Robert S. Pierson - Look Ma! No Rudder! (See Description) скачать в хорошем качестве

Robert S. Pierson - Look Ma! No Rudder! (See Description)

Here's something you won't see every day! This is the lake freighter Robert S. Pierson arriving in Superior, Wisconsin in the early hours of October 22, 2024, escorted by the tugboats Missouri, North Carolina, and Helen H. The last time we saw the Pierson on this channel, she was arriving in Duluth on October 11 to load taconite pellets. After delivering those pellets to Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marin, Ontario, the Pierson started to make the return trip across Lake Superior to load in Two Harbors. Very shortly into her return trip on October 13, she lost her rudder... as in the rudder actually fell off! This is surprisingly not the first time this has happened to lake freighters, as rudders are subject to a lot of stress over time. After sitting several days at anchor on the eastern end of Lake Superior, it was decided to bring her to Fraser Shipyards for repairs. (The wait was also likely for weather conditions to be favorable.) While the Pierson made the trip under her own power, she was escorted by the Canadian tugboat Avenger IV to assist with steering corrections as needed. Once they were outside of the Superior entrance, the Avenger IV handed off the Pierson to the three tugs seen in this video. While it would have been nice to see the Avenger IV (other than as a small light in the distance), she is not as familiar with the harbor as the American tugs stationed here. Besides, the Avenger IV now had another task to do... locate the Pierson's rudder! As they came into the harbor, the tug Missouri had a line connected to the bow, while the North Carolina had a line connected to the stern. The Helen H. didn't connect a line but was instead free to move around and provide an extra push where needed. It was certainly a team effort! After they made the initial arrival in the harbor, I caught up with them again at Rice's Point to watch them pass under the John A. Blatnik bridge. The video ends with them turning into Howard's Bay, which leads to Fraser Shipyards. I considered watching them arrive into Fraser, but at this point it was close to 5am and I had not had any sleep following a busy day of ship watching. The final radio call you hear was given once the Pierson was tied up, but I included it for the sake of completeness. (Unfortunately, most of the tugboat radio traffic was conducted on a channel that wasn't recorded, so I can't share more of it with you.) I ended this video with a photograph that was captured by David Schauer once the Pierson was in dry dock. You can clearly see that the Pierson's rudder is missing, as it should be located directly behind her propeller. A big "thank you" goes out to David for allowing me to share this photo here. If you would like to see more of David's excellent work (along with that of his son, Gus), be sure to check out the Facebook group Shipping of the Lake Superior Region. His work often shows up on the Boatnerd website and the annual Know Your Ships books. He constantly impresses me with photos that are simply stunning. Once the Pierson's rudder was located and recovered, it was delivered to Fraser Shipyards in Superior where it was reattached. The Pierson was back in service again on November 6. While is has been a tough couple of years for the Lower Lakes fleet, this is one story that had a good ending! The 630-foot Robert S. Pierson was built in 1974 at the American Shipbuilding Company in Lorain, Ohio. She is a Great Lakes bulk carrier designed to handle operating in the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland. Her two sister ships, Calumet and Manitowac, were also built to the same dimensions. The Pierson's four cargo holds have capacity of 19,600 tons and she can unload at a rate of 4,000 metric tons per hour. She is powered by two Alco 16-cylinder 16V251E diesel engines that produce a combined 5,600 bhp, driving a single fixed-pitch propellor giving her a top speed of 17.8 mph. The Pierson originally sailed under the name Wolverine from 1974 to 2006 for Oglebay Norton. In 2008, she and her two sister ships were purchased by Grand River Navigation before being resold to its partner Lower Lakes Towing. She was renamed Robert S. Pierson in honor of the co-founder of Lower Lakes Transportation, but the ship is affectionately known as "Sugar Bob." ____________________ If you are interested in supporting this channel to keep new videos coming, I accept PayPal donations at the following link: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/1long... Donations of any size are gratefully accepted, as they help offset my travel expenses to capture this footage. (Ad revenue from my videos covers less than half of my travel expenses.) Your views, likes, comments, and subscriptions also help this channel and are greatly appreciated. Thank you!