Port Reports – November 8, 2022

Port and vessel activity from November 7, 2022.

Please send port reports to news@boatnerd.net.

Duluth, MN – Superior, WI – Joshua Hebeisen
With the weather quieting and waves subsiding farther out on Lake Superior, vessels holed up over the weekend in the Twin Ports were finally able to get underway in the early hours of Monday morning. John J. Boland and Lee A. Tregurtha both cast off from their respective docks a little after 03:00 and departed less than an hour apart with spotlights guiding the way. The Boland cleared for Alpena at 04:05 with petroleum coke from SMET, while elder Lee A. Tregurtha quietly slipped out at 04:56 with CN 6 ore for Cleveland. As the WWII veteran passed by the anchorage, Joseph L. Block hauled up the hook and began her own voyage to Indiana Harbor. She had been sitting just off the piers overnight, her holds filled with a blast furnace trim/taconite pellet split loaded on both sides of the harbor. Her successor at Superior’s BNSF Dock 5, Canadian veteran Atlantic Huron, wrapped up just hours later and headed outbound for Hamilton at 07:51.

Amidst the departures, Duluth would also welcome in a pair of bite-sized salties to begin the week. Fagelgracht was inbound at 08:16 and making up for her small stature with an impressive two-part cargo from Europe. Giant wind turbine blades rested above her deck ready to be put ashore at the port terminal, while bagged quartz sand from Turkey lurked below. Fivelborg later arrived about 12 hours later, albeit empty, and made her way to Gavilon to take on beet pulp pellets. Fellow saltie Federal Katsura at Ash Grove is the only other vessel in port Monday night.

Port Inland, MI – Andrew Meyer
Much like some of the neighboring limestone ports, perhaps a combination of cold weather and the storm have kept things quiet in the Port Inland area. Only the Kaye E. Barker with an arrival Monday morning has graced the port’s logbook.

Milwaukee, WI – MKE Marine Reports
Samuel de Champlain/Innovation arrived from Alpena at 08:51 Monday with cement for Lafarge. The tug/barge departed Alpena late last Wednesday for a trip that typically takes about 32 hours. She spent three days at anchor because of weather. Manitowoc cleared for Holland at 17:17 Sunday. Prentiss Brown/St. Marys Challenger departed shortly thereafter. No other marine traffic is currently expected.

Work on the new Agricultural Export Facility continues. Monday workers were putting on the fabric roof. The project should be ready in 2023. It will handle dried distillers grain, a by-product of ethanol production used as animal feed, along with soybeans and corn.

Southern Lake Michigan Ports – Andrew Meyer
Calumet Harbor, IL: November 6 saw the Caroline McKee rolling out of town. Federal Nagara is due in Chicago by about Wednesday night.
Indiana Harbor, IN: Whether any traffic made the weekend interesting for Indiana Harbor is unknown, thanks to the very busy local tugs who managed to fill the AIS log the past couple days. Joseph L. Block is scheduled to arrive sometime this week, but weather likely will back her ETA up a bit. 
Gary, IN: Gary sits quiet for this set of reports. With the Speer having to anchor behind Sand Island and the north shore being pounded with weather, her weekly visit will be delayed at least until late in the week. The Presque Isle and Edwin H. Gott are working the Nanticoke route this week.
Burns Harbor, IN: Two of the old standbys, Stewart J. Cort and Wilfred Sykes, graced port with their presence as the weekend came to a close. The two precedent-setting vessels are yet to depart as of Monday evening. The Cort is, of course, coming from Superior with her weekly load of iron ore, while the Sykes brought stone from Port Dolomite. Also in port is the saltwater visitor Lubie, back again for another great lakes tour. The colorful vessel arrived at 0952 Monday morning.

Goderich, ON – Bruce Douglas
Miedwie (saltie from Poland) continues loading at elevators.  John D Leitch cleared 04.02 Friday downbound for Ogdensberg with salt. Algoma Buffalo cleared 21.44 Sunday downbound for Ashtabula with salt. Algoma Innovator cleared 15.48 Monday downbound for Erie with salt. Algoma Sault is expected next.

