Great Lakes Iron Ore Trade Up 4.5 Percent in November
CLEVELAND – Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 4.4 million tons in November, an increase of 4.5 percent from 2021. Shipments were below the month’s 5-year average by 6.4 percent.
Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 38.3 million tons, a decrease of 18.6 percent compared to the same point in 2021. Through November iron ore loadings are 17.7 percent below their 5-year average for that timeframe.
Since 1880, Lake Carriers’ has represented the U.S.-flag Great Lakes fleet, which today can move more than 90 million tons of cargos annually that are the foundation of American industry, infrastructure, and power: iron ore, stone, coal, cement, and other dry bulk materials such as grain, salt, and sand.
Lake Michigan, Lake Huron lose over 3 trillion gallons of water in November
The two Great Lakes that surround Lower Michigan continue to trek downward on lake levels. Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are now approaching their long-term average water level.
Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are in their seasonal decline. We do normally expect the lake levels on Lakes Michigan and Huron to fall during November. The amount of evaporation is usually higher than the amount of precipitation in November as cold weather takes over. The colder air holds less moisture.
According the the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Lake Michigan and Lake Huron water level declined 4 inches in the past month. Since Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are connected with free-flowing water at the Straits of Mackinac region, hydrologically they are measured as one lake.
Coast Guard Christmas ship arrives in Chicago with 1,200 trees from Michigan
The U.S. Coast Guard announced this weekend that its 2022 Christmas Tree Ship run has been a success. The crew of the cutter Mackinaw pulled up alongside Navy Pier a few days ago and has now finished offloading 1,200 Christmas trees, which will go to Chicago area families.
The Mackinaw’s annual holiday cheer trip traces the path of the ill-fated Rouse Simmons, the Great Lakes’ famous Christmas Tree Ship which sank in Lake Michigan in 1912 while carrying a huge load of holiday trees from Northern Michigan to Chicago.
The Mackinaw and its crew left Michigan in late November, motoring down Lake Michigan and working along the way. The crew was collecting the big warm-weather aids to navigation from the lake and offloading them on land for the winter. On Thursday, the Mackinaw pulled into Chicago and the tree festivities began.
“The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw WLBB 30 has had a busy two days!,” the Coast Guard Great Lakes unit posted on Facebook this weekend. “#ChristmasTreeShip arrived yesterday and the crew was busy decorating the cutter with volunteers from Chicago’s Christmas Ship (CCS) Committee … .”
Tours of the Mackinaw were offered, and there were speeches and even a drum line performance.
MLive
World Ship Society report of casualties, demolitions
Vessels with a Great Lakes / Seaway connection reported as a casualty or sold for demolition. Taken from December 2022 issue of Marine News – Journal of the World Ship Society.
Casualties: ALE (9521825; Raba-21) 13,579/2022 – Singapore flag – general cargo ship operated by Bulkship Management, Norway touched bottom on 14/9/2022 in Conception Bay off Kelly’s Island, Newfoundland, Canada. The propeller and rudder were damaged and she was towed by Canadian tugs Atlantic Fir (9324916) 402/05 and Atlantic Larch (9193745) 392/99 to Les Mechins, Quebec, Canada arriving 10/10/2022
Sold for Demolition: S.T. CRAPO (5304011; United States of America) 9,144/1927 – non-propelled bulk cement barge. By Lafarge North America, Inc. United States of America, to Marine Recycling Corp., Canada and arrived Port Colborne, Ontario on 29/09/2022. Commenced 29/09/2022.
Report compiled by Barry Andersen and René Beauchamp
Marinette County shipwreck added to National Register of Historic Places
A Northeast Wisconsin shipwreck has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The wreck of the Sidney O. Neff was added to the register Nov. 7. This follows listing on the State Register of Historic Places in September.
Since 1939, the wreck has sat in 10-15 feet of water on the bottom of Green Bay in Lake Michigan, near the entrance to the Marinette Harbor.
According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Sidney O. Neff was launched on Nov. 25, 1890, from the Burger & Burger shipyard in Manitowoc. It worked in the Great Lakes lumber trade into the early 20th century. The ship was sent to Milwaukee in 1898 to be converted into a single screw steambarge. From 1919 to 1924, it was known as the M.C. & M.C. No. 2.
“This vessel spent all of its life working in the Great Lakes region, but because of the work that it was doing, it was able to fuel the growth of Milwaukee and Chicago,” said Caitlin Zant, maritime archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society. “It reached hinterland communities up in northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan that, really, some of the only ways transportation was occurring to those areas easily was via waterways.”
By 1934, the Sidney O. Neff was sitting at harbor in Marinette while it awaited the outcome of a court case. Eventually, it was declared unseaworthy and abandoned in the Menominee River at the east end of the Marinette Fuel & Dock Company slip. In 1939, its machinery was salvaged and the Sidney O. Neff was towed outside the Marinette Harbor and sunk.
