Season’s first vessels Speer and Gott arrive at Soo Locks
Sault Ste. Marie, MI – “They’re here . . .” Wednesday afternoon the first two ships of the 2022 navigation season arrived at the piers below the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Fleet mates Edgar B. Speer and Edwin H. Gott will wait below the locks until the March 25 midnight opening of the Poe Lock. The Speer arrived a few hours ahead of the Gott and will have the honors of opening the season with the first cargo lockage.
The park and viewing platform will be open March 24 from 11:30 p.m. to March 25 at 1:30 a.m. The Visitor Center will open March 25 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for an open house. Know Your Ships author Roger LeLievre will be selling/autographing the 2022 edition from noon-3 p.m., with a portion of the proceeds going to the Visitor Center.
If you cannot make it to the opening, there will be a Facebook Live starting slightly before midnight of the first ship.
The Speer made it to all the check-in points and the pier first so will have the honors of opening the navigation season. A party of local dignitaries will head out to the vessel Thursday afternoon to recognize the captain and crew with plaques, hats and other gifts. Greeting the first ship is a long-standing tradition in Sault Ste. Marie highlighting the importance of shipping and the locks to the community.
Earlier Wednesday, CCGS Griffon passed upbound. In the late morning, the Purvis Marine tugs Anglian Lady and Wilfred M. Cohen were upbound to the lower harbor with the barge Ironmaster, which had spent the winter at the Lime Island dock.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District
St. Lawrence Seaway opens for 2022 navigation season
Massena, NY – A sign of spring hit the St. Lawrence Seaway Tuesday morning. As of 8 a.m. March 22, the Montreal and Lake Ontario sections of the Seaway had opened to vessels for the 2022 navigation season.
The Seaway had its first commercial vessel a day ahead of planned opening as Canada Steamship Lines’ CSL Welland made its way upbound escorted by the Canadian Coast Guard ice-breaking vessel Martha L. Black.
As of 8:30 a.m. on March 22, there were several ships in the opened portion of the Seaway. That included the vessel Atlantic Spirit approaching the St. Lambert Lock and CSL Welland at Beauharnois.
Prior to this portion of the waterway opening, ice clearing efforts were conducted by the Canadian Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Transportation and Great lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. This is the earliest recorded opening of the Seaway.
WWTI
Crews removing fuel, water from sinking Lake Superior tugboat
Duluth, MN – The U.S. Coast Guard continues to work on a tugboat that’s partially underwater in the Duluth Harbor to remove fuel and water from the vessel.
The retired U.S. Army Corps tugboat, named Lake Superior, “was listing over the weekend but was supported by ice,” Joseph McGinnis, the waterways management branch chief with the Coast Guard, told Bring Me The News on Monday.
But by Monday morning, the stern of the vessel sunk because the ice started melting, McGinnis said. The U.S. Coast Guard learned of the issue at about 9 a.m. Monday and responded to the tugboat’s slip, off Railroad Street near Pier B and the Compass Minerals dock, to mitigate any potential environmental hazards.
It’s still not clear what caused the tugboat to start taking on water, with McGinnis telling Bring Me The News on Wednesday the hope is that question will be answered when the vessel is lifted out of the water.
Contractors were headed to the tugboat on Wednesday to “perform lightering and dewater operations,” McGinnis said, with the goal being to remove any fuel, lube oil and water in the vessel. Then, it will be up to the owner of the tugboat, Billington Contracting, to determine what to do from there.
The U.S. Coast Guard says it wants to ensure the tugboat will not pose a threat to the waterway or the environment.
“Being that the vessel is in a slip, there is no threat to the waterway and does not present a hazard to other vessels. As for safety of the environment, the Coast Guard is monitoring the vessel for any pollution. As soon as all potential pollutants, such as the diesel fuel, lube oil, etc., are removed from the vessel, the Coast Guard will not be involved with the vessel since there will be no threat to the environment,” McGinnis said.
The Coast Guard pollution responders continue to monitor the vessel and are staying in touch with the contractors at the scene.
Bring Me The News
Shipping season opens at Green Bay with tug-barge
Green Bay, WI – The 2022 shipping season is officially underway for the Port of Green Bay. The first shipment of cargo arrived on Friday. The Michigan – Great Lakes (tug and barge) kicked off the shipping season with a delivery of petroleum products to US Venture. This year’s winner in the First Ship Contest is Ellen Buhrmann of Merrill, WI, whose guess was right on target.
