Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carrier vessels operating on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. Freighters typically have a long, narrow hull, a raised pilothouse, and the engine located at the rear of the ship.
MV Paul R. Tregurtha is a Great Lakes-based bulk carrier freighter. She is the current Queen of the Lakes, an unofficial but widely recognized title given to the longest vessel active on the Great Lakes. Launched as MV William J. De Lancey, she was the last of the thirteen "thousand footers" to enter service on the Great Lakes, and was also the last Great Lakes vessel built at the American Ship Building Company yard in Lorain, Ohio. The MV Paul R. Tregurtha is the current flagship for the Interlake Steamship Company.
MV Indiana Harbor is a very large diesel-powered lake freighter owned and operated by the American Steamship Company. This vessel was built in 1979 at Bay Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and included self-unloading technology.
MV American Integrity is a ship built in 1978 by Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. She is one of the thirteen 1,000 footers in the Great Lakes laker fleet. She was originally built as Lewis Wilson Foy and was renamed Oglebay Norton in 1991. She was renamed again after the sale to American Steamship Company in June, 2006. On September 24, 2017 the American Integrity broke the all-time record for the largest load through the Soo Locks with 75,095 tons of iron ore beating the record held for the last two weeks by the Edwin H. Gott. She was loaded to a draft of 29 ft 7 in on her way to Indiana Harbor.
The SS St. Marys Challenger is a freight-carrying vessel operating on the North American Great Lakes built in 1906. Originally an ore boat, she spent most of her career as a cement carrier when much larger ore boats became common. After a 107-year-long working career as a self-propelled boat, she was converted into a barge and paired with the tug Prentiss Brown as an articulated tug-barge. Before conversion, she was the oldest operating self-propelled lake freighter on the Great Lakes, as well as being one of the last freight-carrying vessels on the Great Lakes to be powered by steam engines.
Algoma Compass, formerly Roger M. Kyes and Adam E. Cornelius, is a self-unloading bulk carrier built in Toledo, Ohio in 1973 for the American Steamship Company. The bulk carrier carried bulk cargoes throughout the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. The vessel has earned a reputation as a "hard luck" ship, experiencing mechanical failures and groundings. In 2018, the ship was acquired by Algoma Central and put in service as Algoma Compass.
CSL Tadoussac is a lake freighter currently operated by Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) on the Great Lakes. She was launched in 1969. Initially named Tadoussac, following her refit in 2001, she was renamed CSL Tadoussac She was the last freighter built for CSL in the traditional two superstructure design, which puts her bridge up in the ship's bow. The vessel primarily transports iron ore and coal.
M/V Burns Harbor is a very large diesel-powered Lake freighter owned and operated by the American Steamship Company. This vessel was built in 1980 at Bay Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and included self-unloading technology.
MV American Century is a very large diesel-powered Lake freighter owned and operated by the American Steamship Company. This vessel was built in 1981 at Bay Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and included self-unloading technology.
M/V Walter J. McCarthy Jr. is a 1000' diesel-powered lake freighter owned and operated by the American Steamship Company. This vessel was built in 1977 at Bay Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and included self-unloading technology.
M/V Sam Laud is a diesel-powered Lake freighter owned and operated by the American Steamship Company. This vessel was built in 1975 at Bay Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and included self-unloading technology.
MV John J. Boland is a diesel-powered lake freighter owned and operated by the Buffalo-based American Steamship Company (ASC), a subsidiary of Rand Logistics. This vessel was built in 1973 at Bay Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Initially named Charles E. Wilson, the vessel was renamed to its current name in 2000.
Algoma Buffalo, formerly Buffalo, is a diesel-powered lake freighter acquired by Algoma Central Corporation in 2018. This vessel was built in 1978 by Bay Shipbuilding Company at their yard in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin for the American Steamship Company and included self-unloading technology. The ship is 634 feet 10 inches (193.50 m) long and 68 feet (21 m) wide, with a carrying capacity of 24,457 tons deadweight (DWT), and is primarily used to ship road salt and construction goods. The vessel is currently in service.
MV American Mariner is a diesel-powered lake freighter owned and operated by the American Steamship Company (ASC). This vessel was built in 1980 at Bay Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and included self-unloading technology.
M/V H. Lee White is a diesel-powered Lake freighter owned and operated by the American Steamship Company (ASC). This vessel was built in 1974 at Bay Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and included self-unloading technology.
MV Roger Blough is a ship built in 1972 by American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio. She serves as a lake freighter on the Great Lakes. The ship is owned by Great Lakes Fleet, Inc. and is named for the former chairman of U.S. Steel, Roger Blough.
The J.H. Sheadle was an American Great Lakes freighter built in 1906. She was built in Ecorse, Michigan, by the Great Lakes Engineering Works. She was owned by the Grand Island Steamship Company of Cleveland, Ohio. She had the identification number #203826. She was used to transport coal, iron ore and grain across the Great Lakes of North America and Canada.
SS Edward L. Ryerson is a steel-hulled American Great Lakes freighter that entered service in 1960. Built between April 1959 and January 1960 for the Inland Steel Company, she was the third of the thirteen so-called 730-class of lake freighters, each of which shared the unofficial title of "Queen of the Lakes", as a result of their record-breaking length. She was not only the last steam-powered freighter built on the lakes but also the last one that was not a self-unloader. Since 2009, she has been in long-term layup in Superior, Wisconsin. She is one of only two American-owned straight deck lake freighters, the other being John Sherwin, built in 1958.
The SS Alpena is a lake freighter. She was built in 1942 by the Great Lakes Engineering Works in Ecorse, Michigan, to carry iron ore. She was originally owned by the Pittsburgh Steamship Company, a subsidiary of United States Steel. After also hauling grain in addition to ore in the 1960s and 1970s, the ship was put into storage in 1982.
MV Mark W. Barker is a large diesel-powered lake freighter owned and operated by the Interlake Steamship Company. She is the first of the River-class freighters constructed for an American shipping company. MV Mark W. Barker is the first ship on the Great Lakes to be powered with engines that meet EPA Tier 4 standards. It is the first U.S.-flagged, Jones Act-compliant ship built on the Great Lakes since 1983.
