Report News

If you have information to contribute, choose the convenient form to the left or send by e-mail

Marquette, Mich. - Rod Burdick
Wednesday afternoon, Michipicoten was back at the Upper Harbor ore dock for another load of taconite. Army Corps of Engineers tug Billmaier and barges, including the H.J. Schwartz, have been docked at the Merchandise Dock, just north of the Upper Harbor ore dock, the past few days.

Soo - Herm Klein
On Wednesday, Clelia II arrived on her first trip to the upper lakes. She docked briefly at the Roberta Bondar Marina in the Canadian Soo. Passengers disembarked there for a bus trip back to Mackinaw Island. Clelia then proceeded to the Carbide Dock on the U.S. side.

Holland, Mich. - Bob VandeVusse
The Calumet arrived in Holland just before 8 p.m. Wednesday evening and proceeded to the Brewer dock to unload a cargo of stone.

Grand Haven, Mich. - Dick Fox
Manistee came in empty Tuesday night. It took a load of sand out from the Construction Aggregates Dock in Ferrysburg and cleared the pier heads about 9 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Alpena, Mich. – Ben & Chanda McClain and Greg Moore
The Alpena returned to service Wednesday morning. It shifted from its lay-up berth at the coal dock and tied up under the silos at Lafarge to load cement for Green Bay, Wisc. The Alpena was outbound in the bay by 11 a.m. and passed the tall ships Nina and Pinta. Both ships came into the Thunder Bay River where they stopped before heading upriver to tie up at the NOAA Maritime Center for weekend festivities. The tug G.L. Ostrander and barge Integrity arrived at Lafarge Tuesday morning to take on cement for Milwaukee, Wisc. The tug Samuel de Champlain and barge Innovation is expected to return early Thursday morning.

Toledo, Ohio – Jim Hoffman
Canadian Enterprise was at the Torco Ore Dock Wednesday unloading ore. The next coal boats due into the CSX Docks will be the Cuyahoga on Thursday. The tug Dorothy Ann and barge Pathfinder are due in late Sunday evening but won't start loading coal until Monday morning. The CSL Laurentien is due on Tuesday followed by the Algolake on Thursday. The next ore boat due into the Torco Ore Dock will be the CSL Laurentien on Tuesday morning.

Duluth embarks on new era in Great Lakes cruising

7/2 - Duluth, Minn. - Fireworks and patriotic music aren’t the only attractions that will bring tourists to the Duluth waterfront on July 4. Having the luxury expedition vessel Clelia II pass beneath the Aerial Lift Bridge and dock behind the DECC will usher in a new era of international cruise service for Duluth and the Great Lakes.

This, her maiden voyage to the Head of the Lakes, kicks off a series of one-week/one-way trips between Toronto and Duluth. Throughout the summer, the Clelia II will return to Duluth a total of six times – arriving just after daybreak every other Saturday morning to disembark passengers, then departing 12 hours later with up to 100 new passengers onboard for the ship’s return trip to Canada.

Cruise vessels have called on the Twin Ports periodically in recent years, but it’s been decades since the area has enjoyed regular Great Lakes cruise service – or served as a destination and/or origination hub.

Maritime, government and tourism leaders have worked collaboratively for over a year to arrange this summer tour and look forward to welcoming the Clelia II and its crew and passengers. Partnering on this initiative: Great Lakes Aquarium, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Coast Guard, Visit Duluth, the DECC, Monaco Air Duluth, Daniel’s Shipping Service, General Security Services Corp., Duluth Police and Fire Departments, UWS Transportation and Logistics Dep’t, the offices of Congressman Oberstar and former Senator Norm Coleman, and the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. An interim U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Federal Inspection Station will be located at the Great Lakes Aquarium where CBP officers will inspect and determine admissibility of disembarking passengers seeking entry into the U.S.

Clelia II scheduled arrivals/departures from Duluth: July 4, 18; August 1, 15, 29; and Sept.12. For cruise information, visit www.traveldynamicsinternational.com.

Duluth Seaway Port Authority

Great Lakes-built ferry strikes dock in New York City

7/2 - New York, N.Y. - A New York City ferry boat, built in Marinette, Wis., with as many as 800 passengers aboard, hit a pier while docking, injuring 15 people. The injuries were minor.

The hard docking at the St. George ferry terminal in Staten Island happened shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday at the end of the evening rush hour. Witnesses told The Staten Island Advance that the ferry came into the dock slip quickly after its power failed. They said there was an announcement from the pilothouse to "hang on," and riders scrambled to the rear of the boat.

Fire department officials say between 750 and 800 passengers were evacuated from the John J. Marchi ferry after the incident. A spokesman for the city's Department of Transportation had no immediate comment. The U.S. Coast Guard says drug and alcohol tests have been ordered for the ferry crew.

The same terminal was the scene of a ferry boat crash in 2003 that killed 11 people in 1 of the city's worst mass-transit disasters.

Updates - July 2

News Photo Gallery
Public Gallery updated

On July 2, 1966, the SIMCOE entered service for Canada Steamship Lines. Renamed b.) ALGOSTREAM in 1994, she was scrapped at Alang, India, in 1996, as c.) SIMCOE.

The railroad carferry TRANSIT was launched at Walkerville, Ontario, on 2 July 1872, at the Jenkins Brothers shipyard.

Before noon, Saturday, 2 July 1870, several attempts were made to launch the barge AGNES L POTTER at Simon Langell's yard at St. Clair, Michigan. Nothing happened until 3:00 p.m. when the vessel moved about 100 feet but still was not launched. The tug VULCAN arrived at 8:00 a.m. the following day and broke the line on the first attempt to pull the vessel off the ways. A 10 inch line was obtained in Port Huron and at 2:00 p.m. a second effort only moved the barge about 4 feet. Finally , on the third attempt, the VULCAN pulled her into the water. The POTTER's dimensions were 133 feet X 27 feet X 9 feet, 279 gross tons and she was built for the iron ore trade. She was named for the daughter of the general superintendent of Ward's Iron Works of Chicago. She lasted until 1906.

Data from: Jody Aho, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

New Soo lock holds key to shipping

6/30 - Detroit, Mich. – When ceremonial shovels bust into the sod on a sliver of land in the St. Mary's River in Sault Ste. Marie on Tuesday, the future of Great Lakes shipping and commerce stands to get a major boost. A massive project to build a Soo Lock finally will be launched after more than two decades on the drawing boards.

Ground will be broken for two $1.9 million "coffer dams." The dams will hold back the river so construction crews can start work on a big lock to complement the aging Poe -- the only one of three working locks at the Soo that can accommodate the 40 largest freighters on the Great Lakes that ship millions of tons of iron ore, Taconite and western coal to industries that turn the raw materials into steel and electricity.

Building the retaining walls will put about 1,000 people to work, and the $580 million lock project could create jobs for 15,000 workers directly and indirectly over the next 10 years, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Completion of the lock that connects Lakes Huron and Superior in the next decade will be a godsend to companies whose 1,000-foot vessels carry their cargo and employees' livelihoods. The Soo Locks, besides being a top state tourist attraction, are vital to Great Lakes shipping and the national economy.

