One of my favorite salties, the Heerengracht! She had a very unusual visit to the Twin Ports and made a little bit of history along the way. Arriving with a cargo of Quartz (which people still haven’t told me who and why someone would need 12,000 tons of quartz but I keep asking!) which she unloaded over the course of a week at the Port Terminal docks. After finishing there, she sailed over to the Hallet 8 dock in Superior, becoming the first oceangoing vessel to ever dock there, shocking even the most veteran Duluth shipwatchers. Typically the Hallet 8 facility is a salt and liquid calcium chlorate unloading dock used for road salt production, but will also take an occasional shipload of limestone that can be unloaded there as well. Neither of these functions would be applicable to an empty Saltie however, so people were scratching their heads over what they could possibly be doing there. The answer was almost more confusing: she was loading powderized iron ore, also known as Blast Furnace Trim. This is a relatively common cargo among lakers, but is usually loaded at the Hallet 5 dock across the harbor near the ore docks. So she was not only the first saltie to go to that dock, but it appears she was also the first ship of any sort to load iron ore there, and any cargo in general. It’s also unheard of that a saltie even loads Blast Trim. So far this interesting turn of events have yet to be repeated. She took her cargo to Antwerp, Belgium.
Built in 2009 the Heerengracht measures 450ft long by 70ft wide. She can carry nearly any cargo, including bulk cargos, wind turbines, industrial equipment, yachts, containers, or anything else under the sun that can fit into her holds or on her deck. She was originally named Beluga Fidelity from 2009-2012 when she was bought by Hansa Heavy Lift and renamed HHL Amur. In 2019 she was bought again by Spielhoff and renamed Heerengraght after a Dutch Canal, the naming tradition of that company. She carries a special place in my heart for being the first saltie I saw after moving to Duluth, as well as the first oceangoing vessel my girlfriend ever saw. I’ve seen her a few times since then, but she had never saluted until this trip, making it even more special!
Also included Vista Star arriving past her, and a closeup of the bridge coming down. Currently she is returning from Europe, heading back to the lakes. With luck she’ll be back here again!