Spring 2012 Magazine

Spring 2012 North Star Port | Spring 2012 1 What about Bob? And NoBob? or 11 years, my wife and I ists between the ship’s hull and its Fast forward to 2012. In the past six have been proud owners of a cargo holds. This void is part of the months, both the EPA and U.S. Coast F 90-pound Doberman. And like ship’s infrastructure, with large steel Guard have established standards all Dobermans, his sheer size and frames and steel braces or stiffeners. and protocols for the installation shape make the bravest of humans In a no-ballast condition (NoBOB), of ballast water treatment systems hesitate or even retreat as they enter small pools of water collect in these onboard international vessels dis- our yard and see Bob bounding for- voids. Of course the great concern charging ballast in U.S. waters. These ward to greet them. That’s right: his would be discharging foreign fresh- standards and implementation dates name is Bob. And so, you ask, “What water ballast in our Lakes. are closely aligned with Canadian about Bob?” To deal with this concern, the regulations and with International Ironically, Bob maritime industry developed a bal- has as many pho- last management plan that permitted bias and anxieties the exchange of harbor and river bal- as does Bill Mur- last water with mid-ocean saltwater. ray in the 1991 Ballast water exchange (BWE) takes film comedy of place at a minimum of 200 miles from What About Bob? land and in at least 600 feet of water. fame. Our Bob is This is to insure that the tens of thou- afraid of every- sands of gallons of new ballast wa- thing—thunder, ter being taken onboard are from an lightning, fire- ocean’s relative “dead zone” with few crackers, being if any living saltwater organisms. home alone— On unballasted ships with cargo, and is far more ocean water is pumped through the unsettled by hu- empty tanks, displacing any pooled mans than vice water, and discharged. This pro- Here’s Bob — or, to his neighbors, ‘No, Bob!’ versa. Yet he is distinctly Doberman cess, often referred to, rather inele- with a mind of his own — so much gantly, as “swish and spit,” is differ- Maritime Organization standards. so that we are frequently trying to ent on most every ship due to unique Due to the success of the ballast correct his behavior with this sim- designs and conditions; plus, the de- exchange program, these standards ple command: “No, Bob. No, Bob.” gree of risk is amplified as crews and protocols will remain in full force Apparently we repeat this phrase so move ballast that affects both stabil- in addition to onboard treatment often that our neighbors and house ity and hull stresses in open ocean technology. This added level of guests have thought his name real- wind and waves. protection for the Great Lakes helps ly was “NoBOB,” which provided me For the Great Lakes, the proce- ensure that ballast water discharged a very circuitous route to get to my dure is highly effective, as the saline from international ships exceeds message in this edition ... shock kills the freshwater organisms. world standards and maintains the In the maritime industry “No- BWE was introduced as voluntary in integrity of this unique binational BOB” means “no ballast on board.” 1997 and made mandatory in 2006. waterway. Perhaps my subconscious was at To ensure compliance, each ballast Bob is now in his dog-years old work in naming our pet — or in writ- tank on each ship entering the Sea- age, and the last chapter of his life ing this column? way is tested by a joint team of U.S. is winding to a close. Aligning bal- All kidding aside, NoBOB is the and Canadian regulatory agents for last water standards across the Great condition in which most internation- ocean salinity levels at the first Sea- Lakes means that the maritime in- al ships enter the Great Lakes. When way lock in Montreal. Since compli- dustry will soon be closing that chap- the industry talks of ballast tanks, ance became mandatory, there have ter as well. what is actually being referred to is been no new aquatic invasive species While individual states retain the the void — the empty space that ex- discovered in the Lakes since 2006. (See Bob, next page) 2 North Star Port | Spring 2012 Inside your www.duluthport.com Spring 2012 / Volume 44, Number 1 1200 Port Terminal Drive Duluth MN USA 55802-2609 Tel: (218) 727-8525 / (800) 232-0703 Fax: (218) 727-6888 E-mail: [email protected] ‘Life on the Lakes’ Commissioners Introducing a series of profiles Steve Raukar, Hibbing, president 4 Ray Klosowski, Duluth, vice president of veteran Great Lakes Mariners Cal Larson, Fergus Falls, secretary