PORT OF DULUTH-SUPERIOR

Tariffs could affect Great Lakes shipping

Peter Passi — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 15:00:41 GMT

DULUTH — Tariffs of 25% against sales of goods from Canada and Mexico that were set to take effect on Tuesday have been placed on hold for at least 30 days to allow for further negotiations. As the diplomatic saber-rattling temporarily subsides, area businesses and residents continue to prepare for the possibility that new barriers to North American trade may spring up in the weeks to come.

Northland interests have much riding on how those pending trade talks go.

Tony Barrett, emeritus professor of economics for the College of St. Scholastica, said that if illegal border crossings and the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. are the true rationale for the sanctions, as the Trump administration maintains, the issue likely could be addressed shortly and with minimal economic disruption.

But if the nature of the trade dispute becomes muddier, he suggested the consequences could be far worse.

“If the dispute becomes protracted, nothing economically positive will come from it,” Barrett predicted.

Given the current configuration of auto-making operations, with parts and vehicles flowing throughout North America, he said economists project the proposed 25% tariffs could add about $3,000 to the cost of a new vehicle purchased in the U.S. In turn, Barrett noted that higher prices for new vehicles would likely bleed into the domestic used-car market, too.

“Things like this work their way out down the food chain,” Barrett said, explaining that the expense will be passed forward.

“It will end up costing consumers more,” he said. “The idea that the exporting countries will pay the tariffs simply is not true. It would be nice to believe that, but they won’t.”

Some have speculated the Trump administration aims to use the threat of tariffs to get an early jump on renegotiating the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement — a revamped version of NAFTA, short for the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Inu Manak, a fellow for trade policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, noted that the U.S. proposes to levy tariffs under the guise of the International Emergency Powers Act, claiming a crisis at its borders due to illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

“If that’s the president’s goal, it has nothing to do with declaring a national emergency at the southern border,” she said.

As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau noted, less than 1% of both fentanyl seizures and illegal border crossings have been documented at the northern border of the U.S. However, Canada pledged to invest $1.3 billion to beef up its border security to address U.S. concerns.

Manak warned against attempting to rationalize the actions of the Trump administration “because I think this was kind of quickly put together, and if you look at the executive orders, clearly was not well thought through.”

She said that a strong counter-response by Canada should come as no surprise if tariffs take effect, including actions that could drive up the cost of fuel in the U.S.

“There are considerations of export charges on oil and gas coming out of Canada, and I think they’re within their rights to do so. So, we’re likely to see the escalation of a trade war come through,” Manak said. “But most importantly, we should not forget that what the president has used is (the International Emergency Powers Act), and it doesn’t quite make sense how you connect what he says is the threat to our use of tariffs.”

U.S. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., defends Trump’s use of a tariff threat to prompt movement in negotiations.

“We have already seen President Trump effectively use tariffs as a tool to extract policy wins for the American people,” said Stauber, a Hermantown resident who represents the 8th Congressional District. "During his first term, he enacted the 232 steel tariffs, which prevented China from flooding our markets with cheap steel and protected American mining interests on the Iron Range and the entire domestic steel industry.

“These tariffs were so effective that they were kept in place by the Biden administration,” Stauber said. “And just today, it was announced that Trump’s tariffs brought Mexico and Canada to the negotiating table, and they ultimately agreed to work with President Trump to secure our borders and tackle the fentanyl crisis. There will now be a 30-day delay on U.S. tariffs, allowing more time to reach fair economic agreements. I applaud President Trump for putting our country first and delivering real results for the American people.”

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative issued a letter “to the growing chorus of American and Canadian leaders who oppose the prospect of a harmful trade war between our two countries.”

“The economic engine of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Region supports over 50 million jobs that our residents count on,” the letter said. “The livelihoods of millions cannot be put at risk by putting these jobs in jeopardy.”

When asked if Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert had signed on to the letter, his office responded by saying that while it was aware of the initiative’s opposition to the proposed tariffs, “The (Initiative’s) statement was made on behalf of its membership without consulting the city of Duluth. We are monitoring and evaluating any potential economic impacts of tariffs.”

