Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

3/15 - Duluth, Minn. – The U.S. Coast Guard shared its icebreaking playbook on Thursday in advance of the March 25 start to the Great Lakes shipping season. It figures to get an assist from Mother Nature with thawing temperatures.

“I expect traffic will be moving in both directions on opening day,” said Mark Gill, Coast Guard director of vessel traffic services based at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. “It’s going to be a challenge, with 82-83 percent ice cover on Lake Superior, but there’s a great forecast over the next 10 days, and maybe we can whittle that down in half or greater.”

The Coast Guard will use the cutter Alder, its heavy icebreaker Mackinaw and get an assist from the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Samuel Risley to break out Lake Superior in the coming days.

Mackinaw and Alder will leave Sault Ste. Marie next Wednesday, and cut a path along the South Shore of Lake Superior on their way to prepare tracks in the Duluth and Superior harbors.

From there, they’ll head along the North Shore through ports in Two Harbors, Silver Bay and Taconite Harbor on their way to putting “a quick fracture into Thunder Bay,” Gill said.

The fractures all up the line help expose the ice sheet to elements, resulting in quicker deterioration, Gill said.

The Samuel Risley will work the eastern end of the lake above the Soo Locks, clearing the way through Whitefish Bay, where ice tends to gather as if around a drain.

In April 2015, 18 vessels got stuck in ice in Whitefish Bay, where the ice was 15 feet thick. Gill sees the potential for similar accumulation this year. “It’s premature to say we’re going to have a chaotic situation,” Gill said.

After Thunder Bay, the Alder will return to Duluth and remain at its home port, while the Mackinaw will head to Whitefish Bay, sending the Samuel Risley up to Thunder Bay. The Alder will concentrate on keeping the Duluth and Superior entrances open and shipping channels clear, while local tug operations work the ships in and out of the docks, Gill said.

Not all vessel companies will risk the early going.

Canadian National Railway’s Great Lakes Fleet, based in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Duluth under the ore docks, and operated by Key Lakes Inc., will keep itself grounded until April 1, Gill said. Other companies will follow suit.

“They’re sacrificing the early start and instead they’re playing the long game,” Gill said, explaining that puncturing a hole in a ship’s hull can cost up to $4 million to repair and put a ship out of commission in the meantime.

“These companies operate on razor-thin margins,” Gill said. “Sometimes it’s OK to be slower out of the gate with the promise of more production to come. Some companies don’t have that option.”

Taconite iron ore shipments figure to take up the bulk of the early movement. Blast furnaces at steel mills down the lakes have worked through stockpiles and are ready for replenishing.

When it comes to sailing through the ice, speed will be a factor. “They’re trying to get product to industry,” Gill said. “But they have to be careful. You don’t want to come up at lake speed on a field of ice 24 inches thick.”

Breaking out

The Soo Locks open March 25, signaling the start of the 2019 Great Lakes shipping campaign. The following vessels are currently docked in Duluth and Superior:

Vessel / Dock Tim S. Dool / Fraser Shipyards
H. Lee White / Fraser Shipyards
American Century / Enbridge Dock
American Spirit / Fraser Shipyards
Burns Harbor / Elevator “M” Dock
Mesabi Miner / Midwest Energy
Kaye E. Barker / Fraser Shipyards
Lee A. Tregurtha / Fraser Shipyards
Duluth News Tribune


WESTCLIFFE HALL (Hull#519) was launched March 15, 1956, at Grangemouth, Scotland, by Grangemouth Dockyard Co. Ltd., for the Hall Corp. of Canada.

March 15, 1949 - The Ann Arbor carferry fleet was laid up due to a strike called by the boat crews. The fleet was idled until March 22nd.

On 15 March 1882, GRACE PATTERSON (wooden propeller tug/freighter, 111 tons, built in 1880, at Grand Haven, Michigan) was carrying lumber and lath when she stranded near Two Rivers Point, Wisconsin on Lake Michigan. She caught fire and was totally destroyed. Lifesavers rescued the crew.

Mr. Russell Armington died on 15 March 1837. He operated the first shipyard at St. Catharines, Ontario from 1828, until his death.

On 15 March 1926, SARNOR (wooden propeller freighter, 228 foot, 1,319 gross tons, built in 1888, at W. Bay City, Michigan, formerly BRITANNIC) caught fire at Kingston, Ontario near the La Salle Causeway. She burned to a total loss.

1942: The first SARNIADOC of the Paterson fleet was lost with all hands on the Caribbean en route from Trinidad to the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was apparently torpedoed by U-161 in the night hours of March 14-15, 1942, while in the south for the wartime bauxite trade.

1969: The bulk carrier ALEXANDER T. WOOD, remembered by many for its regular early Seaway service in the ore and grain trades as well as for a collision with the Finnish flag freighter MARIA in the Detroit River on August 12, 1960, was lost on this day in 1969 as VAINQUER. The latter had been to the Great Lakes in 1968 but sank following a boiler room explosion in the Gulf of Mexico with the loss of one life. It was en route from Vera Cruz, Mexico, to New Orleans with a cargo of sugar.

1976: The rail car barge HURON rolled over and sank at the Windsor dock due to an uneven deck load. The 1875 vintage vessel had operated across the Detroit River as a steamer until March 1971 and then as a barge. It was refloated and returned to service.

1980: The Liberian vessel FRATERNITY was built in 1963. It visited the Great Lakes in 1967 and operated briefly as ARYA NIKU in 1975-1976 before becoming FRATERNITY again under Greek registry. Fire broke out in #1 and #2 cargo holds en route from Hamburg to Karachi on this date in 1980. An explosion followed the next day and the crew abandoned the ship in the Red Sea. The hull was beached March 17 around the border of Eritrea and Sudan but was refloated April 1 and deemed a total loss. After unloading at Sharjah, the hull was towed to Gadani Beach, Pakistan, arriving at the scrapyard on May 19, 1981.

1984: The Greek freighter ELINA likely made only one trip to the Great Lakes, coming inland in 1982 to load frozen meat at Kenosha, WI. It laid up at Emden, West Germany, on June 13, 1983, only to catch fire on March 15, 1984. The damage was extensive and the hull was towed into Gijon, Spain, for scrapping on April 23, 1984.

[yachtsmanwilly]

3/18 - Duluth, Minn – The most recent clear-weather satellite photo of Lake Superior, taken March 12, appears to show the big lake's winter ice starting to break up. The estimate of ice cover on the lake peaked at 95 percent earlier in March and now sits about 80 percent. NOAA photo.

Despite all the subzero temperatures the Polar Vortex threw at it, Lake Superior never quite froze over entirely this winter and already appears to be losing some ice cover.

Satellite photos from the most recent clear day — Tuesday — show vast areas of what appears to be open water just off Minnesota and Ontario's North Shore and many other areas of the lake.

And some areas that have ice cover appear to show fissures and cracks as the lake ice diminishes due to warm temperatures, rain and windy conditions. With no cold snaps anywhere in the forecast it's unlikely the lake ice will grow much again this season.

Estimates — based on satellite temperature data taken of the lake's surface — topped out at 95 percent ice cover for the big lake earlier in March. But that number quickly dropped and now sits at about 80 percent, based on the estimates by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. The most recent satellite photo appears to show even less than 80 percent ice cover.

The western tip of Lake Superior near Duluth and Superior, and around the Apostle Island, appears well-locked in solid ice. Losing those vast sheets of ice still on Superior won't be easy or quick. Despite the recent warm and windy streak it could still take many weeks — even months — for the most solid Lake Superior ice to melt. As Duluthians well know, there has been remnant ice on the lake and beaches well into May some years, and in some cases into June.

Across the Great Lakes about 50 percent of the lakes are still ice-covered, according to the NOAA estimates.

Duluth News Tribune


3/17 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – With the Soo Locks set to open on March 25, the potential impact on island communities fueled discussion at Thursday’s meeting of the Chippewa County Board of Commissioners.

“Last year we were without ferry service for 28 days — 26 days straight,” said Neebish Island resident Les Laitinen, reminding the commissioners during public comment of the difficulties residents experienced in 2018. He seemed especially puzzled by the decision to eliminate the ice bridge to the island more than a week before commercial vessels can even use the locks.

“It’s not going to go anywhere. You can break it, break it and break it,” added a second individual expressing similar concerns. From his account, the narrow channel just traps the broken ice in an area that prohibits the ferry from running. “The ferry can operate just fine if that’s left alone.”

Commissioner Don McLean agreed. “If you break up the ice, it’s going to jam up there. It’s just too narrow,” McLean explained. “We need to somehow make the Coast Guard aware that somehow they’re not going about this the right way.”

But McLean’s fellow commissioners opted for a wait and see approach. “From my understanding, things are pretty good, probably the best they have been in a long time,” said Shackleton. “By all accounts it’s been a great year and I think instead of bugging them, we should send them a big thank you note.”

“At this point I think things are going well, we’re working towards, I believe, a much better relationship with the Coast Guard,” added Commissioner Jim Martin, reflecting on the communication channels of the involved parties. “I don’t want to do anything to derail the improvement.”

Commissioner Robert Savoie agreed that communications have improved and admitted the county had limited control over this matter. “We’re never going to be able to tell the Coast Guard what to do.”

“We have a role to play in this,” McLean countered. “Our hands aren’t tied and we don’t have a gag in.”

The commission effectively opted for a “wait and see” strategy leading up to the icebreaking season, taking no action related to this topic.

Sault News


3/16 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – Sault Ste. Marie City Council will be asked Monday to approve moving the M.S. Norgoma to a temporary location behind Algoma Steel made available to the city by Purvis Marine.

A resolution on the agenda for Monday's council meeting calls for St. Mary's River Marine Heritage Centre to be served notice that the ship must be moved out of Bondar Marina to the new location as soon as weather and ice conditions allow, by April 15 at the latest.

The cost and liability of the transfer must be paid by the marine heritage centre as the ship's owner, the resolution states. If the resolution passes, city staff will be directed to work with the volunteer-run centre to co-ordinate removal of the marina docks.

City officials are anxious to move the historic boat to allow replacement of the deteriorating wooden docks, and to take advantage of current high water levels.

Other locations for the ship that were investigated and removed included: Parks Canada canal, Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, Sault Area Hospital, St. Joseph Island and the SunCor site.

"Staff has been able to confirm that a temporary site has been secured located on a portion of the dock wall behind Algoma Steel and rented by Purvis Marine," Tom Vair, the city's deputy chief administrative officer for community development and enterprise services, says in a report to Mayor Provenzano and councillors.

"This site will be inaccessible to the public but will provide a temporary location that removes the vessel from the marina and enables the new dock project to proceed," Vair wrote.

"The vessel will have to be insured by the owner for the tow through the Sault locks to Algoma Steel. The insurance will also have to be carried on the vessel for the duration of its storage at Algoma Steel."

Cost of the move is estimated at $50,000 and Purvis Marine will require a purchase order for the tow and storage.

The ship must stay no longer than one year at the temporary location and Purvis will charge a discounted rate of $40 a day to keep the ship at the Algoma Steel dock.

If the marine heritage centre becomes insolvent because of the move, Vair is recommending that the Norgoma either be decommissioned at an estimated cost of $150,000 or be provided to a new owner interested in moving the boat elsewhere. "We continue to recognize the SMRMHC volunteers for the numerous hours they have contributed towards the management and maintenance of the M.S. Norgoma," Vair says. "They should be commended for their years of hard work and service."

At the same time, Vair points out that the centre's 10-month-old GoFundMe campaign for the Norgoma has raised just $1,008 from 13 contributors, despite extensive media coverage.

SooToday


On 16 March 1901, ARGO (steel passenger/package freight propeller, 173 foot, 1,089 gross tons) was launched at the Craig Ship Building Company (Hull #81) at Toledo, Ohio, for the A. Booth Company. She left the Lakes in 1917, and was last recorded in 1938, out of Brest, France.

BUFFALO (Hull#721) was launched March 16, 1978, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Corp., for the American Steamship Co.

On 16 March 1883, The Port Huron Times announced that the passenger and package freight steamer PICKUP would be built in Marine City, Michigan and would run on the St. Clair River between Port Huron and Algonac. The machinery from the burned steamer CARRIE H. BLOOD was to be installed in her. In fact, her construction was completed that year and she went into service in September 1883. Her dimensions were 80 foot x 19 foot x 7 foot, 137 gross tons, 107 net tons.

The Niagara Harbor & Dock Company, a shipbuilding firm, was incorporated on 16 March 1831, at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.

On 16 March 1886, the tug MOCKING BIRD was sold by Mr. D. N. Runnels to Mr. James Reid of St. Ignace, Michigan. Mr. Runnels received the tug JAMES L. REID as partial payment.

1924: MOHAWK of the Western Transit Co. was known as a fast ship. It was built at Detroit in 1893 and was renamed AMERICA in 1916. It was cut in two to exit the Great Lakes and re-assembled at Montreal for East Coast service. The ship was renamed BERMUDEZ in 1921 and sank in the Erie Basin at Brooklyn on March 16, 1924, with the stern resting on the bottom and the bow afloat. The hull was pumped out but scrapped at New York in January 1925.

On 17 March 1995, a fire started on the AMERICAN MARINER's self-unloading conveyor belt from welding being done on the vessel at the Toledo Ship & Repair Company in Toledo, Ohio. About $100,000 in damage was done. The Toledo fire department had the blaze out in half an hour.

The tanker LAKESHELL reportedly leaked over 21,000 gallons of Bunker C oil into the St. Lawrence River on March 17, 1982, after suffering a crack in her cargo compartment caused by striking an ice floe.

GEORGE R. FINK was launched March 17, 1923, as a.) WORRELL CLARKSON (Hull#174) at Toledo, Ohio, by Toledo Ship Building Co., for the Kinsman Transit Co.

On 17 March 1916, CITY OF MIDLAND (wooden propeller passenger-package freighter, 176 foot, 974 tons, built in 1890, at Owen Sound, Ontario) burned at the Grand Trunk Railway dock at Collingwood, Ontario, while fitting out for the coming season. No lives were lost.

In 1945 Stadium Boat Works of Cleveland Ohio launched the SOUTH SHORE (US. 247657) for Miller Boat Line of Put-In-Bay, Ohio. She carried 6 autos and 120 passengers. In 1973, she was sold to Beaver Island Boat Company until retired at the end of the 1997 season. In April of 1999, sailed to Chicago where she was docked at the foot of Navy Pier as a storage vessel for Shoreline Cruises.

1906: SOVEREIGN, a steel hulled passenger ship that operated on the St. Lawrence in the Montreal area, was destroyed by a fire at Lachine, Quebec. The vessel was rebuilt that year as IMPERIAL and remained in service until 1928 when the boilers and hull were condemned.

1916: CITY OF MIDLAND, a passenger and freight steamer for Canada Steamship Lines, caught fire at the Grant Trunk Railway Dock in Collingwood and was a total loss.

1973: A wild late winter storm swept into Goderich off Lake Huron on March 17-18. Eleven ships got loose, while only the PATERSON (i) remained fast at the dock. It sustained bow damage when struck by fleetmate MONDOC (iii). Varying amounts of damage were inflicted to other ships.

1980: SUNPOLYNA was built in 1956 and provided service for Saguenay Shipping between Eastern Canada and the West Indies. The ship first came through the Seaway in 1963 and, on May 16, 1967, it ran aground near Thorold. It was sailing as d) TEMERAIRE when abandoned by the crew on March 17, 1980, in position 28.16 S / 21.04 W after the hull had cracked. The ship was en route from Santos, Brazil, to Mina Qaboos, Oman, and, after drifting to northwest for several days, sank on March 21.

In 1967, under the command of Captain Ray I. McGrath, the Columbia Transportation Company's HURON (steel propeller self-unloader bulk freighter, 415 foot, 4,810 gross tons, built in 1914, at Ecorse, Michigan) cleared Fairport, Ohio, and headed to Toledo, Ohio for a load of coal. She was the first freighter to sail in the new season. She sailed on the same day that the U. S. Steel's Bradley Fleet of seven vessels started fitting out.

On 18 March 1906, the Goodrich Line's ATLANTA (wooden propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 200 foot, 1,129 gross tons, built in 1891, at Cleveland, Ohio) was sailing from Sheboygan, Wisconsin for Milwaukee. When she was 14 miles south of Sheboygan, fire was discovered in the aft hold and quickly spread to the engine room. She ran out of steam, making the fire pumps inoperable. There were 65 persons aboard and Capt. Mc Cauley gave the order to abandon. The fish tug TESSLER came to help and only one life was lost. As the TESSLER was steaming to port, the Goodrich Line's GEORGIA came into view and took on all of the survivors. The hull of the ATLANTA was beached by the TESSLER. Later, the burned hull was purchased by D. O. Smith of Port Washington.

ARSENE SIMARD (Hull#404) was launched March 18, 1972, at Sorel, Quebec, by Marine Industries Ltd., for Branch Lines Ltd.

PERE MARQUETTE 21 (Hull#209) was launched March 18, 1924, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. She was christened by Mrs. Charles C. West, wife of the president of Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co.

The straight-deck bulk carrier SYLVANIA (Hull#613) was launched March 18, 1905, at West Bay City, Michigan by West Bay City Ship Building Co., for the Tomlinson Fleet Corp.

