAGO TRADER, a.) THE HARVESTER of 1911, was laid up on October 1, 1976, at the Frog Pond in Toledo, Ohio.

Dismantling commenced October 1, 1974, on the KINSMAN INDEPENDENT a.) WILLIAM B. KERR of 1907, at Santander, Spain.

October 1, 1997 - The CITY OF MIDLAND 41 was towed out of Ludington to be converted to a barge.

On October 1, 1843, ALBANY (wooden brig, 110 tons, built in 1835, at Oswego, New York) was carrying merchandise and passengers when she went aground in a storm and was wrecked just a few miles from Mackinaw City, Michigan.

The steam barge C. H. GREEN was launched at E. Saginaw, Michigan, for Mason, Green & Corning of Saginaw on October 1, 1881. She was schooner rigged and spent her first year as a tow barge. The following winter her engine and boiler were installed. Her dimensions were 197 feet X 33 feet X 13 feet, 920 tons. She cost $70,000.

On October 1,1869, SEA GULL (wooden schooner, 83 tons, built in 1845, at Milan, Ohio) was carrying lumber in a storm on Lake Michigan. She was driven ashore and wrecked south of Grand Haven, Michigan. The wreck was pulled off the beach a few days later, but was declared a constructive loss, stripped and abandoned. She was owned by Capt. Henry Smith of Grand Haven.

1918: The Canadian bulk carrier GALE STAPLES was blown ashore Point au Sable about 8 miles west of Grand Marais. All on board were saved but the wooden vessel, best known as b) CALEDONIA, broke up.

1942: The former CANADIAN ROVER, Hull 67 from the Collingwood shipyard, was torpedoed and sunk as d) TOSEI MARU in the Pacific east of Japan by U.S.S. NAUTILUS.

1946: KINDERSLEY, loaded with 2074 tons of excess munitions, was scuttled in the deep waters of the Atlantic. The former C.S.L. freighter had been on saltwater to assist in the war effort.

1984: ANNEMARIE KRUGER arrived at Finike, Turkey, as e) BANKO with engine damage on this date and was laid up. The ship, a frequent Seaway visitor in the 1960s, was sold for scrap and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, under tow on August 3, 1986, and was dismantled.

1998 The tank barge SALTY DOG NO. 1 broke tow from the tug DOUG McKEIL and went aground off Anticosti Island the next day. The vessel was released and it operated until scrapping at Port Colborne in 2005.


On her maiden trip in 1905, the PETER WHITE grounded outside the Lackawanna breakwall. After lightering 200 tons, she proceeded to the Lackawanna Steel mill where the remainder of the cargo was unloaded.

On this day in 1979, the ELTON HOYT 2ND unloaded her last cargo as a straight decker at the Ashtabula & Buffalo Dock, Ashtabula, Ohio.

On October 2,1901, M. M. DRAKE (wooden propeller freighter, 201 foot, 1,102 gross tons, built in 1882, at Buffalo, New York) and her consort MICHIGAN (3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 213 foot, 1,057 gross tons, built in 1874, at Detroit, Michigan) were loaded with iron ore while sailing in a strong gale on Lake Superior. The MICHIGAN began to leak and the DRAKE came around to take off her crew, but the two vessels collided. Both sank off Vermilion Point, Michigan. One life was lost. As the vessels sank, the passing steamers NORTHERN WAVE and CRESCENT CITY stood by and rescued the crews.

Upper Lakes Shipping's new self-unloader CANADIAN OLYMPIC was christened on October 2, 1976, at St. Catharines, Ontario. Her name honored the Olympic Games that were held at Montreal that year.

TADOUSSAC (Hull#192) departed Collingwood on her maiden voyage for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd. on October 2, 1969, to load iron ore at Fort William, Ontario.

The sandsucker AMERICAN last operated in 1956, and laid up at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She was scrapped in S. Chicago in 1984.

JOHN T. HUTCHINSON and CONSUMERS POWER arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan on October 2, 1988, where dismantling began on October 14t by Li Chong Steel & Iron Works Co. Ltd.

On her maiden voyage October 2, 1943, E. G. GRACE cleared Lorain, Ohio, bound for Superior, Wisconsin, to load iron ore.

