Great Lakes-Seaway cargo rose 7% in 2021

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway ships carried an estimated 149 million metric tons of cargo to and from domestic ports, and to overseas markets during the 2021 shipping season — an increase of 7% over pandemic-stricken 2020, a new report from the Chamber of Marine Commerce shows.

“This report paints a clear picture that the bi-national Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System supported the economic recovery and growth of many of our key industries in both Canada and the U.S. The navigation system delivered critical raw materials and products without any of the delay or disruption seen in other global markets,” said Bruce R. Burrows, President and CEO of the Chamber of Marine Commerce. “In today’s high-inflation business environment, it’s more important than ever that we focus our attention and investment on this unique inland marine highway as part of the solution to many of our national transportation and supply chain problems.”

The 2021 Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System Tonnage Activity report, which annually collects and analyzes Canadian-flag, U.S.-flag and foreign-flag tonnage for the bi-national navigation system, provides an overview of the key cargo commodities and their underlying economic and business drivers.

The findings of the report show overall, cargo shipments on the binational navigation system totaled 149 million metric tons, up 7% over 2020. The results demonstrate significant progress in the system’s post-pandemic recovery — with total cargo reaching 94% of its pre-pandemic 2019 level.

Iron ore continues to be the most traded commodity on the system, accounting for roughly a third of total cargo tonnage on the GLSLS. Canadian and U.S. ships carried iron ore from Minnesota and/or Quebec mines to support the resurgence of steel manufacturing in both countries, while pellets were also carried to Quebec ports for export overseas.

Across the region, materials such as stone, cement and steel were in hot demand for housing and commercial/infrastructure-related construction projects in both Canada and the U.S.

Canadian-flag ships carried 63.2 million metric tons of cargo, a slight decrease of 1.3% compared to 2020. This was still a strong performance, however, with total cargo carried reaching 98% of the five-year average. While commodities like general cargo, stone, steel, cement and overall dry bulk posted increases – these were offset by a 10% decrease in grain shipments following a much smaller Prairie harvest. Petroleum shipments also fell by 5.7% (after a 6.6% decline in 2020) due to continuing work-from-home trends and travel restrictions in 2021.

U.S.-flag ships carried a total of 74.2 million metric tons (81.8 million net tons) – up 16.8% over 2020. Total cargo tonnage bounced back to 99% of its five-year average. Iron ore and coal shipments were up 12.4% and 43% respectively, recovering significantly from pandemic lows.

Foreign-flag ships transported 11.6 million metric tons of cargo through the St. Lawrence Seaway to and from overseas destinations — matching 2020’s performance. Ocean-going vessels played an important role in importing specialty steel from Europe, other project cargo and exporting grain to overseas destinations.

Maritime Professional 

CSL makes history by carrying the Canada Games Torch on board CSL St-Laurent

In a historic first for Canada Steamship Lines, the Canada Games and Great Lakes shipping, the Canada Games Torch embarked on board the biodiesel-fuelled bulk carrier, CSL St-Laurent during a ceremony last evening at St-Lambert Lock near Montreal.

As part of the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games Torch Relay, the traditional Roly McLenahan torch is being carried on board CSL St-Laurent along the St-Lawrence Seaway all the way to Port Colborne, where it will disembark to continue its voyage on land toward the opening of the Canada Games, taking place in the Niagara region from August 6th to the 21st.

“The Canada Games reinforce traits such as resilience, determination and tenacity in our young athletes, which are also qualities our seafarers share,” said Louis Martel, President and CEO, The CSL Group. “Shipping at CSL is effectively like a team sport, where each member – on water and on land – contributes to the operation of these huge machines in a safe, efficient and eco-responsible way.”

At the helm of CSL St-Laurent is Captain Anita Lambe, an all-around athlete and basketball player, who was selected to participate in the 1993 Canada Games. “Playing sports has always been a big part of my life, and it’s what drove me to join an industry that is all about being a team player – and marine shipping is exactly that,” remarked Captain Lambe. “It is truly an honour for me and my crew to be navigating the first-ever torch-bearing vessel.”

Earlier this year, CSL unveiled a colossal mural to capture the spirit of the Canada Games on CSL Welland, CSL St-Laurent’s sister ship. Created by four of Canada’s top young artists, the mural reflects the broad mix of people, cultures, backgrounds and abilities in amateur sport today. CSL St-Laurent is also adorned with a beautiful mural depicting a colourful Canada Goose in flight.

Both sister ships, along with six other vessels in CSL’s Great Lakes fleet are running on pure B100 biofuel, made entirely from waste plant material.  The success of using biofuel on CSL ships has demonstrated the viability and practicality of this green alternative in supporting the decarbonization of marine transportation.

“Congratulations to the Niagara 2022 Host Society and their partner Canada Steamship Lines for their beautiful and unique vision for the 2022 Canada Games Torch Relay,” said Kelly-Ann Paul, President and CEO of the Canada Games Council. “Having the torch journey along the waterways towards Niagara is certainly a first in Canada Games history, and one that will spark greatness and astounding momentum towards the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games in August.”

“For the next two days, we invite coastal communities along the St-Lawrence River to follow the historic journey of CSL St-Laurent from Montreal to the Niagara region,” added Mr. Martel. “We also encourage everyone to look out for CSL Welland on which The Runners and the legacy of the Niagara 2022 Canada Games will live on for years to come.”

CSL thanks the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, whose collaboration and support has been essential in making it possible for the Canada Games Torch to be carried along our waterways.

Canada Steamship Lines

New ‘Great Lakes Fest’ features day-long celebration, registration for antique boats and marine vendors open

TOLEDO, OH – The National Museum of the Great Lakes, in partnership with Ramsey Brothers Restorations, is planning a day-long celebration of Great Lakes History on Saturday, August 6 with the introduction of Great Lakes Fest. The new event, which the museum intends to host annually, will feature antique boats, classic cars, water and boating demonstrations, a marine mart, food trucks and kids activities.

“We wanted to celebrate Great Lakes history in a way that all ages and all interest levels could connect with,” shares the museum’s executive director Chris Gillcrist. “In addition to all of the normal activities the museum and our vessels have to offer, over the course of the day visitors can do anything from explore a selection of classic and antique boats and cars, to shop at our Marine Mart for nautical items to take home.”

The National Museum of the Great Lakes is working with Ramsey Brothers Restorations to collect a curated selection of historical vessels to showcase as well as selecting a sampling of antique Jeeps and automobiles to help connect the dots between Great Lakes history across the region and locally. Families, boatnerds, history lovers and more can come down, grab a bite to eat from a local food truck, take a scavenger hunt onboard the museum vessels, or cool down with a drink in their hand while visiting the sites on the museum grounds.

Admission to Great Lakes Fest is free to NMGL Members and children under 5. Non-member admission is included with the price of a Museum Combo pass. For a growing list of participating boats and vendors as well as a schedule of events, or to express interest in joining the antique boat show or marine mart, visit nmgl.org/great-lakes-fest.

To view the important details regarding this event, see the image gallery below.

National Museum of the Great Lakes

Lakes limestone trade up 5.5 percent in May 

Cleveland, OH – Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.9 million tons in May, an increase of 5.5 percent compared to a year ago.  May’s loadings were also above the month’s 5-year average by 3 percent.

Loadings from U.S. quarries totaled 3 million tons, an increase of 5.2 percent compared to 2021.  Shipments from Canadian quarries totaled 855,108 tons, an increase of 6.7 percent.

Year-to-date the Lakes limestone trade stands at nearly 5.9 million tons, a decrease of 4.4 percent compared to a year ago.  Loadings from Michigan and Ohio quarries total 4.7 million tons, a decrease of 3.6 percent.  Shipments from Ontario quarries total 1.2 million tons, a decrease of 7.3 percent.

Lake Carriers’ Association

William Worden named Historian of the Year by Marine Historical Society of Detroit

Detroit, MI ­ ­– Great Lakes marine historian and author William M. Worden was honored recently as Great Lakes Marine Historian of the Year for 2022 by the Marine Historical Society of Detroit. The award is voted on by previous Historian of the Year winners.

Bill was born to a Great Lakes family that included a captain, two mates, a 19th century shipbuilder at Mount Clemens, a stevedoring executive and a U.S. Coast Guard officer. He is considered an expert on Great Lakes passenger vessels, and in 2020 was chosen to receive the 2020 C. Patrick Labadie Award for the preservation of Great Lakes history by the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History.

A native Detroiter, Worden served from 1977 to 2006 as Director of the Historic Designation Advisory Board of the City of Detroit, which operates the city’s program of designation of historic districts and landmarks. He has also served as a consultant in the fields of historic preservation and maritime history.

He first published an article on Great Lakes subjects in Inland Seas at the age of 14. He has published work in Steamboat Bill, Telescope, Inland Seas, Detroit Marine Historian, Paddle Wheels (Great Britain) and Dampferzeiting (Switzerland). He served as a director of the Steamship Historical Society of America during two separate periods and was Editor-in-Chief of Steamboat Bill from 1996-2006.

He sailed part of a summer on the Erie Queen in 1962. He also He sailed part of a summer on the Walter A. Sterling in 1966. He worked on a number of Gaelic tugs, including the original Tipperary and the second tug, Donegal. He was part of the crew that abandoned the sinking tug Killarney, which foundered on Lake Erie on September 12, 1974.

