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Lake freighters, or lakers, are 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.
Lakers have been used since the late 19th century to haul raw material from docks in the Great Lakes and St Lawrence Seaway regions to the industrial centers of Ontario, Quebec, and the American Midwest. The navigation season typically runs from late March through next mid-January due to the formation of ice on the lakes.
The largest lake freighters can travel up to and can carry as much as of bulk cargo.
, which sank in 1975, became widely known as the largest vessel to be wrecked on the Great Lakes.
In 1869, the wood-hulled was launched. It was designed specifically for the iron ore trade and had an experimental design that would soon set the standard for subsequent on the Great Lakes. R. J. Hackett featured a raised pilothouse at the bow, situated on top of a set of cabins, and a boxy hull to maximize cargo capacity. Between the raised forecastle and engine funnel at the stern was a long, unbroken deck lined with hatches spaced apart. This spacing was to match the chutes of the gravity ore dock in Marquette, Michigan. )]]
The falls of the St. Marys River forced ships to portage their cargo around the falls. In an effort to make shipping more efficient and profitable, Michigan representatives appealed to the federal government for funding to build a canal. In 1855, the Michigan State Locks (now Soo Locks) opened, allowing vessels to keep up with demands for iron ore from further east. This would fuel the development of bulk carriers on the Great Lakes.
Early lakers often had a wooden hull, or a composite hull consisting of an oak frame wrapped in iron plating. With the depletion of high-quality timber near the lakeshore, shipbuilders increasingly opted for metal hulls. In 1881 and 1882, the first entirely iron-hulled freighters, Brunswick and , were launched. Around this time, steel was quickly becoming a standard hull material as a result of the Bessemer process making it more affordable. The first steel-hulled freighter, Spokane, launched in 1886. Soon both iron and composite hulls were phased out. Wood was used for smaller vessels into the early 1900s.
An early variation on the lake freighter was the whaleback, designed by Alexander McDougall. These had cigar-shaped bodies that barely rose out of the water when fully loaded, and carried bulk cargo on the lakes from 1888 through 1970.
The early lake freighters required cargo to be manually unloaded, or with assistance from Hulett at the docks. "Giant Jaws Upload Ore Ship". Popular Mechanics, May 1953, pp. 74–77. In 1902, Hennepin was the first ship to be retrofitted with self-discharger, allowing its cargo to be landed in a fraction of the time.
Around 1916, vessels more or less became the standard size.
After World War II, several oceangoing freighters and tankers were transported to the Great Lakes and converted to bulk carriers as a way to acquire ships cheaply. The oil tanker became the bulk freighter MV Lee A. Tregurtha In addition, the freighter Outer Island was originally commissioned as LCT-203 for use as a tank landing craft during World War II.
In the mid-20th century, 300 lakers worked the lakes, but by the early 21st century, there were fewer than 140 active. By the 1990s, older and smaller self-unloaders and straight-deck freighters were converted into tug-barges.
| R. J. Hackett | 1869 | First of the lake freighters. R. J. Hackett burned at Whaleback Shoal in 1905. |
| Brunswick | 1881 | First iron-hulled lake freighter. |
| 1882 | Followed Brunswick in advancing the design of what would become the Great Lakes boat | |
| Spokane | 1886 | First steel-hulled lake freighter. |
| 1888 | Originally Str. George H. Dyer, it was the first ship retrofitted to have self-unloading equipment in 1902. Hennepin sank in a storm in 1927. | |
| SS Western Reserve | 1890 | First steel bulk carrier of the classic Great Lakes design (superstructures at bow and stern). Sank in a storm in 1892. |
| Wyandotte | 1908 | First ship built as a self-unloader. |
| Henry Ford II, | 1924 | First lake freighters with . |
| S. T. Crapo | 1927 | The last coal-fired freighter on the Great Lakes. In 1995, the ship's boiler was converted to be oil-firing. The 95-year-old ship was Ship breaking in 2022. |
| Feux Follets | 1967 | Last ship built with a steam turbine. |
| Stewart J. Cort | 1972 | First 1,000-footer lake freighter. Originally Hull 1173 and nicknamed "Stubby", the ship only consisted of the bow and stern sections. It was then sailed to Erie, Pennsylvania and lengthened by over 700 feet. |
| Presque Isle | 1973 | The first 1,000-foot integrated tugboat/barge and the second 1,000 footer overall. |
| 1976 | First standard construction 1,000-footer. | |
| 1978 | The most powerful freighter when launched with two engines rated at each. In 2011, it was repowered with two engines rated at 9,650 bhp (7,200 kW) each. | |
| 1981 | The largest ship currently on the lakes at . |
Some of the newer classes of lake freighters include:
| +Average yearly cargoes 2018–2022 (million tons) | |
| 42.3 | |
| 10.0 | |
| 22.9 | |
| 3.4 | |
| 0.9 | |
| 0.5 | |
| 0.3 | |
| 80.4 | |
| Source: "Cargo Reports – Year-in-Review 2023 – U.S.-Flag Vessels" | |
In 2023, 81.4 million tons of cargo were shipped on the Great Lakes. The most common cargoes include taconite, limestone, cereal, salt, coal, cement, gypsum, and sand. The cargo is carried in large contiguous holds, not packed into containers.
