Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive

State grants $4 million for harbor work

2/29 - Madison – Two harbor projects are getting a helping hand from the state of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle Thursday morning announced $4 million in Wisconsin Harbor Assistance Program funding for projects on the Superior harbor. The program assists harbor communities on the Great Lakes and Mississippi River improve and maintain waterborne commerce. It helps fund port projects such as dock reconstruction, mooring replacement, dredging and construction of facilities to hold dredge materials.

“When you come to Superior Days you should always get something, and this is a big one,” Doyle told the Superior Days delegation. “I am pleased to announce that through the Harbor Assistance Program, we are providing the city of Superior with another $4 million to make improvements.

The city sought almost $2.6 million through the program to help CLM Corp. make dock wall repairs costing $3.2 million. The balance will be paid by CLM.

Wisconsin’s grant complements a $36 million expansion project that created a fifth kiln to manufacture lime products used in paper production, power plant pollution control, water and sewage treatment, steel production and ore processing. The privately-funded project got underway last year to meet a growing demand for the company’s product worldwide.

Cenex-Harvest States Grain Elevators. beneath the Blatnik Bridge, will receive a $1.7 million to repair dock walls. Superior applied for more almost $1.4 million in Harbor Assistance Program money to support the project. Overall, “this is $5 million of investment in our future. It’s a good thing for Superior,” said Port and Planning Director Jason Serck.

It’s no different from the city seeking and receiving grants to help Burlington Northern-Santa Fe in 2005 and Hallett Dock last year, he said. The $1.1 million grant for Burlington Northern-Santa Fe helped maintain the viability of the General Mills Elevator, one of the oldest grain facilities in the nation. The dock was in need of repair after it had been damaged by a ship in 2001.

Last year, the Harbor Assistance Program contributed $1.4 million to a $1.7 million dock stabilization and dredging project for Hallett Dock No. 8, after the company invested more than $2 million in other improvements to its facility in Superior.

“The Port of Superior is the Great Lakes largest harbor,” Doyle said. “It’s a critical part of Wisconsin’s and the Great Lakes area economy, supporting job growth throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest.”

Local governments pay $15B on Great Lakes protection

“Our study shows that local governments are pulling their weight and more,” Michigan Lt. Gov. John Cherry said. By contrast, he added, the federal government has “a significant investment deficit.”

Released Wednesday in Washington, D.C., the study was conducted by the Great Lakes Commission and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative. The commission represents governors, legislators and state agencies, while the cities group includes mayors and other local officials. The findings came from a 2006 survey in which 143 local governments in both countries participated.

By extrapolating to include all 688 local governments in the Great Lakes region, the report estimates their annual spending at $12 billion for water quality management. They spend about $3 billion more for related activities such as recycling and green space protection. The federal contribution is “not even close” to that amount, said David Ullrich, executive director of the cities group, acknowledging the federal total was unclear. “It’s been a very difficult number to get a handle on,” he said.

President Bush in 2004 ordered development of a strategy for protecting and restoring the lakes. Government agencies, Indian tribes and interest groups produced a wide-ranging plan that would cost about $20 billion. But advocates say Washington isn’t paying its fair share.

Bush’s proposed fiscal 2009 budget would cut spending for Great Lakes water quality by 16 percent from this year. It also would reduce by nearly one-fifth the region’s federal allocation for upgrading sewer systems. Nationwide, federal wastewater treatment assistance has fallen by nearly half since 2004. A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency, the lead federal agency on Great Lakes programs, had no immediate reaction.

Advocates from the eight Great Lakes states are lobbying Congress this week to put more in the budget for region’s waters.

The Canadian government has committed $40 million over five years for areas of special concern in the Great Lakes but should do more, Toronto Mayor David Miller told the Canadian Press.

Salt in Short Supply

2/28 - Salt is in short supply in communities around the Great Lakes region, thanks to a tougher-than-usual winter. Municipalities are struggling to replenish depleted stockpiles, but demand is still outstripping supply. The need is so acute that two vessels - Algomarine and Canadian Olympic - have skipped winter lay- up and are continuing to operate, hauling salt from Goderich, Ont., to ports on Lake Michigan and Detroit.

Normally the difficult areas of ice are found at the Straits of Mackinac and off Goderich. This year the ice in the Calumet River is also becoming a problem.

Transits through the ice this season have been manageable thanks to the efforts of the U. S. and Canadian Coast Guards. In ice breaking operations the agencies work together to cover regions regardless of political lines. The Canadian Coast Guard ships Samuel Risley and Griffon, along with the U.S. Coast Guard's Mackinaw, Katmai Bay, Biscayne Bay, Neah Bay, Hollyhock and others have made short work of the ice, helping keep the salt moving.

The Great Lakes shipping season officially gets underway the third and fourth weeks of March, with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Soo Locks.

Port Report - February 28

Detour, MI - Cathy Kohring
The frozen St. Mary's River at DeTour was a busy place Wednesday. The Canadian Olympic came inbound around 11 p.m. presumably with a load of salt for the Sault. Shortly after that she passed the Algoeast was downbound and passed DeTour around noon. The Coast Guard Cutter Mobile Bay was also assisting in keeping the shipping channel open. There was an unidentified tug and barge stopped in the shipping channel for almost two days before it finally proceeded outbound DeTour around 9a.m. Wednesday.

Goderich - Dale Baechler and Jacob Smith
After a run down to Sarnia for fuel, Algomarine made her way into port on Wednesday afternoon. She was on the Sifto Salt dock at 2 p.m. She was assisted by USCGC Neah Bay(105), who had docked overnight, and the MacDonald Marine tugs. The outer harbour and channel are ice free at this point after some northeasterly breezes.

Port of Oswego Authority plans $3 million project

The Emma Maerks can transport approximately 7,000 40-foot containers. “If you put it end-to-end, it carries 53 miles worth of containers,” Daniels noted. “That’s a lot of cargo in one single vessel.”

The vessel, which became operational in 2006, is the basis for a new $300 million container terminal that is being developed in the Strait of Canso in Nova Scotia on Canada’s east coast. Construction of the new container terminal is expected to begin this year with completion estimated in 2010.

“Why is a $300 million project in eastern Canada important?” Daniels asked. “The container distribution will be by two ways. One is through the Canadian National Railroad System, which is a major east-west rail route from Halifax, Nova Scotia all the way to Vancouver. The other is a series of feeder ports in the Great Lakes.

“So, if you put those containers on small feeder vessels, move through the St. Lawrence, and into Lake Ontario, the first port of call when you enter the United States and Lake Ontario? Port of Oswego,” Daniels said. “What they are attempting to do right now is locate a terminal on each side of the Great Lakes. It’s early in their planning process, but that is what they are looking at right now. If prepared, the Post of Oswego may be able to take advantage of that opportunity.”

Daniels said that the current facility at the port is unable to handle containers. “If you throw 100, 200, 300 containers on the deck, even if you double and triple stack them, it takes up a lot of space,” he said. The proposed $3 million local project would consist of three phases, he said.

“A portion of it would occur on the existing port site as we enhance our security operations, build new road infrastructure,” said Daniels. “The second phase of it would be a combined road and rail improvement on the existing rail bed that is currently owned by CSX. The final component of that would be actually cutting down a portion of the site of the Fitzgibbons property, which is property owned by the port authority. We would cut that down, grade it, pave it, light it. That’s going to provide us close to an additional 14 to 15 acres. or almost double the amount of outside storage that the port currently possesses.”

The project, if completed, would also alleviate congestion of traffic coming from the port through the City of Oswego. “We’re in the early stages of this,” he said. “We have the assistance of Operation Oswego County. We have the assistance from Central New York Planning and Development. We are going to be bringing in a lot of partners associated with getting this project done.”

Daniels also noted that the port has completed several smaller projects, including a $1.1 million reconstruction project of one of its buildings and a $175,000 rehabilitation project on the west pier. “That had to occur because we were out of room (for our salt operation),” Daniels noted. “By moving it over there, it allowed us to bring in a brand new customer.”

The port has commenced engineering studies for the rehabilitation of its rail structure as well as a new maintenance facility.

