THREE DUE FOR WINTER LAYUP

Reports from sources at Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair say that Erie will play host to three vessels for winter layup this year. Great Lakes Fleet will be sending the three vessels - 767 foot long CASON J. CALLAWAY and 1000 footers EDGAR B. SPEER and PRESQUE ISLE - into Erie.

All three of these vessels have spent the winter in Erie in the past. The SPEER spent last winter here, the PRESQUE ISLE has spent many winter layups in Erie over the course of its career, and the CALLAWAY spent the winter of 2005-06 and 2007-08 here.

According to reports the CALLAWAY will be docked at the West Slip, south of the tug KEN BOOTHE SR.

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CASON J. CALLAWAY picks up speed on its way out of Erie after layup, March 21, 2008.


Churning water as the 1953-built steamer picks up speed.


EDGAR B. SPEER departing Erie on March 19, 2010.


Another view.


PRESQUE ISLE outbound following the SPEER.


Stern view.

PRESQUE ISLE DEPARTS

This morning, Lakeshore Towing tugs FLATTOP and DON HENRY moved the cofferdam used on the PRESQUE ISLE from the Mountfort Terminal to the Old Ore Dock at around 0930. At that time the PRESQUE ISLE was preparing to get underway, and did so at around 1030. The PRESQUE ISLE, after 15 days in port, turned in her namesake harbor and departed Erie upbound for Duluth, Minnesota, where the vessel is expected to load taconite pellets.

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PRESQUE ISLE heads into its namesake harbor and starts to turn around to line up with the channel.


Turning.


PRESQUE ISLE rounds the Mountfort Terminal and prepares to head out.


In the channel.


Close up.


Outbound for Duluth.

PRESQUE ISLE Repairs Complete; Departure Scheduled for Monday

This morning crews from Lakeshore Towing and Erie Sand & Gravel, along with Great Lakes Electrical Services, removed the cofferdam from the starboard side of the PRESQUE ISLE. With repairs to both shaft seals complete, the vessel is expected to depart sometime on Monday.

Stay tuned to Erie Shipping News for updates.

Work Continues on PRESQUE ISLE

This morning crews from Erie Sand & Gravel, Lakeshore Towing Services and Great Lakes Electrical Services removed the cofferdam from the port side of the PRESQUE ISLE after successful completion of repairs to the propeller shaft seal. The cofferdam has now been installed on the starboard side and repairs are expected to continue through the weekend.

Winter Work Underway on BLOUGH, PRESQUE ISLE

Every year, around the time the Soo Lucks close on January 15, the vessels that make up the U.S. and Canadian Great Lakes fleets, with a few exceptions, lay up for the winter and their crews head home to their families for a well-deserved vacation. At this time, scores of shoreside personnel go to work. Led in Erie by Great Lakes Electrical Services and Erie Sand & Gravel, and supported by various outside contractors, these firms are tasked with completing repairs and upgrades to the vessels before they begin the new season about ten weeks after laying up.

This winter, Great Lakes Electrical Services and Erie Sand & Gravel have a long list of projects worth several hundred thousand dollars to be performed on the ROGER BLOUGH and PRESQUE ISLE while they spend the winter in Erie.

On the BLOUGH, these include engine room piping and electrical repairs, overhauling a generator and installing a rewound generator, repairs to the ECPINS navigation system and other pilothouse electronics, flooring repairs in the crew quarters, and ballast valve upgrades.

On the PRESQUE ISLE, overhauls of both the starboard engine and a generator, and various other engine room work are the main tasks scheduled for the winter. In addition, repairs to the ship's unloading system and conveyors are on the agenda, as long as a great deal of ballast tank steel replacement. The steel replacement is the reason the tug and barge were separated this winter; their separation allows the normal winter ballast to be pumped from the barge to allow the work inside the ballast tanks.

Yearly work to keep the vessels in compliance with U.S. Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping regulations is also scheduled for both the BLOUGH and PRESQUE ISLE.

In other harbor news, Erie Shipbuilding LLC remains closed as the company works to secure financing to continue construction on a new 135' tug and 740' self-unloading barge they are in the process of building. I have received confirmation through several sources that the new tug is scheduled to be named CLYDE VANENKEVORT, after the father of shipyard President Dirk S. VanEnkevort. Tentatively, the new barge, being constructed for VanEnkevort Tug & Barge subsidiary Erie Trader LLC, is scheduled to be named ERIE TRADER. The unit, when complete, will be utilized primarily to haul stone to and from various Great Lakes ports for LaFarge North America on a long-term contract.

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ROGER BLOUGH at dock on Sunday.


Stern view.

PRESQUE ISLE Departs

Repairs completed and the cofferdam removed, the PRESQUE ISLE slowly slid away from the Mountfort Terminal at 1620 hours this afternoon, turned in Presque Isle Bay and departed Erie bound for Two Harbors, Minnesota to load taconite pellets.

The repairs to the shaft seals took less than a week, despite being hampered by weather on Saturday. The quick repairs are an example of the skilled talent at Erie Sand & Gravel, Lakeshore Towing and Great Lakes Electrical Services, all of whom worked together to get the PRESQUE ISLE back underway as quickly as possible to make money for her owners.

