Port and vessel activity from Wednesday, July 26, 2023, unless stated otherwise. Please send future port reports to news@boatnerd.net.
Duluth, MN – Superior, WI – Scott Bjorklund
Duluth Entry
Interlake classic, and frequent visitor to Duluth-Superior this season, Hon. James L. Oberstar departed at 02:51 (Central) Wednesday morning for Marquette; they were originally scheduled to shuttle coal from SMET to Graymont, but that operation has been pushed off for another visit. Steamer Philip R. Clarke arrived at 10:31 with stone from Cedarville for Hallett Dock 5. US Coast Guard cutter Spar arrived through the entry at 12:13 while conducting drills and training. Finally, steamer Arthur M. Anderson departed at 13:49 with Minntac pellets for Gary Works. As of Wednesday afternoon, Philip R. Clarke was unloading at Hallett Dock 5. John G. Munson has changed orders since yesterday, and will no longer be coming to Duluth this time around. Besides Clarke’s potential departure sometime Thursday, Duluth will be quiet until the arrival of regular visitor Paul R. Tregurtha Friday evening.
Superior Entry
After a few days of unloading grain at Elevator M, Algoma Sault finally departed at 03:56 (Central) Wednesday morning empty for Thunder Bay. As of Wednesday afternoon, G3 Marquis was still loading at BNSF while Whitefish Bay waited outside Superior. Due to a breakdown with BNSF’s long and sophisticated conveyor system, it is unknown when G3 Marquis will finish loading. It’s possible due to the wait that Whitefish Bay might get their orders changed for another port. American Integrity is due Thursday morning, but we’ll see if anything changes.
Two Harbors, MN – Gary Putney
As of 15:00, Burns Harbor was still loading at Two Harbors, and John G. Munson is Northeast of Outer Island for Two Harbors.
Silver Bay, MN – Gary Putney
Stewart J. Cort was still loading at Silver Bay as of 15:00.
Thunder Bay, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Loaded with grain from P&H, Barbro G cleared the breakwaters at 00:34 on a Seaway trip to Sorel-Tracy, QC. Federal Alster, completing a trip across the big lake, arrived at 10:27 to snag the empty berth with no waiting required — likely leaving Fednav fleetmates Federal Mosel, Federal Montreal, and Federal Kumano fuming from the anchorage.
Kaministiqua was inbound the opposite end of the harbor at 02:06 for a long day of loading at Richardson Main. The former Misener bulker would depart at 20:50 for Sorel-Tracy, and Federal Mosel was in from anchor an hour later to finally take her turn.
In the last changing of the guard for Wednesday, CSL St-Laurent sailed out of town for Montreal, QC, at 15:13. Isa eagerly arrived off the lake at 16:49 to take over at Viterra A.
Besides the aforementioned salties Federal Montreal and Federal Kumano at anchor, other ships staying put for the day included Sunda loading at Thunder Bay Terminals.
Marquette, MI – Noah H.
On Monday, the American Spirit arrived for another challenging load of ore at 05:55. The timeline of the Spirit’s visits is always uncertain, but this time featured a sub-24 hour load, which is impressive for such an unnatural process. The 1004 foot behemoth departed for Toledo at 05:30 on Tuesday. Soon after, at 09:16, Joyce L. VanEnkevort/Great Lakes Trader arrived to start their own load. That undertaking would last through the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday, as Herbert C. Jackson’s return to Marquette at 18:51 involved joining the tug/barge duo at the docks, taking the unooccupied southern dock while the Joyce held the northern one. Neither vessel would depart on Wednesday, so the Hon. James L. Oberstar (coming from the west after unloading stone in Duluth) will have to anchor close by upon her arrival sometime after midnight.
Drummond Island, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder arrived at 18:32.
Port Dolomite, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
Manitoulin departed at 00:42 with stone for the Southwestern Sales West/Lehigh Hanson berth in Windsor, ON.
Port Inland, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
Great Republic departed at 03:37 for Muskegon, MI, giving way to Manitowoc 20 minutes later. The latter departed at 14:11 for Erie, PA. Anchored just off the coast, Joseph L. Block got the all-clear to proceed inbound at 14:35. She departed at 21:46 for Port Dolomite, MI, to wrap up a two-part stone load.
Holland, MI – Noah H.
Undaunted/Pere Marquette 41 arrived on Tuesday at 10:03 to complete the second part of an eastern Lake Michigan two-for, the previous edition being a Grand Haven visit. This time featured a stop at the Padnos dock before their 19:41 departure for Gary.
Grand Haven, MI – Noah H.
