Desgagnés expands by acquiring Valport’s activities

QUÉBEC CITY, QC – Desgagnés is expanding and has completed the acquisition of Valport Maritime Services Inc. (Valport) activities, a company specialized in cargo handling and storage services located at the Port of Valleyfield.  The transaction is effective May 26, 2023.

Desgagnés and the Société du Port de Valleyfield, a key stakeholder in this transaction, have also established a long-term leasing agreement for the facilities and port infrastructure.  This agreement lays the foundation for a collaborative approach for future projects and development initiatives.

The business philosophies of Valport and Desgagnés, supported by that of the Société du Port de Valleyfield, unite with the objective of continuing to build relationships based on trust, particularly with the employees, and with all stakeholders and clients in order to be attentive to their needs and to offer them value-added services.

Frank Dunn, Valport’s founder, will remain involved as a consultant to ensure a seamless transition for the clients.

Cargo handling and storage activities will continue to be carried out under the “Valport” brand name, which is already well-recognized in the industry.  This joining of forces will allow to leverage the expertise of both companies to contribute to the development of the organization, the Port, and the greater Valleyfield region.

Whitefish Point is undergoing parking lot reconstruction

WHITEFISH POINT, MI – The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society has announced that its parking lot project at Whitefish Point is moving along swiftly.

The construction company Payne and Dolan, along with the Chippewa County Road Commission, arrived at Whitefish Point on May 22 to begin work. The entire parking lot has been torn up and will be ready for reconstruction after the Memorial Day weekend.

“We have finished preparing the base for the north parking area, the expanded parking areas on either side of the road, and the roadway itself. Next, we will be working in the old gravel lot,” said Stephanie Boileau, county highway engineer of the Chippewa County Road Commission. “We will cease work earlier in the day on Friday and the parking lot can operate as normal during the holiday weekend.”

Boileau noted that the lot will remain gravel, so visitors are encouraged to remain alert and observant of their surroundings and expect uneven terrain.

“We thank our guests to Whitefish Point and the Shipwreck Museum for their patience as we work our way through these important construction projects. Accessibility is limited in certain areas, but we are still open daily at the museum from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” said Shipwreck Museum Executive Director Bruce Lynn.

Soo Today

Rebuilt wharf provides ‘unique’ St. Joseph Island experience

Boat nerds and just ordinary folks now have a 24-hour attraction at the C Line Wharf in Sailors Encampment, on the St. Marys River.

An upgraded, larger wharf has been constructed with new picnic tables, parking and interpretive signs to improve the visitor experience. Guests are now able to scan a simple QR code to view a real time map of large shipping vessels moving through the St. Mary’s Channel system, and find out when the next big ship will be coming through, a news release says.

Time your visit right and you can see these Great Lakes giants up close and in action. The St. Joseph Island Historical Society and Maria Smith provided information and photographs depicting the history of the area for the new signs.

Significant damage had been done to the existing wharf due to extraordinarily high water in 2019 and 2020. This presented both a challenge and an opportunity. Funding applications were made and the Township of St. Joseph received funding from FedNor.

“This is a great place to direct visiting friends and family to take in a unique St. Joseph Island experience in a beautiful location. If you’d like to plan your visit in advance just visit www.boatnerd.com and click on vessel locations to see a real-time map of all shipping traffic on the great lakes,” said the release.

Soo Today

Windsor port shifting transport to rail and water with help of federal funding

Windsor, ON – An infrastructure investment from the federal government announced Friday aims to make transporting cargo more efficient by using rail and waterways rather than roads.

Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra announced the $12.5 million in federal funding going toward the $27-million project.

“We all already knew that Windsor was at the nexus of one of the most — if not the most — important trade corridor for Canada, for Canadians,” Alghabra said. “And what we’re doing now is we’re building on that strategic advantage that Windsor has.”

The Port of Windsor will put in about $3.6 million and Essex Terminal Railway/Morterm will contribute nearly $10.9 million.

A new warehouse will be built as part of the project, as well as an expansion of the shore wall at the port and a new berth for ships. The aim is to allow more shipping from Montreal to Windsor over the water.

