Freighters Newsletter
Welcome to the online home of Freighters Newsletter, the quarterly publication of Shipwatcher News. This is the seventh generation of the original Shipwatcher News newsletter started in 2014. It was published as Shipwatcher News from 2014 to 2018 and Great Lakes Shipping Chronicle from 2018 to 2020 before becoming Freighters in 2020. Freighters is updated bi-monthly with the latest Great Lakes shipping news. Between issues, check the Newsfeed page for other updates.
Want to dive deeper into the topics covered in Shipwatcher News Freighters? Check out the sources for each issue listed on the Sources page!
80 Freighters FALL 2025
- Facilities lead to ships
- Big crane shipment from Manitowoc
- November Detroit River groundings
- In the design: New vessel procurement
- Featured Vessel: Edwin H. Gott
79 Freighters Summer 2025
- New cement carrier Tamarack arrives home
- The modern crane-conveyor ship
- Farewell to the Cuyahoga
- In the design: The Shipbuilding Situation – Part II
- Featured Vessel: ATB Maumee / Victory
78 Freighters SPRING 2025
- They deliver: Soo Marine Supply keeps the boats supplied
- Great Lakes debut for two Canadian ships
- Hon. James L. Oberstar grounds in St. Marys River
- In the design: The shipbuilding situation
- Featured Vessel: Herbert C. Jackson
77 Freighters Winter 2025
- Manitoulin broken out after four days locked in ice
- Aluminum and steel imports could affect Great Lakes trade
- Algoma takes delivery of three vessels
- Peyton’s Place: Modern container shipping and the Great Lakes
- In the design: vessel stability
- Featured Vessel: CSL Assiniboine
76 Freighters Fall 2024
- Plans announced for biofuel facility in Port Colborne
- Tim S. Dool freed from grounding in St. Lawrence
- Event connects marine industry with agriculture
- Of Greyhounds and Limestone: The Michigan Limestone and Bradley Transportation story Pt. II
- In the design: fire safety in design
- Featured Vessel: St. Marys Challenger / Prentiss Brown
75 Freighters Summer 2024
- Algoma continues tanker fleet expansion
- Rand Logistics acquires Andrie
- Of Greyhounds and Limestone: The Michigan Limestone and Bradley Transportation story Pt. I
- In the design: safety equipment and design
- Featured Vessel: Radcliffe R. Latimer
74 Freighters Spring 2024
- When the hull breaks: Michipicoten suffers serious hull crack on Lake Superior
- Eureka Shipping announces construction of new cement carrier
- Wheels of Wonder: The story of the rotary unloading elevators
- Standing tall against the sands of time: The history of Sand Products Corp. Pt II
- In the design: the wake of disaster
- Featured Vessel: Cuyahoga
73 Freighters Winter 2024
- Standing tall against the sands of time: The history of Sand Products Corporation
- Fire strikes Cuyahoga again
- 2024 Shipping season underway
- Canadian Ranger: The first forward boom boat
- Engineering: Diesel Exhaust Scrubbers
- Featured Vessel: Presque Isle
72 Freighters November-December 2023
- Algoma Tankers’ Birgit Knutsen renamed Algoluna
- Saltwater visitor Barbro G. grounds in Detroit River
- Ships of past eras: the Ontario Hydro coal boats
- Continued growth: McKeil Marine adds more ships to Great Lakes fleet