The Sidney O. Neff currently sits upright and broken. Many of its hull components remain, with artifacts including the engine and propeller.
The historical society says the wreck allows historians and archaeologists to study the construction of early converted wooden steambarges in the Great Lakes lumber trade.
National Register of Historic Places protection means that divers may not remove artifacts or structure from the wreck.
Zant says, depending on water conditions, the wreck mat be visible to boaters on the surface.
Fox 11 News
St. Joseph Harbor dredging delayed by weather
St. Joseph Harbor traffic has been severely limited the last five weeks due to debris in the water.
And if they weather doesn’t improve, it could take even longer for the harbor to be fully operational again.
In mid-November, the US Army Corps of Engineers awarded a contract to King Company of Holland, Michigan to dredge the St Joseph Harbor. The 1.3-million-dollar contract was awarded quickly, but the project reached another snag
This all stems from an incident involving a 630-foot-long carrier.
In mid-October, it ran aground due to the large amount of sand and debris built up on the lake floor, at the mouth of the harbor.
Now after the surveys, all the pieces are in place.
“The Corps of Engineers worked diligently along with everyone else involved, all the stakeholders, all the politicians, members of the public everybody came together and got behind this, and within a month, we had a contract in place,” said Mike Moran, St. Joseph Harbormaster.
According to the US Army Corps of Engineers, the King Company was supposed to dredge over 14 thousand cubic yards of debris by the end of December. But the weather has once again caused crews to hit the brakes.
“If the weather isn’t cooperating, if the waves are too rough or the winds are too high, we can’t get the equipment towed down safely, so right now we’re just waiting for the weather to cooperate,” said Moran.
This is not the first time King Company has dredged the St. Joseph Harbor.
They did work back in the summer of 2020, as well as a few other related projects.
Therefore, they’re familiar with the area and the challenges Lake Michigan brings.
But until dredging can be completed, the harbor cannot take in large vessels.
Some can get into the harbor with assistance of tugboats, but it puts a strain on an already difficult process.
“Using extra tugboats adds to the complexity and the time and the cost of material overall, so it’s definitely not an ideal situation,” said Moran.
Moran says it isn’t the end of the world if they can’t get the dredging done this year their focus would then shift to the first available time in the spring.
Despite these roadblocks, the Harbormaster is optimistic about getting things back to normal.
Now, it’s up to Mother Nature to see when the dredging can start.
Giant wave kills passenger and injures four on new Viking Polaris cruise ship
A huge wave has smashed into a Viking Ocean Cruises vessel off Argentina, killing one person and injuring four more.
The accident involving the 378-berth Viking Polaris (built 2022) happened on Wednesday off Ushuaia, 3,200 km (nearly 2,000 miles) south of Buenos Aires, and was reported by the company and the Argentinian court system on Thursday.
AFP reported that the wave broke several glass panels on the Antarctic cruise ship as it was sailing south of Cape Horn in the middle of a storm late in the evening.
Viking Polaris is sistership to Viking Octantis, a familiar visitor to the Great Lakes this summer. Viking Polaris is expected to join her in cruising the Great Lakes in 2023.
“It is with great sadness that we confirm that a passenger passed away after the incident. We have notified the guest’s family and shared our deepest condolences,” a Viking source said from Norway. Four other passengers were treated by the ship’s medical personnel but did not have life-threatening injuries.
The damage to the new ship was described as minor, but no further details were given. The Viking Polaris returned to Ushuaia on Wednesday.
Viking said it is investigating what happened and is working with passengers and crew members to organize their return trips.
Mark W. Barker honored as one of 10 Significant Boats of 2022
Wednesday night, we accepted the honor of our new build, the M/V Mark W. Barker, being named by WorkBoat as one of the 10 Significant Boats of 2022.
Craig Perciavalle, VP and GM of Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, and our Interlake President Mark W. Barker, and namesake of the new vessel, accepted the recognition at the 2022 International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans.
This the latest honor for the 639-foot vessel, the first Great Lakes freighter to be constructed on the Great Lakes in nearly 40 years.
Built at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, from iron ore mined in Minnesota, shipped to Indiana where it was milled into steel plate and then shipped across Lake Michigan to the shipyard, this River Class vessel represents the best of our Great Lakes and supports thousands of manufacturing jobs throughout our region.
National Museum of the Great Lakes Christmas Tree Ship event cancelled
TOLDEO, OH – Due to forecasted high winds, the museum has CANCELED the Christmas Tree Ship event scheduled for Saturday, December 3. Individuals who purchased a tree for themselves can pick up their tree at the museum or may receive a full refund.
