Sault’s Capt. John Wellington Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

SAULT STE.MARIE, MI – Capt. John Wellington, tug captain and acknowledged Great Lakes ice and salvage expert, was honored recently at the Voices of the Valley Camp event here. Wellington was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit by Capt. Paul C. LaMarre III, MHSD board member.

Voices at The Valley Camp, held at the Sault museum ship, featuring a panel of Great Lakes vessel captains, was a fundraising event for the International Ship Master’s Association (ISMA) Scholarship Fund. Nearly $10,000 was raised.

Wellington, 95, was born on Mackinac Island and served in the U.S. Coast Guard for 20 years including a stint aboard the USCG Tamarack, stationed in Sault Ste. Marie, before settling in the Sault.

He’s owned the Sugar Island ferry in the Sault, pilot boats on the St. Marys River and a small fleet of tugs. He’s towed lakers to begin new careers and others to end their lives at a scrapyard. He has been the go-to guy for tough salvage jobs and has often been called upon by the Great Lakes shipping industry for icebreaking advice.

As a marine surveyor, Wellington led the 2016 salvage job on the 858-foot-long Roger Blough, which hit hard on Gros Cap reef west of the Soo Locks. He is also credited with freeing the 1,000-foot Edgar B. Speer from ice in the Rock Cut in late January 2004 when even the coast guard said it couldn’t be done.

Many tug captains around the Great Lakes consider Wellington their mentor, including LaMarre.

“He always gets the job done,” LaMarre said of Wellington, “many times against incredible odds and serious situations that required bravery and stamina. He’s a highly-respected, talented professional with an immense amount of skill, experience and knowledge. … He is the epitome of the true first- class maritime professional. This sentiment is shared by all in our industry who know him.”

Wellington has also served as Sault Ste. Marie, MI, harbormaster and has been on the board of directors of Soo Historic Sites, which oversees the museum ship Valley Camp, since 1981. He was inaugurated in the Great Lakes Marine Hall of Fame in 1982, and the Hall of Fame, housed aboard the Valley Camp, is named in his honor. He has been an advisor to the Lake Carriers Association, has served as grand president of the International Shipmasters’ Association, organized ISMA’s Twin Sault Lodge 22 and was a founder and board member of the Great Lakes Captain’s Association.

He lives in Sault Ste. Marie with his wife Dolly.