The iron ore transported from the upper Great Lakes primarily supplies the steel mills of the Midwest. Iron ore makes up a majority of the cargo shipped annually.
The 1940s saw the rise in the use of taconite pellets, as sources of higher quality ore diminished.
Other destinations include coal-fired power plants, highway department salt domes, and stone docks, where limestone is unloaded for the construction industry. U.S.-flagged freighters carried the largest portion of the trade, accounting for two-thirds of all cargo by weight. U.S. hulls carried most of the iron, limestone and cement, while Canadian boats carried most of the potash, and almost all of the salt and grain moved on the lakes.
Destination harbors, ship sizes, and legal restrictions greatly affect the pattern of haulage. Large U.S. ships hauled most of the iron ore on the lakes (79%) from U.S. mines to U.S. mills. This reflects the requirement of the Jones Act, as well as the industry using large volumes of material while being concentrated in a few large harbor locations. Salt and Canadian grain can be hauled to numerous smaller ports of either country on smaller, mostly Canadian, ships, which can also enter the St. Lawrence Seaway with the Canadian ports of Montreal and Quebec City.
Because of their deeper draft and freshwater's lower buoyancy, salties often take on partial loads. Conversely, the Seaway allows smaller lakers to access the Atlantic Ocean. The larger, newer ships are restricted to the upper lakes.
Lake vessels are designed with the greatest block coefficient to maximize the vessel's size in the locks within the Great Lakes/St Lawrence Seaway system. Therefore, ship designers have favored bluff bows over streamlined bows.
Another distinguishing feature of lake vessels versus ocean vessels is the cargo hatch configuration. On the lake vessels, the hatches are traditionally spaced apart. This configuration was needed to match the chutes at loading facilities.
Since Great Lakes waves do not achieve the great length or period of ocean waves, particularly compared to the waves' height, ships are in less danger of being suspended between two waves and breaking, so the ratio between the ship's length, beam and its depth can be larger than that of an ocean-going ship. The lake vessels generally have a 10:1 length to beam ratio, whereas ocean vessels are typically 7:1.
Many of the larger American ships are unable to navigate the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway, which restricts vessel size to in length and in breadth. Seawaymax vessels are able to access the Great Lakes and the ocean. The Canadian fleet needs to travel to and from its major cities along the St. Lawrence Seaway, so the largest length for the Canadian vessels is .
Lake boats in the classes are more common, because of the limitations of the Welland Canal. These vessels vary greatly in configuration and cargo capacity, being capable of hauling between 10,000 and 40,000 tons per trip depending on the individual boat. The smaller boats serve smaller harbors around the lakes which have irregular need for their services.
Another reason for the lack of larger Canadian vessels is legislative in nature. Larger ships on the lakes are generally used to transport American-mined ore bound for American mills. Because of the Jones Act of 1920, only American ships can carry ore from American mines to American mills in American ports; ergo, larger Canadian ships are not needed.
| +List of 1000-footers operating on the Great Lakes !Name !Type !Dimensions !Cargo capacity !Notes | ||||
| Bulk freighter (self unloading) | 1,000 ft × 105 ft | 89,000 tons | ||
| American Spirit | Bulk freighter (self unloading) | 1,004 ft × 105 ft | 80,900 tons | |
| Bulk freighter (self unloading) | 1,000 ft × 105 ft | 73,700 tons | ||
| Bulk freighter (self unloading) | 1,004 ft × 105 ft | 80,900 tons | ||
| Bulk freighter (self unloading) | 1,000 ft × 105 ft | Most powerful engines on the Great Lakes. | ||
| Bulk freighter (self unloading) | 1,000 ft × 105 ft | First standard construction 1000-footer. | ||
| Bulk freighter (self unloading) | 1,004 ft × 105 ft | |||
| Bulk freighter (self unloading) | 1,013.5 ft × 105 ft | 68,000 tons | Longest vessel operating on the Great Lakes. | |
| Stewart J. Cort | Bulk freighter (self unloading) | 1,000 ft × 105 ft | First 1000-footer on the lakes, and the only one with a forward pilothouse, following the traditional Great Lakes style. Stewart J. Cort | |
| Bulk freighter (self unloading) | 1,000 ft × 105 ft | |||
| Bulk freighter (self unloading) | 1,000 ft × 105 ft | |||
| Bulk freighter (self unloading) | 1,000 ft × 105 ft | 80,120 tons | Highest cargo capacity () | |
| Presque Isle | Tug/barge combination | 1,000 ft × 104 ft 7 in | Only 1000 ft tug/barge combination unit |
Some of the lakers have been known to have long careers. The launched in 1906 and worked independently until 2013. The St. Marys Challenger is still in service as a barge at 118 years old. E. M. Ford had one of the longest careers, having been built in 1898 until being sold for scrap in November 2008.