“[The ship berth will] provide opportunities for us to build capacity on that side as well as new warehousing, which will allow us to perform our transload activities that currently take place in one of our current warehouses,” said Tony De Thomasis, president and CEO with Essex Terminal Railway/Morterm.

“So we’ll have a dedicated warehouse to transload, which will allow greater efficiencies and capacity and greater volumes of steel to move through.” Transload is a term for the process of moving goods from mode of transportation to another on the way to its final destination.

Steve Salmons, president and CEO of the Windsor Port Authority, noted more than one million containers come into Ontario by truck and rail each year.

“Many people in this region are bringing in containers, you know through Montreal by truck or rail or they’re shipping them out by truck and rail because they don’t have a local option,” he said.

“With this announcement today, I think we’re going to spark a fuse of excitement to say wait, wait, wait, we can do it locally.”

A new cargo dock could also be built in future, which could be used for different purposes.

With the Gordie Howe International Bridge opening in the next few years, Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk said this announcement marks another commitment to the city and region.

“You’re seeing these major investments that are coming that are really pulling all the pieces together here to make Windsor really the centre in terms of economic activity here in the Great Lakes region,” he said. “Transportation is absolutely critical to that. It’s one thing to build it, but you got to move it.”

In addition to easing congestion on roadways in the area — especially Highway 401 — the shift to using trains will also reduce pollution, a government news release said. “These improvements will prevent shoreline erosion and reduce the risk of flooding due to rising lake water levels caused by climate change,” the release said.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2024 and between 20 and 40 jobs are expected to be created.

CBC Windsor

Canada Plans $1.8 Billion Investment for New Coast Guard Small Vessels

The next phase of Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy has been announced, focusing on the Canadian Coast Guard’s small vessels fleet. The federal government reports it will invest nearly C$2.5 billion (US$1.8 billion) for the renewal of its small ship fleet through the acquisition of up to 61 vessels. It is part of a strategy that was first launched over a decade ago investing in science and fisheries vessels, mid-size multi-purpose vessels, and ultimately two Polar icebreakers.

The new program focuses on small craft, barges, and work boats providing new equipment to the Canadian Coast Guard. The small vessels provide search and rescue services, assist disabled vessels, and support aid to navigation programs. So far, under the National Shipbuilding Strategy, 16 small vessels, including 14 search and rescue lifeboats and two channel survey and sounding vessels have been delivered to the Canadian Coast Guard.

The next phase calls for an investment to complete the renewal of the Canadian Coast Guard’s small vessels fleet, which plays a critical role, especially in shallow coastal waters and inland lakes and rivers. It will enable them to acquire six mid-shore multi-mission vessels and one near-shore fishery research vessel. It will also consist of 16 specialty vessels, ranging from shallow draft buoy tenders to science and enforcement vessels, air cushion boats, and search rescue lifeboats. The work will be specifically designated to smaller shipyards and suppliers across Canada to support the marine industry.

“This is a critical investment that will help modernize the Canadian Coast Guard’s small vessel fleet,” said Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. “We are making sure the Canadian Coast Guard has the equipment it needs to keep Canadians and Canada’s waterways safe, while also creating good-paying jobs across the country.”

It is the latest piece of the government’s long-term, multi-billion-dollar program focused on renewing the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy fleets. Since the program was launched in 2012, the federal government reports contracts under the strategy are estimated to have contributed approximately C$25 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product.

The first newly built vessel commissioned on the program came in 2019, CCGS Sir John Franklin, the first of three Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels (OFSVs). The other two OFSVs – the CCGS Jacques Cartier and CCGS John Cabot – were delivered in November 2019 and October 2020. The 16 multi-purpose vessels were also provided and they carry out multiple missions, including icebreaking in moderate ice conditions and assisting in shipping and springtime flood control in the St. Lawrence waterway and Great Lakes region. They also perform search and rescue, emergency response, and security and protection missions, and maintain Canada’s aids to navigation.

Two Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships are also planned and they will serve missions including North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) patrols, operating as the primary conservation and protection enforcement vessels on Canada’s east coast, and expanding its patrol capability into the low Arctic. In August 2019, the government also announced the planned procurement of six new program icebreakers to support year-round marine trade in Eastern Canada, the St. Lawrence Waterway, and the Great Lakes. Finally, the government plans two Polar icebreakers.

