www.mybaycity.com
June 26, 2013
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Saga Of The Ship
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If you crossed either bridge in downtown Bay City on Tuesday you saw the Algorail sitting in the middle of the river... just sitting, not moving. The 600 foot freighter had been in route to Zilwaukee with a load of salt when something happened.
There was a lot of speculation about what was going on. Some sources reported mechanical problems, others said the river was too shallow and the ship hit the bottom. Someone else heard that the new buried power cable past the next bridge was in the way.
Despite the speculation, the ship had been there since early morning and wasn't going anywhere. Around 5:00 in the evening a tug and barge showed up and began unloading salt in the middle of the river. By 8:00 the Algorail was moving again and heading upstream toward Saginaw.
People had been gathering all afternoon, on both sides of the river, to just sit and watch. It's actually a satisfying occupation. The action is very slow, but... interesting.
Getting the Algorail moving, as it turned out, was only part of the story. A new drama was playing out down near the Waterfall Park. The tug Gregory J Busch out of Cleveland was in the process of turning the barge so it could follow the Algorail. Mother Nature did not cooperate.
With water churning from the stern, the Busch moved forward and back, pushing, pulling, turning, starting over. The light breeze from the south and a steady current worked the other way. Each time the barge got sideways it would drift north toward the Liberty Bridge.
The group of spectators at the Waterfall Park pier gradually grew as the tug maneuvered. (We hope St. Laurents Brothers sold a lot of ice cream, candy and nuts! There were certainly a lot of people in there.)
Everyone had an idea and suggestion. "He should just pull it upstream", "That Coast Guard boat should get in front and add pressure", "If he runs into the bridge it'll be two years before it's open again", "Hope he doesn't hit any of those pleasure boats!".
For more than an hour the tug and barge went back and forth. At one point the captain slowly put the nose of the barge against the seawall between the Boathouse condos and the court house. Nobody was sure why, but everyone knew that the huge load was getting very close to the bridge by that time; about 600 feet in fact.
Eventually the captain backed her out and got the thing turned the other way. With the nose pointing west now, things went quickly. Perhaps it was because the business end of the tug was in the main channel, or maybe the captain could just push safely into that unoccupied piece of land. Either way, he moved quickly and headed south as originally planned.
As the ship cleared Veteran's bridge and moved out of sight, the crowds dispersed. All that was left were two slowing spinning pools of brown water clearly visible in the fading light.
Depth shortly after unloading started. |
Algorail is finally under way |
As the ship heads on its way, the real drama moves to the barge |
The barge has drifted well north of the unloading point and is getting close to the Liberty Bridge. |
Churning water illustrates the power of the tug. |
The crowd on the Waterfall Park Pier grew as the drama continued. |
As the load got within 700 feet of the bridge the Captian puts the nose right on the seawall. |
Making his last maneuver, the barge is finally under way. |
As the sun sets the tug shoves his load South to Zilwaukee |
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Stephen Kent |
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