GreatLakes2

Thirty-three years ago after a fierce winter storm sent the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald to the bottom of Lake Superior, a new video has been released that explores the latest theories behind the ship's sinking.Mark Gumbinger of Kenosha, Wis., who has produced 31 documentaries on shipwrecks and lighthouses, recently released "The Edmund Fitzgerald Controversy."

"The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is arguably the most famous shipwreck story told around the Great Lakes," Gumbinger said. "Yet the question remains, 'What really happened to the Mighty Fitz that cold November night?' " The ship sank on Nov. 10, 1975, with a loss of 29 lives as a cyclone-velocity storm swept over Lake Superior.

Gumbinger said since the ship sank 33 years ago, interest in the shipwreck has "grown and grown." He said people are interested in the Edmund Fitzgerald because it happened in their lifetime, unlike the Titanic, which sank in 1912.

Gumbinger's latest documentary explores the various theories as to why the 729-foot-long freighter went down in 530 feet of water -- in particular the possible faulty hatch covers that allowed water to pour into the ship. Gumbinger said this theory is supported by U.S. Coast Guard testing and computer models.

Other theories include the long ship breaking in two because of rough seas or being damaged by ramming into shoals. Others say it was the crew or faulty equipment or an unidentified object. Adding to the mystery is that the ship was considered modern, was piloted by the highly experienced Capt. Ernest McSorley and disappeared without a single communication or SOS.

Gumbinger said he expects his documentary, like his others, to sell well in Michigan, which he says has a tremendous interest in ships and shipping disasters. Gumbinger's video includes underwater footage of the ship as it lies in two sections in 530 feet of water. The program includes pictures of the 729-foot-long freighter in service.

Although he lives in Wisconsin, Gumbinger's documentaries are familiar in West Michigan and can be found at many area libraries. Some of his documentaries have focused on ships of the area, including the car ferry Milwaukee, which sank Oct. 22, 1929, while sailing from Milwaukee to Grand Haven, and the passenger ship S.S. Wisconsin, which sank in 1929.

Gumbinger also has produced a documentary on three Whitefish Bay shipwrecks, the 1956 sinking of the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria, and the sinking of the freighter Daniel J. Morrell.

The new Edmund Fitzgerald sinking documentary by Mark Gumbinger is available for $39.95 plus $6.95 shipping from Southport Video Productions, 9928 32nd Ave., Kenosha, Wis., 53158; or by calling (800) 642-9860; or on the Internet at edmundfitzgerald.com.

A new ship will sail the Great Lakes this week, and shipping officials call that good news for both the industry and the city. This MV Blacky is being loaded with canola at the local Viterra elevator, and will make its way to Mexico where the shipment will be turned into canola oil.

Lake Superior Shipping Ship agent Sandy Henderson said it's the first of 14 ships to be built in China by Algoma Shipping Company. He said it is a good sign that new ships are being built. Henderson also said that the ship was built three months ago, and can carry up to 28,000 tonnes of cargo. As for the kind of cargo the ship can carry, Henderson said anything from grain to steel.

But with the depth limitations in the Great Lakes, it cannot carry more than 20,000 tonnes out of Thunder Bay. The MV Blacky will sail out Tuesday and arrive in Mexico in about two weeks.

02-18-2009 Algoma Central Corp. (TSX:ALC) said Wednesday its fourth-quarter profit sank 35 per cent to $16.8 million on weakness in its ocean shipping and Great Lakes and Atlantic Canada oil-product tanker operations, along with foreign exchange losses.

Quarterly revenue increased six per cent to $196.4 million from $185.1 million, but earnings per share declined to $4.33 from $6.70.

The year-ago quarter's bottom line of $26.1 million was boosted by a $5.6-million benefit from lower tax rates, while the most recent quarter suffered from the impact of the weakening Canadian dollar on U.S.-dollar debt, after foreign-exchange gains a year earlier.

Full-year revenue was $688.9 million, up from $580.5 million, but earnings sagged to $41.3 million or $10.61 per share, down from $52.4 million or $13.48 per share.

The Toronto-headquartered ship operator said the year's pre-tax operating profit was up four per cent. This was attributed to higher earnings in the domestic dry-bulk segment, improved full-year profit in the ocean shipping group, and slightly higher profits in real estate operations.

However, the product tankers segment suffered from a scheduled dry-dock of the Algoma Hansa, and Lake-Freighter Amortization expense increased.

Going forward, Algoma Central plans to spend $6 million on its hotel property in Sault Ste. Marie, after terminating the Holiday Inn lease and assuming control Feb. 1 of what now is the Waterfront Inn and Conference Centre.

The French government has formally moved to lay claim to one of Canadian history's most important shipwrecks if, as a U.S. relic hunter believes, the 330-year-old Griffon has been discovered at the bottom of Lake Michigan.