In addition to the shipbuilding efforts, the government has said it would invest C$2 billion for repairs, refits, and vessel life extension work on the existing fleet until new ships are delivered.

Maritime Executive

Cruise ship to visit Manistique Sunday

MANISTIQUE, MI – Finally it’s a yes. After weeks of speculation and discussion, paperwork filed, refiled, emails and phone conversations, Manistique Public Safety Director Tim Russell was able to confirm the cruise ship Hanseatic Inspiration will be arriving in our waters on May 28

Russell received the city’s final approval from the U.S. Coast Guard on their site plan on Tuesday.

The cruise ship is an international cruise with on-board languages of German and English. When describing the Great Lake excursion, they state “Cities, wilderness and adventures in nature: this cruise makes dreams come true for fans of the USA and Canada with the tremendous facets of the Great Lakes.”

The ship is expected to arrive approximately at 8:30 a.m. Sunday and the community will start to receive passengers shortly after 9 a.m. Passengers will be tendered from the ship to the docking piers on the boat landing side of the marina. Tenders will do regular rotations between the ship and docks all day with the last tender slated to leave at approximately 4:30 p.m.

The only way the cruise line would cancel the visit would be if there was a south east gale.

Approximately 200 passengers and another 50-60 crew members are expected to come to shore to tour the community and participate in planned excursions. Excursions may include Big Springs, Fayette State Park, Seul Choix Pointe Lighthouse and visiting the local businesses.

Passengers will have to go through a mobile TSA that will be set up prior to returning to their cruise ship. On May 31, it will leave Milwaukee, Wis., making its way back to Manistique for June 1 and is scheduled to return again on July 27.

More information on the cruise line can be found at www.hl-curises.com.

Cuyahoga towed to Kingsville to unload

The fire-damaged Cuyahoga was towed into Kingsville, ON, Thursday evening, arriving about 9 p.m. McKeil Marine’s tug Ecosse was at the bow and tug Stormont was on the stern. The arrival was not without incident, as the vessel ran aground on her way into the harbor.

Photos showed her minus her port anchor, which had to be cut away as there was no power to raise it. They also showed a ladder over the starboard side near the bow with what appeared to be a workboat tethered to it.

Cuyahoga was carrying a cargo of stone for Kingsville when she was disable by an engine room fire off Point Pelee in Lake Erie Tuesday night. The stone cargo will need to be unloaded at Southwestern Sales Co. before Cuyahoga is taken for repairs, lay up or retirement. Power is being provided by auxiliary generators. There is no information available as to what the future has in store for the 1943-built lakes veteran.

Watch a video by Sam Hankinson of the Cuyahoga arriving at Kingsville here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=066iy9dkhig

Marine Mart June 10 in Port Huron

Nautical items and Great Lakes marine items bought and sold. See image in the gallery for details.

Freighter issues mayday on Lake Erie after engine fire

Detroit, MI – With its engine on fire, the Cuyahoga — a commercial freighter on Lake Erie — sent out a mayday, the internationally recognized signal for distress, to anyone within range who could help.

“Mayday relay. Mayday relay. Mayday relay,” the Canadian Coast Guard radio blared as it rebroadcast the ship’s plea for aid, adding coordinates and instructions. The guard heard the initial call for help at about 10 p.m. Tuesday. “All stations, all stations, all stations.”

The U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards, along with other vessels, swung into action. The overnight rescue ended the next day with the 20 crew members aboard safe, and a ship the size of two football fields anchored and damaged about 2 nautical miles northeast of Pelee Island.

On Wednesday evening, the McKeil tug Ecosse was headed for the anchored Cuyahoga. She will tow Cuyahoga to Kingsville, ON, so she can unload her cargo of stone.

In many ways, the nautical mishap is another example of the dangers that sailors face, but hope to never encounter, on the water that often are out of public view. In this case, a small bit of the drama was caught on video and audio, and, Coast Guard Petty Officer Jessica Fontenette in Cleveland said, had a good ending.

“Everybody was fine,” Fontenette told the Free Press early Wednesday. “Of course, there’s always the chance it could have been much worse, but, luckily, they were able to contain the fire and no one was injured, and no one had to abandon ship.”

