Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/4 - Duluth, Minn. – Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. this week announced it was acquiring U.S. Steel’s 15 percent stake in the Tilden iron ore mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The $105 million purchase gives Cliffs 100 percent ownership of the operation. The company reported the transaction closed on Friday.

“With the current strength in the Great Lakes iron ore pellet market and anticipated future demand from our (hot-briquette iron) facility, acquiring additional pellet capacity became a top priority for Cliffs,” CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in a statement.

The Tilden mine and pellet plant is located near Ishpeming, Mich., and employs about 900 people. Cliffs’ other Michigan operation, the nearby Empire Mine, closed for good earlier this year.

Duluth News Tribune


10/4 - Duluth, Minn. – Tom Clarke, the billionaire health care and coal executive who is trying to become a major player in the global iron ore industry, toured the Iron Range Monday touting the potentially bright future of his big projects.

Clarke last winter purchased bankrupt Magnetation operations and is moving to restart the Grand Rapids-area processing plant in coming months as soon as air pollution violations left behind by previous owners are settled at the company's Indiana pellet plant.

Clarke this summer also won the rights to take over the bankrupt, half-finished Essar Steel Minnesota project in Nashwauk, and appears to be getting closer to landing the money needed to finish the project.

On Saturday, Gov. Mark Dayton gave his blessings to Clarke's Chippewa Capital Partners, agreeing to relax an Oct. 1 deadline for Clarke to have financing secured and start work on the Nashwauk project. Clarke didn't make that deadline, but Dayton has apparently removed the threat of taking back state mineral leases critical for mining operations at the project.

"It's a great feeling to be where we are right now. But we're not at the finishing line yet," Clarke told the News Tribune Monday after meeting with employees, Iron Range lawmakers, Nashwauk Mayor Ben DeNucci and other officials.

Clarke said he hopes to have all of the key elements in place by the end of 2017 as the Nashwauk project finally emerges from bankruptcy — including purchase agreements for taconite pellets, from a Chinese steelmaker, and for the hot-briquette iron he plans to make, the first directly reduced, added-value iron product ever made on the Iron Range. Other elements include $500 million in equity financing and up to $600 million in bank financing. It will cost another $600 million or so to build the iron plant at the site.

Clarke estimates that, in all, Chippewa Capital Partners will pump another $1.6 billion on top of $1.9 billion already spent by Essar for a combined $3.5 billion project, by far the largest private investment in Minnesota history.

Construction could resume as early as March, Clarke said, and will take 25 months. It will take another 6 months to "commission" the facilities and sell finished product. That's about mid-2020 before everything is operational, if all goes well.

"But before then we'll have more than 1,000 construction workers on the job and a lot of economic activity going on across the Iron Range," Clarke said. Eventually the two facilities at the site could employ about 450 people.



Duluth News Tribune




On October 4, 1887, ORIENT (wooden propeller tug, 60 foot, 37 gross tons, built in 1874, at Buffalo, New York) foundered three miles west of Point Pelee on Lake Erie in a storm. She was seen going down by the schooners LISGAR and GLENFORD but neither was able to help. All six on the ORIENT were lost. She was out of Marine City, Michigan.

On October 4, 1979, the ST. LAWRENCE NAVIGATOR arrived at the Port Weller Dry Docks, St. Catharines, Ontario, where she was lengthened to the Seaway maximum length of 730-foot overall. A new bow and cargo section was installed including a bow thruster and was assigned Hull #66. New tonnage; 18,788 gross tons, 12,830 net tons, 32,279 deadweight tons. She was renamed c.) CANADIAN NAVIGATOR in 1980 and ALGOMA NAVIGATOR in 2012. She sails for Algoma Central Corp. She was converted to a self-unloader in 1997.

TEXACO BRAVE (Hull#779) was launched October 4, 1976, by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shimonoseki, Japan for Texaco Canada Ltd., Don Mills, Ontario. Renamed b.) LE BRAVE in 1987, c.) IMPERIAL ST LAWRENCE in 1997, and d.) ALGOEAST in 1998.

On October 4, 1980, Bethlehem's ARTHUR B. HOMER was laid up for the last time at Erie, Pennsylvania. As a result of the collision between the PARKER EVANS and the SIDNEY E SMITH JR, four months earlier, alternate one-way traffic between the Black River Buoy and Buoys 1 and 2 in Lake Huron was agreed upon by the shipping companies on October 4, 1972

The JAMES E. FERRIS' last trip before scrapping was from Duluth, Minnesota, with a split load of 261,000 bushels of wheat for Buffalo, New York, arriving there October 4, 1974.

The JIIMAAN, twin screw ro/ro cargo/passenger ferry built to Ice Class 1D standards had its keel laid October 4, 1991, at Port Weller Drydocks, Ltd. (Hull# 76).

On October 4, 1982, the BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS laid up for the last time in Duluth, Minnesota. She was towed out of Duluth, on her way to Kahoshiung, Taiwan for scrapping, on June 17, 1988.

October 4, 1940 - The Ludington Daily News reported "The Pere Marquette car ferries handled approximately 95,000 freight cars last year." (1939)

On October 4,1877, BRITISH LION (3 mast wooden bark, 128 foot, 293 tons, built in 1862, at Kingston, Ontario) was carrying coal from Black River, Ohio, to Brockville, Ontario. She was driven ashore at Long Point in Lake Erie by a storm and wrecked. She was the first bark on the Lakes to be wire rigged and she was built for the Great Lakes - Liverpool trade.

On October 4, 1883, JAMES DAVIDSON (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 231 foot, 1,456 gross tons, built in 1874, at W. Bay City, Michigan) was carrying coal and towing the barge MIDDLESEX in a storm on Lake Huron. She was driven onto a reef near Thunder Bay Island and ripped up her bottom. The barge was rescued by the tug V SWAIN. No lives were lost. Financially, the DAVIDSON was the most extensive loss on the Lakes in the 1883, season. She was valued at $65,000 and insured for $45,000. Her coal cargo was valued at $8,000.

1904: CONGRESS burned at the dock at South Manitou Island, Lake Michigan while loading lumber. The ship was towed away, abandoned, burned to the waterline and sank.

1966: ROBERT J. PAISLEY ran aground in heavy weather off Michigan City, IN. The ship was released the next day but went to Sarnia with hull damage and was laid up.

2008: MERKUR BAY came through the Seaway in 1984. It hit a rock as m) NEW ORIENTAL in heavy weather off Tuy An, Vietnam, and settled on the bottom with a large hole in the bow. The crew abandoned ship on October 18 when it showed signs of sinking. It was enroute from Thailand to China with iron ore and was a total loss.

[yachtsmanwilly]

No news is good news.

ATB Undaunted and consort PM41 left Manitowoc at 2000hrs yesterday with red granite for seawall jobs elsewhere. That's the best I can do. ws

[Avenger]

I'm going to write a strongly worded letter.

[ppat324]

Oct 5, 2017 5:50:40 GMT -5 yachtsmanwilly said:

No news is good news.

ATB Undaunted and consort PM41 left Manitowoc at 2000hrs yesterday with red granite for seawall jobs elsewhere. That's the best I can do. ws

I was stuck at the bridge watching it leave the channel.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On October 6, 1893, DAVID STEWART (3-mast wooden schooner, 171 foot, 545 gross tons, built in 1867, at Cleveland, Ohio) foundered in a gale off Pigeon Bay, Ontario, on Lake Erie. She crew clung to the frozen rigging for 14 hours until saved by the fish tug LOUISE of Sandusky, Ohio. The STEWART was carrying iron ore at the time of her loss.

Herb Fraser & Associates completed repairs on the ALGOSOO at the Welland Dock on October 6 1986. She had suffered a serious fire at her winter mooring on the west wall above Lock 8 at Port Colborne, Ontario, on March 7, 1986.

The bow section of the barge PRESQUE ISLE arrived Erie, Pennsylvania, on October 6, 1972 under tow of the tugs MARYLAND and LAURENCE C. TURNER. The total cost to construct the tug/barge 1,000- footer was approximately $35 million.

October 6, 1981, the Reoch self-unloader ERINDALE's bow was damaged when she hit the Allanburg Bridge abutment running down bound in the Welland Canal. Built in 1915, as a.) W. F. WHITE, she was renamed b.) ERINDALE in 1976.

In 1980, the LAC DES ILES grounded in the Detroit River just below Grassy Island, the result of a faulty steering mechanism. She freed herself a few hours later. The damage caused by the grounding ended her career. She was scrapped at Port Colborne in 1985.

This day in 1870, the schooner E. FITZGERALD was launched at the Fitzgerald & Leighton yard at Port Huron, Michigan. Her dimensions were 135 feet x 26 feet x 11 feet.

