Boatnerd Discussion Forum

I missed the route of the Radisson. I see she is up helping out the Alpena on her way to Whitefish Ontario. Did she open up Bruce Mines and Thessalon?

The crew is reporting to the Baie Coneau Wednesday. The Radisson is down bound at the Soo as of noon today. So looks like there will be another attempt to break out Midland ON.

Great story and thanks for sharing it!!

April 2014 was a year of bad ice.

From Boatnerd News, it appears that the Canadian Coast Guard didn't try to reach Georgian Bay until April 13.

From the Layup list, no ships were in Midland that winter. Algomarine and Algorail were in Owen Sound, and left layup on April 14 & 15.

From Boatnerd News dated April 30: "The annual spring cruise of the Chi Cheemaun from Owen Sound to Tobermory has been cancelled. It was set for this Thursday, May 1st. However, ice conditions are too dangerous on Georgian Bay, and Susan Schrempf, general manager of the Owen Sound Transportation Co., says they have had to cancel the cruise."

From Paul Beesley on Boatnerd News April 12... "With all the troubles in Port Colborne/Eastern Lake Erie, Mackinac Strait, Lower Seaway and the yet-to-be-broken Georgian Bay, there appears to be no immediate relief or extra icebreakers in sight."

Steve

I feel that I have to add some information concerning the attempts to break into Midland Harbour.
In 1962 my father F.K. McKean who was the District Marine Agent for the Canadian Coast Guard in Parry Sound invited me to board the CCGS N.B. McLean as she attempted to break her way out of Midland. As a young man of 17 I was delighted to come onto such a wonderful and powerful ship. The McLean had two triple expansion steam engines that developed 4800 KW or 6500 shp. We were flown out the the McLean from Midland and landed on her aft deck. From there we were taken to our cabin. As the ship was moving towards Giants Tomb my father wanted to get to the bridge as quickly as possible. There we were introduced to the Captain who was a veteran skipper of the Arctic. From his initial conversation we found out that it was his first time on the Great Lakes. As he and my father discussed the situation between Hope Island and Giants Tomb I overheard the captain boast that there would be no ice condition on the Great Lakes that would be a problem for the McLean. As the ship proceeded towards Hope Island the vessel's forward momentum appeared to slow. As the minutes passed I could see that the captain was becoming somewhat agitated as he noticed the slowing of his ship. He rang down to the engine room and asked for more power, and as I watched the twin funnels a increasing amount of black smoke started to billow out of both stacks. The captain's agitation increased as the ship slowed. Needless to say the bridge became very quiet!
Finally the McLean's forward motion stopped and the captain started to yell and curse. The Arctic class N.B. McLean couldn't punch through the windrows of ice that had been created since she entered Midland. The captain had to reverse and ram the window three times before a lead opened up, and we passed through on our way to Sault Ste. Marie. After things had settled it was determined that the ice in that section was at least 16 feet thick.
Yesterday the CCGS Pierre Radisson, the ship that was built to replace the N.B. McLean came upon the same ice conditions. Windrowed ice builds up from ice that is formed west of Hope Island. It is pushed eastward by the prevailing westerly winds where it is shoved up or down as it meets the fast ice that has been formed between Hope Island and the Western Islands. This action creates a huge wall of ice which is called a windrow. The Radisson has 10100 Kw or 13600 shp. I am sure that the ice she encountered yesterday was much thicker than the ice the N.B. McLean encountered, and not the reported 3 feet of ice.
I hope this sets the record strait.

Midland is one of the Bayports, that had grain elevators built in the early years of the 20th century. Ships would layup over the winter at those ports with grain and be unloaded over the winter.

As an example, in February 1980 Midland had fours ships laid-up at that port: Sir James Dunn, John E. F. Misener and V.W. Scully.

At Port McNicoll, not far from Midland, the Algocen, Lake Manitoba, John O. McKellar, Scott Misener and Senneville (now Tim S. Dool).

tugboathunter wrote:The ice specialist on board the Radisson estimated the ice thickness near Hope Island at over 19 feet. Definitely no fault of the vessel that they couldn't break in there. Maybe CSL won't maroon any more ships in Midland over the winter.

Midland was always a popular winter layup port for many years and used by many companies.

The ice specialist on board the Radisson estimated the ice thickness near Hope Island at over 19 feet. Definitely no fault of the vessel that they couldn't break in there. Maybe CSL won't maroon any more ships in Midland over the winter.

Shipping officials were hoping that the third time would be a charm, but it is not to be.

The Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Pierre Radisson rounded Hope Island this morning - April 8 - only to come face to face with a thick wall of ice. The ship had been sent to Georgian Bay to free Canada Steamship Lines' Baie Comeau, which has been stuck at the grain elevator dock in Midland since the ice over in January.

But attempts by the Pierre Radisson to break through the ice were unsuccessful - much like the attempts by the Samuel Risley and the American CG Cutter Bristol earlier in the season.

Those on shore waiting for the icebreaker to come into Midland Harbour were told by the crew of the Baie Comeau that it would be at least another week before an icebreaker would be able to make another attempt - and the Baie Comeau crew were being sent home to wait it out.

I wouldn't say they're stuck. They might be stopped and force to back and ram, which is happens a lot in ice breaking.

the first post i said they were starting to move towards midland. Short lived their stuck in ice now

just started heading to midland from hope island at 8 a.m. to break baie comeau out

should be at midland late sunday early monday to break out baie comeau.

The Radisson will indeed be breaking out Midland (on Sunday)

https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/ ... nd-1360284

Tied up in Windsor, ON now

She is headed to Midland, Ontario. Should arrive sometime on Sunday.

Just saw this on Bayshore Broadcasting (Owen Sound):

Ice Breaker heading to Midland Harbour.
Midland | by Bayshore News Staff

Shipping season delayed by heavy ice


A Canadian ice breaker is en route to Georgian Bay to open the approach to Midland harbour, where a great lakes bulk carrier is waiting to begin the shipping season. An American coast guard vessel tried more than a week ago to punch through the heavy ice with no luck.
Isabelle Pelchat, superintendent for ice breaking with the Canadian Coast Guard, says the Pierre Radisson is a larger vessel and should be able to open the harbour. She says the situation this spring is unusual because the ice is very dense, having been packed in by persistent winds.
As of Saturday morning, the Radisson was at the west end of Lake Erie and was due in Midland as early as Sunday.


Guess that answers my question.

I see that the Pierre Radisson is upbound near the mouth of the Detroit River this morning. Does anyone know where it is headed? Last week (3/29) there was an article (actually a link to a CTV News video) on the news page that said it would be going to Georgian Bay to break out Midland. The Risley and the Bristol Bay were unable to handle the ice there. According to another poster on here, the Risley is now out of commission so I was wondering if the Radisson would be heading to help out in Lake Superior.

If anyone has any information, it would be appreciated. If the Radisson is headed to Midland, I was hoping to get to see it, but I live some distance away and would need to be quite certain that it was actually going there before I headed in that direction. AIS coverage is not very good in Georgian Bay, so any info anyone could provide would be appreciated.