Giant wave kills passenger and injures four on new Viking Polaris cruise ship

A huge wave has smashed into a Viking Ocean Cruises vessel off Argentina, killing one person and injuring four more.

The accident involving the 378-berth Viking Polaris (built 2022) happened on Wednesday off Ushuaia, 3,200 km (nearly 2,000 miles) south of Buenos Aires, and was reported by the company and the Argentinian court system on Thursday.

AFP reported that the wave broke several glass panels on the Antarctic cruise ship as it was sailing south of Cape Horn in the middle of a storm late in the evening.

Viking Polaris is sistership to Viking Octantis, a familiar visitor to the Great Lakes this summer. Viking Polaris is expected to join her in cruising the Great Lakes in 2023.

“It is with great sadness that we confirm that a passenger passed away after the incident. We have notified the guest’s family and shared our deepest condolences,” a Viking source said from Norway. Four other passengers were treated by the ship’s medical personnel but did not have life-threatening injuries.

The damage to the new ship was described as minor, but no further details were given. The Viking Polaris returned to Ushuaia on Wednesday.

Viking said it is investigating what happened and is working with passengers and crew members to organize their return trips.

Mark W. Barker honored as one of 10 Significant Boats of 2022

Wednesday night, we accepted the honor of our new build, the M/V Mark W. Barker, being named by WorkBoat as one of the 10 Significant Boats of 2022.

Craig Perciavalle, VP and GM of Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, and our Interlake President Mark W. Barker, and namesake of the new vessel, accepted the recognition at the 2022 International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans.

This the latest honor for the 639-foot vessel, the first Great Lakes freighter to be constructed on the Great Lakes in nearly 40 years.

Built at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, from iron ore mined in Minnesota, shipped to Indiana where it was milled into steel plate and then shipped across Lake Michigan to the shipyard, this River Class vessel represents the best of our Great Lakes and supports thousands of manufacturing jobs throughout our region.

Interlake Steamship Co.

National Museum of the Great Lakes Christmas Tree Ship event cancelled 

TOLDEO, OH – Due to forecasted high winds, the museum has CANCELED the Christmas Tree Ship event scheduled for Saturday, December 3. Individuals who purchased a tree for themselves can pick up their tree at the museum or may receive a full refund.

Additionally, the museum will still be collecting donations towards gift cards for holiday support. Anyone who donates towards a gift card online, over the phone, or at the museum will receive FREE museum admission on Saturday, December 3rd or Sunday, December 4th.

National Museum of the Great Lakes

Obituary: Fred Shannon, led shipwreck expeditions to Fitzgerald, Bradley

Frederick Joseph Shannon of Mt. Morris, Michigan, age 76, died unexpectedly on Saturday, November 26, 2022, at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

In 1994, Fred’s fascination with scuba diving and Great Lakes history compelled him to take on one of his greatest endeavors when he led an expedition to the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. He also led an expedition to the Carl D. Bradley in 1995 and 1997 and gave many historical lectures regarding his findings over the years.

He was born on October 7, 1946, in Highland Park, Michigan. The son of Charles and Josephine (Tracy) Shannon, he grew up in Mt. Morris and graduated from St. Mary Catholic School in 1964. Fred proudly served his country in the US Army from 1966 to 1967, earning a National Defense Service medal as an expert rifleman. Soon after he returned from his overseas duty, he began a career in law enforcement at the City of Swartz Creek. On July 18, 1969, he married Betty Lou Phelps at St. Mary Catholic Church in Mt. Morris. Fred continued to serve as a Police Officer for over 25 years at several departments including Mt. Morris Twp. and City, Clio City, Vienna Twp., Genesee Twp., and Gaines Twp., as well as a Genesee County Park Ranger.

