Professional Mariner 2023 Ship of the Year is Mark W. Barker
The Interlake Steamship Co. has been moving freight on the Great Lakes for generations. Its newest ship, Mark W. Barker, will build on that tradition for years to come.
The 639-by-78-foot Mark W. Barker is the first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes freighter built in almost 40 years, and it’s the first ship operating on the Lakes with EPA Tier 4 engines. The self-unloading bulk carrier is the lead ship in Interlake’s River class.
Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding built the steel-hulled ship using a collaborative design from Bay Engineering Inc. and Interlake’s in-house engineering department. The ship was designed around a flat-bottomed cargo hold that increases capacity and versatility compared to a traditional laker outfitted with sloped holds. Load-bearing hatch covers above deck can carry windmill parts and shipping containers.
“This box-shaped cargo hold allows the ship to carry cargoes that may not traditionally move on the Great Lakes,” Mark W. Barker, president of Interlake Steamship and the ship’s namesake, said during its christening on Sept. 1 in Cleveland. “It is important that we can move new types of cargo to meet the changing supply chains of the future.”
Interlake Steamship is the largest privately held American shipping company on the Great Lakes. The company operates 10 ships, four of which are more than 1,000 feet long. The 1,013-foot Paul R. Tregurtha, as the longest active freighter on the Great Lakes, carries the title “Queen of the Lakes.” Mark W. Barker is Interlake’s first new ship since the late 1970s.
Based just outside Cleveland in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, Interlake Steamship can trace its shipping roots to the late 1880s. Chairman James R. Barker took the firm private in 1987 and led it for another 20 years before his son, Mark W. Barker, succeeded him as president. These days, the company transports a wide range of bulk cargo that includes iron ore, stone, coal and salt
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WorkBoat names Mark W. Barker one of 2022’s 10 Significant Boats
WorkBoat has announced its 10 Significant Boats of 2022. From these 10 boats, the Boat of the Year will be announced on Wednesday, Nov. 30, the first day of the 2022 International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans.
Some years WorkBoat’s Boat of the Year is selected by the readers of WorkBoat magazine and workboat.com by voting online. In alternate years, WorkBoat’s editors pick the Boat of the Year. This year the Boat of the Year will once again be chosen by our readers by voting online. (An announcement concerning when the voting page will go live is imminent.)
Last year’s Boat of the Year was the Staten Island Ferry Michael H. Ollis built at Eastern Shipbuilding Group.
Choosing the 10 Significant Boats each year is subjective, with many boats deserving of making the list each year. However, there are certain parameters that the editorial staff does follow in its efforts to give all boats that qualify a chance. For example, we try to select at least one boat from each sector of the industry that WorkBoat covers — inland towboats and barges, tugs, offshore service vessels, passenger vessels, etc. In addition, if possible, we try to select one boat from each region of the U.S. — East Coast, West Coast, Gulf Coast, and the Great Lakes.
Furthermore, while design is the most important ingredient in selecting a Significant Boat, it is not the only one. This is not a list based on naval architecture and marine engineering only. What makes a boat “Significant” can be that it’s a first of its kind, a successful series build, or where it operates and who it serves, or how it helps advance new workboat frontiers like wind energy.
View the complete list here: https://www.workboat.com/shipbuilding/workboat-names-its-10-significant-boats-of-2022?fbclid=IwAR0_H5ih8xXAyTK9BqjzxtJSpNGUEdZqYEVVMjrzkKAv8tCgmvFJhpboOY0
