Great Lake shipping season begins early for The Callaway

The winter break didn’t last as long for sailors who were called back to work on the steamship Cason J. Callaway. The 767-foot vessel was fitted out at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and started on its 2005 Great Lakes journeys, last Friday. It was laid up less than two months and includes a number of crewmen from Rogers City.

A spokesman from U.S.S. Great Lakes Fleet said it’s unusual for the company to start the shipping season this early, and this is probably a sign of an improving economy. Demand is high for steel products and the boats are needed.

THE CALLAWAY will be involved in shuttling taconite pellets between short distances in

the Chicago area. In between, the steamer was to travel to Detroit to bring back a load to Gary, Indiana. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kat-Mai-Bay was escorting the Callaway through the icy waters of the Great Lakes. The ships were near Round Island pass Tuesday afternoon, on their way to Detroit.

According to Rick Burch, vessel traffic controller from the Coast Guard station in Sault Ste. Marie, the Callaway was the lone steamer on the lakes, Tuesday. The Alpena will join the Callaway on the lakes Friday, Burch said. The tug Michigan has been pushing a fuel barge through the Straits throughout the winter.

THE SOO LOCKS will be opening March 25 and the remaining crewmembers from the Great Lakes Fleet are expected to receive notices and be called back to duty at or around that time to fit out other vessels in the fleet. Getting the Callaway prepared for the season included testing of the boiler, checking the systems, and making sure nothing was frozen. The Callaway has been involved in extended season navigation before. The vessel operated through the winter a couple of times in the mid-1970s and in the 1990s, according to boatnerds.com. She has been among the first to fit out and last to lay up several times. The Callaway, which has a loading capacity of 25,300 tons, sailed on her maiden voyage September 16, 1952.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.