M/V Roger Blough Vessel Fire; 324 N 1st Ave, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235, USA. ROGER BLOUGH is something of an iconic laker, being popular among ships . It was found in a compartment onboard. As a young freighter, the Roger Blough, in 1975, returned from its path to search for the sunken Edmund Fitzgerald on the eastern end of Lake Superior. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Photo courtesy of DRE Designs owner Andrea Guerriero. Launched amid World War II, the 620-foot ship would have been eligible to collect social security checks about 15 years ago were it a person. [9] She remained aground on May 29, 2016 near Gros Cap Reefs Light with the United States Coast Guard vessel USCGCMobile Bay on station monitoring the situation and enforcing a 500-yard (460m) safety zone around the vessel. Once there, it could become anything from a car to a refrigerator. In the month leading up to the fire, the chief engineer and an OEM service tech had removed and reinstalled the burner multiple times while troubleshooting; the repeated removal likely damaged the burner's mounting coupling, leading to its failure, NTSB determined. The bulk carrier was docked at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding for the winter. If you feel you have received this message in error, please contact the customer support team at 1-833-248-7801. She was able to run the remainder of the season on one engine, with the blown one being replaced while she was in winter layup at the Duluth Port Terminal. The ship was among just a few launched before 1950 still plying the lakes. Flames burned a third of the ore boat at the Bloughs aft end, affecting living quarters, the kitchen, or galley, and down into the engine room, Dietman said. There was no repair work happening on the ship when the fire started, according to Todd Thayse, vice president and general manager at Bay Shipbuilding. From $18.95 3pc Panoramic Set ~ Edwin Gott -2723. In 1972, the group merged with March Group and the Labor Law Study Group (LLSG) to form Business Roundtable. Vessels operated by NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers, Vessel owned by G3 Canada, managed by Algoma Central Corporation. "We were very fortunate,". Her IMO number is 7222138 and MMSI number is 366972030. She was a busy boat right up to the end, said Roger LeLievre, editor and publisher of the annual Know Your Ships guide to Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway boat-watching. Vessels operated by three subsidiaries, Interlake Steamship Company managing the bulk cargo movements, Interlake Logistics Solutions managing the small River class and niche markets, and Lake Michigan carferry managing the Lake Michigan cross-lake ferry service. Firefighters arrived within four minutes but struggled to access the vessel due to smoke and intense heat. A fire started in the engine room, then progressed to her unloading conveyor belts, which caught fire and burned. All Rights Reserved. Great Lakes Vessel History: Vessel Histories of Sterling P. Berry. All posts to be in English U.S. Coast Guard Vessels, engaged in icebreaking, aids to navigation, search and rescue, and border security operations on the Great Lakes. The Roger Blough was docked at the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding facility on Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin when a fire started in the engine room on February 1, 2021. Marie. The 858-foot-long, self-unloading freighter was supposed to launch in July 1971, but an engine room fire that . On February 1, firefighters worked to put out a fire aboard the MV Roger Blough. The origin of the fire was in the engine room near a winter furnace, Dietman said, adding that the specific cause remains under investigation. Canadian National referred questions about the incident to Keystone, which did not respond to an inquiry. Pp. Steel.'" The freighter, built by the American Shipbuilding Company in Ohio, launched in 1972. The sole caretaker on board safely escaped to the pier, and no pollution was reported. 6.1k members in the Ships community. On October 27, 2022, the MV Roger Blough departed Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay under tow, destined for Conneaut, OH, for long term layup. Keystone officials at the time attributed the layup of the ship and two other bulk carriers, Philip R. Clarke and Edgar B. Speer, to the pandemic-related economic slowdown. In 2016, the Roger Blough anchored at Waiska Bay after running aground on a reef in . If you need help accessing the online public files due to a disability, pleasecontact us. The U.S.