Record tonnage through the Soo??

[dellsworth1007]

i see everyone is looking at the Soo numbers what about boats at stone, grain and other items are they also loading more cargo and deeper too???

just a question

hope everyone is having a great summer

charlie

Those commodities load to max volume for the most part anyway, capability for deeper drafts won't affect them as much.

[Denny]

I don't know who the First Mate and the Captain are sorry to say but I do see though on their AIS that they are due to load next up in Two Harbors on August 13 at 0600. Might this possibly end up then being another record load maybe? Yes I know the last load she took though came from Silver Bay to Indiana Harbor and also the American Integrity briefly held the record in early July when it had a load from Duluth to Zug Island. Other than those two loads most of these large loads have come from the Two Harbors Ore Dock so it will be interesting to see if the Indy can end up topping its own record. Interesting as could we see a new record then at over 77,000 tons? Hey she came awful close the last time and I say what the heck why not push the limits and just do it then!

[Guest]

Anyone know who the 1st mate and captain are on the Indy?

[Guest]

The M/V Indiana Harbor is locking down right now with record tonnage. Deep draft 30'5", 76,930.5 net tons. This is the most tonnage through the Soo Locks. 8/8/2019

How much clearance would they have in the Rock Cut ? Or over the sills at the Soo ? It can't be much and would have been carefully calculated and estimated since those depths can change based on the wind.

Project depth for area above and below the locks is 28'. So you basically gamble on what the water levels will be when you get to the Soo, based on wind direction, pressure, and projected water flow through the controlling works. So water level had to be a plus 30" or better for her to proceed down.

[Denny]

Thanks both garbear and Guest for the update. All I can say to that is “Holy Toledo” as I would’ve loved to have been at the Soo today and watched her lock through with that record breaking cargo and tonnage! Just a bummer and shame though she’s going to her namesake port and not down on the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers as I would’ve wanted and enjoyed seeing her especially with that record load. I’ve yet to see her on the St. Clair River and hope to see and photograph her sometime this year. Now with the record at 76,930.5 net tons, I just wonder how long this record breaking load will hold and last before another ship ends up maybe breaking this load? I guess you could say there’s a little bit of competition if you will amongst ASC footers setting and breaking the largest loads between the American Integrity, Walter J. McCarthy Jr. and now the Indiana Harbor. What about the American Century as sheis yet to get in on the fun this year so far and Yes she’s carried some ore loads this year. Also, is the Burns Harbor capable of loading as deep as what has been taking place with the other ASC footers? Just curious is all.

[Guest]

The M/V Indiana Harbor is locking down right now with record tonnage. Deep draft 30'5", 76,930.5 net tons. This is the most tonnage through the Soo Locks. 8/8/2019

How much clearance would they have in the Rock Cut ? Or over the sills at the Soo ? It can't be much and would have been carefully calculated and estimated since those depths can change based on the wind.

[garbear]

The M/V Indiana Harbor is locking down right now with record tonnage. Deep draft 30'5", 76,930.5 net tons. This is the most tonnage through the Soo Locks. 8/8/2019

That's a Silver Bay load.

[Guest]

The M/V Indiana Harbor is locking down right now with record tonnage. Deep draft 30'5", 76,930.5 net tons. This is the most tonnage through the Soo Locks. 8/8/2019

[Denny]

Don't forget also folks that the record breaker so far anyway the American Integrity arrived I think it was today in Gary, Indiana to unload ore from Two Harbors and as I mentioned in an earlier post about this other than one load in Duluth last month in July, all of the record setting loads seem to be coming from Two Harbors and I'm sure the American Integrity would also have been loaded down to a draft of at least 30 feet. So far and I know that I've mentioned this a few times in previous posts but, the record tonnage load so far is at 76,424 tons. So it will be interesting to see if anything new has been set or broken lately? A bit off subject but, yesterday I was told by a friend that the water levels now are slowly starting to drop now at least out along the St. Clair River. So we'll have to see if the water levels start dropping off some as we inch near to fall.

[Bob]

Should have said how much tonnage was she carrying

[Bob]

It was mentioned the other day in this thread that the Walter j McCarthy was loaded to a draft of 30 feet. Any info on what tonnage she was carrying?

[hugh3]

I believe by law the Chief Engineer is required to load a certain percentage over and above the anticipated needed fuel for the coming trip.

[Charlie]

Hi all

When my father was chief on a 1,000 footer he always fueled unbound. this was just easier to make the dock and you would loss weight so when you go to load you have more room for paying freight [cargo].

If they loaded fuel in USA or Canada it was always the same number he gave the 'FUEL Dock ' 80,000net then the dock would figure out how much to pump on.

