WPBS-TV and the Watertown Daily Times present More to the Story: Life on a Freighter, airing on WPBS-TV on Sunday, September 23rd at 6:00 pm, rebroadcasting on Saturday, September 29th at 6:00 pm, and streaming online at watch.wpbstv.org beginning at 6:00 am on Sunday, September 23. The accompanying written story will appear in the Watertown Daily Times on Sunday, September 23.
In July, Watertown Daily Times reporter Marcus Wolf, photographer Daytona Niles, and WPBS-TV producers Tracy DuFlo and Ryan Proven boarded the freighter CSL Welland at Lock 7 in the Welland Canal, near Niagara Falls, and journeyed with it to Eisenhower Lock in Massena. As the ship made its way through the locks, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence Seaway, the captain and crew members discussed what it is like to live and work on a freighter.
The CSL Welland was named after the Welland Canal, which connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario via a series of 8 locks that lower or raise ships, depending on their direction, a total of 326 feet. The Canal is approximately 27 miles long. The ship was built in 2014 and came to Canada in February of 2015. The CSL Welland is 740 feet long and 78 feet wide, the widest ship that can pass through the Welland Canal. The locks at the canal are only 80 feet wide, so there’s not much room to spare.
WDT and WPBS-TV worked in cooperation with The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in Canada, St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation in the U.S., the company Canada Steamship Lines, or CSL Group, and Transport Canada to arrange the trip. They spent approximately 30 hours aboard the ship. The freighter was in the midst of a five-day voyage delivering grain from Thunder Bay on the coast of Lake Superior to Quebec City, which borders the St. Lawrence River.
“WPBS had the added challenge of wanting to film video from the lock walls at the Welland Canal, and we also wanted to use our drone camera on-board the ship as we traveled through the Canal and the Seaway,” said Tracy DuFlo, Director of Production and Executive Producer at WPBS-TV. “Because the Welland Canal is in Canada, we had to obtain special permits through Transport Canada and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. It involved lots of paperwork and required lots of insurance. But the end result was well worth it. We have some absolutely amazing land and aerial footage of the ship’s voyage.” A DSLR camera was also placed above the bridge to obtain time-lapse footage of the ship navigating the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
“The video images are absolutely stunning, and the documentary is an effective portrayal of life on board a CSL ship,” said Brigitte Hébert, Director of Communications at the CSL Group. “Congratulations to WPBS-TV on a great program.”
More to the Story is sponsored by Advanced Business Systems.
About More to the Story
More to the Story is a public affairs program created in collaboration by WPBS-TV and the Watertown Daily Times. WPBS producers team up with Watertown Daily Times reporters to bring unprecedented value and depth to topics affecting the region. More to the Story is in print Sunday editions of the Watertown Daily Times and the video component will air on WPBS on Sunday’s at 6:30pm, which is a perfect complement to the schedule that already provides the PBS Newshour every day at 6pm.
About WPBS-TV
WPBS-TV is a non-profit public television station serving approximately 650,000 households throughout Northern New York and Eastern Ontario. WPBS-TV’s mission: Trusted as the source for life-long education, entertainment, and information to our two-nation regions through quality media content, partnerships, and service that inspires those we serve. More information about WPBS is available at www.wpbstv.org, or by following WPBS on Twitter and Facebook.
