Duluth Shipping News -

Time 2020-11-19 11:04:01

Web Name: Duluth Shipping News -

WebSite: http://duluthshippingnews.com

ID:120711

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The Maria G will arrive Saturday evening as the first salt water ship of the 2019 shipping season. She was built as the Gadwell in 2007. Her name was changed in 2017 to Maria G. As the Gadwell, she was the first salt water ship to arrive for the 2008 Duluth shipping season (above). The year before, she arrived Duluth on June 12, at the end of her maiden voyage. She loaded beet pulp pellets that she took to Europe (left). There it is used for animal feed. She will arrive Saturday evening and drop anchor off the Duluth piers until Sunday evening or Monday morning when she will come under the Lift Bridge and dock at Riverland Ag/Duluth Storage on Rice’s Point.She discharged steel in Oshawa before coming to Duluth to load approximately 21,000 metric tons of spring wheat she will take to Italy.The Kaye E. Barker was the first laker to leave Duluth under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge, leaving at 12:12 today (March 22, 2019), thus opening the 2019-20 shipping season. Below, she is seen moving easily through the ice, just beyond the Lift Bridge. She was headed to Two Harbors to load iron ore pellets for Indiana Harbor.  Coincidentally, on January 15, 2019, the Barker closed the 2018 shipping season. In the inset, the Barker is seen departing Duluth on April 2, 2015. (Click each image to see a larger version The Kaye E. Barker was built and named for Edward B. Greene, the president of Cleveland Cliffs from 1933 to 1954. In the winter of 1975-76, she was lengthened by 120 feet at Fraser Shipyards in Superior. Five years later, she was converted to a self-unloader. She became the Benson Ford in 1985 and the Kaye E. Barker in 1989.Related posts:Kaye E. Barker departs Duluth The Kaye E. Barker began her season this morning, April...Gott, Kaye E. Barker arrive for winter layup The Kaye E. Barker came in for winter layup...Happy Spring   The James R. Barker  departed Duluth early this afternoon...Virginia kicks some of the last ice, we hope   After several days at anchor, the Virginiaborg arrived by...Before the Alder and the Mackinaw arrived Duluth last night, they had to go through the Soo Locks. Coast Guard boats receive priority at the Soo since often, without them, other boats could not get to the Soo due to ice. On March 19, 2019, we see the Mackinaw and then the Alder moving through the Soo, on their way to Duluth. (Image courtesy of the US Corps of Engineers}Related posts:2 Coast Guard cutters, the Cason J. Callaway and Pier B (The retired Coast Guard cutter Sundew sits at her current...Alder in and out I took the picture above and to the right this...Nice night for a boat ride Above, the now privately owned and operated Sundew eases past...Alder back from Thunder Bay today Alder Commander Charter B. Tschirgi brought his Alder back to...Davis Helberg was a good friend to all who knew him, a wonderful source to those of us always looking for information, and an inspiring leader for the Port of Duluth Superior. He died on October 10, 2018. He was a wonderful help and information source for me.I started publishing the Duluth Shipping News in the spring of 1997; I knew little about shipping in general or shipping in Duluth in particular.I was undeterred by that lack of knowledge then or now. I meant the DSN to be for tourists and visitors, and I wrote to answer the questions that visitors here asked; the same questions I asked when I first arrived.One day in the spring of 1997, I went to the Port Authority to talk with Lisa, the Public Relations manager. While I was waiting, a man came into the reception area and asked if I was the author of this. He was holding a copy of the Duluth Shipping News. I said yes. He introduced himself, Davis Helberg. I think at that time I had heard of him but had never met him. I was scared. Had I done something wrong, did I need a license to print the paper?He responded something like this: This is a great contribution to the local shipping scene.’ He complimented me and offered his help anytime.I will never forget that moment; the big guy found me and told me I was doing a good job. I floated out of the office.In the spring of the following year, I got a call from the Port Authority inviting me to go on board the first salty that arrived in Duluth after the long winter. There were a lot of people there and shortly, Davis called us all to attention. First, he introduced folks in the room. It never occurred to me that he would introduce me but he did, as the publisher of the Duluth Shipping News. He then said some nice words about me. Wow. Davis had now introduced me to the shipping community and other local dignitaries. That was a big moment for me, but that was one of the best things Davis did; bind people together, introduce them to each other, explain the business of the port to the larger community.Below I share some moments watching Davis doing his thing.