Light Icebreaker CCGS MARTHA L. BLACK

Here comes the cavalry!! She's the high endurance multi-task vessel, (a.k.a. light icebreaker), CCGS MARTHA L. BLACK snapped yesterday afternoon by my friend Nathan Attard as the big red machine made her way through Lock 8 and Port Colborne harbour on her way to the Lakehead (a.k.a. Thunder Bay, Ontario). Her speedy arrival will be very much appreciated as ice conditions remain solid and steadfast on Lake Superior, St. Mary's River and the Straits of Mackinac. Icebreakers in both Canadian and US coast guard fleets have performed superbly against a foe that apparently is thicker and far more expansive than any other spring shipping season in the last 20 years. While conditions on Lake Erie appears to be improving (though the CCGS DES GROSEILLIERS was required to assist the PETER R. CRESSWELL (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2012/10/self-unloader-peter-r-cresswell.html) deliver salt to Buffalo yesterday), transiting up above and beyond Lake Huron has been frustratingly slow going and only completed with one or more icebreakers to assist. Just today, a convoy of six lakers commenced their sluggish journey to western Lake Superior while being escorted with the heavy icebreakers CCGS RADISSON and USCGC MACKINAW which hours earlier helped escort the last of a downbound convoy to the Soo Locks. As this convoy leaves, another grouping is assembled and waits for their turn to discharge or load needed cargo at ports along the north shore of Lake Superior.  A nice HOT SPELL would definitely be welcomed right about now. c);-b

Meanwhile, yesterday I was checking out 'My Fleet' on MarineTraffic.com and saw that the MARTHA L. BLACK was transiting the Welland Canal and was on her way to Thunder Bay. YES!! So Budda-bing, budda-boom, FB chatting I did do to Nathan who earlier sent me some great snaps of the old self unloader CUYAHOGA at the stone dock across from the Robin Hood Flour mill (in the background there, eh). I said 'Hey, can you snap the BLACK for me?' He says, 'where do they have her?' I say 'beyond Welland near Ramey's Bend' and Nathan says, 'No problem, I'll wait for her at the stone dock' and I said, YESSS!!!!

Nathan not only snapped the BLACK as she passed the stone dock but also as she approached, then entered Lock 8, and from along the West Street wall as she slipped through chunked pack ice beyond Bridge 21. NICE SNAPS NATHAN!!!    

The 272' MARTHA L. BLACK was built in 1986 at Versatile Pacific Shipyard in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her homeport is Quebec City and she is equipped with a helicopter. I recall reading that she worked the St. Lawrence River and Gulf during the winter months and this spring, she mostly was been assigned to ice operations and escort duties on the lower St. Lawrence Seaway between the Snell and St. Lambert Locks. When the medium Arctic-class icebreakers RADISSON and DES GROSEILLIERS entered the Great Lakes earlier this month, the equally hard working but smaller GRIFFON (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2012/05/ccg-ice-breaker-griffon.html) was sent down to open Lake Ontario ports like Hamilton, Toronto, Picton and Kingston, and offer vessel assistance along the Seaway with the MARTHA L. BLACK. 

Named after an American-born Yukon Member of Parliament, it totally makes sense for the MARTHA L. BLACK to be selected for this mission. Along with her Canadian and American icebreaking fleetmates, she will continue to work as one just like any good friend or neighbour would. c);-))

   

Self Unloader MAUMEE (Revisited)

Just 39 days before my father was born along the northshore of Lake Erie, the 605' self unloader MAUMEE was launched on the other side of the lake on June 22, 1929. Built at American Ship Building in Lorain, Ohio, her name then was WILLIAM G. CLYDE and she sailed for 32 years as a traditional 'straightdeck' ore carrier for the Pittsburgh Steamship Company and U.S. Steel Corp. until she was converted to a self unloader in 1961 and from a coal burning steam engine to diesel a few years later. At that time, her name was CALCITE II and according to my new boat-watching friend, David Mallette, who sailed for 44 years in the engine room of many vessels like the laker RESERVE and tankers like the ROCKET and the AMOCO ILLINOIS, the old girl had a very loud typhon air horn. WOW, I can only imagine her "Captain’s Salute". David, who currently lives in Fairfield, California, was born and raised in Detroit, and spent every chance he could get at the Detroit River watching the up, and downbound ships, and then the deep sea vessels when the Seaway was opened in 1959. I did exactly the same thing along the Welland Canal where my dad worked until retired in 1991. Yes, those were the days for sure David and again, nice chatting with you tonight.

