Tom Wenstadt, our Door County correspondent, reports that another ship arrived for winter layup.
The M/V WALTER J. McCARTHY, JR. came up Lake Michigan from Indiana Harbor, passed the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. Then ran up the Door County peninsula, around Rock Island, then ran through Rock Island Passage into the bay of Green Bay. The vessel arrived at the mouth of Sturgeon Bay, early on the afternoon of January 18, 2024, pivoted, then backed the six miles up the bay to the Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding storage dock, next to the M/V STEWART J. CORT.
This vessel was the first 1000 foot self-unloading bulk carrier built at Bay Shipbuilding. It was built in two sections, then assembled in the new 1140 foot graving dock. The vessel was christened as the M/V BELLE RIVER July 12th, 1977. The vessel carried mostly coal but began carrying taconite, an enriched form of iron ore, in more recent years. On May 5th, 1990, the vessel was renamed to its current name in honor of the retired CEO of Detroit Edison Co., American Steamship’s major customer.
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
Come see this 1000 footer, along with her 1000 foot friends, this winter at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. There are viewing spots along the bay as well as from the Door County Maritime Museum Lighthouse Tower. Look for one of the longest boats in the fleet with an aft pilot house and aft self-unloading boom, with a black hull and white top. Also check out the fabrication buildings that are being used to build subassemblies for a new series of US Navy Frigates. The subassemblies will be barged across Green Bay to Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin for final assembly.
Photo of WALTER J. McCARTHY, JR. dated 2005 in the St. Marys River by Craig Olson
This story was originally posted on January 21, 2024.
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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.
