Interlake Steamship Company

House flag
Interlake Steamship Company stack markings

The Interlake Steamship Company is an American freight ship company that operates a fleet on the Great Lakes in North America.[1][2][3] It is now part of Interlake Maritime Services.

The company is chaired by James R. Barker, with his son, Mark W. Barker, serving as President. Paul R. Tregurtha serves as Vice-Chairman of the company.[4]

History

The firm was founded in 1913 when a consortium of firms bought out the seventeen vessels of the Gilchrist Company, which had gone into receivership.[5] The other firms were: the Lackawanna Steamship Company, the Acme Steamship Company, the Standard Steamship Company, the Provident Steamship Company and the Huron Barge Company. The combined fleet operated 56 vessels.

When Interlake launched its largest vessel, MV William J. Delancey (now MV Paul R. Tregurtha), its fleet contained 151 vessels, and was capable of carrying over three million tons of cargo at one time.[6]

In early 2018, Interlake established a subsidiary service known as Interlake Logistics Solutions. Although its existing freight services were focused on bulk raw materials, the new service offered shipping of finished goods. The Barker and Tregurtha families, owners of Interlake Steamship, chartered the 418-foot (127 m), 14,000 short tons (13,000 t) barge Montville to provide this new service on an as-needed basis.[7]

In April 2019, Interlake Steamship announced construction of a 639-foot (195 m) long, 75-foot (23 m) wide River-class self-unloading bulk freighter. The vessel, built by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, was the first U.S.-flagged, Jones Act-compliant ship built on the Great Lakes since 1983.[8] and the first built by Interlake since 1981.[9] The ship was christened MV Mark W. Barker in Cleveland, Ohio[8] on 1 September 2022.[10]

In December 2020, SS Badger was acquired by the Interlake Steamship Company.[11] The deal also included acquisition of the tug USS Undaunted (ATA-199) (renamed MT Undaunted), deck barge SS City of Midland 41 (renamed ATB Pere Marquette 41), and SS Badger sister ship SS Spartan, currently in long-term lay-up.[11][12] This was a part of a larger sale of assets. The Middleburg Heights, Ohio-based Interlake Holding Company acquired the assets of Lake Michigan Car Ferry Company, based in Ludington, Michigan.[13]

Fleet of vessels

The Interlake Steamship Company Vessels[14]
image name launch
date		 retired notes
ATB Pere Marquette 41 1940 1988
  • Currently an articulated tug barge with the tug MT Undaunted[11]
  • Built as SS City of Midland 41
MV Lee A. Tregurtha 1942
  • Built as USS Chiwawa for the United States Navy, later renamed SS Walter A. Sterling and SS William Clay Ford (II)
SS Frank Armstrong 1943 1987[15]
MT Undaunted 1944
SS Badger 1952
  • The last, and largest, coal-fired, steam engine car-ferry built in the United States[11]
MV Kaye E. Barker 1952
  • Built as SS Edward B. Greene, later renamed SS Benson Ford (III)
SS Spartan 1952 1979
Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder Tug-Barge 1953
  • Built as SS J. L. Mauthe, later renamed Pathfinder, a self-unloading barge paired with the Z-drive tug Dorothy Ann in 1999
MV Honorable James L. Oberstar 1958
  • Built as SS Shenango II, later renamed SS Charles M. Beeghly
SS John Sherwin 1958 2008
  • Currently on long-term lay-up at the Interlake Steamship Company Dock in DeTour, Michigan
MV Herbert C. Jackson 1959
  • Has always sailed for the Interlake Steamship Company
MV Stewart J. Cort 1972
  • First 1000-foot vessel on the Great Lakes, the only 1000-footer with pilot house forward
MV James R. Barker 1976
  • Third 1000-foot vessel on the upper Great Lakes[18]
MV Mesabi Miner 1977
  • Fourth 1000-foot vessel on the upper Great Lakes[19]
MV Paul R. Tregurtha 1981
  • Thirteenth 1000-foot vessel on the upper Great Lakes[6]
  • Built as MV William J. Delancey[6]
  • Flagship for the Interlake Steamship Company
  • Longest ship ever to operate on Great Lakes
  • Queen of the Lakes since 1981
MG Winfield Scott (LT-805) 1993 2021
MV Mark W. Barker 2022
  • The first Great Lakes bulk carrier to be built on the Great Lakes in more than 35 years
  • The first ship on the Great Lakes with engines that meet EPA Tier 4 emissions standards
  • First Jones Act-compliant vessel on Great Lakes in four decades.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Great Lakes Book Shelf". Boatnerd. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  2. ^ Alex Roland; W. Jeffrey Bolster; Alexander Keyssar (2008). The Way of the Ship: America's Maritime History Reenvisoned, 1600-2000. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 367–370. ISBN 9780470136003. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  3. ^ Raymond A. Bawal (2011). Superships of the Great Lakes: Thousand-foot Ships on the Great Lakes. Inland Expressions. pp. 27–32, 35, 42–46, 70. ISBN 9780981815749. Retrieved 2016-03-14. The MESABI MINER has a carrying capacity identical to that of the JAMES R. BARKER at 63,300 tons. Upon entering service, these two ships provided the Interlake Steamship Company with a dramatic increase in that firm's total trip capacity.
  4. ^ "Paul Tregurtha and James Barker Receive Silver Bell Awards" (PDF). Seamen’s Church Institute. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  5. ^ "BIG GREAT LAKES MERGER". New York Times. 1913-04-26. p. 13. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  6. ^ a b c Mark L. Thompson (1994). Queen of the Lakes. Wayne State University Press. pp. 200, 201–204. ISBN 9780814323939. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  7. ^ McCafferty, Rachel Abbey (April 30, 2018). "Interlake Steamship adds new barge to fleet". Crain's Cleveland Business. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  8. ^ Schuyler, David (April 9, 2019). "Freighter to be built in Wisconsin shipyard will be first new U.S. flagged bulk carrier in 35 years". Milwaukee Business Journal. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  9. ^ "GREAT LAKES OPERATOR INVESTS LOCALLY". The Motorship. June 26, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Ferretti, Christine (December 31, 2020). "Iconic Great Lakes car ferry SS Badger sold". The Detroit News.
  11. ^ Prinsen, Jake (December 31, 2020). "S.S. Badger car ferry has new owner as part of Lake Michigan Car Ferry Co. sale to Interlake Holding Co". Manitowoc Herald Times.
  12. ^ MIBIZ STAFF (December 30, 2020). "S.S. Badger — iconic cross-lake car ferry in Ludington — sold to Ohio firm". MBIZ.
  13. ^ "The Interlake Steamship Company Vessels". interlake-steamship.com. 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  14. ^ Berry, Sterling (2011). "Armstrong, Frank". greatlakesvesselhistory.com. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  15. ^ Wharton, George (2011). "C.T.C. No. 1". boatnerd.com. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  16. ^ Haydamacker, Nelson "Mickey"; Millar, Alan D. (24 February 2009). Deckhand. University of Michigan Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-472-03325-6.
  17. ^ "Great Lakes Fleet Page Vessel Feature -- James R. Barker". Boatnerd. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  18. ^ George Wharton. "Mesabi Miner". Boatnerd. Retrieved 2016-03-14.