STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Excitement is building across the Great Lakes as the 2022 shipping season approaches.
The Soo Locks on Lake Superior in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan open today signaling the official start.
Part of the Winter Fleet at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay is on the move.
“Two really big times of the year for the shipping industry, at least for fans of the shipping industry in Northeast Wisconsin, and that is when they lay up in the winter, and then the spring breakout. We are seeing the spring break out start,” said Kevin Osgood, Door County Maritime Museum executive director.
Osgood tells FOX 11 the ships arrived a few months ago and are at the shipyard for maintenance and repairs.
“They are in competition with each other, and this is where it shows. The shipping companies want to be the last ones in when it comes to the lay up for the winter, and and they want to be the first ones out in the spring, because there’s money to be made. The amount of shipping and the movement of goods that happens on the Great Lakes is critical to our entire nation’s economy.”
Freighter watching has become a popular past time too. Many people tracks the ships on smart phones.
“You click on it, and it will show you a picture of it and what boat it is,” said Craig Van Zandt, Chicago, Illinois.
Van Zandt tells FOX 11 seeing the big boats at the dock is a bonus.
“I spend most of the summers out on the water. We have a couple of boats, so it’s fun to come down here, and see these huge ships, where you normally won’t get a close up view of them in summer, because they’re way out in the lake. But it’s fun to watch them go in and out.”
In addition to seeing the ships in person, they may be tracked online at boatnerd.com and marinetraffic.com.
Comments