"The new lock is really a safety net. If something happened to the Poe Lock, it would restrict 85 percent of our business," said Fred Shusterich, president of Superior, Wis.-based Midwest Energy Resources Co., which ships more than 20 million tons of coal a year through the Soo Locks to DTE Energy and other power companies.

The Poe has been closed occasionally due to faulty hydraulics, valves or gates, causing shipping delays and long lines of idled freighters. While shutdowns are rare and usually last only a few hours, the Poe was built 41 years ago, so a major failure is a growing concern, officials say. Between 70 percent and 80 percent of Great Lakes commerce flows through the big lock.

Adolph Ojard, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, said routine delays at the Soo are usually minor, but "over a year, it adds up. Getting this project done certainly will be a benefit for the shippers."

Having a second large lock also would allow workers to do maintenance during the summer rather than winter, when the shipping season is on hold, said Gary Clow, chief lockmaster at the Soo.

More than 8,000 passages by ships are made through the Soo Locks each year. The recession has cut into traffic this year, reducing freight totals through May by 45 percent to 9.9 million tons compared with the same period last year, according to the lockmaster.

In 2008, the locks served 8,461 passages hauling about 81 million tons of cargo during the March-January shipping season. In an average year, about 11,000 ships toting 90 million tons of cargo will move through the locks, according to the Corps of Engineers.

There are four locks: the Poe, which handles most of the ship traffic and all of the larger freighters; the MacArthur, which can accommodate smaller ships; the Davis, which is rarely used; and the Sabin, which has been decommissioned. The new lock will replace the Davis and Sabin and will be located about a football field due north of the Poe.

The building of the Poe ushered in the era of 1,000-foot vessels on the Great Lakes. Before that, the longest ship that could use the locks was 730 feet.

Funding not complete

The Soo Locks are needed because the St. Mary's River, the only water link between Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes, which all are lower, falls 21 feet over rapids. The shipping canal enables ships to "lock through" the varying water levels, upbound or downbound.

Congress recognized the need for the Poe companion lock in 1986 and authorized the building of it but forked over only $15 million before this year for design and planning. This year, $17 million was allocated, leaving a whopping $548 million needed to complete the huge project. Contracts for downstream channel excavation will be awarded later this year. The lock will be built in sections as money becomes available.

There are no guarantees the rest of the money will be forthcoming. But shipping interests are keeping their fingers crossed.

"The actual building of the coffer dams will take our third lock out of the picture, so I'm confident it will get done. It's a matter of when," chief lockmaster Clow said. U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, said he's confident the lock project will be fully funded. "Maybe not this year, but it will be built," he said. "There are no excuses anymore."  Stupak said the groundbreaking Tuesday is a solid sign the project will move forward.  "President Obama has shown he's willing to look at Great Lakes issues," he said.

The project suffered a setback when it wasn't approved for federal recovery act money in the spring. "We were extremely disappointed the project didn't get the $105 million in stimulus money that was asked for," said Glenn Nekvasil, spokesman for the Lake Carriers Association of Cleveland. "It seemed like the perfect project for that money."

The Army Corps' Niemiec said the lock construction fell short because stimulus money was earmarked for projects that could be quickly finished. This one will take about 10 years, he said.

Thousands of jobs

Direct hiring for construction and operation and spinoff jobs for suppliers, restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses could mean employment for 15,000 Michiganians, Niemiec said. An Ohio company -- TAB Construction Co. of Canton -- was the low bidder for the coffer dam work and is expected to hire many workers from Michigan, Niemiec said.

Tuesday's groundbreaking ceremony is a special one for the Great Lakes shipping industry, Nekvasil said. "This is the beginning of a very important project," he said. "It will make sure cargo that moves on the lakes will continue to move." He said a failure of the main Poe Lock at Sault Ste. Marie could be "the single point of failure that can cripple Great Lakes shipping."

Detroit News

Green Bay, Wis. – Scott Best
Monday morning , John D. Leitch made a rare trip into Green Bay with a load of salt for the Fox River Dock. By late Monday evening the Leitch was still tied up to the dock waiting for high winds to die down before departing.

South Chicago - Brian Z
On Monday, American Mariner was loading petroleum coke at Chicago Fuels Terminal on the Calumet River. The Mariner arrived very early morning and was destined for Lackawanna, N.Y.

Saginaw, Mich. - Todd Shorkey
The SCS Greyfox moved upriver to the dock in Wenonah Park Sunday evening after spending Saturday night at the Dow Chemical dock awaiting the finish of tunnel boat racing between the Veteran's Memorial and Liberty bridges on Sunday afternoon. The Greyfox is open for tours after 2 p.m. during the week and is giving trips in the mornings by reservation. The tug Olive L. Moore and barge Lewis J. Kuber were inbound Sunday evening with a split load. The pair lightered at the Sargent dock in Essexville before continuing upriver to finish unloading at the Saginaw Rock Products dock in Saginaw. The Moore & Kuber were outbound late Monday morning heading for the lake.

Cleveland, Ohio – Bill Kloss
Monday the Stephan B. Roman was unloading at the Essroc Terminal.

Hamilton, Ont. – Eric Holmes
Sunday, Canadian Progress arrived at 1 p.m. with iron ore pellets for Dofasco from Duluth. As reported earlier, Algoport departed at 4 p.m. on her journey to China.

August 8 - Detroit River/River Rouge Boatnerd Cruise

6/30 - On Saturday, August 8, we will repeat the popular BoatNerd Detroit River Cruise aboard the Friendship, with Captain Sam Buchanan. This year’s cruise will be four hours and will go up the Detroit River, and hopefully into the Rouge River. Pizza for lunch will be delivered by the J. W. Westcott II mail boat. Cost is just $30 per person, same price as last year. Reservations are a must, as we are limiting the group to 100 persons. The cruise will depart at 10 a.m. sharp from Portofino's On The River in Wyandotte, Mich. Click here for reservation form

Seaway Notice to Shipping – Maisonneuve Region – Montreal / Lake Ontario Section

6/30 - In order to complete maintenance repairs, gates N° 7 & 8 at upper Saint-Lambert lock (lock 1) will be removed completely. Removing the gates will require a suspension of navigation of 4 to 6 hours per gate. The suspension of shipping is planned for July 7 and 9. The time of day for this operation will be selected in order to minimize delays to shipping as much as possible.

Note that the gates N° 7 & 8 recesses will not be protected during a few days after the removal of the gates and until the installation of a wooden fender structure that will be in place no later than July 17, vessels are requested to navigate this area cautiously.

Updates - June 30

Weekly Website Updates
News Photo Gallery
Soo Gathering Pictures
Public Gallery updated

 On this day in 1962, the CLIFFS VICTORY passed down through the Welland Canal to become the first boat in the Cleveland Cliffs Fleet to enter Lake Ontario in 20 years.

The CSL ASSINIBOINE was rechristened at Port Weller Drydocks Ltd., on June 30, 2005. She was the a.) LOUIS R DESMARAIS and the fourth CSL vessel to receive a forebody replacement.