The Net & Gross makes a difference in how many gallons would be put on board. He said with NET you always have some room in the tanks for expansion of the fuel, remember the Eng room is quite hot and will push the fuel temp up some and that increased the volume in the tanks.

you don't want to have to call the office over a fuel spill when loading fuel [never looks good]

He also said that they burned through about 80,000 gallon every week.

The Bay boats use on side of the Eng room at the dock for power to run all the equipment

just my 2 cents

charlie

[GuestfromEU]

I have been loading US Lakers for years and I have never once considered fuel burn when making a load plan. The tonnage is not significant enough to warrant altering the plan. Any slight variation is adjusted in trim. You know how deep to go and load to it. That is that.

I figured as much. +/- 50 tons of cargo isn't worth the trouble.

I work with ocean trading LNG and VLCC ships, where fuel consumption and drafts are a factor on a 14+ day voyage.

[Guest]

I have been loading US Lakers for years and I have never once considered fuel burn when making a load plan. The tonnage is not significant enough to warrant altering the plan. Any slight variation is adjusted in trim. You know how deep to go and load to it. That is that.

[GuestfromEU]

Great explanation GuestfromEU. Just out of curiosity does anyone know what the price per MT the shipping companies pay for fuel?

The Sarnia/Windsor area pricing used to be published online, but I cannot locate it now. As of last Friday, 2 Aug, the Americas-New York trending price of Low Sulphur MGO was $609/MT on 2 August. Houston was $602/MT. I believe the Great Lakes region would be in this general spread, perhaps slightly higher, pushing $625/MT as a guess. A rough approximation is $2.08/US Gallon in that case.

I know the American ships bunker fuel in US Gallons. I do not know if the contract of sale between the ship operator and bunker supplier is written in USG or MT. My assumption is that all parties work in USG, but that is only a guess. I also do not know if they purchase bulk quantities in advance, akin to homeowners buying heating oil or liquid propane in advance at fixed (hopefully lower) rates. That is not common in global trades, but it may very well be standard practice on the Great Lakes.

[Lakeport]

Great explanation GuestfromEU. Just out of curiosity does anyone know what the price per MT the shipping companies pay for fuel?

[GuestfromEU]

A thousand footer will load fuel in the Detroit or St Clair River upbound and have enough fuel for a round trip (to load fuel again when passing upbound through the River). If fuel is unavailable in the River, I believe they would have enough fuel to make it to Duluth/Two Harbors, but it would be tight, particularly if coming from an eastern Ohio port.

While each vessel is different, the American Integrity shows a registered Fuel Oil capacity of 454.02 Metric Tonnes. On average, the EMD-powered thousand footers consume 47 MT/day . That is 8-9 days worth of fuel, assuming reduced fuel burn whilst quayside and/or manoeuvring.

14,000 US Gals = 47 MT (rounded) based on 885kg/m3 for DMALS MGO. Density can range from 825-900kg/m3, but the effects in capacity are negligible.

If loading fuel in the Detroit/St Clair River, at best, the ship would have half the amount of fuel remaining on board when leaving the load dock, approximately 250 MT, give or take. If they loaded in Two Harbors or Duluth, then they would have a full load of fuel, with subsequent reduction of cargo capacity.

Fuel burn has always been considered when making the load plan and trimming to final drafts. The ships are not purposefully carrying less fuel to carry more cargo. As you can see, there is not much margin for fuel error to begin with, given the total bunker capacity is not much greater than a typical round trip turnaround. Depending on the stability booklet for the ship (each ship is different), accounting for a 50 MT fuel consumption in the transit across Lake Superior would result in loading an additional 40-50 MT of cargo - not enough to make a difference one way or the other.

A recent thread here seemed to indicate bunkering in southern Lake Michigan ports was not common. Bunker barges no longer exist, so I assume any fuel is delivered by truck. Method of receiving fuel notwithstanding, let's assume they were loading fuel in Indiana Harbor, and none was received in Two Harbors. In this case, if the thousand footer was loading a full load of fuel in the discharge port, they would have roughly 280 MT of fuel on board when passing downbound through the Soo, 170 MT less than full capacity. That 170 MT is equivalent to roughly 1"-2" of draft, depending on how the ship is trimmed when loading.

[Denny]

As of 11:10 a.m. on Sunday, August 4th they’re downbound now at the Soo Locks with a load from Two Harbors CN Ore Dock and they’re on their way to a Lake Michigan destination. Any word yet or information on any possible record breaking tonnage statistics? As of right now anyway the current record and largest load is 76,424 tons set of course by the American Integrity just a short time back last month. I still gotta believe that more record tonnages are yet to come this year and summer as we will just have to wait and see what those numbers will end up being.

[StClairBN]

I see the coal carrying ships regularly stop in Detroit or Sarnia for fuel on their return trips. It appears to me that they are loading enough fuel to make a round trip back to Recor and on to Monroe, Essexville or back to Superior.
Regards, John