Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/20 - Marquette, Mich. – The gale-force winds of last weekend's storm might be over on Lake Superior, but some Great Lakes freighters are still dealing with the consequences.

The freighter Kaye E. Barker became trapped in the compressed ice near Marquette on Wednesday as she was trying to reach the area's lower harbor, the National Weather Service said. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw was sent to break the ice and free the ship Thursday. Although she is loaded with stone for the Shiras dock, AIS Thursday night showed the Barker moored at the north side of the ore dock. Tug Victory and barge James L. Kuber were on the south side.

Recent winds have blown Lake Superior's ice tightly against the Upper Peninsula shoreline. "Strong winds and high waves from the early week storm compressed the remaining ice cover between Marquette and Whitefish Bay," the NWS said. The agency shared a satellite image that shows the iced-in condition of the bay.

The Barker, built in 1952, is owned by the Interlake Steamship Company.

View photos at this link: www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/04/freighter_trapped_in_whitefish.html


4/20 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – Billions of dollars worth of commerce passes through the Great Lakes every year, and keeping those vital shipments flowing gets tricky when the lakes freeze in winter.

Cutting through all that ice is a big job, so Tom Skilling hitched a ride on the deck of the Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw as it crossed the upper Great Lakes to see how it's done.

On a beautiful but bitterly cold day, the Coast Guard had three days to re-open the shipping lanes near the Soo Locks. But they were facing up to four feet of solid ice. After using the Mackinaw to break through the ice nearby, the Soo Locks officially opened at midnight on March 25, when the American Century earned this year’s bragging rights to be the very first vessel to pass through.

The Coast Guard says they can see ice on the upper Great Lakes until June.

View a video at this link: wgntv.com/2018/04/18/massive-icebreaker-ships-clear-the-way-for-trade-when-the-great-lakes-freeze


On 20 March 1885, MICHIGAN (Hull#48), (iron propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 215 foot, 1,183 tons) of the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railroad was sunk by ice off Grand Haven, Michigan.
The sidewheeler NEW YORK was sold Canadian in 1877, hopefully at a bargain price, because when she was hauled out on the ways on 20 March 1878, at Rathburn's yard in Kingston, Ontario, to have her boiler removed, her decayed hull fell apart and could not be repaired. Her remains were burned to clear the ways.

On 20 March 1883, the E. H. MILLER of Alpena, Michigan (wooden propeller tug, 62 foot, 30 gross tons, built in 1874, at East Saginaw, Michigan) was renamed RALPH. She was abandoned in 1920.

1938: ¬ A fire of an undetermined cause destroyed the passenger steamer CITY OF BUFFALO while it was fitting out for the 1938 season at the East 9th St. Pier in Cleveland The blaze began late the previous day and 11 fire companies responded. The nearby CITY OF ERIE escaped the flames, as did the SEEANDBEE.

2011” ¬ The Indian freighter APJ ANJLI was built in 1982 and began visiting the Great Lakes in 1990. It was sailing as c) MIRACH, and loaded with 25,842 tons of iron ore, when it ran aground 3 miles off the coast of India on March 20, 2011. Four holds were flooded and the crew of 25 was removed. The hull subsequently broke in two and was a total loss.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/23 - Navigation officers on Canada Steamship Lines’ self-unloader fleet went on strike at noon on Saturday. Navigation officers at CSL gave 72-hour notice of strike action at noon on April 18 after contract negotiations failed. Affected vessels were going into layup over the weekend.

On Sunday, Baie St. Paul was at the wall in Johnstown, Ont., while Salarium and Atlantic Huron were at Montreal. Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin and Thunder Bay were idled at Nanticoke. Whitefish Bay was at Hamilton on Sunday with an AIS message that read “on strike.” CSL Laurentien was tied up at Sarina Sunday and CSL Tadoussac was downbound at the Soo Sunday for the same port. CSL Assiniboine was downbound at Soo on Sunday for Nanticoke. CSL Niagara arrived at the Midwest Overseas Dock in Toledo Sunday evening and the Frontenac had arrived at Midland, Ont. Baie Comeau was diverted to Thunder Bay.

The following statement was issued Sunday via email by Martine Rivard, CSL Group Chief Human Resources and Communications Officer:

“Despite our attempts at establishing a dialogue with the Canadian Merchant Service Guild, which represent 36 deck officers, the strike notice expired (Saturday) at noon. Unionized deck officers working on CSL's 12 Canadian self-unloading vessels are officially on strike. We regret this unfortunate situation as CSL Group has always offered excellent working conditions and, most importantly, has always strived to reach win-win agreements.

“The strike's beginning implies that we must adapt our operations. We are now implementing a contingency plan that will allow the company to operate at an essential service level. While fully respecting the Canadians Laws, a part of the self-unloading vessels' fleet will continue to operate in the strike period. Despite those operations, this means that, in a near future, some employees will have to go back home.

“As you know, this strike comes after CSL tabled two offers that were both recommended by the Guild and that, to our surprise, were then rejected. Until the very last minute, we have tried to reach an agreement in principle to keep working together and reach a fair agreement. We continue to believe that there are ways to reinitiate a constructive dialogue.

“As this strike begins, I wish to thank you for your many gestures of support. We must continue to ensure the safety of our employees and those who may come in contact with our ships through this period of time. Our high safety standards remain at the heart of our contingency plan as we strive to reduce the impact of this work stoppage on our operations.”


4/23 - Duluth, Minn. – The 2018 shipping season in the Twin Ports is looking to be as strong as last year, according to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. During the Blessing of the Port event Thursday night, Port Authority public relations director Adele Yorde gave an overview forecast of what the 2018 shipping season is expected to look like.

"When we said at the end of last season that it was a robust season, it was. It was the most iron ore that we had shipped out of this port in 10 years," she said. "We really thought we would start just as strong this year. The demand is certainly there, but it was that darn ice that has slowed things down a bit."

Currently Lake Superior has about 5.8 percent ice coverage with a lot of cover between Marquette, Mich., and Whitefish Bay, Mich., after a strong storm over the weekend compressed the ice along the shore, according to the Marquette National Weather Service. The ice is so thick that the freighter Kaye E. Barker became stuck near Marquette's upper harbor Wednesday, and the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw had to assist the Barker Thursday.

"Sometimes it's deceiving — until we get a nor'easter like we did this year to realize — just what happens when those ice packs move," Yorde said. "So thanks and special blessings are in order for the Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard for breaking tracks and recutting tracks and keeping at least slow moving vessels going through both at the Whitefish area and the St. Mary's River."

Yorde said there is no indication that the strong demand for iron ore is going to decrease anytime soon, so the port is looking at another strong year.

"Minnesota iron ore accounts for about 80 percent of first-pour steel in this country," she said. "So that demand will stay strong."

According to Yorde, 35 percent of the iron ore that left the Twin Ports left aboard Canadian lakers was bound not only for Canada, but also for transloading for foreign companies. But due to tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump this year, it's unclear what kind of affect it will have in the future on international trade due to repercussions from other countries. Canada is currently exempt from the tariffs.

Duluth News Tribune


4/23 - Mackinaw City, Mich. – The Unified Command announced that the American Transmission Company deployed a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to better assess damage to the affected ATC utility cables, Sunday.

ATC contracted with Durocher Marine and T&T Subsea to provide tugs, a barge, and an ROV to assess the damage to the utility cables.

The ROV will obtain underwater, visual imagery of the cables, and the images obtained will provide the Unified Command with the information needed to determine how best to deal with the damaged cables.

Under the oversight of the Unified Command, the American Transmission Company continues to extract mineral oil from two damaged cables in the Straits of Mackinac.

USCG


22 April 1873 - ST. JOSEPH (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 150 feet, 473 gross tons, built in 18,67 at Buffalo, New York) was sold by the Goodrich Transportation Company to Charles Chamberlain and others of Detroit, Michigan, for $30,000.
On 22 April 1872, Capt. L. R. Boynton brought the wooden propeller WENONA into Thunder Bay to unload passengers and freight at Alpena, Michigan. The 15-inch-thick ice stopped him a mile from the harbor. The passengers got off and walked across the ice to town. Later, because of the novelty of it, a couple hundred people from Alpena walked out to see the steamer. In the evening, Capt. Boynton steamed back to Detroit without unloading any of the cargo.

American Steamship Co.'s, ST. CLAIR (Hull#714) was christened April 22, 1976, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Corp.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE of 1930, laid up for the last time at Toronto on April 22, 1986.

CSL's HOCHELAGA lost her self-unloading boom during a windstorm at Windsor, Ontario, on April 22, 1980. As a consequence, she made 10 trips hauling grain as a straight-decker.

CHARLES M. WHITE was commissioned April 22, 1952, at South Chicago, Illinois. She was soon recognized as one of the fastest ships on the Great Lakes because of her ability to reach speeds in excess of 17 knots (19.6 mph).

On 22 April 1871, the 210-foot, 4-masted wooden schooner JAMES COUCH was launched at Port Huron, Michigan. She was named for a prominent Chicago businessman of the time.

On 22 April 1872, EVA M. CONE (wooden schooner, 25 tons, built in 1859, at Oconto, Wisconsin) was carrying lumber from Port Washington to Milwaukee on an early-season run when she struck on ice floe, capsized and sank just outside of Milwaukee harbor. Her crew made it to safety in her lifeboat.

1917: NEEPAWAH, formerly part of Canada Steamship Lines, was captured by U53 a German submarine and sunk by timed bombs. The vessel had been carrying pyrites from Huelva, Spain, to Rouen, France, and went down about 120 miles west of Bishop's Rock.

1924: BROOKTON lost her way in heavy snow and ran aground on Russell Island Shoal near Owen Sound. The vessel was released the next day with the help of a tug. Her career ended with scrapping at Hamilton as g) BROOKDALE (i) in 1966-1967.

