Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Last winter the Presque Isle laid up in Duluth, and the year before that both the Munson and Anderson wintered in Duluth/Superior. So this year may just be an exception. But, Great Lakes Fleet has seemingly retired nearly half of their vessels and only had five ships running in 2025. So, there are not as many ships to lay up in different places. I assume that they currently have good relationships with the companies offering repair services in Toledo and like to have many of their vessels there for that reason.

For many years uss/great lakes fleet ships laid up in Duluth/superior. Now there are none they layup in Toledo,Erie and sturgeon bay although there are none of the uss/great lakes ships in sturgeon bay this year that I’m aware of. What is the reason that they no longer layup in Duluth/superior anymore?

Last year two ships laid up at the Port Terminal, and the year before that two as well. So this year may be an exception. Great Lakes Fleet and CSL were the ones who had been laying up there, and this year their vessels are all laid up elsewhere.

The reason more ships are at Fraser is because they recently rebuilt their dock facilities to allow 1,000 footers to berth there for the winter and more space for ships in general. Since Fraser is the one doing most of the maintenance work on wintering lakers, it makes more sense to dock at their facilities then to have them travel to other docks in town.

With the closure of SMET (June?) and the blast furnaces in Dearborn and Salute Set. Marie, boat watching will be different next year. That might also be playing a role in where footers lay up.

Does anyone know how much coal is on the ground at SMET?

For years the port of Duluth/superior had many ships layup during the winter, used to be at least 4 1000 footers would tie up at the port terminal along with other ships. Now no ships tie up at the port terminal and every ship is tucked in at Fraser shipyard in superior. Was just wondering the reason they don’t layup at the port terminal or on the Duluth side anymore.