On 18 March 1890, CITY OF CHICAGO (steel sidewheeler, 211 foot, 1,073 gross tons) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan by F. W. Wheeler & Co. (Hull#68) for the Graham & Morton Line. CITY OF CHICAGO was lengthened to 226 feet at Wheeler's yard one year later (1891). She was again lengthened in 1905-06, this time to 254 feet. On the same day and at the same yard the 3-mast wooden schooner A.C. TUXBURY was stern launched.

On 18 March 1928, M. T. GREENE (wooden propeller freighter, 155 foot, 524 gross tons, built in 1887, at Gibraltar, Michigan) burned to a total loss near Brigdeburg, Ontario, on the Niagara River.

1923 The wooden steamer JAMES P. DONALDSON was built in 1880 and often worked in the lumber trade. At the end, it was used by N.M. Paterson & Sons Ltd. to bring wet grain to the company elevator for drying. The ship caught fire at the Canadian Lakehead on this date and the remains were sunk off Isle Royale, Lake Superior, on May 6, 1923.

1991 The Canadian Coast Guard ship GRIFFON collided with the fishing trawler CAPTAIN K. sinking it in Lake Erie. Three lives were lost.

[ppat324]

W. R. STAFFORD (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 184 foot, 744 gross tons, built in 1886, at W. Bay City, Michigan) was freed from the ice at 2:00 a.m. on 19 March 1903, by the Goodrich Line’s ATLANTA. When the STAFFORD was freed, the ice then closed around the ATLANTA and imprisoned her for several hours. Both vessels struggled all night and finally reached Grand Haven, Michigan, at 5 a.m. They left for Chicago later that day in spite of the fact that an ice floe 2 miles wide, 14 miles long and 20 feet deep was off shore.

CARTIERCLIFFE HALL was launched March 19, 1960, as a.) RUHR ORE (Hull # 536) at Hamburg, Germany, by Schlieker-Werft Shipyard.
INDIANA HARBOR (Hull#719) was launched March 19, 1979, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, by Bay Shipbuilding Corp.
CITY OF GREEN BAY was launched March 19, 1927, as a.) WABASH (Hull#177) at Toledo, Ohio, by Toledo Ship Building Co., for the Wabash Railway Co.
ALFRED CYTACKI was launched March 19, 1932, as a.) LAKESHELL (Hull#1426) at Newcastle-on-Tyne, England by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd.
On 19 March 1886, the PICKUP (wooden passenger/package freight steamer, 80 foot, 136 gross tons, built in 1883, at Marine City, Michigan, was renamed LUCILE. She lasted until she sank off the Maumee River Light (Toledo Harbor Light), Toledo, Ohio, Lake Erie, on August 8, 1906.
1916 The canal-sized PORT DALHOUSIE saw only brief service on the Great Lakes. It was built in England as TYNEMOUNT in 1913 and came to Canada as PORT DALHOUSIE in 1914. It left for saltwater in 1915 and was torpedoed and sunk by UB-10 while carrying steel billets to Nantes, France. It went down March 19, 1916, south and west of the Kentish Knock Light vessel and 12 lives were lost.
1978 BELKARIN was a Norwegian cargo carrier that made one trip inland in 1963. It struck a sunken warship in Suez Bay on March 19, 1978, as c) NAHOST JUMBO and the engine room was holed. The vessel, en route from Aqaba, Jordan, to Holland, settled in shallow water. The hull was refloated in January 1979 and sold for scrap.
1990 On March 19, an explosion in a container on board the Norwegian freighter POLLUX at La Baie, QC, killed two sailors, seriously injured a third as well as 7 Alcan dock employees. The ship made its first trip up the Seaway coming to to Port Weller Dry Docks May 18 for repairs. It was renamed there and left the lakes in August as d) NOMADIC POLLUX. This ship returned inland in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and was back as e) BALTICLAND in May 2004.
1993 An explosion and fire rocked the tanker SHIOKAZE in the North Sea en route to Rotterdam killing one member of the crew. The vessel had first been a Seaway trader in 1986 and returned in 1998 as DILMUN TERN bound for Hamilton with palm oil. It was scrapped, after 30 years of service, arriving at Alang, India, on June 14, 2010, as c) THERESA III.
2002 A hull crack of close to 13 feet was found on LAKE CARLING off Cape Breton Island while traveling from Sept-Iles to Trinidad with iron ore. Originally ZIEMIA CIESZYNSKA, the vessel first came to the Great Lakes in 1993 and was renamed LAKE CARLING at Chicago in October. The crack widened to 25 feet before the vessel could reach safety but the damage was repaired and it returned to service. The original name was restored in 2004 and the vessel was last on the lakes in 2009.
2003 A fire in the after end of the CALEDONIA on the Heddle Dry Dock in Hamilton was contained to one deck. The vessel was there for conversion to a sailing ship and the work was eventually completed. The ship had visited the Great Lakes as the coastal freighter PETREL in the late 1970s but was much more at home around Maritime Canada and Hudson Bay. As a sailing ship, it carries 77 passengers and visits Caribbean ports.

Welland Canal trade corridor key to Niagara’s future: Mayors
3/19 - Port Colborne is poised to move forward as part of a larger national trade corridor along the Welland Canal, says Mayor Bill Steele.
And Welland Mayor Frank Campion says his city has been working to develop canal lands and establish a new port for nearly three years now.
Last month, a federal committee on transport, infrastructure and communities made a number of recommendations on a Canadian transportation and logistics strategy, two of which encouraged increased use of the St. Lawrence Seaway, and using Welland Canal corridor lands to expand and create new economic development opportunities.
At the time, Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey said the Niagara region and Hamilton are a strategic location due to being within a day's drive of major Canadian and U.S. cities and he wanted the two areas to be designated a national trade corridor.
Steele says Port Colborne has been working on the issue for the past three to four months, and he was on it prior to being sworn in as mayor. "This is the big push I spoke of during the election … moving forward with the Hamilton Port Authority," says Steele.
With cargo moved on the seaway and Welland Canal up 14 per cent over the past two years, Port Colborne's mayor says there are more lands that could be used for marine- and transport-related industries.
Everything south of the Clarence Street Bridge, Bridge 21, says Steele is an open market for the canal trade corridor. "There are millions and millions of people we can serve. From Port Colborne, going west, every major city in the U.S. and Canada can be reached."
Steele says with more Canadian and American ice-breakers on Lake Erie, the shipping season could run year-round.

Maintenance at frozen Soo Locks gets 'more intense'
3/19 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – It's cold, complex and dangerous work. But repairs to the Soo Locks are critical to ensuring ships can pass through the Great Lakes every year, despite challenges posed by frigid weather.
This season, the work began the day after the Locks closed for the season Jan. 15 and has kept up weekdays through the daylight hours.
Both the Poe and the MacArthur locks were emptied of water so $2.8 million in maintenance can be completed over 10 weeks prior to March 25, when the shipping season begins on the Great Lakes.
“We have a complex, accelerated work schedule in the winter,” said JoAnne Gray, chief of construction at the Army Corps' Soo Area Office. “It takes 10 hours to de-water a lock, then we put in stop logs and divers plug all leaks in the gates to ensure a dry environment to work.”
The two locks are massive, with the MacArthur Lock 80 feet wide and 800 feet long, the Poe Lock 110 feet wide and 1,200 feet long, allowing 1,000-foot freighters to transit 21 feet to and from Lake Superior and Lake Huron around the St. Marys River Rapids between Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario.
Divers in suits filled with warm water that ensure survival enter the locks upon closure to open drains. Stop logs are placed in the gates and drains at the bottom of the locks are opened. More than 22 million gallons of water are flushed from each lock by five 300-horsepower pumps.
Oakum, a fiber rope used in building wooden ships, is used by the divers to plug small leaks in the huge four-foot-wide wood gates that rise 61 feet from the lock’s floor.
Huge barges with cranes and other equipment are placed in the lock and slowly lowered 61 feet to the bottom of the locks as the water is removed. And plastic covers are placed over the gates trapping pumped steam onto the gates, melting ice and snow so work can commence.
“We perform maintenance all year. In the winter, our work becomes more intense,” said LeighAnn Ryckeghem, chief of maintenance engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
A list of work to be completed by Monday included cylinder seal and embedded anchorage replacement as well as lock valve maintenance on the Poe Lock. Anchorage replacement, lock filling valve seal replacement and bevel gear replacement on the MacArthur Lock also were being done.
Read more and view photos at this link

Port Reports - March 19
Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
All six vessels that have been wintering in the Twin Ports are now transmitting AIS signals in preparation for the new season. The US Coast Guard cutters Alder and Mackinaw will arrive later this week to break out the harbor, and the first departures of the season should come over the weekend as vessels prepare for the opening of the Soo Locks on March 25.
Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – Jim Conlon
Reports on social media indicate the Paul R. Tregurtha will leave layup on Saturday to start the new season. On Monday Wilfred Sykes was taking on fuel at Bay Shipbuilding and had steam up later in the day. Other ships at Bay Ship are having their crews starting to arrive.
Lake Michigan
Algocanada was off Manistee Monday night headed for Sarnia. Algoma Hansa was still in S. Chicago.
Lake Erie
Tanker Algonova was westbound for Sarnia Monday night.
Bath, Ont. – Ron Walsh
The tug Sheri Lynn S broke ice Monday ahead of the arrival of the cement carrier NACC Argonaut.

