Cargo ship unable to depart Ogdensburg on its own, second tug called upon for help

8/14 - Ogdensburg, NY - Just being 7 p.m. Thursday, a second tug was called upon to help escort cargo ship IMKE out of the Port of Ogdensburg. The ship has been at the port for nearly a week.

IMKE, flagged out of Malta, ran aground Saturday just off the port. The ship arrived in Ogdensburg on Saturday carrying wind turbine blades for Roaring Brook Wind Farm in Lewis County.

The ship sat in the St. Lawrence Seaway for two days before a call for help was made. The ship was unable to make it to the port on its own, so a tug out of Montreal, Québec, Ocean Serge Genois was called upon on Sunday for assistance. Before the tug arrived, the ship was able to make it to the port on its own with the help of winches — hauling or lifting devices.

Strong currents and precipitous depth changes makes Ogdensburg a difficult port to approach, Mr. Folsom said. The stern of the ship became lodged in the shallow area parallel to the dock.

According to veteran ship watcher Michael J. Folsom, the tug has been docked across the river in Johnstown, Ontario, waiting for IMKE. Because it’s a Canadian vessel, the tug is able to moor there, Mr. Folsom said in a Facebook message Thursday evening. The border between the United States and Canada remains closed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The second tug is now needed due to the extensive damage IMKE sustained when running aground, he said. The damage has prohibited the ship to depart on its own. As of 7 p.m., which tug will be coming is unknown. A crew will need to be secured before the tug sets off. Mr. Folsom said he’s unsure if the tug will be departing from Montreal, Québec, or Hamilton, Ontario.

NNY 360

Army Corps gearing up for next phase of Soo Lock construction

8/14 - Sault Ste Marie, MI – Soo Lock construction is set to shift into the next phase, Phase 2, of construction in September. This construction, according to a press release from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, is to facilitate the construction of a new Poe-sized lock in place of the existing Davis and Sabin Locks. This work is expected to be complete in November 2021.

The three major phases of the project remain on track with their timetables and are virtually unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic. Construction/dredging of the new Soo Lock began in June in the upstream channel deepening phase. The next big milestone of the construction, according to Penny Carroll of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will be the award of the second phase of work, which is anticipated to happen in September.

During the first phase of the project, Trade West, the contractor, began mobilizing equipment to the job site on May 4. On June 4, they began dredging at the western end of the project. On July 16, they began the deepening project, bringing up bedrock. This work began at the east end of the south side of the north channel. So far, the material brought up is all Jacobsville sandstone.

According to Carroll, this work on the eastern part of the north channel is important to accomplish first so that this area is properly deepened for the second phase of the project, the upstream approach walls, which will begin next spring. In order to have both contractors working on the same site, there has to be layering of the phases. The contractor is currently bringing up about 1,300 tons per day and production is currently on schedule.

“Roughly 300,000 cubic yards of material, mostly bedrock, will be removed from the mile-long approach channel which will be placed on the Northwest Pier, located just north of the Upstream Approach Channel and will actually provide a windbreak for vessels,” said Carroll. “The Northwest Pier is property owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”

The second phase involves rehabilitation of the upstream approach walls, which will stabilize the existing approach walls to allow for modern vessels to tie up and wait their turn to pass through the new lock. This contract has been solicited and is currently meeting source selection qualification boards. The Army Corps aims to have this contract awarded in September, with construction to begin in the spring.

The third phase, construction of the new lock chamber, will include rehabilitating downstream approach walls and is nearing its 70 percent design milestone. The Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, is conducting a series of industry engagement events from Oct. 1 through Oct. 8 to seek feedback from potential contractors. The intent is for the Army Corps to share the 70 percent plans with contractors on Aug. 28, present an overview of chamber design webinar on Oct. 1, conduct an industry site visit on Oct. 6, and meet individually with contractors to gain feedback from a contractor perspective towards clarity and constructability of the current plan on Oct. 6 through Oct. 8.

As stated in a press release by the Army Corps, Detroit District, the Soo Locks are situated on the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and allow vessels to transit the 21-foot elevation change at the St. Mary’s Falls Canal. Over 85 percent of commodity tonnage through the Soo Locks is restricted by vessel size to the Poe Lock. This new lock project will construct a second Poe-sized lock, sized 110′ by 1,200′, on the site of the existing decommissioned Davis and Sabin locks.

According to a 2015 Department of Homeland Security study on the impact of an unexpected Soo Locks closure, the Locks are nationally critical infrastructure and the reliability of this critical node in the Great Lakes Navigation System is essential to America’s manufacturing and national security.

Soo News

Hon. James L. Oberstar fitting out

8/14 - C Harbor Lookout has the Hon. James L. Oberstar, which has been laid up since May 20, unloading at Graymont in Superior this coming Tuesday. It shows her loading at CN-Duluth after discharge.

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
Michipicoten departed Duluth at 02:04 Thursday morning bound for the Soo with a load of iron ore. There was no other traffic through Duluth on Thursday, however Presque Isle was due at 21:00 to load at CN. In Superior, Algoma Guardian arrived at 05:10, loaded at Burlington Northern, and departed for Hamilton at 15:38. CSL Niagara was inbound at 16:12 to load iron ore, and should depart early Friday.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
James R. Barker departed Two Harbors from South of #2 on August 13th at 19:05 for Indiana Harbor. Neither Two Harbor nor Northshore Mining in Silver Bay have traffic scheduled on August 14th.

Thunder Bay, ON.
Wednesday; 22:36 The saltie Josef arrived and went to anchor. 24:51 Federal Churchill departed for Montreal. Thursday; 17:25 The saltie Cape departed down bound on Lake Superior.

Marquette, MI– Fred A Tijan
Cuyahoga arrived Thursday, with Clyde S VanEnkevort/Erie Trader expected Friday.

St. Marys River
Upbound traffic Thursday included Paul R. Tregurtha, Algoma Mariner, Clyde S VanEnkevort/Erie Trader, Ojibway, Algoma Sault late followed by Indiana Harbor. Baie Comeau. Algonova, Rt Hon Paul J Martin. Mesabi Miner and Federal Churchill were downbound.

Northern Lake Huron
Meldrum Bay; Thursday; 16:00 CSL Laurentian departed and is down bound on Lake Huron.
Drummond Island: Thursday; 13:36 Great Republic arrived to load limestone.
Port Dolomite; Wednesday; 22:49 Algoma Innovator departed for Sombra.
Calcite: Thursday; 9:17 Herbert C Jackson arrived to load.
Stoneport: Wednesday; 9:30 Olive L Moore / Menominee arrived to load limestone and departed at 20:35 for Bay City. 23:50 Kaye E Barker arrived to load limestone and departed Thursday at 14:11 for Detroit
Alpena: Thursday; 9:16 The cement carrier Alpena arrived to load and departed at 15:12 for Chicago. GL Ostrander is expected to arrive at the Lafarge plant between 20:00 and 21:00 to load cement products.
Port Inland: Thursday; 9:10 Joseph L Block departed for Burns Harbor. Manitowoc arrived to load limestone and departed at 18:28 for Cleveland.

Saginaw River – Todd Shorkey
Azoresborg arrived on the Saginaw River early Thursday morning, August 13th, stopping at the Port Fisher Dock in Bay City to unload wind turbine blades. She was assisted to the dock by the tug Manitou. Azoresborg is the first Wagenborg vessel to visit the Saginaw River. Olive L. Moore - Menominee were inbound on Thursday as well, carrying a split cargo for the Wirt Stone Docks in Bay City and Saginaw.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Saginaw cleared 4.53 pm Thursday downbound with grain. Algoma Enterprise expected next.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Thursday Arrivals: H Lee White arrived at Zug Island to unload coal. CSL Assiniboine arrived at the St. Marys Cement dock to unload clinker. Everlast/Norman McLeod arrived at the Marathon Asphalt Terminal to load.

Lake Erie Ports for Thursday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: Calumet arrived at 06:13 from Cleveland.
Sandusky: H. Lee White departed for Detroit and Manitoulin arrived at 14:58.
Cleveland: American Courage left at 02:45 for Ashtabula. McKeil Spirit left for Picton at 13:24.
Fairport Harbor has no traffic scheduled.
Ashtabula: American Courage arrived from Cleveland.
Conneaut: Edwin H. Gott arrived at 07:56 and left for Duluth at 18:48. Arthur M. Anderson arrived at 19:27.
Nanticoke: Algocanada left at 05:52 for Sarnia and Algonorth left for Montreal. In port were Labrador at Stelco and Algoscotia at Imperial Oil.

Still a long way to go for ambitious Norgoma project planned for Tobermory

8/14 - Owen Sound, ON – There are plenty of ideas floating around the historic Norgoma these days, but first, it has to get to Tobermory’s Little Tub Harbour.

In a literal sense, Mike Goman of Tobermory Real Estate Investors Inc. (TREII), the company spearheading the proposed move of the M.S. Norgoma from its current location in Sault Ste. Marie to Tobermory believes it would be a five or six-day tow costing about $150,000. In a bureaucratic sense, they’re just now charting the long journey that may end with the ship in Tobermory’s harbour being used as a tourist attraction, coffee shop and museum.

Goman said that since he’s gone public with the idea, further creative suggestions have been hurled his way including featuring art displays on the ship, creating a brewpub on the vehicle deck and holding training courses for Georgian College students.

Those may be fun things to think about. For now, Goman and TREII are thick in the weeds of planning for financial sustainability, engineering, rehabilitation, and harbour assessments while trying to get an endorsement – and eventually a long-term dockage agreement – from the Northern Bruce Peninsula.

“It could be kind of a floating marketplace . . . I wouldn’t rule out those kinds of ideas . . . but I haven’t spent a lot of time figuring that out yet because we have a long way to go here,” Goman said by phone Tuesday.

To that end, Goman presented the Norgoma proposal to Northern Bruce Peninsula council Monday. He said that for now, TREII is simply asking council to direct staff to work with them on a feasibility study and evaluate the suggested locations within the harbour. Eventually, council will need to permit TREII to place the massive ship in the popular Little Tub Harbour if it’s determined the harbour can accommodate it.

“What we need is permission . . . the municipality owns the docks and what we really need is for them to say, OK, here’s where you can put it. If the question is do I need a subsidy from the municipality? No,” Goman said.

TREII wants to enter into a long-term agreement with the municipality before towing the ship across Georgian Bay. “We’d need a long-term agreement. Without that it doesn’t make any sense,” Goman said.

Peggy Van Mierlo-West, cheif administrative officer with Northern Bruce Peninsula, said it’s too early to make any kind of statement about a possible agreement or even the municipality’s appetite for the project.

“It was a very good presentation and we’re happy he came to council,” she said. “Right now we’ve been requested to review the proposal itself . . . we’re just at the phase of reviewing and having those discussions.”

Van-Mielo West said municipal staff will seriously look at the project within the next month before returning to council with recommendations for the next steps.

In mid-July Sault Ste. Marie city council approved the sale of the Norgoma to TREII at a cost of $2,500. That sale has several conditions, including making sure the ship can withstand the tow to Tobermory, and making sure it will have a home once it gets there. Goman said he has a few months now to get an agreement in place in Tobermory with the MNBP.

“I think we have enough time to see if this makes sense. There isn’t some big long study that needs to be done here, to me it’s pretty straightforward. Can we accommodate the ship within Little Tub Harbour without disrupting the normal operations of the harbour and without making it a financial burden?” Goman said.

Despite the ship’s size – about twice the size of the largest tour boats that now operate from Little Tub Harbour – Goman said the primary goal of a study would be to accommodate the Norgoma within the harbour without a reduction in the number of available dock slips.

Van Mierlo-West said size and dockage are only a part of the equation. “We’d have to review things such as infrastructure, the requirement for the boat itself, we’d have to look at their business plan. There are a lot of items we’d have to review before we can make any comment,” she said.

Goman said he knows the ship, once in Tobermory, would have to support itself financially. “We all have to be clear-headed about it. There has to be enough money in it to pay its way and to set up capital reserves,” Goman said.

Goman and his business partner Dr. George Harpur have operated The Sweet Shop in Tobermory for more than 40 years, and more recently The Coffee Shop nearby. He also works in real estate development and with operators of commercial and retail spaces. He’s said he is comfortable there is enough tourist and visitor volume in Tobermory to support the Norgoma.

Although the ship eventually failed as a museum in Sault Ste. Marie, the TREII proposal suggests that was because of limited revenue streams, as well as a lack of proximity to major population centres and adjacent attractions.

Goman said Tobermory benefits from better geography – situated a two-hour drive from the largest population centres in the province – and the operators could stand to be more creative with the ship’s uses and in creating diverse revenue sources.

“I think I know the market pretty well,” Goman said. “I know the volume is there. I know the traffic and visitor volume is there.”

Built in the 1950s in Collingwood, the 188-foot Norgoma was a package freighter and passenger ferry once operated by the Owen Sound Transportation Company. In 1974, the Norgoma, and her sister ship the Norisle, were replaced by the Chi-Cheemaun, which still does the run today.

Sault Ste. Marie bought the vessel for a dollar from the Ontario government in 1975 and the Norgoma has called the waterfront in Sault Ste. Marie home for decades, where it was operated as a museum for much of that time. Last year the city took back ownership of the ship from the volunteer organization that had operated it. It was moved from the city’s Roberta Bondar Marina to a private dock in June 2019 and put up for sale later in the year.

Owen Sound Sun Times

On this day in 1962, the ARTHUR M. ANDERSON departed Conneaut and headed downbound to become the first Pittsburgh boat to transit the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway.

At 11 p.m., 14 August 1882, the steam barge CHICAGO, 206 foot, 935 gross tons of 1855, was carrying coal on Lake Michigan while towing the barge MANITOWOC, 210.5 feet, 569 gross tons of 1868. In mid-lake, near Fox Island, CHICAGO was discovered to be on fire. Within 15 minutes, she was ablaze. Her crew escaped to her barge-consort MANITOWOC. The CHICAGO burned to the water's edge and sank the following day.

Sea trials for the HENRY FORD II took place on August 14, 1924, and shortly after she left on her maiden voyage with coal from Toledo, Ohio to Duluth, Minnesota and returned with iron ore to the Ford Rouge Plant at Dearborn.

After been sold for scrap, the GOVERNOR MILLER was towed down the Soo Locks on August 14, 1980, for Milwaukee, Wisconsin to load scrap.

On 14 August 1873, CHESTER B. JONES (3-mast, wooden schooner, 167 foot, 493 gross tons) was launched at East Saginaw, Michigan. She was built by Chesley Wheeler. The spars and top hamper ordered for her were broken in a logjam, so the 3-master received her spars at Buffalo, New York on her first trip.

The 149 foot bark MARY E. PEREW was found floating west of the Manitou Islands by the propeller MONTGOMERY on 14 August 1871. The PEREW had been sailing to Milwaukee with a load of coal when a storm came upon her so quickly on 8 August (nearly a week before MONTGOMERY found her) that the crew did not have time to trim the sails. All three masts were snapped and the mizzen mast fell on the yawl, smashing it. So the crew was stuck on the ship, unable to navigate. The MONTGOMERY towed her to Milwaukee where she was rebuilt and she lasted until 1905.

On 14 August 1900, the tug WILLIAM D of the Great Lakes Towing Co. got under the bow of the steamer WAWATAM at Ashtabula, Ohio, and was rolled over and sank. One drowned.

August 14, 1899 - W. L. Mercereau, known as the "Father of the Fleet,” became Superintendent of Steamships for the Pere Marquette Railway.

1936: Registration for the wooden steamer MARY H. BOYCE was closed. The ship, which had burned at Fort William in 1928, was scuttled in deep water off Isle Royale in 1936.The vessel had been an early member of the Paterson fleet.

1950: The Canada Steamship Lines passenger carrier QUEBEC caught fire near Tadoussac, Quebec, and was able to reach the dock. Of the 426 passengers on board, 3 lives were lost. The blaze was considered suspicious as it began in a linen closet. The vessel was a total loss.

1961: The wooden diesel-powered tug NORTH STAR IV had visited the Great Lakes as b) ROCKY RIVER and had been used to handle the barges BLACK RIVER and PIC RIVER for the Quebec & Ontario Transportation Co. The vessel was serving under her fourth name when she stranded on a rock in James Bay while doing hydrographic survey work. The crew was rescued but the vessel was a total loss. The rocky area is now called North Star Shoal.

1986: GABRIELLA came through the Seaway in 1975 when only a year old. The ship capsized at Port Kembla, Australia, while discharging a 227-ton heavy lift on this date. The vessel was turned upside down, refloated in November 1986 and towed 30 miles out to sea and scuttled on December 9, 1986.

2004: FEDERAL MAAS was damaged at the Iroquois Lock when the wing of the pilothouse struck the edge of the bascule bridge.

2005: The Cypriot freighter ULLA visited the Seaway in September 1995 with cocoa beans for Valleyfield, QC and returned, in ballast, in November 1996 for Port Robinson. It was in a collision as f) REEF PEMBA with the GAS VISION and sank off Oman on this date in 2005. The crew was saved.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Max Hanley, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.

Canada Steamship Lines retires Salarium

8/12 - After a long and productive 41-year career with CSL, the 35,656 DWT self-unloader MV Salarium has been decommissioned. The long-serving vessel reached the end of her usable life earlier this year and will be dismantled at a green ship recycling yard.

She was launched on December 18, 1979, at Collingwood Shipyards, Collingwood, ON, for Canada Steamship Lines Inc. as Nanticoke. In April 2009, Nanticoke was chartered by Societe Quebecoise D'Exploration Miniere, Ste-Foy, QC to replace Algoma Central's Sauniere, which they had held under charter from 1982 until her retirement in March 2009. Nanticoke was fittingly renamed Salarium in Montreal (meaning a 'payment made in salt') and deployed to carry salt between Iles-de-la Madeleine (Magdalene Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence) and Quebec ports along the lower St. Lawrence River as well as Great Lakes and East Coast ports. She occasionally made trips to the upper Great Lakes to load coal and iron ore when not required on the salt run.

Canada Steamship Lines

Thunder Bay grain shipments remain strong

8/12 - Thunder Bay, ON - – The Port of Thunder Bay continues to experience above-average grain shipments as international demand for wheat remains high through the global pandemic. As of July 31, year-to-date grain tonnage sits 26% higher than last year. July grain shipments were 100,000 metric tonnes higher than the same month last year.

Strong shipments are anticipated this fall, as well. Canadian farmers are preparing to harvest one of the Top 5 largest crops in history, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s most recent outlook.

Demonstrating confidence in the future of the Canadian grain trade, both CN and CP railways have recently announced further investment in their hopper car fleets to accommodate larger harvests, which, owing to technological advancements and longer growing seasons, are likely to last. CN has also stepped up its railcar allotment for grain services by 150 extra cars per week for the 2020-21 crop year.

Elsewhere in the port, there was a rise in other dry bulk shipments in July. These were imported road salt and aggregate for regional consumption.

Lake Superior News

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
The only traffic through the Duluth entry on Tuesday was Mesabi Miner, which arrived at 19:26 Tuesday evening to load iron ore pellets at CN. Josef remained at Port Terminal unloading wind turbine towers, while BBC Hudson was at CHS 1 loading grain after shifting from Port Terminal on Monday evening. At the Superior entry, Alpena departed at 15:20 Tuesday light after unloading cement at Lafarge. Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin was due at 20:00 to load at Burlington Northern.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
American Century departed Two Harbors from South of #2 on August 11th at 19:37. Due between 20:00 and 20:30 is the Baie Comeau. When the Edwin H. Gott departed Two Harbors there was no updated AIS. When she got to the Soo it had been updated to Conneaut. Two Harbors has no traffic scheduled for August 12th. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay has no traffic scheduled for August 12th.

Thunder Bay On.
Monday; 19:21 CCGS Samuel Risley departed for the north shore of Lake Superior to work on Nav Aids. 20:59 Federal Churchill weighed anchor and proceeded to the Richardson Current River Terminal to load grain.

St. Marys River
Upbound traffic Tuesday consisted of James R. Barker and Algonova. Downbound traffic consisted of Edwin H Gott early and American Integrity in the early afternoon.

Holland, MI – William Van Appledorn
The Dorothy Ann / Pathfinder waited out the storm Monday evening before entering the piers at Holland. The pilothouse appeared to have been struck by lightning. She arrived at Brewer's Tuesday morning to unload salt.

Northern Lake Huron
Meldrum Bay; Tuesday; 6:14 Algoma Sault arrived to load limestone.
Spragge: Tuesday; 4:20 Saginaw arrived to unload limestone.
Bruce Mines: Tuesday; 0:24 Mississagi departed for Port Colborne.
Calcite: Tuesday; 13:01 John G Munson departed for Burns Harbor. 13:19 Cason J Callaway departed for Buffington.
Stoneport: Tuesday; 11:33 Defiance / Ashtabula arrived to load limestone.
Alpena: Tuesday; 1:00 Defiance / Ashtabula departed for Stoneport. Samuel De Champlain arrived to load cement products.
Port Inland: Monday; destination update Saginaw departed for Spragge. Tuesday; 3:16 Kaye E Barker departed for Muskegon. 3:36 Great Republic arrived to load and departed at 16:30 for Muskegon.

Saginaw River – Todd Shorkey No report. Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Conveyor was loading salt on Tuesday.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Tuesday Arrivals: Cuyahoga arrived at Zug Island to load coke. Calusa Coast and Delaware-arrived at the Marathon Asphalt Terminal to load. Algoma Transport arrived at the St. Marys Cement dock to unload clinker. Evans Spirit arrived at Zug Island to load coke.

Lake Erie Ports for Tuesday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: American Courage arrived from Cleveland at 18:05. Sandusky: No traffic scheduled.
Cleveland: Algoma Buffalo departed at 12:12 for Johnstown. Herbert C. Jackson arrived at the Bulk Terminal at 14:30, lightered and went upriver to ArcelorMittal Steel. McKeil Spirit arrived at Lehigh Cement at 21:30.
Fairport Harbor: Laura L. VanEnkevort is due in early Wednesday morning.
Ashtabula: H. Lee White arrived at 12:35 and the R/V Muskie arrived at 18:11.
Conneaut: American Mariner left at 17:33 for Quebec City and John D. Leitch arrived at 18:09.
Nanticoke: Algocanada is in port, Algoterra departed, no destination given and Algonorth remains at anchor. Labrador is still at Stelco and Frontenac left at 13:06 for Windsor.

Floating into Canada this year could mean hefty fines, arrest

8/12 - Port Huron, MI – While a few years ago neighborly Canadians bused hundreds of wayward Americans back across the St. Clair River following a botched Float Down, they aren't promising such a warm reception if it happens again this year.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police issued a statement urging people not to participate in the Float Down this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The statement recalled the 2016 event in which more than 1,500 Americans unintentionally floated into Canada due to strong winds.

"Crossing the marine border into Canada for optional or discretionary purposes such as touring, sightseeing and recreational fishing may result in fines of up to $750,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 6 months," according to an RCMP statement provided by spokesperson Diane Jennings.

The U.S.-Canada border has been closed since March due to COVID-19. It has been open only to essential traffic, which does not include Float Down participants riding inner tubes and rafts.

The RCMP warned that people unlawfully floating to Canada will be required to submit to a COVID-19 health screening and customs examination. They will be subject to Canadian laws regarding firearms, controlled substances, alcohol, immigration, customs and more. Anyone arriving in Canada must provide photo ID.

Those who refuse screening under the Quarantine Act will be arrested, the statement said. U.S residents landing in Canada will be transported back to the United States and released to authorities in Port Huron.

Read more at this link: https://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/2020/08/10/us-canada-border-port-huron-float-down-2020-covid/3333777001

Historic international shipments earn Port of Monroe 2019 Pacesetter Award

8/12 - Washington, DC – The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership applauds the Port of Monroe for earning a 2019 navigation season Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award, which recognizes their efforts in increasing international Seaway cargo during the 2019 navigation season. The Port of Monroe received the Pacesetter Award five times out of the last seven seasons beginning in 2012.

“Above all else, it is important to the Port of Monroe and myself to be a leader and contributor in the broader Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System. We are proud to receive the award, but we’re also proud of the other Great Lakes ports receiving the award because we will succeed or fail as a system,” said Paul C. LaMarre III, director of the Port of Monroe. “The 2019 Pacesetter Award is truly a testament to the Port of Monroe’s resilience. We’re exceptionally proud to receive the Pacesetter Award because it is symbolic of the work ethic and professionalism of the people who breathe life into this place.”

The Port of Monroe’s noteworthy international inbound and outbound cargo handlings during the 2019 navigation season were crowned by a historic shipment. In October 2019, the Port of Monroe handled a generator stator, which is the single most valuable piece of project cargo that ever moved through the Seaway system.

For almost two years, the Port of Monroe worked hand in hand with General Electric and DTE to plan the move and construct a new on-dock, heavy lift rail spur before the M/V Happy Ranger delivered the stator from Rotterdam, Netherlands to Monroe, Michigan. That very same ship was then loaded with 42 wind tower segments manufactured at Ventower, a wind energy manufacturing company based in Monroe, and shipped to Peru, exemplifying what can only be described as “logistics perfection.”

For LaMarre, the movement of the component represents the Port of Monroe coming full circle, paying homage to the Port’s movement of similar cargoes in the late 1970s. “It was a win on all levels. It achieved an investment in port infrastructure, the development of new and valuable cargo through the Seaway and benefited the community that we call home,” said LaMarre.

In addition to the Seaway-wide historic shipment, the Port of Monroe also celebrated their own momentous achievement. For the first time ever, three vessels unloaded at the same time on three separate docks. The “Queen of the Lakes”, the M/V Paul R. Tregurtha, unloaded at DTE’s Monroe Powerplant, the M/V Gagliardi unloaded Egyptian salt at the Port’s Riverfront Dock, and the Barge Delaware and Tug Calusa Coast unloaded liquid asphalt at the Port’s Turning Basin Dock.

Great Lakes Seaway Partnership

Proposed marine sanctuary may extend to St. Lawrence County shipwrecks

8/12 - Canton, NY - Two shipwrecks off the coast of the town of Hammond in St. Lawrence County may have the chance to be included in the proposal to establish a national marine sanctuary on Lake Ontario.

Officials overseeing the projects presented that possibility to the St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators on Monday. Currently, the boundaries of the marine sanctuary would encompass a large swath of eastern Lake Ontario to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, but there’s been interest in possibly extending that upriver to include two easy-to-access shipwrecks, the America and the Keystorm.

Some St. Lawrence legislators appeared largely in favor of extending the sanctuary to include two known shipwrecks in the St. Lawrence river near the Town of Hammond. Legislator James E. Reagen, R-Ogdensburg, even inquired about the possibility of extending the sanctuary all the way to the Moses-Saunders Dam as a way to capitalize on the opportunity to teach history on the river.

“Too many of our families have no idea that shipping was the lifeblood of the early communities in St. Lawrence County as well as Jefferson and Oswego Counties,” Mr. Reagen remarked. “This seems like a terrific opportunity to help reeducate our communities about the resources that are just below the surface of the water.”

Ellen Brody, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Regional Coordinator for the Marine Sanctuaries program touted the benefits of increased aquatic tourism and educational opportunities in her presentation to legislators Monday. She said the opportunities and potential are really driven by local stakeholders.

“I really want to emphasize that every one of these places is different,” Ms. Brody said. “That our approach to designating a sanctuary, that we recognize that every place is different, that every community is different. So, we don’t come in with a prescribed way of how we’re proposing to manage it.”

Several concerns about the project were raised about the potential project. Legislator Tony J. Arquiett, D-Helena, asked about the potential disruption divers or any newly discovered shipwrecks could have on traffic in the river’s channel. Ms. Brody indicated that the sanctuaries are meant to encourage access and any regulations don’t create zones that could hamper traffic on the channel, but rather deal with just the wrecks themselves.

Organizers of the project are hoping to submit paperwork for an environmental review later this year. When they do so, they would like to have a final determination of whether the sanctuary’s borders extend into St. Lawrence County.

If approved, the sanctuary would become the 15th such area in the United States and the second in the Great Lakes region. Under the current plan, roughly 1,700 square miles would be included in the designation, which would encompass 21 known shipwrecks and a downed aircraft spanning a period of over 200 years. Organizers note that the designation could open up the possibility for the locating of an additional 49 shipwrecks and aircraft known to be downed somewhere in the proposed area.

nny360

Obituary: R.J. Peterson

8/12 - R.J. Peterson died peacefully in his sleep Tuesday at the age of 93. He was the man who saved the SS Keewatin from being scrapped in 1967. He read in a book that she was one of the last of her kind, so he borrowed the funds and dragged her to a shallow lake in Michigan on the Kalamazoo River at Saugatuck/Douglas. There he put her on display as a "mini" Titanic, and for 45 years visitors came. In 2011 he decided that he would like to see the ship returned to Canada where her heritage lay in Port McNicoll, ON, and worked with Gil Blutrich, a developer, to accomplish that. He loved the Keewatin. Not a week went by over the nine years she has been in Port McNicoll that he didn't call to see how she was doing. Arrangements to follow.

Operated by a crew of retired Hanna captains, chief engineers and executives, the GEORGE M. HUMPHREY departed the old Great Lakes Engineering Works yard in Ecorse, Michigan, under her own power on August 13, 1986, for Lauzon, Quebec. The HUMPHREY cleared Lauzon September 3rd with the former Hanna steamer PAUL H. CARNAHAN in tow of the Dutch tug SMIT LLOYD 109. The tow locked through the Panama Canal, September 27-30, and arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan December 10, 1986 completing a trip of over 14,000 miles. The HUMPHREY was scrapped in 1987, by Shiong Yek Steel Corp.

On 13 August 1899, H. G. CLEVELAND (wooden schooner, 137 foot 264 tons, built in 1867, at Black River, Ohio) sank with a full load of limestone, 7 miles from the Cleveland harbor entrance.

August 13, 1980 - The ARTHUR K. ATKINSON returned to service after repairing a broken crankshaft suffered in 1973. She brought 18 railcars from Manitowoc to Frankfort.

The 272 foot, 1,740 gross ton, wooden propeller freighter SITKA was launched by F. W. Wheeler (Hull#32) at W. Bay City, Michigan on 13 August 1887.

1986 INDIANA HARBOR set a Toledo and Lake Erie record, loading 55,047 tons of coal at Toledo for Marquette.

1917: The barge MIDDLESEX of the Ontario Transportation and Pulp Company broke loose and stranded at Rapide Plat in the St. Lawrence. The ship was abandoned to the insurers but salvaged and returned to service as b) WOODLANDS in 1918.

1979: IRISH OAK first came to the Great Lakes in 1960 for Irish Shipping Ltd. The vessel went aground near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as c) VEGAS on this date in 1979, while enroute from Piraeus, Greece, to Vietnam. The hull was refloated on October 28, 1979, and reached Jeddah on November 16, 1979. It was sold for scrapping at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, and arrived there on January 29, 1980.

1982: EUTHALIA visited the Seaway for the first time in 1972. It caught fire in the engine room as d) FORUM SPIRIT enroute from Port Said, Egypt, to Piraeus, Greece, and was abandoned by most of the crew. While it was towed into Piraeus on August 14, the vessel was declared a total loss. The ship arrived at Split, Yugoslavia, again under tow, for scrapping on March 6, 1984.

1993: The second CORFU ISLAND to visit the Great Lakes came inland in 1970. This SD14 cargo carrier had been built the previous year and returned as b) LOYALTY in 1980. Later that fall, the ship arrived at Basrah, Iraq, from Duluth with severe missile damage resulting from the Iraq-Iran War. The ship was declared a total loss but remained idle there until being towed away on August 13, 1993. LOYALTY arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping on September 22, 1993.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Max Hanley, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series

Cargo ship IMKE that was stuck, has been freed

8/11 - Ogdensburg, NY – A cargo ship that was stuck off the Port of Ogdensburg in the St. Lawrence River has apparently been freed without the help of a tug. The IMKE ran aground a short distance from the dock after the freighter apparently went outside the channel leading to the dock late Saturday afternoon.

Monday evening, veteran ship watcher Michael Folsom reported in his Twitter feed that the IMKE had apparently been pulled alongside the port with winches. That, as a tug from Montreal was making its way upriver on the St. Lawrence. The tug had been summoned to help free the IMKE, and continues on its way to the ship. Folsom tweeted the tug may be needed to escort the ship for inspection.

Part of the ship’s cargo: turbine blades for the Roaring Brook Wind Farm in Lewis County. This is the fourth of seven scheduled turbine blade deliveries for Roaring Brook.

Even after the vessel went aground, officials said, it was not blocking the St. Lawrence Seaway shipping channel. This marks the first time in at least 20 years that a ship has gone aground coming into port at the Ogdensburg port.

Boaters say they watched the IMKE try to back in through the port channel as many as six times. Allan Hutchcroft was boating with others when he saw the whole thing unfold. “He was going around in circles. Going up the river. Turned around. Come back down, try again. He kept trying. He just couldn’t do it,” said Hutchcroft.

WWNY

Blount Cruise ships, which often visited the Great Lakes, listed for sale

8/11 - Blount Small Ship Adventures is selling its cruise ship division of three ships: Grande Mariner, Grande Caribe, and Niagara Prince. They have been regular visitors to the Great Lakes.

Blount designed its boats to sail where others cannot. The shallow 6-foot-draft vessels can traverse inland waterways and canals. The vessels glide under low bridges with retracted pilot houses. The bow ramps permit bow landings on virtually any beach.

A post on their website said the company is ceasing operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fleet of three ships are open for viewing by appointment at the Blount facility in Warren, RI.

gCaptain

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
American Integrity departed Duluth at 03:36 Monday morning loaded with iron ore pellets for Indiana Harbor. Arthur M. Anderson finished unloading limestone at Hallett #5 and departed at 08:19 light for Two Harbors, and Alpena arrived at 11:24 to unload cement at Lafarge. BBC Hudson and Josef both remained at Port Terminal on Monday unloading wind turbines; the former is scheduled to shift to CHS to load grain within the next day or two.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Edwin H. Gott departed Two Harbors on August 10th from South of #2 at 01:32. As of 19:30 on the 10th she has no updated AIS. American Century arrived Two Harbors on August 9th at 23:30 and depart at 01:09 on August 10th. She went to Duluth and anchored out in the lake. Arthur M. Anderson arrived Two Harbors at 10:22 on August 10th after unloading stone in Duluth. She departed Two Harbors on the 10th at 18:25 for Conneaut. The Americian Century arrived Two Harbors on August 10th at 19:26 for South of #2. Due Two Harbors on August 11th is the Baie Comeau. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay had no traffic on August 10th and none scheduled on August 11th.

Thunder Bay On.
Monday; 11:14 Algoma Harvester arrived at the G3 elevator to load wheat. 11:50 CCGS Samuel Risley arrived to work on Nav aids at the mouth of the Mission River. 13:16 G3 Marquis weighed anchor and proceeded to the Superior Elevator to load wheat. 14:46 Federal Churchill arrived and went to anchor.

St. Marys River
Upbound traffic Monday included Rt Hon Paul J. Martin, Victory/Maumee, Mesabi Miner, Baie Comeau and Elbeborg. Downbounders included Paul R. Tregurtha early, Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader and Algoma Strongfield.