On 30 June 1917, while being towed out of the Milwaukee River by the tugs WELCOME and KNIGHT TEMPLAR, the Goodrich Lines’ CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS (steel propeller whaleback passenger steamer, 362 foot, 1,511 gross tons, built in 1893, at West Superior, Wisconsin), with 413 passengers onboard, was caught by the current and swung close to shore. The overhang of her snout-bow sheered off two legs of the water tower of the Yahr-Lang Drug Company and the tower fell onto the vessel, destroying the pilothouse and forward decks. The water from the tower rushed down the length of the upper decks. 16 were killed and over 20 were seriously injured. The surviving passengers were taken to Chicago by train. The vessel was repaired and put back into service the following year.

On 30 June 1900, MARIAN TELLER (wooden propeller tug, 52 foot, 33 gross tons, built in 1879, at West Bay City, Michigan) was towing the barge CANTON on Lake St. Clair. The TELLER sprang a leak about one mile from the Lake St. Clair Lightship. The rising water put out her fires. In the scramble to escape, the yawl was swamped and three lives were lost. Only Captain Cornwall and his son were saved when the passing steamer NORWALK picked them up.

Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, Mike Nicholls, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Coast Guard evacuates crewman with chest pains

6/29 - Cleveland, Ohio - The U.S. Coast Guard Station Cleveland harbor medically evacuated a 55-year-old crewman from the H. Lee White in the vicinity of the Cleveland breakwall at approximately 1 p.m. Sunday.

Station Cleveland Harbor received a distress call on VHF channel 16 at approximately 11:15 a.m. requesting assistance for a crewmember who was experiencing chest pains.

Station Cleveland Harbor launched its 41-foot utility boat and transferred the man to waiting Emergency Medical Services at the station.

“The vessel maneuvered, gave us a lee and they put a ladder down and we were able to get him onboard safely,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Martin, the coxswain of the 41-foot utility boat. “The total transfer time was probably less than one minute.”

USCG

Holland, Mich. - Bob VandeVusse
Tug Undaunted and barge Pere Marquette 41 arrived at the Verplank dock in Holland late Sunday afternoon with a load of asphalt sand.

Detroit, Mich. – Ken Borg
Sunday morning, Charles M. Beeghly was outbound the Rouge River from Severstal Steel. She passed the Everlast/Norman McLeod tied up at Marathon asphalt dock, then had to wait for Catherine Desgagnes to pass down the Detroit River at 12:35 p.m.
Beeghly finally entered the Detroit River at 12:37, turning on left wheel and heading for Two Harbors, Minn.
In addition, Cason J. Callaway was loading taconite at USS-Great Lakes Works on Zug Island. and Frontenac was unloading stone at Windsor. Ojibway remains docked at ADM Windsor. She is loaded but they are not unloading her; she may be in short term lay-up. Severstal may place its blast furnace at the Dearborn, Mich., plant into hot-idle for most of the month of July.

Hamilton, Ont. –Steve Jackson
Algoport was expected to depart Hamilton, Ont., Sunday afternoon for the Panama Canal and on to California. Once she reaches California she will be towed to China where a new fore body has been built.

Lee Murdock in Concert on SS City of Milwaukee

6/29 – On Saturday, Great Lakes singer and songwriter Lee Murdock will be in concert on board the museum ship SS City of Milwaukee at 6 p.m. Prior to the concert a Silent Auction will be held with all funds going to the further restoration and preservation of the City of Milwaukee, a former Great Lakes train ferry. The ship is located at 99 Arthur St. (US31), Manistee Mich.

Bob Strauss

Updates - June 29

Weekly Website Updates
News Photo Gallery
Soo Gathering Pictures
Public Gallery updated

On this day in 1946, the tug DALHOUSIE ROVER, Captain J. R. Mac Lean, capsized in the Welland Canal. There were no survivors among the crew of six.

On 29 June 1910, ALABAMA (steel propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 272 foot, 2,626 gross tons, built in 1909, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) made her first trip in regular service for the Goodrich Line from Chicago to Grand Haven and Muskegon. She ran opposite the VIRGINIA. Cut down to a barge in 1961, she was scrapped in La Salle, Ontario, in 2006.

On 29 June 1902, GEORGE DUNBAR (wooden propeller freighter, 134 foot, 238 gross tons, built in 1867, at Allegan, Michigan) was loaded with coal when she was damaged by a sudden squall on Lake Erie near Kelley’s Island and sank. Seven of the crew elected to stay aboard while the skipper, his wife and daughter made for shore in the lifeboat. Those three were saved but the seven perished on a makeshift raft.

The CHARLES M. SCHWAB (Hull#496) was launched in 1923, at Cleveland, Ohio, by the American Ship Building Co., for the Interlake Steamship Co. Lengthened with a new mid-body and repowered with the stern section of the tanker GULFPORT in 1961. Sold Canadian in 1975, renamed b.) PIERSON DAUGHTERS and c.) BEECHGLEN in 1982. Scrapped at Port Maitland, Ontario, in 1995.

On June 29, 1962, the HAMILTONIAN began her maiden voyage for Eastern Lake Carriers (Papachristidis Co. Ltd.). Renamed b.) PETITE HERMINE in 1967. Purchased by Upper Lakes Shipping in 1972, renamed c.) CANADIAN HUNTER. Scrapped at Alang, India in 1996.

The JOSEPH L. BLOCK was christened on June 29, 1976, for Inland Steel Co..

The Canadian schooner DUNSTOWN arrived at Malden, Ontario, on 29 June 1875, to be put in place as a lightship. Her sides were painted in large white letters: BAR POINT LIGHTSHIP.

On 29 June 1864, ALVIN CLARK (2-mast wooden schooner, 113 foot, 220 tons, built in 1846, at Truago (Trenton), Michigan) foundered in a terrific squall off Chambers Island on Green Bay. Two of the crew were rescued by the brig DEWITT, but three lost their lives. In 1969, a schooner identified as the CLARK was raised at great expense and put on display for some time at Marinette, Wisconsin, then at Menominee, Michigan, but it only lasted until 1995 when it was destroyed.

Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Marquette, Mich. – Rod Burdick
Saturday evening, Michipicoten loaded taconite and departed the Upper Harbor ore dock.

Green Bay, Wisc. – Scott Best
Saturday, Maumee delivered a load of salt to the Fox River dock, unloading into a shore-side hopper rigged up to conveyors to carry the salt to an area of the dock out of reach from the ship’s boom. Earlier in the week, Mississagi also delivered salt to the Fox River Dock. Also in port recently was James L Kuber and tug Victory dropping off a load of stone for Western Lime. Meanwhile the Roen tug Stephen Asher is still overseeing the dredging operations near the mouth of the Fox River.

Grand Haven, Mich. - Dick Fox
Calumet came in at 9 a.m. Saturday morning with a load of coal for the Board of Light and Power Sims Plant on Harbor Island in Grand Haven. It backed out through the pier heads at 4 p.m., blowing a salute to those on the piers and then a warning blast for the recreational boaters. Agawa Canyon brought in the first load of salt for Verplank's Dock in Ferrysburg at mid-day. It was still unloading Saturday afternoon.

South Chicago, Ill. - Brian Z.
The barge Pathfinder was loading coal at Chicago Fuels Terminal on the Calumet River Saturday. The Pathfinder was loaded with 14,000 tons of Western coal for Manitowoc, Wis., and departed at 6:15 p.m. After Manitowoc, she is scheduled to return to Chicago for another coal cargo.

