After dinner, it was on to the Soo Locks. I was happy to see that there was already a ship in the locks and another one waiting to go through. The one in the locks was the Stewart J Cort (more about that one later) and the one waiting to go through was the James R. Barker. Neither ship has made an appearance on this blog, so that was pretty cool.
She was built in 1976 by the American Shipbuilding Company in Lorain, Ohio. She is the first 1000 footer built for the Interlakes Company and also the first to be entirely constructed on the Lakes. She was the first 1000 footer to have everything contained in the superstructure located at the stern and was the model for the 10 that followed her.
She is powered by two 8,000 horsepower diesel engines which gives her a speed of almost 16 knots. She is also equipped with a bow thruster.
She is 1,004 feet long and can carry 63,300 tons of cargo which is about 30 times the capacity of Interlake's first steamer, the V.H. Ketchum (from the 1800's).
In 1986, she had an engine fire but was repaired and noone was injured.
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