He put his extensive talent and knowledge of all things electrical to use in the early 1970’s, when he started Shannon Electronics. In the early 1980’s, he built a building on Clio Rd. that housed Public Safety Engineering, where he installed equipment on police and fire vehicles. Over the years, he also developed a close relationship with area fire departments as their official videographer, forever with a camera in his hands. He continued to be committed to the community he grew up in, being inducted into the Mt. Morris Hall of Honor in 2004.

His great love for Michigan history and public service was only surpassed by his love for his family. His granddaughters were the apple of his eye and could always count on “Grampy” for ice cream and handfuls of candy, usually given way past their bedtimes.

Fred is survived by his wife of 53 years, Betty Shannon; daughter, Tina (Mark) Worrall; and grandchildren, Ellison Worrall and Abigail Worrall. Fred was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Josephine Shannon.

A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 AM Thursday, December 1, 2022, at O’Guinn Family Funeral Home in Clio, with Pastor Dean Stewart officiating. The family will receive visitors on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM and on Thursday from 10:00 AM until time of service at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Clio VFW Honor Guard, M.A.S.H. Ministries or Hiawatha Youth Camp.

https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/26469746/frederick-joseph-shannon/clio/michigan/oguinn-family-funeral-home

November gale sends vessels to anchor

Due to gale warnings on the northern Great Lakes, several vessels were on the hook Wednesday morning. They include:

American Spirit off Bayfield
Kaye E. Barker off Marquette
Arthur M. Anderson and Egbert Wagenborg off Paradise (Anderson moved down to off Bay Mills mid-afternoon)
James R. Barker off Bay Mills
Edgar B. Speer at the locks east center pier (Speer got underway downbound around noon)
Victory/Maumee, American Century, Algonova, John J. Boland and Joseph L. Block above DeTour
Great Republic in Moran Bay, near St. Ignace.

Vessels on Lake Huron were hugging the Michigan shoreline.

The forecast for the next few days shows a second storm for the weekend.
Today
NW wind 35 to 40 kt, with gusts as high as 50 kt. Snow showers. Waves 15 ft building to 18 ft.
Tonight
NW wind 30 to 40 kt, with gusts as high as 50 kt. Snow showers likely, mainly before 8pm. Waves 22 ft subsiding to 16 ft.
Thursday
NW wind 20 to 25 kt becoming SW 10 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 kt. Mostly cloudy. Waves 11 ft subsiding to 3 ft.
Thursday Night
SSW wind 20 to 25 kt. Mostly cloudy. Waves 3 ft building to 8 ft.
Friday
S wind 15 to 20 kt. Mostly cloudy. Waves 7 ft subsiding to 4 ft.
Friday Night
S wind around 15 kt becoming W after midnight. Rain showers before 4am, then rain and snow showers. Waves 3 to 4 ft.
Saturday
NNW wind 25 to 30 kt, with gusts as high as 40 kt. Snow showers, possibly mixed with rain before 1pm, then a chance of snow showers. Waves 6 ft building to 13 ft.
Saturday Night
NW wind 15 to 20 kt becoming SW after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 30 kt. Mostly cloudy. Waves 9 ft subsiding to 4 ft.

Small-town tradition honors sailors lost, those still on Great Lakes

ROGERS CITY, Mich. — When mighty vessels loom on Northeast Michigan horizons, they represent not only steel and cargo but also humans braving the waves to make America run, a Rogers City nautical history buff and sailor said.

Such work deserves notice, said Mike Horn, director of the Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum in Rogers City, which organizes annual bell-ringing ceremonies recognizing sailors past and honoring those who still serve.

Each November, the self-titled Nautical City gathers for a trio of ceremonies honoring the lives of sailors killed in three catastrophic Great Lakes shipwrecks. In a solemn procession, year after year, participants toll a bell once in memory of each life lost.

The ceremonies mark the sinkings of the Edmund Fitzgerald, in 1975, the Daniel J. Morrell, in 1966, and the Carl D. Bradley, in 1958.

Those big boats, and the thousands of others that have settled to the bottom of the Great Lakes, were not merely hunks of machinery, Horn said.

