Here is the Arthur M. Anderson seen departing Duluth, Minnesota on the overcast afternoon of December 27, 2022. She had just picked up a load of taconite at the Canadian National dock in West Duluth and was bound for Gary, Indiana. Normally it's about a 45 minute journey from the CN dock to Lake Superior, but on this day it took a little over two hours to make the trip, thanks to the ice accumulation around the dock and the St. Louis River Bay. The tugboat Helen H. was on hand to break up the ice and clear a path for the Anderson. At this time of year, the tugs are indispensable, since ice chunks can rapidly re-freeze together making harbor navigation all but impossible for the big lakers.
The video action starts after the Anderson has left the dock and is making her way across the St. Louis River Bay, with the Helen H. taking the lead. She passes by the 1000-footer Mesabi Miner who was finishing up loading coal at the SMET dock. We see the Anderson pass under the John A. Blatnik bridge before catching up with her again at Canal Park in Duluth, where she would pass under the Aerial Lift Bridge before making her way onto Lake Superior. Fortunately, the ice was temporarily non-existent in the shipping canal, making the final portion of the Anderson's departure much easier. Changing currents in the harbors are constantly pushing the ice around. Sometimes the ice is clogging up the canal, sometimes it isn't!
We got a nice captain's salute from the Anderson as she passed under the Aerial Lift Bridge. The bridge responded in kind. As we see the Anderson head onto Lake Superior for the journey ahead, we can see the articulated tug-and-barge combo of the Joyce L. Van Enkevort and the Great Lakes Trader making their way towards the canal. They were due to load taconite at the CN dock that the Anderson had just vacated. No doubt their journey to the dock would also be complicated somewhat by the ice, but with the Anderson (and Helen H.) having cleared a path, some of the hard work was already done for them. Stay tuned to see their arrival in a future video on this channel.
The 767-foot Arthur M. Anderson was launched in 1952, being one of eight AAA-class lakers built around this time... a designation applied to a series of lakers which (at the time) were leaps forward in cargo carrying size and capacity. Her fleet mates the Philip R. Clarke and Cason J. Callaway were also built as AAA-class lakers around the same time. The Anderson is powered by a steam turbine producing 7,700 shp. In the spring of 1975. she was lengthened by 120 feet and was converted to a self-unloader during winter layup in 1981-1982. She can carry up to 25,300 tons of cargo.
The Arthur M. Anderson is most well known for being the last ship to have visual contact, radar contact, and radio contact with the Edmund Fitzgerald on the night of November 10, 1975. She was following the Fitzgerald at the time of her sinking, having lost visual contact during a snow squall. After reaching the safety of Whitefish Bay, it became clear to the Anderson's crew that the Fitzgerald had likely gone to the bottom during the storm. The Anderson's crew, led by Captain Bernie Cooper, turned around and headed back into storm to search for survivors... as no Coast Guard vessels were nearby to help search. She was joined a short while by the William Clay Ford, another AAA-class laker that had also left the safety of Whitefish Bay to assist in the search. While they found no survivors, the heroic actions of these two crews is still fondly remembered today by boat watchers and history enthusiasts. The William Clay Ford was scrapped in 1986, but the Anderson continues to sail on and remains a living legend on the Great Lakes. May she continue to sail safely for many years to come!
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