Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive

Winds cause problems in Buffalo area

1/31 - Buffalo - Gale force winds caused massive problems in the Buffalo area Wednesday night.

High water levels on the East end of Lake Erie caused heavy pack ice to overrun the Niagara River Ice Boom and large flows were seen racing down the upper Niagara River. The Army Corps of Engineers were unable to determine the extent of the damage to the boom itself, since it remained partially submerged due to the large volume of ice passing over and high water levels. The boom is intended to hold back floating ice to avoid damage down stream hydroelectric plants.

The Black Rock Canal became plugged with ice causing water to back up in Scajaquada Creek, flooding the viaduct under the CSX Niagara Branch bridge on Niagara St.

The Buffalo River then jammed with ice and caused major flooding throughout the surrounding neighborhoods from the base of the Skyway Bridge all the way upstream to the Ohio St. Lift Bridge area of the old First Ward.

Lay Up List updated

News Photo Submission Guidelines Revised

Today in Great Lakes History - January 31

The MANZZUTTI was launched January 31, 1903, as a.) J S KEEFE (Hull#203) at Buffalo, New York by the Buffalo Dry Dock Co.

January 31, 1930 - While the Grand Trunk carferry MADISON was leading the way across Lake Michigan to Grand Haven, she was struck from behind by her sister ship GRAND RAPIDS.

High Winds Cause Seiche on Lake Erie

1/30 - Lake Erie - A low pressure system moving across the region has brought high winds causing the water levels to drop on the west end of Lake Erie. With gale warnings post across the lakes, Lake Erie was experiencing a sieche effect where the winds and low pressure move the water from one end of the lake to the other.

The western basin of Lake Erie was measuring over 6 feet below chart datum while the water level at Buffalo was reported to be 10 feet above low water datum.

On the east end of the lake in Port Colborne, ice was been pushed up over the wall at the former fuel dock and surrounds Canadian Transport and Canadian Enterprise. Two cars were on the dock in the water and surrounded by ice.

Winds blow train cars into Sandusky Bay
Freight Car Carrying Hazardous Materials Missing

1/30 - Bay Bridge, OH - Authorities said a train has derailed on a bridge over northern Ohio's Sandusky Bay, sending as many as four cars into the water below.

Ottawa County Sheriff Robert Bratton said one freight car known to be carrying hazardous materials has not been accounted for and may be among those in the bay. He did not have further information on the car's load.

Bratton said the derailment occurred around 4:15 a.m. Wednesday and said authorities are assuming the train cars were blown off the bridge by high winds. The National Weather Service said gusts of more than 50 mph were recorded across northern Ohio overnight.

The rail bridge runs between the Sandusky area in Erie County and the Ottawa County peninsula that includes Port Clinton.

Walter J. McCarthy Jr. Update

1/30 - Duluth - The McCarthy's owners were expected to meet Tuesday with the American Bureau of Shipping and U.S. Coast Guard to develop a plan to permanently repair the laker’s hull.

“Once that’s approved we’ll get started on repairing the hull,” Rhonda S. Johnson, spokeswoman for GATX, the parent company of the McCarthy’s owner, the American Steamship Company, said this afternoon. “The repair of the engines is ongoing.”

The McCarthy’s engine rooms flooded Jan. 14 after the ship’s hull was holed by a submerged object as the ship was backing into a slip at Superior’s Hallett No. 8 Dock. The McCarthy’s crew closed the engine rooms’ watertight doors and evacuated the rooms as the ship’s stern settled to the bottom in 20 feet of water. The water covered the ship’s four 3,500-horsepower General Motors Electro Motive Division diesel engines.

Salvage efforts began that week, with workers pumping water from the ship’s ballast tanks. That brought the ship’s stern up in the water, until only about five feet of water remained in the engine rooms. Workers installed a coffer dam over the hull in the ship’s bottom Friday, and the two engine rooms were pumped dry Friday and over the weekend. The water and oil was pumped into trucks on the dock and taken away to be treated.

It’s not known how long it will take to repair the ship. “Both engine rooms have been steam cleaned,” Johnson said. “We’re still looking at taking apart the engines and all of the equipment, working on the parts and seeing what we can do. At this point we don’t know for sure how long it will take. It could take several months, but we want to get it out sailing as soon as possible.”

Workers found a hole about 7 feet by 4 feet in size in the bottom of the ship. “It appears that there was a piece of concrete sitting on the bottom,” Johnson said. “It’s sealed off, so there is no more threat of pollution. We’ll be able to repair it from the inside, so we won’t have to dry dock it.”

1/30 - Port Colborne, ON - Two local marine families were in council Monday with plans to build a new fuel dock on the city's east side.

Wayne Elliott, of the International Marine Group; and Ken Snider, of Snider Dock Services; came to council to ask for its blessing on a plan to build three fuel tanks in 2008 and possibly 21 more in the future on Canada Lands property that was once owned by Canada Furnace.

Elliott and Snider, who appeared representing Great Lakes Petroleum Co., plan to build a fuel dock to replace the Shell fuel dock - which moved out of Port Colborne in 2007, dismantling its equipment at the King Street site. That property is now owned by Nyon Oil Inc. Elliott said the ambitious plan would service 400 ships per year and provide economic spin-offs to other businesses in Port Colborne. He said the city would benefit from increased taxes.

"We would like to proceed with the purchase of land from Canada Land Corp.," Elliott said. He asked the city to draft a letter informing Canada Lands Corp. that it has no interest in the property, which is located on the city's east side, south of the Clarence Street Bridge.

Elliott said the new venture would be built to "state-of-the-art" specification and include clay berms. The tanks would be set back from the canal about 300 feet and the largest tank (of the first three being built) would hold 60,000 barrels of fuel. The two smaller tanks would hold an estimated seven tonnes of fuel each.

"There is no doubt the closing of Shell has been detrimental," Coun. David Barrick said. "This is a valid option. It is, after all, a working canal."

In his presentation, Elliott noted the city had been looking to develop lands on the east side of Port Colborne, with the possible construction of a community centre in mind. Elliott said the east side of the canal is better suited to fueling ships because of the prevailing winds that hold ships to the dock.

"We are negotiating with a company in the marine fueling business," Elliott said. "We expect to conclude those negotiations soon. What we want from the city is a letter confirming that it has no further interest in the land. We are also looking for council's blessing to open a new business in Port Colborne." Elliott said the company would like to either buy the land or enter into a long-term lease arrangement.

After the meeting, Elliott said Great Lakes Petroleum Co. could be in a position to move forward in as little as 60 days if the city were to back the project. He said the company could be fueling ships in Port Colborne by June of this year. Elliott estimates a working fuel dock in Port Colborne could inject $75 million annually into the local economy.

Snider said the new fuel dock would replace jobs and create new jobs. "Everybody wants this in Port Colborne," Elliott added. He agreed there are other locations that a community centre can be built.

Lay Up List updated

News Photo Submission Guidelines Revised

Today in Great Lakes History - January 30

The ELMDALE was launched in 1909, as a.) CLIFFORD F MOLL (Hull#56) at Ecorse, Michigan by the Great Lakes Engineering Works.

The CHIEF WAWATAM was held up in the ice for a period of three weeks. On January 30, 1927, she went aground at North Graham Shoal in the Straits. She was later dry-docked at Great Lakes Engineering Works in Detroit where her forward propeller and after port wheel were replaced.

January 30, 1911 - The second PERE MARQUETTE 18 arrived Ludington, Michigan on her maiden voyage.