[yachtsmanwilly]

3/20 - The U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers Mackinaw and Alder, which locked trough the Poe Lock early Tuesday afternoon, will break ice as they travel to Duluth, MN. The Canadian Coast Guard’s Samuel Risley will break ice en route to Thunder Bay, Ont.

3/20 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – The museum ship Norgoma will be moved to a site at Algoma Steel that will not be accessible to the public, City Council effectively decided Monday night.

Council voted 8-3 to advise St. Mary's River Marine Heritage Centre that the recently-painted ship must be moved out of Roberta Bondar Marina by April 15 to allow a dock-replacement project to proceed there this spring.

The marine centre proposed a last-minute alternative location, the former docking-site of the Chief Shingwauk tour boat on the west pier of Roberta Bondar Park. But city staff rejected that site last year, saying considerable dredging would be needed and the Norgoma would jut out past the end of the dock, impeding the arrival of cruise ships.

Also, there are insufficient bollards there to tie the museum ship.

Unless the museum board can find an alternative location in less than a month (something both it and city staff have been trying to do for many months) the city intends to tow the Norgoma to the Purvis Dock at Algoma Steel, billing the $50,000 cost to the volunteer-run marine centre.

"We don't have the capital for it. We'd have to liquidate what we have," Warren McFadden, a member of the marine centre board, told City Council.

SooToday


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]

3/21 - Sault Ste, Marie, Mich. – After being shut down for its annual winter maintenance since late January, there was a flurry of activity at Michigan's Soo Locks this week as two of the huge, empty chambers were refilled with 73 million gallons of water in preparation for Monday, March 25, which is opening day of the 2019 navigation season.

For Great Lakes ship enthusiasts, this ritual is the true first sign of spring. With the Soo's biggest lock - the Poe Lock - refilled and ready, the first vessels through were a trio of Coast Guard that headed out Tuesday on an ice-breaking mission in partially-frozen Lake Superior.

Two of the cutters - the Mackinaw and the Alder - are U.S. Coast Guard ships. The third is the Samuel Risley, a Canadian Coast Guard vessel.

The three motored into the Poe Lock together and locked through. When they were out into Lake Superior, the strong-hulled ships began cutting tracks in the ice that will help huge cargo vessels start crossing the waters later this week as they leave their ports, heading toward the Soo Locks.

Each year, the locks handle more than 4,500 vessels carrying up to 80 million tons of cargo on the Great Lakes. Iron ore, limestone and coal make up the bulk of what is coming through on the big freighters.

The three big cutters working in Lake Superior this week will soon be joined by other vessels, the U.S. Coast Guard said. They will be working areas including Michigan's Whitefish Bay and Duluth, Minn. before breaking ice in western Lake Superior ports like Silver Bay, Two Harbors and then Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canada.

By the end of March, they expect to break out any ice left near Marquette and the Keweenaw Waterway.

This week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Detroit District, which oversees the Soo Locks, has shared several photos of how their team has prepped the Poe Lock for the new season. They've also provided descriptions to go along with the work being shown in each image.

View the photos at this link

View more information on the Soo Locks Opening Day festivities at this link


3/21 - A Medal of Honor recipient from Michigan will have a guided-missile destroyer named after him, the U.S. Navy announced on Monday.

The future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, DDG 130, will be named in honor of Hospital Corpsman Master Chief William Charette, a native of Ludington, who fell on a grenade to shield a wounded Marine during a battle in North Korea on March 27, 1953.

“The actions of Hospital Corpsman William Charette will neither be forgotten or diminished,” Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer said in a statement.

“Charette put himself at extreme risk during intense combat to render aid to Marines in need. His efforts saved lives and I am honored that his legacy will live on in the future USS William Charette.”

Charette joined the Navy in 1951 and served in the Korean War in the Fleet Marine Force as a hospital corpsman attached to Company F, Third Platoon, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.

His heroic actions took place when Chinese soldiers in North Korea attacked and overran two of three Marine hill outposts. During a counterattack, an enemy grenade landed near Charette, who was providing aid to a wounded Marine. Charette placed himself on top of the Marine to shield him from the explosion.

The blast rendered Charette unconscious but when he awoke, he continued to aid Marines, including using torn parts of his uniform in order to dress battle wounds, his own battle vest to shield a wounded Marine, and exposing himself to incoming rounds in order to carry wounded Marines to safety.

All five enlisted sailors who received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Korean War were Navy hospital corpsmen attached to the Marine Corps, but Charette was the only living recipient.

He died on March 18, 2012, due to complications from heart surgery.

The ship named for Charette will be constructed at Bath Iron Works, a division of General Dynamics in Bath, Maine. The 509-foot long vessel will have a beam length of 59 feet and will be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 30 knots.

The future USS William Charette will be a Flight III destroyer, capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously. It will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems designed to support maritime warfare, including integrated air and missile defense and vertical launch capabilities.

M Live


3/21 - There is more evidence suggesting Canadian coast guard mid-shore patrol vessels are a fair-weather fleet.

Documents obtained by CBC News show that during a one-year period, two mid-shore patrol vessels based in Nova Scotia were tied up for 151 days in weather conditions when they were supposed to be operable.

Last month, CBC revealed the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is looking at installing stabilizers — blades that counteract the motion of waves — on its nine coast guard mid-shore vessels. This followed widespread complaints from crew about excessive rolling at sea.

Michael Grace, DFO's offshore surveillance supervisor, looked at sea conditions during the 165 days when two mid-shore vessels based in Nova Scotia were in port or anchored — from April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018. His briefing table on the "probabilities the vessels were being anchored based on wind speeds and sea conditions" was released to CBC under the Access to Information Act.

"The vessels frequently did not operate in winds in excess of 20 knots, sea states under 2 metres," the table compiled by Grace states.

In March 2018, the Dartmouth-based supervisor delivered the presentation at a joint management meeting of officials with the Canadian Coast Guard and DFO in Vancouver.

The vessels, which are 42 metres long and seven metres wide, are known as the Hero class since each is named after an exemplary military, RCMP, coast guard or DFO officer.

The mid-shore patrol vessels are based on both the east and west coasts of Canada as well as the Great Lakes.

According to minutes of the meeting, Grace looked at wind speeds and sea conditions when the CCGS G Peddle and CCGS Corporal McLaren were ashore.

"The reported weather and sea state condition outlined in the table indicates that up to 91.5% of the in port/anchored time occurred within the stated operating parameters of the MSVP."

For primary missions in the Atlantic, like fishery patrols, the vessel is expected to sail in what is known as Sea State 5, which is three-metre seas and winds averaging 24 knots.

According to the table, "28.6% of the port/anchored time took place in weather conditions with winds of less than 20 knots and a sea state of 0.5 to 2.0 metres." Coast guard: no response

The Canadian Coast Guard did not comment on Grace's report when contacted by CBC News.

Read more at this link


The c.) CHEMICAL MAR of 1966 sustained severe damage when sulfuric acid leaked into the pump room while she was discharging her cargo at the island of Curacao on March 21, 1982. Flooding occurred later and the vessel was declared a constructive total loss. She was scrapped at Brownsville, Texas in 1983. From 1979 until 1981, CHEMICAL MAR was named b.) COASTAL TRANSPORT for the Hall Corp. of Canada. She never entered the lakes under that name.

NOTRE DAME VICTORY was floated from the drydock on March 21, 1951, three months and two days after she entered the dock, and was rechristened b.) CLIFFS VICTORY.

MARLHILL was launched on March 21, 1908, as a.) HARRY A. BERWIND (Hull#40) at Ecorse, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works for G. A. Tomlinson of Duluth, Minnesota.

Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s GEORGE F. BAKER was sold to the Kinsman Marine Transit Co., Cleveland, Ohio on March 21, 1965, and renamed b) HENRY STEINBRENNER.

On 21 March 1874, the two schooners NORTH STAR and EVENING STAR were launched at Crosthwaite's shipyard in East Saginaw, Michigan. They were both owned by John Kelderhouse of Buffalo, New York.

On 21 March 1853, GENERAL SCOTT (wooden side-wheeler, 105 foot, 64 tons, built in 1852, at Saginaw, Michigan) was tied up to her dock on the Saginaw River when she was crushed beyond repair by ice that flowed down the river during the spring breakup. One newspaper report said that while the vessel was being cleaned up for the new navigation season, a seacock was left open and she sank before the spring breakup.

