Great lake boats, a good video

[ArlyA]

From the Duluth News tribune.
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Ice breakers bound for Lake Superior​

The Soo Locks will open early from the winter offseason to allow ice-breaking assets to open a commercial shipping track on Lake Superior.​

Crew members aboard the U.S. Coast Guard’s Biscayne Bay toss ice overboard as they sail on Lake Superior toward the Superior Entry on Jan. 3. Vessels similar to the Biscayne Bay are bound for Lake Superior on Monday to open a commercial shipping lane in advance of the March 25 season opening of Great Lakes shipping.
Jed Carlson / File / Superior Telegram

By Duluth News Tribune

March 16, 2022 05:14 PM

DULUTH — The Soo Locks will open sooner than expected this month, allowing a team of mostly U.S. Coast Guard vessels to establish a commercial shipping track on Lake Superior in time for the March 25 season opener.
The ice situation is formidable on Lake Superior, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority said in a news release Wednesday, citing internal Coast Guard reports.
The lake is presently 80% ice-covered, or "above-normal ice concentration" by Coast Guard officials, who note that some of this ice plate is up to 5 feet in thickness. In and near the Port of Duluth-Superior, ice thickness is reported to be 24-30 inches.
Ice is deteriorating rapidly on the lower Great Lakes and through the St. Lawrence Seaway, freeing ice-breaking assets to return to Lake Superior, which has gone without a Coast Guard ice breaker this winter since the recommissioning of the cutter Alder from Duluth to the West Coast Bay Area last summer.



PREVIOUSLY: Coast Guard cutter bound for Duluth

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will allow early passage through the Soo Locks to several Coast Guard vessels on Monday to begin spring breakout preparations.

 

[ArlyA]

From TV6 news​

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Soo Locks to open March 25 for 2022 shipping season​

Soo Locks picture. (WLUC File Photo) (WLUC)
By TV6 News Team
Published: Mar. 17, 2022 at 3:14 PM EDT|Updated: 4 hours ago
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (WLUC) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, Soo Area Office will open the Poe Lock, 12:01 a.m., March 25, marking the 2022 Great Lakes shipping season start.
The operating season is fixed by federal regulation and driven in part by the feasibility of vessels operating in typical Great Lakes ice conditions.
The Poe Lock officially closed January 16 to undergo critical repairs and maintenance during the 10 week-long winter shutdown. Maintenance crews performed a variety of critical tasks on the Poe Lock, including hydraulic steel structure inspections, miter gate bottom girder structural repair and seal replacement, miter gate pintle concrete repairs, valve machinery repairs, and dewatering system maintenance.
“Crews also performed a wide range of other maintenance tasks including fender timber replacements on the piers, electrical and mechanical systems inspections and preventative maintenance on both Poe and MacArthur Locks and floating plant maintenance,” Maintenance Branch Chief LeighAnn Ryckeghem said.
Contractors also rehabilitated the Poe Lock upstream primary gate, including blasting and coating.
“We worked hard to accelerate work up-front during our annual closure, with crews working against a very tight schedule to make repairs in a very short time,” Area Engineer Kevin Sprague said. “Due to the hard work of our maintenance crews during heavy snowfall and cold temperatures, we were able to accomplish all required work on schedule.”
Corps of Engineers crews should complete Poe Lock rewatering March 21. This supports U.S. Coast Guard ice breakers preparing the upper river shipping channel and breaking out Lake Superior Ports for the navigation season opening.
The MacArthur Lock, located south of the Poe, will remain closed until late April.
“We welcome visitors into the park for the 2022 Soo Locks season opening. The park and viewing platform will open March 24 at 11:30 p.m. and close March 25 at 1:30 a.m. The Visitor Center will open March 25 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for an open house,” Chief Park Ranger Michelle Briggs said.
The park is open daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to open the Soo Locks Visitor Center May 8 for the summer season.
For those not able to come for the opening of the Soo Locks, there will be a Facebook Live stream of the first ship on our Facebook page at: Для просмотра нужно войти или зарегистрироваться.

 

[ArlyA]

What’s at the bottom of the empty Soo Locks? A fork, jewelry and 13 tons of debris
Updated: Mar. 16, 2022, 5:53 p.m. | Published: Mar. 16, 2022, 5:53 p.m.

A decorative chain found at the bottom of the empty Soo Locks this winter. Photo provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
By Tanda Gmiter | tgmiter@mlive.com
SAULT STE. MARIE, MI - With more than 4,000 vessels traveling through the Soo Locks each year, sometimes the biggest mystery when the huge chambers are emptied for annual maintenance is what treasures might be found at the bottom. Now we’ve got answers, thanks to recent finds being shared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Detroit District, which is overseeing the current winter work at the Soo.

The huge locks system on the St. Marys River shut down in mid-January for a long list of upgrades and fixes expected to be finished by late March. The water was emptied from the big Poe Lock that can accommodate the 1,000-foot-long freighters. Also emptied was the smaller MacArthur Lock. Together, this means draining about 73.3 million gallons of water. On the to-do list for the empty locks: cleaning the drainage system below the lock floors.


