Season Opens with Mesabi Miner; Ice Challenges Ahead

The Great Lakes shipping season roared to life this week as the Soo Locks opened for traffic just after midnight Wednesday, March 26, and the *Mesabi Miner* departed Duluth on her maiden voyage of 2026. Within hours, two American Steamship Company 1,000-footers—*Indiana Harbor* and *Burns Harbor*—fueled and headed out from the Twin Ports bound for Two Harbors and Silver Bay respectively. At Thunder Bay, Ontario, the *MV Kathy McKeil* passed the breakwall at 3:23 p.m. on March 26, officially opening the Port of Thunder Bay for the season. Captain Adam Barnes and chief engineer Matthew Rankine were honored with the prestigious Top Hat Award for getting their vessel upbound first. The early awakening of Superior's fleet comes as the U.S. Coast Guard braces for a challenging spring. Between U.S. and Canadian operations, 11 icebreakers serve the Great Lakes, but the U.S. contingent of nine has two vessels down for repair. The Coast Guard's *Spar* cleared ice from Duluth-Superior harbor and cut a track to Thunder Bay as part of Operation Taconite, the largest domestic icebreaking operation covering the northern lakes. On the lower lakes, water levels remain above the Low Water Datum—Erie at 1.97 feet and Ontario at 2.01 feet—offering decent transit margins. Lake Superior sits 0.57 feet above datum. Back in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, the *Edgar B. Speer* entered the large graving dock at BayShip on March 24 for major repowering, her old engine already removed and new MAN 6L48/60CR diesels (19,310 bhp) on order. Meanwhile, the *John G. Munson*, which suffered engine trouble at the West Pier in Duluth, completed repairs and resumed her trip to Marquette to load ore. Tugs *Colorado* and *Cheraw* broke ice so the cutter could assist the disabled vessel, allowing upbound traffic to resume with *Paul R. Tregurtha* and *Kathy McKeil* following close behind. Wave forecasts across all five lakes remain moderate—1 to 3 feet—supporting safe passage as vessels shake off winter. The Great Lakes Now team continues tracking the region's environmental future, recently focusing on how commercial divers combat invasive mussel colonization and how the lakes could harness waste heat from sewers and data centers for clean energy. For freighter watchers, it's a promising start to the season.