John G. Munson - Putting on a Show in Duluth, Working Late in Superior

Here is the John G. Munson making a visit to the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior on the evening of April 22, 2024. She was hauling limestone that was loaded at Port Inland, Michigan and was set to discharge it at the Graymont dock in Superior, Wisconsin. But first, we got to watch her arrival through the Duluth shipping canal in the early evening hours, blowing both a captain's salute and a master salute for the crowd in attendance. (The Aerial Lift Bridge replied to the Munson's first salute with a salute of her own.) While ships can access the Graymont dock from either the Superior entrance or the Duluth entrance, it seems most choose to arrive through the Duluth entrance. Following unloading, the Munson would move over the CN dock in Duluth and load taconite, departing on April 23 for Gary, Indiana.

While the skies were rather gray and gloomy for the Munson's arrival, the Munson took on a colorful glow in the nighttime lights of the Graymont facility as she unloaded. After an evening rainfall, the moon had started to poke out between the clouds to add a little extra illumination to the scene. Unfortunately it was hard to get a good vantage point that clearly showed the limestone being discharged from the Munson's unloading boom, due to a building being in the way... but I did manage a partial view towards the end of the video. While arrivals and departures through the canal are always the "show" that boatwatchers come to see, I find moments like this at the dock to be just as interesting... as we're getting to see the boats do what they were designed for. Plus, the hum of the Graymont facility is almost hypnotic at night. (For those of us with tinnitus, a recording of Graymont would be great to fall asleep to!)

The John G. Munson was built in 1952 and was originally 666 feet in length. Unlike a lot of lakers that were converted to self-unloaders later in their careers, the Munson was originally built as a self-unloader... allowing her to serve a variety of ports where shoreside unloading equipment wasn't available. She originally sailed for the Bradley Transportation Line from Rogers City, Michigan and was primarily used to haul stone before being acquired by the U.S. Steel Fleet (now operated as the Great Lakes Fleet), where her role was expanded to also carry iron ore. Today, she tends to alternate between hauling limestone and iron ore, often bringing limestone to Duluth and then departing with iron ore. The Munson was lengthened to 768 feet in 1976, giving her a cargo carrying capacity of 25,550 tons held in 7 cargo holds. Her original steam turbine was replaced by two MAK diesel engines in 2016. While the loss of another steam engine is mourned by some boat watchers, the conversion to diesel has helped to keep the Munson on the Lakes and still in service... hopefully for many more years to come!
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