So here’s the question . . . two locks, almost 3000 miles apart, Miraflores Esclusas in the Panama Canal and Poe Lock in the Soo. . . each recently traversed by a large vessel,
CSAV Suape in
the Panama, and then
Mesabi Miner in the Poe.
Question . . . without looking it up, which of the two vessels is larger . . . CSAV Suape or Mesabi Miner?
And let the record show that I would have gotten it wrong, but although their beams are the same, Mesabi Miner is 39′ longer than CSAV Suape! Mesabi is named for the mountain range it is involved in hauling away.
Here’s more info on the Soo. Mesabi Miner fotos come thanks to Ken of Michigan Exposures, where more Mesabi fotos are available here and here.
Panama fotos by Will Van Dorp.
tugster: a waterblog 
11 comments
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March 27, 2012 at 4:02 pm
JED
Any idea HOW loaded MESABI MINER was? There is next to NO cargo aboard CSAV SUAPE. Wonder how the shipper feels about Canal fees when the ships aren’t even half loaded?
March 27, 2012 at 4:29 pm
tugster
MESABI MINER was headed into Superior for the first payload of the season, so that’s ballast. As to CSAV SUAPE, shippers get charged for the containers there as well as for empty “cells” where containers COULD HAVE BEEN loaded . . . “the canal is our oil” was a sentiment i heard expressed several times.
March 27, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Algosar II & The Soo Opening « tugboathunter
[…] Meanwhile, while I’ve been sitting here and doing this, Ken of MichiganExposures was at the Soo Opening. Here’s one of his shots of the mighty 1,004′ long Wasabi Mesabi Miner. For a kind of size comparison, see what Tugster did with this. […]
March 27, 2012 at 5:50 pm
kg2v
Oh, come on, you know length and width is not how you measure a ship. Overal DWT is not listed on that site for the MESABI MINER, but her GWT is significantly lower than CSAV SUAPE
March 27, 2012 at 6:15 pm
tugster
thanks for sending me hunting, kg2v . . . MESABI MINER was downbound! also, shipspotting shows her DWT as 62,335 compared with 64,500 for CSAV SUAPE. and my point was more that the loa SOOMAX is greater than loa PANAMAX.
March 27, 2012 at 7:09 pm
tugboathunter
Could SOOMAX be getting longer? They’re building a new lock and I don’t know what the maximum size will be. Seeing as how no American freighter has been built for lakes service since 1981, I doubt much will change anyway.
March 27, 2012 at 7:10 pm
Klyde
Just in passing:
For the sixth boro’s connection with Mesabi Miner, It should be noted that MESABI MINER’s sister ships in the sixth boro all operate with a large M on the stacks rather than Interlake’s black stacks with an orange band.
You will find that other ships of the Interlake fleet on the lakes carry the names of the corporate officers of Moran Towing.
http://www.morantug.com/site/#/home
March 27, 2012 at 8:41 pm
tugster
wow! who knew??! http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Moran-Towing-Corporation-Inc-company-History.html
March 27, 2012 at 9:22 pm
Ken
The Mesabi Miner was heading into Lake Huron, so she was downbound and presumably loaded. I’m not sure where she was headed at the time but when I checked ais yesterday, she was already headed back up north. The Soo Locks were pretty busy apparently as 34 ships went through in the first 48 hours. It’s no wonder they opened 12 hours earlier.
March 28, 2012 at 4:27 am
tugboathunter
She was loaded. She took on cargo at the Twin Ports as she left lay-up.
December 27, 2012 at 2:04 pm
tony
Huge ships! Duluth is a beautiful port city. So many wonderful accommodations and eateries.