Saginaw, Mich. - Todd Shorkey
 The American Integrity was inbound the Saginaw River late Thursday night headed for the Consumer Energy dock in Essexville. This is believed to be the first visit ever to the Saginaw River by this vessel under any of her names. After unloading coal, she backed from the dock early Friday morning, backing out to lights 13 & 14 to turn and head for the lake. The Frontenac was inbound Friday morning calling on the Essroc dock in Essexville. She unloaded clinker and then backed from the dock and out into the Saginaw Bay to turn at Light 12 and head for the lake. This was the first visit by both vessels and the first delivery to the Essroc this season.
The SCS Greyfox arrived on the Saginaw River Saturday afternoon and tied up at the Dow Chemical dock in Essexville for the night. Once the "Bay City River Roar boat races end on Sunday, the Greyfox will make her way up to Wenonah Park in Downtown Bay City to tie up through the 4th of July weekend. This is the annual stop for the Greyfox to help raise funds to bring the USS Edson museum ship to Bay City.

Hamilton, Ont. - Eric Holmes
Saturday morning, the bunkering ship Hamilton Energy departed at 6 a.m. The tug Tony McKay and barge arrived at 7:15 a.m. in ballast from Chicago. The Algoisle arrived at 9 a.m. with iron ore pellets from Sept. Ile for Dofasco. Algolake departed at 10 a.m. from Dofasco for the canal. Canadian Olympic departed at 3 p.m., also for the canal.
Friday, Algolake arrived at 6:30 p.m. with iron ore pellets for Dofasco from Duluth. She is scheduled to make three more trips between Duluth and Hamilton. Friday also had Kathryn Spirit departing at 8:15 p.m. for the canal. Thursday, Maritme Trader arrived at 9 a.m. for Pier 25, JRI Elevators.

BoatNerd Gathering at the Soo a big success

6/28 – The annual Great Lakes and Seaway Shipping On-Line BoatNerd St. Marys River freighter chasing cruise was a great success Friday night at Sault Ste. Marie.

More than 75 lake vessel enthusiasts enjoyed the hospitality of Soo Locks Boat Tours aboard the motor vessel Le Voyageur, with Captains Jack Cork and Charlie Lampman guiding the vessel around the lower and upper harbors on a trip that included a passage through the Soo Locks. Up-close views of the 100-plus year-old cement boat E.M. Ford and the laid-up Yankcanuck started the evening, followed by a lockage upbound, during which a buffet dinner was served.

Above the locks, the Le Voyageur visited the Essar Algoma Export Dock, where the saltie BBC Rhine was loading, followed by a view of the Purvis Marine north dock. Cameras snapped away as the tour boat passed the retired ferry Nindawayma, the floating drydock made out of the former laker Quedoc, and assorted barges including PML 9000 and Chief Wawatam as well as the newly-acquired dredge PML Tucker. After a quick trip into the Algoma plant, the Le Voyageur positioned herself just above the locks for perfect photos of the outbound Edgar B. Speer, which offered two whistle salutes. After locking back down, the Le Voyageur met American Integrity in the lower harbor. Before returning to the dock, LeVoyageur cruised past the U.S. Coast Coast Guard base and the MCM Marine dock with its assorted floating stock of tugs and dredges.

Earlier Friday, the Soo Locks held its annual Engineers Day, with areas of the locks grounds not normally open to the public available for access. Luckily, it was an unusually busy day traffic-wise in an otherwise slow shipping season, with Edgar B. Speer, Algosoo, Algocape, Algoway and Paul R. Tregurtha all locking down during the open house. The saltie Maxima, loaded with windmill parts, locked up. Also at Mission Point, Chris Mazella from Ashland, Wis., bested Ben McLain from Alpena, Mich., in a Clyde’s Drive-In Big C 1/2 pound burger-eating contest, winning narrowly by one bite.

The evening was capped by Michipicoten passing Mission Point upbound as evening fell, her dusky passage recorded by more than a dozen die- hard BoatNerds. She was followed by the J.W. Shelley, but by then night had fallen, capping a very successful BoatNerd Gathering and Engineers Day that not only included picture-perfect weather but a steady parade of vessels.

Traffic for Saturday included the upbound Algonova, James R. Barker, tug Erica Kobasic and barge, the saltie Isolda and Robert S. Pierson. Kobasic reported it was tying up at the Carbide Dock for better weather as rain showers moved in near evening. Downbound in late morning was Catherine Desgagnes, followed later by BBC Rhine, Herbert C. Jackson and Indiana Harbor.

Next year’s Engineers Day is the last Friday of June.

Roger LeLievre

Soo Locks plan second open house on Tuesday for ground breaking

6/28 – There will be a second open house at the Soo Locks this Tuesday from 9 a.m. - noon, for a ground breaking ceremony for the new lock. The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. All guests are welcome, and the event is open to the public.

Plusses, minuses as St. Lawrence Seaway turns 50

6/28 -Toronto, Ont. – – The official opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway was orchestrated to be a breathless moment in history – a “flossy, glossy” ceremony, to quote this newspaper. On the muggy afternoon 50 years ago, balloons soared, guns saluted, an American president stopped by and a rosy-cheeked Queen Elizabeth, just turned 33, leaned over the railing of her yacht and waved at the cheering crowds.

Cargo freighters had, in fact, been lumbering through the new locks to Toronto and major ports on the Great Lakes for more than a month, smoothing out kinks in advance of the Royal Yacht Britannia's sleek arrival.

As it was, fog interrupted the voyage from Montreal, and the Queen turned up too late to enjoy the dinner carefully prepared for her at the hotel in Long Sault, a town created to house the many families who had lost their homes to the rising waters of the seaway and Ontario Hydro's massive new power dam.

But for most observers that day, a few lost villages was well worth giving ocean vessels access to the Great Lakes; to them, the seaway was an economic bonanza for Canada after decades of bickering with the United States. An engineering marvel finished on time and under budget, it had cost nearly $470-million (U.S) and taken 22,000 workers four years and nine months to build the vital 306-kilometre stretch from Montreal to Lake Ontario.

The hydroelectric dams – built at the same time and worth an additional $530-million – would fire up the bustling cities and manufacturing plants along both sides of the seaway. And this was the time of the Cold War, when the route promised secure berths for military ships and submarines, with quick passage to the ocean. The canals and locks that had widened and deepened the river path – silencing the famous Long Sault Rapids, which had 400 years earlier frustrated Jacques Cartier's travel plans – now made it possible for a transoceanic freighter the size of two football fields to deliver French perfume and Italian marble (as the first arrivals did) to inland ports such as Toronto before heading to Lake Superior to take home grain from Thunder Bay.

“It has moved the ocean a thousand miles inland,” The Globe and Mail declared that day in 1959. “The effects of this cannot as yet be estimated, but we can be certain that they will be very great.” Or, as the Queen put it: “We can say in truth that this occasion deserves a place in history.”

The prediction proved to be true: The seaway, arguably the world's most impressive inland waterway, built at a cost that today would top $7-billion (U.S.), transformed cities along its shores, opening new markets and churning out a reliable stream of electricity. But over time, the story has become less rosy, the seaway's place in history less celebrated, its future uncertain.

