Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive

Two Ships Aground at Iroquois Lock

11/29 - 9:00pm Update - An eyewitness has said that the Spar Opal has been freed, and is presently at the tie up wall at Iroquois, She was released when Spar Opal swung her cranes to her port side, only then were Ocean Jupiter and Ocean Bravo able pull her off her perch. The situation was made difficult by a channel marker close to her stern. The current is strong at this location and kept pushing her back onto the bank the moment either tug reduced the tension on the tow line. Spar Opal is now moored at the extreme west end of the upper tie wall.

Golden Eye remains beached below the control dam. She is not anchored and the bow is very close to the channel marker 107, which is actually a pole on the shore with a green light atop it. When the ship was freed from her original strand it was allowed to drift down the river a very short distance and fetch up on the beach bow first. Why she was not taken out into the emergency anchorage area nearby remains a mystery.

The tug Commodore Straits was asked to leave after this and she passed up the canal about 3:00pm and went to the Prescott Elevators to dock.

The tug Ocean Hercules arrived about 5:00pm and is anchored in the river below the grounded Golden Eye. The fleet of tugs has given notice that they will be underway tomorrow morning at 5:00am to pull Golden Eye off the shore.

Reported by Kent Malo and Ron Beaupre

11/29 - 8:00am Update - Golden Eye is being reported by the Seaway as in the Emergency Anchorage below the Iroquois Lock, while Spar Opal remains tied at the Lock Upper Wall.

The Ocean tug Ocean Bravo arrived at the grounding site before 6:00am Wednesday. The second Ocean tug Ocean Jupiter has just departed from the upper wall of Snell lock after being fog bound. Tugs Ocean Bravo and Commodore Strait are alongside the anchored Golden Eye, which seems to have been pulled from her grounding site. Pictures in the News Photo Gallery.

Reported by Kent Malo

11/28 - 8:00 pm Update - Another Group Ocean tug has left Montreal to assist the grounded vessels at Iroquois. The 5000hp tug Ocean Jupiter departed Section 57, Port of Montreal, and is proceeding to the Seaway at 7:45pm.

11/28 - 5:00pm Update - The Ocean company tug Ocean Bravo left Montreal Tuesday afternoon to assist the two grounded vessels at Iroquois and is presently at Cote Ste. Catherines.

Reported by Kent Malo

Original story - 11/28- 3:30pm - St. Lawrence Seaway - It began with Spar Opal losing power as she was approaching the upper tie wall above Iroquois Lock at 8:40pm Monday night. She dropped all three anchors and the current pushed the ship aground a short distance above the lock on the south bank.

In the lock was Algosoo. Below Iroquois upbound was Golden Eye. Behind Golden Eye was the light tug Commodore Straits.

The Commodore Straits suggested she go up to assist the Spar Opal and this led to the pilot on Golden Eye to believe they should go to the anchorage below the Iroquois Control Dam on the U.S. side, just in case the Algosoo wanted to back out of the lock.

Golden Eye got caught in the strong current during the turn and shot through the anchorage in onto the river bank, below Rocky Point. To make matters worse, the wind is now strong from the east and the river level is dropping and both ships are listing and hard aground.

At midnight Algosoo cleared upbound and slid the upper tie wall nearly to the west end and proceeded up. Ships above and below went to anchor for the night and one way traffic resumed Tuesday morning as Commodore Straits runs from one grounded ship to the other with inspectors and takes soundings.

Reported by Ron Beaupre, Walter Statham & Kent Malo

Updates will be provided as they become available.

Port Reports - November 30

Marquette - Rod Burdick and Lee Rowe
On Wednesday afternoon, Steamer American Victory made a first appearance in Marquette with her new name and stack colors. She unloaded western coal from Superior. She continues to wear her WWII battle stars.
Tug/Barge Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder arrived before sunset for a load of ore.

Goderich - Dale Baechler
Algomarine entered the inner harbour at 1:00 pm Wednesday and proceeded to make a very speedy left wheel turn. She was on the Sifto Salt dock and loading by 1:45 pm.

Milwaukee - John N. Vogel
Early Wednesday afternoon, 29 November, the Federal Yukon (FedNav) was at Municipal Pier #2 in the outer harbor. Otherwise, all else was quiet.

Updates - November 30

News Photo Gallery updated

Iroquois Lock grounded vessels Gallery

Public Photo Gallery updated

Today in Great Lakes History - November 30

On 30 November 1896, CITY OF KALAMAZOO (wooden propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 162 foot, 728 gross tons, built in 1892, at South Haven, Michigan) burned at her lay-up dock at South Haven, Michigan with the loss of four lives. She was rebuilt and lasted until 1911, when she burned again.

On 30 November 1934, HENRY CORT (steel propeller whaleback crane vessel, 320 foot, 2,394 gross tons, built in 1892, at W. Superior, Wisconsin as PILLSBURY) was driven onto the north pier at Muskegon, Michigan in a storm. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter ESCANABA rescued her crew, but one Coast Guardsman lost his life. The vessel settled in shallow water and then broke in half. Her remains were scrapped the following year.

The CANADIAN PIONEER suffered a major engine room fire on 30 Nov 1987, at Nanticoke, Ontario.

On November 30, 1981, the A H FERBERT was laid up for the last time at the Hallett Dock #5, Duluth, Minnesota.

The PERE MARQUETTE 22 passed down the Welland Canal on November 30, 1973, in tow of the tugs JOHN PURVES and YVON SIMARD en route to Sorel, Quebec where she was cut down to a barge for off-Lakes use.

On 30 Nov 1967, the CITY OF FLINT 32 was laid up, never to run again.

On 30 Nov 1900, ALMERON THOMAS (2-mast wooden schooner, 50 foot, 35 gross tons, built in 1891, at Bay City, Michigan) was carrying gravel in a storm on Lake Huron when she sprang a leak and ran for the beach. She struck bottom and then capsized. She broke up in twenty feet of water near Point Lookout in Saginaw Bay, No lives were lost.

The schooner S J HOLLY came into the harbor at Oswego, New York on 30 November 1867, after a hard crossing of Lake Ontario. The previous day she left the Welland Canal and encountered a growing gale. Capt. Oscar Haynes sought calm water along the north shore, but the heavy seas and freezing winds made sailing perilous, The ropes and chains froze stiff and the schooner was almost unmanageable. The only canvas out was a two reef foresail and it was frozen in place. With great skill, the skipper managed to limp into port, having lost the yawl and sustained serious damage to the cargo. Fortunately no lives were lost.

On 30 Nov 1910, ATHABASKA (steel propeller passenger steamer, 263 foot, 1,774 gross tons, built in 1883, in Scotland) collided with the tug GENERAL and sank near Lonely Island in Georgian Bay. No lives were lost. She was later recovered and rebuilt as a bulk freighter and lasted until she was broken up in 1948.

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

Morrell’s Horror Lingers Four Decades after Sinking

11/29 - Port Huron - A terrible storm, a sunken freighter, dozens of bodies and one remarkable story of a man’s survival.

Those who remember won’t soon forget the sinking of the Daniel J. Morrell on Nov. 29, 1966, in Lake Huron about 20 miles northeast of Harbor Beach at the tip of Michigan’s Thumb. On the 40th anniversary of the disaster, people living along Lake Huron recall with awe the miracle of Dennis Hale’s survival and the newspaper images of frozen bodies being hauled from rescue helicopters that came too late.

Twenty-eight men — including one from St. Clair, wheelsman Charles F. Fosbender — died when the Morrell split in two. Only Hale, now 66 and living in Rocky River, Ohio, survived. Freezing cold and wet, Hale spent about 36 hours on a life raft watching his companions die and waiting for help.

“It is an incredible story as far as recent history is concerned,” said Tim Juhl of Forester Township, a retired teacher and diver. He helped Hale write a book about his experience, titled Soul Survivor: Dennis Hale’s Own Story. “It is one of the greatest stories of Great Lakes disaster and survival in the face of insurmountable odds.”

The Morrell, a 7,000 ton, 600-foot freighter owned by a Pennsylvania steel company, fractured its bottom hull and broke in half while navigating 65-mph winds, 25-foot waves and frigid temperatures.  It now lies in two pieces about five miles apart and 200 feet below the surface of Lake Huron.

Slim chances
Most of the crew aboard the Morrell, including three men on the raft with Hale, died long before anyone knew the ship had gone down. The ship lost power before an SOS signal could be sent — later inspiring rules requiring ships to have backup systems for radios.

A search did not begin until Nov. 30 when the crew aboard another ship found a body wearing a Morrell lifejacket floating in Lake Huron between Port Hope and Harbor Beach. A few hours later, Coast Guard officers in a helicopter found Hale, amazed he was alive, Juhl said. Rescue workers continued searching but found none of the other men alive. Slowly, the men’s bodies were recovered, some not for several months.

“That water was terrible. It was cold — and full of death,” U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Ward A. Lewis, who commanded the search for survivors, said in a 1966 United Press International story.

Bold headlines
For many days and anniversaries following the shipwreck, the Times Herald and other newspapers printed stories of the disaster, often telling the tale from Hale’s point of view.

In the days after rescue workers began recovering bodies, Harbor Beach was filled with reporters from Port Huron, across Michigan and the nation, said Ralph Polovich, a semi-retired Times Herald photographer. Polovich was at the scene with a camera as a Coast Guard helicopter rescued Hale from the life raft. “No question, it was a major-league story. It got attention all over the country,” Polovich said.

“For 28 sailors to lose their lives in a ship sinking is big news ... it was a tragic loss of life.” It was amazing Hale survived, Polovich said.

Hale, who has been to Port Huron several times, has told his story throughout the state and has struggled with guilt, leading him sometimes to live destructively, Juhl said. Still, people who know the story consider Hale a marvel.

Clear memories
Leonard DeFrain, 86, of Harbor Beach vividly remembers the Morrell’s sinking and Hale’s survival. DeFrain’s wife, an aide at Harbor Beach Community Hospital, was working when Hale was brought to the hospital. DeFrain first heard about the wreck on the radio while driving to work.

The following day, he said, he filmed at least one body being brought into the Harbor Beach marina, where the police, FBI and Coast Guard had gathered. He was interested but did not want to get close to the scene. “Most of the men were frozen, some of them were mutilated in some way or another,” DeFrain said.

The event shook the small city, where many families knew people who worked on the water. “It certainly wasn’t a happy town. People were quite concerned,” he said. DeFrain said there had been many shipwrecks before the Morrell but “nothing of this magnitude.”

The aftermath
Since the shipwreck, a book and DVD have been released.

The DVD features underwater footage of the ship, which forever will sit at Lake Huron’s bottom about 16 miles off Pte. Aux Barques, attracting divers and shipwreck enthusiasts. It is an “eerie” place, said Juhl, who has seen the sunken ship several times.

“You realize that you are seeing through a vessel that sank and claimed the lives of many men. “They weren’t anything extraordinary. They were just normal people, but because of what happened they are part of our maritime history.”

From the Port Huron Times-Herald

St. Mary's Challenger Ready for Lay Up

11/29 - Charlevoix - The St. Mary's Challenger has one cargo left for the season. The vessel is currently in Chicago, where she will sail light for Charlevoix to load a "lay up" load of cement for Chicago. The vessel will lay up at the Heavy Lift Dock near the St. Mary's Cement terminal.

The St. Mary's Challenger celebrated her 100th season of operation this year making her the oldest operating ship on the Great Lakes.

Reported by Dustin Sadowski

Ballast Regulation Could Shut Down Great Lakes Shipping

11/29 - Milwaukee - Now that the State of Michigan has floated what has previously been the unthinkable - a ban on Great Lakes freighters using ballast water on many of their traditional shipping routes to prevent the spread of dangerous invasive species - the debate is picking up steam across the region.

Conservation groups and state fishery bosses from New York to Minnesota are applauding the decision by the Michigan Natural Resources Commission to at least put the idea on the table. But one shipping industry representative says the toll such a ban would take on the region's economy would be catastrophic.

The Michigan commission's request came in the form of a resolution to ban the uptake of ballast water in all Great Lakes waters infected by viral hemorrhagic septicemia, a disease that poses no danger to humans but causes fish to bleed to death. The disease, first discovered in the Great Lakes in 2005, has been detected in Lakes Erie and Ontario, as well as Michigan's Lake St. Clair and the lower St. Lawrence River.