The cofferdam was left underwater and will be refloated tomorrow. Unlike in the past, when the cofferdam was towed to Erie Shipbuilding, it will be left at the Mountfort Terminal.

Unloading on the McALLISTER 132 continued today and should be done by the weekend.

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PRESQUE ISLE slowly turns off of the Mountfort Terminal.


Another view.


Outbound.


Underway in Lake Erie.


Bow on.


PRESQUE ISLE is moving at roughly 12 miles per hour in this photo.


Final shot.


J.S. ST. JOHN outbound at 1815 this afternoon.


Stern view.


Motor yacht SCOTT FREE, owned by local hotelier Nick Scott, outbound. Scott, like most of the uber-rich, chooses to register his yacht offshore in the Cayman Islands.

PRESQUE ISLE DUE OUT

Crews from Great Lakes Electrical Services, Lakeshore Towing and Erie Sand & Gravel today worked on moving the cofferdam from the starboard to port side of the PRESQUE ISLE at the Mountfort Terminal. The cofferdam was moved to facilitate work on the port shaft seal, which will be repaired overnight tonight. If all goes well, PRESQUE ISLE could depart tomorrow afternoon bound for Two Harbors, Minnesota to load taconite pellets.

LANCER Departs; PRESQUE ISLE Arrives

CLIPPER LANCER finished loading at around 0030 this morning, at which time Lakeshore Towing crews aboard towboat TITAN removed the oil boom from the ship. The LANCER departed at around 0845 this morning upon completion of paperwork related to the export of biodiesel to Europe.

After the LANCER's departure from the dock, W.N. TWOLAN/McALLISTER 132 departed the dock, turned in Presque Isle Bay and docked facing east at the Mountfort Terminal. TWOLAN, to facilitate the arrival of the PRESQUE ISLE and istallation of the cofferdam on the PRESQUE ISLE, moved in front of the McALLISTER 132, which began unloading immediately.

PRESQUE ISLE arrived in port at 1015 this morning and slowly worked her way into the Mountfort Terminal. Crews from Erie Sand & Gravel, Great Lakes Electrical Services and Lakeshore Towing spent the afternoon hard at work installing the cofferdam. It's unknown at this time how long repairs will take.

Photos will follow tomorrow.

Cofferdam Emerging from PRESQUE ISLE

This morning, Lakeshore Towing began work on removing the cofferdam from the starboard stern of the PRESQUE ISLE at the Mountfort Terminal. The work is expected to take several hours to complete.

Lakeshore Towing remains busy with this and other work. On Tuesday tug DON HENRY pulled the company's 20-foot barge from the West Canal Basin to the East Canal Basin to assist with construction on the new hotel for the Bayfront Convention Center.

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PRESQUE ISLE at dock as work begins this morning.


Another view. Note how far the barge is ballasted down at the bow.


Steamer CASON J. CALLAWAY at dock.


MICHIPICOTEN laying alongside Erie Shipbuilding.

COFFERDAM BEING INSTALLED

As I write this, Lakeshore Towing's skilled divers are hard at work with officials from Great Lakes Electrical Services, Great Lakes Fleet, and O-N Minerals installing the cofferdam on the starboard side of the PRESQUE ISLE. After that, Lakeshore tugs DON HENRY and FLATTOP will shift barge 401 from Wolverine Marina to the Old Ore Dock to assist in replacement of the bow thruster of the CASON J. CALLAWAY. This will require them to break the ice on the bay, so if you're thinking of going out ice fishing on the city side of the bay, forget it.


Installation work begins at 0730 Monday.

ANOTHER VESSEL ARRIVES FOR LAYUP

Bay ice is unsafe for ice fishermen this afternoon after another vessel arrived for layup last night. The MICHIPICOTEN, after unloading iron ore in Nanticoke, Ontario, sailed across the lake and arrived in Erie last night for winter layup. The steamer is the first member of the Lower Lakes Towing/Grand River Navigation fleet to ever spend a winter in Erie.

MICHIPICOTEN broke through ice a couple of inches thick and slowly made her way through the channel and Presque Isle Bay to the West Slip. This morning the crew was hard at work, pumping ballast off and performing other tasks necessary before they can leave the vessel for the winter. Over the coming winter crews from Erie Shipbuilding will be performing work on the MICHIPICOTEN.

The MICHIPICOTEN's arrival is the vessel's second visit to the port under that name, with the first having been last June. The vessel has wintered in Erie before, however. During the winter of 1994/95, as Interlake Steamship's ELTON HOYT II, the vessel spent part of the winter at the Sassafras Street Dock (now the site of the Bayfront Convention Center) before going into drydock during March. Thanks probably to the weak American dollar, the Nanticoke, Ontario-registered MICHIPICOTEN is also the first Canadian vessel to spend the winter in Erie since the LOUIS R. DESMARAIS spent the winter of 1997/98 at Metro Machine.

