Dirk S. VanEnkevort Heads to Soo Locks to Open Season

The tug-barge Dirk S. VanEnkevort and Michigan Trader departed Toledo, Ohio, late Friday morning to begin their season and make what could be the first passage through the Soo Locks of 2026. The VanEnkevort Tug & Barge fleet vessel, already fueled and ready, is expected to arrive at the locks March 22 or 23, depending on ice conditions in the lower St. Marys River. Captain Eric Sawyer, who commands the Dirk, was master of the Clyde S. VanEnkevort, which opened the Soo season last year—a sign the company puts experience and consistency first when the season restarts. Elsewhere on the lower lakes, the Herbert C. Jackson experienced mechanical trouble in the narrow Livingstone Channel while downbound earlier this week. After tying up at Monroe, Michigan, under escort by two Great Lakes Towing tugs, the Jackson reversed course Thursday and headed back to Ecorse, near Detroit, where she had begun her seasonal move downbound from winter layup Tuesday. The Whitefish Bay, meanwhile, departed Sarnia Friday after repairing bow damage sustained in a Windsor docking incident; she's bound for Chicago, likely with salt cargo. Frontenac, which stepped in to handle the Whitefish Bay's salt commitments, has returned to short layup at Port Colborne. In Sarnia, the Harvest Spirit loaded grain Thursday—the season's first grain cargo from that port—bound for Baie Comeau, Quebec. Water levels across the lakes remain healthy for navigation, with Lake Ontario at 1.95 feet above Low Water Datum and Lake Erie at 1.72 feet. Light winds and modest seas favor the opening push north. The Soo Locks themselves open at 12:01 a.m. on March 25, though early passages may be accommodated pending ice conditions. Upstream, restoration efforts for arctic grayling—a species lost from Michigan waters nearly a century ago due to overfishing and introduced predators—show that the Great Lakes ecosystem is beginning to heal where humans commit to it.