Northern Lake Huron
McGregor Bay: Sunday; 22:32 Baie Comeau departed for Two Harbors.
Meldrum Bay; Monday; 1:53 Laura L Van Enkevort arrived to load limestone and departed at 11:25 and is down bound on Lake Huron.
Bruce Mines: Monday; 16:06 Mississagi arrived to load trap rock.
Calcite: Monday; 3:00 H Lee White departed for Ashtabula. 5:08The tug Albert and tanker barge Margaret departed for Toledo. 11:25 Cason J Callaway arrived to load. 17:37 John G Munson arrived to load.
Stoneport: Monday; 6:33 Olive L Moore / Menominee departed for Marine City.
Alpena: Monday; 12:33 Defiance / Ashtabula arrived to unload at the Lafarge plant.
Port Inland: Sunday; 23:50 Joseph L Block departed for Indiana Harbor. Monday; 12:31 Saginaw departed and is down bound on Lake Huron. 13:17 Kaye E Barker arrived to load limestone.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Conveyor was loading salt on Monday.

Monroe, MI – Sam Hankinson
Monday morning the Great Lakes Towing tug Wisconsin returned to Monroe after spending a year working in other ports on the Great Lakes. The 1897-built tug will remain at the Port of Monroe to provide ship assist and towing services. The tug/barge Calusa Coast/Delaware also arrived to unload liquid asphalt at Michigan Paving and Materials.

Lake Erie Ports for Monday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: Cuyahoga departed for Detroit.
Sandusky: Algoma Buffalo left for Cleveland.
Cleveland: American Courage left at 03:57 for Ashtabula and Sea Eagle II left for Toledo at 08:18. American Mariner unloaded at the Bulk Terminal and departed for Conneaut at 10:53. Algoma Buffalo arrived at 08:46 to load at Cargill. Herbert C. Jackson is due in Tuesday.
Ashtabula: American Courage arrived at 08:25, loaded a shuttle and left at 20:41 for Cleveland.
Conneaut: Algoma Niagara left at 17:52 for Quebec City and American Mariner arrived at 18:50.
Nanticoke: Once again the busiest port on Lake Erie has Algocanada and Algoterra in port. At anchor is Algonorth. Algoscotia left for Oakville and Algoma Transport left for Detroit. The saltie Labrador arrived at 19:00.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
Tim S. Dool arrived at 23:58 on Sunday night to load grain, coming from Quebec City. John D. Leitch arrived at 2:56 EST with a load of ore from Superior. Wilf Seymour and her barge Alouette Spirit arrived at 11:14 EST with coke from Detroit. At 15:01 EST the tugs Ocean Golf and Ocean A. Gauthier departed together for Toronto, and at 17:56 EST the John D. Leitch was outbound for Conneaut. The tugs Ocean Golf and Ocean A. Gauthier are expected to return together from Toronto at 22:30 EST.

Picton, ON – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit departed Monday afternoon.

Take a tour of Wisconsin's anchors, which tell the story of state's rich maritime history

8/11 - Manitowoc, WI – Over the decades, Lake Michigan has become a cold, watery grave for hundreds of ships, each with a fascinating story to tell of how it met its fate. Those adventurous enough can don scuba gear and explore their sunken remains to learn the interesting history that sank with them. Those who prefer to remain on land can learn their tales by searching for their anchors.

Over the years, hundreds of anchors have been salvaged from the depths and can be found throughout Wisconsin’s shores.

Some anchors are used as historical markers, others as memorials to those who lost their lives when their ship went down. Many are used as lawn ornaments, some as monuments to Navy heroes, while others are used as part of a nautical motif for a maritime museum or business such as a marina, seafood restaurant, scuba shop or yacht club.

Read the story and view images at this link: https://www.htrnews.com/story/life/2020/08/10/wisconsin-anchors-tell-of-lake-michigan-shipwrecks-maritime-history/3318994001

On 10 August 1890, TWO FANNIES (3-mast wooden bark, 152 foot, 492 gross tons, built in 1862, at Peshtigo, Wisconsin) was carrying 800 tons of iron ore on Lake Erie when a seam opened in rough weather. The crew kept at the pumps but to no avail. They all made it off of the vessel into the yawl just as the bark sank north of Bay Village Ohio. The CITY OF DETROIT tried to rescue the crew but the weather made the rescue attempt too dangerous and only two men were able to get to the steamer. The tug JAMES AMADEUS came out and got the rest of the crew, including the ship's cat, which was with them in the yawl.

On August 10, 1952, the ARTHUR M. ANDERSON entered service for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. Exactly 14 years later, on August 10, 1966, the vessel's namesake, Arthur Marvin Anderson, passed away.

In 1969, the EDMUND FITZGERALD set the last of many cargo records it set during the 1960s. The FITZGERALD loaded 27,402 gross tons of taconite pellets at Silver Bay on this date. This record was broken by the FITZGERALD's sister ship, the ARTHUR B. HOMER, during the 1970 shipping season.

On 10 August 1937, B.H. BECKER (steel tug, 19 tons, built in 1932, at Marine City, Mich.) foundered in heavy seas, 9 miles north of Oscoda, Mich.

In 1906, JOHN H. PAULEY (formerly THOMPSON KINSFORD, wooden propeller steam barge, 116 foot, 185 gross tons, built in 1880, at Oswego, New York) caught fire at Marine City, Mich. Her lines were burned through and she then drifted three miles down the St. Clair River before beaching near Port Lambton, Ont. and burning out.

On 10 August 1922, ANNIE LAURA (wooden propeller sandsucker, 133 foot, 244 gross tons, built in 1871, at Marine City, Mich.) beached near Algonac, Mich., caught fire and burned to the waterline.

1899: The whaleback steamer JOHN B. TREVOR was rammed and sunk by her barge #131 in the St. Clair River. The accident was caused by CRESCENT CITY crossing the towline. The sunken ship was refloated and, in 1912, became the ATIKOKAN.

1967: PAUL L. TIETJEN and FORT WILLIAM were in a head-on collision on Lake Huron about 25 miles north of Port Huron. Both ships were damaged but were repaired and returned to service.

1975: CIMBRIA came through the Seaway for the first time in 1965 under West German registry. The ship was sailing as c) KOTA MENANG when it stranded on Nyali Reef, off Mombasa, Tanzania, due to a steering failure on August 10, 1975. The vessel received severe hull damage and was deemed a total loss.

1979: The Indian freighter JALARAJAN and the British flag LAURENTIC sustained minor damage in a collision at Kenosha, Wis. The former was dismantled at Calcutta, India, in 1988 while the latter was scrapped at Karachi, Pakistan, in 1984.

1992: MENASHA was set adrift and then sank in the St. Lawrence off Ogdensburg, N.Y. The former U.S. Navy tug was refloated and repaired. After some later service at Sarnia, the tug was resold and moved for Montreal for work as c) ESCORTE.

2007: NORDSTRAND came to the Great Lakes in 1990 and sank at the stern, alongside the Adriatica Shipyard at Bijela, Montenegro, as c) MEXICA, when the engine room flooded on this date. The ship was refloated on September 1, 2007, and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping on May 5, 2010.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Jody L. Aho, Max Hanley, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.

Lake Erie water levels to decline soon, reports shows

8/10 - Monroe, MI – Finally, some good news for Lake Erie shoreline residents. It appears that the water levels are starting to back off from their seasonal and record highs. That’s the report that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released this week, with its monthly review and forecast for Great Lakes water levels.

Lake Erie’s water levels were high in July, but did not set a record, the report said. In comparison, it added, lakes Huron and Michigan set a new monthly mean record high water level and likely will do so again in August.

The 2019 water levels were so high for Lake Erie that new monthly records were set May through September, according to the U.S. Army Corps data. Previous record highs were set in the 1980s.

“While we expect water levels to decline across most of the Great Lakes, levels still remain extremely high,” said John Allis, chief of the Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Office, Detroit District.

The water levels can be aggravated by day to day weather; as winds blowing inland will cause high waves and flooding on top of the existing conditions. As a result, Monroe County’s shoreline residents have noticed the impact of numerous Lakeshore Flood Warnings since spring, 2018.

In response, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers activated its Emergency Operations Center in 2019 and has provided technical assistance to communities affected by flooding.

Monroe News

Cargo ship runs aground off Port of Ogdensburg

8/10 - Ogdensburg, NY – The IMKE, a general cargo ship flagged out of Malta, ran aground Saturday afternoon just off the Port of Ogdensburg. The 134-meter ship, which was built in 2010, was traveling to Ogdensburg from Montreal, Québec, carrying wind turbine blades for the Roaring Brook Wind Farm in Lewis County.

Veteran ship watcher Michael J. Folsom reported on Twitter that the ship had trouble making it through the narrow access to the port on Saturday afternoon.

“Strong current at @Ogdensburg_NY gives docking ships a hard time. IMKE took multiple attempts at getting into the port today (Saturday) before running into trouble just off the dock,” Mr. Folsom tweeted at 11:42 p.m. Saturday.

Strong currents and precipitous depth changes makes Ogdensburg a difficult port to approach, and the IMKE could have used the assist of a tug, Mr. Folsom said in a subsequent tweet. As of 7:30 p.m. Sunday, the ship was listed as “aground,” on MarineTraffic.com

Mr. Folsom tweeted just after 5 p.m. Sunday that no pollution or injuries have been reported. Crews have attempted to pull IMKE into the dock and the bow has drawn closer. Stern damage to the ship is presumed, Mr. Folsom added.

NNY 360, Mardy Howe

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
Indiana Harbor arrived Duluth at 04:27 Sunday morning, loaded coal at Midwest Energy, and was outbound at 17:39. Arthur M. Anderson was due shortly before midnight with limestone. American Integrity spent Sunday at CN loading iron ore and was expected to depart by the end of the day. BBC Hudson and Josef both remained at Port Terminal unloading wind turbine components. There was no traffic in Superior on Sunday, and none is expected until Tuesday when Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin is due to load at BN.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Edwin H. Gott arrived Two Harbors on August 9th at 11:33 for South of #2. As of 19:55 she was still at the dock. Due Two Harbors, probably on August 10th, are the Arthur M. Anderson after she unloads stone at CN-Hallett #5. Currently North of Devil's Island at 19:55 is the American Century that is due Two Harbors. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay saw the Herbert C. Jackson depart at 20:49 for Cleveland. There is no traffic scheduled for Silver Bay on August 10th.

Thunder Bay On.
Thursday; 21:12 CSL Welland departed for Montreal. Friday; 22:44 Federal Sakura departed to Montreal. 23:36 Algoma Strongfield arrived at the Richardson Main Terminal to load wheat. Saturday; 8:59 Ojibway arrived at the Superior Elevator to load grain and departed at 23:52 for Windsor. Sunday; 13:54 G3 Marquis arrived and went to anchor south of the Welcome Islands. 14:39 The saltie Cape weighed anchor and proceeded to Viterra A to load grain. 16:14 Algoma Strongfield departed and is down bound.

Marquette, MI– Fred A Tijan
No ships arrived on August 7 and August 8. August 9 saw the arrival of the Clyde S. Vanenkevort / tug/Erie Trader-self unloading barge at 07:58hrs which departed at 17:01 hr with 33,892 tons of ore for Toledo, Ohio. No ships are scheduled for August 10.

St. Marys River
Upbound traffic Sunday included the tug Salvage Monarch, assisted by W.I. Scott Purvis. After dropping a Dean Construction Co. barge off at the Purvis Dock in Soo, ON, Salvage Monarch immediately headed back down the river. Other upbound traffic included Algoma Harvester and Federal Churchill. Dowbounders included Ojibway late, followed by Stewart J. Cort and Herbert C. Jackson near midnight.

Menominee MI – Chuck Zentmeyer‎
After spending the night riding the hook, Finnborg arrived the KK dock in early Sunday morning.

Sturgeon Bay, WI
H. Lee White departed Bay Ship with a destination of Calcite. Also it appears the repairs on the Florence Spirit are almost completed. Prentiss Brown was removed from the floating dry dock on Friday.

Holland, MI – William Van Appledorn
Great Republic arrived at 10 pm Sunday with a load of limestone from Port Inland.

Southern Lake Michigan
Frieda was at Burns Harbor Sunday night. BBC Mont Blanc is due when dock space opens up.

Northern Lake Huron
McGregor Bay: Sunday; 15:50 Baie Comeau arrived at the Fisher Harbour to unload road salt.
Little Current: Saturday; 7:09 Sharon MI departed for Algoma Steel Sault Ste Marie.
Spragge: Saturday; 21:09 Saginaw arrived to unload and departed Sunday at 2:00 for Port Inland.
Port Dolomite: Friday; 21:34 Arthur M Anderson arrived to load Saturday 0:45 Undaunted / Pere Marquette 41 arrived. 11:02 Arthur M Anderson departed for Duluth Superior. 15:50 After loading limestone Undaunted / Pere Marquette 41 departed for Manistee
Calcite: Saturday; 5:07 American Mariner arrived to load limestone and departed at 19:34 and is down bound on Lake Huron. 19:36 Michipicoten arrived to load. Sunday; 5:38 H Lee White arrived to load. 15:54 The tug Albert and tanker barge Margaret arrived to unload petroleum products. They were assisted to dock by the Cheboygan based tug Nancy Anne.
Stoneport: Friday; 23:23 Manitowoc arrived to load limestone and departed Saturday at 10:31 for the St Joseph River/ Benton Harbor. Sunday; 18:57 Olive L Moore / Menominee arrived to load limestone.
Alpena: Saturday; 10:33 The cement carrier Alpena arrived to load and departed at 16:07 for Duluth Superior.
Port Inland: Friday; 9:23 John G Munson arrived to load and departed Saturday at 0:24 for Marine City. 0:43 Great Republic arrived to load limestone. 23:08 Calumet arrived and went to anchor. Sunday; 4:34 Great Republic departed for Holland. Calumet weighed anchor and proceeded to the dock to load and departed at 14:59 for Manistee. 15:27 Joseph L Block arrived to load limestone. 15:52 Saginaw arrived and went to anchor.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Buffalo cleared 1.23 am Sunday downbound with salt. Algoma Conveyor was loading salt on Sunday evening.

Lake Erie Ports for Sunday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: American Courage departed at 20:30 Saturday for Cleveland and Cuyahoga arrived from Kingsville at 20:15.
Sandusky: Algoma Buffalo arrived at 20:10 to load at the Norfolk Southern coal dock.
Cleveland: Sea Eagle II arrived Saturday for St. Marys Cement. American Courage arrived at 01:20, unloaded and is now running shuttles from the Bulk Terminal. The G tug Wisconsin arrived at 22:00 from Duluth. American Mariner is due in Monday with stone for the Bulk Terminal. Fairport Harbor has no traffic scheduled.
Ashtabula: Cason J. Callaway left for Calcite. Algoma Sault arrived at 08:52, unloaded and departed at 18:47 for Meldrum Bay.
Conneaut: Algoma Niagara arrived at 19:30.
Nanticoke: Algoscotia and Algonorth were in port. Algoterra was anchored off of Port Dover and Algocanada is due in Monday. Over at Stelco, Algoma Transport arrived at 13:26.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
Kaministiqua was fully loaded with grain for Sorel and departed at 14:02 EST on Sunday. Algoma Guardian also departed on Sunday, at 17:59 EST, headed empty towards Superior. CSL Niagara was expected to depart late Sunday evening after completing an unload of coal.

Picton, ON – Tom Brewer.
McKeil Spirit arrived at the Lehigh Cement Plant Dock on Sunday afternoon.

On 10 August 1890, TWO FANNIES (3-mast wooden bark, 152 foot, 492 gross tons, built in 1862, at Peshtigo, Wisconsin) was carrying 800 tons of iron ore on Lake Erie when a seam opened in rough weather. The crew kept at the pumps but to no avail. They all made it off of the vessel into the yawl just as the bark sank north of Bay Village Ohio. The CITY OF DETROIT tried to rescue the crew but the weather made the rescue attempt too dangerous and only two men were able to get to the steamer. The tug JAMES AMADEUS came out and got the rest of the crew, including the ship's cat, which was with them in the yawl.

On August 10, 1952, the ARTHUR M. ANDERSON entered service for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. Exactly 14 years later, on August 10, 1966, the vessel's namesake, Arthur Marvin Anderson, passed away.

In 1969, the EDMUND FITZGERALD set the last of many cargo records it set during the 1960s. The FITZGERALD loaded 27,402 gross tons of taconite pellets at Silver Bay on this date. This record was broken by the FITZGERALD's sister ship, the ARTHUR B. HOMER, during the 1970 shipping season.

On 10 August 1937, B.H. BECKER (steel tug, 19 tons, built in 1932, at Marine City, Mich.) foundered in heavy seas, 9 miles north of Oscoda, Mich.

In 1906, JOHN H. PAULEY (formerly THOMPSON KINSFORD, wooden propeller steam barge, 116 foot, 185 gross tons, built in 1880, at Oswego, New York) caught fire at Marine City, Mich. Her lines were burned through and she then drifted three miles down the St. Clair River before beaching near Port Lambton, Ont. and burning out.

On 10 August 1922, ANNIE LAURA (wooden propeller sandsucker, 133 foot, 244 gross tons, built in 1871, at Marine City, Mich.) beached near Algonac, Mich., caught fire and burned to the waterline.

1899: The whaleback steamer JOHN B. TREVOR was rammed and sunk by her barge #131 in the St. Clair River. The accident was caused by CRESCENT CITY crossing the towline. The sunken ship was refloated and, in 1912, became the ATIKOKAN.

1967: PAUL L. TIETJEN and FORT WILLIAM were in a head-on collision on Lake Huron about 25 miles north of Port Huron. Both ships were damaged but were repaired and returned to service.

1975: CIMBRIA came through the Seaway for the first time in 1965 under West German registry. The ship was sailing as c) KOTA MENANG when it stranded on Nyali Reef, off Mombasa, Tanzania, due to a steering failure on August 10, 1975. The vessel received severe hull damage and was deemed a total loss.

1979: The Indian freighter JALARAJAN and the British flag LAURENTIC sustained minor damage in a collision at Kenosha, Wis. The former was dismantled at Calcutta, India, in 1988 while the latter was scrapped at Karachi, Pakistan, in 1984.

1992: MENASHA was set adrift and then sank in the St. Lawrence off Ogdensburg, N.Y. The former U.S. Navy tug was refloated and repaired. After some later service at Sarnia, the tug was resold and moved for Montreal for work as c) ESCORTE.

2007: NORDSTRAND came to the Great Lakes in 1990 and sank at the stern, alongside the Adriatica Shipyard at Bijela, Montenegro, as c) MEXICA, when the engine room flooded on this date. The ship was refloated on September 1, 2007, and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping on May 5, 2010.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Jody L. Aho, Max Hanley, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
James R. Barker arrived Duluth at 03:38 Thursday morning to load coal at Midwest Energy. The saltie Josef arrived from anchor at 13:10 and backed into the Port Terminal slip, mooring astern of BBC Hudson to unload her cargo of wind turbine towers. The Barker was outbound from SMET at 14:57. Joseph L. Block spent Thursday tied up at CN; it was unclear if she was still unloading limestone or had began loading iron ore pellets, however she had been scheduled to shift over to Hallett #5 to load blast furnace trim. Presque Isle, which had unexpectedly arrived on Wednesday evening, was tied up on the east side of berth 6 and is presumably waiting for the Block to clear so she can load. BBC Hudson was finishing up her unload at Port Terminal on Thursday and is expected to shift to CHS to load grain. Stewart J. Cort remains at Fraser Shipyard for repairs.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Burns Harbor arrived Two Harbors at 09:21 on August 6th for South of #2. There is no traffic scheduled for Two Harbors on August 7th. The stop the Presque Isle made in Two Harbors on the 5th was to fuel before she continued on to CN-Duluth. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay had no traffic on August 6th and none scheduled on August 7th.

Marquette, MI– Fred A Tijan
The Kaye E. Barker arrived August 3 at 02:02 hr and departed at 12:50 hr for Toledo, Ohio with 25,900 tons of ore. No ships arrived August 4. Tug Victory with barge Maumee arrived August 5 at 21:52 hr and departed August 6 at 07:22 hr for Toledo, Ohio with 25,500 tons of ore. Only two ships have loaded at Marquett during August. No ships are scheduled for loading on August 6 or August 7.

St. Marys River
Frontenac was upbound early Thursday followed by Federal Satsuki in the afternoon and Herbert C. Jackson in the evening. Downbounders included Federal Montreal and Algoma Guardian early, with Mesabi Miner and Maumee/Victory after dark.

Northern Lake Huron
Meldrum Bay: Thursday; 6:49 Baie Comeau departed for Windsor. 14:35 Laura L Van Enkevort arrived to load dolomite.
Calcite: Thursday; 19:59 American Mariner departed and is down bound on Lake Huron. 20:01 Kaye E Barker arrived to load.
Stoneport: Thursday; 12:26 Herbert C Jackson departed for Duluth Superior.
Alpena: Thursday; 7:15 GL Ostrander arrived to load cement products and departed at 14:29 for Milwaukee.
Port Inland: Thursday; 8:34 Cason J Callaway arrived to load limestone.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Niagara cleared 10.48 am Thursday downbound with salt

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Thursday Arrivals: Anglian Lady/Ironmaster-arrived at Nicholson's Detroit Terminal to unload steel coils. Calusa Coast and Delaware-arrived at the Marathon Asphalt Terminal to load. Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder-arrived at Motor City Materials to unload salt. Manitoulin-arrived at the St. Clair Aggregates dock to unload stone.

Lake Erie Ports for Thursday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: Manitowoc departed at 14:26 for Marine City.
Sandusky: Saginaw arrived at 07;49, loaded coal and has departed. No destination given.
Cleveland: American Century arrived at 15:26 for the Bulk Terminal. American Courage left for Ashtabula and Dorothy Ann arrived at 18:02 to load salt at Cargill. NACC Capri is due in Friday.
Fairport Harbor: CSL Tadoussac arrived at 07:23 to load salt at Morton.
Ashtabula: Arthur M. Anderson left at 09:32 for Cedarville. American Courage arrived at 17:26 to load for Cleveland.
Conneaut: Edwin H. Gott arrived at 14:45.
Nanticoke: CSL Tadoussac left for Fairport Harbor at 22:31 Wednesday night and Algonova came in from anchorage at 09:24

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
Algoma Harvester arrived at 8:09 EST with a load of ore from Port Cartier. At 12:49 EST, the G3 Marquis departed after spending a day loading ore, and is now bound for Thunder Bay. The Torrent departed at 20:47 EST loaded with grain that will be taken to Veracruz, Mexico. The ATB combo Everlast/Norman McLeod is currently in port, however, since arriving her AIS has been turned off, which is a sign that she may be undergoing repairs or entering layup.

Oswego, NY – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit arrived at the Lehigh Cement Dock on Thursday morning.

Delong, Michels making large investments in Port of Milwaukee

8/7 - Milwaukee WI – Milwaukee’s 467-acre port will see two major upgrades through investments by the DeLong Company and Michels Corp. Both mean new buildings and increased activity at the port.

The DeLong deal calls for a $31 million agricultural export facility that will be used to ship a byproduct of ethanol manufacturing that is used as animal feed in other markets. It would be the first facility of its kind on the Great Lakes.

“This is one of the highlights of my career,” said Port Milwaukee executive director Adam Tindall-Schlicht on his second anniversary with the city. “DeLong’s investment at the port is the biggest at least since the 1950s.”

The Board of Harbor Commissioners unanimously approved a 4.42-acre lease agreement with DeLong that would pay approximately $3.5 million in lease payments over 30 years.

The company would occupy three unused parcels on the inner harbor with direct access for Seawaymax vessels, the largest that operate on the Great Lakes. “Vessels from all over the world can come to this property,” said Tindall-Schlicht.

And that’s the plan. The indoor facility will be used for transloading train and truck loads of “dry distillers grain with solubles” (DDGS) and other agricultural products onto ocean-going vessels. The material is a by-product of the ethanol production process whereby corn is converted into fuel. Global demand for DDGS, which is used as a nutrient supplement for livestock, is growing according to a city report.

The project partners hope to export 200,000 metric tons annually, approximately $40 million worth of the product, from which the port will collect a tariff fee in addition to lease payments.

“This is a brand-new tenant to the port and we welcome the DeLong family,” said Tindall-Schlicht of the Clinton-based company.

A new rail line servicing the AMEF will directly connect the system to Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific‘s rail network. An ethanol export facility already exists at the port. Approximately 20 percent of DDGS exported is expected to come from Wisconsin ethanol plants, with the remainder coming from Iowa and Minnesota.

The city will borrow $4.3 million to contribute to the capital cost of the project. DeLong is investing $6.2 million in the facility’s construction. Federal and state grants, first announced in February, are anticipated to cover the remainder.

DeLong would pay approximately $30,000 per buildable acre it leases. The facility, located at 1711 S. Carferry Dr., is expected to be completed in 2023.

Michels Deal Infrastructure contractor Michels Corp. has leased a portion of the port’s “Grand Trunk” site since 2016 and used it for staging for area projects. That lease was scheduled to expire in June 2021.

The company, which is building a $100 million mixed-use complex with an eight-story office building upstream on the Kinnickinnic River, will now lease even more of the Grand Trunk property after winning a competitive request-for-proposals process.

“What we know at this point is that there is going to be some construction of office buildings and loading and unloading at this site,” said Tindall-Schlicht.

David Stegeman, Michels chief legal officer and vice president of business administration, was present at the virtual meeting, but didn’t elaborate on the plan.

In a brief phone interview after the meeting, Stegeman told Urban Milwaukee the plan isn’t on the scale of the $100 million River One plan. “We are very excited, but are not sharing any details until we are through the approval process,” said Stegeman. Tindall-Schlicht said more information would be available in September when the proposal is reviewed by the Common Council.

“This is an excellent use of a piece of land that we have been trying to find what to do with for at least the last 20 years I have been around,” said commissioner Ron San Felippo. The property, a portion of which is being restored as a publicly accessible wetland, is named for the Grand Trunk Railroad which once used the site for loading train cars onto ships designed to bypass Chicago.

Michels will lease 17.40 acres, 13.5 of which are buildable, for up to 99 years. An initial lease period is for 20 years with extensions offered every decade. “We tried to extend the lease to the likely tenure of Adam’s as port director, so it’s a 99-year lease,” said San Felippo. Michels is estimated to pay $23,130,000 over the life of lease, about $17,000 per acre.

Commissioner Craig Mastantuono asked how such a long lease could be calculated. “I have no idea what competitive rent is going to look like 57 years or 74 years from now,” he said.

Tindall-Schlicht said the lease had inflation adjustments, tied to the Producers Price Index, scheduled every five years.

Commissioner Claude Krawczyk asked why the rent was nearly half that of the DeLong deal on a per-acre basis. “The dockwall at Grand Trunk requires significant repair,” said Tindall-Schlicht. Michels will pay to remediate that in the first three years of its a lease, one of the terms of the deal.

The site, addressed as 432 E. Bay St., is also accessible only by smaller ships, primarily tugboats and barges. “Location, location, location,” said Krawczyk.

The Michels lease was unanimously approved. “Today’s votes and agreements have awoken what many think is a sleeping giant,” said Borkowski.

Milwaukee scored a win when Viking Cruises announced in January it will bring new cruise ships to the Great Lakes. The company plans to enter the Great Lakes market in 2022 and will use Milwaukee as a turnaround point 10 times in the opening year, bringing an estimated 8,000 visitors through the city.

UrbanMilwaukee.com

Northern Michigan: Salty – ‘The Colorful Adventures of a Well-Seasoned Sea Dog Pt. 1’

8/7 - It was only supposed to be a part-time job, but then one man soon found himself traveling the world. “Forty-five years later I was still out there. I promised my folks I was going to get a real job someday, and maybe someday I will,” said Lon Calloway. “Oh man, talk about a life.

“My name is Lon Calloway and I am a retired merchant mariner and I’ve spent over 45 years working all over the United States, Alaska, Gulf of Mexico working on a variety of vessels, 85 in total,” explained Lon.

It all started when Lon simply wanted to make some money for college. That all changed when he found that if he worked as a relief worker, working on the boats gave him a lot of freedom.

“The money and the flexibility of being able to work when I wanted, I pick and choose my jobs. I would get relationships with dispatchers from all these different companies and then I could call them up and tell them I was available, and they would tell me if they needed somebody. I could usually get a job within 24 hours of making a phone call,” explained Lon.

He learned quickly that not all these jobs were smooth sailing.

“You had to work it. I had to make sure that they knew that I would take a bad job to get a good job, and I would because I knew that they had to service their contracts. I had some pretty horrible boats from time to time. For instance, the tugboat in Alaska name the Lutak Pride, it had garbage bags taped up to the ceiling to keep the water from leaking through to the deck and running on you when you were in in your bunk. You didn’t dare take your shoes off, because you might have to run for it if something happens and it started to sink,” said Lon.

Time is money for the boat companies. Just getting on the freighters can be an adventure.

“The Ojibway is the story of the first time I ever stepped aboard a freighter. They took supplies and crew members out to the freighters and the Ojibway would swing up alongside of it and, with a crane, they would boom over all the supplies and then the relief guys will jump on and then the guys getting off would get on the boat and head back into town. For a new guy, it’s a pretty intimidating experience pulling up alongside that big sled that’s rumbling down the river and seeing all the action on there, climbing over the rail and when the Ojibway pulls away, you’re stuck, there you go,” explained Lon.

Lon has so many stories about his 45-year-career he was convinced to write some of them down in his new book.

“The book I just wrote is called ‘Salty: The Colorful Adventures of a Well-Seasoned Sea Dog.’ It has some of my better ones in there. I think it has 27 stories about my life at sea and some of the 85 boats that I’ve been on and some of the just insane people I’ve met along the way,” said Lon.

Read more at this link: https://www.9and10news.com/2020/08/05/northern-michigan-in-focus-salty-the-colorful-adventures-of-a-well-seasoned-sea-dog-pt-1

August 7, 1789 - President George Washington signed the ninth act of the first United States Congress placing management of the lighthouses under the Department of the Treasury. August 7 in now "National Lighthouse Day".

On 07 August 1890, the schooner CHARGER (wooden schooner, 136 foot, 277 gross tons, built in 1868, at Sodus, New York) was struck by the CITY OF CLEVELAND (wooden propeller freighter, 255 foot, 1,528 gross tons, built in 1882, at Cleveland, Ohio) near Bar Point near the mouth of the Detroit River on Lake Erie. The schooner sank, but her crew was saved.

The JAMES R. BARKER was christened August 7, 1976. She was to become Interlake's first 1,000 footer and the flagship of the fleet for Moore McCormack Leasing, Inc. (Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio, mgr.). She was built at a cost of more than $43 million under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970. She was the third 1,000-footer to sail on the Lakes and the first built entirely on the Lakes.

On 7 August 1844, DANIEL WHITNEY, a wooden schooner, was found floating upside-down, with her crew of 4 missing and presumed dead. She was six miles off mouth of the Kalamazoo River in Lake Michigan.

August 7, 1948 - Edward L. Ryerson, chairman of Inland Steel Company announced that the new ore boat under construction for Inland will be named the WILFRED SYKES in honor of the president of the company. Mr. Sykes had been associated with Inland since 1923, when he was employed to take charge of engineering and construction work. From 1927, to 1930, he served as assistant general superintendent and from 1930, to 1941, as assistant to the president in charge of operations. He became president of Inland in May, 1941. He had been a director of the company since 1935. The new ship was to be the largest and fastest on the Great Lakes, having a carrying capacity in intermediate depth of 20,000 gross tons. The ship will be 678 feet long, 70 feet wide and 37 feet deep, and will run at 16 miles per hour when loaded.

While lying at the dock at the C & L. H. Railroad Yard in Port Huron on 7 August 1879, the scow MORNING LARK sank after the scow MAGRUDER ran into her at 4:00 a.m., MORNING LARK was raised and repaired at the Wolverine dry dock and was back in service on 20 September 1879.

1912 – A collision in heavy fog with the RENSSELAER sank the JAMES GAYLEY 43 miles east of Manitou Light, Lake Superior. The upbound coal-laden vessel was hit on the starboard side, about 65 feet from the bow, and went down in about 16 minutes. The two ships were held together long enough for the crew to cross over to RENSSELAER.

1921 – RUSSELL SAGE caught fire and burned on Lake Ontario while downbound with a load of wire. The ship sank off South Bay Point, about 30 miles west of Kingston. The crew took to the lifeboat and were saved. About 600 tons of wire were later salvaged. The hull has been found and is upright in 43 feet of water and numerous coils of wire remain on the bottom.

1958 – HURLBUT W. SMITH hit bottom off Picnic Island, near Little Current, Manitoulin Island, while outbound. The ship was inspected at Silver Bay and condemned. It was sold to Knudsen SB & DD of Superior and scrapped in 1958-1959.

1958 – The T-3 tanker GULFOIL caught fire following a collision with the S.E. GRAHAM off Newport, Rhode Island while carrying about 5 million gallons of gasoline. Both ships were a total loss and 17 lives were lost with another 36 sailors injured. The GULFOIL was rebuilt with a new mid-body and came to the Great Lakes as c) PIONEER CHALLENGER in 1961 and was renamed MIDDLETOWN in 1962 and e) AMERICAN VICTORY in 2006.

1964 – CARL LEVERS, a pre-Seaway visitor as a) HARPEFJELL and b) PRINS MAURITS, had come to the Great Lakes in 1957-1958. It had been an early Great Lakes trader for both the Fjell Line from Norway and the Dutch flag Oranje Lijn. The ship was cast adrift in a cyclone at Bombay, India, going aground on a pylon carrying electric wires off Mahul Creek and caught fire on August 24, 1964. The vessel was released and scrapped at Bombay later in the year.

1970 – ORIENT TRANSPORTER first came through the Seaway in 1966. It arrived at Beaumont, Texas, on this day in 1970, following an engine breakdown. The 1949 vintage ship was not considered worth repairing and was broken up at Darica, Turkey, in 1971.

1972 – The small Canadian tanker barge TRANSBAY, loaded with liquid asphalt and under tow of the JAMES WHALEN for Sept Iles, sank in a storm on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. There were no casualties.

1989 – CLARENVILLE, a former East Coast wooden passenger and freight carrier, came to the Great Lakes in 1981 for conversion to a floating restaurant at Owen Sound. The restaurant declared bankruptcy in May 1989 and a fire, of suspicious origin, broke out on this date. It was a long and difficult blaze to control and the ship sank. It broke apart during salvage in September 1989. The bow was clammed out in December 1989 and the stern removed in April 1990 and taken to the city dump.

1991 – FINNPOLARIS first came through the Seaway in 1985. It struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic off Greenland and sank in deep water the next day. All 17 on board were saved.

1994 – GUNDULIC came inland under Yugoslavian registry for the first time in 1971. The ship caught fire as c) PAVLINA ONE while loading at Mongla, Bangladesh, on this date and was abandoned by the crew on August 8. The blaze was extinguished August 9 but the gutted and listing freighter was beached and settled in shallow water. The hull was auctioned to a local demolition contractor in 1996 but was still listed as a hazard to navigation in 1999.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Dave Wobser, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.

ArcelorMittal restarting blast furnace at Indiana Harbor

8/6 - ArcelorMittal is restarting a blast furnace at ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor East Chicago that was idled because of the coronavirus and repairing another blast furnace that was damaged in an explosion at ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor.

"ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor has begun preparations to restart Indiana Harbor #4 blast furnace," spokesman William Steers said. "The flexibility afforded by our ArcelorMittal USA assets allows the company to continue matching production with customer demand."

