Speer Assists Disabled Roger Blough Through Straits

Passing through the north channel between Mackinac and Round islands Wednesday, August 9, was an atypical sight. The 1,000-foot freighter M/V Edgar B. Speer was assisting the 858-foot freighter M/V Roger Blough through the Straits of Mackinac. The Blough lost its rudder August 5 while navigating the St. Marys River, according to the U.S. Coast Guard in Sault Ste. Marie, and was being escorted to Lake Michigan for repair. Both freighters are in the U.S. Steel Great Lakes fleet. In this photograph, taken from Mackinac Island, the Blough is behind the Speer, its forward pilot house visible just in front of the Speer's bow and its smokestack just ahead of the Speer's aft pilot house. Behind the freighters is the tug Mary Page Hannah of the Selvick Towing Corporation, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.