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| Menominee, MI, freshly
painted, Mar. 29, 2007. |
Dick Lund |
Great Lakes Fleet Page Vessel Feature --
Lewis J. Kuber
By George Wharton
With the Korean War raging in the early
1950's, there was a need for extra carrying capacity for the movement of iron
ore from the upper Great Lakes to the steel mills of the lower Lakes.
With the Great Lakes ship yards being booked to capacity, ship owners had to
look elsewhere for the building of their new vessels. Bethlehem Steel
Co. of Cleveland, OH chose to build two new ships for their Great Lakes fleet at
their Bethlehem-Sparrows Point Shipyard at Sparrows Point, MD. This
Great Lakes bulk carrier was the second of the pair and was launched on April
18th, 1952 as the Sparrows Point, entering service for the Bethlehem Steel
fleet in November of that year. The new vessel was named in honor of the
ship yard that built her. The Sparrows Point's cargoes were focused in
the iron ore trades supplying Bethlehem Steel's lower Lake Michigan and Lake
Erie mills with
ore from ports in upper Lake Michigan and Lake Superior with the occasion trip
through the St. Lawrence Seaway (after it opened in 1959) to Gulf of St.
Lawrence ports for cargoes of Labrador ore.
In fact, the Sparrows Point was the third of three
sister ships built at the Sparrows Point ship yard at that time. The
first was the Johnstown (3) launched January 24th, 1952 for the Bethlehem
Steel fleet (scrapped in 1985). The second was the Elton Hoyt II
launched March 7th, 1952 for the Interlake Steamship Co. of Cleveland, OH (now
sailing for Lower Lakes Towing as the Michipicoten).
The original dimensions of these bulk carriers were: 626'00" (190.80m) loa x
70'00" (21.34m) beam x 37'00" (11.28m) depth with a carrying capacity of
19,595 tons (19,910 mt). Following 6 years of relatively uneventful
sailing, the Sparrows Point was lengthened 72' (21.95m) in 1958 by American
Ship Building Co. of South Chicago, IL. At her new overall length of
698'00" (212.75m), her capacity increased to 23,350 tons (23,724 mt) at a
mid-summer draft of 26'11" (8.20m) or 22,250 tons (22,607 mt) at a Seaway
draft of 26' (7.92m) contained in 5 holds serviced by 20 hatches. Her
power plant consisted of a Bethlehem Steel built 7,700 s.h.p. cross-compound
steam turbine engine with 2 Foster-Wheeler heavy fuel oil fired water tube
boilers, the power being fed to a single fixed pitch propeller.
After about 18 more years of uneventful sailing,
on September 1st, 1976, the Sparrows Point received rudder damage while
backing away from the Mesabi No. 5 dock at Duluth, MN. She had to be
unloaded and towed to Fraser Shipyards at Superior, WI for repairs. Then
in December of 1977, she grounded while upbound in the Beauharnois Canal of
the St. Lawrence Seaway. The bulker had to be unloaded and laid up at
Lorain, OH for winter lay-up and repair. She had received over $1
million in bottom damage.
During her 1979/80 winter lay-up at the Fraser
Shipyards of Superior, WI, the Sparrows Point was converted to a self-unloader
including the addition of a bow thruster. Her capacity dropped slightly to
22,300 tons (22,658 mt) at a mid-summer draft of 26'11". She could
carry approximately 21,974 tons (22,327 mt) at the new Seaway draft of
26'06" (8.08m) implemented in 2004 or 21.756 tons (22,125 mt) at the
previous Seaway draft of 26'03" (8.00m). The new self-unloader's cubic
capacity for coal was 12,975 net tons* (11,586 tons / 11,771 mt). The
self-unloading system could discharge at a rate of up to 5,327 tons (5,443
mt) per hour via a 250' (76.20m) stern mounted discharge boom. The
bulker also had a capacity for 554.16 tons (563.06 mt) of fuel oil.
On October 18th, 1983 the Sparrows Point went
aground at Drummond Island receiving damage to 32 plates along a 100' (30.48m)
section of bottom. Repairs were completed at Bay Shipbuilding at
Sturgeon Bay, WI. Major damage was received when she ran aground again
off Door Peninsula on November 30th, 1989 while in transit from Escanaba, MI to Chicago.
By the late 1980's, most of Bethlehem Steel's
cargoes were being handled by the Sparrows Point's much larger and more
efficient fleet mates Stewart J. Cort and
Burns Harbor. As a result, on July 16th,
1990, the Sparrows Point was sold to Columbia Transportation Div., Oglebay
Norton Co. of Cleveland, OH (becoming Oglebay Norton Marine Services Co., LLC
in 1994). Columbia Transportation did not take possession of their new
addition until December of 1990. Her new owners then renamed the
self-unloader Buckeye (3), a name selected at a board meeting on February
21st, 1991, being a name associated with this fleet for over 34 years.