To halt its spread, the federal government's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued emergency restrictions on many live fish shipments from the eight Great Lakes states. APHIS officials say they are also considering the Michigan request to ban ballast uptakes, though they will not discuss how long it may take to reach a decision.

Ballast water is used to stabilize freighters sailing without full cargo loads. The idea of a ballast ban is to prevent a ship from accidentally picking up VHS-infected water or fish in the eastern Great Lakes and transporting it to the presently virus-free Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron.

Jim Weakley, president of the Lake Carriers' Association, which represents U.S. ships operating inside the Great Lakes, said that freighters can take precautions to avoid the likelihood of picking up unwanted hitchhikers, but the requested outright ban on ballast water uptakes would essentially kill the movement of critical raw materials across the region.

"It would stop the flow of iron ore, coal and limestone to all of Lake Erie and the Detroit-St. Clair corridor," Weakley said . "So not only would you put steelworkers out of business, you'd shut down the construction industry, and it would likely result in brownouts and power outages because you wouldn't have coal for power generation."

Trains and trucks, he said, are simply not a viable transportation alternative. One 1,000-foot lake carrier can transport as much ore as 700 railroad cars, or 2,800 trucks. "The capacity doesn't exist in the rail or truck mode to move that amount of cargo, even if it was forced to go that way," he said. "Without the efficient transportation of heavy, dry bulk cargo, you simply could not maintain the Great Lakes region as the manufacturing heartland of North America."

But others worry what the spread of VHS or the next unwanted fish, critter or bug could do to the health of the world's largest freshwater ecosystem and the $4.5 billion fishery it sustains.

Ballast water is such a controversial issue because it is believed to be the pathway for most recent arrivals of unwanted species. The Great Lakes are now home to more than 180 non-native species, and research shows ballast water can be blamed for the majority of species invasions during the past three decades.

It is not the fleet of lake-bound "lakers" that are responsible for the problem. Rather, it is the oceangoing fleet of "salties" that arrive in the Great Lakes from foreign ports via the St. Lawrence Seaway that open the door to many of the invaders now in the region, including zebra mussels and round gobies.

The problem for lakers, however, is that they could be moving those unwanted species once they get a foothold in the lakes.
That's why conservation groups are backing the Michigan ballast-ban request for the eastern Great Lakes. "We support wholeheartedly the (Michigan) request," said Jordan Lubetkin of the National Wildlife Federation. "They've looked at the issue in an objective way and have not been afraid to put on the table solutions that are needed."

Some state fishery bosses in the Great Lakes states agree more must be done to stop the spread of VHS and the next unwanted organism or disease, and they say it's time to take a hard look at ballast water discharges from vessels operated solely within the Great Lakes.

"Anything we can do to further regulate or curtail or shut down ballast water movement and the potential impacts brought about by the transfer of that water would be a great thing to do," said Doug Stang, Bureau of Fisheries chief for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

His counterpart in Minnesota agrees that the ballast water problem can no longer be ignored in the fight to slow the arrival and spread of invasive species. "If we leave a major vector, a major pathway like ballast water open, the other efforts are doomed to failure," said Ron Payer, fisheries chief for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Caught somewhere in the middle is the Great Lakes Commission, a bi-national agency created by the Great Lakes states and provinces to promote both the economic development and conservation of Great Lakes resources.

"We have not sorted out what the commission's position is, but it's becoming more and more apparent we have to have a solution to the ballast water problem, and we have to have a solution that respects the importance of the Great Lakes as a freshwater resource - a resource that we rely on for drinking water," said Tim Eder, the commission's executive director. "Whether that (rule) is federal, bi-national, international or just regional, at this point I don't care, as long as it happens quickly."

Weakley said he'd like to see the federal government pass tougher ballast regulations for the oceangoing vessels. Legislation to accomplish just that has languished in Congress for several years. "It's not our fault," Weakley said of the species that have been brought into the lakes by the salty fleet. "But it's certainly become our problem."

Weakley said it has also become the problem of any individual or industry that could somehow move a species within the lakes, including recreational boaters, fish hatchery operations and the live bait trade.

Reported by Jim Zeirke from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Port Reports - November 29

Buffalo - Brian Wroblewski
The New York State Power Authority has begun looking for a new storage area somewhere on the Buffalo waterfront to keep the Niagara River Ice Boom. The current site between Times Beach and City Piers is considered prime waterfront property and local officials would like to make it part of any future redevelopment plan. The 13 acre property will be transferred to the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. after the Power Authority moves out. The best-case scenario would have the new site ready to accept the 1.7 mile long boom by Spring 2007 so that when it is removed after winter, it can go right into storage. The NYSPA would like to find a location somewhere near the North Entrance to Buffalo Harbor and is looking to take out a 20 year lease.

Milwaukee - Paul Erspamer
On Tuesday, saltwater bulker Federal Yukon (reg. Hong Kong) was moored stern-in at Municipal Terminal #2 in Milwaukee's outer harbor, a dock usually used for deliveries of steel and wind turbine components.

Toledo -
Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin was on loading at The Andersons Erwin Facility.
Federal Maas was loading at the ADM Elevators.
Federal Danube was finishing up to get underway at The Anderson Kuhlman Facility. Great Lakes tugs; Nebraska and Idaho were there to assist.
Canadian Transfer came in about 2:00pm and had to stand by the Toledo Shipyard while Federal Danube got underway down bound for the lakes.
Orla was being off loaded via clam shell buckets at Midwest Terminals of Toledo, International.

Sandusky - Jim Spencer
The Manistee was loading Tuesday night at the Norfolk Southern coal dock.
Due for an early Wednesday arrival at the dock is the Canadian Olympic.

Goderich - Dale Baechler
Two visitors into port Tuesday, the first being Algosteel, who loaded through the night and Canadian Navigator who took her place on the Sifto Salt dock in the early afternoon.

Updates - November 29

News Photo Gallery updated

Iroquois Lock grounded vessels Gallery

Public Photo Gallery updated

Today in Great Lakes History - November 29

In 1953, the BENJAMIN F FAIRLESS, Captain H. C. Buckley, transported the last iron ore of the season through the Soo locks. The ore originated at Two Harbors and was unloaded at Conneaut. After unloading, the FAIRLESS headed for Monroe, Michigan for lay up.

On 29 November 1886, ALFRED P WRIGHT (wooden propeller tug, 56 gross tons, built in 1877, at Buffalo, New York) was towing the schooner A J DEWEY in a blizzard and gale in the harbor at Manistee, Michigan. The tow line parted and fouled the WRIGHT's propeller. Disabled, she capsized and her crew clung to the overturned hull. One crewman swam 1,000 feet to shore and summoned the U.S. Lifesaving Service. The WRIGHT's and DEWEY's crews were both rescued but three lifesavers were lost in this effort.

On November 29, 1966, the DANIEL J MORRELL sank approximately 20 miles north of Harbor Beach in Lake Huron. Her nearly identical sistership, the EDWARD Y TOWNSEND, was traveling about 20 miles behind the MORRELL and made it to the Lime Island Fuel Dock in the St. Mary's River where cracks were found in her deck; the TOWNSEND proceeded to Sault Ste. Marie where she was taken out of service. The TOWNSEND sank in the Atlantic on October 7, 1968, while being towed overseas for scrap.

E B BARBER was laid up for the last time at Toronto, Ontario on 29 Nov 1984.

On November 29, 1903, snow and stormy seas drove the two-and-a-half year old J T HUTCHINSON onto an uncharted rock (now known as Eagle River Reef) one-half mile off shore and 10 miles west of Eagle Harbor, Michigan near the northwestern coast of the Keweenaw Peninsula.

On November 29, 1974, the PERE MARQUETTE 21 was loaded with remnants of Port Huron's Peerless Cement Dock, which reportedly were bound for Saudi Arabia, and cleared there in tow of the Great Lakes Towing Co., tugs AMERICA and OHIO.

The SYLVANIA was in a collision with the DIAMOND ALKALI in the Fighting Island Channel of the Detroit River on 29 Nov 1968, during a snow squall. SYLVANIA's bow was severely damaged.

The propeller BURLINGTON had barges in tow up bound on Lake Erie when she was damaged by the ice and sank in the Pelee Passage.

On 29 November 1856, ARABIAN (3-mast wooden bark, 116 foot, 350 tons, built in 1853, at Niagara, Ontario) had stranded on Goose Island Shoal, 10 miles ENE of Mackinac Island ten days earlier. She was relieved of her cargo and was being towed to Chicago by the propeller OGONTZ when a gale blew in and the towline parted. ARABIAN made for shore, her pumps working full force and OGONTZ following. During the night they were separated and ARABIAN sank off Point Betsey in Lake Michigan. Her crew escaped in her yawl.

In 1903, the PERE MARQUETTE 19 arrived Ludington on her maiden voyage. Captain John J. Doyle in command.

On 29 November 1881, the 149 foot wooden propeller NORTHERN QUEEN, which had been involved in a collision with the 136 foot wooden propeller canaller LAKE ERIE just five days before, struck the pier at Manistique so hard that she was wrecked. Besides her own crew, she also had LAKE ERIE's crew on board.

On 29 Nov 1902, BAY CITY (1-mast wood schooner-barge, 140 foot, 306 gross tons, built in 1857, at Saginaw, Michigan as a brig) was left at anchor in Thunder Bay by the steamer HURON CITY during a storm. BAY CITY's anchor chain parted and the vessel was driven against the Gilchrist dock at Alpena, Michigan and wrecked. Her crew managed to escape with much difficulty.

Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. This is a small sample, the books includes many other vessels with a much more detailed history.

Mississagi Disabled in St. Clair River

11/28 - 8:00pm Update -  Mississagi is in the north end of the North Slip. She may be finished for the season, as her pilothouse shutters have been put in place.

Reported by Barry Hiscock

11/28 - 3:30pm - Algonac - The Mississagi was disabled near Algonac MI Monday evening.

It is believed she delivered a load of stone to Harsens Island in the North Channel and was upbound when engine or other mechanical problems occurred.

She was towed upstream to Sarnia, Tuesday morning at 7:45am by the Gaelic Towing tugs Shannon and Patricia Hoey.

Reported by Stewart R. Mac Donald

Updates will be provided as they become available.

BoatNerd Tops 10 Million

11/28 - Monday morning over 10,000,000 visits had been recorded to the main page of the Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping home page. The counter was started as the page was launched in 1995.

The ten millionth visitor passed without noticing the counter.

It is interesting to note that the first month the page was live in 1995, 590 visits were recorded. Today the main page (not counting individual pages or users that enter by book mark) receives an average of 230,000 unique visitor sessions each month.

The site represents a huge time commitment by the staff of volunteers and we would like to thank to all the viewers and contributors for making the web site what it is today.

2006 has been a good year for BoatNerd, the site has been organized as a 501 (c) (3) non profit. Soon we will start fund raising through a raffle to replace aging server equipment and pay our $1,000 a month data connection charges.

Jobs by the Boatload

11/28 - Duluth - There’s a lot of gray hair floating on the Great Lakes these days.

The average age of licensed officers serving on Great Lakes vessels is about 53, according to Adm. John Tanner, head of the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, a school for mariners in Traverse City, Mich. And many of those seamen are fast approaching retirement, said Tanner, who noted that it’s common for officers in their mid- to late-50s to call it quits. “It’s not only a matter of trying to keep our numbers strong,” Tanner said. “It’s an issue because all that knowledge is leaving our industry.”

Tanner said carriers rightly are concerned about a looming shortage of mariners, unless more people train for careers on the Great Lakes. “Obviously, we need to create the next generation of officers,” said Glen Nekvasil, vice president of corporate communications for the Lake Carriers Association, a Cleveland-based trade organization representing the operators of U.S.-flagged ships on the Great Lakes.

“It is a real concern,” said Kevin McMonagle, vice president of human resources for American Steamship Co., a Great Lakes carrier based in Williamsville, N.Y., just outside of Buffalo. “We certainly can’t take our work force for granted.” Toward that end, McMonagle said American Steamship has developed succession plans and has been grooming junior officers to assume greater responsibilities in the future.

