Brand New Ship on its Second Voyage Stranded in the Great Lakes

The first ice of the year is on the ground, and Duluth welcomes a first time visitor! Launched in June of this year (2023), and taking her Maiden Voyage in early September, the Musala is a brand new, 620ft “saltie” bulk freighter designed for use on both the Great Lakes and the Oceans.
Her first trip appears to have been to the Black Sea region, after which she sailed directly to the Lakes and came through the Welland Canal shortly before all the workers there went on strike, trapping all oceangoing vessels and Canadian lakers in (and out of) the upper four lakes with no way out. Hopefully they resolve the situation before these guys are waiting too long, and everyone on all sides end up happy! For now, about 2/3s of the ships on the Lakes are stranded and not moving.
Musala is loading wheat at Superior’s CHS Dock 1 next to the Blatnik Bridge. She will be taking her to Gibraltar. In the meantime we welcome a brand new ship, saluting the bridge for the very first time, a beautiful Master’s Salute!
Update- the Welland strike has resolved! She and all the other oceangoing and Canadian vessels are no longer stranded and are free to leave as usual!

[@user-ou8rf5tc4s]

What a graceful passage thru the Duluth Canal. She seems even more impressive when she's riding light. As she enters the harbor, the tugs moving in to help her look so small. A great video of the "Musala," entering Duluth/Superior🎉

[@carolewoolley7017]

Very, very elegant, capt amiable with the tug captains, was even watching football. Huge stern, colorful accents. Master salute, this lady is a total thumbsbup!

[@carolewoolley7017]

Those little tugs look so tiny in comparison to the big freighters, but what power they offer. Never forget to acknowledge the heroic actions of these unsung powerhouses. God bless the mighty tugs!

[@jonathanellsworth21]

They’re fun to watch! Powerhouse boats!

[@Becsmom0501]

Wow she's very regal looking. What a beauty! Thank you for posting.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Definitely an impressive ship! Glad you enjoyed!

[@joankralik6794]

Welcome Musala to the USA. Safe travels always. She is a beauty. Look forward to seeing you often. 🚢

[@carolewoolley7017]

thumbs up! Warm welcome to this newbie hope all her travels are with fair winds and calm seas and a long and productive life.

[@gregmctevia5087]

That was amazing, bro.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Thank you! That was a fun arrival to watch!

[@tomt9543]

What a great video in several different aspects! The close up view of the lift bridge in action was really neat, the information in the description was enlightening-I had no idea about the strikes-, and the excellent visual of a beautiful ship passing, all made for what I consider my favorite Duluth vid ever!! We’re still in the 80’s in NC, so the “first ice” claim was kind of a surprise, but those that braved the chill got their money’s worth this day! Thanks for posting this!

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! Definitely a lot warmer there lol. You can hear the ice crunching underfoot in a couple parts of the video! The bridge closeup was a bit unintentional actually 😂 was in the middle trying to get a shot of her lining up with the canal and the alarms started going off a little earlier than I was expecting, so I ran across, got off and spun around with the camera right as it started lifting. If you notice I’m still walking backwards when the shot starts 😂 I’ll try and get a better shot from there in the future!

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

great video

[@nicholasstenhouse1496]

Thanks for the info!

[@TOTALCAMARO]

Thank you for the update. They look so much bigger when you see them being down on the canal. 😊

[@jonathanellsworth21]

They are massive, and where the salties lack in length they make up for in height. Very imposing ships that absolutely tower over you when they’re riding empty!

[@TOTALCAMARO]

@@jonathanellsworth21 hopefully I will get a chance to see them in person next year for the first time.

[@mtnshelby7059]

Thank you for the great text with the video. So interesting...strike is concerning.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Definitely concerning, the lakes are slowly getting quieter and quieter as the more ships get stuck at the seaway areas. Really hope this gets resolved soon, especially for the sailor’s sakes. The US fleet are the only ones really still operating, and even they’re in low demand right now due to a different strike: the automaker’s strike, which is where a good chuck of the steel goes. Thank you for reading the description btw, since this hasn’t really made the news much for some reason, I was betting the first comment would be something along the lines of “What the heck are you talking about??” 😂

[@ellenhalpern1882]

Beautiful ship

[@joesanchez979]

Always excellent videos 😊

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Thank you! Glad you’re enjoying them!

[@CamHammer333]

Fair winds!! She's beautiful!

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Hopefully we see more of her, and the seaway locks are kind to her!

[@torquesteer2657]

Great ship! Already had a scrape by the looks of it

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Yep! Not uncommon at all with how absurdly tight the Welland Canal locks are

[@Shipspotting_Vietnam]

So nice video!