On 30 January 1881, ST ALBANS (wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel, 135 foot, 435 tons, built in 1869, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying general merchandise, flour, cattle and 22 passengers in Lake Michigan. She rammed a cake of ice that filled the hole it made in her hull. She rushed for shore, but as the ice melted, the vessel filled with water. She sank 8 miles from Milwaukee. The crew and passengers made it to safety in the lifeboats. Her loss was valued at $35,000.

On 30 January 2000, crew began the removal of the four Hulett Ore Unloaders on Whiskey Island in Cleveland.

Lay Up List updated

News Photo Submission Guidelines Revised

Today in Great Lakes History - January 29

The BUCKEYE was launched January 29, 1910, as the straight decker a.) LEONARD B MILLER (Hull#447) at Cleveland, Ohio by the American Ship Building Co.

JOHN P REISS (Hull#377) was also launched this date in 1910, at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co.

January 29, 1987 - The BADGER almost capsized at her dock due to a broken water intake pipe.

On 29 January 1953, RICHARD M MARSHALL (steel propeller freighter, 643 foot, 10,606 gross tons) was launched in Bay City, Michigan at Defoe's shipyard (Hull #424). Later she was named JOSEPH S WOOD in 1957, JOHN DYKSTRA in 1966, and BENSON FORD in 1983. She was scrapped in 1987 at Recife, Brazil.

1/28 - Erie, Pa. -- Dirk VanEnkevort wanted to take advantage of a shipbuilding boom when his family's company leased one of the largest dry docks in the Great Lakes region in 2005. But now he is so short-handed he has turned to robots to help keep up.

His company, Erie Shipbuilding LLC, has since hired about 150 workers and equipped the facility on Lake Erie with sophisticated metalworking tools -- including robots. It now has orders to build eight oceangoing barges and plans to hire additional workers as needed. But as his order book fills, VanEnkevort faces a problem hampering dozens of other midsize commercial shipyards across the country: a shortage of skilled, experienced workers capable of assembling and welding freight ships.

To fight the shortage, VanEnkevort and other shipbuilders have scoured the country and recruited from afar. They have appealed to prospective employees at local high schools and started in-house training programs. VanEnkevort says his company plans to use robotic welders extensively.

Some shipyards have temporarily hired foreign laborers, including from Mexico and countries in Eastern Europe, under a federal program that allows businesses to obtain so-called H2B visas if they prove efforts to hire locally were unsuccessful. "There hasn't been any shipbuilding in Erie for quite some time," said VanEnkevort, 52. "So those people that were here are doing other things or moved away. We've just got to find people and train them, which is what we're doing."

After topping 100,000 in 1998, employment in the U.S. commercial shipbuilding and repair industry hovered around 91,000 to 92,000 for six years before climbing to 93,600 in 2006, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, demand has soared, mostly at midsize shipyards. The industry -- though tiny on a global scale and prone to dramatic boom-and-bust cycles -- has seen its largest expansion since the 1970s in recent years.

The growth has been propelled by demand from shipping companies that are replacing or expanding fleets of aging tankers, tug boats, offshore supply vessels and other boats, in some cases to meet the fast-changing needs of the energy sector.

Single-hull tankers must be phased out and replaced with double-hulled tankers by 2015 under a federal law passed after the single-hull Exxon Valdez ran aground and spilled 11 million gallons of oil in Alaska in 1989. And oil and gas companies are ordering ever larger and more complex ships to support drilling activities in deeper waters of the Gulf of Mexico, said John Snyder, editor of the New York-based trade publication Marine Log.

The labor crunch in U.S. shipyards has been spawned by several factors, including competition from other trades that offer lucrative work, such as construction in areas hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, a Washington-based trade group that represents more than 35 companies that operate about 100 shipyards nationwide.

"What we've found is there's been a lack of interest in some of the work that our shipyards are doing," Paxton said, citing government figures showing there are about 180 commercial shipyards of various sizes across the country.

Industry representatives have fought back by trying to promote the trade in communities near shipyards, and some firms have established training programs for welders and shipfitters -- workers who construct the vessels from parts, Paxton said. "A lot of our shipyards carry significant costs in training and getting people to come to their yards, and there's no guarantee they'll stay," Paxton said. "But they're still willing to do it."

"We have had to look at foreign labor when things get extremely tight," he said, noting that shipyards have tapped workers from Mexico and Eastern European countries with a history of shipbuilding, such as Croatia.

Bollinger Shipyards Inc. of Lockport, La., which operates 12 shipyards in Louisiana and one in Texas, has spent millions on housing for laborers, said Robert Socha, the company's executive vice president of sales and marketing. "It's not a cost-saving measure," he said. "It's a measure to keep your business flowing."

Bollinger's use of contract labor has also risen significantly, with contractors now comprising roughly 65 percent of its 3,200-strong work force compared with about 20 percent in the past, Socha said. "It's all based on people shortage." The company's chief administrative officer, Craig Roussel, said he could realistically "hire 400 people today," if they were qualified and available.

Tim Colton, an independent consultant based in Florida, said the labor shortage arose partly because the industry has never been high-paying. It's not a particularly large industry, he said, and most companies are family owned. A top welder at Erie Shipbuilding earns $18.50 an hour, an amount VanEnkevort said was comparable to pay offered by other companies in the industry. The shortage extends not only to hourly paid workers, but to supervisors, planners and engineers, "all the people that make the shipyard function," Colton said. "It's terrible."

Sean T. Connaughton, head of the U.S. Maritime Administration, said it was difficult to open a new commercial shipyard, even in the current robust market, because of regulatory hurdles. And the revival of existing facilities may be unattractive, he said. "They can make a lot more money selling that land to a condominium developer," he said.

But Dirk VanEnkevort hopes his company, with a 44-acre facility where ships had not been produced for decades, will become internationally competitive. He said he plans to expand his work force to 200. Employees' cars and trucks hint at the competition for labor within the industry, carrying license plates not only from Pennsylvania, but also from Louisiana and Ontario. Erie Shipbuilding's general manager was hired away from Bollinger.

One of the company's welders, Charlie Potter, 59, of Erie, said he had worked at a shingle factory for 24 years before it closed last year and he entered a training program at Erie Shipbuilding. "I learned flat welds, verticals, horizontals, overheads," he said, preparing to weld a deck section. "I love it. It's a young man's game, but I didn't have any choice."

Photo Submission Guidelines Revised

1/28 - The Photo Submission Guidelines for photographs sent in for the BoatNerd News Photo Gallery have been revised and updated.

Lay Up List updated

Today in Great Lakes History - January 28

SELKIRK SETTLER (Hull#256) was launched January 28, 1983, at Govan, Scotland by Govan Shipbuilding Ltd.

At 4:00 a.m. on 28 January 1879, the ferry SARNIA was discovered to be on fire while lying at Fitzgerald's yard in Port Huron. All of the cabins were destroyed although the fire department had the fire out within an hour. About $3,000 damage was done. She was in the shipyard to be remodeled and to have a stern wheel installed. Arson was suspected.

On 28 January 1889, The Port Huron Times announced that the Toledo & Saginaw Transportation Company went out of business and sold all of its vessel and its shipyard. The shipyard went to Curtis & Brainard along with the PAWNEE and MIAMI. The BUFFALO, TEMPEST, BRAINARD and ORTON went to Thomas Lester. The C F CURTIS, FASSET, REED and HOLLAND went to R. C. Holland. The DAYTON went to J. A. Ward and M. P. Lester. The TROY and EDWARDS were sold, but the new owners were not listed.

Lay Up List updated

Today in Great Lakes History - January 27

In 1912, the Great Lakes Engineering Works' Ecorse yard launched the steel bulk freighter WILLIAM P SNYDER JR (Hull#83), for the Shenango Furnace Co.

