At 11:38 Wednesday night Algoma Sault was running the Keweenaw-to-Soo corridor with an ETA of 11:10 this morning at the locks. Her fleetmate Algoma Strongfield was clocked on the same run at 3:29 this morning, ETA 14:51 this afternoon. Same flag, same direction, same gate: the two sisters separated by fewer than four hours.
If Sault holds her pace, she clears the approach before noon. Strongfield comes through in mid-afternoon light. A watcher with a sightline to the river can account for both before supper.
Burns Harbor had already pushed downbound through the Soo locks before 2:00 this morning, so the gate was not idle overnight. On the upbound side, Indiana Harbor and Frontenac were both pressing the 9 Mile Point stretch before 4:30 a.m., with ETAs of 5:30 and 5:53 respectively. Two upbounders that close together in pre-dawn water, two downbounders committed behind them: the Soo's morning queue made its own argument for early rising.
CSL St-Laurent entered the Welland Canal at Port Weller with a 1:10 a.m. ETA, followed by Algoma Conveyor at 2:13 a.m. Baie Comeau came in behind them at 5:01 a.m. Three inbounds through Port Weller in a single overnight sequence, with MRS C running outbound in the gap.
Kathy McKeil, which this Gazette tracked upbound at Port Huron on Wednesday, was at Detour this morning with an 8:28 a.m. ETA at the Soo locks, continuing her upbound run.
Algoma Niagara was upbound on the Detroit River at 5:00 this morning, tracking from South East Shoal toward Detroit with a 9:23 a.m. ETA. Fleetmate Algoma Intrepid was on the same upbound corridor about two hours behind her, last reported at 12:55 a.m.
In Cleveland, Mark W. Barker moved to Cargill to load salt while Sam Laud ran shuttles, per this morning's port report.
Lake Ontario leads the chain at 3.31 feet above Low Water Datum at Rochester. Lake Erie stands at 3.02 feet at Cleveland, Lake Michigan at 2.16 feet at Chicago, and Lake Huron at 1.98 feet at Harbor Beach. Lake Superior is the shallowest of the five at 1.59 feet above datum at Sault Ste. Marie. The nearly two-foot spread between Superior and Ontario means masters loading at the head of the lakes are working tighter margins than their downbound counterparts.
Moderate northwest winds are crossing Lake Huron through Thursday following a cold front passage, with high pressure building toward the central lakes to close out the week. A cold front is moving across Lake Erie this morning with a trailing trough expected tonight, then high pressure arrives Friday. Lake Superior sits under a high centered over northern Manitoba, drifting over the lake itself by Friday morning. Waves are holding at 2 feet on Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie; Ontario is the calmest water at 1 foot.
Federal waivers suspending the Jones Act have put Great Lakes maritime leaders in unfamiliar territory, according to reporting out of Traverse City. The law, embedded in the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, requires domestic cargo to move on American-built, American-owned, American-crewed vessels. For the Great Lakes fleet, where most tonnage runs between U.S. ports, the waivers carry direct weight. The Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City is among the institutions tracking the outcome; its graduates crew the boats that would feel any change first.