Joseph L. Block - A Smorgasbord of Salutes

Here is the Joseph L. Block seen departing Duluth, Minnesota on the afternoon of August 27, 2023. She had just completed unloading limestone and dolomite at the Hallett 5 dock in West Duluth and was headed outbound for Lake Superior, where she would make her way up to Silver Bay, Minnesota to load taconite pellets for delivery to Toledo, Ohio. Silver Bay is roughly four hours north of Duluth via lake freighter or about an hour by automobile.

The Joseph L. Block was definitely in the mood to entertain the Sunday afternoon crowd in Canal Park, blowing three salutes on her way out. She started with a master salute, consisting of three long and two short blasts. She then blew a captain's salute, consisting of one long and two short blasts. Both types of salutes are traditional ways for laker captain's to greet onlookers or the Aerial Lift Bridge. The Block gave another captain's salute as she passed the lighthouses at the end of the piers, to make sure the crowd at the lighthouse got their own blast.

The Aerial Lift Bridge gave responses to both the master salute and the first captain's salute. If you listen closely in the background, the tour boat Vista Star also got involved, blowing her own salute. Another private vessel also appeared to get in on the act, attempting a salute despite not being able to compete with the volume of the horn from the Block and the bridge.

The lighting conditions for this video kinda stunk, if I'm being totally honest. The video started off pointing towards the sun... never a great thing... then the sun ducked behind a cloud just when I was relying on it illuminate the Block's stern. The sun only returned once the Block was well beyond the shipping canal. I debated whether it was worth uploading this footage at all, but I figured the wide variety of salutes from multiple horns made it an entertaining ship passage... even if not a visual masterpiece in videography!

The 728-foot Joseph L. Block was launched in 1976 and sailed for the Inland Steel Company until 1999, when Inland Steel was sold to Ispat International from the Netherlands. In late 2020 or early 2021, she was sold to Cleveland-Cliffs, along with her fleet mates the Wilfred Sykes and the Edward L. Ryerson. While the Block still sails under the Inland Steel colors, she now carries the name of her new owners on her smokestack. She is operated by Central Marine Logistics. The Block has a cargo capacity of 37,200 tons and generates 7,000 horsepower from her two General Motors V-20 diesel engines.
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