In 2007, 7,100 trucks left the port. “About 125 people were employed at one point or another over the past year,” said Daniels. “That’s probably the figure that I am proudest of. We need to be an economic employment generator.”

Daniels, who once served as managing director of the Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission and the Port of Greater Baton Rouge in Louisiana, stressed the importance of the port in the county’s economy.

“This port in Oswego is just as important as that port in Baton Rouge,” said Daniels. “The size and the complexity of the port really doesn’t matter.”

Seaway Tolls frozen for three years

2/28 - Last week the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) announced a three-year toll freeze that, together with a revised tariff structure, that is expected to provide a significant boost to new business growth. With the goal of maximizing the volume of existing commodities, while at the same time attracting new cargoes to the Seaway / Great Lakes System, the new tolls structure underscores the commitment of the SLSMC and Transport Canada to increased use of the Seaway.

“By maintaining stable rates through the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons and by introducing targeted incentives, we are setting the stage for our stakeholders to aggressively seek new business in an era of escalating costs, and to advance their business plans with a greater degree of certainty” stated Dick Corfe, SLSMC President and CEO.

A New Business Incentive Program targeted at carriers and shippers will allow for a 20% discount on cargo tolls over the course of three years for commodity / origin / destination combinations approved by the Corporation as “new business”. To be eligible, a carrier will have to submit to the SLSMC an application for the proposed cargo / origin / destination combination. Notably, all containerized cargo movements are eligible for the discount, from 2008 to 2012.

A Volume Rebate Incentive Program targeted at shippers has also been introduced. Offering a 10% reduction on cargo tolls applicable to incremental volumes meeting a set of criteria, this program is designed to stimulate movement of the Seaway’s traditional staple cargoes. Applicable criteria can be found within the full 2008 Schedule of Tolls.

To encourage smaller cargo vessels and shipments to come into the system, the Welland Canal lockage fees have been restructured, with a net benefit applicable to all vessels. The fixed charges per lock transit have been replaced with charges proportional to a vessel’s GRT. This change will benefit small and medium sized vessels. Larger vessels will benefit from a cap placed on the maximum charge per vessel.

In a bid to promote short sea shipping within the Seaway / Great Lakes System, the definition of domestic cargo now includes all movements between any combination of Canadian and American points within the Seaway / Great Lakes System. This will allow these intra-system movements to be subject to advantageous bulk rates.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp news release

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Plans Ballast Controls

2/28 - Tired of waiting for Congress to enact ballast rules to prevent foreign species from invading the Great Lakes, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is moving toward writing its own rules to control what overseas ships are allowed to discharge into Lakes Superior and Michigan.

The department was prodded by conservationists who argued that the state had authority under the Clean Water Act to regulate ballast just like any other pollutant. The DNR started exploring the issue late last year and has come to the conclusion that existing law does, indeed, give it the authority to regulate those discharges. The next step is to do something about it.

"The department is evaluating regulatory options," the department wrote in a Feb. 11 memo in advance of Tuesday's Wisconsin Natural Resources Board meeting in Madison.

The Michigan legislature has already passed its own ballast bill, and other Great Lakes legislatures are considering similar moves. But Wisconsin DNR lawyers believe their agency can act without legislative action.

Congress has been considering a national bill to address the issue for several years, but Wisconsin conservationists and some legislators say it's time to act now to protect state waters in Lakes Superior and Michigan, and the thousands of inland lakes that can also be affected by what overseas ships bring into the region. The DNR said it does not expect Congress to pass a bill by year's end, and that is why it wants to start moving forward with its own rules

DNR staff said they didn't act earlier because it was not clear the state had the authority until a federal judge recently ruled in a California case that the Clean Water Act applies to ballast. The shipping industry also sued Michigan over its ballast law, but the case was thrown out last year.

In their memo to the resources board, staff said they would be working closely with colleagues in Minnesota, which is pursuing similar rules, to ensure that the regulations are compatible. Shipping advocates acknowledge there is a problem but say the best solution is one overarching federal law rather than a patchwork of potentially inconsistent state laws.

Wisconsin DNR officials also informed the Natural Resources Board that the agency is steaming ahead with a $6 million pilot program that would treat ballast water not on ships but in onshore wastewater facilities. DNR officials said that Gov. Jim Doyle identified $6 million that could be used for the Wisconsin ports in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Superior.

Roger Larson, deputy director of the DNR Bureau of Watershed Management, said Milwaukee would be used as a test of the technology, with treatment starting in the 2009 shipping season. The idea has support from former DNR Secretary George Meyer, now executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.

But Natural Resources Board Chairman Christine Thomas of Stevens Points said that if onshore ballast treatment is going to be explored, it should done at a gateway port to the Great Lakes. "Letting ships wander the length of the Great Lakes and then dealing with the problem in Duluth and Superior makes no sense to me," she said.

2008 S/S Badger Boatnerd Gathering Cruise Announced

On Saturday, May 31, 2008, we are once again pleased to offer the Boatnerd Badger Gathering. A round-trip crossing of Lake Michigan from Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, aboard the Lake Michigan Carferry S/S Badger.

Join us in traveling on the only coal-fired steamer left on the Great Lakes. Visit the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc and see the operating restored forward engine from the legendary railroad ferry Chief Wawatam, and the WWII submarine Cobia, or go on the optional Wisconsin Shoreline Cruise aboard the Badger.

Lee Murdoch will be on board to offer entertainment both ways across the lake.

On Friday night, May 30, we have arranged a special Badger Boatel B&B to stay aboard the steamer on the night prior to the cruise. Reservations for staterooms are limited. This optional part of the gathering may offer pilothouse and engine room tours.

Today in Great Lakes History - February 28

The VENUS (steel propeller bulk freighter, 346 foot, 3719 gross tons) was launched on 28 February 1901, by the American Ship Building Company (Hull #307) at Lorain, Ohio for the Gilchrist Transportation Company, converted to a crane-ship in 1927. She was renamed b.) STEEL PRODUCTS in 1958, and lasted until 1961, when she was scrapped at Point Abino, Ontario, the spot where she has run aground and partially sunk while being towed for scrap..

The light house tender MARIGOLD (iron steamer, 150 foot, 454 gross tons, built in Wyandotte, Michigan) completed her sea trials on 28 February 1891. The contract price for building her was $77,000. After being fitted out, she was placed into service as the supply ship to the lighthouses in the Eleventh District, taking the place of the WARRINGTON. The MARIGOLD was sold in 1947, converted to a converted to dredge and renamed MISS MUDHEN II.

The railferry INCAN SUPERIOR (Hull#211) was launched February 28, 1974, at North Vancouver, British Columbia by Burrard Drydock Co. Ltd. She operated between Thunder Bay, Ontario and Superior , Wisconsin until 1992, when she left the Lakes for British Columbia, she was renamed b.) PRINCESS SUPERIOR in 1993.

OUTARDE (2) was launched February 28, 1906, as a.) ABRAHAM STEARN (Hull#513) at Superior, Wisconsin by Superior Ship Building Co..

In 1929, the Grand Trunk carferry MADISON, inbound into Grand Haven in fog and ice, collided with the U.S. Army dredge General G G MEADE, berthed on the south bank of the river for the winter. Damage was minor.

Today in Great Lakes History - February 27

GOLDEN SABLE was launched February 27, 1930, as a.) ACADIALITE (Hull#170) at Haverton-Hill-on-Tees, United Kingdom by Furness Shipbuilding Co. Ltd..

Toledo Shipyard takes shape with marine firm at the helm

2/26 - Toledo - The biggest window in Tony LaMantia's new corner office overlooks the Toledo Shipyard's dry docks, where he can keep a watchful eye - if necessary - on the skilled tradesmen working on ships like the Canadian freighter Algosteel, which left town on Friday after more than a month of repairs.

From other windows facing the Maumee River, the Ironhead Marine Inc. president's new office commands views of downtown Toledo and bridges up and down the river.

At Ironhead's former headquarters in Erie Township, "I was looking out at cornfields. Here, I have a nice view of the Toledo skyline, the new 1-280 bridge, and the shipyard," Mr. LaMantia said last week while boxes stacked next to his desk awaited unpacking.

