PM 1910 Lake Michigan Shipwreck Found

A railroad car ferry that sank in Lake Michigan in 1910 has been discovered by divers.

The disaster of Sept. 9, 1910, resulted in the deaths of at least 29 people when the Pere Marquette 18 sank during a trip from Ludington, Michigan, to Milwaukee.

The ship, which was owned by Pere Marquette Railway, was carrying 60 passengers and 30 rail cars.

It began taking on water and the crew began dumping rail cars into the lake in an unsuccessful effort to lighten the load.

However, the ship foundered after several hours and some passengers and all of the crew members went down with it. Rescuers were able to save 32 people.

The remains of the ship were found in about 500 feet of water near Sheboygan, Wisconsin, by a pair of shipwreck hunters.

Great Lakes Cruise Ship Sailings Plunging

Cruise ships on the Great Lakes stopping in Cleveland are expected to be far fewer in number this summer as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Victory Cruise Lines recently said it had canceled more than half of its sailings this summer and has moved some ships out of the region.

The Port of Cleveland said it is now scheduled to see 12 sailings this year stop for day-long stays once cruises resume sailing in July.

However that is far fewer than the 41 stops originally planned for this year.

Victory, which operates the most Great Lakes cruises, said more cancellations are possible depending on whether U.S. and Canadian coronavirus-related cruise restrictions on cruise ships are lifted by July.

The cruise company usually operates two ships on the Great Lakes between May and October.

Cruise ships grabbed headlines earlier this spring after some ships became coronavious hot spots.

One ships had to hover off the coast of Florida because officials initially refused to allow it to dock there and unload passengers.

Like the demand for air travel, bookings for cruises have dropped dramatically around the world during the pandemic.

Aside from Victory, Steamboat Company also has two ships that make Great Lakes cruises that stop in Cleveland.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed a no sail order in April for 100 days. A similar order was issued by Canada.

Cruise passengers disembarking in Cleveland typically are offered a ride around the city on Lolly the Trolley, spend time at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, West Side Market, and other attractions.

It is unclear how many of those will be open in July when the cruise season on the Great Lakes is now slated to begin.

The Rock Hall and art museum have been closed for an undetermined period of time.

The average cruise passenger in Cleveland spends about $150 a day and if the rest of the cruise season is canceled that would mean a loss of $1.2 million.

Assuming that cruises are able to operate in 2021, the Port of Cleveland expects 50 cruise ship stops. Before the pandemic cruise companies were expanding their sailings on the Great Lakes.

Ocean Vessels Reaching Inland Ports

Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor said it received its first ocean-going vessel of the season last week to mark the start of the international shipping season.

Nearly 900 tons of wind turbine sections arrived at the port from Marin, Spain, aboard the general cargo carrier BBC Mont Blanc.

In a news release, the port said stevedore Federal Marine Terminals and workers from the International Longshoreman’s Association and International Union of Operating Engineers unloaded the components, which will be transported to a wind farm in Illinois.

The St. Lawrence Seaway opened its locks to ocean vessels for the 59th navigation season on March 20 after closing in late December 2016.

I Wasn’t Sure What to Expect

One in a periodic series of images I made last summer

Peter Bowler had a vision that I was having a hard time grasping. He wanted to get a Norfolk Southern train or two crossing Sandusky Bay west of Sandusky in early morning light.

But to get the image that he wanted would require having to leave very early in the morning, like 4 a.m. I wasn’t enthusiastic about that.

We instead drove to Toledo with the idea of getting a train crossing the Maumee River. Alas, the bridge over the NS tracks carrying Miami Street was closed due to construction.

So we wound up at Sandusky Bay to try the photograph what Peter had originally envisioned.

I’ve been to Sandusky Bay a few times, but don’t know the territory that well. I got it in my head that we would standing almost next to the tracks and shooting an eastbound train coming toward us.

But that wasn’t what Peter had in mind and there probably isn’t a place to to that without trespassing on railroad or private property.

Instead, we found ourselves on an old road that juts into the bay and is used for fishing. It can also be used for photographing trains if you have a good telephoto lens.

By the time we got to the bay, the lighting conditions were pretty brutal. We were looking almost right into the late morning sun.

I immediately understood why Peter initially had said we’d have to leave so early.

So I did what I always do, which is the best I can with what I have to work with. It didn’t yield any spectacular images, but it did result in a keeper or two.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders