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Thanks everybody!

Randy is correct. The imagery is not all from the same time. And though the PM41 does dock next to the Spartan for lay-up and such, the ship in the satellite is not the 41. I can say with 100% certainty that she is the Atkinson.

The ATB Undaunted/PM41 did tie up alongside the Spartan during the winter of '05-'06, but otherwise there was a time when the Atkinson was indeed tied up alongside the Spartan.

In October of 2003 it would have been the Atkinson, no question about it. It was towed out of Ludington early November 2003.

Not all of the satellite imagery is from the same time. I have seen ranges from months to years. That would explain the same vessel appearing in 2 locations.

Jake, The vessel next to the Spartan in the satellite view mentioned, can't be the Atklinson. On the same site, one can view the Atkinson moored at the Spring Bay Coal Dock in Detour, MI, before the Sherwin was brought into the slip. I suppose the group of photos could have overlapped just at the time they moved the Atkinson.

Also, Bill;
Just to the right of the Spartan, you can see another ship. That is the Atkinson (The boat you see from the satellite)

The ship at the top is the Badger. The 2 ships tied together from top to bottom are the Spartan and the Atkinson. The Midland has been gone since 1997 and the Viking was in Erie at the time. In addition, to the best of my knowledge, the Viking was never tied up in Ludington. She is in Menominee, MI now, the Atkinson is next to the John Sherwin at the Interlake dock in Detour, MI and the 41 was cut down and operates for the Pere Marquette Shipping Company as the barge PM41.

bill, i think it was the viking, it was here about that time. hugh g.

Also, from the bing.com satellite view, it looks like whom ever she is, she's still there:http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=43.94855207189041~-86.45022755840578&lvl=17&sty=h

the car ferry that was tied up next to the spartan was the arthur k atkinson which is now tied up in detour mi.

I think it was October 2003 that I went to Ludington and saw The SS Spartan, and there was another ferry ship tied up next to her, and it looked just like the SS City of Midland 41. It needed some paint, but didn't look that bad, and surely had a superstructure, which was fully intact. Since all the sites on make plain that she's been made a barge, it couldn't have been her. Does anybody know who that was? A sistership? And is she still there?

Better yet, Here's a link to the Midland being towed out of Ludington, I think that's the Spartan in the background, and that may be the ship in question still tied up next to the Spartan. The link: http://www.carferries.com/midland/971001d.jpg