- Engineering: Propulsion Systems
- Featured Vessel: Algoma Transport
71 Freighters September-October 2023
- Farewell to the Thompson
- Port of Monroe hosts Heritage Days, tugboat America restored to original name
- Seaway strike halts traffic
- Return of the Cuyahoga
- Engineering: Designed with the cargo in mind – liquid bulk
- Featured Vessel: Saginaw
70 Freighters July-August 2023
- SS Badger dock collapses, ends season prematurely
- Tecumseh towed to the scrapyard
- VanEnkevort Tug & Barge marks 55 years
- Ecosse moves short-sea cargoes across the system
- Engineering: Designed with the cargo in mind – cement
- Featured Vessel: Joseph L. Block
69 Freighters May-June 2023
- Cuyahoga suffers engine room fire on Lake Erie
- Algoma orders two tankers
- Moving big cargo
- SS Badger marks 70th season
- Engineering: Designed with the cargo in mind – stone, sand, and salt
- Featured Vessel: Mesabi Miner
68 Freighters March-April 2023
- Soo Locks & Seaway open for the season
- Northshore Mining resumes operations
- Early season groundings
- Lorain Pellet Terminal: The unique story of the Great Lakes’ first super port
- Engineering: Designed with the cargo in mind – coal
- Featured Vessel: Michipicoten
67 Freighters January-February 2023
- 2022 Season in review
- Algoma tankers shuffle
- Winter work prepares ships for upcoming season
- Breaking the ice: Coast Guard icebreakers keep shipping lanes open during the winter
- Engineering: Designed with the cargo in mind – iron ore
- Featured Vessel: Hon. James L. Oberstar
66 Freighters November-December 2022
- CSL’s Nukumi honored at International Bulk Journal Awards
- Mark W. Barker receives multiple awards
- Coal power continues phase out, future of Great Lakes steel production comes to life
- Lake Superior weather makes for impressive scenes
- A new future for a historic trade route: The history of the Magdalen Islands salt run and the vessels that sailed it
- In the Design: Managing an Aging Fleet
- Featured Vessel: Frontenac
65 Freighters September-October 2022
- Mark W. Barker christened in Cleveland
- Verplank opens new Port Facility, American Integrity visits Muskegon
- Great Lakes Cruise Report 2022
- Roger Blough towed to Conneaut
- Are forward accommodations rising back to the top of ship design trends?
- In the Design: Versatile Ships, Diverse Cargoes
- Featured Vessel: John G. Munson
64 Freighters July-August 2022
- Mark W. Barker enters service
- Soo Locks construction prepares to enter next phase
- S.T. Crapo to be scrapped
- Philip R. Clarke returns to service
- Short-sea shipping is business as usual at the Port of Monroe
- In the Design: Crew Accommodations
- Featured Vessel: Algoma Buffalo
63 Freighters May-June 2022
- The cruise ships are back!
- Lee A. Tregurtha and Alpena celebrate 80 seasons
- SS Badger begins 69th season
- USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul commissioned at Duluth, MN
- Putting on the finishing touches: Mark W. Barker nears completion
- In the Design: the Pilothouse
- Featured Vessel: Joseph H. Thompson / Laura L. VanEnkevort
62 Freighters March-April 2022
- Farewell to two classic ladies
- 2021 Season recap
- The new season has begun
- Welcome USCGC Spar!