(1)    April, 1999: Davis led a group to visit the Federal Mackenzie, the first salty of 1999On Sunday morning, April 11, 1999, Davis led a group of about 100 local officials to the pilot house of the Federal Mackenzie  (now the Birchglen). She had arrived the night before and was the first salt water ship to come to Duluth in the 1999 shipping season. In the picture, Davis was talking to Federal Mackenzie Captain I. M. Singh and Port Authority board member Bill Kron. On the other side of the pilot  house, the other visitors were sampling food the ship had prepared for the occasion. I took the Captain and his son on a trip to Skyline Drive to see and touch some snow.In the old days, the port often organized a party on board a new-build salt water ship when she made her first visit to Duluth. Built in 1999 in Japan, the Polish flagged Isa arrived in Duluth in early August, 1999, her first cargo stop. At left, Davis, accompanied by City Councilman Ken Hogg (right), talks with Isa Captain Edward Bobrowski (left).It is good to know old timers with good memories; Davis had a good memory. I had been told that a salt water ship was arriving Duluth in August 1999 with armed guards on board. I got myself invited onto the ship while it was at anchor waiting to come in. It wasn’t long before I bumped into the armed guards, five Coast Guard sailors, all with a startling array of stuff on their belt, including revolvers. I first saw them in the office of the Captain, Tomislav Radovic, sitting at his desk, at center. I noticed the guns, but also noticed everyone was smiling.On July 5 the Grant Carrier and her crew of 27 left Odessa, a Ukrainian city on the Black Sea, on their way to Duluth. At the time, no ship with Yugoslavian officers was allowed in U.S. waters unless accompanied by armed guards, supplied by the Coast Guard and paid for by the shipowner. That was because our (NATO) planes were bombing their cities at the time.So the Grant Carrier came to Duluth on August 17, 1999 with a contingent of five armed (but friendly) Coast Guard sailors. The officers and crew were indeed from Yugoslavia, many from Kotor, a city on the coast of the Adriatic Sea in Montenegro.This was all very interesting but I talked with Davis, and he told me that was the first ship to ever come into Duluth under armed guard. Only Davis knew that since only Davis had been working in the port  since 1959. We lost a lot of history when Davis left us. For more on this story, click here.Davis greeted all the cruise ships that came to Duluth during his reign. Captain Thilo Natke brought the Columbus into Duluth on September 7, 1999. Shortly after that he hosted breakfast on the ship. At left, the Captain, and going clockwise, Ron Johnson, trade development director from the Port Authority, Davis and Duluth Mayor Gary Doty. The photographer was politely asked to leave (not by Davis). Above right, in October 2002, Davis again welcomed the Columbus, her Captain, his crew and passengers to Duluth.Franziska Blome and Patricia Garcia-Rios, both producers for the PBS show, American Experience, came to Duluth in November 2000 to scout locations for video they wanted of grain loading in the Twin Ports. Who to talk to. Yes, first thing; I took them to see Davis. I have never seen anyone pull out more suggestions for people to contact. He kept calling Becky, his secretary, to look for a reference on some possible contacts. I bet she was in and out of the office 10 times. (I am not the first person to notice Becky was the real brains behind the scenes). Here they are just leaving his office, with their many notes and of course, this being the Port Authority, an armful of brochures.Boatnerd is not just a noun describing folks who really love boats. It is a real live person named Neil Schultheiss. He stopped by the Duluth Shipping News in September 2001. He started his web site before I did, but at first, many people assumed I was the Boatnerd. Not so. I was just riding on the back of the wave he brought to the Great Lakes. I asked him if he wanted to meet Davis. Yes: good sources are good source because they know other good sources. These two were the best sources I ever talked to. He made one stipulation; no pictures. Being in the picture business, I was upset; this was a scoop, at least in my little world. He relented, I could take pictures, but none with his face in the image. Thus you see the picture above as the Boatnerd talked with Ron Johnson (left), port trade development director and Davis.From 1996 to 2002, the Kinsman Independent made over 100 trips between the Twin Ports and Buffalo, picking up wheat in Duluth and taking it to Buffalo to make flour. On December 13th, 2002, she departed Duluth for the last time (under that name). A goodbye party was held on board, pictures were taken, old times were relived, and a sad farewell was made. We assumed she was headed for the scrap yard or perhaps pieces of her would be turned into a barge. Happily, she was sold and is still working on the Great Lakes as the Ojibway, owned by Lower Lakes Towing. Davis of course was an honored guest, shown here with Captain David Johnson on deck and partially obscured at our celebratory lunch below deck. After the party, I drove back to the Lift Bridge to take the picture below, her last departure from Duluth as the Kinsman Independent.