“These guys that were lost were people,” he said. “Just like us. They had their own self-worth. They had their own aspirations. They had family and friends.”

A Saturday ceremony at the museum, recognizing the Morrell, marked the third of this year’s fall bell ringings, held on three successive Saturdays. The museum also conducts a ceremony in May to mark the collision-caused sinking of the Cedarville, which claimed the lives of 10 sailors after departing from Rogers City in 1965.

The Morell took 28 lives, the Fitzgerald, 29.

When the Bradley succumbed to a Nov. 15 storm, it sent Northeast Michigan towns into deep mourning, especially Rogers City, which in one day lost 23 of its own.

The grief may have subsided, but the town still remembers, and residents still tell stories of neighbors, brothers, friends, and fathers lost to the mighty waters of the Great Lakes when the Bradley went down.

Some of those residents turned out for a bell-ringing ceremony on Nov. 19 at the Rogers City Theater. The event also marked the premier of an independent film based on the Bradley sinking.

As at other such ceremonies, relatives of some of the dead — some of them coming from across the state or elsewhere — rang for their loved one, while members of the community rang for others.

The solemn ceremony may be largely the same from ringing to ringing, year to year, but those left behind — including a town that hasn’t forgotten their lost — hangs on to the tradition for the same reason anyone clings to remembrances of loved ones, Horn said.

“They were ours,” he said, voice tightening with emotion. “They were part of our life.”

More than a memorial to the past, though, the traditions that bind Northeast Michiganders to their nautical roots also connect today’s residents to the humans aboard the big boats — both those of the past and those of today.

At the Bradley memorial ceremony, a film by boat captain Andy Stempki — a distant relative of one of the Bradley’s lost crew members — depicted the 35 men aboard the boat. The actors portraying them disappeared onscreen as they narrated the events that led to their character’s death in the cold waters of Lake Michigan.

The movie probably didn’t match what actually happened in the ship’s final hours and minutes, said Horn, whose relative was among those who died. But the movie, like the tolling of a bell year after year, reminds those who take notice that the dead were not numbers, but humans — and so are the sailors who haul goods across lakes and oceans today, Horn said.

The Great Lakes have not seen a significant freighter sinking since the Fitzgerald, but their waters are far from safe, Horn said at the museum on Sunday, as a November wind made Lake Huron roar several blocks away.

On the ocean, captains can slow their ships and wait out a storm, sometimes intentionally drifting for days, said Horn, an experienced sailor. “On the lakes, in a matter of hours you’re going to run out of lake,” Horn said. “Pretty soon you’ve got to make a move.”

And, in a big enough storm, that move can have dire consequences.

“It’s a risky business,” he said. “We are not evolved to live in that environment, much less work in it. And then we go out in it in vessels made of material that intrinsically sinks.”

Remembering those who did not come home safely may make those on shore look with more understanding and appreciation at the freighters of today, an overlooked but vital link in the supply chain, Horn said.

“Appreciate what you have,” Horn advised, “and remember the people who make it happen.”

The Alpena News

Coast Guard crew carrying Christmas Tree Ship load is crossing Lake Michigan

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw is motoring down Lake Michigan today and nearing Chicago, where its load of more than 1,200 Christmas trees will be used to recreate the holiday spirit of Michigan’s ill-fated Christmas Tree Ship, which sank in late November 1912.

The rugged, 240-foot icebreaker left Cheboygan, Michigan on Saturday after volunteers from the nearby Wolverine High School and the community helped the Mackinaw’s crew load the hundreds of net-wrapped trees onto the cutter’s fantail. For the commemorative trip, the Mackinaw is also flying a custom-made tree pennant, the Coast Guard said.

The journey has been a sentimental favorite for the cutter’s crew and groups in Northern Michigan and Chicago for years.

