The American Mariner Marches By

The first picture in this series was taken before the geese, otherwise these pictures are in chronological order.

 The first ship I saw was the American Mariner, I think she was heading up from Cleveland.  I think she was heading up to Calcite to pick up another load of stone.

 I read recently that American Steamship was bought by the Rand Corporation.  The Rand Corporation also owns the Lower Lakes Towing Company (and it's American counter part the Grand River Fleet).  As of now, there is not any changes announced but I would imagine there might be some consolidation in the future.  I could also imagine there might be a re-aligning of the fleets (although the Canadian ships can't come back).

 I hope that it doesn't mean that we will see fewer ships on the Great Lakes but you never know.  With the coal powered electric plants closing down, there will be a lower demand for coal.  As turning iron into steel gets more expensive, the plants that use scrap steel might become more prevalent.  However, I think like many industries, the Great Lakes shipping companies will adapt.

 Anyway, these are pretty cool ships to be seen.

 This is part of a group of ships called the River Class.   They are all shorter than 730 feet and have bow thrusters to help them maneuver in the windy rivers of the Great Lakes.

 It was kind of a gray day on Thursday but it made for cool looking clouds.

 She passes the whiskey plant.

 The almost beam shot.

 The beam shot.

She continues on her way to Calcite and I think that is about 18 hours.