Here is the Joseph L. Block arriving in Duluth, Minnesota on November 23, 2022. She was arriving empty... thus standing tall in the water... scheduled to load iron ore at the Canadian National 6 dock in West Duluth. After taking on a partial load, she departed Duluth and made her way up to Two Harbors, Minnesota to complete loading at the Canadian National 2 dock. This was a somewhat unusual move, but she was likely delivering a split load of two different taconite pellet types.

As the Block made her arrival in Duluth, she sounded two captain's salutes... one as she reached the lighthouses (where a bunch of people had gathered) and another as she reached the Aerial Lift Bridge. The bridge responded to the Block's first salute. As we've seen in past arrivals, the Block is a fast-moving vessel while making her way into port. If you plan on photographing her or capturing her on video, you need to be in position and be at the ready. There are no do-overs!

The 728-foot Joseph L. Block was launched in 1976 and sailed for the Inland Steel Company until 1999, when Inland Steel was sold to Ispat International from the Netherlands. In late 2020 or early 2021, she was sold to Cleveland-Cliffs, along with her fleet mates the Wilfred Sykes and the Edward L. Ryerson. While the Block still sails under the Inland Steel colors, she now carries the name of her new owners on her smokestack. She has a cargo capacity of 37,200 tons and generates 7,000 horsepower from her two General Motors V-20 diesel engines.

This was the last of the videos I captured during my late November visit to Duluth. The next series of videos will be from my Duluth trip in late December. If you like to see ice, tugboats, night scenes, and big ships, stay tuned!

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