-flagged ship typically carries taconite, a sedimentary rock containing iron. Vessels owned by Lafarge Holcim, operated by Andrie, Inc. Check back often for new listings! The aft section was repaired and engines replaced at a cost of $13 Million. The cargo-unloading conveyor. The firefighters started arriving 4 minutes after they were paged. Contents 1 Service history 1.1 Fire in layup 2 References 3 External links You have to be smart about what youre doing in an extremely confined area where you have very little to look at and understand.. Freeing the Blough consisted of two days worth of lightering into her fleetmates Arthur M. Anderson and Philip R. Clarke. Listed below is the current fleet of Great Lakes ships. 3980 Sherman St., Ste 100 All U. S. ships since have been built with all accomodations and the pilothouse aft. Vessels owned by Indiana Harbor Steamship Company, managed by Central Marine Logistics, Griffith, IN under charter to Cleveland-Cliffs. Her original propeller was eventually replaced with a skewed propeller to help smoothen her ride. It was launched in 1972 after a delay of nearly a year caused by an engine fired that resulted in the death of four workers who asphyxiated. Crews used a cutting torch to open holes above the ships 01 deck, allowing hose teams to spray water inside. Vessels owned by American Transport Leasing, operated by Andrie, Inc., under cargo contract to Lafarge Holcim. [6], She was stuck in the ice in Lake Erie near Conneaut, Ohio for eight days in February 1979[7] and then was laid up from 1981 to 1987 due to the economy and the capacity of the newer 1,000 feet (300m) lake freighters. The building, named after Blough's wife, was dedicated on October 30, 1966. We treat them like dead-in-the-water floating vessels, Dietman said. Keystone Shipping Co., based outside Philadelphia, operates the vessel. Roger Blough. Published The Roger Blough is another biggie. Roger Blough. Whenever there is a serious fire aboard a vessel, there is always a long . Many ship names were reused after boats were sunk, scrapped or sold off and renamed. Ahoy & Farewell II. Led U.S. Steel for 13 Years", "ROGER M. BLOUGH, 81, DIES; LED U.S. STEEL FOR 13 YEARS", The Business Council, Official website, Background, "The Charlotte Observer 20 Aug 1972, page 65", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roger_Blough&oldid=1138823900, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2014, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 20:57. "We're blessed by having [the Sturgeon Bay Fire Department] who are so responsive to the community," said Eric Dent with Fincantieri Shipyard. Roger M. Blough (January 19, 1904 October 8, 1985)[2] was the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the United States Steel Corporation for 13 years, from May 1955 through January 1969. Some time ago I asked each American to consider what he would do for his country and I asked the steel companies. Thankfully, there were no injuries and the fire was contained to just the one ship, Fincantieri Marine Group spokesman Eric Dent wrote the News Tribune from Washington, D.C., calling it premature to speculate on the Bloughs future operational availability.. Scrap metal can be turned into anything, he said. Mar 1, 2023 8:15 PM by Blackstone Capital Partners sold the fleet in 2004, being renamed Great Lakes Fleet, Inc. after ownership was transferred to the Canadian National Railway. Position & Voyage Data Add Photo. PCG's Visayas branch dispatched the patrol vessel BRP Malamawi, which arrived at the scene at 2330 Copyright 2023 The Maritime Executive, LLC. Update on Roger Blough Salvage By Joseph R. Fonseca June 2, 2016 The U.S. Coast Guard continues to monitor and respond to the motor vessel Roger Blough, Wednesday, after the vessel ran. In 1988, majority stock in USS Great Lakes Fleet was acquired by Blackstone Capital Partners. Welcome the digital homeport of Shipwatcher News Great Lakes Ships, a resource loaded with tons of information on Great Lakes ships both past and present. The Roger Blough fire is the second major incident involving a laid-up laker in two years. 