Thanks to some nifty navigation and some help from a local search and recovery company, the St. Joseph harbor is at least partially open for business.
The Samuel de Champlain and Innovation are in port and unloading cement after navigating the shoals in the St. Joseph River channel Thursday. Assisted by two tugboats and buoys set by Great Lakes Search and Recovery, the barge/tugboat combination arrived safely at Holcim cement this evening.
“After a few hours of zigzagging around the mouth of the river, I was a able to set some temporary buoys and send them the coordinates and an image of the bottom conditions along with a wind and current report,” said Jim Scholz, of Dowagiac-based Great Lakes Search and Recovery. “They asked me to stand by and help guide them in. With the assistance of two “G” Tugs and the outstanding performance of the Captain and crew on the SDC & Intregrity, they made it into the harbor and to the dock. Bright and early tomorrow morning we will check the buoy positions and assist with the departure.”
St. Joseph Harbormaster Michigan Moran took to Facebook to further explain the situation.
“The question on everyone’s mind: does this mean the harbor is open?,” Moran said. “Short answer: kinda. The arrival today took the assistance of two tugboats and also required buoys to be placed to mark the shoal. This is one arrival from one shipping company. Will another company come in, say with a self unloader? That has not been determined. Will all future arrivals until the dredging need expensive tugboat assists? That has yet to be determined.”
If ships are able to navigate the harbor, it means they will not be re-routed to another harbor – an expensive cost for all involved.
“The important thing is that vessels are here safely and that there is cement being unloaded,” Moran said. “All further details will have to be determined at a later date.”
Moran added that crews will get a fresh delivery of Red Coach Donuts on Friday morning, and to stay tuned for more details on the implications for port traffic.
(Photo courtesy Michael Moran)