Read the rest of this story by clicking this link: https://www.mlive.com/news/2022/11/coast-guard-crew-carrying-christmas-tree-ship-load-is-crossing-lake-michigan.html

MLive

Show your style! New Boatnerd caps now available

We are pleased to debut our stylish new baseball cap, just in time for the holidays. Sales benefit this site. Thanks to our friends at Know Your Ships for letting us order through their site! Order here (scroll down to see the cap).

http://www.knowyourships.com/catalog.html

Algoma Compass docked for repairs or layup

 HAMILTON, ON – Algoma Compass has finished unloading sand and is now at another dock for what is described as layup/repairs. The dock is 26 North and runs parallel to the Queen Elizabeth Way. On Nov. 21 Algoma Compass struck the Bridge 21 abutment at Port Colborne, ON, as it entered the Welland Canal downbound.

CSL’s MV Nukumi named bulk ship of the year 2022

MONTREAL, QC – Canada Steamship Lines has announced that its latest newbuild self-unloading vessel, MV Nukumi, was named Bulk Ship of the Year 2022 last Monday evening at the prestigious International Bulk Journal (“IBJ”) Awards in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Presented to the year’s most outstanding bulk ship or newly built vessel, the award recognizes the many innovations built into the design of MV Nukumi to enhance safety, efficiency and performance, and to reduce the vessel’s overall environmental footprint.

“I am honoured to accept this award on behalf of our newbuild teams who custom designed and built such an outstanding ship to service our customer, Windsor Salt,” said Louis Martel, CSL President and CEO. “IBJ’s notable acknowledgment underscores CSL’s ongoing commitment to providing our customers with the most advanced, safe and sustainable bulk shipping solutions.”

The cutting-edge 26,000 DWT MV Nukumi is the first diesel-electric laker and the first single point loader to operate in Canada. The ship features a unique hull design, quieter machinery, a single point of loading system and a shuttle boom.

CSL partner EMS-Tech Inc. was also recognized by IBJ, receiving the Best Ship Loading or Unloading System award for its contribution in delivering MV Nukumi’s state-of-the-art self-loading and self-unloading systems.

CSL

Algoma Compass mini photo album

See the gallery below for pictures of the Algoma Compass’ damage from its incident this week.

USCG Cutter Mackinaw will soon make trek as Christmas Tree Ship

CHEBOYGAN COUNTY, Mich. – A special delivery will soon be heading to Chicago.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw was loaded with its annual shipment of 1,200 Christmas Trees to deliver holiday cheer to families in need.

This is the 23rd year of carrying on the tradition of the schooner Rouse Simmons, which sank in Lake Michigan in 1912 with a cargo full of Christmas Trees.

More than 30 volunteers helped load the Cutter Mackinaw.Cutter Mackinaw will leave its dock in Cheboygan on November 26.

It’s scheduled to arrive in Chicago around December 1 and will participate in the tree offload and ceremony at Navy Pier, Chicago on Saturday, December 3.

UpNorthLive

Bell from Lake Erie’s deadliest shipwreck goes on display at Toledo museum

While its wreck has been for 172 years the deadliest disaster in Lake Erie’s maritime history, the National Museum of the Great Lakes lacked any reference to the 1850 burning of the passenger steamer G.P. Griffith off the Willoughby, Ohio shore… Until now.

The museum recently added the Griffith’s bell, donated last year by the family of a diver who recovered it back in 1974, to its gallery of Great Lakes shipwreck artifacts.

Several hundred people are believed to have been on board – the exact number and victims’ names are unlikely to ever be known – when the vessel caught fire off the Ohio coast.

“The bell from the Griffith is significant because it represents the worst wreck on Lake Erie in its history,” said Chris Gillcrist, the museum’s executive director. “Also because the wreck occurred near shore, there are no remains left to explore, making the bell one of only a few artifacts from Griffith known to exist.”

A historical marker has long been posted along Lake Erie’s shore in Willowick to commemorate the disaster.

Local diver Louis Key found the bell in 1974 in relatively shallow water and kept it. They were contacted last year by Mr. Key’s relatives after his passing, said Carrie Sowden, the maritime museum’s archaeological director.

