Thunder Bay, ON: Keefer Terminal, the General Cargo Dock

(Satellite)

PortOfThunderBay, click #12 on the interactive map

Keefer Intermodal is a full-service transportation facility in the hub of the Port of Thunder Bay. Most general cargoes that move through the port are handled at Keefer. Built on a 32 hectare site, the facility has 750 meters of marine berths directly linked to rail and highway.
Dock aprons are 19.8 meters wide. A heavy lift railway track runs within 3 meters of the dock face and its wharf bearing capacity is recognized at 64 Kpa.
Loading and unloading of railcars are done inside the transit sheds and truck bays are conveniently located for easy cross-docking operations and transfers from rail to truck.
Cranes are also available, including Keefer’s Liebherr LHM 320 mobile harbour crane.
The facility has controlled access and scheduled security patrols in all cargo areas.
Keefer Intermodal is administered by the Thunder Bay Port Authority and is leased or rented on both short and long-term basis.

Quick Facts:

• Over 50,000 square metres (537,000 square feet) of inside storage space focused on handling forest products, steel, machinery, and bagged goods.
• 6.39 ha (15.79 acres) of outside storage space
• Rail serviced by CN/CP
• Access to Trans-Canada Hwy & south to U.S.
• Marine berths directly linked to rail and truck
• Clear span buildings capable of handling bulk commodities
• Indoor and dockside rail
• Heavy-lift capabilities

PortOfThunderBay-cargo
Liebherr LHM 320 mobile harbour crane
$15m was invested in 2018 to expand the facilities.
"Largest rail clearances to the Oilsands of any Western Canadian port"
"An added benefit to the shipper is the availability of bulk cargo as backhaul to foreign or domestic ports. Thunder Bay is the largest outbound port on the Seaway, offering grain, coal and potash from Western Canada for export. The Port ships 7.5 million tonnes of grain annually to destinations around the world."

Flickr, circa 1975

 

safe_image for Cargo diversity at Thunder Bay helps offset lower grain shipments

Increased diversity in cargo shipments at the Port of Thunder Bay helping to offset the decrease in overall shipments resulting from lower volumes of Prairie grain this season. Keefer Terminal.

The Port’s general cargo facility, Keefer Terminal, is experiencing a 25-year high in cargo shipments.

• In October, nearly 8,000 metric tonnes of European steel pipe were discharged at Keefer, where the cargo is stored in expansive laydown areas and then trucked to Alberta.
• Keefer will receive its third shipment of phosphate fertilizer, also destined for Western Canada, late in the season. October was the strongest month so far this year for potash shipments, which sit 67% above last year’s tally and 34% above the 5-year average. Most of the potash is directly exported via saltie to Europe.

https://maritimemag.com/.../cargo-diversity-at.../... 

First of eleven photos posted by Michael Hull, cropped
The Port of Thunder Bay is a hub for dimensional and heavy-lift project cargo shipments for destinations in Western Canada. To that end, the Port has a Liebherr LHM 320 Mobile Harbour Crane to assist with cargo offloads. These pictures were taken at the end of January 2022.
Janey Anderson: 104-tonnes at an 18-metre reach.

 

Michael Hull posted
SPRUCEGLEN (1983 Canada) was at Keefer Terminal on April 25, 2022. Miseford (1915) from Thunder Bay Tug Services was clearing ice around Spruceglen’s stern. I think it is very worthy to note that Miseford was built in 1915 and is still working today. The tug was owned by the Ontario Minister of Game & Fisheries from 1922 to 1940. In 2005, Miseford was purchased by Thunder Bay Tug Services. Clearly, she was built to last and has been respectfully maintained.

1 of 11 photos posted by Michael Hull
ONEGO DUERO (2012 Netherlands) was at Keefer Terminal in the Port of Thunder Bay on May 29, 2022. The Port’s mobile harbour crane offloaded windmill tower sections from the vessel.

