Capt. Gregg Andersen
Masters of the PM Steamers
This Great Lakes History Log is presented by Filer Credit Union, the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum and Sable Points Media.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
LUDINGTON — Few people have spent more time watching Lake Michigan carferries than Capt. Gregg Andersen.
Long before he commanded the SS Badger, Andersen was a boy standing along the Buttersville shoreline with binoculars, tracking the movements of the ships that connected Ludington with ports across Wisconsin.
“I always had a view of the carferries going in and out,” Andersen said. “In the winter, before the condos were built on the peninsula, I’d ride my snowmobile down to the end of the Buttersville Peninsula during storms just to watch them or take pictures. I have thousands of prints and slides, and hundreds of hours of videos of various vessels.”
Andersen in command of the Badger in 1992.
Anderson recently donated his extensive video collection to the Mason County Historical Society’s Rose Hawley Archives. Many of those videos will eventually be connected to an interactive exhibit planned in the near future for the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum.
His fascination in ships developed into a lifelong career that eventually made Andersen one of the youngest captains.
Growing up on his family’s historic farm near Phillips Cemetery at the end of Chauvez Road in Pere Marquette Township, Andersen became captivated by the ferries while still a teenager. A cousin from Milwaukee introduced him to the history of the vessels, while his uncle, Howard Harrington, served as chief engineer aboard the Pere Marquette 22 and later the Spartan.
By the mid-1970s, Andersen had already decided his future would be on the Great Lakes.
After graduating from Ludington High School in 1979, he attended the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City. He earned a first-class pilot’s license in 1982, but the recession had depressed shipping opportunities. Instead, he joined the National Ocean Survey, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, helping locate shipwrecks along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
Though he had been in command of the Badger, his favorite ship was the City of Midland 41
His first professional ferry assignment came unexpectedly in 1983 while home for his brother’s wedding. The City of Midland 41 needed a relief mate.
“I worked eight days aboard her that August, which was my first job using my license,” Andersen said.
The following year he joined Michigan-Wisconsin Transportation, then owner of the Ludington carferries, full-time.
During the 1980s, Andersen worked aboard the City of Midland and Badger, serving as both purser and relief mate. He later sailed with Interlake Steamship Company, which now owns the carferry service, before returning to the Ludington ferry operation in 1991 after Holland, Mich. businessman and Ludington native Charles Conrad purchased it and established Lake Michigan Carferry.
As the operation transitioned from freight service to a passenger-focused business, Andersen and fellow crew members helped transform the aging vessel.
“Everyone worked to get the Badger ready,” he said. “We were doing electrical work, tearing out panels and preparing the ship for her maiden season under the new ownership.”
One of the most visible changes involved covering the railroad tracks on the car deck with approximately 300 tons of asphalt, symbolizing the end of the ferry’s railroad freight era and its future as a passenger and vehicle carrier.
In the spring of 1993, Andersen rose to captain of the Badger, taking command at age 30, making him one of the youngest, if not the youngest, master in the fleet’s 100-plus-year-old history. He replaced Capt. Bruce Masse (1932-2015) who had retired (and later returned).
The achievement came with challenges. Anderson had just began his tenure when on June 13, 1993, the 410-foot-long Badger struck the Ludington north breakwater and later required repairs in Sturgeon Bay. The carferry had just begun its double sailings schedule and another captain had been in command.
Although Andersen was not in command, nor was he even on the ship at the time of the accident, he said some assumed otherwise because of his position and age. Despite the unwarranted scrutiny, Andersen earned the respect of crews and mentors who represented the final generation of officers from the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway ferry era.
Capt. Ernest Barth
Among those mentors were Capt. Ernest Barth (1925-2002), former master of the Badger, and Capt. John Bissell (1924-2013).
“Capt. Barth trained me in handling the Badger,” Andersen said. “He lived on Dowland Street and would often ride his scooter over to the dock to watch me bring the ship in. On days with certain sea and wind conditions he would ride the 43 (the number unofficially assigned to the Badger) offering his thoughts and advice.”
Capt. Bissell, who had been the last captain of both the Spartan and the City of Milwaukee, also played a major role in my development, Andersen said.
Andersen considers the City of Midland his favorite vessel.
He remembered the ship as exceptionally well maintained, with crew quarters located near the galley on the Texas deck.
“You’d wake up smelling breakfast cooking,” he said. “It was a comfortable place to work.”
When he first commanded the Badger, navigation still depended heavily on magnetic compasses, radar and experience.
“GPS was just beginning to appear,” Andersen recalled. “We simply set a course for Wisconsin and used visual landmarks and radar to make the crossing.”
Capt. John Bissell in command of a carferry
Following his departure from Lake Michigan Carferry in 1995, Andersen worked as a Great Lakes pilot guiding foreign vessels through the upper lakes. Eventually, he decided to “go ashore” and pursue a career in marine management. Now retired, he divides his time between Ludington and Phoenix, Ari.
Andersen remains optimistic about the Badger’s future under Interlake Maritime Services, which acquired the ferry operation in 2020.
“The fact that they invested heavily in rebuilding the dock infrastructure after the slip collapse demonstrates their commitment,” he said. “I think the Badger has a strong future under Interlake ownership.”
Looking back on a career that began with a teenager watching ferries through binoculars from Buttersville, Andersen said he would change little.
“Working on the ferries, even as a purser, was one of my favorite jobs,” he said. “It was a simple life and a good one.”
Among all the memories accumulated during decades on Lake Michigan, one remains especially vivid.
After repairs in Sturgeon Bay, Andersen brought the Badger back to Ludington at sunset.
“The weather was perfect, the ship looked brand new and it felt like I was delivering a new vessel to the community,” he said. “It was one of the most satisfying moments of my career.”
Masters of the PM Steamers series to date:
- Capt. John Stewart was first skipper of the Ludington fleet 150 years ago
- Capt. Muir commanded first Ludington ‘black boat’ until his death
- Ludington fleet captain Duddleson skippered the famed L.C. Waldo during the 1913 storm
- The remarkable career of Capt. Joseph Russell
- Capt. John Doyle, first master of the PM 19
- Capt. Dority commanded several PM ships, the Ann Arbor 2 and the notorious Eastland
- Three generations of Robertsons commanded carferries
- Searching for the masters of Lake Michigan’s railroad steamers
Family histories needed
Editor’s Note: I am seeking historical artifacts and stories from people whose family members worked as ship captains or in Ludington’s maritime industry. While this project focuses on the Ludington carferry fleet, I am also interested in items related to anyone from Mason County who worked on the Great Lakes or oceans.
This series has three goals:
- To share Ludington’s rich maritime history with readers of the Mason County Press.
- To publish a biographical book about the Ludington fleet captains.
- To create an interactive kiosk exhibit at the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum for historical research.
I am looking for artifacts such as photographs, written documents, or digitized materials. Items will be placed in the Mason County Historical Society archives, and donors will receive documentation of their contribution.
If you have items or stories to share, please email editor@mediagroup31.com or call/text 231-757-3202.
Note: I am also interested in collections related to the Mason County railroad industry.
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