Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Catching Up With the James R. Barker

 Amazingly, this is the first time that I've caught the James R. Barker this shipping season.  She was one of the last boats I caught in the last shipping season.  I think she may have been laid up a little longer than normal which might be why I haven't seen her until now.

She was doing a split load of coal between St. Clair and Monroe.
She delivered her load of coal to St. Clair and was on her way to Monroe in these pictures.
It seems like they've been doing alot of split loads between St. Clair and Monroe.  That might have something to do with the fact that both plants are shutting down soon.
I'm pretty sure that Detroit Edison doesn't want too much coal laying around because they would probably have to pay to have it moved somewhere else.
I kind of like these ships now that they have the scrubbers installed.  It kind of makes them look like steamship with the steam puffing out of the stack.
But I heard that it wasn't so much for the environment as it is that they can continue to burn bunker C.  Bunker fuel is much cheaper.
I wonder what is going to happen when they retire the coal plants.
After shooting a few shots with my proper camera, I got the drone out.  I wanted to try shooting from higher angles.
It's kind of nice to see some things that I don't normally see, like the deck hatches.
It's also nice to see about where they fall in the river.  I don't normally get to see that. 
Next time I take my drone out for shipwatching, I'm gonna have to try to get more of a long axis shot.  That is an angle I can't get from the shore.
She passes by.
I think from this point she is about three or four hours from her destination.
A stern shot.
A shot with Detroit in the background.
 And one with more of Detroit n the background.

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