CONTINUOUSWAVE

Today, Saturday, June 4, 2016, there is quite a chess game going on with very large pieces on a big chess board around the Soo Locks. The St. Mary's River has been closed to navigation between the Soo Locks and Gros Cap.

The KING piece in this chess game is the ROGER BLOUGH, an 858-foot lake freighter. A week ago Friday while down bound for the SOO LOCKS, she went aground near the Gros Cap Reef Light. The official shipping channel passes WEST of the light, and has a project depth of 30-feet. The base of the light is outside the official channel and is in about 25-feet of water. While approaching the light in a passing situation with another vessel up bound, the BOUGH went aground.


As seen in the image (above) the BLOUGH is a bit closer to the Gros Cap light than you might expect. The other ships seen are in the shipping channel, in the upbound lane. It looks like there was quite a bit of room for the BLOUGH to move to her Starboard and still be on the down bound side of the channel.



So far no significant damage to the BLOUGH has been reported, nor are there reports of discharge of cargo or fuel oil into the water. The BLOUGH, like most modern lake freighters is a self-unloader, although she is a very unusual one. Her unloading crane and conveyer are built into her stern quarter, which keeps her deck completely clear and gives her the appearance of a straight-decker or non-self-unloading vessel.

Another vessel from her same shipping company, the PHILIP R. CLARKE came alongside her to receive some of the cargo. This operation is seen in the image below:



With that operation complete, the stage was set for attempting to move the BLOUGH off her grounded location. To facilitate that operation, the USCG closed navigation in the area. This left quite an array of other chess pieces on the chess board:

--waiting above Gros Cap are the vessels the HON. JAMES M. OBERSTAR, the SAM LAUD, and the JOSEPH L. BLOCK.;

--waiting below the Soo Locks is the vessel CEDARGLEN

--at anchor in the St. Mary's River is the vessel ARTHUR M. ANDERSON; she will come through the locks and take on additional cargo lightered from the BLOUGH.

--on her way to the scene to re-survey the bottom in this area is the S/V BUFE from the Army Corps of Engineers, and

--the tugs ANGLIAN LADY, W.I. SCOTT PURVIS, and MISSOURI are standing by.

The most recent report is that the BOUGH has been re-floated and is on her way to an anchorage area in Waiska Bay, being towed by ANGLIAN LADY. [An even more recent report says the BOUGH went to the anchorage under her own power; thanks to BOATNERD.COM for the updates--jimh]

It will be quite interesting to discover the condition of the BLOUGH. And to also hear the results of the survey of the lake bottom in this area. The BLOUGH went aground a week ago, and she will be out of service pending the outcome of the survey and probably a further Coast Guard inspection.

The general ballasting of these freighters to be be down by the stern. I have not hear any information about where the hull has taken the bottom. The chart indicates a sandy bottom. When a large ship like this takes the ground, the distribution of weight and the forces acting on the hull can become very unusual. The hull stress are different than when the hull is floating and buoyed up more or less equally at all places.

Here's some pure, unadulterated speculation:

1. Reports are that the Blough's hull has been breached, so her seaworthiness has to be questioned. It's one thing to have to go to the other side of the harbor for repairs; the Blough has to transit several hundred miles of open lake to get to a yard capable of fixing her in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. There's nowhere in Lake Superior that can dry dock the Blough.

2. She's on the wrong side of the Soo Locks. I wonder whether the US Army Corps of Engineers would allow a vessel the size of the Blough to transit the locks with a compromised hull. As I recall there is currently only one working lock that can handle vessels the size of the Blough.

3. A tow the size of the Blough downbound on the St. Mary's River is no trivial undertaking. Getting safely through "Rock Cut", aka West Neebish Channel is critical. Go check it on Google Earth.

Check, eh, mate...?

;-)

Those three points are very well made and create quite a bit more interest in the next move in this chess game.

Here is another view of the situation at the Gros Cap Reef light before the BLOUGH was able to move off the grounding. We can see the CLARKE is not very heavily loaded. She must be drafting much less water than the BLOUGH, and that's why she can come alongside to receive the offload.


The horizontal distance is foreshortened significantly in this long telephoto-lens view . The BLOUGH looks like she is much closer to the light than she really is. This is a good example of how images taken with long telephoto lenses can significantly distort horizontal distances. Judging the distance of the BLOUGH to the light from this image would result in a very misleading impression. Compare with the aerial view

The game continues:

6/12 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – The U.S. Coast Guard captain of the port gave the motor vessel Roger Blough permission Saturday to transit down the St. Marys River to anchorage in Potagannissing Bay in the vicinity of DeTour Village, Michigan.

The Blough had been anchored in Waiska Bay in Lake Superior since June 4 after grounding on Gros Cap Reef May 27. Just before 11:30 a.m., the Blough weighed anchor from Waiska Bay and began its transit down the St. Marys River.

The Blough was escorted by the tug Candace Elise. The pair passed through the Soo Locks early Saturday afternoon, and were in the vicinity of DeTour by 10 p.m. Coast Guard officials in Sault Ste. Marie and Milwaukee are currently reviewing the vessel's full transit plan as it intends to make its way to the shipyard in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

(http://www.boatnerd.com/news/)

The AIS shows the Roger Blough at Deaths Door as I type this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porte_des_Morts

Con

The past track of the BLOUGH shows she made a U-turn and is heading East. Maybe they don't want to proceed toward Sturgeon Bay after dark and will orbit in the open lake until dawn.

She's making 3 knots toward Sturgeon Bay.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-87/centery:46/zoom:9

The past-track function show she sailed a race track oval course all night in the open lake. The must have been waiting for first light to approach the entrance to Green Bay or Sturgeon Bay.

They chickened out or may be waiting for a parking place in Sturgeon Bay.

Con