Topics

1

Shipping News and information / Great Lakes bulker Roger Blough aground

« on: May 28, 2016, 01:34:43 AM »

May 27, 2016. The U.S. flagged Great Lakes bulker Roger Blough, imo 7222138, is aground on Gros Cap Reef in Whitefish Bay in the extreme east end of Lake Superior just west of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan/Ontario.  The Coast Guard reports that the crew is safe but the ship is taking water.  The Roger Blough was downbound with a load of taconite (processed iron ore).  (There are 36 photos of the Blough on this site.)

Related, Great Lakes bulker Tim S. Dool lost all power yesterday about 60 miles west of the Blough's position and is being towed to Sault Ste. Marie for repairs.  The crew has been able to get some of the ship's generators operating and powering some lights but its main engine is dead.

At 11pm EDST the Blough seems to be stable and is not in danger of sinking.  Information is quite sketchy at this time.

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Shipping News and information / Federal Kivalina grounded in St. Lawrence River/Seaway, 1,000 Islands area

« on: May 28, 2014, 08:42:28 PM »

Federal Navigation's Federal Kivalina grounded in the St. Lawrence Seaway/St Lawrence River, New York, USA, in the 1,000 Islands area immediately north of the large bridge spanning the river.  Grounding occurred on May 27 when the downbound ship lost its rudder, swung around and grounded almost on shore and just above the bridge. Best photos can be found on Facebook at "St. Lawrence Ship Watchers" and also "Boatnerd."  

3

Shipping News and information / CSL's Richelieu's to scrap

« on: August 12, 2013, 12:50:04 AM »

Canadian Steamship Lines' Richelieu, 7901150, which has been laid up all year, is now appearing on AIS in the lower St. Lawrence River with a destination of Aliaga, Turkey.
It would appear she is on her way to the scrappers.  Built in 1980 as the Federal Ottawa and also named Lake Erie for a number of years, the Richelieu was one of a handful of CSL ships that have been laid up and seemed destined for the breakers with the new Trillium class ships arriving this year.

4

Shipping News and information / Villa D'Aquarius seized by U.S. officials

« on: June 27, 2012, 02:53:11 PM »

The cargo ship Villa D'Aquarius has been seized in Newark, NJ by U.S. officials after a preliminary inspection of the ship revealed what was thought to be voices in one of the containers.  This is being reported by www.yahoo.com Wed. July 26.  Given the circumstances officials believed the ship may be involved in smuggling aliens into the U.S.  The suspect container was not readily accessible and the ship was immediately docked in Newark, NJ to remove the overlying containers.

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Shipping News and information / Great Lakes 2012 shipping season now underway

« on: March 24, 2012, 02:27:00 PM »

At noon, EDST, April 24, the SOO locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan will open for business, joining the St. Lawrence Seaway and Welland Canal which opened a few days ago.  The 2012 shipping season on the Great Lakes, which have been remarkably ice free this warm winter, is now at hand.  The 1,000 foot Mesabi Miner, carrying taconite is expected to be the first ship through the SOO Locks, which connects Lake Superior with the rest of the Great Lakes.

6

Shipping News and information / Great Lakes bulker Maritime Trader sold and renamed

« on: July 30, 2011, 03:47:51 PM »

For those who follow the Great Lakes, the 1967-built Maritime Trader, IMO 6702301, has been sold to Lower Lakes Towing at bankruptcy auction and renamed Manitoba.  The venerable vessel is currently (July 30) at Hamilton, Ontario receiving repairs and repainting into the Lower Lakes paint scheme.

The Manitoba was built as the Mantadoc in 1967 and carried this name until 2002 when it was renamed the Teakglen.  As the Teakglen it spent its last years as a grain storage vessel in Goderich, Ontario. Refurbished and painted with a bright blue hull in 2005, the Maritime Trader was one of the older and more distinctive ships on the Great Lakes.

The Lower Lakes fleet is a veritable floating museum worthy of any ship lover's attention.  Fortunately their fleet is well documented on this site.

7

Shipping News and information / Upper Lakes fleet sold to Algoma Central

« on: February 26, 2011, 04:39:01 AM »

Two of the major Canadian Great Lakes shipping companies, Algoma Central and Upper Lakes Group announced today the sale of the Upper Lakes' fleet to Algoma Central for $85,000,000 effective this spring.  Details of the sale can be found at the current events section at www.boatnerd.com.

Upper Lakes has been a mainstay of Great Lakes shipping for 80 years and their current fleet is well represented on this site.  I would not be surprised if some of the older bulkers, those without self unloading devices, are retired, continuing a trend that started with the beginning of the current recession in North America.

This sale will significantly change Great Lakes shipping -- I certainly will miss the sharp looking Upper Lakes' ships in their distinctive livery.

8

Shipping News and information / CPO China foils hijacking attempt

« on: January 04, 2011, 11:11:08 PM »

News on www.yahoo.com at 1800 Tues 4 Jan reports that the products tanker CPO China, 9434204, flagged in the UK, foiled a hijacking attempt in the North Arabian Sea on Monday.  According to reports, the 20 crew members made it to a safe room from where they could control the ship.  The hijackers, who had fired upon and boarded the vessel, eventually gave up and returned to their skiffs left the immediate area.