“Every year, once the locks are empty, crews at the Soo Locks start cleaning the drainage system below the lock floors,” the Army Corps said recently, posting photos of the work crew on its Facebook page. “This year the drain crew, also called the ‘mucking crew,’ concentrated on the lower ends of the Poe and MacArthur Locks removing approximately 50 cubic yards of debris.”


While the always-in-use Poe Lock has its drain area cleaned every year, this is the first time in a while that the MacArthur Lock area has been cleaned out.


“In all, the crew estimates they removed about 50 cubic yards of debris. Rocks, dirt, and sticks formed the bulk of the debris collected in the drains.” There’s also the occasional tool that’s been lost off a ship.


“Among the mud, rocks and sticks, workers did find a few ‘treasures’ among the trash.”


A piece of decorative gold chain was fished out from the debris, as well as a fork.

A fork found among debris at the bottom of the Soo Locks. Photo provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.


The photos shared on social media show how crews shovel out all the debris and use equipment to raise it to the surface, where it is hauled away in a skid-steer.


“After finishing in the Poe Lock, workers move to the reservoir at the lower end of the MacArthur Lock to begin removing the debris that had accumulated over several years,” Army Corps staff said.


“A shovelful at a time, workers remove the mounds of debris. Work in this reservoir is a wet and dirty task with several inches of water covering the floor and dripping from above.”


When the Soo Locks closed in January, three ships went through the Poe Lock together for an icy finish.


The locks system, which allows marine traffic to flow in and out of Lake Superior, is scheduled to remain closed until March 25. The system is a necessary way to move cargo on the upper Great Lakes, as it raises and lowers vessels to accommodate the 23-foot elevation difference between Lake Huron and Lake Superior.


On this year’s winter work list: inspections of the hydraulic steel structure, maintenance on mechanical and electrical systems, seal replacement, structural repairs and pier inspections, according to the Associated Press.

 

[ArlyA]

Our lake is not yet officially open untill the 25th but I do see cutters out there tonight on marine traffic. I wonder how this ice is out there.

 

[ArlyA]

From MI live----------------------------

1,000-foot freighters lining up at Soo Locks as opening day nears​

Updated: Mar. 24, 2022, 9:51 a.m. | Published: Mar. 24, 2022, 9:51 a.m.

The Edgar B. Speer waits below the Soo Locks for it's turn to lock through as the first freighter of the 2022 shipping season. Photo provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
By Tanda Gmiter | tgmiter@mlive.com
SAULT STE. MARIE, MI - It looks like a few of the Great Lakes’ biggest freighters are a little antsy for the 2022 shipping season to officially get underway. The Soo Locks doesn’t open until 12:01 a.m. on Friday, but by Wednesday some of the region’s huge ships were already waiting in line, ready to be among the initial vessels to lock through for their first trip of the spring.

The first lock-through honors will go to the Edgar B. Speer, followed by its Great Lakes Fleet group mate, the Edwin H. Gott, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Detroit District staff. They described the scene that developed Wednesday when the two big ships approached the lock system and prepared to wait their turn for the opening day fanfare.

“This afternoon the first two ships of the 2022 Navigation Season arrived at the piers below the #SooLocks in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Fleet mates, Edgar B. Speer and Edwin H. Gott will wait below the locks until the March 25 midnight opening of the Poe Lock.”

“The Speer arrived a few hours ahead of the Gott and will have the honors of opening the season with the first cargo lockage.”

Fleet mates Edgar B. Speer and Edwin H. Gott wait below the locks for Friday's opening of the Soo Locks. Photo provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Speer and the Gott are both 1,004 feet long, meaning they can only use the Poe Lock at the Soo, which is the chamber that can accommodate the largest vessels.

The opening day - really, an opening night - will be open to the public at the Soo Locks. The park and the locks’ viewing platform will open Thursday, March 24 from 11:30 p.m. to March 25 at 1:30 a.m. The Visitor Center will open March 25 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for an open house. Can’t make the first-ship event? There will be a Facebook Live event beginning late tonight to catch the midnight opening. You can see that on the Army Corps Facebook page here.

There is a little celebration planned for the Speer’s crew. “A party of local dignitaries will head out to the vessel (Thursday) afternoon to recognize the captain and crew with plaques, hats and other gifts. Greeting the first ship is a long standing tradition in Sault Ste. Marie highlighting the importance of shipping and the locks to the community,” the Army Corps said.

 

[ArlyA]

Coast Guard cutter Spar arrived in Duluth MN in springtime snow showers this week. Apparently this is his new home.

 

[ArlyA]

The J Munson pulling into Duluth today through some ice while sporting new paint. I'm not sure I've heard his horn before.

 

[MossRoad]

Nice sound!!!

 

[ArlyA]

My favorite barge-tug the Presque Isle pulls into Two Harbors MN today.

 

[jjeff]

My favorite barge-tug the Presque Isle pulls into Two Harbors MN today.

I totally understand all the reasons why they converted a lot of the old lake freighters to barges but I don't feel the same level of nostalgia watching a barge vs an actual lake freighter