Another Ultra-Futuristic Ship Makes its First Great Lakes Appearance

We’ve had a few of this type of ship this year now, and they still never get old! With a bow mounted superstructure reminiscent of the lakers of old, two towering cranes, plus a rounded bow and… a hull full of holes and an exhaust funnel that vents out the side? Mighty strange vessels. This is the fifth or sixth vessel of this type we’ve had visit Duluth this year and I still don’t quite get them, but that’s part of the appeal! This particular one was a bit of a surprise, she was up in Thunder Bay then left for Duluth rather abruptly, only appearing on the schedule a couple hours before arrival. So I cut my hike short and headed for the Canal. BBC Basel was built in 2025 for the German BBC fleet. Measuring 492ft long with a capacity of 14,700 tons, she is a multi-purpose heavy lift ship capable of carrying almost any non liquid cargo. In this case, it was a load of industrial equipment originating supposedly from China, which was rather surprising to me since that’s hardly a common trading partner with Duluth. Most cargo from there ships into the West Coast and distributed from there, meaning this ship went through the Panama Canal, up the Easter seaboard and through the Lakes, a good additional month long trip. Not entirely sure what they were carrying but it must be massive pieces of equipment that they wanted to limit overland travel for to justify such an odd route. The ship arrived with a salute and as always, Duluth showed up to welcome them for the first time! Hope you enjoy!