Port Reports – October 18, 2022

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Duluth, MN – Superior, WI – Joshua Hebeisen
Gale warnings issued through October 19 have disrupted traffic on the big lake and beyond, with vessels seeking shelter along the shoreline, cozying up at their berths for extended stays in port, and clustering in safe havens to wait out the storm. Action inside the Duluth-Superior Harbor remained as busy as ever, however, beginning with an exchange of corporate fleetmates at CN Dock 6 around 04:00 Monday morning. As rare visitor Saginaw pulled away with an ore cargo destined for Algoma Steel, H. Lee White made her way over from the Superior side of the harbor after unloading limestone at Envirotech-Hallett Dock 8. The former cleared the Duluth piers 40 minutes later to take the scenic route up and around the northern shore of Lake Superior. An extended trip to the Soo, but a silver lining nonetheless – there’s no better time to see the sights than with the fall colors in full bloom. Indiana Harbor would do the same after departing Superior with Conneaut-bound taconite at 05:35. 

Strong crosswinds on a chilly morning would prove a menace to navigation even close to shore, as Federal Kumano discovered following a somewhat awkward angle of approach to the Duluth Ship Canal. The problems would continue even after the vessel safely made her way inbound at 06:58; neither her thrusters nor the combined strength of G-tugs Kentucky and Missouri would be enough to guide her into the slip at the port terminal. The process was eventually aborted with the red – perhaps flustered – saltie going to anchor in the inner harbor instead. The unloading of her cargo of heavy equipment will have to wait. Complicating the process was the presence of fellow saltie Humbergracht already in the slip unloading her own cargo of quartz sand.

Meanwhile, Joseph L. Block shifted south from Graymont to BNSF Dock 5 to fill her now-empty holds with taconite pellets in Allouez Bay. H. Lee White departed Duluth with ore for Cleveland later in the day at 14:53, putting the Block in position to wrap up the day with an 18:51 departure of her own via Superior. Whereas the White took the northern route along the shoreline, the Block opted to go to anchor off Duluth. She is due next in Burns Harbor. Waiting out the weather within the confines of the Minnesota Point sandbar are Samuel de Champlain/Innovation at Holcim and American Century at MERC.

St. Marys River – Know Your Ships
Due to gale warnings on Lake Superior and northern Lake Huron, only three vessels transited the St. Marys River on Monday. Kaministiqua was upbound in the morning and Mark W. Barker was upbound in late afternoon. The latter was bound for the Soo Locks NW pier to unload sand loaded at Brevort. MI. The French-flagged passenger vessel Le Dumond d’Urville arrived in the early morning at the Valley Camp dock and departed for Parry Sound at 5 p.m. This was the last cruise ship visit for the busy 2022 season. Boat tours though the Soo Locks have also ended for the season.

Port Inland, MI – Andrew Meyer
My apologies on the lack of reporting the last week or so – I have had some serious computer issues that finally got dealt with. I’m picking up with Friday, October 14 and going from there. 

Port Inland’s traffic this weekend and early this week has seen the regular caller Manitowoc arrive at 0416 on Saturday. She’d depart exactly ten hours later. The venerable steamer Wilfred Sykes made port at 1812 on Sunday evening to load her belly with another one of her limestone loads to southern Lake Michigan. She’d depart early in the morning on Monday. Replacing her at the dock was the Undaunted and Pere Marquette 41 in a fairly infrequent visit from her regular southern Lake Michigan runs. She clocked an 0833 arrival. Chances are good that with the weather, she’s waiting out the tumultuous waters of Lake Michigan. Kaye Barker is due within the next couple days.

