The Stewart J. Cort

The ship that I actually saw in the Locks (but not well enough for a picture) was the Stewart J. Cort which is owned by the Interlakes Shipping Company. It is a very unusual looking ship.This is the ship as she is leaving the Poe Lock.

The Stewart J. Cort was built in Pascagoula, Mississippi in 1970 and was transported to the Great Lakes in two pieces in order to get through the Welland Canal. The pieces were reunited at Erie Marine in Erie, PA.

She was one of the first 1000 footers and was named after the Vice President of Bethlehem Steel at the time.

She is powered by four General Motors diesel engines for a total horspower of 14,000. She can carry 58,000 tons of cargo and is the only 1000 footer to have a pilot house in the front.

She does not have the traditional self unloading boom but uses a shuttle boom.

She has a regular run between the BNSF docks in Superior and the Bethlehem Steel Mill in Burns Harbor, Indiana. She has the distinction of using the Duluth piers the least amongst the Lake ships.