A-390 Enters Drydock

At 0700 this morning, BARBARA ANDRIE backed barge A-390 out of the West Slip, and after doing a 360-degree turn in the harbor, entered the drydock at Donjon Shipbuilding & Repair.

A-390 will be in the drydock for survey for the next few weeks, next to FARRELL 256. BARBARA ANDRIE, after backing out of drydock, docked at the West Slip, where it will remain while the barge is in drydock.

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BARBARA ANDRIE/A-390 turning in Erie harbor.


Coming around. The tug and barge turned to back in originally before finding out that they were supposed to go in bow-first so the tug could get out of the drydock.


The tug comes forward on its engine to swing around the barge.


Turning for the drydock.


A-390 comes alongside the graving dock.


Moving forward.


Tug BARBARA ANDRIE enters the West Slip.


Stopping.


BARBARA ANDRIE secured at dock this afternoon.


Stern view.

BARBARA ANDRIE/A-390 Arrive

Andrie's tug BARBARA ANDRIE and barge A-390 arrived in Erie from Monroe, Michigan at 0745 this morning and docked in the West Slip alongside Donjon Shipbuilding & Repair. Early tomorrow morning the tug will dock the barge A-390 in the graving dock at the shipyard, where it will undergo its five-year survey. Tug BARBARA ANDRIE will remain in Erie, docked on the east side of the shipyard, while the barge is in drydock.

BARBARA ANDRIE/A-390 are expected to be in Erie less than a month. The duo will spend the winter trading on Lake Michigan.

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BARBARA ANDRIE/A-390 inbound shortly after sunrise.


Another view.


BARBARA ANDRIE was built in 1940 at Trinity Shipyard in Beaumont, Texas for Moran Towing as EDMOND J. MORAN.


Stern view of the single-screw tug.


Stern view as the duo enters Erie harbor.


Approaching Donjon.


Approaching the dock, the tug's captain relied on a deckhand on the bow of the barge to give him his position relative to the dock. The ANDRIE's pilothouse does not provide the visibility necessary for the captain to see for himself.


BARBARA ANDRIE backs on the barge, which has a bow line secured to the dock. By backing on the line the tug brought the stern of the barge around to be secured to the dock.


At dock this afternoon.


BARBARA ANDRIE.

ANDRIE/A-390 Update

Estimated ETA for BARBARA ANDRIE/A-390 is 0700.

BARBARA ANDRIE/A-390 DUE

BARBARA ANDRIE/A-390 will be arriving overnight for Donjon Shipbuilding & Repair.

DONJON'S NEWEST BARGE DEPARTS

Tug VIGILANT I arrived in Erie this morning at 0830 and docked at Donjon Shipbuilding & Repair, astern of the FARRELL 256.

At 1115 the VIGILANT I entered the graving dock and turned around behind newly-completed WITTE 4004, faced up and pushed the WITTE 4004 out of the dock. The WITTE 4004 was moored on the east side of the shipyard.

VIGILANT I then moved over to the West Slip and hooked up to the FARRELL 256, moving the barge into the drydock for more repair work. The barge will be docked next to the A-390 when the Andrie barge arrives this weekend and is put into drydock.

VIGILANT I then hooked up to the WITTE 4004 and departed with the barge, bound down the Seaway for Valleyfield, where it will reportedly meet up with the tug ATLANTIC SALVOR and barge WITTE 1007 to be taken to New York City.

Also of note, the Erie Western Pennsylvania Port Authority was recently awarded a $700,000 grant to extend the rail siding at Donjon's yard.

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VIGILANT I inbound Erie at 0830 this morning.


Side view.


Stern view.


Docking on the west side of Donjon's yard.


VIGILANT I moves the WITTE 4004 out of drydock.


Docking the barge on the east side of the yard.


A few minutes later, VIGILANT I's crew works with shipyard employees to moor the FARRELL 256 into drydock.


Starting to back the FARRELL 256 out of the slip. This is the barge's third trip into drydock since arriving in Erie last October.


Backing out.


Turning to line up for the drydock.


WITTE 4004 departing, powered by VIGILANT I.


Another view.


Close up. The barge is a sister to the 2007-built WITTE 4003, constructed at Erie Shipbuilding LLC.


