Out of Engine Trouble and Straight Into an Ice Trap

This REALLY hasn’t been Lee A Tregurtha’s week lol, and her extremely slow motion, somewhat wacky drama continues, this time in broad daylight for the whole town to see! For those who missed the earlier videos, the 824ft ship spent the winter here in Duluth getting general maintenance dome and the linings of her cargo holds replaced. The work took a few days longer than expected and she missed the opening of the season, but was ready in decent enough time, ahead of many other vessels. On final prep however, the ship’s engines were giving them trouble and after a day of work set sail, only to get less than 5 miles before the issue cane back and she needed to turn around and return to the shipyard. That’s where the story here starts. It took awhile but they got and installed the parts they needed and set out on a test drive, departing the Canal with a sizable crowd and the CSL Laurentien waiting on her outside. She got far more than they bargained for, they made it about a mile and a half before the ice brought her to a halt. The cutter Spar, which had just cut her a path less than a half hour earlier, was now on the other side of the harbor trying to free the CSL Niagara and got stuck herself, leaving the Canadian ship in the middle of the channel with nowhere to go. Spar gave up on Superior Entry and decided to go free Lee, then come at the Superior side from the outside, so it took her a few hours but she managed to free herself enough to turn around and start making her way through the harbor to the Canal. They finally reached Lee about 4 hours after they got stuck and started working, taking another 2 hours to free her and get her back facing the Canal so she could go in and load up after the successful test (the engine held up against substantial strain trying to push through the ice). She almost got stuck a second time just off the Canal and had to rev up the engines to make it through, which brought her through the Canal a little on the fast side once they hit open water! Departure to re-entry took about 6 and a half hours. In the meantime the unusual sight of the ship lodged in the ice outside caught the city’s attention, there were news crews everywhere and more locals than I’ve ever seen. I don’t blame them, heck of a sight! She made it out without damage though, and that’s the important part! She is currently back in harbor, taking on her first load of the season at Duluth’s ore dock. Storms are moving in this evening, so glad she’s not out on the Lake! Since I just covered Lee A Tregurtha’s extensive history a few days ago I’m not going to re-write the whole thing but I’ll paste it into the comments for anyone new! Enjoy!