2024 Freighters and Boats in Michigan Photo Gallery
Michigan’s unique location with shoreline on four of the five Great Lakes makes it one of the best places to watch freighters as they travel. These large boats continue to draw crowds when they arrive at and depart from ports like Muskegon, Marquette, Detroit, Manistee, Monroe, Saginaw, Ludington, Sault Ste. Marie, and more. The Soo Locks are a great place for watching freighters as they travel between Lake Huron and Lake Superior, but that’s not the only place you can see these big vessels up close. Looking for freighters is always a part of our travels throughout the state, and this year we managed to see quite a few.
The photo gallery below shows the freighters we saw in 2024. We made a few visits to Sault Ste. Marie, two trips to Port Huron, caught a handful of passages under the Mackinac Bridge, and saw ships in Cheboygan and Marquette as well. If you’re looking to go out and do some boat watching of your own, we recommend the Marine Traffic app, the Know Your Ships book by Roger LeLievre, and the website Boatnerd.com. There are also many Facebook groups where people frequently post pictures of ships in various locations throughout Michigan and the Great Lakes region.
A few highlights this years was seeing the Happy Ranger, our first time seeing one of the bright yellow boats from the Big Lift Shipping/Spliethoff Group fleet. Other firsts for us this year included seeing two ships leave Grand Haven, and one arrive in Holland. A dozen of the boats featured in this gallery were ones we saw for the first time in 2024. We also had a few ships that we saw in multiple locations through the course of the year. The cruise ship industry also continued to have a heavy presence here in Michigan, and we saw a few of them as they passed through Port Huron and Sault Ste. Marie. We also made more of an effort to get some pictures of the smaller boats that work on the Great Lakes, like the tug fleets and ferry boats. Photos below are in alphabetical order and are labeled with the ship name, location, and date.
The Algoma Guardian in Sarnia, Ontario in April. Viewed from Pine Grove Park in Port Huron
The Algoma Harvester passes by Rotary Park in Sault Ste. Marie in August.
We saw the Algoma Harvester again in September as it passed by the Blue Water River Walk in Port Huron.
The Algoma Strongfield passing the museum ship Valley Camp (Sault Ste. Marie) in August.
Stern view of the Algoma Strongfield as it leaves Sault Ste. Marie on a rainy August day.
The Algotitan in Sarnia in September, viewed from Port Huron.
Classic freighter Alpena approaching the Soo Locks in October.
The Canadian Steamship Lines freighter Atlantic Huron locks through the Poe Lock, with the Soo Loacks Boat Tour Hiawatha locking through the MacArthur Lock at the same time. Photographed in June.
The tug Avenger IV and other boats from the Purvis Marine fleet in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Viewed from a Famous Soo Locks Boat Tours trip in August.
The Badger returns to Ludington in July. This coal-powered car and passenger ferry is the last of its kind and makes daily trips between Michigan and Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
The 1,000 foot Burns Harbor passing under the Mackinac Bridge in September, photographed from McGulpin Point.
The Capt. Shepler of Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry heads to the island on one of its many daily trips. The Shepler’s fleet was the only one in service for part of this year, which kept its boats very busy. Photographed in September.
Tug Carol Ann of King Company (Holland) photographed in Muskegon this April.
The Cason J. Callaway, a favorite freighter for many, awaits its fate in Escanaba. She has been in long-term layup here since December of 2023 and we were happy to at least get a few pictures this June in case she never returns to service.
The Corsair and The Senator, two Arnold Freight Services vessels, photographed in St. Ignace in August.
The Drummond Islander II is a former car ferry. It was at MCM Marine in August when we took a boat cruise with Famous Soo Locks Boat Tours.
The Edenborg, a saltwater vessel from the Wagneborg fleet that flies under the flag of the Netherlands, passes by the Kemp Marina in Sault Ste. Marie in October.
One of the highlights of our Famous Soo Locks Boat Tours cruise in August was getting some amazing shots of the 1,004 foot Edwin H. Gott of the Great Lakes Fleet.
The Edwin H. Gott (Poe Lock) and the Manitowoc (MacArthur Lock) head into the Soo Locks in August. This was our second time on a Soo Locks cruise and the first time we got to watch freighters locking through!
In April, we saw the Emerald Isle docked in Charlevoix. She is the larger of the two boats in the Beaver Island Boat Company fleet, transporting passengers and vehicles to and from Beaver Island.
We got to watch the Erie Trader/Clyde S. VanEnkevort tug/barge combo load iron ore in Marquette in June.
We also saw the Erie Trader/Clyde S. VanEnkevort as they passed Rotary Park in Sault Ste. Marie in October.
On our Famous Soo Locks Boat Tours cruise in August we saw the Federal Yukina unloading at the Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario dock.
The Felicity is another boat in the Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry fleet, seen here at Mackinac Island in September.
The tug Fischer Hayden and barge Justin Avery doing some work on Lake Charlevoix in April.
The G3 Marquis passing by Sault Ste. Marie’s Rotary Park in June.
In October, we got the chance to see a boat arrive in nearby Holland for the first time. The Great Republic is shown here photographed from Kollen Park, and then close up from the Verplank dock where it unloaded cargo.
The H. Lee White leaving Sault Ste. Marie in October, seen from the LSSU Center for Freshwater Research and Education and then from Rotary Park.
The Big Lift saltwater freighter Happy Ranger passes through the Straits of Mackinac in June, photographed from the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse park.
The Harbour Fountain in Sarnia, Ontario, photographed from Port Huron in September.
