USS Cod submarine departs Cleveland for first time in 58 years
Cleveland, OH – For the first time in 58 years, the USS Cod submarine has departed Cleveland under tow across Lake Erie for scheduled maintenance.
At 11 a.m. Sunday, the Port Huron, MI,-based tug Manitou arrived at the USS Cod, hooked up to the 312-foot long submarine and began an 18-hour tow to Erie, PA for a drydock maintenance period. She was assisted by the Toledo-based tug John Francis. During its service, the USS Cod sank more than 12 enemy ships and was awarded seven battle stars before it officially arrived in Cleveland in July 1959.
As soon as the USS Cod was in the open channel, the submarine followed Navy traditions, including a signal from the recently restored horn to announce departure and firing a deck gun salute to the city of Cleveland.
“When we take in the lines securing Cod to the pier, the flag will be taken down at our stern and flown from the submarine’s battle gaff, or flag pole, located on the mast,” said Cod’s president Paul Farace. “All Navy ships do this when they get underway… hopefully we will not be held in place by nearly 60 years of silt accumulation at our pier.”
Normally, the USS Cod holds summer tours, but that will be put on hold for the next six to eight weeks as the maintenance is conducted.
“We hate to leave our fans and supporters for even a day, much less six weeks in our busy season, but the 78-year-old sub needs some new steel at her water line and a new high-tech hull coating system furnished in partnership by another Cleveland institution, Sherwin-Williams Paint Company,” Farace said.
The hull preservation and restoration work will take place in Erie, Pennsylvania at the Donjon Shipbuilding Company and is estimated to cost around $1 million. A signification portion of the funds is being provided by the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures Program, however, most of the funds will come from the USS Cod’s endowment which has been saved over the decades from tour fees and donations from citizens, veterans and corporations.
Read more and view a video at this link: https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/cleveland-metro/uss-cod-submarine-departs-cleveland-for-first-time-in-58-years
First containers leave Hamilton Port for Montreal and overseas
Hamilton, ON – Almost 300 containers were loaded onto the M/V Sedna Desgagnés at the Port of Hamilton June 12, as part of a new short sea shipping service launched by Hamilton Container Terminal (HCT) in collaboration with Groupé Desgagnés. Bound for the Port of Montreal, this new container service was developed by HCT, in partnership with the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA Ports), Desgagnes, Federal Marine Terminals and the Port of Montreal.
“A Great Lakes container service has been a goal for our organization since we set up shop in Hamilton six years ago,” said HCT President Amandeep Kaloti. “We are thrilled to see this initiative come to life with the help of our partners at HOPA, Desgagnés and FMT.”
‘Short Sea Shipping’ refers to city-to-city container shipments using the Great Lakes as a marine-highway alternative to road-based transportation. This marine alternative has a number of advantages, chiefly a 500 per cent lower carbon footprint, along with the ability to by-pass congested southern Ontario highways. Every day, more than 10,000 trucks move goods between the GTHA and Montreal. This service proves the potential to accommodate some of that traffic on a greener, less-congested water route. Upon arrival at the Port of Montreal, most of the containers will be transloaded onto oceangoing vessels, destined for overseas markets in Europe, India and the Middle East.
The service feeds Canadian export markets for products such as steel, agricultural products and lumber. HCT also sees significant opportunity in ‘flexibags,’ a fillable insert that allows the transport of liquid commodities by container, potentially enabling exports of Canadian goods like edible oils and Ontario wine.
“As we put the pandemic behind us and begin to focus on growing our economy and trade, this service could not be starting at a better time,” said Ian Hamilton, President & CEO of HOPA Ports. “There is an appetite to consider new solutions that help us build back smarter, greener, and more efficiently. Short sea shipping on the Great Lakes has been talked about for a long time, but a number of factors have aligned now to make it work.”
This shipment is the first of what is expected to be an increasingly frequent service for container movements on the Great Lakes. This trip will be followed by other Hamilton-Montreal voyages later this year, building up to 20+ sailings in 2022. By opting to move freight originating in the GTHA through our waterways, HCT’s customers will be choosing a cost-effective, efficient and more sustainable solution than truck travel to get their goods to distant markets.