In May, the Luxembourg-based steelmaker idled the #4 Blast Furnace at its Indiana Harbor steel mill after automotive plants nationwide shut down for a deep cleaning to slow the spread of coronavirus that's killed more than 155,000 Americans. The steelmaker blew down the blast furnace to adapt to the drop in demand "while maintaining the flexibility of our operations" and "with necessary precaution to preserve the asset for future production."

The steelmaker also is making repairs to Blast Furnace D, which was damaged in an explosion last month at its Burns Harbor mill.

A stove dome failure two weeks ago caused a fire that forced the company to take the blast furnace offline. Videos posted to social media showed the blast showering the mill with the shrapnel of big chunks of burning hot refractory, the interior lining that protects the blast furnace shell from super-heated temperatures during the steelmaking process.

"ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor is currently working through repairs on D blast furnace which are anticipated to take a couple of weeks," Steers said. "We do not anticipate any significant changes in employment as a result of the production changes at these facilities."

Demand has been rebounding, with steel production in the Great Lakes region rising 4.6% last week to 471,000 tons, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

U.S. Steel, Northwest Indiana's other major steelmaker, has restarted two blast furnaces at Gary Works that had been idled after the auto plants were shut down. It fired back up the No. 6 Blast Furnace right after the Fourth of July weekend and started the No. 8 Blast Furnace this past weekend.

U.S. Steel spokeswoman Meghan Cox said the steelmaker was starting to see strong demand from the auto, appliances, packaging and construction industries.

NW Indiana Times

Marathon seeks court approval to dispose of tug Peninsula

8/6 - Marathon, ON – A large tugboat leaning precipitously to one side on a Marathon public beach has become a “blight” and a “public safety hazard” and needs to be removed. So says the town of Marathon, which earlier this month applied to Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice for an order that would allow the municipality to dispose of the 140-tonne vessel, possibly having it dismantled

“The (Peninsula) tugboat is not part of the (town’s) plans moving forward,” town chief administrator Daryl Skworchinski says in an affidavit filed with the court. “It is merely taking up space next to a public boat launch and devolving into a blight on the community’s image.”

Chronicle-Journal

Great Lakes water levels reaching peaks for the year

8/6 - Detroit, MI – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announces each of the Great Lakes, except Lake Superior, have likely reached their peak water levels for the year and are predicted to decline.

Lakes Michigan-Huron set another new monthly mean record high water level in July, however the water level is expected to slowly drop the rest of the year. Water levels on Lakes St. Clair, Erie and Ontario all continued to decline last month, with no new records set on those lakes in July. The water level of Lake Superior is expected to peak next month before entering its period of typical seasonal decline.

“While we expect water levels to decline across most of the Great Lakes, levels still remain extremely high,” said John Allis, chief of the Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Office, Detroit District.

The Corps most recent forecast projects that Lake Michigan-Huron will likely set another new record high monthly mean water level next month in August before dropping back beneath record highs in September. With the continued high water on many of the lakes, and the approaching active fall storm period, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers urges those impacted by the high water levels last fall to be preparing for similar or worse impacts over the next few months.

During response operations, Detroit District, Emergency Management Office conducts emergency operations to save lives and protect public facilities and communities. USACE can provide technical assistance in the form of advice and expertise in the construction of temporary flood protection measures such as sandbagging, or direct assistance by providing flood fight.

supplies to state, county, or local public officials. Assistance is supplemental to local and state efforts and at the request of the state.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, activated its Emergency Operations Center May 2019 in response to high water on the Great Lakes. July 2020 marks more than 450 consecutive days of providing support. In that time, Detroit District has conducted many on-site assessments under our technical assistance authority in 16 approved counties, and has provided flood fight supplies under our direct assistance authority in two counties. To date, Detroit District has given out 350,000 sandbags to counties to assist them in their flood fighting efforts.

In addition, citizens of Indiana and Michigan may decide to work on personal construction projects to alleviate erosion or flooding, which could potentially impact the nation’s rivers, streams, wetlands and other aquatic resources. These projects may require a permit from the USACE, Regulatory Office.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
Joseph L. Block arrived Duluth at 09:03 Wednesday morning with limestone to discharge into the hopper at CN, however she tied off at the gravity dock to wait for Mesabi Miner to finish loading. The G-tug Wisconsin arrived at 15:08 pushing two barges that she had brought from Green Bay. Mesabi Miner topped off at CN and departed at 15:58 for Indiana Harbor, at which point the Block shifted down the dock and began unloading her stone cargo. After dropping off her barges, Wisconsin headed to the G-tug dock by Port Terminal. With the Duluth-based tug Missouri lashed to her side, Wisconsin departed at 17:59 bound for Cleveland, where the Missouri will receive a refit and Wisconsin will be relocated to Monroe, MI. BBC Hudson remained at Port Terminal unloading wind turbine blades on Wednesday, while Josef was anchored waiting for her turn at the dock. Stewart J. Cort remained at Fraser undergoing repairs. At the Superior entry, Algoma Guardian departed at 04:03 loaded with iron ore for Hamilton. John D. Leitch, which had departed from Duluth on Tuesday night after receiving repairs to her self-unloading boom at Port Terminal, arrived in Superior from anchor at 04:25 Wednesday morning and returned to Burlington Northern to load. She was outbound at 15:04.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Presque Isle arrived Two Harbors on August 5th at 13:32 for South of #2. She then departed Two Harbors at 17:02 from South of #2. She arrived Duluth at approx. 19:10. As I post this report at 19:30 on August 5th she is making the turn at Rice's Pt. The Burns Harbor has been running checked down all day. She is due Two Harbors to load. As of 19:30 on the 5th she is running checked down NE of Outer Island. There is no other traffic due Two Harbors on August 6th. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay has no traffic scheduled on August 6th.

Thunder Bay On
Wednesday; 11:34 Federal Montreal weighed anchor and departed for the port of Montreal.

Marquette, MI– Fred A Tijan
Maumee/Victory arrived in the evening Wednesday from Algoma Steel to load.

St. Marys River
There was no upbound traffic on Wednesday other than Maumee/Victory from Algoma Steel upbound for Marquette. The only downbounder was Cuyahoga in the afternoon, bound for Toledo with potash. The training vessel State of Michigan was also in the river.

Milwaukee, WI – MKE Marine Reports
Undaunted/Pere Marquette 41 arrived from Grand Haven late Tuesday (8/4) to load coal ash from WE Energies for Lafarge’s cement plant in Alpena. Tug/barge departed at 09:27 Wednesday (8/5). As of noon, Federal Satsuki was still at the Federal Marine Terminals Dock. The current schedule shows her leaving today and Federal Churchill arriving from Burns Harbor tomorrow (8/6) with steel from Ijmuiden.

Northern Lake Huron
Meldrum Bay: Wednesday; 10:17 Algoma Innovator departed for Sarnia. 14:05 Baie Comeau arrived to load dolomite.
Little Current: Wednesday; 15:47 Sharon MI / Huron Spirit arrived to load.
Bruce Mines: Wednesday; 4:33 Manitoulin departed for Detroit.
Thessalon: Wednesday; 6:25 Michipicoten arrived to load trap rock and departed at 20:02
Drummond Island: Tuesday; 22:52 John G Munson departed for Buffington.
Port Dolomite: Wednesday; 12:13 Great Republic departed for Marine City.
Cheboygan: Wednesday 12:15 The tug Albert and tanker barge Margaret arrived at the US Oil Co dock to unload petroleum products and departed at 18:53 for Green Bay. Calcite: Wednesday; Defiance / Ashtabula arrived to load and departed at 18:26 for the Straits of Mackinac. 19:05 American Mariner arrived to load.
Stoneport: Wednesday; 1:29 Olive L Moore / Menominee arrived to load limestone and departed at 10:52 for the Saginaw River. 20:15 Herbert C Jackson arrived to load.
Alpena: Tuesday; 23:23 The cement carrier Alpena arrived to load and departed Wednesday at 5:29 for Green Bay.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Conveyor cleared 8.30 pm Tuesday upbound with salt for Chicago. Algoma Niagara arrived 5.30 pm Wednesday loading at Compass Minerals

Toledo, OH – Michael G Hopkins
Gardno arrived at Anderson Terminal 11:30 for grain.

Lake Erie Ports for Wednesday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: American Courage departed for Cleveland. Manitowoc arrived at 02:00. Sandusky: Saginaw is due in Thursday.
Cleveland: American Courage arrived with stone from Marblehead at 03:54. She unloaded at RiverDock and went to the Bulk Terminal to load a shuttle. Calusa Coast left at 08:42 for Detroit and Dorothy Ann also left for Detroit with salt. American Century is due in Thursday for the Bulk Terminal.
Ashtabula: Clyde S. VanEnkevort arrived at 08:22, unloaded and left for Stoneport at 17:08. Arthur M. Anderson is due in Thursday.
Conneaut: Radcliffe R. Latimer is loading for Quebec City. Edwin H. Gott is due in Thursday.
Erie, Pa: Manitowoc departed at 13:48 for Marblehead.
Nanticoke: CSL Tadoussac arrived at the Stelco dock at 12:41. Algonova is anchored off of Port Dover.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
The CSL Niagara was the first vessel action on Wednesday, bringing in coal from Sandusky at 4:38 EST. At 6:55 EST, the G3 Marquis arrived with a load of ore from Port Cartier. The COE Leni departed at 9:31 EST, on her 8th day in port, loaded with grain that will be taken to Newark, United Kingdom. The CSL Niagara spent the day unloading coal and was outbound for Sandusky at 20:06 EST. The ATB combo Everlast/Norman McLeod is expected to arrive light from Valleyfield at 22:00 EST, and take the Leo A. McArthur/John J. Carrick's place at the McAsphalt dock, who is expected to depart late tonight, loaded with asphalt for Halifax. The Torrent spent its 8th day in port loading grain.

Thunder Bay museum group receives tug

8/6 - Thunder Bay, ON - The Dryden III tugboat arrived at the Lakehead Transportation Museum Society site last Friday morning and Charlie Brown, the museum society president says they are happy to have her and she will need a lot of work.

He says because of COVID-19, it’s a “staycation” this year for many so if they’d like to come down and help out, they will be welcomed. “We can give you a paint brush and we have both left and right-handled paint brushes,” he laughed.

The tug that comes from the city of Dryden is a steel craft tug, built in 1947 by the Russel Brothers Limited in Owen Sound, Ont. She is 11.5-metres in length with a three metre beam and was used to pull log booms around.

Since the museum society is not exclusive to Thunder Bay and includes the region, Brown says it is fitting that the tug, which was the same kind used in the Thunder Bay harbour, will rest at this museum. “It was generously donated by Sandy Smith at Garden Lake Timber,” said Brown.

“It sat up there on his property for a number of years and he contacted us and asked, ‘Do you think you guys can use this?’ I said ‘Absolutely.’ We had Tower Light Ltd. (tower) come in today, another great crew who brought in the crane and big transport truck.

“They went up to Garden Lake Timber, brought it down for us, positioned it on our property for us and we are going to clean her up – she’s in a little rough shape as you can see. She needs a paint job and some new windows and we are going to use her as a static display as part of our overall (installation).”

Brown says they are developing the area and are hoping to pour some concrete pads this summer. “Then we will be bringing in the Brill trolleys . . . hopefully later in the year,” he added.

Discussions are ongoing with the city to have the James Whalen tugboat and the VIA train brought to the museum site where all historical transportation can be housed on one common site.

“We have a number of things on the go and we are waiting on the city to allow us to do certain things,” he said, adding that the city has been supportive in the past and the cash-strapped museum has asked for rent relief after losing revenue to inaccessibility due to road construction last year and COVID-19 restrictions this year.

For more information or to volunteer, people can email ltmstb@gmail.com, go online at ltmstb.com or call 355-5277 or 623-6550. The museum society also has a Facebook page.

Chronicle-Journal

Chapter two of e-book Seaway Queens – Art Decko – now available

8/6 - Chapter two of the new e-book Seaway Queens has been launched. It takes a look at the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne design influences on Laker construction in the mid-twentieth century. The iconic Wilfred Sykes and Edward L. Ryerson are featured. Mix yourself a cosmo and enjoy!

Order your copy today at www.seawayqueens.com

On this day in 1953, a record 176 vessels passed through the Soo Locks.

Early in the morning of 06 August 1899, the WILLIAM B. MORLEY (steel propeller freighter, 277 foot, 1,846 gross tons, built in 1888, at Marine City, Michigan) and the LANSDOWNE (iron side-wheel carferry, 294 foot, 1,571 gross tons, built in 1884, at Wyandotte, Michigan) collided head on in the Detroit River. Both vessels sank. The LANSDOWNE settled on the bottom in her slip at Windsor, Ontario and was raised four days later and repaired. The MORLEY was also repaired and lasted until 1918, when she stranded on Lake Superior.

The BELLE RIVER’s bottom was damaged at the fit-out dock and required dry docking on August 6, 1977, for repairs prior to her maiden voyage. Renamed b.) WALTER J MC CARTHY JR in 1990.

On 6 August 1871, the 3-mast wooden schooner GOLDEN FLEECE was down bound on Lake Huron laden with iron ore. The crew mistook the light at Port Austin for the light at Pointe Aux Barques and steered directly for the Port Austin Reef where the vessel grounded. After 200 tons of ore were removed, GOLDEN FLEECE was pulled off the reef then towed to Detroit by the tug GEORGE B MC CLELLAN and repaired.

On 6 August 1900, the Mc Morran Wrecking Company secured the contract for raising the 203-foot 3-mast wooden schooner H W SAGE, which sank at Harsen's Island on 29 July 1900. The SAGE had been rammed by the steel steamer CHICAGO. Two lives had been lost; they were crushed in her forecastle.

August 6, 1929 - The CITY OF SAGINAW 31 (Hull#246) was launched at Manitowoc, Wisconsin by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. for the Pere Marquette Railway. She was christened by Miss Ann Bur Townsend, daughter of the mayor of Saginaw.

On 6 August 1870, the wooden propeller tug TORNADO had her boiler explode without warning four miles northwest of Oswego, New York. The tug sank quickly in deep water. Three of the six onboard lost their lives. Apparently the tug had a new boiler and it had been allowed to run almost dry. When cold water was let in to replenish the supply, the boiler exploded.

1907 – A building fire at the Toronto Island ferry terminal spread to the ferry SHAMROCK and it was badly burned and sank. Running mate MAYFLOWER also caught fire but was pulled from the dock by TURBINIA and this blaze was extinguished. SHAMROCK, however, was a total loss and was towed to Hanlan's Point. The latter ship was replaced by the still-active TRILLIUM in 1910.

1924 – The Lake Ontario rail car ferry ONTARIO NO. 2 went aground in fog on the beach at Cobourg, Ont., but was refloated the next day.

1928 – HURONIC went aground at Lucille Island and needed hull repairs after being released.

1985 – VANDOC, enroute from Quebec to Burns Harbor, went aground in the St. Lawrence outside the channel near St. Zotique, but was released the following day.

1994 – CATHERINE DESGAGNES, outbound at Lorain, struck about 30 pleasure boats when a bridge failed to open.

2000 – ANANGEL ENDEAVOUR was in a collision with the IVAN SUSANIN in the South-West Pass and was holed in the #2 cargo hold and began listing. The ship was anchored for examination, then docked at Violet, La., and declared a total loss. It was subsequently repaired as b) BOLMAR I and was operating as c) DORSET when it arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping on April 24, 2009. The ship first came through the Seaway in 1983.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Jody L. Aho , Joe Barr, David Swayze, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.

Great Lakes water levels reaching peaks for the year

8/5 - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announces each of the Great Lakes, except Lake Superior, have likely reached their peak water levels for the year and are predicted to decline.

Lakes Michigan-Huron set another new monthly mean record high water level in July, however the water level is expected to slowly drop the rest of the year. Water levels on Lakes St. Clair, Erie and Ontario all continued to decline last month, with no new records set on those lakes in July. The water level of Lake Superior is expected to peak next month before entering its period of typical seasonal decline.

“While we expect water levels to decline across most of the Great Lakes, levels still remain extremely high,” said John Allis, chief of the Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Office, Detroit District.

The Corps most recent forecast projects that Lake Michigan-Huron will likely set another new record high monthly mean water level next month in August before dropping back beneath record highs in September. With the continued high water on many of the lakes, and the approaching active fall storm period, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers urges those impacted by the high water levels last fall to be preparing for similar or worse impacts over the next few months.

During response operations, Detroit District, Emergency Management Office conducts emergency operations to save lives and protect public facilities and communities. USACE can provide technical assistance in the form of advice and expertise in the construction of temporary flood protection measures such as sandbagging, or direct assistance by providing flood fight

supplies to state, county, or local public officials. Assistance is supplemental to local and state efforts and at the request of the state.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, activated its Emergency Operations Center May 2019 in response to high water on the Great Lakes. July 2020 marks more than 450 consecutive days of providing support. In that time, Detroit District has conducted many on-site assessments under our technical assistance authority in 16 approved counties, and has provided flood fight supplies under our direct assistance authority in two counties. To date, Detroit District has given out 350,000 sandbags to counties to assist them in their flood fighting efforts.

In addition, citizens of Indiana and Michigan may decide to work on personal construction projects to alleviate erosion or flooding, which could potentially impact the nation’s rivers, streams, wetlands and other aquatic resources. These projects may require a permit from the USACE, Regulatory Office.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
John D. Leitch cleared the Superior entry at 09:51 Tuesday morning, however she did not load at BN as previously reported. Instead, she departed light and then arrived Duluth at 12:45 and backed into the Port Terminal slip, likely for a repair of some sort. There was no other traffic in Duluth on Tuesday, however Mesabi Miner was due at 23:00 to load ore at CN. BBC Hudson continued unloading wind turbine blades at Port Terminal, while Josef remained anchored offshore. Stewart J. Cort was at Fraser Shipyards for repair work. Algoma Guardian arrived in Superior at 17:43 to load at Burlington Northern, and is expected to depart mid-morning Wednesday.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Edwin H. Gott had an updated AIS as of mid-morning on August 4th. She is going to Conneaut. I also made a mistake when I did Tuesday’s Port Report. I reported the Speer in my Two Harbors report. I meant the Gott. Due Two Harbors on August 5th are the Presque Isle and the Burns Harbor. American Century also has an updated AIS. She is headed to Cleveland. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay has no traffic scheduled for August 5th.

Thunder Bay Ont.
On Monday CSL Welland weighed anchor and proceeded to Viterra A to load wheat. 22:11 Cuyahoga arrived to load potash at Thunder Bay Terminals. Tuesday; 13:19 Federal Montreal shifted to the main anchorage.14:07 Federal Sakura weighed anchor and proceeded to the Superior Elevator to load grain. 16:57 Cuyahoga departed for Toledo.

St. Marys River
Upbound traffic Tuesday included Presque Isle, Burns Harbor, Victory/Maumee and James R Barker late. Downbounders included Manitoulin, Michipicoten, Indiana Harbor, Edwin H. Gott and American Century.

Milwaukee, WI – MKE Marine Reports
Rebuilding salt stockpiles on Jones Island. Algoma Niagara arrived from Goderich at 19:32 Monday (8/3) with salt for Compass Minerals and proceeded to the inner harbor. After delivering her cargo, she headed back to Goderich at 07:25 Tuesday (8/4). Canada Steamship Lines’ Baie Comeau arrived from Windsor at 02:18 Tuesday with salt for Morton and joined Federal Satsuki in slip one, outer harbor. After dumping her cargo on the open dock, Baie Comeau cleared for Meldrum Bay at 12:42. At seaway draft, Algoma Niagra carries 28,200 mt and Baie Comeau 29,000 mt. So far in 2020, Compass Minerals has received 18 boatloads (483,000 mt) of salt, and Morton has received 9 loads (248,000 mt). Samuel de Champlain/Innovation is expected from Alpena Wednesday (8/5) with cement for Lafarge.

Southern Lake Michigan
Federal Churchill and Hilke remained at Burns Harbor Tuesday night. Cason J Callaway is due at Buffington Wednesday morning.

Northern Lake Huron
Meldrum Bay: Tuesday; 10:31 Algoma Innovator arrived to load dolomite.
Bruce Mines: Tuesday; 16:35 Manitoulin arrived to load trap rock.
Drummond Island: Tuesday; 10:03 John G Munson arrived to load limestone.
Port Dolomite: Tuesday; 5:16 Mississagi departed for Windsor. 15:48 Great Republic arrived to finish loading.
Calcite:. Tuesday; 12:13 After taking on a partial load Great Republic departed for Port Dolomite. 17:02 Arthur M Anderson departed for Ashtabula.
Stoneport: Monday; 23:44 Clyde S Van Enkevort departed for Ashtabula.
Alpena: Tuesday; The cement carrier Alpena is expected to arrive later tonight.
Tawas City: Tuesday; 13:47 Calumet departed for Waukegan

Saginaw River – Todd Shorkey
Spiekeroog was unloading windmill parts at Bay City on Tuesday.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Conveyor was loading salt Tuesday night.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
Paul R Tregurtha arrived at St Clair power plant at 3:45am to unload coal; unloading completed vessel was downbound at 6:30pm. Happy Ranger was at Stag Island at 3:45am. Albert/Margaret was upbound mid Lake St Clair at 4am. Whiefish Bay passed MC before dawn downbound. Sharon MI/Huron Spirit resumed an upbound heading at 8:30am. CSL Tadoussac passed downbound at 2pm. Clyde S Vanenkevort/Erie Trader passed downbound at 3:30pm. Ojibway passed downbound at 4:30pm. BBC Gdansk should pass downbound in the late evening. Off and on rain all day, temp 68 degrees F, winds light, then gusty from the west-northwest.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Herbert C Jackson unloaded coal at Zug Island on Tuesday

Lake Erie Ports for Tuesday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: American Courage arrived at 04:20 from Cleveland.
Sandusky: CSL Niagara departed for Hamilton.
Cleveland: G.L. Ostrander arrived at 04:46, unloaded at LaFarge and departed for Detroit. Laura L. VanEnkevort unloaded at ArcelorMittal and left for Meldrum Bay. Calusa Coast arrived at 13:35 to unload at Marathon. Finnborg departed at 14:30 for Chicago. Dorothy Ann is on the shuttles.
Ashtabula: Clyde S. VanEnkevort is due in Wednesday.
Conneaut: Radcliffe R. Latimer arrived at 21:00.
Nanticoke: Algocanada left at 08:56 for Sarnia. CSL Tadoussac is due in Wednesday.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
8/3/20 Elbeborg arrived at 5:15 EST to unload Ferro Manganese from Kvinesdal, Norway. After a long gap throughout the day, the Sterling Energy departed at 15:28 EST for Port Weller. Algoma Transport arrived at 17:38 with coal from Toledo. At 18:39 EST, the Frontenac was on her way to Superior after having unloaded salt. At 22:46 EST, the tanker Sterling Energy returned from Port Weller.

8/4/20 Algoma Strongfield was the first arrival on Tuesday morning, bringing in ore from Port Cartier at 00:21 EST. Next, at 2:33 EST, the tanker Rosy departed light for Montreal after unloading UAN solution. At 7:33 EST, Algoma Transport departed light back towards Toledo. At 17:47 EST, te Elbeborg had finished unloading Ferro Manganese and departed for Chicago. At 18:19 EST the ATB combo Leo A. McArthur/John J. Carrick arrived from Valleyfield light to load asphalt. In addition to Tuesday's traffic, the Torrent and COE Leni both spent the day loading grain.

On 05 August 1958, the tug GARY D (steel propeller tug, 18 tons) was destroyed by an explosion and fire near Strawberry Island Light on Lake Huron.

The RICHARD M. MARSHALL, later b.) JOSEPH S. WOOD, c.) JOHN DYKSTRA, d.) BENSON FORD, and finally e.) US265808, entered service on August 5, 1953. From 1966, until it was retired at the end of 1984, this vessel and the WILLIAM CLAY FORD were fleet mates. There is only one other instance of two boats being owned by the same company at some point in their careers with as close or closer age difference. The CHARLES M. BEEGHLY (originally SHENANGO II) and the HERBERT C. JACKSON.

The aft section of the BELLE RIVER (Hull#716), was float launched August 5, 1976. She was American Steamship's first thousand-footer and the first thousand-footer built at Bay Shipbuilding Co. She was renamed b.) WALTER J. MC CARTHY in 1990.

The G.A. TOMLINSON, a.) D.O. MILLS of 1907, was sold outright to Columbia Transportation Div. (Oglebay Norton Co.), on August 5, 1971, along with the last two Tomlinson vessels, the SYLVANIA and the JAMES DAVIDSON.

On 5 August 1850, ST. CLAIR (sidewheel steamer, passenger & package freight, 140 foot 210 tons, built in 1843, at Detroit, Michigan) was reported as lost with no details given whatsoever. The report of her loss was published 3 days BEFORE she was enrolled at Detroit by J. Watkin.

The motor vessel BEAVER ISLANDER completed her maiden voyage to Charlevoix in 1962. At the time, she was the largest, fastest, and most advanced ship built for the run. She served as the flagship for 37 years, a record, until the EMERALD ISLE arrived in 1997.

August 5, 1907 - A female passenger dived off the deck of the PERE MARQUETTE 18 of 1902, on a dare. Two of the 18's officers leapt over to rescue her. One of the officers nearly drowned and was rescued by the passenger.

On 5 August 1866, AUTOCRAT (2-mast, wooden schooner, 345 tons, built in 1854, at Caltaraugus, New York) was carrying 15,000 bushels of corn and was lying off Chicago, waiting for a storm to die down. Just before dawn, the schooner J S NEWHOUSE was also seeking shelter when she ran into AUTOCRAT, sinking her in 7 fathoms of water. The crew was rescued by the tug UNION.

On 5 August 1869, LAURA E. CALVIN (3-mast wooden schooner, 130 foot, 216 tons, built in 1863, at Garden Island, Ontario as a bark) sprang a leak during a storm and foundered 10 miles off Braddock's Point on Lake Ontario. No lives were lost.

1954 – A sudden blanket of fog descended on a section of the St. Lawrence near Waddington, N.Y., resulting in the two ships SELKIRK and DUNDEE losing their way and going aground. The former, a C.S.L. package freighter, was turned part way around by the current and was stuck until September 2. The latter was a British ship and was also spun by the current. The proximity of the rapids made salvage a challenge. The newly-built DUNDEE continued Great Lakes visits to the end of 1962. It foundered in the Mediterranean as g) VLYHO on September 15, 1978, following an engine room explosion.

1955 – FALCO, a pre-Seaway trader, hit a bridge at Montreal. The vessel later visited the Great Lakes as c) LABRADOR and was scrapped at Piraeus, Greece, as f) BONANZA in 1978

1972 – MANCHESTER VENTURE was built in 1956 and was a regular Great Lakes trader from 1956 to 1961. An explosion in the cargo hold as c) BAT TIRAN on this date in 1972 resulted in a major fire. The damaged hull was refloated in September and scrapped in Turkey in 1973.

1980 – The Liberian freighter BERTIE MICHAELS had been a Seaway trader in 1971 and had returned as the Greek flag c) DIMITRIS A. in 1976. It departed Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on August 4, 1980, for Belize City and reported her position on August 5. The vessel was never heard from again and was believed to have been a victim of Hurricane Allen that was in the area at the time. All 27 on board were lost.

1994 – The recently completed French freighter PENHIR began Great Lakes trading in 1971 and returned as b) MENHIR under Liberian registry in 1979. It arrived off Tolognaro, Madagascar, on this date in 1994 with hull cracks as d) WELLBORN and abandoned as a total loss.

Data from: Skip Gillham, 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

Horne’s Ferry takes solo trip, lands on Carleton Island Monday morning

8/4 - Cape Vincent, NY – High winds blowing from Lake Ontario broke Horne’s Ferry, the William Darrell, free from her mooring on Wolfe Island early Monday morning, sending the ferry floating freely until the northwest shore of Carleton Island caught her.

The ferry, which in normal times carries a maximum of 10 cars and 90 passengers across the St. Lawrence River between Wolfe Island and Cape Vincent, rested bow first into a dock, where it stayed through morning.

Cork Martusewicz pulled the ferry off the dock by 11 a.m. after about an hour of tries. He also towed an outboard boat from the shore, where it was beached parallel to land. He said he heard about the wayward ferry from people on Carleton Island, so he called the ferry owner George Horne, who’s a friend, and offered to help.

“I went over and hooked on, that’s all,” Mr. Martusewicz said. “It probably took only an hour. It was fun. I broke a bunch of lines; thank God the D-rings didn’t break. I broke some tow ropes, but took one of his and got it off, just nudged it.”

George Horne, of Wolfe Island, drove the ferry back to his dock after it was freed, about eight hours after its landing, which is estimated to be about 3 a.m. “It is all taken care of, all put away,” he said Monday afternoon, nothing it was not damaged.

The forecast didn’t call for such sudden bursts of wind early Monday morning, but the high gusts were more than the lines tying the ferry down could handle. According to the National Weather Service, high winds sustained at over 30 knots overnight, gusting to 40 knots, caused waves of up to 10.5 feet, as recorded by a weather buoy off Prince Edward Island. The winds peaked from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.

“They did not say it was going to be that strong,” Mr. Horne said. “It reminded me of that microburst.”

Mr. Horne said he was awakened by the wind about midnight, but he didn’t check on the ferry. “I should have looked out last night, but I didn’t think of it,” he said. “I had a whole bunch of rope on it, a bunch of extra ropes. I thought it would be OK, but they were all parted this morning.”

He learned the ferry was missing Monday morning. “When I looked out the window, I didn’t see it,” Mr. Horne said. His first thought: “I’ve got to go get it. Land is all around here, it is not far away.”

He went looking, setting off from Wolfe Island in a rowboat, and found the ferry nosed in to a dock in Big Bay, inside Ironman point, on the Canadian side of Carleton Island. The ferry drifted nearly four miles.

Mr. Horne said the people who live near the dock where the ferry landed were very understanding. He said it pulled some cleats out of the dock.

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
Indiana Harbor arrived Duluth at 00:21 Monday morning to load coal at Midwest Energy. Stewart J. Cort weighed anchor and arrived via the Superior entry at 01:18. She briefly put her bow on the BN dock astern of the moored John D. Leitch before turning around and departing again at 02:12. She then arrived via the Duluth ship canal at 05:34 and went to Fraser Shipyards, where she is expected to remain for about a week while some repair work is conducted. This is the first time the Cort has ever visited Fraser and the first time a 1,000 footer has been to the shipyard in many years. Indiana Harbor finished loading at SMET and cleared Duluth at 13:44 for St. Clair. BBC Hudson was tied up at Port Terminal unloading wind turbine blades on Monday, and Josef was anchored in the lake waiting to unload after the Hudson. John D. Leitch began loading iron ore at Burlington Northern in Superior on Monday morning and was tentatively expected to depart Monday night or Tuesday morning.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Edgar B. Speer arrived Two Harbors on August 3rd at 07:38 for South of #2. She departed Two Harbors at 17:23 on August 3rd. She has no updated AIS as of 19:20 on the 3rd. There is no inbound traffic scheduled for Two Harbors on August 4th. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay saw the American Century depart on August 3rd at approx. 18:00. As of 19:20 on the 3rd she has no updated AIS. I will go out on a limb and say she's headed for either Cleveland or Ashtabula. There is no inbound traffic scheduled for Silver Bay on August 4th.

Thunder Bay, Ont.
There were no vessel movements Monday. Cuyahoga is expected in late.

St. Marys River
Downbound traffic Monday included CSL Tadoussac, Ojibway Ashtabula/Defiance and American Integrity. Upbounders included Algoma Guardian, Mesabi Miner and, late, Joseph L. Block.

Green Bay, WI – Jon
On Sunday at 12:03 am the Cuyahoga departed Green Bay for Thunder Bay. Then at 7:42 pm the Alpena arrived from Alpena, MI with cement for the Lafarge Terminal with help from the tug Texas.

Northern Lake Huron
Port Dolomite: Monday; 8:50 Joseph L Block arrived to finish loading limestone and departed at 19:13 for Duluth Superior. Mississagi arrived to load limestone.
Calcite: Sunday; 22:08 Cason J Callaway departed for Buffington. Monday; 6:00 Arthur M Anderson arrived to load. 18:08 Great Republic arrived to load limestone.
Stoneport: Monday; 11:03 Clyde S Van Enkevort arrived to load limestone.
Alpena: Monday; 13:33 Samuel De Champlain arrived to load cement products.
Tawas City: Monday 14:18 Calumet arrived at the National Gypsum dock to load.
Port Inland: Monday; 2:03 After taking on a partial load Joseph L Block departed for Port Dolomite.

Saginaw River – Todd Shorkey
Algoma Innovator was inbound on the Saginaw River on Monday, August 3rd, heading to the Port Fisher/Bay Aggregates Dock in Bay City. She completed her unload and was outbound by 8:30pm that evening.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Sault arrived 5.49 am Monday loading at Compass Minerals. Algoma Conveyor was anchored outside break walls to load next.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
At 10:30pm on the 2nd off Russell Island Saginaw downbound passed Mississagi upbound. Algoma Conveyor passed MC upbound at the same time. Great Republic passed MC upbound at 2am. Calumet passed upbound at 3:45am. Manitowoc was downbound in the cutoff channel at 3:30am. Laura L Vanenkevort/Joseph Thompson passed downbound at 5:45am. Presque Isle passed upbound at 7:45am. Sharon M I/Huron Spirit passed upbound at 11:115am heading for her tieup spot north of the power plant. Vicory/Maumee followed at 11::30am upbound , did a quick unload at Courtright, then continued upbound out into Lake Huron by 2pm. John G Munson passed upbound at 3:30pm. Spiekeroog passed upbound at 4:30pm. Algosea should pass MC around 8:15pm upbound. Off and on much needed downpours most of the day, temp70 degrees F, winds from the south-southwest.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Monday Arrivals: GL Ostrander/Integrity-arrived at Lafarge to unload cement. Calusa Coast and Delaware-arrived at the Marathon Asphalt Terminal to load. Olive L Moore/Menominee-arrived at the Carmeuse dock to unload stone.

Lake Erie Ports for Monday – Bill Kloss
Sandusky: CSL Niagara is loading coal at Norfolk Southern.
Cleveland: American Courage is running shuttles from Ashtabula and Dorothy Ann is running shuttles from the Bulk Terminal. Finnborg arrived at 06:04 for the Port, Dock 24W. Laura L. VanEnkevort arrived at 22:00.
Erie, PA: Manitowoc arrived at 22:00.
Nanticoke: Algonorth departed for Sorel-Tracy and Algocanada came in from anchorage at 07:36.

Toronto, ON – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit departed Monday morning bound for Picton.

Salties sold for demolition

8/4 - C Vessels with Great Lakes / Seaway connections reported as sold for demolition taken from August 2020 issue of Marine News - Journal of the World Ship Society:

Casualties: None Demolitions: CAPE ALEXANDER (5004257; United States of America) - (AFRICAN METEOR-80 - 1st Seaway trip 1977) - 11,580 / 1962 - general cargo ship. By the United States of America (Department of Transportation - Maritime Administration) (MARAD) United States of America to International Shipbreaking Ltd., and arrived Brownsville, TX 18.11.2019

CAPE ARCHWAY (5004283; United States of America) - (AFRICAN NEPTUNE-80 - 1st Seaway trip 1978) - 11,310 / 1963 - general cargo ship. By the United States of America (Department of Transportation - Maritime Administration) (MARAD) United States of America to International Shipbreaking Ltd., and arrived Brownsville, TX 11.11.2019

Report prepared by: Barry Andersen and René Beauchamp

Coast Guard, sheriff rescue missing jet skier off Drummond Island

8/4 - Sault Ste. Marie, MI – On Saturday night, Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Station Sault Ste. Marie, Station St. Ignace, and the Chippewa County Sherriff rescued a missing jet skier who had left from Drummond Island earlier in the evening.