HOCHELAGA of 1949 departed Toronto October 2, 1993, in tow of the McKeil tugs GLENBROOK and KAY COLE for Montreal, Quebec, and then to the cutter’s torch.

October 2, 1954 - The PERE MARQUETTE 21 sailed into Ludington, Michigan, on her second maiden voyage of her career.

On October 2,1888, OLIVER CROMWELL (wooden schooner-barge, 138 foot, 291 tons, built in 1853, at Buffalo, New York) was being towed by the steamer LOWELL in a storm in Lake Huron when she broke her towline. She rode out most of the storm at anchor, but then she snapped her anchor chains and she was driven ashore at Harbor Beach, Michigan, where she broke up.

The 183 foot, 3-mast wooden schooner QUEEN CITY was launched at W. Bay City, Michigan, on 2 October 1873.

The Port Huron Times reported the following shipwrecks from a severe storm that swept the Lakes over 2-3 October 1887: Schooner CITY OF GREEN BAY lost near South Haven, Michigan; the schooner-barge CHARLES L HUTCHINSON, lost near Buffalo, New York; the steam barge ALBION and her consort the schooner-barge ARK ashore near Grindstone City, Michigan; the 3-mast schooner EBENEZER ashore near Holland, Michigan; the wooden package freighter CALIFORNIA sunk in the Straits of Mackinaw; the schooner HOLMES ashore at Middle Island on Lake Huron; the schooner GARIBALDI ashore near Port Elgin on Lake Huron; the barge MAYFLOWER disabled near Grand Haven, Michigan; the schooner D. S. AUSTIN ashore at Point Clark; and the schooner HENRY W HOAG ashore at Erie, Pennsylvania.

1891: WINSLOW ran aground in fog while inbound at Duluth. The hole in the wooden hull was patched and the ship was released and able to be docked. The vessel caught fire while unloading the next day and destroyed.

1938: The first WINDOC was struck when Bridge 20, a railway bridge across the Welland Canal, was lowered prematurely and removing the stack, spar and lifeboats of the N.M. Paterson steamer.

1953: A collision occurred between PIONEER and WALLSCHIFF in the St. Clair River on this date and the latter, a West German visitor to the Great Lakes, rolled on its side and settled in shallow water. One crew member perished. PIONEER, a Cleveland-Cliffs steamer, was repaired for further service and was later scrapped at Genoa, Italy, in 1961. WALLSCHIFF, on her first and only trip to the Great Lakes, was refloated and departed for permanent repairs overseas in 1954. The vessel was still sailing as g) GOLDEN MERCURY in 2011.

1973: A head-on collision in fog off Gull Island, Lake Michigan between the T-2 tanker MARATHONIAN and Norwegian freighter ROLWI left both ships with massive bow damage. The former had begun Seaway service as f) MARATHON in 1960 and was repaired at South Chicago. It disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle as h) SYLVIA L. OSSA in October 1976. ROLWI, a Norwegian salty, was also repaired and returned inland as b) DOBERG in 1974 and c) LORFRI in 1976. It arrived at Alang, India, for scrapping as e) PEROZAN on February 6, 1996.

1992: The Canadian coastal freighter SIR JOHN CROSBIE was built in St. Catharines by Port Weller Dry Docks in 1962. It sank in the Gulf of Mexico off the west coast of Florida as c) HOLSTEN on this date but all on board were rescued.


10/2 - Marquette, Mich. – The future of the historic Marquette Lighthouse will be decided soon, though financial constraints mean the plans will likely take time to carry out. The iconic red lighthouse by McCarty’s Cove was deeded to the city by the U.S. Coast Guard last July. The Marquette-based architecture firm Sanders and Czapski Associates was awarded a contract to conduct a land use plan for the lighthouse parcel last September.

The property has been thoroughly assessed, public input has been gathered, and a draft plan is being finalized that’s expected to go before the Marquette City Commission in October. The commission recently held a work session on the plan.

Director of Community Services Jon Swenson said final costs are being assessed for the capital plans before the final draft is submitted to the commission for consideration.