But to watch the goings-on in the crown jewel of his company's new headquarters, the high-bay fabrication shop, Mr. LaMantia has to leave his Maumee River panorama behind and walk down the stairs. The high-bay has no interior windows. There, Ironhead employees have started work on several ship-component fabrications, along with a heavy-industrial project for a railroad customer, even though, for ceremonial purposes, the building isn't even finished yet.

"We're still moving in," Mr. LaMantia said, "but it's getting better every day."

The 20,000-square-foot fabrication shop, with its 72-foot-high roof and 50-foot clearance under its traveling crane, is the first stage of what Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority officials hope will be a long-term revival for the port-owned Toledo Shipyard. A grand-opening ceremony is scheduled for Friday afternoon.

The modern, if plain-looking, building replaces a decrepit, decades-old machine-shop complex that was torn down shortly after Ironhead formally took over the shipyard operation in early 2006, replacing Manitowoc Marine Group, which opted out of its shipyard lease the previous fall.

But construction was delayed for nearly a year by funding problems, and the facility that has been built is only half the size of what the port authority initially planned. "We're waiting for the money to extend the building, and there is other infrastructure in the yard needing upgrades, including the docks, gates, and pumphouse," Mr. LaMantia said.

Nonetheless, he said, "the port authority has given me the opportunity to develop a new facility here, and we're one step closer to having a viable shipyard with these new facilities." "It looks great. It looks like it's going to be certainly a major upgrade from the antiquated facilities that used to be there," James Hartung, the port authority president who toured the high-bay shop last week, said afterward.

Ironhead's aggressive pursuit of business, Mr. Hartung said, "just bodes well for us. We're going to create a market presence in the [shipyard] industry." "What makes it look better is there's work going on inside it," agreed Warren McCrimmon, the port authority's seaport director.

The port authority, which paid for the $2 million structure from its own funds and county and federal grants and has leased it to Ironhead, continues to seek funding sources for its future expansion to 40,000 square feet, both port officials said.

The Algosteel, which came in for rudder and mechanical repairs along with topside work, was the first Canadian lake freighter to dry-dock in Toledo since 1999, Mr. LaMantia said. Overall, he said, "we're going to do about twice as much work this winter as we did last winter, which was twice as much again as we did the winter before."

While no ships from the domestic Great Lakes fleet are scheduled for five-year surveys or heavy repairs this winter, Mr. LaMantia said, "We see that as a growth opportunity. We've had some promising talks. We're hoping that the American fleets are going to support the shipyard also."

Ironhead's projects are keeping about 70 workers busy, split about evenly between the shipyard premises and a fabrication shop near the International Cargo Docks that the firm has leased for several years.

Ironhead started in Erie Township as a heavy-industrial fabricator, and Mr. LaMantia said he's continuing with non-maritime projects so that he's not dependent on the ship-repair sector.

But he remains optimistic that the shipyard can become involved in new vessel construction - particularly tugboats or barge sections - once the high-bay shop is built out to full size. "We're building into the marine work, and trying to maintain our industrial work," he said. "We want to keep a core group of guys working here."

Fraser Shipyards announces new management team

2/26 - Superior, WI - Fraser Shipyards Inc. Friday announced new hires and a promotion for key management positions. James Korthals has been hired as president and chief operating officer; Gene Walroos has been promoted to shipyard general manager, and Kevin Jones has been hired as director of operations of Northern Engineering Co.

Korthals came to Fraser in December after serving as president and chief executive officer of Cutler Magner Co., the lime and salt products manufacturer in Duluth. He also is a past chairman of Cutler Magner’s board. Korthals has 25 years’ experience managing the operations and production of large manufacturing facilities and mining companies across the country, including serving as a Great Lakes Port Facility Manager in Michigan.

Walroos was Fraser’s Shipyard superintendent prior to his promotion in December. He joined the company in 2003. His nearly 30-year career in the marine industry includes overseeing maintenance and repair operations for both deep-sea and inland-waters ships. Walroos was formerly school director of the American Maritime Officers’ School of Engineering and Navigation in Toledo, Ohio.

Jones came to Northern Engineering in January. He was previously with Cutler Magner Co., where he was plant manager of the company’s lime manufacturing facility in Superior. There he improved production line output and managed a $36 million capital expansion project. For the past 19 years, he has managed maintenance and production activities at a number of lime and cement manufacturing plants in the U.S.

“We are pleased to have such capable, experienced individuals on our management team,” said Todd Johnson, president and chairman of Reuben Johnson & Son Inc., parent company of Fraser Shipyards. “They will play a key role in expanding Fraser Shipyards’ and Northern Engineering’s services with a customer focus.”

Lake Erie Completely Covered by Ice

2/26 - Erie, PA - Quietly, on Tuesday or Wednesday, the last open bit of Lake Erie froze over.

The lake is now completely covered by ice, according to the National Ice Center, an organization of scientists of the U.S. Navy and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In the waters off Erie,PA more than half of the ice is 1 foot to 2 feet thick, said Ice Center analyst Christopher Szorc.

The freeze of 2008 came late, he said. "Two to three weeks later than normal," Szorc said. "Usually, the whole of Lake Erie would be ice-covered during the second week of February," Szorc said.

A frozen lake does not necessarily mean lake-effect snow has ended, said Dan Leins, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

"Lake-effect snow is still going to be a possibility even though the lake is frozen over, though it severely limits the intensity and the strength of it," he said.

Cleveland-Cliffs earnings drop

2/26 - Duluth - Despite a strong fourth quarter, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced that its earnings for 2007 dipped slightly from last year’s level. The mining company’s net income slipped 3.6 percent from $280.1 million in 2006 to $270 million in 2007.

But that decline had little to do with the performance of Cleveland-Cliffs’ taconite operations in the Northland. The company managed to boost its net production of pellets in the region from 17.9 million in 2006 to 19 million tons last year. That’s an overall output increase of 6.1 percent from the three mines it operates on the Range: Hibbing Taconite, Northshore Mine and United Taconite

Meanwhile, Cleveland-Cliffs’ profit margins from pellet sales have climbed, as well. The company reported that its per-ton profit margin rose 11.2 percent, from $16.08 per ton in 2006 to $17.88 per ton in 2007, not including freight or other reimbursements.

In light of the strong market for iron ore, Cleveland-Cliffs looks to boost production this year. The company aims to restart an idled pellet furnace at Northshore in March, boosting that facility’s annual production by 800,000 tons.

“In the fourth quarter, our North American Iron Ore team delivered a record performance,” said Joseph Carraba, Cleveland-Cliff’s chairman, president and CEO, in a statement issued on Thursday.

During the final three months of 2007, Cleveland-Cliffs reported net income of $93.7 million — up 33.9 percent from the $70 million earned during the same period in 2006.

The outlook for taconite pellets appears strong in the coming year. Cleveland-Cliffs estimates worldwide pellet prices will increase 65 percent in 2008.

The company’s performance was hindered a bit by its coal operations. In August, production at its Pinnacle Mine in West Virginia declined when workers encountered sandstone intrusions within the coal panel they were mining. As a result, Cleveland-Cliffs chose to move its longwall plow system to another panel, and it was unable to resume production until mid-October.

The company also has invested in initiatives and safety enhancements at its Oak Grove Mine in Alabama that have reduced production and cut into profit margins.

Today in Great Lakes History - February 26

The completed hull of the BELLE RIVER (Hull#716) was floated off the ways February 26, 1977, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Corp. Renamed b.) WALTER J McCARTHY JR in 1990.

JOSEPH L BLOCK (Hull#715) was launched February 26, 1976, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Corp..

On 26 February 1874, the tug WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE JR was launched at Port Huron Dry Dock. Her dimensions were 151 feet overall, 25 foot 6 inches beam, and 13 foot depth. Her machinery was built by Phillerick & Christy of Detroit and was shipped by rail to Port Huron. She cost $45,000. Her master builder was Alex Stewart.

On 26 February 1876, the MARY BELL (iron propeller, 58 foot, 34 gross tons, built in 1870 at Buffalo, New York) burned near Vicksburg, Michigan.