Deb DeLuca, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, said her staff is also closing tracking developments.

“Duluth-Superior is a world port, and global trade is part of our lifeblood,” she said. “Anything that inhibits free trade is generally a negative for the port, with the exception of policies that protect against foreign steel-dumping.”

DeLuca noted close ties between port cities on both sides of the border.

“Regarding Canada and the U.S. specifically, Duluth-Superior would likely suffer from tariffs imposed by either country,” she said. “Cargo volumes between our port and Canada total in the millions of tons each year, spread across categories like iron ore, lumber, salt, grain and general cargo. Almost a third of the iron ore that sailed from Duluth-Superior during the 2024 navigation season went to Canada.

“Our northern neighbor is a major trade partner,” DeLuca said. “and the net economic result of a trade war between Canada and the U.S. would likely be more negative than positive for our port.”

Nevertheless, Eric Peace, vice president of the Lake Carriers Association, which represents U.S.-flagged operators of the Great Lakes fleet, suggested the short-term effects of the proposed tariffs would likely be minimal on his organization’s members. In fact, he predicted it could lead to more business for its members, as carriers are called upon to move more domestic salt by way of water — shipments that nearly all involve Canadian salt shipped by Canadian vessels.

However, he acknowledged that a protracted trade dispute could prove more disruptive to the domestic automobile industry, potentially weakening demand for steel and slowing shipments of taconite.

Forest products could also take a hit, with the U.S. importing about one-third of its softwood lumber from Canada and relying heavily on its paper-making capacity, as well.

Forum Communications Co., the Fargo, North Dakota-based owner of the News Tribune, buys all of its newsprint from Canadian paper makers and would feel the direct impact of the proposed tariffs.

Aaron Becher, Forum Communications’ vice president of newspapers, said that if the threatened tariffs take effect, “It will present us with greater cost challenges that we will need to manage carefully.”

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Adella Shores shipwreck discovered in Lake Superior, after steamer vanished in 1909 with 14 aboard

Jeremy Fugleberg — Fri, 03 May 2024 16:31:00 GMT

WHITEFISH POINT, Mich. — A large wooden steamship that was last seen plowing into a icy Lake Superior gale in 1909 on its way to Duluth has been discovered, more than a century after it went down with 14 souls aboard.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society announced the find on Wednesday, May 1.

The Adella Shores, a 195-foot, 735-ton steamer, was hauling a load of salt to Duluth on April 29, 1909, following behind the steel steamship Daniel J. Morrell as it plowed through ice on the lake when it foundered off of Whitefish Point, Michigan, according to the historical society. The captain of the Daniel J. Morrell speculated the Adella Shores may have hit an ice flow that punctured its hull, sinking the ship.

Ships that later passed through the area reported no sightings of the Adella Shores. But the steamer Glenellah arrived in Duluth and reported bringing up a mast and partial rigging on its anchor chains, and the steamer Gettysburg reported running through drifting wreckage near Sable Point, west of where the Adella Shores was last seen, according to a May 8, 1909, article in the Detroit Evening Times.

The crew of the steamer Simon Langell also passed through some floating wreckage on its way to Duluth, including painted and tarred deck planks. Captain Geel of the Simon Langell was confident in his assessment: "That is the Adella Shores, I know her well," he said, according to a May 9, 1909, report in The Minneapolis Tribune.

The location of the Adella Shores remained undiscovered until the summer of 2021, when Darryl Ertel, director of marine operations for the historical society, and his brother Dan discovered a "target" using a side-scan sonar system.

Imaging showed a distinct shape of a ship casting eerie sonar shadows across the lakebed that looked like a mast and rigging. They then sent down a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to see what they had found.

“I pretty much knew that had to be the Adella Shores when I measured the length of it, because there were no other ships out there missing in that size range,” Ertel said, in the GLSHS press release. “As soon as I put the ROV down on it for the first time, I could see the design of the ship and I could match it right up to the Adella Shores."

