Raffle offers trip on steamer Alpena

Have you ever wanted to take a trip on a classic Great Lakes freighter? Alpena Lodge 19 is
raffling off a trip for four aboard the steamer Alpena. More information and tickets available at:

https://northeastmichiganlodge19.com

International Ship Masters Association

Ice-clearing to start near Eisenhower and Snell Locks

Ice-clearing activities will begin on or about March 4, 2024 and continue throughout the St.
Lawrence River, including the area between the Eisenhower and Snell Locks in preparation for
the Seaway’s upcoming navigation season.

All ice fishermen, snowmobile operators, and All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) operators should refrain
from using the areas where ice has been cleared to avoid numerous open water leads and
unstable ice cover caused by the clearing.

All persons, including ice fishermen, snowmobile and All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) operators, are to
refrain from using the canal in the area between the Eisenhower and Snell Locks due to the
possibility of unstable ice cover.

The Montreal-Lake Ontario section of the St. Lawrence Seaway is scheduled to open at 8 a.m.,
March 22.

Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp.

Lake Superior College to offer opportunities
with new maritime designation

DULUTH, MN – The designation from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime
Administration will now give the school more support to provide opportunities for students
who want to work in the maritime industry.

Lake Superior College, along with Saint Paul College and Minnesota State College Southeast, is
one of 50 maritime training locations nationwide to earn the designation. The college currently
trains students in skills like firefighting, welding, repairs, and machining.

The Duluth Seaway Port Authority celebrated the new designation, including that it could help
an aging workforce. “To have an opportunity to create more educational opportunities for
people to enter that field, or accelerate their development within that field is definitely a good
thing,” Jayson Hron, the Director of Communication and Marketing, said. “When you’re looking
at a maritime workforce that is largely retiring before it can be replaced.” According to Hron,
the port contributes about 7,000 jobs to the region, both on land and water.

The designation can both train new students and ones currently in the maritime industry,
according to Lake Superior College.

Northern News Now

Harboring Growth: How the first Black Port Milwaukee Director is breaking records

MILWAUKEE, WI – You might think of Port Milwaukee as salt piles and cruise ships, but the
person in charge wants you to know it has a lot more to offer. Jackie Q. Carter is the first
woman and Black person to hold the position of Municipal Port Director. She now has one year
of service as administrator in Foreign Trade Zone No. 41.

It’s a relatively mild February morning, but Lake Michigan still has that cold look to it. Jackie Q.
Carter doesn’t see the cold. She sees an opportunity. Opportunity drives Carter as she oversees
the Port’s $6.7 million budget and nearly 500 acres.

It’s a big piece of land, stretching from the steps of the Milwaukee Art Museum, south past the
Lake Express Ferry building, and west underneath I-794 to Jones Island. The Port operates as a
landlord with tenants that include Cargill Salt and Kinder Morgan. Carter says, It’s daunting,
but that’s where it’s important to remember there’s a team.

And Carter is all about teamwork. She listens and brainstorms with staff and community leaders
to improve and attract more ships, more trucks, and more trains with the backdrop of her
historic appointment.

It’s encouraging but also somewhat discouraging, right? Because in 2023 we shouldn’t still be
having that conversation. But the encouraging part is it allows other young people who look like
me who come from the same community that I come from to know that it’s possible.

One of the biggest surprises and challenges is getting the word out that Milwaukee has a port,
even though the first commercial vessel called on the west shore of Lake Michigan in 1835.

Carter started at the Port in 2017 overseeing finances and became Port Director six years later.

Carter says When I was appointed, when people saw it, they were like, congratulations, this is
great, but they had no idea we had a Port.

And now, Carter is on a mission to change that by getting the word out about what the Port
does and can offer businesses. Cruising has increased the port’s profile by breaking records in
2022 with nearly 14,000 visitors. She also wants to expose young people to the career
opportunities available at the Port without a college education. She envisions Port Days for
students to learn about careers working on ships, rails, and maybe even tourism, because after
all, not everyone wants to be a doctor or an athlete.

Not only is Carter the first woman and Black person to be the Port Director, but she is also the
first person of color to head up a port authority in Wisconsin.

Carter was appointed to the municipal role by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and the
Milwaukee Common Council confirmed her appointment in 2023. Jackie Q. Carter took her
Oath of Office on February 23, 2023.

Read the full story here: https://www.tmj4.com/lifestyle/black-history-month/harboring-growth-how-the-first-black-port-milwaukee-director-is-breaking-records

 

Great Lakes cruise business, Cleveland, take a hit with American Queen shutdown

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The nascent cruise industry in Cleveland will take a hit this summer as one
of the major players in Great Lakes cruising is going out of business.