[@whathasxgottodowithit3919.]

Might be brand new, however she has a lot of Dock Rash on the hull that wont polish out, dont tell me one careful owner either.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

I’d suggest watching videos of the Welland Canal locks… from an aerial perspective if possible. I think that’ll explain a lot 😂 They may be essential to the Lakes but they are incredibly harsh on ships, especially paint

[@petert3355]

​@@jonathanellsworth21the old theory of "if you have an inch of space on either side, you have plenty of room". Huh?

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@petert3355more like 3 inches but yeah exactly 😂

[@ianross7399]

Picked up some lock rash on the paint job from the Seaway and Welland locks.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Yep lol

[@taxirob2248]

Everybody in Duluth told me about that bridge like it was a big deal, but we have more than a half dozen of them in Cleveland. The site of that bridge is the historic part, not the bridge itself; the original was a unique design, one of a few ever made. None of them stand today.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

I’m assuming you’re talking about the transfer/gondola system? Yes and no, the bridge you see today IS the original structure, they just removed the gondola because it was too slow as cars became more commonplace in the 1920s, and replaced with the lift bridge section within the same structure. The top bar was raised 50 ft or so to accommodate the new span, and a lattice was constructed within the towers for the lift system but the top arch and the main tower supports are all original. The gondola tracks are also still in place along the top. The only thing actually lost was the gondola itself. They also designed the bridge to serve as a control tower of sorts for the harbor and western Lake Superior, all the instructions and information is passed through the bridge operator to the ships, even to this day. Originally the signals were sent out via horn signals (which is why the bridge has them) but it’s all radio now, the horns are more ceremonial currently, other than occasionally blasting them as warnings for misbehaving small boats.

[@taxirob2248]

That's very interesting. All of that detail is not made clear on the historical marker plaque @@jonathanellsworth21. I hope to get back there in the warmer months, I thought Duluth was pretty cool. Had a great time at Curly's Bar, but I didn't stay long enough for karaoke.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@taxirob2248 yeah the historical plaques made by the city aren’t always the best lol, there is a lot more information about everything in the museum beside the bridge, but they’re not always open. Would be glad to have you back! Tons of stuff around town to explore, I’m still finding really cool new places, even after living here for years now!

[@Tipp_Of_The_Mitt]

I like the optical illusion the bow water marks make at 2:32 where it looks curved and at 3:00 it's a Stright line.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Yeah she’s got a dreadnaught style bow which works in both fresh and salt water, looks very unusual!

[@Chuck59ish]

Amerca needs a new ship canal to join the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes and bypass the St. Lawrence Seaway, it's a wonder it hasn't happened yet. At least she dodged the mines and the Russian missiles in the Black Sea. Just heard on the 10 am Atlantic Daylight Time CBC Radio News that the Seaway strike is over, so she can load and head for her next port of call, great news.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Good! Not stranded anymore. Very good news! Now the question is do you think I should keep that title? Lol

[@LokiOdinson-fz8ps]

The Mississippi is to shallow to run big ships through and Chicago is to overgrown to use any of that system. So there is a reason that your channel has not been dug.

[@kslvlkdfhkvhkfviwehbhjhj]

Must be a new captain too. There is a lot of dock rash on there.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Or a captain getting used to a ship they don’t know yet but yeah the seaway already claimed them lol

[@adachilders7798]

Hi beautiful

[@ianbedwell4871]

For a new ship she looks like she had a hard docking, those are serious scrapes down her side

[@jonathanellsworth21]

The Welland Canal can do that lol, especially if a crew isn’t quite used to their vessel yet

[@robertyork5226]

One ship stranded on all of the great lakes? Mind if I question that?

[@jonathanellsworth21]

All the information is in the video description

[@ralphaverill2001]

It's too bad the salty has to sail in empty all the way from wherever, but I can't think of a bulk commodity to deliver to Duluth. Maybe limestone but even that never at the volume of grain, iron ore, and coal sailing out of Duluth destined for overseas.

[@donmcconnery5080]

She unloaded steel rounds from Romania in Sault Ste Marie On.

[@ralphaverill2001]

@@donmcconnery5080 Good to know. Thank you.

[@nicholasstenhouse1496]

Why is she all scraped up on the Starboard side?

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Both sides probably. She’s 80ft wide meaning the locks that lead in and out of the Lakes and up and down Niagara Falls are just a few inches wider than her. It’s why most Canadian lakers don’t have any paint on their bows, and especially for a crew with a ship they’re not quite used to yet they can be serious paint scrapers. Basically it’s such a tight fit that if you put a couple of car mirrors on each side she would not fit inside

[@eccentricsmithy2746]

2nd voyage and already has dented hull collision damage on the starboard side, wtf. 2:52

[@jonathanellsworth21]

The Welland Canal and the St Lawrence seaway will do that to ships. Squeezing an 80ft wide ship into a dozen 80.5ft wide locks without bumping is incredibly difficult to say the least lol. Especially if you haven’t had time to master your vessel yet.

