The Calumet passes the Badger as it enters Pere Marquette Lake.
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.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
LUDINGTON — The MV Calumet arrived in the Port of Ludington about 9 a.m. today, delaying the S.S. Badger’s scheduled 9 a.m. departure to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, by about 30 minutes.
Just before 9 a.m., when the Calumet was about a mile off the Ludington pierheads, the crew radioed the Badger to coordinate the two vessels’ movements. The Badger remained at its dock while the freighter entered the channel and proceeded to Pere Marquette Lake.
The Calumet navigates the Manistee River, passing the Maple Street drawbridge.
The 630-foot self-unloading bulk carrier arrived from Port Inland, where it loaded limestone, and delivered stone to the Great Lakes Materials terminal on Pere Marquette Lake, operated by Rieth-Riley Construction. After completing its discharge in Ludington, the vessel departed about noon and steamed north to Manistee.
The Calumet arrived in Manistee about 3 p.m., where it unloaded the remainder of its cargo at Rieth-Riley’s terminal on Manistee Lake.
The Calumet is operated by Grand River Navigation of Traverse City, a subsidiary of Mainstay Maritime of Williamsville, New York. The vessel was built in 1973 by American Shipbuilding Co. in Lorain, Ohio, for Union Commerce Bank of Ohio and was originally managed by Kinsman Marine Transit. It was christened William R. Roesch before later being renamed Calumet.
The Calumet enters Ludington harbor, passing the Barry J tug and dredging operation.
The vessel is powered by two ALCO V16 diesel engines and has a top speed of about 14 knots, or 16 mph. It has a carrying capacity of nearly 20,000 tons of bulk cargo, including limestone, coal and other aggregates.
The Badger departed Ludington about 9:30 a.m. following the Calumet’s arrival and transit through the harbor.
The Calumet enters the Manistee River
_____________________________________
Please Support Local News and Sports Coverage
Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide you with free local news.
The payment can be paid monthly through PayPal: Click this link.
To sign up for an annual subscription, email editor@mediagroup31.com. In the subject line write: Subscription. Please supply your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number (indicate cell phone). We will not share your information with any outside sources.
For more than one email address in a household, the cost is $15 per month per email address.
We can send you an invoice for a yearly payment of $120, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454 (please include your email address).
Payment must be made in advance prior to subscription activation.
We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.
_____
This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2026, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.
.png)