1959: The retired sidewheel steamer WESTERN STATES, known as S.S. OVERNIGHTER, caught fire while waiting to be scrapped in 1959. The vessel had last sailed in 1950 and had briefly served as a flotel at Tawas, MI, before being sold for scrap. Final demolition of the hull was completed at Bay City later in the year.

1970: The West German freighter WILHELM NUBEL made one trip through the Seaway in 1959. It sustained machinery failure as c) SAN GERASSIMOS following an engine room fire on this date in 1970. The vessel was traveling from Galatz, Romania, to Lisbon, Portugal, with a cargo of maize and had to be abandoned by the crew. While taken in tow by the tanker STAVROS E., the ship sank in heavy weather in the Ionian Sea.

1998: Three crewmembers were killed by phosphine gas when they went to assess flooding damage in #1 hold after the MARIA A. encountered heavy weather on the South Atlantic. The ship, en route from Argentina to Jordan with wheat, put into Paranagua, Brazil for repairs. The ship had been a Seaway caller as RIGHTEOUS beginning in 1979 and as AFSAR in 1986. While renamed ARIA later in 1998, the British built bulk carrier was never repaired and was either scuttled or scrapped.

[yachtsmanwilly]

3/22 - Duluth, MN – Boatnerds, rejoice: the Great Lakes shipping campaign is gearing up to start.

The shipping season gets going overnight Monday with the midnight opening of the Soo Locks. Vessels both upbound into Lake Superior and downbound to the other lakes will be lining up outside the locks in advance of the opening.

Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard said it expected at least one vessel to transit the locks before dawn Monday, ushering in activity that won't be expected to stop until next January.

The first vessel out of Duluth is anticipated to be the Mesabi Miner, slated to load coal Friday in Superior before departing for St. Clair, Mich., on the bottom of Lake Huron, said the Duluth Seaway Port Authority in a news release on Thursday. The Kaye E. Barker is also scheduled to get moving Friday, according to the vessel traffic site HarborLookout.com.

Six ships wintered in Duluth-Superior, and the Port Authority made note of other departure details:

Kaye E. Barker is expected to sail Saturday for Two Harbors and a load of taconite iron ore, then is bound for Indiana Harbor. Lee A. Tregurtha is scheduled to leave Fraser Shipyards in Superior and load ore at the CN dock in Duluth

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw spent Thursday busily breaking out the Duluth-Superior port — cutting a 100-foot-wide lane into the Superior Bay, said the Port Authority.

Several vessels were scheduled to pass upbound through the Soo Locks, including:

Algoma Guardian, bound for Two Harbors Erie Trader, bound for Two Harbors Great Lakes Trader, bound for CN/Duluth Dock James R. Barker, bound for Silver Bay Paul R. Tregurtha, bound for coal at the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal Stewart J. Cort, bound for BNSF Railway Dock in Superior Wilfred Sykes, bound for Two Harbors

"Recent warming weather, rain and winds have helped reduce Lake Superior ice cover to approximately 65 percent," the Port Authority said. "However, the U.S. Coast Guard reported ice fields in excess of 12 inches thick still remaining on the lake, along with approximately 16 miles of ice cover outside the Duluth entry." Because of the conditions, and the potential for rapid changes elsewhere on the lake, shipping operators were expressing caution about early-season sailings, the Port Authority said, meaning slower speeds and "a deliberate start to the season is expected."

Duluth News Tribune


3/22 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

Saturday: 6 a.m. Wilfred Sykes, 8 a.m. Paul R. Tregurtha followed by the Burns Harbor at 10 a.m. Sunday the James R. Barker is expected to depart.

Ships will head out west to the turn-around off Sherwood Point then return to head out to the lake via the Ship Channel / Ship Canal. Dates / times are tentative and are always subject to change.


3/22 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – Coast Guard Cutters Katmai Bay and Neah Bay will open the Pipe Island Channel, north and east of Pipe Island starting at 8 a.m. on Sunday.

The two icebreakers will fracture and flush the existing field of ice to open the up bound channel of the St. Marys River to the North and East of Pipe Island. Conducting this and other preparatory icebreaking facilitates the opening of the Sault Locks March 25 and the start of the new shipping season.


On 22 March 1922, the Goodrich Transit Company purchased the assets and properties of the Chicago, Racine and Milwaukee Steamship Company. This sale included two steamers: ILLINOIS (steel propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 240 foot, 2,427 gross tons, built in 1899, at S. Chicago, Illinois) and PILGRIM (iron propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 209 foot, 1,921 gross tons, built in 1881, at Wyandotte, Michigan).

The GULF MACKENZIE sailed light March 22, 1977, on her maiden voyage from Sorel to Montreal, Quebec.

The tanker COMET (Hull#705) was launched March 22, 1913, at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. for the Standard Transportation Co. of New York.

THOMAS W. LAMONT (Hull#184) was launched March 22, 1930, at Toledo, Ohio by Toledo Shipbuilding Co. for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

March 22, 1885 - The Goodrich steamer MICHIGAN was crushed in heavy ice off Grand Haven, Michigan and sank. Captain Redmond Prindiville was in command, Joseph Russell was the first mate.

On 22 March 1873, TYPO, a wooden schooner/canaller, was launched at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She cost $25,000 and was commanded by Captain William Callaway.

On 22 March 1871, Engineer George Smith and two firemen were badly scalded on the propeller LAKE BREEZE when a steam pipe they were working on blew away from the side of the boiler. They were getting the engines ready for the new shipping season.

On 22 March 1938, CITY OF BUFFALO (steel side-wheeler passenger/package freight vessel, 340 foot, 2,940 gross tons, built in 1896, at Wyandotte, Michigan) caught fire during preparations for the spring season while at her winter moorings at the East Ninth Street dock in Cleveland, Ohio. She was totally gutted. The hulk was towed to Detroit for conversion to a freighter, but this failed to materialize. She was cut up for scrap there in 1940.

On 22 March 1987, the pilothouse of the 1901, steamer ALTADOC, which was used as a gift shop and 2-room hotel near Copper Harbor, Michigan, was destroyed by fire.

1973: The Swedish built NORSE VARIANT first came to the Great Lakes in 1965 just after completion. On March 22, 1973, the vessel was en route from Norfolk, VA, to Hamburg, Germany, with a cargo of coal when it ran into an early spring storm with 40 foot waves southeast of Cape May, N.J. The vessel was overwhelmed and sank with the loss of 29 lives. Only one man survived.

2006: The Collingwood-built Canadian Coast Guard ship SIR WILFRID LAURIER came to the rescue of those aboard the passenger ship QUEEN OF THE NORTH when the latter sank with the loss of two lives off the coast of British Columbia.

[yachtsmanwilly]

3/25 - The 1,000-foot long Stewart J. Cort managed to work free of heavy ice west of the Mackinac Bridge Sunday afternoon and by late evening Sunday was upbound in the lower St. Marys River, with USCG Neah Bay assisting.

Not so successful were Algoma Innovator, Wilfred Sykes and Paul R. Tregurtha, which remained beset in ice Sunday night north of Beaver Island. USCG Hollyhock, which for a time was also stuck, was assisting. James R. Barker was approaching the area from the south at 10 p.m.

Also upbound in the St. Marys River Sunday night was American Century. USCG Mackinaw was at Whitefish Point, likely waiting for the downbound Kaye E. Barker to arrive.

The Soo Locks opened for the season at 12:01 a.m. Monday. Unless something changes, the Cort will be the first transit.


3/25 - Port Huron, MI – The retired USCGC Bramble has completed the last of its preparatory sea trials and will be heading for EPIC Alabama Shipyards in Mobile Monday afternoon. New owner Tom Clarke plans to prepare the ship to retrace its 1957 trip through the Northwest Passage.

Robert and Sara Klingler bought the Bramble in 2013 from the Port Huron Museum, which received the ship from the Coast Guard. The Klinglers operated it as a museum ship docked at the Bean Dock in Port Huron until they sold it to Clarke last year.


3/24 - The Canadian Coast Guard said Friday it was rescuing a tanker carrying eight million litres — or 8,000 cubic metres — of petroleum off the southwest coast of Newfoundland. According to the coast guard, the Jana Desgagnes lost its steering due to damage to its rudder in heavy ice approximately 16 nautical miles, or 29.6 km, southwest of Port aux Basques on Thursday morning..

"The double-hulled vessel is not in danger," said David Yard, Atlantic regional superintendent of environmental response for the coast guard. "Ice conditions have been difficult but there is no risk to crew safety and there is no pollution released."

The tanker had left the petroleum refinery at Come By Chance in eastern Newfoundland and was headed to Montreal. The Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers Captain Molly Kool and Louis S. St-Laurent were assisting the tanker in the Cabot Strait.

