Sunday, August 5, 2007, Salties in Toledo

(all of my posts are in chronological order with the most recent posted at the top -- to see posts of earlier expeditions as well as the introduction scroll down)

(you may want to read the Introduction posted at the bottom of all the posts)

Road Trip!
AIS and boatnerd.com indicate two salties are docked in Toledo, Ohio, about 120 miles north of where I live so on a cloudy, very dark and cloudy, Sunday I head north as one of the salties I have not seen before and it is from one of my favorite fleets -- Canfornav, Canadian Forest Navigation.

It is hard not to notice the railroads when ship watching in Toledo. This is a SD-70 MAC built for the Burlington Northern and now owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) running on Norfolk Southern tracks

Arriving at Toledo and getting off Interstate 75 at the Maumee River where there is a large grain elevator complex and a turning basin, we get a surprise, the tanker Crystal Topaz, imo 9327047.

Crystal Topaz at Anderson's on the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio

Tankers are not listed on any of the websites such as the St. Lawrence Seaway, etc. for security reasons so it was a real surprise to see this ship. This is the first tanker we have seen in Toledo and it is docked at Anderson's and we suspect it is unloading ethanol as Anderson's is pretty heavily involved in that. Built in 2006, flagged in Luxemborg, and with a nice red hull with the words "Crystal Pool" written in large white letters on the side of the hull towards the stern. White superstructure, white funnel with a three dimensional diamond or crystal, I suppose, on the stack in blue. Owned by Crystal Pool, Ltd. of Helsinki, Finland. This ship is a first sighting for us and we are quite happy about it.

Crystal Topaz funnel; Crystal Pool Ltd of Helsinki, Finland

Docked at the Toledo Port Authority unloading steel pipe is the ship we came to see, the Canfornav charter Eider, imo9285938. The bulker was built in 2004 and is 665 feet, 10 inches long - a very nice bulker. It is actually not unloading since it is Sunday. The area is fenced but very decent photos can be had by shooting through the chain link fence from a dead end road that goes through a part of the port. The photos have various cranes in them and lots of pipe sections so are fairly nice although dark and cloudy.

The Eider unloading pipe at Toledo, Ohio

The stack is a light yellowish color with the Canfornav symbol which are three stylized coniferous trees with three dark blue wavy lines underneath.

Canadian Forest Navigation Ltd. or Canfornav

I do not know where the Forest comes from in the name Canadian Forest Navigation as I have never seen their ships carrying wood products. The Eider, like Canfornav's other ships is a charter. Parakou Shipping Ltd of Hong Kong is the owner and the vessel is Chinese flagged. This is our first sighting of the Eider.

Further back in the Port of Toledo docks is another saltie but we cannot begin to get close to it. We then head for the west side of the Maumee River (which empties into Lake Erie), stopping to photograph a CSX Railroad freight crossing the Maumee River.

CSX train with empty autoracks headed to Detroit, Michigan. It will soon be crossing the Maumee River on a large swing bridge.

There is very little access on the west side of the Maumee River across from the port complex and none across from the CSX coal docks. This is unfortunate as the afternoon sun angles from the west side of the river are unparalled although today there is no sun and no afternoon sun angle!

CSX train approaching swing bridge across the Maumee River in Toledo

After much exploring over the past two years the only really accessible spot is a small marina next to the sewerage treatment plant. We have stopped there for photos several times an no one has bothered us.

Eider at the Port of Toledo

So we head for that location to get an unobscurred photo of the Eider and also the Spar Ruby which is further back but a somewhat decent photo - at least better than nothing -- can be had with a strong telephoto.

Spar Ruby at the Port of Toledo on a scuzzy day

Unfortunately by this time it is much darker and scuzzier and with a haze coming in an a light mist off and on. The Spar Ruby, imo 8406913, is owned by Spar Shipping of Bergen, Norway and is chartered by the large Canadian line, Fednav Ltd.

Another view of the Spar Ruby

The Spar vessels are frequent visitors to the Great Lakes. The superstructu
re is a cream color and the stack is white with the symbol of the ace of spades in blue with a large white S on it. 584 feet, 8 inches long, the Spar Ruby was built in 1985, which means it is pretty old for a salt water bulk carrier. It has sailed under several names: Astral Neptune, Liberty Sky, Manila Bellona and Solveig, becoming the Spar Ruby in 2000. The Spar Ruby has three other sister ships in its fleet, all chartered to Fednav: Spar Garnet, Spar Jade, and Spar Opal. If memory serves me correct (it often does not!) I have photos of all four vessels.

Closeup of the Eider's superstructure

We try a new photo location for these two bulkers, hiking out along the CSX railroad tracks for a few hundred yards where there is a clear view down the river. Would be a much better location on a clear day and a telephoto is a necessity. But it is a thrill to see two salt water bulkers here at one location hundreds and hundreds of miles from the ocean.

Last view of the Eider

It now being fairly late in the afternoon and terribly dark and scuzzy with light mist, etc we head back but stop again to look at the Crystal Topaz.

Detail view of the Crystal Topaz's superstructure

It is strange to see a tanker at the grain elevator complex but I will not complain.

We then get back on Interstate 75 and head south towards home. A strange sight on the interstate is a helicopter on a small trailer being hauled by a pickup truck. It belongs to a firm from North Carolina and is probably headed back there after a job in Ohio or Michigan. Even though I am driving I snap off a few photos of it as I pass it.

A southbound helicopter on Interstate 75 south of Toledo!

End of trip.

Gas is expensive, at least by U.S. standards and even a short trip to Toledo costs about $30. At least the gas is delivered in an attractive tanker truck!

First time I have seen 3 salties in Toledo and even though it was dark and cloudy it was well worth the 2 hours plus up and back and the expenditure of $$$$$$ for gas.