4 of 15 photos posted by Michael Hull with the comment: "NORDIKA DESGAGNES (2010 Canada) and HOUTMANGRACHT (2009 Netherlands) were both at Keefer Terminal in the Port of Thunder Bay on June 17, 2022. Nordika Desgagnes unloaded general cargo while Houtmangracht delivered turbine parts. The Port’s Intermodal Yard was managing to prepare the turbine towers for transport."

a
[Note the number of axels on the truck trailer. This trailer was used for the short trip to the lay-down yard.]

b
[This photo shows that turning a long trailer with so many axels requires that at least some of the wheels are steerable.]

 

c
[Some of the tower segments went on railcars. But most of them went to the intermodal yard in the right background.]

d
[A close up of the use of the intermodal yard.]

 

1 of 16 photos posted by Michael Hull
FEDERAL ALSTER (2016 Marshall Islands) unloaded steel at Keefer Terminal in the Port of Thunder Bay on July 27, 2022
[I've read that the steel loads are coming from Europe.]

1 of 10 photos posted by Michael Hull
EDENBORG (2010 Netherlands) was at Keefer Terminal in the Port of Thunder Bay on July 28, 2022. The ship was undergoing maintenance prior to loading at Thunder Bay Terminals.
[Note the "honey pot" truck on the dock. Other photos confirm that there is a hose going up to the ship. I presume that the truck is sucking out "waste" from the toilet retention tank.]

Note that steel loads use less than half of the cargo space because it is so heavy. I have noticed that before when I saw steel coils being loaded into a freighter.

1 of 12 photos posted by Michael Hull
On August 29, 2022, FEDERAL LEDA (2003 Marshall Islands) unloaded steel at Keefer Terminal in the Port of Thunder Bay. 

 

1 of 16 photos posted by Michael Hull
ONEGO TRAVELLER (2002 Antigua Barbuda) was docked and unloading at Keefer Terminal in Thunder Bay on May 19, 2022. 
[Because the stern hold is still full, the bow is riding higher than the stern.]

2 of 15 photos posted by Michael Hull with the comment: "HOUTMANGRACHT (2009 Netherlands) was docked at Keefer Terminal in the Port of Thunder Bay on August 29. 2022. The vessel was preparing to unload containers. SUPERIOR EXPLORER research boat and KIYI (1999 USA) were also docked at Keefer. KIYI conducts fish stock assessment, fisheries research, and habitat monitoring."

a
[Kiyi is the larger one and Superior Explorer is the smaller one.]

b
[It is not a lot of containers, but if the ship is making this trip anyhow with general cargo, then the container shipment is practically free. The Kiyi and Superior Explorer are out-of-frame to the lower right. The mobile crane does move around at the terminal. It looks like it might have helped stage some tower segments. See Michael's post below concerning the other freighter.]

4 of 14 photos posted by Michael Hull with the comment: "HOUTMANGRACHT (2009 Netherlands) was docked at Keefer Terminal in the Port of Thunder Bay on August 29. 2022. The vessel was preparing to unload containers. SUPERIOR EXPLORER research boat and KIYI (1999 USA) were also docked at Keefer. KIYI conducts fish stock assessment, fisheries research, and habitat monitoring."

a

b

c

d

4 of 13 photos posted by Michael Hull with the comment: "SOLINA (2012 Bahamas) unloaded fertilizer at Keefer Terminal in the Port of Thunder Bay on December 12, 2021. The unloading process saw the ship’s crane move the fertilizer from the ship, into a hopper and down successive conveyor belts into waiting railway cars."

A comment indicates it is unloading phosphate.

a

b

c

d

1 of 13 photos posted by Michael Hull
BBC ST.PETERSBURG (2020 Antigua Barbuda) unloaded turbine rotor blades at Keefer Terminal in the Port of Thunder Bay on May 3, 2023. Work crews were moving the blades onto transport trucks as MIENA DESGAGNES (2017 Barbados) was waiting in the harbour with turbine tower sections.

1:06 vdeo @ 0:19

0:57 video @ 0:34
[This is an example of the type of modern video I don't like. In addition to just a bunch of short detail cuts, they added bad "music." I would much prefer a timelapse of the whole lift made with a camera on a tripod. The one cliche they left out is a prolonged closeup of a worker's face looking worried.]