Saginaw River Passage - May 31st

The Stephen B. Roman was inbound on the Saginaw River, traveling to the Essroc Cement Terminal in Essexville on Thursday. She was expected to be outbound Friday morning.

West Shore

West Shore on May 29th, between the Veteran's Memorial and Liberty Bridges, in Downtown Bay City. She is preparing to depart Bay City for the lake Thank you to Ed Cotto for the photo

Saginaw River Passages - May 29th

The tug Olive L. Moore and her barge, Lewis J. Kuber, arrived on the Saginaw River late Tuesday evening. The pair called on the Lafarge Stone Dock in Essexville to unload. Outbound on Tuesday, under sunny skies, was the former car ferry West Shore. Recently purchased by Star Line Ferries, from the Bay City Boat Line, West Shore was headed north to be prepped and begin service to Mackinac Island hauling freight. West Shore is a near sister to the Bay City Boat Lines vessel, Princess Wenonah, and for the past number of years has sat at the dock, inactive. The 65' West Shore was bulit in 1947 for the Miller Boat Line for service to the Bass Islands, before being sold to the Bay City Boat Line, and now the Star Line.

Saginaw River Passages - May 27th & 28th

Sunday saw the arrival of two vessels on the Saginaw River. Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber arrived with a split cargo for the Bay City and Saginaw Wirt Stone Docks. After unloading, the pair were outbound for the lake late Sunday night. Algorail headed upriver later on Sunday, unloading at the GM Dock in Saginaw. She was outbound Monday morning.

Saginaw River Passages - May 25th

Traffic remained steady on the Saginaw River, as three vessels called on various docks during the day Friday. Algorail led the parade, traveling upriver to unload at the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee. She was followed by Mississagi, who stopped briefly at the Bay Aggregates dock, before traveling up to the Wirt Stone dock in Bay City. Last in was the Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber, who called on the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City. Mississagi was outbound early Friday evening, with the Algorail and Moore-Kuber expected to be outbound late Friday evening.

Saginaw River Passage - May 23rd & 24th

Manistee was inbound the Saginaw River on Wednesday, carrying a split cargo. She unloaded a partial load at the Lafarge Stone dock in Essexville before traveling upriver to finish her unload at the Lafarge Stone dock in Saginaw. Manistee was outbound Thursday morning. After unloading at the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee, Algorail was outbound for the lake Wednesday night headed for the lake. Thursday morning saw the arrival of Algoway, traveling upriver to unload at the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee. She completed her unload as was outbound for the lake Thursday night. The Canadian Coast Guard vessel Limnos spent the day out in the Saginaw Bay.

Algorail outbound at Veteran's Memorial Bridge

Algoway inbound at Cass Avenue

Manistee outbound nearing at Liberty Bridge

Algorail outbound approaching Liberty Bridge

Manistee outbound approaching Wheeler's Landing

Saginaw River Passages - May 23rd

The H. Lee White made a rare appearence on the Saginaw River, early Wednesday morning. Calling on the Bay Aggregates Dock in Bay City, she backed into the slip and was unloading there early in the afternoon. Also arriving Wednesday morning was the Algorail, who traveled upriver to unload at the Sargent Dock in Zilwaukee. Both vessels are expected to be outbound for the lake later in the day.

Saginaw River Passages - May 21st & 22nd

The tug Gregory J. Busch and her deck barge arrived on the Saginaw River Monday afternoon, traveling upriver to her home dock in Carrollton. This is her first time back to her home port since July 30th last summer, as she spent the winter off the Saginaw River. On Tuesday, Manitowoc was inbound, late afternoon, headed up to Saginaw to unload at the GM dock. She was expected to be outbound late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.

Manitowoc upbound at Cass Avenue

Stern View nearing the Airport Turning Basin

Saginaw River Passage - May 19th

Mississagi was inbound early Saturday morning, heading upriver to the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee. Once unloaded, Mississagi tuened and was outbound for the lake during the early afternoon.

Saginaw River Passages - May 18th

The American Century arrived on the Saginaw River, Friday morning, stopping at the Consumers Energy dock to unload coal. She completed her unload, backed from the dock and out to Light 12 in the Saginaw Bay to turn around and head for the lake, late Friday night. Mississagi stopped in the outer bay to allow the American Century to make her turn and head outbound, before continuing inbound for the Saginaw River early Saturday morning.

Saginaw River Passage - May 17th

The Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber made a quick trip in and out of the Saginaw River on Thursday, arriving just after midnight and headed back outbound for the lake later in the morning. The pair unloaded at the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City.

Saginaw River Passage - May 14th

The Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber arrived overnight with a split load for the Bay City and the Saginaw Wirt Stone Docks. Once finished with the unload, the pair were outbound for the lake late Monday afternoon. This was the first load of the 2012 season for the Bay City and Saginaw Wirt docks.

Saginaw River Passages - May 13th

After an eight day stretch with no commercial traffic on the Saginaw River, the tug Karen Andrie, and her tank barge Endeavour, arrived early Sunday morning, unloading at the Bit-Mat Dock in Bay City. The pair were back outbound for the lake during the early evening. Inbound on the Saginaw Bay, headed for the Saginaw River Sunday night, was the Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber. The pair should arrive very early Monday morning.

Saginaw River Passages - May 5th

Algorail was outbound early Saturday morning after unloading overnight at the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee. The Olive L. Moore and Lewis J. Kuber were inbound around the same time, stopping at the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City to unload. They finished their unload and were outbound late Saturday morning. Inbound on Saturday was Algoway, making her first visit of the season to the Saginaw River. She stopped at the North Star dock in Essexville to unload, and was expected to be outbound early Sunday morning.

Algoway at the Northstar Dock

Saginaw River Passage - May 4th

The Algorail arrived on the Saginaw River Thursday evening, but was forced to tie up at the Essroc dock in Essexville instead of heading upriver to unload at the Sargent dock in Zilwaukee. This was due to the Independence Bridge having electrical problems and being unable to open. Workers were able to open the bridge late Friday afternoon, allowing Algorail to head upriver, almost a day behind schedule. She was unloading at Sargent Friday night. Independence Bridge will now remain in the open position until at least Monday and is closed to vehicle traffic. Algorail is expected to be outbound early Saturday morning.

Saginaw River Monthly Report - April 2012

April on the Saginaw River saw better numbers in 2012 than during the same period in 2011. The season started on April 2nd with the arrival of the Samuel de Champlain - Innovation. This was ten days earlier than last year's season opener. For the month, there were 14 commercial vessel passages on the Saginaw River, an increase of five passages compared to 2011.