“Overall what the draft included was pretty well received (by commissioners),” Swenson said. “The biggest contentions were whether we should remove all the fences on the property” or just portions of the fencing. Another conversation piece was the future use of the captain’s residence and Lifesaving Service Building, which is a barracks that housed U.S. Coast Guard officers until the 2000s, according to museum staff.

There is discussion of using the facilities for short-term rentals and/or an artist in residency program, Swenson said, for which there was both support and apprehension among commissioners. Swenson said whatever happens to the property, it will require a revenue-generating aspect in order to maintain the historic site, which is extremely expensive.

The lighthouse is one of the oldest historic structures in Marquette, according to Maritime Historian Fred Stonehouse. The original lighthouse was constructed in 1866 with subsequent additions and improvements, including a second floor added in 1910.

Architect Ken Czapski, who is writing the lighthouse plan, said at an event earlier this summer that the lighthouse was painted “heart throb red” in the 1960s.

The 10-acre parcel has four major structures, the lighthouse and keeper’s dwelling, captain’s residence, USCG station building and a small brick pump house on the western side. An elevated walkway stretches east from the lighthouse to a former fuel tank bunker, a stone rubble barrier wall, the foundation of a former fog signal building and a former boat landing crib.

Stonehouse, president of the museum’s board of directors, said the museum first obtained a lease for lighthouse tours from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2002 after they had “effectively abandoned it” in 1991. He said the museum has spent about $200,000 maintaining the property.

Mining Journal


10/2 - Manitowoc, Wis. – Riparian rights would remain unchanged for people who own land within the boundary of the proposed Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary, NOAA Regional Coordinator Russ Green said Thursday at a Manitowoc County Lakes Association meeting.

Green gave a presentation to the association addressing various aspects of the sanctuary proposal. The sanctuary would cover 1,075 square miles of Lake Michigan from Manitowoc to Ozaukee counties to protect historic underwater resources.

Recent opposition has called various details of the sanctuary into question, including any changes to riparian rights, increased public access to their land via Lake Michigan, federal oversight on a state resource and the sanctuary's actual impact on tourism.

“The proposal doesn’t change state sovereignty over the water, this really is about co-managing historic resources through a memorandum of understanding with the state,” Green said.

Don Zimmer, a Manitowoc County Supervisor and the president of the Manitowoc County Republican Party, has been outspoken in his opposition to the proposed sanctuary.

After Thursday’s Lakes Association meeting, Zimmer said: “Considering the benefits that Mr. Green cited, they are redundant because we already do those — protection of shipwrecks, education of kids and we have a wonderful Maritime Museum in Manitowoc. We are going to give up our sovereignty, our sovereign control of the lake for activities that we are already engaging in.”

Zimmer said he felt the federal money spent to designate and maintain the Lake Michigan Marine Sanctuary would be wasted taxpayer dollars.

Green said he expects the sanctuary could be run on as little as $250,000 per year to a little more than $1 million per year, depending on federal funding allocations.

Many of the people who attended the Manitowoc County Lakes Association meeting Thursday spoke about concerns such as rules for metal detecting activities, if the public would be allowed to walk on private beaches and the potential for increased oversight from NOAA in the future.

“Why can’t NOAA do all that they have proposed without federally taking over our shore and 1,200 square miles of our water?” one woman asked. “That’s giving up our state sovereignty to the federal government who then will, as administrations change, do as they please and increase it. It is mind-boggling that our state would even consider that.”

Green said the sanctuary will focus on creating partnerships with surrounding businesses, organizations and the State of Wisconsin.

“It is the stories that are embedded in these places that are a big part of the equation,” Green said. “We are protecting the physical places, but those physical places are stories. Our Wisconsin stories are in there. … The idea that we can do more together than we can separately is really a big part of this.”

Jane Hamilton, a Manitowoc County resident who recently shared her experience in visiting Alpena, Michigan — the site of the Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary — at an Aug. 29 forum hosted by the Manitowoc County Republican Party said she was still concerned about an economic impact study done by the University of Michigan in 2013 that concluded more could be done to capitalize on the Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary.

“I find it interesting that after 12 years, there wasn’t a lot of ‘productive tourism,’ shall we say. … If we start tomorrow with the sanctuary, are we going to be waiting 12 years for any kind of activity as well?” she asked.