At approximately 9:50 p.m. EST on Saturday August 1st, the Sector Sault Sainte Marie Command Center received a call that a boater on a jet ski had departed from Drummond Island and not returned as planned. Response boats from Station Sault Ste. Marie, Station St. Ignace and the Chippewa County Sherriff responded to the scene to begin a search of the area. An MH-60 helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City was also launched to the scene. The MH-60 helicopter located the missing boater, lowered their rescue swimmer to evaluate their condition, and remained on scene until a response boat from Station Sault Ste. Marie arrived. The survivor was taken to Drummond Island to be evaluated by EMS and reunited with their family.

“It is always important to tell someone where you are going and to have all necessary safety and communications equipment, even for short trips,” said Captain Amy Florentino, Deputy Sector Commander. “In this incident, the boater’s family was able to quickly notify us that something was wrong, which allowed search and rescue resources to respond as quickly as possible. We are grateful to the Chippewa County Sherriff’s office for their assistance with searching for the missing boater.

USCG

Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse’s Second Floor Now Open to the Public

8/4 - If you’re a sucker for history and love a great view— we’ve got the place for you. Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City has a breathtaking view of the bridge and the straits of Mackinac. Old Mackinack PointMackinac State Historic Parks (M.S.H.P.) has now opened the second floor to the public.

Craig Wilson, the Curator of History at M.S.H.P. says, “We’ve spent a lot of time, over the last year getting this space ready creating the new exhibit that you see here as well as some period settings to recreate what this would have looked like just over 100 years ago.”

The upstairs is the “keepers apartment” where the housekeepers would stay. The Marshall family called the lighthouse home just over 100 years ago.

M.S.H.P. is celebrating big this year. It’s their 125th anniversary and they have special events to commemorate this milestone. “We have a variety of special events including guided hikes guided bike rides. We have movies shown outdoors at the Fort on a weekly basis we do that over here as well in the parks surrounding the lighthouse.”

9 & 10 News

On this day in 1896, the whaleback COLGATE HOYT became the first boat to transport a load of iron ore through the new Poe lock. The man at the wheel of the HOYT, Thomas Small, was also at the wheel of the PHILIP R. CLARKE when the second Poe lock was opened to traffic 73 years later.

On this day in 1910, a mutiny occurred aboard the Pittsburgh steamer DOUGLAS HOUGHTON when a deckhand was confined for peeping into the cabin window of 5 female passengers (relatives of officers of the United States Steel Corporation). It required one hour for Captain John Parke, loaded revolver in hand, to quell the mutiny, confine the ringleaders, and clear away the broken furniture.

On the clear, almost perfect night of 4 August 1902, the SEGUIN (steel propeller freighter, 207 foot, 818 gross tons, built in 1890, at Owen Sound, Ontario) collided with the CITY OF VENICE (wooden propeller freighter, 301 foot, 2,108 gross tons, built in 1892, at W. Bay City, Michigan) abreast of Rondeau, Ontario on Lake Erie. The CITY OF VENICE, which was loaded with iron ore, sank and three of her crew were drowned. The U. S. Marshall impounded the SEGUIN for damages

Two favorites of many boatwatchers entered service on August 4 – WILLIAM CLAY FORD on August 4, 1953, and EDWARD L. RYERSON on August 4, 1960.

Paterson’s ONTADOC, built in 1975, sailed to the Netherlands with a load of bentonite from Chicago on August 4, 1979. Renamed b.) MELISSA DESGAGNES in 1990.

The E. J. BLOCK was laid up for the last time at Indiana Harbor, Indiana on August 4, 1984. The E. J. BLOCK was sold for scrap in late May 1987.

The D.M. CLEMSON left Superior on August 4, 1980, in tow of Malcolm Marine's TUG MALCOLM for Thunder Bay, Ont., where she was dismantled.

HOCHELAGA (Hull#144) was launched August 4, 1949, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd., Montreal, Quebec.

On a foggy August 4, 1977, POINTE NOIRE went hard aground near the entrance to the Rock Cut in the St. Marys River and blocked the channel. After her grain cargo was lightered by Columbia Transportation's crane steamer BUCKEYE, POINTE NOIRE was released on August 6. She was reloaded in Hay Lake and continued her downbound trip. Repairs to her bottom damage were completed at Thunder Bay. Ontario.

August 4, 1935 - The only time the ANN ARBOR NO 7 had the full limit of passengers when she ran an excursion from Frankfort, Michigan around Manitou Island and back with 375 passengers on board.

LYCOMING (wooden propeller, 251 foot, 1,610 gross tons) was launched on 4 August 1880, at West Bay City, Michigan by F. W. Wheeler (Hull #7) as a 2-deck package freighter. She was rebuilt as a single deck bulk freighter after she burned in 1905. She was one of the few bulk freighters that still carried her arched hog-braces visible above deck.

HIRAM W. SIBLEY (wooden propeller freighter, 221 foot, 1,419 gross tons) was launched at East Saginaw, Michigan on 4 August 1890. She only lasted eight years. While carrying 70,000 bushels of corn from Chicago for Detroit, she stranded on the northwest corner of South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan during blizzard on 26 November 1898. The tugs PROTECTOR and SWEEPSTAKES were dispatched for assistance but the SIBLEY re-floated herself during high water the following night, then was stranded on the southwest side of North Fox Island to prevent sinking. She broke in half; then completely broke up during a gale on 7 December 1898.

1985 – REGENT TAMPOPO, enroute from Japan to the Great Lakes with steel, was heavily damaged in the Pacific after a collision with the MING UNIVERSE. The vessel, which first came through the Seaway in 1982, was towed to Los Angeles but declared a total loss. It recrossed the Pacific under tow in 1986 and arrived at Hong Kong for scrapping on October 26, 1986.

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

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
BBC Hudson arrived Duluth at 06:24 Sunday morning to unload wind turbine parts at Port Terminal. Ashtabula/tug Defiance, which had finished unloading at Graymont and shifted to SMET early Sunday, departed at 09:02 with a load of petroleum coke for Charlevoix. American Integrity was outbound at 11:27 with iron ore for Indiana Harbor, and Michipicoten arrived at 14:13 to load at Canadian National. She was expected to depart late Sunday night. Indiana Harbor was due around midnight to load coal at Midwest Energy. John D. Leitch spent Sunday moored at Burlington Northern in Superior waiting to load, as the dock has not been loading vessels on weekends, so unless that has changed she likely won't load until Monday. Stewart J. Cort was anchored off the Superior entry waiting for her turn at the dock.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
CSL Tadoussac arrived Two Harbors on August 1st at 21:27. When she arrived she went across the harbor mouth, turned so her bow was aimed at Duluth, backed thru the piers and when she was off dock #2, turned and went bow first into South of #2. She departed Two Harbors on August 2nd at 07:33 for Nanticoke. Due Two Harbors on August 3rd is the Edwin H. Gott. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay saw the arrival of the American Century on August 2nd at 13:20. She spent the whole overnight running checked down up and down the North Shore waiting for the wind to subside. There is no inbound traffic scheduled for Silver Bay on August 3rd.

Thunder Bay, ON
Sunday; 9:57 Whitefish Bay departed for Becancour. 17:00 CSL Welland arrived and went to anchor. 18:10 Ojibway departed for Windsor.

St. Marys River
Downbound traffic Sunday included Tundra and Algoma Innovator. Kaye E. Barker was upbound in the morning and Cuyahoga was upbound late.

Southern Lake Michigan
Federal Churchill and Hilke were at Burns Harbor Sunday night. James R Barker is due at Indiana Harbor early Monday.

Northern Lake Huron
Owen Sound: Sunday; 0:19 Saginaw departed for Toledo.
Port Dolomite: Sunday 5:37 Manitowoc departed for Erie.
Calcite: Sunday; 1:04 Laura L Van Enkevort departed for Cleveland.5:35 Cason J Callaway arrived to load
Stoneport: Sunday; 5:12 Kaye E Barker departed for Marquette.
Alpena: Sunday; 2:50 GL Ostrander arrived to load cement products and departed at 9:19 for Detroit.
Port Inland: Sunday; 19:11 Joseph L Block arrived to load limestone.

Saginaw River – Todd Shorkey
Zea Servant completed her unload of wind turbine blades on Sunday, August 2nd and departed the Port Fisher dock in Bay City with assistance from the tug Manitou, who also assisted her turning around on the Saginaw River. Sunday afternoon saw the arrival of the Samuel de Champlain - Innovation, who tied up at the Lafarge Cement Dock in Essexville to unload. BBC Gdansk was inbound on the Saginaw River Sunday evening, also calling on the Port Fisher Dock in Bay City to unload wind turbine blades. She was assisted to the dock by the tug Manitou.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
Herbert C Jackson passed MC downbound at 2:45am. Samuel de Champlain was upbound off Stag Island at 1am. Baie Comeau passed MC upbound at 8:45am. Algoterra passed upbound at 1pm. Algoma Spirit passed downbound at 2:30pm. Manitoulin passed upbound at 4:15pm. Algoma Guardian passed upbound at 5pm. Tim S Dool passed downbound at 5:45pm. Federal Rhine should pass downbound in the early evening. Mesabi Miner should pass upbound in the late evening. Off and on showers all day, 70 degrees F with gusty winds from the west-northwest.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Sunday Arrivals: Sea Eagle 2/St. Marys Cement 2-arrived at the St. Mary's Cement dock to unload cement. Herbert C Jackson at the St. Clair Aggregates dock to unload stone.

Lake Erie Ports for Sunday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: Sharon M1 departed Saturday night for Windsor.
Sandusky: Manitoulin left at 05:26 with coal for Algoma Soo. CSL Niagara went to anchor at 16:24.
Cleveland: Algoma Buffalo left with salt for Valleyfield at 21:50 Saturday night. Mesabi Miner left anchorage at 04:03 for Duluth. NACC Argonaut unloaded at LaFarge and departed at 20:20. Great Republic arrived at 00:26 for Ontario Stone upper dock and left at 13:24 for Calcite. Calumet arrived ay 06:40 for Ontario Stone on the old channel and departed at 15:20 for Port Gypsum. Dorothy Ann arrived at 08:58 and is running the shuttles. American Courage ran 2 shuttles from the Bulk Terminal and left for Ashtabula at 09:35. The tug Valerie B arrived at 17:45 from Mackinaw City. Finnborg is due in Monday.
Fairport Harbor: John G. Munson left at 13:06 for Toledo.
Conneaut: Presque Isle left at 09:09 for Two Harbors and CSL Laurentian departed at 17:27 for Quebec City.
Nanticoke: Algonorth is in port and Algocanada is anchored off Port Dover.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
8/2/20: Algoma Enterprise departed at 19:42 EST loaded with coke for Port Cartier. At 20:45 EST, the tanker Rosy arrived with UAN solution from New York. 4 other vessels That were in port throughout the day include the Frontenac unloading salt, the Stella Polaris unloading coal tar, the COE Leni loading grain, and the Torrent waiting at anchor.

Buffalo, NY – Brian R. Wroblewski
Nova-Algoma Cement Carrier’s NACC Argonaut was towed up the Buffalo River stern first by the tug Vermont on July 31st at 6AM for the LaFarge dock. They were done unloading and departed without a tug at 1:30AM on August 1st. The American Mariner arrived for the Frontier elevator at 11:30PM that evening. She came in without tugs and began unloading a cargo of wheat that was loaded at General Mills in Duluth.

Toronto, ON – Tom Brewer.
McKeil Spirit was at Lehigh Cement Dock on Sunday evening.

Updates -  July 3

Saltie Gallery updated with pictures of the The saltie gallery has been updated with the following vessels: Arsland, BBC Gdansk, BBC Hudson, BBC Norfolk, Brant, COE Leni, Federal Kivalina, Federal Mayumi, Federal Nagara, Federal Yoshino, Harbour Feature, Helena G, Johanna G, Josef, Lake Erie, Maccoa, Mamry, Puna, Rodopi, Spiekeroog, Sten Iden, Tundra and ZEA Servant.  

On this day in 1960, EDWARD L. RYERSON, new flagship of the Inland Steel fleet, successfully completed her sea trials.

Under tow, the AVONDALE, a.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS of 1908, in tandem with former fleet mate FERNDALE. a.) LOUIS R. DAVIDSON of 1912, arrived at Castellon, Spain for scrapping in 1979.

CANADOC left the St. Lawrence River on August 3, 1991, in tow bound for Mamonal, Colombia, for scrapping.

August 3, 1946 - The third officer of the ANN ARBOR NO 6, drowned while painting her draft marks. He had apparently leaned too far and fell out of the rowboat.

On 3 August 1900, FONTANA (wooden 2-mast schooner-barge, 231 foot, 1,164 gross tons, built in 1888, at St Clair, Michigan as a 4-mast schooner-barge) was carrying iron ore in tow of the steamer KALIYUGA. The FONTANA sheared off and collided with the big schooner-barge SANTIAGO and settled in the mouth of St. Clair River in the St. Clair Flats, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. After salvage was given up months later, she was dynamited several times to flatten and reduce her wreckage. Although officially no loss of life was reported, local newspaper reported that one crewman was drowned. The FONTANA was owned by Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co.

On 3 Aug 1857, R.H. RAE (3-mast wooden bark, 136 foot, 344 tons, built in 1857, at St. Catharines, Ontario) capsized and sank in a "white squall" off Duck's Creek on Lake Ontario. She went down slowly enough for her people to abandon in her small boat. They were later picked up by the propeller COLONIST. There was a big effort to salvage her the next summer, but to no avail. She was a total loss of $20,000. She was reportedly built for the trans-Atlantic trade and looked more like a seagoing schooner. Some sources give the date of the loss as 4 August 1857. The wreck is in very good condition. The Cousteau organization lost a diver on her in 1980.

On 3 August 1915, ALEXANDRIA (wooden sidewheel passenger/package freight, 174 foot 863 gross tons, built in 1866, at Hull, Quebec, formerly a.) CONSORT, was carrying foodstuffs in Lake Ontario when she was blown on a bar in a storm and fog. She broke up by wave action under the Scarborough Bluffs, east of Toronto. Lifesavers worked for hours and rescued the entire crew. GARDEN CITY was caught in the same storm as ALEXANDRIA. This ship sustained smashed windows and a hole in the hull but was able to reach safety.

1920 – The wooden steamer MAPLEGROVE sank in the Welland Canal. The vessel was salvaged and sold for further service as JED. It had been built at Marine City in 1889 as CHEROKEE.

1927 – The bulk canaller CASCO of the Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Co. went aground at Pipe Island in the lower St. Marys River and required lightering before floating free and proceeding for repairs.

1962 – MEDINA PRINCESS, a former “Empire ship,” first came to the Great Lakes under British registry in 1959. It made 5 trips through the Seaway but went aground on a reef near Djibouti while enroute from Bremen, Germany, to China. The hull was refloated August 31 but was laid up at Djibouti. It remained idle until breaking loose and going aground on September 4, 1964. The hull was a total loss and, at last report, the wreck was partially submerged.

1978 – The French freighter JEAN L.D. made 37 trips to the Great Lakes from 1959 to 1967. It was sailing as c) CAVO STARAS when the engine room become flooded during a voyage from Port Harcourt, Nigeria, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the overnight hours of August 3-4, 1978. The vessel was towed to Dakar, Sierra Leone, on August 14 and sold to Spanish shipbreakers, via auction, on May 8, 1979. It arrived at Barcelona, under tow, on June 18, 1978, and scrapping began July 5 of that year.

2010 – SIDSEL KNUTSEN lost power due to a fire in the engine room and went aground off St. Clair, Mich. It remained stuck until August 9 and was then refloated and cleared to proceed to Montreal. It was operating in Canadian service at the time under a special waiver.

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

Sturgeon Bay construction company tapped for $2 million dredging project

8/1 - Sturgeon Bay, WI - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District awarded a Sturgeon Bay construction company a more than $2 million contract to dredge the Duluth-Superior Harbor.

Roen Salvage Co. will clean out the harbor's bed using the method that scoops materials from the mostly sand bottom, according to a Corps press release.

Dredged material, totaling about 52,000 cubic yards, will help rebuild eroded shoreline and dune habitat along North Minnesota Point. Another 68,000 cubic yards, approximately, will restore tern nesting damaged by erosion at Interstate Island.

Dredging also provides watercrafts a clearer path through the harbor situated in western Lake Superior, according to Project Manager Melissa Bosman. A Corps fact sheet described the Duluth-Superior Harbor as a major international port on the Great Lakes, as well as a port of call for Great Lakes cruise vessels.

Each year, about 110,000 cubic yards of material must be dredged from the Duluth-Superior Harbor. Dredged materials have been reused to aid endangered and damaged habitats since 2013, according to the fact sheet. Roen Salvage has taken on that duty since 2012.

Green Bay Press Gazette

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
James R. Barker departed Duluth at 06:26 Friday morning with a load of iron ore pellets from CN, and Federal Rhine cleared at 18:05 after loading wheat at CHS 1. This is rumored to be the Rhine’s final visit to Duluth, at least under FedNav ownership. Paul R. Tregurtha, Ashtabula/tug Defiance, and American Integrity are all due on Saturday.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
There was no traffic at CN-Two Harbors or Northshore Mining in Silver Bay on July 31st. Due Two Harbors on August 1st is the CSL Tadoussac. There is no scheduled traffic for Silver Bay on August 1st.

Thunder Bay, ON
Friday; 3:59 The saltie Tundra weighed anchor and proceeded to the Richardson Main Terminal to load grain. 13:30 Whitefish Bay arrived at Keefer Terminal for either port services or possible lay up. 20:25 Tim S Dool departed for Quebec City.

St. Marys River
Downbound traffic on a busy Friday included Saginaw, USCG Mackinaw and Federal Mayumi. Upbound traffic included John D. Leitch, American Integrity, CSL Tadoussac and, late, American Century, Michipicoten and Algoma Innovator. An interesting tow was upbound in the late afternoon when the G-tug Wisconsin made an unusual visit pushing two barges bound for Duluth. They were assisted from Nine Mile Point through the locks by the local tug Kentucky. Wisconsin will return downbound with the tug Missouri, bound for drydocking in Cleveland.

Green Bay, WI – Jon
Friday morning at 9:55 am the tug G.L Ostrander barge Integrity arrived from Muskegon, MI with cement for the Lafarge Terminal.

Milwaukee, WI – MKE Marine Reports
After calling at Burns Harbor, Federal Satsuki arrived 10:06 Friday (7/31) with steel from Antwerp. She tied up at the Federal Marine Terminals dock, slip 1, outer harbor, and is scheduled to be in town until Thursday (8/6). So far in 2020, the port has received nine shipments of European steel, four of which came from Antwerp. Bradshaw McKee/St. Marys Challenger is expected from Charlevoix tomorrow. Federal Churchill, which is bringing steel from IJmuiden, is currently scheduled to arrive next Friday (8/7).

Southern Lake Michigan
Happy Ranger remained at Burns Harbor Friday night, with Federal Churchill due Saturday. Algoma Sault was at S. Chicago. Burns Harbor is due at Indiana Harbor Saturday.

Northern Lake Huron
Spragge: Thursday; 23:13 John D Leitch departed for Duluth Superior.
Drummond Island: Friday; 0:08 Mississagi arrived to load limestone and departed at 7:04 for Windsor. 7:08 Michipicoten arrived to load limestone.
Cheboygan: Friday; 4:08 The tug Albert and tanker barge Margaret arrived at the US Oil Co dock to unload petroleum product and departed at 12:05 for Toledo.
Stoneport: Friday; 9:20 Great Republic arrived to load limestone. 16:57 Herbert C Jackson arrived and went to anchor.
Brevort: Friday; 1:44 Calumet arrived to load limestone product and departed at 16:09 for Cleveland.
Port Inland: Friday; 10:09 Joseph L Block departed for Indiana Harbor.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
Cuyahoga, followed by Algocanada, passed upbound in the early morning. Spartan/Spartan II passed downbound at 12:45 am. At 1am Herbert C Jackson was about to clear the north end of Bassett Island upbound. BBC Hudson passed upbound at 4:15 am. Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder passed downbound at 5am. Samuel de Champlain passed downbound at 7:30 am. Mesabi Miner passed downbound at 9:30am. Kaministiqua passed downbound at 11:15 am. Sarah Andrie passed upbound at noon. Manitoulin passed downbound at 3:15 pm. CSL Welland passed upbound at 5:45pm. Federal Yoshino passed downbound at 6:15pm followed closely by Cason J Calloway. Manitowoc passed upbound at the same time followed by BBC Gdansk at 6:45pm. Federal Kivilina passed downbound at 8:15pm. Sunny and warm at 80 degrees F with light, steady winds from the south-southwest.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Samuel De Champlain/Innovation were unloading cement at Lafarge on Friday

Lake Erie Ports for Friday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: Manitowoc departed at 06:15 for Marysville. John G. Munson arrived at 17:44.
Sandusky: CSL Niagara loaded coal at Norfolk Southern and left at 17:29 for Nanticoke.
Cleveland: American Courage is running shuttles. Sharon MI arrived at 11:27 and went to dock 24N. She has departed with no destination given. Mesabi Miner is due in Saturday for the Bulk 9Terminal. Algoma Buffalo is also due in Saturday.
Fairport Harbor: Laura L.VanEnkevort departed with no destination given. John G. Munson left for Marblehead at 09:30.
Conneaut: Edwin H. Gott arrived at 08:39, unloaded and left at 20:28 for Two Harbors. CSL Laurentien went anchor at 11:11 and will load for Quebec City.
Nanticoke: Algoscotia left for Sarnia at 12:33 and Algonorth took her place at Imperial Oil at 12:58. Algocanada was still in port.

Picton, ON – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit arrived at the Lehigh Cement Plant Dock late Friday afternoon.

The greatest of the Great Lakes has a Twitter account with a Superiority complex

8/1 - There are more than 100 million lakes on the planet, only a handful of which can lay claim to the label of “great.” And of those, there is just one GLOAT. If you don’t know that GLOAT stands for “greatest lake of all time,” you’re probably not following “Lac Supérieur” on social media.

Lac Supérieur is the Twitter handle for Lake Superior, an account run by a human who speaks not on behalf of the lake but as the lake, in a brash, anthropomorphic way, brimming with a mix of swagger and silliness.

Hey, you’d be feeling yourself, too, if you were the largest freshwater lake in the world (by surface area).

“Some would say I have a superiority complex,” said Lac, which is how we’ll refer to the guy behind the account in order to maintain his secret identity. (He was once caught out by a friend, and said it felt a bit like the unmasking of Batman.)

What we can reveal is that apart from his college years, Lac has spent pretty much his entire life living within a mile of Superior. The Twitter account may be written with a tongue-in-cheek style, but Lac’s passion for the lake is the real deal.

“I just kind of have a feeling my soul is buried out there in Superior. I’m just drawn to it,” he said. “It’s just so massive and awe-inspiring. Even on a map, it doesn’t do justice to how big it is. It has this mythological kind of feel to it.”

Size is one thing, but it’s the lake’s remoteness, particularly in relation to its Great Lakes siblings, that lends Superior its mystique, Lac said.

There’s no Chicago, no Buffalo, no Toronto or Cleveland hugging its shores. It’s less knowable, wilder, more temperamental and unpredictable, with a ferocity that’s the stuff of legend.

“The weather is so severe and raw, it requires a toughness to deal with the conditions,” he said. “It calls to a certain person. I love the storms and the excitement of the changing conditions.”

Lac took over the Twitter account in 2010 from its originator, and as he became more comfortable with the medium he began to evolve Supérieur’s voice.

“For lakes called the Great Lakes, I thought, why not have this lake with a sassy, cocky, self-righteous attitude,” he said.

Part of the schtick he developed includes taking regular potshots at Lake Erie and stoking a rivalry with Lake Michigan. (Don’t get Lac started on the movement to treat Michigan-Huron as a single lake. “I think it’s b.s.,” he said. To say there are only four Great Lakes “would be like when Pluto was not a planet.”)

“There’s always an ongoing argument of what the ‘best’ Great Lake is. Michigan will always win because of the population. There’s Chicago, Milwaukee, Green Bay, all those people to cast a vote,” said Lac. “That’s fine, you can have a favorite. But there’s only one ‘best’ and that’s clearly Superior.”

Lac puts in the work to maintain Superior’s and Supérieur’s dominance, having grown the Twitter feed’s audience to more than 37,000 followers. For comparison’s sake, Twitter accounts devoted to Lake Baikal in Siberia and Africa’s Lake Tanganyika — the only freshwater lakes that top Superior in terms of volume — have 85 and five followers, respectively, and are essentially inactive.

“It’s a little addicting,” said Lac, who’s a small business owner in real life. “I spend too much time doing this.”

Summer is his busiest season, retweeting mentions and photos of the lake, with winter’s storms and ice conditions running a close second. But it’s not all trash talking, puns and glamour shots. Lac also weaves in content about climate change, water levels and conservation. “I really try to elevate the voices of the scientists,” he said. “I’ve heard feedback from scientists that when I retweet something, they get more attention.”

There’s something to be said for the way Lac speaks to his followers as the lake, in that people have formed a bond with Superior as if it were a sentient being. “When we have a strong connection to nature, we care more and want to protect it,” he said. “Every time I tweet about something like rising lake temperatures, people apologize to the lake.”

The only downside to raising the profile of Lake Superior is that it will attract more tourists and development, thereby ruining the unspoiled landscape that makes the lake and its shoreline so appealing.

It’s a conundrum, Lac acknowledged, one for which he, as his alter ego, suggested a Supérieur solution: “I’ll just whip up a big snowstorm and scare them all away.”

Read more at this link: https://news.wttw.com/2020/07/22/greatest-great-lakes-has-twitter-account-superiority-complex

In 1862, UNION (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 163 foot, 434 ton, built in 1861, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was sold by the Goodrich Line to James H. Mead and J. F. Kirkland for $28,000. This was $9,000 more than Goodrich had paid to have the vessel built just the previous year.

On August 1, 1982, the Canadian tanker L’ERABLE NO 1 entered service. Renamed b.) HUBERT GAUCHER in 1982. Sold foreign in 1996, renamed c.) RODIN and d.) OLYMPIC PRIDE in 2000.

August 1957 - The PERE MARQUETTE 18 of 1911 was sold to Luria Brothers, Chicago scrap merchants, along with the PERE MARQUETTE 14.

On 1 August 1871, the construction of the canal through the St. Clair Flats was finished at a cost of $365,000. It was the first real channel built to help ships through the shallow waters where the St. Clair River empties into Lake St. Clair and where there are seven mouths or passes. It took the Canadian contractor John Brown three years to dig the channel that measures 300 feet wide and 8,421 feet long. The water was 18 feet deep. It was protected on most of its sides by piers and dikes. The new channel was considered too small even as it was being dug. At only 300 feet wide, tows of log rafts were encouraged to sue the old shallower channels. Within 20 years, plans were made to deepen the channel to 20 feet.

On 1 August 1849, CHICAGO (wooden passenger/package freight vessel, 95 foot, 151 tons, built in 1842, at Oswego, New York) burned in Buffalo harbor. No lives were lost.

1911 – Seven lives were lost when the wooden passenger ship SIRIUS capsized and sank in the St. Lawrence 8 miles from Massena, N.Y. There were 75 passengers on board headed for a picnic when the accident occurred. Apparently, many passengers had rushed to one side of the ship to see a woodchuck as the ship was turning in the current and this led to the ship going over.

1951 – The first SAGUENAY to sail for Canada Steamship Lines was built at Govan, Scotland, in 1913 for service between Quebec City and Saguenay River ports. It left Canada for the Far East as b) KIANG YONG in 1946 and became c) YANGTSE PHOENIX in 1949. The vessel dragged her anchors while riding out a typhoon near Tai Po, Hong Kong, on this date in 1951, went aground and was wrecked.

1969 – The British freighter HOPERIDGE made two trips to the Great Lakes in 1959. It sank on this date in 1969 as b) BETHLEHEM due to a collision with the SHOWA MARU while about 30 miles from Singapore. The ship was enroute from Tokyo to Aden and 7 of the crew were lost.

Data from: Skip Gillham, 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.

Minntac Mine back to full pellet production

7/31 - Two iron ore pellet production lines are back in operation at U.S Steel's Minntac Mine in Mountain Iron after being idle since May. Lines 6 and 7, the newest pellet production lines at Minntac Mine, are producing iron ore pellets at full capacity, said Steve Bonach, president of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1938 at Minntac. “We're at full production in the plant,” said Bonach. “It's all pretty good news for our group.”

About 250 Minntac steelworkers were impacted by the idling of the two lines amid the national economic downturn. The last six steelworkers who went on involuntary layoff return to work on Monday, said Bonach.

Production in the mine isn't up to full speed yet, he noted. Thirty-eight steelworkers who took voluntary layoff from mine operations, remain out of work. That group includes some shovel operators, drill operators and blasters.

Full production in the mine is expected to resume in late August or early September, Bonach said. With Lines 6 and 7 back in operation, Minntac currently has all five of its pellet production lines operating. That includes Lines 3, 4 and 5. Line 5 is scheduled to be idled the second week of September for a rebuild, Bonach said.

USW leaders are meeting with U.S. Steel officials to discuss utilizing some maintenance workers from Keetac in Keewatin to assist with the rebuild, Bonach said. “Right now, we are working trying to get Keetac help with that,” Bonach said.

Keetac, a U.S. Steel iron ore facility in Keewatin, is indefinitely idled. Minntac Mine is North America's largest iron ore pellet facility.

Business North

Hibbing Taconite poised to resume pellet production

7/31 - Iron ore pellets will in a few days be traveling through Hibbing Taconite Co. furnaces. Pellet production begins this weekend, said Chris Johnson, president of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 2705. “It takes a couple of days to warm up the furnaces,” said Johnson. “We're thinking pellet production will probably begin Saturday night or Sunday.”

Operations at the iron ore plant were idled in early May due to the national economic downturn.

As of Sunday, all 600 USW members eligible to return to work at Hibbing Taconite were back on the job, said Johnson. However, during the idling about 15-20 USW members either retired or decided to move on to other jobs, he said.

“We lost some to other jobs because of our mine life outlook and some retired,” said Johnson. “In talking to the other mines, they're getting some Keetac people and some of ours. It's a competitive market out there for these jobs and I don't blame our guys. They're looking out for their families.”

Hibbing Taconite is the second largest iron ore pellet producer in Minnesota. But the facility is in danger of running out of crude ore. Without new ore reserves, the mine could run out of ore in the first quarter of 2025, Johnson said.

USW members are becoming increasingly concerned about the future of the plant and their jobs, said Johnson “We keep telling them we're going to lose more and more (workers),” he said. ArcelorMittal is majority owner and manager of Hibbing Taconite. U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs also hold ownership.

Company officials say the plant is expected to run at full capacity for the remainder of the year. That would mean a total 2020 production of about five million tons, down from a typical 7.8 million-ton annual production level, he noted.

The Hibbing Taconite restart, coupled with the recent start-up of two idle pelletizing lines at U.S. Steel's Minntac Mine in Mountain Iron, are big economic boosts, said Kelsey Johnson, president of the Iron Mining Association of Minnesota.

“Anytime a mine comes off an idle, it's a positive sign for the industry and the region,” she said. “Each mining job creates two jobs in other vendor businesses, so when the mines are doing well, the region's economy is doing well too.”

Nationally, raw steel production inched up for the week ending July 25 with 1,320,000 net tons produced at a steel mill capability utilization rate of 58.9%, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

It's a small increase of 1.1 percent in steel production from the previous week, but both domestic steel production and the capability utilization rate have in recent weeks been trending upward. “For the most part, everyone is going to be out there making as much as we can,” Chris Johnson said of Hibbing Taconite.

Business North

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
There was no traffic in either Duluth or Superior on Thursday. James R. Barker spent the day at CN loading iron ore pellets and was expected to depart at some point Thursday evening. Federal Rhine was tied up at CHS 1 loading wheat. Next on the schedule is Ashtabula/tug Defiance, which is due on Saturday to unload limestone.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Arthur M. Anderson departed Two Harbors at 00:27 on July 30th from South of #2 for Gary. There is no scheduled traffic for Two Harbors on July 31st. The CSL Tadoussac should arrive Two Harbors on August 1st. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay had no traffic on July 30th and none scheduled for August 1st.

Thunder Bay, ON
Wednesday; 22:03 Federal Kivalina departed for Montreal. Thursday; 1:43 Federal Yoshino departed for Montreal. 5:00 Algoma Spirit arrived and went to anchor south of the Welcome Islands. 6:24 Tim S Dool arrived at the G3 elevator to load wheat. 14:24 Saginaw departed for Owen Sound. 14:28 Algoma Spirit weighed anchor and proceeded to the Superior Elevator to load wheat. 19:12 Federal Mayumi departed for Montreal.

St. Marys River
Downbound traffic Thursday included Mesabi Miner, Kaministiqua, Federal Kivalina, Federal Yoshino and American Mariner late. Upbound traffic included Stewart J Cort and Ashtabula/Defiance late.

Green Bay, WI– Jon
On Thursday morning at 6:27 am the tug Albert Barge Margaret departed from Green Bay for Cheboygan, MI.

Grand Haven, MI
Calumet was due Thursday morning.

Southern Lake Michigan
Federal Satsuki was at Burns Harbor Thursday night. Indiana Harbor was at her namesake port. Happy Ranger was at S Chicago.

Northern Lake Huron
Bruce Mines: Thursday; 7:26 Manitoulin arrived to load trap rock and departed at 19:57.
Port Dolomite: Thursday; 1:58 Undaunted / Pere Marquette 41 departed for Grand Haven. 2:10 Kaye Barker arrived to load limestone and departed at 14:52 for Grand Haven.
Calcite: Friday; 14:14 Defiance / Ashtabula departed for Duluth Superior.
Stoneport: Wednesday; 23:57 Olive L Moore / Menominee departed for Marine City.
Alpena; Friday; 17:30 Samuel De Champlain departed for Detroit.
Port Inland: Friday; 18:05 Cason J Callaway departed for Detroit. Joseph L Block weighed anchor and proceeded to the dock to load.

Saginaw River – Todd Shorkey
Hilke was inbound on the Saginaw River, Thursday, July 30th, headed to the Port Fisher Dock in Bay City to unload wind turbine components. She was assisted by the Malcolm Marine tug Manitou.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
Mississagi was upbound at Stag Island at 2am. Paul R Tregurtha followed closely by Karen Andrie were upbound mid Lake St Clair at 2am. Everlast passed downbound at 7am. Federal Churchill passed MC upbound at 7:45am. Zea Servant passed upbound at 1:30pm. Michipicoten passed upbound at 11:15am, followed by American Integrity at 11:45am. Edwin H Gott passed downbound at 3pm. Ojibway passed upbound at 3pm. CSL Tadoussac passed upbound at 4:45pm. Blair Mckeil passed upbound at 5:15pm. Algonorth passed downbound at 5:30pm.Great Republic passed upbound at 6:30pm. Olive L Moore/Menominee is expected at the MC stoneyard in the late evening. Mix of sun and clouds with light winds from the south-southwest, temp 79 degrees F.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H
Great Republic unloaded stone at Motor City Materials on Thursday.

