Twin Arrivals to the Sound of Thunder (Munson & White)

Ominous skies and Severe Thunderstorm Warnings over Duluth! Doesn’t stop us ship watchers! After super heavy fog halted all ship traffic for much of the day, the storms moved in, pushing the fog out and replacing it with thunder and wind. Taking advantage of the temporary clearing and trying to make it in before the worst of the storm hit, the classic 1952 laker John G Munson and the more modern 1974 laker H Lee White arrived together ahead of the main front. A small pop-up shower leading the main storm hit as they approached the canal, hiding both vessels for a few minutes as they lined up with the canal. Fortunately it only lasted a couple minutes and everyone was able to enjoy the ships while staying mostly dry! Both vessels were loaded with limestone. John G Munson sailed to Superior’s Greymont dock, while H Lee White sailed to Duluth’s Hallet 5 dock. Fortunately the storm ended up not being so bad for us, splitting around the end of Lake Superior with minimal impact. Certainly a bunch of grumbling from the storms however!

In the background is the Saltie Thea G, which waited out the weather at anchorage before arriving the next morning to load wheat. Behind her, looking like she arrived in the wrong century is the vintage 1942 cement steamship Alpena, making a very rare appearance in the Twin Ports. She also waited at anchor and to everyone’s disappointment waited until Munson was done unloading to arrive through the canal (at 5am the next morning). Hoping I can catch her leaving! 🤞🏻