American Integrity - So Long And Thanks For All The Lifts!

Описание: Here is the American Integrity making her departure from Duluth, Minnesota before sunrise on the morning of December 30, 2021. She had picked up low sulfur coal at the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal and was scheduled to deliver it to the power plant at St. Clair, Michigan. The Integrity's arrival the day before was documented on this channel here:    • American Integrity and Tugboat Missouri - ...  

This departure ended up being somewhat problematic for the American Integrity, as the ice she passed through the day before had solidified (and possible shifted) from the day before. It took considerable time for the Integrity to get free from the SMET dock. And just when it looked like she was on her way, she got stuck in the ice again at Rice's Point as she made the turn. After a long period of ramming the ice, backing up, and ramming several more times, she finally broke free.

I would've attempted to capture those earlier events on camera, but it was too dark and too far away to see on camera. This video starts as she makes her way towards Canal Park, turning and passing under the Aerial Lift Bridge. If you listen closely at the start of the video, you can hear she is crushing ice as she approaches!

On her way through the shipping canal, the captain gave a celebratory master salute... probably because it was his last trip of the season but probably also because they were free of the ice. The bridge responded in kind, as usual. I included the radio exchanges between the American Integrity and the Aerial Lift Bridge because they was more than just the standard exchange requesting a "lift." Let me know in the comments if you enjoy these radio exchanges included in these videos. If so, I will continue to include them. Otherwise, if you just want the natural sounds heard from the pier wall, I can stick to just what my microphone picks up.

As the Integrity made her way onto Lake Superior, we got some colorful skies to the southeast, as the sun began to rise. I couldn't resist adding in a little warm colors into what was otherwise a chilly-looking video!

The 1000-foot American Integrity was launched in 1978 as the Lewis Wilson Foy. She was renamed the Oglebay Norton in 1991 when she was sold to the company of the same, then finally renamed the American Integrity in 2006 when she was sold to the American Steamship Company. According to the Boatnerd website, she is "powered by 4 GM Electro-Motive Division 20-645-E7 V-20 cylinder two stroke cycle, single acting 3,600 b.h.p diesel engines burning marine diesel oil. The power is fed through Falk single reduction gears to 2 controllable-pitch propellers giving the vessel a service speed of 18.4 m.p.h. She is equipped with both bow and stern thrusters. The vessel's 37 hatches feed into 7 holds where she is capable of carrying 78,850 tons at her mid summer draft of 34' 00". Her self unloading system feeds a stern mounted 250' discharge boom that can be swung 92 degrees to port or starboard and unload at a rate of up to 8,930 tons (10,000 net tons) per hour."