Unfortunately, Tanner said most people seem unaware of the job opportunities, moving freight on the Great Lakes. “It’s a very quiet industry,” he said.

McMonagle finds it odd that more people aren’t pursuing maritime careers. “There’s a lot of interest out there in Great Lakes shipping, but people don’t seem to know about the employment opportunities on these vessels,” he said. McMonagle said it’s still possible to land an entry-level job as a utility worker or a seaman and advance through shipboard experience and study to positions of progressively greater authority. In the industry, this is called working your way “up the hawse pipe.”

It’s also possible to move straight into an officer’s post with proper formal training. The Great Lakes Maritime Academy offers four-year degrees that qualify graduates to serve as officers on either freshwater or saltwater ships. Tanner said most graduates can expect to earn around $60,000 during their first year out of college. Still, many cadets don’t make the cut. Tanner said graduation rates vary from class to class, but typically between 40 and 55 percent of students who enroll in the academy drop out or fail to earn a degree.

At present, about 130 cadets are enrolled at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy. That’s well shy of the 200-cadet target Tanner has set, in hopes of meeting the growing need for new officers.

GOING ASHORE
Many graduates from merchant marine academies, such as the school in Traverse City, are lured into shoreside jobs, however. Only about 5 to 10 percent of people who earn four-year maritime degrees still are on the water 20 years later, according to Richard Plant, director of special projects for the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots. He said research has shown that 80 to 85 percent ultimately find employment in a maritime-related industry, and another 10 to 15 percent take jobs in an unrelated field.

Davis Helberg, former director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and a one-time laker deckhand, said some attrition is to be expected, given the demands of sailing. “People tend to go to sea when they’re young,” Helberg said. “But once a mariner reaches a certain age, life away from home and family often becomes more difficult, so the number of people who hang in there long enough to become officers and engineers diminishes.”

Fred Cummings, former marine superintendent for the Great Lakes Fleet, a Duluth-based carrier, worked 20 years on the water before taking a shoreside job. He said working on a laker means spending long stretches of time away from home. Typically, crew members spend two solid months on the water, then take one month of vacation and repeat the cycle throughout the Great Lakes shipping season. Mariners also get a break during the winter lay up, from mid-January through March.

“It takes a special breed of person to be employed on a laker,” he said. “But it’s just as important to have a loving and understanding wife, because you do give up a lot of time with your family. It takes a lot of dedication from your spouse.”

Plant agreed that the seaman’s life can be tough on families. “Every mariner has stories about deaths, weddings, birthdays or anniversaries they missed,” he said. “When you’re on a ship, you’re working seven days a week.”

STAYING FOR THE PAY
But seamen generally are compensated well for their services. Licensed officers can earn from $60,000 to more than $100,000 per year, and an able seaman or a qualified member of a ship’s engine department typically makes between $35,000 and $40,000 for starters, according to Tanner. That’s for about 200 days’ worth of work.

The pay sometimes makes it hard for even disenchanted mariners to leave the profession, Helberg said, calling it the “golden handcuff” effect. “Some people find they can’t leave, because they’re making money they could never make on shore,” he said.

Although Great Lakes carriers today are concerned about a potential shortage of mariners, there was a time when the industry had a glut. As lakers increased in size, the number of vessels plying the Great Lakes shrank. A single 1,000-footer can carry the equivalent of what five older lakers could.

Great Lakes fleets also were downsized during the 1980s, as the nation’s steel production slipped. As layoffs generally occurred in order of seniority, Nekvasil said many young mariners working on the Great Lakes lost jobs, prompting them to relocate or take up work in another field. Today, about 60 U.S.-flagged lakers serve the Great Lakes — a fleet roughly one-third its former size.

Crews have grown smaller, too. Back when lakers ran on coal, they often carried a crew of 36 people. As liquid fuels took coal’s place, laker crews dropped to 26 or 27 people. Today, thanks to technology and automation, most lakers operate with a crew of 22 people.

But Tanner sees a bright future for people seeking careers on the Great Lakes. “As our roads become more and more plugged, I think there will only be more business for Great Lakes vessels,” he predicted.

As for the challenge of crewing vessels, Adolph Ojard, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, said carriers face a challenge that’s far from unique. “Finding workers has become an issue almost everywhere in the transportation industry,” he said, pointing out that truck drivers and railroad are in tight supply, as well.

“Part of it is the lifestyle — having to be away from home for extended periods of time,” Ojard said. But transportation jobs are definitely on the rise. “Our transportation industry has been growing at almost double the rate of the GNP [gross national product],” he said.

Reported by Al Miller from the Duluth News-Tribune

Port Reports - November 28

Toronto - Charlie Gibbons
The patrol boat Simmonds departed around 10:00am Monday, followed by the Stephen B. Roman around 11:00am and Canadian Progress, bound for the Welland Canal around 1:30pm.
The Progress was in early and dropped a load of rock salt on the dock in the Turning Basin.
The harbor tugs Brutus 1 and Ned Hanlan were also out and about today.

Indiana Harbor - Gary Clark
The Edward L. Ryerson departed Indiana Harbor Monday around 1:00pm.

Saginaw River - Todd Shorkey
The tug Gregory J. Busch & barge Primary 1 were inbound the Saginaw River Monday afternoon headed upriver to unload at the Saginaw Rock Products dock in Saginaw. The pair had left the Saginaw River on Saturday to load her cargo.

Updates - November 28

News Photo Gallery updated

Public Photo Gallery updated

Today in Great Lakes History - November 28

In 1949, sea trials for the largest freighter built on the Great Lakes, the WILFRED SYKES, were held off Lorain, Ohio. SYKES was converted to a self-unloader in 1975.

In 1942, the Canadian grain carrier JUDGE HART grounded and then sank in Ashburton Bay, Lake Superior. The entire crew of the JUDGE HART was rescued by the JAMES B EADS, Captain Stanley J. Tischart, and the whaleback JOHN ERICSSON, Captain Wilfred E. Ogg.

On 28 November 1867, MARQUETTE (wooden bark, 139 foot, 426 tons, built in 1856, at Newport [Marine City], Michigan) was carrying corn from Chicago to Collingwood, Ontario when she sprang a leak during a storm on Lake Huron. She was run ashore on Hope Island on Georgian Bay.

On November 28, 1905, the Pittsburgh Steamship Company vessel MATAAFA was wrecked as it tried to re-enter the Duluth Ship Canal in a severe storm. The MATAAFA had departed Duluth earlier but had decided to return to safety. After dropping her barge in the lake, the vessel was picked up by waves, was slammed against the north pier and was swung around to rest just hundreds of feet offshore north of the north pier, where it broke in two. Much of the crew froze to death in the cold snap that followed the storm, as there was no quick way to get out to the broken vessel for rescue. The MATAAFA was repaired prior to the 1906, season; she ultimately ended her career as an automobile carrier for the T.J. McCarthy Steamship Company and was sold for scrap in 1965.

The CANADIAN OLYMPIC's maiden voyage was 28 Nov 1976, to load coal at Conneaut, Ohio for Nanticoke, Ontario, Her name honors the Olympic Games that were held at Montreal that year.

On November 28, 1983, while up bound after leaving the Poe Lock the INDIANA HARBOR was in a collision, caused by high winds, with the down bound Greek salty ANANGEL SPIRIT resulting in a 10 foot gash in the laker's port bow.

LANCASHIRE (Hull#827) was launched at Lorain, Ohio on November 28, 1942, she would be renamed b) SEWELL AVERY.

The CATHY B towed the GOVERNOR MILLER to Vigo, Spain on November 28, 1980, where she was broken up.

The BENSON FORD was renamed e) US265808 and departed River Rouge on November 28, 1986, towed by the Sandrin tugs TUSKER and GLENADA bound for Ramey's Bend in the Welland Canal.

FRONTENAC arrived at the Fraser Shipyard, Superior, Wisconsin on November 28, 1979. Her keel, which had hogged four feet, was declared a constructive total loss.

The BRANSFORD stranded on a reef off Isle Royale in Lake Superior during a major storm on 28 Nov 1905, (the same storm that claimed the steamer MATAAFA). She was recovered.

On her third trip in 1892, the ANN ARBOR NO 1 again ran aground, this time three miles north of Ahnapee (now called Algoma). There was $15,000 damage to her cargo.

In 1906, the ANN ARBOR NO 4 left Cleveland bound for Frankfort on her maiden voyage.

The ANN ARBOR NO 4 ran aground off Kewaunee in 1924.

On 28 November 1905, AMBOY (2-mast wooden schooner-barge, 209 foot, 894 gross tons, formerly HELENA) was carrying coal in tow of the wooden propeller GEORGE SPENCER in a gale on Lake Superior. In an effort to save both vessels, AMBOY was cut loose. The SPENCER was disabled quickly and was driven ashore near Little Marais, Minnesota. AMBOY struggled against the gale for a full day before finally going ashore near Thomasville, Ontario on 29 November. No lives were lost from either vessel.

On 28 November 1872, W O BROWN (wooden schooner, 140 foot, 306 tons, built in 1862, at Buffalo, New York) was carrying wheat in a storm on Lake Superior when she was driven ashore near Point Maimanse, Ontario and pounded to pieces. Six lives were lost. Three survivors struggled through a terrible cold spell and finally made it to the Soo on Christmas Day.

On 28 Nov 1874, the propeller JOHN PRIDGEON JR was launched at Clark's shipyard in Detroit, Michigan. She was built for Capt. John Pridgeon. Her dimensions were 235 X 36 X 17 feet. The engines of the B F WADE were installed in her.

On 28 Nov 1923, the Detroit & Windsor Ferry Company and Bob-Lo docks were destroyed by a fire cause by an overheated stove in the ferry dock waiting room. The blaze started at 3:00 a.m.

CANADIAN TRANSFER underwent repairs most of Tuesday, 28 Nov 2000, at the Algoma Steel dock at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. She had run aground the previous night in the Canadian channel approaching Algoma Steel. CANADIAN TRANSFER was freed by two Purvis Marine tugs. The vessel suffered a crack or hole in the hull plating about 10 feet from the bottom along its port side.

Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Max Hanley, Russ Plumb, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. This is a small sample, the books includes many other vessels with a much more detailed history.

Boatnerd Heading for 10 Million

11/27 - The counter on the main page is expected to top 10,000,000 visitors sometime early this week. The counter is located at the bottom of the main page at www.BoatNerd.Com. This counter was started as the page was launched in 1995 and topped one million visitors in October 2000, two million in November 2001, three million in September, 2002, four million in June, 2003, five million in February, 2004, six million in October, 2004, seven million in June, 2005, and eight million in December, 2005. The nine million mark was reached in June, 2006.

Please E-mail if you are the 10 millionth visitor. Please do not reload the page repeatedly. Server logs will be used to confirm who the visitor was.

Port Reports - November 27

Marquette - Rod Burdick
On Sunday morning, Earl W. Oglebay made her first appearance in Marquette since a change of ownership. She loaded taconite for Algoma Steel at the Soo. Oglebay's last Marquette visit was in late May under Oglebay Norton colors.

Hamilton - Eric Holmes
Saturday dawned another foggy day at the western end of Lake Ontario.
The Quebecois arrived at 12:00 noon with iron ore for Dofasco. The Peter R. Cresswell arrived at 2:00 pm with sand for Lakeshore Sand.
Sunday morning had the Quebecois departing at 6:30 am for Clarkson.
The Algonorth then departed at 1:30 pm from JRI Elevators at Pier 25 with grain for Port Cartier. The Algontario departed at 4:30 pm from Dofasco and headed toward the Welland Canal.

Alpena - Ben & Chanda McClain
Friday night the tug Samuel de Champlain/barge Innovation was in port taking on cargo.
Saturday night at 10:00pm the Steamer Alpena returned for another load after delivering to Whitefish, ON. The Alpena is decorated with Christmas lights and looks very festive.
The Manistee also paid a visit on a calm & mild Saturday night, tying up in the river around 11pm. The Manistee unloaded road salt at the Alpena Oil Dock.

Toronto - Charlie Gibbons
Stephen B. Roman back in port today for Essroc.
Patrol boat Simmonds cruised through the harbor again.