Canada paid roughly 70 per cent of the bill, and has divided revenue with the U.S. accordingly. But that revenue has yet to cover the cost of construction, and often has barely covered operating costs.

Even worse, the seaway has wreaked so much havoc on the world's greatest supply of fresh water that some critics now propose that it be abandoned as a route for saltwater ships – the very notion that stirred its creators' imagination.

“It's pretty clear that the seaway has been an economic disappointment and an environmental disaster for the Great Lakes,” says environmental writer Jeff Alexander, whose new book, Pandora's Locks , chronicles the project's fallout. “I think it would be disingenuous to hold a celebration without recognizing some of the unintended side effects.”

Mussel power

The seaway has always been the tale of two waters – salt and fresh, divided by nature but united by humanity. Even before construction began on the Montreal section, however, it was clear that mixing the ocean with the lakes came with risks. The building of the Welland Canal years ago allowed ships to circumvent Niagara Falls, but it also provided passage to the sea lamprey, a vicious “aquatic assassin,” as Mr. Alexander describes it, that broke into the world's largest freshwater fish market with no natural predator to stand against it.

So perhaps it shouldn't have come as such a surprise when, in 1988, two biology students found an unusual shellfish on the bottom of Lake St. Clair, which lies between Lake Erie and Lake Huron. It turned out to be a foreign intruder that had hitched a ride on an ocean freighter and, of course, in the two decades since then, the zebra mussel has become legendary for the many millions of dollars in damage it has caused to its new habitat.

But it didn't come alone: Since the seaway opened, scientists estimate that as many as 57 foreign species (about one-third of the 185 now on record and almost all of those that have been found in the past 50 years) have arrived in the ballast water shed by saltwater ships. They have displaced native plants and animals, decimated fish stocks, even disrupted power plants.

The seaway is hardly the only cause of the Great Lakes' decline – aquaculture and recreational boating have done much damage, along with pollution from industry and agriculture – but many scientists believe that it is responsible for the most harm, and certainly let in the most destructive intruders.

Even worse, environmentalists point out, government agencies that regulate the seaway and shipping have been painfully slow to react. Only in the past two years have seaway authorities on both sides of the border made it mandatory that all ships – including those with just small amounts of ballast from ports overseas – flush their tanks in the ocean before entering the seaway. Even that isn't necessarily foolproof. Flushing may kill 95 per cent of what is in the tanks, but a troublemaker could survive.

So, 20 years after the zebra mussel arrived, “the threat still remains,” says Jennifer Nalbone, an analyst with Great Lakes United, a cross-border environmental coalition. “It's a very sober anniversary.”

Assessing the economic value of the seaway – and whether the environmental toll and human costs have been justified – is complicated. There is no doubt that having lots of cheap hydro as well as a watery highway has been important to manufacturing cities on the Great Lakes.

Statistics released this week show that more than 2.5 billion tonnes of cargo worth more than $375-billion have passed through the seaway, most of it between Canadian and U.S. ports.

Even so, annual tallies for “salties” have never reached the predictions made on opening day, and the early glow of having ready access to European markets – the romantic focus of those “glossy, flossy” celebrations – soon faded. Demand for grain moved to the west, other markets shifted as well, and long-distance container vessels grew too big to fit in the seaway's locks.

“It was a noble idea – it's been very valuable for domestic bulk cargo,” says John Taylor, a transport specialist at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Mich. “But the seaway has been ‘locked' in time. The world has evolved and the seaway has not been able to evolve with it.”

Today, as Mr. Alexander points out in Pandora's Locks , only about 5 per cent of the world's container fleet can even squeeze into the Great Lakes. By 2007, the volume of cargo carried by ocean-going vessels had dropped to nine million tonnes from a high of 23 million in 1978, and even that figure was well off early expectations.

Prof. Taylor says the salties could be replaced by as few as two 100-car freight trains running each day of the year. A study he co-wrote in 2005 calculated that the cost of closing the locks to transoceanic ships at roughly $55-million, a figure that is widely criticized by the shipping industry but is just a fraction of the $200-million environmental toll he estimates the seaway has taken on the Great Lakes.

But the seaway also has ardent defenders, who make a convincing case that it will play an increasingly important role as transportation costs rise and, ironically, the environment becomes an even greater concern. Because the loads can be so huge, transporting goods by ship uses, on average, far less fuel and doesn't clog up already congested highways.

“One ship can take 800 trucks off the road,” says Bruce Bowie, president of the Canadian Shipowners Association.

In addition, the shipping industry is lobbying to have removed the 25-per-cent duty the government charges on vessels built outside Canada, which, he says, has prevented companies from making their fleets even more environmentally efficient. Steps have been taken to modernize the locks, and an incentive program lured nearly two billion tonnes of new cargo to the route last year, according to the seaway corporation. But drawing even more business by staying open through the winter would be costly, and major renovations required down the road will cost more than the seaway currently earns.

As for banishing the salties, Mr. Bowie calls it a “sledgehammer solution” that would only limit future economic growth. The seaway needs to be ready to capture some emerging market abroad, he says, just as lakers have suddenly picked up solid business in the past few years by carrying low-sulphur coal to power plants on the East Coast.

But future prospects aside, it has been a rocky 50 years for Highway H2O, as the seaway has been branded by the development corporation that now oversees it, and this anniversary is not the exuberant celebration of that June day half a century past. To a large extent, the seaway's prospects depend on the global path of supply and demand. But the next half-century will decide whether it can sell itself as a clean, energy-efficient water route and earn the place in history that the Queen once said it deserved.

Globe and Mail

Updates - June 28

News Photo Gallery
Soo Gathering Pictures
Public Gallery updated

On this day in 1955, the 456 foot WYCHEM 105, a.) SAMUEL F B MORSE, was loaded with sand at the B&O docks in Lorain and towed to Rocky River, Ohio where she was sunk as a temporary breakwall. She was later raised and taken to Bay Ship Building Co, and became a barge for the Roen Steamship Co. fleet. In the early 1970s, most of the hull was scrapped, except for two sections of the bottom, which were used for scows around Sturgeon Bay until the 1980s.

On this day in 1957, the JOSEPH S YOUNG departed Manitowoc, Wisconsin on her maiden voyage. She traveled in ballast to Port Inland, Michigan to load a cargo of stone. The YOUNG was the a.) ARCHERS HOPE, A T2-SE-A1 tanker, converted to Great Lakes service at Maryland Shipbuilding and Drydock, Baltimore, Maryland. Renamed c.) H LEE WHITE in 1969, and d.) SHARON in 1974. Scrapped at Brownsville, Texas in 1986.

On June 28, 1938, at 8:50 a.m., the WILLIAM A IRVIN departed Duluth with her first cargo of iron ore for Lorain, Ohio. 48 years later, in 1986, almost to the minute, the WILLIAM A IRVIN opened as a museum to the public.

The ATLANTIC SUPERIOR arrived at the Algoma Steel Plant, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario on her maiden voyage in 1982, with a load of taconite but before she was unloaded christening ceremonies were conducted there.

