Alpena arrived in Duluth this evening loaded with cement.
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The Alpena began her career in 1942 as the Leon Fraser, built by Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Michigan.
Measuring 520 feet by 67 feet, she runs on a 4,000-horsepower turbine, cruising at 14 knots (about 15 mph).
Her holds carry nearly 14,000 tons—over half a million sixty-pound bags of cement.
Alpena was one of five AA-Class steamers built for Pittsburgh Steamship during World War II. She made her maiden voyage in June 1942, hauling iron ore from Detroit to Duluth.
In 1991, she was sold to Inland Lakes Management in Alpena, Michigan. At Fraser Shipyards in Superior, she was shortened by 120 feet and converted into a self-unloading cement carrier.
Following this conversion, she was renamed in honor of her home port: Alpena, Michigan.
With a crew of 21, Alpena still delivers cement across the Great Lakes—one of the oldest working freighters today.
Even after a major engine-room fire in 2015, she was repaired and returned to duty. This is proof that the spirit of these Great Lakes ships endures.
The SS Alpena—a living link to the proud maritime legacy of the Great Lakes.
