Port Authority Seeking Bids for Rail Siding into Shipyard

Erie Western-Pennsylvania Port Authority is now seeking bids on the installation of a 3,000 foot long rail siding to cross the Bayfront Parkway into Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair's facility. This is the same siding that was talked about for several years for Erie Shipbuilding but never seemed to get built. The line would connect to CSX's tracks on the south side of the Parkway, which winds up to CSX's Erie yard and the mainline. The bayfront trackage also services the Mountfort Terminal and Erie Coke Corporation and is generally serviced on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

DONJON MARINE LEASES SHIPYARD

Donjon Marine, owners of Erie-built WITTE 4003 and several deck barges built here, signed a long-term lease with the Port Authority today to take over the former Erie Shipbuilding property. All of the company's employees will hopefully be back to work sometime in the near future.

Erie Shipbuilding News

Today's Erie Times News is reporting that the Erie County Redevelopment Authority sued Erie Shipbuilding for almost $100,000 worth of an unpaid loan and interest.

The same article, meanwhile, reports that the Erie Western-Pennsylvania Port Authority is negotiating a lease for the shipyard with a new consortium of companies that includes Erie Shipbuilding, New York-based SMH Capital (an investment firm) and New Jersey's Donjon Marine, a former customer of Erie Shipbuilding's whose orders include the WITTE 4003 and several deck barges. The company negotiating the lease is known as Newco, which is not the name it will operate under; Newco is also the name under which Erie Shipbuilding first negotiated its lease with the Port Authority in October 2005.

Time will tell what the future holds for Erie Shipbuilding, however, one thing is certain: anything that brings more jobs and work to the facility will be better than what is occuring at the yard now - virtually nothing.

MANISTEE Unloads Salt

MANISTEE arrived in Erie this afternoon at 1330, turned in Erie harbor and docked at the Mountfort Terminal on its second visit of the season to unload salt. The MANISTEE began unloading at around 1445 and departed this evening at 1845 after a fast unload.

I will post video of the departure tomorrow.

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MANISTEE unloading.


Backing away from the dock.


Outbound.


Another view.


Stern view.


Past the lighthouse.


Note the 1-87-PORT-ERIE on the bottom. I assumed this was supposed to be the toll-free number for the Port Authority, as it begins 1-877. However, I called this today and was directed to dial another number at which I could "Connect with exciting local singles." I wonder if the Port Authority is aware of this

GE Planning on Shipping Locomotives

At Friday's meeting of the Erie Western-Pennsylvania Port Authority, chairman Ray Shreckengost announced that General Electric is planning on exporting 25 locomotives through the port of Erie in October.

I'm not sure at the moment who the customer is for these units, but I'll continue to follow this story and will have more details as they unfold.

WOLVERINE Arrives; COURAGE Due; Miscellaneous News

WOLVERINE finally arrived in Erie at 1730 yesterday afternoon, turning in the harbor and docking at the Mountfort Terminal at 1900 with stone from Meldrum Bay and Bruce Mines. The WOLVERINE spent the rest of the evening unloading and departed for Marblehead, Ohio at 0045 hours this morning.

AMERICAN COURAGE, with stone from Calcite, is due in Erie at 0130 on Saturday morning.

DAVIKEN is currently unloading part of her cargo at Montreal, and is expected to depart for Erie sometime on Saturday, and if weather and and the availability of Seaway pilots cooperates, should arrive here on Monday or Tuesday.

An article in the Erie Times News today quotes Port Authority Executive Director Ray Shreckengost as saying that the Port of Erie is on pace to have one of its best seasons in years.

Lakeshore Towing staff has spent the past several days working on the installation of a new breakwater at Perry's Landing Marina. The $244,000 breakwater was constructed by Great Lakes Towing Company of Cleveland, based on a design by Erie Shipbuilding Director of Engineering John Chapman.

And finally, tug TENACIOUS has finally cleared the Welland Canal pushing the WITTE 4003. The TENACIOUS will take the barge as far as Quebec City.

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WOLVERINE docking on Thursday night.


Another view.


The new breakwater at Perry's Landing Marina.


FLATTOP and barge 502 alongside the breakwater.