Lowell Hellervik, St. Paul, treasurer Rick Revoir, Duluth, assistant treasurer Norm Voorhees, Duluth Chris Dahlberg, Duluth River Quest Administration Entertaining speaker kicks off 20th Executive director: Adolph Ojard 5 Chief financial officer: John Kubow annual outreach event Industrial development: Andy McDonough Trade development: Ron Johnson Facilities manager: Jim Sharrow Public relations: Adele Yorde Clure Public Marine Terminal operator The Sailing Kolendas Lake Superior Warehousing Co., Inc. 1210 Port Terminal Drive 6 New generation of mariners Duluth MN USA 55802 follows in illustrious footsteps Tel: (218) 727-6646 Fax: (218) 727-6649 E-mail: [email protected] www.lswci.com About North Star Port Strong start to 2012 + This magazine is published by the Duluth Seaway Port 8 The Roger Blough powers her way into Lake Authority. Direct comments to Adele Yorde, PR manager. Superior as the season starts strong The magazine is prepared for publication by Fortner WordWorks; Larry Fortner, editor. North Star Port is printed by ProPrint of Duluth and mailed by BarCodes Plus of Superior. (Bob, from previous page) Tug-barge combos right to ask for higher standards, I 18 Once a Great Lakes oddball, am hopeful that the new national reg- now on the leading edge of a trend ulations will be universally adopted and we can move forward with imple- On the covers mentation of approved ballast water PRSRT STD treatment systems. On the front: US POSTAGE PAID DULUTH, MN PERMIT NO. 492 This scene, on April 6, sums up Twin 1200 Port Terminal Drive Duluth, Minnesota Within a few years, “BOB” and USA 55802-2609 www.duluthport.com Ports shipping in a single frame: ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED “NoBOB” will slowly disappear from Spring 2012 approaching the Duluth entry are a my vocabulary both at home and at Canadian laker (Algoma Quebecois), work. There will undoubtedly be oth- followed by a U.S.-flag laker (James er maritime issues to address — and R. Barker) and a saltie (Dutch-flag Arubaborg). other dogs to raise — but perhaps none more inextricably linked in my On the back: subconscious than this Doberman The Canada-flag Frontenac steams toward the Duluth entry through and this issue that we have so dog- North Star Port | Spring 2012 1 Robert Welton storm-tossed seas on March 26. Diane Hilden gedly tried to fix. North Star Port | Spring 2012 3 Life on the Lakes: Captain Gil Porter By Leslee LeRoux license and soon was back sailing on the water. He launched Duluth Mag- Capt. Gil Porter has looked out on the Lakes. netic Compass Service, providing the water for most of his life. Piloting proved to be not that dif- swinging magnetic compasses on ev- Though born in the U.S., he spent ferent from his work on the buoy ten- erything that sails, from 1,000-foot- his boyhood days sailing as a Sea der. “You put the boat in position with ers to private sailboats. He keeps the Scout in Montreal, Canada, where his the buoy; it’s like docking and un- business active today at age 88. father’s work had taken the Along the way, Porter family and where the mari- and his late wife, Helen, ner-to-be grew up. raised four children — When World War II Skip, Ken, Cindy and broke out and the Canadi- Lani. Skip followed in his an Navy turned away the father’s wake and earned young U.S. citizen, he came his living on the water, and back to the States and en- Porter’s grandson, Logan, listed in the Coast Guard, is a mate on Woods Hole’s launching a career that in- research ship. cluded service in the Ca- Duluth has been home ribbean and North Atlantic to Porter for more than 40 during the war. years. He remains an ac- At 29, he took com- tive member of the mar- mand of his first ship, the itime community — at- Coast Guard Buoy Tender tending Harbor Club, Basswood, in Honolulu. As- Propeller Club and Ship- signments in Boston, Phil- masters meetings with adelphia, Duluth and San good friends who never Francisco followed. miss the opportunity to He first sailed into the tell, and retell, tales of Life DSPA Twin Ports on the Coast The author, Leslee LeRoux, with the captain, Gil Porter. on the Lakes. Guard cutter Woodrush, “There are no better which was under his command from docking, 20 times a day,” Porter said. sailors than those that sail the Great 1959 to 1963. In those early years When it came time for his first official Lakes,” Porter says. And he is among in Duluth-Superior he judged a Sea job as a registered pilot, Rico wished the best of the best. Scout project — a handmade sextant him luck and gave him some advice.

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