1947: HARRY YATES (ii) stranded on Tecumseh Reef, Lake Erie, but was soon released. The vessel became c) BLANCHE HINDMAN (ii) in 1960 and was scrapped at Santander, Spain, in 1968.

1955: Fire destroyed the historic wooden passenger steamers MAID OF THE MIST and MAID OF THE MIST II at their winter quarters in Niagara Falls, ON. The blaze broke out due to an errant welding spark during the annual fit-out and the Niagara Falls Fire Chief suffered a heart attack and died at the scene.

1968: ALHELI, a Lebanese registered Liberty ship, made three trips to the Great Lakes in 1964. The vessel began leaking 900 miles east of Bermuda while en route from Almeria, Spain, to Wilminton, DE, with fluorspar on this date and was abandoned by the crew. The ship went down April 24.

1972: CHAMPLAIN arrived in Canada from overseas in 1959 and saw occasional Great Lakes service. It became f) GILANI in 1970 and toppled on her side at Vercheres due to the swell from a passing ship on April 22, 1972. The ship was refloated several days later.

1973: An explosion in the engine room of the C.P. AMBASSADOR blew a six-foot-hole in the side of the hull during a storm about 420 miles east of Newfoundland. The ship was abandoned, save for the captain and chief engineer, and was towed into St. John's, NF on May 4. It had been a Great Lakes visitor as a) BEAVEROAK beginning when new in 1965. The damage was repaired and the vessel resumed service on July 14, 1973. It was eventually scrapped as f) FLAMINGO at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, following arrival on April 30, 1984.

21 April 1907 Peter West, a fireman on the JOHN C. GAULT (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 218 foot, 519 gross tons, built in 1881, at Buffalo, New York, converted to a bulk freighter in 1906, at Detroit, Michigan) fell overboard and drowned in Lake Huron. The news was reported to Capt. J. W. Westcott when the GAULT sailed past Detroit, Michigan, on 23 April 1907.
On 21 April 1863, SEABIRD (wooden side-wheel steamer, 638 tons, built in 1859, at Newport [Marine City], Michigan) was purchased by Capt. A. E. Goodrich from Capt. E. Ward for $36,000. She served primarily on the Lake Michigan west-shore and Lake Superior routes until she burned in 1868.

EDWIN H. GOTT cleared Two Harbors, Minn., with her first cargo, 59,375 tons of iron ore, on April 21, 1979, bound for Gary, Indiana.

Interstate Steamship's a.) WILLIS L. KING (Hull#79) by the Great Lakes Engineering Works, departed on her maiden voyage with a load of coal from Toledo, Ohio on April 21, 1911, bound for Superior, Wisconsin. Renamed b) C. L. AUSTIN in 1952 and was scrapped at Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1985.

On April 21, 1988, P & H Shipping Ltd.'s, d.) BIRCHGLEN, a.) WILLIAM MC LAUGHLIN, was towed off the Great Lakes by the tugs ELMORE M. MISNER and ATOMIC bound for Sydney, Nova Scotia, to be scrapped. Panda Steamship Co., G. A. Tomlinson, mgr.'s a.) WILLIAM H. WARNER (Hull#784) by American Ship building Co., was launched April 21, 1923. Renamed b.) THE INTERNATIONAL in 1934, c.) MAXINE in 1977, d.) J. F. VAUGHAN in 1981 and e.) OAKGLEN in 1983. Scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 1989.

Pittsburgh Steamship Co's, HOMER D. WILLIAMS (Hull#720) by American Ship Building Co., Lorain, Ohio, was launched in 1917.

April 21, 1998 - PERE MARQUETTE 41 (former CITY OF MIDLAND 41) was towed to Sturgeon Bay from Muskegon for the remainder of the conversion. She was towed by the tugs MARY PAGE HANNAH and the CARL WILLIAM SELVICK.

On 21 April 1868, GERTRUDE (2-mast wooden schooner, 137 foot, 268 tons, built in 1855, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying corn from Chicago to Buffalo when she was cut by the ice four miles west of Mackinaw City and sank in deep water. Her crew made it to shore in the yawl.

1963: The hull of the Swedish freighter HELGA SMITH cracked en route from Montreal to Kristiansand, Norway, and the crew abandoned the ship. The vessel was taken in tow but sank April 23 while ten miles off Cape Broyle, Newfoundland. The ship had been completed in December 1944 and had been a Seaway trader since 1960.

1981: The Italian freighter DONATELLA PARODI first came inland in 1965 at the age of 8. It was sailing as f) MARIKA K. when a fire broke out in the engineroom on this day in 1981. The vessel was en route from Varna, Bulgaria, to Karachi, Pakistan, when the blaze erupted on the Mediterranean some 60 miles east of Crete. The ship was abandoned by the crew but towed to Eleusis, Greece. It was laid up, later put under arrest and was partially sunk. Following an auction, the hull was pumped out, towed into Aliaga, Turkey, on May 18, 1987, and broken up.

1986: ALGOPORT was inbound at Grand Haven, MI with a cargo of salt when it hit the seawall.


4/21 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – Sault College nursing student Chelsea Wieja is expected to make her local political debut next week, helping lead the charge to save the M.S. Norgoma. The former Hollywood Joe's hairstylist/colorist was chosen to make the case at next Monday's City Council meeting for the museum ship's preservation, representing both the city's municipal heritage committee and cultural advisory board.

Representatives of the two groups huddled in a computer training room at the Civic Centre to plan strategy for the presentation to council. Sean Meades, a member of both organizations, will prepare talking points for Wieja. Meades plans to focus largely on the Norgoma's cultural value and the city's financial investment.

Councillors will be asked Monday to vote on seizing the Norgoma to offer it to Chicago businessman Peter Gregos-Nicols, who wants to remove it from the Sault and turn it into a travelling maritime museum. The decision was on council's agenda two weeks ago but was deferred to Monday's meeting.

Ontario's Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change contacted the city last summer with concerns about a tarp that was seen floating in the Bondar Marina, collecting lead-contaminated paint chips falling from the 68-year-old vessel. The province wants to know the city's plan for both the paint chips and the boat.

Lloyd Beilhartz, chairperson of the municipal heritage committee, and Chris Rous, chair of the cultural advisory board, will be present Monday to answer any tough questions from councillors. The two committees have also submitted a joint written report to council, but Rous cautioned Wieja to avoid just reading from that document because councillors will already be familiar with it.

"They're all very smart people. They'll read it," Rous said.

Monday's presentation should instead focus on "making our points . . . it needs to be very clear," Rous advised. Ward 2 Councillor Sandra Hollingsworth agreed that Wieja's verbal presentation will be critical. "That is really going to drive changing people's opinions," Hollingsworth said.

Historic images of Norgoma on the St. Marys River will also form part of Monday's presentation. A representative from the St. Marys River Marine Heritage Centre, which has owned the rusting package freighter and former car ferry for the past 37 years, is also expected to speak at Monday's council meeting.

Soo Today


4/21 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – Coast Guard Cutter Alder starts the break out of the Keweenaw Waterway this Monday.

At the request of the National Park Service, the Coast Guard will break out the west end of the Keweenaw Waterway, April 23. The Park Service plans to launch the Ranger III later in the week. Alder will approach from the west and then establish a track in the ice under Houghton-Hancock Bridge. The icebreaker will not transit Portage Lake and the east end of the Keweenaw Waterway. Alder will leave by the same track she arrived to avoid disrupting stable shore fast ice.

All recreational users of the Keweenaw Waterway should plan their activities carefully, and use caution near the ice.

USCG


4/22 - Cleveland, Ohio – The U.S. Coast Guard rescued three high school students who fell into the Detroit River after their rowboat became swamped by the wake of passing vessels, Saturday morning.

The students were members of the Grosse Ile High School crew team and had been practicing near the northern point of Grosse Ile, Michigan while their coach monitored in a nearby jon boat.

Coast Guard Station Bell Isle's 25-foot Response Boat - Small crew were on patrol for a rowboat regatta race taking place nearby and were alerted by local fishermen at approximately 9 a.m. that the crew team had fallen into the water.

The Coast Guard smallboat crew arrived on scene and rescued two males from the water and one female who had just gotten into the jon boat and was exhibiting hypothermic symptoms. The rest of the high school crew team had already been helped into the jon boat.

The Coast Guard crew called local EMS and transported the students to shore and waited for EMS to arrive. The students were then transported to a local hospital to be evaluated for hypothermia.

"In this case we were lucky we were already on scene and were able to get to them quickly because local fishermen alerted us," said Petty Officer Jake Mills who was the coxswain aboard the Coast Guard small boat and a boatswain's mate stationed at Coast Guard Station Belle Isle. "Even though it's sunny out, it's still very cold water. Always be prepared when you go out on the water. You never know what could happen."

USCG

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/24 - The Great Lakes typically reach a high water level in the middle of summer. The forecast for high water levels this summer shows just a slight decrease from last year. Before we look at this summer, let's get an update on current water levels of the Great Lakes.

All of the Great Lakes, except Lake Ontario, are higher than this time last year. Lake Superior is one inch higher than April 2017. Lakes Michigan and Huron are 5 inches higher than this time last year. Lake Erie is 7 inches higher.

Lake Ontario is coming off devastating flooding and record high spring water levels last year. Lake Ontario is 15 inches lower than this time last year.

All of the Great Lakes are still higher to much higher than the long-term April average. Lake Erie is 2 feet higher than average. Lakes Michigan-Huron are 18 inches higher than average. Lake Superior is 8 inches higher and Lake Ontario 7 inches higher than average.

All of the Great Lakes are lower than record levels, with Lake Erie, Lake Superior, Lakes Michigan-Huron and Lake Ontario 6 inches, 8 inches, 16 inches and 24 inches below record water levels, respectively.