Toledo, OH – Denny Dushane
The ASC 1,000-footer American Century departed from winter layup berth at CSX #3 Dock on Thursday morning. They were due to depart in the spring, however, due to the COVID-19 virus and the slow economy their planned fit-out was cancelled and then later put on hold. The American Century is headed for Duluth, where they are due to arrive sometime on Saturday to load ore pellets at the CN Ore Dock.

Lake Erie Ports for Thursday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: Departures were Herbert C. Jackson for Cleveland and Laura L. VanEnkevort for Fairport Harbor. Manitowoc arrived at 13:57.
Cleveland: Herbert C. Jackson arrived and delivered to RiverDock, then left at 14:00 for Stoneport. American Courage arrived at 09:20
Fairport Harbor: Frontenac left at 15:29 for Hamilton. John G. Munson arrived at 16:14.
Conneaut: CSL Laurentien and Edwin H. Gott are due in Friday.
Nanticoke: Algoscotia finally came in from anchorage at 01:60 and Algocanada at 10:57.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
The Sterling Energy departed in the late hours on Wednesday night, clearing for Port Weller at 23:31 EST. The first arrival on Thursday was the Coast Guard vessel Limnos, arriving at 7:03 EST. She was immediately followed by the Evans Spirit at 7:07 EST. The Limnos arrived after doing some Navigational Aids work on Lake Ontario, and the Evans Spirit returned after previously departing and doing circles in Lake Ontario as a delay. She then docked at the Richardson terminal and began loading grain. At 9:19 EST, the Sterling Energy returned from Port Weller, and departed back for Port Weller again at 12:24 EST. At 15:31 EST, the Algoma Equinox arrived light from Sorel, and docked at G3 to load grain as well. At 17:43 EST, the Leo A. McArthur and her barge John J. Carrick arrived with a load of asphalt for the McAsphalt terminal. The Sterling Energy is expected to return from her Port Weller trip at 21:30 EST. In addition to Thursday's traffic, the Federal Kumano spent her fourth day in port loading grain, while the Torrent and COE Leni both sit at anchor, awaiting their turns to load grain.

Toronto, ON – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit was at the Lehigh Cement Dock on Thursday evening.

On this day in 1948, in a total elapsed time of 19 hours, the JAMES DAVIDSON of the Tomlinson fleet unloaded 13,545 tons of coal at the Berwind Dock in Duluth and loaded 14,826 tons of ore at the Allouez Dock in Superior.

On this day in 1955, Al A. Wolf, the first Chief Engineer of a Great Lakes freighter powered by a 7,000 hp engine, retired as Chief Engineer of the WILFRED SYKES. Chief Wolf started as an oiler on the POLYNESIA in 1911, became Chief Engineer in 1921, and brought out the SYKES in 1948.

Sea trials took place for the JAMES R. BARKER this day in 1976. She was to become Interlake's first 1000 footer and the flagship of the fleet for Moore McCormack Leasing, Inc. (Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio, mgr.). She was built at a cost of more than $43 million under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970. She was the third thousand-footer to sail on the Lakes and the first built entirely on the Lakes.

On July 31, 1974, the Liberian vessel ARTADI approached the dock at Trois Rivires, Que. where she damaged the docked GORDON C. LEITCH's stern.

The CEDARBRANCH was damaged and sunk by an explosion on July 31, 1965, several miles below Montreal, Quebec resulting in a loss of one life. Repaired and lengthened in 1965, she was renamed b.) SECOLA in 1978, and c.) KITO MARU in 1979, and scrapped at Brownsville, Texas, in 1985.

On 31 July 1849, ACORN (wooden schooner, 84 foot, 125 tons, built in 1842, at Black River, Ohio) was struck amidships by the propeller TROY near West Sister Island in Lake Erie. She sank quickly, but no lives were lost since all hands made it to the TROY.

On 31 July 1850, AMERICA (wooden side-wheeler, 240 foot, 1,083 tons, built in 1847, at Port Huron, Michigan) suffered a boiler or steam pipe explosion while sailing on Lake Erie. The explosion immediately killed nine persons and scalded others who died later. The vessel was repaired and sailed for three more seasons.

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 from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Port of Montreal dock workers set for 4-day strike starting Monday

7/29 - Montreal, QC – A group of Port of Montreal workers plans to walk off the job for four days next week as negotiations over a new labour contract drag on.

Work will cease Monday at 7 a.m. and resume Friday at 6:59 a.m., Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees said Friday in a statement posted on Twitter. Union officials have sent a 72-hour notice confirming their intention to strike, said a spokesperson for the Maritime Employers Association.

“While discussions were ongoing, the Maritimes Employers Association was not only surprised, but disappointed by the executive committee of the Longshoremen’s Union to go ahead with means of pressure like a strike,” the association said in an emailed statement.

The walkout will also affect operations at the port’s Contrecoeur terminal. The port serves Canada and several U.S. states, and its sites extend over 26 kilometres on the island of Montreal and four kilometres in Contrecoeur.

Dockers have been without a labour agreement since Dec. 31, 2018. Negotiations had resumed recently after a ruling by the Canada Industrial Relations Board on essential services to maintain in the event of a strike.

The employers’ association “continues to believe in the actual process of negotiation and wishes to reach an agreement that will be mutually beneficial,” it said. “The executive committee decision forces the Association to consider different possible options, even if the negotiation is still the preferred option.”

Montreal Gazette

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner.
Maumee/tug Victory departed Duluth at 04:08 Tuesday morning loaded with iron ore from CN. Arthur M. Anderson entered port at 10:02 to discharge limestone at Hallett #5, and Erie Trader/tug Clyde S. VanEnkevort arrived at 14:21 to load at Canadian National. The USCG Mackinaw arrived at 17:22 and tied up at the DECC. Federal Rhine weighed anchor and arrived at 18:41 to load wheat at CHS 1. American Mariner shifted from Fraser Shipyards to General Mills late Tuesday morning and began loading wheat; she should be departing on Wednesday. BBC Russia remained at Port Terminal Tuesday and was tentatively expected to depart at 21:30. The Anderson was expected to depart from Hallett #5 light at 22:00 for Two Harbors to load. There is no traffic on the BN schedule in Superior until Saturday, when John D. Leitch is due to load.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Burns Harbor departed Two Harbors on July 27th at 23:16 for Indiana Harbor. Edwin H. Gott arrived Two Harbors on July 27th at 23:36 for South of #2. She departed Two Harbors on July 28th at 14:05 for Conneaut. Arriving Two Harbors on July 28th at 16:18 for South of #2 was the Presque Isle. At 19:40 on July 28th the Arthur M. Anderson is outbound Duluth harbor after unloading stone at CN-Hallett #5. She should arrive Two Harbors at approx. 22:00. There is no inbound traffic scheduled for Two Harbors on July 29th. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay saw the arrival of the Mesabi Miner on July 28th at 11:48. There is no inbound traffic scheduled for Silver Bay on July 29th.

Thunder Bay, ON.
Tuesday; Kaministiqua arrived at the Richardson Main Terminal to load grain. 0:38 The saltie Iryda departed for Montreal. 14:55 Saginaw arrived and went to anchor south of the Welcome Islands.19:09 Kaministiqua departed and went to anchor off of the Current River entrance. 19:20 The saltie Cape arrived and went to anchor. 20:35 Federal Mayumi arrived at the Richardson Main Terminal to load grain.

Sturgeon Bay, WI – Daniel Lindner
Florence Spirit arrived at Bay Shipbuilding via Green Bay at 12:27 Tuesday afternoon and moored along the outer dock face to undergo hull repairs from her recent collision with Alanis in the Welland Canal. The tug Prentiss Brown, which arrived on Monday, has been placed in the floating drydock for her 5-year survey.

Northern Lake Huron
McGregor Bay: Tuesday; 8:02 Samuel De Champlain arrived at the Lafarge Whitefish Terminal to unload cement products.
Spragge: Tuesday;2:35 Mississagi arrived to unload limestone and departed at 6:52 for Drummond Island.
Drummond Island: Tuesday; 12:43 Mississagi arrived to load limestone and departed at 21:00 for Sombra.
Cheboygan: Monday; 23:11 The tug Albert and tanker barge Margaret arrived at the US Oil Co dock to unload petroleum products.
Calcite: Monday; 21:08 Manitowoc arrived to load. Tuesday; 2:09 American Courage departed for Fairport. 10:01 Great Republic weighed anchor and proceeded to the dock to load. 14:05 Manitowoc departed for Cleveland.
Stoneport: Tuesday; 15:13 John G Munson arrived to load limestone.
Alpena: Tuesday 1:21 The cement carrier Alpena departed for Chicago.
Port Inland: Sunday 23:28 Joseph L Block departed for Indiana Harbor.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas Algoma Conveyor arrived 5am Tuesday loading at Compass Minerals. Algoma Sault expected next.

Sarnia, ON – Marc Dease
Algoma Spirit departed Point Edward’s North Slip Tuesday afternoon after slightly more than a two month lay up, en route to Thunder Bay, ON.

Toledo, OH – Jacob Sylvan
The 1,000-footer American Century will soon leave Toledo. She arrived in late January and hasn’t left since. She will load iron ore at Duluth, MN.

Lake Erie Ports for Tuesday – Bill Kloss
Sandusky: Algoma Transport arrived at 06:28 and is loading coal at Norfolk Southern.
Cleveland: Algoma Buffalo arrived at 02:48 and went to Cargill to load salt. Federal Churchill came in at 06:07 and went to the Port dock 24W.
Fairport Harbor: Frontenac took a delay in the Welland and is due in Wednesday.
Ashtabula: Algoma Sault arrived at 03:52 and departed at 14:37 for Goderich. American Integrity arrived at 21:30.
Conneaut: Radcliffe R. Latimer arrived at 16:25.
Nanticoke: CSL Tadoussac and CSL Niagara are both at Stelco. Algocanada and Algoscotia are still at anchor.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
The tug Vigilant 1 was the first vessel action of the morning, departing for Port Weller at 2:49 EST. Next was the arrival of the Blair Mckeil, who brought in coke from Detroit at 3:29 EST. At 8:16 EST, the Michipicoten arrived with a load of stone from Bruce Mines. She spent a fairly short amount of time unloading before departing for Toronto at 12:06 EST. At 13:49 EST, the tug Wyatt M arrived from Toronto. At 15:27 EST, the tug Ocean Golf cleared the canal for Toronto, and at 16:36 EST, the tug Seahound cleared for Port Weller. At 17:23 EST, the tug Ocean A. Gauthier was also outbound for Toronto. The Federal Kumano spent the day in port loading grain.

Rochester, NY – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit departed Tuesday morning, in ballast, for Picton, Ont.

Coast Guard and Mackinac Marine Rescue MEDIVAC 4 from Mackinac Island Harbor

7/29 - Sault Sainte Marie, Mich. – This morning, Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Station St. Ignace, and Mackinac Marine Rescue MEDIVAC’d four people from Mackinac Island after their boat allided with the harbor break wall.

At approximately 11:30 p.m. EST, Sector Sault Sainte Marie Command Center received a call that a recreational vessel with four persons on board allided with the break wall in Mackinac Island Harbor. The four occupants were thrown onto the breakwall after the allision. Mackinac Marine Rescue and a response boat from Station St. Ignace responded to the scene to evaluate the condition of the victims. An MH-60 helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City was also launched to the scene. One victim sustained critical injuries and was hoisted by the MH-60 and transported to Munson Medical Center. The other three victims were transported to Munson Medical Center and McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital with major injuries. There was no reported pollution from the vessel, which has been hauled out of the water. Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is investigating the accident.

“It is important to be familiar with the area you are boating in, especially at night as it is harder to see hazards,” said Captain Amy Florentino, Deputy Sector Commander. “As always, we are grateful for our rescue partners and the assistance they provide. In this case, Mackinac Marine Rescue was able to maneuver their vessel close to the breakwall, which allowed first responders to access and treat the victims as quickly as possible.”

COVID-19, road construction give double blow to Alexander Henry museum ship

7/29 - Thunder Bay, ON – First, it was road construction in Marina Park last year. Then came COVID-19. The past two seasons have been challenging for the operators of the Alexander Henry museum ship on Thunder Bay's waterfront.

The Lakehead Transportation Museum Society is waiting to hear if the City of Thunder Bay will grant some financial relief and other assistance so it can continue to grow the attraction. Society president Charlie Brown says "It's going to be a tough season for us." Currently, only external tours of the ship are available to visitors, for $5, or half the regular admission cost.

"We're steady, but we're slow. We're not making a fortune by any stretch of the imagination," Brown said. He added some people are making donations, including a recent contribution of a quantity of paint that will be used this summer for a maintenance project. However, in an interview, Brown expressed concern over the time it's taking for the city to respond to requests for help.

"We've asked for rent relief, and we've asked for an extension of the property and a whole bunch of other things, and that's been over a year in the works," he said.

Brown made a deputation to city council last November, seeking a break on rent for the Pool 6 docking site because of road construction which he said "really hurt us quite a bit."

"Then this year, with the COVID, we're looking for rent relief. And the new piece of property where the tugboat sits [the recently-acquired former logging tug Dryden 3], we're looking for an extension on that, but still haven't heard a word," he said. "The site that we have now is extremely small and we would like to extend it down to the waterline," he explained.

Brown said city officials have noted that would interfere with plans for a walking path, but "if it's left the way it is, it splits our property in two, which makes it really difficult to manage."

An extension of the property, he said, would make it easier to bring buses to the site. The society would also like access to drinking water and washroom facilities in the former Pool 6 office building, and is seeking permission to establish its gift shop in the Baggage Building at Prince Arthur's Landing.

"Then we could funnel people down to where we are, because people are still having a hard time with the road, and finding where we are." Brown said he's been told a city staff report on the society's requests won't go before council before September.

Revenue should improve soon, however, as a fire inspection of the ship is imminent. Once that's done, complete tours of the vessel will once again be available, and normal admission prices will be restored.

But regardless of how the rest of this season turns out, Brown said the Lakehead Transportation Museum Society is not currently giving any thought to acquiring another ship with historic ties to Thunder Bay, the SS Keewatin. The 113-year old vessel once ferried passengers from Owen Sound to the Lakehead. It was retired from service in 1966, and since 2012 has served as a maritime museum at Port McNicoll on Georgian Bay.

Recent media stories in the Midland area have renewed speculation that the company that owns the Keewatin may transfer her to a new owner at another Ontario port such as Kingston, the site of the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes. The Keewatin is closed for the season because of COVID-19.

Built in Govan, Scotland in 1907, Keewatin is the world's last UK-built, Edwardian-era passenger steamship in existence. Around 2001, the City of Thunder Bay considered acquiring the ship from its U.S. owner when it was in storage in Douglas, Michigan, but ultimately abandoned the idea.

Brown said he's aware there's talk of the Keewatin being on the move again, but multiple obstacles stand in the way of any bid coming from his group. These include the absence of a spot to dock her, the cost of restoration that still needs completion, and financing. "I can't see it being feasible," Brown concluded.

tbnewswatch.com

Milwaukee to install trash-eating device to keep Lake Michigan cleaner

7/29 - Milwaukee, WI – People working to make Milwaukee’s harbor cleaner plan to install a trash interceptor in the Kinnickinnic River. The idea is to catch floating trash before it reaches Lake Michigan. And the group Harbor District, Inc., won a federal grant to bring the project to life.

We recently met Harbor District’s Natural Environment Program Manager Aaron Zeleske as close to the future home of the trash interceptor as we can get – a fence blocks our path and trees and overgrown bushes block the view.

“We’re out here on the Kinnickinnic River just south of Becher Street, we’re on the west side ... It’s the future home of our trash collector," he explains.

The harbor district is in a state of evolution — from a bleak, forbidding corridor to a place people want to work and recreate. You see an example just downstream from the trash project site where a 6-acre gleaming commercial project is taking shape. A large utility contractor will be making its corporate home where the Kinnickinnic curves east.

As for the trash diverter site, Zeleske says there’ nothing to see — yet. The project is very much in the design phase, including how it will incorporate solar power.

“It will be sort of docked. It’s in the stream. It’ll be docked right on the shoreline. And this is gonna be 30-40 feet long. It's gonna be a big conveyer belt with a dumpster on land that will deposit the trash up on land, where the dumpster can be taken away. There will be some in-stream structures, probably some sort of floating booms that will funnel the trash into the machine,” Zeleske says.

Read more and view images at this link: https://www.wuwm.com/post/milwaukee-harbor-project-install-trash-eating-device-keep-lake-michigan-cleaner

OTTERCLIFFE HALL cleared Lauzon, Quebec, July 29, 1969 on her maiden voyage as the last "straight deck" Great Lakes bulk freighter built with a pilothouse forward.

While at the Manitowoc Ship Building Co. for general repairs and engine overhaul, the CITY OF SAGINAW 31 caught fire on July 29, 1971, destroying her cabin deck and rendering her useless for further use. The blaze was caused by an acetylene torch, and caused over $1 million in damage. She was not repaired. The CITY OF SAGINAW 31 was sold to Marine Salvage Ltd., Port Colborne, Ontario, for scrapping.

On July 29, 1974 the W.W. HOLLOWAY grounded in Lake St. Clair off the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club while running downbound with stone. Lightering into the J.F. SCHOELKOPF JR was necessary before she was freed by four tugs on July 31st.

ENDERS M. VOORHEES departed Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Michigan, on her maiden voyage July 29, 1942, bound for Duluth, Minnesota, to load iron ore. She was the second of five "Supers" for the Pittsburgh fleet to enter service.

July 29, 1974 - PERE MARQUETTE 21 was towed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to be reduced to a barge.

The steam barge MARY ROBERTSON burned near Mackinac on 29 July 1872. Her crew escaped to a schooner-barge they were towing.

The MATERIAL SERVICE foundered in a heavy summer gale in 1936, off the South Chicago lighthouse. She was a canal motor barge not designed for open-lake use.

The side-wheel river steamer DOMINION burned to the water's edge at her dock in the Thames River near Chatham, Ontario, on 29 July 1875. She was built in 1867, at Wallaceburg, Ontario.

1912 – REPUBLIC stranded at Point Louise in the St. Marys River and sustained bottom damage.

1930 – The sandsucker GEORGE J. WHALEN capsized and sank off Dunkirk, N.Y., in heavy seas and 15 sailors perished. Only 6 were rescued and taken aboard the AMASA STONE.

1942 – The first PRESCODOC was torpedoed and sunk by U-160 off Georgetown, British Guiana, with the loss of 15 lives. The bauxite-laden steamer went down quickly, bow first, while enroute to Trinidad and only 5 were saved.

1943 – LOCKWELL and KEYBELL collided above Bridge 11 of the Welland Canal. The former was repaired at Port Dalhousie with $13,450 in damages.

1946 – TEAKBAY went aground on Featherbed Shoal off Carleton Island in the St. Lawrence while bound for Montreal with a load of coal. This member of the C.S.L. fleet was released, with the aid of tugs, the next day and proceeded to Kingston for repairs.

1971 – While undergoing a major refit at Manitowoc, fire broke out aboard the CITY OF SAGINAW 31 destroying the top deck and accommodation area. The damage was listed as between $450,000 and $700,000 and the vessel became a total loss. It was towed to Castellon, Spain, for scrapping.

1979 – The Cayman Islands registered QUIDNET came through the Seaway in 1978 but sank, in a collision with the SEA TIDE at Mamei Curve in the Panama Canal while enroute from Callao, Peru, to Trinidad. The hull was abandoned as a total loss and had to be cut in two before being towed away to a dumping ground. The ship had also been a Great Lakes visitor as b) LUDMILLA C. in 1968.

1993 – The second FEDERAL SCHELDE to visit the Great Lakes was built in 1977 and came inland that year on its maiden voyage with sugar for Montreal and Toronto. The ship received major bow damage after striking the ARARAT in the Orinoco River of Venezuela. It went to Hamburg, Germany, for repairs and resumed service. It became b) TRIAS in 1994 and continued Seaway service until 1999. The ship arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping on December 12, 2000.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Jerry Pearson, 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

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
Indiana Harbor departed Duluth at 08:27 Monday morning with a load of iron ore pellets destined for her namesake port. Maumee/tug Victory moved beneath the shuttles at CN and began loading as soon as Indiana Harbor cleared. The pair was expected to depart Monday evening. American Mariner, which had finished unloading stone at Graymont on Sunday night, was at Fraser Shipyard Monday with her stern pumped out for repair work. BBC Russia remained at Port Terminal unloading wind turbine blades, while Federal Rhine was anchored in the lake waiting to load grain at CHS 1. Algoma Guardian was at BN in Superior for the second consecutive day Monday loading iron ore and departed for Hamilton at 15:55.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Burns Harbor arrived Two Harbors on July 27th at 04:28 for South of #2. As of 19:30 on July 27th she was still at the dock. As of 19:30 on the 27th the Edwin H. Gott was abeam of Two Harbors. Due Two Harbors on July 28th is the Presque Isle and the Arthur M. Anderson after she discharges her stone cargo at CN-Hallett #5. I would think she'd arrive Two Harbors late in the day. Due Northshore Mining in Silver Bay on July 28th is the Mesabi Miner.

Thunder Bay, ON
Sunday 16:40 Ojibway departed for Windsor. Monday; 5:10 Federal Yoshino weighed anchor and proceeded to the Superior Elevator to load grain. 5:32 The saltie Iryda shifted to the main anchorage.

Marquette, MI – Fred A Tijan
Saginaw departed July 26 at 23:18 hrs with 20,200 tons of iron ore for Algoma Stee-SOO. Scheduled to arrive July 28 at 02:00 hrs is the Saginaw. As of July 27 Marquette has shipped 333,250 tons of iron ore.

Northern Lake Huron
Thessalon: Monday;11:39 Cuyahoga arrived to load stone and departed at 19:13.
Drummond Island: Sunday; 23:52 Laura L Van Enkevort arrived to load limestone and departed Monday at 9:10 for Fairport.
Port Dolomite: Monday; 9:10 Olive L Moore / Menominee departed for the Saginaw River.
Calcite: Sunday; 22:55 Cason J Callaway arrived to load limestone and departed Monday at 12:21 for Buffington. 14:14 American courage arrived to load.
Alpena: Monday; 14:39 Samuel De Champlain arrived to load cement products and departed at 19:18 for McGregor Bay. 19:52 The cement carrier Alpena arrived to load.
Port Inland: Sunday; 22:00 Mississagi arrived to load limestone and departed Monday at 6:40 for Spragge. 7:06 Joseph L Block arrived to load.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Innovator was loading at Compass Minerals Monday, salt for Chicago. Algoma Conveyor expected next.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
John G Munson followed closely by Michipicoten passed MC late evening on the 26th downbound and both were off Belle Isle at 1am. Cape passed upbound late evening on the 26th and was off Marysville at 1am. Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder was upbound mid Lake St Clair at 1:30am. Florence Spirit passed upbound at 6am. CSL Tadoussac passed downbound at 8:15am. Timgad passed MC before dawn and was off Belle Isle at 9am. Algoma Sault passed downbound at 11am. Mostly cloudy, hot and humid at 90 degrees F, winds light from the south-southwest.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H
Monday Arrivals: John G Munson-arrived at AK Steel to unload stone. Everlast/Norman McLeod-arrived at the Waterfront Petroleum Terminal.

Lake Erie Ports for Monday – Bill Kloss
The following boats are all due in Tuesday: Algoma Transport to Sandusky. Algoma Buffalo to Cleveland. Frontenac to Fairport Harbor. Radcliffe R. Latimer to Conneaut. CSL Tadoussac to Nanticoke.

Nanticoke: Algosea left at 01:49 for Sorel-Tracy and Algoma Enterprise departed for Quebec City. At anchor off of Port Dover is the Algoscotia and Algocanada.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
7/27/20: The Federal Kumano arrived at 11:46 EST from Loviisa, Finland, and tied up at P&H to load grain.

On July 28, 1973, the ROGER M. KYES (Hull#200) was christened at Toledo, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. by Mrs. Roger Kyes for the American Steamship Co. Renamed b.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS in 1989.

B.A. PEERLESS (Hull#148) was launched July 28, 1952, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. for British American Transportation Co. Ltd. Renamed b.) GULF CANADA in 1969, and c.) COASTAL CANADA in 1984.

The JOHN T. HUTCHINSON was delivered on July 28th to the Buckeye Steamship Co. (Hutchinson & Co., mgr.), Cleveland. The HUTCHINSON was part of a government program designed to upgrade and increase the capacity of the U.S. Great Lakes fleet during World War II. In order to help finance the building of new ships, the U.S.M.C. authorized a program that would allow existing fleets to obtain new boats by trading in their older boats to the Government for credit. The vessel was the ninth Maritimer and fourth of the six L6-S-Al types delivered. "L6" meant the vessel was built for the Great Lakes and was 600 to 699 feet in length. The "S" stood for steam power and "Al" identified specific design features.

On 28 July 1854, BOSTON (wooden propeller, 134 foot, 259 tons, built in 1847, at Ohio City, Ohio) was bound from Chicago for Ogdensburg, New York, with pork, corn, whiskey and produce. On Lake Ontario, about 20 miles off Oak Orchard, New York, she collided with the bark PLYMOUTH and sank in about 20 minutes. No lives were lost. The crew and passengers made it to shore in three lifeboats. The boat that the captain was in sailed 50 miles to Charlotte, New York.

In 1900, the freighter PRINCETON (Hull#302) was launched at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

On 28 July 1862, CONVOY (2-mast wooden schooner, 130 foot, 367 tons, built in 1855, at Buffalo, New York) was sailing downbound on a dark night on Lake Erie with 18,000 bushels of wheat when she collided with the empty bark SAM WARD and sank quickly in 12 fathoms of water. Her wreck drifted along the bottom and during the shipping season several vessels collided with her.

1922 – The wooden passenger and freight carrier CARIBOU went aground in the North Channel of Georgian Bay near Richards Landing.

1923 – The wooden steamer W.J. CARTER, enroute from Oswego to Cobourg with a cargo of coal, began leaking and sank in Lake Ontario 20 miles south of Point Peter. Nine crewmembers were rescued by the KEYPORT.

1929 – The newly-built canaller C.H. HOUSON was in a collision with the collier WABANA off Cap au Saumon on the St. Lawrence in heavy fog. The investigation of the accident was critical of the operation of both vessels. The former served in the Misener fleet, becoming b) PAUL MANION in 1949, and was scrapped at Deseronto, Ontario, in 1961.

1949 – NORMAN J. KOPMEIER was holed by an underwater obstruction entering Muskegon with a cargo of coal from Chicago. The vessel had to be beached and almost capsized. It was later refloated and repaired. The ship last sailed as e) PINEDALE in 1976 and was scrapped at Hamilton in 1981.

1961 – After loading a cargo of scrap steel for Japan on its first visit to the Great Lakes, the Greek freighter MIHALIS ANGELOS ran aground leaving Toronto harbor. The ship had been one of the “Empire Class” ships of World War Two, being built as a) EMPIRE MASEFIELD. It arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping as f) GLORIA on December 6, 1967.

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

Ocean-going vessel damaged in Welland Canal to be repaired in Port Weller dry dock

7/26 - One of the vessels involved in a collision on the Welland Canal earlier this month will be repaired in a Port Weller dry dock, says a company speaking on behalf of its owners. Tom Adams, of Navigate Response, said dship Carriers’ Alanis is awaiting a detailed investigation to determine the extent of damage, in line with the company’s procedures and processes for such matters.

Navigate Response is a global crisis communications network specializing in the international shipping, port and offshore industries, headquartered in London and Singapore.

The collision took place July 11 at 3:55 p.m. and saw McKeil Marine’s Florence Spirit, headed down the canal toward Lake Ontario, and the Alanis headed toward Lake Erie, collide starboard to starboard around the anchor ports on both ships.

The crash was captured on video by two men, Alex Stewart and his friend, who did not want to be named. Both posted their videos to social media. Stewart said it was his first ship-watching experience along the 43-km long canal. In Stewart’s video, an alarm sounds before the two vessels hit, then there’s a loud crunch and scraping noise as the Florence Spirit slides down the hull of the 138-metre long Alanis.

The two vessels come to a stop before the ocean-going Alanis is pushed back toward the east bank of the canal and the Florence Spirit heads bow first toward the west bank.

The Florence Spirt, a 136.4-metre-long bulk carrier owned by Burlington-based McKeil Marine, was carrying a load of coal and bound for a port in Quebec at the time.

dship Carriers’ Alanis — the company has offices in Hamburg, Houston, Tokyo, Mumbai, Shanghai and Singapore — was carrying wind turbine parts and bound for Duluth, Minn. “The cargo will be discharged in Duluth,” said Adams in an email to The Tribune.

He said dship Carriers has made several successful voyages into the Great Lakes region in recent months, primarily delivering other wind turbine-related cargos. Adams said the company’s vessels also carry other project cargoes and bulk products.

The Standard

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
Timgad departed Duluth at 00:24 Saturday morning loaded with wheat from Riverland Ag, and Joseph L. Block was outbound at 08:27 light after unloading limestone at CN. BBC Russia arrived at 10:36 with a load of wind turbine blades for Port Terminal. Paul R. Tregurtha was due at 21:00 to load coal at SMET. Herbert C. Jackson, which had arrived on Friday evening and unloaded stone at Hallett #5, shifted to SMET at 01:30 Saturday to load a shuttle cargo of coal. She moved to Graymont Superior at 07:30 to unload, and by 14:00 her discharge was complete and she shifted to Canadian National to load iron ore pellets. She was expected to depart with her ore cargo at 22:00 Saturday night. There was no traffic in Superior during the day Saturday, however Algoma Guardian was due at 22:00 to load at BN.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
The CN-Two Harbors ore docks saw the departure of the CSL Tadoussac on July 25th at 02:28 for Nanticoke. She loaded at South of #2. There is no traffic scheduled for Two Harbors on July 26th. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay saw the arrival on May 25th at 01:09 of the American Integrity after undergoing repairs at the Lakehead dock in Superior. As of 19:30 she is still loading. The Indiana Harbor is showing a Silver Bay destination on her AIS. Harbor Lookout is showing her loading in Duluth. Either way she'll be at one of those ports on July 26th. The Joseph L. Block didn't end up in Two Harbors after she departed Duluth. She is heading for Port Inland to load.

Thunder Bay, ON
Friday; 22:23 Federal Dart departed for Montreal. Saturday 19:27 Ojibway arrived at the G3 elevator to load grain.

Northern Lake Huron
Meldrum Bay: Saturday; 6:07 Kaye E Barker departed for Marquette.
Bruce Mines: Saturday; 16:10 Michipicoten arrived to load trap rock.
Port Dolomite: Saturday; 17:01 American Courage arrived to load limestone.
Calcite: Saturday; 12:01 John G Munson arrived to load. 12:17 Arthur M Anderson arrived to load limestone.
Alpena: Saturday; 11:55 The cement carrier Alpena arrived to load and departed at 16:53 for Essexville.
Port Inland: Saturday; 8:57 Great Republic departed for Holland. 9:15 Manitowoc arrived to load limestone and departed at 17:50 for Holland.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
Algoma Sault passed MC downbound at 2:30am. Lake St Clair passed downbound at 8:15am. Happy Ranger passed upbound at 11:15am. Laura Vanenkevort/Joseph Thompson arrived at the stoneyard to unload at 1:45pm. Edwin H Gott passed upbound at 2pm. Mesabi Miner arrived at the power plant to unload coal at 3:30pm. Caroline should pass MC in the mid evening as she was about halfway up the cutoff channel at 5:30pm. Mix of sun and clouds, temp 85 degrees F and humid, light winds from the south-southwest.

Detroit, MI – Raymond H
Saturday Arrivals: Calumet arrived at Zug Island to unload coal. Blair McKeil arrived at Zug Island to load coke. This is the first McKeil vessel to load coke since April.

Lake Erie Ports for Saturday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: Clyde S. VanEnkevort left for Detroit at 05:32. Cuyahoga arrived at 12:00 from Cleveland, leaving there at 04:08 and after loading departed at 20:56 for Sarnia.
Lorain: Algoma Innovator had a very brief visit to Amcor, entering the Black River at 07:12, unloading and departing at 13:12 for Goderich.
Cleveland: Sea Eagle II arrived at 04:16 for St. Mary's Cement, After unloading at ArcelorMittal, Dorothy Ann is now at Cargill to load salt.
Fairport Harbor: Frontenac departed at 16:12, no destination was given.
Conneaut: Algoma Enterprise arrived at 22:00.
Nanticoke: Algonova and Algosea remain at Imperial Oil and Algoscotia is still anchored off of Port Dover. CSL Niagara arrived at 19:45 for Stelco.

Toronto, ON – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit departed Saturday evening bound for Rochester, NY.

Financial storm clouds brew above S.S. Keewatin

7/26 - Port McNicoll, ON – "Friends of Keewatin has been working toward what we understood was a shared goal with Skyline Investments since the ship’s return in 2012; restore S.S. Keewatin and secure her longevity as a museum in the village she and her four sisters worked from for 53 years.”

But Rob Waxman, chief financial officer for Skyline Investments, said the moves are based on Skyline’s decision in March not to open the ship for 2020 due to COVID-19. “The fence is just precautionary security to protect our asset while it is closed,” Waxman said. But Coombes said there might be more at play.

“Now, for no apparent reason, volunteers are denied access to the ship to perform necessary maintenance for the ship and donated artifacts, access business information and resale merchandise or recover personal property,” he said, noting outside work that was to start this week was ordered halted with the contractor standing down and the materials off-loaded from the ship.

Earlier this month, the property that Skyline once held for development surrounding the Keewatin was sold to a Chinese firm under a power of sale. The ship was not part of the deal that closes August 17.

“Friends of Keewatin understands (new owner) China Paula’s intentions relative to S.S. Keewatin are similar to what (previous owner) CIM’s were,” Coombes said at the time. “In brief, they see the presence of our historical attraction as beneficial to their planned development, and are supportive.”

But Coombes said there are now renewed concerns the ship might now be leaving with one possible suitor, Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston, topping the list. “It heightens my concern that there are ulterior motives and intentions,” he said. “I can tell you that the new owner of the property fully expected SS Keewatin to be here, especially since they inherited a lease for water rights for the ship Friends of Keewatin entered into with CIM, and they’ve told us they want the ship here.”

Coombes said the company has also told the Friends’ group it is prepared to cover the ship’s operating costs until “we are able to run a normal season and will stand as our guarantor against operating cost overruns” to the tune of $100,000 for 10 years.

“Financial stability is one requirement for achieving Category B designation and negotiating a tax receipt in return for the donation of the ship to a museum,” Coombes said, referring to a federal government Canadian heritage designation.

Skyline spent around $4-5 million on the ship, including the cost of bringing it back to Port McNicoll in 2012.

With an estimated value of close to $48.7 million, the ship is considered one of the finest historic vessels anywhere on the planet and “the world’s last Edwardian passenger steamship, a remarkable working demonstration of the first half of the twentieth century, and contributor and link to the cementing of Confederation," said Coombes, whose group is also urging Tay Township to get actively involved in keeping the ship in its home port before it’s too late."

Midland.com

Obituary: Dave Wobser arrangements announced

7/26 - David J. Wobser, age 81, of Findlay, Ohio, died at 3:03am on Thursday, July 23, 2020, at Mercy Hospital in Toledo. A long-time volunteer board member of the Marine Historical Society of Detroit and Boatnerd.com, Dave was active for many years in organizing BoatNerd as a nonprofit, served as news page editor and board member and planning the various Boatnerd gatherings around the Great Lakes. He also maintained the site’s winter layup list and had numerous other roles. He was considered an authority on lighthouses. He was a friend to many and will be sorely missed by the BoatNerd and wider community.

