SEARSPORT – The largest ship to dock at the Maine Port Authority at Mack Point was eased into its berth at high tide Thursday.

The Bahamian-registered Baldock, with a cargo of 75,000 tons of gypsum from Spain, required three tugboats to take it from its anchorage nearly two miles off Searsport to the cargo pier. The Baldock is 800 feet long and 160 feet wide. When fully loaded, it displaces 38 feet of water. The depth at the dock at low tide is 40 feet.

“It’s quite a ship,” said harbor master Wayne Hamilton. “It’s the biggest one we’ve ever had in here.”

Hamilton ferried Penobscot Bay pilot Dave Smith to the Baldock in his boat the Ciloway III and recorded its arrival at the docks on camera. Hamilton said he keeps a record of most large ships that land in Searsport. The Baldock is 100 feet longer than the previous record ship. The ship is so large that once its lines were secured, its stern extended more than 100 feet from the end of the dock.

Pilot Dave Gelinas boarded the Baldock off Matinicus late Wednesday and guided the ship to its anchorage at approximately 3 a.m. Thursday. He then waited until shortly before the noon high tide to move the vessel the final 13/4 miles to the Mack Point dock.

Tugboats Cape Rosier, captained by John Worth, Fort Point, captained by Peter Graham, and Fournier Tractor, captained by Doug Fournier, moved the Baldock by positioning themselves at three different angles. Worth placed the Cape Rosier at the ship’s port quarter, Graham had the Fort Point on the stern, and the Tractor was at the starboard bow.

With Gelinas issuing instructions over the radio, the three tugboats maneuvered the massive ship alongside Sears Island. Working in tandem, they slowly nudged it into the port authority dock. At the last second, Gelinas instructed the Fort Point to give a “gentle push,” and the Baldock was inched into place.

The tugboats were needed to maneuver the ship into position because it cannot steer itself while traveling at slow speeds. It took more than an hour to move the Baldock 13/4 miles to the pier.

The Baldock has a Russian captain and a Ukrainian crew. Customs officials were waiting dockside and were the first to board the ship. The ship had been scheduled to arrive Sunday but was delayed when it encountered stormy weather while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. A normal crossing takes about 10 days, according to Smith. Smith said the ship likely would pick up cargo in either Baltimore or New Orleans.

The ship has its own conveyor system and was expected to begin unloading its cargo later in the day. The gravel-like gypsum first was loaded into hoppers on the dock and then moved by truck to a storage area at the port authority terminal, which is managed by Sprague Energy. The mineral then will be taken by truck to Dragon Cement Co. in Thomaston where it is used in the manufacture of cement. It is expected to take three days to unload the ship.

The $13 million cargo pier was completed four years ago in conjunction with Sprague Energy, which owns an adjoining pier and manages the port. The new pier is made of steel and poured concrete and was designed to handle cargo ships on either side of the pier. The pier is 100 feet wide and 800 feet long.

wgriffin@bangordailynews.net

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