1 Current boats. [4] He served as Chairman of The Business Council in 1961 and 1962. Listed below is the current fleet of Great Lakes ships. The Roger Bloughs history includes a fire that occurred before its maiden voyage in 1971 and the rescue of a 25-person life raft from the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975. The Blough holds a special place in Great Lakes maritime history, as it was one of the ships that helped to search for the Edmund Fitzgerald after that famous freighter sank on Nov. 10, 1975. The Roger Blough was built with a new shuttle-type unloading boom mounted aft. Conditions improved by daybreak and crews began attacking the fire from inside. [citation needed], When Time magazine featured Blough in July 1959, they drew attention to the challenges facing the steel industry in the late 1950s, including inflation and competition from non-U.S. steel exporters. The bulk carrier was docked at . Bow section: Keel laid Sept 3, 1968; launched Dec 21, 1968. They attempted entry but it was so thick they had to back out.. Lester Sherman Has Lucky Star Orer 500 Days of Actual Combat With Famed 32nd DiTition Sergeant Technician Lester L Sherman Bon of Mr and Mrs Grant Sherman Route 2 Lowell In addition, the furnace had no fire-activated automatic fuel oil shutoff valve on the piping before the burner, which would have stopped the fuel feeding the fire and limited its spread. MV Roger Blough is a ship built in 1972 by American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio. [2], Blough grew up in Hawley, Pennsylvania. Roger Blough damaged in Wisconsin fire New Soo Lock gets $480M in president's 2022 budget Wreck of the Contest re-emerges from Lake Michigan Deep in Lake Michigan, divers find ship lost in 1899. Her self-unloading equipment consists of a single hold belt leading to an aft incline-belt system to 52 shuttle boom. The 20 members of her crew were all safely rescued by a good samaritan vessel, and no injuries were reported. The ship is owned by Great Lakes Fleet, Inc. and is named for the former chairman of U.S. Steel, Roger Blough . And shes definitely a favorite of mine.. Pp. Roger Blough towed to Conneaut Are forward accommodations rising back to the top of ship design trends? The Blough was the final U.S. laker to be constructed in the traditional style, with the pilothouse and cabins forward and the engine room aft. It caught fire while in harbour in Wisconsin yesterday. Even before Blough was launched in 1972, the ore boat was exposed to the perils of its kind. Shes a unique ship, Dietman said. [12] Lightering operations were completed at Waiska Bay on June 7, 2016 with the SS Philip R. Clarke and the SSArthur M. Anderson receiving the remainder of the taconite cargo. Read more The Great Lakes freighter Roger Blough may have carried its last load. Total damage exceeded $150 million. Seeing the Mississagi scrapped is a bummer, but boats wear out., It worked hard for years but salt just rots away at the innards.. Ironton was a 1,250 dwt "consort" barge built in 1873. The Roger Blough became the flagship of U. S. Steels Great Lakes Fleet upon entering service. October 30, 2022 Show more Show more Final trip of the Roger Blough Aerial Video HI 1.4K views 1 month ago The. It was not clear at press time if the ship would be repaired. MV Roger Blough is a ship built in 1972 by American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio. He spent much of his free time in a large Victorian Home in Hawley, PA that had been passed down through his wife's family. by The Mississagi was built for $2.2 million at the Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge for the U.S. Maritime Commission under a war supply chain program and launched on Dec. 23, 1942. List of people on the cover of Time magazine (1950s), "Edwin H. Gott, 78, Is Dead; U.S. Steel's Retired Chairman", "Roger M. Blough, 81, Dies. N.d. Accessed 17 April 2020. Pp. Berry, Sterling P. Blough, Roger. MV Roger Blough, an iron ore bulk carrier vessel built for U.S. Steel in 1968-72 and used starting in 1972 in Great Lakes service to transport taconite pellets from Lake Superior to ports on Lake Erie and Lake Michigan, was named in his honor. One . Tim Kowols. The ships future is very unclear (as of November 2021), however there are possible indications, including visible repair efforts to the vessels aft section, that the ship is salvageable and the funds needed for repair work ($20 million) are