Viking Octantis cruises into Alpena for the first time
Alpena, MI – Anyone walking the Maritime Heritage Trail or trying to cross the 2nd Avenue bridge on Wednesday may have noticed Alpena had hundreds of visitors.
The Norwegian-owned Viking Expedition cruise ship, Octantis, anchored way out in Thunder Bay on Wednesday morning, and bright orange passenger ships called tenders brought passengers under the double-leaf lifting bridge in to dock behind the NOAA building. Groups of about 120 passengers disembarked from the vessel on each trip in, while other passengers waited to board the next tender.
The Viking Octantis has been to a lot of places, including Antarctica, but this is her first time on the Great Lakes. Alpena was the sixth stop in her Great Lakes tour. The 665-foot cruise ship carries 378 passengers, many of whom had never been to Alpena.
Read the full article and view a video of the Viking Octantis and The Lady Michigan at this The Alpena News link: https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2022/05/viking-octantis-great-lakes-cruise-ship-visits-alpena/
The Alpena News
Sinking of historic tugboat upsetting for transportation historian, relative of former ship captain
Thunder Bay, ON – The head of an organization dedicated to preserving transportation history in Thunder Bay says he’s disappointed a century-old tugboat sank into the Kaministiquia River after taking on water over the weekend.
The James Whalen, which was built in 1905 and has been moored at Kam River Heritage Park since the city acquired it in the early 1990s, was found submerged in the river on Sunday.
Charlie Brown, the president of the Lakehead Transportation Museum Society, said the ship’s sinking is unfortunate.
Brown said the group had approached the city’s waterfront development committee to bring the retired tugboat over to its site near the Alexander Henry, a decommissioned icebreaker that has been turned into a museum ship.
“Our organization has been looking at trying to save the James Whalen for a number of years,” Brown said.
“We were just waiting for a response from that committee because it was sent off to city administration. We were hoping by the end of May we would get some kind of response to that, and perhaps we could move forward.”
The ship had taken on water and partially sunk last year, but water was pumped out and the tugboat was assessed and determined to be stable.
Margot McCabe, the granddaughter of N.V McCabe, who captained the ship for many years, said the sinking is upsetting for her family.
“One of the key principles that we were raised under is the idea of doing things right and taking care of things,” McCabe said. “Unfortunately, I think the sinking of the James Whalen exactly proves those points wrong.
“It wasn’t done right, and it wasn’t taken care of.”
Cory Halvorsen, the city’s manager of parks and open spaces, said the city is in communication with multiple contractors to raise the ship and bring it onto dry land for storage.
Halvorsen said a pump system that had been installed last year was removed for the winter.
“We planned to install the pump as soon as possible in the spring, but when we had checked earlier this spring the water in the sump was still frozen and the temperatures were still freezing, so the pump couldn’t be installed,” he said in a written statement.
Brown said, once the tugboat is raised and assessed, the transportation museum group would be open to discussing the vessel’s future.
“Certainly, if they’d like to contact us we can sit down with the city, and we can see if it’s feasible to then carry on with the original plan we proposed to the city,” he said. “We’d love to have the tug in with the Alexander Henry.”
CBC News
Journal of the World Ship Society demolitions
Vessels with Great Lakes / Seaway connections reported as sold for demolition, taken from May 2022 issue of Marine News – Journal of the World Ship Society
Demolitions: St. Clair (7403990; United States of America) 27,482 – 1976 – Bulk Carrier self-discharging Laker – by Bell Steamship Company (American Steamship Company), United States of America, to Marine Recycling Corp. Canada and arrived Port Colborne, ON. 9.12.2021 – commenced demolition 9.12.2021
Swiftchem (9121754; Liberia) Union Fortune-20, Chem Pegasus-13 – 1st seaway transit 2012, Kerim-10, Spring Leo-03 – 9,554 / 1995 – chemical products tanker – By Swiftchem Tankers Company Ltd, Liberia, to P. Patel Ship Breaking Co. India and arrived Alang 5.12.2021 – commenced 11.12.2021
Report prepared by Barry Andersen and René Beauchamp
Great Lakes buoy data helps NWS, Coast Guard, anglers, more
Grand Rapids, MI – Buoys are a common sight on Lake Michigan in the warm months. Some of them are merely meant to mark a designated swimming area but others are a bit more high-tech. These buoys collect detailed observations that are important and beloved by fishing and boating communities.
Ed Verhamme is a principal engineer at Limnotech, where the Great Lakes Program began in 2011. The first buoy was put in Lake Michigan near St. Joseph in 2011 and the program has expanded up the lakeshore since then. According to Verhamme, there are around 40 buoys across the Great Lakes that report real-time conditions, including buoys serviced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The buoys that Limnotech services weigh about 500 pounds. They are taken out into Lake Michigan each spring, towed out by a 23-foot boat and fastened with a cable to a massive weight at the bottom of the lake.
Once they are in the lake, the instruments begin to collect information. Verhamme said that wave height is the most important and commonly used data category. Other tracked parameters include wave period, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity and barometric pressure. Water temperature measurements are taken from the surface all the way to the bottom.
The buoys can also measure water quality markers that are used by water treatment plants. It’s useful to have the ability to measure turbidity levels and watch for harmful algal blooms. According to Verhamme, knowing what the lake is doing is essential for having clean and safe drinking water. Changing water temperatures and large rain events that lead to runoff can have a big affect on how the water is treated.
When the buoys were first installed, their main purpose was to provide information that would keep working crews safe. Now, the observations provided by the buoys are essential for the National Weather Service, Coast Guard, search and rescue crews and recreational anglers and boaters. Verhamme notes the community in West Michigan is especially supportive of the buoy program.
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids
Port Huron’s Great Lakes Maritime Center reopens for season
Port Huron, MI – The Great Lakes Maritime Center has reopened for the 2022 season. The center is open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8 am to 4 pm. The Vantage Point Farmers Market will be back every Saturday from 8 am to 2 pm
On Saturday, May 7, the center will have its Grand Opening. A day of activities including Farmers Market entertainment by maritime singer Patrick Lynch from 1 to 3 p.m.
On May 28, the center will host a book signing for the 2022 Know Your Ships with editor Roger LeLievre from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Great Lakes cartoonist / illustrator artist Don Lee, whose freighter cartoons have often appeared on Facebook, will have his easel on hand and will sketch your likeness, with or without freighter (tips appreciated).
Great Lakes Maritime Center
Boatnerd seeking help from volunteers familiar with WordPress
We are in need of someone who has experience with website design and maintenance of our WordPress-based website. Our present volunteer staff does not have the expertise to keep up with it. If you are interested, please email Boatnerd board president Nathan Leindecker to talk about the opportunities.
Nathan Leindecker
nleindecker@gmail.com