Bill was co-chair of the committee that raised the money for the purchase by Dossin Great Lakes Museum of the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Co. collection that included the Gothic Room from City of Detroit III. He was a long-time secretary of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network and served a term as chairman. He chaired the Network’s first UP conference, which was devoted to Maritime History.

He attended Ohio University, spent a semester in Copenhagen, and graduated from The Ohio State University with a major in Art History; he continued at Ohio State for graduate study. He is an alumnus of the London (England) Summer School of the Victorian Society and the Architectural Conservation Summer School at West Dean College, near Chichester, England.

In 1975-76, he was administrative coordinator of the Detroit/Urban Conservation project, a city-wide survey of historic resources. He also operated his own pipe organ business, with emphasis on the restoration of historic instruments.  In 1978, he restored Detroit’s oldest organ, and he has partially restored Michigan’s largest 19th century organ.

Active in the history of steam navigation, he served as president of the Steamer Columbia Foundation, which acquired one of the Bob-Lo Boats, the National Historic Landmark steamer Columbia, in hopes of active operation as a living museum. He has served as a board member of the Steamship Historical Society of America and is former editor-in-chief of its journal Steamboat Bill as well as columnist on maritime preservation; he was named an honorary life member of the society by the board of directors. He is a life member of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (Great Britain), and a member of the Marine Historical Society of Detroit, the Great Lakes Historical Society, the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History, the Virginia V Foundation (Seattle), and the Internationales Bodensee-Schiffarts Museum (Lake Constance) as well as other maritime history organizations. He volunteers with animal shelters and is a member of the board and Vice-President of the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Mr. Worden is also a past Chairman of the Board of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network, the statewide preservation organization, having been Secretary from 1988-1995. He is an Advisor Emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, having served on that board from 1978 to 1987. From 1981-85, Mr. Worden was Corporate Secretary of Maintenance Central for Seniors, a non-profit which budgeted over $3 million annually for free home repairs for senior citizens. He has served as board member for the Detroit Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, Detroit Landmarks, Inc., Cass Community Methodist Church, and is past chairman of the Parish Council of St. Joseph Church, Detroit, where he directed interior restoration in celebration of the centennial of the parish church. He also served as Director of Music at St. Joseph from 1997 to 2006, maintaining a distinguished program of choral and orchestral music dating back almost a century and a half.

Mr. Worden directed the $600,000 renovation of Detroit’s Most Holy Trinity R.C. Church, a National Register property with a long-standing reputation for social service programs. That parish’s “Sharin’ O’ the Green” Committee for 1986, co-chaired by Gov. James Blanchard and Thomas Monaghan, honored him with its “Samaritan of the Year” award.  A charter member of Partners for Sacred Places, Mr. Worden remains active as advisor to a number of churches of various denominations on renovation and maintenance issues and is a former member of the Architectural Review Committee of the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. He has received recognition from the Detroit Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (Career Civil Servant of the Year, 1985) and has received two Testimonial Resolutions from the Detroit City Council.  He was inducted as an honorary affiliate member of the Detroit chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1995 and was honored by the chapter again in 2003 for his contribution to the AIA Guide to Detroit Architecture, published by Wayne State University Press. In 2020, he was awarded the C. Patrick Labadie Lifetime Achievement award for maritime history for the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History.

Mr. Worden is married to Barbara W. Worden; the couple are slowly restoring a large Edwardian house in Detroit’s historic Indian Village. He is a past president of the Indian Village Association, a pioneering neighborhood association dating from 1937.

Great Lakes cruise ship scheduled to arrive in Green Bay on Thursday

GREEN BAY, WI – After years in the making, it’s a sight that may be coming to Northeast Wisconsin for the very first time.

The cruise ship called the Ocean Navigator was recently spotted in ports around the Great Lakes, and anticipation is growing at the Port Green Bay for a scheduled arrival on Thursday.

“It’s really exciting. We’ve been working on this for six-plus years. Between COVID and sales of the cruise ships, and things like that. So, it’s really nice that it’s finally here,” said Sue Broberg, C & M Presents Owner. Broberg books tour groups for a living, and says bringing cruise ships to Green Bay is a good fit.

“We’re on the water. We’re on the big Fox River, out into the bay of Green Bay, and out into Lake Michigan. So, it’s about time that they stopped bypassing us and stop to see what we have to offer here in Green Bay,” she said.

The nearly 290-foot Ocean Navigator is on its way. It has been making stops at various ports of call, like Michigan’s Marquette, and Houghton too. Broberg says the ship offers first-class accommodations, and when the 108 passengers dock in downtown Green Bay, they will visit local sights including the Neville Public Museum, and of course, Lambeau Field.

“There’s a buzz about cruise ships, and I think it’s something unique that is happening in the Green Bay community,” said Cameron Teske, Discover Green Bay vice president of visitor experiences.

Teske says there is demand for Great Lakes cruises, and says his group will track the tourism numbers. “We always look back at an event like this, and measure where did they go? Who spent what? And where were they all coming from? So we do it when we have actual data not all these projections,” he said.

The Ocean Navigator is expected to arrive before 7 a.m. Thursday. Teske says he will be here to greet the ship. “When the community’s excited, the passengers, the visitors, they feel that excitement, and they feel that welcoming, and that’s when everyone has an even better time,” he said.

In addition to Thursday’s stop, the ship is scheduled to make another overnight visit to the Port of Green Bay, on June 30.

Fox 11 – Green Bay

Algoma Steel oil spill poses public health challenges along St. Mary’s River

SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – An oil spill that started at Algoma Steel’s wastewater treatment plant on the St. Mary’s River on Thursday poses a public health challenge, said the acting medical officer of health for Algoma Public Health.

“When there’s a chemical released into the water that may have health effects it’s a lot more difficult to control because you can’t do some of the usual measures that we would do, such as a boil water advisory,” said acting medical officer of health Dr. John Tuinema. “If you were to boil the water when there’s a chemical in there, it doesn’t get rid of the chemical.”

Tuinema said the municipality of Echo Bay has been most affected by the oil spill.

Public health has advised residents not to drink the local well water. They’ve also been advised not to swim in the river or consume any local fish. But Tuinema added most people who live near the river get their drinking water from sources not affected by the spill.

Ministry of the Environment spokesperson Gary Wheeler told CBC News last week that the oil was an industrial lubricant called 460 gear oil. Wheeler confirmed Algoma Steel deployed contractors to contain the spill with absorbent booms on the river.

The U.S. Coast Guard also sent vessels in the area and used drones to assess the extent of the spill downstream.

CBC

Iron Ore trade down 20.4 percent in May

CLEVELAND, OH – Shipments of iron ore from U.S. Great Lakes ports totaled 4.4 million tons in May, a decrease of 20.4 percent compared to a year ago and 21.9 percent below the month’s 5-year average.

Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 9.9 million tons, a decrease of 33.9 percent compared to the same point in 2021. Iron ore shipments were also 31.4 percent below their 5-year average for five months of the year.

Lake Carriers’ Association 

Hansen-Mueller Company purchases Duluth’s Elevator A

DULUTH, MN – The Hansen-Mueller Company recently finalized acquisition of General Mills Elevator A in Duluth, Minnesota, completing a deal that will bring the grain-handling facility back into active service.

Owned previously by General Mills and inactive since 2015, Elevator A becomes the second Hansen-Mueller-owned grain complex in the Twin Ports, joining the Daisy Elevator and Elevator M complex in Superior, Wisconsin.

Elevator A anchors the northern end of Rice’s Point in Duluth. It stands 185 feet above the harbor, with a 3.5 million-bushel storage capacity. Consolidated Elevator Company built the structure with ceramic tile, brick and concrete in 1908, replacing the original wooden elevator constructed on the site in 1894. General Mills purchased the elevator from Consolidated in 1943, modernizing it in the 1970s and operating it until 2015. The site includes a 1,900-foot dock, with a slip depth of 28 feet, and on-dock rail service from BNSF Railway.

Nebraska-based Hansen-Mueller plans to bring the facility back into operation in time for the 2022 harvest season. The facility will import and export primarily small grains grown in the United States and Canada to domestic and foreign destinations. “The facility fits our portfolio very well and will complement our import and export program, as well as our interior grain assets and processing plants,” said Paul Johnson, Hansen-Mueller vice president and chief operating officer. “We are excited to grow our business in the Port of Duluth-Superior, and bring new business onto the St. Lawrence Seaway.”

The reactivation of Duluth’s Elevator A is expected to add at least eight new jobs on the working waterfront, in addition to generating added revenues and increasing grain tonnage through the Port of Duluth-Superior.

“Elevator A is a valuable asset in our port, with its grain-handling capacity, excellent road and rail connections, plus a long, solid, Seaway-depth dock for ships, and we’re excited for its potential,” said Kate Ferguson, Duluth Seaway Port Authority director of trade and business development. “We’ve been looking for the right match to put that asset back into active use, and Hansen-Mueller proved to be that match. It was a process working together with Hansen-Mueller, General Mills and BNSF, which owns the land on which the elevator is built, and we’re appreciative of everyone’s efforts that brought us to this exciting announcement for Hansen-Mueller, the Port of Duluth-Superior and the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.”

Duluth Seaway Port Authority

Kingston museum vying for Keewatin sees massive board upheaval

While a Kingston museum still hopes to land the SS Keewatin, its board of directors seems to have splintered in two.