VIGILANT I providing the power to the barge. They are currently a little less than two hours out of Port Colborne, at a speed of 6.7 knots.


Stern view.


Clearing the piers.

VIGILANT I DUE BACK

VIGILANT I is expected back at around 0830 Friday to pick up dump scow WITTE 4004 at Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair.

A-390 Update

BARBARA ANDRIE/Barge A-390 are currently northbound in Lake Huron, and expected in Monroe, Michigan to unload early on the 17th. After unloading, the unit will sail for Erie. The best ETA for the unit at this time would be sometime on the 18th for Donjon Shipbuilding.

Barge A-390 Due for Drydocking

Andrie's barge A-390, pushed by tug BARBARA ANDRIE, is due in Erie later this week for drydocking. The duo will probably arrive late on November 15 or early on the 16th after unloading cargo at Monroe, Michigan.

BARBARA ANDRIE/A-390 were last in Erie on November 15, 2005, when the unit arrived and docked at Erie Shipbuilding LLC for engine repairs to the tug. The duo departed five days later.

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BARBARA ANDRIE/A-390 inbound Erie on November 15, 2005.

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The museum ship COL. JAMES M. SCHOONMAKER was moved from its dock in Toledo, Ohio downriver about a mile to a new berth on October 27, by two tugs from Great Lakes Towing Company. Here, tug MISSISSIPPI arrives to hook up to the SCHOONMAKER.


Tug NEBRASKA, the bow tug on the tow, arrives.


The tow of the 1911-built SCHOONMAKER gets underway. The former WILLIS B. BOYER of Cleveland Cliffs, it was returned to its original name last year and given its new paint scheme.


Taken from the Martin Luther King Jr. bridge across the Maumee River, the SCHOONMAKER tow moves downriver. Donors to the project were invited to ride downriver on deck of the SCHOONMAKER.


Close up of the COL. JAMES M. SCHOONMAKER.


Stern view. The white tug to the right of the photo, the PRAIRIELAND of Geo. Gradel Company, stood by the tow to assist with docking the SCHOONMAKER.


A closer stern view of the SCHOONMAKER.


Another stern view of the tow.


NEBRASKA and MISSISSIPPI begin to work the SCHOONMAKER over to the side of the river, so that it can be backed into its dock.


Further downriver, the tugs are positioning the SCHOONMAKER to back it to dock.


SCHOONMAKER will be the centerpiece of the Great Lakes Historical Society museum scheduled to open in late summer 2013.


PRAIRIELAND pushes as the tow moves toward its dock.


In Port Huron, Michigan, later that afternoon, Canfornav's EIDER was downbound with a cargo of canola from Thunder Bay, Ontario bound for Veracruz, Mexico.


EIDER comes under the Blue Water Bridges, linking Port Huron, Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario.


Stern view.


A few minutes later, KEN BOOTHE SR./LAKES CONTENDER power upriver against the current. LAKES CONTENDER is loaded with coal from Toledo, Ohio for Burns Harbor, Indiana.


Turning to head into Lake Huron.


Another view of the duo, which has been in operation for about six months.


Stern view as the duo heads into Lake Huron.


The 2012-built BBC BALBOA is on its first trip to the Great Lakes, and is shown while upbound at Marine City, Michigan, loaded with windmill blades for Muskegon, Michigan.


Stern view of the BBC BALBOA.

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On November 3, Grand River Navigation's new tug-barge unit DEFIANCE/ASHTABULA arrived in Buffalo to deliver its first cargo after spending all year undergoing conversion for Great Lakes service at Sturgeon Bay.


Tug WASHINGTON assists the duo downriver at 1600 that afternoon. The ASHTABULA would lose its bow thruster coming around this turn, so it was fortunate for the tug's captain that the WASHINGTON was assisting the duo downriver.


Another stern view.


WASHINGTON and the 7,200-horsepower tug DEFIANCE.


WASHINGTON comes around to push on the bow of the ASHTABULA.


Pushing.


WASHINGTON is now on the other side in an attempt to keep the DEFIANCE/ASHTABULA from hitting the west bank. The duo would move across the river to the east side and moor to work on the bow thruster.


Mooring alongside Buffalo's Visiting Ship's Dock.