View graphics at this link: www.mlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2018/04/great_lakes_water_levels_forec.html


4/24 - Toledo, Ohio – Shipwreck hunters are planning to excavate around a Lake Erie wreck this summer that they think could be the remains of a schooner that went down nearly two centuries ago. Its size, design and location point toward it being a sailing ship called the Lake Serpent, which sunk in 1829, the National Museum of the Great Lakes said Monday.

That would make it one of the oldest wrecks ever discovered on Lake Erie. The shallowest of the Great Lakes where violent storms whip up in a hurry is home to hundreds of wreckage sites. Many have been found in recent years by a small, dedicated band of hunters.

To determine whether the latest discovery to be announced is indeed the Lake Serpent, divers will first need to get a closer look at wreckage and move away the sediment covering part of the ship.

"Because it's so small, that makes it very, very old," said Tom Kowalczk, who spotted the wreckage on his sonar screen in the summer of 2015. "That puts it way back to an early time frame and really limits the possibilities."

Members of the Cleveland Underwater Explorers and the museum have been digging through historical records and newspaper clippings to come up with the names of vessels it might be. They've narrowed the list to three, with the Lake Serpent being the most likely answer, said Carrie Snowden, the museum's archaeology director.

The schooner was built in 1821 in Cleveland at a time when the city had less than 1,000 residents. Its job was to carry cargo - produce, flour, whiskey, limestone - to ports along the lakes.

It went down eight years later with a load of stone and a small crew near Kelleys Island off the Ohio shoreline. The body of one crewmember was spotted in the lake days later while the bodies of the captain and his brother washed up on the shore of Lorain County in the fall of 1829, according to a newspaper report.

The ship had an unusual carving of a serpent's head in the bow.

Read more and see the sonar image at this link: www.cbsnews.com/news/shipwreck-lake-erie-lake-serpent


24 April 1882 - The ferry HAWKINS (wooden propeller ferry, 73 foot, 86 gross tons, built in 1873, at Au Sable, Michigan) was renamed JAMES BEARD. She had received a thorough overhaul and was put in service between Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario, on 25 April 1882. She lasted until 1927, when she was abandoned.
On 24 April 1872, the 3-mast wooden schooner JENNIE GRAHAM was sailing up Lake Huron to pick up a load of lumber. She was light and at full sail when a sudden squall caused her to capsize. Two crewmembers were trapped below decks and died. Captain Duncan Graham was washed away and drowned. The remaining seven crewmembers clung to the overturned hull for about an hour and then the vessel unexpectedly turned upwards and lay on one side. The crew was then able to cut away a lifeboat and get in it. They were later picked up by the schooner SWEEPSTAKES. The GRAHAM was salvaged and taken to Port Huron for repairs.

ONTADOC sailed from Collingwood, Ontario, on her maiden voyage on April 24, 1975, for Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to load steel for Duluth, Minnesota. She was renamed b) MELISSA DESGAGNES in 1990. Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s D.M. CLEMSON (Hull#716) of the American Ship Building Co., departed Lorain on her maiden voyage April 24, 1917, to load iron ore at Duluth, Minnesota.

The B.F. JONES left Quebec on April 24, 1973, in tandem with her former fleet mate EDWARD S. KENDRICK towed by the Polish tug KORAL heading for scrapping in Spain. The wooden schooner WELLAND CANAL was launched at Russell Armington's shipyard at St. Catharines, Ontario. She was the first ship built at St. Catharines and the first to navigate the Welland Canal when it opened between St. Catharine's and Lake Ontario on 10 May 1828.

1948 A collision between the HARRY L. FINDLAY and the Canadian tanker JOHN IRWIN occurred in the St. Clair River, near Recors Point on this date. The stem bar was twisted and plates set back on the American bulk carrier and these were repaired at Lorain. It later sailed as c) PAUL L. TIETJEN. The tanker saw further service as c) WHITE ROSE II, d) WHITE ROSE and e) FUEL MARKETER (ii).

1975 The Canadian self-unloader SAGUENAY sustained minor damage in a collision in Lake St. Clair with the Panamanian freighter FESTIVITY on this date. The latter had begun coming to the Great Lakes in 1966. It had been damaged in a grounding on July 18, 1977, and arrived at Bilbao, Spain, for scrapping on November 9, 1977.

1989 GENERAL VARGAS arrived at Green Bay and was being towed by the tug MINNIE SELVICK when the latter was crushed against pilings around a railway bridge and sank. All on board were rescued but the tug was a total loss. The Philippine registered freighter had begun Great Lakes trading as a) BRUNTO in 1977 and reacquired that name in 1994. It was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, as f) LINDEN after arriving on July 19, 2011.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/25 - Reports from Montreal indicate that Algoma Olympic and Algolake have had their logos painted out. Algoma Olympic has been renamed Olympic and Algolake has been renamed Lake in preparation for overseas scrap tows. The saltwater tug VB Hispania is due at Montreal May 18, but it is unknown which vessel she will tow away. This is the same tug that towed the Peter R. Cresswell and John B. Aird to scrap.


4/25 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – After 43 years on the Sault Ste. Marie waterfront, M. S. Norgoma is being evicted. Sault Ste. Marie City Council has voted to end the museum ship’s berthing rights at Roberta Bondar Marina effective Aug. 31. The city will now work with the St. Mary’s River Marine Heritage Centre to arrange to have the historic former package freighter moved out. Ward 2 Councillor Sandra Hollingsworth fought the decision, remarking that the Sault’s downtown is more of an eyesore than the Norgoma. ”If we let the Norgoma go, we’re just demonstrating that we’re micro-thinkers,” Hollingsworth said.

SooToday


25 April 1890 - The Collins Bay Rafting Company’s tug ALANSON SUMNER (wooden propeller tug, 127 foot, 300 gross tons, built in 1872, at Oswego, New York) burned at Kingston, Ontario. She had $25,000 worth of wrecking machinery onboard. The SUMNER was repaired and put back in service.
On 25 April 1888, JESSIE MAGGIE (wooden schooner, 63 foot, 49 gross tons) was re-registered as a 2-masted schooner. She was built on a farm in Kilmanagh, Michigan, in 1887, as a 3-masted schooner and she was launched near Sebewaing, Michigan. It took 16 spans of oxen to haul her over frozen ground to the launch site. She lasted until 1904.

Interlake Steamship’s WILLIAM J. DE LANCEY (Hull#909) of American Ship Building Co., was christened April 25, 1981. Renamed b.) PAUL R. TREGURTHA in 1990.

On April 25, 1973, the self-unloading boom on Canada Steamship Lines a.) TADOUSSAC of 1969, collapsed while she was at Sandusky, Ohio. She sails today as b.) CSL TADOUSSAC.

In 1925, the ANN ARBOR 4 was back in service after running aground on February 13th off Kewaunee, Wisconsin.

In 1973, it was announced that the CITY OF SAGINAW 31, would be scrapped, after a fire which destroyed her cabin deck in 1971.

Hall Corp. of Canada's bulk canaller a.) ROCKCLIFFE HALL (Hull#615) by Davie Shipbuilding & Repair Ltd., was launched April 25, 1958. Converted to a tanker in 1972, renamed b.) ISLAND TRANSPORT, and c.) ENERCHEM LAKER in 1987.

Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS (Hull#824) by American Ship Building Co., was launched April 25, 1942.

Mutual Steamship Co.'s WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE (Hull#41) by Great Lakes Engineering Works, was launched April 25, 1908. Renamed b.) S B WAY in 1936 and c.) CRISPIN OGLEBAY in 1948. She was scrapped at Santander, Spain in 1974.

The PERCIVAL ROBERTS JR sailed light on her maiden voyage April 25, 1913, from Lorain to load ore at Two Harbors, Minnesota.

On April 25, 1954, CSL's, T.R. MC LAGAN entered service. At 714 feet 6 inches, she took the title for longest vessel on the Great Lakes from the JOSEPH H. THOMPSON, beating the THOMPSON by three inches. The THOMPSON had held the honor since November 4, 1952. MC LAGAN was renamed b.) OAKGLEN in 1990, and was scrapped at Alang, India in 2004.

Whaleback a.) FRANK ROCKEFELLER (Hull#136) by the American Steel Barge Co., was launched in 1896, for the American Steel barge Co., Pickands, Mather & Co., mgr. Converted to a sand dredge and renamed b.) SOUTH PARK in 1927, and converted to a tanker and renamed c.) METEOR in 1945.

On April 25, 1949, CSL's, GRAINMOTOR collided with the abutment of the railroad bridge above Lock 2 of the Lachine Canal.

The wooden schooner OTTAWA was launched on 25 April 1874, at Grand Haven, Michigan. She was owned by Capt. William R. Loutill and could carry 180,000 feet of lumber.

T S CHRISTIE (wooden propeller, 160 foot, 533 gross tons) was launched at F. W. Wheeler's yard (Hull #22) in W. Bay City, Michigan, on 25 April 1885. She was built for the Bay City & Cleveland Transportation Company at a cost of $45,000. Originally built as a double-deck vessel, she was cut down to a single decker at Chicago in 1902.

1941 The CANADIAN SIGNALLER was built at Collingwood as Hull 63 in 1919. It was torpedoed and sunk as d) POLYANA by U-103 en route from from Sunderland, UK to Freetown, Sierre Leone, with a cargo of coal. It was attacked just before midnight April 24 and sank in the early hours on this date with all 25 on board being lost.

1968 The Misener steamer EVERETTON ran aground in the St. Lawrence on this date in 1968. Although the damage was considered minor, the ship was sold to Marine Salvage for scrap, resold to Spanish shipbrakers and arrived under tow at Bilbao, on September 23, 1968, for dismantling.

