Marine Link
Saturday, April 20, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Paul R Tregurtha News

20 Jul 2021

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System Sees Surge in Construction Material Shipments

Credit: james_pintar/AdobeStock

U.S. Great Lakes ports and the St. Lawrence Seaway have experienced a rise in cargo shipments to feed domestic construction and manufacturing activity and global export demand, according to the latest June figures.The Great Lakes-Seaway System serves a region that includes eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, and is seen as a marine highway that extends 2,300 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, supporting more than 237,868 jobs and $35 billion in economic activity.If the region were a country…

16 Mar 2020

Winter Work on the Great Lakes

(Photo: Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding)

Along the 1,600-mile, ice gray arch of the St Lawrence Seaway, the 2020 Great Lakes commercial shipping season will lurch back to life on March 25 when the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. reopen.The ceremonial opening signals a passage with passable ice and the 114th Great Lakes season for its fleet of 45 venerable lakers. Most of these huge self-loading freight haulers are at least 50 years old, rust free, and fit; American steel sailing on a freshwater sea.To handle Great Lakes cargo…

21 Mar 2019

2019 Shipping Season to Open for Duluth

USCGC Mackinaw in Duluth. Credit: port of Duluth

Last night’s arrival of United States Coast Guard Cutters Alder and Mackinaw signaled that the 2019 commercial shipping season is soon to commence for the Port of Duluth-Superior and the entire region.The Alder and Mackinaw made their way across Lake Superior from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, opening a 100-foot lane in the ice that will be widened soon by Canadian Coast Guard Ship Samuel Risley in support of breakout efforts that will also include local tugs from the Great Lakes Towing Company and Heritage Marine.

18 Jun 2018

Fire Aboard 1,000-foot Freighter in Lake Superior

The U.S. Coast Guard received a report of a generator fire aboard a 1,013 foot bulk carrier freighter in Lake Superior, at 4:20 a.m. Monday.The master of motor vessel Paul R. Tregurtha reported the fire extinguished at 5:30 a.m. and stated that there were no injuries or pollution, and all 23 crewmembers are accounted for.The ship is carrying 68,200 tons of coal, 124,000 gallons of fuel and 88,000 gallons of caustic soda.The Coast Guard said it is dispatching resources to monitor the situation and to conduct a marine casualty investigation into the cause of the incident.The Paul R. Tregurtha is anchored near Point Iroquois, in Whitefish Bay.

26 Feb 2018

Interlake Commences 2018 Sailing Season

ATB Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder (Photo: The Interlake Steamship Company)

The Interlake Steamship Company said its articulated tug-barge unit (ATB) Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder has departed winter layup on Saturday, February 24, to begin early-season shuttles of iron ore for ArcelorMittal, an integrated steel and mining company with blast furnaces at the head of the Cuyahoga River. A workhorse of Interlake’s nine-vessel fleet, the 700-foot Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder is one of Interlake’s two River-Class vessels, a designation given to ships that can traverse the narrowest harbors of the Great Lakes.

25 Apr 2017

Nearly Half of Interlake Fleet Fit with Scrubbers

Photo: Interlake Steamship Company

The M/V Mesabi Miner has sailed from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., becoming Interlake Steamship Company’s fourth self-unloading bulk carrier to be outfitted with exhaust gas scrubbers. Interlake became the first U.S.-flag fleet to test freshwater scrubbers on the Great Lakes in April 2015 after pioneering the emission-reduction technology on its M/V Hon. James L. Oberstar. In 2016, the company outfitted its first thousand foot vessel, the M/V James R. Barker, and its 826-foot M/V Lee A. Tregurtha in its second phase of exhaust gas scrubber implementation.

21 Mar 2017

Clean Shipping on the Great Lakes

Photo: The Interlake Steamship Company

Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently spoke with Mark Barker, president of The Interlake Steamship Company, who has sent its fourth vessel — its second 1,000-footer — to be outfitted with exhaust gas scrubbers. After seriously pursuing the possibility of converting its ships to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) several years ago, U.S. based Great Lakes shipper The Interlake Steamship Company found that the region’s LNG infrastructure was simply not present to support such conversions.

28 Feb 2017

Great Lakes Shipping Season Kicks Off

© johnsroad7 / Adobe Stock

The 2017 Great Lakes shipping season begins today when the U.S.-flag tug/barge unit Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder departs her winter lay-up berth in Erie, Pa., and sails to Cleveland, Ohio, where she will initiate the shuttle of iron ore from Cleveland Bulk Terminal to the ArcelorMittal steel mill at the end of the navigable portion of the Cuyahoga River on Wednesday. The vessel will load approximately 15,000 tons that was mined from Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. The next vessel to get underway will be the cement carrier Bradshaw McKee/St. Marys Conquest on March 1.