In 1875, the MERCHANT (iron propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 200 foot, 750 tons, built in 1862, at Buffalo, New York) was carrying lumber on Lake Michigan when she stranded on Racine Reef near Racine, Wisconsin. Then she caught fire and was gutted before she could be refloated. She had stranded on that same reef twice previously. She was the first iron cargo ship built on the Lakes and the first one lost.

On October 6, 1873, JOHN A. MC DOUGALL (wooden schooner-barge, 151 foot, 415 gross tons) was launched at Wenona, Michigan. She was built at the Ballentine yard in only five weeks.

On October 6, 1889, PHILO SCOVILLE (3-mast wooden schooner, 140 foot, 323 tons, built in 1863, at Cleveland, Ohio) was sailing from Collingwood for Chicago when a storm drove her into the shallows and wrecked her near Tobermory, Ontario. Her captain died while trying to get ashore through the rocks. The Canadian Lifesaving Service saved the rest of the crew. At first the vessel was expected to be recovered, but she broke up by 10 October.

1910: The wooden freighter MUSKEGON, formerly the PEERLESS, was damaged by a fire at Michigan City, IN and became a total loss.

1958: SHIERCLIFFE HALL hit bottom in the St. Marys River and was intentionally grounded off Lime Island with substantial damage. The ship was refloated and repaired at Collingwood.

1966: EMSSTEIN and OLYMPIC PEARL collided south of St. Clair, MI and the former had to be beached before it capsized. This West German freighter made 19 trips to the Great lakes from 1959 through 1967 and arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping as d) VIOLETTA on May 28, 1978. The latter, on her first trip to the Great Lakes, had bow damage and was also repaired. This ship arrived at Alang, India, for scrapping as b) AL TAHSEEN on May 6, 1985.

1972: ALGORAIL hit the pier inbound at Holland, MI with a cargo of salt and settled on the bottom about 12 feet off the dock with a gash in the port bow. The vessel was refloated in 24 hours and headed to Thunder Bay for repairs.

1982: CONTINENTAL PIONEER made 8 trips through the Seaway from 1960 through 1964. A fire broke out in the accommodation area as c) AGRILIA, about 20 miles north of Porto Praia, Cape Verde Islands and the heavily damaged ship was abandoned before it drifted aground in position 15.06 N / 23.30 W.



September 5, 1899, the DOUGLASS HOUGHTON grounded at Sailors Encampment and sank when rammed by her barge, JOHN FRITZ. The HOUGHTON completely blocked St. Marys River traffic for five days. More than 300 boats were delayed at an estimated loss of $600,000.

On 05 September 1898, the MONTGOMERY (wooden schooner-barge, 204 foot, 709 tons, built in 1856, at Newport [Marine City], Michigan as a passenger/package freight steamer) sank in 21 feet of water on Lake St. Clair after colliding with the whaleback barge 137 (steel barge, 345 foot, 2,480 gross tons, built in 1896, at W. Superior, Wisconsin) which was being towed by the ALEXANDER McDOUGALL (steel propeller semi-whaleback freighter, 413 foot, 3,686 gross tons, built in 1898, at West Superior, Wisconsin). The MONTGOMERY was raised and repaired. She lasted another two years before breaking up in a storm in 1901.

CHI-CHEEMAUN completed her sea trials on September 5, 1974, and then cleared the Collingwood shipyard on September 26th.

BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS cleared Lorain on her maiden voyage September 5, 1942 for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

J. P. MORGAN, JR. returned to service September 5, 1948, after repairs suffered in an accident in June.

NEW QUEDOC arrived at McLouth Steel, Trenton, Michigan, on her maiden voyage September 5, 1960, with a load of Labrador iron ore. Renamed b.) QUEDOC in 1963. QUEDOC was scrapped at Curacao Island, Lesser Antilles in 1985.

The WYANDOTTE of 1916, a.) CONNEAUT, was towed down the Welland Canal on September 5- 6, 1973, on her way to the cutter’s torch at Santander, Spain.

On 5 September 1905, ABERCORN (wooden propeller 'rabbit', 126 foot, 261 gross tons, built in 1873, at Marine City, Michigan) burned at the dock at Goderich, Ontario, while unloading coal. She reportedly caught fire from the explosion of a signal lamp.

The schooner CALEDONIA, wrecked the previous autumn near the Fishing Islands on Lake Huron, was raised and arrived in Port Huron, Michigan, on September 5, 1882, under tow to be rebuilt.

1896: The Canadian passenger ship BALTIC, built in 1867 as FRANCES SMITH, burned at the dock in Collingwood. The hull drifted to shallow water and remained there for several years.

1964: A. & J. MID-AMERICA, a Seaway caller in 1963, was driven ashore at Lantau Island near Hong Kong by typhoon Ruby. The vessel was refloated October 5 but came ashore again days later during typhoon Dot on October 13. Refloated October 21, the vessel returned to service and was scrapped as e) UNION TIGER at Inchon, South Korea, after arriving in April 1968.

1964: The former HEMSEFJELL, a pre-Seaway trader, was also blown aground at Hong Kong as d) PROSPERITY during typhoon Ruby but released on October 5. It was scrapped in Thailand during 1972.

1964: The three-year old bulk carrier LEECLIFFE HALL sank in the St. Lawrence, 65 miles below Quebec City, following a collision with the APOLLONIA. Efforts to beach the ship failed and three lives were lost. The hull was dynamited as a hazard to navigation in 1966. The latter, a Greek freighter, had been a Seaway trader in 1964 and was repaired at Levis, QC. The ship was scrapped at Shanghai, China, as c) MAYFAIR after arriving on May 3, 1985.

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/7 - Cleveland, Ohio The Coast Guard is urging caution across the waters of Lake Michigan due to potentially hazardous weather conditions throughout the weekend. A gale watch has been issued for Lake Michigan beginning Friday morning and extending through late Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

According to the National Weather Service, a gale watch is issued when the risk of gale force winds of 39 to 54 mph has significantly increased but the specific timing and/or location is still uncertain. It is intended to provide additional lead time for mariners who may wish to consider altering their plans.

People visiting the waters of Lake Michigan should exercise caution while the gale watch remains in effect. It is also advised to stay off rocks, jetties and piers, as high waves and heavy surf can unexpectedly sweep a person into the water.

Always check the weather forecast before recreating on or near the water. Staying aware of weather conditions could easily save your life. Even after hazardous weather patterns have moved through the area, it can still take an additional day for lake conditions to calm.

USCG


10/8 - Algoway, Whitefish Bay and Cason J. Callaway were anchored in the lee of the land just east of St. Ignace, Mich., Saturday afternoon waiting for gale-force winds on Lake Michigan to subside. Great Republic was stopped just west of the bridge. Joseph L. Block, bound for Port Inland where there was another vessel ahead of her, was anchored a few miles to the NE in Good Harbor Bay. Edwin H. Gott had been anchored in Sleeping Bear Bay near Glen Arbor, however she resumed her trip for Gary in the evening.

10/8 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – A 67-year-old package freighter that's been rusting on the Sault waterfront since 1975 is back on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting of the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont ., City Council. Ward 3 Councillor Matthew Shoemaker and Ward 4's Rick Niro say the current high water level may provide an opportunity to remove the Norgoma from Roberta Bondar Marina without costly dredging.

As SooToday reported last month, Mayor Chrisrian Provenzano has served notice that he wants the Norgoma moved out of the marina and out of downtown Sault Ste. Marie. Councllors Shoemaker and Niro also want the city to look into improvements to the Bondar marina.

Options for removing the Norgoma from the Bondar Marina, including the cost of removal, where the ship will be brought, and options for what can be done with the ship on a permanent basis and potential funding sources to achieve this will be discussed at the meeting.

SooToday


10/8 - Hamilton, Ont. – The Government of Canada is pulling the plug on the much-delayed refit of the venerable Canadian Coast Guard Ship Hudson. CBC News has learned the Coast Guard towed the Hudson out of an Ontario shipyard Friday with the $4-million refit unfinished.

The ocean science research ship arrived at Heddle Marine in Hamilton, Ont., in December 2016 for maintenance work that was supposed to be completed in May. The Coast Guard won't say what went wrong and can't say when the ship will be back in service.

"The Canadian Coast Guard and Public Services and Procurement Canada have worked closely with Heddle Marine to manage delays in the scheduled maintenance of the CCGS Hudson, and to bring her back into service in a reasonable time frame. Despite those efforts, the work has not been completed," spokesperson Vance Chow said in an emailed response to questions from CBC News.

On Friday, the 91-metre ship was towed across Hamilton Harbor to the Canada Centre for Inland Waters — a federal facility in Burlington — "to await the completion of the maintenance work required before she can return to service." The Coast Guard says new timelines for the ship's return to service are currently under review.