“The family was lovely to work with,” she said, and there proved to be just enough space available in the museum’s shipwrecks section to add the bell in a way that blended in.

“It’s exciting to be able to tell this story,” Ms. Sowden said.

The Griffith had left Buffalo on June 16, 1850, and was sailing along Lake Erie’s southern coast toward Toledo when its wheelsman observed sparks coming from around its smokestack that indicated a fire, according to the museum’s historical account.

Charles Roby, its captain, ordered the stricken ship to head toward land in hopes of beaching it, which would allow its passengers to escape. But the Griffith became stranded on a sandbar about a half mile from the shore, and only about 40 of those on board survived.

Any information about who perished was lost with the ship, Ms. Sowden said, and in those days the degree of record-keeping may only have been a log of how many tickets were sold.

Many of the passengers were likely European immigrants traveling by boat to various Great Lakes cities after arriving over land in Buffalo, she said. Most probably did not know how to swim, and they may also have been laden with heavy clothing for the trip even though it was June.

“It’s just this horrific story,” Ms. Sowden said before noting that it was the deadliest disaster on the entire Great Lakes until 1915, when the S.S. Eastland rolled onto its side while docked in Chicago, killing 844 of the more than 2,500 people on board awaiting a brief voyage to northern Indiana.

Ms. Sowden noted that rather than being polished, the Griffith’s bell has a weathered appearance consistent with having been under water for well over a century.

“We chose that deliberately” so that museum-goers could see how the underwater environment affected it, she said.

Toledo Blade

Wreckage of doomed steamer “Phoenix” found off Sheboygan, 175 years after tragedy

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum announced the discovery of wreckage from the “Phoenix” off Sheboygan, on the 175th anniversary of the doomed steamer’s sinking when as many as 300 people perished. There were some survivors.

The “Phoenix” was carrying between 200 and 300 crew and passengers, nearly all Dutch immigrants, to Sheboygan on Nov. 21, 1847, when overheated boilers caused a fire. The fire spread quickly and the ship sank, but no one was sure where.

The museum says in late July, shipwreck hunter Steve Radovan was taking part in the filming of a documentary by Omroep Gelderland, a journalism group from the Netherlands, when they found a smokestack in 85 feet of water off Sheboygan.

Wisconsin Maritime Museum staff and underwater archeologists from the Wisconsin Historical Society confirmed the smokestack was part of the “Phoenix.”

On Monday, Omroep Gelderland released a five-part podcast series, “De Ramp met de Phoenix,” on Spotify, Apple podcasts, and Google podcasts, to coincide with the anniversary of the tragedy.

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum’s display in Manitowoc includes a bible printed in Amsterdam in 1693, a personal artifact that washed ashore after the “Phoenix” sank.

WBay

Algoma Compass update

At this time there is no new update on the status of the Algoma Compass following her incident. Please refer to yesterdays news post for the latest update.

https://www.boatnerd.com/boatnerd-news-november-21-2022/

Algoma Compass hits Welland Canal bridge

Vessel traffic on the Welland Canal and road traffic in Port Colborne were not affected after a 207-metre-long laker struck an abutment near Bridge 21 Monday morning.

Poirier-Quesnel, S.t Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. manager of government and community relations, said Algoma Compass made contact with the southwest bridge abutment at about 5:45 a.m.

“The incident was reported to our operations centre, and a team of regional ship inspectors dispatched to the site.” He said no one on board the St. Catharines-based Algoma Central Corp. self-unloading vessel was injured. “There was no pollution, and the crew was not at risk.”

Poirier-Quesnel said the vessel, which listed its destination as Hamilton, moved to the west wall of the canal above Bridge 19A and Lock 8, under power. “It navigated to the wall without issue.”

The abutment struck by the vessel stretches south nearly 75 metres from the bridge and Clarence Street and holds a small parkette used by residents and tourists to watch ships travelling up and down the canal.

Welland Tribune