The owner and crew of the Nels J., formerly the Ares, will tell the story of how they got the tug from a scrap yard in Texas to the Duluth harbor

Ares pulled into the Duluth harbor on Oct. 27, a successful finish to a journey that included filling the boat with 60,000 gallons of water to get it under a bridge in Illinois, a misunderstanding at a slip in South Chicago, unpredictable weather conditions and four days in Michigan with bad lake conditions. Ares has had a name change to Nels J. and will be put to work in the spring.

by Christa Lawler, Duluth News Tribune
reprinted in its entirety with permission

It was the stuff adventure stories are made of: a touch of Huckleberry Finn meets the Great Lakes, “Gilligan’s Island” and some Popeye thrown in for good measure.

In late October, a local crew was part of a 16-day mission to bring a retired tugboat named Ares from a scrap yard in Texas to Lemont, Ill., to Duluth. The journey included grubby toilets, ingenuity, a little luck, high seas and an encounter that nearly ended in fisticuffs. Now, the tug — which has been renamed Nels J. and will begin its career as an icebreaker in the spring — can be seen to the east when you cruise over the Blatnik Bridge into Superior.
[Continue Reading →]

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MV Doulos

The MV Doulos is the world’s oldest active ocean going passenger ship. The 94 year old ship has gone by many names over the years such as the SS Medina and SS Roma. During World War II she saw action in the Battle of the Atlantic as a freighter. Today she is used as the world’s largest floating bookshop bringing books to port cities around the world. The ship has a official website which tells us, “Volunteers from over 40 countries serve on board Doulos. They are mostly young people who have chosen to dedicate two years of their lives to be on board, learning to live and work together, and serving the communities in the ports visited. Additionally, the ship has a full complement of qualified crew, as required by international maritime regulations.” The website goes on to say that “over 20 million visitors have been welcomed on board for tours, programs and visits to the floating book fair. With stops in over 500 ports of call, this unique ship has visited more than 100 countries including Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and many island nations.” [Continue Reading →]

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The famed paddle-wheeled steamboat, the Delta Queen, may be close to making its final commercial voyage come the end of the month. The 82-year-old Delta Queen has been operating on a presidential exemption from an amendment of the Safety of Life at Sea Act, prohibiting the operation of overnight passenger vessels with mostly wooden structures. The National Register of Historic Places tells us:

The Safety at Sea Law of 1966 threatened the continued operation of Delta Queen because one clause of the law forbade operations of vessels with wooden superstructures in overnight passenger service. The first of a series of legal maneuverings fueled by a tremendous public outcry, allowed a special Congressional exemption from the law for Delta Queen in 1970. Several subseguent extensions of this exemption have focussed tremendous national attention on this problem. Many modifications for safety have been made, though short of the complete rebuildina sought by the Coast Guard. [Continue Reading →]

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Photo By Alan Light

Built in 1950 the SS Independence and her sister ship the SS Constitution were built to transport passengers between U.S. ports and the Mediterranean but with the advent of commercial aviation her usefulness as a means of transport was short lived. In 1968 she was taken from her cross Atlantic duties and shortly sold to the Atlantic Far East Line and laid up in Hong Kong, her fate unknown. By 1980 a new phenomena was born and the Indy returned to the states to serve the new Hawaiian cruise ship market. After serving for 21 years in Hawaii she became victim to the post 9/11 tourism slowdown and, with her owners bankrupt, was laid up in San Francisco.

Last week we told the story of the Independence’s final voyage, today EagleSpeak brings us the following new developments:

A TUGSHIP towing a disabled cruise liner loaded with polychlorinated biphenyls or PCB and asbestos is reportedly on its way to Guam to refuel here after being refused entry in Hawaii.

The SS Independence — now called the Oceanic — is being towed by the tug ship Pacific Hickory, which needs to refuel before heading toward India, where the 57-year-old contaminated liner will be scrapped.

KITV News in Hawaii reported that the tug ship was headed to Guam, towing the SS Independence.

Activist and former senator Hope Cristobal has asked the Guam Environmental Protection Agency to stop both ships from coming anywhere near Guam.

“The ship was refused entry into the Hawaii by the State of Hawaii EPA because it poses too much health risk. Now, it is being towed toward Guam. We have reason to be very concerned,” Cristobal said. Continue Reading…

The fate of this historic ship is still unknown but we assume she’s on her way to be scrapped.

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