Cruise ship returns

Rough waters and lightning strikes weren’t enough to keep a German-based luxury cruise ship from making its anticipated return to Thunder Bay.

The MS Columbus made its return voyage to the city Tuesday after a four-year absence. The luxury cruise liner, which holds a maximum of 400 people, travelled from Toronto on Sept. 5 and made its way to Thunder Bay with plans to continue onto Chicago.

It was smooth sailing for most of the journey until Monday where strong winds and lightning strikes gave the 144- metre vessel a bumpy ride.  

Capt. Jörn Gottschalk said the storm made for an interesting arrival.

“It’s not very hard to navigate through a storm because we have a very good and safe ship but it was very interesting,” Gottschalk said.

“The sky was completely dark and the officer on watch saw some twisters going around the ship and the wind changed several directions. It was very strong winds up to 45 knots and the lighting strikes were very close to the ship. It was an interesting part of my time here on Lake Superior.”

Gottschalk said it was great to be back in Thunder Bay and was glad to have been able to bring the large cruise ship into the Pool 6 dock, which means a shorter trip for his passengers.
He said they had some problems with Homeland Security four years ago and weren’t able to resolve those issues until recently.

Acting waterfront manager Paul Pepe said the Columbus was the largest cruise ship to have docked at Pool 6 this year.

Having ships that can carry more than 300 people to the city will have a huge impact on the local economy, he said.

“The economic impact of the Columbus for its two visits to the city this year will be in the area of a quarter of a million dollars,”Pepe said.

“For two days that’s pretty good. The response we’re getting from passengers is that they’re really impressed with the fresh air, the lake, the hospitality of the community and being able to dock for the first time at Pool 6.”

 The Columbus will return to the city on Sept. 23.