Port Reports – September 27, 2022

Please send port reports to news@boatnerd.net.

Note: Current weather conditions in the Great Lakes region are forcing vessels to hug the shoreline, go to anchor, and/or take delays as they go about their business.

Duluth, MN – Superior, WI – Joshua Hebeisen
High winds on eastern Lake Superior have forced ships to seek safe passage up and around the northern shoreline, resulting in a slow day of Twin Ports traffic that saw only two vessel passages overall. American Integrity was outbound the Superior piers at 09:11 with a load of taconite from BNSF, due next in Burns Harbor to unload. After taking a route past scenic Isle Royale due to the weather, Arthur M. Anderson finally made port at 15:16 via the Duluth Entry with a load of limestone from the docks at Calcite. Superior’s Graymont plant would be the recipient of her cargo; an empty Anderson later cast off around midnight to shift over to the CN 6 gravity docks.

Marquette, MI – Oggdo Bogdo
Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader took an unusual route to get to the docks Monday Evening. The tug/barge combo appeared to follow the route towards the western Lake Superior ports, then suddenly shifted almost directly due south towards Marquette. It is unclear whether this is due to the conditions on the lake which have forced other ships to cling to the shorelines, or due to a change in orders. The latter seems more likely since she was out in the middle of the lake before changing direction, not by the shore. Either way, at 20:57 they arrived at LS&I.

Brevort, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
John J. Boland rolled out past the breakwater at 07:15 with a load of sand for Buffalo Bills territory.

Port Inland, MI – Andrew Meyer
My apologies for the lack of reports the last week or so. There have been internet issues at the house making it difficult to send the reports in. Luckily, it’s been a quiet week across my span of ports!

Manitowoc arrived on September 21 at 0455 and departed about 12 hours later. Her departure would be the last traffic until Sunday, which would feature another Rand fleetmate, the classic laker Saginaw. The Sag would arrive around midnight Sunday morning and depart at the slightly more respectable hour of 1011. H. Lee White would replace the Saginaw at the dock, and then depart at 2017 Sunday evening. Sam Laud is due Tuesday morning.

Southern Lake Michigan Ports – Andrew Meyer
Chicago, IL: There has not been a lot of traffic the last several days. Prior to that, possibly the Caroline McKee and Commander have been making their usual run, as well as the Undaunted and Pere Marquette.
Indiana Harbor, IN: Unlike neighboring Gary, Indiana Harbor has been slightly busier. I am unable to access the AIS list from before the weekend, but Mesabi Miner arrived at 0822 on the 24th, and would depart early on Sunday morning. Wilfred Sykes made a 1032 arrival on the 23rd of September and would spend two days in port, with a departure at 1106 Sunday. She’d arrive almost exactly 24 hours later. Joseph L. Block made a day out of it on Monday, with an 0536 arrival and a 2120 departure.
Gary, IN: John G. Munson arrived at 1208 on September 24. Her departure would follow at 2356. Other than that, Indiana Harbor arrived at 2051 on September 26. Edgar B. Speer is due early Tuesday- she’d be in port by now, but is hugging the west shore of the lake due to high winds. Great Republic is also due Tuesday.
Burns Harbor, IN: H. Lee White would arrive on September 21 in the evening, and depart after a full day in port on the 22nd at 2224. Anglian Lady continued her shuttle service with an arrival at 1633 on the 21st and a 2145 departure on the 23rd. Burns Harbor made her usual run to town with an arrival at 0859 on the 23rd, and departed after spending 23 hours and 57 minutes in port. Wilfred Sykes arrived on Sunday at 1331, and departed on Monday at 0634. The Solina, one of the Polsteam 623s, is at anchor waiting to arrive. 

Sturgeon Bay, WI – Joshua Hebeisen
Stewie J. on the move! #1 finally pulled away from the dock at Bay Shipbuilding and headed north at noon, due next in Superior later this week to take on her first cargo of the season.

Drummond Island, MI – Andrew Meyer
With so much of the Drummond Islander III, there’s no way of knowing for me if there was any traffic the last few days, I don’t think there has been though.

Thessalon, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Saginaw slithered out of Serpent Harbour at lunchtime to top off her load at Meldrum Bay.

Meldrum Bay, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Cool classic Herbert C. Jackson arrived to take on another stone cargo a little after 09:00, but with tug/barge Laura L. VanEnkevort/Joseph H. Thompson already at the dock, the proud Interlake veteran set up shop at anchor. Two two (technically, three) vessels swapped places at noon, with Laura and her barge getting underway to unload on the St. Clair River. An inbound Saginaw took refuge to the north of Cockburn Island while waiting for her turn to load.

