Saginaw River Passages - August 24th to August 31st

Wednesday, August 24th, saw the Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber call on the Saginaw River with a split load for the Bay City Wirt Stone Dock and for the Lafarge Stone Dock in Saginaw. On Friday, the tug Cleveland, with the barge Cleveland Rocks arrived on the river, traveling up to the GM dock in Saginaw to unload. This was the first visit to the Saginaw River for the pair since August 27, 2006. In that year, Cleveland - Cleveland Rocks visited the river 10 times. On Saturday, the Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber were back, calling on the Burroughs dock in Zilwaukee. Monday, August 29th saw the American Century call on the Consumers energy dock in Essexville, and the Cleveland - Cleveland Rocks back at the GM dock in Saginaw. Wednesday, August 31 saw the Algoway call on the Buena vista dock in Saginaw, early in the morning. Manistee was inbound Wednesday evening, calling on the GM dock in Saginaw.

For the month of August there were 29 commercial vessel passages on the Saginaw River. This is up six from the same time last season and above the five year average of 26. There have been 81 commercial vessel passages for the year to date. This is five less than the same period last season. Looking back at the five year average, this is 29 passages below the average of 110.

Saginaw River Updates

Hi Everyone,

I just returned this evening from a week long vacation. I am currently checking on the traffic from the past week and will have the report up sometime tomorrow. Thanks for your patience and understanding!

Saginaw River Passage - August 22nd

The Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber arrived on the Saginaw River Monday evening, calling on the Wirt Stone Dock in Bay City to unload.

Saginaw River Passage - August 21st

The Stephen B. Roman called on the Saginaw River early Sunday morning, stopping at the Essroc Cement dock in Essexville to unload. She finished her unload, turned in the Essexville basin and was outbound for the lake late Sunday night.

Saginaw River Passages - August 19th & 20th

The Olive L. Moore - Lewis J Kuber called on the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City to unload on Thursday. The pair completed their unload and were outbound later in the day. The tug Tenacious arrived on the Saginaw River and took a barge upriver to the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee during the afternoon on Friday. She was followed by the Manitowoc, who called on the Lafarge Stone dock in Essexville to unload. Manitowoc was back outbound for the lake early Saturday morning after turning in the Essexville basin. The tug Gregory J, Busch and her deck barge turned off the Dow Chemical dock Friday afternoon and was outbound from the Saginaw River, heading for the lake.

Manitowoc unloading at the Lafarge Stone dock in Essexville

Saginaw River Passages - August 17th

The tug Gregory J. Busch and her barge were inbound Tuesday morning, calling on the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City. Wednesday morning saw the American Century stopping at the Consumers Energy dock in Essexville to unload coal. She was expected to back from the dock and head for the lake early in the evening. Manitowoc was inbound Wednesday afternoon headed for the GM dock in Saginaw to unload. She was expected to be outbound late in the evening or early Thursday morning.

American Cenruty nearing Consumers Energy

Manitowoc inbound at the Saginaw Bay Yacht Club

Saginaw River Passages - August 15th

Algorail was outbound Monday morning after unloading salt overnight at the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee. Inbound on Monday was the tug Olive L. Moore, with the barge Lewis J. Kuber. The pair traveled upriver to unload at the Burroughs dock in Zilwaukee. The tug Zeus and her tank barge, Robert F. Deegan, were inbound Monday night for the Dow Chemical Oxy dock in Bay City. The tug Tenacious was downbound Monday night, moving from the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee to the Essroc dock in Essexville.

Algorail outbound nearing the Independence Bridge

Saginaw River Passage - August 14th

Algorail arrived on the Saginaw River on a very windy, rainy Sunday morning. She tied up at the North Star dock in Essexville to wait for more favorable weather conditions before making the trip up the Saginaw River to the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee. Algorail got underway Sunday evening and was expected to unload overnight.

Saginaw River Passage - August 12th

The Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber called on the Saginaw River Friday evening. With a split cargo, the pair stopped at the Lafarge Stone Dock in Essexville to lighter, before heading upriver to finish unloading at the Lafarge Stone Dock in Saginaw. The Moore - Kuber were expected to be outbound for the lake Saturday morning.

Saginaw River Passages - August 9th

The tug Barbara Andrie - Barge A-390 departed the Bit-Mat dock on Tuesday ands was outbound for the lake. Inbound on Tuesday was the Saginaw, making her first visit of the season to her namesake river. She called on the Bay Aggregates dock to unload and was then outbound for the lake later in the day.

Tug Tenacious at the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee on August 10th

Saginaw River Passage - August 8th

The tug Barbara Andrie and her tank barge called on the Bit-Mat dock in Bay City on Monday. The pair remained there early Tuesday morning.

Saginaw River Photos

Here are a few of my photos of the Alpena outbound from Bay City, Sunday morning

Saginaw River Passages - August 6th

The steamer Alpena was inbound the Saginaw River late Saturday morning, headed upriver to the Lafarge Cement Terminal in Carrollton to unload. She is expected to be outbound late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

Alpena inbound nearing Cass Avenue

Saginaw River Passages - August 5th

The Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber were back on the Saginaw River again, Thursday morning. The pair delivered a split load, stopping first at the Bay City Wirt Stone dock, then finishing at the Saginaw Wirt Stone dock. After turning at Sixth Street, the Moore-Kuber were outbound for the lake passing through Bay City around 9:30 Thursday night. Calumet also unloaded at the Bay City Wirt dock, arriving during the late afternoon. She finished her unload early Friday morning, turned in the Wirt turning basin at the end of the dock, and were outbound for the lake. The tug Gregory J. Busch and barge STC 2004 departed the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City during the afternoon on Thursday. They turned and headed for the lake.
On Friday, Manitowoc was inbound, heading upriver to unload at the GM dock in Saginaw. She was outbound Friday evening.

Calumet unloading at Bay City Wirt Thursday night

Gregory J. Busch - STC 2004 turning in Essexville Thursday afternoon

Saginaw River Passages - August 3rd

The Dorothy Ann - Pathfinder departed the Bay Aggregates dock Tuesday morning, after unloading overnight. The tug Barbara Andrie and her tank barge departed the Bit Mat Dock later in the morning, then waited just off the dock at Consumers Energy in Essexville for the inbound Olive L. Moore - Lewis J Kuber to pass, before continuing on to the lake. The Moore - Kuber called on the Bay Aggregates dock to unload, and were then back outbound for the lake late in the day on Tuesday.

Saginaw River Passages - August 1st

The tug Barbara Andrie and her tank barge arrived on the Saginaw River Monday morning, calling on the Bit-Mat dock in Bay City. Later in the afternoon, the tug Dorothy Ann, with the barge Pathfinder, called on the Bay Aggregates dock, which shares the slip with Bit-Mat. Both vessels worked it out so they could share the slip and unload their cargos.

For the month of July, there were 16 commercial vessel passages on the Saginaw River. This is up from 14 passages in 2010. For the year, the total number of passages stands at 52. This is 11 behind the total of 63 from 2010, over the same time period.

Barbara Andrie inbound at the Essexville Ranges on Monday.

Gregory J. Busch - STC2004 outbound at Vet's bridge on Thursday

Thanks to Ed Cotto for sending me the photos