1998 The wooden goelettes MONT NOTRE DAME and MONT ROYAL were destroyed by a fire at St. Joseph-de-la-Rive, Quebec, where they were being preserved ashore as museum ships. MONT NOTRE DAME was one of the first units in the Transport Desgagnes fleet while MONT ROYAL was known to have been a Great Lakes visitor.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/26 - Thunder Bay, Ont. – A strike by deck officers on some Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) vessels isn't having an effect on Thunder Bay's port yet, but that will change if the strike continues for too long, says the CEO of the city's port authority.

The strike by 36 permanent deck officers on CSL's 12 self-unloading vessels began on Saturday, the company confirmed this week in an email to CBC.

Thunder Bay Port Authority CEO Tim Heney said the affected self-unloading vessels "were engaged heavily in iron ore shipments right now, so they'd probably have a bigger impact on that, initially, than they will in grain. But they'll have an impact," he said. "The ship supply has an impact.”

Grain is the highest-volume cargo handled at the Thunder Bay port, with more than 7.2 million metric tonnes passing through the port during the 2017 season. Iron ore, meanwhile, hasn't been handled at the port since 1986, according to historical cargo statistics published on the port authority's website.

CSL said the strike is only affecting the self-unloading ships in its Canadian fleet; conventional bulk carriers and ships in the company's international fleet are operating as normal.

Heney said the CSL self-unloaders are being tied up until the strike is resolved; the 225-metre-long CSL ship Baie Comeau is currently tied up at Thunder Bay's Keefer Terminal due to the strike, Heney said.

CSL didn't disclose the issues that led to the strike. The striking deck officers are represented by the Canadian Merchant Service Guild. A person who answered the phone Tuesday at the guild's Ottawa office said the guild had no comment.

CSL said a mediation process is underway to resolve the strike.

CBC


4/26 - Duluth, Minn. – The $6.1 million Minnesota Slip seawall reconstruction project, on hold since early March, was void of activity again last Friday as it sat fenced off from the rest of Harbor Drive.

Heavy equipment on site sat quiet on what was a desolation row of a construction site. The William A. Irvin continued to float in the middle of the slip, and the turf along the dock wall had some time ago been dug down to the original timber cribbing which dates to the late-1800s.

The project began in late January, when contractors moved the Irvin so workers could get at replacing the deteriorating dock wall with new steel sheet piling. Six weeks later, the Army Corps of Engineers stopped work in order to seek further approval through the historic preservation process — an apparently overlooked step in the lead-up to the project. The News Tribune previously reported that AMI Consulting Engineers of Superior had been contracted to lead the project.

Jim Filby Williams, director of public administration for the city, said the city, Corps and others were working to reduce disruptions to the activities in Superior Bay behind the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. Currently the undocked tourist freighter Irvin, the harbor tour boats of the Vista Fleet and multiple charter fishing operations face setbacks if forced to be out of operations deep into May.

"We anticipate approval from the Corps next week to proceed with the final two components of the project: installation of new dock walls and restoration of walkways," Filby Williams said in a statement.

The project shutdown has been a constant worry for Justin Steinbach, owner of the Vista Fleet. He said with the slip closed, he won't have anywhere to dock the Vista Queen, the smaller of two touring boats including the Vista Star. He's already had to cancel reservations for the Queen for May, and faces a 30 percent hit on his bottom line as long as the boat has nowhere to dock. Docking in the slip gives her protection from the wave action the Queen can't get elsewhere.

"The Star can last out there (in the bay)," Steinbach said, "but the Queen would get bashed against that south-facing wall (behind the DECC)."

Because of delays to date, Steinbach said he was expecting to be back fully operating no sooner than the start of June. But in a detailed statement helping to explain the city's imbroglio, the Corps of Engineers supported the city's quicker timeline for getting the project back on track. Chad Konickson, a chief in the Regulatory Branch, said the Corps expects final agreement within a week and a permit to work immediately to follow.

"The Corps of Engineers has coordinated information provided by the city and their consultant with the Minnesota State Historical Preservation Office," Konickson said. "The information supports the Corps' February determination that the Minnesota Slip seawall repair project will not have an adverse effect on the historical integrity of the Minnesota Slip, the seawall or the William A. Irvin."

Konickson went on to say the historic preservation office has provided "preliminary" agreement with the Corps' decision.

For Steinbach, getting contractors back to work would be better news than he's been used to hearing lately.

"Losing that 30 percent would be a serious detriment to our operations and our employees," he said. "The Vista Fleet will make it, but without the Queen it will hamper our ability to be our best."

Duluth News Tribune


4/26 - Grand Haven, Mich. – Visitors to Grand Haven will soon be able to walk a portion of the pier again. Construction resumed on the city’s south pier on Tuesday. Workers are installing two fences along the span. When construction crews aren’t working, the first fence will open, allowing visitors to walk partway down the pier.

The project is now expected to run until fall, meaning the pier will be closed again for Grand Haven’s summer Coast Guard Festival.

Crews began the $2.6 million concrete repair project in 2016. However, their work has been delayed numerous times, including when higher water levels on Lake Michigan churned up large waves. In order to work on the concrete, crews need the pier to be dry.

"The water levels are up this year from last year by several inches, so yes, the water levels are affecting the work out here," Tim O'Bryan of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. "On a calm day like today, they shouldn't have any issues. But most of the time, there's some sort of westerly wind and any westerly wind or boat wake will cause them problems. They're only working about 8 to 12 inches off the water's surface."

In December, Grand Haven officials announced they had reached their $1 million fundraising goal to restore the pier’s iconic catwalk.

WOOD


4/26 - Traverse City, Mich. – The bollards and fenders that are used to moor the T/S State of Michigan will be moved out and beefed up to keep the ship from bouncing around in waves coming off the Grand Traverse Bay.

Northwestern Michigan College will pay Team Elmer's $385,000 to install the new mooring bollards and larger fenders in the harbor basin and to relocate a fence at the federal harbor where the ship is berthed as part of NMC's Great Lakes Maritime Academy.

But NMC President Tim Nelson is quick to point out that the work is being paid for by the federal government, which owns the ship, though NMC pays to operate it.

Nelson said when the wind blows out of the north the harbor captures too much wave energy. About two or three years ago a storm crushed the "bumpers," he said. The larger bumpers will keep the ship from rocking around when those waves come in.

Several requests for proposals were sent out and got several inquiries, though Team Elmer's was the only company to submit a proposal, according to information from NMC. The NMC Board of Trustees unanimously approved giving the project to Elmer's.

Record Eagle



26 April 1891 NORWALK (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 209 foot, 1007 gross tons) was launched by William DuLac at Mount Clemens, Michigan. At first, she was not able to get down the Clinton River to Lake St. Clair due to low water. She lasted until 1916, when she was sold to Nicaraguan buyers and was lost in the Caribbean Sea that autumn.
On 26 April 1859, the wooden schooner A. SCOTT was carrying limestone blocks for a large Presbyterian church being built at Vermilion, Ohio. The vessel was driven ashore near Vermilion by a gale and was quickly pounded to pieces. Her insurance had expired about ten days earlier. No lives were lost.

Algoma's new straight deck bulk freighter ALGOWEST (Hull#226) of Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., was launched April 26, 1982. She was converted to a self-unloader in 1998, and renamed b.) PETER R. CRESSWELL in 2001.

Sea trials were conducted April 26, 1984, on Lake Ontario for the CANADIAN RANGER.

An unfortunate incident happened on the SEWELL AVERY as four crew members were injured, one critically, when a lifeboat winch housing exploded shortly after a lifeboat drill in 1978.

Paterson's CANADOC (Hull#627) by Davie Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., was launched April 26, 1961.

BENSON FORD (Hull#245) of the Great Lakes Engineering Works was launched in 1924.

In 1982, carferry service from Frankfort, Michigan ended forever when railroad service to that port was discontinued and the remaining boats (ARTHUR K. ATKINSON, VIKING, and CITY OF MILWAUKEE) were laid up. CITY OF MILWAUKEE is preserved as a museum ship by the Society for the Preservation of the CITY OF MILWAUKEE.

On 26 April 1902, M. P. BARKLOW (wooden schooner, 104 foot, 122 gross tons, built in 1871, at Perry, Ohio), loaded with salt, was anchored off South Bass Island in Lake Erie to ride out a gale. Nevertheless she foundered and four lives were lost, the skipper, his wife, their son and one crewman.

On 26 April 1926, THOMAS GAWN (2-mast wooden schooner-barge, 171 foot, 550 gross tons, built in 1872, at Lorain, Ohio as a 3-mast schooner) sprang a leak and sank at River Rouge, Michigan in the Detroit River. The wreck was removed the following month and abandoned. She had a 54-year career.

1902 The wooden schooner barge GRACE B. GRIBBLE was holed by ice and sank in Lake Erie off Point Pelee after the hull was punctured by an ice flow. Three sailors were lost.

1958 CIANDRA, a Great Lakes visitor from West Germany as early as 1953, ran aground in the St. Clair River at the south end of Stag Island on this date in 1958. Due to a dispute, there was no pilot on board at the time. The ship was stuck for about 3 hours. It later burned and capsized at Singapore as e) MESONGO on September 9, 1977, and was refloated and then scrapped in 1979.

1981 The Norwegian freighter ASKOT visited the Great Lakes from 1959 to 1962 and returned under the flag of Greece as DIAKAN MASCOT in 1972. It was observed lying off Aden, as c) TYHI with the engine room flooded on this date in 1981. The hull was later refloated and arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakstan, for scrapping on April 28, 1982.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/27 - Officials with Canada Steamship Lines say the strike by 36 permanent deck officers that began on Saturday is now over. The company told CBC News on Thursday that an agreement was reached with the Canadian Service Merchant Guild.

Officials said operations will return to normal as soon as possible. The strike only affected the self-unloading ships in its Canadian fleet, according to CSL; its conventional bulk carriers and ships in the company's international fleet remained operating normally.