The Adella Shores was found more than 40 miles northeast of Whitefish Point in 650 feet of water. Video from the ROV showed a ship with many portions intact, not uncommon in the cold freshwater of Lake Superior, which helps to preserves wrecks like the Adella Shores.

“People often ask us why we wait so long to release shipwrecks that we find,” said GLSHS Content/Communications Director Corey Adkins in the news release announcing the find. “Every one of these stories is important and deserves to be told with the utmost honor and respect. GLSHS has had some banner years of discovery … and a lot of research goes into each press release, ensuring that we tell the story accurately."

According to the historical society, the Adella Shores had a storied career. It was built in Gibraltar, Michigan, in 1894, owned by the Shores Lumber Company and named after the owner’s daughter, Adella. As the Shores family was strict about alcohol consumption, Adella’s sister Bessie christened the new ship with a bottle of water instead of the usual bottle of alcohol or wine — likely an omen of bad luck to old sailors.

The sinking of the Adella Shores made 1909 a particularly deadly year for sailors on Lake Superior. The Detroit Free Press reported on May 9 that 34 lives had been lost thus far on the Great Lakes, only a month into the sailing season.

The losses, chronicled by The Minneapolis Tribune on May 16, included four vessels: the steamer Eber Ward, the Aurania (very near where the Adella Shores likely sank), the lumber barge Nester and then the Adella Shores.

Prior to its final voyage, the Adella Shores had already sunk twice in 15 years in shallower waters, allowing it to be refloated and put back into service. But in 1909 the luck of the ship and its crew finally ran out.

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Viking cruise passengers eagerly discover Duluth

Jay Gabler — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 22:00:42 GMT

DULUTH — After a hiatus of nearly a decade, it's a novelty for the port of Duluth-Superior to welcome cruise ships. The experience is just as novel for the guests disembarking to spend a day in the Twin Ports.

"People didn't realize how wonderful the Great Lakes were," said Marlene Schloss, of St. Cloud, standing in the Great Hall of the St. Louis County Depot on Monday morning.

"We knew it," Schloss continued, "which is why we're doing the cruise. They're from California, Arizona, all these places, and they had no idea it was so beautiful here."

Schloss and her husband, Phil, were among over 200 passengers from the Viking Octantis scheduled for an excursion to the Depot while the 665-foot cruise ship harbored in Duluth on Monday. The ship is making multiple Duluth stops this season, and Monday's passengers found even more waiting for them at the Depot than their predecessors did.

Mary Tennis, executive director of the Depot, said it became clear that Viking passengers had "a huge amount of interest, not only for the train ride and train museum, but just Duluth in general."

The county-owned venue decided to make the most of that interest by planning "Dock at the Depot" events to coincide with local cruise stops. On Monday, passengers from the Octantis were scheduled to arrive by bus in two waves.

About a dozen local craft, gift and food vendors were stationed in the Depot's west wing. To accommodate the passengers' schedule, exhibits from the Duluth Art Institute and the St. Louis County Historical Society were also available for viewing starting at 9 a.m. rather than the Depot's customary opening hour of 10 a.m.

Stacey DeRoche, the Depot's event and marketing coordinator, said the response from vendors was "instant" when they were approached about the series. "I had 30-plus vendors contact me," she said.

To accommodate as many vendors as possible, "we'll mix it up a little bit" from one event to another, said DeRoche. The pop-up markets will happen five more times this year, with the last of the season planned for Sept. 19.

Sarah Herrick-Smisek, co-owner of DLH Clothing, said that as a Lincoln Park business, "we've really been struggling" to figure out how to connect with passengers on cruise ships that disembark at the DECC. The Depot event provided that opportunity.

"We were just really interested in this event to see what we can do," said Herrick-Smisek shortly before the first cruise guests arrived. "We're a company that really loves representing our city, and so we want to show that off."

