Lakes limestone trade up 11 percent in July
Cleveland, OH – Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.8 million tons in July, an increase of 11 percent compared to a year ago. The trade was a near match to the month’s 5-year average.
Loadings from U.S. quarries totaled nearly 3 million tons, an increase of 13.1 percent compared to 2020. Shipments from Canadian quarries increased by 4 percent to 839,825 tons.
Year-to-date the Lakes limestone trade stands at 13.8 million tons, an increase of 10.8 percent compared to a year ago. Loadings from Michigan and Ohio quarries total 10.5 million tons, an increase of 6.7 percent. Shipments from Ontario quarries total 3.3 million tons, an increase of 26.6 percent compared to 2020.
Lake Carriers’ Association
Rogers City museum inducts Daniel J. Morrell shipwreck victims, honors lives
Rogers City, MI – Men lost at sea a half century ago finally found a voice, a family member said, as representatives of the Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum in Rogers City inducted 23 sailors from the SS Daniel J. Morrell into the museum’s hall of fame on Sunday.
The induction ceremony, held at the Rogers City Area Senior and Community Center, honored those lost in the tragedy and highlighted the lives — not just the deaths — of those men and all who sail, said Roger Hulett, the museum’s director.
The ship broke up in a storm on Lake Huron in late November of 1966 before it could reach the protection of Thunder Bay, killing 28 of the 29 men aboard. Until recently, photos and biographies of only six of the ship’s crew hung on the museum’s walls.
Extensive research led to Sunday’s ceremony, honoring the remaining crew members, whose stories will now also grace the walls of the Rogers City museum. “I feel like, now, their voice is being heard that was silenced on Nov. 29, 1966,” said Cathy Pruiett, of North Carolina, over lunch before the ceremony.
Pruiett and her sister, Daphne Rhodes, were 7 and 9 years old when they learned their father, Wilson E. Simpson, an oiler on the Morrell, would not come home again. The researchers who tracked down their father’s story helped fill a void, the sisters said. “It’s not an empty silence now,” Pruiett said, tears in her eyes. “It’s filled with memories.”
Great Lakes maritime historian John DeBeck — a friend of Dennis Hale, the Morrell’s lone survivor — tracked down family and friends of the remaining crew members over the past three years.
He heard, over and over, that those left behind felt overlooked, the stories of their loved ones overshadowed by the sinking of the SS Carl D. Bradley in 1958 that killed 33 sailors — many from Northeast Michigan — and the 1975 wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, immortalized in song.
To bring the stories of those lost on the Morrell to life — and to reconstruct the sinking — DeBeck and a team of researchers scoured libraries, dug through national archives, conducted interviews, and dove to the ship’s remains, he recounted.
The research revealed details DeBeck believes disprove the Coast Guard’s account of the wreck. More importantly, the work gave families much-needed closure, DeBeck said, voice trembling as he recalled families’ tears, laughter, and amazement at someone showing interest in the Morrell crew more than 50 years after their loss.
At the Sunday ceremony, Bruce Lynn, executive director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point on Lake Superior, read the names and brief biographies of the men lost on the Morrell.
Ernest and Duncan, Norman and David — the men became more than numbers as Lynn told stories of a card shark, a dump truck driver, a vacuum cleaner salesman known for his tasty spaghetti.
A snappy dresser who drove a convertible. A teenager who treasured his motorcycle and worked on the family farm. A third mate who planned to retire and move to Alpena as soon as the Morrell laid up for the season. Several had survived other shipwrecks — some caused by enemy torpedoes — and some had performed heroic rescues.
With their photos on a museum wall — and artifacts from Hale’s rescue included in a new exhibit dedicated at the Whitefish Point museum on Saturday — the men of the Morrell will now have their stories told to thousands, DeBeck said.
The Rogers City museum — which bills itself as the only museum dedicated to sharing the lives of people making a living on Great Lakes ships — shares stories and photos of anyone who has sailed or sails still, from cooks to deckhands to bridge tenders, Hulett said.
In North Carolina, far from the Great Lakes, few people have heard even of the Fitzgerald wreck, much less the Morrell, Rhodes said as she prepared to ring a replica bell, engraved with the names of crew members, that will someday be placed on the wreck.
She and her sister have the comfort, now, of knowing their father won’t be forgotten, Rhodes said. “It’s easier, now,” she said. “Because of this. Because of today.”
Read more and view images at this link: https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2021/08/rogers-city-museum-inducts-shipwreck-victims-honors-lives/
USS Cod is preparing to make return journey from Erie to Cleveland this weekend
Cleveland, OH – The WWII submarine USS Cod is coming back home this weekend after undergoing renovations in Erie, Pennsylvania.
After more than seven weeks of hull sandblasting, removing wasted metal, fitting new steel and applying new paint at the Donjon ShipBuilding facility in Erie, the USS Cod will be refloated for the return tow home to Cleveland this week.
Paul Farace, the Cod’s skipper, is in daily contact with the shipyard staff and the captain of the tug to alert everyone to a firm day and time when the Cod can get underway to make its journey back to the Cleveland harbor.
“Everyone involved has done an amazing job in making Cod shipshape, but we’re ready to come home and get back to giving tours,” said Farace.
The Cod crew hopes to get their sub back to Cleveland next weekend if the tug can arrive in Erie on Friday or Saturday.
The tow is expected to take about 13 hours and will follow the close off-shore route taken on its way to Erie on June 13.
Demands for new Great Lakes icebreaker go to Congress
Breaking the ice is never an easy undertaking, especially with a shrinking and outdated fleet of icebreakers.
That’s why approximately 90 Midwestern shipping organizations, suppliers and ports are supporting the Great Lakes Winter Commerce Act, which would put aside funding for a second Great Lakes icebreaker, on par with the Mackinaw Icebreaker.
Eric Peace is with the Lake Carriers’ Association, which is at the forefront of the movement. He said a new icebreaker is critical to meet commerce needs and support the Michigan economy.
“This is infrastructure,” Peace said. “This is like a plow for the roads, so it’s critical to maintain our national economic security here in the Great Lakes.”
In a report commissioned by the Lake Carriers’ Association, “inadequate icebreaking” resulted in a loss of approximately 5,000 jobs and a revenue loss of $1 billion in 2019. The report found this loss in the Great Lakes Region was due to ice-caused shipping delays.
Peace said facilities were built around the lakes to receive goods by ship, and many facilities don’t have alternative means to receive raw materials. “Shipping is critical to be able to supply the facilities in Michigan, so people can keep their jobs, and we can continue to have a strong economy in the Great Lakes,” Peace said.
In addition to funding a new ice breaker, the act would also require the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct ice breaking operations in the Great Lakes to specific standards. One standard includes requiring the USCG to keep channels and harbors open to navigation at least 90% of the time when ships are transiting ice-covered waterways.
The bill has 16 cosponsors in the House and four in the Senate. Peace said advocates have received promising congressional support so far, but it’s still difficult to predict whether the bill will pass.
Despite the support, the U.S. Coast Guard did not include funding for the icebreaker in its 2022 fiscal budget. Peace said the struggle for updated infrastructure has been a “40-year battle.”
For the Coast Guard, “it’s a competing demand, because they’re trying to recapitalize their other fleets, so (a Great Lakes icebreaker) falls to the bottom of their list,” Peace said. The Coast Guard prioritizes off-shore fleets more, he said, and wants to wait 12 years to fund a new icebreaker for the Great Lakes.
The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The government estimates a new icebreaker will cost $350 million. The funding bill is in committees in the U.S. House and Senate.
Huron Daily Tribune
