Stewart J. Cort - Back in Action, Blasting Two Salutes

Here is the Stewart J. Cort seen departing Superior, Wisconsin on November 12, 2022. She had just finished loading "Hibtac"iron ore pellets at the Burlington Northern #5 dock and was headed outbound for Lake Superior. The eventual destination for her cargo was Burns Harbor, Indiana. Hibtac pellets are mined in Hibbing, Minnesota, a town that is also famous as the childhood home of Robert Zimmerman... also known as Bob Dylan. (Dylan did live in Duluth, Minnesota for a while too.)

On her way out through the Superior entry, the Stewart J. Cort entertained us with two captain's salutes. This was especially nice of them, as there were only a couple of people gathered to see her depart. The crew was likely happy to be back in action again after an extended "winter" layup. The 2022 season started somewhat slowly for the iron ore trade and it was first said the Cort wouldn't sail until May 2022. But that date kept getting pushed further back month-after-month until the demand finally necessitated her activation in late September. Despite missing over half of the shipping season, she was soon in full stride making the weekly run between Superior and Burns Harbor.

It may not translate well on video, but the Stewart J. Cort is one of the faster ships to depart from Superior. She backs out quickly, making her pivot, and is gone through the canal before you know it. Many ships take 2-3 times as long to make the departure, but her crew is more experienced with the Superior entry than any other lake boat. Indeed, I narrowly missed an opportunity to capture her depart Superior in early October, simply because she was too quick for me! I'm glad I could finally catch her this time around.

Launched in 1972, the Stewart J. Cort is 1000-feet in length and 105-feet in width, built to take advantage of the expansion at the Soo Locks to accommodate larger-sized vessels. The Cort is powered by four General Motors EMD Diesel engines giving her a total of 14,000 horsepower. She is the only 1000-footer to be built with a forward-mounted pilot house. This pilot house also contains the crew quarters and galley, with no living accommodations in the stern. Her cargo capacity is 58,000 tons, which are accessed by hydraulically-driven deck hatches that are smaller in size than traditional deck hatches that are lifted off with a deck crane. Her self-unloading system discharges cargo at her stern, using a shuttle boom located under the side hatches near her smokestack. This unloading system is faster than the conventional self-unloader, but limits what ports she can unload at... as she requires a dock-side hopper to collect the ore and move it to the stockpile. Since the Cort usually only unloads at Bethlehem Steel in Burns Harbor, Indiana, she doesn't need the capability to unload at other ports.

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