Additionally, the museum will still be collecting donations towards gift cards for holiday support. Anyone who donates towards a gift card online, over the phone, or at the museum will receive FREE museum admission on Saturday, December 3rd or Sunday, December 4th.
National Museum of the Great Lakes
Obituary: Fred Shannon, led shipwreck expeditions to Fitzgerald, Bradley
Frederick Joseph Shannon of Mt. Morris, Michigan, age 76, died unexpectedly on Saturday, November 26, 2022, at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
In 1994, Fred’s fascination with scuba diving and Great Lakes history compelled him to take on one of his greatest endeavors when he led an expedition to the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. He also led an expedition to the Carl D. Bradley in 1995 and 1997 and gave many historical lectures regarding his findings over the years.
He was born on October 7, 1946, in Highland Park, Michigan. The son of Charles and Josephine (Tracy) Shannon, he grew up in Mt. Morris and graduated from St. Mary Catholic School in 1964. Fred proudly served his country in the US Army from 1966 to 1967, earning a National Defense Service medal as an expert rifleman. Soon after he returned from his overseas duty, he began a career in law enforcement at the City of Swartz Creek. On July 18, 1969, he married Betty Lou Phelps at St. Mary Catholic Church in Mt. Morris. Fred continued to serve as a Police Officer for over 25 years at several departments including Mt. Morris Twp. and City, Clio City, Vienna Twp., Genesee Twp., and Gaines Twp., as well as a Genesee County Park Ranger.
He put his extensive talent and knowledge of all things electrical to use in the early 1970’s, when he started Shannon Electronics. In the early 1980’s, he built a building on Clio Rd. that housed Public Safety Engineering, where he installed equipment on police and fire vehicles. Over the years, he also developed a close relationship with area fire departments as their official videographer, forever with a camera in his hands. He continued to be committed to the community he grew up in, being inducted into the Mt. Morris Hall of Honor in 2004.
His great love for Michigan history and public service was only surpassed by his love for his family. His granddaughters were the apple of his eye and could always count on “Grampy” for ice cream and handfuls of candy, usually given way past their bedtimes.
Fred is survived by his wife of 53 years, Betty Shannon; daughter, Tina (Mark) Worrall; and grandchildren, Ellison Worrall and Abigail Worrall. Fred was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Josephine Shannon.
A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 AM Thursday, December 1, 2022, at O’Guinn Family Funeral Home in Clio, with Pastor Dean Stewart officiating. The family will receive visitors on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM and on Thursday from 10:00 AM until time of service at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Clio VFW Honor Guard, M.A.S.H. Ministries or Hiawatha Youth Camp.
Due to gale warnings on the northern Great Lakes, several vessels were on the hook Wednesday morning. They include:
American Spirit off Bayfield
Kaye E. Barker off Marquette
Arthur M. Anderson and Egbert Wagenborg off Paradise (Anderson moved down to off Bay Mills mid-afternoon)
James R. Barker off Bay Mills
Edgar B. Speer at the locks east center pier (Speer got underway downbound around noon)
Victory/Maumee, American Century, Algonova, John J. Boland and Joseph L. Block above DeTour
Great Republic in Moran Bay, near St. Ignace.
Vessels on Lake Huron were hugging the Michigan shoreline.
The forecast for the next few days shows a second storm for the weekend. Today
NW wind 35 to 40 kt, with gusts as high as 50 kt. Snow showers. Waves 15 ft building to 18 ft. Tonight NW wind 30 to 40 kt, with gusts as high as 50 kt. Snow showers likely, mainly before 8pm. Waves 22 ft subsiding to 16 ft. Thursday NW wind 20 to 25 kt becoming SW 10 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 kt. Mostly cloudy. Waves 11 ft subsiding to 3 ft. Thursday Night SSW wind 20 to 25 kt. Mostly cloudy. Waves 3 ft building to 8 ft. Friday S wind 15 to 20 kt. Mostly cloudy. Waves 7 ft subsiding to 4 ft. Friday Night S wind around 15 kt becoming W after midnight. Rain showers before 4am, then rain and snow showers. Waves 3 to 4 ft.
Saturday NNW wind 25 to 30 kt, with gusts as high as 40 kt. Snow showers, possibly mixed with rain before 1pm, then a chance of snow showers. Waves 6 ft building to 13 ft. Saturday Night NW wind 15 to 20 kt becoming SW after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 30 kt. Mostly cloudy. Waves 9 ft subsiding to 4 ft.
Small-town tradition honors sailors lost, those still on Great Lakes
ROGERS CITY, Mich. — When mighty vessels loom on Northeast Michigan horizons, they represent not only steel and cargo but also humans braving the waves to make America run, a Rogers City nautical history buff and sailor said.
Such work deserves notice, said Mike Horn, director of the Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum in Rogers City, which organizes annual bell-ringing ceremonies recognizing sailors past and honoring those who still serve.
