Posted on 07/28/2022 9:15:38 AM PDT by texas booster
Nearly three years after the first cut of steel for the first Great Lakes freighter in nearly 40 years, the 639-foot M/V Mark W. Barker embarked on her maiden voyage today from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding.
“This is a monumental day for our company and the US flag fleet as our much-anticipated freighter departs on her first voyage in what will be a long life of service on the Great Lakes,” says Mark W. Barker, President of The Interlake Steamship Company and namesake of the vessel – the company’s first new build since 1981. “The construction of this vessel, which was made from steel manufactured in Indiana, from iron ore delivered by vessel from Minnesota, reinforces our long-term commitment to shipping and delivering essential cargoes for our customers throughout the region.”
The M/V Mark W. Barker departed the Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin shipyard at 10:36 Eastern time for her 110-mile journey to Port Inland, Michigan where her crew of 21 professional mariners will load stone to deliver to Muskegon, Michigan. Once delivered, that stone cargo will go into ready-mix concrete production.
“This new vessel not only brings with it additional cargo carrying capacity and capabilities, it is the most versatile in our fleet and strategically sized to navigate into nearly any port on the Great Lakes,” says Brendan P. O’Connor, Vice President of Marketing and Marine Traffic. “The M/V Mark W. Barker will give us unmatched ability for cargo operations and to carry unique project cargoes because of both her square-shaped cargo hold and larger hatch openings. She truly was designed to be a vessel for the future.”
Under construction since August 2019, the M/V Mark W. Barker was built by hundreds of dedicated workers at the Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, shipyard.
“We couldn’t be prouder to add this skillfully constructed vessel to our growing Interlake fleet,” says Barker, who was at the shipyard this week to personally wish the best to the ship’s crew fitting out the new vessel. “It has been genuinely inspiring to see the dedication and workmanship from all of those involved in this multi-year project, from the design, construction, final outfitting and successful sea trials. We are thrilled to add our newest US-crewed, US-built and US-owned vessel to the Great Lakes fleet.”
A guess? Locally sourced material. That's a lot of steel for that ship. Structural shapes, rolled steel plate. Then you have COVID for most of those 3 years...
I don’t think we have those on the Great Lakes.
California rejects desalination plant:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/california-regulator-rejects-plan-desalination-plant-2022-05-13/
Agreed...
It is the actual overall domestic manufacturing capability I would be really interested in rebuilding...
I remember, in 1943, my Mom (a welder working 12-hrs-per-day, 6-days-per-week) bragging when there was an extra $10 in her pay envelope when the construction crew met its monthly quota for ship hulls constructed...
There are no American workers, and no infrastructure, left in this country that could accomplish those kinds of tasks when the chicoms or NKs decide to raise the ante...
right? and it’s primer colored, wtf?
Pretty cool. Like a big giant earth mover or something.
Does it run on electricity?
Yeah, there’s this thing north of us called Canada that has a huge thing to say about the water levels of the great lakes as well, and to get it to California there’s this little series of foothills called the Rocky Mountains that would make it pretty hard to flow there without going up and over as well.
Still, if they offer me a grant for a few million to assess the feasibility of it, well hey, I will gladly submit my proposal for the idea.
Heh. Why not the Columbia river? Let the blue staters fight it out.
The beat in Korea goes on in spite of it all.
One of the drill ships I participated in the building of gave me my introduction to the amazing organization that is Korean ship building.
A team came into the office in Houston, stayed about 4 weeks, left with the design and specifications and built the ship. It was almost like ordering from a check the box menu. We sent two people over to represent us and be there for liaison to fill in gaps along the way then the shakedown, remedies and came home with a drill ship. The biggest problems came with third party supplied items like blow-out preventers.
You had to be there and move fast or risk getting built into some small space of the ship.
There was no covid of course.
I’ve read about the Korean shipyards and the way they crank out container ships like we used to build Liberty ships. Pretty darned impressive. But then the SK’s have a large, modern steel industry capable of feeding those shipyards.
Yes, you are correct. We too once said “why not” instead of “we can’t”.
I say amazing about a lot of things and over use the word. I am not adequate to the superlatives of what was done in manufacturing in WWII. It is so profound to me I have made it one of my studies.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.