Stoneport, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
Joyce L. VanEnkevort/Great Lakes Trader came off the lake around 23:00 with an empty dock, but opted to go to anchor off the breakwater to wait out weather.

Calcite, MI – Andrew Meyer
Much like the other limestone ports the last week or slow, traffic has been pretty slow. Manitowoc, who has been making the rounds, as you’ll see below, arrived in port on September 24 at 0640. Her departure at 1913; the Arthur M. Anderson followed the same pattern of arrival and departure to within an hour of the Manitowoc. Undaunted would arrive on Monday at 1114 in a rather unusual trip north, the last several weeks, she’s been on shuttle duty in the lower Lake Michigan ports.

Detroit, MI – Windsor, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
McKeil Marine’s Harvest Spirit wrapped up at ADM in the early-morning hours, pulling away from the dock at around 01:45 to commence the journey south for Nanticoke. Saltie Reestborg is next in line but remained at anchor throughout the day. Activity on the Detroit side of the river began at 02:03 with Philip R. Clarke calling on Mistersky, which had the classic laker all fueled up and ready to go shortly after 06:00. The dock’s previous customers, pair Joyce L. VanEnkevort/Great Lakes Trader, had departed the area at 02:10 for Stoneport. Clarke, on her part, is due next in Calcite. More fueling action would take place later in the morning with upbound Defiance/Ashtabula stopping in port from about 07:30 to 11:30 on their way up north to Bruce Mines. Classy Le Dumont-D’Urville arrived for the cruise ship dock at 12:57, where she remains as of Monday night; Iver Bright left around 15:41 for the return trip to Sarnia after handling asphalt at Ajax; and Federal Oshima was upbound for Thunder Bay at the same time after finishing up her business at Nicholson. 

The mood in the Motor City turned somber midafternoon as 95-year-old S.T. Crapo, once a member of the Detroit-based Port Huron Cement fleet, was gently guided down the river by tugs Molly M 1 and Manitou on the way to her deathbed in Port Colborne. The old steamer was able to temporarily put off her date with the scrapper’s torch thanks to weather conditions, which forced the tow to take refuge at Windsor’s Morterm dock after passing the downtown skyline. Fittingly, the Crapo will now get one last extended look at the place of her birth directly across the river, once home to shipbuilding giant Great Lakes Engineering Works.

An anticlimactic end to the day came in the form of Robert S. Pierson, stopping for fuel in the evening at Windsor’s Sterling terminal before continuing upbound for Sarnia.

Click here for a video of the Crapo’s last passage through the Detroit River, courtesy of local photographer extraordinaire Andrew Russell.

Lake Erie Ports – Bill Kloss
Toledo, OH: Wilf Seymour/Alouette Spirit departed for Sillery, PQ at 08:53. Algoma Transport is loading ore for Dofasco in Hamilton, ON.
Marblehead, OH: Cuyahoga left late Sunday night with stone for Windsor, ON.
Sandusky, OH: Manitoulin departed with coal for Algoma Steel at the Soo. Manitowoc arrived at 16:52.
Cleveland, OH: Manitowoc arrived early Monday morning, unloaded at Ontario Stone and departed for Sandusky at 11:52. Federal Yukon is at the Port  and American Courage is on the shuttles.
Ashtabula, OH: Oakglen is still at the Pinney dock.
Erie, PA: Algoma Innovator arrived at 03:50 to unload road salt from Goderich, ON.
Buffalo, NY: New York/Double Skin 509A arrived at the Marathon terminal in Tonawanda at 09:19. Mark W. Barker is at CSI Sands.
Nanticoke, ON: CSL Tadoussac arrived at the Port Dover anchorage at 09:19. Algocanada is at Imperial Oil. CSL Niagara arrived at 16:43 and is also at anchor.

While we do not currently have daily write-ups for the following ports, their respective port authority websites post schedules of vessel traffic that are embedded below. Each schedule takes the form of a miniature webpage within a box – scroll with your cursor within the box (or slide your finger within the box on a mobile device) to move through the schedule as you would a normal webpage. To move up or down the actual Port Reports page itself, make sure your cursor/finger is outside of the box.

Green Bay, WI – Port of Green Bay
Click on vessel image for voyage info.

Hamilton, ON – Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority
Scroll past AIS map for arrival/departure schedule.