Meanwhile, CALCITE II continued to haul limestone, stone and other aggregates for the U.S. Steel Great Lakes Fleet until she was sold to the Lower Lakes Towing Company of Port Dover, Ontario in 2001. With a new coat of paint in company colours and their unique 'First Nations' insignia on her stack, the newly named MAUMEE continued to be transport stone aggregates and coal until she was sold for scrap and towed to Port Colborne in December 2011.

When I snapped the laid up   MAUMEE in Port Colborne in May 2013, she not only looked worse for wear, she appeared exposed and running out of time. During an earlier visit to Port during the 2012 Canal Days there, the MAUMEE was almost totally hidden behind the former last steam-powered laker, the 656' JAMES NORRIS. For more snaps check out: http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2012/08/self-unloader-james-norris.html

However when I snapped her in February 2013, the back end of the MAUMEE was tucked in behind the former well-travelled oil tanker PROVMAR TERMINAL II.  Check out her story at: http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2013/04/tanker-provmar-terminal-ii.html

You don't need a picture to say a thousand words when looking at these last two snaps of the MAUMEE taken during my visit to Port Colborne on October 2013. Clearly, the writing and rust was on wall. Despite all of the MAUMEE's accomplishments and 80 years valued service, soon she'd be gone and her berth replaced with another "Legend of the Great Lakes"...

...the 730' straightdeck bulk carrier ALGOMA QUEBECOIS  (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2013/02/straight-decker-algoma-quebecois.html).

Nice photo Nathan Attard!! To Be Continued.

Polar Icebreaker DES GROSELLIERS

'There's No Life Like It' may have been a recruitment slogan for the Canadian Armed Forces in the 1980's, but after high school, the life direction I sought out was to become a skipper of a polar ice breaker in the then recently formed 'Canadian Coast Guard' (before that it was just a government department c):-(). The promotional material made it look pretty exciting so off I went one Saturday to a high school gym in Niagara Falls to complete all their exams. Later I was told I didn't get selected because basically their ad campaign was too successful. There were far more candidates than actual openings. C'est la vie, que sera, sera. Actually, advertising became my first career I and was pretty good at it, working for Ontario newspapers in Welland, Leamington, Cambridge, Trenton, Ottawa and then to Toronto at Canada's national newspaper, The Globe & Mail. Soon after, I kind of changed things up by getting into 'direct' advertising when I joined the also recently formed Crown Corporation, Canada Post. I was transferred to head office in Ottawa, where I continued to promote direct marketing for the PO (very short for, Post Office) and during a stint as an entrepreneur.

However for the past twelve years, whenever I'm not snapping photos of boats along the Seaway (or wherever), I very much enjoy driving a transit bus here in Ottawa, which may not be as large as a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker, but our buses are also coloured red and white, with a big 'Maple Leaf' on each side, much like the CCGS DES GROSEILLERS which was recently snapped by an old but much younger friend, Nathan Attard in Port Colborne.
Sorry Nathan, but I don't recall much about you because you were pretty young when I left Port Colborne, but I do fondly remember your folks, especially in the early days when we we'd visit them on one of the laid up for winter Misener boats. I recall touring may parts of the SCOTT MISENER (or was it the JOHN O. MCKELLER), and especially the engine room and thinking no way would I want to work down there. But that's where your dad worked and he was very good at it for many years.

