Page 45: of Marine News Magazine (November 2022)

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Feature

Great Vessels of 2022 he Interlake Steamship Company’s newest ves- in Minnesota by Cleveland-Cliffs, and carried on U.S.-built, sel, the Mark W. Barker, ranks high among most U.S.-crewed, and U.S.-owned Lakers to Cleveland-Cliffs’ noteworthy vessels built in North America in Burns Harbor mill in Indiana. There the pellets were forged recent years. The ? rst U.S.-? agged freighter into steel plates and shipped to the Wisconsin shipyard.

T built on the Great Lakes in nearly four decades, “This American-made vessel is not only a veritable Great it is a modern, versatile addition to the otherwise aging ? eet Lakes success story, it is a Cleveland ship, through and currently serving the region’s vital Jones Act trade. through,” said The Interlake Steamship Company’s chair- “This is truly a historic celebration for our company man, James R. Barker. “Designed to navigate the winding and for the United States maritime industry as we proudly curves of the Cuyahoga River, built with Cleveland-Cliffs christen the newest vessel to join the U.S. ? ag ? eet on the steel and coated with Sherwin-Williams paint, the M/V Mark

Great Lakes and our ? rst new build in 41 years,” said Mark W. Barker was most signi? cantly built as part of a long-term

W. Barker, president of The Interlake Steamship Company partnership to move Lake Erie-mined salt for Cargill Inc.” and the vessel’s namesake, during a September christening The Jones Act quali? ed vessel, measuring 639 feet in ceremony held for the vessel in Cleveland. “While this ship length, 78 feet in beam, 45 feet in molded depth and may bear my name, it is a testament to the innovation, skill 28,000 dead weight tons, will transport raw materials tra- and grit of our employees who have powered our industry ditionally carried by lakers such as salt, iron ore and stone and propelled our company for more than 130 years.” to support manufacturing throughout the Great Lakes re-

Believed to be the ? rst newbuild for U.S. Great Lakes ser- gion. And it has also been thoughtfully designed in prepa- vice built on the Great Lakes since 1983, the new River-Class, ration for the new cargoes of the future.

self-unloading bulk carrier is as “Great Lakes” as it gets— “If you toured the ship, you may have noticed in many conceived, designed and constructed locally—using local respects that it is very different than a traditional Great materials. Built at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon lakes self-unloader. This is intentional as we made unique

Bay, Wis., the 639-foot vessel was made from iron ore mined changes to the design of the ship so that it could be more versatile and more capable in meeting our customers’ needs,” Mark Barker said. “For example, the ship has large load-bearing MacGregor hatches that will allow project cargo to be loaded and carried on top of them.”

While ? ve large hydraulically controlled stackable Mac-

Gregor hatches will allow the ship to transport specialty cargoes such as steel coils and windmill towers and blades, the vessel’s large hatches and cargo holds add even more ca- pability. This ship will carry an average of 25,000 tons per trip, which is equal to the carrying capacity of 250 train cars, and 1,000 trucks. “The hatch openings are much larger than you’d see in a typical self-unloader. The hatches create a 46- by 80-foot opening into rectangular cargo holds below. This rectangular cargo hold will allow the vessel to carry close to 40% more cargo than a current vessel in the same trade. This box-shaped cargo hold will also allow to be able to utilize the ship to carry cargoes that may have not traditionally moved

The Interlake Steamship Company president Mark W.

Barker with the crew of his namesake vessel.

Greg Trauthwein www.marinelink.com MN 45|