Green said it would be up to each city to figure out how they will take advantage of the resources a sanctuary would provide.

“The idea is to figure out how to capitalize on these places to drive good things to the economy … how you connect the greater public to the sanctuary,” he said.

According to Green, the sanctuary could be designated as early as 2018 or the process could take a few more years, depending on its approval by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. A recent executive order by President Donald Trump placing a moratorium on designating sanctuaries is also delaying the process.

Learn more about the proposed sanctuary at this link: sanctuaries.noaa.gov/wisconsin

Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter


9/30 - American Steamship Company, a leader in safe, efficient and environmentally responsible waterborne transportation, is looking for experienced Great Lakes Masters for the position of Permanent Relief Master. The successful candidate will have at least two years’ experience sailing as master aboard large commercial vessels. This is an immediate opportunity with a US flag operator and, as such, the candidate is subject to certain conditions. ASC is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer and is dedicated to continuously building value for our parent company, GATX, our customers, our employees and the communities in which we live and operate. Qualified candidates should apply to www.jobvite.com

American Steamship Co.

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/3 - Cleveland, Ohio – The Interlake Steamship Company has become the first U.S. Great Lakes shipowner to join Green Marine, the largest voluntary environmental certification program for the maritime industry in North America.

As the largest privately held U.S.-flagged fleet on the Great Lakes, the Interlake Steamship Company is propelled by a long-term vision to make its vessels the most efficient and environmentally responsible in the shipping industry.

“Green Marine certification aligns well with our strategic initiatives regarding the environment,” says Interlake President Mark W. Barker. “We have a long-term vision for our industry and we are investing in our ships and our equipment to offer the most reliable, efficient delivery within an industry that is already the greenest form of transportation available.”

“We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Interlake,” adds David Bolduc, Green Marine’s executive director. “With its visionary fleet modernization over the past decade and all the investments made towards more sustainable operations, there’s no doubt that Interlake is committed to continual environmental improvement, which is the core of the Green Marine program.”

The Green Marine environmental program offers a roadmap for ship owners, port authorities, terminal operators and shipyards to voluntarily reduce their environmental footprint. The comprehensive program addresses key environmental issues using 12 performance indicators. With a quickly increasing membership – especially in the United States – Green Marine has become a leading point of reference in North America for environmental best practices.

Green Marine certification is a rigorous and transparent process. All results are independently verified every two years and each company’s individual performance made public annually.


On October 3,1887, EBENEZER (3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 103 foot, 158 gross tons, built in 1847, at Buffalo, New York) was driven ashore off the breakwater at Holland, Michigan, during a storm. She had sprung a leak in the terrific storm, lost her deck load of shingles and struck the pier trying to get into the harbor. She broke in two but was later raised and rebuilt. She lasted until 1903.

On October 3,1887, CITY OF GREEN BAY (3-mast wooden schooner, 145 foot, 346 gross tons, built in 1872, at Green Bay, Wisconsin) was carrying iron ore from Escanaba to St. Joseph, Michigan, on Lake Michigan and having difficulty in a strong westerly gale. She sprang a leak and anchored four miles from South Haven and put up distress signals. The wind and waves were so bad that the crew could not safely abandon the vessel. She slipped her anchor and was driven on to a bar at Evergreen Point, just 500 feet from shore. The crew scrambled up the rigging as the vessel sank. The South Haven Life Saving crew tried to get a breeches buoy out to the wreck, but their line broke repeatedly. So much wreckage was in the surf that it fouled their surfboat. Soon the masts went by the board and the crew members were in the churning seas. Six died. Only Seaman A. T. Slater made it to shore. The ineffective attempts of the Life Saving crew resulted in Keeper Barney Alonzo Cross being relieved of his command of the station.

The E. G. GRACE was delivered to the Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland on October 3, 1943. The GRACE was part of a government program designed to upgrade and increase the capacity of the U.S. Great Lakes fleet during World War II. In order to help finance the building of new ships, the U.S.M.C. authorized a program that would allow existing fleets to obtain new boats by trading in their older boats to the government for credit. As partial payment for each new vessel, a fleet owner surrendered the equivalent tonnage of their existing and/or obsolete vessels, along with some cash, to the Maritime Commission.

