Most boats arrive at the Soo after a night on Lake Superior. CSL Welland is arriving after a run from the Keweenaw, which is a different proposition entirely. Her last AIS report came at 1:17 this morning, still downbound off the Keweenaw Peninsula, with an ETA of 13:58 this afternoon at the locks. That is a long Wednesday leg, and it puts her arrival in the middle of the afternoon when watchers are actually at their posts.
She will not be threading an empty channel. Mesabi Miner was bearing down from Point Iroquois with a 6:09 ETA at the locks, last reported at 4:51 this morning. Capt. Henry Jackman was cycling through at 5:11, last seen at 5:01. Both of those boats were through or nearly through before most readers finished reading this page. CSL Welland is the one that arrives at a civilized hour.
Three downbound vessels, the same locks, one Wednesday. The Mesabi Miner and the Jackman were the morning's work. CSL Welland is the afternoon's.
The Detroit River carried a tight upbound string this morning. Sam Laud was tracked through South East Shoal with a 7:44 ETA at the Dossin Museum crossing, last reported at 3:04 a.m. Kaye E. Barker followed from the same shoal position with a 9:13 ETA, last reported at 5:00. Algosolis closed the sequence at 10:01, last reported at 4:47. The Sam Laud we tracked briefly last week was at Marblehead today, loaded with limestone at Amrize, per the Toledo-area port report. A different call, a different lake.
In the Welland Canal, Algoma Compass cleared Port Weller outbound before 5 a.m. Wednesday. Three vessels came inbound behind her: Wilf Seymour with a 4:20 ETA, Tamarack at 2:27, and Seahound at 1:36, all carrying fresh Wednesday timestamps at Port Weller.
At Toledo, American Mariner departed for Calcite and John G. Munson left for Stoneport, both logged Wednesday. Algoma Niagara and Baie Comeau were among the day's arrivals at CSX and Midwest Terminals.
Lake Ontario leads all five lakes at 3.68 feet above Low Water Datum at Rochester. Lake Erie sits at 3.19 feet at Cleveland. Lake Michigan reads 2.25 feet at Chicago, Lake Huron 2.08 feet at Harbor Beach, and Superior runs lowest at 1.73 feet above datum at Sault Ste. Marie. The Erie margin is the one that moves loads: a loaded laker coming upriver from Toledo or Cleveland has more water under her keel than the Superior boats will find at the other end of the run.
A quasi-stationary front holds over the southern lakes through Thursday. Lake Huron is looking at waves of 2 feet with periodic showers and thunderstorms as the front lingers. Lake Erie carries waves of 2 feet as well; a cold front is expected to push south of the lake by tonight as a weak low tracks through the Ohio Valley. Lake Michigan is quieter, with light and variable winds and 1-foot waves forecast through Thursday as the stalled boundary parks well south of the lake.
Federal waivers suspending Jones Act requirements have unsettled Great Lakes carriers and the maritime academy community in Traverse City. The Act, written into the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, requires domestic cargo to move on American-built, American-owned, and predominantly American-crewed vessels. Supporters call it a supply-chain and national-security anchor. Critics argue it raises shipbuilding costs and domestic freight rates. A series of waivers has left the Great Lakes Maritime Academy and the fleet watching a question that has no clean answer yet.