First Great Lakes freighter built since 1981 gets ready to set sail 

The Fitz was also narrower, hence less cargo capacity.

And she was a straight decker

The story of Friz makes me tear up rip to those men

@@funnelvortex7722 And also the Fitz had it's pilot house at the front. As nice as the forwards pilot house looks, companies don't like having them because it eats away at the efficiency and convince.

@@TheUnflushedToilet The captain's like them when fog is thick

I am still astounded that they can move a ship that big down into the industrial section in Cleveland. Clearances are TIGHT, to say the least but they get it done.

Especially when it plowed into the side of Belle Isle! 🤣🤡🌈

How'd she look?

Building a smaller boat like this is smart because it's easier to maneuver in the rivers and the Soo Locks.

Thank Biden!

At one point or another, it's more cost effective to just buy a new ship than maintaining an old one.

@@americanace96not to sound rude but its definetley more cost effective to maintain a ship then buy more steel, pay workers, and make a brand new hunk of numeral than fix some engines and repaint anither ship

@@EperogiLimousine yes, but eventually you just need one more boat. And that is why you see such old ships on the Great Lakes because the freshwater means they can last way longer than marine ships.

​@@WillTheBassPlayer Oddly, it's the opposite situation for wooden boats, which last much longer in salt water.

These 40 year old freighters have another 40 good years in them still. No problem

The fresh water of the great lakes is more conducive to long lifespans of ships.

They have not built a new freighter since 1981 for the great lakes

Why build new boats?? We haven't lost a single freighter since the Fitzgerald went down in 1975. Things changed after the Fitzgerald went down. I really think that Gordon Lightfoot s song really changed everything. He made a shipwreck forever famous. Safety measures increased. We don't have rogue captains like Mc Sorely out on the Lakes running full speed in shallow waters anymore. Captains who feel unsafe cannot be fired for not going out in a storm anymore. The Fitzgerald changed everything because a top 10 hit was wrote about this loss.

@@gregorylyon1004 clearly there is a new freighter... Also, things wear out

​@@tvviewer4500They built one boat. It's not a 1000 footer

Yes!

We need much more than that built in the USA, but don't expect anyone in our government, regardless of political affiliation, to facilitate that. They're quite content with the way things are, just like the megacorporations.

@@QuadMochaMatti actually under Orange man bad the Company I worked for was thriving. I build ship Propellers. With the stroke of a pen his first week in office Biden put me out of work along with the majority of new Tug Boat builders.

@@mikebrase5161 please elaborate?

@@PershingOfficial nothing to elaborate on. You have all the information you need.

That was a much older ship then to have that many. Were they also the telescopic kind that opened in consecutive sleeves? That was my experience on the Paul Tiejten which was built in 1907 BEFORE the Titanic had her keel laid in 1910!!

She talking about her driving?

A year later that statement has a vastly different meaning. 😢

Yeah where were the tugs ???

@@josephshulman4330 From what I recall, they aren't common for that use on the lakes

The ship has both bow AND stern thrusters. Makes it look easy!

The ship was designed specifically for those smaller ports

​@@billyjoejimbob56 Unless there are strong winds that ship could probably make it up the Cuyahoga on its own.

As I recall from the era, the steel plants were old and wouldn’t innovate while the unions were killer of the US factories. Sad to see area now known as the rust belt.

@@oldmech619 Yeah, graduating that year there were no jobs not even fast food once unemployment ran out for laid-off workers. At the time, even if steel and auto did modernize, it would take years and the steel being imported was just too cheap and plentiful. They were priced at cost to capture market shares. A presidential tariff or limit should have been imposed and a requirement for the industry to modernized to compete against the new imports. Kamra came to Japan when Mexico and China came online and now Vietnam and India are starting to take shares from China. It really comes down to cheap nonunionized labor and lenient environmental regulations.

@@darkguardian1314 exactly this - US Steel used to operate the "Duluth Works". Since the vast majority of US iron ore comes from northern Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, it made sense to turn some of the ore into finished steel closer to the source - since there was local demand, and shipping finished steel back from Indiana, PA, OH etc (where most of the steel mills were) didn't make a lot of sense. Sadly the economics of it weren't quite enough once foreign competition got in the business... and were dumping on the market, to the point where we basically lost our steel industry. We still ship lots of ore, but we're not the global leader like we used to be. Allowing steel to go international at commodity prices was a seriously shortsighted thing - we were still in the cold war, and Ronnie was looking at raw profit margin above strategic needs... how ignorant, but then again, he only had a few marbles rolling around at that point; his second term was guided more by Nancy's damn astrologer than anything that actually made sense. :

THANKFULLY the Midwest/Great Lakes region is finally recovering thanks to a limited return of manufacturing as well as the tech/IT industry expanding to the region, but that was a completely unnecessary 30-40 years of pain and suffering for people of the region for nothing. But even if things are getting better it will take a long time for those "rust belt" scars to heal completely.

@@darkguardian1314 thank you for posting your comment very well said sir

A smaller boat gets down the river better.

I was on a couple ships that navigated up the Cuyahoga back in the late 70's. Then we had to use tug boats. If it is not windy the captain could probably take her up solo.

Thank you for sharing, that’s a great perspective.

😂

Maybe he was referring to ships sailing under the American flag. All of those ships I think are of Canadian registry.

@@richardwarren1718 yes but he didn't say USA. He says Great Lake Freighters. Of which these 9 ships are. The reporter was lazy at best.

