Twin Ports Shipping
Great Lakes Fleet vessel Roger Blough takes on taconite pellets at the BNSF's silo dock on Allouez Bay in Superior WI. April 1995.
Want to know more about shipping on the Great Lakes. An excellent source of vessel information can be found the following sites.
(New) The classic stern lines of the steamer
Alpena are seen here as she unloads cement at the Inland Cement dock in Duluth
Sept. 2001.
(New) Canada Steamship Lines vessel Halifax
takes on a load of fuel at the Port Terminal in Duluth before finishing her
journey over to the DMIR ore dock where she will take on a load of taconite
pellets. Sept. 2001.
(New) Steamer Middletown enters the Duluth
Harbor bound for the DMIR ore docks. To the left of the vessel is Duluth's
famous lift bridge. Oct 2001.
(New) No large harbor is complete unless you
have some tugboats running around. Here is the G-tug Minnesota assisting the
Canadian Olympic to a dock at the Duluth Port Terminal. June 2001.
(New) The John Munson is departing DMIR dock
#6 in West Duluth. She will travel empty to Two Harbors and take on a load of
taconite pellets for the lower lakes. June 2000.
(New) The Reserve unloads coal at the Cutler
Magner dock in Superior, WI. July 2001.
(New) The Edgar Speer await the OK to depart
DMIR dock #2 in Two Harbors. She and her sister, the Edwin Gott are frequent
visitors to this small but busy port on Minnesota's North Shore. May 2001.
(New) The Canadian Olympic is being assisted by
two tugs, to a berth at the Duluth Port Terminal after being freed from her own
stern anchor chain that was accidentally wrapped up in her propeller earlier
that day. Though accident are few and far between today compared to 100 years
ago, when a ship is involved in a incident, the shipping company loses 1000's of
dollars in revenue a day when the ship is out of service. June 2001.
One of the classic vessels of the Great Lakes, the Arthur M. Anderson is seen
unloading limestone at DMIR's ore dock #6 in Duluth. Despite the addition
of the self unloading boom she still retains much of her as built appearance from the 1950's. May 2001. Photo by Dave Schauer.
The modern bulk carrier Nanticoke, owned by the Canada Steamship lines, is
seen backed into the slip next to the DMIR's ore dock #6. Her self unloading
boom is swung away to allow the pellet conveyer booms to load the ship
unobstructed. July 2000.
Elton Hoyt 2nd is seen departing the Cutler Magner limestone dock in Superior
light, (empty) and heading elsewhere to load a cargo to be delivered down on the
lower lakes. Due to the soft economy currently the Hoyt was not put back into
service for the 2001 season and remains laid up at the Fraser Shipyard in
Superior. June 2000.
During the Spring and early Summer of 1998 the Coast Guard icebreaker
Mackinaw underwent a refit at the Fraser Shipyard in Superior. During that time
she was repainted from her original white colors to the current red that is
applied to all large US Coast Guard icebreakers. She is seen here the day after
being released from drydock. June 1998.
The big news around the Twin Ports in 2001 was the transfer of the vintage
vessel, J.B. Ford to Superior for use as an cement storage barge. The photo to
the left show the Ford the night of her arrival in Superior, and the second
photo shows the Alpena moored along the Ford discharging cement to the dock.
June 2001.
The Buckeye slides through the crushed ice of the Duluth Harbor on her way to
the DMIR ore dock #6. Dec 2000.
The Kinsman Independent is loaded down with a cargo of grain for the Lower
Great Lakes. She is seen at the Great Northern Elevator in Superior WI. at dusk
in June 2000.
The Buffalo in drydock at Fraser Shipyard in Superior for a hull inspection
after a minor grounding near Marquette MI. Dec 2000.
The Fraser Shipyard in Superior WI plays host to a number of repair jobs on
Great Lakes ships through out the year. Here we see the Windoc, owned by the
Patterson Lines of Canada, in drydock undergoing a five year hull inspection.
Sept. 2000
A number of foreign flag ships enter the Twin Ports to take on cargos of
grain, but once and a while one will come in to town with a cargo to be off
loaded. Here's the Kasteelborg, unloading salt by overhead bridge crane at the
CLM limestone dock in Superior WI. The bucket dumps the salt into a specially
built hopper for loading semi trucks. Sept. 2000
Another foreign ship, the Stellanova, unloads vessels for a new oil refinery
project in Canada. These cylinders were shipped by rail out of the Twin Ports.
Note the outriggers along side the ship to help keep it stable during off
loading. Oct. 2000.
The Sarah Spencer, an unusual pusher tug + barge( the tug is in the stern
portion, barely visible above the deck) combination unloads grain by ship
conveyor into Elevator A at Duluth. Dec 2000.
The Canadian Mariner, a Canadian flag vessel loads grain at Elevator A in Duluth. Oct 2000
The Canadian Leader gets ready to depart the Great Northern Elevator in
Superior WI. on a nice Indian summer day in Oct. 2000
During the recession of the 1980's a number of Great Lakes ships were idled
do to the downturn in business. Here two vessels from the United States Steel
fleet await, out in West Duluth, a call to action that will never come. By the
time the economy was turning around these ships( built before WW 2) were to
expensive to operate and remain competitive. They were scrapped by the
1990's Photo by Dan Mackey.
The Reserve was the first ship to lay up at the end of the 2000 shipping
season. She is seen here in the early morning light at Fraser Shipyard in
Superior. Jan 2001.
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