Passengers on Viking's "Undiscovered Great Lakes" cruise stop in Duluth on Day 3 of their eight-day journey from Thunder Bay to Milwaukee.

They have several options for Twin Ports area shore excursions, ranging from Agate Bay kayaking to a Glensheen visit. The North Shore Scenic Railroad excursion is a hot ticket; this week, over half of the ship's passengers chose to hop a train either in the morning or the afternoon of their Duluth day.

With tickets starting at $6,495, the cruise overall is proving popular. The Octantis has a maximum passenger capacity of 378, and according to Viking's website, four of five remaining "Undiscovered" Great Lakes trips this season are completely sold out. (Some passengers, like the Schlosses, are redeeming credits they held from COVID-canceled cruises.)

In a competitive vacation market, Viking positions its trips as "more destination focused and culturally immersive" in comparison to, say, a "Margaritaville at Sea" cruise.

A Frost River bag purchased at the Depot's pop-up event would fit right in on the Viking Octantis, described as "an expedition ship built specifically to explore the world’s most remote destinations."

The ship's amenities include a science laboratory; a library curated in collaboration with the Scott Polar Research Institute; and an auditorium advertised as "the world’s most advanced venue for learning at sea." Where another cruise ship might have a martini bar, the Octantis has an "Aquavit Terrace."

In other words, the Octantis passengers didn't buy tickets to turn their brains off. "This is the most engaged package tour group I've ever seen in 10 years of doing this," said Josh Miller, North Shore Scenic Railroad station manager.

"They have a complete weather station on board. They take water samples," marveled Ken Buehler, executive director of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and one of the tour guides narrating bus tours preceding the groups' arrival at the Depot.

"They've got questions; they're interested in the history; they want to know more about Duluth," said Buehler. "It's amazing."

The passengers have seen some history themselves: According to the DECC, cruise guests' average age is 70. Phil Schloss marveled at his return to the Depot, which he knew as a "beautiful functioning train station" when he lived in Duluth during the 1960s.

"I used to have business trips down to Minneapolis-St. Paul," said Schloss. "So I'd come here, take the train, go down and come back that night."

Ninety-five percent of this summer's Duluth-bound cruise passengers are from the United States, according to the DECC, but Monday's visitors said the cruise revealed their own continent in a new light.

"We wanted to enjoy the Great Lakes. We haven't really traveled up here that much," said Sonia Woodbury, of Salt Lake City. She said she was astonished by Lake Superior's sheer size. "I knew that," she said with a laugh, "but I just didn't get it until we were on (the lake). It feels like we're on the ocean."

It was clear from the passengers' attire that they knew they weren't on a Caribbean cruise. Rather than Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops, many of the passengers opted for high-traction footwear, weatherproof hats, KN95 masks and expedition vests.

That said, a vacation is a vacation. One woman wore a shirt with sparkly beads arranged to picture a few servings of wine and the statement, "at my age, I need glasses."

Whether the passengers came thirsty (a beer-and-chocolate walking tour was another excursion option), they didn't come hungry. Robert Lillegard of Duluth's Best Bread offered some of his company's most tempting baked goods, but he wasn't particularly surprised that the visitors were already stuffed.

"Cruise ships, I've been on one, and you eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, a second breakfast. It's like 'Lord of the Rings,'" said Lillegard, referring to the fictional hobbits' habit of doubling down on the first meal of the day.

Duluth has been planning for years to roll out the red carpet for cruise passengers, and Monday's guests said they recognized the effort.

"The people here are very friendly," said Lois Vanderwood, of Franklin, North Carolina. "Getting off the ship, and all these people welcoming you: makes you feel like you're at home."

"Could not be friendlier, all the people greeting us," agreed Lauri MacNeel, of Cincinnati. "That was really impressive, to see such a warm welcome in the harbor entrance."

Paul Lukens and Jeremy Wilson of Superior Roux were keeping their New Orleans-inspired fare warm for the 11 a.m. train passengers, some of whom might have been looking for lunch when they got back. In the meantime, the chefs were chatting about the Twin Ports.

