Carmeuse Group closes on deal to purchase O-N Minerals Erie Parent; Frequent Erie Visitor, WOLVERINE, to be reflagged

Carmeuse Lime and Stone, a Pittsburgh-based subsidiary of Belgium's Carmeuse Group, has completed purchase of the Oglebay Norton Company, the Cleveland-based parent of O-N Minerals Erie. Carmeuse announced the completion Wednesday, saying that they were planning on moving 50 Oglebay jobs from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. I have no word yet as to how this may affect the Erie operation.

WOLVERINE, a frequent Erie visitor over the years, and her sisters, EARL W. and DAVID Z., both of which are also frequent Erie visitors, have been purchased outright by Rand Logistics, whose Grand River Navigation subsidiary had been operating them under time charter from Wisconsin & Michigan Steamship Company, for $20 million dollars. Rand announced that WOLVERINE would be transferred to their Canadian subsidiary, Lower Lakes Towing, and be reflagged Canadian before the coming season. Therefore, Erie will likely see less and less of this vessel in the future.

A-397 SUFFERS FIRE

WJET-TV today is reporting that a fire broke out on the barge A-397 in drydock at Erie Shipbuilding at 1030 hours today. Asphalt inside the barge apparently caught fire. The barge is in drydock for its five year survey and other repairs.

No word on the cause of the fire at this time.

Historical Layups: PRESQUE ISLE

Another frequent winter visitor to Erie, from the time of its build until the mid-1980s, and now, once again a regular winter visitor, was the 1000-foot tug/barge PRESQUE ISLE. In these photos from the mid-1980s, the tug returned to Erie from its five year survey at Port Weller Dry Docks.

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PRESQUE ISLE at the former Litton Shipyard.


The sand dredge EMMETT J. CAREY is at the Erie Builder's Supply Dock across the slip from the PRESQUE ISLE.


Another view.

Historical Layups: BURNS HARBOR, 1985-86

During the winter of 1985-86, the Bethlehem Steel 1000' BURNS HARBOR spent the winter laid up at the former Litton Industries property at the foot of Holland Street. The vessel was laid up early that winter, as these photos, taken in early December, show.

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BURNS HARBOR in layup in December 1985. Jim Thoreson photo.


A distant view shows how much things have changed since then. Today, the right side of this photo is the Intermodal Transportation Center, and on the left would be the Cruise Boat Terminal.

WIND, WAVES RETURN ICE TO ERIE HARBOR

High winds bring high waves. And high waves, on cold days, bring icy waters. That's the situation that Erie harbor was faced with on Sunday as high winds raced through the Erie area, bringing extremely cold temperatures with them. As such, when the winds finally died down on Sunday night, the cold temperatures allowed Presque Isle Bay to begin to freeze again. Monday morning found Erie's layup fleet iced in again.

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Ice spray on the South Pier on Monday morning.


Another view. For no particular reason, I kicked the ice seen to the left of the photo as hard as I could. Didn't even crack the ice, but I ended up with a sore foot.


PRESQUE ISLE in layup.


J.S. ST. JOHN.


CASON J. CALLAWAY.


MICHIPICOTEN.


West Dobbin's Landing is currently covered in ice, as well.


Dock bollard on Dobbin's Landing encased in ice.

Historical Layups: 1972-73

After posting of the arrival of the LEON FRASER in yesterday's Historical Arrivals, I figured I'd post the full winter layup list for the winter of 1972-73.

STEWART J. CORT
SPARROWS POINT
LEHIGH
STEELTON
JACK WIRT
J.S. ST. JOHN
FRONTENAC
LEON FRASER
ROBERT C. STANLEY

Of these, only the CORT, ST. JOHN, and LEON FRASER still sail today under their own power. As I have written before, the SPARROWS POINT is now the barge LEWIS J. KUBER.