BoatNerd Gatherings

2/25 - It is not too early to plan now to attend several of the BoatNerd Gathering planned for this summer.

Reservations for the Badger BoatNerd Gathering are limited. Don't get left out.

Today in Great Lakes History - February 25

CREEK TRANSPORT was launched this day in 1910, as a.) SASKATOON (1) (Hull#256) at Sunderland, England by Sunderland Shipbuilding Co.

Today in Great Lakes History - February 24

The Pittsburgh Steamship Co.’s RICHARD V LINDABURY (Hull#783) was launched February 24, 1923, at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. Purchased by S & E Shipping (Kinsman) in 1978, renamed b.) KINSMAN INDEPENDENT (2). She was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkay in 1988.

The founder of Arnold Transit Co., long-time ferry operators between Mackinac Island and the mainland, George T. Arnold filed the Articles of Association on Feb. 24, 1900.

On 24 February 1920, TALLAC (formerly SIMON J MURPHY and MELVILLE DOLLAR, steel propeller, 235 foot, built in 1895, at W. Bay City, Michigan) was on a voyage from Colon, Panama to Baltimore, Maryland, when she stranded and was wrecked 18 miles south of Cape Henry, Virginia.

James Bruce made that revelation Thursday while speaking to the annual meeting of the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority. Bruce, the co-chairperson of the public interest advisory group for the International Upper Great Lakes Study, said lakes Huron and Michigan have fallen by a metre since 1997. In the last six months or so we've been pushing down towards the lowest levels ever recorded on Lake Huron, but we haven't actually set any records, he said.

In Lake Superior, meanwhile, levels did fall to the lowest point ever recorded before heavy snow last October brought them back above historic lows.

Some have blamed river dredging near the Blue Water Bridge for water level declines in the upper lakes, but Bruce says it's too soon to reach any conclusions. He said officials, who are currently studying the situation, may have the answer by this time next year. One possible culprit is climate change, he said.

There's been a huge increase in evaporation in the last three or four years of lakes Michigan and Huron, he said. Part the reason is the accumulative warming of surface waters the lakes. This means that winter, when most of the evaporation occurs, there's less ice cover.

It's the ice, he said, that traps water, preventing it from escaping into the atmosphere. Once water evaporates, can be lost to the region. The atmosphere is very mobile, Bruce said. What you evaporate here today will be over the Atlantic Ocean in two days. He also noted greenhouse gases are warming up the atmosphere. But reducing greenhouse gases will have to be global effort, he said.

Bruce cautioned that, This is not a final conclusion. We're still looking at the St. Clair River. However, immediate mitigation in the St. Clair, we think, is premature.

Dick Hibma, chairperson Conservation Ontario, a group that oversees the province's conservation authorities, said declining water levels are major concern to boaters, shipping companies and the operators of municipal water intakes, to name just a few groups.

2/23 - Cleveland - Sixteen months after the Great Lakes Science Center took the helm of the Steamship William G. Mather Museum, the ship's new owners are maneuvering along a new course. Initially, at least, the floating museum's voyage is proving a bit rocky: A post-merger culture clash with the new owners has some longtime Mather volunteers abandoning ship.

The science center has a grand vision for converting the 83-year-old retired freighter it acquired in October 2006 from a museum of lakes shipping to an interactive 618-foot-long wing of the parent institution. The Mather's new role will be a celebration of much broader connections between humans and the Great Lakes, said Bryan Kwapil, the science center's vice president of operations.

The transformation starts this spring, when work begins on a $2.7 million, glass-enclosed walkway connecting the shore-side science center to the acquisition moored 100 yards to the north. Then, in a year or so, the science center will launch a fund-raising campaign to pay for a host of new lakes-oriented exhibits, Kwapil said. The Mather will house those in the cavernous bulk-cargo holds that once carried 14,000 tons of iron ore per voyage.

"Our goal is to . . . use it to help the public understand their relationship to the lakes," Kwapil said. "You won't have to be a Great Lakes shipping enthusiast to go enjoy the Mather."

But some of those enthusiasts are longtime leaders of the Mather's crew of volunteers, and they are in mutiny. Some of the longest-serving volunteers say museum managers have hijacked not only their prized vessel but also their culture. A handful who collectively spent tens of thousands of weekend and evening hours there have quit in protest. By the time the ship's tourism season opens in May, all but a few of the 25 or so enthusiasts who have been most active in restoration and maintenance will have quit, said volunteer leader Bill Durica of Bay Village.

"If . . . they had deliberately set out to destroy the volunteer relationship, they couldn't have done a better job," said Durica, whose volunteerism started two years before the Mather opened as a museum in 1991.

The Harbor Heritage Society, a nonprofit organization that gave the freighter to the science center, tallied more than 250,000 hours of volunteer time and valued it at $2.7 million. Without that free support, the science center will ram into astronomical costs for upkeep, the disgruntled ex-volunteers believe. Then, they fear, the Mather may sink in rough fiscal waters and wind up being scrapped.

"We're concerned about the future of the Mather," he added. "At some point, they may have a connector from the Great Lakes Science Center to Pier 32 and not have a Mather there." The Mather's 55-year ore-hauling career ended in 1980. The idled ship deteriorated in Toledo until Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. divested its shipping business in 1987 and donated the Mather to a nonprofit group to become a floating maritime museum. It opened alongside the East Ninth Street Pier in 1991 and moved to its current location behind the science center in 2005.

The volunteer enthusiasts - "boat nerds," they call themselves - stepped in well before the ship opened to visitors. They set about restoring the boat and its innards with absolute devotion to historical accuracy, and they scrounged authentic salvage parts from all over the Great Lakes basin. "We took a lot of pride in it," said Ed Gerber, a retired engineer from North Olmsted and a 19-year volunteer. "We beat our knuckles bloody, and it was fun."

In homage to that handiwork, a small but devout number of maritime buffs come from all over for a rare opportunity to board a ship that exemplifies the dwindling relics they ogle. Still, the Mather foundered financially. It attracted only about 20,000 visitors a year and depended on unpredictable grants for most of its $600,000 annual budget. The science center's budget in 2006 was 13 times larger, and the ship's board - including Durica - acknowledged that the merger that October was a rescue.

But he and Gerber believe the science center's staff should have "come in with hats in hands" to curry favor with the volunteers. Instead, science center staff told them to apply for the volunteer jobs they themselves had created and performed. "After 17 years, they were asking for references," Durica fumed. "It was an insult."

Ex-volunteer Rex Cassidy said that when the ship's paid staff of five was fired last summer, the volunteers learned it through a note left on their mess table. The final insult, said Cassidy, came when the science center announced it would close off the ship to volunteers as well as visitors at the end of the 2007 season. In November, Gerber decided he was being treated like a disposable docent. He quit. Others followed. "It's like, 'This is my boat, and you took it away from me,' " Gerber seethed recently.

Kwapil said the disgruntled who resigned are exaggerating the number of others leaving: Only five volunteers out of more than 100 have resigned, he said, and he expects few more to leave. Otherwise, though, Kwapil said he sees no need for a point-by-point rebuttal of the criticisms. He lauded the "marvelous job" volunteers have done and said he understands fears and culture clashes are inevitable when two institutions merge.

"Our goal is not to do a pristine restoration of the ship. That was the goal of those volunteers," the operations chief said. "We knew not all of the volunteers were going to be happy, because they were not going to have the same level of autonomy."

But more than a year of planning went into the merger, and the covered walkway is about to be built, Kwapil added. So "the idea that the Mather would be casually discarded just doesn't make sense." "These few individuals like to think they're the heart and soul of the Mather and the ship won't survive without them," Kwapil said. "Well, that ship's been here longer than any of us, and it'll be there long after we're all gone."