The SAM LAUD ran aground June 28, 1975, on a shoal south of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, with a cargo of coal from Chicago, Illinois for Green Bay, Wisconsin. Six-thousand tons of coal were off-loaded the next day into the NICOLET, a.) WILLIAM G MATHER, before she could proceed to Green Bay along with the NICOLET to discharge cargoes. SAM LAUD entered the dry dock at Sturgeon Bay on July 3rd for repairs. She had suffered extensive bottom damage with leakage into seven double bottom tanks and the forepeak. She returned to service on August 21, 1975.

On 28 June 1893, JAMES AMADEUS (wooden propeller tug, 65 foot, 44 gross tons, built in 1872, at Cleveland, Ohio) sprang a leak and foundered near Cleveland, Ohio. Her crew abandoned her just before she went down.

On 28 June 1909, TEMPEST (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 138 foot, 370 gross tons, built in 1876, at Grand Haven, Michigan) burned to a total loss while unloading coal at the Galnais Dock at Perry Sound, Ontario. She was consumed very quickly and six of her crew were killed.

Data from: Jody Aho, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Malfunction in bow thruster caused laker to run aground

6/27 – A malfunction in a bow thruster caused a lake-going vessel to run aground Thursday night in the Welland Canal.

A problem with the John D. Leitch’s bow thruster caused the ship to drift onto the east bank of the Welland Canal around 8 p.m., said John Greenway, vice-president of operations for Seaway Marine Transport, the company that owns the ship.

Greenway said many lake ships are equipped with the thrusters that allow them to maneuver while travelling at slow speeds in the canal. When the John D. Leitch’s failed, it had no way to steer through the canal.

Although it came to rest on the east bank of the canal, there was no damage to the ship and no injuries, Greenway said.

The vessel was not carrying any cargo at the time. It took about an hour and a half to repair the thruster and get the ship moving again. The incident did not cause any reported delays to shipping.

St. Catharines Standard

Marquette, Mich. - Rod Burdick
Friday evening at the Lower Harbor Shiras Dock, Herbert C. Jackson unloaded limestone. After unloading, she was expected at the Upper Harbor ore dock early in the morning.

Sturgeon Bay, Wisc.
The Adam Cornelius arrived at Bay Ship Friday morning and was rafted next to American Spirit. She is expected to undergo electrical repairs and return to service later in the summer.

6/27 - Ludington harbor’s bottom will soon be deeper than it’s been in years after the current dredging project ends. The $1.3 million project started this week and is expected to last until late July.

Sand taken from the harbor bottom will also help build up the Lake Michigan beach along Buttersville Peninsula.

Tom O’Bryan, area engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the harbor will be dredged to 30 feet along its outer edge, 29 feet in the middle of the lake and 29.5 feet in a transition zone. “And we’ll be placing the material 5,000 feet south of the harbor,” O’Bryan said about adding sand to the beach at Buttersville Campground.

“It’s just sand that migrates into the harbor due to … the natural currents moving up and down the shoreline,” he said the material being moved from the harbor bottom to the nearby beach. “It’s perfectly clean beach sand.”

King Company of Holland is doing the work, O’Bryan said, and he estimated the company will move about 8,000 cubic yards of sand a day. The total project will move about 150,000 cubic yards, he said.

Stimulus bonus

The federal government had originally approved spending $345,900 to dredge 44,000 cubic yards from Ludington’s harbor, but then added stimulus money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to bring the total to about $1.3 million.

O’Bryan said the Ludington harbor had been on a three-year cycle for dredging for many years, but was changed to a two-year cycle during recent years while the federal government cut back on the amount spent for each dredging. That meant the harbor wasn’t dredged as deeply and shoals would develop to require dredging more often.

He expects this year’s project will keep the harbor open for three years.

Ludington Daily News

6/27 - Sault Sainte Marie, Mich. - Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie will hold an open house today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The open house will give the Sault community an opportunity to explore the Coast Guard Base and learn more about the Coast Guards missions. Exhibits will include ship tours, static displays, and a helicopter demonstration. You can also tour the brain and nerve center of the Saint Mary's River, the Vessel Traffic System Center and Coast Guard Command Center.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary will offer free small boat safety exams at the Aune-Osborn boat launch and the Coast Guard Exchange will be selling snacks, beverages, and Coast Guard apparel.

6/27 - In celebration of the Seaway's Anniversary, the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) will be hosting an opening ceremony on July 10. Navigation will be suspended at the U.S. Eisenhower and Snell Locks from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

In addition, preparation for this event will take place in the afternoon the day before at Eisenhower Lock, navigation will not be suspended during this period, delays may be experienced.

Updates - June 27

News Photo Gallery
Soo Gathering Pictures
Public Gallery updated

On 27 June 1892, in rain and fog, the FRED A MORSE (wooden schooner, 182 foot, 592 gross tons, built in 1871, at Vermilion, Ohio) was being towed downbound by the HORACE A TUTTLE (wooden propeller freighter, 250 foot, 1,585 gross tons, built in 1887, at Cleveland, Ohio) about 12 miles southeast of Thunder Bay on Lake Huron, both carrying loads of iron ore. At the same time, JOHN C PRINGLE (wooden propeller freighter, 173 foot, 474 gross tons, built in 1880, at Detroit, Michigan) was sailing upbound in that vicinity with a load of coal and Italian marble with the schooners HARRISON, SWEETHEART and SUNSHINE in tow. At 1:30 a.m., the PRINGLE collided with the schooner MORSE which sank in less than 15 minutes. The crew made it to the TUTTLE in the lifeboat, although one woman was badly injured. The PRINGLE's bow was stove in, her deck planks forward were split and spread, her bulwarks torn away, and her anchors and foremast were lost. She cast off her tow and made for Alpena, Michigan, where she arrived later in the day.

At 4:04 p.m. on 27 June 1890, the Beatty Line's MONARCH (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 240 foot, 2,017 tons) was launched at Sarnia, Ontario. The launching was watched by numerous people on the decks of various steamers and on both sides of the St. Clair River. The MONARCH was built of white oak and braced with iron. She had 62 staterooms

Package freighter CHIMO (Hull#662) was launched in 1967, at Lauzon, Quebec by Davie Shipbuilding Ltd., for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd. In 1983, CHIMO's stern was attached to the bow and cargo section of the HILDA MARJANNE to create the CANADIAN RANGER.

WILLIAM EDENBORN (Hull#40) (steel propeller freighter, 478 foot, 5,085 gross tons) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan by West Bay City Ship Building Co. for the American Steamship Co., Duluth (A. B. Wolvin, mgr.) on 27 June 1900.

PRETORIA (3-mast schooner-barge, 338 foot, 2,790 gross tons) was launched at J. Davidson's yard (Hull #94) in West Bay City, Michigan on 27 June 1900. Mr. Davidson built her for his own fleet. She was one of the largest wooden vessel ever built and lasted until September 1905, when she sank in Lake Superior.

Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

6/26 - Marinette, Wisc. – Marinette Marine "walked out" the new tug, Dublin Sea, to the launch area on Friday. The launch is scheduled to take place on Friday, June 26 at 11 a.m. Since this is a private launch, the grounds at Marinette Marine will not be opened to the public (as they have been for USCG vessel launches in the past). The vessel has been constructed for K-Sea.

