USCG Mobile Bay - Wide view beyond the lighthouse changing navigation buoys for the winter
USCG Mobile Bay - Working ATON (Aids to Navigation) with its barge, CBG 12002
USCG Mobile Bay - A view from Tourist Park as the crane is attached to one of the buoys in the water
Nickelena - Arrived late morning of Oct. 26 at Marinette Marine along with the Erika Kobasic to pick up INLS craft
Nickelena - Lining up the INLS craft to be towed to Chicago
Erika Kobasic - Disappearing in the fog heading for the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal enroute to Chicago with INLS craft
Dublin Sea - Departed Marinette Marine enroute to Sturgeon Bay to pick up its tanker-barge, DBL-185, early morning on Oct. 27. However, the tug was back at Marinette Marine early that evening (without the barge) for some sort of work. Around 7 p.m. the tug was all lit up at the Marinette Marine dock, but by 11 p.m. the tug was dark. I assume they will head out first thing Wednesday morning to retrieve its barge and then proceed out the St. Lawrence Seaway on its delivery run to K-Sea Corp.
Water Guage Station - Sign for the project (from April 15, 2009) as it was being built
Water Guage Station - A worker climbs the "mast" on Nov. 2 in preparation to get the new NOAA station on-line. The small white box in the background is the water guage station which is currently in use. The new station (located at the west end of the lighthouse pier) will monitor the water levels in the bay of Green Bay around the lighthouse and surrounding area, and send data to a national monitoring station once evey 6 minutes! Right now, both stations are active and the information gathered is compared in order to assess the accuracy of the readings in the new facility. The new station will be on-line after about 6 more months of testing.
Water Guage Station - A worker is at the top of the "mast" with Menominee North Pier Lighthouse in the background
Water Guage Station - NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) work vehicle
Dublin Sea - Downbound in the Menominee River heading for the Ogden Street Bridge around 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 3
Dublin Sea - More of a side view of the new K-Sea Transportation tug
Dublin Sea - Stern view leaving the inner harbor heading for Sturgeon Bay to pick up its new barge
Dublin Sea & DBL-185 - The tug, with its barge, came back close offshore from Marinette around 2:30 p.m. for an apparent crew change
Tug & Barge - Off Government Pier in Marinette
Tug & Barge - A small boat approaches the stern of the tug
Tug & Barge - Close-up of the small boat and tug (Shot at full Digital Zoom - 91X, so a little fuzzy)
Tug & Barge - The small boat leaves the tug with crew aboard
Tug & Barge - The duo gets underway heading for the St. Lawrence Seaway and delivery to its owners, K-Sea Transportation
Tug & Barge - The small boat heads in while the K-Sea duo heads out
Tug & Barge - Turned and headed out the bay toward Lake Michigan
Menominee North Pier lighthouse - With the Dublin Sea and DBL-185 in the background ... Bon Voyage!
Pere Marquette 41 - Heading for Marinette with the tug Nickelena at dusk (far out in the bay off Marinette)
Pere Marquette 41 - In between the piers after nightfall, with the Nickelena following, heading for Marinette Fuel & Dock
Pere Marquette 41 - Close-up of the Pere Marquette and its tug, Undaunted, between the piers in the dark
Pere Marquette 41 - Stern view of the PM-41 and Nickelena at Marinette Fuel & Dock
Nickelena - Close-up of the (mostly) darkened tug later that night using a different camera (Olympus C-765 - clearer night shots), the tug was on hand in case the Pere Marquette 41 needed assistance.
Pere Marquette 41 - Later that night at the dock unloading pig iron
Pere Marquette 41 - Wide view with the Nickelena in the background
Two tugs at night - Close-up of the Undaunted in the notch of the Pere Marquette 41 and the Nickelena astern ... I would like to thank my good friend, Scott Best, for making the identification of the Nickelena.
