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Detroit River, Sept. 2004.	Mike Nicholls

Great Lakes Fleet Page Vessel Feature -- Great Lakes Trader & Joyce L. VanEnkevort

By Roger LeLievre

The self-unloading barge Great Lakes Trader has the distinction of being the last major vessel built for Great Lakes service. Built for Great Lakes Marine Leasing and operated by VanEnkevort Tug and Barge of Escanaba, MI.  Great Lakes Trader is pushed by the 135-foot tug Joyce L. Van Enkevort, which was built in 1998 by Bay Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, WI.  The tug is powered by two 5,100 b.h.p. Caterpillar 3612 12-cylinder diesel engines.

Great Lakes Trader was constructed in two halves at Halter Marine's yard in Pearlington, MS and then towed to the New Orleans yard to be joined together and outfitted. The tug sailed from the Great Lakes to New Orleans to be mated up with the newly finished barge for the return trip back to the Great Lakes.  The pair departed the Gulf on May 28, 2000, and arrived on the lakes in mid-June after transiting the St. Lawrence Seaway. Special care had to be used in transiting the locks because of her size.

The Trader is the 16th largest carrier on the Great Lakes, with maximum seaway dimensions of 740 x 78 feet. Her cargo capacity is 39,600 tons. The Great Lakes Trader loaded its first cargo, taconite for Indiana Harbor, June 23, 2000 in Escanaba. Since then she has been a frequent visitor, not only to Escanaba, but to Lake Superior ports, carrying ore for various customers around the lakes and stone cargoes to various ports.
 

Overall Dimensions (barge)
Length	740'00" (225.56m)
Beam	78'00" (23.77m)
Depth	45'00" (13.72m)
Capacity	39,600 tons (40,236 tonnes)

Overall Dimensions (tug)
Length	135'04" (41.22m)
Beam	50'00" (15.24m)
Depth	26'00" (7.92m)
Power (diesel)	10,200 b.h.p.
Gross tonnage	1,179 tons

 

Combined Overall Dimensions (articulated tug/barge)
Length	844'10" (257.60m)
Beam	78'00" (23.77m)
Depth	45'00" (13.72m)

 

Soo Locks, July 2004. Rod Burdick	Marquette, MI Aug., 2004. Lee Rowe	Escanaba, MI Dec. 2004. Lee Rowe
Rod Burdick	Rod Burdick	Todd Davidson
Stern view of the barge at Halter Marine's shipyard in New Orleans. Alex Rankine	The boom waiting to be installed. Alex Rankine	Close up of the vessels name. Alex Rankine
Departing Mississippi. Alex Rankine	Great lakes Trader filling the Iroquois Lock to capacity.  Bud Bonner	H-9901 secured in the notch ready for the lock to be filled.  Bud Bonner
Joyce L. backing out of the lock and the H-9901 entering to push the Great lakes Trader. Bud Bonner	The barge Pathfinder passing the Great Lakes Trader in the Welland Canal below Lock 3. The Pathfinder was on a rare trip down to Quebec City. Jeff Thoreson	Great Lakes Trader upbound in the Welland Canal followed by the tug H-9901. Jeff Thoreson
Roger LeLievre	Roger LeLievre	More pictures of the Great Lakes Trader and tug Joyce L. VanEnkevort