INDIANA HARBOR

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Latest news

Coast Guard freed vessels stuck in ice

The Great Lakes shipping season was scheduled to end on Jan 15, 2018, but Lake Erie’s ice was forming earlier than usual. The U.S. Coast Guard cutters "Neah Bay" and "Morro Bay" — 140-foot ice-breaking tugs — freed several vessels on Jan 3 and 4 which were hindered by ice in western Lake Erie and the St. Clair River. Cold weather caused ice to form rapidly over Lake Erie, leading to the "John J. Boland", "Hon. Paul J. Martin", "Indiana Harbor" and "James R. Barker" to become stuck in ice. The "John J. Boland" became stuck in ice in western Lake Erie late on Jan 1 and was broken out by the Morro Bay about 8:45 a.m. on Jan 3. The "Indiana Harbor" was beset by ice on Jan 2 in the Middle Channel of St. Clair River and was broken by the Neah Bay. The "Hon. Paul J. Martin" was trapped by ice on Jan 2 in western Lake Erie and was freed by the Morro Bay. The "James R. Barker" was freed in western Lake Erie Tuesday and broken out by the tug "Calusa Coast". It became trapped again and was later freed by the "Morro Bay".

Emergency repair after grounding

Workers at Donjon Shipbuilding & Repair were making emergency repairs on the "Indiana Harbor" which had sustained hull damage and water ingress while sailing on Lake Erie near Conneaut, Ohio, about two weeks ago. The ship had suffered damage to the hull below the water line and needed an emergency dry docking. Donjon crews were informed on May 13, 2017, the vessel would be making an emergency stop at the 44-acre Erie shipyard. By late evening on May 14, Donjon crews had set up 280 docking blocks in the shipyard’s dry dock and had it flooded in time for the Indiana Harbor’s arrival May 15. The bulkcarrier entered Donjon’s 1,350-foot dry dock at 220 East Bayfront Parkway on May 15. Workers since removed over 100 feet of steel on the bottom of the ship. About 32,000 pounds of steel have been replaced on the starboard side. Report with photos: http://www.goerie.com/news/20170529/donjon-crews-perform-emergency-repairs-on-1000-foot-vessel

Great Ships Initiative ballast testing system launched

The 1,000-foot Great Lakes freighter Indiana Harbor is somewhere on Lake Michigan today, maybe heading back to the Twin Ports to pick up a load of coal or taconite. Deep within the boat, a system is pumping lye into the ballast water on board to kill invasive species that might be hitchhiking to the next port. When the lye has done its job, the treatment system then uses carbon dioxide to neutralize the lye, so when millions of gallons of ballast water are released no harm is done to the lake’s ecosystem. So far, the experimental system seems to be working — both to kill living organisms in the ballast and managing to keep up with the boat’s massive ballast pumps that can move water at 60,000 gallons per minute to keep the ship stable and level as it loads and unloads. More to read at http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/244050/group/News/