Lake Superior – Page 18 – M. Sullivan Photography

March 20, 2013 M. Sullivan Photography Lake Superior, Photos, Ships

Mesabi Miner

I’m not overly knowledgeable about shipping on the Great Lakes, but it was pretty cool to watch the first departure of the season by the Mesabi Miner today. I saw her out in the harbor when I came to work this morning with a small tugboat alongside her. There is stil a good amount of ice in the harbor and the tug was there to assist as needed. The Mesabi Miner departed Duluth headed for Marquette, Michigan to drop off a cargo of coal. She will return back to Duluth on Saturday to load iron ore pellets. She will be the first arrival of the season in Marquette and will become the first arrival in Duluth on Saturday when she returns for cargo. The shipping details above are from duluthshippingnews.com

March 15, 2013March 15, 2013 M. Sullivan Photography Lake Superior, Photos, Weather

Ice Breaker

Living in a port city, we see many large ships coming in from or leaving to the eastern Great Lakes or sometimes the Atlantic Ocean. There comes a time in January when the shipping season closes for the season. Too much ice on the Great Lakes prohibits the safe passage of vessels. Now that it is March, the shipping season is about to reopen. The Coast Guard Cutter Alder was out on Wednesday cutting through the ice in preparation of the upcoming shipping season.

From the Coast Guard’s website:

ALDER is a 225′ multi-mission buoy tender located in Duluth, Minnesota. ALDER’s primary missions are aids to navigation (AtoN), ice breaking, law enforcement (LE), and search and rescue (SAR). ALDER operates in CG District 9, which covers all of the Great Lakes.

After several weeks without any traffic in the harbor, it was fun to see the Alder breaking through the thick ice.

I spotted another vessel yesterday when I left work – the tugboat Nels J.

In 2009, the Nels J. was purchased by Mike Ojard, the owner, along with his two sons, Pat and Vince, of Heritage Marine of Knife River. They brought her to Duluth in October, of that year. Built as the Ares in 1958, she is a 103-foot, 1,950-horsepower boat with a 16-cylinder diesel engine that once supplied oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Less than two weeks ago, Lake Superior was covered in ice near Duluth. You can see the photos here. Now the ice has broken up leaving behind open water.

Spring is near!

March 3, 2013 M. Sullivan Photography Lake Superior, Photos, Weather

Lake Superior Ice

One of the greatest things about living near the largest fresh water lake in the world is seeing how it changes from day-to-day. During spring and summer months it can be deep blue or if the winds are high, the clay soil churns up to make it look brown. In the winter there can be days where the surface is covered with ice. If the winds change, all of the ice pushes to shore to create open water. After a number of very cold days a couple of weeks ago there was a shallow layer of ice. Last week the winds pushed all of the ice into the shoreline to create a jagged surface resembling broken panes of glass.

A number of people were out ice fishing just off the shore. The journey out with their equipment was likely a little rough.

I wasn’t as adventurous as the ice fishermen or the couple that made their way out onto the ice. I enjoyed the wonder of the ice from the safety of the shore.