CBC


4/27 - Cleveland, Ohio – The Coast Guard Captain of the Port has established a safety zone in the Port of Duluth-Superior Thursday in response to the Husky Refinery incident to protect personnel and vessels from possible air quality hazards.

All vessels are prohibited from entering, transiting or anchoring within the safety zone. The safety zone includes all waters from buoy gated pair "3" and "4" in the vicinity of Barker's Island southeast through the harbor. This includes the Superior entry and Allouez Bay.

Vessels impacted may contact the Captain of the Port's representative on VHF-FM Channel 16. The Coast Guard is monitoring the situation and in contact with federal, state and local partners.

The fire was reported as being out Thursday night.

USCG


4/27 - At 10:35 a.m. Thursday the Kaministiqua lost steering and anchored above Iroquois Lock, blocking traffic. Among the vessels delayed was the downbound Algosteel, which is on her final trip. Vessel traffic began moving again in the evening.


4/27 - Mackinaw City, Mich. – The Unified Command approved a plan developed by American Transmission Company, contracting with Durocher Marine and T&T Subsea, to cap and seal the two severed utility cables in the Straits of Mackinac, Wednesday.

Thursday, a tug, barge, and remotely operating underwater vehicle commenced operations to cap the ends of the two severed ATC utility cables.

One by one, the ends of severed cables will be lifted to the surface of the water, to solder and affix a permanent cap. The caps will be wrapped with the existing outer steel armor wires of the cables and banded with steel clamps. Once the ends of the cables are soldered, capped, and sealed, they will be laid on the bottom of the Straits in their original position. Afterwards, concrete mats will be placed over the ends of the two cables to prevent them from moving.

During the course of the operation, a back pressure will be applied to the shore side ends of the cables to prevent any additional spillage of mineral oil into the Straits of Mackinac.

To date, 612 gallons of mineral oil have been extracted from the two severed cables and the effort is ongoing. Together, the two cables hold a maximum of 800 gallons of mineral oil.

Additionally, during the ROV assessment of the ATC cables, deenergized and retired 46kV cables owned by Consumers Energy were also found to be damaged. The cables were installed in 1956 and, deenergized and retired in 1990.

Consumers Energy reported to the Unified Command that there is no free flowing fluid within their retired cables.

Chemical testing of the material in the cable will be completed to gauge any risk to the environment due to the damage. A representative from Consumers Energy has joined the Unified Command in Mackinaw City, to coordinate a plan to respond to their damaged cables. Emergency managers from Mackinaw, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, and Emmet counties have been notified of the discovered damage to the Consumers Energy cables.

The Unified Command continues to communicate with other utility companies in the Straits to ensure that all steps are taken to assess and mitigate any further damage to active and retired infrastructure.

Wildlife biologists from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services program, personnel from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and Coast Guard Marine Science Technicians continue to survey the area, on the water, from shore and from the air, to look for any signs of pollution or impacted fish and wildlife.

No impacts to the environment or wildlife have been identified.

The Coast Guard marine casualty investigation into vessel activity that may have caused the damage to the ATC cables is ongoing.

To report affected wildlife or animals acting abnormally please call the USDA at (517)-336-1928. To report any oil sheen or pollution, please call the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.

USCG


27 April 1889 - ROMEO (wooden propeller excursion steamer, 70 foot, 61 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler (Hull #51) at West Bay City, Michigan, for service on the Òinland route (Oden, Michigan to Cheboygan, Michigan & Bois Blanc Island) along with her sister JULIET (wooden propeller excursion steamer, 70 foot, 61 gross tons), launched the following day. The vessels had twin screws for maneuverability along the northern rivers. ROMEO lasted until 1911, when she was abandoned at Port Arthur, Texas. JULIET was converted to a steam yacht and registered at Chicago. She was abandoned in 1912.
The H.A. HAWGOOD (4-mast wooden schooner, 233 feet) was launched at 2:00 p.m. on 27 April 1886, at F.W. Wheeler's shipyard in W. Bay City, Michigan.

On April 27, 1993, the WOLVERINE ran aground on Surveyors Reef near Port Dolomite near Cedarville, Michigan, and damaged her hull.

The ASHCROFT, up bound on Lake Erie in fog, collided with Interlake's steamer JAMES H. REED on April 27, 1944. The REED, fully loaded with ore, quickly sank off Port Burwell, Ontario, with a loss of twelve lives. The ASHCROFT suffered extensive bow damage below the water line and was taken to Ashtabula, Ohio, for repairs. Later that morning on Lake Erie fog still prevailed and the PHILIP MINCH of the Kinsman fleet collided with and sank the crane ship FRANK E. VIGOR. This collision occurred at 0850 hours and the ship, loaded with sulphur, sank in the Pelee Passage in 75 feet of water. All on board were saved.

On April 27, 1973, the bow section of the SIDNEY E. SMITH JR was towed to Sarnia by the Malcolm tugs TABOGA and BARBARA ANN. The two sections of the hull were scuttled and landfilled to form a dock facing.

Shenango Furnace's straight deck steamer WILLIAM P. SNYDER JR left Ecorse, Michigan, in ballast on her maiden voyage April 27, 1912, for Duluth, Minnesota, to load iron ore.

On April 27, 1978, the TROISDOC was down bound with corn for Cardinal, Ontario, when she hit the upper end of the tie-up wall above Lock 2, in the Welland Ship Canal.

On April 27, 1980, after loading pellets in Duluth, the ENDERS M. VOORHEES stopped at the Seaway Dock to load a large wooden stairway (three sections) on deck which, was taken to the AmShip yard at Lorain. It was used for an open house on the newly built EDWIN H. GOTT in 1979.

On April 27, 1953, the steamer RESERVE entered service.

On April 27, 1984, the CHARLES M. BEEGHLY struck the breakwall while departing Superior, Wisconsin on her first trip since the 1981 season. The vessel returned to Fraser Shipyards in Superior for repairs.

On 27 April 1876, the Port Huron Times reported, "The steam barge MARY MILLS arrived up this morning and looks 'flaming'. Her owner said he did not care what color she was painted so long as it was bright red, and she has therefore come out in that color."

On 27 April 1877, the 40-foot 2-mast wooden schooner VELOCIPEDE left Racine, Wisconsin, for Muskegon, Michigan, in fair weather, but a severe squall blew in and it developed into a big storm. The little schooner was found capsized and broken in two off Kenosha, Wisconsin, with her crew of 2 or 3 lost.

1914 - The BENJAMIN NOBLE disappeared with all hands in Lake Superior. The wreck was finally located in 2004 and it lies 10 miles off Two Harbors, MN. The discovery was confirmed in July 2005.

1915 The COLLINGWOOD stranded near Corsica Shoal while downbound in Lake Huron with a load of grain.

1965 After being forced to spend the winter at Toronto when an early build up of ice prevented it from leaving the Great Lakes, the Greek freighter ORIENT MERCHANT ran aground near Port Colborne and required repairs at Port Weller Dry Docks. The ship had begun Seaway trading in 1960 and was scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, arriving on November 17, 1967, as ZAMBEZI.

1970 The Israeli freighter ESHKOL began Great Lakes trading right after being built in 1964. The ship was in a collision with the fishing boat MELISSA JEAN II in the Cabot Strait on this date in 1970. It arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping as ESKAT on September 29, 1982.

[yachtsmanwilly]

4/30 - Detroit, Mich. – President Trump ended his rally in Macomb County Saturday with encouraging words for the crowd of his supporters. He touched on a wide range of national issues, as well as things pertinent to the state’s election and Northern Michigan.

“We know what we’re doing with your locks,” said President Trump. “We’re gonna start that as soon as I get back.”

During his speech, President Trump said that a fix for the Soo Locks is long overdue.” Your lock isn’t working too well, it’s not working too well,” said President Trump. “It hasn’t been fixed in 50 years, in all fairness.”

The president says he’s looking into what needs to be done immediately to fix the aging Poe Lock. “I told your congressmen, ‘Write that name down for me,'” said President Trump. “It’s the Army Corps of Engineers. We’re gonna be calling them. It could be tonight, depending on the time we get back.”

One of those congressman is Republican Jack Bergman, who rode over with the president to the venue. Congressman Bergman says the aging infrastructure dominated the conversation. “He wants to know what we need here in Michigan as it relates especially to the greater needs of the country,” said Bergman. “We explained to him if the Soo Locks shut down, manufacturing shuts down across the country.”

“After spending all that money in the Middle East, can you imagine? And we can’t fix a lock… we’ll get it fixed,” said Trump. It was also clear that part of the president’s reason for stopping in Michigan is to increase Republican voter turnout in midterm elections.

9 & 10 News


4/29 - Goderich, Ont. – Hundreds of workers at the Compass Minerals salt mine in Goderich walked off the job Friday afternoon. In total, 341 miners, electricians and hourly employees are involved in the strike action.

The company and union have been in contract talks since March. Union leaders say seniority, overtime and benefits are among the major outstanding issues.

In a statement from Compass Minerals the company said: “While we are disappointed Unifor has chosen to strike, it remains Compass Minerals’ goal to negotiate a collective agreement that focuses on the safety of our employees and represents the current operational environment of the Goderich Mine,” said Compass Minerals’ Anthony Sepich, senior vice president, salt. “Our employees are essential for the success of our organization and the company plays an important role in the Goderich community. We are committed to work with the union to negotiate an agreement that achieves this goal.”

Compass Minerals says work will continue at the site with other employees. Forty-eight of the mine’s employees were laid off in February.

CTV


4/28 - Milwaukee, Wis. – The Lake Express Ferry departed Friday morning on its first official voyage of the 2018 season. The four-engine vessel shuttles passengers, cars, bicycles and pets between Milwaukee and Muskegon, Michigan. Each trip across Lake Michigan takes two-and-a-half hours.