The tanker was towed further offshore Thursday and was waiting for a tug late Friday afternoon. The tug was expected to bring the tanker to Sydney, N.S. Yard said the tanker will be repaired in Sydney.

Jana Desgagnes is a frequent visitor to the Great Lakes.

CBC


3/23 - Thunder Bay, Ont – The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) ship Samuel Risley has left Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and is enroute to Thunder Bay to begin icebreaking operations in the northwestern Ontario city's port as early as March 24.

The ice covering the bay this year is about 70 centimetres thick, said Mike Brown, an icebreaking operations officer at the CCG Icebreaking Centre in Montreal.

"It's fast ice, meaning that it's not mobile. It's completely covered the water and all of Lake Superior we are looking at above 90 per cent total coverage on the lake," he said.

"The last three years have been quite a bit below average, so this year it seems like it's a lot more heavy ice than there has been, but it's really just slightly above average."

Brown said the Canadian and United States Coast Guards work together to deliver icebreaking services on the Great Lakes and connecting waterways. For instance, American ships, the Mackinaw and the Alder, have been dispatched to Duluth, Minn., and Superior, Wis., respectively, but could be called into action in Canadian waters if required.

Icebreaking crews have reported "challenging" conditions on Lake Superior, said Brown, and that means it could take at least a day, or more, to carve a path through the ice in the Thunder Bay harbour.

"If conditions are significant, we can also bring in additional assets to assist the Samuel Risley and that could be, for example, the Mackinaw is a suitable icebreaker that we have had discussions about sending her up to assist as well, so it could be a number of days of operation."

The coast guard is recommending all recreational users of the ice – pedestrians, fishers, snowmobilers, all-terrain vehicle (ATV) operators – leave the ice during icebreaking operations, because they can create unstable conditions.

"Icebreaker tracks can refreeze over and can easily be hidden by fresh snow and so it certainly can be dangerous."

CBC


3/23 - St Ignace, Mich. – On Monday Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock will execute the breakup of the ice separating Mackinac Island and St Ignace, Michigan.

At the request of Mackinac Island community leaders, Captain of the Port Sault Ste. Marie will open the waters between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island, effective 8 a.m. March 25. Due to the increase in air temperature, the ice is deteriorating. Breaking up the field of ice, advances the deterioration and enables local ferries to resume service to Mackinac Island.

USCG


The National Transportation Safety Board unanimously voted on March 23,1978, to reject the U. S. Coast Guard's official report supporting the theory of faulty hatches in their EDMUND FITZGERALD investigation. Later the N.T.S.B. revised its verdict and reached a majority vote to agree that the sinking was caused by taking on water through one or more hatch covers damaged by the impact of heavy seas over her deck. This is contrary to the Lake Carriers Association's contention that her foundering was caused by flooding through bottom and ballast tank damage resulting from bottoming on the Six Fathom Shoal between Caribou and Michipicoten Islands.

On 23 March 1850, TROY (wooden side-wheel passenger/package freighter, 182 foot, 546 tons, built in 1845, at Maumee, Ohio) exploded and burned at Black Rock, New York. Up to 22 lives were lost. She was recovered and rebuilt the next year and lasted until 1860.

On 23 March 1886, Mr. D. N. Runnels purchased the tug KITTIE HAIGHT.

The 3,280 ton motor vessel YANKCANUCK commanded by Captain W. E. Dexter, docked at the Canadian Soo on 23 March 1964, to officially open the 1964 navigation season for that port. Captain Dexter received the traditional silk hat from Harbormaster Frank Parr in a brief ceremony aboard the vessel. The ship arrived in the Sault from Windsor, Ontario. Captain Dexter said the trip from Windsor was uneventful and he had no trouble with ice. This was the first time a ship from the Yankcanuck line had won the honor of opening the Sault Harbor.

1986: EBN MAGID visited the Seaway in 1970 as a) ADEL WEERT WIARDS and was on the cover of Know Your Ships for 1971. Following 2 explosions and a fire at sea at the end of January, the vessel docked this day at Milford Haven, U.K. to be unloaded. It was then sold to Belgian shipbreakers.

ALPENA (Hull#177) was launched on March 24, 1909, at Wyandotte, Michigan, by Detroit Ship Building Co. for the Wyandotte Transportation Co.

IRVIN L. CLYMER was launched March 24, 1917, as a.) CARL D. BRADLEY (Hull#718) at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. the third self-unloader in the Bradley Transportation Co. fleet.

The SAMUEL MATHER was transferred on March 24, 1965, to the newly-formed Pickands Mather subsidiary Labrador Steamship Co. Ltd. (Sutcliffe Shipping Co. Ltd., operating agents), Montreal, Quebec, to carry iron ore from their recently opened Wabush Mines ore dock at Pointe Noire, Quebec to U.S. blast furnaces on Lakes Erie and Michigan. She was renamed b.) POINTE NOIRE.

PETER ROBERTSON was launched March 24, 1906, as a) HARRY COULBY (Hull#163) at Wyandotte, Michigan, by Detroit Ship Building Co. for the L. C. Smith Transit Co., Syracuse, New York.

On 24 March 1874, the 181-foot, 3-mast wooden schooner MORNING STAR was launched at E. Saginaw, Michigan, by Crosthwaite.

On 24 March 1876, CITY OF SANDUSKY (wooden side-wheel passenger/package freight vessel, 171 foot, 608 gross tons, built in 1866, at Sandusky, Ohio) burned and sank in the harbor at Port Stanley, Ontario.

On 24 March 1876, MINNIE CORLETT (wooden scow-schooner, 107 gross tons, built before 1866) was sailing light from Chicago, Illinois, to Two Rivers, Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan when she stranded and then sank. No lives were lost.

1905: The wooden passenger and freight carrier LAKESIDE was built in Windsor in 1888. It spent most of its life operating between Niagara and Toronto. During fit out on this date in 1905, the ship sank at the dock in Port Dalhousie when water was sucked in through the seacock after the engine filling the boiler shut down. The hull was refloated and returned to service until the DALHOUSIE CITY was built in 1911.

1981: The West German freighter ANNA REHDER first came through the Seaway in 1967 when it was two years old. It was sold and renamed LESLIE in 1973. The captain last reported his position on this date in 1981 and that they were encountering heavy weather while en route from Boulogne, France, to Umm Said, Qatar. There was no further word and it is believed that the ship went down with all hands in the Atlantic off the coast of Spain. A ring buoy was later found north of Cape Finnestere.

HENRY G. DALTON (Hull#713) was launched March 25, 1916, at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co., for the Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio – the company's first 600 footer.

FRANK R. DENTON was launched March 25, 1911, as a.) THOMAS WALTERS (Hull#390) at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. for the Interstate Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio.

On March 25, 1927, heavy ice caused the MAITLAND NO 1, to run off course and she grounded on Tecumseh Shoal on her way to Port Maitland, Ontario. Eighteen hull plates were damaged which required repairs at Ashtabula, Ohio.

The steamer ENDERS M. VOORHEES participated in U.S. Steel's winter-long navigation feasibility study during the 1974-75 season, allowing only one month to lay up from March 25th to April 24th.

March 25, 1933 - Captain Wallace Henry "Andy" Van Dyke, master of the Steamer PERE MARQUETTE 22, suffered a heart attack and died peacefully in his cabin while en route to Ludington, Michigan.

1966: The French freighter ROCROI made one trip through the Seaway in 1959. The ship arrived at Halifax on this date in 1966 with interior damage after the 'tween decks, loaded with steel, collapsed crushing tractors and cars beneath. The vessel was repaired and survived until 1984 when, as e) THEOUPOLIS, it hit a mine en route to Berbera, Somalia, on August 14, 1984. The vessel was badly damaged and subsequently broken up in India.

1973: The former MONTREAL CITY caught fire as b) RATCHABURI at Bangkok, Thailand, on March 24, 1973. It was loading a cargo of jute and rubber for Japan on its first voyage for new Thai owners. The vessel was scuttled and sank on March 25 in Pattani Bay, South Thailand. The ship began coming through the Seaway for the Bristol City Line when new in 1963.

[yachtsmanwilly]

3/26 - Sault Ste. Marie, MI – The Great Lakes 2019 navigation season officially kicked off at 12:01 a.m. Monday with the first 1,000-footer to ply the inland seas snagging this year’s bragging rights as the first ship through the Soo Locks.

The Stewart J. Cort arrived at the lock system just before midnight. Ship enthusiasts had been tracking her progress through the Lower Great Lakes. Fans gathered near the huge lock system in Sault Ste. Marie as the Cort pulled into the Poe Lock, which handles all the big freighters upbound for Lake Superior.

The Soo Locks had been closed for its annual winter maintenance work since late January. More than 73 million gallons of water were drained from the Poe and MacArthur locks - the only two of the four locks still in operation. Repairs were made, the bottoms of the locks were cleaned out, and then refilled last week.

