A 13 foot crack has been found in the Michipicoten. #ship #greatlakes #maritime #thunderbay #michipicoten Source: www.tbnewswatc... NOTE: NONE OF THE PHOTOS IN THIS VIDEO ARE MINE OR WERE TAKEN BY ME Subscribe!
I was built in 1952. Not the oldest. The Alpena still in service was built in 1942. The most interesting one is the Lee Tregurtha started as the USS Chiwawa for the Navy to transport oil during WW2. It was built in 1942 also. It has had some reconstruction changes before it became the Lee Tregurtha.
I was watching the departure of Michipicoten from Duluth last month and boy did that ship look bad. That ship has been road hard and came close to being put away wet! I'd investigate the shipping company to see what kind of maintenance they've been doing and to have a look at whatever other ships they may have -- if any of them are not seaworthy then they need to be pulled from service until they can prove they've made the necessary fixes to permit safe operation on the Great Lakes!
Thanks for the update, Connor. I wonder how many micro fissures are in the hull of that ship that are as yet, undetected and just waiting to become something major. I'm glad that there were no casualties. It is sad but, nothing man made lasts forever.
A crack 13 feet long, and, a quarter of an inch wide, seems pretty major to me. I live just a half mile from that lake, and, sailing it all the way back to Duluth/Superior will be dicey, it they can do it at all. It is a self unloader, so possibly they can unload the cargo right there in Thunder Bay. You can bet the marine insurance company that is insureing the vessel is interested in this.
I love Michipicoten.. I’ve only been a boatnerd since September, and never even knew about any of these ships until October, but this one had immediately grabbed a special place in my heart when I first saw it on a live camera stream. What a shame though, really.. I hope it can be repaired and become seaworthy once again. Long live Michipicoten! 🤍🩵
That's how a lot of the interlake freighters look because most are pretty old and well used. In fresh water they last a lot longer with little work than ships do in salt water.
As a disaster, this couldn’t have turned out any better. All lives onboard - saved Cargo - saved Ship on top of the water , with the potential of being repaired. Now .. the money crunchers will assess the feasibility of repairs or sending to scrap. Time will tell.
Wow, that could have been the SS Henry Steinbrenner all over again. I couldn't imagine what either Frank Mays or Dennis Hale would have said about this if they were still alive.
I’ve seen this ship in person 3 times. It’ll be sad to see her go, but since she’s as old as she is and has such a major crack in the hull, I can’t see the company deciding to repair her. At best, she’ll be stripped and laid up as a storage vessel.
While the ship is old, the ship should be covered by corrosion protection, inspection, and maintenance and overhauls. There are other aspects unrelated to age that may be at fault (e.g., welds). So it shouldn't be assumed that age is the issue.
Precisely. The ship is old, but it’s spent its entire life on freshwater, which is a lot less corrosive on a steel hull and saltwater. Lakeboats last a lot longer than ocean-going ships
I'm a certified welder for a military contractor over the years Metal bends and contracts Metal fatigue isn't always easy to see it might be her last run
@@falcondragonslayerYes, but there comes a point when even freshwater vessels are just too old. However, at 72 years old, at least she is younger than Biden or Trump.
Shame, I don’t think there are many of these classic bow cabin designs left on the lakes. Connor honestly seems like he’d have the answers out of anyone.
There are a few, but most have been gone for decades. This one doesn't actually have the classic laker lines and the self-unloader would ruin them if she did. A lot of them spent years tied to wharfs all around the lakes before being sold off overseas or scrapped.
There are a decent amount left. The James L. Oberstsr, Arthur M. Anderson, Alpena, Lee A. Tregurtha, and Kaye E. Barker to name some of them. Most of them are from the same era in the 50s. Some even still have their steam turbines. But the classic lakers are a dying breed on the lakes. It’ll be sad to see them go, but it’s inevitable, especially with the age of the ships.
Not even close. The ship’s bilge pumps kept up with the speed of the flooding and she made it to the port with little to no difficulty. Edmund Fitzgerald was caught in a monster storm and split in half, killing its crew.
@@David-lx4yb It's the MV Mark W. Barker which was launched in 2022. But there's a long time between the newest ship and the second newest ship on the lakes. My father was a captain on the lakes, and there are still ships from that company working on the lakes. But the last one they build had to have been no later than 1980! And the oldest still in service dates to 1967. But all their older ships were out of service by 2000. And a few years later they closed shop and sold the remainder. I think Lower lakes is pushing it with this ship.
