Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Escanaba still receives coal, limestone and salt by water (and nearby Gladstone still receives asphalt). It appears the Oberstar came from the KCBX dock in Chicago, so I suspect its cargo is coal. Not sure where the coal winds up. A lot of it used to go to the paper mill in Escanaba, but I thought they were trying to phase out coal use. Perhaps it is going to the paper mill at Quinnesec. It does appear that both of those Billerund paper mills still have active permits from the Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality to burn coal.

The Oberstar is currently northbound on Lake Michigan with an AIS destination of Escanaba. I thought that all shipping from Escanaba was done when the ore dock closed a few years ago, any idea why the Oberstar is headed there?