Updates - November 27

News Photo Gallery updated

Public Photo Gallery updated

Today in Great Lakes History - November 27

In 1934, the package freighter EDWARD L LOOMIS, Captain Alex McKenzie collided with the W C FRANZ, Captain Alex McIntyre, about 30 miles southeast of Thunder Bay Island, Lake Huron. Four crewmen on the FRANZ drowned when the lifeboat turned over while being lowered.

At 4:00 a.m. on 27 November 1872, the wooden schooner MIDDLESEX was struck by a terrible winter storm on Lake Superior. The winds caught the vessel with such force that she listed at a 45 degree angle and her cargo shifted. In danger of sinking, the crew jettisoned much of the cargo and the ship righted herself. Her lifeboat and much of her rigging and sails were washed away. She limped into Walska Bay and anchored to ride out the storm. However, she had developed a leak and it was so cold that her pumps had frozen. To save the vessel, she was run ashore and sank in shallow water. The crew climbed into her rigging until the tug W D CUSHING rescued them.

The ALGOSEA entered Lake service as a self-unloader for the first time with salt loaded at Goderich, Ontario and passed down bound in the Welland Canal November 27, 1976, for Quebec City. She operates today as SAUNIERE.

The AVONDALE was condemned and was not allowed to carry cargo after she arrived at Toledo, Ohio on November 27, 1975, to load soybeans.

The steam barge CHAUNCY HURLBUT was launched at the shipyard of Simon Langell at St. Clair, Michigan on Thanksgiving Day, 27 November 1873. She was built for Chandler Bros. of Detroit.

On 27 November 1886, COMANCHE (wooden schooner, 137 foot, 322 tons, built in 1867, at Oswego, New York) was carrying corn in a storm on Lake Ontario when she ran on a shoal and sank near Point Peninsula, New York. A local farmer died while trying to rescue her crew of 8. His was the only death. She was later recovered and rebuilt as THOMAS DOBBIE.

The PERE MARQUETTE 22 collided with the WABASH in heavy fog in 1937.

In 1966, the CITY OF MIDLAND 41 ran aground at Ludington, Michigan in a storm. Stranded on board were a number of passengers and 56 crewman. Ballast tanks were flooded to hold the steamer on until the storm subsided. She was pulled off four days later by the Roen tug JOHN PURVES.

The propeller MONTGOMERY, which burned in June 1878, was raised on 27 November 1878. Her engine and boiler were removed and she was converted to a barge. She was rebuilt at Algonac, Michigan in the summer of 1879.

On 27 November 1866, the Oswego Advertiser & Times reported that the schooner HENRY FITZHUGH arrived at Oswego, New York with 17,700 bushels of wheat from Milwaukee. Her skipper was Captain Cal Becker. The round trip took 23 days which was considered "pretty fast sailing".

The CITY OF FLINT 32 was launched in Manitowoc on 27 Nov 1929. Cut down to a rail barge at Nicholson's, Ecorse in 1970, renamed b.) ROANOKE. She is currently in the Toledo Frog Pond.

On Monday, 27 Nov 1996, the Cyprus flag MALLARD of 1977, up bound apparently bounced off the wall in the Welland canal below Lock 1 and into the path of the CANADIAN ENTERPRISE. It was a sideswipe rather than a head on collision. The ENTERPRISE was repaired at Port Weller Dry Docks. The repairs to the gangway and ballast vent pipes took six hours. The MALLARD proceeded to Port Colborne to be repaired there.

At 10:20 p.m. on Monday, 27 NOV 2000, the CANADIAN TRANSFER radioed Soo Traffic to report that the vessel was aground off Algoma Steel and "taking on water but in no danger." The crew reported that they had two anchors down and one line on the dock. Purvis Marine was contacted.

Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. This is a small sample, the books includes many other vessels with a much more detailed history.

Mackinaw Takes on Cargo of Trees for Annual Chicago Run

11/26 - Cheboygan - A tradition that began almost 100 years ago continued Wednesday with a new silhouette.

The new U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw is carrying on the Christmas Tree Ship tradition resurrected in 2000 by its icebreaking predecessor, the original Mackinaw, and will leave Sunday to deliver 1,100 trees to Chicago.

Wednesday the ship's crew, aided by family members and 17 Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps members from Ogemaw Heights High School, loaded aboard bundled trees on the after-deck and every available reserve space they could find. The trees will be sharing deck space with buoys as the cutter will be decommissioning lighted aids and replacing them with winter marks on the voyage to and from Chicago.

“This is just another of old Mackinaw's legacy missions that fosters good will in the community,” said Cmdr. John Little, the Mac's skipper.

Although the original Mackinaw - decommissioned in June - made this trip five times, Wednesday was the first experience for this crew with handling and storing the trees and the pine needles that go with them. Gloves and long sleeves were the order of the day for loading duty. “We were all concerned as to exactly how this would play out today,” Little admitted. “I'm seeing smiles all around. It's good to get our people involved with the community like this.”

In addition, the crew of the Mackinaw distributed more than 200 trees to disadvantaged families throughout the Northern Michigan area and 200 trees for families of active-duty servicemen stationed in Michigan. The Cheboygan post of the Michigan State Police, the Cheboygan County Sheriff's Department, the City of Cheboygan Department of Public Safety, the Salvation Army, and other Northern Michigan Coast Guard units will work together to distribute the local trees.

The bulk of the load, purchased by the Chicago's Christmas Tree Ship organization from local tree-growers Fred Stempky and Mike Jarman, will arrive at Chicago's Navy Pier at 8 a.m. on Dec. 1, and will be given to needy Chicago families. The event will invite school children aboard for tours and classes with nautical and historical themes and will culminate with a “grand tree unloading” ceremony on Dec. 2.

“These are bigger trees,” Little remarked, “and what a testament to the generosity of the local Christmas tree growers. The cadets have done a lot of the work, too.”

Cmdr. Michael Clift said his 17 Ogemaw Heights cadets were picked from a corps of 96 members at a high school with a student population of more than 900. “I called up the old Mackinaw about five years ago and they took our cadets out for a trip,” Clift said during a water break while loading the trees. “This is a Michigan tradition. We're giving back to the Mackinaw. We do a lot of community service.”

The tradition of the Christmas Tree ship started in the early 1900s when pine trees, freshly cut from the forests of Northern Michigan, were loaded onto the sailing vessel Rouse Simmons and shipped to families in Chicago who used them to decorate for Christmas.

Chicagoans became accustomed to purchasing their wreaths and trees this way as a festive start to the holiday season. Eventually, a number of trees were brought along specifically for needy families who couldn't afford a tree. Tragedy temporarily ended the tradition of the Christmas Ship when the Rouse Simmons was lost in a 1912 Lake Michigan blizzard along with 17 crewmembers and more than 5,000 trees.

Today, the concept of Chicago's Christmas Ship is active as a charitable event organized by the Unified Marine Community of Chicago in cooperation with the Coast Guard. Little said he plans to sail sometime mid-day Sunday. The Mackinaw will be open for public tours in Chicago from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3.

The Mackinaw will retain 50 trees for the historic transit back to Cheboygan. These trees will be donated to Coast Guard families in the area. A return to Cheboygan is dependent on weather and work schedules tending buoys en route, likely to be around Dec. 7.

By Mike Fornes for the Cheboygan Tribune

Army Corps Plans to Add Berm at Dike Disposal Site

11/26 - Lorain - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to build a berm around the dike disposal site on Lorain's waterfront, allowing them to continue using the site to hold sediment dredged from the Black River. In a presentation yesterday to the Lorain Port Authority, Corps officials outlined their plan to add the berm to the perimeter of the site in 2007.

Michele Hope, project manager for the Corps's Buffalo District, which includes Northeast Ohio, said the berm will be constructed out of the dirt and dredged materials already on the site, allowing vegetation to grow on the berm. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredges the river every two years and deposits the collected silt, sand and other materials at the disposal site. Much of the material collected doesn't meet federal guidelines to be put into Lake Erie, Hope said, so it must be left at the disposal site.

Dredging the river and having the disposal site are key to maintaining Lorain's status as a commercial port. The river must be dredged to allow large commercial vessels to pass through it -- for instance, ships going to and from the steel mill. ''(The disposal site) is very critical to us,'' said Rick Novak, executive director of the Lorain Port Authority.

Hope elaborated, ''Without dredging, the navigation channel would progressively shoal in and impede commercial navigation. Deep-draft commercial navigation would become economically nonviable and would gradually cease.'' The 58-acre disposal site was built in 1978 to hold 1.85 million cubic yards of material. Since dredging in the summer of 2006, the site is approaching being completely full, Hope said. Adding the berm next summer will allow the river to be dredged again in 2008, she explained.

But adding the berm to the disposal site is just a temporary fix, Hope said. The berm could potentially be added to several times to make it higher and extend its usefulness for several more years. However, adding to the berm could potentially impede future plans for the site, such as a possible collaboration with the Lorain County Metro Parks.

Parks Director Dan Martin said he doesn't have a problem with the Corps adding the four-foot tall berm next summer, but he would oppose the berm being raised or added to after that. Adding to the berm once or twice will create a tiered, ''wedding cake'' effect, Martin said. ''Then what have you got? What can you use it for?'' he said.

The Lorain Port Authority and Lorain County Metro Parks have discussed plans for using the site after it is completely full. Though now the site is muddy and covered with vegetation, Hope said, it could be used once the Corps is no longer disposing of materials there. Martin said under federal guidelines, one third of the site must remain in its natural state. Other areas could be economically developed or developed for public use, with amenities such as an amphitheater or aquarium. The Corps has made sure enough space has been reserved for all of those options, Martin said.

However, at some point, a new disposal site will have to be found. Officials said the best option for a new site to put dredgings appears to be upriver, on land the city is trying to obtain from the now-bankrupt steel company Republic Technologies International. ''In the long term, we'd like to dump upriver,'' said Mayor Craig Foltin. ''Because of the slag fields there, it's fairly containable and wouldn't pose any harm.'

From the Lorain Morning Journal

Port Reports - November 26

Goderich - Dale Baechler, Wayne Brown & Jacob Smith
Manistee entered the inner harbour early Saturday morning and began loading under sunny skies at Sifto Salt. She took on 9,000 MT of salt and departed around noon.

Huron - Jim Spencer
The Philip R. Clarke discharged limestone Saturday afternoon at the Huron Lime Co. dock. She attracted a fair degree of attention before departing for Stoneport, Mi.

Saginaw River - Todd Shorkey & Gordy Garris
The tug Gregory J. Busch and barge Primary 1 were outbound the Saginaw River on Saturday headed for the lake.
The Buffalo was inbound for the Bay Aggregates dock to unload. Once finished, she departed the slip and was outbound for the lake Saturday night.
The tug Olive L. Moore with the barge Lewis J. Kuber were outbound the Saginaw River passing the Front Range Light at 10:00am Saturday morning headed outbound for the lake. The pair had unloaded overnight at the Wirt Stone dock in Saginaw.
The tug Duluth and her barge were docked at the Wirt Stone dock in Bay City Saturday morning loading stone from a side shore conveyor. Once Duluth's barge was full she headed outbound for the lake.

Toronto - Charlie Gibbons
Algosteel, which has been in port for several days, departed late Saturday for the Welland Canal.
Hamilton Energy was in port Saturday afternoon to bunker the Algosteel.
The border patrol vessel Simmonds made a brief appearance in the harbor as well.

"Shipwrecks and Sharks" at Port Huron Maritime Center

11/26 - The Lake Huron Lore Marine Society will host a presentation Great Lakes divers Jim & Pat Stayer, at 7 p.m., at the Great Lakes Maritime Center at Vantage Point in Port Huron, on December 9.

The program is entitled "Shipwrecks and Sharks", and is free and open to the public.

For additional information visit the Society's website.

Updates - November 26

News Photo Gallery updated

Public Photo Gallery updated

Today in Great Lakes History - November 26

In 1952, the PHILIP R CLARKE was launched at the American Ship Building yard at Lorain, Ohio. The 647 foot freighter became the flagship of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company. She was lengthened by 120 feet in 1974 and converted to a self-unloader in 1982.