The name honors the reference to the state of Ohio as the "Buckeye State".
With her new fleet, her cargoes were much more varied including stone,
aggregates, limestone and coal as well as iron ore.
The Buckeye sailed through the 1990's with the
usual scrapes, bumps and minor groundings associated with Great Lakes trading.
On July 30th, 2001, the crew of the Buckeye spotted and rescued 2 fishermen
from a swamped small boat in Lake Erie giving them dry clothes and hot food.
Time, however, has not been on the Buckeye's side.
In the new century, with her age now well over 50 years old and her steam
power plant not being as efficient as today's diesels, the Buckeye was often
one of the last of the fleet to fit out. In fact, she did not fit out at
all in 2003 and did not sail in 2004 until late in September when there were
enough cargoes for an extra vessel. On December 20th, 2004, while
anchored off Port Inland, MI, she was swung around by strong winds and heavy
seas hitting a rock causing serious damage. The vessel was allowed to
proceed to Nanticoke, ON to unload her cargo of coal. arriving at Toledo, OH
on December 23rd for lay-up and repair.
This load of coal proved to be the last load
carried in her holds for Oglebay Norton and the last as a powered lake boat.
After remaining laid up in Toledo (unrepaired) through 2005, on November 29th,
2005 Oglebay Norton Marine Services announced the sale of the Buckeye to
Buckeye Holdings LLC (an affiliate of K&K Warehousing, Inc., Menominee, MI)
for $4 million for conversion to a notched, articulated barge, a $9 million
project. On December 4th, 2005, the Buckeye arrived at Erie
Shipbuilding, Erie, PA under tow of tug Olive L. Moore. This tug
was to be mated with
the Buckeye following her conversion, the pair becoming a new articulated tug/barge
unit. The Buckeye became the first vessel in 9 years to be drydocked at
the Erie shipyard when she entered the graving dock in late February, 2006.
By August, 2006, the "new" articulated self-unloading barge had emerged from the drydock
minus her rear accommodations, engine room, forward accommodations and
wheelhouse, displaying her new name "Lewis J. Kuber", being named
after the father of the owner of KK Integrated Logistics (formerly K&K
Warehousing) and KK Integrated Shipping. The articulated unit
sails under the banner of the new company KK Integrated Shipping,
LLC of Menominee. MI, the parent company of Buckeye Holdings LLC, Reserve
Holdings, LLC and Viking, LLC and is
affiliated with KK Integrated Logistics of Menominee, MI. VanEnkevort
Tug and Barge, Bark River, MI operate the unit.
* The shipping
industry standard measurement for coal is the net ton (2,000 lbs / 907.2k)
whereas iron ore and other bulk cargo is the gross ton (2,240 lbs /
1,016.06k).
| Overall Dimensions
(metric) |
| Length |
616' 10"
(188.00m) |
| Beam |
70' 00"
(21.34m) |
| Depth |
37' 00"
(11.28m) |
| Capacity (dwt) |
22,300
tons (22,658 mt) est. |
Downbound Detroit River,
Oct. 6, 2004. Mike Nicholls |
Stern view, Oct. 6.
Mike Nicholls |
Duluth, MN Oct. 2004.
Ed Labernik |
St. Marys River, June 30, 1996. Jon |
Detroit River, Aug. 28, 2001. Mike Nicholls |
Soo Locks.
Rod Burdick
|
Stern view, Aug. 28, 2001. Mike Nicholls |
Deck view. |
Underway. |
View from the Boom. |
Pilot house. |
Crew rescues a sinking fishing boat July 28, 2001 |
Good timing |
Detroit River, June 8, 2002. N. Schultheiss |
Close up. N. Schultheiss |
Stern view. N. Schultheiss |
Flags flying. N. Schultheiss |
Buckeye unloading in Ludington MI. Max Hanley |
At Erie, PA waiting for conversion,
Jan. 20, 2006. Brian Wroblewski |
Classic bow, Erie.
Brian Wroblewski |
Stern with stack removed, Erie.
Brian Wroblewski |
Erie, PA Aug. 17, 2006. Roman Kloecker |
At Erie, PA, Aug. 21, 2006. Mike Nicholls |
Stern view at Erie, PA Aug. 21, 2006.
Mike Nicholls |
Downbound the Saginaw River Sept. 18, 2006.
Todd Shorkey |
Tug Olive L. Moore in the notch.
Todd Shorkey |
Stern view. Todd Shorkey |
Loading at Stoneport, MI Sept. 19, 2006.
Ben & Chanda McClain |
Another view. Ben & Chanda McClain |
Saginaw River, stern view Sept. 21, 1006.
Todd Shorkey |
Stern view at Menominee, MI, Mar. 31, 2007.
Dick Lund |
With tug Olive L. Moore, downbound the Menominee River, Apr. 2, 2007. Dick
Lund |
Stern view clearing Menominee North Pier Lighthouse.
Dick Lund |
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