9

Shipping News and information / Ship's crew poisoned on the Great Lakes

« on: December 29, 2010, 04:16:49 PM »

There have been several unusual events effecting shipping on the Great Lakes this December as this month has been unusually cold.  There have been several instances of ships being stuck in the ice on the connectors between the lakes, a few groundings and so on.  The strangest incidence was the poisoning on the crew of the Hermann Schoenig.  Carrying 19,000 tons of corn destined for Algeria, the ship anchored off Port Colborne, Ontario and radioed for help for the sick crew, a few dozen Chinese citizens.  Taken to a nearby hospital, at first their illness was a mystery.  Eventually it was determined that phosphine gas seeped from the hold into the living quarters of the ship, inflicting a potentially fatal illness on the crew.  The gas came from an anti rodent treatment of the corn. After the crew's health improved the ship was allowed to continue down the lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, stopping at Montreal.  During this voyage the windows in the accommodation section were open.  With temperatures well below freezing, the crew did not have winter clothing and it was difficult for them to stay warm.  In Montreal the crew was examined for a second time at a hospital and were given warm clothing as well as Christmas presents. The incident is still under investigation by Canadian officials.  Certainly this is one of the stranger incidents to happen on the Great Lakes in some years.  Published reports indicate had the ship not sought assistance when it did, fatalities could have occurred with continued exposure to the gas.  The Pilots, required of all salt water ships transiting the Great Lakes, were the ones to sound the alarm.

10

Shipping News and information / Another Great Lakes bulker scrapped

« on: November 12, 2010, 02:38:07 PM »

The Great Lakes bulker Algoisle, 5417820, built in 1963 and owned by Algoma Central arrived in Aliaga, Turkey for scrapping on November 11, 2010.
Currently the Canadian Leader, 6719330, built in 1967 and owned by Upper Lakes is currently in tow downbound on the St. Lawrence Seaway for eventual scrapping. Age and economy is finally catching up to several of our venerable Great Lakes ships.

11

Shipping News and information / Carnival Splendor adrift off Mexico with 4,500 passengers and crew

« on: November 09, 2010, 05:15:01 PM »

The Associated Press as reported on www.yahoo.com is reporting that Carnival's Carnival Splendor had a fire in the engine room and is adrift about 200 miles south of San Diego, Calif. The fire was put out without injury to passengers and crew but the ship had no air conditioning, hot water or telephone service.  Auxiliary power allowed cold running water and toilets to function by Monday night. Bottled water and cold food are available to passengers. Two Mexican seagoing tugs are to tow the ship to the port of Ensenada -- they are not expected to reach the ship until midday Tuesday then begin a very slow tow with an ETA at Ensenada of 8pm PST Wednesday.  The plan is to bus the passengers from Ensenada, Mexico to San Diego, Calif. (that is going to require one hell of a lot of buses plus problems at the border crossing.  Then the ship will be towed to Long Beach, California for repairs.  The ship is carrying 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crew members.
    The U.S. Navy's Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan has been diverted to the location of the cruise ship. About 70,000 pounds of supplies including bread, utensils, cups, milk, canned food and other items will be flown to the Reagan and then transferred to the cruise ship by helicopter.
    As an editorial comment once again the US Navy comes to the rescue of a civilian misadventure.  Another chapter in a long saga of cruise ship fires, diseases, and whatever.  It would be fun to watch this whole operation though!  Maybe one of our shipspotters is about the cruise ship!

12

Shipping News and information / Two Great Lakes Bulkers near Aliaga for scrapping

« on: November 02, 2010, 08:33:58 PM »

Two venerable Great Lakes bulkers, the Canadian Prospector (5426663) and Algoisle (5417820) are in tow in the Mediterranean and will arrive at Aliaga, Turkey for scrapping in a matter of a few days. Both ships are well documented on Shipspotting.  Sad to see them go as they just do not build them like these ships anymore.  Great Lakes bulkers have long lives due to their fresh water habitat but age and the downturn in the economy did them in.  Both were Canadian flagged with Canadian Prospector sailing for Upper Lakes and Algoisle part of the Algoma Central fleet.   

13

Trip reports / Sault Ste Marie locks are open on the Great Lakes

« on: March 22, 2010, 04:56:32 PM »

The Sault Ste Marie locks in MIchigan opened early this year on Sunday, March 21.  The early opening was due to less severe ice conditions as usual and a very strong demand for iron ore from the region's steel mills.  The locks connect Lake Superior with Lake Huron.  Ice is causing problems in a few locations most notably where Lake Huron becomes a river off Sarnia, Ontario/Port Huron, Michigan and in the Huron Cut.  Those of us who follow the 'lakers' are happy to see the boats back out on the lakes after winter layup.

14

Shipping News and information / Arctic Sea revisited

« on: September 01, 2009, 02:06:46 AM »

In a story from the U.S. weekly news magazine "TIME" (www.time.com) posted on the Yahoo news site (www.yahoo.com) on August 31, 20009 in the U.S. ---this is one of the longer news articles I have seen posted on yahoo-- there is an interesting theory postulated that the Arctic Sea was carrying cargo in addition to the stated lumber aboard, namely missles an/ or weapons destined to the Middle East (Syria, Iran).  The author of the article further postulates that the ship was tracked and boarded by agents from Israell.

I have no idea about the veracity of the author's hypotheses but the events as related by the news media and Russia certainly were hard to believe on face value.  This reads more like a novel and certainly would make a good one!!!!

At any rate the Arctic Sea saga is one of the more interesting and intriguing maritime events of this this past summer and one that has not been fully explained or at least explained in completely  :-o believable terms.

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Shipping News and information / New tug on Great Lakes

« on: February 08, 2009, 09:01:31 PM »

McAllister Towing's Michaela McAllister, which I and several other shipwatcher's photographed upbound on the St.Lawrence River in Quebec last summer, has been converted into a pusher tug at Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.  Renamed the Prentiss Brown, the tug is enroute to Milwaukee, Wisconsin this weekend (Feb 7-8, 2009), to be mated to the barge St. Mary's Conquest currently in winter layup in Milwaukee.  The Prentiss Brown is replacing the Susan W. Hannah.  News from www.boatnerd.com.