The LEON FALK JR closed the 1974, season at Superior by loading 17,542 tons of ore bound for Detroit.

January 27, 1985 - The CITY OF MIDLAND 41 had to return to port (Ludington) after heavy seas caused a 30-ton crane to fall off a truck on her car deck.

On 27 January 1978, ALLEGHENY, the training vessel of the Great Lakes Maritime Academy (built in 1944, at Orange, Texas as a sea-going naval tug) capsized at her winter dock at Traverse City, Michigan from the weight of accumulated ice. She was recovered but required and expensive rebuild and was sold and renamed TUG MALCOLM in 1979.

On 27 January 1893, Charles Lonsby and Louis Wolf purchased the 161 foot wooden steam barge THOMAS D STIMSON for $28,000. The vessel was built in 1881, by W. J. Daley & Sons at Mt. Clemens, Michigan as a schooner and was originally named VIRGINIUS. She was converted to a steamship in 1887.

Program Cancelled - Willis B. Boyer program at Vantage Point

1/26 - Port Huron - The program has been cancelled, check the Calendar of Events page for future updates.

The Lake Huron Lore Marine Society presents its 3rd Annual Winter Steamboat Night on Saturday, January 26, at the Great Lakes Maritime Center in Port Huron.

Kraft proposes new dock for Nabisco mill

1/26 - Toledo - An East Toledo flour mill soon could receive grain by ship, along with its current truck and rail deliveries, if it proceeds with plans to build a dock and conveyor system on the Maumee River.

"Receiving grain by ship is not new to the Toledo mill, but we haven't done this since the '60s or the '70s," said Cathy Pernu, a spokesman for Kraft Foods Global Inc., which through merger eight years ago acquired the Nabisco Foods flour mill on Front Street. "We would like to have this transportation option available to us again."

To build the dock as proposed, Kraft will need occasional use of wharf space in front of part of the neighboring Toledo Shipyard, owned by the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. The authority's board of directors was scheduled to consider a resolution Thursday approving an access agreement between Kraft and shipyard operator Ironhead Marine Inc. "The new Marine Terminal will generate significant new tonnage via marine transportation and will support a new bagging operation and trucking operation that will, in turn, generate new employment and significant economic development locally," according to a staff report to the port directors.

Neither the port authority nor Ironhead would be paid for Kraft's use of the shipyard wharf, but would benefit from improvements Kraft would undertake to make it usable and from river dredging that would improve navigation not only to the mill but to the shipyard, port officials said. All of Kraft's unloading equipment and conveyors would be on its side of the property line.

"Finally, the economics of water transportation are coming out," James Hartung, the port authority's president, told the seaport committee last week before it voted to recommend board approval for the deal. "Essentially, it's a new terminal on the Maumee, and that hasn't happened in a while. It's exciting," Mr. Hartung said. "It's a company investing in their local facility, with a new bagging plant and new trucking operations," agreed Warren McCrimmon, the port authority's seaport director.

Ms. Pernu declined to divulge how much the project might cost to build or to forecast any employment boost it might bring to the mill. "We are in very preliminary stages of this project and it is too soon to say whether there will be incremental hiring at the mill because of it," she said. Mr. McCrimmon said he had been told up to 1 million tons of Canadian wheat could arrive by ship annually at the mill, potentially including during the winter months when most ship activity in Toledo ceases.

Once milled and bagged, the flour would be trucked to Kraft bakeries throughout the lower Great Lakes region, he said.

Flour milling on the Front Street site dates to 1892, and National Biscuit Co. bought the operation in 1926, Ms. Pernu said. A Nabisco company magazine from 1948 shows a ship unloading grain there, but after that Kraft does not know when the last ship delivery to the old mill occurred. The current facility was built in 1976.

Port Report - January 26

Lay Up List updated

Today in Great Lakes History - January 26

The keel for the CLIFFS VICTORY, a). NOTRE DAME VICTORY (Hull#1229) was laid on January 26, 1945, at Portland, Oregon by Oregon Shipbuilding Corp.

THOMAS F COLE (Hull #27) was launched January 26, 1907, by the Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ecorse, Michigan for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co..

J F SCHOELLKOPF JR was launched January 26, 1907, as a.) HUGH KENNEDY (Hull#349) at Lorain, Ohio by the American Ship Building Co.

The THALASSA DESGAGNES entered service for Le Groupe Desgagnes on January 26, 1994.

ST LAWRENCE NAVIGATOR was launched in 1967, as a.) DEMETERTON (Hull#619) at South Shields, United Kingdom by John Readhead & Sons, Ltd.

On 26 January 1898, the CITY OF DULUTH (wooden passenger/package freight vessel, 202 foot, 1,310 gross tons, built in 1874, at Marine City, Michigan as a passenger vessel) was carrying passengers, corn, flour and general merchandise from Chicago to St. Joseph, Michigan during a late season run when she struck an uncharted bar in a storm inbound to St. Joseph. She was heavily damaged and driven ashore 350 feet west of the north pier where she broke up. The Lifesaving Service rescued all 24 passengers and 17 crew members using breeches' buoy.

26 January 1994 - The THALASSA DESGAGNES (steel propeller tanker, 131.43 m, 5746 gt, built in 1976 in Norway, formerly RIO ORINOCO) entered service for Le Groupe Desgagnes.

Port Reports - January 25

Goderich - Dale Baechler
On Thursday morning the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Samuel Risley and the MacDonald Marine tugs assisted Algomarine to the Sifto Salt dock. She backed in the channel in moderate ice conditions and was on the dock at 11 a.m.

Lay Up List updated

St. Ignace Council accepts gift steam engine

1/24 - St. Ignace - The City Council in St. Ignace, Michigan formally accepted the gift of a triple-expansion marine steam engine and gave consensus approval to repairs on its Fort du Buade property Monday night.

The Council voted to formally accept the gift of one of three steam engines removed from the hull of the carferry Chief Wawatam after her retirement and eventual sale in the late 1980s. The impressive 1912-vintage steam engine, standing 16 feet tall and weighing 60 tons when fully assembled was donated to the St. Ignace Downtown Development Authority (DDA) by Jack Purvis of Purvis Marine Ltd. of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

Purvis purchased the old carferry from the State of Michigan and has since converted the rugged carferry's hull into a barge that retains the “Chief” name. Over the years, the Purvis company has donated artifacts removed from the “Chief” to a variety of civic projects, including innovative wind chimes in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. and the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisc.

City Manager Eric Dodson told the Council that one of the three steam engines that once powered the Chief Wawatam has been re-assembled for display and demonstration inside the Wisconsin museum. The museum uses the engine to demonstrate operation of piston-powered steam engines, using an electric motoraqsz in place of the original steam.

Dodson, DDA President Gene Elmer and Public Works Director Les Therrian took turns describing the engine and its planned move to St. Ignace. Dodson said very preliminary plans for a state-funded transportation museum at St. Ignace could incorporate the old steam engine into its displays. He noted that a 100-foot scale model of the Mackinac Bridge is another large display that could be placed into the museum.

Dodson asked the Council to formally accept the gift steam engine, currently stored in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The Council readily agreed, though a number of questions arose about moving the massive machine, border arrangements and storage in St. Ignace. Elmer said the engine is currently disassembled in component parts, the largest of which is its massive engine bed, itself weighing 35 tons.

Elmer said the preliminary plan for moving the engine calls for trucking the smaller components south to St. Ignace, leaving the very-heavy crankshaft and engine bed for special handling. He said logistics of the move have yet to be determined but noted that Purvis is anxious to have the engine moved. Elmer reported that Purvis will handle border arrangements for moving the engine. He added that a volunteer with expert knowledge of the “Chief” engines is available to supervise the engine's re-assembly.

