This MCP Boat Blog is presented by the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum, www.masoncountymihistory.org.

Story and photos by Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief

LUDINGTON — One of the oldest working vessel combinations on the Great Lakes arrived in Ludington Monday morning, Sept. 21, as the tug Olive L. Moore pushed the self-unloading barge Menominee into Pere Marquette Lake.

The 728-foot articulated tug-barge unit arrived mid-morning and docked at the Great Lakes Materials terminal on Pere Marquette Lake, operated by Rieth-Riley Construction Co., to unload construction aggregate.

The aggregate handled through the terminal is used for road building and other construction projects.

Automatic Identification System tracking showed the Olive L. Moore/Menominee had spent much of the previous week working between northern Lake Huron and the industrial ports at the southern end of Lake Michigan.

The tug/barge called at Calcite, near Rogers City, Sept. 11 and departed early Sept. 12. It subsequently traveled to Indiana Harbor, arriving Sept. 14. After departing Sept. 15, the vessel returned to Indiana Harbor Sept. 16 and left again late Sept. 17. AIS information at that time listed Burns Harbor, Indiana, as its next destination.

The Olive L. Moore/Menominee is operated by Grand River Navigation.

The combination has one of the more unusual histories among commercial vessels still operating on the Great Lakes.

The Olive L. Moore was built in 1928 by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, as the tug John F. Cushing for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. of Chicago. At 98 years old, it is among the oldest commercial vessels still in active service on the Great Lakes.

It was renamed James E. Skelly in 1965 and became Olive L. Moore in 1968.

The Olive L. Moore/Menominee departs Ludington as the Lee R. Tregurtha passes in the distance.

The tug underwent several rebuilds during its career and spent decades handling barges around the Great Lakes. In 1991 it was converted into an articulated tug and was paired with the former lake freighter McKee Sons.

After several years of limited service beginning in 2000, the Moore was rebuilt again in 2006 and returned to service paired with the self-unloading barge Lewis J. Kuber.

Grand River Navigation acquired the pair in 2011. The barge was renamed Menominee in 2017.

The Menominee dates to 1952, the same year the S.S. Spartan was built. The two 74-year-old vessels could be seen together Monday in Pere Marquette Lake, with the working Menominee unloading at the Great Lakes Materials terminal and the Spartan moored nearby at the Lake Michigan Carferry dock.

The comparison provides a contrast between two surviving Great Lakes vessels of the same vintage. The Spartan entered service for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway in October 1952, carrying railroad cars, automobiles and passengers between Ludington and Wisconsin. It was laid up in Ludington Sept. 10, 1979 and has not returned to commercial service.

The Spartan was steamed up in spring 1980 for a proposed lease to operate for the Ann Arbor Railroad out of Frankfort, but the plan was abandoned after it was determined that Frankfort harbor was too shallow for the vessel.

The Spartan remains owned by Lake Michigan Carferry, a subsidiary of Interlake Maritime Services, which acquired LMC in 2020.

The Menominee, meanwhile, continued through several conversions during its working career. Originally built as a conventional Great Lakes bulk carrier, it was later converted into a self-unloader and eventually into the articulated barge that operates today with the Olive L. Moore.

The Olive L. Moore is 125 feet long, while the Menominee measures 628 feet. When coupled together, the unit has an overall length of approximately 728 feet.

The tug/barge regularly carries limestone, slag and other bulk commodities used by the construction and industrial sectors throughout the Great Lakes. It departed Ludington about 3 p.m.

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