Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The Buffalo

My last ship of the day was the Buffalo. There would be a couple more ships coming down after this one but it was kind of hot and muggy and I wasn't feeling too well, so I stopped at this one. Sadly both of those ships were ones that haven't been on this blog before but I'm sure I'll catch them at some other point in the summer or fall.This is a ship that is making her debut appearance on this blog though. She doesn't have the classic lake freighter look but has the more modern freighter look. There is the normal superstructure in the back and a modest pilothouse in the front (I think).
The Buffalo was built in 1978 by the Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and has spent her entire career sailing for the American Steamship company.
She is powered by two 3,600 horsepower diesel engines built by the Electro-Motive division of General Motors. Her rated speed is 14 knots and she is equipped with both bow and stern thrusters.
She has a length of 634 feet and can carry almost 24,000 tons of cargo.
She has had two accidents. One time she passed the Jupiter on the Saginaw River. A suction from her caused the Jupiter to pull away from the docks and in the process a spark was created which ignited the fuel on the Jupiter. The Jupiter was a total loss.
In the other accident, she crashed into the Detroit River Light but she was able to continue to Toledo for repairs.
As I said before, she still sails with the American Steamship Company.

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