For the safety and comfort of our passengers, based on the marine weather forecast, Lake Michigan Carferry (LMC) has cancelled both of the crossings on Tuesday, September 15th (Ludington, MI (9:00 am EST) and the Manitowoc, WI (2:00 pm CST)) on the SS Badger. The Lake Michigan weather forecast is predicting gale force wind conditions with waves of 12-16 feet with the occasional 21 ft.

LMC understands the disappointment and inconvenience this decision causes and apologizes for the impact it has on travel plans. While we are always committed to delivering an exceptional and comfortable cross-lake travel experience, lake conditions will make it impossible to do so in this instance. Our customer service and reservation team are ready to offer alternatives designed to ensure your satisfaction and minimize this disruption to your travel plans.

The SS Badger is expected to sail on Wednesday, September 16th.

Lake Michigan Carferry

Polsteam Ros on christening day. [Polsteam]

The ship’s godmother was Ewa Florczyk, head of the insurance department at Polsteam, while the captain Jarosław Drewkowski took the helm.
“The delivery and christening of another Lakermax vessel mark an important milestone in the continued modernization of the Polish company’s fleet and represent a new step in the expansion of our fleet of ships designed to operate in the demanding waters of the Great Lakes. We wish the crew of Polsteam Ros safe voyages, favorable winds, and a safe return to port,” the shipyard said in a statement.

Polsteam Ros is a 36,700-tonne heavy-duty vessel built by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC) in China. Measuring 200 meters long and 24 meters wide, the ship was specifically designed to trade between the world’s oceans and the North American Great Lakes. Ships of this type must meet strict dimensional restrictions – up to 200 meters long and about 24 meters wide – in order to safely navigate the narrowest channels of the Great Lakes route.
René Beauchamp

CLEVELAND — U.S. shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3 million tons in August, a 1.7 percent increase from last year.  Limestone cargos were below the month’s 5-year average by 1.5 percent. Year-to-date, the U.S. Great Lakes limestone trade stands at 13.1 million tons, a 1.9 percent decrease compared to 2025 and 3.6 percent below the month’s 5-year average.

Lake Carriers’ Association

MANISTEE, MI – A piece of Great Lakes history recently resurfaced nearly a century after an ill-fated railroad car ferry was lost in Lake Michigan. The S.S. Milwaukee went down in 1929 with 52 people on board; there were no survivors. An original life ring from the ship was recently recovered from a rummage sale. “Something like this does not come

A life ring from the ill-fate S.S. Milwaukee railcar ferry recently resurfaced at a rummage sale.

along very often,” said Robby Laurain, executive director of the Society for the Preservation of the S.S. City of Milwaukee, the sunken ship’s successor, which is now a museum ship permanently docked in Manistee.

Operated by the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company, the S.S. Milwaukee carried railroad cars across Lake Michigan between Milwaukee, Wis., and Grand Haven. On Oct. 22, 1929, the ship departed Milwaukee into a severe Lake Michigan storm, encountered heavy seas, began taking on water and sank.

One of the S.S. Milwaukee’s life rings was found this summer – 97 years after the ship sank – by Matthew Thompson, a former S.S. City of Milwaukee tour guide and Manistee’s Ghost Ship volunteer, the society announced. Recognizing the historical significance of his find, Thompson purchased the life ring and offered it for display in the S.S. City of Milwaukee museum on an indefinite loan.

Work is underway to build a display case and interpretive sign for the life ring, Laurain said. It should be ready for the 2027 season.

The S.S. City of Milwaukee was built in 1930-31 to replace the S.S. Milwaukee. The City of Milwaukee began its service in 1931 as a steam-powered Lake Michigan ferry, transporting both railcars and passengers. Retired in 1982, it is now a museum ship, boatel and event venue. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1990. The museum and boatel are currently closed for the season and will reopen next spring. The next chance to step aboard the S.S. City of Milwaukee will be during Manistee’s Ghost Ship event in October.

A $1 million fundraiser is currently underway for hull preservation work that will require dry docking at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

M Live. Read more here.

S.S. Milwaukee carried railroad cars across Lake Michigan between Milwaukee, Wis., and Grand Haven. It went down in 1929 with 52 people on board; there were no survivors.UW Great Lakes Maritime History Project

CHIPPEWA COUNTY, MI – A new buoy in Lake Superior is giving people real-time access to weather, wave and water quality conditions in Whitefish Bay, providing new information for boaters, fishermen and researchers.

Buoy data.

New weather system on Lake Superior tracks wind, waves, temp and water quality (UpNorthLive)

is giving people real-time access to weather, wave and water quality conditions in Whitefish Bay, providing new information for boaters, fishermen and researchers.

“This project came about as looking at Lake Superior as a whole, in the eastern end of Lake Superior and our climate is changing and then Bay Mills is also a fishing community and relies heavily on Lake Whitefish or Ticketmeg,” said Jessica Wesolek, air quality environmental response specialist.

The Bay Mills Indian Community and Freeboard Technology teamed up on the project. It will make data more accessible to the community with a real-time weather and wave buoy system in Whitefish Bay.