Erie Times-News article elaborates on TWOLAN's visit

According to an article in today's Erie Times-News, the W.N. TWOLAN and McALLISTER 132 are new business for the port of Erie, and should be arriving every two weeks. The article mentions that Ray Shreckengost, speaking at the State Transportation Commission meeting in Hermitage last week, noted that Lake Erie Biofuels, like Great Lakes Feeder Lines an Erie Management Group company, has approached the port about shipping 1.5 million gallons of biodiesel per month to Europe through the port. Seeing as how there are no existing facilities to load a tanker here, I'm not holding my breath on the biodiesel being shipped out. Also of note is that at one time Great Lakes Feeder Lines had desired to ship containers through the port of Erie, yet has to date not debuted its service on the Great Lakes.

The article, however, fails to mention the new Cruise Boat Terminal that won't see any cruise ships until 2010 at the earliest, and that the port is asking for money for a new terminal for the proposed fast-freight ferry and more money for a high-speed ferry to replace the small, passenger-only ferry they have under construction.

GRANDE MARINER Featured on Action News 24

The GRANDE MARINER's visit to Erie was the focus of a story on Action News 24 at 6 this evening. According to a Port Authority official, the Port Authority "is currently in talks with people about marketing the cruise terminal" for cruise ships. In other words, it's a very safe assumption that the terminal will probably not host a cruise ship until 2009 at the very earliest. Since all of the schedules for the larger cruise ships on the Lakes are already set through 2009, it will probably be 2010 before one docks there. Otherwise, the Cruise Boat Terminal may be the most expensive U.S. Customs & Border Patrol office ever, all funded via our Port Authority.

Local Fleet Fitout

Work crews have begun preliminary work on the sand dredge J.S. St. JOHN to fit her out for the new season. She should be sailing within the next week or so.

Dinner cruiser VICTORIAN PRINCESS has now been moved from her layup berth back to her dock on the east side of Dobbin's Landing. She will soon begin offering dinner cruises for the new season.

Within the next couple of weeks the Port Authority's water taxis AQUABUS I, AQUABUS II, and CANADIAN SAILOR should be moved from their winter storage at Erie Shipbuilding and placed back in the water. The rest of the local fleet--party fishing boat EDWARD JOHN, sightseeing tour vessel LADY KATE, and Fish & Boat Commission research vessel PERCA, should be back in the water for another season soon as well.

And within the next ten days or so Erie Sand & Gravel should be getting its first load of stone of the season. While out and about yesterday I noticed a 20-car CSX train loaded with stone leaving the Bayfront track and returning to CSX's main line, having left the Mounfort Terminal. I noticed that each car was marked with a load limit of about 72.5 tons. At this rate, the train could load roughly 1450 tons, or less than 10% of a normal load received by Erie Sand. If the port continues to ship product out by rail, this could be a good season for the port of Erie.

Ferry News

The double-ended ferry NINDAWAYMA, laid up and rotting in Montreal, was recently sold to Upper Lakes Group. The former ONTARIO No. 1 was used in Georgian Bay between the ports of Tobermory and South Baymouth, Ontario. She assisted the ferry CHI-CHEEMAUN on this route, until it was proved that there was no need for two of them. Since then she's been rotting in layup in various Canadian ports.

All the information I'm getting indicates that she will be refitted and returned to service on the proposed truck-ferry route between Erie and Nanticoke. The Port Authority is working in conjunction with Upper Lakes to get this off the ground, and all proposals had called for this service to start in 2008. Now it actually looks like this might happen. In the past it had all seemed to be a pie-in-the-sky dream.

In other news, officials of Norfolk County, Ontario, report in today's Erie Times-News that the proposed Erie to Port Dover fast-ferry is almost completely up to the Erie Port Authority. Although a 49-passenger ferry will start running between the two ports either this year or in 2008, the 46-car, 200 passenger ferry that the Erie Port Authority wants would cost $20 million and is still years away, according to the article.

Today in Erie History- Forty Years Ago

March 29, 1967- Litton Industries, based in Beverly Hills, California, announces that Erie has beat out Lorain, Ohio for its proposed ultramodern Great Lakes shipyard capable of building 1000 foot long vessels. This yard will ultimately turn out the STEWART J. CORT and PRESQUE ISLE. Although Litton's Erie Marine yard only lasts until the mid 1970s, after which the yard will lay dormant for the next decade, their yard withstands many changes on Erie's bayfront over the coming years and remains a shipyard despite many proposals to turn it into a marine museum and home for the Brig NIAGARA. The Port Authority property, beginning in the late 1980s, is home to the Jonathan Corporation, Erie Marine Enterprises, and Metro Machine. Currently the yard hosts Erie Shipbuilding, the first post-Litton tenant to actually bring shipbuilding back to Erie.

Click here to read the Erie Daily Times article from March 29, 1967, about Litton's announcement. (PDF- 3.5 MB).