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
MANISTEE — The MV Great Republic departed the Morton Salt terminal on Manistee Lake at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, after completing a coal delivery and is bound for Port Inland in northern Schoolcraft County.
Located on Lake Michigan near Gulliver, Port Inland is a deepwater commercial port that primarily serves the Inland Quarry, one of the largest limestone quarries in the Great Lakes region. The port regularly ships limestone aggregate by lake freighter to destinations throughout the Great Lakes.
The Great Republic is operated by Great Lakes Fleet Inc. of Duluth, Minnesota, and is managed by Key Lakes Inc. The vessel was built by Bay Shipbuilding Co. in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, in 1981. It was originally named American Republic and operated by American Steamship Co. before Great Lakes Fleet assumed operation of the vessel in 2011.
The Great Republic was the last of four similar River Class vessels built by Bay Shipbuilding. Its sister ships are Sam Laud, Buffalo and American Courage. The vessel was specifically designed to navigate Ohio’s Cuyahoga River, transporting taconite pellets from the Lorain Pellet Terminal and Cleveland Lakefront Docks to steel mills upriver. Its design allows it to carry about 20,000 tons on Cuyahoga River runs, more than most other vessels operating on the river.
The Great Republic is powered by two General Motors Electro-Motive Division 20-645-E7 diesel engines producing 7,200 brake horsepower.
The vessel measures 623 feet, 3 inches long, 68 feet wide and 40 feet deep. It has a loaded draft of 28 feet, 4 inches and a carrying capacity of 24,800 tons. Its self-unloading system features a 251-foot, 6-inch stern-mounted boom, six cargo holds and 21 hatches.
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