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Source: Central Ohio News

MARBLEHEAD — The 12th Annual Autumn Lighthouse Festival will be held 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, at St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in Marblehead.

The church is next to the Marblehead Lighthouse State Park — the site of the oldest operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes, at 506 E. Main St., Marblehead. Read the rest of this entry »

By MIKE FORNES | Source: Cheboygan Tribune

STURGEON BAY, Wis. - The Mac is high and dry.

As part of a regularly scheduled warranty service and maintenance program, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw is dry-docked in the large Bay Shipbuilding graving dock here this week.

“We’re receiving very special attention by our Azipod manufacturer while warranty work continues to replace propeller bearings,” said Cmdr. John Little, the Mackinaw’s captain…

Full story, including information on the Mackinaw’s fall schedule, at the Cheboygan Tribune >>

By Hugo Miller | Source: The Buffalo News

Record-low water levels in Lake Superior have forced shipping companies to reduce their cargoes, shrinking deliveries of coal and iron ore to manufacturers across the Great Lakes of the U.S. and Canada.

“In a normal year in August, we should be setting our best cargoes,” said Glen Neksavil, vice president of the Cleveland- based Lake Carriers’ Association. Instead, “our vessels have been losing as much as 10 percent.” Read the rest of this entry »

By Duane Ramsey | Source: Toledo Free Press

The Port of Toledo has an opportunity to become part of the increasing business of trans-shipping containers from seaports inland to the Great Lakes region, Collister “Terry” Johnson Jr. said in his keynote address at the Ohio Conference on Freight that took place in Toledo Sept. 17 and 18.

Full story at Toledo Free Press >>

By Nathan Phelps | Source: Green Bay Press Gazette

A series of new signs identifying terminal operators in the Port of Green Bay started going up this week along the Fox River as part of an ongoing effort to raise the profile of port businesses and the impact it has on the community and region.

The waterfront signs, which face the Fox River, feature the name of the business, their logo, and facts about that particular port business. The thrust of the move — and a longer three-year effort — is increasing public awareness of the port.

Full story and photos at Green Bay Press Gazette >>

By Maria Allard | Source: C&G Newspapers

The Rev. Richard Ingalls Jr. will speak about the city treasure at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 24 at the Macomb Cultural Center. His presentation is one of many planned during the “Great Lakes, Great Stories: Michigan’s Maritime Heritage” exhibit at the center, located on Macomb Community College’s Center Campus on Garfield Road, south of Hall Road, next to the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts.

The center opened last year. The maritime exhibit, which runs Oct. 6 through Dec. 2, will feature guest speakers, music, artifacts, photos and more. Shipwrecks, lighthouses, aquatic life and preservation are among the topic discussions.

Full story and neat picture at C&G Newspapers >>

Source: Forbes

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Transportation Institute, which represents shipping industry interests, spent $100,000 in the first six months of 2007 to lobby the federal government, according to a disclosure form.

The group lobbied on U.S. Coast Guard funding for 2008, container screening and legislation tied to the farm bill and energy independence, according to the form posted online Sept. 18 by the Senate’s public records office.

The group - which counts the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. and Tyco International Ltd. among its members - lobbied Congress, the U.S. Maritime Administration, the Federal Maritime Commission, the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies.
Full story at Forbes.com >>

By JAN TUCKER | Source: Ironwood Daily Globe

ONTONAGON — Ontonagon community, industry and economic development leaders Tuesday applauded the announcement from U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak that the Senate had passed the conference report to the Water Resources Act.

… The bill addresses three issues important to Ontonagon:

• Dredging of the Ontonagon River.
• Reconstruction of the east pier walkway, believed to have been damaged by Corps of Engineers action more than 10 years ago.
• Extension of the federal navigation channel 1,000 feet upstream.

The dredging issue is essential to the survival of Smurfit Stone, the largest employer in the area and to the White Pine Electric Company.

Both receive coal shipments through the harbor.

Full story at Ironwood Daily Globe >>

Source: The Mining Journal

Cleveland Cliffs, Inc. spokesman Dale Hemmila said this morning a production truck tipped over on its side during mine operations, injuring the driver.

The driver was treated at the accident site by Michigan Operations EMTs employed by the mine, and by Bell EMS. He was then transported to Marquette General Hospital for further evaluation, Hemmila said.

