Interlake Steamship Company’s brand new 639-foot diesel-powered M/V Mark W. Barker entered the Soo Locks at approximately 11 a.m. this Labor Day for the very first time.
Hundreds of spectators filled Sault Ste. Marie, MI with nearly 200 watching from Soo Locks Park and well over 80 throughout Rotary Park.
“They all had their cameras out, and they were all waving,” said Know Your Ships author Roger A. Lelievre.
It was a magical moment for boat nerds and spectators alike when Mark W. Barker met fleetmate James R. Barker along the St. Marys River this morning.
“There were big salutes blown,” Lelievre said. “It was very festive. They blew the traditional greeting, one long and two short. The captains saluted back and forth.”
Unlike its much smaller mate, James R. Barker is 1,004 feet long, 50 feet high, and 105 feet wide.
“It's exciting because Mark W. Barker is the first actual integrated freighter that has been built in over 30 years,” said Lelievre. “It's the start of a new trend away from the thousand-footers. They built it to go into smaller ports with cargo like salt and limestone to serve those growing markets because coal and iron ore markets are down.”
An Interlake Steamship Company press release stated that Mark W. Barker’s square-shaped cargo was designed to carry the same capacity as its larger fleetmates, strategically sized to navigate most Great Lakes ports. Thus, it has the capacity to carry up to 26,000 gross tons of cargo.
Mark W. Barker also carries with it fragments of World War II history.
“The American Victory was scrapped a couple years ago and they towed it overseas,” said Lelievre. “Before they towed it over, they took the big self-unloading boom off to put on the Mark W. Barker. They put the boom on a barge and brought it down through the Soo Locks over to Sturgeon Bay Shipyard."
The SS American Victory was built in 1945 and voyaged around the world to deliver cargo during World War II and the Korean Vietnam Wars. Its boom now sails the Great Lakes.
According to the Interlake Steamship Company's release, Mark W. Barker launched out of Sturgeon Bay for its first official day of duty on July 27, 2022. Following a 110-mile journey, the freighter arrived in Port Inland. Its team of 21 mariners, led by Captain Paul Berger of Sandusky, OH, loaded more than 25,000 tons of stone. The stone was later unloaded in Muskegon on July 31.
Mark W. Barker is equipped with an 8,000-horsepower engine that meets Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier four emissions standards. Its hull has been optimized for efficiency and systems designed to ensure low energy consumption. A Kongsberg high-lift rudder was installed to optimize the wake through its propeller.
Prior to all this, the vessel was merely an Interlake Steamship Company vision. That was until March 23, 2019, when its president signed an agreement to build the company’s first Great Lakes Freighter since 1981.
It was officially named by Chairman James R. Barker on June 23, 2020 in honor of his son, second generation company leader – president Mark W. Barker.
The ship's first piece of steel was cut by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, WI on Aug. 19, 2019.
Its steel was poured at Cleveland-Clis Burns Harbor. It was made from iron ore mined in Minnesota and delivered to the Indiana steel mill by other Great Lakes vessels. Thus, the new ship's construction is said to represent a “full-circle Great Lakes success story.”
Around this time last year, thousands of gallons of Sherwin-Williams’ custom Interlake Hull Brown was applied to the vessel to match its steamship fleet.
In devotion to those who built the Mark W. Barker, their names were welded into its seams. Many were present when the M/V Mark W. Barker first launched during a shipyard ceremony held on Oct. 28, 2021.
Underway testing began on July 1, 2022. Sea trials were conducted the following week by Interlake mariners, project managers, United States Coast Guard, and American Bureau of Shipping. The ship was ready to go.
A Christening for Mark W. Barker recently took place at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 1.
“There were about 700 invited guests at the Christening of the boat,” said Lelievre. “That's where they take the bottle of champagne and whack it out on the boat for good fortune. Whistles blew, the band played, and the Blue Angels flew over. It was a big hoopla.”
A link to the boat's Christening can be found on the Interlake Steamship Company Facebook page.
Mark. W. Barker is expected to reach its Duluth Superior destination tomorrow afternoon.