The rescue team included a Coast Guard helicopter from Detroit that circled the freighter, as it was poised to rescue crew if needed, and recorded the incident from the air.

Still, Fontenette said, bad things happen and that’s why ships call out for help, and everyone who can, responds, so “it doesn’t turn into a tragic event.” A mayday on the water, like a 911 call on land, is something that immediately lets everyone know ‘you are in distress.’

It’s unclear, she said, what caused the fire, how extensive the damage is or how long the freighter — which was carrying a load of stone — would be anchored there. Pelee Island, Canada’s southernmost populated point, is the largest island in the western half of Lake Erie. It is about halfway between Sandusky, Ohio, to the south; and Leamington, Canada, to the north.

Fontenette said that in addition to a Coast Guard helicopter from Detroit, a rescue boat from Marblehead, and three more vessels from the Canadian Coast Guard were dispatched to help. A tugboat, and at least two other freighters —- the Indiana Harbor and Radcliffe R. Latimer — offered assistance.

By Wednesday eight crew members, identified as “non-essential,” were taken off the Cuyahoga, the rest stayed behind on to evaluate the damage and potentially make repairs, the Coast Guard said.

The rescue agency also posted a 10-second clip of the ship, taken at night by the Detroit-stationed helo. It ended its post with “BZ to all involved!” BZ — Bravo Zulu — is a Naval signal conveyed by flag-hoist or voice radio, meaning “well done,” followed by single word: “#interagency.”

Read more, see the clip and hear the scanner traffic at this Detroit Free Press link: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/05/24/cuyahoga-freighter-mayday-engine-fire-lake-erie-coast-guard/70252496007/

Lake Erie along Pennsylvania’s shoreline on its way to becoming national marine sanctuary

President Joe Biden’s administration took the first step Thursday toward designating the Pennsylvania-owned section of Lake Erie as the state’s first national marine sanctuary.

A formal designation could take several years, and it wouldn’t change existing regulations around the use of the lake. The announcement sets up a public comment period before the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration writes a draft plan for the sanctuary.

The designation would apply to an approximately 740-square-mile (1,917-square-kilometer) area of water off Pennsylvania’s 75 mile-long (120-kilometer-long) shoreline. It would attract federal funding to help find and preserve shipwrecks in the lake and boost education and outreach around the area’s history.

That history includes being home to indigenous people who once lived there, its role as a hub on the Underground Railroad, and a maritime history as hosting the nation’s largest fleet of steamboats before the Civil War. The area possibly includes scores of yet-to-be-discovered shipwrecks, according to NOAA.

There are 35 known shipwrecks in the area, from pre-Civil War steamboats to speedboats, tugs, barges and workboats lost before 1940, the agency said.

There are two other national marine sanctuaries in the Great Lakes and a third in Lake Ontario nearing designation, all focused on shipwrecks. There are 15 total national marine sanctuaries, some of which focus on preserving endangered aquatic life, as well as two marine national monuments.

Erie County first requested the designation in 2015.

Associated Press

Last Week for Early-Bird Pricing for Soo Boatnerd Cruise

Get your tickets for $35 each (adult), before they go up to $40 on June 1. The cruise is half sold-out, so don’t delay if you plan to join us. Get there details here: https://boatnerd3.jasonbowlerdesign.com/boatnerd-soo-gathering-june-23-24-2022/

Lake Superior water level rockets up in April, could make run at record high level

Lake Superior’s water level rose significantly last month and continues a larger than average rise this month. There is a scenario that could put Lake Superior very near a record water level sometime this summer.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports the long-term average rise in Lake Superior’s April water level is three inches. In April 2023 Lake Superior actually rose more than double the usual rise. Lake Superior went up seven inches in April.

The Army Corps of Engineers says, “Significant snowfall, snowmelt and well above average rainfall during the second half of April directly contributed to the larger than average water level rises.”

Lakes Michigan and Huron also rose just a little less than double the typical April water level rise, going up seven inches compared to the average of four inches.

The large water level rises are expected to continue in May. Lake Superior may rise as much as six inches and Lakes Michigan and Huron may rise as much as 7.5 inches.

