Saginaw River Passages - August 30th & 31st

The H. Lee White made her first visit of 2009 to the Saginaw River
on Sunday, calling on the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City during the
late morning. Once unloaded, she backed from the slip and headed
outbound for the lake later in the day. Monday evening saw the Olive
L. Moore & Lewis J. Kuber inbound for the Sargent dock in Essexville
to unload.

Saginaw River Passages - August 29th

Click on the above image to see 1,844 feet, 10 inches of Great Lakes Freighter

The tug Joyce L. Van Enkevort and barge Great Lakes Trader called on the Saginaw River Friday evening for their first visit of 2009. They unloaded overnight at the Bay City Wirt dock, then, Saturday morning, backed from the dock, out of the river, and out to Light 12 in the bay to turn and head for the lake. The pair passed the Water J. McCarthy, Jr. who was at the Consumers Energy dock in Essexville. The McCarthy had arrived Saturday morning and was unloading coal.


Joyce L passing the Walter J. McCarty, Jr.


McCarthy, Jr. at Consumers Energy


Joyce L. & Great Lakes Trader backing out of the Saginaw River


Backing past the North Star dock in Essexville

Saginaw River Passage - August 26th

The Frontenac called on the Essroc dock in Essexville on Wednesday to unload clinker. She completed her unload Thursday morning then backed from the river into the Saginaw Bay to turn at Light 12, before heading for the lake.

Saginaw River Passage - August 25th

The Calumet returned again on Tuesday after delivering a split cargo on Monday. This trip, Calumet traveled up to the Burroughs dock in Zilwaukee to unload. She was expected to be outbound early Wednesday morning.

Saginaw River Passage - August 24th

Calumet outbound at Cass Avenue

The Calumet arrived on the Saginaw River late Sunday night carrying a split load. She stopped at the Wirt Stone dock in Bay City to lighter before continuing upriver to finish at the Wirt dock in Saginaw. Calumet finished unloading early Monday morning, turned, and was outbound through Bay City around 10am.

Saginaw River Passages - August 20th

The Invincible-McKee Sons made their first trip of the year to the Saginaw River on Wednesday, going upriver to unload at the GM dock in Saginaw. The pair finished their unload and were outbound for the lake later in the day. On the outbound trip, they passed their fleetmate, Manitowoc, unloading at the Sargent dock in Essexville. Manitowoc unloaded there overnight and then turned in the Essexville turning basin before heading for the lake Thursday morning. Thursday evening saw the American Century call on the Consumers Energy dock in Essexville to unload. She was expected to be outbound late Thursday night or early Friday morning.

Saginaw River Passage - August 18th

The Manitowoc was inbound Monday evening with a split load. She lightered at the Wirt Stone Dock in Bay City before proceeding upriver to finish at the Wirt dock in Saginaw. Completing her unload Tuesday morning, Manitowoc turned in the Sixth Street basin and was outbound for the lake shortly after.

Saginaw River Passages - August 15th

G.L. Ostrander & Integrity upbound at Cass Avenue on Saturday

The tug Zeus and her tank barge were inbound for the Dow Chemical dock in Bay City during the early morning hours of Saturday. The pair remained there through the day and into the late evening. Also inbound on Saturday was the tug G.L. Ostrander with the cement barge Integrity. The pair traveled upriver to the LaFarge Cement dock in Carrollton. They finished thier unload and were outbound for the lake late Saturday evening. This was both the first visit by the Ostrander/Integrity and the first to the LaFarge dock in 2009.

Another view

Saginaw River Passages - August 10th to August 14th

Hi all! I am back from vacation and evidently I didn't miss much on the Saginaw River. I would like to thank Steve Hause for the following report from while I was away:

Shipping activity remains slow on the Saginaw River with only two arrivals logged so far this week. The tug Undaunted with barge Pere Marquette 41 arrived Thursday morning at the Bay Aggregates dock. Walter J. McCarthy Jr. called at the Consumers Energy Dock on Sunday afternoon, the first visit of the season for the vessel.

Saginaw River Passage - August 9th

The Michipicoten made a rare visit to the Saginaw River early Sunday morning, claaing on the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City. She completed her unload and was outbound for the lake before sunrise.

Saginaw River Passage - August 5th

The Agawa Canyon arrived on the Saginaw River early Wednesday morning to break the dry spell of vessels we have been experiencing. She traveled upriver to the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee to unload, finishing by early afternoon. The Canyon turned in the Sixth Street basin and was outbound through Bay City around 2:30 .

Saginaw River Passage - August 1, 2009

Saturday morning saw the arrival of the Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber with a spilt load for the Bay City & Saginaw Wirt Stone docks. The pair lightered in Bay City and were then upbound for Saginaw before noon. Finishing their unload in Saginaw, the Moore & Kuber turned at Sixth Street and were outbound for the lake Saturday night.

End of month report for July

As has been the trend so far in 2009, and for the past few years for that matter, vessel passages have been below average. For the month of July, there were 22 commercial vessel passages. This was three below last July and 10 below the five year average of 32.

For the year to date, there have been 78 commercial vessel passages. This is down 20 from last year at this point, and 46 below the five year average. If you look back to 2005, we are a whopping 95 vessel passages below where we were during the same time period.