Arriving at the Front of a Blizzard

After the the lamest winter in Duluth history, significant snow is falling for the first time all season! Edwin H Gott arriving for fuel and iron ore after she was diverted from Two Harbors to Duluth. She arrived just as the storm started ramping up, blizzard warnings went up roughly a half hour after her arrival; perfect timing for the crew’s safe arrival. Total snowfalls are expected to reach between 10 and 20 inches and winds up to 40mph (edit- updated to 45mph). While filming this video a lot of snow got up into my gloves and ultimately took them off. That really didn’t feel good… They’re more or less fine now. Minor side note it’s also the first arrival footage I’ve posted this season!

Another interesting event so far in the storm: about two hours after this, Gott’s sister ship, Edgar B Speer arrived off schedule at the canal but did not enter, instead sailing in circles out on the lake and deploying a small lifeboat, which sailed through the raging canal into the harbor, stayed about a half hour then exited. The ship then reloaded the lifeboat and returned to a sheltered location along the south shore of the lake a several hour’s sail to the east. Since there was no known radio exchanges during this unusual sequence of events, it’s unknown what caused it but I pray everyone on the Speer is ok in case it was an injury or other issue. These events I did not capture on camera.

Built in 1979, The Edwin H Gott is 1004 ft long, and is in a 5-way tie with Edgar B Speer, James R Barker, Mesabi Miner and American Spirit for being the second longest freshwater ship in the world after Paul R Tregurtha. However Gott’s cargo capacity is the highest of all these with a maximum capacity of 74,100 tons, which in my opinion is the tie breaker making her the second largest vessel by physical size. She also has the most powerful engines on the Great Lakes, with a total of over 19,600 horsepower. Despite her huge size she also features the smallest hatch openings of any laker in service. The ship is a notoriously difficult one to catch, often arriving off schedule (like this) and with no warning. If you don’t happen to look at the ship trackers at just the right moment, sometimes the only warning you’ll get that she’s on her way is when she appears on the horizon, or when her horn goes off upon entering the canal!