"We had a couple of people just asking about the area, saying that they love the cool weather because they're from Florida," said Lukens. "It's hot for us; it's cool for them. It's a nice mix."

If you want to experience the Depot like a cruise passenger, the vendor pop-ups are free and open to the public. Remaining dates this year are July 25, Aug. 8, Aug. 22, Sept. 5 and Sept. 19. For more information, see experiencethedepot.org.

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U.S. Navy ceremony commands respect in Duluth

Brady Slater — Sat, 21 May 2022 22:14:01 GMT

DULUTH — The first commissioning of a U.S. Navy ship in Minnesota history unfolded in front of more than 2,000 guests in the Twin Ports harbor on Saturday.

Sailors ran aboard the USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul at the peak of the ceremony to “bring the ship to life.” Cannons fired smoke rings across the Rice’s Point slip that held the nearly 400-foot warship. And, poetic words were the order of the day as the ship designed for shoreline attacks and defense joined the Navy fleet.

The vessel will sail out of Duluth on Monday, bound for a month-long journey back to its home port at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida.

Gov. Tim Walz was among a host of dignitaries to appear under a white tent on an overcast day featuring intermittent rain.

“We don’t commission artillery pieces in the Army,” said Walz, a retired Army National Guardsman. “And, that’s unfortunate.”

The invocation called for the officers and roughly 110-member crew to “embody the hopes, values and care of the people from the Twin Cities and Twin Ports.”

“We don’t just pretend this,” Walz said. “We are people of grit, resilience and bravery.”

Though vessels had been named for Duluth and the Twin Cities before, never had a commissioning come to the state. Navy officials said it was rare when Navy vessels could be commissioned so close to their namesake locations. The “home” event brought requests for more than 5,000 tickets to the Navy League of the United States.

Duluth Navy veteran David Wheat, a 7 ½-year prisoner of war in Vietnam, rose to the acknowledgement of the crowd.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, and Reps. Pete Stauber, R-Hermantown, and Betty McCollum, D-St. Paul, were joined by the mayors of the three cities involved, as well as new Undersecretary of the Navy Erik Raven, overseeing his first commissioning ceremony.

“You’re the strength and determination of the American people,” McCollum, chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, told the crew.

Stauber noted the $360 million ship was built using taconite iron ore from the Iron Range in the steel hull of the ship, and added the ceremony was “for many of us, once in a lifetime.”

The U.S. Navy Band filled the air with marches and exquisite sounds. Blue caps of Navy veterans filled the crowd.

Klobuchar said the state has waited since its inception in 1858 for a Navy commissioning.

“Our patience has finally paid off,” Klobuchar said, noting the translation of the ship’s motto — “find a way or make one” — and getting serious about the threats in today’s world, including “the inhuman barbarism of (Russian President) Vladimir Putin.”

“We have all been moved at this very moment by the bravery of the Ukrainian people taking up arms to protect their country,” Klobuchar said. “(They're) sending a warning shot to any tyrants around the world who believe that free democracies are up for grabs.”

Built for speed, agility and with weapons that can fire up to 9 miles, the USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul is among a class of littoral combat ships designed to protect or attack within 25 miles of a shoreline anywhere in the world. Six-plus years in the making, USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul was built in Marinette, Wisconsin, by Fincantieri Marinette Marine on Lake Michigan for the defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp.

Duluth’s Gary Black and spouse Celeste Curley-Black were among the scores of onlookers. Black, 68, had their picture taken with the ship as a backdrop. A Navy pilot who took off from and landed jets on aircraft carriers, he recalled being part of the commissioning of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington in Norfolk, Virginia on July 4, 1992.

“I was a plank owner,” Black said, using the title given to members of a ship’s first crew. “So, this is a big deal for the sailors here.”

David E. Anderson, 67, of St. Paul sailed in the Navy aboard submarines. He wore a cap honoring the first vessel to be named after the Twin Cities, the submarine USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul — decommissioned in 2007.

