Port and vessel activity from Thursday, July 13, 2023, unless stated otherwise. Please send future port reports to news@boatnerd.net.
Thunder Bay, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
CCGS Samuel Risley paid a visit to the Canadian lakehead at 08:40 Thursday morning. Setting up shop in the inner harbor, the Coast Guard veteran would hop around to several locations within the confines of the main breakwater before heading to her dock at 13:15. She was presumably conducting work on aids to navigation and figures to be out again on Friday.
Laker traffic for Thursday included a departure by Lower Lakes Towing’s classic Saginaw at 11:46. The A-framed favorite has a load from P&H destined for Owen Sound, ON, in Georgian Bay. Evans Spirit was also outbound at 16:59 from Richardson Main, her sights set on faraway Port-Cartier, QC.
Also bound for Port-Cartier from Richardson in the coming days will be Algoma Harvester, currently loading at the Current River elevator. She is joined in port by Andean at Keefer Terminal and Blacky at MobilEx. Lubie and Federal Nakagawa spent yet another day out on the lake.
Marquette, MI – Noah H.
It was an Interlake exchange on Thursday. Hon. James L. Oberstar departed for Detroit at 14:00, concluding a 42-hour load, while the Kaye E. Barker replaced her at the dock. Yet another Interlake vessel, the Lee A. Tregurtha, is currently on her way up to Marquette.
St. Marys River – Joshua Hebeisen
Algoma Strongfield is not having any luck with locks as of late. Just days after being briefly stranded on Lake Ontario following a power outage in the Welland Canal, the Superior, WI-bound bulker became stuck in the Poe Lock early Thursday afternoon when the upper gates reportedly wouldn’t open. The Strongfield sat patiently waiting at Lake Superior level for about 2 hours before repairs to the lock enabled her to continue on her way just after 17:00. A backup of traffic ensued, but not nearly as severe as that sustained in Lakes Erie and Ontario earlier this week.
Muskegon, MI – Noah H.
Alpena steamed out of Muskegon in the morning on Thursday, departing for her namesake port at 07:11. Meanwhile, H. Lee White continued to unload at Cobb Verplank before her eventual 12:09 departure. It’s back to Port Inland for the uncommon visitor, where she will pass the Mark W. Barker, already loaded up at Port Inland. The Barker should be entering the piers in the wee hours of Friday morning.
Manistee, MI – Chris Franckowiak
Manitowoc was loading coal at the KCBX dock in South Chicago, IL, on Thursday afternoon. She is bound for the Morton Salt dock in Manistee.
Stoneport, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
Battle-worn Lee A. Tregurtha arrived at 19:30 to load stone for Marquette, MI.
Bruce Mines, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Algoma Intrepid won a tight race across Lake Huron late Thursday night, arriving to load just 30 minutes before her fleetmate Algoma Sault would come off the lake and eventually go to anchor at 22:30. The two Equinox-class vessels will be taking back-to-back loads at Ontario Trap Rock.
Monroe, MI – Bill Kloss
Arriving were Olive L. Moore/Menominee to unload stone at DTE and the research vessel NOAA Laurentian.
Toledo, OH – Bill Kloss
Arrivals were Dirk S. VanEnkevort/Michigan Trader to unload at Ironville, Mesabi Miner to unload at Torco and Samuel de Champlain/Innovation to unload cement at Holcim. Herbert C. Jackson is still dry docked.
Cleveland, OH – Bill Kloss
Indiana Harbor departed for Superior, WI, and fleetmate American Spirit arrived with 50,000 tons of Tilden pellets for the Bulk Terminal. Calumet left for Detroit after unloading at the Cliffs stone dock. Also departing was Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder with a load of road salt for Holland, MI, and Sea Eagle II/St. Marys Cement II to Bowmanville, ON. Still in port is the saltie Selenka. On the cruise ship side, Ocean Navigator departed for Detroit and sister ship Ocean Voyager arrived at the Port’s cruise ship dock 28W. After the passengers toured Cleveland, the ship departed and followed her fleetmate to Detroit. Also leaving for Detroit was the saltie Fuldaborg.
Conneaut, OH – Bill Kloss
American Century delivered ore to the P&C dock. The footer left for Duluth once empty.
Buffalo, NY – Brian Wroblewski
Defiance/Ashtabula arrived off Buffalo around 22:00 on July 11 with sand for CSI from Brevort. Even at their full lake speed they still only make 10 knots, about 3–4 knots less than similarly sized lakers. They came in without tugs and made their way up to the wharf by 23:00 to begin unloading. The cargo came off the barge relatively quickly and they were towed back out by the Vermont at 06:30 on July 12. Total time at the wharf was less than half of what the John J. Boland spent there a week before.
Next up was the NACC Alicudi on the morning of July 13. She arrived off Buffalo around 05:40, but high winds made the captain choose to anchor out for the day. They dropped the hooks on the Canadian side of the lake, just outside the shipping lanes South of Windmill Point, and waited for the breeze to die down.
Nanticoke, ON – Bill Kloss
Algocanada is anchored off of Port Dover. CSL Niagara arrived to unload at Stelco.
We do not currently have daily summaries for the following ports, but their respective port authority websites post schedules of vessel traffic that are featured below. Each schedule is a miniature webpage within a box. Scroll with your cursor in 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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- CCGS Samuel Risley passes through the Soo while upbound to Thunder Bay, ON, and some midsummer work. David Kaye (Sault Ste. Marie, MI – July 12)
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- Algoma Strongfield sits stuck in the Poe Lock after being raised to Lake Superior level. David Kaye (Sault Ste. Marie, MI – July 13)
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- Atlantic Huron and Edwin H. Gott go on the hook farther down the river while waiting for the Strongfield to clear. Roger LeLievre (St. Marys River – July 13)
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- Another perspective on the anchored giants. Roger LeLievre (St. Marys River – July 13)
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- With the issue resolved, a backed-up river consisted of Harvest Spirit, Atlantic Huron, Edwin H. Gott, CSL St-Laurent, and Kaministiqua all in one shot. David Kaye (Sault Ste. Marie, MI – July 13)
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- Viking Polaris looms off Alpena, MI, on another visit to the scenic city. Mike Kelly (Alpena, MI – July 13)
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- A look at how the tenders are lowered to take passengers to and from the vessel. Mike Kelly (Alpena, MI – July 13)
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- Arthur M. Anderson backs down the St. Clair River to deliver stone from Drummond Island, MI. Sam Hankinson (Marine City, MI – July 13)
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- A trip to the River Rouge finds Calumet loading salt and New York/Double Skin 509A loading liquid asphalt. Sam Hankinson (Detroit, MI – July 13)