One former board member of the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston told MidlandToday that the Keewatin pursuit was one of the issues that led to the recent split that saw six board members tender their resignations. “The reason was a difference of opinion about the future direction of the museum,” said former board member John Summers, who serves an adjunct professor of Museum Studies at Faculty at the University of Toronto as well as Hamilton’s manager of Heritage Resource Management where he directs the operation of eight civic museums. When asked if the Keewatin played a factor in that regard, Summers replied: “Yes, but only insofar as it was part of an overall approach to the future direction of the museum.”

Earlier this year, the museum had 14 board members, a number that has since shrunk to eight. Museum board chair Chris West declined to address the resignations by six board members, but rather said getting the Keewatin remains something the museum is actively pursuing.

“I have no comments to make on board turnover,” West said. “The Marine Museum board continues to operate with purpose and integrity, and if the right conditions prevail, we look forward to receiving the SS Keewatin into the museum’s collections.

“The ship was accorded a Category B Canadian Cultural Property designation last fall, conditional on it residing in the Dry Dock at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston,” West said.

“The Museum and (owner) Skyline (Investments) are still engaged in the time-consuming process of securing an agreed upon valuation of the ship from the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board. When a final decision will be rendered is difficult to say.”

Read the full article at this link: https://www.midlandtoday.ca/local-news/kingston-museum-vying-for-keewatin-sees-massive-board-upheaval-5452015?fbclid=IwAR0qcu9S0V-cIoSAxUhxIKAzpSZkNVsalw9naoPwGU-IHK-fXtq7oUp6bZU 

Midland Today

Sail behind the scenes at the National Museum of the Great Lakes

Explore the pipes and gears of early 20th-century engine rooms, climb below deck into crew cabins, and hear stories from Toledo’s maritime past in a new tour series of the National Museum of the Great Lakes’ historic ships. For a limited number of Saturdays beginning June 18, the museum will host its Hard Hat Tours, which will take visitors into the previously unseen areas of its exhibition vessels.

“This is an idea that we’ve had for forever,” said Ellen Kennedy, education and visitor experience director at the museum. “The museum ship, the vast majority of it is open to the public, but there are some spaces that are not safe for everyday access by everyday visitors.”

The behind-the-scenes tours will provide visitors the opportunity to delve into parts of the ships that are less well-restored. Donning hard hats and gloves, the visitors will travel down steep metal staircases and through areas with low headroom to see spaces that are otherwise only accessed by staff and volunteers.

Many of the all-volunteer guides have real maritime experience, having worked on freighters or as part of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Jack Hugo, one of the museum’s tour guides, worked on tugboats for five years with the Great Lakes Towing Company — he even took two trips aboard the Ohio, which is currently on display at the museum. He looks forward to sharing more of his expertise as part of the new tour series. “I like to show people the whole entire ship,” Mr. Hugo said. “A lot of people don’t realize what it takes to make these things go.”

Compared to the typical 90-minute tours of the museum vessels, which focus mainly on Toledo’s general history as a port city, these tours will dive deeper into the technical elements of the ships. The concept behind these tours is not a new one. Ms. Kennedy said that the museum offered a similar insider viewing experience as a benefit for raffle winners about four years ago, and as a result, they “had hard hats at the ready.”

For the tour, visitors will step onboard all three of the museum’s ships — the cargo ship Col. James M. Schoonmaker, the tugboat Ohio, and the St. Marys Challenger pilothouse.

The 617-foot Schoonmaker launched in 1911 as the largest freighter operating in the Great Lakes region, named the “Queen of the Lakes” and breaking records for amounts of cargo carried. Hard Hat Tour visitors can view the bow thrusters and propellers at the ship’s lowest points, step inside the smokestack, and peer into a dark and cavernous cargo hold.

On the Ohio, the tour will include the tug’s engine room and the below-deck crew cabins. First built as a fireboat in 1903 for the city of Milwaukee, the Ohio famously was the only commercial vessel to be christened with a bottle of beer instead of champagne.

This tour series also marks the debut of the museum’s most recent nautical acquisition. After arriving on the museum property in December, 2021, the pilothouse of the St. Marys Challenger will be included on the tour in its mid-renovation condition.

Containing the steamship’s original steering wheel and navigation equipment, the detached pilothouse will also remain an active restoration site throughout the summer as museum volunteers make it ship-shape. “Depending on what tour people take, they’re going to see different stages of the restoration,” Ms. Kennedy said.

After the launch in June, tours are scheduled for July 16 and Aug. 20. A total of four tours will be offered per Saturday and each tour will last two hours and will comprise eight people per tour.

Tickets for the Hard Hat Tours are $35 for National Museum of the Great Lakes members and $50 for all others and include museum admission.

Pre registration is required at https://nmgl.org/event/2022_hardhattours_jun18/.   For more information call 419214-5000 ext. 0. 

Toledo Blade

Boatnerd survey results

Recently, Boatnerd ran a survey asking what users would like to see on the site. Within the week-plus time the survey was open, we received 1,102 responses.

Main takeaways:
• 38.7% of respondents were from Michigan, the highest of any state/province.

• 51.7% of respondents said they primarily use the site for current events/news.

• More than half of respondents did not express significant interest in attending gatherings. That said, respondents were most interested in the Engineer’s Day gathering. Respondents were most interested in a hypothetical Valley Camp gathering at the Soo.

• More than half of respondents showed significant interest in museum ship attractions.

• Respondents were most interested in a YouTube channel as a new/increased content offering, followed by books/publications.

See the details in the image gallery.

Rail & sail father & son photography team

Born and raised in Duluth, photographer David Schauer recalls, “My childhood home was in the upper Endion neighborhood where I could see Lake Superior and watch boats coming and going from Duluth and Superior. That, plus hearing train horns at night, influenced my desire to photograph shipping and railroads.”

Through the family’s picture window, he would watch the ships on the Lake and started to be able to recognize them and to remember their names.  His first photograph of a boat was made in April 1978, as the tug Edna G docked in Two Harbors with the Arthur M. Anderson behind it.

Schauer and his family now live in the Smithville neighborhood in western Duluth. He and his wife Laura and have three teenage children; twin daughters Tessa and Greta and son Gus. Their daughters are graduating from Denfeld High School this year and Gus is a sophomore. Schauer’s son Gus is starting to follow his father’s passion for photography. “One of my great joys of photography is having my son Gus join me in capturing images and teaching him what I have learned over the years. I’m very proud of his work and his ability to understand the art of photography.“

He explained, “I first began photography in the late 1970s after being encouraged by my parents and friends. I became more interested after taking photography classes in high school and at UMD. I have been a serious amateur photographer since the early 1980s.”

Schauer said, “I first began shooting with my mother’s Kodak 110 instamatic and quickly graduated to borrowing my dad’s Nikkormat (Nikon) 35mm camera. I have stuck with Nikon since those early days and now employ a D850 digital model. As for a favorite lens, it has to be my 28-300mm zoom. I find the versatility of that lens is hard to beat. I’m also an FAA certified drone pilot and use a DJI Mavic 3 for aerial images. Along with his camera equipment, he totes along a tripod and flash unit for low light situations and extra charged batteries on his photo “safaris.” He also uses a radio to monitor marine, railroad and aviation frequencies.

He has had numerous images printed in magazines and books. He has also authored seven books on railroads. Some of his work was featured in a gallery exhibit at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum last year. Schauer enjoys photographing ships and trains in the same frame when possible. He has found several sites where railroads are in close proximity to docking facilities.

“For both ships and railroads I find photographing around the Twin Ports offers a wealth of vistas and activity,” Schauer said. “It is a great place if you like the combination of rail and sail. I greatly enjoy photography during what is called ‘blue hour’ before sunrise and after sunset. The color change in the sky can be dramatic during that time.”

He added, “I try to capture images that are creative or different versus standard angles. The drone has helped quite a bit in that regard. Photographing during blue hour and in changing weather conditions can produce distinctive images.” While his primary focus is on railroad and marine photography as his photo watermark suggests, he also enjoys general landscape/cityscape images and industrial subjects.

“Being a native of Duluth I love to showcase the beauty of the area, and Destination Duluth is a premier social media venue to help accomplish that. I’m honored when one of my images is selected for viewing and it is rewarding reading all of the positive comments, Schauer noted.  Since becoming a Destination Duluth contributing photographer in January of 2017, David has become one of the top three photographers, with a mind-boggling 6.5 million views of his photos on Destination Duluth.

“There are a number of current photographers in the area that produce stunning work that I follow, many of them contributing to Destination Duluth,” he said. “When I was young and just starting, photographers such as David Plowden, Richard Steinheimer and Philip Hastings were among many that inspired me to look beyond the common ‘point and shoot’ mentality of photography.”

David’s images have been published in Lake Superior Magazine, Fans of Know Your Ships, North Star Port, Lake Superior Marine Museum Association’s Nor’Easter, Lake Superior Railroad Museum’s The Junction, Trains Magazine, Railfan & Railroad Magazine, plus numerous books.

Destination Duluth

Lake Pilots Association welcomes new boat to the water

It took a few days, but the first new boat in several years for the Lake Pilots Association is in the water.

