Narration by 'Radar' !! The Ashtabula Arrives Duluth 080120

Okay, not really Radar, Scott from the Visitors Center is our narrator for today's video. Scott is a true boat nerd who works in the Museum, he shows his love of the ships and wears it proudly!
The Tug/Barge combo Ashtabula/Defiance is arriving the Twin Ports with limestone for the Graymont dock in Superior.

The tug Defiance (US 646729) and barge Ashtabula (US 626730) were specifically designed to operate together as a self-unloading bulk carrier and have spent their entire career doing so. The pair were originally built for subsidiaries of Beker Industries of Greenwich, Connecticut. Beker Industries was a conglomerate primarily in the business of phosphate mining and distribution from mines near Tampa Bay in Florida. After a long career on the ocean, the pair have returned to the Lakes where they were built.

The barge was launched as hull 728 on April 22, 1982 by Bay Shipbuilding of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. It was christened . The namesake is assumed to be Erol Y. Beker, the founder and president of Beker Industries and Beker Phosphate Corporation.

The pair were built under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970. This program allowed U.S. shipping companies to construct new vessels or to modernize their existing fleet by government guaranteed financing and tax deferred benefits. The barge incorporated many of the typical characteristics of a Great Lakes self-unloader. This includes belt conveyors below the hopper-shaped hold and a bow mounted unloading boom. However being designed for ocean use, there are some visual differences from typical Great Lakes designs. First, the barge has a deep hull, designed to be loaded to a 36 foot draft. Second, the unloading boom was very short, intended to unload into dockside hoppers. And third, the hatch covers are large corrugated covers, considerably larger and heavier than hatch covers typical to the Great Lakes.

As built, the pair would not meet the modern day definition of an Articulated Tug Barge (ATB). Instead of a rigid physical connection between the two, the bow of the tug was protected by heavy rubber fendering. When in the deep notch of the barge, wing wires were run from the stern of the tug to the barge to hold the tug in the notch. The tug is also equipped with a towing winch to tow the barge on the wire when necessary. In 2007 the pair was retrofitted with a Bludworth connection system and now meet the common definition of an ATB.

Upon entering service, the pair worked mostly on a route between Tampa Bay and the Lower Mississippi River. In November 1987 the barge was renamed Mary Turner and the tug renamed Beverly Anderson. Gulfcoast Transit Company became TECO Ocean Shipping in 2002. In 2007 TECO sold off its shipping and marine terminal business to United Marine Group (UMG). The pair were now operated by the UMG subsidiary U.S. United Ocean Services.

On December 6, 2011 Rand Logistics, Inc. announced that they had purchased the Mary Turner and Beverly Anderson as part of a $25 million deal which also included the bulk carrier Tina Litrico (now renamed Tecumseh). The pair spent the 2011-2012 winter at a Tampa area shipyard and arrived on the Lakes in the spring of 2012. In early April 2012 the pair stopped at Wharf 17 in Port Colborne. There the barge's original unloading boom (which was already detached and appeared to be less than 80 feet long) was removed and the reconditioned 250 foot boom from the scrapped Joseph H. Frantz was placed on blocking on the deck. The pair then proceeded to Fincantieri's Bay Shibuilding in Sturgeon Bay for a six month long retrofit and drydocking.

Ship Particulars:
Length 610' 0" (185.93m)
Beam 78' 0" (23.77m)
Depth 51' 0" (15.54m)
Capacity (mid-summer) 25,891 tons
Boom length 250'

Overall Dimensions tug :
Length 145' 0" (44.20m)
Beam 42' 3" (12.88m)
Depth 21' 0" (6.40m)
Power 7,200 BHP
Bludworth Connection System

[LongShort]

Funny. I never noticed the resemblance to Radar’s voice before. But it totally does sound like him.

[chrisk]

Always comforted to see so many people at the canal so early in a week day.
It's been a while since our family has visited from Milwaukee....2010.
My mother and her two sisters were born and raised in Duluth in the early 1900's.
All three became teachers, one at Ordean Jr.high, one a professor of art education in the New York University system during the 50-60's and my mother in Evanston Illinois and Milwaukee in the 40's-70's.
Miss the fog horns lulling me to sleep at night when we visited relatives during our growing up family trips.

[niranthbanks]

That tugs whistle is pleasing to the ear!

[relentless]

Scott did a great job! Loves from Detroit Motor City ♥️

[karenkay]

Nice video Paul. I love to hear "Radar" when I am on the live canal cam. 😊👍

[TOTALCAMARO]

She looks like she’s been around since 1942. She looks sad in that condition. I would never have guessed 1982.

[Donleecartoons]

He does sound like "Radar"! He should do a narration as Radar after taking his first correspondence lessons from the Famous Writer's School.

[HistoryRocksMuse]

Very cool video; the concept of barge:tug seems so weird to me, but hey, if it works! :-). I wonder how often Scott gets Radar comments. Funny, but he definitely has that voice.

[morkorson]

She's looking rough around the waterline these days.