r/GreatLakesShipping

T/V Prentiss Brown / St. Mary’s Challenger, T/V Karen Andrie / Endeavor M/V Mark Barker T/V Leona B T/V Samuel De Champlain / Innovation

May 13th, 2026

May 20th, 2011

James R. Barker on the St. Mary’s River yesterday through the fog. Taken from aboard Paul R. Tregurtha, and no my camera lens wasn’t dirty those specs would be what I assume are the start of midges or mayflies this season.

4th footer I have seen passing the Island so far this season.

MV Roger Blough is a lake freighter built in 1972 by American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio. She served on the Great Lakes. The ship is owned by Great Lakes Fleet, Inc. and is named for the former chairman of U.S. Steel, Roger Blough.

The ship's launch was originally planned for July 1971. However, on June 24, 1971, the ship suffered a major engine room fire which killed four and caused serious damage. Sea trials and delivery were delayed by a year to June 1972.
The Roger Blough assisted in the search for SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
She was stuck in the ice in Lake Erie near Conneaut, Ohio, for eight days in February 1979 and then was laid up from 1981 to 1987 due to the economy and the capacity of the newer 1,000 feet (300 m)lake freighters.
On May 27, 2016, while under operation of the Keystone Shipping Company, Roger Blough ran aground on Gros Cap Reef in Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, with some minor flooding reported. She remained aground on May 29, 2016, near Gros Cap Reefs Light with the United States Coast Guard vessel USCGC Mobile Bay on station monitoring the situation and enforcing a 500-yard (460 m) safety zone around the vessel. At 5:45 AM on June 3, Roger Blough began offloading some of its taconite cargo to SS Philip R. Clarke to lift the ship off the reef. The vessel was refloated off the reef at 10:45 AM, June 4, and anchored at Waiska Bay for further evaluation or repairs. Lightering operations were completed at Waiska Bay on June 7, 2016, with Philip R. Clarke and SS Arthur M. Anderson receiving the remainder of the taconite cargo. Starting off on June 11, 2016, Roger Blough was escorted by the tug Candace Elise to Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for repairs.
Fire in layup

On February 1, 2021, the vessel was again engulfed in flame from an engine fire while docked at Bay Shipbuilding. No casualties were reported as the ship was empty and in winter layup when the fire started.

The ship’s future is very unclear (as of November 2021), however there are possible indications, including visible repair efforts to the vessel’s aft section, that the ship is salvageable and the funds needed for repair work ($20 million) are available, barring additional complications.

On October 27, 2022, Roger Blough departed Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay under tow, destined for Conneaut, Ohio, for long term layup. As of August 18, 2024, the ship was docked in Conneaut, Ohio.

Ships from all over the great lakes get broken up at a ship yard here, I've seen many over the years.

We were lucky enough to see the Algoma Guardian (and a few others) go through the Soo Locks today, but I noticed the Guardian seemed much lower in the stern than the bow. In my mind, it's a ballast issue, but my question is why?