Port Reports – December 17, 2023

PORT REPORT  12/17/2023

TWO HARBORS, MINNESOTA-EB
Presque Isle departed Two Harbors around 6:30pm Saturday, Dec 16th with iron ore pellets for Indiana Harbor, IN
Great Republic, which had been laying by on the north side of Dock 2 since early morning Saturday, December 16th, shifted over to the conveyor / ship-loader berth on the south side of Dock 2 after Presque Isle cleared.

SILVER BAY, MINNESOTA-EB
Stewart J. Cort departed Silver Bay with iron ore pellets for Burns Harbor, IN around 6pm Saturday, December 16th, after around a 24-hour stay in port.

DULUTH,MINNESOTA-Tom Geiger
UNKNOWN-Federal Alster-ETD
UNKNOWN  James R. Barker-ETD
UNKNOWN  Indiana Harbor-ETD
UNKNOWN  Narie-ETD

DULUTH, MINNESOTA-EB
Kaye E. Barker berthed at the Graymont lime manufacturing plant just after midnight early Saturday, Dec 16th. After a seven-hour unload, delivering limestone from Calcite, Mi, Kaye E. Barker shifted to Midwest Energy mid-morning to load Colorado-mined coal bound for Green Bay, WI. Kaye E. Barker was underway from the coal dock and outbound for the Duluth Entry as a still, foggy dusk turned to a gloomy evening.

John G. Munson arrived Duluth Entry just before daybreak on Saturday, December 16th to load iron ore pellets at CN 6. CN 6 got to work quickly, and by mid morning the 2nd of 3 rounds of loading and shifting along CN 6’s conveyor ship-loader berth was complete. After a few additional hours of trimming the load, Munson was underway again in the late afternoon Saturday. As they made their way out of St. Louis Bay on a calm, gloomy, damp afternoon, Munson slid past fellow triple forward deckhoused classic laker Kaye E. Barker as the Barker’s load neared completion at Midwest Energy. The two ships side-by-side made for an excellent scene on an otherwise grey day.

Indiana Harbor dropped anchor outside Duluth Saturday morning, December 16th to wait to load after Kaye E. Barker. After weighing anchor late in the afternoon, Indiana Harbor slowly looped around toward an approach to the Duluth Entry, allowing John G. Munson and Kaye E. Barker to depart Duluth before arriving and heading for their own load of coal at the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal.

Canada-owned, Hong Kong-managed, Marshall Islands-flagged oceangoing bulker Federal Katsura dropped anchor outside Duluth in the early afternoon on Saturday, December 16th. They’re listed as due to load wheat at the CHS grain terminal. It’s possible the Katsura will stay at anchor and wait for a few more days to load at CHS 1 after Narie, although Narie’s loading so far has yet to commence due to wet weather Friday and Saturday. Alternatively, Federal Katsura may arrive Sunday evening or Monday daybreak to be ready to load Monday morning at CHS’s second loading berth, which would theoretically get them on their way back out of the Seaway and toward their next overseas destination two or so days earlier than if they wait for berth 1 after Narie. There is certainly more time than usual for late-season ocean ships to work with this year at Duluth-Superior. Weather has been mild lately and harbor ice formation is minimal, and the planned closing date for the Seaway is one of if not the latest on record.

Federal Alster was at Port Terminal 8 all day Saturday, Dec 16th, depositing a growing array of steel i-beams on the dock’s lay-down area adjacent to the berth. Alster is listed as due to shift to load wheat somewhere at Duluth-Superior after they finish unloading steel. No word yet on which local grain terminal they’re headed for, but Riverland Ag or  CHS are likely the top guesses.

James R Barker continued their stay at Port Terminal 2 Saturday.

SUPERIOR,WISCONSIN-Tom Geiger12/18/2023  Philip R. Clarke-ETA-9:30 AM
UNKOWN  CSL Laurentien-ETD

SUPERIOR,WISCONSIN-EB
John D. Leitch arrived the Superior Entry just before midnight late Friday evening, Dec 15th. Leitch loaded iron ore pellets at the BNSF railroad’s Dock 5 and was underway again well before noon after a relatively swift 10 hour load, bound for Hamilton, ON.

Algoma Guardian dropped anchor outside the Superior Entry right around midnight. They arrived Superior just before noon after fleetmate John D. Leitch cleared, and despite this being the 5th ship in a row to load at BNSF with no ‘down time’ in between, Guardian had a relatively swift load too. The erstwhile oceangoing freighter-turned Lake/Seaway trader was underway from BNSF, holds filled with iron ore pellets, after just an eight and a half hours, also bound for Hamilton, ON.

Continuing the unbroken string of ships due to load at BNSF, CSL Laurentien, which had been anchored outside Superior since daybreak Saturday, December 16th, arrived Superior immediately after Algoma Guardian cleared.

MONROE, MICHIGAN-Bill Kloss
Paul R. Tregurtha arrived with coal for DTE.

ASHTABULA, OHIO-Bill Kloss
CSL Welland departed for Thunder Bay.

TOLEDO, OHIO-Bill Kloss
Departing were  Albert/Margaret to Green Bay and  Algoma Intrepid to Goderich. Herbert C. Jackson and Saginaw are at  Midwest Terminals, American Century is at Ironville, Algoma Transport is at CSX and Samuel deChamplain/Innovation arrived to unload cement at Holcim.

MARBLEHEAD, OHIO-Bill Kloss
A first time visitor, Northern Venture arrived to load limestone at Holcim.

SANDUSKY, OHIO-Bill Kloss
CSL Niagara arrived for coal at Norfolk Southern.

CLEVELAND, OHIO-Bill Kloss
Hon. James L. Oberstar brought in 28,000 tons of UTAC pellets for the Bulk Terminal. She left for Sandusky after unloading. Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder delivered stone to Osborne then went downriver to liad a shirt at the Bulk Terminal. NACC Alicudi arrived in the afternoon with cement for Holcim. Federal Seto departed for Prescott while Happy Rover is on her way to Antwerp, Belgium. These departures close out the season at the Port of Cleveland docks.

LORAIN, OHIO-Bill Kloss
Once empty, Joyce L. VanEnkevort/Great Lakes Trader left for Duluth-Superior.

BUFFALO, NEW YORK-Brian Wroblewski
The tug THOMAS R MORRISH left her lay up berth at Stimm Associates near the end of Katherine St. on December 13^th where they had been since late October. She had her derrick boat RYBA 150 in push mode for the ride out to the harbor. They went down to Gateway Metroport to do some sort of work real quick and came right back. The tug, the derrick boat, and two hopper barges were all tied up at Stimm along the pilings left over from when the property was owned by Great Lakes Dredge and Dock.

The MANITOULIN arrived with a load of Canadian Red Wheat out of Thunder Bay for the ADM Standard Elevator on the 15^th at 12noon. She winded on her own in the Outer Harbor with the thrusters, and was then towed up the Buffalo River stern first by the tug VERMONT on a windy, but sunny afternoon. The breezy conditions caused VERMONT to do some serious pulling that resulted in a snapped tow line in the entrance channel. They got it back under control quickly and the rest of the tow went smooth with just one tight spot at Michigan St. BIDCO’s work barges were an obstacle sticking out near the firetug slip, but they slid by without any further problems. MANITOULIN was secure at the Standard elevator by 1:30PM and unloading began soon after.
Update:
The Manitoulin departed without tugs at 15:00.

NANTICOKE, ONTARIO-Bill Kloss
Algotitan departed for Tracy, PQ. SharonMI/Huron Spirit is loading steel coils at Stelco.