Anderson worked to preserve the conning tower and rudder from that vessel. He said those artifacts will appear at a new Military Museum at Camp Ripley in 2024.

“I’ve been working for 15 years on behalf of her namesake,” Anderson said. “It’s an honor to be here.”

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War ship prepped to start its career in Duluth

Thu, 19 May 2022 21:53:02 GMT

DULUTH — The first U.S. Navy vessel to dock in the local port since 1993, when the Navy conducted regular Great Lakes tours, was outlined in festive bunting Thursday as it docked on Rice’s Point.

The hulking, nearly 400-foot war ship USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul is scheduled to be commissioned into the Navy during a ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday.

On that day, most of its 110-member crew will be asked to “run aboard” in Navy tradition by sprinting up the gangway to populate the ship.

“I’m more than proud,” said Cmdr. Alfonza White, the officer in charge of the vessel, during Thursday’s media tour. “I’ve been in the Navy 27 years. The best part of the Navy are the people. Everything about this ship is foremost about the people and who takes care of it.”

A littoral combat ship, Minneapolis-Saint Paul is designed for defense and combat within 25 miles of shore. It reaches speeds near 50 mph, and its main gun on the forward deck can fire artillery that explodes on impact or in the vicinity of targets within 9 nautical miles.

It has its homeport at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida. But from there, the possibilities will be endless.

“We are trained to sail the high seas, and we are prepared to do so,” said White, who began his career on the since-decommissioned USS Duluth.

Built in Marinette, Wisconsin, by Fincantieri Marinette Marine on Lake Michigan, the $360 million ship has struggled through fits and starts to reach its commissioning. The ship was christened and launched into the Menominee River on June 15, 2019, at the Fincantieri yard, but a design defect associated with bearings in the combining gear's high-speed clutch surfaced during trials.

Commissioning, which will be the first for a U.S. Navy vessel in Minnesota, was delayed in both 2020 and 2021.

“The crew is resilient,” White said. “We took it in stride and now we’re here.”

The crew has spent the past two years in Florida training aboard other vessels to prepare to operate Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

“I know the ship was being built up here in the Midwest, but two years ago-plus we started building a crew, and that is really the bread and butter of what brings the ship to life,” said Command Senior Enlisted Leader Edward Pare, the vessel’s top enlisted man. “We’re going to go through a commissioning ceremony, but this crew has gelled and come together for many years, and it shows.”

The vessel is highly maneuverable, and is propelled by water jets instead of the more traditional propeller-and-rudder system.

White explained that when the Minneapolis-Saint Paul is opened up its jets process an Olympic swimming pool’s worth of water every second.

“That’s how much thrust vector we generate,” White said.

The crew is trained to navigate the vessel in tight spaces without the aid of tug boats. On its 37-day voyage up from Florida, the crew gained valuable experience traversing the Soo Locks and other Great Lakes.

“If you’ve ever been out on Lake Superior, it is awesome,” White said. “Coming through the Soo Locks was a great experience for the crew, and then entering Lake Superior — beautiful lake, beautiful scenery. We couldn’t ask for more.”

The vessel is of a class of ship that’s named for major cities. Larger vessels are named for important historical figures, while submarines are named after states.

The naming of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul was made possible by Jodi Green, former deputy under secretary of the Navy and a Minnesota resident.

White said the Twin Cities and Duluth should be proud to be a part of the commissioning of a ship that figures to be called into action anywhere in the world.

“Worldwide access,” White said of why the vessel was in Duluth. “This is part of the world. We’re happy to sail all over the world, and this is proof that we can access so many different venues around the world.”

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USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul arrives in Duluth

Forum News Service — Tue, 17 May 2022 15:01:17 GMT

DULUTH — A naval ship to be commissioned by the U.S. Navy arrived in the port Monday morning.

The USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul is scheduled for commissioning at 10 a.m. Saturday before it is moved to its homeport of Naval Station Mayport, Florida, where it will have a crew of 140 sailors, the News Tribune first reported in 2020.