The Huron Pride made its way from Somerset, Massachusetts, arriving in Port Huron on Tuesday by flatbed truck. “We’ve got two of them in the water right now — the Huron Spirit, and the newer one, the Huron Belle. This one’s replacing the Huron Maid, which it’s in our Detroit operations,” said Capt. Dan Gallagher, the association’s president.

“This is faster,” he said. “It’s a little bit smaller than the other ones. But … it’s more fuel-efficient. It won’t take the rough, rough weather like the other ones. It’ll make the transits a little faster. It’ll save wear and tear on our bigger boat. The bigger ones are quite expensive.”

The boat goes 37 knots, Gallagher said, which is about 42 miles an hour. The Lake Pilots Association was established in 1960 following the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway and provides pilotage services for ships in regional water systems, including the St. Clair River.

The latest boat — an all-aluminum, roughly 40-foot deep-V with a foam collar, according to its general design — is also just the latest brought in for the organization from Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding. Gallagher said, “This the third boat they’ve built for us since ’77.” Peter Duclos, president of the shipbuilder, recalled taking on the family business arriving in Port Huron on Thursday. “This is like the fourth of this class. We’ve been building this particular class since the mid-2000s. It was really designed and conceived exactly as they’re using it — as a complement to the bigger 50-footers,” Duclos said. “It’s faster, burns half the fuel, but it is not a super rough-weather boat. It’s very capable for what it is. … But all those other times, 50, 60, 70% of the time, you burn in half the fuel, you get there faster, so that’s really the intent of this design.”

With arrival of the crew from Gladding-Hearn, they kept busy getting equipment in place before the boat was lowered into the Black River. “Height is an issue. Thirteen feet, six (inches) is the maximum road height,” Duclos said. “Radar, all the antennas (were) laid out. It’s basically a big job of putting the mast on.”

The group said the new boat came at a cost of over $1 million. “They’re not cheap,” Gallagher said. But they said it will last the association 40 years. “You’ve got to maintain it. There’s going to be things that are going to wear out, but the basic boat is still going to be there — no-frills,” Duclos said.

Gallagher said the last boat that arrived new came at the end of 2016. They said it was a summertime boat, citing the rougher water off-season. As of Thursday, Gallagher said they’re typically busy with six trips out a day, though it could depend on traffic on the water. “This is our transportation to and from the ships. It’s like everybody else, they commute by cars,” he said. “This is our ride to the ship to go to work every day.”

Times Herald

New agreement brings rail service back to Thorold Multimodal Hub

THOROLD, ON – Bioveld Canada and HOPA Ports have signed an industrial switch agreement with Canadian rail services provider, GIO Railways Corporation, to enable the use of existing CN Rail infrastructure at the Thorold Multimodal Hub to transload cargo. A switching agreement allows a short line operator (GIO Rail) to use the track owned by CN to provide first- and last-mile delivery and transload services.

New rail capabilities will help attract a range of industrial users who are looking to move goods through Southern Ontario, or into the Northeastern United States.

“Integrating and expanding the rail service offering to our tenants and customers has always been part of HOPA’s vision for the Thorold Multimodal Hub,” said Jeremy Dunn. “The fact that we have rail connecting indoor and outdoor transloading space and rail car storage right beside the Welland Canal are all part of what makes the Hub so unique.” This agreement will improve connections and modal choice for customers, and expand trade flows through the Thorold Hub.

The Thorold Multimodal Hub is a 200+ acre multimodal industrial complex in Niagara, adjacent to the Welland Canal. Unique to Niagara, it features marine, rail and highway access, as well as over 500,000 square feet of indoor warehouse and outdoor storage space, which can be configured to a wide variety of industrial, cargo handling and ancillary operations.

“With GIO Rail on board, we can operationalize rail lines that have not been used in more than two decades,” said Justus Veldman, Managing Partner of Bioveld Canada, a BMI company that owns the site and brings expertise in the productive repurposing of industrial brownfields.

In the near term, rail users will have access to the site’s transload, integrated warehousing, and railcar storage capacity. Looking ahead, the site will include marine-rail connections, a reactivated gantry crane and rail scale as part of a tailored supply chain solution. “Our approach is to work with users to reactivate these assets in a customized way that meets the needs of contemporary users,” said Veldman. The partners see potential value for users in sectors such as forest products, liquid bulk, plastics and metals, critical raw materials for the manufacturing and construction Industry.

Based in Welland, ON, GIO Rail has extensive experience operating industrial switching operations and short line railways throughout Ontario. In partnership with CN Rail, GIO has been a rail operator and service provider in the Niagara Region since 1997. “We are thrilled to expand our footprint into Thorold in partnership with CN Rail, and to see these lines revived,” said Neil Johnson, Vice President, GIO Railways Corporation.

“Room to grow and complete multimodal connections are value we are providing to users of the Thorold Multimodal Hub,” said HOPA’s Jeremy Dunn, while the addition of new supply chain options will provide modal choice and helping to alleviate pressure on regional highways.

The development is welcomed by Thorold’s civic and business leaders. “Yet again the Thorold Multimodal Hub is showcasing how partnerships and collaboration are yielding results,” said Thorold Mayor, Terry Ugulini. “It is through transload operational capacity, integrated warehousing and railcar storage capabilities that sustainable supply chain can be achieved.  This rail infrastructure will support the new creative industrial industries that call the Thorold Multimodal Hub home and will assist in the attraction of new investment.  On behalf of Thorold City Council and our Economic Development team we welcome this announcement and look forward to the prosperity it will bring to the Niagara Region.”

HOPA ports

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Oil ‘non-recoverable’ in St. Marys River spill, says Coast Guard

SAULT STE. MARIE – Oil spilled from an Ontario steel mill into the waterway connecting Lake Superior and Lake Huron is “not recoverable,” said the U.S. Coast Guard.

The estimated 5,300 gallons of gear oil spilled at the Algoma Steel mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, on Thursday, June 9, will persist in the water until it biodegrades, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday, during its second day of spill response in the St. Marys River.

“It’s not a product that will evaporate, but it should naturally weather over the next few days and dissipate,” said Lt. Tyler Carlsgaard, with the U.S. Coast Guard in Sault Ste. Marie. Carlsgaard said response efforts are focused on the north end of Sugar Island, located on the eastern end of Sault Ste. Marie.

Canadian environmental authorities said they are overseeing the cleanup of oil spilled at the steel facility, which is in early stages. Officials at the Ontario environment ministry said they were unsure of the volume of oil that spilled into the river, but most remained on the ground at the company. “Some of the oil entered Algoma Steel’s wastewater treatment plant where it was then discharged to the river,” said Gary Wheeler from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

Canadian officials are still trying to clean up the oil spill.

Wheeler confirmed the company hired clean up contractors and placed absorbent booms on the river to contain the spill. Those workers are still actively responding to the oil spill, he said. “The ministry is requiring that Algoma Steel assess the extent of the spill and prepare clean-up and monitoring plans to address and assess any short and long-term impacts to the river,” Wheeler said.

Ashley Moerke, Lake Superior State University professor and director at the new Center for Freshwater Research and Education along the St. Marys River shoreline in Sault Ste. Marie, said researchers there are keeping a close watch on the situation. They set up an experimental petrochemical detection system along the northern shore of Sugar Island on Friday morning, she said, but as of mid-day had not yet found signs of oil washing up on U.S. land.

Meanwhile, area residents who get their drinking water directly from the river are under a water advisory issued by health officials on both sides of the international border. Algoma Public Health in Canada issued an advisory in effect until further notice, as did the Chippewa County Health Department.

Those with water intake downstream from the steel mill or those with near-shore water wells are at possible risk of contamination from this spill, the agencies said. 

Municipal water systems for the both cities remain unaffected by the oil spill.

However, both American and Canadian health officials advised residents not to swim, kayak or fish on the river, nor drink, bathe, or shower with the river’s water. Pet and livestock access to the water should also be restricted, authorities said.

MLive

Canada looks to charter research vessel as it awaits $1B replacement ship

The Canadian Coast Guard is looking to charter a research ship for up to five years while it waits for a new $1-billion offshore oceanographic science vessel to be built under the national shipbuilding program.

The coast guard says it’s being prudent.

“Having a backup plan in case another pandemic hits or something else I think is always good sound management. So that’s why we’ve put that insurance policy into place,” assistant commissioner Gary Ivany said in an interview after an event in Sambro, N.S.

Ottawa has issued a request for information to industry to charter an “interim science vessel” on the East Coast for 2023 to 2026, with an option for two more years. The coast guard intended to keep the offshore science ship CCGS Hudson in service until its replacement was ready. But a catastrophic motor failure last fall forced it to abandon that plan. The 59-year-old Hudson was officially retired earlier this year.

Construction of a new offshore oceanographic science vessel for the East Coast has started at the Seaspan shipyard in Vancouver. It is currently estimated to cost $995 million. Delivery is now expected in 2025.

“Steel-cutting is underway. Work is progressing well. Long lead items have been purchased. So we’re very confident in the timelines as they stand today,” Ivany said.

Seaspan declined to provide an estimated delivery date for the offshore oceanographic science ship.

Spokesperson Adam D’Agostino says the company has been impacted by COVID-19, but has been able to keep its shipyard open and operational. ”We are continuing working closely with the coast guard and the navy to mitigate the impact of COVID on our programs and vessel delivery schedules,” D’Agostino said.