Meanwhile, within Erie Shipbuilding, work continues on the KAREN ANDRIE and A-397. East of there, crews from Great Lakes Electrical Services, Erie Shipbuilding and O-N Minerals are hard at work on the Steamer CASON J. CALLAWAY and tug/barge PRESQUE ISLE. Lakeshore Towing's skilled professionals are tentatively scheduled to join them on Saturday, when they sink the cofferdam under the starboard side of the PRESQUE ISLE, exposing the vessel's starboard propeller and rudder for work. Cranes at the Mountfort Terminal will drop Lakeshore's barge 502 into the water to serve as the dive platform for that work.

Lakeshore's barge 401 will also be busy later this winter. Lakeshore Towing in December purchased a CAT excavator and mounted it on 401, and will be using that to replace the bow thruster on the CALLAWAY.

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MICHIPICOTEN secured for the winter at the West Slip.


CALLAWAY at the Old Ore Dock.


The view from the parking lot at Erie Shipbuilding, with the J.S. St. JOHN. Note the change in the weather in the five minutes since the photo above this one was taken.


Bow view of the CALLAWAY.


PRESQUE ISLE at the Mountfort Terminal.

Erie Shipbuilding, Winter Layup Update

As I have written here in the past, Erie Shipbuilding is nearing completion of a financing deal to begin building a sister tug-barge to the GREAT LAKES TRADER, along with a sister tug to the JOYCE L. VANENKEVORT. The $50 million project is estimated to taken nine months or so to complete, but in reality will probably take much longer.

The last of the six deck barges under construction by the company is to be completed and will be moved from drydock sometime this week. According to Erie Shipbuilding CEO Ned Smith the company has signed a contract for another two deck barges and is negotiating to sign another contrack for an additional two deck barges.

As far as work for this winter, as I have reported already this month, three vessels are expected in port. One, the tug-barge unit KAREN ANDRIE/A-397, is already in port. The PRESQUE ISLE is due in Erie for the Mountfort Terminal on the morning of January 17, and the CASON J. CALLAWAY will follow her that afternoon to the Old Ore Dock. It's also possible that another vessel may winter here, but if that happens it will likely be a Canadian vessel that arrives late this month or in February after running late shuttling coal or salt on the Great Lakes.

Along with Erie Shipbuilding, Great Lakes Electrical Services, O-N Minerals and Lakeshore Towing will be completing work on the vessels this winter. Great Lakes Electrical and O-N Minerals will be working on all of the vessels; Lakeshore Towing will perform any towing work needing completed for any of the vessels in layup. Lakeshore Towing will this week tow the cofferdam built for the PRESQUE ISLE from Erie Shipbuilding to the Mountfort Terminal, and later this winter divers from Lakeshore will sink the cofferdam to install it under the starboard side of the PRESQUE ISLE. Lakeshore's divers will complete any underwater work needing done on the layup fleet as well.

The winter of 2007-08 is looking to be extremely busy in Erie harbor. Keep watching as I will continue to report on the happenings around the harbor.

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GREAT LAKES TRADER, which would be a sister to the new barge ESB is in negotiations to build, is shown outbound Erie on January 26, 2007.


JOYCE L. VANENKEVORT is shown pushing the TRADER, January 26, 2007.


Underneath the port propellor of the PRESQUE ISLE, March 12, 2007.

BUFFALO Departs; BOLAND Arrives; PRESQUE ISLE Due for Departure Sunday

The BUFFALO finished unloading and departed Erie at 1500 today bound for the Norfolk Southern Coal Dock in Ashtabula, where she will take on approximately 15,000 tons of coal for Alpena.

At around 1900 this evening the JOHN J. BOLAND arrived in port amid a flurry of small boat activity in the harbor and docked at the Old Ore Dock to unload stone from Calcite. She should be outbound sometime during the night.

The latest word on the PRESQUE ISLE is that her departure is set for late-morning Sunday. According to her owners, Great Lakes Fleet, she has had a change of orders and will head straight to Duluth DM&IR to load taconite pellets, due there on the 22nd.

PRESQUE ISLE is the second vessel to use the port of Erie for repairs this year; the first was the JOSEPH H. THOMPSON/THOMPSON JR. in April, which unloaded at the Old Ore Dock before shifting to Erie Shipbuilding.

These two are a good sign for Erie, which, due to the placement of skilled technicians of Great Lakes Electrical Services, Erie Shipbuilding, Lakeshore Towing and ON Minerals: Erie Operation, has rebounded from being almost dead as a layup and repair port; it was once regarded that due to the lack of an ore-loading dock at this end of the Great Lakes that shipping companies would no longer use the port for winter layup or general repairs. However, this is obviously no longer the case.


PRESQUE ISLE undergoing work this evening.


BOLAND inbound.


In the channel.


A closer look at the BOLAND.


BOLAND passes USCG 47241.


Stern view.


Approaching the PRESQUE ISLE.


BOLAND passes by the PRESQUE ISLE.


Passing in the busy harbor


Turning.


BOLAND's stern passes the PRESQUE ISLE.