Hon. James L. Oberstar - Waking From Her Long Winter's Nap

Here we see the Hon. James L. Oberstar as she awakens from her winter layup at Fraser Shipyards on April 1, 2021. The Oberstar was previously seen on this channel as she arrived for winter layup on January 14, so it's nice to be able to document both the start and the end to her layup period. If you haven't seen that video, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HDKeYBat9Y

The footage starts on the morning of April 1, showing the Oberstar sitting in front of her fleet-mate the Lee A. Tregurtha in Howard's Bay at the Fraser Shipyards dock in Superior, Wisconsin. During the morning, she ran a series of fire and boat drills as her crew readied themselves for the new season. I arrived hoping to catch some action on deck for these drills. While I didn't see any activity to document, I did catch her doing some tests of her horn. Whether these horn tests were part of the drill(s) is not clear, but it was nice to hear her "voice" regardless.

I then returned in the late afternoon hours as she began to move away from the dock, backing by the Lee A. Tregurtha and passing under the approach span for the John A. Blatnik bridge. I then moved over to Rice's Point to catch her as she moved out of Howard's Bay and proceeded to move forward under the main span of the Blatnik bridge. The Oberstar was scheduled to take on fuel at the Husky dock in Duluth, so she made a 90-degree pivot and then backed up to the fuel dock, which is where the video ends. I was still in Duluth a few hours later when the Oberstar departed Duluth in darkness for her eventual destination of Marquette, Michigan. That departure will be covered in a future upload on this channel.

The 806-foot Hon. James L. Oberstar started service in 1959, originally named the Shenango II. From 1967 to 2011, she was named the Charles M. Beeghly as she sailed for Interlake Steamship. In 2011, she was renamed in honor of the former Congressman from Minnesota who supported Great Lakes shipping and the maritime industry in general. In 2008, her steam turbine was replaced with two Rolls-Royce Marine Bergen 6-cylinder B32:40L6P diesel engines each rated at 4,079 b.h.p. A scrubbing system is in place to remove particulates and pollutants from her exhaust. She can carry up to 31,000 tons of cargo in her five cargo holds. Those holds are accessed by 25 hatches. A gravity-fed conveyor system allows her to unload her own cargo, using a 250-foot unloading boom.

Видео Hon. James L. Oberstar - Waking From Her Long Winter's Nap канала 1 Long 2 Short