John J Boland

I decided to go up to Metro Beach for a Voyageur Encampment (more on that later) and before I left I decided to check the boat site to see if ther would be a ship passing through Detroit around the time I would be passing through. I was happy to find out that there would be a ship at that time, so a short detour to Belle Isle was in order. This was the first ship I saw.

The John J. Boland was built as the Charles E. Wilson in 1973 by the Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin for the American Shipbuilding Company. In 2000, she was renamed the John J. Boland as the orginal ship with that name was sold to Lower Lakes Towing and renamed the Saginaw.

She can sale up to 13 knots and is a self unloader. She was the first ship to enter service under an act that was used to beef up the American Merchant Marine.

She is 680 feet long and can carry 33,800. She remains very active on the Great Lakes.