Great Lakes Fleet, Inc., is a shipping firm headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota. It operates a fleet of nine self-unloading bulk carriers on the Great Lakes, which transport dry bulk cargo such as iron ore, coal and limestone, the company was originally Pittsburgh Steamship Company.

Great Lakes Fleet (GLF)
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryTransportation
FoundedJuly 1, 1967; 59 years ago (July 1, 1967)
HeadquartersDuluth, Minnesota,
United States
Area served
Great Lakes (North America)
ParentCanadian National Railway Company
Websitewww.cn.ca/en/our-services/supply-chain-services/marine/
One of the Great Lakes Fleet ships.
The MV John G. Munson underway.

History

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Great Lakes Fleet was formed on July 1, 1967, when U.S. Steel consolidated its Great Lakes shipping operations by merging the Pittsburgh Steamship Division and its sister fleet, the Bradley Transportation Company forming the USS Great Lakes Fleet.[1]

In 1981, Great Lakes Fleet was spun off into a U.S. Steel–owned subsidiary, Transtar, Inc.[2]

Vessels

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  • SS Arthur M. Anderson – Last ship to have contact with the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
  • SS Cason J. Callaway
  • SS Phillip R. Clarke – First vessel of the 'AAA' Class ore carriers; the SS Arthur M. Anderson and the SS Cason J. Callaway are also of this class. The three are sometimes referred to as the "Triplets" because the three ships are nearly identical in dimensions and appearance.[citation needed]
  • MV John G. Munson
  • MV Roger Blough – First "super carrier" upon the lakes, with its keel laid in 1968, predating the larger 1,000-foot (300 m) vessels.
  • MV Edwin H. Gott – Formerly the most powerful vessel on the Great Lakes, with Enterprise DMRV-16-4 diesel engines and twin propellers, rated at 19,500 bhp (14,500 kW) as built; repowered in 2011
  • MV Edgar B. Speer
  • MV Presque Isle
  • MV Great Republic

Former vessels

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  • MV Calcite II
  • MV Myron C. Taylor
  • MV George A. Sloan – Sold to Lower Lakes Towing Limited, which renamed her MV Mississagi for the start of the 2001 season; scrapped in 2021
  • SS Irvin L. Clymer

References

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  1. Miller, Al (1999). Tin Stackers: The History of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company. Detroit, Mich.: Wayne State University Press. pp. 206, 349. ISBN 978-0-8143-2832-3.
  2. Bencomo, Phil (June 1, 2016). "Great Lakes Fleet's Ties to Duluth Stretch Back to 1901 and One Man's Refusal to Leave the Big Lake". Lake Superior Magazine.