available, barring no additional complications. Report IDs mariners' errors in Blough ship grounding The Roger Blough was one of the few ships which are left who went out in search of the Edmund Fitzgerald. [6] President Kennedy believed that this price increase violated an unwritten agreement that he had brokered between the industry and the United Steel Workers union, and called a press conference in response, held on April 11, 1962. Local news agencies reported early on that damages were in excess of $20 million, although this claim is said to be inaccurate by Key Lakes officials. The boom can extend about 50 out of small openings on either side of her stern, limiting her unloading capabilities to small shoreside hoppers. The shipbuilding company said it was awaiting the results of the investigations. Smoke could be seen on our. 4.7. 2023 WBDK/WRKU/WRLU/WSBW, New Radio, Inc. Bridging the Gap with Stoneman-Schopf Agency. Stop the. From the get-go, tragedy surrounded the ship. On November 11, 1975, the morning after the sinking, the crew of the Roger Blough recovered a 25-person life raft from the Edmund Fitzgerald. The NTSB's investigators determined that the fire started with a diesel furnace which had been installed in the engine room to keep it warm overwinter. She was christened the George A. Sloan and carried iron ore and other cargos for U.S. Steel fleets under that name until 2001, according to a Boatnerd.com history. Dietman said he expects to address the cause and specifics of the fire next week, saying his department concluded its investigation Thursday and is preparing its findings. The bulker St. Clair caught fire in February 2019 in the Port of Toledo, Ohio, and burned for nearly 36 hours. She was renamed for the Mississagi Strait in northern Lake Huron after being sold in 2001 to Lower Lakes Towing of Port Dover, Ont. The ship is. Vessels owned by Occidental Chemical Corp., operated by Andrie, Inc. Get the details of the current Voyage of ROGER BLOUGH including Position, Port Calls, Destination, ETA and Distance travelled - IMO 7222138, MMSI 366972030, Call Sign WDH7559 Welcome to the online home of Freighters Newsletter, the bi-monthly publication of Shipwatcher News. Workers at Bay Shipbuilding reported the fire at 0138 after noticing thick black smoke rising from the stack. Tin Stackers: The History of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company. Vessels managed by Key Lakes, Inc., Duluth, MN. She suffered extensive damage to her aft accommodations, unloading equipment, and engine room. 497 subscribers Subscribe 75 Share 2.1K views 1 month ago Not my pics No idea when the tow will be, or if shes really going to be. Roger Blough was tied up between Interlake Steamship Co.s James R. Barker and American Steamship Co.s American Mariner. The vessel left Sturgeon Bay with the assistance of tug boats. Key Lakes did not respond to inquiries about what it might have planned for the ship. [3][4] However, on June 24, 1971, the ship suffered a major engine room fire which killed four and caused serious damage. Saguenay, formerly Federal Trader, Lake Superior . Her fleetmate Edgar B. Speer, also bound for Gary, arrived on August 9, towing the Blough side-by-side to Gary where they unloaded. Days after a fire consumed one of the lake freighters most well-known to the Twin Ports, its still too soon to know what its prognosis is. Main ship particulars are length of 277 m and beam of 34 m. Are forward accommodations rising back to the top of ship design trends? The Philippine Coast Guard was alerted and activated its local stations for rescue duty. All Right Reserved. Steel self-unloading Great Lakes bulk freighter. He was 81 years old. Travelled distance : Port Calls: 14: Average / Max Speed : Min / Max Draught (m) The temperature exceeded 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit on the 01 deck, causing firefighters boots to stick to the deck on which they were standing. The U.S. Coast Guard captain of the port, Sault Ste. You like to follow the old ones around because you know their days are numbered, LeLievre said. The Roger Blough being towed downriver to a scrapyard after an engine fire. Boatwatchers converged on the St. Clair River and St. Marys River as the Mississagi departed under tow from Sarnia, Ont. As of 2018 this vessel remained in service.