The BBC St. Petersburg Makes an Appearance

 It wasn't too long before the next ship made an appearance.

The ship in question was the BBC St. Petersburg.

I think she was on her way to Chicago.

Normally a ship like this would be carrying wind turbine blades but I think she was going to pick up cargo.

She was built this year and can carry 12,400 metric tons of cargo.

Her cranes can lift 250 metric tons.

She is about 450 feet long and about 70 feet wide.

The bow shot.

A couple more with my regular camera.

And then I switched to my drone.

I wish she had blades on her deck.

the almost beam shot.

The pilot boat about to pass her.

And she continues out into Lake Huron.

One more shot.

The BBC Rosario Passes By

 This happens to be a ship that I haven't seen before.

I think the BBC Rosario is heading to Trois Rivieres in Quebec.

Typically salties will leave the Great Lakes at this time because typically the Welland Canal closes December 31st.  

I think the BBC Rosario was carrying windmill parts somewhere.  

I think she is like many of her fleet mates.

She is under 500 feet long and can carry around 20,000 tons of cargo.

With those dimensions, she is roughly the size of the Ark.

Anyway, it was pretty neat seeing a ship of this type.

A relatively clean background.

She passes under the bridge.

And one more.

Catching a New Ship

 So my dad came down to visit yesterday and we decided to go down to Belle Isle to get some ship pictures.  I wanted to use my drone and there was a ship that I wanted to catch coming down.  It was a nice day but it was pretty windy.

I made it in time to catch this ship.  I didn't bother to get my other camera out, I figured I would just get some pictures with my drone.  I just love the color of the water in this picture.

The ship in question is the BBC Echo.  She is a heavy lift ship and she is new to this blog, however I'm not sure if she is new to the Great Lakes.

As you can see from her deck, she is carrying a load of windmill blades and is headed for Duluth.  Her destination originally said Montreal when I saw her before heading out.  I knew that was not correct because she is a ways from Montreal.

I'm going to guess that she picked up the blades in Montreal all.

While she is owned and operated by a German company, she is registered in Antigua and Barbados and was constructed in 2010 but I'm not sure where.  If I had to guess, I would say China.

I will admit that I  have seen quite a few of these ships lately but then when you go to places like the thumb or along the Canadian coast, you see a ton of windmills.  I'm still not sure about human caused global warming but I think that anything that can be done to reduce our footprint will help.

She continues on her way.  She has about 60 hours to go until she reaches Duluth.

She has a couple of pilot changes.

I was amazed by the blueness of the water.

She meets the subject of the next post.
 

Catching What I Though Was a New Ship

It's tough to remember if I've seen certain salties before.  There are some that are frequent visitors to the lakes and there are some that don't visit the lakes as frequently.  I think the BBC Florida is one of those.

 It turns out that I saw her once before.  That was while she was at anchor waiting out some winds.  So it's no wonder that I don't remember seeing her.

 The BBC Florida is owned by W. Bockstiegel Reederei KG out of Emden, Germany.  However she is not German flagged like so many of the foreign owned vessels.

 She stands off against the Renaissance Center.

 I tried a couple pictures as she got closer.  I kind of wanted a larger shot of her against the building.

 She starts to make the turn for the other part of the Detroit River.

 She was built in 2009.  She is 454 feet long and can carry 12,767 tons of cargo.

 I think many of these ships are typically used to bring windmill parts to the United States.

 Usually they will pick up a load of something to take back to Europe.

 Occasionally, they will stop at the Nicholson Dock by the Westcott to pick up steel coils there.

 She is getting met by the pilot boat (more on that in the next post).

 the pilot boat hangs out along her side waiting for the pilot.

 She approaches the Ambassador Bridge.

 She passes under the Ambassador Bridge.  If you look at the bridge, the covid virus doesn't seem to have an impact on trade into Canada.

 Another shot as the Ambassador Bridge is more behind her.  I think she's actually past the bridge at this point but the angles and stuff make it look like she isn't.

 A shot of her stack and bridge.

 A shot of her stern as she passes by.

 She passes the CSL St Laurent.

And almost stern shot as she continues on.  Sadly,  I don't remember where she was heading.