He said he is not sure if Purvis will hold onto the heavier components until spring, when barge transportation may be available to move the largest components. “The base is the big piece to worry about,” he said.

Therrian said outdoor storage space is available at the City Garage for temporary storage of the steam engine. Elmer said Purvis had the engine coated with a preservative to keep the huge iron engine from deteriorating in outdoor storage.

Job Opportunity: Great Lakes Pilotage Authority

1/24 - Hamilton - The Great Lakes Pilotage Authority Administration de pilotage des Grands lacs is accepting applications for positions as Ships' Pilot (anticipated staffing) for the following District: - Lake Ontario District.

Qualifications include: (a) be a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant; (b) be a holder of (i) a certificate of competency not lower than Master local voyage, (ii) a valid Restricted Radiotelephone Operator's Certificate, (iii) a certificate indicating that, within two years immediately preceding the date of the application, the applicant has successfully completed a course in simulated electronic navigation (SEN)level II that included training in the use of an automatic radar plotting aid (ARPA).

Applicants shall have served as a master for at least 12 months; or as a deck watch officer for at least 24 months and have, during the last three (3) years, completed a minimum of fifteen (15) trips in the district for which application is made; d) pass a medical examination in accordance with the General Pilotage Regulations; and e) pass an examination conducted by a Board of Examiners.

Copies of supporting documents relating to (a) - (c) above must accompany each application. Applications should be submitted no later than February 15, 2008 to: Great Lakes Pilotage Authority, P. O. Box 95, Cornwall, Ontario K6H 5R9. The Great Lakes Pilotage Authority endorses the principle of employment equity.

The fee for the examination listed in the above-mentioned paragraph (e) is $500.00.

Lay Up List updated

Today in Great Lakes History - January 24

The JOHNSTOWN (Hull#4504) was launched January 24, 1952, at Sparrows Point, Maryland by Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard.

SPRUCEGLEN was launched January 24, 1924, as a.) WILLIAM K FIELD (Hull#176) at Toledo, Ohio by the Toledo Ship Building Co.

The steel barge MADEIRA (Hull#38) was launched on January 24, 1900, at Chicago, Illinois by the Chicago Ship Building Co.

In 1988, while under tow of German tug EVEREST of 1960, the ENDERS M VOORHEES encountered force 9 winds, parted her towline and went aground and subsequently broke in two at Profitis Elais, Kythnos Island (Thermia) in the Cyclades between the Mirto and Aegean Seas. She was on her way to Turkey for scrapping at the time.

Cold in Northland makes it hard to plug Walter J. McCarthy's hole

1/23 - Duluth - The recent cold weather has slowed repaired efforts on the Walter J. McCarthy Jr.

Workers had hoped to have the hole in the laker’s hull covered by a coffer dam by now, said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Aaron Gross, chief of port operations for the Duluth Marine Safety Unit. “The weather has slowed them up,” Gross said this morning. “The divers need to get down there and look at the hull, but ice has built up on the exterior of the hull.”

Workers have finished pumping water from the ship’s ballast tanks, which as dropped the level of water in the McCarthy’s engine room from 20 to five feet. Once the coffer dam is in place, workers will “slip that down, seal up the damage and make repairs from the inside and finish pumping off the water.” The water in the engine room will be treated in case it has been contaminated with oil, fuel or grease.

Once the engine room is pumped dry, officials will be able to determine if the ship’s four engines can be repaired where the ship is or whether it will have to enter dry dock.

The 1,000-foot-long laker’s engine room flooded Jan. 14 after a submerged object punctured the McCarthy’s hull as the ship was backing into a slip at Superior’s Hallett No. 8 Dock about 11:30 a.m. The McCarthy’s crew closed the engine room’s watertight doors and evacuated the room as the ship’s stern settled to the bottom in 20 feet of water.

Port Reports - January 23

Port Huron - Frank Frisk
The tug John M. Selvick that brought the Algosteel from Chicago to Toledo for repairs, started her trip back to Chicago on Tuesday.

Cheboygan - Jon Paul Michaels
The tug Michigan and barge Great Lakes arrived Tuesday morning in Cheboygan to unload. They had loaded in Whiting, IN.
The USCGC Mackinaw arrived at her berth at 11 a.m. to take on supplies after their last tour of ice breaking duty.

Toronto - Jerry Oderkirk and Frank Hood
Algocape was unloading its storage cargo of raw sugar at Redpath on Monday. It was assisted into the slip by McKeil's Jarrett M and Wyatt M., which came over from Hamilton for the shift. The tugs are now stationed at Toronto for the winter to facilitate to movements of the other storage vessels.
Retaining wall reconstruction continues at the foot of Spadina Street. The Sonderholm tug Diver III and barges Y & F No. 1 and Y & F No. 2 have been joined in the project by Galcon's spud barge Pitts Carillon and Bermingham Construction Co.'s tug William.
The Island ferry Ongiara, and the airport ferry TCCA 1 are still running. There isn't much ice in the harbor, despite the cold snap.

Rudi Rabe passes

1/23 Detroit - Rudi Rabe, a regular Historical Perspective contributor to the BoatNerd News Photo Gallery, has died at age 52.

He was employed as a tugboat engineer on the tugs Kinsale, Kilkenny and Donegal for Gaelic Tugboat, working his way through college to become a Registered Nurse.

He worked as a nurse at the Veterans Hospital, and was employed at the time of his death at University of Michigan hospital.

Lay Up List updated

Algosteel Arrives

1/22 - The Algosteel tow continued downbound on Monday passing the Detroit River Light about 11:40 a.m. When the tow reached Lake Erie they were reported to have been working in ice that slowed the tow. The Manitou was towing with the Selvick running ahead to cut a track in the new ice. The tow reached Toledo around 5:30 p.m.

Port Reports - January 22

Grand Haven - Dick Fox
After waiting improvement in the weather since Thursday, the tug Susan W. Hannah and barge St. Mary's Conquest departed about 9 p.m. Sunday night. The pair backed out the channel maneuvering back and forth, using the bow thruster as well, to get through the ice that had formed in the river and the channel.

Escanaba - Lee Rowe
Although the Soo Locks are closed, Escanaba is having a busy time. A balky reclaimer kept the barge Great Lakes Trader and tug Joyce L. VanEnkevort at the dock waiting to finish her load while the Burns Harbor arrived and anchored in the harbor. Later in the afternoon the Erika Kobasic led the Joseph L Block into the harbor. The Block proceeded to the dock and tied up behind the Joseph Thompson which is laid up on the south side of the dock. The Wilfred Sykes was expected to arrive later in the evening.

Lay Up List updated

Today in Great Lakes History - January 22

The c.) WOODLAND, a.) FRENCH RIVER) was sold to International Capital Equipment of Canada and cleared off the Lakes from Montreal January 22, 1991, under the Bahamian flag with the modified name to d.) WOODLANDS.

The GOLDEN HIND was sold on January 22, 1973, to Trico Enterprises Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda (Quebec & Ontario Transportation Co. Ltd., Thorold, Ontario, mgr.)

January 22, 1913 - The SAINTE MARIE (Hull#127) was launched at Toledo, Ohio by Craig Shipbuilding Co.

Lay Up List updated

Lay Up List updated

Today in Great Lakes History - January 20

NORDIC BLOSSOM was launched January 20, 1981 as the a.) NORDIC SUN.

On January 20, 1917, American Ship Building's Lorain yard launched the steel bulk freighter EUGENE W PARGNY for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

January 20, 1911 - The ANN ARBOR NO 5 made her first trip into Kewaunee.