The refit included overhauling the superstructure and masts, blasting and recoating the hull, replacing steel and repairing the rudder.

When CBC News revealed the refit delays in August, the company said it had been instructed by the Coast Guard not to discuss the situation. Heddle Marine spokesperson Shaun Padulo emailed a short statement in response to CBC News inquiries on Friday about the end of the refit.

"Although there were a number of challenges faced during the dry docking of the CCGS Hudson which led to delays in the completion of the work, Canada has accepted all of the completed work," Padulo wrote.

The Coast Guard has not responded to a request to explain the nature of the refit delay, how much work remains on the refit or who will pay.

In an update to employees via email this week the department said it is unclear what impact the ship's "sitting around for so long" will have on completing the final stages of the refit.

The delay has already forced the cancellation of scientific cruises scheduled for the storied Hudson, which is Canada's premier marine research vessel. The 54-year-old workhorse was supposed to be replaced several years ago, but that too has been delayed.

CBC


On 08 October 1871, PHILO PARSONS (wooden side-wheel steamer, 221 tons, built in 1861, at Algonac, Michigan) burned to a total loss in the great Chicago fire. She burned so completely that her remains were not located in the Chicago River until 1877. She was the vessel commandeered by Confederate raiders in a plot to capture the iron gunboat U.S.S. MICHIGAN on Lake Erie during the American Civil War. The Chicago fire destroyed many fine vessels while they were docked in the harbor. These included the new propeller NAVARINO, the schooner GLENBULA, the schooner ECLIPSE, the schooner BUTCHER BOY, the bark VALETTA, the schooner ALNWICK, the bark A. P. NICHOLS, the bark FONTANELLA, the fore-and-aft schooner STAMPEDE, the schooner N. C. FORD, and the schooner CHRISTINA NEILSON. The only recorded casualties among the sailors were on the ALNWICK; her mate died and the captain burned his hands severely.

The keel was laid October 8, 1976, for the 660-foot forward section of the BURNS HARBOR, but was completed as b.) LEWIS WILSON FOY for the Bethlehem Steel Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Purchased by Oglebay Norton and renamed c.) OGLEBAY NORTON in 1991, and d.) AMERICAN INTEGRITY in 2006.

The MATHEWSTON (Hull#47) entered service on October 8, 1922. On her maiden voyage she sailed from Port Arthur, Ontario with 11,634 tons of barley and wheat. Renamed b.) RALPH S. MISENER in 1954 and c.) MATHEWSTON again in 1967. Scrapped at Vado, Italy in 1970.

The Canadian registry for MENIHEK LAKE was officially closed on October 8, 1985, with the notation "sold Spain." She was scrapped at Gijon, Spain.

WILLIAM G. MATHER arrived on October 8, 1988, in tow of the Great Lakes Towing Co. tugs WYOMING and ALABAMA at the G&W Shipyard at Collision Bend in the Cuyahoga River to be refurbished.

On 8 October 1906, PASADENA (wooden barge, 250 foot, 1,761 gross tons, built in 1889, at Cleveland, Ohio as a propeller bulk freighter) was carrying coal, in tow of the steamer GLADSTONE, bound for Superior, Wisconsin. The PASADENA went out of control in a gale and her skipper had the tow line cut. She was thrown against a pier near the upper entry to the Keweenaw Waterway and pounded to pieces in a few hours. Two lives were lost, but 8 made it to shore on the floating wreckage.

On 8 October 1854, E. K. COLLINS (wooden passenger/package freight side-wheeler, 256 foot, 1,095 gross tons, built in 1853, at Newport, Michigan) caught fire and beached near the mouth of the Detroit River where she burned to the waterline. About 23 lives were lost. About 43 persons were rescued in small boats and by the steamers FINTRY and GLOBE. There was some speculation that arson was the cause. The hull was recovered in 1857, and rebuilt as the barge ARK.

On October 8, 2000 the tug UNDAUNTED and barge PERE MARQUETTE 41 departed Calumet Harbor loaded with pig iron for Marinette, Wis., under favorable conditions and were later caught by the heavy weather. During the storm, the 5,000 tons of pig iron and the barge's four pieces of heavy loading equipment were washed into Lake Michigan. Both the tug and barge suffered damage in the incident.

1899: The tug RECORD sank at Duluth after a collision with the whaleback steamer JAMES B. NEILSON and one life was lost.

1906: The barge PASADENA, loaded with iron ore for Cleveland and under tow of the steamer GLADSTONE, was cut loose approaching the Keweenaw Waterway. The anchors fail to hold. The ship smashed into the east pier of the waterway and broke up on the rocks. Seven sailors were rescued but two were lost.

1964: A fire aboard West German-flag freighter ERATO at Detroit left two dead when they were trapped in their stern quarters. Another three sailors were injured. The 2-alarm blaze was brought under control and the ship was eventually repaired at Toledo. It arrived at Bombay, India, and laid up as d) VIJAYA DARSHANA on May 26, 1983, and eventually scrapped there beginning in May 1986.

1971: DIDO went aground leaving Goole, U.K. for Porsgrunn, Norway, but returned to Goole the next day after being refloated. The 22-year-old Norwegian freighter was listed as a total loss and sold for scrap. It was taken to Hull, U.K., a year later and dismantled. The ship had been a pre-Seaway trader as early as 1951 and made 14 voyages to the Great Lakes from 1959 through 1963.

On October 7, 1968, the NORMAN P. CLEMENT was damaged in a grounding off Britt, Ontario. The Canadian boat was towed to Collingwood for repairs. However, while in dry dock, an explosion occurred on October 16 that injured 11 workers and further damaged the hull. Rather than repair her, the owners had the CLEMENT towed out into Georgian Bay where she was intentionally sunk on October 23, 1968.

On this day in 1939, the E. G. MATHIOTT collided with the steamer CORVUS on the St. Clair River. Damage to the CORVUS totaled $37,647.70.

On this day in 1958, the WALTER E. WATSON, Captain Ralph Fenton, rescued the sailing vessel TAMARA on Lake Huron.

On October 7, 1871, GEM (wooden schooner, 120 foot, 325 tons, built in 1853, at Buffalo, New York) was sailing up bound in a storm on Lake Erie with a load of coal. She began to leak and was run to shore in an effort to save her. However, she went down before reaching shoal water and settled with six feet of water over her decks.

ALGOWOOD was launched October 7, 1980, at Collingwood, Ontario, for Algoma Central Marine, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

PAUL THAYER was launched October 7, 1973, for the Union Commerce Bank Trustee, Cleveland, Ohio and managed by Kinsman Marine Transit Co., Cleveland. She was built under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970, for $12.6 million. Renamed b.) EARL W. OGLEBAY in 1995.

The WILLIAM MC LAUCHLAN (Hull#793) was launched at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co., on October 7, 1926, for the Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Renamed b.) SAMUEL MATHER in 1966, c.) JOAN M. MC CULLOUGH in 1975 and d.) BIRCHGLEN in 1982. Scrapped at Sydney, Nova Scotia, in 1988.

BLACK RIVER, a lake bulk freighter, was built as a steel barge in 1897, by the F.W. Wheeler & Co., she was launched October 7, 1896, as a.) SIR ISAAC LOTHIAN BELL (Hull# 118).

HUTCHCLIFFE HALL was raised October 7, 1962, and taken to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs. She had sunk after a collision a few days earlier.

October 7, 1923 - The ANN ARBOR NO 4 went back into service after being overhauled and having new cabins built on her main deck.

MADISON suffered a fire on October 7, 1987, while lying idle at Muskegon, Michigan, and was badly damaged.

In 1903, ADVENTURE (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 108 foot, 142 gross tons, built in 1875, at Detroit, Michigan, as a schooner) caught fire while tied to the Kelleys Island Line & Transport Co. Dock. The blaze spread so quickly that those on board barely escaped. She was towed from Kelleys Island out into Lake Erie by the tug SMITH to save the dock and the adjacent schooner ANDERSON.

In a severe gale and rain/hail storm on October 7, 1858, the 247-ton schooner OSPREY approached Oswego, New York. As she was about to enter the harbor, the vessel struck the east pier broadside. Her masts and rigging were carried away and she started to sink. Capt. John Parsons got his wife and child out of the cabin to try to escape to the pier. His wife was washed overboard and drowned. Capt. Parsons held on to his child, but another wave struck the wreck and swept the child into the water. George Crine, the mate, was also swept overboard. Those three were lost, but the next wave swung the wreck about with her bowsprit over the pier and the captain and the six remaining crewmen scrambled to safety. The entire town and harbor mourned those deaths and held a dockside service two days later with many prayers and all flags at half-mast. Donations were accepted for the surviving sailors since they escaped with only the clothes on their backs.

