Saginaw River News

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the cause of an accident in the Saginaw River, Friday afternoon. At 10:30 a.m., a search-and-rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Detroit received a report of a man clinging to a buoy in the Saginaw River near Veterans Memorial Park in Bay City, Mich. Rescue crews launched from Coast Guard Station Saginaw River, in Essexville, Mich., in a 24-foot response boat and from Air Station Detroit in a Dolphin rescue helicopter. Before the Coast Guard arrived on scene the man was rescued by crews from the Zilwaukee, Mich., Fire Department. The rescued man stated that he and another man were on a boat when they had to jump into the river as a tug and barge hit their boat.

Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 1.8 million tons in April, a decrease of 9 percent compared to the month’s five-year average, and a drop of 30 percent compared to 2012, the last April in which ice conditions were not near arctic, according to the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA). Heavy ice cover on the Lakes was the major factor behind the decreases. The ice formations were so formidable that the U.S.-flag Class V lakers that are heavily engaged in the stone trade collectively delayed their sailings by 60 days compared to 2014. Class V lakers are vessels that range in length from 600 to 649 feet and can transit rivers such as the Cuyahoga in Cleveland or the Saginaw River in Michigan. Cold temperatures also slowed the resumption of mining at several quarries.

Rescues in Saginaw Bay, Michigan, Sunday evening and Lake Erie Monday morning are the latest in an alarmingly high number of Great Lakes ice rescues since Saturday, prompting a Coast Guard reminder of the risk of venturing out onto the ice and of the importance of taking appropriate safety precautions. The names and hometowns of the rescued and assisted are not being released. At about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, a 911 operator contacted search-and-rescue controllers at the Coast Guard Sector Detroit Command Center to report a disoriented man on Saginaw Bay in blizzard conditions. The man called 911 from his cell phone, allowing the dispatchers to determine his coordinates before losing communication with him.

An effort to remove the U.S.-build requirement from the Jones Act is being soundly rejected by Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, the largest labor/management coalition ever assembled to promote shipping on America’s Fourth Sea Coast. The Task Force said it sees no benefit to allowing foreign-built vessels to carry cargo between U.S. ports, but warns that nearly 60,000 jobs in the Great Lakes states will be sacrificed for no good reason if the amendment to the Keystone pipeline bill offered by Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) is accepted.

Saginaw River shipping traffic fell to a 10-year low in 2014. According to the local press reports, 110 ship visits were recorded in the Saginaw River from around May to mid-December, down from 139 in 2013 and nearly 70 percent fewer than the 347 visits recorded in 2005. The decline in 2014 can be attributed in part to a shortened shipping season brought on by a cold winter. This year was a really difficult winter because it was such a difficult freeze up last year. The statistics are kept by Todd Shorkey, a reporter for the website BoatNerd.com, which tracks shipping activity on the Saginaw River. "As someone who enjoys watching the vessels and tracking them, it's distressing for me to see this downward trend," Shorkey said.

A Coast Guard crew from Station Saginaw River, Michigan recently rescued a juvenile bald eagle from the Saginaw River. The eagle was reported to watchstanders who alerted the crew of a a 45-foot rescue boat which was on the river conducting training and was diverted to help the eagle. Once on scene, the boat crew located the bird but was unable to get to it in the shallow water. Petty Officer 1st Class Dominic Potter and Petty Officer 3rd Class William Peters were notified and were able to drive a vehicle from Station Saginaw River to the area where the bird was located. By this time, the eagle had drifted to the water's edge. Potter…

The rise in Great Lakes water levels has yet to translate into full loads for the U.S.-flag freighters moving iron ore, coal, limestone, cement and other cargos. Vessels continue to routinely leave port with less than a full load on board. The largest iron ore cargo moved by a U.S.-flag laker through the Soo Locks in June totaled 69,576 tons. The record iron ore cargo for the “Head-of-the-Lakes Trade” is 72,300 tons and was carried in 1997, a period of near record-high water levels. The deepest draft ever recorded for a transit of the Poe Lock is 29’ 03” in 1986.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) announced it is scheduled to begin icebreaking operations in the vicinity of the Saginaw Bay Entrance Channel Sunday beginning at 7 a.m. The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock, a 225-foot seagoing buoy tender homeported in Port Huron, Mich., will be icebreaking from Gravelly Shoal to the entrance of the Saginaw River. Any ice in the vicinity of the cutter or the track that it creates should be considered unsafe and the Coast Guard advises everyone to stay clear. uscgnews.com

Two men are rescued after their snowmobiles crashed through the ice about a mile offshore on Saginaw Bay near Bay City, Mich., and meanwhile the Coast Guard continue their efforts to keep the users of the ice-bound Great Lakes safe by gathering ice depth data. Personnel at Coast Guard Station Saginaw River, in Essexville, Mich., received a night-time call from Bay County 911 dispatch stating that two people had broken through the ice. The county dispatch told the individuals to remain on site so their location could be determined based on the cell phone information.

According to a Dec. 14 report from the Chicago Tribune, the U.S. Coast Guard said a tug boat sank in the icy Saginaw River at Bay City, spilling 800 gallons of diesel fuel. The Coast Guard has placed booms around the source and a salvage plan is being developed. (Source: Chicago Tribune)