Port Reports – March 30, 2023

Port and vessel activity from March 29, 2023, unless stated otherwise. Please send future port reports to news@boatnerd.net.

Two Harbors, MN – Gary Putney
Algoma Guardian departed Two Harbors at 17:19 for Hamilton. Defiance arrived Two Harbors after being anchored off Duluth. Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin waiting on Two Harbors.

Thunder Bay, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Third time’s the charm? Tim S. Dool cleared port at 04:23 for what is already her third official “departure” of the season. None of the other attempts had seen the veteran bulker get past Isle Royale, though this, I dare say, appears to be a success — as of midnight, the Dool has nearly reached Whitefish Bay on her downbound trip to Port-Cartier, QC. It’s good to see her and her crew on their way after a few days of early-season hiccups at the Midcontinent Terminal.

At 08:07, Frontenac arrived with salt from Fairport Harbor, OH, to unload at the Darrel Ave. salt dock. Her fleetmates Spruceglen and Thunder Bay would later leave port at 17:57 and 19:04 from P&H and Viterra A, respectively, with the classic laker herself following in their wake an hour later. Of the three, only Spruceglen has an AIS destination, and an ambiguous one at that: “Baie.” We’ll have to keep guessing!

An Algoma flip-flop at G3 would end the evening with Algoma Strongfield and Captain Henry Jackman trading places around 21:00. Strongfield is now on her way to Quebec City, QC.

Marquette, MI – Arthur Pickering
The Hon. James Oberstar arrived this past Monday to join the Great Lakers Trader at the ore dock.  This morning, the Herbert Jackson is loading at the ore dock. Presently, the Kaye Barker and the Lee Tregurtha are both anchored in the upper St. Mary’s River both bound for Marquette. Pending weather conditions, both should arrive late Wednesday. Also bound for Marquette is the American Mariner which is approaching the St. Mary’s River from Lake Huron and should arrive tomorrow pending weather conditions. Scheduled for Friday is the Sam Laud also pending weather conditions.

Sturgeon Bay, WI – Guest_SB, Bob+
The John G Munson departed Bay Ship Tuesday, heading out into Green Bay and north. The Cason J Callaway was also moved to Berth 9 I believe, leaving the Walter J McCarthy and Indiana Harbor on Berth 15.

Late Tuesday evening, the barge Erie Trader and tug Clyde Vanenkvort was towed out of the graving dock and were tied up on the face dock. The tow was completed by Kubasic Marine tugs. Wednesday morning, the tug Clyde Vanenkvort was taking on fuel.

Gary, IN – Andrew Meyer
Edwin H. Gott departed mid morning for Two Harbors.

St. Joseph – Benton Harbor, MI – Michael Moran
This morning we welcomed the freshly repainted G.L. Ostrander and barge Integrity to Holcim cement. The boat arrived on time and without incident.

The crew aboard was treated to fresh “St. Joughnuts” from none other than Red Coach Donuts. I got to speak with one of the new owners this morning, and he assured me that Red Coach is proud to be a part of the donut program and will gladly continue selling St. Joughnuts and will keep the ”doughnation” envelope. The store will have St. Joughnuts stickers on the doors to welcome boat watchers from near and far. Red Coach is also thrilled to see themselves in Know Your Ships.

In addition to the Ostrander crew, the terminal crew also received donuts and St. Joughnuts hardhat stickers. Both the terminal and boat crews want to thank the community for the donuts and overall support of this vital industry!

Muskegon, MI – Anonymous
The steamer Alpena made an early morning arrival at 05:04 to unload cement. Past the LaFarge dock was the Mark W. Barker, 80 years younger, unloading at Cobb Verplank. You’d be hard pressed to find a bigger age gap on the lakes today. The Barker departed at 16:06 to return to Indiana Harbor, her previous port of call before Muskegon.

Manistee, MI – Chris Franckowiak
Sam Laud was the first ship to arrive Manistee for the 2023 season. She crossed the piers shortly after 8 PM, to deliver 13,000 tons of coal from Toledo, OH to the TES – Filer City dock. This is the second year in a row the Captain and crew earned the honor of first vessel of the year in Manistee. The ship was expected to depart around 7 AM Thursday, 3/30. The next vessel scheduled to arrive Manistee is the Mark W. Barker around the 7th of April to deliver slag to the Rieth-Riley dock. The Laud will be back in two weeks with another delivery to TES – Filer City.

Detroit, MI – Windsor, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Hon. James L. Oberstar found herself in a familiar place sneaking up the River Rouge around 05:30 Wednesday morning. Once again arriving with Marquette, MI’s Tilden pellets for the Cleveland-Cliffs Dearborn Works, the classic laker would spend nearly the whole day in port before heading out for Toledo, OH, around 20:00.

Just before 07:30, Algosea stopped discharging petroleum at Mistersky to allow for the day’s customers to fuel up. The first, Algoma Transport, was right on hand to begin a quick drink, eventually casting off for the Twin Ports 4 hours later to begin her last year of service. Wilfred Sykes would take her place at the fuel dock around 13:00 following a rare trip to Cleveland, OH, this early in the season. Her departure for Port Dolomite, MI — officially beginning the limestone season — made way for Harvest Spirit. The Spirit would later head across the river to ADM, and Algosea reclaimed her Mistersky berth for the night.

Other traffic in the area Wednesday included Michipicoten, arriving fresh from lay-up in Sarnia, ON, to load petroleum coke on the west side of Zug Island around 14:00. Fleetmate Robert S. Pierson, who spent the winter with Michi’ at Sarnia’s North Slip, swung by a few hours later to field at Windsor’s Sterling Fuels. She left at 22:45 for Port Colborne, ON.

Lake Erie Ports – Bill Kloss
Toledo, OH: Prentiss Brown/St. Marys Challenger unloaded cement and left for Charlevoix, MI. A late night arrival was the Algoma Conveyor.
Lorain, OH: Tug Kathy Lynn is working on dredging operations on the Black River.
Cleveland, OH: After unloading at the Bulk Terminal, American Mariner departed for Two Harbors, MN. Petite Forte/St. Marys Cement arrived to unload at Holcim’s Elm St. terminal. Greeted by many boatnerds, the classic Wilfred Sykes arrived from Burns Harbor with coke for the Cliffs mill on the Cuyahoga River. Once empty she left for Cedarville, MI. Next to arrive at the Bulk Terminal was the Joseph L. Block with 31,000 tons of UTAC pellets.
Buffalo, NY: Nacc Alicudi arrived to unload cement.
Nanticoke, ON: Algoterra is loading at Imperial Oil.

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.