On October 7,1873, the PULASKI was launched at the Archibald Muir yard on the Black River in Port Huron. Her dimensions were 136 feet x 26 feet x 11 feet, 349 gross tons. She was a three mast "full canaller", painted white and her private signal was a red M on a white ground bordered with blue. Her sails were made by Mr. D. Robeson of Port Huron, Michigan.

On October 7, 1886, The Port Huron Times reported that "The old side-wheel ferry SARNIA, which was a familiar sight at this crossing [Port Huron-Sarnia] for so many years, and which is said to have earned enough money in her time to sheet her with silver, the hull of which has been for some years back used as a barge by the Marine City Salt Company, has closed her career. She was last week scuttled near the Marine City Salt Works wharf."

1902: ANN MARIA hit a sandbar approaching Kincardine while inbound with a cargo of coal and broke up as a total loss. Four crew and a volunteer rescuer were reported lost.

1917: GEORGE A. GRAHAM was wrecked off Manitoulin Island, Georgian Bay, when the cargo shifted when turning in a storm. The ship ran for the safety of South Bay but stranded on the rocks. All on board were saved but the ship was a total loss.

1919: The wooden steamer HELEN TAYLOR was damaged by a fire in the pilothouse near Hessel, Mich., but was repaired.

1937: M & F DREDGE NO. 14, Hull 39 from the Collingwood shipyard, foundered in the St. Lawrence off Batiscan, QC as b) D.M. DREDGE NO. 14.

1956: The consort barge DELKOTE of the Hindman fleet was adrift for 9 hours in a Lake Superior storm with 13 on board and waves up to 20 feet. The ship had broken loose of the GEORGE HINDMAN but was picked up by the CAPT. C.D. SECORD.

1968: EDWARD Y. TOWNSEND, under tow for scrapping in Bilbao, Spain, broke in two about 400 miles southeast of St. John's, NF, and the bow sank. The stern was apparently retrieved and towed into Santander, Spain, for scrapping on October 28.


10/7 - Ludington, Mich. – In the best interest of passenger comfort and safety, Lake Michigan Carferry has cancelled the Badger's crossings for Saturday, October 7.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecast for Saturday is as follows: South gales to 40 kt becoming southwest gales to 35 kt by late afternoon. Showers throughout the day with a slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Waves 10 to 14 ft occasionally to 18 ft.

Lake Michigan Carferry will resume normal operations for Sunday, October 8, departures.

Lake Michigan Carferry

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/10 - Duluth, Minn. – An incredibly wet year has helped push Lake Superior nearly a foot above its normal water level and inches from its record high level for this time of year while causing headaches for waterfront property owners around the big lake.

So much rain has been falling across the region that Lake Superior actually went up an inch in September, a month it usually drops an inch or more.

The big lake was more than 11 inches above its average level for Oct. 1, more than 4 inches above the level at this time in 2016 and is just 2 inches short of the all-time September high set in 1985, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers data.

The current level is 2 feet above the water levels listed on official lake maps and charts. The high water level is made greater at times by the lake's mysterious sloshing, both large seiches and smaller oscillations that can change water levels by 6 inches or more in a matter of minutes.

Worse yet are strong winds that can pile water up on one end of the lake "especially during the upcoming November and December periods of strong lake storms,'' said Gene Clark, coastal engineering specialist with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant program. Those gales of November could lead to a "very damaging scenario" along the lakeshore.

The higher-than-normal trend started in 2014 and will last at least into 2018, data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers show. The lake was higher in both 1986 and 1996, but neither of those high-water periods lasted as long as the current above-normal period.

The situation will improve over winter as the lake level drops, part of an annual cycle that bottoms out every April before heading back up, peaking in August. (The lake's all-time low hit in April 1926. The all-time high was in August 1986.)

But if water levels remain above normal all winter, and 2018 turns out to be another wet year, record highs are within reach next summer.

Residents along Park Point already have had hoses and PVC pipe running from their basements or sumps out toward the street, pumps running almost constantly to remove water that's percolating up through the sand that underlays the entire spit of land. On many days, there's simply no place for that water to go. The water table is so high that water from the bay percolates into the storm sewer system and comes out the storm drains.

"It's doing the opposite of what storm drains are supposed to do. It's giving us more water, not taking it away,'' McLoughlin said.

City of Duluth engineers say the near-record Lake Superior water level also is causing problems with the sanitary sewer system that moves sewage off Park Point and into the city's collection system. Too much water percolating up has spurred raw sewage overflows along Minnesota Avenue, the city said last week. City crews are planning to re-line parts of the Park Point sewer pipe, and the city is working with residents to make sure they aren't pumping clean water into the sewage system.

Great Lakes forecasters for the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers say they expect the big lake to continue trending higher than normal into 2018 and that there's a chance it will remain near all-time monthly highs early next year.

"Our forecast stays pretty well above average for the next six months, between 8 and 11 inches above average,'' Lauren Fry, a hydrologist in the Corps' Detroit District office, told the News Tribune. "We are not forecasting any record monthly highs during the next six months, but that depends on the water supply."

That water supply was 27 percent above average in September. In Duluth, more than 30 inches of rain has fallen this year. That's more than 8 inches above normal, a nearly 30 percent surplus. Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. is up 5.5 inches above normal rainfall for the year with Marquette up more than 4 inches.

The current high water trend may seem even higher because it follows a drastically low-water cycle that bottomed out in 2007 with record monthly low levels set in August and September.

The International Lake Superior Board of Control has ordered more water dumped out of the big lake's outlet. But the board has to balance upstream interests and downstream interests. People downstream on the Great Lakes don't want too much water, either, especially after Lake Ontario saw all-time record highs and damaging flooding earlier this year.

So much water is being released out of the lake into the St. Marys River that the International Lake Superior Board of Control last week warned anglers and people who use hiking trails near the river to be aware of rapidly-rising and fast-moving water and possible flooding near the river.

Duluth News Tribune


10/10 - Saugatuck Township, Mich. – The state is holding a public hearing on a developer's plans to dig a boat marina out of the dunes along Lake Michigan near Saugatuck.

The plans for the 300-acre dune property have reignited a debate between conservationists and developers over use of private land on the north side of the Kalamazoo River on Lake Michigan. The land was formerly owned by the late oil tycoon Aubrey McClendon.

The land is now in the hands of Jeff Padnos, who is pursuing a home and marina development called North Shores of Saugatuck. Working with local developer Brian Bosgraaf, Padnos' plans call for 23 homes to be built around a 6.54-acre marina basin.

There are also seven home sites on Lake Michigan and eight home sites Kalamazoo River that have been listed for sale to date. Prices range from $1.5 million to $2.95 million.

Read more and view the plans at this link: www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2017/10/deq_to_hold_hearing_on_plans_t.html



On this day in 1891, the SUSAN E. PECK collided with the schooner GEORGE W. ADAMS above the Soo Locks. The PECK, loaded with wheat for Buffalo, sank in a matter of minutes and completely blocked the navigation channel. General Orlando M. Poe, in charge of the Soo Locks, estimated that 275 boats lost an estimated 825 days and 5 hours waiting for the wreck to be cleared.

On this day in 1956, two F-86 Saber Jets collided over Lake Michigan. The ERNEST T. WEIR, Captain Ray R. Redecker, rescued one of the pilots (Lt. Kenneth R. Hughes) after he spent three hours in the water. ARTHUR M. ANDERSON, WILLIAM A. IRVIN and GEORGE W. PERKINS participated in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the second pilot.

On October 10, 1902, GARDEN CITY (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 133 foot, 352 gross tons, built in 1873, at Ogdensburg, New York) caught fire on the Saginaw River between Bay City and Saginaw while sailing up the river for winter lay-up. She sank four miles above Bay City near the old interurban railroad bridge.

While downbound with coal in the St. Lawrence River on October 10, 1981, the JEAN PARISIEN suffered considerable bottom damage when she ran aground near Comfort Island about a mile west of Alexandria Bay, New York. She was rebuilt with a new forebody at Port Weller Drydocks and renamed b.) CSL ASSINIBOINE in 2005.

BROOKDALE of 1909 was towed out of Toronto on October 10, 1980, by the tug GLENADA, assisted by the tug TERRY S. She was one her way to the cutters’ torch at Port Maitland, Ontario.

CHAMPLAIN with her former fleet mate CADILLAC was towed past Gibraltar October 10, 1987, heading for Aliaga, Turkey, for dismantling by Cukurova Celik Endustrisi A.S.

SAVIC b.) CLIFFS VICTORY cleared New York on October 10, 1986.

HULL NO 1, b.) KINSMAN ENTERPRISE, being towed by the Polish tug JANTAR arrived in Aliaga, Turkey, on October 10, 1989, to be scrapped there.