Built by Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin, the Freedom-class littoral combat ship was launched and christened June 15, 2019.

Littoral combat ships are "a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments, winning against 21st-century coastal threats," according to a press release from the Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The USS Minneapolis St. Paul was expected to become the first anti-submarine warfare littoral combat ship in the U.S. naval fleet. It is designed for speed and shallow-water, near-shore combat.

The Navy League described anti-submarine warfare as a "branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines."

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Meet Great Lakes' newest arrival: Mark W. Barker

Brady Slater — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 13:00:00 GMT

STURGEON BAY, Wis. — Mark Barker never set out to have a Great Lakes freighter named after him.

“This is about more than one person,” said Barker, president of the family-owned Interlake Steamship Co., based outside Cleveland, Ohio.

But when a customer asked about building a new Great Lakes vessel — one outfitted for maneuverability and versatility — Barker listened intently, like he had while growing up around shipping conversations at the dinner table.

The results of those talks have come to life at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding on Lake Michigan’s Sturgeon Bay.

Floating and sandwiched alongside a dozen wintering ore boats, the freighter sat high in the water. Even on a gloomy day, its hull shone with a fresh coat of paint, highlighted by the name on the stern: Mark W. Barker.

It’s the first Great Lakes ship to be built by an American company since 1983, which marked the end of a lengthy boom time that included the arrival of the immense 1,000-footers.

Interlake’s new boat is something different than a standard bulk-cargo hauler like those built four decades ago.

At 639 feet long, the Mark W. Barker will be the smallest vessel on the Interlake roster. It’s designed to carry oversize project cargoes, like wind turbine blades, in addition to things like taconite iron ore, limestone or salt.

Scheduled to launch its working life later this year, the Mark W. Barker will enter sea trials soon this spring. Its construction has stretched for more than two years, slowed only by some supply chain issues. Planning and construction has been closely observed by the U.S. Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping.

When the News Tribune met with both shipyard and Interlake officials for an exclusive tour of the boat in March, the ship remained a construction zone. The sizzle of welding and whirs of grinders filled the ship. There were electricians everywhere one looked.

The two-hour tour plunged into the depths and scaled metal staircases to the heights of the Mark W. Barker — from inspection of the 8-foot-wide rubber self-unloading belt that runs between two 400-foot tunnels in the bowels of the ship, to the open-layout pilot house atop the stern of the vessel, where soon a captain will direct a wheelsman where to turn.

“Here’s your best view in the house — virtually floor-to-ceiling windows,” said Amelia Ott, Bay Shipbuilding’s project manager, as she approached a pilot house view framing the Barker’s weather deck and 63-acre shipyard below.

In the days following Ott's tour came an answer to how the newest Great Lakes bulk carrier got its name.

“My dad felt strongly that it should be named after me,” Mark Barker said.

Barker grew to love every part of shipping, becoming a marine engineer at college in New York, and later adding more schooling to learn the business side of things. In between, he worked in shipyards, even sailed for a spell on the Great Lakes, before beginning his rise into leadership at Interlake.

With 400 employees and a fleet of 10 Great Lakes vessels, it’s the largest privately held American fleet working the Great Lakes.

Barker told about how, around first grade, he rode the James R. Barker, named for his father, shortly after its launch in 1976. James continues to serve as chairman of the company. The fleet’s Kaye E. Barker is named for Mark’s mother.

“It’s hard to say no to a person who’s been in this industry a long time, running this company and he’s your dad,” Mark Barker said. “So, I accepted.”

The company has been tight-lipped about how much the vessel cost to build, and the identity of the customer that sought Interlake about building it.

“The Great Lakes has unique docks and harbors and rivers, and we had to make sure it fit into certain locations,” Barker said. “So that drove the dimensions of the vessel.”

It’ll be the fastest boat in the Interlake fleet, capable of 15 mph.

Scores of decisions went into making the vessel maneuverable and efficient when slicing through water.

