Saginaw River Passages - October 30th & 31st

The tug Olive L. Moore and barge Lewis J. Kuber called on the Saginaw River, Saturday, with a split cargo. The pair lightered at the Bay City Wirt dock before continuing upriver to the Burroughs dock in Zilwaukee. Early Sunday morning saw the arrival of the Cuyahoga and her fleetmate Manitowoc. Cuyahoga stopped at the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City before heading upriver for the Buena Vista dock. Manitowoc called on the Bay City Wirt dock, then continued upriver for the Saginaw Wirt dock. Manitowoc lead the convoy up the river with Cuyahoga about a half mile behind. Once both were secure at their upper river docks to unload, the Moore-Kuber headed downbound from the 6th Street turning basin and outbound for the lake, passing the Cuyahoga and Manitowoc just above I-75.

Saginaw River Passages - October 27th

With peak winds reaching 55 knots and the water level dropping over two feet, to a minus 25.68 inches, the Saginaw River was a pretty lonely place on Wednesday. That changed on Thursday as the weather improved and traffic started moving again. Calumet called on the GM dock in Saginaw, Thursday morning to unload. She was back outbound for the lake during the ear;y evening. Walter J. McCarthy, Jr. was inbound during the afternoon with coal for the Consumers Energy dock in Essexville. She backed out into the bay to turn and head for the lake late in the evening Thursday.

Wind on the Saginaw River

With strong winds from the south passing through the area, the water level on the Saginaw River dropped to a minus 13 inches this afternoon. wind conditions on the Saginaw Bay at the Saginaw River Entrance Channel Light 1 hit a high of 34 knots sustained with a gust of 53 knots around 4pm Tuesday afternoon.

There is no shipping traffic in the area currently.

Saginaw River Passages - October 20th

The tug Zeus and tank barge Robert F. Deegan called on the Dow Chemical dock late Tuesday night. The pair remained at the dock as of 9pm Wednesday night. Also still at the dock was the Walter J. McCarthy, Jr. at Consumers Energy. She had arrived on Tuesday morning to unload coal. Calumet was inbound Wednesday afternoon with a split load. She stopped at the Bay City Wirt Stone dock to lighter before continuing upriver to the Saginaw Wirt dock to finish Wednesday night.

Saginaw River Passages - October 18th & 19th

The tug Invincible and barge McKee Sons called on the Saginaw River on Monday, unloading at the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City. She was followed by her fleet mate, Calumet, who traveled all the way upriver to unload at the Lafarge Stone dock in Saginaw. Both vessels were outbound later in the day on Monday. Tuesday morning saw the arrival of the Walter J. McCarthy, Jr., who called on the Consumers Energy dock in Essexville to unload. She remained at the dock as of 8:30 Tuesday night.

Saginaw River Passages - October 13th -15th

Algorail was outbound the Saginaw River on Thursday after unloading at the Saginaw Lafarge dock. The tug Karen Andrie, with her barge Endeavour, were outbound from the Bit-Mat dock in Bay City after unloading there overnight. On Friday, Calumet was inbound during the evening hours, traveling upriver to unload at the GM dock in Saginaw. She is expected to be outbound early Saturday morning.

Saginaw River Passages - October 11th

Manitowoc arrived overnight, calling on the Burroughs dock in Zilwaukee to unload. She was outbound for the lake Monday morning. Inbound Monday morning was the tug Olive L Moore and barge Lewis J. Kuber with a split cargo. The pair stopped at the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City before heading upriver for the Saginaw Wirt Stone dock. The Moore & Kuber were expected to be outbound late Monday or early Tuesday morning.

September 2010 Shipping Report

With September in the books, the vessel passages are still way down from both last season and long term. There were 16 commercial vessel passages in September, seven less than the same time frame in 2009. Looking at the past six years, the average for the month is 29 vessels, so the Saginaw River is down 13 passages verses the average. Looking at the year to date, there have been only 102 commercial vessel passages in 2010. This is down 17 passages for the same time period last season and 71 less vessels based on the long term average for the end of September. Hopefully we will start to see a fall rush this season, but supplies on the docks look pretty well full for this time of year.

Saginaw River Passages - September 26th to October 8th

On Monday, October 4th, Maumee called on the Saginaw River, traveling up to the Wirt Stone dock in Saginaw to unload. Thursday the 7th saw the arrival of the Michipicoten, for a rare visit, calling at the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City, followed by the Walter J. McCarthy, Jr., calling on the Consumers Energy dock in Essexville. Both vessels were outbound later in the day Thursday. Friday saw the tug Olive L. Moore and barge Lewis J. Kuber call on the Saginaw River with a split load. The pair lightered at the Bay City Wirt stone dock before continuing upriver to finish at the Saginaw Wirt stone dock. They were expected to be outbound late Friday night.

Updates Coming Soon!

Hi Everyone,

I have just returned from a week long vacation. I am in the process of reviewing the tapes from when I was gone. Updates will be coming soon. Hopefully in the next few days!

Thank you for your patience!