On 20 January 1923, CHOCTAW (steel propeller packet, 75 foot, 53 gross tons, built in 1911, at Collingwood) burned at her dock at Port Stanley, Ontario.

20 January 1980 – The E. M. FORD (steel propeller self-unloader cement carrier, 406’, 4498 gt, built in 1898 at Lorain, OH as a bulk freighter, Converted to self-unloading bulk cement carrier in 1956 at Sturgeon Bay, WI) was raised at her dock in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She sank on Christmas Eve of 1979 when gale force winds forced her from her moorings and repeatedly slammed her bow into the dock facing. Crews had to remove a solid 3 feet of hardened cement and patch her holed bow before she could be re-floated.

On 20 January 1978, HARRY L ALLEN (formerly JOHN B COWLE, built in 1910) burned at her winter lay-up berth at Capital 4 grain elevator dock in Duluth. She was declared a total loss.

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

Port Reports - January 19

Toledo - Bob Vincent
The American Century came in around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, and laid up along # 2 wall at the CSX Coal Dock, in front of the Buffalo.

Milwaukee's port to clean ballast
State funds experiment in effort to ward off invasive species

1/19 - Milwaukee - Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle announced Thursday that Wisconsin will spend $6 million to invest in experimental ballast water treatment systems for the state's Great Lakes ports, including Milwaukee.

Contaminated ballast discharges from oceangoing vessels have been blamed for a host of environmental problems in the Great Lakes, including a decline in native fish, a rise in noxious algae and, more recently, widespread bird die-offs on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

Congress has been mulling legislation for years that would require ocean-going vessels to treat their ballast water to kill any unwanted hitchhikers, but it has gotten nowhere. A big problem is shipping companies have maintained that there are a host of technical problems in designing onboard treatment systems that effectively kill unwanted organisms in ballast tanks. Ballast water is used to steady a less-than-full ship on open seas and is discharged in exchange for cargo when a ship arrives at port.

Now Wisconsin is going to take a different tack in its fight against this "biological pollution." The $6 million in grants will go toward building a system in Milwaukee that would involve discharging ballast to a facility onshore, treating it and returning it to the lake. Preliminary estimates peg the cost for such a system at $1 million to $2 million.

The ports of Green Bay and Superior also are eligible to tap into the funds for similar purposes, according to Doyle spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner.

The Great Lakes are home to dozens of ports, so treating water at one or even three sites won't do much to protect the region from the next zebra mussel. The hope is the Milwaukee project could pave the way for similar facilities across the Great Lakes.

"We're looking at a demonstration program," said Roger Larson, deputy director of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' bureau of watershed management. The goal, according to Doyle, is to keep commerce moving and to protect the deteriorating lakes.

"We have an opportunity to strengthen our shipping industry and protect our lakes from invasive species," Doyle said. "The federal government is failing to take serious action, and it's our time to be leaders in treating ballast water here on Lake Michigan."

Conservationists have lobbied hard for onboard treatment systems, and many have argued that oceangoing vessels should be blocked from even entering the Great Lakes until Congress passes a law requiring such systems.

Great Lakes United's Jennifer Nalbone said Thursday that she hadn't heard of Wisconsin's plan. But she said the logical place to put such an onshore facility would be at a port outside the Great Lakes, so all ships would arrive in the Great Lakes with clean water. "That would be ideal," she said. "But we encourage the states to take their own actions."

Absent overarching federal legislation, that is exactly what Great Lakes states have started to do. Michigan recently passed a law requiring ships to clean their ballast before discharging in state waters, and the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board is considering adopting a similar rule.

Mariner Service planned in Owen Sound

1/19 - Owen Sound - The 15th Owen Sound Mariner's Service and Blessing of the Great Lakes Fleet will be held at St. George's Anglican Church in Owen Sound on Sunday February 3rd, 2008, at 10 am.

All Mariners are invited including Merchant Navy/Marine, Georgian College Marine Students, Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Power & Sail Squadron, Canadian Coast Guard, CG Auxiliary, OPP & Police & Fire Marine Units, Great Lakes Cruising Club, Commercial & Charter fishermen, Sea Cadets, Sea Scouts, Georgian Bay & Lake Huron Yacht Clubs, and Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping members.

This service is open to all Mariners, their families and friends. It is sponsored by the Ship Masters’ Association, Georgian Bay-Huronia Lodge. A light lunch of sandwiches, sweets, coffee , and tea, will be served in the Parish Hall to all friends and guests following the service. Uniforms are encouraged, though not required.

Lay Up List updated

Today in Great Lakes History - January 19

On 19 January 1824, the Welland Canal Company was incorporated to build the first Welland Canal.

The DAVID M WHITNEY (steel propeller freighter, 412 foot, 4,626 gross tons) was launched on 19 January 1901, by the Detroit Ship Building Company (Hull #138) in Wyandotte, Michigan for the Gilchrist Transportation Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Renamed b.) EDWIN L BOOTH in 1914, c.) G N WILSON in 1921, d.) THOMAS BRITT in 1928, and e.) BUCKEYE in 1943. She lasted until 1969, when she was scrapped in Spain.

January 19, 1927 - The Grand Trunk carferry MADISON was christened with a bottle of Wisconsin milk. She entered service in March of 1927.

The CLARENCE B RANDALL, the a.) J J SULLIVAN of 1907, was towed to Windsor, Ontario on January 19, 1987, for scrapping.

Crews continue to work on Walter J. McCarthy

Port Reports - January 18

Twin Ports - Al Miller
Great Lakes Fleet’s Edwin H. Gott and John G. Munson arrived in Duluth overnight Wednesday-Thursday and laid up at the Duluth port terminal.
The Mesabi Miner was loading coal at Midwest Energy Terminal late Thursday afternoon. This is expected to be the last load of the season before the Miner lays up at the terminal dock on Sunday.

Coal, ore fuel Toledo port's cargo gains
Greater tonnage offsets drop in grain shipments

1/18 - Toledo - Rebounding coal and iron ore business more than offset a grain decline at Toledo's port last year, leading to an overall 7.7 percent increase in cargo tonnage during 2007, year-end Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority statistics show.

For the fourth straight year, iron ore was the port's top cargo, its 5,053,615 tons representing a 32.6 percent jump over 2006 and exceeding coal, historically Toledo's primary marine commodity, by 1.8 million tons. Port officials attributed much of the ore growth to a ship-transfer operation that Midwest Terminals of Toledo International developed at the International Cargo Dock that is a revenue generator for the port authority.

In fact, 585,803 tons of the iron ore that 1,000-foot, U.S.-flagged lake vessels delivered to the Midwest-managed dock were counted twice in the port's statistics: once upon arrival, then again after reloading onto smaller Canadian ships that carried it through the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway to St. Lawrence River ports for transfer to ocean-going ships.

"But it's [port] revenue on both legs too," William Carroll, a port authority director, observed during a seaport committee meeting Tuesday. Overall, "It was a good year for us, but we can always do better - hopefully in 2008," said Joe Cappel, the port authority's seaport marketing representative.

The cargo increase last year was the port's third straight after several years of steady declines, attributable mainly to long-term declining consumption of Appalachian coal by Great Lakes electricity generators. But since 2004, coal business has been relatively stable, and it was up by 12.5 percent in 2007 compared with 2006, to 3.24 million tons. At least some of the coal increase in 2007 was destined for Toledo Edison's Bay Shore power plant in Oregon, which historically has received all of its coal by train.

Grain volume, which is always volatile because of uncertain harvests and world markets, fell to 1.62 million tons during 2007, a 24.3 percent year-to-year decline but higher than 2004 or 2005. Seaport Director Warren McCrimmon blamed much of that drop on increased ethanol production, which consumed corn that otherwise might have been exported, along with reduced U.S. steel imports that meant fewer overseas ships came into the Great Lakes last year.

