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This MCP Boat Blog is presented by Manistee Harbor Tours, operator of the Princess of Manistee, and the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum, www.masoncountymihistory.org.
Story and photos by Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
MANISTEE — Chasing freighters is a bit like fishing. Sometimes everything comes together perfectly. Other times, the ship has other plans.
The MV Northern Venture made her first visit of the 2026 shipping season to the ports of Ludington and Manistee, but she certainly didn’t make it easy for me to photograph her.
She slipped into Ludington late Saturday evening while I wasn’t paying much attention to vessel traffic. By the time I realized she had arrived, I had already missed her.
Fortunately, devoted boat watcher Chris Fanckowiak, administrator of the Manistee, MI Vessel Traffic Facebook group, had been keeping tabs on her. He reported that the Canadian freighter would unload only about half of her cargo of trap rock at Rieth-Riley’s Great Lakes Materials terminal on Pere Marquette Lake before continuing north to the company’s terminal on Manistee Lake.
Based on past experience, I estimate it takes a freighter about six hours to unload a full cargo of aggregate, so unloading only half would likely take around three hours. That would put her departure well into the middle of the night, and I decided sleep was the wiser choice.
When I woke Sunday morning, I checked social media and saw that Northern Venture had arrived off Manistee. It really didn’t matter, though, because I had more important plans that day — picking up my daughter from camp.
Later that afternoon, I opened the MarineTraffic app and noticed the ship was still sitting offshore. At first I assumed the Automatic Identification System (AIS) data hadn’t updated properly. Then, around 10:30 p.m., I checked the Manistee, MI Vessel Traffic Facebook group and discovered the real reason. Strong winds had prevented the ship from entering the river.
Bringing a 508-foot freighter up the Manistee River is no easy task under ideal conditions. The captain and crew have to thread the ship through a relatively narrow channel and beneath two drawbridges before reaching Manistee Lake. Even a modest crosswind can complicate the maneuver, making it more difficult to keep the vessel centered in the channel. Add winds of more than about 5 knots, and the challenge increases significantly. Sometimes the safest decision for the captain and crew is simply to wait for better conditions.
One of the reasons I enjoy photographing ships in both Ludington and Manistee is that each harbor has its own unique character. Ludington offers sweeping views of the breakwaters and open waters of Lake Michigan, while Manistee provides a much more intimate perspective as freighters make their way along the river. As impressive as it is to watch these vessels enter either port, there’s just something especially cool about seeing a 500-foot-plus ship carefully navigate between Manistee’s drawbridges.
Around midnight, I seriously considered making the drive from my home in Scottville to Manistee after noticing the wind was beginning to ease. Once again, however, sleep won.
That turned out to be the right decision.
I was pleasantly surprised Monday morning to discover the Northern Venture hadn’t entered the Manistee River until around sunrise. Suddenly, I realized I might actually have a chance to catch her departure.
A late-morning assignment in Grant Township brought me closer to Manistee. While wrapping that up, I checked MarineTraffic again and saw the ship had just departed the Rieth-Riley terminal. I headed north as quickly as I could.
For filming outbound river traffic with my drone, I prefer staging at the small park at the end of Spruce Street. It provides an excellent vantage point that allows me to maintain visual line of sight with the aircraft while also giving me opportunities to capture still photographs with my DSLR camera.
When I’m photographing inbound traffic, my preferred location is the parking lot on River Street between Division and Greenbush streets. And for ships entering or leaving Manistee Harbor, Douglas Park on the south side of the channel remains one of my favorite spots.
As I filmed the Northern Venture making her way down the Manistee River, I struck up a conversation with a friendly couple from Onekama. Encounters like that are one of the enjoyable parts of spending time along the waterfront. I always enjoy answering questions about the ships, the shipping industry and, of course, the drone.
One of the deckhands told me the vessel had arrived from Bruce Mines, Ontario, after loading trap rock and would soon be heading back to pick up another cargo.
The Canadian-flagged Northern Venture has an interesting history. She was built in 1998 by Shin Kurushima Dockyard in Hiroshima, Japan, as Asia Cement No. 7, transporting bulk cargo in Asian waters. In 2000, the vessel was renamed Da Shen and continued operating overseas.
Burlington, Ontario-based McKeil Marine acquired the ship in 2022 as part of an expansion of its Great Lakes fleet. Following an extensive refit in China, she was renamed Northern Venture and entered Great Lakes service in 2024.
The vessel measures 508.5 feet long, has a beam of 72 feet and a molded depth of 41.34 feet. Powered by a single diesel engine producing 8,130 horsepower driving one propeller, she was designed to move bulk commodities efficiently.
Her cargo system includes four cargo holds sloped at 50 degrees to improve the flow of material toward the unloading system. The self-unloading equipment consists of 40 hydraulically operated gates, two tunnel conveyors, two transfer conveyors, a loop-belt elevator and a 260-foot discharge boom, allowing aggregate to be unloaded quickly without shoreside equipment.
Founded in 1956, McKeil Marine has grown into one of Canada’s largest privately owned marine transportation companies. Headquartered in Burlington, Ontario, the company operates a diverse fleet of tugboats, barges, workboats and self-unloading bulk carriers throughout the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway and Canada’s East Coast. Its vessels transport aggregates, steel products, salt, construction materials and project cargo while the company also provides marine construction, towing and specialized transportation services.
Although I missed Northern Venture’s arrival in both Ludington and Manistee, patience eventually paid off. Sometimes chasing ships requires a little persistence, a little luck and the willingness to let the weather dictate the schedule.
Ship information from “Know Your Ships” 2026 edition.
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