The Griffon, built in 1679 near today's Niagara Falls, Ont., by French explorer Rene-Robert de La Salle, became the first sailing ship on the Great Lakes but was lost in a storm that year on its maiden voyage. In 2004, U.S. wreck diver Steve Libert discovered remnants of what he suspects is a 17th-century shipwreck at the north end of Green Bay, near the boundary waters of Michigan and Wisconsin. Experts from Chicago's Field Museum have dated wood samples collected at the wreck site to the era of the Griffon, a 25-metre vessel expected to be the flagship of the fur trade empire New France was building in the fledgling days of the future Canada.

Libert who is engaged in a legal battle with Michigan's attorney general over the ownership of what could be the "Holy Grail" of Great Lakes shipwrecks — has urged both the French and Canadian governments to back his efforts to explore and possibly recover an iconic ship with deep historical connections to the two countries. Now, the French embassy in Washington has officially weighed into the controversy by filing a legal claim asserting France's ownership of the wreck if and when the Griffon is found. "The Republic of France respectfully states that it is the owner of the shipwreck Le Griffon," says a Jan. 27 claim filed in U.S. District Court, "and it has not abandoned its interests in Le Griffon." The claim further states the ship was "performing sovereign functions at the time of her loss, including as a vessel of exploration and warship."

The French claim has Michigan officials mulling their next move, but has already provoked outrage in the state. "This could be an important relic for telling Michigan's story," the Detroit News editorialized last week. "France's claim to the vessel is tenuous, and ought to be severed by the courts . . . The Griffon has been sitting in Michigan's waters long enough to have grown Michigan roots."

But the Canadian government's top underwater archeologist told Canwest News Service last April that the Griffon also has a profoundly important place in this country's colonial history. Robert Grenier who is currently leading a federal search for two famous British shipwrecks in the Canadian Arctic from the 19th-century Franklin Expedition — said last year that Michigan officials "would like us to do some things'' at the purported Griffon wreck site once the legal issues are resolved.

He called La Salle's ship "one of the Holy Grails of Canadian marine history,'' adding that the fact that the ship "was not built in Europe makes it more attractive'' to scholars documenting Canada's formative years. Libert said on Tuesday that he is still hoping to settle the legal dispute with Michigan and work at the site with state officials as well as with "France and Canada and for the entire good of underwater archeology." He added: "To date, the ship hasn't been identified. Michigan is trying to strip that right from my group, the discoverers."

The French government, he said, is simply notifying the other stakeholders that if the wreck turns out to be the Griffon, "France will assert ownership." La Salle, a controversial but towering presence in 17th-century North America, had already helped establish Fort Frontenac (at present-day Kingston, Ont.) and led the European discovery of Niagara Falls before trying to establish a fur trade network on the Upper Great Lakes.

After the Griffon was built in the summer of 1679, it was sailed across lakes Erie and Huron and into Green Bay. La Salle then turned to overland exploration and sent his flagship back toward Lake Erie, on Sept. 18, 1679, to deliver thousands of furs and other cargo obtained from native traders. The ship was never seen again, and La Salle was the first of many searchers who failed to turn up traces of the wreck over the centuries.

05-2010 A House bill would allow Lake Erie waters to be leased for wind farms, State Rep. John Hornaman, of Millcreek Township, D-3rd Dist. thinks that could change soon and possibly in our backyard. Hornaman, with the support of Erie County's other state House members, has introduced a bill that would allow Pennsylvania to lease land beneath Lake Erie for the development of wind farms.

A previous law allowed for up to 25 acres to be leased, but Hornaman said that's far too small to be practical when thousands of acres would likely be needed. The bill, introduced in March and passed unanimously by the state Government Committee, is based on more than an idea.

Hornaman said he's spoken with more than one developer interested in developing wind farms on shallow ridges about seven and a half miles northwest of Presque Isle. According to one estimate, Hornaman said, Lake Erie-based wind farms have the potential within a decade to produce 3,000 to 4,000 megawatts, enough electricity to power about 850,000 homes.

Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes, is thought by many to be ideal for erecting windmills that would likely tower more than 300 feet above the water's surface. While no other wind farms are currently situated in U.S. waters, that's likely to change soon. On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration ruled that 130 wind turbines proposed for the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound pose no threat to aircraft.

Meanwhile, Hornaman said, both Ohio and New York have legislation under consideration that would allow for leasing land in Lake Erie. Hornaman said there's a lot to be learned, and the views of conservationists and others need to be heard at public hearings. None have signed off on anything, but Hornaman said a long list of environmental groups have been consulted and have indicated a willingness to consider the idea.

Ed Kissell, vice president of S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie, an anglers group that promotes fishing in Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay, said his group is open to studying the idea.