Fewer foreign ships coming in means fewer vessels to carry grain out. During 2007, only 35 "salties" visited Toledo, less than half the 81 that called on the port during 2006. Overseas cargoes to or from Toledo increased nonetheless because of the iron-ore transshipment business.

Toledo's most celebrated cargo of the year was two heavy transformers shipped in from South Korea and transferred to railcars for delivery to Detroit Edison's Fermi 2 nuclear plant north of Monroe. They were among several "project cargoes" that included season-long shipments of German pipe for a Colorado-Ohio natural gas pipeline project and, late in the year, towers for wind turbines to be built in Michigan.

While relatively small contributors to the Toledo port's cargo tonnage, such high-value shipments are big money-makers for Midwest Terminals, the port authority, and dock workers - the latter because of the labor involved in handling them. They also helped keep "general and miscellaneous cargo" traffic close to even with 2006 - down by just 1.3 percent, to 154,085 tons - even though imported lumber traffic disappeared because of a weak construction market and aluminum business shifted elsewhere during the season.

Lay Up List updated

Today in Great Lakes History - January 18

On 18 January 2004, the Great Lakes Fleet's 1000-footer EDGAR B SPEER became stuck in the ice in the Rock Cut in the St. Marys River. Over the next two days, the U.S.C.G.C. MACKINAW tried to free her, but unsuccessfully. On 21 January, the tugs RELIANCE, MISSOURI, JOSEPH H THOMPSON JR and JOYCE L VAN ENKEVORT all coordinated their efforts under the direction of Wellington Maritime's Captain John Wellington and got the SPEER free.

The CABOT was refloated on January 18, 1967. On December 16, 1966, while loading at Montreal, the CABOT rolled over on her side and sank. The CABOT's stern section, used in the interim as the stern section of the b.) CANADIAN EXPLORER, now sails as the stern section of c.) CANADIAN TRANSFER.

The MONDOC had her Canadian registry closed on January 18, 1979. The vessel had been renamed b) CORAH ANN and sold to Jamaican company. CORAH ANN was scrapped in 2003.

The National Steamship Co. was incorporated January 18, 1906.

L. P. Mason and Company of E. Saginaw, Michigan sold the steam barge PORTER CHAMBERLAIN (wooden steam barge, 134 foot, 257 gross tons, built in 1874, at Marine City, Michigan) on 18 January 1888, to Comstock Brothers and L. & H. D. Churchill of Alpena, Michigan.

Data from: Joe Barr, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series

The 1,000-foot-long laker’s engine room flooded Monday after a submerged object punctured the McCarthy’s hull as the ship was backing into a slip at Superior’s Hallett No. 8 Dock about 11:30 a.m. The McCarthy’s crew closed the engine room’s watertight doors and evacuated the room as the ship’s stern settled to the bottom in 20 feet of water.

“Calculations support that the vessel will float regardless of the flooded engine room if de-ballasting occurs,” the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release. “To do so, the vessel will utilize shore power to operate internal and external pumps. Engineers involved in the salvage believe it will take two to three days to complete the de-ballasting.”

Work to empty the ship’s ballast tanks began Tuesday evening. The tanks hold lake water to help stabilize the ship when it is empty or lightly loaded.

Once the ship is refloated, divers will be able to determine the extent of the damage to the McCarthy’s hall. After the ship’s hull is patched, the water in the engine room will be pumped to trucks for proper treatment and disposal.

The water fills the engine room to a depth of 20 feet, covering the ship’s four 3,500-horsepower General Motors Electro Motive Division diesel engines. Response personnel estimate that approximately 450 gallons of miscellaneous oils have been removed from the flooded engine room, the Coast Guard said. There are an additional 2,500 to 3,000 gallons of oil and fuel in adjacent tanks, engines and generators, but there is no threat of those liquids escaping, the Coast Guard said.

Once the engine room is pumped dry, officials will be able to determine if the ship can be repaired where it is or whether it will have to enter dry dock.

Workers may rebuild the ship’s engines where it sits now, said Rhonda S. Johnson, spokeswoman for GATX, the parent company of the McCarthy’s owner, the American Steamship Co.

Port Report - January 17

1/17 - Marquette - The last iron ore freighter of the season shipped out from Marquette’s Upper Harbor ore dock Monday.

The Soo Locks closed Tuesday, ushering in the official winter break for the Lake Superior shipping season.
Now, workers at the Cleveland Cliffs Inc.-owned docks will begin the “off season” work of maintenance as they prepare for another busy season come spring.

“There is a lot of maintenance that takes place,” said Dale Hemmila, the district manager of public affairs for CCI. “There are a lot of things that will have to be done between the end of the shipping season and when shipping resumes.”

According the Hemmila, 2007 shipping tonnage showed a slight decline compared to the 2006 shipping season. About 6.4 million tons of ore was shipped in 2006 on more than 300 boats, while numbers were lower this year due to two scheduled blast furnace outages in steel plants in Sault Ste. Marie and Dearborn. “They took less ore because of those scheduled outages,” Hemmila said. Official tonnage for the 2007 season won’t be available until February.

While some ore is shipped via railroad lines, Hemmila said a majority of the ore processed during the usual January through April break would be stored here in the Upper Peninsula. “Production isn’t affected,” he said. “Shipping is because we can’t ship on Lake Superior in the winter time. With the locks closed, there’s not much we can do.”

1/17 - Cleveland — With U.S.-Flag Great Lakes vessels light loading a thousand times or more in 2007, U.S.-Flag cargo movement fell to 104 million net tons, a decrease of 5.2 percent compared to 2006.

Iron ore cargos slipped 3.6 percent. Coal loadings were down by 160,000 tons. Limestone cargos plunged 12 percent.

Economic factors behind the decline include lower steel production and a slowdown in the construction industry that reduced demand for aggregate. Weather delays also affected shipments in the final two months of the year.

The effects of the dredging crisis and falling water levels became even more pronounced as the year ended. Vessels that have carried nearly 71,000 tons of coal in a single trip saw their payloads shrink to 60,000 tons. Even though the record iron ore cargo through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, tops 72,000 tons, December’s best ore load totaled only 62,260 tons.

Coal shipments on the Great Lakes fell below 39.3 million net tons in 2007, a decrease of 6.6 percent compared to 2006. Loadings were 4.9 percent off the trade’s 5-year average.

Light loading impacted the trade all year, and turned into a virtual stranglehold in December. By month’s end, the largest coal cargos barely topped 60,000 tons. When water levels were high in the late 1990s and offset the lack of adequate dredging, the same vessels were carrying nearly 71,000 tons each trip. A vessel that can carry 54,000 tons of limestone in a single trip had to settle for 49,000 tons on its best run in December.

Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes/Seaway system totaled 58.1 million net tons in 2007, a decrease of 3 percent compared to 2006. The trade was 1.5 percent behind its 5-year average.

While the decrease partially reflects lower demand from steelmakers, the shortfall in tonnage –1.8 million tons – could have easily been carried if U.S.-Flag Lakers had been able to load to full capacity. For those ships to leave port with only 60,000 tons in their holds meant more than 15 percent of the vessels’ optimum carrying capacity was unused.

More information is available at www.lcaships.com

Since 2006, all ocean vessels bound for a Canadian port have been subjected to ballast water inspections, to ensure that water within the ballast tanks adheres to a minimum level of salinity of 30 parts per thousand. With the harmonization of U.S. and Canadian standards, all vessels entering the Seaway, irrespective of their destination, will be subjected to the same inspection process.

Beginning with the 2008 navigation season, all ocean vessels, including those with ‘no ballast on board’, will be subjected to an inspection, covering 100% of ballast water tanks. This inspection process will ensure that the vessel - while still a minimum of 200 km offshore - flushed all of its tanks with salt water. On subsequent transits during the year, the vessel will again be subjected to a series of inspections, with the objective of ensuring that the vessel’s crew is strictly adhering to the salt water flushing practice.

Salt water acts as a natural biocide against fresh water organisms found in ballast water. A recent study led by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Michigan found this practice to be a highly effective means to eradicate organisms suspended in ballast water (including zebra mussels). The new harmonized regulations will ensure that all ocean vessels flush their ballast tanks with salt water, well before they enter U.S. or Canadian waters.

Richard Corfe, President and CEO of the SLSMC, stated that “this agreement demonstrates the resolve of the Seaway corporations, the Canadian and U.S. governments, and that of the marine industry to effectively manage ballast water, and apply industry leading best practices to each and every ocean vessel entering our system.

'Pigboats' once called on Grand Traverse Bay

1/17 - Leelanau - They were called "pigboats" or "whalebacks," and they sailed by Leelanau's shores and discharged cargoes here, too.

The Meteor, a "pigboat" that once called on Greilickville, is now a marine museum in Superior, Wis.

They were called pigboats not because they carried pigs, but because they had a distinctive pig-like bow. The unique form of Great Lakes vessel was invented by Captain Alexander McDougall. Altogether, 40-some were built on the lakes between the years 1888-98.

For a number of years, they were so closely identified with the Great Lakes that some people thought all the lakes ships were whalebacks, even though the “pigs” never constituted more than a small fraction of the large inland fleet.

McDougall’s idea was that a ship should offer as little resistance to the waves as possible, and his design featured sides that curved inward to the main deck and a rounded bow. It was the bow that inspired the derisive term “pigboat” and some observers likened one of the steamers with barges in tow as “a sow with her piglets.”

Actually, most of the whalebacks were built as barges and only 16 were built as steamers. The other most distinctive feature of the design was a turret, forward and aft, mounted on the main deck.

The first whaleback launched, a barge, was simply named No. 101. Legend has it that the number wasn’t an arbitrary one, however. The story goes that McDougall was given 10-to-1 odds by some skeptic that his craft would never complete its maiden voyage.

All but one of the steamers was constructed as a bulk carrier. The exception was a passenger-carrying whaleback – and what an exception it was. The day steamer, Christopher Columbus, built in 1892, could carry 5,600 passengers.

This ship was built for service at the World’s Fair at Chicago, where Michigan furnished a sleigh with a stupendous load of logs from the Upper Peninsula (the state was still famous for its lumbering industry at the time, having peaked out only a few years earlier).

During the course of its career, the Columbus is said to have carried more passengers (about two million during the World’s Fair alone) than any other ship ever to operate on the Great Lakes.

Only one serious accident marred an otherwise excellent safety record, and it was directly related to the ship’s unique design. On June 30, 1917, while being towed from her Milwaukee berth, the ship’s “snout” slipped over the dock facing and knocked the legs out from under a water tower. The tower crashed onto the bow of the ship, smashing the wheelhouse and killing 16 people.

The Columbus was repaired at Manitowoc, Wis., and returned to service. The steamer also inspired an unknown poet to write a verse about The Passenger Hog:

"The hogs that are loaded with iron or wheat
They seem to be handy fer use,
But the passenger hog is a mean one to meet,
An’ when you’re in dock she’s the deuce.
She’d ought to be given a port all her own,
Where no one would care how she’d jog,
Where she’d leave us poor freighters an’ others alone,
The ugly old passenger hog."

This was probably composed because the Columbus was noted for moving at a relatively fast clip, particularly under the command of her veteran master of 36 years, Capt. Charles Moody. He knew how the ship handled so well that he invariably took her wheel while in port.

Historian James Elliot writes “the wake of the fast-moving Columbus often raised havoc with ships that were moored at the various docks.” On the open lake, the ship’s 18 foot propeller easily pushed the ship forward at a steady 20 miles an hour. Idled by the Great Depression at Manitowoc for several seasons, the once proud ship was cut up for scrap, which went to Japan.

Whalebacks even served as automobile carriers. While in this service, the South Park, on Nov. 15, 1942, struck the breakwater at Manistique, Mich., where the Northport carferry once regularly called. At the time, carferries out of Frankfort still called there and rendered assistance. Although the South Park was badly damaged, it was rebuilt, but as an oil tanker for Cleveland Tankers.

The old whaleback (built in 1896) seems to have been well suited for this newest role, and remained in service for almost another 30 years. It survived all of the other steamers and barges. As a tanker, the vessel discharged petroleum products at Greilickville, and a crewman conceded the unusual ship drew a lot of attention.

In the larger ports, crowds would sometimes gather, and such was the case when the Meteor was once passing under a bridge. “What in the world kind of ship are you?” someone in the crowd shouted. “We’re a submarine and we’re about to submerge!” one of the crewmen shouted back. The crowd quickly scattered.

Other units of the Cleveland Tankers fleet that called at Greilickville – all named after celestial objects – include Gemini, Saturn, Jupiter, Pleiades, Blue Comet, Mercury and Polaris.

The last vessel, like the Meteor, was a conversion. The Polaris was originally an LST (Landing Ship Tank), built during World War II. The whaleback was originally named Frank Rockefeller and its first cargo was Mesabi iron ore.

Another whaleback, barge No. 102, carried the first cargo of Mesabi ore to Cleveland only a few years earlier. This great range proved to be the richest of all of those of the Great Lakes region.

Most of the high-grade ore from this range had already been mined when, after over 70 years of faithful service, the Meteor struck the rocks outside of Manitowoc harbor and sustained considerable damage. She was taken up the river there and tied up – just about where, decades earlier, the Christopher Columbus routinely spent the winters and was finally cut up.

If you wonder what a whaleback was really like, you can visit the Meteor. She’s now a marine museum at Superior, Wis.

Lay Up List updated

Today in Great Lakes History - January 17

NORTHERN VENTURE closed the Welland Canal for the season as she passed down bound for Hamilton with coal in 1975.

In 1978, the CLIFFS VICTORY, JOSEPH H FRANTZ, WILLIAM G MATHER, ROBERT C NORTON, CRISPIN OGLEBAY and J BURTON AYERS formed a convoy in the Detroit River bound for Cleveland.

The PHILIP D BLOCK (Hull#789) was launched at Lorain, Ohio, by the American Ship Building in 1925.

The tanker GREAT LAKES was launched in 1963, as the a.) SINCLAIR GREAT LAKES (Hull#1577) at Decatur, Alabama by Ingalls Iron Works Co.

JOHN E F MISENER was float launched in 1951, as a.) SCOTT MISENER (Hull#11) at St. Catharines, Ontario by Port Weller Drydocks, Ltd.

January 17, 1902 - The PERE MARQUETTE 2 ran aground at Ludington.

PERE MARQUETTE 19 grounded in limited visibility on January 17, 1916, two miles south of Big Point Sable, Michigan, 600 feet off shore. The captain made three unsuccessful attempts to find the Ludington Harbor entrance and on the turn around for the fourth attempt she grounded.

On 17 January 1899, the GERMANIA (wooden propeller freighter, 136 foot, 237 gross tons, built in 1875, at Marine City, Michigan) caught fire and burned to the water's edge at Ecorse, Michigan. The previous day, Norman Reno of Ecorse did some painting inside the cabin and it was presumed that the stove used to heat the cabin may have caused the blaze. The vessel was in winter lay-up at the rear of the home of Mr. W. G. Smith, her owner.

Michipicoten Closes the Soo Locks

1/16 - The Soo Locks closed at midnight Tuesday ending the 2007 shipping season.  The final down bound transit was the Michipicoten clearing the locks downbound at 11:10 p.m. Tuesday night. Closing the locks for upbound traffic was the Edwin H. Gott who locked through Tuesday night en route to winter lay-up in Duluth. The 2008 navigation season for the locks will begin with the opening of the Poe Lock on March 25.

Reported by Jerry Mason

Walter J. McCarthy Update

1/16 - Duluth - It’s not known yet whether the Walter J. McCarthy Jr. will be repaired in time for the start of the 2008 shipping season.

The 1,000-foot-long laker’s engine room flooded Monday after the ship’s hull was holed by a submerged object as the ship was backing into a slip at Superior’s Hallett No. 8 Dock around 11:30 a.m. Johnson believes the ship was punctured on its bottom. The McCarthy’s crew closed the engine room’s watertight doors and evacuated the room as the ship’s stern settled to the bottom in 20 feet of water.

The water is covering the ship’s four 3,500-horsepower General Motors Electro Motive Division diesel engines.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, there were no reports of oil escaping from the ship into the harbor. However, because the water is covering the engines and may contain oil, grease and fuel, it can not simply be pumped out into the harbor.

Representatives from the American Steamship Company, Fraser Ship Yard, the Coast Guard, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency met Tuesday morning to review options to safely remove and dispose of the water and repair the vessel, Lt. Aaron Gross of the Coast Guard’s Duluth Marine Safety Unit said.

“We’re not executing any operations yet,” Gross said. “I believe they have done testing to see what contaminants, if any, are in water.” Officials may approve a repair plan as soon as Wednesday. The McCarthy’s owners hope to pump the water out before it freezes and causes more damage. “Once all parties are happy with a plan then we’ll be able to take the water out,” Johnson said. “Once that is done we’ll be able to start repairs.”

Authorities haven’t determined what the ship hit or how large a hole was punched through the hull. “That’s one of the problems with the engine room being under water,” Johnson said. “It’s difficult to know the extent of the hole, the extent of the damage to the engines from the water. Therefore it is hard to know how long it will take us to complete the repairs to the vessel.”

Officials will have a better idea of what may have holed the McCarthy once divers have examined the hole and the ship is refloated. “Your best bet is either ice or concrete pilings,” Gross said. Divers will examine the ship as soon as a salvage plan is agreed upon. It’s not known yet if the ship can be repaired where it is or if it will have to be moved to dry dock.

The ship primarily transports low-sulfur western coal from Superior to Detroit Edison’s St. Clair and Monroe, Mich., power plants. Built as the Belle River by the Bay Shipbuilding Corp at Sturgeon Bay, Wis., the ship entered service in 1977. It was renamed the McCarthy in 1990 to honor the former chairman of the Detroit Edison Company.

Port Reports - January 16

Grand Haven - Dick Fox
The barge St. Mary's Conquest and tug Susan W. Hannah was due at the St. Mary's Terminal in Ferrysburg early on Wednesday.

Erie Shipbuilding close to $50 million deal

1/16 - Erie, PA - Erie Shipbuilding Co. is in the final stages of negotiating a $50 million shipbuilding contract — the largest by far since it took over the facility in late 2006.

Ned Smith, Erie Shipbuilding’s chief executive, said the contract is for construction of an 840-foot tug-barge. He is optimistic the contract will be reached. “I’m 90 percent confident it’s going to get done,” he said. The project would start in March and be completed by the end of the year.

Smith said employment could rise to 175 to 200. The shipyard currently has more than 140 employees. The tug-barge will service a major stone supplier on the Great Lakes, he said.

Smith outlined the potential tug-barge contract and the status of the shipyard’s operations Friday to the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority, which leases the facility to the company. “The outlook is bright for Erie Shipbuilding and the potential is great,” he told the authority.

This winter, he said, the shipyard will be busy with about $2 million to $2.5 million worth of maintenance work. By comparison, there was about $500,000 of maintenance work last winter.

Maritime "Art Expo at Vantage Point"

1/16 - Port Huron - “Art Expo at Vantage Point” will be held on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 19 and 20.

Maritime Art in various mediums will be on display from the Acheson Ventures collection. At 10 a.m. Saturday, there will be an unveiling of an Historic Rendering of Marysville, Michigan.

Lay Up List updated

Calendar of Events updated

Today in Great Lakes History - January 16

The COLONEL JAMES PICKANDS (Hull#791) was launched in 1926, at Lorain, Ohio by the American Ship Building Co.

In 1987, the DETROIT EDISON was at Brownsville, Texas for scrapping, she was raised after being scuttled by vandals.

On her way to the cutters torch, the dead ship ASHLAND was anchored off Bermuda in 1988, when she dragged her anchors and was swept onto rocks. She suffered massive bottom damage but the tow continued.

On 16 January 1909, TECUMSEH (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 200 foot, 839 gross tons, built in 1873, at Chatham, Ontario) burned to a total loss at her winter berth at Goderich, Ontario.

In 1978, the CANADIAN CENTURY and NORTHERN VENTURE departed Toronto for Hamilton with coal after laying up at that port due to the bridge tenders strike which closed the Burlington Lift Bridge to navigation.

On 16 January 1875, The Port Huron Times printed the following list of vessels that were total losses in 1874: Tug IDA H LEE by collision in Milwaukee, Tug TAWAS by explosion off Sand Beach, Steamer W H BARNUM by collision in the Pelee Passage, Steamer TOLEDO by partially burning at Manistee, Tug WAVE by burning on Saginaw Bay, Tug DOUGLAS by burning on the Detroit River, Steamer BROOKLYN by explosion on the Detroit River, Steamer LOTTA BERNARD by foundering on Lake Superior.

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

From the Duluth News Tribune

Twin Ports - Al Miller
The Twin Ports layup fleet grew over the weekend with Roger Blough tying up at Cargill dock adjacent to the port terminal, American Mariner at the port terminal, Lee A. Tregurtha entering Fraser Shipyards, Walter J. McCarthy Jr, at Hallett Dock 8 (the first time in recent memory this dock has been used for a layup berth), and American Spirit at the Lakehead Pipeline dock.
St. Clair and Edwin H. Gott are expected to arrive for layup on Jan. 15.
Michipicoten loaded Monday at CN/DMIR ore dock while Mesabi Miner was due to load at Midwest Energy Terminal. The Miner is scheduled to load coal again Thursday before returning to the terminal for layup on Sunday.

Lay Up List updated

Calendar of Events updated

Today in Great Lakes History - January 15

In 1978, the up bound McKEE SONS, LEON FALK JR, WILLIAM P SNYDER JR, A H FERBERT and CHAMPLAIN became stuck in heavy ice outside Cleveland Harbor. Eventually they were freed with the help of the U.S.C.G. icebreaker NORTHWIND and the U.S.C.G. MARIPOSA.

FORT YORK (Hull#160) was launched January 15, 1958, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards, Ltd.

In 1917, the ANN ARBOR NO 6 left Ecorse for Frankfort on her maiden voyage.

On 15 January 1873, A. Muir began building a wooden 3-mast schooner ("full sized canaler") at his shipyard in Port Huron. Fourteen men were employed to work on her, including master builder James Perry. The schooner was to be the exact counterpart of the GROTON, the first vessel built at that yard. The vessel's dimensions were 138 foot keel, 145 foot overall, 26 foot 2 inches beam and 11 foot 6 inch depth.

On 15 January 1886, the tug KITTIE HAIGHT was sold to Mr. Fisken of Toronto for $3,900.