Port and vessel activity from March 12, 2023, unless stated otherwise. Please send future port reports to news@boatnerd.net.
Owen Sound, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Before the clocks turned ahead, Algoma Innovator arrived late Saturday night for what will be a hard-earned (and likely brief) winter lay-up along the river. The weary winter workhorse has been hauling salt from Goderich, ON, for the entirety of the past few months and is long overdue for some rest and relaxation.
Saginaw River, MI – Todd Shorkey
With the arrival of the tug Samuel de Champlain and cement barge Innovation, the 2023 shipping season has started on the Saginaw River. The pair arrived at the Holcim Cement dock in Essexville at 3:05 am on Sunday, March 12th. This is the earliest start to the season since I began keeping records in 2005. The earliest I had recorded before today was on March 18, 2020 when the tug Spartan and tank barge Spartan II arrived at the Port Fisher Dock in Bay City. The latest start to a season on the Saginaw River? April 29th, 2014.
Port Huron, MI – Sarnia, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Algoma Tankers family reunion! For a brief time on Sunday, all four tankers in the fleet were together in the vicinity of Sarnia. Algonova set up the gathering at 05:43, arriving from Cheboygan, MI, to take her place with Algoterra at the lower dock. Just to the north, Algocanada was still tied up at the Government Dock. The quartet was complete midafternoon as an upbound Algosea passed beneath the Blue Water Bridge and out to anchorage in Lake Huron. She is still on the hook as of late Sunday night with petroleum products from Nanticoke, ON. The party over, Algoterra departed at 18:37 for Nanticoke. Algocanada headed out in the opposite direction an hour later, bound for Green Bay, WI. Iver Bright made port at 22:20 to tie up at Suncor.
Detroit, MI – Windsor, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Late Sunday morning, CCGS Griffon arrived Sterling Fuels for a drink before the start of the spring breakout season. New York/Double Skin 509A arrived for Marathon at 09:07, USCGC Bristol Bay tied up at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit around 10:00, and Iver Bright departed the River Rouge for Sarnia, ON, at 16:34. Griffon’s eventual departure in the afternoon allowed fleetmate CCGS Samuel Risley to make the brief trip down from the Dieppe Gardens to fuel up for herself. She would return to her berth to admire the shrubbery later in the evening.
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- Samuel de Champlain/Innovation arrive Essexville, MI, under the cover of darkness to kick off the 2022–2023 shipping season on the Saginaw River. Todd Shorkey image, March 12
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- With spotlights shining, the tug/barge pull up to Holcim with a cargo of cement. Todd Shorkey image, March 12
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- A view in daylight at the dock. Steve Gunther image, March 12
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- The pair sets sail for Alpena, MI. Steve Gunther image, March 12
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- An optical illusion on the St. Clair River at Marysville, MI, makes this situation look a lot closer than it actually was! Doug Dumas image, March 10