Today in Great Lakes History - February 23

The e.) U.S.S. ROTARY (YO-148) was commissioned on February 23, 1943, at Sullivan's Dry Dock & Repair Co., Brooklyn, New York and assigned duty with the Service Force, Third Naval District, Atlantic Fleet. The tanker was built in 1915 at Chatham, England by Chatham Dock Yard Ltd. as a.) H.M.S. SERVITOR. Renamed b.) PULOE BRANI in 1922, brought to the Lakes and renamed c.) B B MC COLL in 1927, and d.) A J PATMORE in 1929. After her U.S. Naval Service ROTARY reverted to her previous name f.) A J PATMORE and then g.) PEGGY REINAUER in 1946. Renamed h.) DETROIT early in 1955, she traded on the lakes until 1975. Her partially dismantled hull was abandoned in 1985, in the back waters of Lake Calumet.

On 23 February 1843, SANDUSKY (wooden side-wheeler, 148 foot, 377 tons, built in 1834 at Sandusky, Ohio) caught fire at her dock on Buffalo Creek in Buffalo, New York and burned to the hull. She was recovered, rebuilt as a 3-masted bark and lasted another two years.

Port Report - February 22

Lack of dredging on Great Lakes threatens shipping

2/22 - Cleveland - A Great Lakes "dredging crisis," magnified over the last few years by falling lake water levels, is threatening vital international shipping and the overall health of the U.S. economy.

That's what federal officials and leaders of the association representing commercial shipping on the lakes told member companies and manufacturers Wednesday at an annual workshop in Cleveland. "Dredging of the Great Lakes system has been neglected to the point of collapse," said James Weakley, president of the Carriers Association and vice president of the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force. "We've watched federal funding decline, and it's been our wake-up call."

Glen Nekvasil, an official with the Carriers Association, said the depth of shipping lanes is everyone's concern. "It's a simple matter, really -- boats can't carry full loads and that costs everyone in the long run," Neksavil said.

"Not dredging the St. Mary's River -- although 800 miles from Cleveland -- can decrease the amount of ore that can be shipped from Duluth, Minn., which would increase the cost of iron ore used by Arcelor Mittal, which can then increase the cost of steel and finally the cost of your refrigerator."

Some Great Lakes carriers last year had to reduce their loads by 20 percent to pass through clogged channels, Neksavil said. He and other officials have become increasingly concerned in the last several years as boats have bottomed out in Lake Huron and as one Lake Erie port in New York was closed to shipping and another nearly followed.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials in charge of maintaining Great Lakes harbors confirmed Wednesday that Huron harbor on Ohio's western end of Lake Erie would have likely closed this year if not for a last-minute infusion of cash from the U.S. Congress in December. The eastern Lake Erie port of Dunkirk, N.Y., home to a coal-burning power plant that now gets coal by rail, closed indefinitely to shipping in 2005, said Kathy Griffin, chief of operations at the corps Buffalo District.

The carrier group is increasing lobbying efforts of Congress for dredging money across the lakes.

The late 2007 push allowed the Army corps to double the number of ports to be dredged this year, Weakley said, but only begins to address an accumulation of sediment in shipping lanes. Army Corps officials said it would take about $300 million over the next five years to eliminate that buildup. Weakley said that there is already money available to do that.

They said shipping taxes paid by the carriers bring in about $1.1 billion a year, but the corps only gets $700,000 annually for dredging, repairing bulkheads and large capital projects such as the planned reconstruction of the locks at Sault Ste. Marie.

Vessel transits will be subject to weather and ice conditions. Restrictions may apply in some areas until lighted navigation aids have been installed.

Sault Ste. Marie Locks and Canals United States Soo Locks will open March 25.

In the Montreal / Lake Ontario Section, the allowable draft will be 80.0 dm (26' 3") until the South Shore Canal is ice-free or April 15th, whichever occurs first, at which time, if water levels are favorable, the draft will be increased to 80.8 dm (26' 6") for all vessels. In addition, there will be zero tolerance for ship's draft in excess of 80.8 dm (26' 6").

Mariners are reminded that for ships loaded to a draft greater than 80.0 dm (26' 3"), speeds will be monitored carefully between St. Lambert Lock and St. Nicolas Island.

In the Welland Canal, a maximum allowable draft of 80.8 dm (26' 6") will be in effect from the start of the navigation season for all vessels. In addition, there will be zero tolerance for vessel drafts in excess of 80.8 dm (26' 6''). Please note that, for vessels loaded to a draft greater than 80.0 dm (26' 3"), speeds will be monitored carefully between the upper entrance to Lock 7 and former Bridge 12 in order to reduce bank erosion in this area.

Lightship engine turning

2/22 - Port Huron - The last auxiliary engine for the Huron Lightship, the last floating lighthouse on the Great Lakes, has just been completed. All auxiliary engines are ready for 'station call.'

The spotlight has been turned toward the main propulsion engines. The starboard main has had two complete revolutions, and it looks like the volunteers will be able to do a start-up before the tourist season starts on April 1st.

This means that the engine which has not run, nor turned, in 37 years may be able to be started start it without any rebuild work being needed. Work has been proceeding only for a few weeks, at 3 hours per week.

Cargill Limited looking for a docking pilot

2/22 - Cargill Limited is looking for a docking pilot. A docking pilot is described as a specialized navigator whose help is necessary to guide the ship entering and leaving the port.

Required Qualifications: - captain's licenses or all applicable certifications approved by the Canadian Coast Guard - Minimum 5 years experience in ship maneuvers - Bilingual (French and English).

Forward resume to the Operations Manager before February 29, 2008 Fax: (418) 294-2671 e-mail - luc_sarrazin@cargill.com  Mail : Route maritime, Baie-Comeau, QC, G4Z 2L6

Today in Great Lakes History - February 22

On 22 February 1920, the Goodrich Line’s ALABAMA (steel propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 272 foot, 2626 gross tons, built in 1909 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) ran aground on a concrete obstruction which was the foundation of the old water-intake crib in Lake Michigan off Belmont Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. The SIDNEY O NEFF (wooden package freighter, 149 foot, 346 gross tons, built in 1890 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) took off the ALABAMA’s cargo and then harbor tugs pulled the ALABAMA free. Repairs to her hull took the rest of the winter and she didn’t return to service until May 1920.

February 22, 1925 - The ANN ARBOR NO 7 made her maiden voyage.

On 22 February 1878, the 156 foot wooden freighter ROBERT HOLLAND was purchased by Beatty & Co. of Sarnia for $20,000.

Eugene Stakhiv, one of the coleaders of the study, said laying data that show recent low levels on the lakes on top of historical data of low lake levels just before the Dust Bowl in the 1920s and 1930s, shows that the patterns are similar. What is different, Stakhiv said, is that evaporation and lack of ice on the lakes in winter are major contributors to the current low levels, while the historic lows mostly were due to a lack of precipitation.

About 80 people at a presentation in Grosse Pointe Farms on Tuesday night heard that the study won't be complete until June 2009. Even then, it still may not fully answer questions about whether low lake levels are caused by past dredging of the St. Clair River, as a Canadian homeowners group alleges, or what to do about it.

So far, data show the river is not eroding, which casts doubt on the theory. But some of those in the audience said they're worried about the lows.

Phillip Wehrmeister of Grosse Pointe Park said he has a boat on Lake St. Clair. "I want to know what they're going to do," he said. "Lake St. Clair is way far down." Others, such as Mike Simmons of Clinton Township, said they're concerned that some water may be being illegally diverted from the lakes.

The study leaders said they do not believe there are any such diversions. Legislation pending in the state Legislature, which all eight Great Lakes states have agreed to, would ban any future diversion from the lakes to other states.

"We must get that passed," said Kay Felt, a member of the public interest advisory group for the study and a resident of Grosse Pointe Shores.

Seaway authority to release plan to adjust water levels

2/21 - St. Catharines - The bi-national commission that regulates the flow in the St. Lawrence Seaway is set to release a proposal next month to adjust water flow through Cornwall's Moses-Saunders Dam.

The plan is likely to affect levels in many parts of the waterway. There are three potential schemes under consideration, but the preferred option suggests allowing greater variations in water levels, as was the case before the Seaway opened almost 50 years ago. "It would allow the system to return to its normal ebbs and flows," said Greg McGillis, a spokesman for the International Joint Commission, the independent body that regulates the seaway.

