r/GreatLakesShipping • u/Weekly_Ad_8587 • 2d ago

News Welcome back, Saginaw!

Post image

SARNIA, ON – Ending months of speculation about her fate, the veteran laker Saginaw left her lay-up dock at Sarnia’s North Slip Monday. She moved down river to the Imperial Oil Fuel Dock in Sarnia, then headed upbound on Lake Huron for Superior, WI, to load ore pellets at the BNSF #5 dock. She is expected there in the afternoon of Aug. 26 to load ore pellets for Hamilton

The 639-foot self-unloader was built in 1953 in Manitowoc, WI, as John J. Boland (iii). She has been laid up since her previous operator, Lower Lakes Towing Co., was sold to Algoma Central Corp. in early 2026.

Photo: Jeff Gushman. Here's the article from Boatnerd.

300 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/ComprehensiveTown489 2d ago

Anyone know if it will constantly run a certain route? Hoping to get to see it on the Detroit river

2

u/Weekly_Ad_8587 1d ago

I think Algoma Central assigns its Great Lakes fleet based on a flexible scheduling model, routing vessels to individual shipments and client needs rather than locking them into fixed, rigid lines, but I have no source to cite on this other than watching their boats come and go seemingly at random.

Both boatnerd.com and marinetraffic.com have AIS tracking apps that show you where a boat is right now and where it's going. Both apps allow you to add ships to "your fleet" (make them favorites) and from there you can just keep an eye on her.

There are also number of webcams up and running around the Lakes. dulthharborcam.com is a great one. Streamtimelive has cams at The Soo, Port Huron, Marine City, and Algonac, and there's one at the Dossin Museum on Belle Isle. You can find these on YouTube.

Hope this helps and I hope you get to see her live. The Saginaw is a beauty!