Dave Wobser was born in Toledo, Ohio, on March 23, 1939, to the late Walter F. and Geraldine M. (Gassman) Wobser. He had been married to Barbara M. Wobser who survives in Findlay, and later married Janet R. Frederick on September 16, 1989 and she survives. Also surviving are his son: Jeffrey D. (Jane, deceased) Wobser of Findlay and two nephews: Andrew (Michelle) Wobser of Cincinnati, Ohio and Steve (Holly) Wobser of Columbus, Ohio. He was preceded in death by a brother: Ralph A. Wobser. Wobser graduated in 1957, from Toledo Libbey High School and attended Bowling Green State University majoring in Math and Biology. From 1965-1980, he sold major appliances with Mainline Distributors out of Toledo, then the Commercial Electric Company and finally General Electric.

He was the Director of Public Safety-Service for the City of Findlay, Ohio from 1980-1996. From 1996-2001, he was the manager of the Sherman House Apartments for the Blanchard Valley Health Association. He had been elected to Findlay City Council for the then Fifth Ward from 1974-1977. He served on the Blanchard Valley Regional Health Center Bd. of Trustees from 1993-1995. He had been the Board President of the Ohio Association of Public Safety Directors from 1987-1988. From 1985-1988, he was a Board Member of the State of Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections and the Jail Advisory. He was an Advisory Board Member from 1990-2012 of the Great Lakes Seaway Shipping Online Inc. From 2003-2012, he was a member of the Advisory Council of the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

In retirement, Dave pursued his passion for history, genealogy, Great Lake ships, railroads and lighthouses. He and his wife Janet enjoyed many trips exploring the historic areas around the Great Lakes taking pictures of lighthouses around the lakes. He especially enjoyed the annual trip to Sault Sainte Marie for the opening of the Soo Locks in the spring, ad well as the annual Engineer’s Day in June. He also worked for the Hancock County Board of Elections, heading up the team that managed the voting machines at all of the county voting locations. In fact, on the day he died, he attended two meetings in preparation for the August 8th special election. In the last few years, Dave was an usher at the First Lutheran Church of Findlay where he was an active member.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, July 28, 2020 from 1-3 and 5-7pm at COLDREN-CRATES FUNERAL HOME in Findlay. A Christian Memorial Service will be held at 10:00am on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at First Lutheran Church, located at 109 East Lincoln Street, Findlay with additional visitation at the church, one hour prior to the service from 9-10am and organ music beginning at 9:30am. Pastor Bob Cochran will officiate and interment will follow at Maple Grove Cemetery. Memorials may be given to either the First Lutheran Church (www.1lutheranchurch.org). or to the Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation, 12505 C.R. 99, Findlay, Ohio 45840 (http://www.nworrp.org/). Online condolences are welcomed at www.coldrencrates.com.

On July 26, 2005, the salty ORLA ran aground at Kahnawake, Quebec, and the passing rum tanker JO SPIRIT made contact with her. Both vessels were damaged and repaired in Montreal.

ALGOWEST sailed on her maiden voyage in 1982 from Thunder Bay, Ontario, to Quebec City with a 27,308 ton load of barley.

On July 26, 1943 the BRUCE HUDSON caught fire while loading gasoline at East Chicago, Illinois, and four people lost their lives.

CONALLISON departed Windsor, Ontario on her first trip for Johnstone Shipping Ltd. on July 26, 1981.

WILLIAM A. McGONAGLE (Hull#154) sailed light on her maiden voyage from Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse, Michigan on July 26, 1916, to Duluth, Minnesota, to load iron ore. Renamed b.) HENRY STEINBRENNER in 1986. She was scrapped at Port Maitland, Ontario, in 1994.

On 26 July 1885, ISLE ROYALE (wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel, 92 foot, 92 gross tons, built in 1879) sprang a leak near Susick Island near Isle Royale on Lake Superior. She sank but her passengers and crew made it to the island. She was owned by Cooley, Lavague & Company of Duluth. She was originally built as the barge AGNES.

1910 ZENITH CITY went aground at Au Sable Reef, near Marquette, due to fog. The ore-laden steamer sustained damage to 60 planes.

1943 The Canadian tanker BRUCE HUDSON caught fire loading high-octane gasoline at Phillips Petroleum in South Chicago. The Captain, his son and 2 crewmen were killed. The ship was rebuilt and eventually scrapped at Cartagena, Colombia, by 1983 as c) WITCROIX.

1948 ROGN, a Norwegian tanker, went aground in the St. Lawrence at Toussant Island, near Iroquois, after the steering gear failed. The tugs SALVAGE PRINCE and SALVAGE QUEEN pulled the vessel free. It was in ballast and operated on charter to the McColl-Frontenac Oil Company. The ship was scrapped at Piraeus, Greece, as c) PIRAEUS III in 1981.

1965 The Canada Steamship Lines bulk carrier GEORGIAN BAY stood by the small wooden pulpwood carrier PRINCE QUEBEC on Lake Ontario. Cables were strung to the small ship, enroute to Tonawanda, NY with a cargo of pulpwood, to help keep it afloat. PRINCE QUEBEC was later taken to La Petite Riviere, Quebec, beached and never repaired. Apparently the hull was burned by vandals in the 1970s.

1983 PRA RIVER was registered in Ghana when it came to the Great Lakes in 1963. It went aground, enroute from Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to Lagos, Nigeria, as c) MAYON II on this date in 1983 and was abandoned.

2000 HIAWATHA, a ferry dating from 1895, was sunk by vandals at Toronto. It operated between the mainland and a Toronto Island yacht club. The hull was refloated July 28 and taken to Hamilton for restoration, repairs and a return to service.

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

Obituary: Dave Wobser

7/24 - David J. Wobser of Findlay, Ohio, a long-time volunteer board member of the Marine Historical Society of Detroit and Boatnerd.com, died suddenly Wednesday night of a ruptured aorta. He was active for many years in organizing BoatNerd as a nonprofit, News Editor, Board Member, planning the various Boatnerd gatherings around the Great Lakes, maintained the site’s winter layup list and numerous other roles. He was also considered an authority on lighthouses. Arrangements are unknown at this time. A full obituary will be printed when available; he was a friend to many and will be sorely missed by the BoatNerd and wider community.

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
Mesabi Miner departed Duluth at 04:35 Thursday morning with a load of coal for the St. Clair power plant. Her sister James R. Barker finished loading at CN and was outbound for Indiana Harbor with iron ore at 14:11. Saginaw shifted to the loading dock at CN after the Barker cleared and was expected to depart Thursday evening with her ore load. Also in port were Barnacle, loading wheat at CHS 2, and Timgad, which had arrived from anchor late Wednesday after the departure of Lake St. Clair and moored at Riverland Ag to load wheat (she was not carrying wind turbine parts as previously reported). Barnacle was expected to top off and depart from CHS 2 at 21:00. At the Superior entry on Thursday, American Integrity arrived at 03:56 and backed into Lakehead Pipeline for a delay. She is expected to shift to CN to load once her delay is over. Stewart J. Cort was inbound at 08:17 and headed to Burlington Northern to load iron ore pellets. This will likely be her last cargo before she goes into temporary layup, as the BN stockpile only has enough cargo remaining for a few shiploads.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
When the Callaway departed Two Harbors her AIS hadn't been updated. As of noon on July 23rd it has been updated to Gary. Due Two Harbors on July 24th is the CSL Tadoussac. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay had no traffic on July 23rd and none scheduled on July 24th.

Thunder Bay, ON
Thunder Bay On: Wednesday; 23:43 The saltie Lake Ontario departed for Montreal. Thursday; 11:17 G3 Marquis arrived at the Superior Elevator to load wheat. 14:28 The saltie Iryda arrived and went to anchor. 16:52 Michipicoten arrived at the Lafarge dock at the mouth of the Kam River to unload limestone. 18:39 The saltie Mamry departed and is down bound to a St Lawrence River port.

Green Bay, WI – Jon
On Thursday at 12:02 pm the Alpena arrived from Alpena, MI with cement for the Lafarge Terminal.

Northern Lake Huron
Meldrum Bay: Wednesday; 22:49 After taking on a partial load Cuyahoga departed for Thessalon. Herbert C Jackson weighed anchor and proceeded to the loading dock. Thursday; 5:44 Herbert C Jackson departed for Duluth. 15:11 Algoma Sault arrived to load limestone.
Thessalon: Wednesday; 1:19 Cuyahoga arrived to finish loading with stone and departed at 4:07 for Marine City.
Port Dolomite: Thursday; 4:09 Joseph L Block departed for Duluth Superior. Calcite: Thursday; 8:07 The tug Albert and tanker barge Margaret departed for Toledo. 13:59 American Courage arrived to load. Olive L Moore / Menominee arrived to load.
Stoneport: Wednesday; 23:46 Calumet departed for Detroit.
Alpena: Thursday; 1:54 American Courage departed for Calcite. 14:23 GL Ostrander arrived to load cement products.
Port Inland: Thursday;11:52 Arthur M Anderson arrived to load limestone. 17:21 American Mariner arrived and went to anchor.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Conveyor arrived 2pm Thursday, loading salt at Compass Minerals.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
G L Ostrander/Integrity passed MC upbound around 11:15pm on the 22nd. Edwin H Gott passed downbound at 6am. Kaye E Barker passed downbound at 6:30am. Algoma Equinox passed downbound at 7:45am. BBC Russia passed upbound at 9:15am. John G Munson, assisted by tug Manitou arrived at the MC stoneyard in early afternoon; Manitou then returned upbound at 3pm. At 7:30pm the Munson was still uinloading. Paul R Tregurtha passed upbound at 6pm. Ojibway and Algoma Guardian should pass in the mid to late evening both upbound. Frontenac should pass downbound around 8pm. Mix of sun and clouds at 80 degrees F; winds shifted midday from south to north-northeast which produced some white caps and chop on the river.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Thursday Arrivals: Federal Montreal-arrived at Nicholson's Detroit Terminal to unload general cargo. Kaye E Barker-arrived at AK Steel to unload ore.

Lake Erie Ports for Thursday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: Clyde S. VanEnkevort left at 04:57 for Lorain. Dorothy Ann arrived from Toledo at 23:05 on the 22nd.
Lorain: Clyde S. VanEnkevort came in from Marblehead at 07:41 and unloaded at LaFarge. She departed at 08:44.
Cleveland: Federal Montreal left at 22:41 Wednesday night for Detroit.
Fairport Harbor: R/V Muskie arrived at 03:48 from Ashtabula. Frontenac is due in Friday night.
Nanticoke: Once again the busiest port on Lake Erie, Algoma Central was well represented as Algonova was still in port along with Algoterra. Algoscotia remained anchored and Algosea is due in at midnight. Algoma Mariner was at the Stelco dock, having arrived at 06:53. Due in Friday is the Edwin H. Gott.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
The Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin finished unloading gypsum in the late night hours on Wednesday, and departed 23:19 EST. A relatively slow day on Thursday saw the Ocean A. Gauthier depart for Toronto at 00:19 EST. The Algoma Innovator arrived from Oshawa at 16:39 EST to unload fertilizer, and the tug Ocean Golf departed at 19:08 EST, also for Toronto. The BBC Tennessee spent another day in port loading grain.

Manitowoc Shipbuilding's last lake freighter, Edward L. Ryerson, departed 60 years ago

7/24 - Manitowoc has a long and beautiful history of shipbuilding. One chapter in Manitowoc’s rich shipbuilding heritage closed on July 28, 1960. On that date, Manitowoc Shipbuilding’s last lake freighter, the Edward L. Ryerson, left its berth at Manitowoc Shipbuilding about to embark on its lifetime on the lakes. This July will mark 60 years since Ryerson departed Manitowoc shipbuilding.

The Edward L. Ryerson was the last lake freighter built by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, and it was the largest at 730 feet long and 75 feet wide. At the time of its departure from Manitowoc, it was the largest bulk carrier ever built to operate on the Great Lakes. The vessel was built to hold a total of 26,600 tons with a top speed loaded of 16-and-a-half hours.

People from Manitowoc and the surrounding area gathered down by the river to watch it depart Manitowoc Shipbuilding on July 28, 1960. It was estimated that around a few hundred people from the surrounding areas gathered to watch the vessel leave.

Moving the Ryerson from Manitowoc Shipbuilding to the lake was only supposed to take two hours with work starting at 5 a.m. and finishing at 7 a.m. Delays caused moving the vessel to take until close to lunch hour. The whole ordeal ended up lasting four hours.

A Manitowoc Herald Times article from July 28, 1960, described getting the Ryerson out to the lake as “like building a cruiser in the basement and then engineering it through a door too small for its shortest dimension.”

Read more and view images at this link: https://www.htrnews.com/story/entertainment/2020/07/21/manitowoc-shipbuilding-lake-freighter-ryerson-departed-60-years-ago/3286930001

What life has been like aboard Great Lakes freighters during COVID-19

7/24 - When the COVID-19 crisis began, marooned passengers on virus-stricken cruise ships on the high seas grabbed the early headlines. Soon, that huge industry ground to a halt.

The worry quickly rippled out to others who make their living on the water, those who operate the freighters that ply the Great Lakes through Southwestern Ontario on a 3,700-kilometre marine highway linking the Atlantic Ocean to North America’s industrial heartland.

“That was the biggest fear of our members. If this (virus) gets on board, it’s going to run through us,” said James Given, president of the Seafarers International Union (SIU), which represents shipboard workers. “It was very important to keep our industry moving and COVID-free.”

The first ship through the Welland Canal this season made its way into the system just as Ontario moved to shut down its economy in late March to all but the most essential work. Four months later, no outbreaks have been reported on any Canadian freighters. But it’s been anything but smooth sailing for the industry.

Some ships have been idled in COVID-19’s fallout. Social distancing on them is tough, and until recently, when shore leave began to open up, crew members couldn’t leave the ships.

“It takes a special kind of person to be on 700-foot ship with 20 other people for three months,” Given said. “If you do that without being able to step foot on shore, that mentally is just tiring.”

Even before the March lockdowns began, steps were taken to prevent the virus on ships. The number of contractors aboard was limited, personal protective wear was provided, crews were isolated for 14 days before being allowed aboard and shore leave – often called a “sacred right” for ship workers – was halted.

“It was pretty much a full-out lockdown on our ships,” Given said. Another early policy, sailors filling out medical questionnaires and being temperature-checked before reporting for work, remains.

Most freights have crews of 15 to 21. Sailors often work for three months at a time, then a month off. It’s tight aboard the ships, making physical distancing next to impossible.

The right to shore leave began to loosen about three weeks ago, with sailors allowed off ships in port cities where COVID-19 cases are low. There’s still no shore leave in major cities such as Toronto, Windsor and Montreal, and absolutely none in the United States. That takes a toll, said Brooke Cameron, fleet personnel manager with Algoma Central, Canada’s largest Great Lakes fleet, with 30 vessels and 1,100 full- and part-time employees. “Working onboard a vessel and being away from home . . . is already difficult and often stressful,” said Cameron, so losing free shore liberty has only added to that strain.

As the head of a team coordinating travel for Algoma’s workers, Cameron has had to adapt to different provincial guidelines as she works to get crews to and from ships.

For some, especially those from the Maritime provinces, a mandatory 14-day isolation must be followed after they return home, which can eat into their 30 days off. Crew members understand, she said, since the priority is keeping the entire ship safe. “Captains in our fleet have revealed a strong sense of pride in having kept their vessels free and clear of the COVID-19 virus, which could only be accomplished through the diligence of every crew member.”

Read more and view images at this link: https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/covid-19-aboard-great-lakes-freighters-virus-free-status-has-meant-huge-sacrifice-from-all-crew

On this day in 1908, the 556-foot ELBERT H. GARY arrived to a 21-gun salute to deliver the first cargo of Minnesota ore at the new United States Steel mill in Gary, Indiana.

The keel for the TEXACO CHIEF (Hull#193) was laid July 23, 1968, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., for Texaco Canada Ltd. Renamed b.) A.G. FARQUHARSON in 1986, and c.) ALGONOVA In 1998. She was sold for further service overseas in 2007.

CANADOC sailed on her maiden voyage July 23, 1961.

Upper Lakes Shipping Co. Ltd.'s, RED WING was christened on July 23, 1960, as the first all-welded vessel to emerge from Port Weller Dry Docks.

On 23 July 1878, H R PRESTON (wooden quarter-deck canal boat built in 1877, at Oneida Lake, New York) was carrying 250 tons of ashes from Picton, Ontario to Oswego, New York, in tow of the tug ALANSON SUMNER along with three other canal boats when they encountered a storm on Lake Ontario. About 15 miles from Oswego, the PRESTON broke her towline and was taken alongside the SUMNER with some difficulty. About a mile out of port she lost her hold tarps and began to sink quickly. She was cut loose from the tug and her two crewmen were saved by the Oswego tug WM AVERY. Though she was lying heavily on the bottom in 50 feet of water, her wreckage came ashore near 4 Mile Point in early September.

1918: PETER REISS and the GLENSHEE were in a collision at the #3 ore dock at Duluth. Fog and the current were blamed for the accident, with only limited damage to both ships.

1934: An explosion and fire aboard the tanker barge EN-AR-CO during fit-out at Toronto resulted in the loss of 4 lives. The ship was rebuilt as a coal barge and was finally scrapped at Hamilton in 1969.

1955: The tug HELENA capsized at South Chicago while taking on coal from a scow and two sailors were lost. The vessel was refloated on July 26. It survives today as c) DANIEL McALLISTER, a museum ship on display in the Lachine Canal at Montreal.

1968: The former tanker ORION was operating as a sand barge when it sank in Lake Erie about 1,000 feet off the Lorain lighthouse due to choppy seas. The hull was raised by the Corps of Engineers, beached August 2 and assumed to have been subsequently scrapped.

1985: FOTINI D.E. first came through the Seaway in 1976 and, in 1980, became the first overseas vessel to load grain at the port of Goderich. It ran aground on this date in 1985, enroute from Venezuela to a U.S. Gulf coast port, and was abandoned as a total loss on July 31.

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

Lake Huron’s temp spikes above normal

7/22 - Manitoulin, ON –– Lake Huron is five degrees warmer than average for this time of year, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s (NOAA) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.

Water levels and water temperatures are important and interrelated indicators of weather and climate change in the Great Lakes. While water levels can be influenced by many factors that include precipitation, snowmelt runoff, evaporation rates or drought, water temperatures are primarily affected by air temperature.

“Water temperatures naturally fluctuate just like lake levels naturally fluctuate,” says Hannah Cann, coastal stewardship co-ordinator with the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation, “but what we’re seeing now is warmer temperatures across all the Great Lakes on the whole including, of course, Lake Huron.”

This is an indication of climate change. “When water temperatures change drastically in a short period of time it can also affect the reproductive abilities of certain fish,” says Ms. Cann. “Just like certain animals, chickens for example, they need so many hours of light to go into their reproductive phase and create eggs. The same thing happens with fish and with some species at risk fish, like lake sturgeon, their eggs will only be viable within a 2 C to 3 C range.”

This means these temperature fluctuations won’t trigger their reproductive systems to begin laying eggs or to go into mating season. It might actually kill off some species’ eggs, she adds. Monitoring lake temperatures is thus important to tracking species in certain coastal environments. “This high 5 C change, it’s 5 C higher than average for this time of year. This is indicative of a warming climate and can have serious consequences to these fish communities that rely on coastal wetlands and the nearshore environments to spawn.”

A 2016 report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stated that, “since 1995 the average surface waters have increased slightly for each of the Great Lakes. Recent increases in water temperature have mostly been driven by warming during the spring and summer months.” Trends could also relate in part to earlier thawing of winter ice; these are all indicative of a warming climate.

Altered spawning cycles are only one aspect of Great Lakes biodiversity affected by increased lake temperatures. The range distribution of species can be altered; this in turn can lead to the introduction of novel species into to ecosystem and impact the food chain within the lake. There have been some suggestions that warmer temperatures can possibly lead to an increase in the prevalence of waterborne pathogens which could lead to more and more frequent beach closures or algal blooms.

The Manitoulin Expositor

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
Cason J. Callaway arrived Duluth at 08:19 Tuesday morning with limestone to discharge at C. Reiss, and her fleetmate Presque Isle was inbound at 08:36 to pick up a load of iron ore at Canadian National. The Callaway finished her unload and was outbound for Two Harbors at 19:37. James R. Barker was due at 20:30 to load at CN. Presque Isle is expected to complete loading and depart Wednesday morning. Salties in port on Tuesday included Lake St. Clair, loading wheat at Riverland Ag; Barnacle, taking on wheat at CHS 2; and Timgad, anchored in the lake waiting to unload wind turbine components at Port Terminal. The BN dock in Superior was quiet again Tuesday, with no vessels scheduled to load there until Saturday when Algoma Guardian is due. Cason J. Callaway arrived Duluth at 08:19 Tuesday morning with limestone to discharge at C. Reiss, and her fleetmate Presque Isle was inbound at 08:36 to pick up a load of iron ore at Canadian National. The Callaway finished her unload and was outbound for Two Harbors at 19:37. James R. Barker was due at 20:30 to load at CN. Presque Isle is expected to complete loading and depart Wednesday morning. Salties in port on Tuesday included Lake St. Clair, loading wheat at Riverland Ag; Barnacle, taking on wheat at CHS 2; and Timgad, anchored in the lake waiting to unload wind turbine components at Port Terminal. The BN dock in Superior was quiet again Tuesday, with no vessels scheduled to load there until Saturday when Algoma Guardian is due.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Edwin H. Gott departed Two Harbors from South of #2 on July 21st at 02:42 for Nanticoke. Due Two Harbors at approx. 21:30 on July 21st is the Cason J. Callaway. She departed Duluth at 19:39 after unloading at C. Reiss in West Duluth. There is no inbound traffic due Two Harbors on July 22nd. Due Northshore Mining in Silver Bay on July 22nd is the American Integrity. Harbor Lookout has her taking a delay in the Twin Ports before heading to Silver Bay.

Thunder Bay, ON
Tuesday; 1:44 CSL Welland departed and is down bound. 11:12 Blair McKeil arrived at Viterra A to load grain. 13:46 Algoma Equinox departed for Sorel.

Marquette, MI– Fred A Tijan
No boats arrived on July 19 or July 20. Arriving on July 21 at 05:41 hrs. was the Kaye E. Barker. She departed at 18:32 hrs. for Dearborn with 25,900 tons of iron ore. For the month of July Marquette has loaded 264,850 tons of ore.

Southern Lake Michigan
Federal Rhine was at Burns Harbor Tuesday. Arthur M Anderson was at Buffington.

Northern Lake Huron
Bruce Mines: Monday; 23:18 Algoma Conveyor weighed anchor and proceeded to the dock to load trap rock. She departed Tuesday at 14:55 for Detroit.
Drummond Island: Tuesday; 2:28 Herbert C Jackson departed for Essexville.
Cheboygan: Sunday; 16:09 The tug Albert and tanker barge Margaret arrived at the US Oil Co dock to unload petroleum products.
Calcite: Tuesday; 6:55 American Mariner arrived to load.
Stoneport: Tuesday; 4:44 Olive L Moore / Menominee arrived to load limestone and departed at 15:35 down bound on Lake Huron.
Alpena: Monday; 20:44 Samuel De Champlain departed for Milwaukee.
Port Inland: Monday;19:51 Manitowoc departed for Ludington.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
Michipicoten passed MC just before midnite upbound. Baie Comeau passed downbound just after midnite. John D Leitch passed upbound al 12:45am heading for Corunna stoneyard. Great Republic passed upbound at 2:15am. Undaunted/Pere Marquette 41 passed downbound at 6am. Happy Rover passed downbound at 12:30pm. CSL Laurentien passed downbound at 2pm. Tug Nebraska had a stern line to the Lauentien and appeared to be acting as rudder or thruster as they headed downbound Calumet arrived at the MC stoneyard at 6:45pm for a nitetme unload. G3 Marquis should pass upbound at 7:45pm followed closely by Cuyahoga. Algoma Innovator should pass downbound around 7:30pm. Mix of sun and clouds, humid, temp 81 degrees, winds calm river calm.

Toledo, OH – Richard Gozinya
Waterfront reports indicate the American Century is fitting out.

Lake Erie Ports for Tuesday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: Calumet left at 07:31 for Marine City and Victory arrived at 08:01.
Cleveland: Algoma Buffalo arrived at 23:48 to load salt at Cargill and departed at 19:20, destination was given as Port Colborne. Federal Montreal was still in port. Sarah Andrie left at 09:30 for Indiana Harbor and Petite Forte left at 12:03 for Bath. NACC Capri arrived at 21:00 for Lafarge.
Fairport Harbor: Victory left at 23:17 for Marblehead.
Ashtabula: Clyde S. VanEnkevort left at 11:07 for Marblehead.
Conneaut: Radcliffe R. Latimer arrived at 13:11.
Nanticoke: Algoma Hansa departed at 08:16 for Sarnia. Algocanada was still in port and Algonova and Algoscotia were still anchored off of Port Dover and Algoterra will join them.

Picton, ON – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit was at Lehigh Cement on Tuesday afternoon.

On this day in 1961, the barge CLEVECO, originally lost with a crew of 22 during a December 02, 1942, storm on Lake Erie, was floated by salvagers, towed outside the shipping lanes, and intentionally sunk.

PERE MARQUETTE 22 (Hull#210) was launched on July 22, 1924, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. for the Pere Marquette Railway Co. One hundred years ago on 22 July 1900, the tug MATT HESSER was launched at Lorain, Ohio, by H. D. Root for Captain Burke of Erie.

The M.I. MILLS (wooden propeller tug, 122 foot, 152 tons, built in 1867, at Marine City, Michigan), which sank in a collision with the bark UNADILLA on 9 May 1873, was found on 22 July 1873, in 90 feet of water in Lake Huron off Sand Beach, Michigan. Plans were made to raise her at the cost of $5,000. This effort was unsuccessful as was another abortive attempt in 1895.

1965 MARIVIKI dated from 1940 as a) TEMPLE INN and visited the Seaway in 1960. The ship was beached in Colla Bay, near Mormugao, India, after developing leaks on a voyage from Madras, India, to Constanza, Romania. The hull later broke in two and was a total loss.

1967 A small fire erupted in the machine shop of the West German freighter TRANSAMERICA while a crewman was welding in Milwaukee. The blaze was soon brought under control. The ship last operated in 1978 as f) ARISTOTELES before being broken up at Gadani Beach, Pakistan.

1968 The Paterson bulk carrier CANADOC, loading at the Continental Elevator in Chicago, was struck on the starboard side by the Belgian vessel TIELRODE as it passed upsteam under tow. The latter returned through the Seaway as c) GEORGIOS C. in 1977 and was scrapped at Huangpo, China, as e) OPORTO in 1985.

1970 ULYSSES REEFER caught fire in Toronto resulting in an estimated $30,000 in damage. The ship first came inland in 1969 and returned as c) ITHAKI REEFER in 1972 prior to being scrapped at Blyth, Scotland, in 1973.

1989 MAR CATERINA, downbound at the Snell Lock, struck the fender boom and all Seaway navigation was temporarily delayed. The ship began Seaway trading as b) ASTORGA in 1985. As of 2012, the vessel is apparently still operating as e) ASPHALT TRADER.

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

Edgar B Speer lays up at Toledo

7/21 - Edgar B. Speer arrived in Toledo Monday for layup and is now moored at the CSX #1 Dock. This makes four 1,000 footers that are laid up in Toledo. American Century is at CSX #3 dock and has not sailed yet this year. At CSX #2 Dock is American Spirit and Walter J. McCarthy Jr. Toledo is now starting to look like a giant parking lot.

Denny Dushane

New Seaway tugboat arrives in Massena, New York

7/21 - Washington, DC – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) announced the arrival Monday of its new tugboat, Seaway Guardian, in Massena, New York. The vessel has been on a three-week journey through the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida, and up the Atlantic seaboard from the Gulf Island Shipyards in Houma, Louisiana, where it was constructed. Seaway Guardian will be the first new American-built tugboat to join SLSDC since the Seaway opened 61 years ago.

Construction of the Seaway Guardian, which is capable of operating in difficult ice conditions, began in 2018. The keel was laid on June 26, 2018 and the vessel launched on September 12, 2019. Sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico were completed in June of this year and the tug began its delivery voyage to SLSDC’s marine base in Massena on July 2.

Seaway Guardian’s primary missions will be buoy maintenance and ice management. It will also assist in firefighting and emergency operational response on the St. Lawrence Seaway. The new tug cost $24 million to construct as part of the SLSDC’s Asset Renewal Program. The tug will replace the 62-year-old vessel, Robinson Bay, which the SLSDC will maintain as back-up for the foreseeable future.

Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation

Great Lakes shipping stays afloat amid COVID-19

7/21 - Detroit, MI – The COVID-19 pandemic has hurt many sectors of the economy, but Great Lakes shipping appears to be mostly staying afloat.

Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. released a report Thursday showing total tonnage of goods down 8.4% in the first half of this year, but U.S. and Canadian grain up 3.3% from a year ago.

Iron ore, steel and iron shipments are down from last year but started to rebound last month with month-over-month increases.

"Through June, we saw shipments stabilizing, with traditional Seaway cargos including grain and steel on an uptick," said Craig H. Middlebrook, deputy administrator of the U.S. St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., in a release. "General cargo tonnage continues to be strong, attributable in large part to increasing movement of wind turbine components.”

Overall tonnage was at 11.7 million metric tons, down 8.4% compared to this time last year, according to the report. U.S. and Canadian grain was at 3,554,000 metric tons this year, a 3.3% increase. Dry bulk cargo was down 9.9% compared to last year and includes coke, stone, cement and clinkers, ores and concentrates and pig iron. Iron ore was down 14% compared to this time last year.

The top-performing commodities were grain, salt, gypsum, steel slab and asphalt.

Sri Talluri, professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University, said the report is good news. He said he attributes the freight activity in part to Europe and Asia flattening the curve with respect to COVID-19.

"So certainly recovery is unfolding in those parts of the world," he said. "Also, given that the trajectory of the disease is quite different in different parts of the U.S., it might be helping as well."

The Port of Monroe is among eight American ports across five Great Lakes states to handle shiploads of wind-related components. The domestic side of the port had a slow start to the season in April with the temporary shutdown of heavy industry, but picked up in May, said Paul C. LaMarre III, the director of the Port of Monroe, the state’s only seaport on Lake Erie.

The port’s international shipments are largely project-driven. The port is working with Spliethoff Group’s BigLift Shipping and Ventower Industry to move, handle and manufacture wind towers for a General Electric project in Isabella County.

The Port of Monroe is handling the tower section, machine heads and the hubs, LaMarre said, adding that the wind project “has had us exceptionally busy. We're having the most fruitful season in the port's history," he said. "That isn't necessarily the story that is spanning the entire system, but one thing is for sure is that the Great Lake's St. Lawrence Seaway System is resilient."

Work continues on at the port with workers socially distancing, wearing masks, taking temperatures and looking out for one another, LaMarre said.

“That has kept us in a position where we really haven’t missed a beat,” he said. “It’s allowed us to be efficient, safe and to this point, very successful despite some very challenging circumstances.”

The Detroit News

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
The only traffic in the Twin Ports on Monday was the arrival of Lake St. Clair, which raised anchor and entered port at 07:05 to load wheat at Riverland Ag. Barnacle was tied up at CHS 2 taking on wheat, while Timgad had her hook down in the lake waiting to unload at Port Terminal. Presque Isle, Cason J. Callaway, and James R. Barker are due on Tuesday.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Burns Harbor departed Two Harbors on July 20th at 06:40 for Indiana Harbor. Edwin H. Gott arrived Two Harbors on July 20th at 16:42 for South of #2. The Cason J. Callaway is due Two Harbors on July 21 after unloading stone at CN-Hallett #5 in Duluth. Tentatively she is due Two Harbors later in the afternoon of July 21st. This according to Harbor Lookout.

Thunder Bay, ON
Sunday; 23:40 Federal Dart arrived and went to anchor. Monday; 7:00 Algoma Innovator departed for Oshawa. 14:31 Lake Ontario weighed anchor and proceeded to the Superior Elevator to load grain. 14:52 The saltie Brant departed down bound.

St. Marys River
Upbound traffic on Monday included Blair McKeil, James R. Barker, Kaye E. Barker, Saginaw and Stewart J. Cort. Downbounders included Indiana Harbor and Algoma Innovator.

Milwaukee, WI – MKE Marine Reports
Tug Aiden William arrived from Calumet Harbor 08:17 Monday (7/20) with three empty river barges for loading at the COFCO elevator. This will make 45 barges loaded at COFCO this year. On July 1, the Army Corps of Engineers closed four locks on the Illinois Waterway for maintenance, severing the connection between the Great Lakes and New Orleans. Work should be completed before fall harvest season. This could impact barge traffic out of Milwaukee. Tug Prentiss Brown pushing barge St. Marys Challenger arrived from Charlevoix at 13:14 carrying cement for Kinnickinnic River terminal. Polsteam’s Iryda was still in port. Tug Sharon MI with barge Huron Spirit is expected Monday evening with Canadian steel. Frontenac is due Tuesday (7/21) with salt from Morton, Windsor.

Southern Lake Michigan
Joseph L. Block and Federal Rhine were at Burns Harbor Monday night. John G Munson was at Gary. American Courage was at Indiana Harbor.

Northern Lake Huron
Bruce Mines: Monday; 6:17 Laura L Van Enkevort departed and is down bound on Lake Michigan. 15:18 Algoma Conveyor arrived and went to anchor.
Thessalon: Monday; 5:18 Baie Comeau departed for Windsor.
Meldrum Bay: Sunday; 20:33 Defiance / Ashtabula departed for Muskegon. Kaye E Barker weighed anchor and proceeded to the loading dock. She departed Monday at 9:00 for Marquette.
Drummond Island: Monday; 14:21 Herbert C Jackson arrived to load limestone.
Calcite: Sunday; 22:07 Arthur M Anderson arrived to load limestone and departed Monday at 12:39 for Buffington.
Alpena; Monday; 2:40 GL Ostrander departed for Detroit. 10:42 Samuel De Champlain arrived to load cement products.
Port Inland: Monday; 14:05 Manitowoc arrived to load limestone.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Buffalo following repairs in Sarnia completed her salt run to Sandusky. Algoma Sault reains loading at Compass Minerals. Algoma Niagara remains anchored outside break walls to load salt next.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Monday Arrivals: Spartan/Spartan 2 arrived at the Waterfront Petroleum Terminal. Great Republic arrived at Motor City Materials to unload stone.