The ferry's travel schedule through June 14 includes two daily round trips. There will be three daily round trips from June 15 to September 3. The travel season typically ends at the end of October.

WISN-TV


4/28 - Mackinaw City, Mich. – The south side of one of the two severed utility cables owned by American Transmission Company was soldered, capped, sealed and laid on the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac in its original position Thursday.

A tug, barge and a remotely operated underwater vehicle were used to permanently seal and cap the ends of the two severed ATC utility cables.

Operations to seal and cap the remaining ends of the two severed cables will continue throughout this weekend. ATC is currently preparing a long-term plan to remove the damaged cables, under the oversight of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Additionally, Consumers Energy is developing a plan, under the oversight of the Unified Command, to respond to the damage to their deenergized, retired cables in the Straits of Mackinac. The company reported to the Unified Command that there is no free flowing fluid within their retired cables. Consumers Energy is currently working to obtain a sample of the affected line to test for chemical properties within the 46 kV cable.

USCG


28 April 1856 - TONAWANDA (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 202 foot, 882 gross tons) was launched by Buell B. Jones at Buffalo, New York.
On 28 April 1891, the whaleback barge 110 (steel barge, 265 foot, 1,296 gross tons) was launched by the American Steel Barge Co. in W. Superior, Wisconsin. In 1907, she went to the Atlantic Coast and lasted until she suffered an explosion, then sank after burning, near the dock of Cities Service Export Oil Co., at St. Rose, Louisiana, on March 3, 1932.

The 660-foot-long forward section of Bethlehem Steel's a.) LEWIS WILSON FOY (Hull#717) was launched April 28,1977, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Renamed b.) OGLEBAY NORTON in 1991 and c.) AMERICAN INTEGRITY in 2006.

Nipigon Transport Ltd.'s straight deck motorship a.) LAKE WABUSH (Hull#223) by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., was christened and launched April 28, 1981. Renamed b.) CAPT HENRY JACKMAN in 1987, and converted to a self-unloader in 1996.

On April 28, 1971, while up bound from Sorel, Quebec, for Muskegon, Michigan, with a load of pig iron, LACHINEDOC struck Rock Shoal off Little Round Island in the St. Lawrence River and was beached.

On April 28, 1906, Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s J. PIERPONT MORGAN (Hull#68) by Chicago Ship Building Co., was launched. Renamed b.) HERON BAY in 1966.

April 28, 1897 - The F&PM (Flint & Pere Marquette) Steamer NO 1, bound from Milwaukee for Chicago, ran ashore just north of Evanston. She released herself after a few hours.

The barge LITTLE JAKE was launched on 28 April 1875, at East Saginaw, Michigan. She was owned by William R. Burt & Co. Her dimensions were 132 feet x 29 feet x 9 feet.

On 28 April 1877, the steam barge C S BALDWIN went ashore on the reef at North Point on Lake Huron during a blinding snow storm. The barge was heavily loaded with iron ore and sank in a short time. The crew was saved by the Lifesaving Service from Thunder Bay Station and by the efforts of the small tug FARRAR.

1971 ZENAVA, the former REDFERN, ran aground, caught fire and sank off Burin, NF while under tow from Rose Blanche, NF to Marystown, NF. The former bulk canaller was being used to transport, freeze and store fish.

1976 The first ALGOSEA was inbound on its first trip to the Great Lakes when it hit the wall below Lock 1 of the Welland Canal and then, below Lock 2, the ship was blown sideways across the canal after problems with the cables. The ship was enroute to Port Colborne for conversion to a self-unloader; it was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 2011 as SAUNIERE.

29 April 1896 - W. LE BARON JENNEY (steel tow barge, 366 foot, 3422 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler & Company (Hull #120) at West Bay City, Michigan for the Bessemer Steamship Company of Cleveland, Ohio. She went through eight owners during her career, ending with the Goderich Elevator and Transit Company, Ltd. who used her as a grain storage barge under the name K.A. Powell. She was scrapped in Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1974.
On 29 April 1875, the wooden schooner CLARA BELL of Sandusky was wrecked in a gale off Leamington, Ontario. Captain William Robinson was drowned.

On April 29, 1975, American Steamship’s SAM LAUD entered service.

Launched this date in 1976, was the a.) SOODOC (Hull#210) by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. Renamed b.) AMELIA DESGAGNES in 1990.

On April 29, 1977, while inbound at Lorain, the IRVING S. OLDS hit a bridge on the Black River, which extensively damaged her bow, tying up traffic for several hours .

A fender boom fell on the pilothouse of the steamer GEORGE M. HUMPHREY in the Poe Lock at the Soo in 1971.

On 29 April 1865, L.D. COWAN (wooden schooner, 165 tons, built in 1848, at Erie, Pennsylvania) was driven ashore near Pointe aux Barques, Michigan, in a storm and wrecked.

1909: AURANIA was the only steel hulled ship sunk by ice on the Great Lakes. The vessel was lost in Whitefish Bay after being holed and then squeezed by the pressure of the ice pack near Parisienne Island. The crew escaped onto the ice and pulled a yawl boat to the J.H. BARTOW.

1952: W.E. FITZGERALD hit the Burlington Lift Bridge at the entrance to Hamilton Bay after a mechanical problem resulted in the structure not being raised. The north span of the bridge was knocked into the water, resulting in traffic chaos on land and on the water.

1959: PRESCOTT went aground near Valleyfield, Quebec, while downbound in the Seaway only four days after the waterway had been opened. It got stuck trying to avoid a bridge that had failed to open and navigation was blocked until the CSL bulk carrier was refloated the next day.

1969: HOWARD HINDMAN ran aground at the Little Rapids Cut in the St. Marys River after the steering cables parted. The ship was released and temporarily returned to service but the vessel was badly damaged and soon sold for scrap. It came down the Welland Canal with a cargo of road salt on June 6, 1969, and was towed to Bilbao, Spain, with the HUMBERDOC, arriving on September 6, 1969.

1976: The British freighter GLENPARK was three years old when it first came through the Seaway in 1959. It was sailing as c) GOLDEN LEADER when it ran aground off Goto Island, southwest Japan while on a long voyage from Chungjin, China, to Constanza, Romania. The hull broke in two and was a total loss.

1998: The Panamanian freighter DENEBOLA first visited the Seaway in 1973. The ship was sailing as d) TAE CHON, under the flag of North Korea, when it was in a collision with the YANG LIN in thick fog on the Yellow Sea and sank. The vessel was enroute from Yantai, China, to Chittagong, Bangladesh, when the accident occurred and one life was lost.

30 April 1894 - The TRUANT (wooden propeller tug, 73 foot, 28 gross tons, built in 1889 at Toronto, Ontario) burned to a total loss near Burnt Island in Georgian Bay. The fire started under her ash pan.
On 30 April 1890, the wooden dredge MUNSON and two scow barges were being towed from Kingston, Ontario, by the tug EMMA MUNSON to work on the new Bay of Quinte bridge at Rossmore, Ontario, six miles west of Kingston when the dredge started listing then suddenly tipped over and sank. No lives were lost.

IRVIN L. CLYMER returned to service April 30, 1988, after a two-season lay-up.

HOWARD HINDMAN of 1910, grounded heavily when her steering cable parted at Little Rapids Cut in the St. Marys River, April 30, 1969. Due to the extensive damage, she was sold in May of that year to Marine Salvage Ltd., Port Colborne, Ontario, for scrap and was scrapped at Bilbao, Spain in 1969.

The RED WING tow arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan on April 30, 1987, for dismantling.

On 30 April 1842, the side-wheeler COMMODORE BARRIE collided with the schooner CANADA about 10 miles off Long Point in Lake Ontario. The COMMODORE BARRIE became disabled and then sank about an hour and a half later. Her passengers and crew were rescued by the CANADA.

On 30 April 1878, ST. LAWRENCE (2-mast wooden schooner, 93 foot, 111 tons, built in 1842, at Clayton, New York) was carrying timber when she caught fire from the boiling over of a pot of pitch which was being melted on the galley stove. The vessel was well out on Lake Michigan off Milwaukee. The fire spread so rapidly that the crew had no time to haul in canvas, so when they abandoned her, she was sailing at full speed. The lifeboat capsized as soon as it hit the water, drowning the captain and a passenger. The ST. LAWRENCE sailed off ablaze and was seen no more. The rest of the crew was later rescued by the schooner GRANADA.

1909: RUSSIA foundered in heavy weather in Lake Huron not far from Detour, MI. The ship was en route from Duluth to Alpena and ran into a heavy gale. Sources vary on the loss to life.

1929: D.M. PHILBIN ran aground in a high winds and snow 6 miles west of Conneaut after mistaking the airport beacon for the Conneaut Light and stranding on a sandbar off Whitman's Creek. The hold was flooded to keep the hull safe and it was released with the aid of tugs on May 7. The vessel was renamed c) SYLVANIA prior to returning to service

1984: The fish tug STANLEY CLIPPER sank in a storm on Lake Erie southeast of Port Dover, near Ryerson Island and all three men on board were lost. The hull was located, refloated and rebuilt as the tug NADRO CLIPPER. It currently operates as c) A.I.S. CLIPPER and is often moored below Lock 1 of the Welland Canal when not in service.

1991: The hull of BEECHGLEN buckled while unloading corn at Cardinal, ON, with the bow and stern settling on the bottom. The ship was strapped together, refloated and towed to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs arriving at the shipyard on May 26.

1999: GLORY MAKOTOH, a Panamanian general cargo carrier, sank in the South China Sea off Hainan Island as d) FELIZ TRADER on this date in 1999. The vessel had been a Seaway trader in 1983 under the original name. Eight crewmembers were rescued from the lifeboats but 13 sailors were lost.