Meanwhile, back at the boatblog, WOOHOO snaps Nathan of the DES GROSEOLLIERS passing the BAIE COMEAU above Lock 8 while making her way to do battle with the massive ice packs and ridges on the nearly still frozen over, Lake Erie. Like her fleetmate, CCGS PIERRE RADISSON which entered the system and passed through Port Colborne just a few days earlier, the 322' DES GROSEILLERS, is a powerful Medium Arctic-class icebreaker. Built in 1982 at Port Weller Dry Docks in St. Catharines, Ontario, the DES GROSEILLIERS generally conducts icebreaking and escort operations on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Saguenay and St. Lawrence rivers during the winter months, and the Seaway in the spring. During the summer, she would travel to the Canadian Arctic for ship escort and navigation aids operations as well as supporting various scientific mission. However, due to the extremely thick and steadfast ice conditions from Lake Erie through to the western reaches of Lake Superior, these two massive icebreakers were needed to provide additional icebreaking capacity and help get lakes and saltwater fleets moving. In fact just one day after its arrival at Port Colborne, the Quebec City based DES GROSEILLIERS escorted five lakers (ALGOMA DISCOVERY, ALGOMA EQUINOX, ALGOMA ENTERPRISE, BAIE COMEAU and the articulated tug & barge SEA EAGLE II), through ice between 2 to 3 feet thick and ice ridges between 4 to 10 feet high to the western edge of the ice pack. While DES GROSEILLIERS remains stationed on Lake Erie, PIERRE RADISSON has been busy conducting ice operations and convoy escort duties on the St. Mary's River, and Lake Superior with the USCGC MACKINAW (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2014/02/ice-breakers-uscgc-mackinaw-wagb-83.html.

While the powerful and heavy weight icebreakers are assisting the larger freighters manoeuvre about, the smaller cutters like Canadian Coast Guard ships SAMUEL RISLEY, GRIFFON, and USCGS KATMAI BAY, and other resources have been busy laying lighted navigation aids and clearing river openings to prevent flooding, and opening lake ports along either sides of the border because on the Great Lakes both Canadian and American coast guard fleets operate as one. Quite the unique friendship we have, eh!! c);-))    

Being one of the last ships to operate before her winter lay-up, the CSL self discharging bulk carrier BAIE COMEAU http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2014/01/self-discharging-bulk-carrier-baie.html has also been very active already this spring. From above Lock 8 in Port Colborne, to a Lake Erie destination and back, then through the Welland Canal to laying anchored on the St. Lawrence near Prescott is where I snapped her hiding behind some trees. GOTCHA!! c):-o On her way to Sept-Iles, Quebec, the COMEAU along with ALGOMA SPIRIT and ALGOMA GUARDIAN had to wait for the all clear before getting underway due to severe ICE conditions further down the system. 

For some very interesting updates and amazing photos, check out 'Daily Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News' on http://www.boatnerd.com/news/.
Thanks for the great snaps Nathan and say hello to your dad for me. c);-b

Tugboat WILFRED M.COHEN

Whether the vessel is a maximum width chemical/oil tanker like the SLOMAN HERMES  (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2013/10/tanker-sloman-hermes.html) or a hard working tug like the WILFRED M. COHEN, they all look pretty small when entering an empty Lock 3 along the Welland Canal in St. Catharines, Ontario.

 However, once the lock is filled and it's time to move on to the next lock, everything is put back into perspective like these snaps of the WILFRED M. COHEN and her barge taken by my friend Shaun Judge of Kanata when he visited the Welland Canal last June.
When built in 1948 at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, the name for the 102.5' train barge tug for Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad was A.T. LOWMASTER. Shortly after being rebuilt in 1974 the LOWMASTER was sold to A.B. McLean Ltd. of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and continued her trade on the Great Lakes while being renamed WILFRED M. COHEN.  

The COHEN. was acquired by Purvis Marine Ltd also of Sault Ste. Marie in 1994 and seven years later she had a raised wheelhouse added for improved vision when pushing a high in the water barge like she was pushing while making her upbound departure out of Lock 3 in Shaun's snap above.
Sometimes though added features and all of your experience means nothing when Mother Nature has other plans, like after delivering a load of steel coils to Detroit, Michigan, her barge, the 338' PML IRONMASTER became stuck in the ice-jammed St. Mary's River on her return trip to the Soo last January. Despite every effort by the veteran tugs WILFRED M. COHEN and PML fleetmate, ANGLIAN LADY (above, snapped in Port Colborne in 2012) to free her, the IRONMASTER had to be abandoned and to this day remains locked in the ice in the river.