October 10, 1906 - The PERE MARQUETTE 5 was sold to The Barry Transportation Co. for $75,000. The PERE MARQUETTE 5 was the last of the "break-bulk" boats operated by the Pere Marquette Railway Co.

On October 10, 1905, CHARLES H. BURTON (3 mast wooden schooner, 158 foot, 514 gross tons, built in 1873, at Bangor, Michigan) was carrying coal in a storm in Lake Erie when she was driven ashore 4 1/2 miles east of Barcelona, New York and broke up. No lives were lost. She had been built on the hull of the bark GLENBULAH that had burned in the Chicago fire of 1871.

On 10 October 1877, ELIZA R. TURNER (wooden schooner, 156 foot, 409 gross tons, built in 1867, at Trenton, Michigan) was carrying wheat from Detroit to Buffalo when a storm drove her aground nine miles west of Long Point on Lake Erie where she was wrecked. The skipper and cook drowned, but the remaining 8 were saved.

The tug CRUSADER of Oswego burned and sank in the middle of the Straits of Mackinac about 9 p.m. on 10 October 1878.

On 10 October 1877, ABEONA (wooden scow-schooner, 100 tons, built in 1863, at Lambert, Ontario) was carrying lumber and shingles down bound on Lake Huron when she stranded during a storm one mile west of Port Austin where she reportedly later broke up.

In 1877, PORTLAND (2-mast wooden schooner, 118 foot, 250 tons, built in 1847, at Pillar Point, New York) stranded and went to pieces north of False Presque Isle on Lake Huron. Salvage attempts only retrieved her anchor and chain.

1923: HURONTON, a Canadian freighter, sank in Lake Superior off Caribou Island following a collision on the foggy lake with the CETUS. The vessel went down in 800 feet of water in 18 minutes but all on board were rescued.

1927: MICHIPICOTEN, of the Owen Sound Transportation Co., was destroyed by a fire at Gore Bay, on Manitoulin Island.

1963: The wooden freighter VAUQUELIN caught fire and sank in the St. Lawrence northeast of Quebec City off Cap Saumon. The vessel had previously sailed as a) LA RIVIERE MALBAIE.

1969: The T-2 tanker CARIBBEAN SKY visited the Seaway for 3 trips in 1960-1961 before being converted to a bulk carrier. The engine exploded and disintegrated during dock trials after repairs at Antwerp, Belgium, as f) LAKE PLACID, with the loss of one life. The hull settled but was pumped out and declared a CTL. It was towed to Rotterdam in 1971, repaired and returned to service as g) GARANDA. The after end again proved to be troublesome and was cut off and scrapped. The bow was joined to after end of the Panamanian tanker AKRON and the ship returned to service under this name. It was finally dismantled in Pakistan during 1981.

1987: The wheat-laden WILLOWGLEN went aground on the north side of Ogden Island in the St. Lawrence. The ship was released on October 13 and later went to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/11 - Last Friday the Libyan coast guard shelled and sank the product tanker Goeast off Abu Kammash, Libya, near the border with Tunisia. The vessel spilled an unknown quantity of diesel.
The tanker’s hull, tanks and engine room were severely damaged in the incident. The damaged vessel started listing immediately with several reports saying the tanker capsized.
The coast guard suspected the vessel was had loaded contraband oil or oil product some two miles off coast, from a pipeline. She was underway when spotted by Libyan Coast Guard in the morning Oct 6. The tanker was asked to stop, but didn’t obey. She was shelled from 30-mm gun, the shells inflicting holes in cargo tanks and engine room areas, with ensuing water ingress.
Libyan officials said in a social media post that the vessel had been loading fuel from an offshore loading pipeline. A coast guard vessel reportedly approached and attempted to contact the Goast to prepare for boarding and inspection. When the coast guard received no response, they opened fire, striking the tanker's engine room and one of her cargo tanks, according to spokesman Ayoub Gassem, speaking to Libya Herald. The action was intended to send a firm "message" to any future fuel smugglers.
The coast guard did not immediately mention the fate of the Goeast's crew, nor whether pollution control measures were undertaken. According to Libyan officials, the vessel was loaded with about 9,000 tons of diesel, near to its maximum capacity of 9,700 dwt.
Goeast was built in Japan in 1977 as Texaco Brave for Texaco Canada Ltd. She was renamed Le Brave on November 11, 1986, while under charter to Sofati-Soconav Ltd. In 1997, the vessel was renamed Imperial St. Lawrence under the new ownership and management of Imperial Oil. In February 1998, Algoma Central Corporation purchased Imperial St. Lawrence (and her fleet mates Imperial Bedford, Imperial St. Clair and Imperial Acadia), establishing a new corporate division Algoma Tankers Ltd. Shortly after being acquired by Algoma, the tanker entered service under the name Algoeast.
She was sold for overseas use in 2015. At the time of the incident, Goeast was one of four vessels owned by Uvas-Trans, a shipping firm based in Russian-controlled Crimea.
Maritime Executive

On this day in 1923, the HENRY STEINBRENNER of 1901 collided with the J. McCARTNEY KENNEDY at 4:20 p.m. off Parisienne Island, Whitefish Bay. The accident occurred during thick, smoky weather and both boats were severely damaged.
MEDINA (wooden propeller tug, 66 foot, 57 gross tons) was launched by O'Grady & Maher at Buffalo, New York on October 11, 1890. She cost $12,000.
Quebec & Ontario Transportation's b.) BAIE COMEAU II cleared Sorel October 11, 1983, as c.) AGIA TRIAS, Panamanian registry #1355. Her Canadian registry was closed on October 12, 1983. Her mission was to carry grain from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Mexican and Caribbean Island ports. Subsequently she was renamed d.) OCEANVIEW in 1988, e.) SEA DIAMOND in 1989, f.) GOLDEN CREST in 1990, g.) ATLANTIC WOOD in 1991, h.) LONDON FURY in 1994 and i.) DONG SHENG in 1995. Cleveland Tankers’ MERCURY scraped the South Grand Island Bridge in the Niagara River in heavy fog on October 11, 1974. Her forward mast snapped off, the amidships mast was tilted and her smoke stack was toppled. She proceeded after the mishap to G&W Welding at Cleveland, Ohio under her own power for repairs. Upper Lakes Shipping's WHEAT KING, under tow, arrived at Chittagong Roads, Bangladesh on October 11, 1989, to be broken up.
In 1911, the rail ferry CHIEF WAWATAM arrived at St. Ignace, Michigan, and began service shortly thereafter.
On 11 October 1913, THOMAS H. CAHOON (3 mast wooden schooner-barge, 166 foot, 431 gross tons, built in 1881, at E. Saginaw, Michigan) was carrying lumber in tow of the steamer C. W. CHAMBERLAIN. They were bound from Sault Ste. Marie to Byng Inlet. However during a storm, the CAHOON stranded and went to pieces on 'Kenny Shoal' by the southwest corner of Innes Island in Georgian Bay. No lives were lost.
On October 11, 1839, DEWITT CLINTON (wooden passenger/package freight side-wheeler, 147 foot, 413 tons, built in 1836, at Huron, Ohio) foundered off Milwaukee with the loss of 5 lives. She was recovered the following year and lasted until 1851. She and her near-twin ROBERT FULTON were reportedly the first Lake steamers built primarily as freighters with relatively few passenger accommodations.
On October 11, 1866, GREAT WEST (wooden 3-mast bark, 175 foot, 765 tons, built in 1854, at Buffalo, New York) was carrying wheat in a storm on Lake Michigan when she stranded on Racine Reef. She was reported to be a total loss but she may have been recovered and then lost near Chicago in 1876. When launched, she was the largest sailing vessel on the Lakes and much was made of her beautiful lines. She was diagonally braced with iron. She stood 174 feet tall from her deck to her masthead. So if she were sailing today, although she'd be able to sail under the Mackinac Bridge, she'd be stopped at the Blue Water Bridge whose roadway is only 152 feet above the water.
1923: The canal-sized steamer GLENGELDIE, enroute from Killarney to Welland with a cargo of quartz rock, hit bottom in Georgian Bay and had to be towed to Collingwood for over $15,000 in repairs to the starboard side. The ship later sailed for Canada Steamship Lines as b) ELGIN.
1924: SENATOR DARBYSHIRE, a wooden bulk carrier upbound and in ballast, was destroyed by a fire on Lake Ontario, and sank near Point Petre Light. The crew fought the early morning blaze but eventually had to abandon the ship and was picked up by MAPLEBAY. Capt. J.W. Scarrow was later a master for Canada Steamship Lines.
1942: WATERTON was lost due to enemy action in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The former Misener freighter, operating for the Bowater Steamship Co., was attacked with 2 torpedoes from U-106 and went down in the Cabot Strait in 8 minutes. All on board got off safely. The ship was traveling from Cornerbrook, NF, to Cleveland with newsprint and pulpwood.
1982: The Israeli freighter DAGAN made 18 trips to the Great Lakes from 1959 to 1967. It ran aground on Cay Sal Bank, north of Cuba, as f) CORK and was abandoned the next day as a total loss.