Read the full story at The Mining Journal >>

Source:  Duluth News Tribune

A chemical treatment system that’s designed to kill living organisms in a ship’s ballast water and then is rendered nontoxic will be the subject of the first test conducted at the fledgling Great Ships Initiative in Superior.

Full story at Duluth News Tribune >>

Source: Soo Evening News

“Thanks to the Great Lakes Legacy Act, this beautiful area is no longer tarnished by the legacy of industrial pollution,” said EPA Great Lakes National Program Manager Mary Gade. “One of the last known contaminated hot spots on the U.S. side of St. Marys River has now been cleaned up. Large amounts of chromium and mercury no longer contaminate the bay and have been prevented from entering the Great Lakes.”

Full story at Soo Evening News >>

Source: Dredging News Online

Representatives of public seaports in the US have lauded Congress for passing HR 1495, the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007, citing it as “long overdue legislation” that addresses a seven-year backlog of US Army Corps of Engineers programmes, including navigation projects, policies and procedures that are necessary to keep pace with burgeoning trade.

Full story at Dredging News Online >>

Source: Leeward Press

The story of the Point Abino lighthouse on Lake Erie, including pictures of the beautiful ornate structure and old lightship No. 82 before she sank. Read the full piece >>

By TODD SPANGLER | Source: Detroit Free Press

President George W. Bush will get a chance to follow through on a threat to veto legislation authorizing some $21 billion in national water projects, including an Asian carp barrier to the Great Lakes and many others that would impact Michigan waters.

The Senate approved the Water Resources Development Act, which was brokered by a joint House-Senate panel, by a vote of 81-to-12 on Monday. That would appear to give it a veto-proof majority, since only 67 votes would be needed to overcome the president’s rejection.

Full story at the Detroit Free Press >>

Source: Lake Carriers Association

CLEVELAND—With the largest U.S.-Flag Lakers losing more than 6,000 tons of coal each trip because of lack of adequate dredging and falling water levels, shipments on the Great Lakes only totaled 4.4 million net tons in August, a decrease of 8 percent compared to both a year ago and the month’s 5-year average. Read the rest of this entry »

Source: Expatriate Monroe

With the naked eye, the Detroit River Light is pretty dramatic as it stands guard on the open waters of Lake Erie.  With decent binoculars it is possible to see quite a bit of detail.  In fact, I don’t think that there are too many things more dramatic to see for a visitor to Monroe County than a giant freighter bearing down on the Light.

Great entry about history of the light, photos >>

Source: Do fundo do mar… Sea bottom

The Mills wreck is part of the Dive the Seaway Trail, which will offer exploration of five diving sites along the 730-kilometre Seaway Trail Scenic Byway, which runs along the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, Niagara River and Lake Erie, waterways filled with shipwrecks, rock formations and aquatic life.

The other trail is the Underwater Blueway Trail, a project in its pilot year in six communities. It is designed to provide diving access to shipwrecks and supply maritime heritage information to divers and non-divers.

Much more information at Do fundo do mar >>

Source: NWI

BURNS HARBOR | On June 1, the Indiana Occupational and Health Administration amended Mittal Steel USA’s penalty to zero and deleted the safety order it had issued to the company in connection a March 1 accident.

On May 9, IOSHA had penalized Mittal Steel USA, now known as ArcelorMittal, $2,275 for a safety violation in connection with the accident which left veteran steelworker David Ranus burned over 60 percent of his body.

Read the rest of this unbelievable story at NWI >>

Source: Thunder Bay’s Source

City and Port officials celebrated an important anniversary on the waterfront Monday but it may signal the end of an era of luxury Great Lakes cruising.

The celebration was sparked by the arrival of the luxury cruise liner MS Columbus. The docking marked the 10th anniversary of the vessel’s first stop in the city which was seen as an important achievement for local tourist operators. Monday’s festivities were tempered by the fact that this visit may be the last time the city sees the ship. Read the rest of this entry »

By ROB CLARK | Source: The Bay City Times

Dredging of the Saginaw Bay shipping channel and the lower section of the Saginaw River is set to begin next week, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

…. The work will take place from the mouth of the River, two miles out into the bay.

Duerod said that work, at a cost of about $1.3 million, will begin next week.

“It’s vital for the shipping traffic to get through,” said Duerod. ‘”This is a major shipping channel in the Great Lakes system and it’s our goal to dredge it every year.”

Duerod said these section of the bay and river have not been dredged since 2005.

Full Story at The Bay City Times >>