Some shipping companies are building new freighters to ply the waters of the Great Lakes. The following are new freighters in use or will be launched for use in the Great Lakes:
The most recent losses of modern lakers were:
Ships on the lakes have been involved in many lesser incidents. Lakers have been subject to frequent groundings in ports and channels because of varying lake levels and silting, collisions with objects (such as the 1993 collision of the Indiana Harbor with the Lansing Shoals Light Station), icing in during winter trips and shipboard fires (including the unusual case in 2001 where a drawbridge ran into the Canadian grain carrier Windoc causing a fire). To prevent collisions and groundings, the Great Lakes are well-served with and lights, and floating navigation aids. The U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard maintain stations around the Great Lakes including and rescue helicopters. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies maintain the harbors and seaways to limit groundings by dredging and . Dredging on the Great Lakes, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, July 31, 2006.
November was the traditional last month of shipping before the winter layup (and lake freeze-up). During November, much of the worst weather of the navigation season occurs which has resulted in a disproportionate number of accidents. One study shows that over half of all strandings and one-third of all vessels lost to foundering between 1900 and 1950 were lost during November."Shipwrecks of the Lakes", Dana T. Bowen, Freshwater Press, January 1, 1952, quoted in the U.S. Coast Guard's Board of Inquiry report on the foundering of the SS Carl D. Bradley, published 1958.
. launched in 1952, is known for having last contact with Edmund Fitzgerald and was the first vessel on-scene to search for the Edmund Fitzgerald.
MV Paul R. Tregurtha currently holds the title "Queen of the Lakes" as the largest ship on the lakes since launching in 1981. The modern stern-ender was first launched MV William J. Delancy and measures 1013.5 feet (308.9 m).
Ford Motor Company's Henry Ford II and of 1924 were the first lakeboats with . The Canadian grainboat Feux-Follets of 1967 was the last laker built with a steam turbine on the lakes., on February 19, 2008.]]
Wilfred Sykes (1949 – ) is considered to be the first of the modern lakers, and when converted to a self-unloader in 1975 was the first to have the equipment mounted aft. Since then all self-unloading equipment has been mounted aft. Algoisle (formerly Silver Isle) (1962 – ) was the first modern laker built with all cabins aft (a "stern-ender"), following the lead of ocean-going bulk carriers and reprising a century old form used by little river steam barges and the whalebacks. (1974–2015 ) was the last laker built in the classic style.
Also of note is the steamer , widely known for her artistic design and being the only remaining straight-decker still in active service on the US side of the Great Lakes. In mid 2006, Edward L. Ryerson was fitted out and put into service following a long-term lay-up that began in 1998. Edward L. Ryerson has been in long-term layup since 2009.
The SS Meteor, the last surviving whaleback ship, floats as a Museum ship less than a mile from where it was launched in Superior, Wisconsin. The ship is permanently land-berthed on Barker's Island.
launched as ''Louis W. Hill'' in 1917 and transported cargo until retiring in 1966. Two years later, in 1968, the ship arrived in Sault Ste. Marie Michigan on July 6, during the town's tri-centennial celebrations for use as a museum ship. The museum ship displays many relics of the sinking of ''Edmund Fitzgerald'' including two of ''Edmund Fitzgerald''s mauled lifeboats.
The (formerly Willis B. Boyer) floats in the Maumee River as a museum ship for the National Museum of the Great Lakes. When launched in 1911, it was the largest bulk freighter in the world. The Col. James M. Schoonmaker formerly served as a floating museum after being purchased by the City of Toledo, Ohio in 1987.
SS John Sherwin, not sailed since 1981, is currently docked at the Interlake Steamship Dock in DeTour, Michigan after conversion to a self-unloader and repowering was halted in November 2008.
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