Saginaw River Passage - April 26, 2023

American Mariner was inbound on the Saginaw River, headed for the Bay Aggregates Slip at Port Fisher. She attempted to back into the slip, but was unsuccessful as there was not enough room with the G.L. Ostrander/Integrity unloading at Holcim. American Mariner repositioned a few times and eventually ended up tying up at the Port Fisher Terminals Dock to wait for Ostrander/Integrity to depart before entering the slip to unload. 

Saginaw River Passage - April 25, 2023 - Part 2

Algoma Intrepid inbound on the Saginaw River, April 25th, calling on the Wirt Sand & Stone Fertilizer Terminal in Essexville. She completed her unload, turned and was outbound for the lake early the next morning.

Saginaw River Passage - April 25, 2023

Candace Elise/Robert F. Deegan inbound on the Saginaw River, headed for the Port Fisher Terminals Dock in Bay City. The pair arrived from Ludington to unload Calcium Chloride. 4/25/23
Note the new raised house on Candace Elise. I have included a photo from last year for comparison.

Saginaw River Passage - April 22, 2023

G.L. Ostrander/Integrity inbound on the Saginaw River on a rainy Saturday morning. The pair called on the Holcim Cement Dock in Essexville to unload, and became the first repeat visitor to the Saginaw River this season.

Saginaw River Passage - April 21, 2023

Cuyahoga was outbound on the Saginaw River Friday morning, after unloading overnight in Saginaw. She again ran into difficulty when Liberty Bridge in Bay City did not open, causing Cuyahoga to take action for the second day in a row at this bridge, this time fighting the wind and current. On Thursday during their inbound trip, Cuyahoga had to come to a stop at Liberty for almost 30 minutes before the bridge opened for her.

Saginaw River Passage - April 15, 2023

Sam Laud was the third vessel to call on the Saginaw River this season and the first to travel to the upper river and unload in Saginaw. Sam Laud arrived Saturday afternoon with a split cargo, delivering a partial load to the Burroughs/Levy Dock in Zilwaukee, then finishing at the Saginaw Rock Products/Burroughs Saginaw Dock. This was the first commercial vessel passage since March 12th and March 23rd when the season started with visits by Samuel de Champlain/Innovation and then by G.L. Ostrander/Integrity.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Spar also arrived on the Saginaw River on Saturday to work Aids to Navigation on Saginaw Bay.

Saginaw River Report - March 2023

While the report for vessel passages on the Saginaw River for March is brief, it is more then we have had the previous two seasons...

With the arrival of the tug Samuel de Champlain and cement barge Innovation, on March 12th, the 2023 shipping season got underway on the Saginaw River. This is the earliest start to the season since I began keeping records in 2005. There were a total of 2 commercial vessel passages on the Saginaw River for the month of March 2023, both were deliveries to the Holcim cement dock in Essexville. There were no March deliveries in either 2021 or 2022. Looking at the long term averages, these two passages are well above the 5, 10, and 15-year averages of .6, .6, and .5 respectively.