A short winter's nap

Fourteen vessels lay over as shore service personnel prepare for spring's shipping opener

American Steamship's Walter J. McCarthy Jr.

On January 13, with the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., scheduled to close at midnight just two days later, three lakers pulled into the Port for winter berthing.

The arrival of the Edwin H. Gott, Philip R. Clarke and

Cason J. Callaway, all owned and operated by Duluth’s USS Great Lakes Fleet, Inc., brought the total number of vessels wintering in the Port to 14 — six of which are Fleet vessels.

With so many vessels spending the winter here, Port watchers wonder: Who’s minding the ships?

Oglebay Norton's Reserve

Historically, one shipkeeper tended the ships during their cold storage period. Today, the ship is more likely to be in the care of a multi-disciplinary team than any one person — and shipkeepers are now known as shore service personnel.

“Engineering departments start surveys of the ships in the fall and come up with a maintenance program for each vessel during winter layup,” said Fred Cummings, marine superintendent for USS Great Lakes Fleet.

American Steamship's Indiana Harbor and (left) Adam E. Cornelius

“The engineers make the final decisions as to what repairs are necessary and set up the schedules and project coordinators for the shore service personnel and the crews performing the maintenance tasks.”

American Steamship's H. Lee White

Fred Jeffery of French River, Minn., port captain for the Fleet and a 29-year veteran of the Lakes, is one of those project coordinators.  He assists the engineering team in assigning duties such as security and fire watches to shore service personnel, letting them know if they’ll don a firefighting, police or another type of hat for wherever daily shipboard activity is taking place.  The shore service personnel then assist repair crews by providing the tools, electrical power and equipment necessary to perform the daily functions.

Which brings us to the repair crews.

Numerous crews are needed to perform repairs — some major, some minor — on the floating cities that spend a winter here preparing for the next shipping season.

USS Great Lakes Fleet's Edgar B. Speer

There’s much to do:

Hull painting (in hull red, of course), engine maintenance, heating equipment upkeep, boiler and motor repairs, carpentry, electrical work, room and galley cleaning, inside painting and paneling, welding, unloading-equipment,repairs, inspecting fire fighting systems and — most important — inspecting all lifeboats and every piece of safety equipment.

Fred Jeffery, port captain, USS Great Lakes Fleet.

  All such fixes are necessary to keep the 1,000-foot behemoths and their smaller stablemates in top operating condition.

The repairs are saved up for the off-season as to allow maximum cargo-carrying time during the shipping season. And necessary fixes run the gamut from a $15 door knob replacement to the $3 million that USS Great Lakes Fleet will spend this year on its Cason J. Callaway.

The Callaway, spending the winter at Superior’s Fraser Shipyards, will receive a new automated system to run her 48-year-old steam power plant.  The vessel’s steam propulsion machinery and all auxiliary machinery will be fitted with the latest in engine room management technology. Her supply engine room, bridge and ballast control systems will all be updated.

Another Fleet vessel undergoing major repairs at Fraser Shipyards is the Philip R. Clarke.  Workers will be replacing over 1,000 tubes inside her main propulsion boilers — to the tune of $500,000.  The tubes hold the water as it is converted to steam.

The Fleet’s Edgar B. Speer and Edwin H. Gott are having their main engines completely overhauled.  And its John G. Munson is undergoing a procedure at dry dock at Fraser that is performed once every five years to thoroughly inspect for any needed hull repairs.

The 14 vessels wintering in the Port contribute to employment and generate considerable revenue — an average of $800,000 per vessel — for the Port’s local economy.

The shore service personnel are certainly aware of the benefits of their jobs. Where else can you spend your time upgrading a $50 million home that has such a fine view of the Port?

Photos by Grandmaison Photographic Studios