Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that the M/V JAMES R. BARKER departed Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Monday morning March 23rd. The BARKER headed out Sturgeon Bay to the Bay of Green Bay where the USCG Cutter MACKINAW lead the BARKER through Rock Island Passage, into Lake Michigan to its destination of Superior, Wisconsin, for its first load of taconite of the season.
The BARKER was christened August 7, 1976, at the American Shipbuilding yard in Lorain, Ohio, for the Interlake Steamship Co. for whom she sails today. She was the first 1000 footer to be built with its pilot house aft.
The BARKER suffered an engine room fire in October of 1986 in Lake Huron. The fire was put out by on board equipment. She was towed side by side by the WILLIAM J. DE LANCEY for repairs at Bay Shipbuilding.
Specifications:
Length 1004 feet
Beam (width) 105 feet
Depth 56 feet
Capacity 63,300 tons
Power 2 Pielstick V16 8000 horsepower diesel engines turning two propellers and a bow thruster
Self-Unloading rate 10,000 tons per hour
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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, 2020.