Just another Algoma neglected ship which will now be heading to a scrap yard ! The Algoma fleet loses at least one ship every season and keeps the Port Colborne ship breakers busy. Most of the ships in their fleet look like they are ready to be scrapped, the old "drive them till they fall apart " should be the corporations slogan !
my guess is that she is done at her age. likely not worth the repair on the old maid. they likely can live without one ship at this time, at least for a while.
Well at least it didnt sink and cargo and personal are ok and its not a drift on the great lakes cuz superior is as crazy as the ocean. Thankyou to transport Canada and the port of thunder bay and the US coast gaurd.
Years ago I was sailing on ULS SS Montrealais in late October when the winds raging west ward at 65 mph. The water level was 6 feet higher on Lake Erie in Buffalo, therefore we anchored in Windsor until 4am The Capt started up bow thruster. Large bang as we hit the wharf causing hair line fracture on star board above the water line about 3 ft in length. The chief engineer and sailors put temporary repair as we proceeded to Welland Canal i was able to photograph the repairs The cargo was 26,000 tons of wheat on board for Bae Comeau jg
I’ve had such bad luck with my favorite lake boats. My first two were the EM & JB Fords as they were incredibly unique and historic. After one was scrapped and the others fate was uncertain, I found the Algoma Transfer. How can you not like two ships in one? Then it was scrapped in 2014. Shortly after that it was the Algosoo. (scrapped in 2016) Then for another 2 years it was the Algosteel. (Scrapped 2018) Then it was the Ojibway. I especially loved the unique shape of it’s Stern compared to other 50s lake boats. (Scrapped 2022) After that, I chose the Michipicoten as my favorite because of its sun visor that made it look different from its fleet mates. Just my luck that this one is the next one to go. I’m hesitant to say “______ _ ________ is my new favorite on the lakes,” or any ship for that matter. Hopefully this beautiful lake boat can be repaired, but that’s a lot of damage and I’m not hopeful that it will unfortunately.
At least it fared better than the Edmund Fitzgerald and her unfortunate crew. I’m glad everyone survived. That line in the Gordon Lightfoot song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” about how the bell rang 29 times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald gives me chills.
@@David-lx4yb - Rather than during a gale. I think they could’ve abandoned ship this time if they needed to. There’s no way the crew of the Fitzgerald could’ve safely abandoned ship in that storm. The wind and waves were tossing the ship. Imagine what would’ve happened to life boats. Besides there was no time. On one of the videos I watched at least one expert believes they only had seconds. The Fitz was hit by one wave that was taller than the ship and hadn’t recovered from that when another tall wave hit. I think that if the ship itself had no defect, the Fitz would’ve gone underwater for a very short time and then it would’ve regained its buoyancy and came back to the surface after the wave passed. But buoyancy had been compromised because the ship had been taking on water which made it heavier so the wave pushed the bow down to the lake bed with quite a lot of force. The stern would’ve been up in the air because the ship was longer than the water was deep. But when the bow hit bottom with such force the ship broke in two. The whole thing is disturbing to me, even more so than the Titanic.
Melt it down and start over. Divers could tell if it was from a strike. Obviously the crack would be forced inward....they know it's a fatigue crack and the ship is scrap.
Really? This bucket of rust has a 13-foot crack in it? You can see the ribs of this thing in its rusting hulls. No way this vessel was EVER seaworthy prior to its voyage putting the crew in enormous danger for corporate profits. SUE!
Sounds like the chances are it didn’t hit anything. But that doesn’t mean they should try to see if there’s a semi-submerged object that could be a hazard to other vessels.
Should have been scrapped a decade ago. A sad testament to the state of maritime shipping that this museum relic is still in active duty until it basically breaks apart.
All those so-called museum pieces are inspected every 5 years for seaworthiness. As long as they are taken care of, they can last a long time. (There are companies that unfortunately don't that) I happen to like the looks of the classic lakers (before 1973) that have the pilot house in the bow. They're living history, doing what they've been doing for over half a century, connecting us with a less compicated past. There's one, the Alpena, that's been on the lakes since 1942, one that's a WWII veteran, the Lee A Tregurtha, (a 1942 tanker converted to a laker) with battle ribbons on her pilot house, and one that's a living reminder of the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking, the Arthur M Anderson, built in1952. These and other classic boats have histories and fan bases. They're not museum relics, these classic lakers and the newer built boats (40 to 50 years old), but work horses doing their jobs every day.
This is the downside with the Act Jones, no real competition and you can come away with using “old crap”. This would not work anywhere else in the industrial world, only in a third world country. The real losers are the sailors who have to work on ships like this
Rand Logistics doesn't give a shit about any of their boats. Look at them! No paint, hills scraped and dented, cheap repairs when done. I just hope the ASC boats leased to Lower Lakes, both Rand Logistics Companies don't end up like the MICHIPICOTEN.
