Three downbound lakers are closing on the Soo today, and their AIS reports from the predawn hours stack them into a forty-one-minute window this afternoon.
Joyce L. VanEnkevort leads, her 01:13 report projecting a 14:20 arrival. American Integrity follows at 14:54. Paul R. Tregurtha closes the column at 15:01, her 02:44 position report the freshest of the three. Forty-one minutes from first hull to last.
The Tregurtha's length means the Poe Lock, full stop. Dispatchers then sort VanEnkevort and Integrity into whatever chambers remain during the same window. Each boat that locks through holds up whatever follows, so the spread between 14:20 and 15:01 is more like a suggestion than a schedule. Expect the actual sequence to compress or stretch depending on how cleanly the first transit clears.
All three vessels were last reported before 03:00; VanEnkevort may already be through the MacArthur or Davis by the time this reaches a reader. The queue is still worth watching: the Tregurtha has not appeared in this stretch of the waterway all week, and she is the largest boat in today's column.
Federal Beaufort and Thunder Bay were both upbound in the Detroit River at predawn, Federal Beaufort last reported at 04:59 with a Port Huron ETA of 11:34, Thunder Bay one minute behind at 11:23. Two salties, one river reach, separated by eleven minutes at the vantage point.
Algoma Compass was also upbound in the river, last reported at 03:00 with an 08:03 ETA at the Dossin Museum waypoint. Running the other direction, Herbert C. Jackson cleared downbound at 03:40 and Vlieborg at 02:50. Four vessels through the same narrow stretch in about two hours before most of Detroit was awake.
At Port Weller on the Welland, Spruceglen cleared outbound at 03:38, Algoberta followed at 00:38, and Evans Spirit came inbound at 00:10. Three transits in under four hours; two of them headed for the upper lakes. Spruceglen, which the Gazette tracked at the Soo earlier this week, is now pointed back toward the St. Lawrence.
Kaye E. Barker and Karen Andrie were both westbound through the Straits of Mackinac in the early hours of this morning, Barker last reported at 00:19 and Andrie at 02:07.