Thursday, January 20, 2022

Catching the Arthur M. Anderson

 This ship is the one that I was hoping to catch.

The Arthur M. Anderson was making her final voyage of the year before going into layup.
She came down from Duluth with a load of taconite.  As I was watching her cross Lake Superior, it dawned on me that she was having a pretty rough night.  Normally, ships will shoot straight across Lake Superior, taking the mostly direct route from Duluth to the Soo Locks.
She ended up hugging the Canadian coast.  That's what lake ships do when it is rough on the water.  It gives them some reprieve from the weather but not much.
After she got through the Locks, she had to wait until morning to start leaving because the Coast Guard doesn't do ice breaking at night.
It looks like it was pretty windy the night before as she had ice stuck to her bow.
If I didn't know better, I would say have said it was a maidenhead.
But I know that a freighter wouldn't have one of those.
It was kind of a nice day but a little on the cold side.
The almost beam shot.
I love the looks of these ships.
But I have a feeling their days are numbered.  I heard that Great Lakes Fleet was up for sale.
With steel production getting transferred to using scrap steel instead of raw iron, the need for these ships may not be as great.
But they've faced other challenges in the past, so I think they'll be up for this one.
She was on her way to Conneaut.
After she delivered her taconite to Conneaut, she was off to Toledo for a well deserved rest.


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