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Photo of the Week: Great Lakes Freighter Celebrates the Holidays

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copper and white freighter on the Detroit River, with a Christmas tree on the center of the barge.

Great Lakes freighters pass by Belle Isle State Park, an island in the Detroit River north of downtown Detroit, regularly as they deliver raw materials to ports on the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway.

But it’s not often you see a Great Lakes freighter celebrating the holiday season with a Christmas tree onboard, as I did last Friday when the Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder tug-barge headed downbound on the Detroit River.

I didn’t notice the Christmas tree on the barge until it almost passed me!

Have to say in all my years watching freighters on the Detroit River, I’ve never seen one with a Christmas tree on it.

After doing some research online, I learned the Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder has been in service since 1999. In addition it:

  • Is a self-unloading unit
  • Carries up to 26,700 gross tons
  • Has 14 crew members
  • Regularly logs more than 100 trips each season

I’ll be watching for the Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder at the end of 2019 to see if it once again has a Christmas tree onboard.

Photo of the Week: Freighter Disappearing into the Morning Fog on the Detroit River

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ship traveling on the river as fog appears to engulf it
Great Lakes freighter Algowood

Early morning fog over the Detroit River made for an impressive view of the Great Lakes freighter Algowood as it disappeared into the fog.

It’s always a treat to see Great Lakes freighters on the river!

The freighter was traveling downbound from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada to Detroit, Michigan with a load of coal.

Yesterday morning I was out birdwatching on Belle Isle with the Washtenaw Audubon and Oakland Audubon groups when I saw the Algowood on the shipping channel west of the island and took photos from Sunset Point.

On a clear day or night, standing at Sunset Point will give you a view of the Ambassador Bridge over the Detroit River, connecting the downtown areas of Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario.

But with the morning fog, the bridge is nowhere to be seen.

If you look carefully on the shoreline, you’ll see the faint outline of the Renaissance Center towers in downtown Detroit and the tall buildings of downtown Windsor on the opposite shore.

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