On Monday, Sam Laud departed the Meekhof’s D&M dock at 03:52, headed next to Port Inland. That concluded a roughly 5 hour unload of aggregate, almost exactly matching her 5 hour visit from two days before, which featured a different cargo (stone). In the waning hours of Monday, Undaunted/Pere Marquette 41 arrived at 23:23 to pull up to the Verplank dock up in Ferrysburg. By 07:44 on Tuesday, the hard working tug/barge duo was off to Holland a few hours south. The next traffic would not be until Wednesday evening with the arrival of the rare Algoma Compass. It might be the Compass’ first visit since around the 2019-2020 season. This trip featured a load of stone from Bruce Mines bound for the Verplank dock, a run typically completed by Algoma’s Innovator or Intrepid vessels, but nobody is complaining about a change of pace. Looking ahead, Undaunted/Pere Marquette 41 should be back in the area in the next day or two after loading up at Burns Harbor.
Muskegon, MI – Noah H.
Muskegon has seen a bit of variety in the past day or two, starting with the departure of Meredith Ashton at 15:14 on Tuesday following a weeklong stay in the harbor. The next traffic would come on Wednesday with the arrival of the cruise ship Pearl Mist at 08:26. Their visit would extend into the late hours on Wednesday, finally concluding with a 23:13 departure. Before that departure, however, Great Republic arrived with stone from Port Inland at 19:35 to unload at Lakeside Verplank.
Ludington, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
Ludington’s beloved Badger may be missing from the port calls this week, but other lovable lakers have attempted to fill the void. Sam Laud arrived at 15:38 Tuesday with stone from Port Inland, MI, tying up at Rieth-Riley — coincidentally, right next to LMC — to unload. The Laud departed late Tuesday evening for Stoneport, MI. Spartan/Spartan II were inbound the following morning at 07:48 for OxyChem, departing at 14:06 for Bath, ON.
Calcite, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
Levy Brennan-bound, H. Lee White departed at 03:52 for another trip to the Motor City. Lee A. Tregurtha arrived at 11:33 for the southern loading slip at Carmeuse.
Stoneport, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
Dirk S. VanEnkevort/Michigan Trader were outbound at 02:15 for Blue Water Aggregates in Marysville, MI. Sam Laud took over midafternoon.
Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Algoma Intrepid arrived at 09:14 Wednesday and is loading at Compass Minerals.
Monroe, MI – Bill Kloss
Paul R. Tregurtha departed to Superior, WI.
Toledo, OH – Bill Kloss
Victory/Maumee departed to Sault Ste. Marie, ON and Kaye E. Barker left after loading at CSX. Algoma Conveyor is at Andersons and Evans Spirit is at Midwest Terminals.
Marblehead, OH – Bill Kloss
Saginaw departed with limestone for Southwestern Sales in Kingsville. On one of her off of Lake Ontario trips, Robert S. Pierson arrived to load at Holcim.
Sandusky, OH – Bill Kloss
Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin left with a hold full of coal for Hamilton.
Cleveland, OH – Bill Kloss
Arrivals were Samuel de Champlain/Innovation to Holcim with cement, Wilfred Sykes to unload at Cliffs, cruise ship Ocean Navigator to the Port passenger dock, Indiana Harbor with 63,000 tons of UTAC pellets for The Bulk Terminal. Departing were Flevogracht to Oswego, NY, after a quick unload, Samuel de Champlain/Innovation to Alpena, Ocean Navigator to Port Colborne and Wilfred Sykes to Drummond Island. Still in Cleveland are Federal Cedar, Petite Forte/St. Marys Cement and American Courage.
Fairport Harbor, OH – Bill Kloss
Frontenac loaded road salt and is on her way to Johnstown, ON.
Conneaut, OH – Bill Kloss
Walter J. McCarthy Jr. delivered ore to the P&C Dock.
Buffalo, NY – Brian Wroblewski
CSL Niagara arrived off Lackawanna from the Port Colborne Anchorage at 10:00 on July 26. She came in the South Entrance, winded off the CRH Cement terminal, and then backed herself into Gateway Metroport for the Main Dock. They tied up at the bulk loading apron and began taking on a partial coal cargo via two portable conveyors. The Lackawanna Canal should provide good shelter for the heavy storms coming down the lake this evening and overnight.
Buffalo, NY – Bill Kloss
CSL Niagara departed for Sandusky.
Nanticoke, ON – Bill Kloss
Departing were CSL Tadoussac to Bowmanville, Algocanada to Sarnia and Harvest Spirit to Cleveland.
We do not currently have daily summaries for the following ports, but their respective port authority websites post schedules of vessel traffic that are featured below. Each schedule is a miniature webpage within a box. Scroll with your cursor in 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.