Saginaw River Passages - May 11th

Monday was a very active day on the Saginaw River. Algoma Buffalo delivered her first cargo of the season, unloading salt at the Sargent Dock in Zilwaukee. The tug Undaunted and barge Pere Marquette 41 were next to arrive, bringing in a cargo for the Port Fisher/Bay Aggregates Dock in Bay City. A short distance behind them was the Olive L. Moore – Menominee, traveling all of the way upriver to unload at the Lafarge Stone Dock in Saginaw. 
Calumet, which arrived on Sunday, had finished unloading and was ready to depart Monday morning, but waited up in Saginaw for both Algoma Buffalo and Olive L. Moore to make the trip up the Saginaw River, before finally throwing lines from the Burroughs Dock in Zilwaukee, where she was waiting for the traffic to clear. By 8pm Monday, all four vessels were on their way outbound or had left earlier in the day.

ALGOMA BUFFALO inbound on the Saginaw River at Cass Avenue in Bay City

Tug UNDAUNTED - Barge PERE MARQUETTE 41 making the turn into the Port Fisher/Bay Aggregates Dock

OLIVE L. MOORE - MENOMINEE inbound on the Saginaw River between Bay City and Saginaw

OLIVE L. MOORE passing her fleetmate, CALUMET at the Burroughs Dock in Zilwaukee

Saginaw River Passages - May 10th, Part II

Sunday evening saw Calumet inbound on the Saginaw River just before sunset. She called on the Wirt Stone Dock in Bay City for a partial unload and was scheduled to travel upriver to the Wirt Stone Dock in Saginaw to finish.

Saginaw River Passages - May 10th

John J. Boland arrived on the Saginaw River, Sunday morning, calling on the Port Fisher/Bay Aggregates Dock in Bay City. Unloading on a rain and wind filled Mother's Day, the Boland finished unloading and was outbound just before 5pm.

Saginaw River Passage - May 6th

The Olive L. Moore - Menominee were outbound on the Saginaw River, early Wednesday morning.  The pair arrived late Tuesday night carrying a split cargo, unloading at the Wirt Stone Docks in Bay City and Saginaw.

Saginaw River Passage - May 2nd

Olive L. Moore - Menominee was inbound on the Saginaw River Saturday afternoon, traveling all the way to the end of the shipping channel, to unload at the Lafarge Stone Dock in Saginaw.

Saginaw River Passage - May 1st

Manitowoc arrived on the Saginaw River, early Friday morning, calling on the Port Fisher/Bay Aggregates Dock in Bay City. She completed her unload, then departed the slip early Friday afternoon. Manitowoc backed out of the Saginaw River and out into the Saginaw Bay before turning and heading out into the lake.

Saginaw River Traffic Report - April 2020

Going by the numbers, the 2020 commercial shipping season is off to a strong start on the Saginaw River. For April, there were a total of 13 commercial vessel passages, This is five more passages than last April and the most since the 2012 season when the Saginaw River saw 14 passages for the month. Looking deeper, April 2020 was seven passages above the 5-year average, six above the 10-year average, and three above the 15-year average of ten commercial vessel passages for the month.

For the total commercial vessel passages during the 2020 season to date, the Saginaw River has had 14. This is six more passages as compared to the same period last year. Looking at the averages, 2020 is seven passages above the 5-year and 10-year averages, which are both seven, and three passages above the 15-year average of 11 passages for the year-to-date.