Interlake’s new tug on its way to lakes from East Coast
U.S. Army tug MG Winfield Scott (LT 805) was upbound on the St. Lawrence River off Verchères, Quebec, on Nov. 22. The tug, which is on its way to Ludington, Mich., was recently purchased by Interlake Logistics Solutions, which is affiliated with the Interlake Steamship Co.
Interlake President Mark W. Barker said in early December it will be rafted alongside the Spartan, the long-idle sister ferry to the Badger, which Interlake also owns.
The 128-foot-long tug was built by Moss Point Marine and delivered to the U.S. Army in 1993. She is named for Major General Winfield Scot
Floating warship museum still eyed for Erie; Navy review, costs pose challenges
Erie, PA – A U.S. Navy warship won’t be dropping anchor in Erie anytime soon. While efforts are ongoing to bring a decommissioned Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate to Presque Isle Bay and turn it into a floating naval museum, a steep fundraising goal and an arduous Navy approval process could slow the project for years. So says Joe Pfadt, CEO of the Oliver Hazard Perry Shipyard, a nonprofit spearheading the project.
“We’re still going through Phase II of the three-phase Navy application process, which requires us to do a number of studies, to include all of the engineering that goes with this,” Pfadt said. He said documentation from Phase II, which also includes an economic impact study and a market analysis, must be submitted to the Navy by September.
At that point, the Navy will undertake a thorough review of the documentation before advancing to Phase III, which involves a new round of planning for the towing and mooring of the vessel. That, in turn, would require another review by the Navy.
“We don’t know how long the Navy’s review process will take,” said Pfadt, adding that documentation from Phase II alone could be nearly 1,000 pages and take the Navy a year or more to review.
“We have to remember that a Perry-class frigate costs about $122 million, so it’s a rather expensive asset that (the Navy) is donating,” Pfadt said. “The Navy is trying to tell a prospective museum location, ‘This is what you’re getting into and this is what the process is to have a ship donated.'”
The Perry Shipyard applied to the Navy in early 2020 for the frigate. The nonprofit, during the first phase of the application process, pitched Erie’s connections with Perry — who won the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812 — and the educational and tourism potential of a Perry-class frigate in the Flagship City.
The Navy has since selected the U.S.S. Halyburton, one of a handful of mothballed Perry-class frigates at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, for the prospective Erie move.
Go Erie
Superstructure of tug Annis Lee arrives at museum
Thunder Bay, ON – On Monday the Lakehead Transportation Museum Society took possession of the superstructure of the tugboat Annis Lee. Originally built in 1945 at the Port Arthur Shipyard. the tug had been pulled ashore and was more or less abandoned for years, until this year, when it was scrapped.
