Algoma Discovery - A Bear in the Canal

Here is the Canadian lake carrier Algoma Discovery making another visit to the Twin Ports on the afternoon of September 2, 2021, this time arriving for taconite from the Canadian National dock in West Duluth. For most of her previous visits in 2021, she has loaded from the Burlington Northern dock in Superior. This video captures the Discovery's entry through the Duluth shipping canal before I moved over to Rice's Point to watch her pass under the John A. Blatnik bridge, making her way across the St. Louis River Bay towards the CN dock. At the time of her arrival, two other boats were loading at CN, so the Discovery tied up on the opposite site of the dock (which is no longer used for loading) to wait her turn.

Unlike many of her fleet mates, the Algoma Discovery can usually be relied upon to give a nice salute to onlookers when she arrives and departs. This visit was no exception, as we hear the traditional captain's salute (of one long and short two blasts) exchange between the Discovery and the Aerial Lift Bridge. We also appearances from the tug Chas Asher (pushing a barge for hauling dredged sediment) and the tour boat Vista Star. If you listen very carefully (or with headphones) you can hear an exchange of salutes between the Algoma Discovery and the Vista Star, with the Discovery initiating the exchange. As I said, the Discovery is good with her salutes!.

Even if the Algoma boats sometimes have the roughest-looking paint on the lakes, I still consider myself a fan of their bear logo, which can be seen on both the bow and smokestack of the Discovery. (Someday I hope to snag myself a hat or shirt with the Algoma logo on it.) Speaking of bears, there is a long history of actual bears being sighted in the Twin Ports... with some sightings taking place around tge shipping canal. One story from 2012 had a bear climb onto the south pier. As the bear made it's way down the pier, it approached a fisherman who was oblivious to his approaching visitor. The Aerial Lift Bridge operator got on the loudspeaker to warn the fisherman, who was definitely startled to the approaching bear. Fortunately, the bear stopped about 100 feet before the fisherman and ran off down Minnesota Point… where it was later seen swimming across the harbor. Sometimes I think about that story when I'm standing on the south pier at 2:00 in the morning! Edit: Here is a video showing images and audio from that bear incident: https://youtu.be/PwIv27ZxssA

The 729-foot Algoma Discovery was built in Croatia and was launched in 1986 under the name Malinska. In 1997, she came under the ownership of Viken Shipping and was renamed the Daviken. Another ownership change came in 2008 when she was purchased by Algoma Central and given her current name. In 2010, her deck-mounted unloading cranes were removed. At present, she has no self-unloading equipment in place and relies on shore-side equipment to unload. She has a cargo capacity of 35,500 tons and is powered by diesel engines with an output of 15,500 horsepower.

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