Alpena, MI – Jason Luther
Another day, another return trip by the steamer Alpena to load cement at LaFarge. Coming from Detroit by way of Essexville, she departed for Green Bay at 14:35 this afternoon.

Stoneport, MI – Joshua Hebeisen
Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder spent 12 hours in port on the dot, departing at 06:25 for Marine City after an overnight load of stone. Another couple had a reservation for the dock Monday night in Dirk S. VanEnkevort/Michigan Trader.

Calcite, MI – Andrew Meyer
Calcite’s regular traffic flow has either seen the beginnings of the season’s end or the storm has kept things quiet, but the only weekend traffic for the port was the H. Lee White with an arrival on Sunday at 1127 and a 24 hour turnaround. Michipicoten is expected next with no arrival date posted yet.

Detroit, MI – Windsor, ON – Joshua Hebeisen
Sandwiched between Peche Island and Sand Point Beach along the Windsor shoreline, Algoma Compass spent several hours unloading overnight at Southwestern Sales East before firing up the engines around 01:15. After casting off and pulling away, the Compass set a course due north for Sarnia and Lake Huron beyond, likely to load more stone. Back down in the heart of the Motor City, American Century finished up fueling at Mistersky and departed at 01:56 for a trip to the Twin Ports. Arthur M. Anderson was inbound six hours later with stone for an unusual trip to Windsor’s Lafarge dock, following in the wake of sister Philip R. Clarke and close cousin John G. Munson from the past few weeks. She would later depart right back up for Stoneport around 20:30. 

Mistersky would service a trio of vessels during the remainder of the day, with Joyce L. VanEnkevort/Great Lakes Trader staking the first claim around 11:00. The VTB pair continued north for Silver Bay two hours later grumbling like a married couple. After loading Northshore Mining, it is likely they will find themselves passing through the Detroit River once again on the way to Toledo. Algoma Discovery was next; the somewhat uncommon visit by a Canadian laker to fuel on the American side lasted from around 15:00 to 18:30 before the big bulker carried on to Thunder Bay. Mistersky shut off the fuel lines for the day after refilling the tank of tug Defiance and her barge Ashtabula later in the evening. The Grand River Navigation combo are currently headed up the St. Clair River on their way to the Soo. 

 Other Monday traffic included an always-appreciated visit by Cuyahoga to Windsor, where she tied up at Southwestern Sales West around noon to unload aggregate from Marblehead. A quick discharge would find her headed north to Meldrum Bay just five hours later. Hon. James L. Oberstar arrived for Dearborn at 19:50, coming from Marquette, as usual. Harvest Spirit bid farewell at 23:00 after another successful stop at Windsor’s ADM, due next at another familiar port of call in Thunder Bay. 

Lake Erie Ports – Bill Kloss
Monroe, MI: Herbert C. Jackson arrived at 03:18. Paul R. Tregurtha arrived at 15:06 and unloaded coal at DTE.
Toledo, OH: CSL Niagara departed for Nanticoke at 04:59. Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader arrived at 07:32 and unloaded ore at Ironville.
Marblehead, OH: Cuyahoga departed with stone for Windsor, ON at 03:43. At 04:07, Sam Laud weighed anchor and went to load at Holcim.
Sandusky, OH: Defiance/Ashtabula left with coal for Algoma Steel at the Soo at 09:19. Calumet departed with coal for the Soo at 17:53. American Mariner is under the loader.
Cleveland, OH: NACC Capri unloaded and departed for Bath, ON at 03:03. G.L. Ostrander/Integrity arrived at 05:15 to unload at Holcim Cement. Federal Champlain arrived at 05:59, going to dock 22E at the Port. Mark W. Barker is at Cargill loading salt. She departed for Toledo at 17:09. Petite Forte/St. Marys Cement arrived at 14:37 and went to the St. Marys Jefferson St. terminal. G.L. Ostrander/Integrity departed at 16:14 and American Courage left for Marblehead at 17:22.
Ashtabula, OH: Algoma Buffalo arrived at 20:04 and unloaded salt.
Conneaut, OH: Indiana Harbor arrived at 15:36 with ore for the P&C dock.
Nanticoke, OH: Once empty, Presque Isle departed for Two Harbors, MN at 08:06. CSL Niagara was a late night arrival to Stelco.

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.