Port Reports – November 5, 2022

Port and vessel activity from around the Great Lakes on November 4, 2022.

Please send port reports to news@boatnerd.net.

Duluth, MN – Superior, WI – Joshua Hebeisen
The Gales of November have wasted no time in rearing their ugly head across Lake Superior and beyond just a few days into the new calendar month. Gale warnings are in effect for Gitche Gumee through the 5th, with ships being forced to take detours and delays as they enter the home stretch of the 2022 shipping season.

Despite bad weather elsewhere, however, Freighter Friday in the Twin Ports was nevertheless sunny and filled with some good traffic to end the work week. Paul R. Tregurtha, biggest footer of them all, was in for coal at 01:31 in the morning, while fleetmate Stewart J. Cort, first of the 13, departed Superior in the dark an hour later with Hibtac ore from BNSF Dock 5. She has settled nicely into her usual Superior-Burns Harbor trade route after spending much of the year in layup at Sturgeon Bay. American Spirit got underway from her berth at Enbridge after undergoing repairs (yet again) on what is likely the engine that has been giving her trouble all season, shifting just south to take the Cort’s place in Allouez Bay. Back in Minnesota waters, Philip R. Clarke cast off from CN-Hallett Dock 5 and departed beneath the bridge riding high and empty at 05:10. Her next stop would be neighboring Two Harbors and the Agate Bay ore docks. American Spirit cleared Superior at 09:56 after a quick draft-restricted load scheduled for delivery tomorrow at Algoma Soo – the steelmaking complex, that is… not the ship of a similar name!

A nice family gathering took place in the inner harbor early in the afternoon as the two Tregurthas – Lee A. and Paul R. – would once again cross paths at the head of the lakes. The Lee made her port call at 14:13 with an arrival for ore at CN Dock 6, her first visit to the region since departing an extended Fraser Shipyards layup only a few months back. Interestingly, her Twin Ports travels would coincide with the big PRT on that day as well. This time, the husband-wife duo sailed past one another in the harbor basin as Paul headed for the Duluth Ship Canal loaded deep with coal. The cargo is yet another installment in a series of St. Clair/Monroe split loads this season; with DTE’s Belle River power plant closing in the near future and recent news of Monroe’s facility accelerating its own shutdown, these may be the twilight days of regular runs out of SMET.

Finishing out traffic for Friday were CSL Laurentien and Joseph L. Block, arriving Superior and Duluth, respectively, at 19:39 and 20:15. The Laurentien will be loading taconite, while the Block made an unusual move by arriving empty and tying up on the eastern side of CN Dock 6 to take a delay. She is eventually due at CN’s nearby Hallett Dock 5 to load blast furnace trim. Federal Katsura took in the day’s activity from Ash Grove while discharging cement powder.

Marquette, MI – Oggdo Bogdo
The tug/barge filled Thursday spilled over into Friday with the departure of the Victory/Maumee and the Joyce L. VanEnkevort/Great Lakes Trader, at 02:20 and 17:34, respectively.

Port Inland, MI – Andrew Meyer
The usual suspects have called on Port Inland in the last several days. Manitowoc marked the first arrival of November with a November 2 2217 arrival time. Her departure at 0944 the following morning marked the beginning of a fairly full day of shipping for Port Inland. The Wilfred Sykes was next with a 1012 arrival and a 1545 departure. The Sam Laud arrived shortly after the Sykes cleared. Friday saw the Laud’s departure at 1234, and the Great Republic arriving for her usual haul of stone at 1504.

Milwaukee, WI – MKE Marine Reports
Algoma Intrepid arrived at 05:17 Friday with deicing salt from Compass Minerals, Goderich. After dropping her cargo at the open dock, south slip one, she departed at 12:43. Having delivered liquid asphalt at Construction Resources Management, Karen Andrie/Endeavour cleared for Indiana Harbor at 07:50. Manitowoc arrived at 15:55 and tied up in south slip two after experiencing an engine problem. Her sister ship Calumet was in Wednesday with salt from Morton, Windsor.