Historical Arrivals for February 9: LEON FRASER

1973: LEON FRASER arrives for winter layup at the Litton Shipyard. The FRASER, of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company, is the latest vessel ever to arrive in Erie for winter layup. The vessel had been running late that year because the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan were kept open for an extended period as part of an Army Corp of Engineers experiment of the viability of winter shipping. This allowed the FRASER and several fleetmates to run between Lake Superior and the lower lakes with iron ore until late in the year.

The FRASER sails today as the cement carrier ALPENA, hauling cement for LaFarge.

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CASON J. CALLAWAY at dock on Friday night.


With the J.S. ST. JOHN.


MICHIPICOTEN at dock on Friday night.


Another view.

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 to be Removed

Tomorrow morning divers from Lakeshore Towing will slip into the chilly waters of Lake Erie and begin work on removing the cofferdam from the starboard side of the tug PRESQUE ISLE. It's likely then that the cofferdam will remain at the Mountfort Terminal until spring.

Historical Drydockings: J.W. McGIFFIN, 1994-95

During the winter of 1994-95, spending the winter in drydock at Erie Marine Enterprises was the J.W. McGIFFIN. The McGIFFIN, owned by Canada Steamship Lines, was in for its five-year survey.


J.W. McGIFFIN in drydock in January 1995.



Stern view.



A few days later, the propeller, rudder and propeller shaft have been pulled for inspection.



Later in the winter, the McGIFFIN was moved to the Mountfort Terminal.

Layup Update

With recent warm temperatures the ice cover on Presque Isle Bay has melted, exposing Erie's winter fleet to open water again and virtually guaranteeing that ice won't be a factor when the vessels leave in mid-March. Work continues on the CASON J. CALLAWAY, MICHIPICOTEN, PRESQUE ISLE, and KAREN ANDRIE.


CALLAWAY at dock on Tuesday.


MICHIPICOTEN.

Historical Layups: 1976-77

The following vessels spent the winter in Erie in 1976-77:

STEWART J. CORT
ARTHUR B. HOMER
LEHIGH
LAKEWOOD
NIAGARA
J.F. SCHOELLKOPF JR.
J.S. ST. JOHN
STEELTON

Of these, the CORT and St. JOHN are the only two still sailing.

Historical Layups: 1973-74

The following vessels spent the winter in Erie in 1973/74:

STEWART J. CORT
J.S. St. JOHN
JOHNSTOWN
LAKEWOOD
J.F. SCHOELLKOPF JR.
PRESQUE ISLE
SPARROWS POINT

Of these, the CORT, St. JOHN, and PRESQUE ISLE are still sailing. The SPARROWS POINT exists today as the barge LEWIS J. KUBER.

Layup Update

Work continues on the MICHIPICOTEN, KAREN ANDRIE/A-397, PRESQUE ISLE and CASON J. CALLAWAY. Today's Erie Times News reports that the MICHIPICOTEN will be going into drydock later this winter. I'm not sure at this time what she'll be going in for; I will try and find out. The vessel reportedly had its five-year survey in December at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

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CALLAWAY in layup Saturday afternoon.


MICHIPICOTEN.

LANSDOWNE, Once Again, Runs into Trouble

During the recent storm causing the seiche condition I wrote about yesterday, the LANSDOWNE, now moored in Buffalo, ran into more trouble. WGRZ-TV in Buffalo reported that the vessel took on a major list and partially submerged during the storm on Wednesday. The entire article can be found on their website.

This is the second time the LANSDOWNE has run into this kind of trouble. On Christmas Day, 2005, the 124-year old vessel sank to the bottom of Presque Isle Bay at the foot of Sassafras Street. Crews from Lakeshore Towing worked with a firm from Cleveland and floated the vessel in February, 2006, and it was towed to Buffalo on July 16, 2006. Unfortunately the only destination left for the LANSDOWNE is a scrapyard.

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LANSDOWNE on the bottom of Presque Isle Bay, January 12, 2006.


Overhead view.