22 Jun 2016

Scrubbers Installed on Another Great Lakes Bulker

M/V Lee A. Tregurtha (Photo: Interlake Steamship Company)

The Interlake Steamship Company’s M/V Lee A. Tregurtha sailed today from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisc., becoming the shipper’s third self-unloading bulk carrier to be outfitted with exhaust gas scrubbers. Interlake became the first U.S.-flag fleet to test scrubbers on the Great Lakes in April 2015 after pioneering the emission-reduction technology on its M/V Hon. James L. Oberstar. Earlier this month, the M/V James R. Barker sailed as the fleet’s first 1,000-footer with scrubbers. “With the Lee A.

13 Jun 2016

Interlake Steamship Continues Scrubber Upgrades

M/V James R. Barker (File photo: The Interlake Steamship Company)

The M/V James R. Barker sailed Sunday from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisc., becoming Interlake Steamship Company’s first 1,000-footer and its second self-unloading bulk carrier to be outfitted with exhaust gas scrubbers. Interlake became the first U.S.-flag fleet to test scrubbers on the Great Lakes in April 2015 after pioneering the emission-reduction technology on its M/V Hon. James L. Oberstar. “Implementing this innovative scrubber system on our 1…

21 Mar 2016

Duluth-Superior Shipping Season Underway

Edwin H. Gott arriving in Port of Duluth-Superior early last year (Photo: Paul Scinocca)

The first two U.S.-flag lakers are on schedule to depart the Port of Duluth-Superior Tuesday, March 22, signaling the start of the 2016 commercial shipping season at this, the farthest inland port on the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway (GLSLS) system. Shortly after 7 a.m., the Edwin H. Gott, is scheduled to move from its winter berth at the Clure Public Marine Terminal – first to fuel, then to depart mid-morning beneath Duluth’s famed Aerial Bridge en route to the CN Dock in Two Harbors to load iron ore pellets. Shortly thereafter, another ship in the Great Lakes Fleet, the Philip R.

13 Jan 2016

Seven Ships Laid up at Duluth-Superior

The Port of Duluth-Superior said it will welcome seven ships for winter layup this year. The firs tvessel Indiana Harbor laid up early on November 3 for a repowering project is already underway at Fraser Shipyards on the Herbert C. Jackson, in dry dock since early December. The Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie are set to close at midnight on Friday, January 15. By then, four more wintering vessels are expected to have arrived in the Twin Ports beginning Thursday morning with the anticipated arrival of the Edwin H. Gott, followed Friday or later by the American Century, the Kaye E. Barker and the Philip R. Clarke. The last laker, the thousand-footer Paul R.

15 Dec 2015

MERC Ships 500 Millionth Ton of Coal

Bulk carrier vessel Paul R. Tregurtha at Superior Midwest Energy Terminal on December 14, 2015. (Photo:  Chris Mazzella)

Midwest Energy Resources Company (MERC) transshipped its 500 millionth ton of coal on Monday, December 14, 2015, with the loading of Interlake Steamship Company’s M/V Paul R. Tregurtha for the DTE Electric Company. MERC, which began operations in 1976, transshipped its 100 millionth ton of U.S. western low-sulfur coal in 1991, 200 millionth ton in 1998, 300 millionth ton in 2004 and 400 millionth in 2009. “The 500 millionth ton transshipped on December 14 represents another significant MERC milestone along with the loading and transshipment of our 10…

11 Aug 2015

Interlake Steamship to Install Scrubbers on 2 More Ships

M/V Lee A. Tregurtha (Photo: Interlake Steamship Company)

Following the implementation of exhaust gas scrubbers on its self-unloading bulk carrier M/V Hon. James L. Oberstar, the Interlake Steamship Company has announced its plans to expand its emission-reduction efforts to one-third of its fleet by installing similar scrubber systems on the M/V Lee A. Tregurtha and M/V James R. Barker early next year. In April 2015, Interlake became the first U.S.-flag fleet to test freshwater scrubbers on the Great Lakes when the system became operational on the 806-foot Oberstar.

09 Jun 2015

Interlake Steamship Nears Final Stage of $100m Fleet Upgrade

S.S. Herbert C. Jackson (Photo: The Interlake Steamship Company)

The Interlake Steamship Company announced that it will repower its last steamship, the S.S. Herbert C. Jackson, with a highly automated diesel propulsion system in the final phase of a 10-year, $100 million modernization effort to create the most efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly fleet on the Great Lakes. The six-month diesel conversion, which is slated to begin in mid-December, is the fifth major overhaul to Interlake’s fleet and its fourth steam-to-diesel conversion since 2006.