@@donmacaskill5022 he reminded me of Jared from Subway. He was a total idiot, I figured that out in 2 seconds. He kept stammering and stumbling over words.

@@donmacaskill5022 Those ships were built in China. This is the first ship built on the Great lakes

Better actually since it didn't have to go back to dry dock. 😆

Ya know that rear view camera we've all gotten use to in our cars? I bet there are several really good ones on the bow of the Mark Barker.

But if a big wave comes it knocks the captain and other officers, right?

None of the later models had the wheel house and crew quarters in the bow. In fact when I was on the Great Lakes in the late 70's several of the newer boats had already moved the super structure to the stern.

@Wayne Flanigan Trump Tower

@@ithaca4201 its his last name? Like Hilton hotels. Not their full name.

@@Christopher_Rock Same BS garbage. Trump brands everything with his trashy name.

Yes it does have a bow thruster

Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours

Oh for F sake stop moron. Let the Fitzgerald and her crew rest. God you people need help

Sturgeon Bay is the birthplace of many lake freighters.🚢

She's a fine looking ship. That boat should last 80 years. It's way better than the Fitzgerald

​@@gregorylyon1004 Dude, you DO know there are a whole lotta other boats out there other than The Fitz, right? You're obsession with hating on The Fitz, its Captain and its demise borders on childlike comments.

They last a long time since it is fresh water, so they are used forever.

The real reason why they haven't built a new boat since 1981 is because of the Edmund Fitzgerald and it's loss. We quit sending boats to the bottom of the Lakes. Boats quit sinking after 1975. Safety measures increased. We don't have foolish captains like Mc Sorely out Manning boats anymore

Canadian Ambassador Upper Lakes Shipping Laker 24,230 Jul-83

@@benwilson6145 I used to pass by the PWDD and cross its rail spur (and the Welland Canal) every day to go to school.

Oops! Well it happens and sometimes it's even intentional for safety reasons. High winds for ex.

This boat costs about 150 million dollars to build. They just ordered 1 boat

Nice one

Are you talking about the Fitzgerald load capacity??? That boat was originally only supposed to haul 20 thousand tons. They increased the capacity 3 times on the Fitzgerald to 30 thousand tons

@@gregorylyon1004 "ship", not "boat"

​​@@fishjohn014 A boat doesn't have sails whereas a ship does. Also, a boat has a flat bottom whereas a ship has a "V" hull.

​@@gregorylyon1004 Yes, the USCG raised the load line 3 times in 5 years with the last time allowing 3 feet less freeboard than it was originally allowed to have. Which would have allowed 4000 more tons than the original long tonnage of 25,500 making the max load 29,500 tons. It had 26,116 tons aboard when it sank. That's only 616 more tons than the original tonnage allowed and 3384 less than newly allowed.

No. Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song that made the Edmund Fitzgerald famous. And he single handedly brought to light the dangers of Great Lakes shipping. We owe this man a lot. He caused a change in the industry standard. We haven't lost a single freighter since 1975.

Owe HIM alot?? The NTSB and the Fitz itself caused a change in the standards. He single handedly brought to light the dangers of shipping?? The sinking of the Fitz and the subsequent hearings brought everything "to light". All Lightfoot did was just write a musical homage to the Fitz. He sang about the dangers of the weather for shipping (like, NO body knew THAT already) and he brought NO changes "to light". Also, the Fitz was famous BEFORE Lightfoot even knew it existed. Great song but, really? You're making it sound as if Gordy was the head of the NTSB, USCG and the CEO of the Great Lakes Shipping Authority all rolled into one just for writing a song.

Plus ships like this can carry a vastly greater amount of ore over time then the trains can.

Fincanteri shipbuilding in Sturgeon bay., Oct 29 2021.

Mostly in power generation.

Yes. There are still currently 5 freighter's still running steam power in the great lakes today

Crew members, not passengers.

I never saw the navy in my years sailing course that was over 40 years ago. But the coast guard were sure present on the lakes!!

@@michaeldeierhoi4096 I’m from Southern California and I’ve never been to the Midwest or seen the Great Lakes. I was curious to know because the Navy does have their training center in Illinois.

@@samuelplacensia9979 I can't speak from any direct knowledge, but I wouldn't be surprised if the navy did some training on the lakes if they have a training center in Illinois. I'm sure there must be info online with some detail.

Lakes are handled by the US Coast Guard (District 9 for the Great Lakes). There is no need for the Navy on bodies of water shared only with an allied nation. We haven't come over the border and beat you up for over 200 years.

Great Lakes Naval Station. North Chicago, Illinois. Close to the Wisconsin border on Lake Michigan. It's the only Navy "boot camp" in the U.S. It's a training facility for new recruits. No. The Navy doesn't "patrol" the Great Lakes. That's the Coast Guard's job.

The boat is way better than the Fitzgerald. Double hull buddy unlike the Fitz. This boat could last over 80 years on the Lakes

You apparently missed the point that this ship is shorter but carries a larger load than ships a hundred feet longer. Plus I'm sure the company that built this ship understands their needs better than most anybody would!!

😂

But with the United States, a foreign made ship cannot be flagged in the United States of America or travel domestically from port to port in the United States due to the Jones Act.

It has to be fully built in the United States.

This boat can travel in November. It's got a double hull

Heck even when the lakes froze over back in the late 70's I recall being out in November on a ship and one year even into December.