Saginaw River Passages - October 28th & 29th

Traffic has been brisk as of late on the Saginaw River. On Tuesday, the tugs Steven Selvick and Krista S arrived with two barges of equipment for the Consumers Energy dock. The pair departed on Thursday after unloading. This is the fourth delivery to Consumers by Selvick tugs in the past few months. Wednesday saw the arrival of the Calumet and and Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber. Calumet unload at the Bay City Wirt dock, finishing up early Thursday morning, turning off the dock and departing for the lake. Once she passed the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City, the Moore & Kuber backed from the slip where they had unloaded overnight and also headed for the lake behind the Calumet.

Thursday morning saw the arrival of Algoma Marine vessels Agawa Canyon and Algorail. The Canyon unloaded salt at the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee while the Algorail tied up just behind her at the Burroughs dock to wait her turn to unload at Sargent. Agawa Canyon departed Thursday night headed for the lake and clearing the way for the Algorail to unload. This is Algorail's first visit of 2009 to the Saginaw River.

Saginaw River Passages - October 26th & 27th

Calumet unloading at the Sargent Essexville dock on tuesday
The Walter J. McCarthy called on the Consumers Energy dock on Monday to unload coal. She finished her unload and backed out into the Saginaw Bay to turn at Light 12 before heading for the for the lake. On Tuesday, the Calumet called on the Sargent dock in Essexville to unload. She had finished and turned off the dock to head for the lake by late Tuesday afternoon.

Saginaw River Passage - October 24th

The American Courage made her first visit of the season to the Saginaw River on Saturday. She traveled up to the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City to unload. The American Courage was expected to be outbound late Saturday night.

Saginaw River Passage - October 19th

The tug-barge combo Olive L. Moore-Lewis J. Kuber called on the Saginaw River early on Monday with a split load. The pair lightered at the Bay City Wirt dock, before continuing upriver to finish unloading at the Saginaw Wirt dock. The Moore & Kuber turned and were outbound for the lake later in the day.

Saginaw River Passage - October 18th

The Manitowoc arrived on the Saginaw River during the morning hours on Sunday and traveled upriver to the Burroughs dock in Zilwaukee. After unloading, she turned in the Sixth Street Basin and was outbound for the lake during the afternoon. This was the 16th visit to the Saginaw River by the Manitowoc this season.

Saginaw River Passages - October 14th

The tug Barbara Andrie with her tank barge called on the Bit-Mat dock in Bay City on Wednesday. She was followed by the Indiana Harbor, who called on the Consumers Energy dock in Essexville. Once unloaded, the Harbor backed from the dock and out to Light 12 in the Saginaw Bay to turn and head for the lake. The Barbara Andrie and her barge were outbound early Thursday morning after finishing their unload.

Saginaw River Passages - October 12th & 13th

The tug Olive L. Moore with the Lewis J. Kuber arrived on the Saginaw River on Monday with a split load. The pair lightered at the Sargent dock in Essexville before moving upriver to finish at the Saginaw Rock Products dock in Saginaw. The Moore and Kuber then turned in the Sixth Street basin and headed outbound for the lake. On their way out, they passed the inbound Algoway who was headed to the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee to unload. Once finished, the Algoway also turned at Sixth Street and headed for the lake Monday evening. The tugs John M. Selvick and Krista S. were both outbound with their barges on Monday after calling on the Consumers Energy dock early on Sunday.

Saginaw River Passage - October 11th

The tug John M. Selvick & Krista S were back on the Saginaw River on Saturday with their third visit of the season to the Consumers Energy dock in Essexville. The tugs and their barges have been delivering equipment to the facility since early in September. Both vessels were still at the dock as of late Sunday evening.

Saginaw River Passages - October 9th

The Calumet arrived on the Saginaw River on a very rainy Friday morning, calling on the Sargent dock in Essexville to unload. By early evening, she had completed her unload, turned and was headed outbound for the lake. On her way out, Calumet passed her fleetmate, Manitowoc, who was inbound for the GM dock in Saginaw. Manitowoc was expected to be finished unloading and back outbound early Saturday morning.

Saginaw River Passage - October 8th

The tug Undaunted, pushing the barge Pere Marquette 41, entered the Saginaw River Thursday afternoon calling on the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City. The pair were unloading late into Thursday evening and were expected to be outbound very late Thursday or early Friday morning.



Undaunted & Pere Marquette 41 upbound nearing the Bay Aggregates dock

Saginaw River Passages - Sept 30th through October 5th

The Saginaw River has seen a number of passages the past week. On Wednesday, the tug Zeus and her tank barge departed the Dow Chemical dock in Bay City after unloading and was outbound for the lake. The pair passed the inbound Manitowoc, who was headed upriver to unload at the GM dock in Saginaw. To start off October, the Calumet was inbound with a split load for the Bay City and Saginaw Wirt Stone Docks on Friday. Late Saturday saw the Agawa Canyon inbound for the Buena Vista dock in Saginaw. She stopped briefly at the Essroc dock in Essexville on her way in to wait for water levels to come back up. The Olive L. Moore/Lewis J. Kuber were inbound on Monday with a split load. The pair lightered at the Bay Aggregates dock before heading upriver to finish at the Buena Vista dock. The Moore and Kuber were outbound Monday night.
On an interesting note, the crew of the Manitowoc witnessed a man jump from the I-75/Zilwaukee Bridge in Saginaw. After getting closer, they reported to U.S.C.G. Station Saginaw River the man had swam to shore and was lying on the ground.

September Vessel Passage Report

Commercial vessel passages on the Saginaw River for the month of September totaled 23. This is equal to the number of passages for the same month last year and down eight passages compared to the 5-year average. Looking at the year to date, there have been 119 passages in 2009. This is 36 fewer passages as compared to the same time period in 2008, and 68 fewer passages as compared to the 5-year average of 187.

Update

Hi Everyone,

I apologize for the lack of updates. I have been on vacation, camping with my family. Regular updates will return in a few days along with a report on all of the activity that took place while I was away and the vessel passage report for the month of September.

Thank you for your patience.