On 26 November 1856, CHEROKEE (2-mast wooden schooner, 103 foot, 204 tons, built in 1849, at Racine, Wisconsin) foundered in a gale 7 miles south of Manistee, Michigan on Lake Michigan. All aboard (estimates range from ten to fourteen persons) were lost.

The U.S.C.G.C. MESQUITE departed Charlevoix and locked through the Soo on November 26, 1989, to begin SUNDEW's normal buoy tending duties on Lake Superior.

The ELIZABETH HINDMAN was launched November 26, 1920, as a.) GLENCLOVA (Hull#9) at Midland, Ontario by Midland Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.

On 26 November 1872, the steamer GEO W REYNOLDS burned at 1 o'clock in the morning at the dock in Bay City. The fire supposedly originated in the engine room. She was owned by A. English of East Saginaw.

On 26 November 1853, ALBANY (wooden side wheel passenger/package freight, 202 foot, 669 tons, built in 1846, at Detroit, Michigan) was carrying passengers and miscellaneous cargo in a storm on Lake Huron.. She was making for the shelter of Presque Isle harbor when the gale drove her over a bar. Her crew and 200 passengers came ashore in her boats. Plans were made to haul her back across the bar when another storm wrecked her. Her boiler and most of her machinery were recovered the following year.

LAKE BREEZE (wooden propeller, 122 foot, 301 gross tons, built in 1868, at Toledo, Ohio) burned at her dock in Leamington, Ontario on 26 November 1878. One man perished in the flames. She was raised in 1880, but the hull was deemed worthless. Her machinery and metal gear were removed in 1881, and sold to an American company.

The ANN ARBOR NO 5 (steel carferry, 359 foot, 2,988 gross tons) was launched by the Toledo Ship Building Company (Hull #118) on 26 Nov 1910. She was the first carferry to be built with a sea gate, as a result of the sinking of the PERE MARQUETTE 18 in September of 1910.

On 26 Nov 1881, JANE MILLER (wooden propeller passenger-package freight "coaster", 78 foot, 210 gross tons, built in 1878, at Little Current, Ontario) departed Meaford, Ontario for Wiarton-- sailing out into the teeth of a gale and was never seen again. All 30 aboard were lost. She probably sank near the mouth of Colpoy's Bay in Georgian Bay. She had serviced the many small ports on the inside coast of the Bruce Peninsula.

HIRAM W SIBLEY (wooden propeller freighter, 221 foot, 1,419 gross tons, built in 1890, at E. Saginaw, Michigan) was carrying 70,000 bushels of corn from Chicago for Detroit. On 26 Nov 1898, she stranded on the northwest corner of South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan during blizzard. (Some sources say this occurred on 27 November.) The tugs PROTECTOR and SWEEPSTAKES were dispatched for assistance but the SIBLEY re-floated herself during the following night and then began to sink again. She was put ashore on South Fox Island to save her but she broke in half; then completely broke up during a gale on 7 December 1898.

During the early afternoon of 26 Nov 1999, the LOUIS R DESMARAIS suffered an engine room fire while sailing in the western section of Lake Ontario. Crews onboard the DESMARAIS put out the fire and restarted her engines. The DESMARAIS proceeded to the Welland canal where she was inspected by both U.S. and Canadian investigators. No significant damage was noted and the vessel was allowed to proceed.

Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. This is a small sample, the books includes many other vessels with a much more detailed history.

Port Reports - November 25

Wallaceburg - Al Mann
In a scene reminiscent of earlier days, a steady stream of transports have been heading to the new Bruinsma Dock in Wallaceburg. With the unique loading and unloading devices completed earlier this week, transports laden with locally grown wheat began arriving at the dock on Nov.23 and will continue until Norlake Transportation's barge BIG 546 is fully loaded. The tug Radium Yellowknife is expected to arrive shortly and take out the loaded barge and head for Toledo, Ohio. It is expected several trips can be completed this season before the Sydenham-Chenal Ecarte waterway freezes. The next few weeks are expected to be quite busy as the new service in and out of Wallaceburg continues.

Toledo -
On Saturday, Federal Danube was on loading at The Andersons Erwin Facility by I-75.
Cuyahoga off loaded sand at Kuhlman Corporation nearby.
CSL Laurentien remained on loading at The Andersons Kuhlman Facility. The Andersons Elevators are designated by their location. The one by I-75 is the Erwin (Street) Facility, and the one by the Norfolk & Southern (south) Railroad Bridge at the Miami Cut is the Kuhlman (Street) Facility. Kuhlman Corporation which is located between these two elevator complexes is the namesake of the street name and deals in cement and sand products. Ships off load only there.

Saginaw River - Gordy Garris
The Earl W. Oglebay was outbound the Saginaw River early Friday morning after unloading at the GM dock in Saginaw.
The Maumee finished unloading at the GM dock in Saginaw around 7:15am Friday morning and headed upstream to turn around at the Sixth Street turning basin. She finished the turn around and was headed outbound for the lake, passing under the I-75 Bridge at Zilwaukee at 8:30am.
The tug Olive L. Moore with the barge Lewis J. Kuber were inbound the Saginaw River passing the Front Range Light at 3:15pm Friday afternoon with a split load for the Wirt Stone docks in Bay City & Saginaw. The pair are expected to be outbound the Saginaw River Saturday morning.

Today in Great Lakes History - November 25

In 1890, the WESTERN RESERVE delivered a record cargo of 95,488 bushels of wheat from Duluth to Buffalo.

In 1913, the schooner ROUSE SIMMONS, Captain August Schueneman, departed Thompson Harbor with a load of fresh cut Christmas trees bound for Chicago. Somewhere between Kewaunee and Two Rivers, the SIMMONS was lost with all hands.

On 25 November 1857, ANTELOPE (wooden schooner, 220 tons, built in 1854, at Port Robinson, Ontario) was driven ashore by a gale near St. Joseph, Michigan. Five lives were lost. She was recovered the next year and rebuilt.

INCAN SUPERIOR was withdrawn from service after completing 2,386 trips between Thunder Bay and Superior and on November 25, 1992, she passed down bound at Sault Ste. Marie for service on the Canadian West Coast. Renamed PRINCESS SUPERIOR in 1993.

ROBERT C STANLEY was laid up for the last time November 25, 1981, at the Tower Bay Slip, Superior, Wisconsin. She was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey in 1989.

CITY OF MILWAUKEE (Hull#261) was launched November 25, 1930, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. She was sponsored by Mrs. Walter J. Wilde, wife of the collector of customs at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She entered service in January of 1931.

On 25 November 1866, F W BACKUS (wooden propeller, 133 foot, 289 tons, built in 1846, at Amherstburg, Ontario) was carrying hay, horses and cattle off Racine, Wisconsin. She was run to the beach when it was discovered that she was on fire. Her crew and passengers disembarked. The tug DAISY LEE towed her out while she was still burning, intending to scuttle her, but the towline burned through and she drifted back to shore and burned to the waterline. Her live cargo was pushed overboard while she was still well out and they swam to shore.

On 25 November 1874, WILLIAM SANDERSON (wooden schooner, 136 foot, 385 gross tons, built in 1853, at Oswego, New York) was carrying wheat in a storm on Lake Michigan when she foundered. The broken wreck washed ashore off Empire, Michigan near Sleeping Bear. She was owned by Scott & Brown of Detroit.

During a storm on 25 November 1895, MATTIE C BELL (wooden schooner, 181 foot, 769 gross tons, built in 1882, at E. Saginaw, Michigan) was in tow of the steamer JIM SHERRIFS on Lake Michigan. The schooner stranded at Big Summer Island, was abandoned in place and later broke up. No lives were lost.

On 25 Nov 1947, the CAPTAIN JOHN ROEN was renamed c.) ADAM E CORNELIUS by the American Steamship Co. in 1958, CORNELIUS was renamed d.) CONSUMERS POWER. Eventually sold to Erie Sand, she was scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 1988. Built in 1927, as a.) GEORGE M HUMPHERY.

On 25 Nov 1905, the JOSEPH G BUTLER, JR (steel straight-deck bulk freighter, 525 foot, 6,588 gross tons) entered service, departing Lorain, Ohio for Duluth on her maiden voyage. The vessel was damaged in a severe storm on that first crossing of Lake Superior, but she was repaired and had a long career. She was renamed DONALD B GILLIES in 1935, and GROVEDALE in 1963. She was sunk as a dock in Hamilton in 1973, and finally sold for scrap in 1981.

Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Max Hanley, Jody Aho, Russ plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. This is a small sample, the books includes many other vessels with a much more detailed history. Please e-mail if you would like to contribute a significant event in Great Lakes history.

Port Reports - November 24

Gary - Brian Z.
The John D. Leitch loaded a cargo of coke breeze on Wednesday at U.S. Steel East dock. The loading was completed at 11 p.m. and she was ready to sail bound for Quebec.

Toledo -
A very foggy morning and evening. CSL Laurentien was at the Andersons Kuhlman Facility.
Stefania-I was at ADM Elevators. Federal Danube came up to The Andersons Erwin Facility at 8:00am.  Ste. Claire remained along Toledo Shipyard.

Saginaw River - Gordy Garris & Todd Shorkey
The CSL Tadoussac was inbound the Saginaw River Wednesday morning, arriving at the Essroc Terminal in Essexville to unload around 9:30 a.m. The Tadoussac waited for the outbound Maumee to clear Wednesday afternoon before backing from the Essroc dock in Essexville, out of the river and onto the bay and turned around at Light 12 in the Entrance Channel to head outbound for the lake. The Tadoussac was headed for Goderich to load.

Thanksgiving Day saw two vessels calling on the same dock along the Saginaw River. The Earl W. Oglebay was inbound early in the day, traveling upriver to unload at the GM dock in Saginaw. She completed her unload during the evening at turned at the Sixth Street Turning Basin.

At the same time, the Maumee was upbound passing the Airport Turning Basin headed for the dock the Oglebay had just cleared, the GM dock, to unload. the vessels planned to pass near the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee. The Maumee was expected to be outbound Friday morning.

Thanksgiving day on the Saginaw River saw two vessels inbound. the Earl W. Oglebay was inbound first, passing the Front Range Light at 3 p.m. headed for the GM dock in Saginaw to unload. The Oglebay finished unloading at the GM dock in Saginaw at 10:45 p.m. and headed upstream to turn around at the Sixth Street turning basin. She finished the turn around at the Sixth Street turning basin at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night and headed outbound the Saginaw River, passing the Maumee at the Burroughs dock in Zilwaukee around midnight, Friday morning.

Marinette/Menominee - Dick Lund
The Spruceglen paid a Thanksgiving Day visit to the Menominee River with yet another load of pig iron for Marinette Fuel & Dock. This marks the second trip to Marinette in 5 weeks for this ship.

Updates - November 24

News Photo Gallery updated

Public Photo Gallery updated

Today in Great Lakes History - November 24

On this day in 1966, Hjalmer Edwards became ill while working as a Second Cook on the steamer DANIEL J MORRELL. He was transferred to the hospital at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan when the MORRELL transited the locks for the last time on Thanksgiving Day. Five days later, the DANIEL J MORRELL sank during a severe storm on Lake Huron with a lone survivor.

On 24 November 1945, SCOTT E LAND (steel propeller C4-S-A4 cargo ship, 496 foot, 10,654 gross tons) was launched at Kaiser Corporation (Hull #520) in Vancouver, Washington for the U.S. Maritime Commission. She was converted to a straight-deck bulk freighter at Baltimore, Maryland in 1951, and renamed TROY H BROWNING. In 1955, she was renamed THOMAS F PATTON. After serving on the Great Lakes, she was scrapped in Karachi, Pakistan in 1981.

On November 24, 1990, the KINSMAN INDEPENDENT ran hard aground off of Isle Royale. The vessel was on its way to load grain in Thunder Bay, Ontario when she ended up 25 miles off course. The damage to the vessel was nearly $2 million, and she was repaired at Thunder Bay before the start of the 1991 season. Built in 1952, as a.) CHARLES L HUTCHINSON, renamed b.) ERNEST R BREECH in 1962, c.) KINSMAN INDEPENDENT in 1988. Sold Canadian, renamed d.) VOYAGEUR INDEPENDENT in 2005.

