Icebreaking underway in St. Marys River
USCGC Mackinaw arrived in the Soo Tuesday, a few days prior to the opening of the 2025 shipping season. Cutters Neah Bay and Biscayne Bay were working lower river ice. Last week, after doing some initial icebreaking in Thunder Bay, the USCG Spar headed east to Whitefish Bay. Now they are back at Duluth/Superior. The locks are scheduled to reopen at 8 a.m. Friday.
Steve Horton
Sault Ste. Marie wins engineering award for Carbide Dock project
SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – After years of hard work, the city is being recognized for its efforts to rebuild the Carbide Dock and Easterday Avenue truck route.
City engineer David Boyle accepted the Engineering Excellence Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies Michigan on March 8 on behalf of the city and its engineering department.
The Carbide Dock reconstruction project, which wrapped up last year, is one of the largest and most extensive projects in the recent history of the city.
The project was considered a high priority for local and state officials, as the dock and truck route are a significant part of the local shipping industry. Freighters and other ships used to regularly make stops at the dock to make deliveries, but had to stop due to safety concerns when the dock and route fell into disrepair.
After an extensive planning and design process, construction officially began in 2023. In total, the project took around seven years to complete and cost more than $30 million.
City officials said they hope the restored dock and truck route will greatly increase shipping and tourism for the city. For example, having the new dock allows shipments to be brought directly to the city from the Great Lakes instead of being docked somewhere else and then driven in. It also allows for cruise ships and other commercial boats to dock right next to the downtown area.
“We have cruise ships coming to the dock as well, which is super exciting,” said city staff engineer Morgan Kelly. “We already have a bunch lined up to come over next summer. It’s going to hopefully bring in a lot of people to the city.”
Kelly added that the area now includes a park “in addition to the rehabilitated dock and other storage areas. It includes a boardwalk and fishing access, too,” she said.
Kelly also praised the results of the truck route project. Before, the road was in such poor condition that trucking companies would avoid using it even if it cost them more time to use another route. “Easterday was in such poor condition that trucks really wouldn’t want to take it,” Kelly said. “Now we’re in a position where it’s usable and even is a nice, smooth ride.”
The project included replacing or rebuilding 1,100 linear feet of the condemned dock structure to help create the new waterfront. Other construction additions include improved on-site stormwater management facilities.
The dock also has consistent access to energy, meaning it can provide power directly to docked ships. This will allow docked ships to not have to idle while they are parked, which is part of a larger effort to reduce carbon emissions.
The dock and route are already back in use again. This year’s shipment of road salt for the city was brought through the dock. “(The dock is) so important because it provides us a way to access materials easier and quicker and everyone has access to it,” said Kelly.
The Sault News
OBITUARY: Capt. Dino Dini
Capt. Dino Dini, of St. Catharines, ON, passed away Friday, March 14, 2025. He sailed as a captain for Algoma Central for many years, retiring from the Algoma Guardian in July of 2021. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Soo Locks to open Friday for 2025 shipping season
Enter Duluth’s 42nd Annual First Ship Contest
Birds chirping. Snow thawing. Groundhogs emerging. There are many signs of spring across the country. In Duluth, it’s when the season’s first oceangoing vessel, known as a “saltie,” enters the city’s harbor. Begone ice! The ships are coming in.
To celebrate the occasion, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and Visit Duluth are partnering for the 42nd Annual First Ship Contest. Correctly guess when the season’s first saltie sails into our seaport and you could win an epic prize package of Duluth goods and experiences. The second-place winner will also receive a prize package.
Here’s the link: https://visitduluth.com/first-ship/
2025 “Know Your Ships” launches
The new shipping season is at hand, and so is the release of the 2025 edition of Know Your Ships, the popular annual field guide to boats and boatwatching on the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway, now in its 66th year.
Preorders are now being taken. As usual, standard and spiral bindings are available. Preorders will be the first to mail out when the book arrives from the printer around March 23.
New this year is the ability to preorder the midsummer EXTRA magazine, which will feature a 50th anniversary tribute to the Edmund Fitzgerald and her crew, when you preorder the book.
To mark the opening of the Soo Locks, Editor & Publisher Roger LeLievre will be at the Soo Locks Visitor Center Saturday, March 26, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., to sign copies of the new edition. Buy them right from him, or from Das Gift Haus and Island Books and Crafts in the Soo, bring them to the Visitor Center and he will sign them.
Preorder at this link: www.knowyourships.com