[@nickyalousakis3851]

canada and strikes.

[@johnpratt5851]

whatt are we watching

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Lol, ?

[@debeyes]

Brand new froma Pakistani breakers yard lol not a straight unscratched panel to be seen any where 😅😅😅

[@jonathanellsworth21]

That would sort of be the Lakes’ fault… or rather the Seaway locks. They’re extremely narrow, few inches wider than the ship. So they stuff the ships into them, then raise and lower them, sometimes quite a ways, then release them into the next one and do the same thing over and over again. There’s around a dozen locks in total, and if there’s any microscopic miscalculation or wind at all they’re getting bashed and scraped the whole way. That’s why the Canadian Lakers always look so beat up too, they do this almost daily. When you see it, it’s amazing they have any paint at all. Completely possible that all that is from a single passage, especially with a new crew who maybe have never been here, in an unfamiliar ship.

[@christinamangelo]

Scratched already that is sad second trip what the hell!

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Welland canal lol, the locks there raise the ships up Niagara Falls, but they take a toll on paint, especially if the crew is still getting familiar with their ship. The locks are only 6 inches wider than many of the vessels that pass through them.

[@standubaj8989]

That’s no rash that’s a side swipe

[@jonathanellsworth21]

We call it lock rash, it’s caused my all the locks leading into and between the Great Lakes, there’s about a dozen of them each way in total. Most of those are only a few inches wider than the ships themselves, so it’s incredibly easy to hit the side, even a small puff of wind can cause them to hit. Especially if the crew is unfamiliar with their vessel

[@standubaj8989]

@@jonathanellsworth21 in your words lol it’s so easy to hit the sides,also known as side swipe but what would I know I only held my masters license for only 33yrs I can see you must be more experienced, stand corrected 😉

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@standubaj8989 same thing, different terminology then lol. It’s far from the only one I’ve noticed. Such as on the oceans, I’ve heard one long, two short blasts of the horn is a danger signal, vs here on the lakes it’s the Captain’s Salute, a signal of respect and thanks. The lakes had a completely separate system from the ocean until the 50s, so we just do some things differently, even down to dumb terminology 😂 Regardless, what type of vessel did you sail? Would love to learn more!

[@billjenkins687]

Makes no sense.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Well, maybe I can help then :) Ask away!

[@Spindle1983]

Dramatic headlines, trying to attract more clicks, wasted space. "Stranded" get off and let real Jurnos report.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

She definitely was at the time, please read the description, that explains the situation

[@Spindle1983]

@@jonathanellsworth21 Afraid not.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@Spindle1983 if you insist lol. The video came out before all the the information came out, before the strike ended. At the time nobody knew how long it would go, some strikes only go for a couple days, others can last months. Nobody knew anything because information leaks can kill negotiations. The title and everything else reflects that uncertainty. I did ask around the ship watching community after the strike ended, wondering if I should change the title, the consensus was no. It’s a snapshot of that particular moment in time. I can if you want, update the end of the description with more information that’s come out since then

[@Spindle1983]

@@jonathanellsworth21 Not a matter of insisting, the strike held ships up @ Welland Canal mostly & did not impact the Duluth area to the extent of being "Stranded" Next

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@Spindle1983 the key thing here is the video was posted here BEFORE the strike ended and the information released, there was no possible way to know when it would end or what was going on at the time. No it was far from intended as click bait, it was intended to bring attention to the issue that many Great Lakes sailors were going through at the time. “Stranded” was a fairly common word at the piers that day. Granted the title became slightly awkward after it did end, and as I said I asked around on whether or not I should change it around to reflect the end result and not appear click-baity. Everyone said no, it was fine. I could care less about the views or whatever else people bait for. I try and stay away from that. A single person could have watched this video and I’d be very happy with that result lol. I can add an update to the description with all the additional information, but for now the video stands to show what was going on at that particular moment and I’m fine with that.

[@cra6459]

misleading!! clickbait !! no ship was stranded anywhere !!

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Did you read the description? She was in fact very stuck in the Great Lakes at the time of posting. The only way in and out, the Welland Canal, was closed due to a major worker’s strike. The intention of the video when posted was to raise awareness of the strike, as the news media was not covering it, and the effects it had on the mariners within the Great Lakes. Fortunately it was resolved.