Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that after completing a week of repairs, the M/V BURNS HARBOR left the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding dock in Sturgeon Bay, Wednesday October 7th, at noon. The vessel went out Sturgeon Bay and up Green Bay, through Deaths Door, past Pilot Island, out into Lake Michigan and made a sharp port turn heading toward its destination of Duluth, Minn., to pick up its next load of taconite.
The vessel was christened at Sturgeon Bay on May 24, 1980. The name came from Bethlehem Steel’s new Burns Harbor plant. She has carried her name though-out her life and has been owned and operated by the American Steamship Co. of Buffalo, New York since 2005.
Specifications:
Length 1000 feet
Beam (width) 105 feet
Depth 56 feet
Capacity 80,900 tons
Power 4 3600 horsepower EMD V-20 diesel engines turning two propellers and a bow thruster
Self-Unloading rate 8,930 tons per hour
Watch for arrivals of the next Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Winter fleet December, 2026. The Winter fleet can be viewed from either side of the bay and be sure to get the spectacular view from the Door County Lighthouse Tower.
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Tom Wenstadt, who lives in Sturgeon Bay, is a retired marine engineer, having worked in the Great Lakes area for thirty-seven years. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University and is the author of Freighters of Manitowoc. He is a member of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society and the Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society. He is a volunteer archival assistant and docent for the JOHN PURVES.
Photo of BURNS HARBOR at top of page courtesy of Bob Kuhn. March 2019.