[14][15]. Larger vessels listed only. , Welcome the digital homeport of Shipwatcher News Great Lakes Ships, a resource loaded with tons of information on Great Lakes ships both past and present. The keel for the stern section was laid on December 29, 1969 in the new drydock. Mar 1, 2023 11:01 PM by . Crews were going to make entry (from) the main deck, and when they got to the aft end and opened a starboard door, they were met with heavy, thick black smoke from ceiling to floor, Dietman said. She serves as a lake freighter on the Great Lakes. Between issues, check the Newsfeed page for other updates. On the morning of June 24, 1971 a gasket let go of a fuel line after 30,000 gallons of diesel had been pumped into the soon-to-be up and running ore carrier. The smoke-filled air on board the vessel cleared enough for officials and investigators to walk through by lunchtime Monday, some 11 hours after the shipyard first reported the fire at 1:38 a.m. Once we got that controlled, everything got better pretty quick, the fire chief said. Vessel Utilization. [8], In 1969, at the age of 65, Blough retired from U.S. Steel. Vessels owned by Lafarge Holcim, managed by Inland Lakes Management. The Rand Logistics fleet is operated in three separate entities, American Steamship Co., Grand River Navigation, and Lower Lakes Towing. Anybody whos part of a ship-board fire knows that youre basically turning on an oven to 1,000 to 1,200 degrees and crawling into it, Dietman said. Initially powered by a steam engine, the vessel was converted to diesel power in 1985. The Roger Blough was finally launched on June 3, 1972 and entered service on June 15th. Following the Feb. 1 fire, Dietman described Roger Bloughs interior spaces as filthy, nasty and dirty from soot and fire, with serious fire damage below deck. The stern accomodations and engineering block had to be repaired and refinished, and her engines replaced, a task that added $13 Million to the project. Sep 1, 2022 9:33 PM by Roger Blough arrived at Bay Shipbuilding last summer. Bala Cynwyd, PA (February 1, 2021) - At approximately 0130 today, a fire broke out on the motor vessel Roger Blough. The Speer then took the Blough to Sturgeon Bay for repairs. Instead, its known as a major Great Lakes shipyard, where 10 to 20 vessels winter every offseason, their maintenance and repair tended to by scores of tradespeople. Just weeks ago, the Roger Blough caught fire while laid up at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. We determined that the probable cause of the engine room fire aboard the bulk carrier Roger Blough was likely the repeated removal and reinstallation of the furnace's burner that led to the failure of its mounting coupling, resulting in the operating burner dropping to the bottom of its enclosure and fracturing its fuel supply line, which allowed The boat is saved; its floating, its secure and stable.". The bulker St. Clair caught fire in February 2019 in the Port of Toledo, Ohio, and burned for nearly 36 hours. The Maritime Executive. The Blough remained on her usual trade routes, with the only change being the addition of a black and grey diagonal stripe to either side of her bow. The ship was launched on June 3, 1972, and christened on June 5. A wider drydock was under construction at that point in time. She was a frequent sight on the Saginaw River, often juxtaposed against speedboats and various sailing vessels during regular Tall Ships celebrations in Bay City. Once the fire started, a central alarm system went off and automatically notified a list of company contacts. A fire started in the engine room, then progressed to her unloading conveyor belts, which caught fire and . [14] [15] See also [ edit] This was worse than that one, Dietman said. San Diego, CA 92110. The Blough was nearing the end of its construction when fire broke out, killing four workers. [5], The Roger Blough assisted in the search for SSEdmund Fitzgerald. He estimated total damage to the ship at more than $20 million. The boat tracking websiteMarineTraffic does not show the final destination for the Roger Blough. The fire completely destroyed the engine room, and ended up killing four yard workers who were checking a tank below the engine room. The bow section was not built to the full designed width of 105 initially, as the graving dock at AmShips Lorain yard was not wide enough. The M/V Roger Blough left Sturgeon Bay on Thursday morning after spending more than a year sitting in lay-up following the