DOROTHY ANN/PATHFINDER OPEN SHIPPING SEASON

Interlake Steamship Company's tug/barge unit DOROTHY ANN/PATHFINDER arrived in Erie this morning with a cargo of stone. The duo unloaded the first cargo of the new season at the Old Ore Dock before departing outbound at 1100. Watch Erie Shipping News tonight for coverage of the christening of the KEN BOOTHE SR./LAKES CONTENDER.

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DOROTHY ANN/PATHFINDER outbound.


Tug DOROTHY ANN.


Stern view. The unit has been in operation for over a month already, shuttling ore .

Season Opens; Industry Outlook Reserved

The St. Lawrence Seaway's shipping season opened on Tuesday, with the MONTREALAIS being the first upbound passage through the Welland Canal, and the SPRUCEGLEN passing upbound at Montreal to be the first vessel into the Montreal-Lake Ontario section of the Seaway.

The global economic downturn has made it impossible to predict how the shipping season will turn out. Many ships are not expected to sail, but that could change depending on how soon President Barack Obama's stimulus plan gets put into action. Locally, the Erie Western-Pennsylvania Port Authority has a wishlist of $45 million worth of stimulus projects, including a $22 million expansion of the Mountfort Terminal, and $12 million for new roofs at Erie Shipbuilding, which remains shut down with no immediate prospects of reopening.

I will post photos from the Top Hat ceremony at the Welland Canal, marking the MONTREALAIS as the first vessel through the system for the 2009 season, later today or tomorrow.

First Ship Arrives, Decides to Stay For Awhile; Boland Arrives; Erie Management Group Continues to Chase a Rainbow

The tug/barge unit JOSEPH H. THOMPSON/JOSEPH H. THOMPSON JR. arrived in Erie at 0400 today to become the first vessel of the 2007 shipping season, arriving with stone from Calcite, Michigan for the Old Ore Dock.

However, the THOMPSON JR., which had been plagued by troubles with the differential in the propellor shaft since last year's repowering at Erie Shipbuilding, decided to spend some more time in port with the troubles, and early this afternoon moved across the slip to the east wall of Erie Shipbuilding. She'll be here a couple of days.

The JOHN J. BOLAND arrived at 0700 with stone from Calcite, backing into Erie harbor and tying up at the Mounfort Terminal. The BOLAND departed at around 1500 this afternoon.

Erie Management Group continues to attempt to start a container shipping service out of Erie, having recently acquired control of Great Lakes Feeder Lines, Inc. The company supposedly will start shipping containers through Erie this year; however as of yet they have not acquired the vessel they list on their website. EMG tried to beat Erie Shipbuilding out for the lease of the shipyard in 2005 on the basis that they would make it a multipurpose shipyard, container facility and warehouse; however at the time they asked the Port Authority to make $9,000,000 in upgrades to the facility before they even took over the facility. Seeing is believing and I'll believe this container service is the real thing once it has been up and running for several sucessful, profitable seasons. Several companies have tried to start container services similar to this one on the Lakes over the years, with little, if any sucess at all.

While along the harborfront today I noticed a CSX locomotive pull a train full of rail construction equipment up along the siding closest to Erie Shipbuilding. I'm not sure if this is for the construction of the new rail siding into the yard. I'll see what I can find out.

TWO DUE TO OPEN ERIE'S SEASON

Erie's season is due to open with a bang tomorrow morning as two vessels arrive in the early morning hours with stone from Calcite, Michigan. The tug/barge unit JOSEPH H. THOMPSON JR./JOSEPH H. THOMPSON will be arriving at 0300 to unload stone, and following her at 0630 will be the American Steamship Company's JOHN J. BOLAND.

The J. S. ST. JOHN made her first trip of the season to dredge sand yesterday.