Next Up...The Joyce Van Enkevort / Great Lakes Trader

The next pair of ships is actually a pair of barges.

 The first of that pair is the barge Great Lakes Trader.  She is another one I thought I was seeing for the first time.  Sadly, that is not the case.

 One of the advantages for the company is that it takes less crew to run.  I would imagine that the tug with newer engines is more fuel efficient that the vessel she is replacing.

 One of the disadvantages is that they are ugly.  But to each his own, I guess.

 The Great Lakes Trader is pushed by the tug Joyce Van Enkevort.  They are owned by the VAn Enkevort company out of Escanaba.

 Unlike some of the other tug/barge combinations out there, this one was purposely built as one.  The Great Lakes Trader is a new barge and not one converted from another ship.  Until the new ships by Algoma and CSL come out, I think she represents the newest vessel on the lakes.

 For these next shots, I was in a different spot because they are later in the day.

 But I figured I would group them here.

One more shot of the tug.