Viking Octantis Leads a Three-Ship Upbound Queue at the Soo

The vessel that has no business in a coal or limestone conversation reaches the Soo this morning. Viking Octantis, the expedition cruise ship that trades in polar itineraries and Lake Superior scenery, was tracking upbound from DeTour with a 7:12 a.m. ETA at the locks, the earliest of three upbounders stacking in behind her as Friday opened.

St. Marys Pilot follows at 8:44 a.m. and Le Bellot at 8:54, both also working up from DeTour. Three upbounders arriving within two hours, the first of them a ship whose passengers photograph the locks rather than load them, make for a useful morning at the wall for anyone who drove north to watch.

The downbound side has its own shape. Algoma Guardian was last reported at Point Iroquois at 4:46 a.m. with a 5:45 a.m. Soo ETA, meaning she may already be in the chamber by the time the Octantis ties up. CSL Laurentien was running the Keweenaw stretch with a 1:56 p.m. Soo ETA, and American Century was not far behind at 2:51 p.m. The locks will be sorting traffic in both directions well past midday.

Harbor Notes

On the St. Clair River, Spruceglen was upbound from the Detroit River Light at 4:38 a.m. Friday with an 11:39 a.m. ETA at Port Huron. H. Lee White was ahead of her at Stag Island Upper, due at Port Huron by 5:19 a.m. Algoma Innovator was running downbound between markers 11 and 12, expected at Port Huron by 5:03 a.m.

Mark W. Barker was upbound near South East Shoal at 4:11 a.m., with a 9:03 a.m. Detroit ETA.

In Superior, Wisconsin, the city council voted August 18 to award a $29,900 contract to Fraser Shipyards for hull-crack repairs to the whaleback SS Meteor, waiving competitive bidding. Fraser traces its roots to the 1890 shipyard that built the Meteor in the first place.

The Jones Act is under scrutiny across the region: a series of federal waivers is raising concern at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City, where instructors and administrators worry about what relaxed domestic-cargo rules could mean for American-flagged carriers on these lakes.

The Levels Ledger

Lake Superior sits at 1.76 feet above Low Water Datum, the lowest reading among the five lakes today. Lake Michigan is at 2.09 feet, Lake Huron at 2.10. Lake Erie stands at 3.02 feet and Lake Ontario at 3.38. The spread between Superior and Ontario is more than a foot and a half, a reminder that deep-draft vessels loading at Duluth or Two Harbors face tighter margins than those working the lower lakes right now.

Weather on the Water

Lake Huron is the calm water today: a 30.00-inch high holds, waves at 1 foot. That changes Saturday when a low drags a cold front through. Lake Michigan is already feeling the shift: a 29.8-inch trough approaching from the southwest will push south-to-southwest winds up through today, with thunderstorms expected at times and waves climbing to 3 feet. Lake Superior has a 29.9-inch low moving through, with reinforcing troughing that could deepen the system to 29.8 inches by Saturday morning.

Looking Astern

Thunder Bay Maritime Festival opens today in Alpena and runs through Sunday, August 23. Eight tall-ship excursions are scheduled on Thunder Bay, alongside deck tours, a community boat parade along the Thunder Bay River, and the Battle of the Paddles race, open to kayaks, canoes, and stand-up paddleboards. Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which organizes the festival, sits above one of the densest collections of freshwater shipwrecks on the continent. For a watcher who wants to stand over the water and think about what is under it, Alpena is the place this weekend.

Tomorrow's Watch CSL Laurentien and American Century were both still well short of the Soo as of the last reports; watch for their afternoon lock transits Saturday, and check whether the cold front forecast for Lake Huron Saturday night delays any following vessel on the upper St. Marys approach.

Vessel Spotlight: Viking Octantis was upbound from DeTour toward the Soo Locks with a 7:12 a.m. Friday ETA, the first of three upbounders expected at the locks within a two-hour window. The expedition ship's arrival ahead of St. Marys Pilot and Le Bellot puts a cruise vessel at the head of a working-canal queue, a pairing the Soo does not see every Friday morning.