Dick Lund

South Chicago – Glen Stevens
Wilfred Sykes departed her lay-up dock Thursday afternoon to load stone at Port Inland, Mich.

Toronto, Ont - Charlie Gibbons
The Norlake tug Radium Yellowknife arrived in port late Wednesday and rafted to Commodore Straits. The Straits is to be inspected on Friday and is scheduled to depart for Quebec City on Saturday.
Stephen B. Roman arrived in at 8:30 a.m. Quebecois departed the St. Lawrence Cement plant at Clarkson, bound for the Welland Canal, just after 9 a.m.
Tugs M. R. Kane and Radium Yellowknife hooked up to Canadian Ranger Thursday morning, and towed it into Humber Bay, where they anchored it off Ontario Place, to serve as a fireworks platform for the Canada Dry Festival of Fire. A squall blew in while the Ranger was being anchored.  The squall knocked down the 40-foot sailboat Diogenes off Hanlan's Point. Toronto Drydock Co. was called in to salvage the sailboat, so the M. R. Kane picked up the company's spud barge Rock Prince, and went to raise the semi-submerged hull.
The cruise ship Clelia II arrived in port at Pier 52 just after 6 p.m.  Schooner Empire Sandy is scheduled to leave at midnight for a weekend of charters out of Bronte.

6/26 - London, Ont. – Both Ohio senators in Washington have urged the Ontario government to fund a feasibility study for a Lake Erie ferry that could create a new border crossing at Port Burwell.

Senators George Voinovich and Sherrod Brown have asked the ministry responsible for rural economic development to favourably consider the request from the municipality of Bayham.

The senators said a proposed ferry from the Mentor area east of Cleveland would provide a new economic corridor between Ohio and Ontario which have $88 million in trade daily.

The $550-million proposal for six modern high-speed ferries to carry transport trucks, cars and passengers would alleviate road and border congestion, reduce pollution and provide a new link between two auto-reliant economies. A downturn in the auto sector has battered both jurisdictions which could benefit from new linkages.

In April, Bayham applied to the Ontario ministry of agriculture, food and rural affairs for $115,000 of the $232,000 cost of the feasibility study.

Bayham chief administrative office Kyle Kruger said the balance would come from the federal government and local sources. He said he understands the Bayham request might be considered late this month by a government panel with a final decision expected sometime in July.

Advised of the high level support from the U.S. for the Bayham bid, the office of Premier Dalton McGuinty declined to comment or endorse the proposal.

"We look forward to receiving the recommendations from the panel, which will then be reviewed by the minister," said McGuinty spokesperson Jane Almeida.

Voinovich, a former mayor of Cleveland and governor of Ohio is one of the top-ranked members of the U.S. Senate. He is also co-chair of the Great Lakes task force. He said about $45 million has been committed for ferry infrastructure works by the Ohio and federal governments.

Brown said approval of the study would "move us closer to the creation of a vital commercial channel across the lake."

Steve Peters, the Liberal MPP who represents Elgin-Middlesex-London, welcomed the support from across the lake.

Peters said such cross-border support is unusual and usually restricted to places in Ontario with existing border crossings.

He stressed he doesn't favour any particular ferry proponent, noting there are three of which he is aware.

Other proponents for ferries include one to link Ashtabula, Ohio with Port Burwell and another that has recently gone silent to connect Cleveland to Port Stanley.

London Free Press

6/26 - Duluth, Minn. — When large shipping vessels first arrived from the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, people wanted to get out into the harbor to check them out.

Ted Gozanski, who supplied ships from his small boat, saw the demand to catch a ride and, with partners Hyman Kraner and Jimmy Oreck, began offering public tours on a boat called the Streamliner later that summer.

This week the Vista Fleet celebrates its grass-roots beginning during its golden anniversary celebration. “They started the tourism industry here with that boat business,” said John Goldfine, whose family took ownership of the Vista Fleet from that trio 30 years ago, in 1979. “All we did was get on the boat and ride.”

In its first two years, the tour boat operation, which first docked near the then-Flame Restaurant and current Bayfield Festival Park, added a boat named the Flame and replaced the Streamliner with the Flamingo. “It grew so exponentially that they added boats quickly,” Vista Fleet general manager Arnie Marten said.

Now with 69 seasonal employees and $1 million in revenue last season, the Vista Fleet offers an array of tours of Lake Superior and the Duluth-Superior Harbor from its three boats — the Vista King, Star and Queen. The growth continues. About 92,000 riders hopped aboard the Vista Fleet from May to October 2008, up from about 83,000 in 2006, Marten said. The Vista Fleet estimated about 6 million passengers in 50 years.

“It’s a great business because all the customers are happy,” Goldfine said. “I mean, it’s a boat on a nice lake on a nice day. What’s not to be fun?”

A free public event to celebrate the 50th anniversary is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday near the Vista Fleet office at 323 Harbor Drive, behind the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. Half-price sightseeing cruises will be offered during the day.

Harbor Drive will be closed to traffic starting at 9 a.m. Saturday for event setup. The road will reopen by 5:30 p.m. Police officers will direct traffic in the area. “The Vista Fleet ranks in our top five attractions because people don’t have the opportunity to do that in other places in the Midwest,” said Gene Shaw, public relations director for Visit Duluth, a tourism organization.

“When people do the sightseeing tour in the harbor and a little bit in the lake, they come off and are impressed at the size of the harbor and the impact it has, not only on the city but the region.” The Vista Fleet gives tourists a chance to get close to working ships, which has become much more difficult in recent decades, said Davis Helberg, executive director of the Seaway Port Authority of Duluth from 1979-2003.

“Things were so different then — and I shudder to think about it now — but it wasn’t uncommon for tourist to be able to walk on to working ships,” said Helberg, who has 50 years’ experience in shipping. “There were no security concerns. Tourists were all over the harbor.

“[The Vista Fleet] enriches the tourist experience because there is eagerness to experience or witness what goes on in the port,” he said.

Duluth News Tribune

Updates - June 26

News Photo Gallery

On this day in 1942, the LEON FRASER, Captain Neil Rolfson, completed her maiden voyage and delivered a record cargo of 16,414 tons of ore to Conneaut. The downbound trip only required 67.5 hours and broke the record of 15,218 tons set by the Canadian freighter LEMOYNE 15 days earlier. The FRASER was shortened and converted to a bulk cement carrier in 1991, and sails today as the b.) ALPENA.

On this day in 1969, the new Poe Lock was dedicated and opened to traffic. The first boat to transit the new lock was the PHILIP R. CLARKE. Captain Thomas Small, a 95-year old retired Pittsburgh captain, was at the wheel of the CLARKE. Thomas Small was also at the wheel of the COLGATE HOYT the first boat to transit the original Poe Lock on August 4, 1896.

On 26 June 1890, the SKATER (wooden propeller excursion steamer, 85 foot, 65 gross tons, built in 1890, at Detroit, Michigan) burned to the water’s edge about 20 miles north of Manistee, Michigan. The crew did not even have time to save their clothes, but they all escaped unharmed. The SKATER had just been fitted out for the season and had started her summer route on Traverse Bay. She was rebuilt in Cleveland and lasted until 1942, when she was abandoned at Michigan City, Indiana.