The trajectory of the most likely forecast in the green dashed line takes Lake Superior eight inches above normal by June and just five inches below the record high water level. In April, and now in May, the actual water level rises have exceeded the forecast.

If the water level rises continue to over-achieve for a few months, Lake Superior could be at record high water levels in July, August or September.

View a water level chart at this MLive link: https://www.mlive.com/weather/2023/05/lake-superior-water-level-rockets-up-in-april-could-make-run-at-record-high-level.html

Port Huron area book events features Great Lakes book authors, illustrator and painter

Saturday, May 27, Port Huron, MI: Book signing at the Great Lakes Maritime Center, 51 Water St., 10 a.m.-3 p.m. , with Know Your Ships author Roger LeLievre and members of the KYS crew. BONUS 1: Great Lakes cartoonist/illustrator Don Lee will have his easel on hand and will sketch your likeness, with or without freighter (tips appreciated). BONUS 2: Catherine Schmuck, author of “Ship to Shore Chef,” will also be there. BONUS 3: Laura Berens, author of the children’s book “Boats Can’t Jump: The Story of the Soo Locks” (illustrated by Don Lee) will be selling and signing her books. BONUS 4:  Port Huron-area painter Harry McTaggert will be showing and selling his work.

May 28, Marine City, MI: Know Your Ships book signing with Roger LeLievre at Mariner Merchantile, 430 S. Water St., 11 a.m.-2 p.m

Vets, active military get in free this weekend at National Museum of the Great Lakes

Toledo, OH – All veterans and active military will receive free admission during Memorial Day Weekend (Saturday, May 27 through Monday, May 29). This free promotion provides admission to the museum and to both the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship and the Museum Tug Ohio. Reserved tickets are not required, but are available online. Mire information in the photo gallery.

SS Badger kicks off 70th year of sailing Thursday

A sense of pride and excitement filled the air Thursday morning at the Lake Michigan Carferry dock as the 410-foot SS Badger set sail for Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Crew and staff were on hand early to welcome the nearly 200 riders with smiles and friendly banter as the carferry embarked on its 70th year of crossing Lake Michigan.

The Badger, captained by Bernard Robertson aka “Bunny,” made her maiden voyage from Manitowoc to Ludington on March 21, 1953. On board the ship Thursday was Robertson’s daughter, Audrey Boals.

Boals had a hard time expressing her feelings Thursday at the carferry dock.

“I just can not explain how good my heart feels,” she said.

Boals first rode the Badger when she was 7-years old. Now 77, she said it feels so good to be back.

“I can still picture how the Badger used to be, because I spent a lot of time traveling with my dad,” she said. “To see the transformation to the ship being more about fun and relaxation (is good). It was not a whole lot of fun for people in those days, it had a real business feel in those days, shipping products like the train cars.”

Boals said today the ship is surrounded by a fun atmosphere.

“So much more fun than it was back in 1953.”

Boals said once she is on board her memories of the ship will probably transport her back to her childhood and the many memories of her father and the crew members.

Boals said one of the best memories for her is hearing the ship’s whistle and looked forward to hearing it again Thursday.

She also remembers her father calling out on the ship’s phone when the ship was about 20 minutes fromport.

“WE78, 78, carferry Badger is bound for Ludington in 20 minutes,” she said. “I do not think they even have the phone up in the wheelhouse anymore.”

Ken Ottmann from Milwaukee, was another rider on Thursday.

Ottmann and his family drove around the lake on Wednesday and stayed with former Badger Captain Greg Anderson in order to take the Badger across the lake on Thursday.

“Anyday I get to ride the Badger is a good day,” he said.

Ottmann has ridden the Badger more than 100 times throughout his life starting when he was four or five years old.

“I rode her in 1953 when I was young,” he said. “I have memories of that first trip. I just don’t remember what day.”

Ottmann said his mother did not drive and his father was too busy with work to travel much so he would drive he and his mom to the docks and put them on the Badger.

“She would visit relatives in Manistee and Free Soil and travel back and forth on the Badger.”

His experience on the Badger at a young age has led to a lifelong passion for carferries.

