Ronnie - This Rolling Stone Gathers Wind Turbine Blades

A rolling stone may gather no moss, but this Rolling Stone gathers up wind turbine parts!
Here is the saltwater vessel Ronnie arriving in Duluth, Minnesota around 5:00pm on April 30, 2024. She was a carrying a load of wind turbine blades that was loaded in Altamira, Mexico. The blades were to be dropped off at Port Terminal Dock 8. I followed Ronnie over to the dock to watch her pull in and tie up, with a little help from the tug North Carolina. After unloading, Ronnie would depart empty on May 2, heading to Spain for her next load. At the time I am publishing this video, Ronnie's fleet mates Stevie and Charlie are in Duluth unloading more wind turbine parts.
On their way in through the canal, the Ronnie's crew let loose with a nice master salute which the Aerial Lift Bridge answered in return. We're hearing more master salutes from saltwater ships this year. In the past, we often didn't hear any salutes from many of the saltwater ships, so this makes for a nice change of pace. I wonder if the pilot on board is advising the captain on what to do to make the crowds really happy!
Ronnie sails for the dship fleet based in Hamburg, Germany. Three of her fleet mates are named Mick, Keith, and Charlie. It seems pretty clear these ships are named after members of the Rolling Stones. (So far no Bill or Brian, but maybe those will come in the future.) The rest of the fleet also appears to be named after famous musicians, including Bruce (Springsteen), Janis (Joplin), Gwen (Stefani), Stevie (Nicks), Melissa (Etheridge), Olivia (Newton-John), Annie (Wilson), Debbie (Harry), Billie (Eilish). Some of those associations are guesses on my part, as I don't think dship advertises who they are honoring with their ship names. But it seems clear there is a pattern there!
The 474-foot bulk carrier Ronnie was built in 2021. She has two cargo holds with a hydraulic folding hatch covers, giving her a hauling capacity of 11,500 tons. She is designed to carry an array of bulk cargoes including grain, coils, metal concentrates, salt, sugar, cement, scrap metal and ore. She carry also carry general cargo including cotton bales, agricultural products, steel, forest products, project cargo, heavy cargo, and containers. Two deck-mounted cranes are each capable of lifting 250 metric tons or a combined 500 metric tons when working together. She is powered by a single MAN B&W 6G45ME-C9 diesel engine producing 4,800 kW of power. A bow 600 kW bow thruster helps her to maneuver in port. Ronnie is flagged in St. John’s in Antigua and Barbuda. She sails for the dship fleet headquartered in Hamburg, Germany.
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