On 26 June 1895, the GEORGE FARWELL (wooden propeller steam barge, 182 foot, 977 gross tons) was launched by Alexander Anderson at Marine City, Michigan. After leaving the ways, she looked like she would capsize, but she righted herself. About 500 people watched the launch. She was taken to the Atlantic Coast in 1900. She only lasted until 1906, when she stranded on Cape Henry, Virginia and was a total loss.

On 26 June 1867, WATERS W. BRAMAN (wooden propeller tug, 89 tons, built in 1858, at Boston, Massachusetts, for the U.S.Q.M.C. and named RESCUE) was near Pelee Island in Lake Erie when fire started in her coal bunker and quickly spread. Her crew abandoned her in the yawl and were later picked up by the propeller TRADER. She had been sold by the Quartermaster Corps just the previous year and she had come to the Lakes from the East Coast just five weeks before this accident.

On 26 June 1900, Boynton & Thompson purchased the wreck of the NELLIE TORRENT (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 141 foot, 303 gross tons, built in 1881, at Wyandotte, Michigan) to raised her. She had been destroyed by fire at Lime Island near Detour, Michigan, on 22 June 1899.

On 26 June 1882, The Port Huron Times reported that the ARAXES (wooden propeller, 182 foot, 569 gross tons, built in 1856, at Buffalo, New York) sank in the Straits of Mackinac. She was raised on 6 July 1882, and repaired. She was built in 1856, and lasted until the summer of 1894, when she sank 4 miles off Bay City in Saginaw.

Data from: Jody Aho, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Muskegon, Mich. - Herman Phillips
H. Lee White returned to Muskegon with another load of coal on Tuesday. She arrived at the B. C. Cobb power plant around noon, and departed shortly after 10. She was outbound the piers at 11 pm.

Goderich, Ont. - Jon Stuparyk
Algowood is loading at the Sifto salt mine while the Agawa Canyon is behind the mine in the new harbor. The Federal Leda is loading grain at the grain elevators. CSL Tadoussac is still in lay-up in the inner harbor.

St. Marys River – Roger LeLievre
Traffic was slightly heavier than it has been lately. Upbounders included Algoway, Federal Pride, Indiana Harbor, Catherine Desgagnes and BBC Rhine. Downbound traffic included Redhead, Burns Harbor, Peter R. Cresswell, Montrealais and Orsula. Kaministiqua was inbound at Detour as night fell.

6/25 - Fort Drum, N.Y. — U.S. border officials will temporarily deploy an unmanned aircraft to patrol the border along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The area includes a crossing near Cornwall, Ont., where cigarette and drug smuggling have been a continuing problem.

The remote-controlled Predator B flies as high as 15,000 metres and can remain aloft for up to 18 hours. The aircraft can also take both infrared and video of anything within a 40-kilometre radius.

The drone, based at the U.S. Army's Fort Drum base, will launch from the Wheeler-Sack Air Field, about 60 kilometres north of Syracuse, N.Y.

Border officials have used the drones on the Mexican border for about five years.

They began flying the first Predator on the northern border out of Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota in February.

The Associated Press

6/25 - St. Catharines, Ont. – The sun was in his eyes.

That was the story 46-year-old Philip Boucher told a St. Catharines court Wednesday to explain why he drove up a Welland Canal bridge while it was being raised.

“It was an accident,” Boucher told Judge Ann Watson after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving. “I couldn’t see, my eyes were squinting...”

The admission, made just before Watson was to sentence him, came nearly a year after Boucher narrowly escaped plunging into the Welland Canal with his car.

On July 1, 2008, Boucher was driving his Buick on Queenston Street toward the Homer Bridge around 7 a.m.

Warning lights flashed and a klaxon sounded as the bridge was raised to make way for a ship. Witnesses said the Buick accelerated toward the bridge and crashed through the warning gate.

The car did not have enough momentum to make it up the rising bridge and it started to roll down the slope. Boucher managed to leap from his Buick before it rolled off the bridge into the water.

The car was removed from the water by a crane and the canal was closed to ship traffic for several hours.

Jacob said because Boucher has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, he will likely be subject to serious civil litigation.

St. Catharines Standard

Updates - June 25

News Photo Gallery

The whaleback steamer WASHBURN (steel propeller freighter, 320 foot, 2,234 gross tons) was launched by the American Steel Barge Co. (Hull #124) at W. Superior, Wisconsin on 25 June 1892. She lasted until 1936, when she was scrapped at Cleveland, Ohio.

On this day in June 25, 1892, the American Steel Barge Company, West Superior Wisconsin, Captain Alexander Mc Dougall manager, held the first triple launching on the Great Lakes which included the whalebacks PILLSBURY, WASHBURN and the small tug ISLAY. A crowd in excess of 10,000 people witnessed the event. Only the tug ISLAY remains afloat.

On 25 June 1892, the PILLSBURY (steel propeller whaleback bulk freighter, 320 foot, 2,234 gross tons) was launched by the American Steel Barge Co., at West Superior, Wisconsin. She was rebuilt at Conneaut, Ohio in the winter of 1918-1919 (315.75 feet x 42.25 feet x 24.16 feet; 2,394 gross tons- 1,465 net tons) when she received straight sides and a flattened deck. In 1927, she was converted to crane vessel, with two cranes on deck. In November 1934, she stranded on the north pier at Muskegon, Michigan in a storm and then broke in half. She was scrapped the following year.

In 1927, the B F AFFLECK (Hull#178) was launched at Toledo, Ohio by Toledo Shipbuilding Co., for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

On June 25, 1938, the WILLIAM A IRVIN began her maiden voyage for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., leaving Lorain, Ohio for Duluth to load iron ore.

INDIANA HARBOR set a record cargo on June 25, 1993, loading 71,369 tons of western low sulfur coal at Superior's Midwest Energy Terminal and transporting it 50 miles to Silver Bay, Minnesota.

The ALGOBAY collided head-on with the steamer MONTREALAIS in foggy conditions on the St. Clair River June 25, 1980, causing extensive bow damage to both vessels. Repairs to the ALGOBAY were made by Herb Fraser & Associates, Port Colborne, Ont. at an estimated cost of $500,000. She returned to service by mid August, 1980.

At 1:00 a.m. on 25 June 1878, the 161 foot, 3-mast wooden schooner PESHTIGO and the 143 foot, 3-mast wooden schooner ST ANDREW collided and sank near Cheboygan, Michigan and the Straits of Mackinac. Newspapers of the time claimed that forest fire smoke hampered visibility. Both vessels sank quickly. Two of the crew of PESHTIGO were lost, but the rest were rescued by the schooner S V R WATSON. The entire crew of ST ANDREW was rescued by the Canadian propeller OCEAN.

On the afternoon of 25 June 1885, the tug NIAGARA had the schooner MOUNT BLANC in tow while coming rounding to pick up the schooner REINDEER near Stag Island on the St. Clair River. The MOUNT BLANC struck the wreck of the tug B B JONES. The JONES had exploded in Port Huron on 25 May 1871, and the wreck was towed to the head of Stag Island where it was abandoned. After striking the wreck of the JONES, the ore laden MOUNT BLANC sank. She was later recovered and repaired and lasted until 1901.

Data from: Jody Aho, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. Marine Historical Society of Detroit.