Port and vessel activity from March 21, 2023, unless stated otherwise. Please send future port reports to news@boatnerd.net.
St. Marys River – Joshua Hebeisen
Though the Soo Locks don’t officially open for commercial traffic until 00:01 Saturday, CCGS Samuel Risley took a trip through the Poe on Tuesday evening to mark the first upbound passage of the season. The cutter is currently anchored near Mission, MI, for the night on the far eastern end of the Lake Superior, all set to begin making ice cubes of the big lake on Wednesday. USCGCs Mackinaw and Katmai Bay, both docked at U.S. Coast Guard Station Sault Ste. Marie at the time of this writing, are expected to lock through early Wednesday and join the Risley on some icebreaking adventures.
Muskegon, MI – Anonymous
Tuesday marked the unofficial beginning of the 2023 shipping season for Muskegon with a flurry of tug traffic. To begin, the G.L. Ostrander/Integrity arrived at 05:40 for the usual Holcim dock. They would depart at 22:46 for Alpena. Before the Ostrander departed, the Spartan left for Ludington at 08:09, beginning her season. Undaunted/Pere Marquette 41, coming from Ludington and passing the Spartan, arrived at 13:14 for the lakeside Verplank dock. The duo would depart at 23:21 for Burns Harbor.
Charlevoix, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
It comes as no surprise that Prentiss Brown/St. Marys Challenger’s first trip out of lay-up took the pair back to the familiar St. Marys Cement slip in Charlevoix. Arriving at 13:44, the ex-steamship and her tug took on a quick load of cement and were back on the road by 19:39 with a destination of Toledo, OH. They will most certainly be back in no time at all.
Midland, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Frontenac, still at ADM, is rumored to be having bow thruster issues delaying her departure.
Port Huron, MI – Sarnia, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
An exciting day in Sarnia started pretty much just as usual, with Algocanada arriving at 05:30 for Imperial Oil’s lower dock and Algosea clearing for Nanticoke, ON, at 09:46. At noon, however, the winter fleet would drop by one as Whitefish Bay pulled out from her lay-up berth at Cargill. The vessel headed down the river at 15:10 to resume her work in the salt trade after a quick stop for fuel at Imperial Oil. Just hours later, Algoma Conveyor would fire up her own engines for the season and take off down the St. Clair at 19:34. Already loaded with salt, the Conveyor is due next in Montreal, QC, to presumably unload.
Following the pair of departures, the lay-up crowd in Sarnia now consists of Algoma Intrepid at the Government Dock and Kaministiqua, Robert S. Pierson, and Michipicoten at North Slip.
Detroit, MI – Windsor, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Another classic laker is out and about for the season in the form of Interlake Steamship Company’s lovely Herbert C. Jackson. Herbie left her lay-up berth at Nicholson Ecorse early in the afternoon and cleared the Motor City around 13:00, headed downbound for Toledo, OH, to pick up her first cargo of the season. After shifting from the west side of Zug Island to Mistersky to fuel up around noon, Florence Spirit, too, headed downbound for Lake Erie at 17:27. She currently has a load of petroleum coke in her belly destined for Hamilton, ON, once the Welland Canal opens on Wednesday. Whitefish Bay rounded out the day at 23:00 with a stop at Windsor Salt.
Vessels still in lay-up on the Detroit River include Hon. James L. Oberstar at Nicholson Ecorse and Manitoulin at Windsor’s Morterm facility. Harvest Spirit is also at the dock but has been active for the past few weeks.
Lake Erie Ports – Bill Kloss
Monroe, MI: New York/Double Skin 509A is still at the Port dock.
Toledo, OH: Dirk S. VanEnkevort/Michigan Trader is back at CSX for coal. Herbert C. Jackson arrived from layup in Detroit to load fines for Burns Harbor, IN.
Sandusky, OH: Kaye E. Barker arrived from layup to load coal at Norfolk Southern. Once loaded she left for Zug Island.
Cleveland, OH: Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder is on the shuttles. Harvest Spirit was reported as possibly going to Sault Ste. Marie from Cleveland and she actually went to Windsor, ON.
Nanticoke, ON: Algoterra and Algonova are loading petroleum products at Imperial Oil. Algosea is scheduled to arrive on the 21st.
Departing Port Maitland, ON was Leonard M and leaving Port Colborne, ON was Algoma Transport.
While we do not currently have daily summaries for the following ports, 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 becomes the first vessel to transit the Poe Lock this season at the Soo. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers image, March 21
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- The Risley heads upbound for Lake Superior, churning up the ice as she goes. David Kaye image, March 21
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- Undaunted/Pere Marquette 41 arrive Muskegon, MI, on their first trip of the spring. Jason Bhaskaran image, March 21
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- Herbert C. Jackson is on the move! Interlake Steamship Company image, March 21
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- Arthur M. Anderson makes a little smoke at Toledo, OH, with her departure from lay-up imminent. Sam Buchanan image, March 21