Lake Erie Ports for Monday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: Calumet arrived at 17:37 to load at Norfolk Southern.
Cleveland: Petite Forte was still at St. Mary's Cement and Federal Montreal was still at the Port docks. Sarah Andrie arrived at 09:25 and was at Shelley Materials. Algoma Buffalo arrived at 21:05. Thomas R. Morrish was dredging on the Cuyahoga.
Fairport Harbor: Victory arrived at 16:58.
Ashtabula: The research boat R/V Muskie arrived from Huron at 19:47. Clyde S. VanEnkevort arrived at 23:30.
Conneaut: Manitoulin departed for Quebec City at 14:49.
Nanticoke: Algocanada and Algoma Hansa were still in port. Anchored off of Port Dover were the Algonova and Algoscotia. Anchored at Port Colborne was the Algoterra, also destined for Nanticoke.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
At 1:06 EST, the Radcliffe R. Latimer arrived to offload grain from Thunder Bay. At 7:38 EST the Ocean tugs Ocean Golf and Ocean A. Gauthier arrived together from Toronto. At 9:35 EST, the G3 Marquis departed light for Thunder Bay after unloading ore. At 17:08 EST, the Radcliffe R. Latimer was outbound, headed towards the Welland Canal. At 17:29 EST, the Mississagi arrived with sand that was loaded in Fairport. The BBC Tennessee is in port loading grain, and the Damia Desgagnes is also in port, loading asphalt.

Picton, ON – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit departed Monday afternoon for Toronto.

$474M pig iron plant gets permit for Ashtabula site

7/21 - Ashtabula, OH – The Ohio EPA has approved an air permit for construction of the $474 million pig-iron manufacturing plant that a South African company proposes to build on 30 acres at the Kinder Morgan Pinney Dock Terminal here. The permit replaces one issued Feb. 6, 2019, OEPA said.

Petmin USA Inc., a subsidiary of Johannesburg-based Petmin, announced in January 2019 that it intended to produce 425 tons of nodular pig iron annually at the plant, and employ 100 workers. At the time, construction was expected to begin as soon as July 2019, according to published reports, with production beginning in 2021.

On March 4 JobsOhio announced it was providing a $5 million economic development grant and a $5 million revitalization grant to help finance the project. The city of Ashtabula is assisting as well with road improvements.

The OEPA air permit authorizes Petmin to install and operate production equipment for the manufacturing of merchant pig iron.

“Modeling shows allowed emission levels will not cause or contribute to [exceeding] National Ambient Air Quality Standards, ensuring that local air quality will be protected,” the agency said. “Emissions from the facility will include nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and greenhouse gases.”

Before issuing the air permit, Ohio EPA said it reviewed the draft permit to ensure it would comply with federal and state air pollution standards, laws and regulations. The agency reviewed and considered public comments received at the public hearing in May, and during the extended public comment period.

The high-purity nodular pig iron the plant is slated to produce is a niche commodity that is low in manganese, sulphur and phosphorous. The metal casting industry requires the product in order to produce ductile iron, a unique engineering alloy, according to Petmin’s website.

In announcing the project, Petmin said it selected Ashtabula from 11 potential North American sites.

Business Journal

Obituary: Captain Mark Vogt

7/21 - On Saturday, July 18, 2020 Captain Mark(us) Vogt, loving husband and father of 3 boys comfortably passed away at the age of 92. Mark was born on September, 16 1927 in Feldsted, Denmark to Jorgen and Helena Vogt. He immigrated to Canada in 1948, arriving at his aunt’s farm in Nova Scotia. He soon settled in Montreal, found his passion on the ships of the Great Lakes and started on what was to become a successful and respected career. He travelled back to Denmark and married a childhood friend Ruth (Rasmussen) March 1, 1953. Together they raised 3 boys, Henrik, Chris (Mark) and Danny.

Mark, a young immigrant with limited education, worked hard to educate himself in the skills and knowledge to become a respected Inland Waters Captain on the M/V Senneville. His hard work and dedication to doing things the right way landed him the promotion to Director of Navigation and Safety for Misener Transportation, St. Catharines, Ontario, responsible for the operations and safety of the fleet of vessels. After Mark’s retirement in 1987, he and Ruth were Snowbirds and spent the better part of 13 winters in their second home in Acadia, Florida. Mark loved to be active waterskiing to age 76, shingling his house at 78, and always having fun chasing his grandkids around the backyard pool. He played golf with his boys until his late 80’s. He completely restored a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle which can still be seen driving around St. Catharines. Mark instilled a strong work ethic in his boys which has carried down the generations.

Arrangements are entrusted to the George Darte Funeral Home, 585 Carlton St., St. Catharines. A private ceremony for family will be held at a later date.

The JAMES DAVIDSON and KINSMAN INDEPENDENT arrived under tow at Santander, Spain, on July 21, 1974, for scrapping.

On July 21, 1975, the GEORGE D. GOBLE arrived at Lorain, Ohio, with an unusual deck cargo loaded at American Ship Building Company's yard at South Chicago, Illinois. She was carrying the deckhouses for two Interlake Steamship Company thousand-foot self-unloaders being built at AmShip's Lorain yard. These vessels were completed as the JAMES R. BARKER and MESABI MINER.

On 21 July 1875, the schooner ELVA, which was built in Port Huron, Michigan, in 1861, for Capt. Sinclair, was sailing from Holland, Michigan, for Milwaukee, Wisconsin loaded with stove bolts. She capsized 12 miles from Milwaukee. Her crew took to the boats and made a landing in Kenosha and then rowed to Milwaukee. A tug was sent for the schooner and she was recovered.

In 1900, R. J. GORDON (wooden propeller passenger-package freighter, 104 foot, 187 gross tons, built in 1881, at Marine City, Michigan) was placed back in service carrying freight and passengers between Chicago and Grand Haven. She had burned in September 1899 at Chicago but was rebuilt during the winter.

On 21 July 1875, the old barge HURON, which had been in use for a number of years as a car ferry for the Grand Trunk Railroad at Port Huron/Sarnia, was sold to Sandie and Archie Stewart. They planned to convert her to a dry-dock by adding three feet to her sides and removing her arches. The sale price was $1,500 in gold.

1910 TRUDE R. WIEHE was destroyed by a fire at Portage Bay, Green Bay.

1911 Thirty plates were damaged when the WACCAMAW went aground in the St. Lawrence. The ship was later repaired at Buffalo.

1959 A collision in western Lake Erie between the CHARLES HUBBARD and the Swedish freighter SIGNEBORG resulted in damage to both ships. Both were repaired and continue in service. The latter is scrapped at La Spezia, Italy, after arriving as d) ALFREDO, on November 10, 1971. The former was sunk as a breakwall at Burns Harbor in 1966 after being idle at Milwaukee for several years. The hull was reported to have been subsequently scrapped there.

1964 The French freighter MARQUETTE began Great Lakes trading in 1953 and was lengthened in 1959 with the opening of the Seaway. Fire erupted enroute from Chicago to Marseilles, France, and the vessel was abandoned in the Atlantic. The gutted ship was towed to Brest, France, and was sold to French shipbreakers. All on board were saved.

1965 A smoky fire, that could be seen for miles, broke out in the cargo of rubber aboard the ORIENT TRADER at Toronto and the hull was towed into Toronto Bay and beached while firefighters battled the blaze. The Greek flag vessel was sold for scrap but before it departed for overseas, is was used in several episodes of the CBC television series “Seaway.” The hull was towed into Valencia, Spain, on July 11, 1966, for dismantling.

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

Bad news from lightship Huron museum

7/20 - After rain Sunday morning, more water has entered around the base of the Huron Lightship. The water raised the ship where it sits several inches and further eroded the sand that has encapsulated the ship since 1972. This has resulted in a broken gas line and serious erosion problems on the land side so the ship cannot be occupied will be closed until the issues can be addressed. Operators of the museum ship will be working with partners at the City of Port Huron, as well as insurance company to try to resolve this as quickly as possible. If you would like to help, donations are always accepted at www.phmuseum.org. Our other sites will continue to be open Wednesday through Sunday from 12 to 4.

Port Huron Museums

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
After finishing her cement unload at CRH, Federal Dart departed Duluth light at 10:03 Sunday morning for Thunder Bay. Paul R. Tregurtha was outbound at 19:01 loaded with coal from Midwest Energy. Barnacle was due at 23:00 to load wheat at CHS 2. Timgad and Lake St. Clair were both still anchored offshore with no ETA available for either vessel. There was no traffic in Superior on Sunday, and none is expected until Stewart J. Cort arrives later this week, possible for layup at Fraser Shipyards.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Burns Harbor arrived Two Harbors on July 19th at 07:17 for South of #2. As of 19:15 she was still at the loading dock. Due Two Harbors on July 20th is the Edwin H. Gott. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay had no traffic on July 19th and none scheduled for July 20th.

Thunder Bay, ON
Saturday; 5:13 The saltie Puna departed for Montreal. 22:00 The CSL self unloader Thunder Bay departed for Sydney NS. 22:20 Algoma Innovator weighed anchor and proceeded to Thunder Bay Terminals to load potash. Sunday; 18:38 CSL Welland arrived at Viterra A to load wheat.

St. Marys River
There were only three passages Saturday. Edwin H Gott was upbound in the morning, and Baie Comeau was downbound for Thessalon, also in the morning. Thunder Bay was downbound about 5 p.m.

Southern Lake Michigan
Federal Rhine remained at Burns Harbor Sunday night. Mesabi Miner was at Indiana Harbor. Happy Rover was at S. Chicago. John G Munson and American Courage are due at Gary early Monday.

Northern Lake Huron
Bruce Mines: Sunday; 18:51 Laura L Van Enkevort arrived to load trap rock.
Thessalon: Sunday; 16:28 Baie Comeau arrived to load stone
Meldrum Bay: Saturday; 21:48 arrived to load limestone. Sunday; 16:16 Kaye E Barker arrived and went to anchor. 20:33 Defiance / Ashtabula departed. Kaye E Barker weighed anchor and proceeded to the loading dock.
Drummond Island: Sunday 5:03 Victory / Maumee departed for Fairport.
Calcite: Sunday; 0:04 Undaunted / Pere Marquette 41 arrived to load. 1:23 Great Republic departed for Marine City. 1:24 Cason J Callaway arrived to load. 12:16 Undaunted / Pere Marquette 41 departed for Bay City. 19:30 Cason J Callaway departed for Duluth Superior.
Stoneport: Sunday; 1:20 Olive L Moore / Menominee departed for Marine City.
Alpena; Saturday; 21:48 Defiance / Ashtabula departed for Meldrum Bay. Sunday; 20:45 GL Ostrander arrived to load cement products.
Port Inland: Sunday; 4:38 Joseph L Block departed and was down bound on Lake Michigan.

Saginaw River – Todd Shorkey
Dorothy Ann - Pathfinder were inbound on the Saginaw River early Sunday morning, July 19th, carrying a split cargo for the Wirt Stone Docks in Bay City and Saginaw. The pair finished unloading by early afternoon and were outbound for the lake.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Buffalo was downbound 7 pm Sunday following unspecified repairs at Sarnia. Algoma Sault was loading at Compass Minerals 7.30 pm Sunday. Algoma Niagara anchored outside break walls to load next.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
Michipicoten passed MC downbound at 1:30 am Sunday. James R Barker arrived at the power plant for a coal unload at 2:30 am. At 6:3 0 pm, it was still there. Herbert C Jackson passed downbound at 3:15 am, then was back upbound to pass MC again in the early evening. Algoma Sault passed upbound at 3:45 am. Arthur M Anderson passed upbound at 6:15 am. Algoma Niagara passed upbound at 12:15 pm. Tundra passed upbound at 1 pm. Ojibway passed downbound at 1:3 0pm. Blair Mckeil passed upbound at 3:30 pm. Algonova passed downbound at 3:45 pm. Tug Sarah Andrie passed downbound at 4:15 pm. Great Republic arrived at the stoneyard at 6:30 pm. Saginaw should pass upbound in the early evening followed closely by Samuel deChamplain. Algoma Buffalo should pass MC downbound in the late evening. Periods of much needed rain throughout the day with gusty winds from the south-southwest, temp from the low 70s to the low 80s.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Herbert C Jackson was unloading stone at the St. Clair Aggregates dock on Sunday

Lake Erie Ports for Sunday – Bill Kloss
Sandusky: Saginaw left for Sault Ste. Marie, ON, at 00:05.
Cleveland: Samuel deChamplain left at 07:08 for Alpena and Petite Forte arrived at 08:24 for St. Mary's Cement.
Fairport Harbor: Mississagi left at 15:11 for Hamilton.
Ashtabula: American Integrity departed at 13:31 for Silver Bay.
Erie, Pa: Calumet was still in port.
Nanticoke: Algocanada and Algoscotia were in port. Algoma Hansa arrived at Port Dover at 00:23 and went to anchor.

Buffalo, NY – Brian R. Wroblewski
Manitoulin departed the Standard Elevator with the tug Vermont at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Rochester, NY – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit departed Lehigh Cement at 06:00 Sunday for Picton, Ont.

Picton, ON – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit arrived Sunday afternoon at the Lehigh Cement Plant Dock.

Dramatic lightning show over Lake Superior, video by crew of 1,000-foot freighter

7/20 - Thunderstorms producing lightning strikes over the Upper Peninsula late Saturday night turned into quite the dramatic light show for one freighter crew. Kyle Coburn, a mate aboard the Indiana Harbor, took some stunning video as the 1,000-foot freighter was making its way across Lake Superior.

He shared it with Andrea Guerriero, owner of Dre Designs - Great Lakes Marine Products, who runs a popular Facebook page for ship enthusiasts.

The big diesel-powered freighter, owned by American Steamship Company, today is headed east across Lake Superior and will be making its way downbound through the Soo Locks with a load of iron ore. From there, it will travel south down Lake Michigan until it reaches Burns Harbor in Indiana.

At the time this video was taken, the Indiana Harbor’s crew said they had slowed to about 9 knots from their typical 12 to 13 knots, so they could navigate safely through the storm, Guerriero said.

View the video here: https://www.mlive.com/weather/2020/07/dramatic-lightning-show-over-lake-superior-video-by-crew-of-989-foot-freighter.html

LEON FALK JR. was christened at Cleveland, July 20, 1961, after one trip to Duluth, Minnesota, for ore.

HORACE JOHNSON (Hull#805) was launched July 20, 1929, at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

JAY C. MORSE (Hull#438) was launched on July 20, 1907, at Cleveland, Ohio by American Shipbuilding Co. for the Mesaba Steamship Co. (Pickands & Mather & Co., mgr.) Sold Canadian in 1965, renamed b.) SHELTER BAY, used as a storage barge at Goderich, renamed c.) D. B. WELDON in 1979. In 1982, her pilothouse was removed and is used as a museum in Goderich Harbor. The WELDON was scrapped at Thunder Bay in 1984.

At the end of June, 1877, the ferry MYRTLE began running between Port Huron and Sarnia. However, on 20 July 1877, The Port Huron Times reported that "The ferry MYRTLE has been taken off the route on account of the extreme dullness of the times."

The scow DIXIE burned during the night of 20 July 1875, while lying at Kenyon's dock in East China Township on the St. Clair River.

1940: The first LACHINEDOC ran aground at Ile-aux-Coudres but was refloated the same day after 600 tons of coal were jettisoned. The vessel became b) QUEENSTON in 1946 and was sunk as a dock facing at Bob-Lo Park in 1962.

1963: Thick fog prevailed overnight on the St. Lawrence contributing to three accidents. The TRITONICA sank after a collision with the ROONAGH HEAD off Ile d'Orleans with the loss of 33 lives. To the west, the Swiss freighter BARILOCHE ran into the CALGADOC (ii) and then veered into the CANADOC (ii) before all ships on the water went to anchor. BARILOCHE later visited the Seaway as b) ST. CERGUE in 1967 and as c) CALVIN in 1978. It was scrapped at Shanghai, China, in 1985.

ROONAGH HEAD received significant bow damage in her collision but was repaired and operated until she arrived at Castellon, Spain, for scrapping on September 14, 1971.

1964: ZENICA went aground in the Straits of Mackinac enroute to Chicago and was lightered by the MARQUIS ROEN and released. She passed downbound at Port Huron under tow. This vessel was beached at Karachi, Pakistan, for scrapping as f) CONSTANZA on June 1, 1980.

1965: The Norwegian freighter LYNGENFJORD sustained stern damage when it backed into the SALMELA while leaving the dock at Montreal. The former made 35 trips to the Great Lakes from 1959 through 1967 and was scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, after arriving prior to May 3, 1980, as c) EASTERN VALOUR. The latter, a British vessel, began Great Lakes service in 1965 and arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping on April 21, 1985, as c) ELENI.

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

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
The only traffic through the Duluth entry on Wednesday was Ashtabula/tug Defiance, which arrived at 09:28 loaded with limestone for Graymont Superior. The pair was expected to shift to Midwest Energy Wednesday evening to load petroleum coke. Also in port were Mesabi Miner, loading iron ore pellets at CN; Federal Dart, unloading powdered cement at CRH; and Juno, taking on wheat at Gavilon. The latter has been expected to depart for the past few days now but hasn't, so her departure could happen anytime. Mesabi Miner should finish loading at CN early Thursday. In Superior on Wednesday, CSL Assiniboine arrived at 14:49 and headed to BN for a load of iron ore.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Edwin H. Gott departed Two Harbors on July 14th at 21:13 from South of #2 for Conneaut. Two Harbors had no traffic on July 15th and none scheduled for July 16th. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay saw the departure of the American Integrity at 05:59 on July 15th for Ashtabula. Due Silver Bay on July 16th is the Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader.

Thunder Bay, ON
Tuesday; 22:18 The tug Sharon M I arrived with the Atlantic Huron tow at the main anchorage. Atlantic Huron went to anchor and Sharon M I departed at 22:39 for Algoma Steel, Sault Ste Marie, ON. Wednesday; 7:14 Atlantic Huron was towed by harbor tugs to a layup dock at the Current River Shipyards. 16:18 Manitoulin departed for Buffalo.

Marquette, MI – Fred A Tijan
July 14 the tug Victory with barge Maumee arrived at 19:02 hrs and departed July 15 at 01:42 hrs. for Toledo, Ohio with 25,500 tons of iron ore.

St. Marys River
Wednesday’s upbound traffic included CSL Laurentien, Ojibway and Erie Trader/Clyde S. VanEnkevort. Downbounders included Cuyahoga and Great Republic early, followed by Kaministiqua, Algocanada (from Soo Harbor), Stewart J. Cort and Victory/Maumee. Sharon M 1 tug returned from towing Atlantic Huron to Thunder Bay and will most likely be reuniting with her barge Huron Spirit at Algoma Steel.

Green Bay, WI – Jon
On Wednesday at 4:42 pm the Kaye E. Barker arrived from Toledo ,OH, with coal for the C. Reiss Coal Company Terminal.

Southern Lake Michigan
Calypso and Iryda were at Burns Harbor Wednesday night. Federal Rhine arrived. Burns Harbor was at Indiana Harbor.

Northern Lake Huron
Meldrum Bay: Wednesday;10:14 Algoma Innovator departed for Sarnia. 20:20 Joyce L Van Enkevort arrived to load limestone.
Bruce Mines: Wednesday; 5:27 Saginaw arrived to load trap rock and departed at 16:14 for Sarnia.
Port Dolomite: Wednesday; 2:19 Joseph L Block departed for Indiana Harbor. 19:31 Olive L Moore / Menominee arrived to load.
Calcite: Wednesday; 14:30 American Mariner arrived to load.
Stoneport: Wednesday; 12:27 Laura L Van Enkevort arrived to load limestone.
Port Inland: Wednesday; 20:20 Arthur M Anderson arrived to load limestone.

Saginaw River – Todd Shorkey.
Laura L. VanEnkevort - Joseph H. Thompson were inbound on the Saginaw River on Tuesday, July 14th, with a split cargo. The pair stopped at the Burroughs North Dock in Essexville to unload a partial cargo before continuing upriver to finish unloading at the ACE-Saginaw Paving/Buena Vista Dock. Olive L. Moore - Menominee were inbound Tuesday afternoon, calling on the Bay Aggregates Dock at Port Fisher in Bay City to unload.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Niagara cleared 3.39 pm Wednesday downbound with salt for Bowmanville. Algoma Buffalo began loading at Compass Minerals.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
Tug Prentiss Brown and barge were downbound at Marysville at 3:45 am Wednesday. Spartan/Spartan II passed MC upbound at 3:45 am. Alpena passed MC downbound at 3:15 am. John G Munson was upbound off Harsens Island at 3:45 am. Happy Rover passed MC upbound at 7:30am, then passed Paul R Tregurtha arriving at the power plant for a coal unload. At 3:30pm the Tregurtha was downbound most likely headed for Monroe. Kathy Lynn passed downbound at 9:15am. Federal Nagara passed downbound at 10:30 am. Algoma Harvester passed downbound at 11:15 am. Frontenac passed downbound at 2:30 pm. Algoma Guardian should pass MC mid evening while Federal Yoshino should pass in late evening, both vessels upbound. Mix of sun and clouds, winds light from the south-southeast, temp 82 degrees F.

Lake Erie Ports for Wednesday – Bill Kloss
Sandusky: The Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin departed for Quebec City.
Cleveland: Prentiss Brown arrived and proceeded to St. Marys Cement to unload.
Ashtabula: Lake St. Clair left Ashtabula at 17:48 for Duluth and CSL Welland came in from anchorage at 18:16.
Nanticoke: Federal Yoshino left at 08:36 for Thunder Bay. Algonova and Whitefish Bay are still in port and the CSL Niagara is anchored off of Port Dover, arriving at 18:44.

Picton, ON – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit was at Lehigh Cement Plant Dock Wednesday evening.

DETROIT EDISON, of 1955, departed Quebec City July 16th 1986, along with former fleet mate SHARON, in tow of the U.S. tug PRUDENT, to Brownsville, Texas for scrapping.

The SAGINAW BAY departed Quebec City on July 16, 1985, in tandem with the E.B. BARBER, towed by the Polish tug KORAL for scrapping at Vigo, Spain.

NORTHERN VENTURE, a.) VERENDRYE of 1944, entered Great Lakes service July 16, 1961, upbound light for the Canadian lake head to load grain.

On July 16, 1935, the BRUCE HUDSON capsized on Lake Ontario off Cobourg, Ontario, while in tow of the wooden-hulled tug MUSCALLONGE.

Keel-laying of the CHI-CHEEMAUN (Hull#205) was on July 16, 1973, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. for Ontario Northland Transport Commission.

CATARACT (wooden propeller, 15 foot', 352 tons, built in 1852, at Buffalo) caught fire on 16 July 1861, 5 miles off Erie, Pennsylvania. She became an inferno astern in just a few minutes and this prevented her boats from being launched. Four died. Some were saved by clinging to floating wreckage and some others were rescued by a small fishing boat. The schooner ST PAUL picked up some survivors. Among those picked up by Captain Mosher of the ST PAUL, were Captain McNally and the CATARACT's carpenter. Capt. Mosher had rescued these same two men in 1858, when the propeller INDIANA was lost in Lake Superior.

On 16 July 1873, the new barge MINNEAPOLIS was towed to Detroit for outfitting. She had just been launched four days earlier at Marine City, Michigan. While on the way to Detroit, a Canadian man named Sinclair fell overboard and drowned. On 16 July 1874, The Port Huron Times reported that "the old steamer REINDEER has been rebuilt to a barge by L. C. Rogers at H. C. Schnoor's shipyard at Fair Haven, [Michigan]. Her beautiful horns have been taken down, [she carried a set of large antlers], her machinery and cumbersome side-wheels removed, and she has been fully refitted with center arch and deck frame complex."

July 16, 1961, the PIONEER CHALLENGER entered service. Built in 1943, as a T-3 tanker a.) MARQUETTE, renamed b.) U.S.S. NESCHANIC (AO-71) in 1943, c.) GULFOIL in 1947, d.) PIONEER CHALLENGER in 1961, e.) MIDDLETOWN in 1962, and f.) AMERICAN VICTORY in 2006.

1911 ¬ MAINE, upbound with a load of coal, caught fire in the St. Clair River and was run aground on the Canadian shore. The crew escaped.

1958 ¬ The Swedish freighter ERHOLM and the FRANK ARMSTRONG of the Interlake fleet were in a collision in northern Lake St. Clair with minor damage to both ships. ERHOLM had earlier been a Great Lakes caller as a) ERLAND and later came through the Seaway in 1959-1960. It returned inland again in 1961 and 1962 as c) OTIS. The ship arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping as h) DIMITRA K. on August 25, 1980.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, 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.

Officials investigating after 'rare' collision between ships in Welland Canal

7/13 - Welland Canal - Officials are investigating how two cargo vessels came to collide in the Welland Canal on Saturday during what should have been a routine manoeuvre. Videos shared on social media show the Florence Spirit and Alanis crashing into one another, causing damage.

The canal is located in southern Ontario and connects Lake Ontario with Lake Erie. The collision occurred at about 4 p.m. near Port Robinson, said Jean Aubry-Morin, vice-president of external relations for the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. He described the crash as "rare."

"It's a routine passage. It's an area that is common. Obviously, as witnessed by the public, there was an unfortunate incident that the two vessels collided."

Alanis was heading up the canal toward Duluth, Minn., with a load of wind turbine parts, while the Florence Spirit was heading down to Quebec, Aubry-Morin said. No one was injured, and there was no fuel spill or other environmental impact, he said.

Both vessels have since been moved to safe locations, where they will undergo complete inspections. Investigators are now working to determine how the two ships came to collide.

"We don't know if it's a mechanical failure of one of the vessels, most probably the Florence Spirit, or if it's a manoeuvre issue. At this point, it's too early to say," Aubry-Morin said.

Vessels pass in that part of the canal hundreds of times each shipping season, especially at the location where the two ships crashed, he said. "In fact, it's a preferred location for passing because there's plenty of space, speed is limited and it's typically a safe area for passage," Aubry-Morin said. "It's very unfortunate that this situation happened. We are curious to find what caused the situation."

He said Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) will also be investigating.

CBC

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner.
Algoma Enterprise departed Duluth at 09:04 Sunday morning for Bath loaded with petroleum coke, and Paul R. Tregurtha arrived at 13:05 to load coal at SMET. Presque Isle spent Sunday under the shuttles at Canadian National, and was still at the dock as of 20:00 with an unknown departure time. Edgar B. Speer was moored on the opposite side of the dock waiting for her turn to load. Juno was still in port loading wheat at Gavilon. In Superior, Stewart J. Cort arrived at 07:57 to load iron ore pellets at Burlington Northern. She had originally been expected to depart at 18:00 but was still loading as of 20:00.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
The Burns Harbor departed Two Harbors on July 11th at 21:18 for Indiana Harbor. Due Two Harbors on July 13th is the Great Republic. As of noon on July 12th she is below the Soo. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay has no scheduled traffic on July 13th.

Thunder Bay, ON
Sunday; 6:19 Federal Niagara arrived at Thunder Bay Terminals to load. 10:59 Algoma Harvester arrived at the Superior Elevator to load wheat. 13:00 Kaministiqua arrived at the Richardson Current River Terminal to load wheat. 14:37 Frontenac left layup and proceeded to Viterra A to load wheat.

Marquette, MI ¬ Fred A Tijan.
July 11 saw the arrival of the Cuyahoga at 17:04 hrs. She departed at 23:08 hrs for Algoma Steel-Soo. Arriving July 12 at 06:23 was the Saginaw. She departed at 13:48 hrs for Algoma Steel-Soo. For the month of July seven ships have arrived and departed with 153,650 tons of iron ore.

St. Marys River
Local reports indicate the tug Sharon M 1 will tow the damaged Atlantic Huron to Thunder Bay for indefinite layup, however a departure time has not been announced.

Southern Lake Michigan
Timgad and Calypso were at Burns Harbor Sunday night. Iryda was at anchor waiting for a dock. Calumet and Joseph L. Block, Erie Tradder/Clyde S. VanEnkevort were at Indiana Harbor. Flevoborg was at S. Chicago.

Northern Lake Huron
Meldrum Bay: Sunday; 10:37 Whitefish Bay arrived to load limestone.

Port Dolomite: Sunday; 6:03 Herbert C Jackson arrived to load limestone and departed at 17:45 for Essexville.

Calcite: Saturday; 23:12 John G Munson arrived to load and departed Sunday at 12:07 for Fairport.

Port Inland: Sunday; 1:40 Cason J Callaway arrived to load limestone and departed at 16:48 down bound on Lake Michigan. 18:29 Manitowoc arrived to load limestone.

Saginaw River – Todd Shorkey
Olive L. Moore - Menominee were inbound on the Saginaw River late Saturday night, July 11th, carrying a split cargo. The pair made stops at the Burroughs North Dock in Essexville, Burroughs Materials Dock in Zilwaukee and the Lafarge Stone Dock in Saginaw. They were outbound Sunday morning.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Innovator cleared 2.59 am Sunday loaded with salt upbound. Algoma Niagara arrived 11.54 am Sunday loading at Compass Minerals, salt for Toledo.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Calusa Coast and Delaware were loading at the Marathon Asphalt Terminal on Sunday

Lake Erie Ports for Sunday – Bill Kloss
Sandusky: Algoma Sault left for Trois Rivieres at 14:46.

Lorain: Dorothy Ann arrived from Marblehead at 17:27 to unload stone at LaFarge. After unloading she will head to Cleveland.

Cleveland: BBC Volga had a brief visit to the Port and has departed for Montreal. Mississagi left at 14:04 for Bruce Mines and American Courage departed for Ashtabula at 14:26.

Ashtabula: The saltie Lake St. Clair arrived at 11:39.

Nanticoke: Algocanada left at 02:58 for Sault Ste. Marie. Algoma Hansa departed at 14:30 for Sorel-Tracy and Algoscotia left for Sarnia at 14:45. Federal Yoshioka was still in port and Algoma Transport departed with no destination given.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
The Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin arrived at 5:00 EST to unload another load of coal from Sandusky. The tanker Sterling Energy departed for a typical trip to Port Weller at 13:27 EST. At 18:18 EST, the BBC Florida was fully loaded with grain and outbound, headed overseas. The Sterling Energy is expected to return from Port Weller at 21:15 EST, and the Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin is expected to depart late Sunday night for Conneaut. The Federal Clyde was in port loading grain and the Greenwing was at anchor.

Buffalo, NY – Brian R. Wroblewski
The salt water ship BBC Tennessee arrived at 5:30 PM on July 12th with more windmill parts from Denmark. She came in pretty quick through the piers at the South Entrance considering the high wind at the time and met the tug Vermont near the South Side light. The tug took up a position on the Tennessee’s port quarter and they slowed down off the entrance to the Lackawanna Canal. The ship turned up the Outer Harbor but came to a stop at an odd angle from the Gateway dock. The tug shoved on her stern and the two of them rode the current and wind right up to the corner knuckle of the pier. The Vermont then eased the stern towards the canal and they basically pivoted the whole ship right in. That was the most unusual approach to Lackawanna I’ve ever seen, but however they did it, it worked and the ship was secure at the dimensional unloading apron there by 5:45PM. Her tug was released and the Tennessee was all set to start unloading later that evening. American Mariner was still unloading at the Frontier elevator after arriving in Buffalo on the night of the 11th.

Picton, ON – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit was at Lehigh Cement Plant on Sunday evening.

Algoma's straight-deck bulk freighter ALGOWEST was christened at Collingwood on July 13, 1982. She was converted to a self-unloader in 1998, and renamed b.) PETER R. CRESSWELL in 2001.

SASKATCHEWAN PIONEER (Hull#258) was launched July 13, 1983, at Govan, Scotland, by Govan Shipbuilders Ltd. for Pioneer Shipping Ltd. (Misener Transportation Ltd., mgr.). Renamed b.) LADY HAMILTON in 1995. Purchased by Voyageur Marine Transport in 2006, she now sails as KAMINISTIQUA.

The LIGHTSHIP 103 was opened to visitors on July 13, 1974, at the city's Pine Grove Park along the St. Clair River.

The rebuilt BOSCOBEL was launched at the Peshtigo Company yard at Algonac, Michigan, on 13 July 1876. Originally built in 1867, as a passenger/package freight propeller vessel, she burned and sank near Ft. Gratiot in 1869. The wreck was raised, but no work was done until January 1876, when she was completely rebuilt as a schooner-barge at Algonac. She sank again in the ice on Lake Erie in 1895, and was again raised and rebuilt. She lasted until 1909, when she sank in the middle of Lake Huron during a storm.

On 13 July 1876, the Port Huron Weekly Times listed the following vessels as being idle at Marine City, Michigan: Steam Barges BAY CITY, D W POWERS and GERMANIA; steamer GLADYS; schooners TAILOR and C SPADEMAN; and barges MARINE CITY and ST JOSEPH.

On 13 July 1876, The Detroit Tribune reported that "the captain of a well-known Oswego vessel, on his last trip to Oswego, found that the receipts of the trip exceeded the expenses in the neighborhood of $250, and stowed $210 of the amount away in a drawer of his desk on the schooner. The money remained there some days before the captain felt the necessity of using a portion of it, and when he opened the drawer to take out the required amount he found that a family of mice had file a pre-emption claim and domiciled themselves within the recess, using the greenbacks with the utmost freedom to render their newly chosen quarters absolutely comfortable. A package containing $60 was gnawed into scraps the size of the tip of the little finger, while only enough of the larger package containing $150 remained to enable the astonished seaman to determine the numbers of the bills, so that the money can be refunded to him by the United States Treasury Department. The captain made an affidavit of the facts, and forwarded it and the remnants of the greenbacks to Washington, with the view of recovering the full value of the money destroyed. He is now on the way to Oswego with his vessel, and no doubt frequently ruminates over the adage, "The best laid schemes of mice and men . . .”

1941: The first COLLINGDOC was inbound with coal for the Thames River when it struck a mine off Southend, England, and sank. There were at least two casualties. The hull was later refloated and sunk along with another ship, believed to be the PONTO, as part of the Churchill Barriers off Scapa Flow, in the northern United Kingdom. In time, sand has blown in and covered much of the hull with only the cement-encased pilothouse visible at last report.

1978: OLAU GORM, best remembered as one of 4 freighters that had to spend the winter of 1964-1965 on the Great Lakes due to ice closing the Seaway, ran aground as f) FAST BREEZE in the Red Sea. The ship was enroute to from Piraeus, Greece, to Gizan, Saudi Arabia, and was refloated, with severe damage, on July 16. It was soon sold to Pakistani shipbreakers and was broken up at Gadani Beach in 1979.

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

Ships collide on Welland Canal; investigation underway says Seaway official

7/12 - Welland, ON – Alex Stewart didn’t expect his first boat-watching experience along the Welland Canal to include a collision between two vessels on the 43-kilometre long waterway between lakes Erie and Ontario. But that’s what he got — and captured on video — Saturday afternoon in Welland.

“I would have never thought I’d see that,” he said in a Facebook interview with The Tribune.

Stewart, who lives about an hour northwest of Guelph, was out walking with a friend when they saw McKeil Marine’s Florence Spirt appear to drift into the path of dship Carriers’ Alanis. The two vessels — the Florence Spirt heading down the canal, the Alanis heading up — struck each other on their starboard sides around the anchor port.

In Stewart’s video, an alarm is heard sounding before the two vessels hit, then’s there’s a loud crunch and scraping noise. “The crash was loud … but coming from a racing background it wasn’t that loud,” he said.

In the video, the two vessels then stop before the Alanis, an ocean-going vessel, is pushed back toward the east bank of the canal and the Florence Spirt heads bow first toward the west bank.

St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp.’s Jean Aubry-Morin, vice president of external relations, said the collision took place at 3:55 p.m. south of Port Robinson and is now under investigation by seaway officials.

Because the collision involved two vessels passing each other, Transport Canada officials were headed to investigate as well. Aubry-Morin said the two vessels collided starboard side to starboard side and added there was more damage to the Florence Spirit, which was sitting lower in the water.

