The Mighty Queen of the Lakes

The next ship is one that I see fairly often but despite that, I'm always happy to see her.

 At 1013.5 feet long, the Paul R. Tregurtha is the largest ship on the Great Lakes.

 Because of that, she has the unofficial title of "Queen of the Lakes" and given current conditions, it is a title she is likely to hold until her eventual scrapping.

 She is capable of carrying 68,000 tons of cargo which is the equivalent of seven 100 car trains.  I'm not sure how many trucks that would replace but it's a lot.

 Because of her size, she (and the other 1,000 footers) can only go through the Poe Lock.  Since they carry the bulk of the cargo on the Great Lakes, it would not be good if the Poe Lock ever had any serious issues.  Which is why it is important that Congress gets off its ass and approve the money for the new lock.

 A shot of her stern.  She is registered in a city that she will never see but at least it's still the United States.

I believe she was on her way to St. Clair, MI with a load of coal.