“It’s not just one big a-ha thing,” Barker said. “There’s a bit of art, science and engineering all put into this ship, which makes it an efficient and modern vessel.”

In addition to familiar bow and stern thrusters, which allow better turning at lower speeds, the rudder also has an additional flap, so both the flap and rudder can turn.

There’s other ingenuity, too, like a unique hull shape that’s characteristically boxy above the waterline, but “gets really curvy in the back end, allowing the water to flow nicely through the propeller,” Ott said.

Ott studied naval architecture and marine engineering in college, and went to work at Bay Shipbuilding in 2012 right after graduation.

“She’s a good leader within the organization,” Bay Shipbuilding General Manager Craig Perciavalle said. “We’re very happy with what she’s done, and think she’s got a very bright future for us going forward.”

The blueprints of the Mark W. Barker hung in Ott’s office.

“That’s my life on the wall,” she said. “All I see when I close my eyes is that boat.”

Experienced boat watchers will notice a couple of features on the new ship right away. First is Interlake’s telltale black exhaust stack wrapped in an orange stripe located at the stern behind the five-level deck house.

“It’s a big stack,” Ott said. “You don’t feel the gravity of it until you’re on board standing next to it.”

The next detail that will stick out to seasoned observers is the ship’s profile, which reveals a self-discharging boom fixed at the bow of the ship, opposite the deck house.

“Very unique design,” Ott said. “The boom being on the forward end allows more versatility for Interlake as an operator as to what ports they can go into. You can kind of typically nose into something a little better and offload your cargo.”

The self-discharging system draws bulk cargo from gates located in the floor of the cargo hold. The cargo rides belts through the underbelly of the ship up to the boom, which swings 90 degrees to either side to unload onto a dock.

The triangular boom on the new Mark W. Barker was taken from the American Victory.

“We bought that boom,” Interlake spokesperson Chrissy Kadleck said. “It’s a recycled piece.”

Most of the rest of the vessel was built in modules and assembled in a dry dock, starting from the middle outward in both directions in order to maximize crew efficiency. Construction required 15,000 tons of steel from ArcelorMittal, an Interlake customer.

The shipyard workers, many of them second and third generation, know well the life cycle of the material — from taconite pellets mined in the region, to the steel plates that entered the yard’s fabrication building.

“They’re very familiar with what these boats do and what they mean to the community and our region,” said Justin Slater, Bay Shipbuilding’s director of sales and marketing. “They do feel something special toward the boat. It’s more than just a paycheck and the job. There’s pride in being part of it.”

The shipyard employs 600 people regularly and 1,000 during the Great Lakes winter offseason, when working lake freighters go to yards for maintenance and repair.

Not building lakers for decades hasn’t dampened Bay Shipbuilding, which turns out a variety of vessels, including ferries, natural gas barges used to refuel other ships, and military defense frigates at its neighboring shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin, just across Green Bay.

“We’ve built probably more articulated tug barges than anyone else in the country,” Slater said. “Most of those were for the petroleum and chemical industry.”

In the decades between U.S.-flagged lakers, the Canadians have undergone a ship-building renaissance of their own, starting with the 740-foot Algoma Mariner in 2011 — the first of several new builds for companies in that country.

Eric Peace is the vice president for the Lake Carriers’ Association, based outside Cleveland. The Lake Carriers represent the U.S. fleet on the Great Lakes, and Peace said the Mark W. Barker could be the start of something.

“This won’t be the last one built,” Peace said. “There is still strong trade here on the Great Lakes.”

Interlake owns vessels built as far back as 1942. Barker said the company has had great success in retrofitting ships with technology such as new engines and self-discharging systems.

“These ships continue to work well and safely,” Barker said. "Time will tell the story."

Bay Shipbuilding's Perciavalle noted the Mark W. Barker's arrival as an encouraging sign of things to come.

"Folks are getting a lot of life out of the existing vessels," Perciavalle said. "I do believe there will be other opportunities going forward. Sooner than later now, it’s safe to say, the fleet will need to start being replaced more."

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