December 6, 2023 - Sea News
United Seamen’s Service’s 54th annual Admiral of the Ocean Sea (AOTOS) Awards were presented to Mark W. Barker, President of Interlake Maritime Services; George Pasha IV, President and CEO of The Pasha Group; and Adam Vokac, District and National President of the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A.).October 20, 2023 - TV6
TV6′s Elizabeth Peterson travels with the crew as they leave the St. Mary’s River and head to Burns Harbor, IndianaOctober 19, 2023 - TV6
The Lee A. drops 21 feet through the Poe Lock from Lake Superior to the St. Mary’s RiverOctober 18, 2023 - TV6
TV6′s Elizabeth Peterson heads into the galley to see how the Steward of the ship prepares food for the 22-person crewOctober 17, 2023 - TV6
TV6′s Elizabeth Peterson, aboard the vessel, talks with the crew about balancing family, friends and life on the ship with life at homeOctober 16, 2023 - TV6
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - For those along Lake Superior they are perhaps the most photographed, the most iconic, the most mysterious attraction of the Upper Peninsula. We’re captivated by them, drawn to them. We sit along the shore watching as they glide through the water, seemingly unphased by the wind, waves and wild weather conditions. We track them. Tourists plan trips for a chance to view them. We’re in awe at their size and all they accomplish. They have become a symbol of who we are. The ore boats of the Great Lakes. Rich in history. Rich in U-P culture. They are as much a part of us as the food we eat, the snow we shovel, and the mountains we climb. This week, TV6′s Elizabeth Peterson takes you along on a journey through the Great Lakes aboard the Lee A. Tregurtha, a vessel with the Interlake Steamship Company.March 28, 2023 - Crain's Cleveland Business
August 31, 2022 - www.cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A new freighter is sailing the Great Lakes and carrying cargo in and out of the Cuyahoga River. The Mark W. Barker, a 639-foot bulk carrier, is the 10th ship in the Interlake Steamship Co.’s fleet, a Great Lakes carrier headquartered in Middleburg Heights. It’s the company’s first newly built ship since 1981. The MWB arrived in Cleveland this week after embarking from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where it was built by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding. It’s already made eight deliveries.November 1, 2021 - Door County Pulse
It’s been almost four decades since a new bulk carrier ship joined the Great Lakes fleet, a hiatus broken last Thursday after workers opened the valves to flood the dry dock at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay to launch the Mark W. Barker. “This is a huge milestone for all of us to be able to put the boat in the water for the first time,” said the vessel’s namesake, Mark Barker, president of Interlake Steamship, which commissioned and owns the ship. The 639-foot-long, 75-foot-wide bulk freighter received full maritime honors Oct. 28, including a large crowd, speeches and the crack of a ceremonial bottle of champagne against the bow of the ship above the vessel’s nameplate.May 12, 2021 - Bridge Michigan
SAULT STE. MARIE—In hard hats and safety vests, the two women shimmy up aluminum boarding ladders onto a converted World War II tanker. The rumble of the ship’s 8,040-horsepower engine makes conversation near-impossible on this blue sky morning. But public health workers Charity Zimmerman, a nurse, and Jill Schaefer, a clerk, know the drill on these steel giants that travel through the Soo Locks, the iconic commercial squeeze point between lakes Huron and Superior.