The Joyce L. VanEnkevort was built in 1998 as an articulated tugboat for VanEnkevort Tug & Barge of Escanaba, Michigan. Joyce was fabricated by Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, with completion and fit out being taken care of by VanEnkevort Tug & Barge at Escanaba, Michigan. She was fitted with a Hydraconn Articulated Tug/Barge connection system while at Escanaba. She was built to push VanEnkevort’s new barge, Great Lakes Trader, which was being contracted for construction at the time. The keel for the new tug was laid on March 18, 1997, being completed in early 1998. The Joyce L. VanEnkevort is 135’04’’ long, 50’ wide, and 26’ deep, and is powered by a pair of Caterpillar 3612 diesel engines, producing a total of 10,200 BHP.

For the 1998 season, Joyce L. VanEnkevort was contracted by the Interlake Steamship Company to push their recently converted barge Pathfinder until the completion of their new tugboat, Dorothy Ann. VanEnkevort connected to Pathfinder on March 20, 1998, and the pair departed from Sturgeon Bay the next day. Joyce pushed Pathfinder into the early 1999 season, trading the barge off to Interlake’s tug Dorothy Ann on June 24, 1999.

In May of 2000, Joyce L. VanEnkevort sailed out the St. Lawrence Seaway and around the American east coast to New Orleans, Louisiana, to pick up her new barge Great Lakes Trader. The pair departed New Orleans for the Great Lakes on May 28, 2000. Since the barge is built to maximum seaway dimensions, the tug had to detach while transiting St. Lawrence Seaway locks to allow a smaller harbor tug to push the barge into the lock. The tug then had to lock through separately afterwards.

The Great Lakes Trader / Joyce L. VanEnkevort entered service together on June 23, 2000, loading ore at Escanaba, Michigan, for delivery to Indiana Harbor, Indiana.

The pair are typically employed in the iron ore trade from Lake Superior ports to Cleveland, and Toledo, Ohio and other Southern Lake Michigan ports, and the stone trade from upper Lake Huron and Lake Michigan ports to across the Great Lakes.

Written by Brendan Falkowski

Built for Great Lakes Marine Leasing and operated by Van Enkevort 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 of 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.

Written by George Wharton.