The buoy is about five nautical miles offshore. This isn’t the only buoy system in the area, though.

“This will be used for a couple different things, so we’ll be out there for the community so they can check the wind and wave conditions,” said Wesolek. “You know, as I said before, it’s a fishing community so it really matters what the weather is like when they go out there. The buoy has not only wind speed but wave height and also max wave height within a 10-minute span.”

On top of the water temperatures and weather conditions, the buoy cam video also tells a story.

“There’s a biology component to the monitoring with just looking at how much sediment is in the water, turbidity, how brown is the water, looking at chlorophyll measurement, what’s growing in the water, algae, which are good,” said Edward Verhamme, senior project engineer at Limno Tech. “We want algae growing at Lake Superior. It’s the base of the food chain.”

“It records video for 25 to 30 seconds every hour,” Wesolek said. “So they can actually see what the conditions are even when it’s foggy because fog can roll in, you know, whenever and then the water quality side of things so it measures a sweep of different things from the surface to the bottom.

The real-time data available to the public will be useful for the fishing industry.

WPBN/WGTU – See the data here.

Ron Kattoo, owner of SS St. Claire Boblo boat. [Detroit Free Press]

Starting Thursday, Sept. 3, members of the public will be able to board the historic boat and view a museum laid out like a timeline from the opening of the boat in 1910 to the present day, by decade, said Ron Kattoo, the boat’s owner. The museum also showcases the boat’s original steam engine and is set up with photo opportunities.

Kattoo, 58, said the greatest part of his childhood was visiting Boblo Island and said he hopes to bring back good memories for others who grew up going there before the park closed in 1993.

“Hearing people, their stories, and how much they love the boat and that it reminds them of their childhood and times they spent with their mom and dad or their grandparents or vice versa taking their kids to Boblo — that’s what we’re trying to do,” he said.

Boblo Island was established as an entertainment destination on the Canadian Bois Blanc Island in 1898, and the SS Ste. Claire started taking passengers in 1910. The Ste. Claire and its sister boat, the Columbia, which first launched in 1902, spent decades taking passengers from the end of Woodward Avenue to the island about 20 miles down the Detroit River, according to Historic Detroit.

The ships were taken out of commission in 1991 prior to the closing of the Boblo Island amusement park, which saw nearly 800,000 visitors annually from its opening in 1898 to when its port officially closed in September 1993, the Detroit Free Press previously reported.

Read more here:

Ticket sales for the annual Marine Historical Society of Detroit’s Detroit River Cruise, scheduled for Saturday, September 19, from 1-4 p.m. aboard the the Diamond Jack River Tours boat DIAMOND QUEEN, are now open to the public.

Passengers will have the opportunity to photograph vessels and historic sites along the Detroit River and enjoy a narration by local history expert Ken Borg. The number of passengers will be limited to 100 so there will be lots of room to move about the boat. Tickets are now on sale at MHSD.org. Or pay by check to the Marine Historical Society of Detroit for $28.50 and mailed to MHSD Cruise,1020 Iroquois, Detroit, MI, 48214. If there are any tickets left the day of sailing, they will be sold at the dock for $30.

Marine Historical Society of Detroit

CLEVELAND, OH – Iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 5.1 million tons in August, a 2 percent increase compared to 2025. Shipments were 5.1 percent below the month’s 5-year average. Year-to-date, the iron ore trade rose 3% to 27.5 million tons. Through August, iron shipments are below their 5-year average by 5.2 percent.

Lake Carriers’Association

Furetank’s intermediate tanker Fure Vasa was given her name in Uddevalla, Sweden, on August 28, in front of more than 300 invited guests. Along with news of new investments and a 40th-anniversary celebration, the day brought several encouraging signs for the state of Swedish tanker shipping. Furetank is a cooperative venture between Sweden’s Furetank and Canada’s Algoma Central Corp.

Tanker Fure Vasa. [Furetank]

Fure Vasa, number 18 in the VINGA vessel series, has just arrived in Europe from the China Merchants Jinling shipyard in Yangzhou.

“This vessel is the result of close cooperation between

, Algoma Central Corporation, FKAB Marine Design, the shipyard, and our dedicated employees and partners. The vessel represents our shared ambition to continue developing sustainable and efficient transport solutions. She meets all environmental regulations set for the next 20 years, and demonstrates how innovation and responsible shipping can go hand in hand,” said Lars Höglund, CEO of Furetank.

The day offered several highlights: it marked 40 years of joint vessel design between Furetank and FKAB Marine Design, and brought the announcement of four new VINGA vessel orders, taking the series to 26 vessels in total. Two go to Furetank and Algoma Central Corporation in joint venture FureBear, one to Älvtank and one to O.H. Meling.

The ships will be constructed at the China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Yangzhou, China, with delivery expected between 2028 and 2029. They will be entered into the Gothia Tanker Alliance and managed commercially by Furetank Chartering.

All four vessels are to be registered under the Swedish flag, meaning the VINGA series will account for almost a fifth of the Swedish merchant fleet, which currently stands at just over 105 vessels.

Furetank, Algoma Central Corp.