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This MCP Shipping Report is presented by Great Lakes Boat Blog by Rob Alway. Please consider subscribing to www.greatlakesboatblog.com for an exclusive page about the story of the maritime industry past and present.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
LAKE MICHIGAN — The Princess of Manistee concluded its 2026 cruising season Sunday, Nov. 1, with a private excursion from its summer berth on the Manistee River to its winter home at Lake Street Marina in Ludington.
The 65-foot passenger vessel enjoyed favorable conditions for its final voyage of the year, with fair winds, mostly calm seas, sunshine and temperatures in the 60s. The 90 minute trip took the Princess south along the Lake Michigan shoreline, past the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area, Big Sable Point, Ludington State Park and into Ludington Harbor.
The voyage marked the end of another busy season for Manistee Harbor Tours, which operates the Princess from the Manistee City Marina along the Riverwalk in downtown Manistee. The company is owned by Capt. Albert “Wally” Laaksonen, whose family has a long history in the Lake Michigan maritime industry.
The Princess began its 2026 season May 9, when it departed Lake Street Marina for Manistee. Regular public excursions began the following weekend, with the schedule gradually expanding to daily cruises during the peak summer tourism season.
Capt. Wally Laaksonen, foreground, and his son, Gus, operate the boat.
Throughout the summer, the Princess offered narrated sightseeing excursions, family cruises, evening cruises and sunset cruises. Private charters and special events were also part of the schedule.
Most excursions take passengers onto Lake Michigan, traveling either north toward Onekama and Portage Lake or south toward Big Sable Point. When lake conditions are unfavorable, the Princess can instead travel inland along the Manistee River and onto Manistee Lake.
The vessel features an open upper deck, where passengers can enjoy unobstructed views of the shoreline, and an enclosed lower deck with large windows. A galley offers snacks and beverages, including beer, wine and mixed drinks.
The 2026 season also included a temporary assignment outside Manistee. From Sept. 20 through Oct. 20, the Princess assisted Traverse City Discovery Tours while one of that company’s vessels was out of operation. It then returned to Manistee for the final weeks of the season, including special fall color excursions.
Passing Big Point Sable Lighthouse
A vessel with a long history
The Princess has spent more than half a century transporting passengers on the Great Lakes.
Built in 1973 by DeFoe Shipbuilding Co. of Bay City for Straits Transit Inc., the vessel was originally named Island Princess. It served as a passenger ferry between Mackinac Island and the mainland ports of Mackinaw City and St. Ignace.
The boat later operated under Arnold Transit Co., one of the longtime ferry operators serving Mackinac Island.
Following its service in the Straits of Mackinac, the vessel was used for sightseeing excursions on Lake Superior, including tours at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.
The all-aluminum vessel measures 65 feet, 7 inches long, with a beam of 20 feet, 5 inches and a depth of 7 feet, 3 inches. It is powered by twin Detroit Diesel engines, with a reported 895 horsepower, and is capable of reaching approximately 19 knots, or 22 mph.
The Princess is licensed to accommodate up to 148 passengers.
Princess arrives in Ludington
A Ludington connection
The vessel’s present-day history began in 2019, when Wally Laaksonen and his father, Capt. Al Laaksonen, purchased the boat with plans to operate sightseeing excursions along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
Capt. Al Laaksonen, who died in December 2024 at age 86, was well-known in Ludington’s sport fishing community. Nicknamed “The Finlander,” he began operating fishing charters out of Ludington in 1975 and became one of the pioneers of the Lake Michigan charter fishing industry.
After a 32-year career as director of off-campus life at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Al and his wife, Roberta, retired to Ludington.
In 2019, at age 80, Al decided he wanted to operate a passenger excursion boat. He and Wally subsequently purchased the Princess.
The boat began operating out of Ludington in 2020 as the Princess of Ludington. However, difficulties securing suitable dockage led the family to relocate the operation to Manistee in 2021.
The vessel was renamed the Princess of Manistee and has since become a familiar attraction along the Manistee Riverwalk and Lake Michigan shoreline.
In 2022, Manistee Harbor Tours was recognized as Emerging Business of the Year by the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce.
For Wally Laaksonen, an attorney by trade who has spent much of his life around charter fishing boats, operating the Princess has become a way to continue his father’s maritime legacy while introducing visitors to the beauty and history of the Lake Michigan shoreline.
The business has also remained a family operation, with Wally’s son, Gus, a high school senior, involved in the vessel’s activities.
Although the Princess operates from Manistee during the cruising season, Ludington continues to play an important role in its operations. Each spring, the boat makes the northbound voyage to Manistee, returning south in the fall for winter storage.
Sunday’s voyage brought the vessel back to the city where the Laaksonen family’s excursion boat operation began six years ago.
With its 2026 season complete, the Princess will spend the winter at Lake Street Marina before the next sailing season.
For more information about Manistee Harbor Tours, visit www.manisteeharbortours.com.
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