We saw the Herbert C. Jackson a couple times this year. We first saw it at Port Dolomite (photographed from the Bush Bay/Narnia Trail) in October.
In early November we saw the Herbert C. Jackson again as it backed out of the river channel in Grand Haven.
The Holiday and the Hiawatha of the Original Soo Locks Boat Tours, photographed in August in Sault Ste. Marie.
The Holland Princess, a paddlewheel riverboat that offers dinner cruises and more on Lake Macatawa and Lake Michigan, photographed in October.
The barge Ironmaster of Purvis Marine in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Photographed in October from across the river in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
The saltwater vessel Isabelle G. moving through the Soo Locks in August.
The John J. Boland passes under the Mackinac Bridge, photographed in Mackinaw City in August.
The Kaye E. Barker slowly approaching the Soo Locks in October.
The Kokosing/Durocher Marine tugboat fleet in Cheboygan, including General, Nancy Anne, Champion, and Wm. Boyd. Photographed from our Nautical North Adventures Shipwreck Cruise in September.
The Kristen D. of Plaunt Transportation, Inc. passes by the Cheboygan Crib Light in September. This boat take passengers and vehicles to and from Bois Blanc Island.
Cruise ship Le Champlain passed under the International Bridge in Sault Ste. Marie. Photographed from the West Pier Drive-In in October, it is owned by Ponant and can carry 180 passengers.
The Le Voyageur is part of the Famous Soo Locks Boat Tours fleet, photographed in August at the dock in Sault Ste. Marie.
Little Traverse Bay Ferry boat Miss Lauren, which makes daily trips between Petoskey – Harbor Springs – Bay Harbor. Photographed while on our sunset cruise aboard the Harbor Princess, July.
Polsteam freighter Lubie passes the boardwalk in Saint Clair in September.
In April we were able to photograph the Manitoulin as she left Muskegon.
The Manitowoc was another freighter that we got to see during our Famous Soo Locks Boat Tours cruise in August.
We got to see one of the newest Great Lakes freighters, the Mark W. Barker, for the first time this year. Here she is unloading at Brewer’s City Dock in Holland in August.
The Mark W. Barker was back in Holland when we visited in October, this time unloading at the Verplank dock.
In October, the barge Maumee and tug Victory passed by Rotary Park in Sault Ste. Marie.
The McKee Sons remains in long-term layup in Muskegon. Photographed in November with the H. Lee White in the background.
The barge Menominee and tug Olive L. Moore passed by Rotary Park in Sault Ste. Marie during our visit in August.
In May we watched as the 1,003 foot Mesabi Miner passed under the Mackinac Bridge.
Miss Margy is another boat in the Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry fleet. She was built in 2015 right here in Michigan and can hold 281 passengers.
The research vessel NOAA Laurentian is shown in Muskegon in April.
We saw the Northern Venture twice this year, the first time being in early August as it passed by Rotary Park in Sault Ste. Marie.
We then saw the Northern Venture at the end of August in Grand Haven, which was our first time watching a freighter back out of the river channel and pass the famous Grand Haven Lighthouse.
The Ojibway is a small boat that runs supplies to freighters as they pass through Sault Ste. Marie. It is owned by Soo Marine Supply and was photographed during our August Soo Locks boat tour.
The saltwater ship Perelik passed by Kemp Marina in October. She is shown with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers boat S/V J.D. Mackin.
The Presque Isle tug/barge waiting to enter the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, August.
The Ranger III passenger ferry runs between Houghton and Isle Royale National Park. She is photographed here in June as she passes under the Portage Lake Lift Bridge.
We saw the Robert S. Pierson a handful of times this year. The first time was in June when we watch her arrive in Muskegon, passing by the Muskegon South Pier Lighthouse.
The next time we saw the Robert S. Pierson was in August, as it was unloading at Algoma Steel in Ontario when we took our Soo Locks boat cruise.
The Robert S. Pierson also happened to be in the Detroit area when we stopped to check out progress on the new Gordie Howe International Bridge in September.
Ryba Marine Construction tug Rochelle Kaye, photographed during our Nautical North Adventures shipwreck cruise in Cheboygan this September.
Canada Steamship Lines freighter Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin passed by Marysville when we visited in April.
The Saginaw passed by Rotary Park in Sault Ste. Marie when we made our fall color trip to the area in October.
The former railroad car ferry Spartan remains in Ludington, with the former Army tug LT-805 alongside.
The 95 foot Spencer F. Baird is a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service vessel that does research and fish release projects. We saw it as it returned to Cheboygan in September.
The Great Lakes Maritime Academy training vessel State of Michigan was another ship we saw multiple times this year. We first saw her in June from the shoreline of the De Tour Peninsula Nature Preserve.
A September visit to Port Huron once again saw us running into the State of Michigan, this time viewing it from the Wetlands County Park.
The Stewart J. Cort, the first 1000 foot freighter on the Great Lakes, passed under the Mackinac Bridge when we visited the area in September.
The Sugar Islander II is a car/passenger ferry that runs a short trip between Sault Ste. Marie and Sugar Island. With its dock being right next to Rotary Park (our favorite place for boatwatching), we usually see it in action quite a few times each year.
The Ugly Anne II runs boat tours through the Straits of Mackinac and under the Mackinac Bridge. Ugly Anne Boat Tours opened for business in 2011, and this is their second boat (60 person capacity) that entered service this year.
In September we got to see the classic freighter Wilfred Sykes pass under the Mackinac Bridge.
The Wyandot is another boat in the Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry fleet, shown here leaving Mackinac Island in September.