2000: The small passenger ship WORLD DISCOVERER visited the Great Lakes in 1975. It hit a reef or large rock off the Solomon Islands on April 30, 2000, and had to be beached on the island of Ngella. The 127 passengers and 80 crew were saved, but the ship was a total loss and potential salvors were driven off by a hostile local population.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/1 - Middleburg Heights, Ohio – The Interlake Steamship Co., through Interlake Logistics Solutions, has announced it will time charter an asset from the East Coast to operate on the Great Lakes this spring: The 418-foot Montville, a single-hold, covered hopper barge with a 14,400-short ton capacity that will be able to carry a wide variety of cargoes.

The Montville barge will eventually feature a rail-mounted gantry that will support a large material handler capable of digging or lifting cargo out of the cargo hold and onto shore.

“We are very excited to bring the Montville into service to provide new maritime logistic solutions for our partners on the Great Lakes,” says Interlake President Mark W. Barker. “We’re seeing an increasing need for moving other types of cargo than the free-flowing bulk cargoes that we have traditionally moved. We felt that it was important to respond and fulfill the needs of our customers.”

Brendan O’Connor, Interlake’s Vice President of Marketing and Marine Traffic, says the Montville barge will be able to carry a wide range of cargoes from bulk products to steel to specialty project cargoes such as wind turbines, generators, heavy equipment and other large structural components.

“While barge service is available in the region, we believe the Montville is a unique asset,” O’Connor says. “Its sheer size and versatility sets it apart. The Montville will be largest U.S.-flagged barge of its kind on the Great Lakes. With its large, open cargo hold – that is completely covered -- it will be able to carry high cubic cargoes as well as heavy cargoes protected from the environment.”

Interlake is partnering with Moran Towing to assist with the operations

Interlake Steamship Co.


5/1 - Louisville, Ky. - Even though it is retiring three of its coal plants by 2023, DTE Electric intends to keep running its 1,395-MW Belle River and 3,000-MW Monroe coal plants until around 2030 and 2040, respectively, Trevor Lauer, DTE president and chief operating officer, said Friday in an interview.

Lauer's comments came after Michigan's largest utility received final approval from the state's Public Service Commission to build a 1,100-MW, $951.8 million natural gas-fired plant at the utility's Belle River plant in St. Clair County.

Environmentalists opposed the gas-fired plant, urging DTE to replace the coal units with more renewable resources.

DTE plans to retire about 2,100 MW of older coal capacity by 2023, using the new gas-fired plant as a partial replacement once it goes into commercial operation in second-quarter 2022.


5/1 - Owen Sound, Ont. – The Chi-Cheemaun’s first official sail of the 2018 season is scheduled for Friday, May 4, but the Owen Sound Transportation Co., the ferry’s parent company, is keeping a close eye on the remaining ice in Lake Huron.

“The Environment Canada ice chart shows fast ice up inside South Bay, but our dock cameras show it clear at the South Baymouth dock and at the entrance from the lake,” said OSTC President and CEO Susan Schrempf. (‘Fast ice’ refers to ice that remains fastened to the shoreline.) “If the ice north of us is broken up and the wind shifts from southwest to north, the ice will blow down to the dock and entrance, and that will be a problem. We cannot operate the Chi-Cheemaun in ice, broken or otherwise.”

Ms. Schrempf did go on to note that “much change can happen in two weeks, and no one is able to predict it with any accuracy. Best case scenario for the ferry is for the ice to deteriorate in the north end of South Bay without being broken up by an ice breaker.”

Manitoulin Expositor


5/1 - Duluth, Minn. – The $6.1 million Minnesota Slip seawall reconstruction project has resumed after a lengthy delay, said a city of Duluth news release on Monday. "Seawall installation will be complete by mid-June, but there remains additional landscaping and sidewalk work that will continue the rest of the summer," said a statement from city spokeswoman Pakou Ly.

Contractors began steel sheet piling on Monday, making it a good length of the way down the slip, which is home to the 611-foot S.S. William A. Irvin Ore Boat Museum.

After a January start, the project had been on hold since early March after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stopped work in order to secure necessary historic preservation approval at the state level. The oversight was corrected this week, when the Minnesota Historic Preservation Office gave clearance to the city, enabling the project to continue.

Contractors are reinforcing the old timber construction that dates to the late 1800s. The project will fortify the seawalls and prevent further erosion of the dockwall. Current work is scheduled to be done by Grandma's Marathon, June 16 — one of the busiest days of the year in Duluth as it fills Canal Park and the race route to Two Harbors with thousands of racers, volunteers and spectators. But the project also figures to require season-long work-arounds.

"This project is long term," Ly told the News Tribune. "The seawall installation will hopefully be done before Grandma's, but then we have soil, landscaping and sidewalk restoration to do." Ly said the project could stretch well through summer before a scheduled clean-up of the bottom of the slip starts — work scheduled by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

In a twist of good news for the Minnesota Slip, its pedestrian bridge is expected to reopen on Friday, Ly said, having been sandblasted and repainted into a new shade of blue — this time teal.

An equipment staging area has reduced Harbor Drive behind the DECC to one lane of traffic.

The bridge had been enclosed in plastic since March. Historically plagued by problems, the Minnesota Slip pedestrian bridge remains relatively fresh off of a $3 million mechanical fix in 2017. The new season promises a test of some rewiring required as part of a repair last August, which followed the overhaul.

In January, a crew moved the Irvin away from the dockwall and toward the middle of the slip, where it has been floating at anchor ever since.

The Minnesota Slip is also set to undergo soil remediation by the MPCA later this fall – a final hurdle to complete an update of the slip.

The slip is just part of ongoing work throughout the port, where about half of 14 miles of seawall between Duluth and Superior is in need of new steel sheet pilings and modernization.

Work along the seawall behind the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center has been identified since at least 2016, when DECC staff began fencing off areas along the dockwall near the Irvin due to sinkholes in the green spaces and heaving on the sidewalks.

The June timeline to reopen the Minnesota Slip figures to hurt the Vista Fleet tour boat operation, which keeps its boats in the slip. Owner Justin Steinbach previously described 30 percent of his business being jeopardized by the six-week delay in work as the fleet is unable to use the smaller of its two vessels, the Vista Queen, without having use of the slip. He could not be reached in time for this story.

Duluth News Tribune


5/1 - Mackinaw City, Mich. – All of the affected utility cables owned by American Transmission Co. have been soldered, capped, sealed and laid on the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac in their original position.

ATC is preparing a long-term plan to remove the damaged cables, under the oversight of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. A total of 625 gallons of mineral oil were recovered from the lines.

Consumers Energy is developing a plan, under the oversight of the Unified Command, to respond to the damage to their de-energized, retired cables in the Straits of Mackinac. The company reported to the Unified Command that there is no free-flowing fluid within their retired cables.

Consumers Energy is working to obtain a sample of the affected line to test for chemical properties within the 46 kV cable.

USCG


EDMUND FITZGERALD collided with the Canadian steamer HOCHELAGA at the mouth of the Detroit River, May 1, 1970, suffering slight damage at hatches 18 and 19.
STEWART J. CORT departed Erie on her maiden voyage at 0400 May 1, 1972. She was delayed by fog in Western Lake Erie.

The steel-hulled bulk carrier SHENANGO (Hull#62) was launched on May 1, 1909, by Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ecorse, Michigan.

Scrapping began on the CHICAGO TRADER at Ashtabula, Ohio, on May 1, 1978.

The JOHN T. HUTCHINSON (Hull#1010) was launched at Cleveland, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. on May 1, 1943.

The IRVING S. OLDS sustained an eight-foot long crack across her spar deck and eight inches down one side in a storm on Lake Huron May 1, 1963.

LIGHTSHIP 103 (HURON) was launched at Morris Heights, New York by Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp. on May 1, 1920, for the U.S. Lighthouse Service. The SOO RIVER TRADER brought the first shipment of bulk cement to open the $18 million St. Lawrence Cement distribution dock at Duluth, Minnesota on May 1, 1982.

May 1, 1903 - The ANN ARBOR NO 1 sighted a burning vessel about 15 miles out of the Sturgeon Bay Ship canal, the steamer JOHN EMERY OWEN. The crew had already been picked off after the fire started, so the ANN ARBOR NO 1 put out the fire with her fire hoses. The NO 1 then towed the abandoned steamer to Sturgeon Bay and tied her up at the west end of the canal.

On 1 May 1875, CONSUELLO (wooden schooner, 103 foot, 142 gross tons, built in 1851, at Cleveland, Ohio) left Cleveland with a load of black stone for Toledo. Near Kelley's Island, a storm caused the cargo to shift and the ship capsized and sank. When she hit bottom, she jerked upright so the tops of her masts were above the water. Two of the crew, Fred Donahue and James King, were able to cling to the masts and they were rescued after about an hour and a half. Five others, including the captain and his wife, were drowned.

On 1 May 1876, the little steamer W.D. MORTON, which for two years had run as a ferry between Port Huron's Black River and Sarnia, left her dock for the Delaware River where she ran on a centennial excursion route for the exposition held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania She left the Lakes via the Erie Canal.

On 01 May 1858, OGONTZ (wooden propeller steamer, 343 tons, built in 1848, at Ohio City, Ohio) was purchased by Capt. A. E. Goodrich and George C. Drew for $5,600. This was the second vessel in the Goodrich Line. Just two years later, Capt. Goodrich had her machinery removed and she was sold to W. Crostin for $500. He converted her to a sailing vessel and she operated for two more years before she foundered in a storm.

1892: CELTIC, enroute from Fort William to Kingston with wheat and general cargo, sank in Lake Erie east of Rondeau after a collision with the steamer RUSSIA. The accident occurred in fog and one life was lost.

1909: ADELLA SHORES foundered with the loss of 14 lives in a Lake Superior storm while enroute from Ludington to Duluth with barreled salt.

