1870
1870: The Port Huron Weekly Times reported that “a Montreal company has purchased all the standing timber on Walpole Island Indian Reservation [on the St. Clair River…] A large force of men are employed in hewing, cutting and delivering the same on the banks of the river in readiness for shipment… The proceeds of the sale of timber on Walpole Island will probably amount to $18,000 to $20,000, to be distributed among the Indians of the island to improve their farms.
1904
1904: February 4, 1904 – Captain Russell of the PERE MARQUETTE 17 reported that Lake Michigan was frozen all the way to Manitowoc.
1915
1915: IOWA [Built-1872 US-90720 as MENOMINEE by George S Rand at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Renamed: IOWA-1896 US-100613] As IOWA was crushed in ice off Chicago harbor, Lake Michigan, on February 4, 1915, and sank.
1924
1924: NORTHERN NO. 34 [Built-1919 by Manistee Shipbuilding Co. Manistee, Michigan US-218663] Stranded off False Hook, NJ, February 4, 1924, and became a total loss.
1964
1964: OCEAN REGINA, which would become a Seaway visitor in 1971, ran aground in the Makassar Strait, Indonesia, while enroute from Geraldton, Australia, to China. The ship was refloated February 11.
1965
1965: JAMES B EADS [Built 1894 US-86307 as GLOBE by Globe Iron Works at Cleveland, Ohio. Renamed: JAMES B EADS-1899 US-86307, and JAMES B EADS-1927 C-153216] As JAMES B EADS traverse cranes added in 1961 for package freight handling. Laid up at Port Weller Dry Docks, Ltd., St. Catharines, Ontario, in 1963. Dismantling by A. Newman & Co., Ltd., began on February 4, 1965, at same place.
1965: The Liberty ship IRINI STEFANOU visited the Great Lakes in 1959 and 1960. It struck a reef, 1 mile west of the San Benita Islands, Baja Peninsula and had to be beached. The vessel was enroute from Vancouver, British Columbia, to London, England, with timber. While abandoned, the hull was refloated on February 25 and taken to Los Angeles for examination. They discovered a serious distortion of the hull and it was broken up at Terminal Island.
1970
1970: ARROW, a Liberian tanker quite familiar with Great Lakes trading, stranded in Chedebucto Bay, while inbound from Venezuela to Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. The ship broke in two as a total loss on February 8 spilling millions of gallons of oil. This resulted in a major environmental problem and clean up took two years and $3.8 million.
1976
1976: A fire aboard the freighter KERKIS broke out in #3 hold off the northern coast of Sicily. The vessel was brought into Milazzo, Italy, the next day and when the hold was opened on February 12, the blaze flared up again. The hull was beached as a total loss. It had begun Seaway trading as a) BYSANZ in 1959 and was back as b) ALSATIA beginning in 1967.
1977
1977: ROGER BLOUGH arrived at the American Shipbuilding Company in Lorain, Ohio for winter lay up and a 5-year hull inspection. She had departed South Chicago after unloading on Jan 25th and the trip took 10 days due to weather and heavy ice.
1981
1981: The two sections of the a.) WILLIAM J. DE LANCEY, b.) PAUL R. TREGURTHA) were joined at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. and float-launched on February 4, 1981, (Hull #909).
1984
1984: The former MANCHESTER RENOWN was idle at Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, as c) EDESSA. The ship was being reactivated when a fire broke out and destroyed the upper works. The vessel was sold to Taiwan shipbreakers and arrived at Kaohsiung on April 6, 1984. It had begun Seaway trading as a new ship, in 1964.
1992
1992: PATRICIA was wrecked at Crotone, Italy, and abandoned. The hull was visible years later, partially submerged. The ship began Seaway service as a) RUMBA in 1971 and was back as b) JANJA in 1975, c) JANJE in 1979 and e) FIGARO in 1988.
1999
1999: The former BAUNTON caught fire in #1 hold 350 miles west of Dakar, Senegal, as c) MERSINIA and was abandoned by the crew. The ship, enroute from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to Amsterdam, Netherlands, with cocoa beans in bulk, was a total loss and was delivered to Spanish shipbreakers at Santander for dismantling on January 21, 2000. It first came through the Seaway in 1981 when it was a year old.
2021
2021: Scrapping was started February 4, 2021 on the long-retired cement carrier/storage vessel J.B. FORD at Azcon Metals in Duluth. J.B. FORD was built in 1904 and last operated in 1985. She was most recently used as a cement storage and transfer vessel at Superior, WI, and sailed in her early years as EDWIN F. HOLMES and E.C. COLLINS.
2025
2025: A fire aboard the Canada Steamship Lines’ motor vessel Frontenac at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, WI, has been contained. Multiple fire departments responded to the Tuesday early afternoon call. The fire is believed to have started when a subcontractor was cleaning out the dust collector, part of the self-unloading system. There were no injuries reported
Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Brian Bernard, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.
