A Day for Tugs

I also enjoy seeing tugs at work in the river. It may be because they are small but so hard-working. Tugs are similar to the children's book, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. Mike was able to accomplish much in spite of his small size.

Yesterday I saw two tugs at work. The Avenger IV was pushing the barge PML 9000. This has become a common sight lately.

Later, I saw the tug Missouri guiding the Yucatan up to the Locks approach. I need to always carry my camera for such opportunities.

Also sighted yesterday was
American Valor
Kaye E. Barker
Stewart J. Cort
Herbert C. Jackson
H. Lee White
Mesabi Miner
Canadian Enterprise
Great Lakes Trader
Marneborg
American Integrity
Lake Erie

Photo by John McCreey

Tuesday's Traffic

Tuesday was a busy day on the river in spite of the rain, thunder and lightening. It continued to be busy at night, however, I can't identify those ships. We saw the following ships:
Tim S. Dool
Paul R. Tregurtha
Kaye E. Barker
American Republic
Canadian Transport
Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin
Indiana Harbor

So far this morning, I've seen the Stewart J. Cort and Herbert C. Jackson.

Tim S. Dool Says Good Morning

This morning I was enjoying a chance to sleep a little later than usual, when I was awoken by the a short single blast on a boat whistle. I was able to ignore it and quickly resume my last few minutes of that precious morning sleep. However, the blast was repeated again and again, so I knew it must be a foggy morning on the river.

It was foggy but ships were still moving. It was the Tim S. Dool that was moving very slowly up river. As I watched, the foggy became thicker and currently there is zero visibility out front.

Last night, I enjoyed my bedroom view of the river watching ships quietly slip by all night. Around 3 AM. the moon was rising over Sugar Island casting its light across the waters. The sky was ablaze with stars. When we were young, my sister called the night boats 'star boats' and that is a fitting name because they have lights their entire length and they were part of a beautiful evening. Boats quietly make their way to their next destination but this is an especially wonderful time to observe the boats.

What A Difference The Length Makes

We have had a busy day on the river today. I've observed the following boats today:

Nanticoke

Saginaw

Edwin H. Gott

American Courage

American Victory

H. Lee White

CSL Tadoussac

Mesabi Miner

As I saw the difference sized boats, I began to wonder how much more cargo do the 1,000 footers carry? Researching in my boat bible, Know Your Ships, I found that the Speer which is on its way here from Gary, Indiana, can carry 73,700 tons of cargo. Its sister ship from the same company, Arthur M. Anderson, is 237' shorter at 767' and can carry 25,300 tons of cargo. The Speer carrys almost 3 times as much cargo. Amazing!

Vossburg

The Vossburg just passed up bound on her way to Thunder Bay. As a general cargo vessel, it appears she is carrying some type of equipment. A similar vessel in that fleet, the Asiaborg, has been carrying wind generator parts from Denmark and returning to Europe with grain. This may be the case with the Vossborg.

The Vossborg was built in the Netherlands in 2000 but is now sailing for a Germany company under a flag from Antigua.

Edward L. Ryerson

The Edward L. Ryerson was up bound in the St. Marys River this afternoon. It is always an event to see the old beauty passing by. The Ryerson has been a favorite of mine ever since it first began sailing in 1960. It was always a favorite of my grandfather as well.

Checking the shipping records, I found that the Ryerson is still a work horse, in spite of her advanced age.

The Ryerson passed here down bound on July 19. She arrived in Hamilton with a load of iron ore pellets and departed light after unloading on July 23 at 4:10 AM. She is expected to arrive back at Superior, Wisconsin on Saturday, July 26 between 3 - 4 PM.

Try meeting her at Mission Point in the Sault for a great photo opportunity. She should be back in 3- 4 days.

Mesabi Miner and More

There have been four thousand footers by so far today. These include Mesabi Miner, American Century, the Edwin H. Gott and the Paul R. Tregurtha.

Other ships passing today were the Joseph L. Block, Roger Blough, American Republic and John J. Boland.

Most of the ships are filled with ore coming from Duluth/Two Harbors.