Meanwhile, the PML tugs WILFRED M. COHEN and ANGLIAN LADY have remained tied-off at the Purvis dock in the Soo and waiting for the coast guard to open a path in the ice so the that the IRONMASTER can be retrieved and returned to her home base. When the barge became mired in the ice on January 27, the duration of the returned journey to date had already taken over 28 days. Patience has been the virtue this winter. It ain't over till it's over this year for sure. c);-b

Medium Endurance Multi-task Vessel CCGS TRACY

Ice maybe great in a soft drink or an after work highball but this winter, ICE has been a CAPITAL pain in the BUTT for Great Lakes mariners that  remain active while other boats are on layup moving essential cargos to key ports from the Soo on the St. Mary's River through to Nanticoke's oil refinery on Lake Erie. Passages that normally would take a matters of hours, have been extended by several days even with to constant aid by Canadian and American coast guard icebreakers. However, despite all their timeless and gallant efforts, Canadian ship owners have complained that more resources should have made available this winter, (like who knew this was to be the worst winter in 20 years?). Regardless, as the end of March approaches, ship owners, skippers and crews are itching to get the new sailing season underway, only to be delayed once again to due to ice. Generally the St. Lawrence Seaway opens March 28 but due to the over abundance of ice, the opening has been delayed to the 31st. The Soo Locks opened as planned on March 25, but for the first time in years, the locks remained idle, leaving workers 'scared ship-less' (or NOT) due to the thick ice conditions out on Lake Superior and the ice jammed channels of the St. Mary's River for those ships that would normally transit northwest to the Soo from the southern lakes. The Welland Canal will be opening today but it'll be hard to predict when the first downbound will enter Lock 8 in Port Colborne from Lake Erie since almost all of the lake remains frozen over. As the saying goes,' Time is Money' and delays, whether weather is to blame (no pun intended, really), increased costs sooner or later effects everyone's wallet or debit card.

To ease the pain and help kick-start the shipping season, this week the Canadian Coast Guard dispatched two additional icebreakers, (the 272.2' light icebreaker MARTHA L. BLACK, snapped in a floating drydock in Hamilton by my friend Shaun last summer, and the 318' medium icebreaker PIERRE RADISSON into the system prior to the Seaway's opening. Yesterday, while searching the whereabout of these two icebreakers, I noticed the RADISSON was west of the Eisenhower Lock heading presumably to the Canadian Coast Guard base in Prescott. YES!! So almost immediately, Tanner and I were off motoring down to the 416 hoping to get a few snaps of the large polar icebreaker in action along the St. Lawrence River. No such luck as in turned out my source was somewhat out dated, and the PIERRE RADISSON was actually motoring beyond Prince Edward County on Lake Ontario making her way to Port Weller. (check out this coast guard snap:  http://www.marinfo.gc.ca/images/Flotte/Pierre_Radisson.jpg)

What I did see though at the Prescott CCG base was the laid up former buoy tender CCGS TRACY, and a lot of ice which was held in position by a boom that crossed to the river to the American side. The boom, which is made of wood floats and linked together with chains is placed in the river above the Seaway hydro dam at Iroquois in December to prevent ice build-up and ensure an even formation on the river. In the Spring and when the ice has melted, the boom is removed before the Seaway shipping season commences. Such is not the case this spring as melting has not occurred because it's been too cold up here in the Great White North, but regardless the tug STEEL HEAD (in photo below) would have been  needed to open up a channel for the RADISSON to continue her upbound passage.

