The 2025-2026 winter layup list is now up and running at  https://boatnerd3.jasonbowlerdesign.com/winter-lay-up-list-2025-2026

Mackinaw docks at Sault Ste. Marie

   USCG icebreaker Mackinaw transited up the St. Marys River Thursday morning, mooring at the Valley Camp dock around noon. No departure time is known.

[Know Your Ships]

Great Lakes shipping season is over. Where did all the ‘lakers’ go?

   LANSING, MI – With the Soo Locks closed until March, Great Lakes freighters have headed to port for winter maintenance at harbors from Minnesota to New York. Just a few of the bulk carriers are still moving as ice begins to cover more and more of the waterways.
   The last ship through the locks on Jan. 15, 2026, the American Spirit, delivered its final load of iron ore to Conneaut, Ohio, earlier this week and was en route back across Lake Erie toward Toledo as of Tuesday afternoon.
   Other 1,000-foot ships were already tied off for the next few months, as were dozens of other vessels that ply the waterways hauling ore, cement, grain and other bulk goods.
   The Great Lakes’ 13 1,000-foot freighters are owned by various companies and are going into winter layup at different locations, here’s where to find them, according to the Great Lakes shipping website www.BoatNerd.com.

• Stewart J. Cort: The ship will be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the city heavy lift dock. The first 1,000-foot ship, at exactly that length, was launched May 1, 1972. It’s owned by the Interlake Steamship Company.
•   Presque Isle: The tug and barge combo owned by Great Lakes Fleet reached the Carmeuse Dock at Erie, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 17, 2026. The vessel is the only 1,000-foot tug/barge combo on the lakes, according to Pure Michigan.
•   Edwin H. Gott: The 1,004-foot freighter owned by Great Lakes Fleet reached the CSX docks at Toledo, Ohio, on Jan. 18, 2026.
•   James R. Barker: Interlake’s 1,004-foot-long freighter reached the Fincantieri Shipyard in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, on Jan. 5, 2026.
•    Indiana Harbor: The 1,004-foot-long American Steamship vessel reached Lakehead Pipeline in Superior, Wisconsin, on Jan. 5, 2026.
•    Mesabi Miner: The 1,004-foot Interlake vessel reached Fraser Shipyard in Superior on Jan. 10, 2026.
•    Burns Harbor: The 1,000-foot American Steamship freighter docked at Elevator M at Superior on Jan. 13, 2026.
•   Walter J. McCarthy Jr.: The 1,000-foot American Steamship vessel pulled up to Pinney Dock No. 4 at Ashtabula, Ohio, on Jan. 16. 2026.
•   Edgar B. Speer: The 1,004-foot Great Lakes Fleet ship reach Fincantieri Shipyard in Sturgeon Bay on Jan. 18, 2026.
•   American Integrity: The 1,000-foot American Steamship vessel docked at Don Jon Shipyard in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 14, 2026.
•   American Century: The 1,000-foot American Steamship vessel docked at Pinney Dock No. 4 at Ashtabula on Jan. 14, 2026.
•   American Spirit: The 1,004-foot American Steamship freighter was en route to Toledo as of Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 20.
•   Paul R. Tregurtha: The queen of the lakes at 1,013.5 feet long, the Interlake Steamship Company freighter docked at the Midwest Overseas Terminal in Toledo on Jan. 14, 2026.

   The Soo Locks closed Jan. 15 and the Poe Lock will reopen for spring shipping on March 25. The MacArthur Lock is scheduled to reopen in late April 2026.
   Marinetraffic.com maintains a real-time map of all international shipping and includes the ability to click on Great Lakes ships to see their names, destinations, speeds and more.

[Lansing State Journal]

Dock condition bars cruise chips from docking at Mackinac Island

   The St. Ignace News reports that cruise ships will not be allowed to dock at Arnold Transit Co.’s Main Dock on Mackinac Island in 2026. The decision is a result of a Mackinac County court hearing during which attorneys for the ferry companies acquiesced to the City of Mackinac Island’s request to prohibit mooring due to the condition of the dock.
   Cruise ships can still anchor and shuttle guests to the Island via tender.