On November 24, 1950, while bound for South Chicago with iron ore, the ENDERS M VOORHEES collided with the up bound steamer ELTON HOYT II (now the ST MARYS CHALLENGER) in the Straits of Mackinac during a blinding snow storm. Both vessels received such serious bow damage that they had to be beached near Mc Gulpin Point west of Mackinaw City to avoid sinking.

The ROSEMOUNT stored with coal, inadvertently sank alongside CSL's Century Coal Dock at Montreal, Quebec on November 24, 1934.

Paterson's PRINDOC (Hull#657) was launched November 24, 1965, at Lauzon, Quebec by Davie Shipbuilding Co. Ltd..

November 24, 1892 - The ANN ARBOR NO 1 ran aground on her first trip just north of the Kewaunee harbor.

On 24 Nov 1881, LAKE ERIE (wooden propeller canaller, 136 foot, 464 gross tons, built in 1873, at St, Catharine's, Ontario) collided with the steamer NORTHERN QUEEN in fog and a blizzard near Poverty Island by the mouth of Green Bay. LAKE ERIE sank in one hour 40 minutes. NORTHERN QUEEN took aboard the crew but one man was scalded and died before reaching Manistique.

The CITY OF SAGINAW 31 entered service in 1931. On 24 November 1905, ARGO (steel propeller passenger/package freight, 174 foot, 1,089 tons, built in 1896, at Detroit, Michigan) dropped into a trough of a wave, hit bottom and sank in relatively shallow water while approaching the harbor at Holland, Michigan. 38 passengers and crew were taken off by breeches' buoy in a thrilling rescue by the U.S. Lifesaving Service.

NEPTUNE (wooden propeller, 185 foot, 774 gross tons, built in 1856, at Buffalo, New York) was laid up at East Saginaw, Michigan on 24 November 1874, when she was discovered to be on fire at about 4:00 a.m. She burned to a total loss.

The ANN ARBOR NO 1 left Frankfort for Kewaunee on November 24, 1892. Because of the reluctance of shippers to trust their products on this new kind of ferry it was difficult to find cargo for this first trip. Finally, a fuel company which sold coal to the railroad routed four cars to Kewaunee via the ferry.

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

Stuck Freighter Leaves a Debate in its Wake

11/23 - Bay City, MI - The ship that was stuck in downtown Bay City on Tuesday is gone, but the water-depth issues that hung her up remain.

The Algoway ran aground on a shoal on the edge of the shipping channel, immobilizing it between the Liberty and Veterans Memorial bridges for most of the day. It took a tug boat from Saginaw about 45 minutes late in the afternoon to coax it back off the river bottom.

The U.S. Coast Guard's Saginaw River Station reported the Algoway had run aground in low water conditions at about 9 a.m. as it sailed upriver, heading for a dock in Zilwaukee. The water level had dropped at least a foot due to a steady wind from the south.

A Coast Guard spokesman said the water level was at least a foot below the chart datum, which ideally had been at 25 feet, but in recent years is less because silt has filled in the channel by several feet. William G. Webber, who represents the Saginaw River Alliance of dock owners, said there probably was about 20.5 feet of available depth due to water being blown out to the Saginaw Bay.

Dredging of the river is badly needed, Webber said, as ships now are struggling to navigate in 22 to 23 feet of water. ''There is some money available next year for dredging the channel and the turn-around basin (near Cheboyganing Creek), but we really need it done now,'' Webber said. Webber said the conditions in the river are getting progressively worse, and that ships bringing in salt for winter road treatment might run into problems, too.

The Algoway, carrying up to 13,000 tons of rock, ran aground just south of the city-owned Liberty Bridge and was stopped between Third and Fifth streets. The Coast Guard reported that the Algoway, once loosened enough to get its propeller running, backed down river past Liberty Bridge to the Wirt Stone Dock, where it off-loaded about 1,000 tons of stone, making the ship lighter and able to navigate the river. It then continued south to Zilwaukee to unload the remainder of the cargo.

A Coast Guard spokesman said the ship's captain earlier had hoped the wind would die down or even shift enough to bring water back into the river so that it would allow the ship some room to move. But the wind stayed from the south, so the tug was called in.

Another ship hauling gravel also arrived Tuesday, but only had to go as far as a facility in Essexville, so it didn't encounter any problems, the spokesman said.

From the Bay City Times

Port Reports - November 23

Saginaw River - Gordy Garris
The Algoway finished partial unloading of her cargo at the Wirt Stone dock in Bay City at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday night and headed upriver to the Buena Vista Stone dock. After finishing unloading at the Buena Vista Stone dock early Wednesday morning, she shifted upriver to the Valley Asphalt dock in Carrollton to finish unloading. The Algoway finished unloading at the Valley Asphalt dock at 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, turned at the Sixth Street turning basin and was outbound for the lake late Wednesday morning.

The Maumee was inbound the Saginaw River late Tuesday night passing through Downtown Bay City around midnight. The Maumee arrived and unloaded stone at the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee Wednesday morning before turning at the Sixth Street turning basin in Saginaw and heading outbound for the lake Wednesday afternoon.

The tug Olive L. Moore with the barge Lewis J. Kuber were inbound the Saginaw River early Wednesday afternoon, passing the outbound Algoway at the Front Ranges, headed for the Bay Aggregates dock in Essexville to unload. The Moore & the Kuber departed from the Bay Aggregates dock at 10 p.m. Wednesday night, backed from the slip, turned and headed outbound for the lake.

The tug Undaunted with the barge Pere Marquette 41 were inbound the Saginaw River early Wednesday afternoon, passing the outbound Algoway at the Front Ranges, headed for the Wirt Stone dock in Saginaw to unload. The Undaunted and the Pere Marquette 41 were expected to be outbound from Saginaw around midnight.

Goderich - Dale Baechler
It is a busy time at Sifto Salt with the Algorail loading Wednesday evening.
Algoway was next in finishing early Thursday morning, then shifting over to the new harbour for some reason.
CSL Tadoussac entered after the Algoway had shifted and is now loading.

Happy Thanksgiving

11/23 - To all those who sail, and all those who stand on the shore and watch, and take pictures, and listen for a salute, may you have a Happy Thanksgiving, from all the gang at BoatNerd.Com.

Updates - November 23

News Photo Gallery updated

Public Photo Gallery updated

Today in Great Lakes History - November 23

In 1940, the CONSUMERS POWER, a.) HARRY YATES of 1910, collided with the MARITANA on the Detroit River. The MARITANA sustained $11,089.91 in damage. MARITANA was scrapped at Hamilton, Ontario in 1947.

On 23 November 1863, BAY OF QUINTE (wooden schooner, 250 tons, built in 1853, at Bath, Ontario) was carrying 7,500 bushels of wheat to Toronto when she was driven ashore on Salmon Point on Lake Ontario and wrecked. No lives were lost.

On 23 November 1882, the schooner MORNING LIGHT (wooden schooner, 256 tons, built in 1857, at Cleveland, Ohio) was sailing from Manistee for Chicago with a load of lumber when a storm drove her aground off Claybanks, south of Stony Lake, Michigan. One crewman swam to shore, the rest were saved by a lifesaving crew, local fishermen and the tug B W ALDRICH. Earlier that same year, she sank near St. Helen Island in the Straits of Mackinac. She was salvaged and put back in service, but she only lasted a few months.

After discharging her cargo, the SAMUEL MATHER, launched as a.) PILOT KNOB b.) FRANK ARMSTRONG (1943-73), proceeded to De Tour, Michigan laying up for the last time at the Pickands Mather Coal Dock on November 23, 1981. She was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey in 1988.

In 1987, the self-unloader ROGERS CITY was towed out of Menominee, Michigan for scrapping in Brazil.

STADACONA's sea trials were completed on November 23, 1952, and was delivered to Canada Steamship Lines the next day.

On 23 November 1872, Capt. W. B. Morley launched the propeller JARVIS LORD at Marine City, Michigan. Her dimensions were 193 feet X 33 feet X 18 feet, 1,000 tons. She was the first double decker built at Marine City. Her engine was from Wm. Cowie of Detroit.

On 23 November 1867, S A CLARK (wooden propeller tug, 12 tons, built in 1863, at Buffalo, New York) was in Buffalo's harbor when her boiler exploded and she sank.

November 23, 1930 - The Ann Arbor carferry WABASH grounded in Betsie Lake. She bent her rudder stock and her steering engine was broken up.

On 23 November 1853, the wooden schooner PALESTINE was bound from Kingston to Cleveland with railroad iron at about the same time as the like-laden schooner ONTONAGON. Eight miles west of Rochester, New York, both vessels ran ashore, were pounded heavily by the waves and sank. Both vessels reported erratic variations in their compasses. The cargoes were removed and ONTONAGON was pulled free on 7 December, but PALESTINE was abandoned. A similar event happened with two other iron-laden vessels a few years previously at the same place.

On 23 November 1853, the Ward Line's wooden side-wheeler HURON struck an unseen obstruction in the Saginaw River and sank. She was raised on 12 December 1853, towed to Detroit and repaired at a cost of $12,000. She was then transferred to Lake Michigan to handle the cross-lake traffic given the Ward Line by the Michigan Central Railroad. The carferry GRAND HAVEN was sold to the West India Fruit & Steamship Co., Norfolk, Virginia in 1946, and was brought down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana for reconditioning before reaching Port Everglades and the Port of Palm Beach, Florida. She was brought back to the Lakes and locked up bound through the Welland Canal on 23 Nov 1964. She was intended for roll on/roll off carrier service to haul truck trailers laden with steel coils from Stelco's plant at Hamilton, Ont.

The CSL NIAGARA a.) J W MC GIFFIN, passed Port Huron, Michigan on 23 Nov 1999, on her way to Thunder Bay to load grain. This was her first trip to the upper lakes since the vessel was re-launched as a SeawayMax carrier in June 1999.

Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Max Hanley, Russ Plumb, Steve Haverty, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. This is a small sample, the books includes many other vessels with a much more detailed history.

Algoway Freed in Saginaw River

11/22 - Bay City - On Tuesday strong southwestern winds and low water levels made for a series of events to occur leading up to the closing of the Saginaw River to navigation for a short period of time during the evening hours.

The Algoway was inbound the Saginaw River Tuesday morning passing through the Liberty St. Bridge in Bay City at 8 a.m. headed for the Buena Vista Stone dock in Saginaw with a cargo of stone. As the Algoway was approaching the Veteran's Memorial bridge in Bay City, she came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the channel, hung up on a high spot. Her captain backed the ship up and tried to pass over the high spot in the channel but was unsuccessful. The Algoway tried to pass over the high spot several other times but was unsuccessful.

The Calumet had also got hung up on the same high spot between the Liberty and Veteran's Memorial bridges on September 21, two months earlier, but the Calumet was able to work herself free without tug assistance.

The Algoway then became stuck in the river silt. The tug Gregory J. Busch was called to assist the Algoway in the afternoon. After a few hours of maneuvering in the channel the Busch was successful in pulling the Algoway off the high spot.

The Algoway then backed to the Wirt Stone dock in Bay City to unload some of her cargo of stone and to empty her ballast tanks. Around 5 p.m. the Coast Guard closed the Saginaw River to navigation. It was now believed that the Algoway was caught on a submerged fiber optic cable in the channel.

The U.S. Coast Guard closed the Saginaw River to shipping traffic for a few hours to determine if an underwater fiber optic cable had been damaged in the grounding of the Algoway.

After inspecting the area, the Coast Guard reopened the Saginaw River to navigation around 6 p.m. Tuesday evening. The Algoway is expected to depart from the Wirt Stone dock in Bay City and proceed upriver to unload at the Buena Vista Stone dock in Saginaw sometime Tuesday evening and be back outbound the Saginaw River for the lake early Wednesday morning.

Reported by Gordy Garris & Todd Shorkey

Original Article - 11/21 - 11:00am - Bay City - Low water levels have a freighter aground in the Saginaw River.

The Algoway is stuck between downtown Bay City's Veterans Memorial and Liberty Bridges.

South-southwest winds between 10 and 20-miles an hour have lowered river levels, hampering the freighter heading upriver to docks in Saginaw.

A spokesman from the U.S. Coast Guard's Station Saginaw River said the ship's captain is waiting to see if water levels will rise, freeing the freighter.

