Marine Shipments Temporarily Suspended to Cheboygan Terminal

U.S. Energy (a U.S. Venture company) has voluntarily suspended marine shipments to its petroleum terminal in Cheboygan.  The temporary suspension is due to significant flooding on the Cheboygan River, which is threatening to overtop the Cheboygan dam, located about a mile upstream from the marine terminal. While the river is only about 7 miles long, its watershed covers a large portion of northern Michigan, extending nearly to Petoskey, Gaylord, Johannesburg, and Millersburg.  Snow melt, combined with heavy rains are causing flooding throughout the watershed.

The Cheboygan petroleum terminal distributes gasoline and petroleum products to the northern Lower Peninsula plus the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula.  Refined products typically arrive via barge and/or tanker ships, and are then trucked to gas stations throughout the service area.  Lately, the tug Albert and barge Margaret have been the most frequent vessel to serve the terminal.  They are owned by U.S. Oil and operated by Andrie, Inc.  Various other tankers, including several from the Algoma Tankers fleet, serve the terminal as well.

In response to the terminal’s temporary suspension of incoming marine shipments, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order April 14th, allowing certain commercial trucking regulations to be waived. This includes many hours of service rules for truck drivers.  With marine shipments suspended, all incoming products will need to be carried via truck, as no refined – petroleum pipelines reach the service area.

Boatnerd staff, from various sources including M-Live and the New York Times.