10/11 - Buffalo, N.Y. – What to do with Port Terminal A? That's the question facing the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. over the future of the mammoth and vacant building on 50 acres of prime Outer Harbor property. The site is eyed for future development, everything from apartments and condominiums to restaurants, bars, and light manufacturing. What happens to it would likely affect other parts of the Buffalo waterfront.
Now, a new report spells out options for the terminal. But the price tags are big for a building whose size alone casts doubt over how it could even be reused. Its square footage covers nearly 10 times the space inside the main exhibit hall at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.
The options:
Rehabilitating the building, putting on a new roof and clearing all of the contaminants would cost $17.5 million.
Tearing it down would cost $13.7 million, with the asbestos-laden roof accounting for $4 million of the demolition work.
Mothballing the building – essentially delaying the decision on the building's future for years – would cost $3.1 million.
Making one-third of the building code-compliant for storage rentals would cost $1.9 million.
The study from Trowbridge Wolf Michaels Landscape Architects projected a rehab cost "far more than we thought it would be," said Sam Hoyt, regional vice president for Empire State Development and an Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. board member.
"We now have expert information on what the options are, none of them terribly attractive and all of them expensive," Hoyt said. The state waterfront agency now has to figure out its next steps and a time frame for moving forward, Hoyt said.
Read more and view photos at this link: buffalonews.com/2017/10/09/mega-sized-outer-harbor-buildings-future-question

10/11 - Toledo, Ohio - Three years after toxic algae in Lake Erie tainted the drinking water for more than 400,000 people, many are still leery about what’s coming out of their faucets. Some have taken to stockpiling bottled water in the summer months when algae blooms blanket the western end in the shallowest of the Great Lakes.
Store shelves were emptied of bottled water a week ago when algae pushed into a river that flows through downtown Toledo into the lake, turning the river fluorescent green and sparking rumors that another “do not drink” advisory was looming.
It wasn’t the first time there’s been a run on bottled water even though there have been no water warnings since the first one in 2014.
Toledo’s mayor has asked U.S. President Donald Trump for help from the federal government in cleaning up the lake and wants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to declare the western end impaired, which would allow for increased pollution regulations.
“There is something very wrong with our country when our rivers and lakes turn green,” Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson wrote in a letter sent to Trump last week. “As I look out my office at a green river, I can tell you one thing: the status quo is not working.” A message seeking comment on the letter was left with the White House.
Scientists largely blame farm fertilizer runoff and municipal sewage overflows for feeding the algae growth. While there are a number of efforts to tackle the problem, it won’t be solved for years.
This year’s algae bloom has stretched along the shores of Ohio, Michigan and Ontario and will be among the largest in recent years. The 2015 bloom was the largest on record, covering an area the size of New York City.
The uncertainty some still have about the Toledo’s drinking water, the mayor said in an interview Wednesday, shows there’s a general mistrust about what some hear from government leaders and how easily rumours spread.
She pointed to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and how residents there were told the water was safe for months despite dangerous lead levels.
“We’re going to do what we can to regain their trust,” said Hicks-Hudson, a Democrat who’s up for re-election in November. “That’s all we can do.”
Toronto Star

10/11 - Marinette, Wis. – A Wisconsin shipbuilder employing more about 1,500 people will construct the Navy's newest type of warship into the next decade.
Fincantieri Marinette Marine was awarded a contract by the Pentagon Friday to build LCS 27, the 14th ship of its type to be built in Marinette. The value of the contract is up to $584 million, with completion by late 2023.
The Navy has ordered two versions of the Littoral Combat Ship designed to operate in coastal and shallow waters. The Lockheed Martin design is built in Marinette while the Austal USA design of the ship in produced in Alabama.
Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine have delivered five ships to the Navy, most recently the future U.S.S. Little Rock. The yard has seven ships currently under construction.
Both variants of the ship are designed to operate as part of a larger naval force in coastal waters, carrying out a number of missions from fighting other boats and ships to mine hunting and anti-submarine operations.
When contractors and other people are included, the Fincantieri Marinette Marine yard has about 2,500 people working on site. The program directly and indirectly supports about 7,500 jobs in Wisconsin and Michigan, according to Lockheed Martin.
Green Bay Press Gazette

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/12 - Minneapolis, Minn. – Wayne Jensen sat on his narrow strip of Lake Superior shoreline last month, listening to waves crash against his small cliff and soaking in the scent of woods near Port Wing, Wis., his frequent escape from the bustle of his home in Minneapolis.
Just then, he watched a piece of his paradise disappear. A chunk of land about 15 feet long and about 6 feet wide slid into the big lake, trees and all, as he sat nearby. “I wanted to start crying. I’m watching this beautiful, pristine shoreline fall into the lake,” Jensen said. “I just stood there in awe.”
With Lake Superior just 2 inches short last month of its record high water level, it wasn’t the first chunk of Jensen’s shoreline to erode recently. And if the gales of November come early, before the water level has a chance to go down as it typically does this time of year, the devastation could be widespread, Jensen and others worry.
Already, the high lake level is sinking fixed docks and causing problems as water seeps into homes on Duluth’s saturated sandy spit known as Park Point. It’s a big change from a decade ago, when water levels sat at a record low; the lake is now 31 inches higher than it was in August and September of 2007.
The Lake Superior water level has been rising for four years. It is now at its highest point since 1997 and is close to the record set in October 1985.
Read more and view a graph at this link: www.startribune.com/lake-superior-is-near-record-high-and-threatening-shoreline/450346993

10/12 - Cleveland, Ohio – U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters moved 10.1 million tons of cargo in September, an increase of 10.7 percent compared to a year ago. September’s shipments also bettered the month’s long-term average by 3.1 percent, or 300,000 tons.
Iron ore cargos for steelmaking totaled 4.9 million tons, an increase of 14 percent compared to a year ago. Coal loadings approached 1.9 million tons, an increase of 6.1 percent. Limestone cargos increased 10.1 percent to 2.7 million tons.
Year-over-year U.S.-flag cargos total 60.5 million tons, an increase of 2.7 percent over the same point in 2016. Iron ore shipments have increased 7.1 percent to 32.4 million tons. Coal cargos have increased 85,000 tons to 9.4 million tons. The 15.3 million tons of aggregate, fluxstone and scrubber stone shipped have pulled that trade within 3.3 percent of last year’s end-of-September total.
Lake Carriers’ Association

10/12 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – Matthew Shoemaker and Rick Niro are calling on city staff to pen a report to provide options and costs associated with removing the eyesore. Norgoma from the Bondar Marina and recommend improvements to the marina itself.
Susan Myers and Sandra Hollingsworth counter that the Norgoma is a part of history and a small tourist attraction the city should be funding and wants the cultural advisory board and municipal heritage committee to provide their opinion on the cultural and heritage value of the ship.
It's not the first time the issue of the Norgoma's location or condition have been discussed by city council. In fact, Shoemaker's research indicates that it was first discussed 17 years ago by the 2002-03 city council when it was decided to allow the ship to remain at its current location and it would be transformed into an interpretive centre. That never materialized.
Four years later, another call to remove the ship from the city's waterfront led to promises that it would receive a “major spruce up” but again that didn't materialize, he said. Motions for funding and continued support were discussed in 2007, 2013 and 2014, Shoemaker said, with each occasion council bowing to the ship's not-for-profit organization and giving it an opportunity to make it a success.
“It ain't going to happen,” Shoemaker told city council. “It's been given chances for many, many years but the community interest is not there.”
Instead, Shoemaker believes that the Bondar Marina can be a showcase for transient travellers and spruced up to be a fledgling and proud waterfront attraction. “Let's take the actions to support tourism in our community,” he said, “not be the ones to kick the problem further into the future.”
But an extremely defensive Myers countered that the city relies on small tourist attractions like the Norgoma and Bushplane Museum and the ship should be supported by city council, not sunk.
She accused Shoemaker of not doing his homework and suggested he didn't understand the full history of the Norgoma, how it came into the city's position and how the city disposed of it to the non-profit group, leaving them with little to no assistance.
The heated debate pitted Myers against Shoemaker in what Ward 1 Coun. Steve Butland called an “uncomfortable” attack that got a little too personal.
As “a tourism expert” who spent 30 years in the field, Myers argued that the city doesn't own the ship and in fact sold it to the St. Mary's River Marine Centre without providing any financial or in-kind support to the volunteer organization. She suggested it didn't have the right to move it.
“The Bondar Marina was custom designed for the Norgoma to fit,” she told council. “It was the idea of a former council to have a Norgoma Marine Park to tell the past and have a vision . . . get you head out of the sand,” she said.
Myers chided councillors for spending more effort to sink the ship than help it float. In its 12 weeks of operation this year it saw 3,700 visitors and employed four students, she said. “Yes, it needs more renovations but help them.”
Butland said other ideas including a restaurant, sinking the boat for divers, scraping it for metal revenue and floating it to Manitoulin Island have all been suggested and failed throughout the years.
Mayor Christian Provenzano said although he agrees culture is important, all cultural organizations are underfunded and the city has to decide where to invest its limited resources. The ship, he suggested, is not it. “If it was going to be a success, it would have been by now,” he said. “I believe it's in the best interest to move it.”
Tom Vair, deputy CAO of community development and enterprise, said that with recent media reports, the city has received correspondence from a person in Chicago who said he was interested in removing the ship and towing it to Chicago to restore it there. He also suggested he would pay the costs to do so.
Provenzano noted that the discussions were early and very preliminary and nothing was set in stone or decided upon. While the city does not own the Norgoma, it does own the marina where it is docked and the city does have the right to ask that it be moved, Provenzano said.
“It casts a shadow on the Roberta Bondar Pavilion. It does not look nice . . . it is a symbol of decay and not a good symbol in our downtown core,” he said. It's expected that both reports will be presented to council together and a full discussion on the future of the Norgoma will be held at that time.
Sault Star

