Here is the last arrival into Duluth for the 2023-2024 shipping season, with the John G. Munson making her way through the Duluth shipping canal at sunrise on January 18, 2024. The Munson had arrived and anchored outside Duluth the day before, but waited until the morning to make her entrance. She would go into winter layup at the Port Terminal dock, opposite the Canadian laker Baie Comeau, to wait out the two-month break until shipping resumes again.
The Munson picked one of the coldest mornings of the year so far to make her arrival, with temperatures below zero... plus a chilly north breeze to make it feel even colder. A bank of sea smoke hovered over the water outside the harbor, obscuring the Munson until she was entering the shipping canal. A large gathering of Common Goldeneye ducks were within the shipping canal, as they tend to look for open water on lakes and rivers during winter months. But the ducks decided to temporarily relocate themselves once they saw the Munson headed their way!
The Munson was able to sound out a low, moaning master salute (three long and two short blasts) despite the cold air reducing her horn capacity. As usual, the Aerial Lift Bridge responded in return. Had the Munson's horn been completely frozen, it would have no doubt been a disappointment to those gathered to watch from the north pier. (I pretty much had the south pier to myself.) I was glad I watched from the south pier, as the sun broke through the clouds right as the Munson passed through the canal, helping to make her red painted hull glow a little in the cold morning air.
There would be one more arrival in the Twin Ports before the season was over... that of the John J. Boland arriving three days later at the Superior entrance. That final arrival will be covered in my next video.
The John G. Munson was built in 1952 and was originally 666 feet in length. Unlike a lot of lakers that were converted to self-unloaders later in their careers, the Munson was originally built as a self-unloader... allowing her to serve a variety of ports where shoreside unloading equipment wasn't available. She originally sailed for the Bradley Transportation Line from Rogers City, Michigan and was primarily used to haul stone before being acquired by the U.S. Steel Fleet (now operated as the Great Lakes Fleet), where her role was expanded to also carry iron ore. Today, she tends to alternate between hauling limestone and iron ore, often bringing limestone to Duluth and then departing with iron ore. The Munson was lengthened to 768 feet in 1976, giving her a cargo carrying capacity of 25,550 tons held in 7 cargo holds. Her original steam turbine was replaced by two MAK diesel engines in 2016. While the loss of another steam engine is mourned by some boat watchers, the conversion to diesel has helped to keep the Munson on the Lakes and still in service... hopefully for many more years to come!
____________________
If you are interested in supporting this channel to keep new videos coming, I accept PayPal donations at the following link:
www.paypal.com/paypalme/1long...
Donations of any size are gratefully accepted, as they help offset my travel expenses to capture this footage. Your views, likes, comments, and subscriptions also help this channel and are greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Негізгі бет Автокөліктер мен көлік құралдары John G. Munson - Tail End Charlie. Last Boat into Duluth.
Пікірлер: 45