Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that the M/V EDGER B. SPEER pivoted at the mouth of Sturgeon Bay, then with the assistance of tugs NICKELENA and ERIKA KOBASIC, the vessel backed up the Bay to the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding yard on afternoon Sunday, January 18th.
The M/V EDGER B. SPEER was launched May 8, 1980, at the American Shipbuilding yard in Lorain, Ohio, for the USS Great Lakes Fleet, for whom she sails today. USS Great Lakes Fleet vessels are easily recognized by the large gray diagonal strip on the bow.
The SPEER has an unusual unloading boom design. It is mounted just inside the stern and projects laterally out either side to a length of 52 feet. Due to this limited unloading configuration, the vessel can only carry iron ore to Conneaut, Ohio or Gary, Indiana.
August of 2006, the M/V ROGER BLOUGH broke its rudder in the St. Marys River. The SPEER came to the rescue and towed the BLOUGH to Gary, Indiana, so it could be unloaded prior being towed to Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay to repair the rudder.
Specifications:
Length 1004 feet
Beam (width) 105 feet
Depth 56 feet
Capacity 73,700 tons
Power 2 Pielstick-18PC2-3V-400 9,630 horsepower diesel engines turning two propellers and a bow thruster
Watch this coming December for information on the 2026/2027 winter fleet at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
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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 by Bob Kuhn, January 16, 2015