Less than a week ago, a trio of Coast Guard cutters from the U.S. and Canada were the first vessels to lock through into Lake Superior, where they began breaking up ice so freighters could start making their way to the Soo for the opening of the shipping season.

In past years, there’s been some close jockeying by freighters to see who will enter the St. Marys River first and make the big date at the Soo Locks. This year, the Cort was clearly ahead of her competition.

Early Monday, the big freighter was met by an official welcoming committee made up of local leaders, who had some Soo Locks swag for the Cort’s captain.

“An annual tradition, dignitaries from the City of Sault Sainte Marie, the Soo Locks Visitor Center Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Bureau came to greet the first ship and present Captain Greg Sipper with plaques and other commemorative gifts,” said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Detroit District, which oversees the lock system.

Each year, the locks handle more than 4,500 vessels carrying up to 80 million tons of cargo on the Great Lakes. Iron ore, limestone and coal make up the bulk of what is coming through on the big freighters.

Read more and view photos and video at this link: www.mlive.com/news/2019/03/soo-locks-first-ship-of-2019-is-great-lakes-first-1000-foot-freighter.html


On 26 March 1922, OMAR D. CONGER (wooden passenger-package freight, 92 foot, 200 gross tons, built in 1887, at Port Huron, Michigan) exploded at her dock on the Black River in Port Huron with such violence that parts of her upper works and engine were thrown all over the city. Some said that her unattended boiler blew up, but others claimed that an unregistered cargo of explosives ignited. She had been a Port Huron-Sarnia ferry for a number of years.

The CITY OF MOUNT CLEMENS (wooden propeller "rabbit,” 106 foot, 132 gross tons) was launched at the Chabideaux yard in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, on 26 March 1884. She was towed to Detroit to be fit out. She was built for Chapaton & Lacroix. She lasted until dismantled in 1921.

1935: A fire destroyed the small wooden bulk carrier ALICE M. GILL that had been laid up at Sandusky since the end of the 1926 season. The ship had been built as a tug for the logging industry and later served as a lighthouse tender and then a small bulk carrier. The remains were scrapped.

1971: The former CLEMENS SARTORI stranded off the coast of Algeria in bad weather as b) PIRAEUS while en route from Antwerp, Belgium, to Mersin, Turkey, and was abandoned by the crew as a total loss. The vessel was a pre-Seaway visitor to the Great Lakes for the West German firm of Sartori and Berger and, in July 1958, was the first westbound salty to use the recently opened American locks at Massena, NY. It made 20 trips to the Great Lakes (1959-1965) mainly on charter to the Hamburg-Chicago Line.

1976: RAMON DE LARRINAGA is remembered as the first Seaway era saltwater vessel into the port of Duluth-Superior, arriving amid great fanfare on May 3, 1959. The ship was sailing as c) MARIAN when it sustained hull damage clearing the port of Lisbon on this date in 1976. Portuguese authorities ordered the vessel towed out to sea and it foundered off Cascais, Portugal, the following day.

[yachtsmanwilly]

3/27 - Milwaukee, WI – Port Milwaukee is anticipating another strong year for international cargo. Two ships have departed from northern Europe and are headed for Milwaukee. The Fednav ship Federal Barents, and the Polsteam vessel Irma, are in the North Atlantic with port calls scheduled in North America, including Milwaukee.

The locks in the Montreal and Lake Ontario section of the St. Lawrence reopened Tuesday. The Irma and the Federal Barents will enter the seaway approximately one week later, according to Jeff Fleming, spokesman for Port Milwaukee.

Both ships are carrying raw materials for manufacturing that will be unloaded and transferred to rail cars or trucks for delivery.

Port Milwaukee provides an important link for the industrial and agricultural sectors of the regional economy by connecting local producers with world markets, port director Adam Schlicht said. "Moving cargo by water adds efficiency and cost savings for farmers and manufacturers in the Milwaukee region."

Last year, Port Milwaukee had 43 international visits traveling through the St. Lawrence Seaway, which was up 25 percent compared to the previous year.

While the St. Lawrence Seaway is closed for about three months each year, Great Lakes shipping has continued at Port Milwaukee. During January and February of this year, vessels carrying bulk commodities made more than two dozen stops at Milwaukee docks, transporting more than 300,000 tons of cargo, Fleming said.

Port Milwaukee is owned by the City of Milwaukee and governed by a seven-member Board of Harbor Commissioners appointed by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. More than 1,300 jobs in Wisconsin were supported by cargo moving through the marine terminals located at Port Milwaukee in 2017, according to an economic impact study released last year.

Wisconsin Public Radio


Sturgeon Bay, WI – Denny Dushane
The 1,000 footer Burns Harbor departed Sturgeon Bay during the early morning on Tuesday, however she was towed back to the shipyard a few hours later due to a fire in the forward end. The remaining ships still in lay up are Cason J. Callaway, John G. Munson, Roger Blough and American Courage. The Courage hasn't sailed since 2015 but will return to service in 2019. Joseph L. Block is currently in the large graving dock getting its five-year survey and repainting done. Sturgeon Bay departures so far include Wilfred Sykes, March 23; Paul R. Tregurtha, March 23; and James R. Barker in the late evening to early morning on March 24.

Burns Harbor towed back to Bayship after possible fire



News Update - 3/26 - 3:00 PM - Sturgeon Bay, WI – American Steamship Co.’s 1,000-foot Burns Harbor was towed stern first back to BayShip Tuesday morning.



Social media reports indicate there was a fire in the bow area, however the fire was put out and no one was hurt. Selvick Marine’s tugs William C. Gaynor, Jacquelyn Yvonne and Susan L. were all on the scene.



Burns Harbor left winter lay up at 7:30 a.m. Wisconsin time for her first trip of the season.



View video of the tow at this link:https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/local-news/happening-now-tugboats-returning-the-burns-harbor-ship-to-port-in-sturgeon-bay/1878395762?fbclid=IwAR19kGjuItA478VdiSaHcteJmtesiXW8UrIw6_fzAzF0hYX5E518QxLorkA



WFRV Local 5, www.wearegreenbay.com


Great Lakes-Seaway ports forecast stellar 2019 shipping season

3/27 - As the St. Lawrence Seaway officially opened for business Tuesday, U.S. Great Lakes ports are predicting the shipping season will mirror last year’s stellar performance.

In 2018, many U.S. Great Lakes ports recorded their highest cargo totals in recent years, with strong volumes of iron ore, petroleum products, construction products and international grain exports. This coming season, road salt shipments should also be strong as cities replenish their reserves after a long, difficult winter.

“We are optimistic these trends will continue into the new season and off-season investments made by the St. Lawrence Seaway and local ports will make 2019 another great season for our members,” says Bruce Burrows, President of the Chamber of Marine Commerce. ”To shore up the economic strength of the bi-national Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region, we would also urge the U.S. government to drop steel and aluminum steel tariffs on Canadian imports and return to a fair and free trade environment between our two countries.”

In 2018, the Port of Duluth-Superior handled a total of 32.6 million metric tons of cargo, its highest mark since 2014. Iron ore tonnage outpaced the five-year average by more than 30 percent. In fact, the 19.5 million metric tons was the most shipped out of Duluth-Superior in a single season since 1995. Grain exports also posted a 23 percent year-over-year increase. That combination, in addition to the continued development and expansion of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s multimodal terminal, helped propel the 2018 tonnage increase.

“Manufacturing and steelmaking sectors are still looking strong for 2019, as all six taconite facilities on Minnesota’s Iron Range are operating at full capacity,” says Jayson Hron, Director of Communications and Marketing, Duluth-Seaway Port Authority. “We hope the strong pace of grain exports continues well into 2019 and we anticipate a continued brisk pace for the movement of project cargo in and out of the heartland via the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System.”

The Port of Green Bay moved more than two million tons of cargo in 2018; the first time the Port has reached that mark since 2013. Green Bay saw a 14 percent increase in cargo over 2017 due to increased foreign imports of petroleum products by 528 percent and a 230 percent increase in limestone. Port Director Dean Haen predicts the significant increases in petroleum products will continue again in 2019 due to the closure of the petroleum pipeline to Northeast Wisconsin.

The Port of Toledo handled more overseas vessels in 2018 than any year since 2006. The increase was due to robust grain exports balanced by imported project cargo and aggregates. Overall, the port finished 2.3 percent ahead of 2017 with the largest increases in grain and dry bulk.

“Project cargo shipments will continue in 2019 in support of the construction of the Cleveland Cliffs Toledo Hot Briquetted Iron production facility and other large-scale projects in the region,” explains Joe Cappel, VP of Business Development for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “Terminals are reporting that they expect 2019 tonnage results to be very similar to 2018. We could expect aluminum and steel shipments from Canada to rebound should the import tariff on these goods be reduced or eliminated. As we continue to modernize and upgrade our facilities and capabilities, we are optimistic that 2019 will be a good year for the Port of Toledo.”