“I got hooked,” he said, wearing his SS Badger hat and carferry shirt. “It is a chronic disease that has no cure. It can be managed, but there is no cure.”

Throughout the years Ottmann, and his passion for carferries, has made many friends in the industry, both on the Badger and other carferries.

“Many of the crew members has become more like family members to me over the years,” he said.

Ottmann said he enjoys riding the ship and tries to any chance he can.

“It is history, it is tradition,” he said. “Every trip across the lake, no matter how similar it might seem, it has unique characteristics to it. I just love to ride the carferries.”

Nick Veine, a local musician, played on the ship for the first time on Thursday.

“It is an honor to be asked to play,” he said. “It seems to be almost a tradition or right of passage for local musicians.”

Thursday’s kick-off to the 70th sailing season included every type of rider from the more experienced to first-time riders.

In a release from Lake Michigan Carferry, the Badger will be bringing back the night crossing in June, according to Sara Spore, general manager.

Shoreline Media

Port Huron Marine Mart

View the gallery for the infographic

‘Electronics malfunction’ to blame for freighter mishap in Detroit River, Coast Guard says

DETROIT – A U.S. Coast Guard investigation points to an “electronics malfunction” for why a freighter only a few months old and longer than two football fields lost power, then maneuverability, on the Detroit River and ran aground Wednesday morning, leaving it stranded for four hours.

The 639-foot merchant vessel — the Mark W. Barker — was freed by a commercial tug boat and moved, by its own power, to a Belle Isle anchorage.

But until repairs are made and the ship is cleared, it cannot continue on its voyage to Milwaukee, the Coast Guard said Thursday. To help officials added, Interlake Steamship Co., the ship’s owner, flew a technician to Detroit to mend its damaged systems.

The Barker of the Interlake Steamship Company ran aground on Belle Isle in Detroit on Wednesday morning May 17, 2023.

The Coast Guard also has begun interviewing the ship’s crew of 21 to uncover more clues to the mishap. The maritime safety agency, however, said a fuller report of what happened on Wednesday is unlikely to be released for a week or more.

“Usually in groundings like this, the vessel can be there for a long time,” Coast Guard Lt. junior grade Adeeb Ahmad said, adding he did know when the ship or the investigation report would be released. “This was unique in that within four hours, it was moving again.”

The National Transportation Safety Board, which also is responsible for civil transportation accident investigations, said Thursday it is not looking into the recent grounding. Generally, the NTSB only gets involved in shipping incidents when they involve casualties or are flagged by the Coast Guard.

Fortunately, the Coast Guard said, no one was injured, the ship was not damaged, and there were no leaks of the 20,000 tons of rock salt cargo or the 105,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Still, the maritime officials added, such an incident potentially could have been calamitous. Two common accidents, collisions and groundings, pose various marine threats. And what adds to the investigation’s significance — and company’s public embarrassment ― is that the vessel, the Mark W. Barker, is new and the pride of the fleet.

Named after the Middleburg Heights, Ohio-based company’s president, the ship was christened just last year. It is the first large bulk carrier built on the Great Lakes since 1981. Interlake also boasts the company is the “most efficient and environmentally responsible in the shipping industry” with of a fleet of 10 ships.

Interlake has described the Mark W. Barker as having a square-shaped, flat-bottomed cargo hold instead of a traditional V-shaped angled bottom and boasted the ship’s “forward-looking design” offers “high-efficiency propulsion and maneuverability.”

Interlake said it names all of its vessels after executives and their wives. Other ships include the James R. Barker, namesake of the company’s chairman and Mark Barker’s father, and the Kaye E. Barker, so dubbed after the president’s mother.

Detroit Free Press

Freighter Walk to be dedicated Saturday in St. Clair

A new “Freighter Walk” on the Palmer Park boardwalk in St. Clair, MI, along the St. Clair River will be dedicated at 1 p.m. on May 20 as part of Be a Tourist in Your Own Town Day.

“The Freighter Walk is new, just installed last year along the boardwalk, with the exact dimensions of specific freighters, in plaques,” said City Clerk Annette Sturdy. “You can scan QR codes and walk the length of freighters and learn about particular vessels.”

