- Demand is expected to increase for the carbon-efficient form of waterborne transportation
- The christening of the vessel, another maritime tradition, will take place in June 2022 in Cleveland, home of the ship’s owner, Interlake Steamship, the largest privately held shipping company on the Great Lakes.
- The ship will ply Great Lakes waters, transporting raw materials such as road salt, iron ore, stone, sand and gypsum to manufacturers.
It had been nearly four decades since a new bulk carrier ship joined the Great Lakes fleet, a gap that was finally broken last Thursday when employees at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay opened the valves to flood the dry dock and launch the Mark W. Barker, as reported by Door County Pulse.
Huge Milestone
“This is a huge milestone for all of us to be able to put the boat in the water for the first time,” said the vessel’s namesake, Mark Barker, president of Interlake Steamship, which commissioned and owns the ship.
“Motor Vessel Mark W. Barker, your family name is strong; you are built strong by hard-working men and women, and you will work strong.
May God bless you and all who sail with you,” said Helen Sharp before crashing the bottle of champagne.
The christening of the vessel, another maritime tradition, will take place in June 2022 in Cleveland, home of the ship’s owner, Interlake Steamship, the largest privately held shipping company on the Great Lakes.
It’s all the more special given how infrequently lakers are added to fleets.
Interlake’s last ship was launched in 1981.
Ships are Long-Lived
“We operate in freshwater, so our ships are long-lasting; they’re long-lived,” Barker said.
We’ve done an immense amount of work to bring our boats up to modern standards, the pre-existing ones.
The ship will ply Great Lakes waters, transporting raw materials such as road salt, iron ore, stone, sand and gypsum to manufacturers.
That includes the transport of non-free-flowing bulk material such as wind-turbine blades.
“We went with a large, square hold to get more cubic and carry more tons per trip to lower our environmental impact, as well as carry some unique cargo,” Barker said.
They laid keel – the formal recognition of the start of a ship’s construction – in June 2020, with the majority of the ship built in Sturgeon Bay.
Honouring Workers
Mark W. Barker is adding capacity and not replacing any of the other nine lakers currently in Interlake’s fleet.
“The Great Lakes marine highway is a fairly underutilized system,” he said.
Trains and highways were built, and so it came off the water.
Although the public launch is a way to celebrate and bless the new ship and its crew for good fortune during future voyages, it’s all about honouring the men and women who have built the boat, Thayse said.
James Barker dedicated the launch event to those men and women.
The ship is expected to be sailing by spring 2022.
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Source: Door County Pulse
