John G. Munson - Three BIG Salutes for Duluth, Just Rocks for Superior

If you are interested in supporting this channel to keep new videos coming, I gratefully accept tips and donations. They are used solely towards my travel expenses and equipment purchases. Click the following link if interested in helping out: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/1long... Note: No AI-generated content is used for these videos. Everything you see and hear has been recorded on location specifically for this channel. No shortcuts were taken! ____________________ Here is the John G. Munson arriving in the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior on July 12, 2026. She was carrying limestone from Calcite, Michigan to discharge at the Graymont Superior dock. But first we see her arrive through the Duluth shipping canal during the 9am hour. She would then go to the Cenovus dock for fueling (which we don't see on camera). We catch up with her again in the early afternoon as she docks at Graymont and starts unloading. I then returned a little over five hours later to get some further views under better lighting conditions. Note how much taller the Munson is sitting in the water after five hours of unloading. Also note how tall the stack of limestone is growing. The Munson was generous with her salutes when arriving in Duluth. She gave us two captain's salutes and one master salute, with the Aerial Lift Bridge responding to two of the salutes (but not the middle one). The crowd was happy to hear the Munson's horn in action. The warmer it is outside, the better her horn usually sounds. And it was a warm one in Duluth that day, with temperatures climbing in the 90s. Combined with the bright sunshine, it was a scorcher to stand at the piers and at the dock... but it was worth it to see this classic in action. I think I sat in front of the A/C at the hotel for an hour after recording this one. (I don't deal with heat very well!) After unloading limestone, the Munson would then travel across the harbor to load taconite pellets at the Canadian National dock for delivery to Gary, Indiana. She would depart the Twin Ports the following morning. We haven't seen the Munson take on many loads of taconite in Duluth this year. Usually she just drops off some "rocks" before heading to Marquette, Michigan to load. The John G. Munson was built in 1952 and was originally 666 feet in length. Unlike a lot of lakers that were converted to self-unloaders later in their careers, the Munson was originally built as a self-unloader... allowing her to serve a variety of ports where shoreside unloading equipment wasn't available. She originally sailed for the Bradley Transportation Line from Rogers City, Michigan and was primarily used to haul stone before being acquired by the U.S. Steel Fleet (now operated as the Great Lakes Fleet), where her role was expanded to also carry iron ore. Today, she tends to alternate between hauling limestone and iron ore, often bringing limestone to Duluth and then departing with iron ore. The Munson was lengthened to 768 feet in 1976, giving her a cargo carrying capacity of 25,550 tons held in 7 cargo holds. Her original steam turbine was replaced by two 6-cylinder MAK diesel engines in 2016, producing a combined 7,000 bhp.