Boatnerd News – March 24, 2023

First ship through the Soo Locks for the shipping season will be the Edwin H. Gott

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – We got the Gott.

Those were the words of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which shared Thursday that the M/V Edwin H. Gott will be the first vessel to pass through the Soo Locks when the 2023 shipping season begins just after midnight on Saturday.

As part of the annual tradition at the landmark Upper Peninsula facility, freighter fans – often called Boatnerds – typically gather at Rotary Park near the locks to see which Great Lakes freighters will be the first to pass through.

On Friday, dignitaries from the City of Sault Ste. Marie, the Soo Locks Visitor Center Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Bureau will greet the ship’s crew and present plaques and other commemorative gifts to the Gott’s captain.The publisher of the book Know Your Ships will also be there to present the crew with copies of the 2023 edition.

The 1,000-foot Gott is already moored near the Soo Locks facility in Sault Ste. Marie. It will be the first of hundreds of ships to pass through the Soo Locks this season. After she locks up, she will be followed by American Integrity, John J. Boland, Joseph L. Block, Harvest Spirit, Stewart J. Cort and, later, CSL St-Laurent and Great Republic.

Icebreakers from the U.S. and Canadian coast guards passed through the facility on Wednesday.

Launched in 1979 and now part of Canadian National Railway’s Great Lakes Fleet, Inc., the Gott is named for former U.S. Steel chairman and chief executive officer, Edwin H. Gott. Along with the Edgar B. Speer (which opened the season last year), the Gott is the largest of CN’s Great Lakes ships.

The vessel mostly transports dry bulk commodities such iron ore to port son the lower Great Lakes.

The park and viewing platform at the Soo Locks will open March 24 at 11 p.m. and close March 25 at 1 a.m. The Visitor Center will host an open house March 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For those not able to come to the Soo Locks opening, there will be a Facebook Live stream of the first ship, which can be found here.

MLive

St. Lawrence Seaway shippers eye EV materials, but grain and ore remain the staples

SAINT-LAMBERT, QC. – Shippers who ply the St. Lawrence Seaway view critical minerals for electric vehicle batteries as key to their future — but it could be a while before the floodgates open on Canada’s largely untapped reserves.

Until then, grain and iron ore remain the staples, comprising nearly half of the 36.3 million tonnes of cargo that traversed the seaway last year.

Terence Bowles, who heads the management authority overseeing the system of locks, canals and channels that stretches for more than 300 kilometres between Montreal and Lake Erie, said he expects a million more tonnes of Canadian grain will float down the St. Lawrence River from Thunder Bay and other Ontario ports in 2023.

“It’s in the silos ready to come … so we’re expecting quite a bump-up,” he said in an interview Wednesday after the opening ceremony for the seaway’s navigation year.

The war in Ukraine will likely extend the spike in demand for grain as well as potash, said Chamber of Marine Commerce CEO Bruce Burrows. Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of wheat, corn, sunflower oil and fertilizer products, but Ukrainian shipments were hampered by a months-long Russian blockade last year, since lifted for the time being.

Iron ore traffic will also pick up as car makers “get back on their feet” and construction activity remains sturdy, Burrows predicted, pointing to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in particular.

“The GTA is still the biggest, fastest growing part of the North American economy. It’s a great sucking sound of special projects, all of which have to be sourced with resource materials that we move by ship,” he said.

Behind him, the Algoma Central shipping company’s Captain Henry Jackman freighter issued a horn blast before disembarking along the St. Lawrence River, hauling iron ore en route to Hamilton’s ArcelorMittal Dofasco mill to be transformed into steel.

St. Catharines Standard

 

Cross-Lake Ontario hovercraft service won’t launch this summer

ST. CATHERINES, ON – Plans to launch a hovercraft service between St. Catharines and Toronto this summer have been postponed. Hoverlink Ontario Inc. said it has delayed the launch of the 30-minute rapid hovercraft service because time lines to complete the project are “running longer than anticipated.”

In a statement, the company said due to the complexities involved in the project, it is presently re-evaluating its time line for completion. “We want to assure the communities we intend to serve that we are continuing to move forward through the requirements necessary for operational success,” founder and chief executive officer Christopher Morgan said in the release.

In September, Hoverlink announced that after 10 years of work it was in the final approval stages to launch a rapid transit route between Port Weller in north St. Catharines and Ontario Place in Toronto. It proposed to build a terminal at the north end of the Welland Canals Parkway, along with off-site parking lots near the St. Catharines museum at Lock 3 and further south along the parkway.

The hovercraft year-round services will be aimed at tourists and commuters.

Hoverlink said in its recent statement its primary focus now is to complete “necessary protocols” for development of the sites to support “an excellent consumer experience” at the launch of the passenger service. The company did not say how long it expects the delay to be.

Welland Tribune

 

2023 “Know Your Ships” launches; book signing at Soo Locks Saturday

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – The new shipping season is at hand, and so is the release of the 2023 edition of Know Your Ships, the popular annual field guide to boats and boatwatching on the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway, now in its 64th edition.

To mark the opening of the Soo Locks, Editor & Publisher Roger LeLievre will be at the Soo Locks Visitor Center Saturday 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, bring them to the Visitor Center and he will sign them.

Standard and spiral bindings are available. The standard version features the eye-catching Viking Octantis on the cover, while the spiral shows off the veteran John G. Munson.

In the Spotlight section, you can read stories about the new Mark W. Barker (still has that new boat smell!), Michael Moran’s popular St. Joughnuts sweet treat deliveries at St. Joseph, MI, a look at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy serving a demand on the Great Lakes, and even about boats named after real-life rock stars!

This year’s 200-page book also includes information on U.S., Canadian and international-flag cargo vessels, tugs, excursion boats and barges in regular Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway service, including owner and port of registry, year and shipyard where built, length, beam, depth, cargo capacity and former names, plus type of engine, horsepower and more.

Order at this link: www.knowyourships.com