So lately there has been a kerfuffle about the Toronto Island Airport, with the Ontario Provincial Government seizing control of the entirety of the Island, and booting the City of Toronto out of the agreement with the Federal Government and the Toronto Port Authority for control of the airport. A few days ago, the Federal Government decided it was not going to support destroying the Island in order to have jets landing at the Island Airport.
However, these are not the only developments going on with the Island Airport, as the Toronto Port Authority has this past week started construction on the Runway End Safety Areas, a required feature that it didn’t previously have.
This is fortunate, because it’s allowed us to have a very interesting sighting deep in Toronto Harbour, one that hasn’t happened for many years- a laker/bulk freighter, very close to the City, and in the Western Half of the harbour. In fact, the freighter – the Whitefish Bay– has been backing directly into the eastern Exclusion Area after the airport shuts down for the night to offload gravel to create the new area as described at the link above.
Since the Whitefish Bay is working with the Amy Lynn D, owned by Doornekamp, and seems to be loading gravel at Picton Terminal, it seems pretty clear that Dornekamp (which owns Picton Terminal) is very deeply involved in this project.
Whitefish Bay Stats:
| Year Built | 2013 |
| Horsepower | BHP: 11,734 | kW: 8,750 |
| Deadweight | 34,400 tonnes |
| Gross tonnage | 24,430 tonnes |
| Net tonnage | 8,116 tonnes |
| Length Overall | 225.50 metres |
| Breadth moulded | 23.76 metres |
| Length B.P. (Lpp) | 222.60 metres |
I will admit, when I saw the Port Authority’s animation I didn’t believe it for a second, but I can now report that I have seen it with my own eyes and it’s true.
Whitefish Bay and the tugboat Amy Lynn D waiting together
A view from the wheelhouse of the Ongiara, looking at the Whitefish Bay coming across Toronto Harbour
Here the Whitefish Bay is backed into position in the Airport Exclusion Zone with tug support
Here you can see the Whitfish Bay and the Amy Lynn D, which is pushing sideways and effectively working as a dynamic positioning system to help the self unloader remain in the correct position
Here you can see the impact of the Whitefish Bay unloading several times. This has been compacted as well. There are certainly more loads of gravel to come.