Caution is justified, says Timothy Choi, a shipbuilding expert at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

Choi says shipbuilding around the world has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and delayed supply chains. “Even the Chinese with their incredibly massive amounts of human resources, they’re delaying their naval shipbuilding, which is unprecedented in terms of their construction rates. So nobody’s immune to this. And the fact that the coast guard is putting out this interim proposal at this point tells us that they are well aware of that,” Choi said.

The next issue is availability. Last year, the coast guard bought an Irving-owned light icebreaker working in Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea. “Asking for an interim replacement that’s actually somewhere around the world that’s very important. Now, whether that vessel actually exists is a different question,” Choi said. “That’s the whole point of this request for information. They want to see what the industry knows about availability.”

Even if the new ship from Seaspan meets this latest delivery date, it will take time to get the ship into service.

The timeline to replace CCGS Hudson has been a moving target since it was included in the National Shipbuilding Strategy announced by the Harper government 15 years ago. It was originally expected to cost $109 million with delivery in 2017. Since then the price has risen nearly tenfold and delivery has been moved to 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

With the Hudson now permanently tied up at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is looking elsewhere for platforms to conduct science on the East Coast this year.

This spring, it paid $5.1 million to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts to use its research vessel, Atlantis, to carry out ocean climate monitoring surveys off Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Another charter is expected to be awarded soon to carry out planned surveys in the fall.

In recent years, DFO and the coast guard have been forced to increasingly rely on charters as the Hudson required more refits, repairs and maintenance to stay afloat.

The coast guard says it intends to use some of its other vessels for DFO science work.

CBC

Great Lakes ice coverage declines as the climate warms

The last bits of winter snow and ice in the Great Lakes melted in late May, according to a NOAA-GLSEA (Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis) tracker that uses satellite data to produce real-time daily estimates of Great Lakes ice coverage.

Before it melted, scientists collected samples of ice, snow and frosty lake water in a coordinated scientific event called Winter Grab, a research effort to assess the winter conditions of the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair. More than a dozen teams of scientists from the U.S. and Canada participated in the inaugural event, which took place during a single week in February. The shared results will provide the first systematic baseline of winter conditions on the Great Lakes, giving important clues about how climate is affecting lake ecosystems as a whole.

Using precise scientific instruments as well as ordinary tools like ice picks, slotted spoons and plastic jugs, decentralized teams across all five lakes drilled their way through the ice to collect water samples, measure underwater light levels and gather plankton and other microorganisms. The data will help them better understand ice properties, water chemistry and lake biology, as well as help them determine how the lakes are influenced by the changing climate.

Winter Grab was organized by University of Minnesota Duluth associate professor Ted Ozersky, who also organized the Great Lakes Winter Network (GLWiN), a research collaboration between multiple organizations. “Over the last few years, lake scientists increasingly recognized that we know very little about what lakes do in the winter,” Ozersky says. “Part of the motivation for Winter Grab is to fill this big information gap. The other motivation is climate change.”

Michigan native Emily Elconin photographed two teams that participated in the effort, joining them on Lake Erie and Lake Huron. Here’s a look at the how scientists are advancing our understanding of the impacts of climate change on the Great Lakes:

Read the full article at this link: https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2022/06/09/1103479447/great-lakes-ice-coverage-declines-as-the-climate-warms

NPR

Marine Mart in Port Huron to resume in June

 PORT HURON, MI – A long-standing tradition, sidelined by COVID, will make a return this year in a new location. The Summer Marine Mart, formerly the St. Clair Marine Mart, will be held Saturday, June 11, at the American Legion Post #8, 1026 Sixth St., in Port Huron, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The Mart features nautical items, artifacts, photos, books, artwork, models, postcards and more. See the poster in the image gallery below for more information.

Second printing of 2022 Know Your Ships now available 

For the second year in a row, Know Your Ships has had to do a second printing of the standard-bound edition. Replacing the Stewart J. Cort for the cover of the second printing is the Roger Blough. In the announcement post, author Roger LeLievre stated, “She is 50 years old this year, and since her future is uncertain, we felt she deserved the honor. Note the second printing is for the standard-bound book only… we have plenty of the spiral-bound book with the Cort on the cover and those will continue to be available.”

You can order a copy at http://www.knowyourships.com/catalog.html 

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St Marys River now open to commercial vessels following spill

SAULT STE. MARIE, ON –Commercial traffic entering through the St. Marys River is now able to pass through the Soo Locks, but recreational traffic is advised to steer away from the north side of Sugar Island as oil from a 5,300-gallon (20,063-liter) spill Thursday is expected to accumulate in that area.

“Garden River is where a lot of oil is ending up,” said U.S. Coast Guard Command Center Chief Lt. Daniel Rynard.

“Thursday morning, we got a report from Algoma Steel on the Canadian side in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.,” said Rynard. “They had an equipment failure, which led to the discharge of oil into the St. Marys River.”

As a precaution, U.S. and Canadian coast guards worked in union to secure traffic along the St. Marys for safety purposes. The closure prohibited commercial traffic from spreading the oil around the river and into the great lakes.

“We had folk from different agencies go out and make the assessment as to whether it was safe for commercial traffic,” said Rynard. “There is still oil in the water.” Assessments were conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA helped make projections through oil modeling, letting the coast guard know where the oil was heading.

Rynard could not speak to the oil response on the Canadian side. “This is a little bit of a unique case,” said Rynard of the U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard’s cooperative response to a situation stemming from a Canadian spill.

“Our request is that recreational traffic stay clear of the north side of Sugar Island,” said Rynard. “That is where the oil is collecting. That is based on several different environmental factors.” Rynard pointed out that oil could damage kayaks, canoes, fishing vessels and related equipment.

The Sugar Island Ferry remained running throughout the incident.

Soo Today

Oil spill shuts down part of St. Marys River for most of Thursday

The U.S. Coast Guard closed a section of the St. Marys River in northern Michigan Thursday following an oil spill, it said.

The spill, reported at 8:30 a.m., originated from Algoma Steel, a Canadian company, the Coast Guard said. The river was closed at the Soo Locks to Nine Mile point on Sugar Island, just north of Lake Nicolet, a 12 mile stretch, said Coast Guard Lt. Daniel Rynard. The leak of gear oil came from a 5,300 gallon container in the Algoma Steel mill in Sault Ste. Marie, across the St. Mary’s from Soo Locks.

The container has stopped leaking oil. Rynard could not provide an estimate of how much oil leaked into the river.

“We have high confidence in saying that the amount of oil that made it to the St. Mary’s river is less than 5,300 gallons,” Rynard said. Containment measures to stop the movement of oil across the water have been put in place around the mill, he said. “We got field reports back from our people that we have on the ground and we determined that the impact to the marine traffic system was negligible,” Rynard said. “It appears that the oil should stay out of the channel.”

Since the spill originated in Canada, most containment efforts are occurring there and have been carried out by the Canadian Coast Guard.

Three commercial vessels were temporarily slowed or stopped and were allowed to resume course shortly after 3 p.m.

The Coast Guard was working with the Michigan Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy Department for cleanup to determine what response is necessary in Michigan.  “We encourage the public, if they see any sheening or any oiled wildlife or anything like that to notify the coast guard in Sault Ste. Marie.”

The Detroit News

Port of Monroe goals – and grant investments – could mean 10K new Monroe County jobs

MONROE, MI – The Port of Monroe’s longstanding efforts to become the first maritime container terminal in the State of Michigan could soon bear fruit – provided Monroe County matches the City of Monroe’s recent investment in the project.

On Monday, Monroe City Council unanimously agreed to appropriate $1.7 million of its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to the port for the purpose of cargo inspection operations, which would include the facility and equipment. This funding allocation will help the port retrofit one of its existing buildings to be able to scan containerized cargo with both X-ray and radiation detection technology, bringing it into compliance with the federal government’s SAFE Port Act.

On Tuesday, Port Director Paul C. LaMarre III asked the County Board of Commissioners to match the city’s contribution. Combined, this funding would allow the port to leverage an additional $5 million in federal grants to retrofit their facility and purchase the necessary equipment, as well as an annual federal contribution of $500,000 for upkeep of both aspects of the project. 

Should the county agree to match the city’s contribution, LaMarre said the port “could be in the container business by mid-2023”. ”Our request is that Monroe County consider matching the city’s investment of $1.7 million into this customs facility, and literally turn a key in the ignition of this project,” he said. “We’re at 30 percent design right now for making this happen… This project, in a 30-year period, based on the number of vessel calls it would generate to the port, would have over a billion dollars in economic impact and generate over 10,000 new jobs in Monroe County. “That’s a big deal.”

The port has worked for more than seven years to be able to handle containerized cargo, but the project – coined Michigan’s Maritime Gateway – was stymied by a regulatory standoff between the port and Customs and Border Patrol that persisted for several years. Deals spearheaded by LaMarre and other port officials were scuttled as CBP barred the port from handling such cargo.

LaMarre had secured a deal with Ford Motor Co. to export Ford Mustangs to Europe via the St. Lawrence Seaway. As the pilot program launched, CBP intervened, saying it could not regularly dedicate the needed manpower from its Detroit field office for such an endeavor. The agency also told the port it needed to acquire additional security screening equipment.