blaze that the National Transportation Safety Board estimates caused more than $100 million in damage. The Maritime Executive. She also was quickly added to the winter navigation fleet, and it was noted that on January 11, 1973, she struck the stern of her fleetmate Philip R. Clarke while in an ice convoy in the Straits of Mackinaw. The Roger Blough burned for several hours early Monday, requiring a massive suppression effort at the Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, shipyard where it had been wintering. The Blough suffered from vibration issues due to lack of water flow to her propellers. The ship, operated by Keystone Shipping, was docked at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding for winter. Northern Waters Smokehaus plans move to former Amazing Grace Cafe. From $26.95 11oz Mug Stewart J. Cort Great Lakes Freighters -3127. Oil dripped onto a lightbulb, causing . The Maritime Executive. The M/V Roger Blough left Sturgeon Bay on Thursday morning after spending more than a year sitting in lay-up following the blaze that the National Transportation Safety Board estimates caused. By Tanda Gmiter of mlive.com - July 9, 2020 The U.S.-flagged Roger Blough was built in the early 1970s at the American Ship Building Co. yard in Ohio. The Mississagi was among the last ships of its era on the Great Lakes. The 858-foot bulk carrier caught fire early on Feb. 1 while docked at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., for an extended layup. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. LeLievre said the Mississagi carried her last cargo, wheat, through the Soo Locks in January and laid up in Hamilton, Ontario for the winter before traveling to Sarnia in April, where she was stripped for parts and equiptment. Those details and others were pulled. According to the National Transportation Safety Board's August 17, 2022, incident report[16] "the probable cause of the engine room fire aboard the bulk carrier Roger Blough was likely the repeated removal and reinstallation of the furnaces burner that led to the failure of its mounting coupling, resulting in the operating burner dropping to the bottom of its enclosure and fracturing its fuel supply line, which allowed diesel fuel to ignite. The same name may apply to four or even five different ships. The World Trade Organization's research arm has confirmed the trend that container lines and shippers have been seeing on major trade lanes since the end of last year: the growth in world merchandise trade slowed in the fourth quarter, and the trend appears to be sticking for now - but there are some early signs of a possible turnaround. Roger Blough Tribute (1972-2022) Lake Freighter Salutes & More. 934 talking about this. Salvage crews recover submerged tugboat in Juneau, AWO honors heroism of tug and towboat crews with new award, Coast Guard Foundation launches new logo, brand, Marine Highway Program offering $12 million in grants, St. Johns Bar Pilots order new launch from Gladding-Hearn. Vessels owned by American Steamship Co., bareboat chartered by Grand River Navigation, Cement barges under cargo contract to St. Marys Cement, Vessels owned by St. Marys Cement Inc., Toronto, ON. The remaining portion of her ballast tanks were added bringing the vessel to its full width. The only locations the Blough is capable of unloading at are Gary, Indiana, and Conneaut, Ohio. [8][3], On May 27, 2016, while under operation of the Keystone Shipping Company, the Roger Blough ran aground on Gros Cap Reef in Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior with some minor flooding reported. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Roger Bloughs ship keeper was asleep in his room at the time but escaped without injury, Sturgeon Bay Fire Chief Tim Dietman said. Published Real-time and current position of ROGER BLOUGH (Self Discharging Bulk Carrier, MMSI: 366972030, IMO: 7222138) on ais live map is in --- with coordinates 45.95564 / -83.89415 and speed 12.2 knots as reported on 2020-07-05 21:17 by AIS live data. Vessels owned by U.S. Oil, operated by Andrie, Inc. In the Design: Versatile Ships, Diverse Cargoes Featured Vessel: John G. Munson #65 Freighters September-October 2022 Download Freighters Newsletter #64 Freighters July-August 2022 Posted on September 10, 2022 by Shipwatcher News The News is in! What they found was a boat on fire that was sandwiched by others.