Chrissy Gorzen, a St. Clair Historical Commission volunteer, came up with the idea for the walk. She said 26 plaques were installed on the boardwalk, and the project was funded by donations and a matching grant.

St. Clair Recreation Director Trice Hawkins said that Gorzen’s idea was presented to the city and implemented by the leadership team. Blue Water Glass made the customized plates for the walk.

Hawkins said the St. Clair Art Association is sponsoring an open house following the dedication of the Freighter Walk.

“City of St. Clair recreation will provide music by the Trois Bouffons, Featuring French colonial music,” Hawkins said.

Video: Watch S.S. Badger set sail across Lake Michigan for first voyage of 2023

MLive

Mark W. Barker aground. Andrew Russell

Mark W. Barker freed ‘fairly easily’ after grounding in Detroit River

DETROIT, MI –  A 639-foot freighter that grounded Wednesday morning in the Detroit River near Belle Isle has been freed. The United States Coast Guard sent out an update just after 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday saying the Mark W. Barker was freed by commercial tugs from the Great Lakes Towing Co.

The vessel, the newest freighter on the Great Lakes, was taken to an anchorage near Belle Isle. Once anchored, Coast Guard investigators will board, assess any damages, and ensure any repairs.

No injuries were reported when the vessel grounded around 7:30 a.m. The freighter lost propulsion because of an electronics malfunction, according to the Associated Press.

The freighter was freed “fairly easily,” Lt. j.g. Adeeb Ahmad told the Associated Press. “For such an unfortunate event, it was the best-case scenario,” Ahmad said. “It happened right next to our Coast Guard station on Belle Isle.”

The river remained open to all traffic. The vessel is carrying a cargo of salt.

The Ohio-based Interlake Steamship Co. christened the Barker in September 2022, making it the first new self-propelled freighter to hit the Great Lakes in 36 years.

M Live

Steel production dips in Great Lakes, down 4% this year

Steel production dipped by 3,000 tons in the Great Lakes region last week, the second straight weekly decrease, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Locally, steel mills in the Great Lakes region, clustered mainly along the south shore of Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana, made 577,000 tons of metal in the week that ended May 13, down from 580,000 tons the previous week.

Steel mills remained well below 80% capacity, a key threshold for financial success for the steel sector. After years of record profitability, the industry has been dealing with falling prices, increased economic uncertainty and rising import levels after tariffs were rolled back in favor of quota systems with some trading partners. The United Steelworkers union and Cleveland-Cliffs have been pursuing new trade protections for the first time in years after a collapse in the tin market that led to the idling of tin mills, including in Gary.

Nationally, steel production in 2023 totals 31.88 million tons, a 4% decrease from the 33.23 million tons manufactured through the same period last year.

U.S. steel mills have run at a capacity utilization rate of 74.9% through Saturday, down from 80.5% at the same point in 2022, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Steel capacity utilization was 76.7% last week, down from 81.1% a year earlier and up from 76.1% the week prior.

Steel production in the southern region, which encompasses many mini-mills and rivals the Great Lakes region in output, totaled 726,000 tons last week, up from 717,000 tons the week before, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Volume in the rest of the Midwest rose to 213,000 tons, up from 208,000 tons the week prior.

NW Indiana Times

Coast Guard unit set to relocate from Massena to Fort Drum, N.Y.

MASSENA, N.Y. ­– The Coast Guard is requesting public comments on the planned relocation of a Marine Safety Detachment from Massena to Fort Drum, N.Y.

The detachment consists of 10 Coast Guard positions and has an area of responsibility that extends south from the St. Lawrence River International Bridge along the U.S.-Canada border to Henderson Harbor, N.Y. It also extends 3.25 miles east from the international border.

The Marine Safety Detachment, a subunit of Coast Guard Sector Buffalo, is responsible for pollution response, marine casualty investigations, marine event permitting, ballast water regulatory reviews, and more.

Moving the detachment to Fort Drum will place it closer to other military units, increasing the availability of jointly shared support services while also providing a more centralized location within the unit’s of responsibility.

Members of the public who wish to express an opinion on the proposed move may provide written comments and related material to the Coast Guard at D9planning@uscg.mil. Comments and related material must reach the Coast Guard on or before July 1, 2023.