Mackinac Island News

A Mackinac Island passenger ferry will be converted to zero-emissions electric power with the help of a $3.06 million award from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Fuel Transformation Program (FTP) Part 2.Star Line, now known as the Mackinac Island Ferry Company (MIFC), will replace two 1988 diesel engines with two brand new electric propulsion motors on a ferry, the Chippewa, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 14,152 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents and 887 metric tons of nitrogen oxides over the boat’s lifetime.

Passengers were removed from a Mackinac Island ferry that suffered mechanical issues and went adrift in the Straits of Mackinac on Tuesday.The Star Line winter service ferry Huron had 144 passengers and four crewmembers on board when it lost steering at about 6 p.m. while on its way from Mackinac Island to St. Ignace, Mich., the U.S. Coast Guard said.Unable to deploy its anchor due to a possible mechanical or weather-related issue, the 1950s-built vessel drifted slowly in open water toward St.

Sparks are flying on the bulkhead and engine room of the $3.8 million, 85-foot Miss Margy, the newest addition to the Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry fleet, at Moran Iron Works. Bill Shepler, CEO of Shepler’s, and Tom Moran, CEO and founder of Moran Iron Works, announced the project last month, when pre-production work started. The all-aluminum ferry – named after Shepler’s mother – is scheduled to carry its first passengers in July 2015. It will include an air-conditioned cabin…

A $3.8 million ferry for Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry will soon be under construction at Moran Iron Works in Onaway, Michigan. The 85-foot, all-aluminum ferry—to be christened Miss Margy—is scheduled to carry its first passengers in July 2015. The keel will be laid in mid-January and the hull completed over the next four months. The ferry will then be launched through Moran’s Port Calcite Collaborative, a deepwater port in Rogers City, Michigan and transported to Shepler’s facility in Mackinaw City, where seating will be installed and painting done. The 281-passenger ferry, Shepler’s largest, will have a top speed of about 40 mph. Shepler’s currently has a fleet of five passenger ferries and one cargo vessel. Miss Margy will be a K Class passenger vessel built in accordance with U.S.

The American Spirit, a 1004-foot freighter that had been hard aground in the Straits of Mackinac since Thursday afternoon, was refloated early Friday morning. The vessel is making way to St. Ignace, Michigan, where it will anchor. Coast Guard marine inspectors and American Bureau Shipping surveyors will inspect the vessel prior to the vessel getting underway again. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, a search-and-rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie received a report from the crew aboard the motor vessel American Spirit, a 1004-foot U.S. flagged freighter, stating that they ran hard aground on muddy/sandy bottom at Round Island Passage, located between Mackinac Island and Round Island. The motor vessel was transiting to Gary, Indiana, with 64,800 tons of iron ore.

At 6:30 p.m., Thursday, a search-and-rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie received a report from the crew aboard the motor vessel American Spirit, a 1004-foot U.S. flagged freighter, stating that they ran hard aground on muddy/sandy bottom at Round Island Passage, located between Mackinac Island and Round Island. The motor vessel was transiting to Gary, Indiana, with 64,800 tons of iron ore. The crew reported being pushed against the south side of the channel by strong winds. The Coast Guard has issued a special marine information broadcast advising mariners to use caution when transiting the area. Currently, the vessel has reported no injuries, pollution, flooding or damage. The vessel is currently not blocking the channel or impeding traffic.

Coast Guard, Response Agencies deploy equipment for oil-recovery training in Michigan waters. Members of the U.S. Coast Guard, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, oil spill response organizations, Enbridge Energy Partners and several other agencies this week participated in a unique exercise out of St. Ignace, Mich., Monday through Wednesday, during which several techniques for recovering spilled oil and other hazardous materials from icy waterways were tested and evaluated.

Coast Guard units from both sides of Lake Michigan are conducting a search for the BALANCE, a 32-ft. sailboat, white with black trim, white sails and a smiley face on the mainsail. Aboard the BALANCE are Jay Rzechula, 43-years old from Oaklawn, Ill., and his four children Harley a 13-year old male, Margie a 12-year old female, Casey a 10-year old male and Abbey an 8-year old female. BALANCE was last heard from on August 11, when one of the children called home to speak with their mother. The boat was heading home to the Jackson Park Yacht Club from Mackinac Island. Coast Guard search and rescue boats and aircraft from both sides of the lake and a C-130 search plane from Clearwater, Fl., have been focusing their search between Manistee, Mich., and Chicago.

The passenger vessel market is a classic mature marine market. Segments of it are doing well, while other parts have literally died. For example, the overnight segment of the market saw one substantial vessel delivered in 2003 with none on the horizon for 2004. The Empress of the North, a 360-ft. sternwheeler was put into service in September working the West Coast-Alaska route. Now that ice is a problem in Alaska, the vessel is working the Columbia River system in the Northwest U.S. The vessel was the largest vessel ever built by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, Freeland, Wash. and is owned by American West Steamboat Company, Portland, Ore. Developing overnight service is the most difficult part of the passenger vessel industry to get established.

The Grande Mariner, a 183-ft., 100-passenger U.S. cruise vessel, is scheduled to make her third visit to the Port of Duluth-Superior on July 22. The vessel is scheduled to arrive at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC) dock at approximately noon on Thursday, where it will be greeted by a welcoming ceremony that will include the Duluth Community Band. The Grande Mariner, which called at Duluth twice last year, is visiting the Port this month as part of a “Lake Superior Grande Tour” offered by American Canadian Caribbean Line (ACCL). The Port of Duluth-Superior will be used as a debarkation/embarkation point for the cruise vessel, which is scheduled to depart at noon on July 25 with new passengers. This tour for the vessel commences in Chicago, Ill., and ends in Warren, R.I.