On this day in 1976, three boats discharged a record 108,379 tons of cargo on a single day at the Pinney Dock in Ashtabula, Ohio. The three boats were the JAMES R. BARKER (57,305 tons), the WILFRED SYKES (20,678 tons), and the JOSEPH L. BLOCK (30,306 tons).
On the night of October 12, 1871, the grain laden schooner PLOVER struck a reef near Whitefish Point on Lake Superior, put a hole in her hull and sank in deep water. Captain Jones and the crew of eight escaped in the yawl. They spent two days making their way to Sault Ste. Marie.
The JEAN PARISIEN suffered considerable bottom damage when she ran aground near Comfort Island about a mile west of Alexandria Bay, New York. She was released October 12, 1981, and returned to service after repairs were completed at the Canadian Vickers Montreal yard.
The CLIFFS VICTORY was sold October 12, 1985, to Hai International Corp. of New York for scrapping in the Orient and transferred to Panamanian registry. Her name was changed to c.) SAVIC, utilizing the "S" from CLIFFS, the "VIC" from VICTORY and inserting an "A". All the other letters were painted out.
The JOHN A. KLING sailed on her maiden voyage for the Rockport Steamship Co. (Reiss Steamship Co., mgr.) on October 12, 1922, light from Manitowoc, Wisconsin to load stone at Rockport, Michigan. Sold into Canadian registry in 1981, renamed b.) LEADALE. She was scrapped at Ramey's Bend in 1983.
The keel was laid October 12, 1925, for the Interlake Steamship Co.'s steamer COLONEL JAMES PICKANDS.
The SYLVANIA returned to service on October 12, 1967. She sank at the Peerless Cement Co. Dock at Port Huron, Michigan in June of that year after being struck by the Canada Steamship Lines package freight steamer RENVOYLE.
The tug EDNA G remained at Two Harbors, Minnesota, until October 12, 1993, when she was towed to the Fraser Shipyard at Superior, Wisconsin, by the Great Lakes Towing Co. tug KANSAS. She is now on display as a floating exhibit for the city.
On October 12, 1967, the Papachristidis Company Limited's FEUX FOLLETS entered service with the distinction of being the last steam-powered vessel built on the Great Lakes. The vessel was renamed b.) CANADIAN LEADER when it was sold to Upper Lakes Shipping in 1972 It was scrapped in 2011.
At 3:00 a.m., 12 October 1870, the 76-ton tug ONTARIO caught fire and burned to the waterline while lying at Harrow's dock in Algonac, Michigan.
On 12 October 1901, ALVINA (wooden schooner-rigged scow-barge, 89 foot, 95 gross tons, built in 1871, at Fair Haven, Michigan) was being towed by the steamer WESTON and had a load of 700 barrels of lubricating oil. They were bound from Cleveland for Manistique. The ALVINA was overwhelmed in a storm and sank near Thunder Bay Island in Lake Huron. Her entire crew made it to shore in her yawl. Her cargo was salvaged five days later.
On 12 October 1880, TRADER (wooden propeller, 115 foot, 169 gross tons, built in 1865, at Marine City, Michigan) was carrying lumber in a storm on Lake Michigan. She was battered severely and became waterlogged. Her crew abandoned her with water up to her decks. They were saved by the schooner GUIDE in a daring rescue. A few days later, in the "Alpena Storm,” her wreckage washed ashore near Holland, Michigan and she was erroneously reported as another "all-hands" victim of that storm.
On 12 October 1874, on her maiden voyage, the tug MARY passed Port Huron down bound with the bark FAVORITE in tow. The tug was owned by William Hardison of Port Huron.
1912: MARENGO, a wooden schooner under tow of the LLOYD S. PORTER, broke loose in a storm, came ashore west of Port Colborne and was pounded to pieces by the waves. The anchor was salvaged and now sits on the lawn of Port Colborne High School.
1912: S.K. MARTIN began leaking in heavy weather and sank in Lake Erie off Harbor Creek, NY. The coal laden wooden steamer ran for shore but the effort fell short. The crew took to the lifeboat and were saved. The ship went down bow first and rested on the bottom in 56 feet of water.
1918: The wooden tug ELLA G. STONE was destroyed by a brush fire that swept through the town of Cloquet, MN. Several scows, tugs and a dredge as well as over 400 lives were lost.
1941: ENARE, a Great Lakes visitor in 1932-1933, sustained heavy damage in an air attack in the North Sea as h) GLYNN. The ship was subsequently sunk by a convoy escort as a hazard to navigation. It had also been a Great Lakes trader as f) FLAKS in 1933 and 1934.
1991: ZIEMIA GNIEZNIENSKA hit the wall at Lock 7 and dislodged a chunk of concrete. The Welland Canal was closed for three days.
2002: STELLANOVA and CANADIAN PROSPECTOR were in a head-on collision on the Seaway near Cote St. Catherine and both ships sustained considerable damage. The former was repaired at Les Mechins and the latter at Port Weller Dry Docks.

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/13 - Contrary to reports earlier this week that the oil tanker Goeast had capsized after it was attacked by the Libyan coast guard off Zuwara last Friday, the vessel arrived off Malta Thiursday. All the crew is safe, Russian officials say.
The shipping website MarineTraffic.com shows that it arrived off Malta shortly after midnight Wednesday. This is the former Great Lakes/Seaway tanker Algoeast, which also sailed as Texaco Brave, Le Brave and Imperial St. Lawrence before being sold overseas in 2015.
Last Saturday, Libyan navy spokesman Ayoun Gassem said that the tanker, owned by a Crimea based company but Comoros-flagged, had been fired upon after it refused demands from a coastguard boat to stop and be searched. He claimed that it had been involved in fuel smuggling.
Video footage of the attack, posted on the coastguard’s Facebook page showed the Goeast being hit twice and liquid then gushing out. According to Gassem, the engine room and fuel tanks were hit and the vessel then started listing.
The Russians are presenting a somewhat different reason for the incident. Rather than being involved in smuggling, they say that there had been “financial issues” between the Swiss company that had chartered the tanker and unnamed Libyans.
Libya Herald