Reported by Bill Hewitt

Port Reports - November 22

Milwaukee - Paul Erspamer & John N. Vogel
Steamer Alpena was at the LaFarge silo on Jones Island in Milwaukee's inner harbor Tuesday, delivering cement.
Saltie Isa from the Polsteam line continues unloading at terminal 2 in the outer harbor.
Cross-lake ferry Lake Express has shifted from its dock near the Coast Guard station in the outer harbor, to a more sheltered winter berth near the Valley power plant on the Menomonee River/Burnham canal.

Sarnia - Frank Frisk
Canadian Transfer, which has been in Sarnia for nearly a week, has completed her repairs and got underway Tuesday evening.

Twin Ports - Al Miller
Paul R. Tregurtha was tied up Tuesday morning at the Duluth Port Authority’s Garfield Dock undergoing bow thruster repairs. As the sun rose, the vessel was ballasted down by the stern while a wheeled crane on the dock and a crew on a work float worked on the bow thruster. Once it’s back in service, the Tregurtha is expected to load coal at Midwest Energy Terminal and proceed to St. Clair, Mich.
Elsewhere Tuesday morning, James R. Barker was loading coal at Midwest Energy Terminal and Federal Kivalina was loading grain at the AGP elevator in Duluth. The saltie Matfen was anchored on the lake waiting to load at AGP. Stewart J. Cort and Reserve both were expected to arrive Tuesday to load at BNSF ore dock in Superior. The LaFarge Cement barge Integrity and tug G.L. Ostrander remained in drydock in Fraser Shipyards.

Toledo -
The Andersons and Marathon Oil have signed an agreement for construction and operation of one or more ethanol plants. The joint venture will be called The Andersons Marathon Ethanol LLC. The Andersons will provide management. corn origination, distillers dried grain, and marketing services. Marathon is currently a blender of ethanol and gasoline. This venture will provide initialization and reliability of ethanol supplies. So far there is no word on bio-diesel which is derived from soybeans and not corn. Toledo is prospectively gaining a bio-diesel plant on Front Street not affiliated with The Andersons.
CSL Laurentien was the first ship taking on grain at The Andersons Erwin Facility. This signals full operations returning from a fire that destroyed a silo, and disabled the superstructure and conveyance facilities.
Stefania-I was just in at ADM Elevators.
Policia got underway from Midwest Terminals of Toledo after staying here several days.

Saginaw River - Todd Shorkey & Gordy Garris
Tuesday was a long day for the Algoway as during her trip up the river she became hung up on a shoal between the Liberty Bridge and Veteran's Memorial Bridge in Bay City. She worked for a number of hours backing astern and then trying different sides of the channel trying to get around or over the shoal, all with no success. US Coast Guard Station Saginaw River sent out a patrol boat to take some depth soundings finding a definite high spot in the channel. Eventually, the tug Gregory J. Busch was contacted to come downriver from her dock in Carrollton to assist the Algoway back downriver to lighter some of her cargo at the Wirt Stone dock in Bay City before trying to head back upriver to her original destination of the Buena vista dock. The Algoway made the Wirt dock late Tuesday afternoon.
The Maumee was inbound the Saginaw Bay Entrance Channel early Tuesday evening with stone from Stoneport. The Maumee waited for about an hour for the river to reopen to traffic before continuing inbound the channel. The river had been closed due to the grounding of Algoway earlier in the day.
The tug Duluth, assisted by the tug Sarah B took on a cargo of stone by a shore side conveyor at the Wirt Stone dock in Bay City. Once the Duluth's barge was full, she headed downriver for a short trip to the Dow Chemical dock in Bay City.

South Chicago - Brian Z.
The John G. Munson was loading a cargo of petroleum coke at KCBX terminals on Tuesday. A rare call by the Sarah Spencer and tug Jane Ann at Carmeuse Lime was also made Tuesday. The Spencer slowly backed down the river and tied up at 10:45 am, discharging her cargo of limestone.

Sandusky - Jim Spencer
The Canadian Olympic loaded coal overnight at Sandusky's Norfolk Southern dock.

Toronto - Charlie Gibbons
The salty Makeevka got underway late this evening bound for the Welland Canal. Stephen B. Roman arrived in mid-afternoon and will likely depart in the wee hours. The island ferry Ongiara was out for trials today, after it's recent repowering, and may resume service shortly.

Goderich - Dale Baechler
Mississagi entered the inner harbour late Monday night and after unloading wheat all night at the elevators, shifted over to Sifto Salt to reload Tuesday afternoon.
 

Welland Canal 177th Anniversary Commemoration Correction

11/21 - St. Catharines, Ont. - The Welland Canals Foundation in association with The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation and OEB International will celebrate the 177th anniversary of the opening of the first Welland Canal on Wednesday, November 29 at 10 am. (Note-The original article indicated Thursday.)

The public is invited to the event which will be held at The Welland Canals Centre – Lock 3 (2nd Floor), 1932 Welland Canals Parkway, St. Catharines, Ontario.

Updates - November 22

News Photo Gallery updated

Public Photo Gallery updated

Today in Great Lakes History - November 22

In 1947, the Canadian tanker BRUCE HUDSON broke down shortly after departing Port Stanley. The U.S. tanker ROCKET, Captain R. B. Robbins, managed to get a line on the HUDSON and tow her 50 miles through high seas and a snow storm to shelter behind Point Pelee. Later, the tug ATOMIC arrived on scene and towed the Hudson to Toledo for repairs.

On 22 November 1860, WABASH VALLEY (wooden propeller, 592 tons, built in 1856, at Buffalo, New York) was caught in a blizzard and gale off Muskegon, Michigan on Lake Michigan. Her skipper thought they were off Grand Haven and as he steamed to the harbor, visibility dropped to near zero. The vessel ran onto the beach. Her momentum and the large storm waves carried her well up onto the beach where she broke in two. Her machinery was salvaged and went into the new steamer SUNBEAM.

Scrapping of the SPRUCEGLEN, a.) WILLIAM K FIELD was completed on November 22, 1986, by Lakehead Scrap Metal Co. at Thunder Bay Ontario. The SPRUCEGLEN was the last Canadian coal-fired bulker.

Cleveland Cliffs steamer FRONTENAC while in ballast sustained major structural damage from grounding on Pellet Reef attempting to enter Silver Bay, Minnesota at 2140 hours on November 22, 1979.

On 22 November 1869, CREAM CITY (3-mast wooden bark, 629 tons, built in 1862, at Sheboygan, Wisconsin) was carrying wheat in a gale when she lost her way and went ashore on Drummond Island. She appeared to be only slightly damaged, but several large pumps were unable to lower the water in her hull. She was finally abandoned as a total wreck on 8 December. She was built as a "steam bark" with an engine capable of pushing her at 5 or 6 mph. After two months of constant minor disasters, this was considered an unsuccessful experiment and the engine was removed.

The CITY OF MILWAUKEE was chartered to the Ann Arbor Railroad Co. and started the Frankfort, Michigan-Kewaunee, Wisconsin service for them on November 22, 1978.

November 22, 1929 - The CITY OF SAGINAW 31 went out on her sea trials.

On 22 November 1860, CIRCASSIAN (wooden schooner, 135 foot, 366 tons, built in 1856, at Irving, New York) was carrying grain in a gale and blizzard on Lake Michigan when she stranded on White Shoals near Beaver Island. She sank to her decks and then broke in two. Her crew was presumed lost, but actually made it to Hog Island in the blizzard and they were not rescued from there for two weeks.

A final note from the Big Gale of 1879. On 22 November 1879, The Port Huron Times reported, "The barge DALTON is still high and dry on the beach at Point Edward."

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

Ship Cargo Fire Extinguished

11/21 - Sault Ste. Marie - A crane barge began the laborious task of off-loading a Dutch-registered bulk carrier Virginiaborg early Sunday after an on-board fire singed a portion of the pelletized sugar beet cargo very early Sunday morning. City firefighters responded to the ship fire call at 12:48 a.m. Sunday to await the ship's arrival at the Carbide Dock after the smoldering vessel was allowed to pass through the Soo Locks. Firefighters called in an additional aerial truck from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. as a precaution but the principal firefighting apparatus used to douse the smoky fire was a small clam-bucket crane.

Set up alongside the ship, the small crane bucket pulled off burning cargo a few yards at a time for fire crews to extinguish at pierside. Damage to the ship was apparently minimal, even though the fire had apparently smoldered in the closed cargo holds for many hours before crew members discovered smoke aboard an hour or so before midnight Saturday.

Virginiaborg relayed a fire aboard call to the U.S. Coast Guard as the ship passed Big Point in the upper St. Marys River late Saturday. After some relayed evaluation, the Dutch vessel was allowed to enter the Soo Locks for downbound passage before Virginiaborg made the Carbide Dock rendezvous with fire crews. Virginiaborg cleared the Locks at 2:32 a.m. Sunday with the cargo fire still smoldering in the forward cargo hold of the small, 434-foot bulk carrier.

With the two aerial fire trucks arrayed alongside with a city pumper unit, firefighting by clam bucket began shortly after the ship arrived. The small bucket was still pulling off burning cargo at about 1 p.m. Sunday as the laborious task continued one bucket load at a time. All burning cargo was removed without incident during the afternoon hours, after which Virginiaborg buttoned up her cargo hatches to await Monday's off loading operation.

Virginiaborg, one of several dozen small vessels owned by the Dutch Wagenborg shipping line, is divided into two large cargo holds. The fire involved pelletized sugar beets carried in both holds and damaged a moveable wooden-timber bulkhead that separates the two holds below decks. The aft cargo hold in a vessel like Virginiaborg is isolated by a steel bulkhead, possibly limiting the spread of the fire.

City Fire Chief Ken Eagle said today that a number of officials from the Wagenborg line, cargo agents from Morocco and a cargo damage specialist are due in today to determine a course of action with remaining cargo. Eagle said U.S. Coast Guard officials are still investigating the probable cause of the blaze.

Shortly after daybreak today, the Purvis Marine crane barge Chief Wawatam was alongside the ship pulling out additional cargo for transfer to the barge. The fire had long since been extinguished. Sault Ste. Marie Port Director John Wellington early today said it is unlikely that the entire cargo will be unloaded as damaged goods. At her maximum capacity, Virginiaborg carries some 10,000 tons of cargo. No injuries were reported as a result of the on-board fire.

By The Soo Evening News

Coast Guard takes man from McCarthy

11/21 - Bay City - A 62-year-old crewman was evacuated by Coast Guard helicopter following a medical emergency Sunday. Coast Guard officials said John Norton, a crew member aboard the Walter J. McCarthy Jr., became ill and was in need of medical care.

The McCarthy was off the Thumb when the call for help went out, according to Petty Officer Matt Schofield.

A Coast Guard air rescue helicopter stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base responded at about 9:30 p.m. and was able to pick up Norton at the ship a short time later. He was flown to emergency medical personnel waiting at the Bad Axe Airport.

His medical condition was not available.

From the Bay City Times

U.S.-Flag Lakes Cargos Down in October
Iron Ore and Coal Totals Drop

11/21 - Cleveland—U.S.-Flag Great Lakes fleets moved 11.1 million net tons of dry-bulk cargo on the Great Lakes in October, a decrease of 3.4 percent compared to a year ago. The decrease was slightly less – 2.2 percent - when compared to the fleet’s 5-year average for October.

With steel production slowing, the iron ore trade skipped a beat in October. Shipments in U.S.-Flag Lakers slipped 4.1 percent compared to a year ago, but were only marginally behind the 5-year average.

Ample stockpiles of coal at power plants again slowed loadings of that commodity. Shipments in U.S-Flag hulls totaled 2.7 million net tons in October, a decrease of nearly 9 percent from a year ago, but a slight increase over the 5-year average for the month.

The limestone total was almost an exact duplicate of a year ago, but fell short of the 5-year average by approximately 250,000 net tons.

For the year, U.S.-Flag cargo carriage stands 89.1 million net tons, a slight increase compared to the same point in 2005. However, the trade remains well ahead – nearly 6 percent – of the 5-year average for the January-October timeframe.