The preferred plan has environmental benefits, encouraging the return of wetlands and wildlife populations, he said. It could also affect power production, tourism, recreational boating, water supplies and commercial navigation. But meetings on the issue in Ontario have only attracted 30 or 40 people, while in the U.S., crowds of 300 or 400 have gathered to debate the options, Mr. McGillis said.

The plan has not attracted much controversy in Eastern Ontario, but it has raised questions in Montreal, where low water levels might affect the Port of Montreal, and around Rochester, New York, where high water levels could increase the risk of flooding for landowners on the south shore of Lake Ontario.

There are about 100 homeowners on the south shore who face the risk of flooding, said Mr. McGillis. While waters will rise just as much on Canadian shorelines, there is less risk of flooding because Canadian homeowners followed the setback guidelines more closely. "The laws exist in the U.S. They have been resolutely ignored," he said.

Changing water levels have also been flagged as a potential problem by the busy Port of Montreal, which has recurring problems with low water levels. Last September, the International Joint Commission authorized a gradual release of water from the Great Lakes through the dam at Cornwall.

The aim of the five-year study that produced the plan was to correct, as much as possible, the wrongs of the St. Lawrence Seaway, a massive engineering project that was officially opened in 1959, said Mr. McGillis.

The waterway enables vessels to sail from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Duluth, Minnesota, and makes it possible to inexpensively transport bulky cargo. But it also changed habitat for waterfowl, fish, vegetation and other parts of the ecosystem because the engineered waterway did not have the same extremes of high and low water as the natural system.

After the proposal is released on March 31, the IJC plans to hold 10 meetings in towns and cities in various parts of the seaway system on both sides of the border, said Mr. McGillis. Dates and places are to be announced after the plan is released.

2/21 - Milwaukee - Take an underwater video tour of the steamer SS Wisconsin as it lies today near Kenosha's shoreline. Learn about its colorful history and how it served in New York Harbor as a convalescent ship for the U.S. Army during World War I before returning to Wisconsin waters, where it sunk in 1929.

Hear about an old wooden schooner that has possible connections to the Underground Railroad. It was discovered off the shores of a Lake Michigan beach, and experts believe it was used to transport fugitive slaves to Canada during the 1800s.

And not to be overlooked is the famous Rouse Simmons shipwreck, which rests 165 feet below the surface of Lake Michigan, 12 miles northeast of Two Rivers. The three-masted schooner -- known as the "Christmas tree ship" -- was built in Milwaukee in 1868. It was used to carry pine trees for holiday decorating from Michigan's Upper Peninsula to the docks of Chicago. All 16 crew members went down with the ship and perished on a blustery November day in 1912 when a storm overpowered them.

Those are among the stories of shipwreck dives and discoveries that will be shared March 7-8 during the 2008 Ghost Ships Festival in Milwaukee.

"Three-quarters of our population in Wisconsin live along the shorelines of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, but very few people understand the importance of shipping here and how Wisconsin was built as a maritime state," says Keith Meverden, a nautical archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society.

That strong maritime influence is evident in the design of our state flag, he says. In addition to the flag's sailor and anchor, for example, there's also an arm holding a caulking mallet, which is a tool used in ship construction. "Milwaukee was a huge port, and still is," says Tamara Thomsen, a historic preservation specialist with the Historical Society. She also scuba dives and is a technical diving instructor.

Last year, Thomsen and Meverden went down hundreds of feet into Lake Michigan to document and chart numerous shipwrecks. Beneath Wisconsin waters lies an entire ghost town of sunken schooners, steamers and tankers, many of which date back to the mid-1800s. In fact, experts estimate that the remains of more than 750 vessels dot the bottom of Wisconsin waters. "We know the locations of only about 150 of those shipwrecks, so there are still plenty out there that need to be discovered," Meverden says.

And with the availability of side-scan sonar and other advances in technology, it's predicted that more underwater discoveries will be made in years to come.

Most of the shipwrecks are wooden commercial ships from the 19th century, and while they may be perfectly preserved beneath the waters, they would deteriorate very quickly if they were raised to the surface. "This happened in the late 1960s when the Alvin Clark was brought up from the waters of Green Bay near Chambers Island," Meverden says. "Once it started drying out, the Alvin Clark started shrinking and cracking. It literally turned to dust within 20 years because they were unable to preserve the ship quick enough."

Current federal and state legislation, for the most part, prevents the raising of old shipwrecks. In 1987 the federal government passed a law, the Abandoned Shipwrecks Act, which regulates underwater archaeology sites.

"Chicago was the greatest lumber port of all time, and a lot of ships wrecked along our shorelines getting to and from Chicago in the late 1800s," Thomsen says. "We certainly have a large distribution of shipwrecks here. There are clusters of shipwrecks around Milwaukee, for example, as well as in Door County, where there's a narrowing of passages near a chain of islands." Particularly hazardous for vessels, historically, is what's known as "Death's Door" passage near Washington Island.

"Interest in maritime history is growing," Thomsen says. "People want to be connected with their past, and they come from around the world to see and dive the many shipwrecks in Wisconsin waters. "Even the Wisconsin Department of Tourism has jumped on the shipwreck bandwagon," she says. "An entire page on its Web site is devoted to popular shipwrecks."

To explore some of the wrecks, people don't necessarily need to be able to scuba dive. Some wrecks are in such shallow water that even snorkelers can view them.

Great Lakes ballast law gets favorable hearing

2/21 - St. Paul - Minnesota legislators have taken their first look at a proposed law to regulate when and how ships dump ballast water into Lake Superior — a law that could be the toughest on the Great Lakes.

Members of the House Game, Fish and Forestry Division, as well as Minnesota Pollution Control Agency officials, found plenty of places they would like to tweak the proposal, but lawmakers appeared to agree that the concept to prevent invasive species and diseases was acceptable. No vote was taken Monday night.

The bill by Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, would require a permit before ships could dump ballast water into Lake Superior and require ship operators to meet specific standards about how to ensure no dangerous organisms are in the discharged water. The bill primarily is aimed at stopping the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia, a disease that affects 28 fish species and is spreading from the eastern Great Lakes toward Lake Superior. No VHS has been found in Lake Superior fish.

The MPCA on Friday announced plans to establish regulations that could be similar to the Hansen bill, although details are to be worked out. Public hearings in MPCA offices are planned for the afternoon of March 3 in St. Paul and morning of March 4 in Duluth. MPCA Assistant Commissioner Paul Eger said he agrees with many committee members that federal regulations would be best, but if they don’t come about the agency wants to have state rules ready by Oct. 1.

The Twin Ports have far more ballast discharges than other Great Lakes ports. Duluth environmentalist David Zentner said private ships should not abuse Lake Superior water. “We want these ships to meet their responsibilities,” he said. “They are using a common resource.” “The federal performance has been so pathetic that the state needs to act,” he said.

Adolph Ojard of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority said he prefers the solution come from Washington. With ships moving from state to state, and even country to country, it is impossible for a state to adequately regulate ballast actions, he said. But he did not close the door to the industry working with Minnesota. “What we do here is going to have a large impact on the port and north Minnesota,” he said.

Ojard said there is no proof a ship’s ballast brought VHS into the Great Lakes. “We are not the bad boy on VHS,” he said.

Ballast is water that empty or nearly empty ships take on to maintain stability as they travel from port to port.

Port Report - February 21

Today in Great Lakes History - February 21

The EDWIN H GOTT arrived at Two Harbors. Minnesota (her first trip) February 21, 1979, with the loss of one of her two rudders during her transit of Lake Superior. Also the other rudder post was damaged. She was holed in her bow and some of her cargo hold plating ruptured as a result of frozen ballast tanks. Even the MACKINAW suffered damage to her port propeller shaft on the trip across frozen Lake Superior.

At Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. the keel of the new bow section for the HILDA MARJANNE was laid on February 21, 1961, while at the same time the tanker hull forward of her engine room bulkhead was being cut away.

On 21 February 1929, SAPPHO (wooden propeller passenger ferry, 107 foot, 224 gross tons, built in 1883 at Wyandotte, Michigan) burned at her winter lay-up dock in Ecorse, Michigan. She had provided 46 years of service ferrying passengers across the Detroit River. She was neither repaired nor replaced since the Ambassador Bridge was nearing completion.