Pere Marquette 41 - Nov. 10 early morning finds the tug, Undaunted, out of the notch of the barge
Undaunted - Stern view close-up of the tug
Pere Marquette 41 - The stern is ballasted down, it appears they may be working on the barge's bow thruster
Pere Marquette 41 - Stern view close-up of the bow of the tug and the ballasted-down stern of the barge
Pere Marquette 41 - Bow view at the dock
Pere Marquette 41 - Bow view from the Ogden Street (Menekaunee) Bridge
Pere Marquette 41 - Close-up of the ballasted-down stern from the bridge
Pere Marquette 41 - Later in the afternoon, the barge is back on an even keel and ready to resume business
Pere Marquette 41 - Close-up of the barge
Undaunted - Bow view of the tug, which is still out of the notch of the Pere Marquette 41
Pere Marquette 41 - Stern view from Government Pier in Marinette on Nov. 11
Pere Marquette 41 - Stern/starboard view
McKee Sons/Invincible - Heading in between the piers on Nov. 11 around 9:40 a.m. (CST) with a load of coal for Menominee Paper Co. (from Government Pier)
McKee Sons/Invincible - Bow close-up passing Menominee North Pier Lighthouse on their first visit since 2005
McKee Sons/Invincible - Close-up of the tug & barge (draft marks show about 17-ft. at stern and 15-ft. at bow)
McKee Sons/Invincible - Port-side profile
McKee Sons/Invincible - Close-up of the Pilothouse on the barge (the unit is controlled from here, whereas on most tug & barge units the tug controls the vessel)
Invincible - Side profile of the tug in the notch of the McKee Sons barge
McKee Sons/Invincible - Stern/port-side view heading up the Menominee River into the inner harbor
McKee Sons/Invincible - Closer view
McKee Sons/Invincible - (L to R counterclockwise) Pere Marquette 41/Undaunted, William H. Donner, Viking I and McKee Sons
McKee Sons/Invincible - Wide view looking straight astern at the tug in the notch of the barge
McKee Sons/Invincible - Stern view close-up
McKee Sons/Invincible - Stern view as the boom swings out
McKee Sons/Invincible - Bow view unloading (from the Ogden Street {Menekaunee} Bridge)
McKee Sons/Invincible - Bow view close-up of the barge
McKee Sons/Invincible - Stern view unloading (from the lighthouse pier)
McKee Sons/Invincible - Bow profile unloading
McKee Sons/Invincible - By 1:30 p.m., the vessel is well out into the bay after unloading for shortly over two hours
Coal Piles - (L to R) The first pile was delivered by the Calumet (3) on Aug. 31, the middle pile was delivered by the Pathfinder/Dorothy Ann on May 23, and is mostly gone, the final pile was what the McKee Sons unloaded in just over two hours.
Pere Marquette 41 - Dock view on Nov. 12 after taking on a load of "pig iron tailings"
Pere Marquette 41 - Bow view from the Ogden Street Bridge shortly before departing late Thursday morning
Canadian Transfer - Arrived at Marinette Fuel & Dock with a load of salt around 8:45 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14
Canadian Transfer - Stern view unloading a little later that night
Canadian Transfer - Bow view unloading from Ogden Street (Menekaunee) Bridge
Canadian Transfer - Dockside view unloading (The first 4 photos taken with Olympus C-765 camera)
Canadian Transfer - Dockside view unloading (Shot with Fuji S8000fd camera)
Salt Pile - A look at the load of salt added to the existing pile by the Canadain Transfer last night
Salt Pile - A view of the entire salt pile at Marinette Fuel & Dock on Nov. 15
Catherine Desgagnes - Heading in toward the lighthouse on Nov. 16 with a load of pig iron for Marinette Fuel & Dock
Catherine Desgagnes - A view from Menekaunee Harbor
Catherine Desgagnes - Unloading later that night (the lights make for a tough photo-op)
Catherine Desgagnes - A load of pig iron hits the dock
Pere Marquette 41 - Entering the inner harbor around 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 16 with more pig iron for Marinette Fuel & Dock
Pere Marquette 41 - Heading for dock space behind the Catherine Desgagnes, which is moored alongside the craneship William H. Donner
Pere Marquette 41 - Close-up as they inch along the dock (they departed at 8 a.m. Nov. 17)
Pig Iron - This is the product delivered by the Pere Marquette 41 in its two trips in here this month
Catherine Desgagnes - Just about empty on Nov. 17, two hours before they departed Marinette Fuel & Dock
Canadian Transfer - Arrived back at Marinette Fuel & Dock with the dock's sixth load (season total) of salt on a rainy Nov. 19
Canadian Transfer - Close-up of the ship from the Ogden Street (Menekaunee) Bridge
Canadian Transfer - Wide view from across Menekaunee harbor
Canadian Transfer - After arriving around 6 a.m., they finish unloading around 12:30 p.m. Here, the boom is being brought back aboard.