Southern Lake Michigan Ports – Andrew Meyer
Calumet Harbor, IL: Federal Satsuki arrived at 1022 and is well up the river. Frequent visitor Fivelborg has remained at the mouth of the river since Tuesday evening. Wednesday saw the Caroline McKee arrive in port at 1711.
Indiana Harbor, IN: Tugboats have been the primary source of action for the port of Indiana Harbor. The Walter J. McCarthy Jr arrived at 1427 on Thursday, but beyond the Bay-Class 1000 footer, it’s been fairly quiet traffic is expected over the weekend. The Kaye Barker is in port, but her AIS hasn’t given an accurate arrival time. 
Gary, IN: The Great Lakes Fleet has spent a bit more time shuttling ore to Nanticoke in the last several weeks, and frequent visitors Presque Isle and Edwin H. Gott are on that route now, as is I believe the Philip R. Clarke. Nonetheless, the presence of the Edgar B. Speer kept the week normal for Gary, with a 2150 arrival on November 1 and a departure at 1730 the following evening. Great Republic arrived November 2 at 0905 and departed at 1706. After a several week hiatus, the Arthur M. Anderson made port at 1732 on November 3. She’d have a fast turnaround and depart just after midnight on Friday morning. The Anderson has been busy with trade routes through Detroit and I think a trip to Nanticoke as well.
Burns Harbor, IN: Burns Harbor, much like her neighboring port to the east, saw little action the first few days of November. The steamer Wilfred Sykes was the first arrival of the month with a 1056 port call. She would depart early the next morning. Federal Franklin made her arrival at 2257 on November 2. Burns Harbor is due in the early hours of November 5 with another load of ore from BNSF 5, which has seen a few backups the last few days, a clear indication the season is beginning to wind to a close. Lubie and Federal Biscay are expected over the weekend. 

Port Dolomite, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
As the stone docks near closing time for the season as the weather grows cold, Port Dolomite was as busy as ever with a trio of ships and lots of waiting around. Calumet began the morning in place at the dock loading stone for Erie; waiting out in the bay was the patient and pretty (though not necessarily in that order) Wilfred Sykes. The two switched places around 13:00, with Undaunted/Pere Marquette 41 later coming in at 18:08 and going to anchor right alongside the Sykes to put some pressure on her. It seemed to work, as the classic laker steamed up and outbound two hours later bound for Indiana Harbor.

Drummond Island, MI – Andrew Meyer
Saginaw and Michipicoten were both expected to arrive in the evening of November 4.

Thessalon, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Cuyahoga departed shortly after 03:00. The ‘Hog’ will soon be getting her weekend started in Windsor.

Meldrum Bay, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Arriving to load at 09:00 was CSL’s Trillium-class Thunder Bay. Some sketchy AIS coverage left it unclear whether or not she had departed as of Friday night.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Saltie Miedwie continues loading at elevators. John D Leitch cleared 04.02 Friday downbound for Ogdensburg with salt. Algoma Innovator expected next.

Stoneport, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
Algoma Buffalo departed for Windsor at 02:15, giving way at the dock to the anchored Olive L. Moore/Menominee. The pair would later make their own way downbound for Marine City just after 15:00.

Calcite, MI – Andrew Meyer
Philip R. Clarke was the last arrival for Calcite in October, sneaking in just before midnight. Her departure would occur as November 1 turned over to November 2. The Olive L. Moore and Menominee would be the first arrival of November with a 1536 arrival. Her departure would be at 0505 on November 2. Kaye E. Barker made port a few hours later, and would spend the day under the limestone loader. Her 0132 departure was a swap with the Dorothy Ann and Pathfinder. That ATB pair would depart at 1252, a departure that would make space for the American Mariner at 1409. The Laura VanEnkevort arrived just before 0600 on Friday. Fairly infrequent visitor Algoma Compass is expected early Saturday, as is the John G. Munson, a perennial frequent caller. 

Detroit, MI – Windsor, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Things were a little quiet in Detroit-Windsor on Friday, possibly due to weather conditions elsewhere, though the traffic the area did see got started nice and early with a 00:46 departure from Mistersky by a fueled-up Hon. James L. Oberstar. The handsome laker will be burning up a sizable portion of gas in the refilled tank on the long journey to Marquette and back. Iver Bright arrived at 04:44 for the same berth and remained there for the balance of the day. Coming in from Stoneport, John G. Munson followed in the footsteps of fleetmate Philip R. Clarke from earlier in the week by making a rare stop at Windsor’s Lafarge to unload. Her 06:00 tying up was followed by a 16:20 casting off for Calcite. Elder stateswoman of the lakes S/S Alpena glided inbound in the meantime and began unloading cement at Holcim around noon. Oakglen stopped at Sterling to fuel from 17:00 to 20:50 on her way to Thunder Bay, and Algoma Buffalo made port at 21:15 to unload stone at Lafarge, about exactly 19 hours after she had cast off with the cargo at Stoneport on Thursday.

Lake Erie Ports – Bill Kloss
Toledo, OH: James R. Barker arrived late Thursday night, unloaded ore and departed for Two Harbors, MN at 09:39. Algoma Sault departed for Hamilton, ON at 04:03. In port are the tug/barge Wilf Seymour/ Alouette Spirit and the saltie Federal Welland.
Marblehead, OH: Mark W. Barker is making her first visit here, arriving at 07:09 to load stone at Holcim. Once loaded, she left for Cleveland at 20:14.
Cleveland, OH: Polsteam’s Lubie departed for Burns Harbor, IN at 12:46. American Courage is running shuttles.
Conneaut, OH: American Integrity arrived at 21:09 and unloaded ore at the P&C dock.
Nanticoke, OH: Algoma Hansa, Algoscotia and Algocanada are all anchored off of Port Dover.

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.