Today in Great Lakes History - February 20

On February 20, 1959, Interlake Steamship Co.’s HERBERT C JACKSON (Hull#302) was launched at Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Michigan.

The Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker DES GROSEILLIERS (Hull#68) was launched February 20, 1982, at St. Catharines, Ontario by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd.

On 20 February 1903, G WATSON FRENCH (steel propeller, 376 foot, 3785 gross tons) was launched at W. Bay City, Michigan by West Bay City Ship Building Co. (Hull#608). She lasted until 1964, when she was scrapped by Lakehead Scrap Metal Co. at Fort William, Ontario. The other names she had during her career were HENRY P WERNER (1924), JOHN J BOLAND (2) (1937), and ALGOWAY (1947).

2008 Badger Boatnerd Gathering Cruise Announced

Today in Great Lakes History - February 19

The b.) TROY H BROWNING, c.) THOMAS F PATTON was towed from the James River with two other C4s, the LOUIS MC HENRY HOWE, b.) TOM M GIRDLER and MOUNT MANSFIELD, b.) CHARLES M. WHITE, to the Maryland Dry Dock Co., Baltimore, Maryland, February 1951, to be converted to a Great Lakes bulk carrier according to plans designed by J.J. Henry & Co., New York, New York.

Wolf & Davidson of Milwaukee sold the JIM SHERIFFS (wooden propeller, 182 foot, 634 gross tons, built in 1883 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin) to Kelley Island Line on 19 February 1887.

Lake Michigan harbors to be dredged in April

2/18 - Holland - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, awarded contracts to The King Company of Holland to dredge Grand Haven and Holland harbors.

The contract to dredge Grand Haven and Holland harbors is worth about $546,000. This work includes the removal of 76,000 cubic yards of material from the navigation channels in Grand Haven and Holland. Dredging should begin in April and finish in May.

The Holland Board of Public Works relies on coal that comes by freighter from April through December, said BPW spokeswoman Andree Keneau. "We need to have the harbor open. The alternative to shipping coal would be expensive," she said. The BPW receives between 10 to 15 loads of coal per year, averaging between 10,000 to 12,000 tons per shipment.

Severe shoaling could hinder deliveries late in the year. Shoaling -- shifting sand caused by northwest winds and underwater currents -- starts in the fall and makes the waterway too shallow for some ships.

The Mississagi, a 620-foot Canadian ship hauling limestone, got stuck on a shoal for about two hours in early December at the entrance to the Grand Haven channel. It was the first time in a decade a freighter had run aground in the channel because of shoaling from strong winds and low water. Several ships have been stuck this year in Muskegon.

A survey of Holland's harbor in October found a 5-foot shoal, which a few weeks later had increased to 7 feet. The combination of low water levels and a struggling economy made for a slower-than-average season for Holland in 2007.

There were 38 commercial deliveries and one outbound shipment on eight different vessels. That compares to 49 in 2006 and an average of 65 per year in the five previous years.

Some of the commercial docks in Holland were impacted and hoped to get more shipments last year when the shoaling became a problem, said Bob VandeVusse, who writes a shipping column for The Sentinel. "(With dredging) the shipping season can get off to a fairly normal start," VandeVusse said.

The King Company also received a contract to dredge the Detroit River worth almost $840,000. The work includes the removal of 232,000 cubic yards of material from the Detroit River navigation channel. Dredging should begin in June and finish in August.

The Detroit District traditionally dredges the Detroit River, Grand Haven and Holland harbors every one to two years. The sites were last dredged in 2007.

Port Reports - February 18

Lake St. Clair & River Cruise & BoatNerd Gathering planned

Today in Great Lakes History - February 18

IMPERIAL ST CLAIR participated in an historic special convoy with DOAN TRANSPORT, which carried caustic soda, led by C.C.G.S. GRIFFON arriving at Thunder Bay, Ontario. on February 18, 1977. The journey took one week from Sarnia, Ontario through Lake Superior ice as much as six feet thick, and at one point it took four days to travel 60 miles. The trip was initiated to supply residents of the Canadian Lakehead with 86,000 barrels of heating oil the reserves of which were becoming depleted due to severe weather that winter.

The JOSEPH S YOUNG (1) was towed to the Great Lakes via the Mississippi River and arrived at the Manitowoc Ship Building Co., Manitowoc, Wisconsin on February 18, 1957, where her self unloading equipment was installed. This was the last large vessel to enter the Lakes via the Mississippi. She was the first of seven T-2 tanker conversions for Great Lakes service.

The Murphy fleet was sold on 18 February 1886. The tugs GLADIATOR, KATE WILLIAMS and BALIZE went to Captain Maytham, the tug WILLIAM A MOORE to Mr. Grummond, the schooner GERRIT SMITH to Captain John E. Winn, and the tug ANDREW J SMITH to Mr. Preston Brady.

Two hurt in fire aboard barge

2/17 - Boston - A Coast Guard aircrew is en route to medivac two injured crewmembers from a tug and barge that caught fire about 20 miles off the coast of Rockland, Maine, Thursday night.

Two crewmembers on the tug Everlast were injured when a fire broke out around 9:15p.m., in the boiler room aboard the barge.

Coast Guard Sector Northern New England received a radio call from the crew of the Everlast, a 108-foot Canadian tug, requesting medical transport for the two injured crewmembers. A rescue helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod is scheduled to arrive on scene around 11 p.m., to hoist the injured crewmembers and transfer them to an area hospital.

The fire has been isolated and is under control. Wind gusts are up to 20 miles per hour with sea swells around six feet.

“The crew of the Everlast had a radio on board the vessel and were able to call for help when they needed assistance,” said Petty Officer First Class Robert Duncan, an operation unit controller at Sector Northern New England.

Today in Great Lakes History - February 17

In heavy weather on February 17, 1981, the WITSUPPLY, b.) TRANSTREAM foundered in the Caribbean Sea off Cabo de la Vela, Colombia. She was being towed to the scrap yard at Cartagena, Columbia when she sank.

February 17, 1977 - The CITY OF MIDLAND 41 shortly after departing Ludington encountered a heavy ridge of ice that snapped all the blades off her starboard propeller. One of the blades ripped a hole two feet long by three inches wide which caused the 41 to take on water, but pumps were able to keep her afloat. SPARTAN came out to free her but also became mired in the ice. On February 18 the cutter MACKINAW freed them.

“As I look at all the tons to be moved next year, I frankly don’t know if the U.S. carrier fleet has enough capacity to handle that,” said Adolph Ojard, executive director of the Duluth Superior Seaway Authority. At a time when cargo demands appear likely to increase, capacity has shrunk. Falling water levels on the Great Lakes are forcing lakers to load lighter than they had in the past.

The U.S. fleet also will be without one of its largest workhorses come the start of the new shipping season. The Walter J. McCarthy Jr. would be lucky to resume service by May, because the 1,000-foot laker is undergoing extensive engine and hull repairs after a January collision with a piece of submerged concrete at Hallett Dock in Superior. Add to the picture thousands more tons of cargo waiting to be shipped, and you have trouble.

Ojard noted that unusually large quantities of taconite pellets already sit piled on the ground near the Canadian National/DM&IR ore docks in Duluth, waiting to be shipped. In 2008, Northshore Mining Co. expects to boost its output 800,000 tons from last year’s level, and Midwest Energy Resources could ship up to an additional 1 million tons of coal out of its Superior terminal. Other projects in development could add to the demand for laker capacity. US Steel recently unveiled plans to expand its production at Keetac by 3.6 million tons.

In light of all this activity, Ojard said maritime interests probably will respond to a unique business opportunity. “In four to six months, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that a new 1,000-footer is being built,” he said, quickly adding: “We could even see two 1,000-footers.”

There hasn’t been a new ship in the Great Lakes cargo fleet in more than 20 years. But Mark Barker, vice president of Interlake Steamship Co., a Great Lakes carrier, doesn’t rule out the possibility of new ship construction in the near future. “I think the opportunity might present itself,” he said. “But to get a new vessel would require a long-term contract that would allow you to make the large financial commitment involved.”