Canadian Transfer - Stern view as the workboat and the boom are brought back aboard
Canadian Transfer - Bow view as the boom is in place and the workboat is still being hauled up the side of the ship
Salt Piles - At Marinete Fuel & Dock a tarp covers some of the previous loads of salt, the larger piles in front are the two delivered by the Canadian Transfer in the past 4 days
Salt & Pig Iron - Pig iron in foreground was delivered in two loads by the Pere Marquette 41 while the untarped salt was delivered in two loads by the Canadian Transfer
William A. Smith - For those of you who were wondering what went through the Ogden Street (Menekaunee) Bridge on Nov. 24 ...
William A. Smith - It was the Cedar River-based Michigan DNR boat heading in for the winter
Vaasaborg - (stern view) Arrived at KK Integrated Logistics on Nov. 28 to load pulp, this is our first Wagenborg vessel in almost two years
Vaasaborg - A crane grabs a bundle of baled pulp from a specially modified truck
Vaasaborg - Close-up as one crane prepares to lower a load into the ship while another crane prepares to grab a load from a truck
Vaasaborg - Workers attach the special lift attachment to a bundle of bales
Vaasaborg - Overhead view of the loading
Vaasaborg - Overhead view as another bundle goes into the ship
Vaasaborg - The red crane's versatility is shown as it reaches almost across the ship to lower its bundle
Vaasaborg - (bow view) Dockside view as the loading continues
Vaasaborg - Bow view from the Ogden Street (Menekaunee) Bridge as another bundle is lifted and headed for the hold of the ship
Catherine Desgagnes - A view from Menekaunee harbor as the ship heads for Marinette Fuel & Dock with more pig iron on Dec. 2
Catherine Desgagnes - Unloading later in the afternoon
Vlistborg - Approaching the lighthouse through "sea smoke" early in the morning of Saturday, Dec. 12
Vlistborg - Past the lighthouse they are heading for KK Integrated Logistics to load pulp
Vlistborg - Entering the inner harbor with a beautiful orange sunrise
Vlistborg - Closer view
Vlistborg - Close-up of the ship
Vlistborg - One more view against the sunrise
Vlistborg - After getting stopped by ice heading for the turning basin, the ship backs down-river...
Vlistborg - ... and they decide to head for the dock without turning around
Vlistborg - Stern dockside view as they straighten out and back further down-river
Vlistborg - Stern view close-up with ice between the ship and the dock
Vlistborg - A view from the Ogden Street (Menekaunee) Bridge shows the ship about even with the stern of the very iced over Viking I
Viking I - Stern view close-up of the old carferry after a winter storm with high winds three days ago
Vlistborg - Wide dockside bow view unloading later on Saturday afternoon
Vlistborg - Closer dockside bow view as a bale of pulp is lifted from a waiting truck
Vlistborg - Stern view of the loading
Vlistborg - Another truckload of pulp arrives
Vlistborg - A bale of pulp is hoisted from the truck that just arrived
Viking I - Bow view of the ice and snow coated vessel from the dock
On Sunday Dec. 13, the Vlistborg was partially loaded. Mid-afternoon saw the ship "battened down" as they prepared to leave port to run out of the river to drop the ballast water they had aboard when they arrived yesterday morning. This is a routine move. With the heavy weather the ship experienced last week, water was loaded into their ballast tanks before heading up here from Chicago. Ballast water, like cargo, makes the ship ride lower in the water, which makes the ship sit lower in the water making it easier to handle in rough water. Then, when a ship enters port, they can only take on a partial load because of the weight of the water in the ballast tanks. Due to ballast water rules, the ship can only empty its ballast tanks in deep water; so, the ship will proceed out into (I believe) Lake Michigan to do this before re-entering port late tomorrow. However, the move took on a different twist when they decided to tie up alongside the craneship, William H. Donner, for the night. They will then head out to empty their ballast tanks tomorrow morning. Once that is done, they will head back in to complete their load. Correction: When a ship needs to clean out its cargo holds they need to do it in deep water, not when they drop ballast water. I am not sure what the current ballast water regulations are, as they are now undergoing a change; so, I am not sure where the Vlistborg went to drop its ballast water. Sorry for the mis-information in my original post.