“Normally, they would be passing port side to port side,” he said, adding the area is one where upbound and downbound vessels pass each other. Downbound ships are heading to Lake Ontario from Lake Erie, while unbound vessels are heading to Lake Erie from Lake Ontario.

The website Marine Traffic listed Grand Anse, Quebec as the destination for the Burlington-headquartered McKeil Marine vessel. The dship Carriers’ MV Alanis was carrying a load of wind turbine parts, but there was no destination listed for those parts. dship Carriers has offices in Hamburg, Houston, Tokyo, Mumbai, Shanghai and Singapore.

“No one was injured, and there was no pollution. Seaway inspectors were looking over both ships,” said Aubry-Morin.

After the collision, the Alanis made its way to Wharf 12, the Stone Dock, at Ramey’s Bend in Port Colborne, while Florence Spirit docked at Wharf 10, which sits just east of Bradley Avenue in Welland. Wharf 10 is not publicly accessible.

View Alex’s video at this link: https://www.facebook.com/alex.stewart.9421/videos/2725755084193201

Steel imports fall 16.9% this year

7/12 - Steel import permit applications in the United States fell 12.3% to 2 million tons in June as the coronavirus crimped demand. It was, however, a 10.9% increase from the 1.8 million tons of steel the United States imported in May, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis data.

Last month, permits for finished steel products that would require no further processing in the United States, such as at service centers or the 20 steel companies at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, fell 5.7% to 1.4 million tons, down from 1.5 million tons in May. In June, imports of light shapes bars rose by 77%, sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized by 68%, cold finished bars by 55%, line pipe by 39% and structural pipe and tubing by 19%.

So far this year, imports of light shapes bars are up 25% and tin free steel by 20% year-over-year, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

For the first six months of the year, imports of steel fell 16.9% to 12.9 million tons. Imports of finished steel products plunged 25.3% to 8.7 million tons, capturing 21% of the market share in the United States.

So far this year, imports have grabbed 19% of the market share.

The largest offshore suppliers in June were South Korea, Brazil, Taiwan, Germany and Japan. During the first six months of 2020, imports have fallen 21% from South Korea, 41% from Japan, and 40% from Germany.

Steel production by domestic producers like ArcelorMittal USA and U.S. Steel, two of the Region's largest employers, have fallen by 19% thus far this year, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

NWI Times

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner.
Algoma Enterprise arrived Duluth at 05:12 Saturday morning to unload salt at C. Reiss. Great Lakes Trader/tug Joyce L. VanEnkevort departed at 06:50 with iron ore pellets from CN, and James R. Barker was outbound at 07:53 after loading coal at Midwest Energy. Edgar B. Speer arrived at 15:39 and tied up at CN #6 east to wait for her turn at the loading dock. Arthur M. Anderson was outbound from Hallett #5 at 18:56 for Gary with blast furnace trim. Presque Isle, which had arrived on Friday night and moored at CN #6 east, shifted to the loading dock after Great Lakes Trader cleared. She was still loading Saturday night and should depart Sunday morning. The Enterprise shifted to SMET after her discharge was complete and began loading petroleum coke. Juno was still in port Saturday loading wheat at Gavilon. There was no traffic in Superior on Saturday, however Stewart J. Cort should arrive Sunday morning to load.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
As of 19:45 on July 11th the Burns Harbor was still at South of #2 in Two Harbors. There is no inbound traffic scheduled for neither Two Harbors or Northshore Mining in Silver Bay on July 12th.

Thunder Bay, ON
Saturday; 0:20 The saltie Isadora departed for Montreal. 0:24 Evans Spirit arrived at the Richardson Main Terminal to load grain. 12:39 Tim S Dool arrived at the G3 elevator to load wheat. 18:35 Evans Spirit departed for Port Cartier. Waterfront reports indicate the crew of the Frontenac has been called back. She will replace the Atlantic Huron because of her recent incident at the Soo Locks.

Marquette, MI - Fred A Tijan.
Kaye E. Barker arrived July 10 at 10:57 hr and departed at 23:49 hr for Toledo, Ohio. The Cuyahoga arrived July 11 at 17:04 hr. For the month of July only 5 boats have loaded at the ore dock. Total ore shipped is 117,175 tons.

St. Marys River
Upbound traffic Saturday included Paul R. Tregurtha, Federal Nagara, Kaministiqua, Algoma Harvester. Downbound traffic included Kaye E. Barker, CSL St-Laurent and Isadora. Saginaw departed Algoma Steel upbound. Atlantic Huron remained tied up at the Algoma Export Dock.

Milwaukee, WI – MKE Marine Reports
Canada Steamship Lines’ Whitefish Bay arrived Saturday (7/11) at 00:49 with deicing salt from Morton’s mines in Windsor, Ontario. After dropping roughly 30,000 metric tons on the open dock, slip one, outer harbor, she cleared for Meldrum Bay at 08:24. That makes 23 boatloads of salt delivered at Milwaukee in 2020. Undaunted/Pere Marquette 41 arrived light from Ludington at 01:41 to load coal ash from WE Energies at the city’s Heavy Lift Dock. Tug/barge cleared for Alpena at 11:21. Pushing barge St. Marys Challenger, tug Prentiss Brown arrived from Charlevoix at 06:43 with cement for the Kinnickinnic River terminal.

Southern Lake Michigan
Timgad remained at Burns Harbor Saturday night, with Iryda anchored waiting for dock space. Indiana Harbor was at her namesake port, with Calumet due Sunday. Flevoborg was at S. Chicago.

Northern Lake Huron
Thessalon: Friday; 20:50 Laura L Van Enkevort departed for Marine City.

Stoneport: Saturday; 5:04 Olive L Moore / Menominee departed for the Saginaw River.

Alpena: Saturday; 0:00 The cement carrier Alpena departed for Green Bay.

Port Inland: Saturday; 9:44 Joseph L Block arrived to load limestone and departed at 14:47 for Indiana Harbor.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Innovator arrived 12.18 p.m. Saturday and was loading salt at Compass Minerals. Algoma Niagara is expected next

Lake Erie Ports for Saturday – Bill Kloss
Sandusky: Manitoulin left for Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma Sault came in from anchorage at 19:29.

Cleveland: Arrivals were BBC Volga at 14:12 for the Port, dock 22E and American Courage at 20:30 from Ashtabula. Departures were Algoma Buffalo at 05:37 for Oshawa with salt, Herbert C. Jackson for Cedarville, Defiance at 13:53 for Sault Ste. Marie and Dorothy Ann at 19:47 for Marblehead.

Conneaut: Edwin H. Gott left for Two Harbors at 15:44.

Nanticoke: Algonova finally departed at 23:00 Friday for Sarnia which allowed Algocanada to come in from anchorage. Algoscotia remained anchored and Algoma Hansa was still in port. Federal Yoshino was in port and Algoma Transport was due in.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
The CSL Tadoussac arrived at 00:49 EST with salt from Fairport. The Sea Eagle II and her barge St. Mary’s Cement II arrived at 11:07 EST from Cleveland to take a delay. The CSL Tadoussac departed after unloading at 14:52 EST bound for Bowmanville. The Federal Clyde and BBC Florida both were loading grain throughout the day, while the Greenwing sat at anchor for another day.

Picton, ON – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit arrived at Lehigh Cement Plant Dock on Saturday afternoon.

Seaway – Rene Beauchamp
Around 11:00 Saturday, off the Promenade Bellerive park in Montreal, the CSL Niagara broke down. It drifted in front of the docks of Montreal East before anchoring. At around 12:30 the engines were restarted and the vessel docked while waiting for an inspector.

On this day in 1978, the keel for Hull #909 was laid at Toledo, Ohio, after Interlake Steamship and Republic Steel signed a 25-year haulage contract. Hull#909 was to be named WILLIAM J. DE LANCEY and renamed PAUL R. TREGURTHA in 1990.

On July 12, 2005, the DAY PECKINPAUGH, under tow of the tug BENJAMIN ELLIOT, departed the lakes through the New York State Barge Canal to Lockport, New York for a new life as a traveling history museum.

The BELLE RIVER, renamed b.) WALTER J. McCARTHY JR in 1990, was christened on July 12, 1977, as American Steamship's first thousand-footer and the first thousand-footer built at Bay Shipbuilding.

The H. M. GRIFFITH (Hull#203) was launched July 12, 1973, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards for Canada Steamship Lines. Rebuilt with a new cargo section in 2000, renamed b.) RT. HON. PAUL J. MARTIN.

In 1986, when ENDERS M. VOORHEES was chained together with her sisters, A.H. FERBERT and IRVING S. OLDS, a severe thunderstorm struck Duluth, Minnesota, pushing the trio across St. Louis Bay, eventually grounding them near Superior, Wisconsin. It was discovered that the force of the storm had pulled the bollards out of the Hallett Dock No. 5, thus releasing the ships.

On July 12, 1958, Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd.'s FRANK A. SHERMAN entered service, departing Port Weller Dry Docks, for Duluth and a load of iron ore on its maiden voyage.

On 12 July 1871, ADVANCE (wooden scow-schooner, 49 tons, built in 1847, at Fairport, Ohio), was bound for Detroit from Cleveland with a load of coal. She and the steamer U S GRANT collided near South Bass Island (Put-in-Bay) in Lake Erie and ADVANCE sank. Her crew escaped in the yawl.

On 12 July 1852, CITY OF OSWEGO (wooden propeller passenger-package freight vessel, 138 foot, 357 tons, built in 1852, at Buffalo, New York) collided with the steamer AMERICA and sank off Willoughby, Ohio, a few miles east of Cleveland. 15 lives were lost. This was CITY OF OSWEGO's first season of operation.

On 12 July 1889, T.H. ORTON (wooden barge, 262 gross tons, built in 1873, at Buffalo, New York) anchored off Marblehead, Ohio on Lake Erie to ride out a storm. She dragged her anchors and was driven ashore where she was declared a total wreck. She was recovered and just two years later, at the same place, this incident was repeated.

190:9 The ore laden JOHN B. COWLE (i) was struck amidships by the ISAAC M. SCOTT off Whitefish Point, Lake Superior, and sank with the reported loss of 11 lives. 1917: GEORGE N. ORR was wrecked at Savage Point in the Strait of Northumberland, Prince Edward Island, on her way to New York City and wartime saltwater service. The vessel had been cut in two and towed from the lakes to be rejoined at Montreal. 1969: The deep-sea tug MISSISSIPPI arrived at Bilbao, Spain, with the lakers DONNACONA (ii) and BEN E. TATE, for scrapping.

1977: The stern section of the former canaller BIRCHTON was raised at Halifax after the two parts, which had been created for use as pontoons in the construction of offshore drilling platforms, sank at the dock.

1985: MONTY PYTHON first visited the Great Lakes as a) MONTE ZALAMA in 1970. It returned as b) MONTY PYTHON after being renamed in 1985. The ship drifted aground in the St. Lawrence off La Ronde while loading scrap at Montreal and had to be lightered to P.S. BARGE NO. 1 before floating free on July 18. This saltwater vessel was sold for scrap before the year was out and arrived at Dalian, China, on November 3, 1985, to be dismantled.

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

Georgian Bay group buying former Sault museum ship

7/11 - Sault Ste. Marie, ON - A former floating museum on Sault Ste. Marie's waterfront might have a new home in a southern Georgian Bay community. The City of Sault Ste. Marie has signed an asset purchase with Tobermory Real Estate Investors Inc. to move the museum ship Norgoma to Tobermory harbor. The agreed-upon sale price is $2,500.

The real estate group will be responsible for the towing costs to relocate the ship from its current berth at a private shipyard near Algoma Steel. Should the potential new owners not conclude the sale agreement, municipal staff will continue their search for other buyers.

"The relocation of the M.S. Norgoma to Tobermory, ON with Tobermory Real Estate Investors Inc. would a positive outcome for the city," wrote community development and enterprise services deputy CAO Tom Vair in a report to city council for the July 13 meeting. "It delivers on council's decision to find a new home for the vessel and also avoids the potential expense of decommissioning the vessel. Further, it provides an opportunity for the vessel to remain in one of the communities it previously served."

The report provided no details when the sale would be concluded or when the ship might be moved.

During its sailing days, Norgoma and its sister ship, the Norisle, provided car ferry service between Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula and South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island until being replaced by the Chi-Cheemaun in 1974.

Prior to that the Norgoma was a passenger and package freighter serving shoreside communities between Owen Sound and Sault Ste. Marie through the 1950s and early 1960s. It was towed to the Sault in the mid-1970s to serve as a city-owned tourist attraction until ownership was transferred to a charity group in the early 1980s.

The 70-year-old ship was removed from its Bondar Park berth in June 2019 and towed to the Purvis Marine site near Algoma Steel after a long-running contentious community debate between marine heritage enthusiasts and those who viewed it as money-losing eyesore. The municipality has been paying the $40 per day dockage fee since last year while staff looked for a buyer.

Soo Today

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner.
Great Lakes Trader/tug Joyce L. VanEnkevort arrived Duluth at 05:11 Friday morning to unload limestone at Graymont Superior. Saginaw was outbound from CN at 08:18 with iron ore pellets, and Arthur M. Anderson arrived at 13:02 to offload stone at Hallett #5. She will be loading blast furnace trim at the same dock once her discharge is complete. After unloading, Great Lakes Trader shifted over to CN mid-afternoon Friday to load iron ore and was expected to be outbound late Friday or early Saturday. Presque Isle was due at 20:30 Friday night to load at CN, and James R. Barker was due at 22:00 to load coal at Midwest Energy. BBC Mekong was still at Port Terminal Friday unloading wind turbine parts but was tentatively expected to depart around 22:30, while Juno remains at Gavilon in Superior with no load completion date available. There was no traffic in Superior on Friday and none is expected until Sunday, when Stewart J. Cort is due to load at BN.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Burns Harbor arrived Two Harbors on July 10th at 11:27 for South of #2. As of 18:00 she was still at the loading dock. There is no inbound traffic for neither Two Harbors or Northshore Mining in Silver Bay on July 11th.

Thunder Bay, ON
Thursday; 19:58 Ojibway departed Viterra B and shifted to the G3 elevator to finish loading. 21:56 Blair McKeil departed for Quebec City. Friday; 4:50 Evans Spirit arrived and went to anchor. 15:46 Ojibway departed for Windsor. 16:07 CSL St Laurent departed for Montreal.

Marquette, MI – Fred A Tijan
Kaye E. Barker was in port Friday night.

Milwaukee, WI – MKE Marine Reports
Whitefish Bay is due Saturday.

Southern Lake Michigan
Timgad remained at Burns Harbor Friday night with Iryda due. American Integrity was unloading at Gary. Manitowoc was at Indiana Harbor. Flevoborg was at S. Chicago.

Northern Lake Huron
Thessalon: Friday; 10:06 Laura L Van Enkevort arrived to load stone.

Little Current: Thursday; 10:07 Sharon MI / Huron Spirit arrived to load and departed Friday at 5:45 for Algoma Steel Sault Ste Marie.

Meldrum Bay: Friday; 8:15 Mississagi arrived to load limestone and departed at 18.46 for Cleveland.

Drummond Island: Friday; 1:52 John G Munson departed for Marine City.

Stoneport: Friday; 12:13 Olive L Moore / Menominee arrived to load limestone.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas Algoma Innovator is expected next., followed by Algoma Niagara.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder passed MC downbound at 5:15am. Albert/Margaret passed MC before dawn and was approaching the Detroit River mouth at 5am. Algoma Innovator was downbound exiting the cutoff channel at 5am. G L Ostrander was downbound entering the cutoff channel at 5am. Edwin H Gott passed MC downbound at 9:30am. Algoma Strongfield passed MC downbound at 10:15am. Great Republic passed downbound at 10:45am. Paul R Tregurtha passed MC upbound at 11:15am, followed by Algoterra at 11:45am, Federal Nagara at 2pm, Kaministiqua at 4pm and Algoma Harvester at 5:15pm. John G Munson arrived at the MC stoneyard for an evening unload at 7:30pm. Sunny and 88 degrees F am, scattered thundering downpours of much needed rain in the pm and predicted for the weekend, winds calm in the am but blustery during the pm storms, out of the west-southwest.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Friday Arrivals: Everlast/Norman McLeod-arrived at the Marathon Asphalt Terminal to load. Algoma Innovator-arrived at the St. Clair Aggregates dock to unload trap rock. GL Ostrander/Integrity-arrived at Lafarge to unload cement. Great Republic-arrived at Motor City Materials to unload stone.

Lake Erie Ports for Friday – Bill Kloss, Ken Krol
Sandusky: The Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin departed for Hamilton at 09:54, Manitoulin was loading at Norfolk Southern and Algoma Sault remained at anchor.

Lorain: Algoma Buffalo left for Cleveland at 06:52.

Cleveland: Algoma Buffalo arrived at 09:18 to load salt at Cargill. American Courage left for Ashtabula. Herbert C. Jackson loaded and delivered a shuttle and left for Cedarville at 19:00. Petite Forte arrived at 15:41 for St. Mary's Cement. Defiance arrived from Marblehead at 16:00.

Fairport Harbor: CSL Tadoussac left for Hamilton at 02:14.

Ashtabula: American Courage arrived from Cleveland at 19:42,

Conneaut: Michipicoten left at 09:04 for Quebec City. Edwin H. Gott is due in Saturday at 03:30.

Nanticoke: Puna departed at 14:18 and Federal Yoshino arrived 18 minutes later. The Algoma Tankers are well represented as Algoma Hansa and Algonova are still in port. Anchored off of Port Dover and waiting to come in are Algocanada and Algoscotia.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
After spending several days loading grain, the bulker Mandarin finally departed at 22:41 EST on Thursday night for Greenore, Ireland. The Algoma Transport was the first one in on Friday morning, arriving at 2:10 EST with coal from Sandusky. At 5:43 EST, the Federal Clyde came in light from Brazil to load grain. At 7:01 EST, the tug Ocean A. Gauthier departed to assist a vessel in Clarkson, and returned at 10:59 EST. At 12:10 EST, the Coast Guard vessel Limnos was outbound for Port Weller. The Algoma Transport finished unloading coal and departed at 14:50 EST. The Industrial Skipper departed at 16:45 loaded with grain that will presumably be taken to the UK. The CSL Taddousac is expected to arrive late on Friday night to offload salt from Fairport. The Greenwing and BBC Florida still both sit on the hook, awaiting their turns to load.

Welland Canal Boatnerd Gathering cancelled

7/11 - Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing closure of the U.S.-Canadian border, the 2020 Welland Canal Boatnerd Gathering has been cancelled.

On this day in 1962, the EDWARD L. RYERSON carried a record cargo of 24,445 tons of iron ore through the newly opened Rock Cut Channel. The new channel increased allowable depths by 26 inches to 25 feet 7 inches.

On this day in 1943, the new MacArthur Lock was formally opened to traffic. The first boat to lock through during the ceremonies was the upbound CARL D. BRADLEY, Captain F. F. Pearse. There were 250 dignitaries and passengers aboard the Bradley during the lockage. The first downbound vessel was the new Leon Fraser of the Pittsburgh Steamship fleet.

The INDIANA HARBOR was christened July 11, 1979.

On 11 July 1888, the 2-mast wooden schooner JOHN TIBBETS was carrying coal on Lake Erie when she foundered in the shallows near Clear Creek, 7 miles west of Port Rowan, Ontario and then broke up in the storm waves. Her crew made it to shore in the yawl. She was built in 1863, at Clayton, New York on the hull of the Canadian schooner PERSEVERANCE, which was originally built in 1855.

The PERSIA, a 150-foot passenger/package freight vessel, was launched at Melancthon Simpson's shipyard at St. Catharines, Ontario, on 11 July 1873. She was built at a cost of $37,000. She lasted until the 1920's when she was converted to a barge and then abandoned.

MONTEZUMA (3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 341 feet, 2,722 gross tons) was launched at the John Davidson shipyard (Hull #102) in West Bay City, Michigan, on 11 July 1903. She was one of the largest wooden vessels ever built. It was later stated in the press that the reason Davidson's last large vessels took so long to build was the difficulty in obtaining the required large oak timbers and their expense. As steel went down in price, wood went up, and Davidson's last hulls cost as much as comparably-sized steel ones. At the time of launching this vessel the Davidson shipyard announced that it would not build any more wooden freight vessels. 1915: CHOCTAW, enroute from Cleveland to Duluth with a cargo of coal, sank following a collision with the WAHCONDAH in foggy Lake Huron. All on board were saved.

1940: WILLIAM F. STIFEL ran aground in the St. Clair River near Port Lambton and was struck by the ALBERT E. HEEKIN. 1964: CHEMBARGE NO. 4, formerly a) JUDGE KENEFICK and b) H.J. McMANUS was towed out into Lake Huron by ATOMIC and ABURG and scuttled in deep water about 16 miles off Goderich after sulphuric acid began leaking into the bilges of the recently-converted tanker barge.

2007: CANADIAN NAVIGATOR lost power and went aground in mud off Courtright and six tugs were needed to pull the ship free.

Data from: Skip Gillham, 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.

Pandemic impacts port, nearly 100 Great Lakes Fleet crew and officers laid off

7/8 - Duluth, MN – The port is feeling the impact of the pandemic. Nearly 100 people are being laid off who work for Key Lakes. Key Lakes is the vessel operator for CN's Great Lakes fleet.

Key Lakes notified the city of Duluth last week in a letter. "I'm always very sympathetic and very sorry when I see a business that has had to make those decisions. I don't think those are made lightly, and hopefully their long-term vision includes them coming back," shared Mayor Emily Larson.

According to the Vice President of Key Lakes, Mitch Koslow, all of the impacted workers are crew and officers aboard the Philip R. Clarke, Roger Blough, and Edgar B. Speer, which will be laid up. They plan to absorb as many of the people as possible on the six remaining boats.

"When economic conditions improve and the boats return to service, we intend to bring them all back," Koslow said in an email. Shoreside staff are not affected.

"I think it's fair to say the Port of Duluth Superior is not immune to the pandemic," shared Deb DeLuca, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. "We're just moving forward as best we can."

Port cargo is down compared to last year. Iron ore is the biggest commodity, and demand for steel has slowed. Still, there are bright spots. Like wind cargo. "We are hoping we might break last year's record. Our first two ships just arrived," DeLuca added. Grain is up too, due to worldwide demand.

As far as COVID cases, DeLuca said as of two weeks ago, there hadn't been any on the vessels in the Great Lakes.

https://www.wdio.com/mining-news/duluth-superior-port-great-lakes-fleet-vessels-layoffs-covid/5785361/?cat=10335

Sale of Sombra ferry marks end of era

7/8 - Sombra, ON - – The end of an era is being marked with the sale of the Sombra ferry that linked Canada and the U.S. across the St. Clair River. Bluewater Ferry co-owner Morgan Dalgety said the Daldean ferry transported millions of people between Sombra and Marine City, Michigan during its 70 years.

“The ferry, the big boat, the Daldean has been sold to Boblo Island Ferry Service in Amherstburg,” said Dalgety. “We’re taking it down there [Tuesday] at 5:30 in the morning.”

With such a long history of serving the community, Dalgety said it was a difficult decision. “We really appreciate it. It means a lot to us. It’s been a great business. We’re glad to have given the service that we did and we really appreciate all the people that used our service.”

The ferry has been closed since January 2018, when the raised road leading to its dock and Canada Customs office was extensively damaged by ice. Numerous efforts, including pleas by Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu, to restore the border crossing were unsuccessful.

Dalgety said the family is still seeking financial restitution from the federal government in a lawsuit claiming the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Samuel Risley was travelling over the speed limit when the ice broke free.

“They destroyed our business, they destroyed a fifth generation family run business and we would like to be compensated for the damage that has been done to us.”

Dalgety said the second ferry is still up for sale.

Port reports are compiled from volunteer reader observations and AIS transmissions. Please send information about vessel arrivals and departures from your port to news@boatnerd.net by 9 p.m. (Eastern) nightly for them to be included in the next day's news. Please include name of vessel, arrival time, day and dock it went to (if known); please do not type boat names in all capital letters. We welcome new reporters. If your port is not included, we would welcome your contributions.

Duluth-Superior – Daniel Lindner
Pathfinder/tug Dorothy Ann departed Duluth at 03:24 Tuesday morning light for Silver Bay after unloading salt at Hallett #5. American Integrity finally finished loading iron ore at Canadian National and departed at 05:16 for Gary. Her sister Indiana Harbor, which had anchored in the lake to wait for her turn at the dock, arrived at 05:58 to load. Joseph L. Block was inbound at 17:42 with limestone to unload into the CN hopper, however she moored at the gravity dock to wait for Indiana Harbor to clear. The latter is expected to depart early Wednesday morning. Also in port Tuesday were American Mariner, loading wheat at General Mills; Juno, loading wheat at Gavilon; and BBC Mekong, discharging wind turbine parts at Port Terminal. In Superior, John D. Leitch arrived at 19:39 to load iron ore at Burlington Northern.

Two Harbors-Silver Bay – Gary A. Putney
Edwin H. Gott arrived Two Harbors at 00:45 on July 7th for South of #2. As of 19:30 on the 7th she was still at the dock. There is no traffic scheduled for Two Harbors on July 8th. Northshore Mining in Silver Bay saw the arrival of the Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder on July 7th at 07:55. She then departed on the 7th at 12:55 for Cleveland. There is no traffic scheduled for Silver Bay on July 8th. An update: Key Lakes/Great Lakes Fleet is laying up the Edgar B. Speer, Roger Blough, and the Philip R. Clarke because of lack of business. They will come back out as business warrants.

Thunder Bay, ON
Tuesday; No vessel movements to report.

St. Marys River
Upbound traffic on Tuesday included Mesabi Miner, Erie Trader/Clyde S. VanEnkevort, Algoma Guardian, Ijborg and CSL St Laurent. Downbounders included Edgar B. Speer and Paul R. Tregurtha.

Green Bay, WI
On Tuesday afternoon the Tug Mereidth Ashton Barge Kokosng 3 departed at 1:00 pm for Sturgeon Bay. Then at 1:46 pm the Tug Prentiss Brown Barge St. Mary's Conquest arrived from Chalevoix, MI with Cementto the St. Mary's Cement Terminal. At 7:45 pm the Tug Olive L. Moore Barge Menominee arrived from Port Inland, MI with Limestone for the Western Limestone Graymont Company Terminal.

Southern Lake Michigan
Manitowoc and BBC Volta were at Burns Harbor Tuesday night. James R. Barker was at Indiana Harbor. Roger Blough departed Gary with an AIS destination of Sturgeon Bay, where she will go into layup.

Northern Lake Huron
Bruce Mines: Tuesday; 8:14 Michipicoten departed for Marysville.

Meldrum Bay: Tuesday; 0:49 Baie Comeau departed for Windsor.

Drummond Island: Monday; 16:40 Cuyahoga departed for Sombra.

Calcite: Monday; 5:09 Manitowoc arrived to load and departed at 15:15 for Burns Harbor. 21:54 Laura L Van Enkevort departed for Cleveland.

Port Inland: Tuesday; 2:05 Olive L Moore / Menominee departed for Green Bay. 16:03 Joyce L Van Enkevort arrived to load.

Alpena, MI – Ben & Chanda McClain Great Republic unloaded coal at Lafarge on Tuesday. It finished around 7:30pm and headed out into the bay. Also waiting in the bay was the tug Samuel de Champlain and barge Innovation. Once the Great Republic cleared the channel it made its way into port to load cement.

Saginaw River – Todd Shorkey
Samuel de Champlain - Innovation were inbound on the Saginaw River late Monday night, July 6th, calling on the Lafarge Cement dock in Essexville. After a very short offload, they were back outbound for the lake Tuesday morning. Timgad was assisted from the Port Fisher Dock by the tug Manitou and was also outbound from the Saginaw River Tuesday morning. Not far behind was the Algoma Buffalo, the third outbound vessel of the morning. Alpena was inbound on the Saginaw River on Tuesday, calling on the Lafarge Cement Dock in Essexville, making her the second cement boat in less than 12 hours to unload there.

Marine City, MI – Rich Larson
CSL Tadoussac passed MC downbound at 3am. Manitoulin passed downbound at 6:30am. Cason J Callaway passed downbound at 7:15am, followed closely by Amber Bay at 7:30am. Ojibway passed upbound at 8 am. Flevoborg passed upbound at 9::15am, followed closely by Sharon M I/ Huron Spirit at 9:30am. G3 Marquis passed downbound at 12:15pm. Blair McKeil passed upbound at 2pm. Laura L Vanenkevort/Joseph H Thompson passed downbound at 3:45pm. Baie Comeau passed downbound at 5:45pm. Herbert C Jackson shoud pass downbound around 8pm. Cuyahoga, downbound for Sombra stoneyard, should arrive in the late evening. Sunny and hot at 94 degrees F, light winds from the west-northwest, very slight chance of much needed rain in the mid evening hours.

Detroit-Rouge River – Raymond H.
Tuesday Arrivals: John G Munson arrived at the Carmeuse dock to unload stone. Cason J Callaway arrived at the McCoig Concrete dock to unload stone.

Lake Erie Ports for Tuesday – Bill Kloss
Marblehead: American Courage departed at 06:34 for Cleveland and Calumet arrived 23 minutes later.

Sandusky: Algoma Transport arrived at 17:09 to load at Norfolk Southern.

Cleveland: American Courage arrived at 10:32 and unloaded at RiverDock. Mississagi left at 14:05 with salt from Cargill, no destination was given. NACC Capri is due in Wednesday.

Conneaut: Radcliffe R. Latimer left for Quebec City and Presque Isle arrived at 11:56.

Nanticoke: CSL Tadoussac arrived at 01:00 Wednesday. Algonova and Puna were still in port.

Hamilton, ON – Tristin Woolf
A busy day in Hamilton started with the departure of the Federal St. Laurent, loaded with grain that will go to Amsterdam, Netherlands, at 00:32 EST. Next was the arrival of the Algoma Sault, who brought in a load of grain from Thunder Bay at 5:10 EST. At 8:46 EST, the Coast Guard vessel Martha L. Black arrived from Quebec City. After that, the Leo A. McArthur and her barge John J. Carrick departed for Halifax at 9:39 EST. She was followed out at 10:20 EST by the tanker Sterling Energy who made a quick trip to Clarkson. At 11:21 EST, the Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin arrived with coal from Sandusky. The Sterling Energy returned from Clarkson at 16:00 EST, and the Algoma Harvester arrived at 16:25 EST to unload ore from Port Cartier. She joined the Tim S. Dool who is currently unloading ore. Other vessels in port include the Mandarin who is loading grain, and the Greenwing and Industrial Skipper who are both at anchor. The BBC Florida is expected to arrive at 21:00 EST and join the other two at anchor.

Buffalo, NY – Brian R. Wroblewski
The tug CALUSA COAST brought her asphalt barge DELAWARE back on July 6th. She switched out of towing gear out in the lake off Buffalo and then headed in for the Black Rock Canal around 7AM. They were at the Marathon dock by 8:30 and spent a day unloading about 30,000 barrels of product. The barge was empty by 7AM on the 7th and the tug got underway for the Black Rock Lock right away. They were clear of Buffalo Harbor by 8:45AM and then switched out of the notch to take the DELAWARE behind them on a wire. The CALUSA COAST called Seaway Long Point to tell them about their departure for Detroit and that they would be hugging the South side of the lake on their way upbound. The Seaway responded with the current cross-lake vessel traffic at the time and that was that.

Rochester, NY – Tom Brewer
McKeil Spirit departed Tuesday evening in ballast for Picton, Ont.

$4M William Richard ferry to join Shepler's fleet for 75th season

7/8 - Onaway, MI - The newest, $4 million addition to the fleet of Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry will begin shuttling visitors to and from the popular tourist destination in August.

The 210-seat William Richard, named after the Shepler family patriarch, is moving Tuesday from its current home in Onaway to Rogers City for an initial launch. It then will arrive at its new home in Mackinaw City by the end of the week.

Officials said the global pandemic delayed the launch and movement of the vessel. But it's now ready to be used this 75th season.

The island officially kicked off its summer season in late June, nearly a month after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer allowed the opening of restaurants, bars and other businesses in the Upper Peninsula and Traverse City region. Mackinac Island logs about 1 million visitors each year, primarily in the summer months.

The William Richard will depart from Moran Ironworks in Onaway between 8:30 a.m and 9 a.m. and arrive at Port Calcite in Rogers City between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. An informal christening of the ferry with Capt. William R. Shepler and his family is expected immediately following the ship's arrival. A formal ceremony is being planned for spring 2021.

The William Richard will remain at port for four or five days while testing of the electronic systems and synchronization of the computer systems take place. The Coast Guard inspection and testing will occur at the beginning of August and should be running by the second week of August, officials announced.

The boat is wheelchair accessible, with an aft deck for luggage, bikes and strollers. Instead of propellers, the vessel is equipped with four jet drives intended to provide a faster trip.

William Shepler came home from World War II to his hometown of Mackinaw City and opened a snack shack for visitors traveling to the island, in the Straits of Mackinac between the Upper and Lower peninsulas. Shepler added two charter boats, each carrying just six passengers and not considered ferries.

In 1950, Shepler, who died in 1988, built a 30-foot cabin cruiser with twin gasoline engines and named her Miss Margy. That was the first enclosed ferry to the island for the company and could hold 24 passengers.

Then, Moran Iron Works built the $3.8 million, 85-foot vessel Miss Margy, reprising the honored name. Miss Margy was launched in 2015 and joined a fleet of five passenger ferries at Shepler's. Miss Margy was designed to hold 281 passengers.

The family-owned ferry line carries tourists from Mackinaw City and St. Ignace to Mackinac Island.

The Detroit News

WILLIAM R. ROESCH, renamed b.) DAVID Z. NORTON in 1995, loaded her first cargo in 1973, at Superior, Wisconsin where she took on 18,828 tons of iron ore bound for Jones & Laughlin's Cuyahoga River plant at Cleveland.

The BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS and her fleet mate IRVING S. OLDS passed through the Panama Canal on July 9, 1988, under tow of the German tug OSA RAVENSTURM. The pair was on a 14,000-mile journey to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, arriving there on November 8, 1988, for scrapping by Sing Cheng Yung Iron & Steel Co. Ltd.

On 9 July 1876, ST CLAIR (wooden propeller freighter with some passenger accommodations, 127 foot, 326 gross tons, built in 1867, at Algonac, Michigan) had 14 crew and 18 passengers aboard along with cargo of flour, feed and deck loads of cattle as she sailed on Lake Superior. At 2:00 a.m., she caught fire about five miles off shore from 14 Mile Point. She was a wood burner and had a history of shipboard fires. The fire spread so quickly that only one boat could be launched and being overloaded, it capsized. The cries of those left on the vessel, along with the bellowing of the cattle, were heart rending. Only six survived in the one lifeboat since the cold water took its toll on those who clung to it. Eventually they righted the boat and paddled to shore, leaving the ST CLAIR burned to the waterline.

On 9 July 1891, W A MOORE (wood propeller tug, 119 foot, 212 gross tons, built in 1865, at Detroit, Michigan) burned to a total loss at Cleveland, Ohio.

1917: The bulk carrier WILLIAM S. MACK collided with the passenger freighter MANITOBA in fog off Whitefish Point and had to be beached. It was subsequently refloated and repaired. The ship was renamed HOME SMITH on October 10, 1917, and last sailed as ALGORAIL in 1963 before being scrapped at Toronto.

1967: The NEW YORK NEWS (iii) and the saltwater ship NORDGLIMT collided off Escoumins, QC, with only minor damage.

Data from: Skip Gillham, 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.