A Mystery Arrival! Algoma Conveyor Looking Large and Moving Slow

Описание: Posting this partly in hopes that somebody knew why they came here, because I can’t find that information anywhere! (Not that I minded seeing her lol) As the Algoma Conveyor pulled up to Duluth I fully expected her to anchor, as she was clearly empty, and the ore dock already had two ships at at it and the coal dock was also occupied, the only two Duluth docks Algoma loads from. So was surprised when she radioed she was entering. After seeing how slow she was moving I figured she’d go to Fraser Shipyards, which at the time had two open slips large enough for her, and word on the pies seemed to confirm she was heading there, but ultimately she bypassed Fraser and went to the Hallet 5 dock, where I’ve never seen an Algoma ship go, or any Canadian vessel for that matter. The DHC Western Cam was facing the wrong way, and when I went up to take a look in person there was nothing going on so not sure what they were doing here. After about 6 hours she departed overnight and sailed to Two Harbors to load there.

I can think of two scenarios that might explain her arrival, first one is that she did in fact need shipyard services but for the sake of convenience (Fraser is difficult to sail in and out of) went to Hallet for the parts. But that dock is not known to do that, and there are multiple docks closer in the harbor that are better suited for it, namely the Port Terminal facilities and Pipeline Dock in Superior, both of which are used for maintenance regularly.
The other option is she loaded a partial load of blast furnace trim, a powderized iron ore product that is used in low quantities in the steel making process. But I’ve never seen a Canadian ship load that product, nor have I seen a ship take on only a partial load of it. It’s also a very slow process. So not sure!

Measuring 740ft long and a carrying capacity of 39,400 tons, despite a young age she has a very interesting history. Starting construction in early 2016, the Conveyor was to be the first ship of her design, a self unloading variant of the otherwise straight decked Equinox Class laker, to be built in China. When construction was around halfway complete however, the shipyard went bankrupt and all facilities and vessels within it were put up for scrap auction, including the Algoma Conveyor and a second nearly complete laker, G3’s Strongfield. Algoma narrowly managed to save both vessels at auction, although the Conveyor’s original, incomplete pilothouse and unloading boom had apparently been demolished. The company sailed the Strongfield to Canada to complete fit-out as the Algoma Strongfield, leaving the G3 fleet with only one vessel, the Marquis. Conveyor’s hull was moved to another Chinese shipyard to build a new pilothouse and complete work enough sail to Pacific, then was also fitted out in Canada. She made her maiden voyage in 2019 as the third ship of the design to enter service behind sister ships Niagara and Sault. A fourth ship, the Bear, would enter service in 2024. She since has been extremely active on the Lakes, hauling grain, ores, coal, and salt.

The Equinox ships always manage to surprise me with how large they are, despite having seen them many times. In my mind for some reason they’re just not all that big and forget that every time until one’s towering in front of me. Is that the same for anyone else?

Hope you enjoy!