Shipping in Penobscot Bay

It always takes me a day or two to find out what’s going on here in the Bay…right now there’s a HUGE ship coming our way and I found this story on the Village Soup Website this morning:

ROCKLAND (March 5): The deep draft cargo ship Pac Acrux was seen anchored outside of Rockland Harbor early Thursday morning.

According to Chief Warrant Officer Curtis Barthel of Coast Guard Station Rockland, Pac Acrux was carrying windmill towers to Sprague Energy’s Searsport terminal bulk dock at Mack Point. The ship, owned by Acrux Maritime Limited, is approximately 590 feet in length, has a draft of about 33 feet and displaces 37 metric tons.

Pac Acrux as seen from Rockport Thursday morning, carrying windmill towers up Penobscot Bay to Mack Point. (Photo by Amy Lea)

The ship was anchored so that Coast Guard Sector Northern New England, based in Portland, could conduct a security screening to verify that Pac Acrux was in compliance with the security plan that is filed with the Department of Homeland Security, Barthel said, adding that the ship is flagged out of Singapore.

Barthel said the high interest shown by local residents in the appearance of the large vessel demonstrates their part in the Department of Homeland Security’s work. “I’m not from Rockland,” Barthel said, adding that it helps his mission when somebody from Rockland who doesn’t normally see a cargo ship there calls and asks about it.

Just as an off-side comment…see how pretty it was yesterday…this morning we’re looking at grey, grey freezing rain and sleet…I may not get out of my PJ’s till noon!