Vlistborg - The tug, Steven Selvick, arrives to break ice and assist the ship out of the river.
Steven Selvick - port-side stern view as the tug breaks up some ice
Vlistborg - The tug leads the stern of the ship out into the channel
Vlistborg - The tow passes the Viking I as the Ogden Street (Menekaunee) Bridge opens in the background
Vlistborg - Viking I in the foreground as the tow passes through the bridge
Vlistborg - The tow heads past the William H. Donner
Vlistborg - The ship slides in alongside the Donner as the tug stands by
Vlistborg - The ship prepares to tie up to the Donner (note crewmembers on both vessels at right of photo)
Steven Slevick - Port broadside profile view of the tug
Steven Selvick - Bow port-side view as the tug turns around
Steven Selvick - Starboard side profile of the tug
Vlistborg - The tug heads in to help the ship as it moors alongside the old craneship
Lewis J. Kuber/Olive L. Moore - A nasty Monday morning (Dec. 14) found the tug & barge heading in for winter lay-up
Lewis J. Kuber - Things cleared up a bit as they approached the Ogden Street (Menekaunee) Bridge
Olive L. Moore - The tug is moving some good chunks of ice as they continue to back up-river
Lewis J. Kuber - Through the bridge heading for KK Integrated Logistics West Dock for a winter's rest
Vlistborg - Back at the KK East Dock (also on Monday) to resume loading pulp after dumping ballast water (Viking I in foreground)
James L. Kuber/Victory - The tug & barge arrived for winter lay-up at KK early Tuesday morning while the Vlistborg was still loading
James L. Kuber - Since the Vlistborg was at the West Dock where this tug & barge will winter, they were rafted outside the Lewis J. Kuber until the Vlistborg departs
Vlistborg - Still loading on Tuesday afternoon
KK Docks - The two Kuber tug & barges, Vlistborg and Viking I fill up the river nicely
KK Docks - Panoramic view of the area
2 Tugs - Olive L. Moore (l) is out of the notch of the Lewis J. Kuber while the Victory is still in the notch of the James L. Kuber
Olive L. Moore - Close-up of the tug
Victory - Close-up in the notch of the James L. Kuber
KK Lay-up - (L to R) Lewis J. Kuber, James L. Kuber and Viking I on Dec. 16
Lewis J. Kuber - Close-up at KK Integrated Logistics East Dock
James L. Kuber - After the Vlistborg departed on Dec. 16, the tug & barge moved down to the KK West Dock for the winter
James L. Kuber - Dockside bow-view of the barge (and tug) at KK West Dock
Victory - Stern dockside view of the tug in the notch of the barge, James L. Kuber
Lewis J. Kuber - Dockside Bow-view of the barge
Olive L. Moore - Dockside bow view of the tug out of the notch of the barge, Lewis J. Kuber
Lewis J. Kuber - Dockside stern view of the barge with the tug, Olive L. Moore, out of the notch
Tug & Barge - Stern dockside view of the Olive L. Moore and the Lewis J. Kuber
Olive L. Moore - Dockside view of the tug
Well, another year ends. The 2008-2009 shipping season in Menominee and Marinette was dismal. We ended up with just 22 commercial vessel trips either loading (3) or unloading (19) - 24 if we count two early January loads of salt, which technically ended the 2008-2009 shipping season. The 22 loads were handled by just 14 different vessels. This total does not include trips by the Lewis J. Kuber or the James L. Kuber, both of which were in and out of port for temporary lay-up at different times during the year. Both of the Kubers are here for the rest of the winter at this time.
Look for a new "2010 Menominee & Marinette Ships" page coming soon!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!