In 2018, Port Milwaukee international tonnage increased 30 percent compared to 2017, totaling 460,000 metric tons, due in part to the refurbishment of its Liquid Cargo Pier and expanded barge and tanker activity.

“Thanks to the Port’s winter accessibility to shipping, Port Milwaukee is already 16 percent higher in year-to-date tonnage compared to February 2018, having received almost 250,000 tons of salt,” says Adam Schlicht, Port Milwaukee Director. “This year, the Port anticipates more than 10 cruise ship visits, a three-fold increase from previous years. Milwaukee will soon be a premiere turnaround port for Great Lakes cruise itineraries and passengers seeking immediate access to visitor-friendly, downtown experiences.”

Chamber of Marine Commerce


3/27 - Sault Ste. Marie, MI – At the request of Bois Blanc Island officials, Captain of the Port Sault Ste. Marie will open the South Channel; effective 0800 EST March 29. Due to the increase in air temperature, the ice is deteriorating. Breaking up the field of ice, advances the deterioration and enables local ferries to resume service to Bois Blanc Island.

USCG


The steamer b.) EDWARD S. KENDRICK was launched March 27, 1907, as a.) H.P. McINTOSH (Hull#622) at West Bay City, Michigan, by West Bay City Ship Building Co. for the Gilchrist Transportation Co., Cleveland, Ohio.

Nipigon Transport Ltd. (Carryore Ltd., mgr., Montreal, Quebec) operations came to an end when the fleet was sold on March 27, 1986, to Algoma Central's Marine Division at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

On 27 March 1841, BURLINGTON (wooden sidewheeler, 150 tons, built in 1837, at Oakville, Ontario) was destroyed by fire at Toronto, Ontario. Her hull was later recovered and the 98-foot, 3-mast schooner SCOTLAND was built on it in 1847, at Toronto.

On 27 March 1875, the steamer FLORA was launched at Wolf & Davidson's yard in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her dimensions were 275-foot keel x 27 foot x 11 foot.

On 27 March 1871, the small wooden schooner EMMA was taken out in rough weather by the commercial fishermen Charles Ott, Peter Broderick, Jacob Kisinger and John Meicher to begin the fishing season. The vessel capsized at about 2:00 p.m., 10 miles southwest of St. Joseph, Michigan and all four men drowned.

C E REDFERN (wooden schooner, 181 foot, 680 gross tons) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan by F. W. Wheeler (Hull #65) on 27 March 1890. Dimensions: 190' x 35' x 14.2'; 680 g.t.; 646 n.t. Converted to a motorship in 1926. Foundered on September 19, 1937, four miles off Point Betsie Light, Lake Michigan. The loss was covered in an unsourced news clipping from Sept. 1937: Freighter Wrecked Eleven Are Saved. Ship Founders in Lake Michigan. Sault Ste. Marie, Sept. 20 - (Special) - Eleven members of the crew of the 181-foot wooden-hulled freighter C. E. Redfern, which foundered in Lake Michigan on Saturday night four miles northwest of Point Betsie Lighthouse, were rescued by coastguard cutter Escanaba. The men were landed safely at Frankfort, Michigan, and it is reported that considerable wreckage of the cargo of logs, decking and deckhouse of the ill-fated vessel were strewn about and floating towards shore.

1916: The steel bulk carrier EMPRESS OF MIDLAND came to the Great Lakes for the Midland Navigation Co. in 1907 and left in 1915 when requisitioned for war service in 1915. The vessel hit a mine laid by UC-1 nine miles south of the Kentish Knock Light on this date in 1916. The ship developed a starboard list and 18 took to the lifeboat. Five more sailors jumped into the English Channel and were picked up by the lifeboat. The vessel, en route from Newcastle, UK to Rouen, France, with a cargo of coal, subsequently sank.

1964: The Victory ship MORMACPINE came through the Seaway on 13 occasions between 1960-1967. Fire broke out in the cargo hold on this date in 1964 while en route to Bermuda and U.S.C.G. HALF MOON escorted the vessel to safety. The ship resumed trading until arriving at the scrapyard in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on July 18, 1970.

1965: The Norwegian tanker NORA began Great Lakes visits in 1960. It caught fire and burned in the English Channel after a collision with the large tanker OTTO N. MILLER 10 miles south of Beachy Head in dense fog at 0737 hours on March 27, 1965. The vessel was a total loss and arrived at Santander, Spain, under tow for scrapping in June 1965.

1979: FEDERAL PALM was built by Port Weller Dry Docks in 1961 and left the Great Lakes for Caribbean and later South Pacific service. The passenger and freight carrier was sailing as b) CENPAC ROUNDER when it was blown aground by Typhoon Meli on Vothalailai Reef in the late night hours of March 27, 1979. The hull was refloated on April 27 but was beyond economical repair and arrived at Busan, South Korea, for scrapping in June 1979. The image of this Great Lakes built ship has appeared on postage stamps issued for both Grenada and Tulavu.

[yachtsmanwilly]

3/28 - The exodus from Port Colborne started Wednesday as CCGS Pierre Radisson, with assistance from CCGS Griffon, has broken through the ice and opened the south end of the Welland Canal. In all there were 10 freighters in the canal earlier Wednesday, among them Algoma Enterprise, Thunder Bay, Whitefish Bay, Algoma Guardian, Algoma Spirit, CSL Assiniboine, G3 Marquis, Algoma Equinox, Sea Eagle II and barge.

Other Lake Erie traffic included the former USCG Bramble, which is headed off the lakes but was at anchor off Port Dover Wednesday night. Algoma Transport appeared to be heading into Nanticoke, with Algocanada docked there and Algosea at anchor


3/28 - Marquette, MI – The coal-fired Shiras Steam Plant is set to be demolished later this year, the Marquette Board of Light and Power decided Tuesda

"The most likely path would be to demo the building and get it back down to grade so it is no longer a liability to the lakefront,” said Executive Director Tom Carpenter.

The decision to permanently retire the plant on South Lake Street comes after it was taken offline in June. The Marquette BLP is now relying on the new natural-gas fueled Marquette Energy Center to provide power for customers.

Board of Light and Power Chairman Tom Tourville says it’s the board's responsibility to produce the most reliable power at the lowest possible cost. But with Shiras in the mix, he says this wasn't possible.

"When you compare the alternatives of keeping the Shiras Coal Plant alive year after year after year, keeping in mind that's a very old steam plant and the cost to keep it maintained and repaired are sky-high,” said Tourville.

Even though the Shiras Steam Plant was the main supply of power to the Marquette community for 50 years, the board says this isn't a bittersweet moment. They're happy to be moving along with this process.

"The Shiras Steam Plant has served us well over many decades but tonight (was) the formal start of the demolition process to tear the building down to the ground,” emphasized Tourville.

With this empty space, Tourville says the BLP plans to return the area to its original condition of beautiful acres of Lake Superior shoreline to be re-purposed for community use.

"Nothing lasts forever, and the Shiras Steam Plant has served us well but moving forward for the BLP, the continued use of burning coal is no longer strategically, economically, environmentally in our best purpose,” said Tourville.

Currently, the board is in the preliminary process of collecting bids for the demolition to begin. Tourville says he expects demolition to begin later this year


N. M. Paterson & Sons, PRINDOC (Hull#657) of Davie Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., Lauzon, Quebec, was sold off-lakes during the week of March 29, 1982, to the Southern Steamship Co., Georgetown, Cayman Islands and was renamed b.) HANKEY. Later renamed c.) CLARET III in 1990, d.) S SARANTA in 1992, e.) PLATANA IN 1997, Scrapped at Alaiga, Turkey in 1997.

On 29 March 1888, D. D. JOHNSON (wooden propeller tug, 45 foot, 17 gross tons) was launched at E. Saginaw, Michigan. She was built for Carkin, Stickney & Cram and lasted until 1909.

1973: MANCHESTER TRADER, the second ship of this name to visit the Great Lakes, was owned by the Prince Line when it first came inland, on charter to Manchester Liners Ltd., in 1964. The ship was renamed e) WESTERN PRINCE in 1969 and also transited the Seaway that year. It became f) MARINER in 1971 and was abandoned in the Pacific on this date in 1973. The ship was leaking in heavy weather en route from Havana, Cuba, to Kobe, Japan, and was presumed to have sunk about 35.00 N / 152.47 E.

1973: DAVID MARQUESS OF MILFORD HAVEN, one of the longest named saltwater ships to visit the Great Lakes, was the first saltwater ship of the season upbound in the Seaway.

1990: The MAYA FARBER visited the Great Lakes in 1981. It arrived at Alang, India, under tow for scrapping on this date following an explosion and fire off Port Sudan as d) RAAD AL-BAKRY VIII on January 15, 1990.