June 23

June 22

Seaway Traffic (ELBEBORG, ALGOTERRA)

Jun 21

Seaway Traffic (ALGOMA TITAN, GAÏA DESGAGNES, RADCLIFFE R. LATIMER, ALGOMA HARVESTER, WICKY SPIRIT)

First official day of summer...
Decades ago, I'd seldom see 4AM.
Now it's just become part of my routine.

Had I been really ambitious, I probably could have made it to the water in time to see the G3 MARQUIS.


My first ship of the day happened to be one of the newest ships in the Algoma fleet...

The freshly christened ALGOMA TITAN had previously sailed the Seaway as CHANTACO until being acquired by Algoma last fall.

ALGOMA TITAN, downbound for Tracy, Quebec.
She would return upriver on June 24 (3 days later)

She's earned her stripes - But her stack still awaits a big red circle with Algoma's Bear emblem.

Next ship was another tanker, GAÏA DESGAGNES.
Became familiar with this vessel towards the end of last season, when I caught her three times in as many weeks.

The 2018-built GAIA DESGAGNES

Definitely seems to be an abundance of tanker ships over the past few decades - I'm sure there are more tankers on the Seaway than back in the 1990s.

GAÏA DESGAGNES already has MANY Seaway transits so far in 2023.

My favorite feature of this ship is of course unusual bow design...

Magical waves crash into the shore.

The next ship was another familiar vessel...
RADCLIFFE R LATIMER was upbound for the Port of Bath, Ontario.
Wasn't familiar with that particular port, but it appears to be roughly halfway between Belleville and Kingston.
(just southeast of Napanee)

RADCLIFFE R LATIMER with GAÏA desgagnes in the distant background.

Noticed what appears to be a new structure on this older ship.
This section with the yellow guardrails and tanks wasn't there last season.

Another look at the "box" that's been constructed

LATIMER had been downbound on the Seaway for Port Daniel on June 11.
She then traveled to Cote Ste Catherine, Quebec.
Departing Cote Ste Catherine on June 21 at approximately 2.30AM, here she is just 9 hours later.

The third Algoma ship of the day...

Was unable to capture a decent shot of the ALGOMA HARVESTER due to the intense glare from the mid-day sun around 12pm.

The two fleetmates appeared to exchange whistles upon meeting...
(vessels saluted upon meeting - Although after hearing
One long and two short - I only heard a single blast as the reply. (Although miles off in the distance, other variables could have interfered)

ALGOMA HARVESTER downbound for Port Cartier, Quebec.

A sudden big puff of smoke above the trees when the LATIMER was out of sight...
May she have been powering up after slowing down to allow the next vessel to clear the lock?

Four hours later, the colors were much easier to capture (around 4pm).


McKeil vessel WICKY SPIRIT downbound for Quebec City. After a brief stop in Montreal, she would return upriver on Jun 24 (3 days later) destined for Clarkson.

WICKY SPIRIT in vivid color

Before leaving, I scanned downriver...
Was hoping to catch a glimpse of KAMINISTIQUA - The last ship of the day.
If she got delayed, wouldn't see her until after nightfall.

Seaway Traffic (BBC WASHINGTON, THUNDER BAY, AUJAQ)

My first ship of the day...

BBC WASHINGTON

2004-built BBC WASHINGTON

Destined for Oswego, she would arrive there on June 21 (a day later).

BBC WASHINGTON has had a slew of names during her career...
BELUGA EFFICIENCY, BBC CAROLINA, FREESE SCAN.
Previously sailed as BBC WASHINGTON from 2012-2014.
She spent nearly a decade as LISANNA, before having her previous name of BBC WASHINGTON restored








THUNDER BAY

Just happened to look downriver just in time to see the upbound Canada Steamship Lines vessel THUNDER BAY emerge from behind an island.

The 2013-built THUNDER BAY, ultimately headed for Thunder Bay, Ontario.

THUNDER BAY upbound

Missed the opportunity to catch her sister ship, BAIE ST PAUL last week...
(The 2012-built BAIE ST PAUL is the oldest member of the Trillium Class - And the only one that I don't have a photo of.)

THUNDER BAY sails upriver

As she headed up river, CSL's THUNDER BAY issued a few rounds of danger warnings - Five short blasts of the whistle. Couldn't see what she was reacting to, but there appeared to be fishing boats in the general area.







AUJAQ

1994-built AUJAQ downbound for Montreal, Quebec.
(she was upbound for Oswego, New York on June 4)

At 29 years of age, she's relatively old - As far as salt water vessels are concerned...
Struck me as odd that she didn't have the usual "splietoff" painted on the hull...



She became AUJAQ in 2019, her previous name being EGMONDGRACHT.
Still has "AMSTERDAM" painted on the stern, however...

AUJAQ

Of note, the vessel is technically sailing under the Canadian Flag - Unlike the Splietoff vessels with the "GRACHT" suffix, registered to the Netherlands.

(Similar Canadian-Flagged ships include the 1994-built SINAA [formerly EGELANTIERSGRACHT] and 1995-built MITIQ [formerly EMMAGRACHT])





Other Seaway Vessel Transits:
Appears that I missed SEDNA DESGAGNES and CANADIAN EMPRESS, both downbound in the evening.
Meanwhile, ATLANTIC SPIRIT was upbound for Mississauga, Ontario.

Jun 20

TAÏGA DESGAGNES

Without even looking at the lock times, just happened to spot an upbound vessel through the trees...
Was able to jump ahead to the next town, do errands and then head down to the river to catch the ship.

