by Russ » April 12, 2011, 9:29 pm
The test was conducted by U.S. Steel off Cleveland in October 1973. During the test, 14,000 tons of pellets were transferred from the Blough to the Ferbert for delivery to the USS Works on the Black River in Lorain, O. The premise of the test is that a super carrier could carry a cargo from Lake Superior to Lake Erie at a lower cost per ton than a smaller boat and the off shore transfer to a smaller boat would permit the cargo to be transported up relatively restricted waters at the final destination (Lake Carriers' Association Bulletin, Sept-Oct-Nov, 1973, p7). I'm not aware of any follow up to the test. I suspect the cost of having the Blough wait to unload a full cargo into 2 or 3 smaller vessels off set the cost of using a smaller boat on a long haul. The practice of transferring cargo from one vessel to another, sometimes called a "dipsy-doodle" has been used in other occasions: (1) pellets were transferred from the ore dock at Marquette into an ASC self unloader and then into a second ASC boat that could not fit under the chutes, and (2) Canada Steamship has transferred ore from a self unloading laker directly into a larger salt water vessel.
The test was conducted by U.S. Steel off Cleveland in October 1973. During the test, 14,000 tons of pellets were transferred from the Blough to the Ferbert for delivery to the USS Works on the Black River in Lorain, O. The premise of the test is that a super carrier could carry a cargo from Lake Superior to Lake Erie at a lower cost per ton than a smaller boat and the off shore transfer to a smaller boat would permit the cargo to be transported up relatively restricted waters at the final destination (Lake Carriers' Association Bulletin, Sept-Oct-Nov, 1973, p7). I'm not aware of any follow up to the test. I suspect the cost of having the Blough wait to unload a full cargo into 2 or 3 smaller vessels off set the cost of using a smaller boat on a long haul. The practice of transferring cargo from one vessel to another, sometimes called a "dipsy-doodle" has been used in other occasions: (1) pellets were transferred from the ore dock at Marquette into an ASC self unloader and then into a second ASC boat that could not fit under the chutes, and (2) Canada Steamship has transferred ore from a self unloading laker directly into a larger salt water vessel.