The Prentiss Brown/St Marys Challenger Passes By

 I think this was another last journey of the season, but I'm not sure.

She was heading to Toledo as I was taking this picture.

I assume that means she was delivering to the cement plant there.

As I look her up on AIS, I see that she is in Cleveland now.

I think that means she's got at least one more trip in her because ships don't typically lay up in Cleveland.

The Prentiss Brown/St Marys Challenger Makes an Appearance

 The next vessel was actually moving.

As I was about to take pictures of the Frontenac from another spot, I saw this vessel moving by.  The vessel in question was the Prentiss Brown pushing the St Marys Challenger.  The barge used to be the ship St Marys Challenger (amongst others), she was the oldest self powered freighter on the Lake at 106 years old.  I think her owners tried to save her as a freighter but found it to be economically unfeasible (I suspect she needed work in the engine room).  She was then converted to a barge and soldiers on as such.  She's not nearly as pretty as she was as a freighter but she's doing what she was built to do, so that's good I guess.

The Prentiss Brown/St. Marys Challenger Passes By

 As I was taking pictures of the Alpena, the next ship passed by.

The tug Prentiss Brown was pushing the now barge St. Marys Challenger.

The St. Marys Challenger used to be the oldest self powered freighter on the Lakes.

But I think she had issues, so they ended up converting her to a barge.

That keeps her in business I guess.

She is being pushed by the tug Prentiss Brown.

She passes by.

A shot of the Canadian side of the Gordie Howe bridge.

A shot of the tug.

And she continues on her way to Toledo.

The St Marys Challenger Makes an Appearance

 The next ship was kind of a bittersweet catch.

The St Marys Challenger used to be the oldest self powered freighter on the Lakes.  When they decided to convert her into a tug/barge she was 106 years old.

Many boat nerds were upset to see her converted into a barge and I was one of them but then I realized that the company that owned her must have had their reasons.

She was a well cared for ship and cement is a pretty easy cargo for ships.  She also tended to stay on Lake Michigan.

Still 106 years is a long time for a ship.  When you consider that most salt water vessels last about 20 to 30 years.

The Canadian ships last around 50 years.

Many of the American boats are in their 70s but they aren't going to be around much longer.

I would imagine that the company that owned her looked into all possibilities and at the end, converting her to a barge was the best option.

She still has pretty nice lines.

The Prentiss Brown that is pushing her looks pretty nice.

I switched over to my drone.

It was pretty cool

The beam shot.

She was moving slow enough that I was able to get some different angles.

You can see how well the tug fits into her.

And she continues on.

She was heading to Charlevoix.