Lake Carriers’ Association represents 18 American corporations that operate 63 U.S.-Flag vessels on the Great Lakes. These vessels carry the raw materials that drive the nation’s economy: Iron ore and fluxstone for the steel industry, limestone and cement for the construction industry, coal for power generation.... Collectively, these vessels transport as much as 125 million tons of cargo a year when high water levels offset lack of adequate dredging. More information is available at www.lcaship.com.

Source: Lake Carriers’ Association

Christmas Tree Ship's Crew May Have Sought Refuge

11/21 - Two Rivers, WI — The crew of the Rouse Simmons schooner — better known as the "Christmas Tree Ship" — may have been heading for safe harbor, but high lake waves doomed all men aboard to their death. That was one of the findings revealed by state underwater archaeologist Keith Merveden to a packed crowd Saturday at the Hamilton Community House.

"We'll never know for sure ... but she wasn't oriented in the direction we expected," said Merveden, who led a 165-foot deep, two-week diving and photographic expedition last summer about 12 miles northeast of Rawley Point Lighthouse. "She was actually pointing north northwest," Merveden said of the ship that sank Nov. 22, 1912, with a crew believed to number 17. "At some point between distress sighting at Kewaunee and when the ship went down, she turned around and was headed towards a small bay."

Merveden and volunteer divers from all over the country did an extensive survey of the shipwreck, including creation of a detailed "photo mosaic" combining hundreds of images. "Ten years ago we wouldn't have been able to do this because there would have been less visibility," Merveden said. But the deep water clarity comes with a cost, as the growing population of Quagga mussels filtering and eating plant and animal life in Lake Michigan also cling to the hulls and decks of shipwrecks.

Each daily dive lasted about 90 minutes —45 minutes for survey and 45 minutes to slowly ascend, stopping at different compression points to avoid getting the bends. Divers wore "dry suits" in the 40-degree water.

Hit bottom forcefully
The ship's two anchor chains, each 450-feet long, are on deck at the front of the ship. Their weight — and its 27,000 Christmas trees headed from Michigan to Chicago —contributed to a low-riding bow that didn't ride over, but through, the waves of the fierce November storm. "It appears the Rouse Simmons went down with a bit of momentum," Merveden said. "There's a large impact crater (on the floor of Lake Michigan) at her bow."

The 127-foot schooner was first discovered, via sonar, in 1971. Laws are now in effect preventing private party scavenging of shipwrecks, and Merveden said there are still some articles of clothing visible, but no bodies. "You could pull her up and she would float," said Paul Bentley, one of the volunteer divers. "The wood (deck and hull) has been preserved because of the dark and cold at that depth."

By Manitowoc Times-Herald

Port Reports - November 21

Milwaukee - John N. Vogel
Polish Steamship's Isa was at the Municipal Pier #2 about noon, 20 November. Otherwise, no activity in the harbor.

South Chicago - Gary Clark
The Herbert C. Jackson departed the KCBX coal dock around 1:00pm Monday. Destination unknown.

Milwaukee - Paul Erspamer
Monday evening Interlake's Herbert C. Jackson was at the WE Energies Greenfield Avenue dock in Milwaukee's inner harbor in a rare visit, delivering a load of coal from KCBX in Chicago.

Updates - November 21

News Photo Gallery updated

Public Photo Gallery updated

Today in Great Lakes History - November 21

On 21 November 1861, ENTERPRISE (2-mast wooden scow-schooner, 64 foot, 56 tons, built in 1854, at Port Huron, Michigan) was driven ashore near Bark Shanty at the tip of Michigan's "thumb" on Lake Huron. The storm waves pounded her to pieces. Her outfit was salvaged a few days later.

On the evening of 21 November 1890, the scow MOLLIE (wooden scow-schooner, 83 foot, 83 gross tons, built in 1867, at Fairport, Ohio) left Ludington, Michigan with a load of lumber. About 8:00 p.m., when she was just 25 miles off Ludington, she started to leak in heavy seas, quickly becoming waterlogged. Capt. Anderson and his two-man crew had just abandoned the vessel in the yawl when the steamer F & P M NO 4 showed up, shortly after midnight. The rough weather washed Capt. Anderson out of the yawl, but he made it back in. At last a line from the F & P M NO 4 was caught and made fast to the yawl and the crew made it to the steamer. The men had a narrow escape, for the MOLLIE was going to pieces rapidly, and there was little likelihood of the yawl surviving in the gale.

The PATERSON (Hull#113) was launched November 21, 1953, at Port Arthur, Ontario by Port Arthur Ship Building Co. Ltd..

In 1924, the MERTON E FARR slammed into the Interstate Bridge that linked Superior, Wisconsin with Duluth, Minnesota. causing extensive damage to the bridge. The bridge span fell into the water but the FARR received only minor damage to her bow.

On 21 November 1869, the ALLIANCE (wooden passenger sidewheeler, 87 foot, 197 gross tons, built in 1857, at Buffalo, New York) slipped her moorings at Lower Black Rock in the Niagara River and went over the falls. She had been laid up since the spring of 1869.

November 21, 1906 - The PERE MARQUETTE 17 encountered one of the worst storms in many years while westbound for the Wisconsin Central slip in Manitowoc. Wisconsin. She made port safely, but the wind was so high that she could not hold her course up the river without assistance. The tug ARCTIC assisted, and as they were proceeding through the 10th Street Bridge, a gust of wind from the south drove the ferry and tug against the north pilings of the 10th Street Bridge. The ARCTIC, pinned between the ferry and the bridge, was not damaged, but she crushed the hull of a fishing tug moored there, sinking her, and inflicted damage of a few hundred dollars to the bridge.

November 21, 1923 - Arthur Stoops, the lookout on the ANN ARBOR NO 6 was drowned while stepping from the apron onto the knuckle to cast off the headline.

On the night of 21 November 1870, C W ARMSTRONG (wooden propeller steam tug, 57 foot, 33 tons, built in 1856, at Albany, New York) burned at her dock at Bay City, Michigan. No lives were lost.

More incidents from the Big Gale of 1879. On 21 November 1879, The Port Huron Times reported, "The schooner MERCURY is ashore at Pentwater. The schooner LUCKY is high and dry at Manistee; the schooner WAUBASHENE is on the beach east of Port Colborne. The schooner SUMATRA is on the beach at Cleveland; the large river tug J P Clark capsized and sunk at Belle Isle in the Detroit River on Wednesday [19 Nov.] and sank in 15 minutes. One drowned. The schooner PINTO of Oakville, Ontario, stone laden, went down in 30 feet of water about one mile down from Oakville. At Sand beach the barge PRAIRIE STATE is rapidly going to pieces.

Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, Max Hanley, Steve Haverty and Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. This is a small sample, the books includes many other vessels with a much more detailed history.

Iron Nugget Plant Deal Falls Apart

11/20 – Duluth -- A proposal to build the world’s first commercial iron nugget plant at the former LTV Steel Mining Co. site near Hoyt Lakes is dead. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., a major partner in the $200 million project, said Friday night that partners in the project have not been able to come to terms. The exact details of what killed the deal were not available.

“Though we are disappointed with the temporary setback this action represents, the iron nugget technology works and we intend to move forward,” Joe Carrabba, Cleveland-Cliffs chief executive officer said in a news release.
Cliffs, Kobe Steel, Steel Dynamics Inc. of Butler, Ind., and Ferrometrics of Two Harbors had proposed building the plant near Hoyt Lakes.

The state also supported the project, including streamlining an environmental permitting schedule. The commercial plant, to be built on a 6,000-acre site, was to bring with it 400 to 500 construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs.

Cleveland-Cliffs, with Kobe Steel of Japan as a partner, still intends to pursue development of a commercial-size nugget plant at Cliffs’ Northshore Mining Co. facility in Silver Bay, Carrabba said. But Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said that permitting a commercial nugget project along Lake Superior could prove difficult.

“I’m just heartbroken,” Bakk said Friday night. “I don’t think Cliffs has their heart in it. It could have happened in Hoyt Lakes. Everything was ready. The Iron Range legislators pulled out all the stops in St. Paul for this. We broke arms and broke legs to make it happen and even had an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) waived.”

Hoyt Lakes Mayor Marlene Pospeck called the announcement “reprehensible and infuriating.” Her city was hit hard when LTV Steel Mining Co. permanently closed in 2001, costing 1,400 jobs — many in Hoyt Lakes. “I just can’t understand what the h—- they’re thinking,” the normally placid Pospeck said. “I can’t believe the decision was made to once more pull the rug out from under Hoyt Lakes. It’s like over and over and over again, we get our hopes raised and then dashed.”

Pospeck said she didn’t know whether the city or other government leaders would have any recourse. All funding and permitting for the project was based on the premise that it would be at the former LTV Steel Mining Co. plant, she said.

“I don’t understand how it can be a financial decision,” Pospeck said. “It will delay the project for two or three more years, which means it will cost more. And the market is there for it right now. Who knows what the market is going to be like a few years from now.”

A confirmation of the agreement at the Hoyt Lakes site was expected earlier this year. But delays over several months led some within Minnesota’s iron ore industry to believe that the parties were having trouble reaching agreement. Still, the sudden announcement caught some off guard.

“Companies make decisions for a variety of reasons based on what’s in their best interest,” said Frank Ongaro Jr., president of the Iron Mining Association of Minnesota. Mesabi Nugget, which had planned to operate the nugget plant, successfully demonstrated the technology on a small scale at Northshore Mining Co.

Where the failed deal leaves Larry Lehtinen, president of Mesabi Nugget, wasn’t clear Friday night. Lehtinen, an Iron Range native, spent about six years working to get the pilot plant operating and seeking partners, funding and permits for a commercial plant. Kobe Steel officials say that could still happen at Silver Bay.

“We are committed to the reduced iron business and believe that the iron nugget technology can significantly alter the raw material landscape for steel producers,” said Shohei Manabe, Kobe Steel general manager. “While we are also disappointed by the delay caused by this setback, we are nonetheless optimistic regarding the technology, as well as building the innovative operation in Minnesota. We look forward to working with Cleveland-Cliffs and the state of Minnesota to commercially deploy this technology.”

Iron nuggets would be a new product made from Iron Range taconite concentrate, more valuable than iron ore pellets, and used to feed electric arc furnaces and foundries. Bakk said the project held promise of a new era on the Iron Range.
Now, he says he’s unsure whether a plant will ever be built in Northeastern Minnesota. “It hurts,” Bakk said. “But I feel worse for the people of the Range who have been waiting for something that would revitalize the Range and get us into a new market.”

Meanwhile, Cleveland-Cliffs said that it plans to re-start furnace No. 5, a pelletizing furnace at Silver Bay.
Permits and capital funding have been approved.

Construction work to get the furnace re-started, along with additional concentrate capacity, is expected to be complete by 2008, Cleveland-Cliffs said. The re-start would boost iron ore pellet production at the plant by about 800,000 tons annually. This week, Cleveland-Cliffs announced new long-term pellet contracts with AK Steel and Republic Steel. The contracts assure Cliffs will sell 100 percent of its pellet production.

Re-starting the concentrate lines would be necessary to fuel a Silver Bay nugget plant. “Whether the start-up is directly related to their thoughts about nuggets in the future, who knows?” Ongaro said. “But they just announced that their order books are full.” Donald Gallagher, Cleveland-Cliffs chief financial officer, said the expanded pellet capacity would help satisfy customers’ current and future requirements under long-term sales agreements.

From the Duluth News Tribune

Vamand Wave Update

11/20 - It is now being reported that the saltie Vamand Wave suffered engine failure that caused her strange behavior last Friday, and that she did not hit the lock wall. The vessel was tied at the West Pier most of Saturday and departed down bound in the evening.

Original Article - 11/18 - Sault Ste. Marie - The saltie Vamand Wave had difficulty making the lock wall Friday.
Just after the Paul R. Tregurtha was assisted out of the Poe lock by the G tug Missouri, the Vamand Wave attempted to make the wall unassisted. The ship struck the pier with its bulbous bow, and proceeded to get lines ashore and winch herself in.
The ship has since been moved backwards and secured against the far end of the West Pier. She remained there late Friday evening.
It appeared that the tug Missouri was delayed in its upbound trip in the Mac Lock as the lock was not filled, probably to prevent the suction from making things