October 3, 1941 - The CITY OF FLINT 32, eastbound from Milwaukee, collided with the PERE MARQUETTE 22 westbound. The PERE MARQUETTE 22 headed directly for Manitowoc for repairs while the CITY OF FLINT 32 continued to Ludington where she discharged her cargo, then headed for the shipyard in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

The barges BELLE CASH and GEO W. HANNAFORD, owned by Capt. Cash of East China Township, Michigan, were driven ashore on Long Point in Lake Erie on 3 October 1875.

On October 3, 1900, the steel freighter CAPTAIN THOMAS WILSON left Port Huron on her maiden voyage for Marquette, Michigan, where she loaded 6,200 tons of iron ore for Cleveland, Ohio.

ARK (3-mast iron-strapped wooden scow-schooner-barge, 177 foot, 512 tons, built in 1875, at Port Dalhousie, Ontario) was in tow of the steam barge ALBION (wooden propeller, 134 foot, 297 gross tons, built in 1862, at Brockville, Ontario) on Lake Huron when a terrific storm struck on October 3,1887. Both were loaded with lumber. Both vessels were driven ashore near Grindstone City, Michigan. The U.S. Lifesaving Service rescued the crews. The ALBION was pounded to pieces the next day and the ARK was declared a total loss, but was recovered and was sailing again within the month.

1907: The wooden tug PHILADELPHIA dated from 1869 and briefly served in the Algoma fleet. It was wrecked at Gros Cap, Lake Superior, on this date in 1907.

1911: The wooden freighter A.L. HOPKINS had cleared Bayfield the previous day with a full load of lumber and foundered in a storm on this date near Michigan Island, Lake Superior. Buoyed by the cargo, the hull floated a few more days before it disappeared. All 15 on board were picked up by the ALVA C. DINKEY.

1928: The steel bulk carrier M.J. BARTELME ran aground at Cana Island, Lake Michigan. The bottom was ripped open and the ship was abandoned. It was dismantled on site in 1929.

1953: The superstructure of the idle passenger steamer PUT-IN-BAY was burned off in Lake St. Clair and the remains of the iron hull were later dismantled at River Rouge.

1963: The Liberian flag Liberty ship TRIKERI, on her only trip to the Great Lakes, swung sideways in the Welland Canal near Welland, blocked the waterway and delayed traffic for 4 hours. The ship arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping as e) DAHLIA on December 27, 1967.

1963: A fire broke out in the cargo hold of the FRED CHRISTIANSEN while downbound at Sault Ste. Marie. The stubborn blaze took 4 hours to put out and was believed caused by some of the grain igniting as it was close to a steam line. The Norwegian freighter began Seaway trading in 1959 and returned as b) HERA in 1964. It arrived at Pasajes, Spain, under this name for scrapping on May 30, 1974.

1969: JOSEPH H. ran aground at Bic Island, in the St. Lawrence while enroute from Milwaukee to Russia with a cargo of rawhides. The Liberian-flag vessel sustained heavy bottom damage. It was refloated on October 6, taken to Levis, QC, and subsequently broken up there for scrap. The ship was operating under her fifth name and had first come through the Seaway as a) GRANADA in 1959.

1980: POLYDORA first came inland for four trips as a) FERNFIORD in 1963 and returned under her new name in 1964 on charter to Canadian Pacific Steamships. The ship had been at Marina di Carrara, Italy, and under arrest as d) GEORGIOS B., when it sailed overnight without permission. A fire in the engineroom broke out the next day and, while taken in tow, the ship foundered east of Tavolara Island, Sardinia.

1999: MANCHESTER MERCURIO traded through the Seaway in a container shuttle service beginning in 1971. It was abandoned by the crew and sank off the coast of Morocco as f) PHOENIX II on this date in 1999.

2000: The tug KETA V. usually operated on the St. Lawrence for Verreault Navigation but came to the Great Lakes with barges for Windsor in 1993. It ran aground and sank near Liverpool, NS on this date in 2000 but all on board got away safely on life rafts.