New U.S. Made Great Lakes Freighter Vessel Comes into the Duluth Harbor: Mark W. Barker

DULUTH, Minn.–Ships come and go in the Port City, and new ones are rare. But today was different. For the first time in over 30 years, a brand new Great Lakes freighter cruised into town. Built in Sturgeon Bay, it went into service for the first time this summer. Photojournalist Nathaniel Le Capitaine introduces us to the Mark W. Barker.

The following quotes are from Jayson Hron, Director of Communications and Marketing for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

“The Mark W. Barker is the first new U.S. flagged vessel built on the Great Lakes since the 1980’s, and it went into service in late July, that was its maiden voyage, and this today is its first appearance in the port of Duluth Superior.”

“It’s really exciting. It’s an example of our supply chain in full circle. The ship was built from steel that was milled in Indiana, that came from iron ore that sailed on a ship from Minnesota. So it’s really exciting to see that supply chain coming full circle.”

“And also exciting to see this new generation of ship coming into our harbor. It’s a smaller than the traditional 1000 footers that we’ve become used to seeing on the lakes trade, but it’s built for versatility, so it can navigate some of the small rivers and docks that it finds on the Great Lakes. And it can also carry a variety of cargos, so it is more than just an ore carrier, more than just a coal carrier. This vessel is coming in with salt today, and it’s going to be leaving with iron ore. But it’s also equipped specially to carry break-bulk cargos as well, which is something we don’t typically see from a standard laker, that basically built to carry bulk cargoes. This can carry both bulk cargoes and break-bulk cargoes.”

“Salt has many uses, the salt that comes into our port. It can be used even as table salt, it can certainly be used as road salt. it can certainly be used as road salt. It can be used as salt for water softeners. It can be packaged and used a lot of different ways from this port.”

“Really exciting to see a U.S. build ship here on the Great Lakes. Hopefully it’s the start of a trend, we would love to see more of this. And also exciting that it’s such an environmentally efficient vessel. That is a part of these new builds, that their b

uilt for the latest environmental standards. And their built both environmentally and economically and environmentally efficient for the owners.”

“It’s a great thing for the lake, and a great thing for all of us as well.”