Another deal with Arauco North America was halted. As the first of several ships approached the Port of Monroe, CBP officials in Detroit diverted the vessel to the Port of Cleveland, stating at the time that no port in the state would be permitted to handle the cargo. A study conducted by the University of Michigan – which has a longstanding partnership with the port – found that CBP’s policies had cost the Monroe region substantial revenue and jobs.

LaMarre said Tuesday that he is confident those deals could be revisited, should the port secure the funding to construct this secure screening facility.

“Michigan does not have single seaport that can move the most commonly moved form of freight movement in the entire world,” he said. “Containers are everywhere; You can get a container to the most remote spots on our globe, however, you can’t bring one across a port in Michigan. This has been about controlling freight flow to the coast.”

“What I always say is that investment in coastal ports, although necessary, is bolstering a system allowing for more and more imports, rather than exporting products made right here in the industrial heartland of America.”

The issue prompted a bipartisan coalition of federal lawmakers to take up the cause. Democrat Sen. Gary Peters and Republican Rep. Tim Walberg pushed CBP for answers and clarifications. Peters eventually became the chairman of the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee, which LaMarre says helped significantly in leading to a partnership between the port and CBP. State lawmakers passed a bipartisan resolution calling for changes, highlighting the impact such policies had on the state economy. State Sen. Dale Zorn, R-Ida, co-sponsored the resolution. Last August, LaMarre and Peters hosted a delegation of bureaucrats from the agency, touring the port and explaining its positions and desire to be able to engage in handling more cargo. The port subsequently received federal grant funding to increase its security and scanning equipment.

“Never ever in my life did I think… that U.S. Customs would go from a position of I’m Public Enemy No. 1 to we’re giving each other bro hugs at the dock at the Port of Monroe, and we’re buddies and we’re partners,” LaMarre said. “…It’s taken us a long time to get to square one. However, I’d rather get to this point and have a partner, as we have now, and build a facility that will place us in the most capable position of any secure screening facility in the country.”

LaMarre said that while the CBP is now working with the port on this issue, others at the federal level remain uncooperative.

“We thought we had funding on the way for the facility through the Port Infrastructure Development Program that the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration has,” LaMarre explained. “We found out that our project ranked highest of any on the entire Great Lakes, but it was hand-pulled by (U.S.) Secretary of Transportation, (Pete) Buttigieg, when it was out for signature to be funded, to not fund it. That happened three days before Christmas last year. Again, it’s about controlling freight flow, (but) the little engine that could is going to keep pushing ahead. That’s because of our partners.”

Multiple Monroe City Council members lauded the project Monday. “I know this has been a long-term battle,” said Councilman Andrew Felder. “…I absolutely believe that, set aside the money (the port is) going to receive from outside funding for our city’s investment in our port. We are going to pay for our portion by itself just with the economic impact the port is going to have by additional cargo screening, and the additional business it’s going to do, and the economic impact on the area, the port and the businesses there, just over time.”

LaMarre said he was on a tug boat in the middle of Lake Huron when he received a text message informing him that the city had agreed to appropriate the $1.7 million.

“It is humbling,” he said. “…I literally teared up, because this is been a call to action that we’re all going to benefit from.”

While no vote was taken by the county commissioners Tuesday, the general consensus from the members of the board was that they want to find a way to help fund the project. “We’ve been, of course, discussing with (LaMarre) and the city about how that contribution might be made,” said County Board of Commissioners Chairman, Mark Brant. “As everyone is aware, safety is (this board’s) number one priority, but probably number two is economic development. We’ve had some pretty substantial economic development successes in the not-too-distant past.

“We will look at (the port’s) proposal very seriously, and try to work something out between the county, and the city and the port, to try to leverage this thing going forward.”

Monroe News

Duluth East graduate starts new career out on the water

Wednesday, before East High School’s graduation ceremony started, one student made quite the entrance.

As most students arrived to the ceremony by car… Ethan Rentschler, his family, and mentors all arrived to the graduation ceremony by tug boat to honor his passion for the maritime industry. “Incredible, it’s just it one of a kind. I never even dreamed that this would happen”, says Ethan.

Ethan Rentschler grew up with a strong maritime background. His parents Dan, who was second mate at the time, and Sarah Rentschler met aboard the aboard the Roger Blough. And now Ethan is continuing to pursue a career out on the water. He says, “I’ve known what I wanted to do since I was in kindergarten. So I never had to doubt it.”

In high school Ethan put in hours of work alongside Edward H. Capt. Bryan Rydberg ever since he was fifteen. “I would call in a lot of times, I’d actually call in to school and go work for a day. Or I would come in school with no sleep because I was out at like five in the morning”, Ethan says.

Rentschler even obtained his U.S. Coast Guard merchant mariners credentials at just 16 years old.

“It’s great because we really need the younger generation to come up to take our places. And Ethan is enthused, willing to work, and wants to learn. He does a great job,” says Bryan Rydberg. And because of his gained experience and passion, Ethan now has a job lined up after high school graduation.

Ethan will be working aboard the S.S. Wilfred Sykes at an entry level position in the engine room. He is shipping out to Port Inland, Michigan a day after Wednesday’s graduation ceremony. And he’s excited, saying, “I love being around big machinery, the people, and just what we do. And the views too! You know it’s a beautiful port to be working in.”

Ethan’s advice to other graduates is, “Whatever position or job you get, or thing you go for, take it and run with it. Do you best and enjoy life.”

WDIO 

Museum vying for beloved Keewatin runs into choppy water

While a Kingston museum still hopes to land the SS Keewatin, its board of directors seems to have splintered in two.

And one former board member of the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston noted, the Keewatin pursuit was one of the issues that led to the recent split that saw six board members tender their resignations.

“The reason was a difference of opinion about the future direction of the museum,” said former board member John Summers, who serves an adjunct professor of Museum Studies at Faculty at the University of Toronto as well as Hamilton’s manager of Heritage Resource Management where he directs the operation of eight civic museums.

When asked if the Keewatin played a factor in that regard, Summers replied: “Yes, but only insofar as it was part of an overall approach to the future direction of the museum.”

Read the full article at this link: https://www.orilliamatters.com/local-news/museum-vying-for-beloved-keewatin-runs-into-choppy-water-5453824?fbclid=IwAR0rYBpE81RP3pVTQrxyyLLD9kiJYZ9ig8ReveYyALUVKN9nlivMojYo3Qg

orillamatters.com 

Marine Mart in Port Huron to resume in June

 PORT HURON, MI – A long-standing tradition, sidelined by COVID, will make a return this year in a new location. The Summer Marine Mart, formerly the St. Clair Marine Mart, will be held Saturday, June 11, at the American Legion Post #8, 1026 Sixth St., in Port Huron, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The Mart features nautical items, artifacts, photos, books, artwork, models, postcards and more. See the poster in the image gallery below for more information.

Second printing of 2022 Know Your Ships now available 

For the second year in a row, Know Your Ships has had to do a second printing of the standard-bound edition. Replacing the Stewart J. Cort for the cover of the second printing is the Roger Blough. In the announcement post, author Roger LeLievre stated, “She is 50 years old this year, and since her future is uncertain, we felt she deserved the honor. Note the second printing is for the standard-bound book only… we have plenty of the spiral-bound book with the Cort on the cover and those will continue to be available.”

You can order a copy at http://www.knowyourships.com/catalog.html 

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Oil spill prompts drinking water advisory

Sault Ste. Marie, ON – Ontario’s Ministry of Environment said earlier in the day most of the oil spilled at Algoma Steel fell on the ground, but some also entered the city’s wastewater system.

The U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release it was notified at 10:30 a.m. of a “5,300-gallon gear oil spill into the St. Marys River. Initial Coast Guard estimates show a sheen that covers an area from the steel mill all the way to the north side of Sugar Island,” the release said.

The Coast Guard said it has established an incident command team to manage the U.S. response efforts. “We’re working in lockstep with our Canadian, American, and tribal partners to ensure the sanctity of our river,” Capt. Anthony Jones, said in the release.

In a statement, Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment said the substance that spilled into the water was ‘Morgoil,’ a heavy oil used for lubrication of heavy machinery. MOE is on site heading up cleanup efforts, the statement said, which are in the early stages.

“Most of the oil was spilled to ground,” ministry spokesperson Gary Wheeler said in a statement. “Some of the oil entered the wastewater treatment plant where it was then discharged to the river.”

Algoma Steel has hired cleanup contractors that have deployed absorbent booms on the river to contain the spill, Wheeler said. “Algoma Steel is using vacuum trucks to remove oil from inside the wastewater treatment plant,” he added.

The spill prompted a drinking water advisory from Algoma Public Health. Not affected is the municipal water supply from the City of Sault Ste. Marie. “There is no concern relating to this system at this time,” the health unit said in a news release.

Canada’s greenest transportation sector is moving toward net-zero emissions by 2050

Key stakeholders in Canada’s inland shipping industry are looking to establish a green transportation corridor in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region as part of ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net zero by 2050.

The corridor would integrate new energy-efficient ships, alternative fuel sources, digital processes and other infrastructure improvements to further reduce the already tiny carbon footprint of an industry that is said to be the greenest mode of transport in North America. “There is lots of progress, but we want to do more,” said Bruce Burrows, president and CEO of the Chamber of Marine Commerce (CMC). “Net-zero is a huge challenge. We have to do more R&D [research and development] and more experimenting,” he said. “We want to work with government to put funding towards lasting climate change solutions rather than reactive emergency relief.”