2007-built TAÏGA DESGAGNES

TAÏGA DESGAGNES


My first Seaway vessel of the year.
As a bonus, it's one I'd previously never seen.

It may also be the first time I've ever seen a Desgagnes vessel with deck cranes - Didn't realize there were NINE crane ships in the fleet.


.
The vessel previously sailed as BBC AMAZON. She became TAIGA DESGAGNES in 2017.

TAIGA DESGAGNES upbound with wind turbine blades destined for Thunder Bay, Ontario.

The vessel is also equipped for container transport.
Each one of her deck cranes can lift 80 metric tons.








Elsewhere, further up the river (at Johnstown) the 1968-built FRONTENAC arrived just before midnight to unload cargo.

A frequent visitor to The Port of Prescott, the vessel seldom travels further downriver than that.
The FRONTY finished unloading her cargo in less than 8 hours, heading back upriver destined for Port Weller.

Wild "flowers" by the river in full bloom.

FedNav Vessels: FEDERAL PATRIOT, PENDANT, PIONEER, POWER & PRIDE...

A former FedNav vessel (likely FEDERAL PATRIOT) downbound on the Seaway June 6, 2008

Without cargo ships to watch on the St. Lawrence River for several weeks, I found myself digging through some old archives to locate photos of former Seaway vessels.

Did not have a name to go with this ship, but thankfully shipfax.blogspot.com pointed me in the right direction. Learned that the photo was likely FEDERAL PIONEER or one of her sisters.

Leaning towards the vessel being FEDERAL PATRIOT, especially considering she had been in the St. Lawrence Seaway System at the time: http://www.1000islandimages.com/federalpatriot.html


Another specific detail was her YELLOW crane rest.
Many of the other vessels had a RED structure instead.
Some of the sisters also did not have the "FEDERAL" name prefix at the time.


FEDERAL PATRIOT (formerly BBC RUSSIA, ATLANTIC PROGRESS, HAL PATRIOT, ATLANTIC PATRIOT)
IMO: 9223904
Built: 2003 (has YELLOW crane rest)
(now sailing as MSC SUN F)

SISTER SHIPS:

FEDERAL POWER (formerly SEABOARD POWER, ATLANTIC POWER)
(has red crane rest with yellow ladder)
(became FEDERAL POWER until 2007-2013)
IMO: 9190119
Built: 2000
(now sailing as MSC ADA F)





FEDERAL PENDANT (ATLANTIC PENDANT, BBC KOREA, HAL PENDANT)
IMO: 9223899
Built 2003
(has RED crane rest)
(now sailing as SSL SABARIMALAI)





FEDERAL PIONEER (formerly SEABOARD PIONEER, CCNI TUMBES, ATLANTIC PIONEER, ONEGO PIONEER)
IMO: 9190080
Built: 1999
(has RED crane rest)
(now sailing as SEA XPRESS)

This would have been (at least) the third FEDERAL PIONEER on FedNav's history:
Another vessel sailed as FEDERAL PIONEER from 1981-1985 (built 1970 as CARL GORTHON and eventually became CECELIA DESGAGNES).

Back in 1946 the company actually named their very first vessel "FEDERAL PIONEER" (formerly BELL PARK)





FEDERAL PRIDE (formerly ATLANTIC PRIDE, SEABOARD ROVER, SEABOARD CHILE II, HAL PRIDE, ATLANTIC PROGRESS, OSLO WAVE 2)
IMO: 9190107
Built 2000
(has RED crane rest, did not become FEDERAL PRIDE until 2010)
(now sailing as POLA DUDINKA)

ALGOMA NAVIGATOR (1967 - 2016)

 

 


ALGOMA NAVIGATOR
(formerly DEMETERTON, ST. LAWRENCE NAVIGATOR, CANADIAN NAVIGATOR)
Built 1967 by J. Redhead & Sons of South Shields, England.



Originally constructed as an ocean-going bulk carrier (at 567 feet in length), the deep-sea freighter DEMETERTON was acquired by Federal Commerce and Navigation (FedNav).

She was to become FEDERAL TYNE - But that name never appeared on her hull before she was sold again to Leitch Transports (Upper Lakes Shipping) and became ST. LAWRENCE NAVIGATOR.

Her near-sister, the 1963-built CARLTON (was built at Short Bros, Sunderland, England) sailed as FEDERAL TYNE before joining the fleet and becoming ST. LAWRENCE PROSPECTOR.

Both vessels were lengthened in Amsterdam by 80 feet during 1969.
Both ships also being acquired by Upper Lakes Shipping in 1975.

ST. LAWRENCE NAVIGATOR and ST. LAWRENCE PROSPECTOR sailed until 1978-79, before these two former saltwater vessels were lengthened to 730 feet - Taking on the dimensions of a traditional laker.

The cargo holds and bow sections were cut away, with a new forebody.
They emerged as CANADIAN NAVIGATOR and CANADIAN PROSPECTOR, respectively.

It was a relatively new company tradition to have the "CANADIAN" prefix for vessel names.
(existing names included HUNTER, LEADER, MARINER, CENTURY, PROGRESS, OLYMPIC, TRANSPORT, ENTERPRISE)




The NAVIGATOR was converted to a self unloader in 1997 and remained a relatively familiar sight on the Seaway.

She became ALGOMA NAVIGATOR when acquired by Algoma Central in 2011.
Five years of service in Algoma colors before the vessel was finally retired in 2016.

Quite an unusual career for a one-of-a-kind vessel.
She will be missed along the Seaway, as ships of her era slowly disappear to the scrapyard.