Michipicoten (1952 ship)

Michipicoten docked in Marquette, Michigan.
History
Owner	Interlake Steamship Company (1952–1966) Pickands Mather & Co. (1966–1973) Lower Lakes Towing (2003–present)
Operator	Lower Lakes Towing
Laid down	as Elton Hoyt II
Christened	May 24, 2003 (as Michipicoten)
Completed	1952
Maiden voyage	August 15, 1952
Renamed	2003 (Michipicoten by Lower Lakes Towing)
Homeport	Port Dover
Identification	IMO number: 5102865 MMSI number: 316002501 Call sign CFG8060
General characteristics
Tonnage	15,336 GT
Length	689 ft 6 in (210.2 m)
Beam	70 ft (21.3 m)
Draught	22 ft (6.7 m)
Depth	37 ft (11.3 m)
Propulsion	MaK 6M32C 6-cylinder 8,160 BHP diesel engine
Speed	12 knots (14 mph)
Capacity	22,300 tons

Michipicoten (named Elton Hoyt II when it entered service in 1952) is a self-discharging lake freighter owned and operated by Canadian shipping firm Lower Lakes Towing. Michipicoten primarily hauls taconite from Marquette, Michigan, to the Algoma Steel Mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. It has a capacity of 22,300 tons, a speed of 12 knots (14 mph), and a length of 689 feet 6 inches (210.2 m).

Construction

Michipicoten was built in 1952 by Massachusetts Heavy Industries in Quincy, Massachusetts. It was one of three vessels built to similar plans for the Interlake Steamship Company. It was launched as Elton Hoyt II. The other two vessels, Johnstown and Sparrows Point, were built for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.

All three ships were brought to the Great Lakes via the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, restricting their size. Specifically, Elton Hoyt II measured 626 feet 6 inches (191.0 m) long, with a capacity of around 20,000 tons. It was powered by a 7,700 shaft horsepower (5,700 kW) Bethlehem Steel cross compound steam turbine and two oil-fired Foster-Wheeler water tube boilers. As Elton Hoyt II was brought through the rivers, its cabins and pilothouse were carried on-deck, assembled in Chicago, and entered service on August 15, 1952.

Service history

Over the course of the next nearly two decades, Elton Hoyt II entered a pattern of shipping iron ore from Duluth, Minnesota, or Superior, Wisconsin, to a number of ports in the lower Great Lakes.

Throughout the 1950s, Elton Hoyt II had an incident-free career. In 1957, it was lengthened by 72 feet (22 m), increasing its total length to 698 feet 6 inches (212.90 m). The lengthening also increased its capacity to around 23,000 tons. In 1966, the Elton Hoyt II was sold to Pickands Mather and Co. It remained in their fleet until 1973.

Conversion to a self-unloader

23 years later, in 1980, Elton Hoyt II was again upgraded, this time in a conversion to a self-unloading vessel. It was converted at the Toledo-based American Ship Building Co. In 1985, Johnstown, which had not been converted to a self unloader, was sold for scrap. The third ship, Sparrows Point, was converted in 1980 and sailed as Buckeye until 2008, when that ship sustained severe damage to its engines and shortly after was converted again by the Rand Logistics/Lower Lakes Towing company into the barge Menominee, leaving Michipicoten the last fully functional member of its class.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Elton Hoyt II saw varied use. For some seasons, it did not sail. In the 1990s, the vessel was certified to carry grain, and made several trips to Buffalo, New York, in addition to its regular loads of taconite.

Sale

On April 10, 2003, it was announced that Elton Hoyt II was sold to Lower Lakes Towing, a Canadian shipping company. It was renamed Michipicoten after the Canadian river of the same name. The name Michipicoten means "Big bluffs" in the Ojibwe language and refers to the hills near the river. It was christened on May 24, 2003, in Sarnia, Ontario. The ship began supplying taconite to the Algoma Steel Mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

In December 2010, Michipicoten was laid up in Sarnia. Over the course of several months, its steam turbine system was replaced with a MaK 6M32C 6-cylinder 8,160 brake horsepower (6,080 kW) diesel engine and a new pitch propeller. The cost of the upgrade was around US$15 million.

On June 9, 2024, Michipicoten had an incident in Lake Superior which caused a 13ft gash ranging from 1/2 inch to 1 inch wide. The vessel to took on water and develop a 15 degree list to the starboard, prompting a Coast Guard response. Half of the crew were taken off and it safely made its way to Thunder Bay under its own power and with the pumps keeping up with the influx of water.

Hull Damage

On June 10, 2024, the ship observed hull damage while traveling near Isle Royale in Lake Superior. The ship's crew reported hearing a loud bang while the vessel was in deep water. The ship began taking on water, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to respond. Fortunately, the crew successfully stabilized the ship, and it safely docked in Thunder Bay, Ontario. At the time it was thought the vessel had struck an underwater object. The Coast Guard performed a partial evacuation and the vessel was towed to the Port of Thunder Bay.

While it port, divers inspected the hull and determined the likely cause may have been fatigue. Divers discovered a nearly four-meter crack in the hull. A member of the Coast Guard stated "It looks like a hull failure, which could be the result of stress, fatigue, age of the vessel," he said, but cautioned that a full investigation is needed to determine the cause for certain. The exact cause of the damage remains unknown, but it could be related to stress on the vessel or steel fatigue.