Each November, the self-titled Nautical City gathers for a trio of ceremonies honoring the lives of sailors killed in three catastrophic Great Lakes shipwrecks. In a solemn procession, year after year, participants toll a bell once in memory of each life lost.
The ceremonies mark the sinkings of the Edmund Fitzgerald, in 1975, the Daniel J. Morrell, in 1966, and the Carl D. Bradley, in 1958.
Those big boats, and the thousands of others that have settled to the bottom of the Great Lakes, were not merely hunks of machinery, Horn said.
“These guys that were lost were people,” he said. “Just like us. They had their own self-worth. They had their own aspirations. They had family and friends.”
A Saturday ceremony at the museum, recognizing the Morrell, marked the third of this year’s fall bell ringings, held on three successive Saturdays. The museum also conducts a ceremony in May to mark the collision-caused sinking of the Cedarville, which claimed the lives of 10 sailors after departing from Rogers City in 1965.
The Morell took 28 lives, the Fitzgerald, 29.
When the Bradley succumbed to a Nov. 15 storm, it sent Northeast Michigan towns into deep mourning, especially Rogers City, which in one day lost 23 of its own.
The grief may have subsided, but the town still remembers, and residents still tell stories of neighbors, brothers, friends, and fathers lost to the mighty waters of the Great Lakes when the Bradley went down.
Some of those residents turned out for a bell-ringing ceremony on Nov. 19 at the Rogers City Theater. The event also marked the premier of an independent film based on the Bradley sinking.
As at other such ceremonies, relatives of some of the dead — some of them coming from across the state or elsewhere — rang for their loved one, while members of the community rang for others.
The solemn ceremony may be largely the same from ringing to ringing, year to year, but those left behind — including a town that hasn’t forgotten their lost — hangs on to the tradition for the same reason anyone clings to remembrances of loved ones, Horn said.
“They were ours,” he said, voice tightening with emotion. “They were part of our life.”
More than a memorial to the past, though, the traditions that bind Northeast Michiganders to their nautical roots also connect today’s residents to the humans aboard the big boats — both those of the past and those of today.
At the Bradley memorial ceremony, a film by boat captain Andy Stempki — a distant relative of one of the Bradley’s lost crew members — depicted the 35 men aboard the boat. The actors portraying them disappeared onscreen as they narrated the events that led to their character’s death in the cold waters of Lake Michigan.
The movie probably didn’t match what actually happened in the ship’s final hours and minutes, said Horn, whose relative was among those who died. But the movie, like the tolling of a bell year after year, reminds those who take notice that the dead were not numbers, but humans — and so are the sailors who haul goods across lakes and oceans today, Horn said.
The Great Lakes have not seen a significant freighter sinking since the Fitzgerald, but their waters are far from safe, Horn said at the museum on Sunday, as a November wind made Lake Huron roar several blocks away.
On the ocean, captains can slow their ships and wait out a storm, sometimes intentionally drifting for days, said Horn, an experienced sailor. “On the lakes, in a matter of hours you’re going to run out of lake,” Horn said. “Pretty soon you’ve got to make a move.”
And, in a big enough storm, that move can have dire consequences.
“It’s a risky business,” he said. “We are not evolved to live in that environment, much less work in it. And then we go out in it in vessels made of material that intrinsically sinks.”
Remembering those who did not come home safely may make those on shore look with more understanding and appreciation at the freighters of today, an overlooked but vital link in the supply chain, Horn said.
“Appreciate what you have,” Horn advised, “and remember the people who make it happen.”
The Alpena News
Coast Guard crew carrying Christmas Tree Ship load is crossing Lake Michigan
The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw is motoring down Lake Michigan today and nearing Chicago, where its load of more than 1,200 Christmas trees will be used to recreate the holiday spirit of Michigan’s ill-fated Christmas Tree Ship, which sank in late November 1912.
The rugged, 240-foot icebreaker left Cheboygan, Michigan on Saturday after volunteers from the nearby Wolverine High School and the community helped the Mackinaw’s crew load the hundreds of net-wrapped trees onto the cutter’s fantail. For the commemorative trip, the Mackinaw is also flying a custom-made tree pennant, the Coast Guard said.
The journey has been a sentimental favorite for the cutter’s crew and groups in Northern Michigan and Chicago for years.
We are pleased to debut our stylish new baseball cap, just in time for the holidays. Sales benefit this site. Thanks to our friends at Know Your Ships for letting us order through their site! Order here (scroll down to see the cap).
HAMILTON, ON – Algoma Compass has finished unloading sand and is now at another dock for what is described as layup/repairs. The dock is 26 North and runs parallel to the Queen Elizabeth Way. On Nov. 21 Algoma Compass struck the Bridge 21 abutment at Port Colborne, ON, as it entered the Welland Canal downbound.
