Indiana Harbor - Caution: Ships Are Longer Than They Appear!

Here is the Indiana Harbor departing Duluth, Minnesota on the afternoon of June 4, 2023. She had arrived earlier in the morning, scheduled to load taconite (iron ore) pellets at the CN dock. However, during the day her orders changed and she was rescheduled to load coal at the SMET dock in Superior. Before loading, however, she would temporarily depart the harbor, as she needed to wash out her cargo hold to prepare for the switchover from taconite to coal. Lake Freighters are allowed to wash out non-toxic dry bulk cargo residue in Lake Superior as long they stay 6 miles from shore... or 3 miles from the shore between Duluth and Grand Marais. She would make roughly a 4-hour circle out in the lake, nearly reaching Two Harbors before returning to Duluth in the evening... something you'll see in a future upload on this channel. (I also recorded the morning arrival, but will likely save that footage for another day.)

For this departure, I decided to avoid the tourist madness in Canal Park on a Sunday afternoon. I was also feeling the effects of a long day out in the sun, so I decided to pick a shady park bench in Duluth's Bayfront Park to record the action. Some of the haze made the view across the harbor a little less clear than I would have liked, but it also gave me a chance to capture the Indiana Harbor from a vantage point that I rarely utilize. After making a fast turn to line up with the Aerial Lift Bridge, we got the full-on side view which truly demonstrates just how long these 1000-footers really are. While the shipping canal is a great place to watch ships, you never really get a full sense of their length... because you're seeing them at an angle that foreshortens their appearance.

The Indiana Harbor was clearly in a mood to put on a show for the Canal Park crowds, as she entertained them with three salutes on departure. I'm sure the Sunday afternoon tourists were thrilled with the extra salutes, putting a nice exclamation point to the end of their weekend!

The 1000-foot Indiana Harbor was launched in March 1979, making her the ninth 1000-footer on the Great Lakes (out of 13 total). She is powered by four GM V-20-cylinder 3,500 horsepower diesel engines, giving her a service speed of 14 knots. Her seven cargo holds are accessed by 37 hatch covers. She has a maximum cargo capacity of 80,900 tons. Her self-unloading system consists of a loop conveyor that carries cargo up to her 250-foot self-unloading boom. She can discharge up to 10,000 tons per hour. She sails for the American Steamship Company.

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