10/13 - ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor, the largest integrated steel mill in North America, is a behemoth jutting out into Lake Michigan that takes 20 minutes to drive across – longer than it does to cross some entire towns in Northwest Indiana.
It's home to the longest privately owned bridge in the United States and the largest blast furnace. It's so big because it is in fact two steel mills now consolidated under the same management – the sprawling steelmaking complex along the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal spans the former LTV plant to the west and the former Inland Steel mill to the east.
Though trucks and trains still flow in and out nonstop, much of the massive steel mill in East Chicago that dates back to the 19th century lies vacant or underused. ArcelorMittal Indiana Habor Long Carbon got idled two years ago because of imports, and its electric arc furnace remains cold. Two of the smaller blast furnaces are being torn down and sold for scrap. Vast, cavernous buildings on the west side where steel products were once made have been used mainly for storage for more than a decade. The 84 inch hot strip mill on the west side got shut down last year.
But ArcelorMittal has been investing in major upgrades, as it aims to make its steelmaking assets as productive and profitable as possible.
"Back in the day when I was hired in, the two mills employed 35,000 people and we weren't making much more than people are now," said Wendell Carter, ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor general manager. "Since the financial crisis, there's been a 20-percent increase in productivity of tons per man-hour."
While ArcelorMittal shrunk its footprint in East Chicago, idling or closing finishing lines that were inefficient or unprofitable, it's been investing heavily in its remaining operations there. Last year, Chicago-based ArcelorMittal USA, a subsidiary of the global Luxembourg-based company, boosted its overall capital investment to $280 million, up from $233 million in 2015, spokesman Bill Steers said.
"Our Action 2020 business strategy emphasizes cost-competitiveness with assets running at higher levels of productivity and yield with no loss of volume or market share," he said.
Much of the spending took place in East Chicago. The rusting mill that dates back to the late 1800s now has some of the most recently refurbished steelmaking facilities in the United States making some of the most state-of-the art steel products, including stronger grades of steel for cars. The steelmaker agreed with the United Steelworkers union during the most recent contract negotiations to pump more than $200 million into operations at the mill in East Chicago.
ArcelorMittal spent $60 million installing a new caster in the No. 3 steel shop on the west side. It's now producing a full-range of Martinsite advanced high-strength steels, which automakers are using to make cars lighter and more fuel-efficient.
"There isn't a major vehicle platform without ArcelorMittal steel," Carter said.
ArcelorMittal also invested more than $32 million to rebuild the walking beam furnaces at its 80-inch hot strip mill on the east side, which turns red-hot steel slabs into rolls of coil after cooling the metal off a few hundred degrees by dumping an Olympic pool's worth of water from Lake Michigan on it in the course of a few seconds. Major upgrades to "The Mighty 80," which stretches a half mile long, also include a cooling tower, a coil field expansion and improvements in the motor room, positioning the finishing line to crank out up to 5 million tons of steel annually.
Such investments are needed to make the steel mill more productive and keep up with changes in the marketplace, Carter said.
"With the slabs that go into the modern automobile, more than half of all types of steel in cars today did not exist 10 years ago," he said. "Modern steel is trying to meet the challenge with new types of steel products."
NW Indiana Times

10/13 - Assiginack, Ont. – The Manitoulin Expositor has learned that the S.S. Norisle Steamship Society’s legal proceedings against the Township of Assiginack could cost taxpayers an estimated $775,000.
According to a Superior Court of Justice document, affirmed on August 18, the Township of Assiginack’s attorney Ian Flett of Eric Gillespie Professional Corporation estimates the costs of defending the lawsuit will cost between $675,000 and $775,000.
Assiginack CAO Alton Hobbs said he was unable to comment on the case, as it is in the hands of the courts. However, Eric Gillespie was able to expand on the legal proceedings.
“The estimated costs were submitted to the Superior Court of Justice and we will be asking the court at an upcoming hearing to request the Norisle Steamship Society pay the township’s legal fees upfront if they wish to continue their claim against the municipality,” said Mr. Gillespie. “The litigation will be very expensive and it is the defendant’s view that the taxpayers of Assiginack should not have to pay the costs.”
“We have been through the process of discoveries,” continued Mr. Gillespie. “As a result of the process, it has become clear, in the township’s view, that there is little if not any merit to the steamship society’s claim. We feel the case should be dismissed now without a trial, and we believe that there is sufficient information to allow the court to do that.”
Mr. Gillespie said that the township has already incurred costs associated with the claim. Based on the schedule, it would be roughly $125,000.
Dave Ham, chair of the S.S. Norisle Steamship Society, said he was surprised by the estimated costs of the legal proceedings, but was unable to comment. “The case is in the courts so I cannot comment,” said John Coulter, director of restoration for the Society, regarding the claim. When asked about the potential litigations costs to the town, Mr. Coulter responded, “We didn’t bring this upon ourselves.”
“We made the claim because of the actions of the township,” said Mr. Coulter. “If the township hadn’t taken action (to sell the Norisle), the ship would be dry docked and on it's way to being restored.”
The Township of Assiginack entered into discussions with the Tobermory Maritime Association (TMA) last year to sell the S.S. Norisle to the TMA, to be sunk and used as a dive site in Tobermory.
The Steamship Society responded by launching a lawsuit against the municipality claiming $10 million in damages in addition to an order declaring that the Society is the owner of the Norisle by way of constructive trust. They also claimed $250,000 for aggravated, punitive and/or exemplary damages; an interim order restraining the town from disposing of the Norisle until the matter has been tried; an interim order compelling the township to continue to provide status quo administrative tasks including providing all risk insurance; to maintain its current accessible dockages, road access and snow removal, utilities service and ongoing maintenance at its expense until this matter is tried; full indemnity costs of this proceeding plus all applicable taxes; and “such further and other relief as to this honorable court may seem just,” according to the Statement of Claim.
As well the claim goes on to accuse Assiginack of breaching a joint venture agreement between the town and the Society, a breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment and constructive trust, negligence and damages.
A court date has not yet been set, but Mr. Gillespie said the two parties are looking at a date in December of this year or January 2018.
Manitoulin Expositor

On this day in 1893, Chief Engineer J. H. Hogan left the DEAN RICHMOND in Toledo to take care of some family business. One day later, the DEAN RICHMOND burned off Dunkirk, New York, with a loss of 17 lives including the replacement Chief Engineer.
On October 13, 1909, GEORGE STONE (wooden propeller freighter, 270 foot, 1,841 gross tons, built in 1893, at W. Bay City, Michigan) was sailing from Ashtabula, Ohio for Racine, Wisconsin, with cargo of coal when she stranded on Grubb Reef in the Pelee Passage on Lake Erie. She then caught fire and was destroyed. Five of the 18 crewmen were lost.
The SASKATCHEWAN PIONEER made her first trip out of Thunder Bay, Ontario with grain on October 13, 1983. Renamed b.) LADY HAMILTON in 1995, sold to Voyageur Maritime in 2006, and now sailing as c.) KAMINISTIQUA for Lower Lakes Towing.
The tug GLENADA towed the BROOKDALE from Port Colborne to Newman's scrap yard at Port Maitland, Ontario the week of October 13, 1980.
On October 13, 1902, the MAUNALOA collided with her whaleback consort barge 129 on Lake Superior and sank it 30 miles northwest of Vermilion Point, which is between Upper Michigan's Crisp and Whitefish Points. MAUNALOA had been towing the 129, both vessels loaded with iron ore, when the towline parted in heavy seas. While trying to regain control of the barge, they came together and the steamer's port anchor raked the side of the barge, which started taking on water. The crew was taken off the barge before it sank.
On 13 October 1875, off Alpena, Michigan, the tug E. H. MILLER had her boiler explode while racing with the tug CITY OF ALPENA - both in quest of a tow. The ALPENA, who was ahead of the MILLER when she blew up, immediately turned around to pick up survivors. The ALPENA sunk in minutes. The engineer, fireman and a boy were rescued, but the captain and cook were lost. The fireman was in such poor shape that it was thought that he would not live.
On 13 October 1877, The Port Huron Times reported that the tug PRINDIVILLE and the 2-masted schooner PORTLAND had both gone ashore at the Straits of Mackinac and been pounded to pieces.
On 13 October 1886, SELAH CHAMBERLAIN (wooden propeller steam barge, 212 foot, 1,207 gross tons, built in 1873, at Cleveland, Ohio) collided with the 222-foot wooden lumber hooker JOHN PRIDGEON, JR. in heavy fog off Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The CHAMBERLAIN had been towing the schooner FAYETTE BROWN. The CHAMBERLAIN sank quickly. Five of the crew went down with the vessel when the lifeboat davits became fouled and they were unable to launch the lifeboat. The rest of the crew made it to shore in the other lifeboat after a 3-hour pull through the fog.
1902: The wooden steamer C. B. LOCKWOOD was swamped in a storm and sank on Lake Erie with the loss of 10 lives.
1927: The ONTARIO, once the largest carferry on the Detroit River, was later reduced to a barge and it foundered on Lake Superior, near Outer Island, while carrying 1100 tons of pulpwood. It had been under tow of the tug BUTTERFIELD and all on board were saved.
1973: SCOTT MISENER damaged 60 bottom plates when it hit bottom near Whaleback Shoal in the St. Lawrence.
1976: The former T2 tanker and now bulk carrier SYLVIA L. OSSA, remembered on the Great Lakes as the MARATHONIAN that was in a head-on collision with ROLWI in Lake Michigan, disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle with the loss of all 37 members of the crew.
1990: ERNA WITT first visited the Great Lakes in 1958 and returned through the Seaway in 1962. The vessel sank off Port Sudan as k) SHIBA after a collision with the ALTAAWIN ALARABI while inbound from Aqaba, Jordan. Three members of the crew were lost.