As a whole, the transportation industry in Canada makes up 30 per cent of the country’s GHG emissions, said Burrows. But the bulk of that figure is attributed to road, rail and air transport; the marine industry accounts for only about two percent. “For every ship, we could take almost 1,000 trucks off the road,” said Burrows. “From a [road] decongestion perspective, that’s a tremendous benefit. “And from an emissions perspective, that would be reducing greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 800 tonnes for a typical movement.”

Over the last few years, Canadian ship operators on the Great Lakes have invested over $2 billion to acquire new eco-friendly ships that are up to 40 per cent on average more energy efficient than the previous generation, said Burrows. Some operators are also experimenting with low-carbon fuels, including second-generation biodiesel made from agricultural waste products, and liquefied natural gas. Researchers are also exploring hydrogen and ammonia as future sources of power. “There’s a real benefit to putting this green shipping corridor together,” said Burrows “It’s not going to be an easy process. There’s going to be a lot to do. But we can start — get going — and showcase and expand on what already is being done.”

On the Great Lakes, ports are modernizing their own operations, while also making system-wide changes that can make a more transformative impact. The Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA) in southern Ontario generates about 580,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year through solar panels mounted on its buildings, and is in the process of converting its land vehicle fleet to electric. This includes electric forklifts, and energy-efficient LED lighting in its warehouse space which saves nearly 2 million kwh per year. HOPA also operates a peak power cogeneration unit, which services tenants’ sugar refining and beer brewing operations. “Every little bit helps,” said Ian Hamilton, president & CEO of HOPA. “But when we can make system-wide change, that’s where we can have our greatest impact.”

Among these game-changing initiatives is an effort to position the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence as a greener alternative to long-haul trucking for moving goods. The province of Ontario, for example, which is bordered by four of the five Great Lakes and has 3,840 km of shoreline, could expand the use of so-called “short-sea” shipping.“Southern Ontario has one of the most congested road networks in North America, so by taking better advantage of marine shipping, we can actually create a win-win for consumers: reducing supply chain costs, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions at the same time.”

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence is a 3,700-kilometre marine highway, connecting the North American heartland to the rest of the world through an integrated network of multimodal transportation infrastructure, including the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway. About 164 million tonnes of cargo move on the entire waterway each year, but the system can accommodate 50 per cent more volume, said Terence Bowles, president and CEO of the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC).

“It’s a very modern and vital waterway, using current cutting-edge and sustainable technology that helps green the transportation of cargo throughout North America and to overseas markets,” he said.

Innovations like hands-free mooring have reduced transit times on the St. Lawrence Seaway, and a zero-carbon, hydroelectric plant on the Welland Canal powers locks, bridges and other infrastructure. As a result, the SLSMC has reduced the carbon emissions from its operations by 69% since 2005, well ahead of Canada’s 2030 targets, said Bowles.

As scientists continue to highlight an urgent need to reduce carbon emissions, the marine shipping industry in Canada is eager to do its part. “It’s no surprise that we think green,” said Bruce Burrows, CEO of the Chamber of Marine Commerce. “It’s just the way we do our business.”

National Post

Family-owned tour company celebrating 87 years of operation on Chicago’s waterways

CHICAGO, IN – Docked on Chicago’s vibrant Riverwalk, Chicago’s First Lady Cruises is a Chicago experience that connects locals and visitors alike.

The city’s rich architectural history and breathtaking beauty is on display through the official Chicago Architecture Foundation Center River Cruise. And the cruises are also a first-class venue for private events.

This year marks the 29th anniversary of the Chicago Architecture Foundation Center River Cruise. The tour was recently named the “#1 Boat Tour in North America” by USA Today’s 10 Best.

For 87 years, Chicago’s First Lady Cruises and its sister company, Mercury, Chicago’s Skyline Cruiseline have seen the development of Chicago’s vibrant Riverwalk. Perhaps the most impressive feat is that both cruise lines are fourth-generation family-owned and operated, and committed to enviro-friendly practices for continued sustainability.

Holly Agra will step down as the President of Chicago’s First Lady Cruises and assume the new role of Board Chair. “Captain Bob and I are thrilled to charge our sons with leading our fourth-generation, family-owned and operated business into an exciting contemporary chapter of our legacy,” she said. “As a mom and business leader, I couldn’t imagine a grander way of celebrating 87 years than by passing the torch to our sons.”

Captain Bob Agra, Jr. will remain in his role as Lead Captain and Chief Financial Officer of both cruise lines.

“Our family has been lucky to witness the growth of Chicago’s downtown business district and waterfront neighborhood,” he said.  “Real estate developers and city officials have worked to highlight downtown waterfronts making them more accessible and enjoyable for guests. Due to their efforts, the Chicago River is now flanked with cafe’s, Riverwalk parkland, and a new generation of modern skyscrapers, offering a completely different perspective than during my parent’s career on the river.”

Agra Jr. took the helm of Mercury, Chicago’s Skyline Cruiseline in 1976 at the age of 18 following the death of his father, Captain Bob Agra Sr. Mercury Cruises, which began as a single speedboat operation, was founded by Portuguese immigrant Arthur Agra and his wife Myrtle in the 1930s.

The Agras and their team of 128 professionals operate a fleet of nine passenger carbon neutral vessels docked at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive on Chicago’s Riverwalk and cruise along the Chicago River and Lake Michigan from April through November.

WGN 9 

Indigenous community to oversee Point Iroquois Lighthouse

BRIMLEY, MI – After years of discussion, a partnership between Bay Mills Indian Community and the US Forest Service has come to fruition. BMIC  has entered into an interpretive agreement, which will empower Bay Mills to oversee the operations at Point Iroquois Lighthouse in Brimley, on the shores of Lake Superior.

The Bay Mills Executive Council reviewed and approved the agreement in 2020, but when the pandemic hit, plans were put on hold.Finally, this summer, Bay Mills will open the lighthouse on June 15, and museum under the lead of Museum Director Candice LeBlanc.

“The area surrounding Point Iroquois Lighthouse has rich cultural and historical significance to the Anishinaabe. Recently, the museum has focused on maritime history and the way of life of a 1950s lighthouse caretaker. This collaboration means the Bay Mills Indian Community can tell its story and share Anishinaabe history, cultural information and artifacts at the lighthouse,” said Kari Thompson, Recreation Program manager for the East Zone of Hiawatha National Forest. “The US Forest Service looks forward to furthering its relationship with Bay Mills Indian Community through this partnership.”

The tribe looks forward to bringing Native history and perspective to the highly trafficked historical area, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. The lighthouse is named after the 1662 battle between the local Anishinaabe from Bay Mills and an invading Iroquois war party. The battle halted westward expansion with a Bay Mills victory.

On average, nearly 40,000 people make a stop at the lighthouse. Visitors often marvel at the lighthouse itself, unaware of the rich history behind the structure and the land. Bay Mills hopes to enrich and educate visitors to the area about Pt. Iroquois’ historical prominence.

“The hope for Bay Mills’ partnership with the US Forest Service in managing Pt. Iroquois Lighthouse is to create an inclusive and welcoming space, which allows for visitors to learn of the connections of the past to our people’s present and the importance of the connection between the land, our community, and Anishinaabe culture,” said LeBlanc. “The vision is to create and build a place of learning, connection, and appreciation for Anishinaabe people and Bay Mills Indian Community.”

The museum hours will be 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday. There will be live exhibitions scheduled throughout the summer, including Lacrosse, black ash basket and pottery making. LeBlanc is also building a list of community volunteers of people to visit with travelers and tend to the grounds.

Soo Leader

Marine Mart in Port Huron to resume in June

 PORT HURON, MI – A long-standing tradition, sidelined by COVID, will make a return this year in a new location. The Summer Marine Mart, formerly the St. Clair Marine Mart, will be held Saturday, June 11, at the American Legion Post #8, 1026 Sixth St., in Port Huron, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The Mart features nautical items, artifacts, photos, books, artwork, models, postcards and more. See the poster in the image gallery below for more information.

Second printing of 2022 Know Your Ships now available 

For the second year in a row, Know Your Ships has had to do a second printing of the standard-bound edition. Replacing the Stewart J. Cort for the cover of the second printing is the Roger Blough. In the announcement post, author Roger LeLievre stated, “She is 50 years old this year, and since her future is uncertain, we felt she deserved the honor. Note the second printing is for the standard-bound book only… we have plenty of the spiral-bound book with the Cort on the cover and those will continue to be available.”

You can order a copy at http://www.knowyourships.com/catalog.html 

Boatnerd survey

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Goodbye tugboat, hello Wilfred Sykes: High school graduate sails into adulthood

SUPERIOR, WI – Just days away from high school graduation, Ethan Rentschler already sounded like a veteran merchant ­mariner. “I’ve been chipping and painting on this boat for years,” Rentschler said aboard the Edward H. on Monday.

The Heritage Marine tugboat was docked on Connors Point, and the water lapped at its hull as Rentschler gave a tour and explained how he’ll go from Duluth East High School graduation Wednesday to working aboard the 678-foot Wilfred Sykes two days later. “I’ve known what I’ve wanted to do since I was in kindergarten,” Rentschler said. “The answer has never changed.”