1917: CASE began leaking on Lake Erie and was beached at East Sister Island, near Point Pelee and the ship caught fire when a lantern was knocked over. Some cargo was salvaged in August but the hull was left to break up in place and today the remains are scattered on the bottom.

1933: WILLIAM SCHUPP stranded on a shoal off Cockburn Island, Lake Huron, while enroute to Fort William in ballast. Once released, the vessel was repaired at Collingwood. It became MONDOC (ii) in 1945 and was scrapped at Deseronto, ON in 1961.

1940: ARLINGTON foundered in a Lake Superior storm on the second trip of the 1940 season. The wheat laden steamer was bound for Owen Sound went down stern first, taking Capt. Burke to his death. The rest of the crew survived and were picked up by the COLLINGWOOD.

1963: CAPE TRANSPORT was mauled overnight in a wild storm on Lake Huron off Harbor Beach. The steering gear was damaged, the radio knocked out and pilothouse windows were smashed. The HOLMSIDE, and later the RALPH S. MISENER, stood by. The ship reached a safe anchorage on May 2. Fleetmate OREFAX sustained damage to the forward cabins while upbound on Lake Huron in the same storm.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/2 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – Coast Guard cutter Alder will finish the break out of the Keweenaw Waterway, including Portage Lake, later this week. Coast Guard Cutter Alder plans to transit the Keweenaw Waterway from north to south, completing the passage by May 03.

The STEWART J. CORT created a sensation as she passed Detroit/Windsor on mid-day on May 2, 1972, amid throngs of people lining both sides of the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, whistling acknowledging salutes on her up bound maiden run.
ADAM E. CORNELIUS (Hull#53) was launched at St. Clair, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works on May 2, 1908. Renamed b.) DETROIT EDISON in 1948, c.) GEORGE F. RAND in 1954. Sold Canadian in 1962, renamed d.) AVONDALE. She was scrapped at Castellon, Spain, in 1979.

On 2 May 1874, the steamer 8TH OHIO was chartered by Magner & Company to carry their circus to various Great Lake ports throughout that season.

The 3-mast schooner EDWARD KELLEY was launched at Dunford & Leighton's yard in Port Huron on 2 May 1874. She was built for the Lake Superior Transportation Company of Cleveland, Ohio. A. O. Miller's coronet band played at the launching.

On 02 May 1903, ACADIA (wooden schooner-barge, 102 foot, 188 tons, built in 1873, at Smith's Falls, Ontario) was carrying coal from Oswego, New York to Kingston, Ontario, when she went aground in a storm near the Duck Islands on Lake Ontario. She was later recovered, but foundered again in July 1908. Again she was recovered and this time rebuilt as a barge.

1895 N.K. FAIRBANK was traveling from Chicago to Ogdensburg, NY with 50,000 bushels of corn when it stranded, due to fog and smoke, off Morgan's Point 6 miles west of Port Colborne. The wooden steamer caught fire and burned to the waterline. The hull was later refloated and, in 1899, rebuilt as the ELIZA H. STRONG only to burn again in October 1904.

1967 SHELTER BAY went aground in the Brockville Narrows when a bolt in the steering gear sheared off and the vessel veered off course, was holed by rocks and had to be beached off Royal Island. This member of the Q. & O. fleet was bound for Chicago with iron ore, but had to be lightered and then sailed to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/3 - Manitowoc, Wis. – The S.S. Badger carferry is getting nearly $800,000 in state money to repair its dock, which was damaged by Blizzard Evelyn.

Gov. Scott Walker's office says high winds and waves damaged loading equipment and structures and severely eroded the harbor side. The vehicle apron needs to be rebuilt, and a broken counterweight needs to be added. Those repairs are expected to be made by the ferry's opening day, which is set for May 11. In all, the project is expected to cost nearly $1 million.

In addition, plans call for an armored retaining wall to be built on the harbor side to protect the facility from future wind and wave damage. Walker's office says the current shoreline structure was not engineered, and is made up of a mix of construction debris and small-diameter quarry stone.

“The S.S. Badger is an important aspect of our communities helping with both manufacturing and tourism,” Walker said in a news release. “This grant will help speed up repairs to the harbor and aboard the S.S. Badger, ensuring the ferry is ready to transport passengers, vehicles, and commercial goods as they prepare to open for the upcoming season.”

The City of Manitowoc owns the dock and leases it to the S.S. Badger. The state grant comes from the Harbor Assistance Program. Fox 11


5/3 - Washington, D.C. – President Donald Trump spoke on the aging Soo Locks at an event in Washington Township, Michigan, on Saturday, April 28. “The Soo Locks are going to hell,” Trump told the crowd. “You know that right? And we’re going to get them fixed up.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates that a six-month unexpected closure of the Poe Lock would result in dire consequences for the national economy. The DHS projected that 11 million Americans would lose their jobs, and the State of Michigan’s unemployment would reach 22%, exceeding the peak unemployment rate of 15% during the Great Recession of 2008. According to DHS, entire U.S. manufacturing industries would be incapacitated, including automobiles, appliances, construction, farming, and heavy manufacturing.

“Businesses located at or near our ports are dependent on commerce through the Soo Locks,” said Steve Fisher, Executive Director of the American Great Lakes Ports Association. "Thousands of jobs in the energy, steel and agriculture sectors rely on this critical waterway.”

The Soo Locks were constructed in Michigan in 1855 to allow ships to navigate the 21-foot height difference between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. Where once there were four locks to serve Great Lakes shipping, now there are only two, with the largest lock, the Poe, handing over 90 percent of all cargoes. The other lock, the MacArthur, is too small for the larger, modern ships that transport cargo such as iron ore.

Trump further stated in his speech that he would immediately talk to the Army Corps of Engineers to jumpstart the process of fixing the Soo Locks.

“We depend on the Corps to maintain this marine highway,” said Jim Weakley, President of the Lake Carriers’ Association. “Without the locks connecting Lake Superior to the lower lakes we could not do our job.”

Great Lakes Seaway Partnership


5/3 - St. Ignace, Mich. – A new study from a Michigan State University researcher estimates an oil spill in the Straits of Mackinac could have an economic impact of more than $6 billion.

The study, led by MSU professor Robert B. Richardson, was prepared for For Love of Water (FLOW), a Traverse City-based advocacy group that has advocated for the shutdown and decommissioning of Enbridge Energy's Line 5 oil and gas pipeline.

The pipeline, built in 1953, runs 645 miles from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Canada, and transports up to 540,000 barrels of light crude oil and natural gas liquids per day. Groups like FLOW have called for the aging pipeline to be shut down because of the risk a spill could pose to the Great Lakes.

FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood called the new study "another compelling reason for the state to take swift action to shut down Line 5."

Federal authorities requested the pressure in the oil pipeline be reduced after new damage was found. "This study puts credible numbers behind what common sense tells us, that a Line 5 spill could cause catastrophic economic impacts in addition to environmental destruction," Kirkwood said in a statement.

The study assumes a spill of about 2.5 million gallons of crude oil, which amounts to about 59,500 barrels, damaging about 900 miles of shoreline. The study's authors said it is not intended to be a "worst-case scenario," but a "reasonable case that is informed by expert knowledge."

"The scenario reflects the real possibility of technological failure and delay in human response," the study states. "In the context of Line 5, the worst-case scenario may be far greater in terms of scale, scope, and the magnitude of impacts."

Read more and view images at this link: www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2018/05/study_puts_63_billion_price_ta.html


On May 3, 1959, the first large saltwater vessel to transit the new St. Lawrence Seaway arrived at Duluth. The RAMON DE LARINAGA of 1954, took the honors as the first salty, passing under Duluth's Aerial Bridge at 1:16 p.m., followed by a salty named the HERALD of 1943, sixteen minutes later.
In 1922, the PERE MARQUETTE 16, as the barge HARRIET B, collided with the steamer QUINCY A. SHAW, and sank off Two Harbors, Minnesota.

On 3 May 1840, CHAMPLAIN (wooden side-wheeler, 225 tons, built in 1832, at Chippewa, Ontario) was carrying general merchandise when a storm drove her ashore four miles south of St. Joseph, Michigan. Although abandoned, she was later recovered and rebuilt.

On 03 May 1883, lightning struck and set fire to the barge C F. ALLEN while she was loading at North Muskegon, Michigan. She burned to the water's edge. Her loss was valued at $6,000, but she was not insured.

1905: HESPER was blown aground in 60 mph winds near Silver Bay, MN. The vessel was carried over a reef by a giant wave and broken to pieces. All on board were rescued.

1909: The EDWIN F. HOLMES hit a dredge in the Detroit River. The 108-year-old vessel still survives as the J.B. FORD.

1941: TRAJAN had been built at Ecorse, MI as a) YAQUE in 1915. It returned to the Great Lakes as b) DORIS in 1928 taking out the head gates at Lock 13 of the Welland Canal on September 23 and was back for several trips after becoming c) TRAJAN in 1932. The vessel was bombed and sunk by German aircraft in the North Sea on this date while enroute from Blyth to London with a cargo of coal.

1961: The tug BERT VERGE was towing the retired laker FORESTDALE across Hamilton Bay to the scrapyard at Stelco when it got caught by the wind, pulled over on its beam ends and sank with the loss of 2 lives. The tug was later salvaged and survives today as a pleasure craft out of Port Dover.

1982: A fire in the officer's quarters aboard the rail car barge SCOTIA II broke out at Sarnia. The damage was repaired and the ship resumed cross-river service until making its last run in April 1995.

1987: The Polish freighter ZIEMIA BIALOSTOCKA began Great Lakes service in 1980 after 8 years of deep sea trading. The ship hit the Sidney Lanier Bridge at Brunswick, GA, on this date in 1987 with major damage to the vessel and structure. The ship last visited the Great Lakes in 1996 and arrived at Alang, India, for scrapping on September 20, 1998.