Unless where otherwise noted, port and vessel activity from January 6, 2023. Please send future port reports to news@boatnerd.net.
Duluth, MN – Superior, WI – Joshua Hebeisen
On the chilly morning of January 6, 2023, the long-dormant Edward L. Ryerson would once again go for a voyage — albeit a brief one — in the Duluth-Superior Harbor. Fastening a tow line to the stern of the snow-covered vessel, Helen and assisting tug Wren I gently moved the sleeping giant from her moorings in the “frog pond” to a more accessible dock just to the west at Fraser Shipyards. The tow lends credence to persistent waterfront scuttlebutt about the Ryerson’s return to service this year. No official word has been received about her reactivation, however recent activity around the vessel says at least something is in the works. She has been laid up at Superior since an economic downturn sent her to the wall in May 2009. The 1959-built, steam-powered non-self-unloader has long been a boatwatcher favorite due to her stylish lines and booming steam whistle.
Business continued as usual throughout the rest of the harbor, starting at 04:54 as American Spirit arrived Duluth to fuel at the port terminal’s Superior Refining berth. She would head back outbound for the lake at 10:16 to take up a spot in the anchorage. Though her AIS indicates she will load ore at Superior, there is talk the Spirit may call it a season and head to Elevator M to get an early jump on winter layup instead.
A twofer took place later in the morning in the shadow of BNSF Dock 5, with the outbound Joseph L. Block yielding her berth to inbound Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin before 09:00. The Block is headed to Toledo with 30,000 tons of Hibtac pellets; the Martin will be loading 28,000 tons of the same product for Nanticoke. The Canadian veteran had spent a brief stint in the outer anchorage, dropping the hook shortly before midnight. In the midst of the twofer, Walter J. McCarthy Jr. went to anchor off the Duluth piers while waiting for Mesabi Miner to finish loading at CN Dock 6. Junior would later arrive at 17:09 to fuel.
Last, but certainly not least, Mark W. Barker arrived Duluth at 10:55 with another revolutionary load of steel beams. After previously discharging the exciting new cargo at the Enbridge dock and Fraser Shipyards, this trip would see the Baby Barker unload at Berth 1 of the port terminal.
Two Harbors, MN – Joshua Hebeisen
CN Dock 2 was once again chock-full of traffic on Friday as the late-season cargo rush nears the finish line. CSL Assiniboine departed at 00:38 for Nanticoke, allowing anchored footer Presque Isle to chug on in minutes later ready for another load of Minntac pellets. She, too, would be headed for Nanticoke after clearing the breakwater shortly after 20:00. Fleetmate Philip R. Clarke was on hand to take her place, continuing what has been a very Great Lakes Fleet-filled end to the season in Agate Bay.
Marquette, MI – Oggdo Bogdo
Olive L. Moore/Menominee arrived outside the harbor in the morning on Friday, but had to wait until the Herbert C. Jackson departed for Dearborn at 17:53 before they could join the Wilfred Sykes at the dock. The Lee A. Tregurtha and Hon. James L. Oberstar are still on their way, but the Victory/Maumee was shifted across the lake to Duluth.
Lake Erie Ports – Bill Kloss
Monroe, MI: Finished unloading its cargo, tanker Iver Bright left for Sarnia, ON.
Marblehead, OH: Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder loaded stone from the Holcim quarry and departed for Lorain, OH.
Sandusky, OH: American Courage was a late night arrival to load at Holcim.
Lorain, OH: Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder unloaded stone at the Holcim dock on the Black River.
Cleveland, OH: Indiana Harbor unloaded 60,000 tons of UTAC pellets at the Bulk Terminal and departed for Duluth/Superior. Other departures were NACC Alicudi for Bath, ON and American Courage for Sandusky, OH. Sam Laud arrived from Buffalo. She is loading a shuttle for Cliffs.
Nanticoke, OH: Algosea is at Imperial Oil and Arthur M. Anderson unloaded ore at Stelco.
Buffalo, NY – Brian Wroblewski
The SAM LAUD was all set unloading at CSI by the morning of the 6th and she backed out for the lake at 5:30AM. Later that evening, her fleet mate H. LEE WHITE arrived for the Frontier elevator with a load of wheat out of Thunder Bay. She came in without tugs and tied up at General Mills around 7PM to start unloading.
The ALGOMA MARINER departed Gateway Metroport with 12,000 tons of coal for Hamilton at 7:15AM on the 7th of January.
While we do not currently have daily write-ups for the following ports, their respective port authority websites post schedules of vessel traffic that are embedded below. Each schedule takes the form of a miniature webpage within a box. Scroll with your cursor within the box (or slide your finger within the box on a mobile device) to move through the schedule as you would a normal webpage. To move up or down the actual Port Reports page itself, make sure your cursor/finger is outside of the box.
Green Bay, WI – Port of Green Bay
Click on vessel image for voyage info.
Hamilton, ON – Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority
Scroll past AIS map for arrival/departure schedule.
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- A breath of life for Fast Eddy? Helen H. tows the Ryerson to a new berth at Fraser Shipyards. David Schauer image, January 6
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- Mark W. Barker and tug Missouri all snuggled up in the port terminal slip. Jane Herrick image, January 6
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- Another view of the pair posing for the camera. Charles Howard Smith image, January 6
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- The gantry cranes begin removing steel bars from the Barker’s holds, soon to be melted down to steel balls for use in the taconite production process. David Schauer image, January 6
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- Wilfred Sykes looms large in the Poe Lock while on her way to Marquette. USACE image, January 5
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- John J. Boland threads the needle in Green Bay’s Fox River. Chuck Zentmeyer image, January 6