There didn't appear to be much activity around the CCGS TRACY when I snapped her last May at the Prescott Canadian coast guard dock. The 180' TRACY was built at Port Weller Dry Docks in 1967 and for much of her career, the multi-task shallow draft vessel was stationed at Sorel, QC. Though primarily used to service navigation aids along the St. Lawrence River, the TRACY is ice-strengthed to allow light icebreaking duties. Whether or not she may have been capable enough to offer the additional resources needed to meet the ship owners outcries this winter, who knows. Meanwhile, the proud and patient TRACY sits and waits for her next assignment or sold for scrap. As for Tanner, whether it's refreshing dip in the St. Lawrence or sniffing for his ball along the shoreline, he too is flexible and goes with the flow. N-ice Dog c):-))

UPDATE: March 1, 2026

After being decommissioned in 2016, the former medium endurance multi-task vessel CCGS TRACY was sold to Quebec City based Groupe Océan on March 1, 2017. 

The renamed OCEAN TRACY departed Prescott on September 12, 2017 while being towed to Quebec City by two Groupe Océan tugs. Soon after she was renamed TRACY and while being reflagged Panama has been last known to be operating in the Caribbean in 2022.

Fast Ferry STAR FLYTE EXPRESS

It's been a long cold winter up here in the Great White North. Since late November, I have been monitoring snowfall accumulations on my backyard deck table and though we were delighted to receive a couple above freezing thaws in January and February, the table hasn't been without snow on it until yesterday which coincidentally was the first day of Spring or the March Equinox. Though there remains an ample supply of the white stuff everywhere in Ottawa (which received over 225 centimetres of the snow this winter to date), we can expect more will fall over the next few weeks but at least it will only be a 'spring snow' or flurries which generally means, it won't be around for very long. So we hope!! c);-b

The presence of snow or wintery temperatures were nowhere near a concern when we visited Perth, Western Australia in their early spring of September 2012. Then, the temps and hospitality we received from everyone there was both warm and wonderful. It was also quite the joy to go walkabout past the well maintained and colourfully painted buildings along the narrow streets of the old port of Fremantle. One immaculate looking building that caught my eye was the P&O Building which was built for the Australasian Shipping Company in 1903 to help accommodate their rapid growth during the West Australian gold boom. During the boom between 1890 and 1910, Fremantle was established as a major shipping port where large numbers of people arrived at Fremantle and then made their way to the gold fields to try their luck at prospecting. This also resulted in a large quantity of freight being moved through Fremantle and expanding the port industry. P&O, which is short for the 'Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company', took over the Australasian Shipping Company in 1914 and if you look real closely, you may see both company logo's or abbreviated signatures featured on the facade. Or NOT!

Though nothing like the Siberian polar blasts that we had to deal with up here in the GWN during this past winter, it was quite windy on the day we visited Upper Fremantle Harbour where I snapped the flashy 128' Rottnest Express ferry, STAR FLYTE EXPRESS as she positioned herself near Shed B at Victoria Quay with the huge container-ship  MOL EMINENCE in the background. (Check out:   http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2012/10/container-ship-mol-eminence.html). Built in 1978  in nearby Henderson, STAR FLYTE EXPRESS is one of three high speed ferries that motors to Rottnest Island four times a day from Shed B. Located just 19km northwest of Fremantle, Rottnest Island is an ‘A’ Class Nature Reserve. Named by a Dutch captain who while exploring the island in 1696, discovered an abundance of giant rats, hence calling the island 'Rotte Nest' or 'rat nest' in English. The giants rats were actually small kangaroo-like animals called 'Quokkas' and even today there remains a great many quokkas on Rottnest Island along with seals, ship wrecks and apparently many other really neat things, or not. 

All good to go, the STAR FLYTE EXPRESS motors past the livestock carrier OCEAN DROVER (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2012/10/livestock-carrier-ocean-drover.html), and commences her crossing back to Rottnest which is renowned for being one of the roughest in the southern hemisphere. However, according to Rottnest Express, their fleet of high-speed, ocean-going ferries have been specifically designed to counter any condition and are known for their smooth, fast and safe crossings. This youtube video may suggest otherwise. It's your call!! c);-b http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkByPi563do

Bulk Carrier TIM S. DOOL (Revisited)

Upbound above Iroquois Lock - August 11, 2013

From the former Ramey's Bend - March 28, 1973

As the upbound 730' bulk carrier TIM S. DOOL got underway after leaving Iroquois Lock, I couldn't help but wonder, "I think I've snapped that behind before". I certainly did but only then the name on her stern was SENNEVILLE and the occasion was when she became the first downbound laker to enter and transit the new 8 mile long Welland By-Pass on March 28, 1973 which has since sent ships along a fairly straight and much wider channel from Port Colborne to Port Robinson.