American Queen Voyages announced recently that it was shutting down. The company, based
in Fort Lauderdale, operated both the Ocean Navigator and Ocean Voyager, sister ships carrying
202 passengers each, which spent their summers in recent years crisscrossing the Great Lakes.

Last year, the two ships made as many as 30 stops in Cleveland – far more than any other cruise
line.

Dave Gutheil, chief commercial officer with the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, said
that while the two American Queen ships will be missed in the region, Great Lakes cruising –
and Cleveland’s port of call – are still strong. “The number of calls will be down,” he said. “But
we’re hoping that the number of passengers per call will be up.”

In 2023, eight ships made a total of 48 stops in Cleveland, bringing 8,100 visitors to town,
primarily for daytime tours of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and other Northeast Ohio
attractions. It was the port’s busiest year for cruise ships since the resurgence of Great Lakes
cruising a decade or so ago.

This year, the port is expecting 26 cruise ship calls in Cleveland, starting May 26. Because
several of the ships coming are larger than the Navigator and Voyager, the number of overall
passengers shouldn’t drop too much, Gutheil said.

Among those with planned stops in Cleveland: Both the Viking Polaris and the Viking Octantis,
with room for 378 passengers each, ships with the well-known Viking Cruises brand, best
known for its upscale European river cruises.

Viking made its first stop in Cleveland last year and plans 10 stops in the summer of 2024. Also
on the schedule for Cleveland’s port, which sits just west of Cleveland Browns Stadium in
downtown:

• The Pearl Mist, an all-balcony small ship that accommodates a maximum of 210 passengers.
• Ponant’s luxurious Le Bellot, with an underwater lounge and room for 184 passengers, sailing
  a Toronto-Chicago itinerary that’s part of several late-summer Tauck tours.
• MS Hamburg, operated by German-based Plantours, which was built in 1997 and is the oldest
  and largest ship in the Great Lakes, with room for 420 passengers.

Gutheil added that he and others who promote Great Lakes cruising are pursuing other cruise
lines to come to the region, as well.

“I’m still optimistic for the future of cruising in the Great Lakes,” he said. “There are still lines
out there looking for new places to go. The Great Lakes is still virgin territory.” Many Great
Lakes passengers, Gutheil noted, have never been to the Midwest, haven’t seen Niagara Falls or
toured the Rock Hall. “They’re excited and have a good time when they come through,” he said.

The two Voyager ships were among the first to buy into this new era of Great Lakes cruising.

The two were formerly part of Victory Cruise Lines, which started sailing in the Great Lakes in
2016.

Victory Cruise Lines was purchased by American Queen Steamboat Company in 2019, which
changed its name to American Queen Voyages in 2021.

American Queen Voyages was perhaps best known for its domestic river cruises on the
Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and other inland waterways. American Queen owns numerous
other ships, including the American Queen, built in 1995 as a replica of a classic Mississippi
River paddle-wheeler.

Last year, American Queen said it planned to discontinue its Great Lakes sailings in 2024, to
concentrate on its river cruise business. Then, in late February, American Queen’s parent
company, Hornblower Group, announced that it was shutting down the entire cruise line and
putting it up for sale, as part of a bankruptcy filing.

“Despite our best efforts, demand for overnight cruises has not recovered following the
pandemic, and AQV has become financially unsustainable,” the company said on its website.

“We thank you for your support and deeply regret any inconvenience this causes you.”

Booked passengers are directed to aqvrefunds.com for refund information.

Cleveland.com

S.S. Badger Licensed Deck Officer 

Responsible to manage, oversee and direct the Deck Department for the daily operations of the vessel:  Knowledge of the fire and lifeboat stations along with signals and procedures associated with an emergency in order to properly carry out a fire and lifeboat drill to US Coast Guard standards, on-scene commander in emergency situations and drills, supervises the Deck Department assuring that work is accomplished in a safe and efficient manner, supervises the general management of loading and off-loading passengers and cargo, maintenance of all cargo gear, deck gear, hold, decks, hatches and hull, management of all emergency station bill assignments, posting of lists, and search parties, manages the cleanliness of exterior, car deck and holds of the vessel, be prepared to live and work aboard the vessel the duration of the sailing season, from mid-May to mid-Oct, room and board provided, employee will stand a 4-hour watch, twice a day, 7 days per week, eligible for AMO medical, LMC dental, vision and 401K after completing 60-day probationary period.

APPLICANTS FOR THIS POSITION MUST HOLD A MATE’S LICENSE WITH UNLIMITED TONNAGE

 Qualifications/Certifications required:

• Valid Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)
• Valid Merchant Mariners Credential issued by the U.S. Coast Guard
• Current US Coast Guard Medical Certificate
• Legally eligible to be employed in the United States (Proof of identity and eligibility will be required upon employment.