The Great Lakes’ first 1,000-footer had its start in the yards of the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp. of Pascagoula, MS, in 1970. The unusual-looking vessel was known as Hull 1173 but acquired the nickname Stubby due to its appearance. Hull 1173 consisted of the Cort’s bow and stern sections, 182 feet long and 75 feet wide (the reduced width was necessary to pass through the St. Lawrence Seaway and Welland Canal locks). The vessel made its way up to the Great Lakes in 1971, where it was cut apart (following the “Cut Here” instructions painted on the hull) and the two ends were fastened to a 818-foot long midbody at Erie Marine in Erie, PA.

The completed vessel was named Stewart J. Cort after the late vice president of Bethlehem Steel, and it sailed on its maiden voyage on May 1, 1972 for Taconite Harbor, MN. Well-wishers lined the shores of the Detroit, St. Clair and St. Marys rivers to what the super ship make her maiden voyage. She passed through the Soo Locks on May 3, 1972 under the command of Capt. Edward P. Fitch.

Her first trip was a load of 49,343 gross tons of taconite pellets, surpassing fleetmate Arthur B. Homer’s 1970 record by over 20,000 tons. The Cort surpassed the Edmund Fitzgerald and the several dozen maximum Seaway-size bulk freighters which had shared the honors as largest on the Lakes from September 22, 1958, when the Fitzgerald entered service.

The Cort is the only 1,000-footer with her pilothouse, crew’s quarters and galley forward. She has no passenger quarters or guest lounge.

The Cort is a self-unloader, but it does not use a traditional deck-mounted unloading boom. Instead, it uses a short shuttle boom at the after end of the vessel, behind the engine room. When the Cort arrives at an unloading dock, the short boom extends out over the side of the vessel. The system enables easier loading, and the ability to unload at higher speeds than most self-unloaders, but the main drawback is that the Cort can only visit certain unloading ports which can accommodate this arrangement. Rather than the traditional hatches used by other lakers, the Cort’s are much smaller, located amidships and operated by hydraulics.

The Cort quickly settled on a steady run between the BNSF (formerly Burlington Northern) ore docks in Superior and the Bethlehem Steel (later ArcelorMittal and now Cleveland-Cliffs) mill in Burns Harbor, IN.

After a decline in the American steel industry and other problems leading to the company’s bankruptcy in 2001, Bethlehem Steel dissolved and its assets were sold to the International Steel Group in 2003. As a result, the ISG logo replaced that of Bethlehem steel on the Cort’s stack. However, the ISG relationship was short-lived, as that company was acquired by Mittal Steel in 2005, which next merged with Arcelor to become ArcelorMittal in 2006. Interlake Leasing III secured the bareboat charter of the Stewart J. Cort in 2005 and she donned Interlake Steamship Co. colors. In 2021, due to a corporate reorganization, the vessel fell under the management of Interlake Maritime Services, Middleburg Heights, OH. Through all the changes, she continued on the dedicated run from Superior to Burns Harbor.

The Cort has the distinction of having used the Duluth piers among the least of any Great Lakes vessel, as she usually passes through the Superior, WI, entrance. As of the end of 2020, the total of entries through the Duluth piers over the vessels career was approximately 22.

The Cort proudly sports a large #1 painted on her aft superstructure, a nod to her legacy as the first 1,000-footer on the lakes.

The vessel also has the distinction of having used the Duluth piers among the least of any Great Lakes vessel, having done so fewer than a dozen times during its years on the Great Lakes.

Written by Jody Aho