Amoco Great lakes was constructed in 1982 as the tank barge Hull #731 Bay Shipbuilding at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for Amoco Oil Company of Indiana. She is 141’ long, 60’ wide, and 30’ deep, and can carry 75,000 Bbls. at her mid-summer draft of 23’08’’. She was laid down in the graving dock on March 18, 1982, and floated out on July 10, 1982. She entered service in September, being paired with the tugboat Amoco Michigan, constructed by the same shipyard.
In 1985, the pair were sold, and Amoco was removed from both vessels’ names. Amoco Great Lakes was renamed Great Lakes. The tug-barge pair were operated by Keystone Shipping.
In 2010, the pair were acquired by Chicago Marine Asset, retaining their names.
Great Lakes and her tug Michigan were sold once again in 2011 to their present owner, U.S. Oil Inc. of Appleton, Wisconsin. Management of the vessels was contracted to Andrie, Inc., of Muskegon, Michigan.
In 2015, Great Lakes was retrofitted with an Articouple ATB coupler receiver, and the tug Michigan was retrofitted with the pin system, making the pair an actual Articulated Tug-Barge unit. Michigan / Great Lakes continue to be active in the petroleum trades on the Lakes, transporting petroleum products between Green Bay, Wisconsin, and several other Great Lakes ports.
Written by Brendan Falkowski