- CSL Welland displays new mural
- In the Design: Mechanical and Support Systems Part II
- Featured Vessel: American Mariner
61 Freighters January-February 2022
- Winter Work: Getting the fleet ready to go
- Sam Laud last ship of the season at the Soo Locks
- CSL’s Nukumi departs on maiden voyage to Canada
- Proposal unveiled to build Naval Shipyard in Lorain, OH
- Bringing the Challenger‘s pilothouse home
- In the Design: Major Mechanical & Ancillary Systems Part I
- Featured Vessel: John D. Leitch
60 Freighters November-December 2021
- From plans to floating steel: The Design and Construction of the Mark W. Barker
- Interlake Logistics Solutions purchases former U.S. Army tugboat
- Michigan Senate introduces bill package to support ports
- MV St. Clair towed to the scrapyard
- In the Design: Major Conversions & Rebuilds Part II
- Featured Vessel: Kaye E. Barker
59 Freighters September-October 2021
- When steel meets water: Launching the Mark W. Barker
- Retired Lakers Manistee and St. Clair to be scrapped at Port Colborne
- Government takes steps closer to building an additional Great Lakes icebreaker
- SS Badger heading to the shipyard
- In the Design: Major Conversions & Rebuilds Part I
- Featured Vessel: Commander / Caroline McKee
58 Freighters July-August 2021
- Farewell to the USCGC Alder
- Port of Monroe awarded grant for cargo screening infrastructure
- Algoma Spirit departs for the boneyard
- New Captain Henry Jackman breaks cargo record on maiden voyage
- In the Design: Ballast systems
- Featured Vessel: Edgar B. Speer
57 Freighters May-June 2021
- Port of Monroe steers to the future
- USCGC Alder to depart Great Lakes
- Unprecedented second printing of Know Your Ships
- Shepler’s William Richard christened
- In the Design: Fuels and Emissions
- Featured Vessel: Alpena
56 Freighters March-April 2021
- Looking back: 2020 Season recap
- COVID and Great Lakes shipping in 2021
- Caroline McKee enters service on the Great Lakes
- Construction update: Mark W. Barker
- In the Design: Hull strength
- Featured Vessel: CSL Tadoussac
55 Freighters January-February 2021
- Farewell to familiar ships
- Captain Henry Jackman launched
- Roger Blough suffers major fire in layup
- Building the International Great Lakes Datum
- In the Design: Automation – A look into the increased use of automation on Great Lakes ships
- Featured Vessel: Mississagi
54 Freighters November-December 2020
- Introducing Michigan Trader and Dirk S. VanEnkevort
- Two Canadian fleets welcome new vessels
- Michigan teens deliver Caring for our Sailors Care Packages
- S/S Edmund Fitzgerald: 45 Years under the waters of Lake Superior
- Interlake purchases S/S Badger and ATB Pere Marquette 41 / Undaunted
- In the Design: Stern design
- Featured Vessel: Wilfred Sykes
53 Freighters September-October 2020
- Welcoming the William Richard
- ArcelorMittal sells U.S. assets to Cleveland-Cliffs in $1.4 billion deal
- Barge Michigan Trader delivered to VanEnkevort Tug & Barge
- Algoma Intrepid delivered to Algoma Central Corp.
- Work progressing quickly on Interlake’s Mark W. Barker
- In the Design: The leading end – a look at bow design on Great Lakes ships
- Featured Vessel: American Integrity
52 Freighters July-August 2020
- Port City Marine’s latest vessel makes her debut – ATB Caroline McKee
- $123 Million appropriated for new Soo Lock construction
- Ship allisions and collisions
- Putting on the finishing touches: William Richard nears completion
- In the Design: Inside the cargo hold
- Featured Vessel: Ojibway
51 Freighters May-June 2020
- Keel laid and name revealed for Interlake’s new ship Mark W. Barker
- Tug Mississippi arrives for service at Great Lakes Maritime Academy
- Rand Logistics completes acquisition of American Steamship Company
- Cleveland-Cliffs resumes operations
- In the Design: A look behind the concept of Articulated Tug-Barges
- Featured Vessel: Tim S. Dool
50 Freighters March-April 2020
- Algoma Conveyor runs aground in Green Bay
- 2020 Shipping season gets underway
- Tanker ATB Albert/Margaret runs aground in Lake St. Clair
- New salt brine mining operation coming to Bay City
- Coronavirus shocks Great Lakes shipping industry
- M/V St. Clair fire report reviewed
- In the Design: A look behind the concept of self-unloading technology
- Featured Vessel: Lee A. Tregurtha – from WWII Tanker to Great Lakes Freighter
49 Freighters January-February 2020
- American Steamship Company sold to Rand Logistics
- Burns Harbor ends 2019 shipping season
- USACE awards contract for Phase 1 of New Soo Lock Construction
- Work continues to clear obstacles for Port of Monroe
- Shepler’s new ferry almost complete
- Featured Vessel: Cason J. Callaway
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