(8)    March 29, 2003: Davis arrives for his last First Ship to Arrive Duluth CelebrationOn March 29th, the Frontenac arrived in Duluth. She was the first ship of the 2003 season to arrive from beyond the Soo Locks at the eastern end of Lake Superior. She docked at the Murphy Fuel Dock where a welcoming party was held celebrating her arrival. Davis officiated at the ceremony, his last after over 40 years of service to the Port. TV cameras and eager port officials waited as Helberg walked down the deck of the Frontenac with deliberate speed. He retired two days later.(9)    October, 2008: Davis, now retired, joined 3 fellow old timers to tour a new US Navy ship.On October 29, 2008, the 377-foot USS Freedom arrived Duluth. She is a new US Navy warship that can be an anti-aircraft weapon, a missile launcher and a landing craft, among many other things. Davis had long since retired so I called him and 3 other old time Duluth mariners. I had asked Executive Officer Kristy Doyle to give us a tour. I knew the old timers were not used to being on a new Navy ship with a female Exec. By now, they were very good at asking questions when visiting  a new vessel, but in this case, they weren’t quite ready for all her answers. It was very interesting to watch. They asked all the old questions and Kristy responded with the new answers. I’m not sure what she intended, but she started the tour at what she called ‘the pointy end of the ship.’ The guys might have reassured themselves that Kristy was not going to challenge them; they could  fill her in on the details of the ship later.Then she updated her remarks to call it the forecastle of the ship, and from then on, it was clear she knew what she was talking about and we were there to learn.Unfortunately, all of these reliable old timers have passed on.  Davis left us with a remembrance of his three old friends, included in the Winter 2008-09 issue of the Port Authority Magazine, North Star Port.Built in 1967, the John D. Leitch was built as the Canadian Century. The cargo hold and the rest of the midsection were replaced with a new, larger cargo hold and her current name. This season, she has loaded iron ore pellets at the BNSF in Superior, the CN in Duluth and in Two Harbors. She is seen here departing Duluth this afternoon, October 19, 2018.Some of us are too old to stay up all night waiting to take a picture of a boat we all could have taken any day for the last 32 years. Happily, Steve Sola is not so old; he took this picture of the William A. Irvin as she was eased out of her long time neighborhood early this morning (Saturday, September 22, 2018). She is slowly moving through the Minnesota Slip Bridge on her way to the Fraser Shipyards in Superior. There she will get some maintenance and a new paint job while her home base will be cleaned up for her return next Spring. Below, the Irvin is seen discharging coal (I think) at an unknown dock on an unknown date.  Any help in identifying those unknowns is welcomed. (See link above for more information about her.)On Friday night, September 7, 2018, the Minnesota Mile was held on Skyline Drive, in Duluth. The route covered my exact route for my daily walk.  Last night,  I timed my walk so I arrived at the start line just before the race started, about a ¼ mile east of Enger Golf Course. Ahead of me was the start of the race, and when I looked left, I saw the Mesabi Miner loading coal at Midwest Energy Resources in Superior (above). Road workers had hurried up and finished some interesting road repairs that have kept me off the course. I am still a little confused about how and what they were doing, but it was not easy (see below).The road was a little too close to the edge of the cliff, so they built another cliff to hold the new stone wall, allowing them to extend the width of the roadway and walking/running path about 15 feet. Both still provide a wonderful view of Duluth, Superior, both harbors, the Lift Bridge and Lake Superior.  Notice the new black top (above), just laid, and the rocks at the the edge forming a new barrier to the new wall. The blacktop goes from the new wall to just over the center line. Below, on June 22, you can see the wall being built and the rocks that will be used to build more wallThe Paul R. Tregurtha departed Duluth at 7pm on Friday evening, August 10th after loading coal at Midwest Energy. She will carry 36,000 tons to the Detroit Edison power plant at Monroe, Michigan and then complete her discharge at St. Clair with 32,000 tons there. We expect her back for more coal on August 16. She will again load 68,000 tons to take to the same two destinations, a pattern she follows about weekly through the shipping season.

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