Green Bay, WI – Joshua Hebeisen
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Sturgeon Bay, WI – Joshua Hebeisen
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Southern Lake Michigan Ports – Andrew Meyer
Chicago, IL: Federal Yukina snaked up the Calumet River on Friday morning, coming from Port Colborne. 0809 Saturday saw the Caroline McKee and Commander arrive upriver as well. GL Ostrander also arrived with cement in mind at 0154 Sunday morning.
Indiana Harbor, IN: Friday saw the Wilfred Sykes arrive the port at 0435 and depart at a similarly ungodly hour of 2336. The next traffic was the Walter J. McCarthy Jr., arriving early Monday morning. She remains in port as of 2130 Monday.
Gary, IN: Philip R. Clarke arrived on Sunday evening but anchored off Gary for some unknown reason. No traffic is in the area for Gary and no time is posted for her arrival. The Edgar B. Speer is due sometime on the 18th.
Burns Harbor, IN: An 0200 arrival and a 2005 departure of the Wilfred Sykes on Saturday was the port’s only weekend traffic. The rest of the week has the Joseph L. Block and Burns Harbor in line.

Port Dolomite, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
Waiting her turn at the dock, Manitowoc sailed partway into the isled bay of Cedarville at 03:30 Monday morning prepped and at the ready. John J. Boland’s 15:00 departure for Green Bay allowed her to immediately take her place and begin to load.

Bruce Mines, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Algoma Intrepid arrived at 14:45.

Thessalon, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Classic laker Michipicoten was in before noon and out before midnight, through went to anchor not far off the shore to exercise caution with the weather.

Meldrum Bay, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Frontenac departed for Windsor at 04:00, giving the dock time to prepare for the 05:30 arrival of the American Mariner. After loading, she would head north to take shelter near DeTour.

Stoneport, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
Sketchy AIS coverage indicates there may be a vessel at the dock.

Calcite, MI – Andrew Meyer
A pair of arrivals on Friday- Lee A. Tregurtha at 0120 and American Mariner at 2145, would compose the weekend’s traffic. Their subsequent departures at 0655 and 1730 on Saturday would be the last traffic until Monday, with the Dirk S. VanEnkevort and Michigan Trader at 0350. 

Detroit, MI – Windsor, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
A quiet day began with Algoma Niagara departing the Rouge before 10:00 en route to the St. Clair River. Alpena was the highlight with an arrival for Holcim at 10:43, Everlast/Norman McLeod stopped in port at Mistersky from 17:11 to 21:17, and Harvest Spirit spent the entire day across the river at ADM.

Lake Erie Ports – Bill Kloss
Monroe, MI: Interlake’s Mesabi Miner is anchored in Lake Erie.
Toledo, OH: Arthur M. Anderson  is anchored in Lake Erie. Clyde S .VanEnkevort/Erie Trader is at Ironville and Evans Spirit is at Midwest.
Marblehead, OH: Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder left late Sunday night for Cleveland.
Sandusky, OH: Manitoulin departed at 06:16 with coal for Algoma Steel at the Soo. Blair McKeil moved up to the loader.
Cleveland, OH: American Courage arrived at 09:06 to deliver 23.000 tons of Tilden pellets to the Bulk Terminal. She will then be back on the shuttles. Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder is anchored off of Lakewood, OH.  NACC Argonaut arrived at 19:14 and anchored off of Lakewood as well. Calumet is  running another shuttle for Cliffs. In port are Sea EagleII/St. Marys Cement II, Federal Hudson, Federal Shimanto and Peyton Lynn C
Fairport Harbor, OH: CSL Tadoussac is scheduled for Morton Salt but is anchored off of Point Pelee in Lake Erie.
Nanticoke, ON: Arthur M. Anderson departed at 00:07 for Toledo, OH. Algonorth and Algosea are at anchor off of Port Dover. Also anchored are Robert S. Pierson, Wilf Seymour/Alouette Spirit and Albert/Margaret.

Buffalo, NY – Brian Wroblewski
Around 4AM on the 16th the Le Bellot finally got underway for the Welland canal and departed from her anchorage spot near Sturgeon Point.

Another series of weather delays occurred on the 17th. The NACC Capri and the 623-foot saltwater ship PUNA both exited the Welland Canal bound for Buffalo and Lackawanna respectively, but ended up in the Port Colborne Anchorage on account of high winds. Capri dropped her hooks around 10:30AM with the Puna arriving right next to her that afternoon around 4:30PM.

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.