Before then ships would make a fairly sharp turn to the port (left) at Ramey's Bend below Humberstone and continue along a narrow channel which passed by the John Deere plant in Dain City, Union Carbide and Atlas Steel in Crowland and through the always busy downtown Welland. While I have many fond memories of those days, many others were frustrated with the delays and traffic-gridlocks that happened when especially the Main St. Bridge #13 went up for one or sometimes two vessels. c):-()
(for SENNEVILLE's story see: http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2012/05/mv-senneville.html)

One of only a few lakers built at the St. John Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, in St. John, New Brunswick, the SENNEVILLE was launched during Canada's centennial year, 1967, for Mohawk Navigation of Montreal, Quebec. However, in 1980, the SENNEVILLE and fleetmate SILVER ISLE were bought by Pioneer Shipping of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and soon after their hulls were painted the distinctive fleet colours of orange and red as shown in this company post card that was given to me some time ago. Though the SENNEVILLE primarily carried dry bulk goods, like grain and soybean, in 1992 she had her bottom doubled so that she could also carry canola oil.

West of Cardinal - August 11, 2013

When Algoma Central Marine took over Pioneer in 1994, she was re-painted and her name was changed to ALGOVILLE. In 1996, the VILLE's hull was widened by an addition 3' to meet new Seaway maximum widths (see top snap) just like what was done to CSL TADOUSSAC also at Port Weller Dry Docks in St. Catharines, Ontario. (See: http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2013/07/self-unloader-csl-tadoussac.html)

The VILLE's name was changed again in June 2008 in honour of Algoma Central's retiring and former President & Chief Executive Officer, TIM S. DOOL. Regardless of name and hull modifications, the DOOL is currently locked in the ice of Hamilton harbour waiting for a new shipping season to commence and continue to carry cargoes such as Canadian prairie wheat or iron ore throughout the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence just like she's done since day one, 47 years ago. Motor On, Girl!! c);-b  

West of Cardinal - August 11, 2013

TIM S. DOOL Update: March 19, 2019

Downbound near Prescott - September 1, 2014

Downbound near Prescott - September 1, 2014

And a motoring the bulgy-hulled TIM S. DOOL did go as I continued to capture her from time to time. I snapped her downbound and laden with cargo in September 2014 near Prescott, Ontario and during her last trip of the season on December 28, 2015 as she was  really pushing water passed Brockville's River Park on Blockhouse Island, obviously eager to unload and then layup next to the recent CSL newbuild, BAIE ST. PAUL snapped on a brisk February  2016 visit to Montreal's Old Port section.

Brockville's River Park - December 28, 2015

Winter layup at Montreal with the cross atop Mont Royal in the background - February 15, 2016

Winter layup at Port Colborne - February 11, 2017

With former fleetmate ALGOSOO still being dismantled in the background, there were all kinds of concern about the veteran bulk carrier's fate when she laid up for winter in 2017 at the old furnace plant wall in Port Colborne, a dock which is known to be used by International Marine Salvage as a staging area for their ship breaking operation. Hopefully no one lost any sleep over that rumour as the DOOL has continued to sail since and when the 50 plus year old gets underway this spring, she'll be sporting a fresh coat of Algoma "blue" paint currently being applied at Fraser Shipyards in Superior, WI. No, the former trend setting SENNEVILLE and this update is not done yet.    

Former fleetmate ALGOSOO being dismantled in the distance - February 11, 2017

TIM S. DOOL Update: September 13, 2024

After making her way out of the Brockville Narrows, the downbound TOM S. DOOL in her new total blue hulled livery glides by Blockhouse Island Park on September 23. 2022.

The Baie Comeau bound TIM S. DOOL makes her way by Loyalist Park west of Morrisburg on September 8, 2024.