Boatnerd News

Boatnerd News – March 20, 2025

March 20, 2025

VanEnkevort tug/barge will open
Soo Locks season at 8 a.m. Friday

UPDATE: Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader reported inbound at DeTour at 8 a.m. Arrival time at the locks is unknown due to ice conditions.

Sault Ste Marie, MI – Three vessels from the VanEnkevort Tug & Barge Inc. fleet were headed for the Soo Locks Wednesday after leaving Toledo and winter layup. The tug/barge combo Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader was in the lead, followed by Dirk S. VanEnkevort/Michigan Trader and Joyce. L VanEnkevort/Great Lakes Trader.

Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader is expected at the locks in the early afternoon Thursday, ice permitting, and will tie up on the lower pier to await the official locks opening at 8 a.m. Friday. The crew will be welcomed by local dignitaries including representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the City of Sault Ste. Marie, the Soo Locks Visitor Center Association and the media.

From 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, the Soo Locks Visitor Center Association will host an open house at the Visitor Center. Roger LeLievre, publisher of the annual Know Your Ships book, will be on hand to sell and sign copies of the 2025 edition. He will be joined by Catherine Schmuck, who is a cook aboard Great Lakes freighters and author of the cookbook “Ship to Shore Chef.”

The locks have been closed since Jan. 16 to allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers a chance to complete maintenance, something they do annually for about 10 weeks during the winter. During this time, ships are unable to carry cargo between Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes.

The maintenance finished ahead of schedule so the larger of the locks will open for the season on Friday morning – four days earlier than planned. The Poe Lock, the larger one opening later this week, and the MacArthur Lock, which will open in April.

USCGC Mackinaw arrived in the Soo Tuesday, and locked up to Lake Superior Wednesday to work ice above the locks along with the cutter Spar. The cutters Neah Bay, Morro Bay and Biscayne Bay continued to do track maintenance in the lower river. The Canadian Coast Guard vessel Samuel  Risley was also in the lower river Wednesday evening, hove to with the U.S. cutters for the night.

Also on the move Wednesday was the Herbert C. Jackson, downbound on the Detroit River after leaving winter layup at Detroit. CSL St-Laurent is expected to begin loading grain at Thunder Bay Saturday.

Soo Locks to open Friday for 2025 shipping season

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District will open the Poe Lock, part of the Soo Locks, in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan early to all marine traffic at 8 a.m. on March 21, marking the start of the 2025 Great Lakes shipping season.
The shipping industry requested an early season opening based on the understanding that “the 2025 winter lock maintenance will be completed by this date and an early opening will not impact U.S. Army Corps operations this season,” said Lake Carriers’ Association President James Weakley.
“Opening the Soo Locks on March 21 will provide relief to the increased pressure that the Great Lakes Navigation System will face with the influx of foreign vessels including the Canadian domestic fleet on March 22 when the Seaway opens,” said Weakley.
“Our winter maintenance period is a critical time for us to execute strategic asset renewal investments in our aging locks,” Soo Locks Operations Manager LeighAnn Ryckeghem said. “This year, a number of factors worked in our favor that allowed us to safely deliver this critical maintenance and also open to navigation traffic a few days early.”
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District

 

Enter Duluth’s 42nd Annual First Ship Contest

Birds chirping. Snow thawing. Groundhogs emerging. There are many signs of spring across the country. In Duluth, it’s when the season’s first oceangoing vessel, known as a “saltie,” enters the city’s harbor. Begone ice! The ships are coming in. 

To celebrate the occasion, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and Visit Duluth are partnering for the 42nd Annual First Ship Contest. Correctly guess when the season’s first saltie sails into our seaport and you could win an epic prize package of Duluth goods and experiences. The second-place winner will also receive a prize package.

Here’s the link: https://visitduluth.com/first-ship/

2025 “Know Your Ships” launches

The new shipping season is at hand, and so is the release of the 2025 edition of Know Your Ships, the popular annual field guide to boats and boatwatching on the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway, now in its 66th year.

Preorders are now being taken. As usual, standard and spiral bindings are available. Preorders will be the first to mail out when the book arrives from the printer around March 23.

New this year is the ability to preorder the midsummer EXTRA magazine, which will feature a 50th anniversary tribute to the Edmund Fitzgerald and her crew,  when you preorder the book.

To mark the opening of the Soo Locks, Editor & Publisher Roger LeLievre will be at the Soo Locks Visitor Center Saturday, March 26, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., to sign copies of the new edition. Buy them right from him, or from Das Gift Haus and Island Books and Crafts in the Soo, bring them to the Visitor Center and he will sign them.

Preorder at this link: www.knowyourships.com