Sunday, October 25, 2020

First Up, the Petite Forte and St Mary's Cement

 So I decided to head down to Belle Isle yesterday.  The sun was starting to peek out and it was looking like it was going to be a nice day although a little on the cold side.  I saw that there were a few ships that would be passing by and I wanted to a chance to play with my drone.

First up was a tug barge.  The tug is question is the Petite Forte which is a tug owned by Great Lakes International Towing and Salvage out of Burlington, Ontario.  She is currently being leased by St. Mary's Cement.
The tug was built in 1969 by Cochrane and Son in Selby, England.  Her original name was the E. Bronson Ingraham.  In 1972, she was renamed Jaramac 42.  In 1973, she was sold to United Towing and named the Scotsman.  Later in 1981, she was bought by Arabian Bulk Trade Limited and named Al Bettal.
In 1986, she was bought by her current company and given her current name.
She is named after a town in Newfoundland which is located on Placentia Bay.    The town has a population of 57.
The barge is the St Mary's Cement and it was built in 1986.  I suspect that means that the Petite Forte has always been carrying it.
I think the barge was carrying cement from Bowmanville, Ontario because that is usually where it picks it up.  
She was taking it up to Charlevoix and was moving at around 6 knots.
As I type this point, she is roughly between Rogers City and Cheyboygan on Lake Huron.
At this rate, she should be at her destination by tomorrow.
I'm not sure how a foreign tug pushing an American tug works for the Jones Act but since the cement was coming from Ontario, it doesn't matter.


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