Unless where otherwise noted, port and vessel activity from October 6, 2022. Please send future port reports to news@boatnerd.net.
Duluth, MN – Superior, WI
Joshua Hebeisen
A good two days in the Twin Ports began Wednesday, October 5 on the Minnesota side of the harbor, with Walter J. McCarthy Jr. wrapping up a load of taconite pellets at CN Dock 6 around dawn before departing for Indiana Harbor at 07:18. About 20 minutes later, the next CN customer was inbound in tug/barge combo Victory/Maumee. The pair’s appearance in the Zenith City is a nice change of pace from their usual visits to Superior. The ex-Reserve would enjoy a load under the chutes and a little off the shiploader throughout the rest of the day and early evening. Just a little to the west, Philip R. Clarke finished taking on a cargo of blast furnace trim at CN-owned Hallett 5 – always a tedious multi-day affair – and cleared for U.S. Steel’s Gary Works along the industrial shoreline of Lake Michigan just after 09:00. Everyone’s favorite tugboat Missouri made a triumphant return from Marquette at 10:26 with a Brennan dredge barge and rafted tug Bulldog in two. The little G-tug that could dropped the pair off at the company’s Rice’s Point berth before getting some much-needed rest herself at Great Lakes Towing’s port terminal headquarters.
Taking a trek down the Minnesota Point sandbar to Superior’s Allouez Bay, Burns Harbor departed BNSF at 13:30 with 63,000 tons of Hibtac pellets for her namesake port. The footer would take the northern route across the lake headed up the North Shore and around Isle Royale past Thunder Bay to avoid weather conditions on the eastern portion of the Gitche Gumee. The Gales of November are coming early this year, folks. CSL’s Whitefish Bay pulled up the hook and proceeded inbound around 14:00 to take her own turn at the dock; she and fleetmate CSL Tadoussac had been waiting side-by-side at anchor since the morning hours.
What remained of a busy hump day would take place in Duluth. Elbeborg left her Superior berth at Gavilon and departed beneath the Aerial Lift Bridge at 17:25 with beet pulp pellets for Ireland, and USCGC Spar returned home an hour later after conducting buoy operations around the picturesque coast of Isle Royale. Victory/Maumee were outbound at 19:41, also taking the North Shore detour on the way to Sault Ste. Marie, and Mesabi Miner arrived to take their place at 20:12. Rare visitor (on this side of the harbor, at least) Algoma Discovery made her first Canal Park arrival of the year at 21:43 bound for a partial load of blast furnace trim at CN-Hallett Dock 5.
A considerably quieter Thursday would start with Atlantic Huron going to anchor off Superior at 02:30, where she joined CSL Tadoussac playing the waiting game. When Whitefish Bay departed at 05:34 for Nanticoke with 30,000 tons of Keetac, the Tad slipped inbound to complete the twofer and take on an identical load at the dock. Algoma Discovery was the only Duluth traffic, leaving already at 07:28 and setting up shop in the anchorage. She is scheduled to top off in Superior. No other boats moved for the remainder of the day, though Federal Hunter, not yet mentioned, continues to unload her cement cargo at Ash Grove. American Spirit is still undergoing repairs at Enbridge as well.
Silver Bay, MN
Joshua Hebeisen
Veteran steamer Wilfred Sykes visited Silver Bay for what was potentially the first time of her career earlier this week; she departed on Wednesday morning with sinter for Toledo. The Northshore Mining stockpile is getting ever-smaller as the idled facility continues to operate on stand-by until at least April of 2023.
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.
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- G-tug Missouri proudly returns to Duluth after retrieving Brennan’s tug Bulldog and crane barge. David Schauer image, October 5
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- Loaded deep with BFT, Philip R. Clarke departs Duluth with Whitefish Bay and CSL Tadoussac waiting at anchor in the distance. David Schauer image, October 5
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- Federal Hunter looks sharp unloading cement in her bright coat of red. David Schauer image, October 5
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- Tug/barge Victory/Maumee load off the chutes at CN Dock 6 in West Duluth. David Schauer image, October 5
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- A former DM&IR locomotive crane hoists up an ore chute that broke at the hinge. Victory/Maumee keep loading below. David Schauer image, October 5
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- Steamer Wilfred Sykes makes a very rare – and possibly her first – visit to Silver Bay. David Schauer image, October 5
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- A look at the stockpile left at Cleveland-Cliffs Northshore Mining. David Schauer image, October 5
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- The Sykes calls it a trip and sets sail for Toledo. David Schauer image, October 5
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- John D. Leitch heads upbound past Mission Point with a colorful fall shoreline extending into the distance. Stephen Sostaric image, October 5
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- Wilfred Sykes enters the Rock Cut amidst a backdrop of color fall foilage. Chuck Zentmeyer image, October 6
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- Sykes in the Cut. Stephen Sostaric image, October 6
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- Downbound at dawn is Hon. James L. Oberstar. Pictured here at Marine City, the handsome laker would next be headed to her birthplace of Toledo. Lori Hannon image, October 5
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- Lee A. Tregurtha’s spotlight looks a little stubborn as the laker glides up the River Rouge. Christopher Dark image, October 5
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- They fly now? Herbert C. Jackson spreads her wings off Solstice Steps in Lake Erie. Lance Aerial Media image, October 6
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- NOAA’s Thomas Jefferson downbound after her summer expedition on the Great Lakes. Bill Salton image, October 4
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- Heerengracht is welcomed into Johnstown on her first visit to the port. Port of Johnstown image, October 5
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- Bogdan waits for the rain to stop before taking on a load of soybeans in Johnstown. Port of Johnstown image, October 6