14 May 2015

US Ports Begin 2015 ‘Fast and Furious’

Photo: The American Great Lakes Ports Association

Even with a blip due to ice coverage in late March and early April, U.S. ports along the Great Lakes-Seaway System are tracking ahead of tonnage moved in April 2014. In fact, most ports are seeing increases in multiple categories. “In 2015 we are excited to continue the momentum from 2014 when we finished the season with a 20 percent increase in overall tonnage,” said Paul Toth, President and CEO of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “There has been a good mix of marine cargo traffic early on in 2015,” said Joe Cappel, Vice President of Business Development for the Port Authority.

22 Sep 2014

Grounded Laker Refloated in Duluth

Photo Credit: Dawn M. LaPointe, RadiantSpiritGallery.com

M/V Paul R. M/V Paul R. Tregurtha was refloated by The Great Lakes Towing Company Tugs Kentucky and Minnesota under the command of two Duluth veteran Towing Company Captains, Martin Lightner and George LaTour, on Saturday evening, September 20, after the loaded vessel went aground at approximately 3:15 p.m. in Duluth, Minnesota Saturday afternoon. The Interlake Steamship Company Laker, M/V Paul R. Tregurtha, was built in 1981 and can carry up to 68,000 gross tons of taconite pellets or 71,000 net tons of coal.

05 Sep 2014

Top Marine Vessel Operators Overcome Challenges

U.S. marine vessel operators have invested in their fleets, adopted new technologies and switched to cleaner burning engines and fuels to stay in business. In this edition, we take a look at how industry leading marine operators have flourished, sometimes in tough circumstances. At family-run McAllister and Chouest, sons and daughters learned operations from the ground up, while CEO Todd Hornbeck revamped the first version of a company started by his dad. All value their employees and say workplace safety is a priority. Each of these companies is quick to meet customer demands.

17 Aug 2012

Great Lakes Coal-carrier Refloated

Photo credit Interlake Shipping Company

Salvage experts successfully refloated the freighter 'Paul R. Tregurtha' from downbound channel St. Mary's River. Two tugs with a combined 4,000 horsepower, moved the stern of the ship into the middle of the channel. This enabled salvage experts to successfully raise the ship’s bow by filling stern voids which reduced the amount of forward weight on the rocks. The vessel was cleared to proceed to anchorage near Detour, Mich., where the owners, the Coast Guard marine inspectors…

16 Aug 2012

Great Lakes Coal Carrier Aground

US Coast Guard responds to grounding of 1000-ft long freighter hard aground in downbound channel of St. Mary's River. The vessel is carrying approximately 62,000 tons of coal. The motor vessel Paul R. Tregurtha, owned by Interlake Shipping Company of Ohio, grounded on the west side of Neebish Island in the vicinity of what is commonly known as the “Rock Cut.” Initial reports indicate there is no resultant pollution and no injuries were reported, but there is some damage to the ship. The freighter’s stability is currently unaffected. The initial grounding occurred in way of the vessel’s bow but the ship pivoted and the stern became grounded as well. Currently, the vessel is hard aground at its bow and stern and the ship spans the width of the shipping channel. Coast Guard Station Sault Ste.

27 Apr 2009

Somerville Named MMA Person of the Year

Mr. Robert D. Somerville, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ABS has been named as the Massachusetts Maritime Academy 2009 Maritime Person of the Year. Each year Massachusetts Maritime Academy selects a civilian or military leader who has distinguished him or herself through a career of excellence, innovation, and service to the maritime industries. The honoree is presented with the Captain Emery Rice Medal, named for an 1895 Academy graduate and hero of the First World War. The award will be presented to Mr. Somerville on November 6, 2009 at the 15th Annual Admiral’s Ball, being held at the InterContinental Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. The Admiral’s Ball is the Academy’s largest annual fundraiser.

08 Jan 2001

Bulker Sustains Damage

The U.S.-flag bulker Paul R.Tregurtha sustained damage after striking the bed of St. Mary's river in the U.S., on January 7, Reuters reported. The 69,172-dwt vessel proceeded to St. Claire, Michigan, to unload a cargo of coal. Some damage to its plating was reported. The bulker will at some point proceed to Sturgeon Bay for repairs and a winter lay-up.

Subscribe for
Maritime Reporter E-News

Maritime Reporter E-News is the maritime industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email five times per week