Joseph L. Block

[Guest]

They will be underway in a few days.

[guest]

The boom is back aboard the Joseph L. Block. There is further work to be done, that is welding the repaired part of the boom.
The crew is traveling today to return to work. Only three crew members were kept aboard during the repairs.
Look for a sail date of Monday, October 21.

[Denny]

They are still in Duluth getting the repairs done on the unloading boom as of October 16. Hope that this helps.

[Guest]

Fraser is still working on building/repairing the piece removed

[Zmolak]

Any updates on the boom?

[Mn bob]

Who is responsible to pay for the damages to the unloading boom? The ship company insurance or the cn/dm&ir ore dock?

[Denny]

To answer Guest’s question of “Are there any photos of the Stinson unloading then without the assistance of its self-unloading boom?” Yes, I believe I’ve seen them but I don’t recall if they were here on boatnerd or where I saw them at? The Stinson had a special type of machinery for the assistance and aid of unloading placed on its deck as their unloading boom was being repaired. Thankfully it did not cause any damage to the ship and nobody was hurt after the unloading boom accident.

[Guest]

The cargo will stay onboard until repairs to the boom are finished. Repairs will be completed in a timely manner. Anytime a vessel is out of service that is not planned, it's a hit, but at the end of the day, much worse has happened to other vessels this year. She will be back out soon. Accidents happen, thankfully no one was injured. Learn from it and keep going.

[Guest]

Still in Duluth at the Port Terminal as of 2:45 p.m. ET on September 28. Will they have to find a way to offload that cargo first into another vessel before they can continue on and get the necessary repairs needed to their unloading boom? I would think the Block’s owners would want to use another vessel or some type of ways or system to remove that cargo from the Block then have them sail empty to a shipyard or repair facility to get repairs to their boom at that point. Basically my point to all this scuttlebut is this, I would think this would have to be costing the Block big time delays and $ waiting to get its boom repaired not to mention its owners and customers also. Correct me if I’m wrong here but, in the shipping business “Isn’t the saying that time is money?” If that’s true, then the Block along with their owners and customers surely are not making much money right now with these delays and repairs to their unloading boom. Just my thoughts only on this then.

Given that the damage appears to be limited to the unloading boom and since such repairs are unlikely to require a dry docking I would say the cargo will remain aboard until repairs are completed. I could be wrong but I would guess that rather than conduct some seemingly unnecessary, and costly, unloading of the Block's cargo by crane equipment it would be far easier for another ship to load a replacement cargo and deliver it to the customer. However, that is not to say some type of temporary chute system could be installed if the boom were to be removed that would allow the vessel's onboard unloading to discharge the cargo similar to what was done when the George A. Stinson lost its boom in the early 1980s. It does not sound like the Block has any topside or hull damage from this incident so it appears that the damage is limited to the boom the extent of which will determine the level of repairs up to and possibly replacement if there is any serious twisting of the structure. Thus far from the photos I have seen online it appears to be localized damage but that is subjective without the results of an actual survey.

Your comment about "time is money" in the shipping industry is true, but that same philosophy applies to nearly every business venture and is certainly not unique to the shipping industry. That being said, it is without doubt a prime business goal to keep any operating ship actively engaged in the movement of cargo.

Has anyone heard of any impact this accident has had on the loading of ships at Duluth?

Now I am curious. I recall the Stinson damaging her boom in the 1980's, and as I recall, it took awhile before she was pulled out of service to repair it. That being said, are there any photos of the Stinson unloading without the assistance of her unloading boom? I would be interested in seeing that.

[Guest]

Still in Duluth at the Port Terminal as of 2:45 p.m. ET on September 28. Will they have to find a way to offload that cargo first into another vessel before they can continue on and get the necessary repairs needed to their unloading boom? I would think the Block’s owners would want to use another vessel or some type of ways or system to remove that cargo from the Block then have them sail empty to a shipyard or repair facility to get repairs to their boom at that point. Basically my point to all this scuttlebut is this, I would think this would have to be costing the Block big time delays and $ waiting to get its boom repaired not to mention its owners and customers also. Correct me if I’m wrong here but, in the shipping business “Isn’t the saying that time is money?” If that’s true, then the Block along with their owners and customers surely are not making much money right now with these delays and repairs to their unloading boom. Just my thoughts only on this then.

Given that the damage appears to be limited to the unloading boom and since such repairs are unlikely to require a dry docking I would say the cargo will remain aboard until repairs are completed. I could be wrong but I would guess that rather than conduct some seemingly unnecessary, and costly, unloading of the Block's cargo by crane equipment it would be far easier for another ship to load a replacement cargo and deliver it to the customer. However, that is not to say some type of temporary chute system could be installed if the boom were to be removed that would allow the vessel's onboard unloading to discharge the cargo similar to what was done when the George A. Stinson lost its boom in the early 1980s. It does not sound like the Block has any topside or hull damage from this incident so it appears that the damage is limited to the boom the extent of which will determine the level of repairs up to and possibly replacement if there is any serious twisting of the structure. Thus far from the photos I have seen online it appears to be localized damage but that is subjective without the results of an actual survey.

Your comment about "time is money" in the shipping industry is true, but that same philosophy applies to nearly every business venture and is certainly not unique to the shipping industry. That being said, it is without doubt a prime business goal to keep any operating ship actively engaged in the movement of cargo.

Has anyone heard of any impact this accident has had on the loading of ships at Duluth?

[Denny]

Still in Duluth at the Port Terminal as of 2:45 p.m. ET on September 28. Will they have to find a way to offload that cargo first into another vessel before they can continue on and get the necessary repairs needed to their unloading boom? I would think the Block’s owners would want to use another vessel or some type of ways or system to remove that cargo from the Block then have them sail empty to a shipyard or repair facility to get repairs to their boom at that point. Basically my point to all this scuttlebut is this, I would think this would have to be costing the Block big time delays and $ waiting to get its boom repaired not to mention its owners and customers also. Correct me if I’m wrong here but, in the shipping business “Isn’t the saying that time is money?” If that’s true, then the Block along with their owners and customers surely are not making much money right now with these delays and repairs to their unloading boom. Just my thoughts only on this then.

[Mn bob]

Went by the block at the port terminal today, the end of the unloading boom is bent upwards. Going to take awhile to fix that.

[Darryl1]

Wow, saw this video. That'll take awhile to fix...

[E J B]

There is a video on Youtube showing the damage..... I cant post a link

[Mn bob]

From what I read was they were raising the shuttle loader and it hit the end of the unloading boom and damaged it. Not sure of the extent of the damage but that’s why she’s at the port terminal as they are making repairs to the boom.

[Darryl1]

Other than she is parked at the Port Terminal Slip.

[msppilot]

I heard a rumor that the Joseph L. Block damaged her unloading boom at the CN dock in Duluth yesterday. Does anyone have any details on what happened?