A graduating senior, Rentschler plans to take the Edward H. under the Aerial Lift Bridge and dock it outside the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center prior to the ceremony. He’ll be joined by several members of the shipping community as they celebrate with a grad party on the deck of the boat.

“He’s going to walk off the boat in his gown and work boots right into the Amsoil Arena to graduate — and the next day he leaves to go on a laker,” said Edward H. Capt. Bryan Rydberg. “He’s the next generation.”

Rydberg alerted the News Tribune to Rentschler’s plans last week. A mentor and admirer of the young man, Rydberg has spent the past few years with Rentschler under wing — from 16-hour days breaking ice to letting Rentschler dock and run the tug. “He just loves the big boats,” Rydberg said. “He’s taken to it with an aptitude that he wants to learn. He’s so polite and personable, you just automatically like the kid.”

Rentschler speaks in “yes, sirs” and “no, sirs,” and is quick with a smile or a story. His parents, Dan and Sarah Rentschler, met aboard the Roger Blough in the late 1990s, when she was a passenger porter and he was second mate. Dan went on to captain the Edgar B. Speer for 10 years and is now a pilot who guides foreign vessels through the Great Lakes.

“It’s a tight-knit community around this harbor,” Rentschler said. “A lot of it’s built up on stories and tradition and passing it forward. Rentschler is already looking forward to the day when he’ll pass his knowledge forward. But, before then, he’s got a career to start.

After graduation, he’ll make his way to Port Inland, Michigan, where he’ll catch up with the Sykes — a boat he expects to sail through to the end of season in January. He’s starting out as an “ordinary seaman,” and wiper in the engine room. 

It’s  clear hearing Rentschler talk about his work that he’s learned a ton by working on the docks. He started at 15, earning his merchant marine credential and license to sail from the U.S. Coast Guard at 16. On busy days in which he was needed to help crew the tug, Rentschler would call the school for an excused absence. “The school was pretty understanding of that,” he said. “The high school and my mom pushed me to keep on task and stay on top of school. The way I saw it, I was never going to go to college ever.”

For Rentschler, the journey was never in doubt. He learned early that the wind is a sailor’s aid. And for now, it’s at his back — propelling him into adulthood. “When you run into a new situation, it’s always pretty nerve-wracking, but you’ve got to just trust the people around you,” Rentschler said about working a boat. “You’ve got to trust yourself, too, and let it happen.”

Duluth News Tribune

Marine Mart in Port Huron to resume in June

 PORT HURON, MI – A long-standing tradition, sidelined by COVID, will make a return this year in a new location. The Summer Marine Mart, formerly the St. Clair Marine Mart, will be held Saturday, June 11, at the American Legion Post #8, 1026 Sixth St., in Port Huron, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

The Mart features nautical items, artifacts, photos, books, artwork, models, postcards and more. See the poster in the image gallery below for more information.

Second printing of 2022 Know Your Ships now available 

For the second year in a row, Know Your Ships has had to do a second printing of the standard-bound edition. Replacing the Stewart J. Cort for the cover of the second printing is the Roger Blough. In the announcement post, author Roger LeLievre stated, “She is 50 years old this year, and since her future is uncertain, we felt she deserved the honor. Note the second printing is for the standard-bound book only… we have plenty of the spiral-bound book with the Cort on the cover and those will continue to be available.”

You can order a copy at http://www.knowyourships.com/catalog.html 

Boatnerd survey

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Viking Cruises to sail from Duluth to Antarctica and South America in 2023

DULUTH, MN – Cruise passengers boarding the Viking Polaris in Duluth in the autumn of 2023 will embark on an epic 71-day, eight-country, three-continent voyage that includes stops in Canada, New York City and Mexico, a transit of the Panama Canal and a week in Antarctica, before disembarking in Argentina.

Viking Cruises’ expedition ship Octantis has already begun plying the Great Lakes this spring, with Duluth as one port of call. Its new sister ship Polaris will sail from Duluth to Toronto and back on Great Lakes grand tours next summer.

But now the Swiss-based cruise line has quietly started selling tickets for a blockbuster new itinerary that starts in Duluth on Sept. 12, 2023. The “Longitudinal World Cruise II” will explore the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, the U.S. East Coast and the Caribbean, Chilean fjords and glaciers and parts of Antarctica, before terminating on Nov. 21 in Ushuaia, Argentina, some 7,000 miles south of Duluth.

That makes it a roughly north-south voyage between the world’s farthest-inland seaport (Duluth) and the southernmost city in the world (Ushuaia). Pricing for this novel itinerary starts at an equally eye-opening $49,995. A current promotion on Viking’s website offers unspecified savings and free international airfare through June 30, 2022.

“Viking’s world cruise from Minnesota is totally unprecedented,” said Colleen McDaniel, editor in chief of Cruise Critic, a TripAdvisor website. “It’s an incredible itinerary that no other cruise line offers. The price is perfectly in line with other ships of similar nature — and the fare includes a ton too, which helps deliver even greater value to travelers.”

The “Longitudinal” journey is what’s known as a repositioning cruise, in which a cruise ship transitions between regions — such as moving from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean — at the beginning or end of a season. In this case, the Viking Polaris will be concluding its Great Lakes season and repositioning to the Antarctic region for the Southern Hemisphere summer.

The Duluth-to-Ushuaia cruise will be Viking’s second “Longitudinal” voyage of 2023. For the first one, the Octantis will reposition from Buenos Aires to Milwaukee from March 2 to May 5, excluding Duluth. That 65-day voyage starts at $44,995.

The midsize, 378-capacity Octantis and Polaris are themselves unprecedented in Great Lakes cruising. The Polar Class 6 luxury expedition vessels feature an in-ship marina called the Hangar, which can launch expeditions on special boats, kayaks and even six-passenger submarines.

“We’re seeing an enormous interest in these types of world cruises,” said McDaniel. “They’re an exciting vacation option for those who are eager to see the world, and do so in a comfortable and convenient way.

StarTribune

St. Marys Rapids to see highest flow level since 2019

SAULT STE. MARIE – Anglers and people using the St. Marys Rapids are advised that the area will see the highest flow since 2019 after June 6.

The compensating works gate movements are scheduled for June 6 and will increase the flow to approximately 720 cubic meters per second, or 25.4 thousand cubic feet per second. More detailed information about the change is available below in the International Lake Superior Board of Control release:

Anglers and other users of the St. Marys Rapids, please be advised of the increased flows and water levels that will be experienced in the Rapids in June. After the Compensating Works gate movements scheduled for Monday June 6, the St. Marys Rapids flow is expected to be approximately 720 cubic meters per second (m3/s) (25.4 thousand cubic feet per second (tcfs)) which is the highest flow in the Rapids since 2019.

At these flows, some flooding of low-lying areas of Whitefish Island is expected as additional gates are opened and flows increase. As a result, some recreational trails and features in these areas will likely be flooded, and users are encouraged to use extreme caution.

he water level of Lake Superior rose significantly in May after another month of significantly wetter than average conditions in the basin. Lake Superior increased 22 cm (8.7 in) last month, while on average the lake rises 10 cm (3.9 in) in May. Water supplies were closer to average in the Lake Michigan-Huron basin. Lake Michigan-Huron rose 8 cm (3.2 in) last month, which is the seasonal long-term average for that month. Outflows from Lake Superior and into Lake Michigan-Huron continue to be set in consideration of water levels upstream and downstream.

The Board expects the total outflow to be 2,470 m3/s (87.2 tcfs) in June, which is as prescribed by Lake Superior Regulation Plan 2012. As a result of this increase in total outflow, combined with ongoing repairs at the Canadian hydropower plant, the gate setting at the Compensating Works will be increased to the equivalent of approximately five gates fully open on Monday, June 6. This will be achieved by raising Gates #7 through #12 to a setting of 162 cm (64 in) open. Gate #16 will be opened to a setting 5 cm (2 in) to provide improved efficiency of sea lamprey trapping conducted annually by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  There will be no change to the setting of Gate #1, which supplies a flow of about 15 m3/s to the channel north of the Fishery Remedial Dike.

At the beginning of June, the lake wide water level of Lake Superior is 12 cm (4.7 in) above the seasonal long-term average (1918-2021) and 2 cm (0.8 in) above the level of a year ago. At the beginning of June, the lake-wide level of Lake Michigan-Huron is 27 cm (10.6 in) above average, 14 cm (5.5 in) below the level of a year ago.

Depending on the weather and water supply conditions during the next month, Lake Superior may rise by as much as 15 cm (5.9 in) and Lake Michigan-Huron water levels may rise by as much as 12 cm (4.7 in) in June.

Soo Today

Second printing of 2022 Know Your Ships now available 

For the second year in a row, Know Your Ships has had to do a second printing of the standard-bound edition. Replacing the Stewart J. Cort for the cover of the second printing is the Roger Blough. In the announcement post, author Roger LeLievre stated, “She is 50 years old this year, and since her future is uncertain, we felt she deserved the honor. Note the second printing is for the standard-bound book only… we have plenty of the spiral-bound book with the Cort on the cover and those will continue to be available.”

You can order a copy at http://www.knowyourships.com/catalog.html

Boatnerd survey

Please take a moment to complete our survey. It takes less than five minutes and will help us determine the future of Boatnerd. Thank you.

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