Although Barker said he hasn’t received any quotes, he predicted a new 1,000-footer would cost “well over $100 million” to build. Because most of the nation’s shipyards already are quite busy, he said building a new laker would require significant lead time, as well. “I think it would probably take a year or two to get a unit, if you were lucky.”

There’s also the challenge of determining whether the current demand for lakers will hold. Barker pointed out that if water levels rebound and the current fleet of Great Lakes vessels can again load full, it would add the equivalent of a 1,000-footer to the U.S. fleet’s capacity.

Perhaps even more important than water levels is the health of the steel industry. “There’s a lot of risk to building a new vessel,” Barker said. “This business has cycles. Just three to four years ago, we had a 1,000-footer laid up because there wasn’t enough work.”

Aside from talk of more 1,000-foot lakers, Ojard said the Great Lakes also could see a new class of ship being built to handle the output from a proposed steel slab mill near Nashwauk. Essar Global Ltd. aims to produce about 6 million tons of slab steel at the plant each year.

Last year, Essar bought Algoma Steel Inc., a steelmaker with operations in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and Ojard said that within four months, the company increased the mill’s capacity by 20 percent. He noted that Essar now is working to bring an additional furnace online in Sault Ste. Marie, potentially creating additional demand for taconite pellets.

Should Essar choose to ship steel slabs from its proposed Minnesota mill by water, it could lead to the construction of still more lakers, but most likely an entirely different type of craft than the bulk freighters that now predominate. “It’s going to take a ship of a different design that would be able to also handle containers, pulp and all kinds of things we haven’t seen before,” Ojard said.

Bill Kron, the Port Authority’s president, said he’s excited by what he sees as the verge of a coming economic boom. “They’re talking about recession in the rest of the nation, but it seems that here, things are just ready to explode,” he said.

Today in Great Lakes History - February 16

The EDWIN H GOTT sailed on her maiden voyage February 16, 1979, in ballast from Milwaukee, bound for Two Harbors, Minnesota. This was the first maiden voyage of a laker ever in mid-winter. She was in convoy with three of her fleet mates; CASON J CALLAWAY, PHILIP R CLARKE and JOHN G MUNSON, each needing assistance from the U.S.C.G.C. MACKINAW to break through heavy ice 12 to 14 inches thick the length of Lake Superior. The GOTT took part in a test project, primarily by U.S. Steel, to determine the feasibility of year around navigation.

The JAMES E FERRIS was launched February 16, 1910, as the ONTARIO (4) (Hull#71) at Ecorse, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works.

On February 16, 1977, a four hour fire caused major damage to the crews' forward quarters aboard the W W HOLLOWAY while at American Ship Building's Chicago yard.

February 16, 1939 - The state ferry CHIEF WAWATAM was fast in the ice in the Straits of Mackinac. She freed herself the next day and proceeded to St. Ignace.

The little tug JAMES ANDERSON burned on Long Lake near Alpena, Michigan on the morning of 16 February 1883. Arson was suspected.

Port Report - February 15

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, its Bayfield station and the Apostle Islands National Park Service received a call from the Ashland County Dispatch Center at 8:29 a.m. that a 67-year-old man had gone through the ice near Stockton Island‘s Quarry Bay.

Three airboats – one from the NPS and Coast Guard, and one each from the La Pointe and Ashland fire departments – were dispatched, as was a Coast Guard helicopter from Traverse City, Mich. The first rescuers arriving on the scene found that two snowmobilers had gone through the ice. Both victims had pulled themselves from the water, but were suffering from mild hypothermia. The La Pointe Fire Department airboat transported the victims to Ashland Fire and Emergency Medical Services at Roy's Point.

The NPS and Coast Guard determined that the accident happened outside of the park boundaries, and the investigation was turned over to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in Duluth. Authorities remind people to be careful when they venture onto the ice.

Today in Great Lakes History - February 15

In 1961, the HARRY R JONES, a.) D G KERR arrived at her final port of Troon, Scotland where she was cut up for scrap the same year.

Rand Acquires River Class Boats, Repowers Saginaw,
Retires Oldest Vessel from U.S. Fleet

2/14 -  Rand Logistics Inc., the parent company of Lower Lakes Towing, Grand River Navigation and Lower Lakes Transportation announced Monday that Grand River Navigation, has exercised its option to purchase three vessels from Wisconsin and Michigan Steamship ("WMS"), the David Z., the Earl W. and the Wolverine, for an all-in cost of approximately $20 million in cash. The Wolverine has subsequently been sold to Lower Lakes Towing for Canadian registry and deployment.

Lower Lakes Transportation, had been operating the vessels under a long term charter agreement with WMS since August 1, 2006. The time charter agreement provided Rand the option of purchasing the vessels at any time during the charter period.

Laurence S. Levy, Chairman and CEO of Rand, said, "By purchasing the three vessels, we will be able to eliminate both the operating and accounting complexities associated with the time charter. This acquisition represents a significant opportunity for future profit growth through the elimination of duplicate overhead and the full integration of the vessels into Rand's fleet, resulting in more cost efficient operations. By consolidating the results of these vessels we are able to present a more transparent financial picture for our business by eliminating the Variable Interest Entity reporting line from our income statements."

Also announced on Monday was the repowering of the Saginaw with a new highly automated emissions compliant power plant.

The project, estimated to cost approximately $13 million, is expected to generate an annual mid-teens return and will be completed in April 2008, at which time the vessel will be fully operational. The repowering is expected to improve operating margins due to an increase in speed and a reduction in fuel consumption, labor, maintenance and other operating costs.

Additionally, Rand has decided to permanently retire the Calumet, the oldest and smallest vessel in its fleet. The capital investment required to enable the vessel to generate a satisfactory rate of return over the next five years was not justifiable. The removal of the Calumet from the U.S. market, combined with the acquired WMS vessels to Canadian registry, will reduce U.S. Great Lakes shipping capacity by 3 million tons. The retirement of the Calumet will not have a material impact on Rand's cash flow.

Laurence S. Levy, Chairman and CEO of Rand, said, "The Canadian vessel upgrade will significantly improve the vessel's performance and boost its margin contribution to our overall results. This vessel will be better equipped to service our strong customer base in a more efficient and timely manner. We could not justify the costs necessary to extend the life of the Calumet, which is the oldest vessel in our fleet with the least amount of carrying capacity. We believe despite removing capacity from the market, we will be able to continue servicing our network of blue-chip customers without a significant impact to our results or operations. We continue to operate in an environment where freight demand significantly exceeds capacity, and we are well positioned to capitalize on this opportunity to further grow our business."

Port Report - February 14

Minnesota agency suggests ballast cleanup

2/14 - Duluth - The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is developing a new regulation to ban ships from releasing untreated ballast into the Minnesota waters of Lake Superior and its harbors.

The regulation would require discharge permits for all ships with ballast, starting Oct. 1, under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program. It would be Minnesota’s first attempt at regulating ballast water and makes it the second Great Lakes state after Michigan to take ballast action to this level.

The new rule is an effort to keep invasive species out of Lake Superior and would set a mandated threshold of how clean ballast water must be before it can be released into Minnesota ports.

Unlike Michigan’s law that applies only to a few oceangoing vessels, the Minnesota rule is expected to apply to lakers and salties, said Jeff Stollenwerk, PCA supervisor of industrial water quality permits.

The state permits issued in October are expected to allow several years for new treatment technology to be perfected and installed on ships. Exactly how much time the industry gets before being required to treat ballast to a specific standard — killing most or all organisms down to a certain microscopic size — will be a key point as the regulation is opened to public comments.

Stollenwerk said the PCA’s decision to regulate ballast is based on a 2005 court order by a federal judge in California. The judge ruled that the exemption to the Clean Water Act that has been offered the shipping industry for decades is illegal and that the Environmental Protection Agency must begin regulating discharges from ships as water pollution starting Sept. 30, 2008. “We feel we are required to permit vessel discharges come Oct. 1 based on that decision," Stollenwerk told the News Tribune.

PCA officials have let shipping and port officials know the permits are coming. The rules will be considered law of the state and could be punishable by civil and criminal penalties. Requiring NPDES permits for ballast discharges will not require a