Film crew on ‘Paul R Tregurtha’ from new show Awesome Ships, to air on Discovery Channel-Canada
April 05, 08 by TheFleetIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
By NICOLE GERRING | Source: Port Huron Times Herald
A ship that supplies the Blue Water Area with coal will be featured on a Canadian TV series.
A TV crew from Exploration Production Inc. of Toronto is in the area today wrapping up filming of the Paul R. Tregurtha, the “Queen of the Lakes,” for an episode of a new series, “Awesome Ships.”
The Tregurtha makes regular runs between Superior, Wis., and Detroit Edison’s Saint Clair Power Plant in East China Township.
The television series is being produced for the Canadian division of the Discovery Channel, but could be aired internationally through the Discovery network, said Nick de Pencier, director of the Tregurtha episode.All of the show’s episodes should be finished by mid-summer and will air next season, de Pencier said. Broadcast dates have not been determined.
Producers decided to feature the Tregurtha because of its size and design, de Pencier said. The ship, which is about 1,013½ feet long, is operated by Interlake Steamship Co. and is the largest freighter ever to work the Great Lakes, he said.
According to the company’s Web site, the freighter can carry up to 68,000 tons of taconite pellets or 71,000 tons of coal. It has a self-unloading mechanism, de Pencier said.
The ship was built by American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio, in 1981. Formerly called the William J. DeLancey, the ship was renamed the Tregurtha in honor of one of Interlake Steamship Co.’s board members.
…. Crews hopped aboard the Tregurtha when the ship set sail from its berth in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., on March 23, said John Brian, a deck officer and pilot on the ship who accompanied the film crew.
The journey included a four-day stay in Duluth, Minn., when the ship needed repair because of ice damage, de Pencier said.
It was the first ship to sail through the ice breaks near northern Wisconsin in Lake Michigan, Brian said. Coast Guard cutters had to break the ship free for it to continue when it left Green Bay, Wis.
On Friday afternoon, de Pencier and his crew were looking forward to filming the ship when it docked at the St. Clair Power Plant on Friday night.
“For us to unload, the ship has to do almost a complete turn so her bow is facing back upriver,” he said. “There’s very little room to spare on either side.”
He’s enjoyed being able to capture the size of the ship in context, as it squeezes through tight spots such as the St. Mary’s and St. Clair rivers.
“It’s pretty amazing to see a vessel of this size navigate,” he said. “You’re basically going through people’s back yard in a ship of 1,000 feet.”
The episode about the ship likely will feature images of the Blue Water Bridge and the St. Clair River, de Pencier said. A filmmaker also captured images of the vessel from a shore perspective, he said.
