River-class freighter

In April 2019, it was announced that Interlake had ordered a single River-class ship from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.[1] The vessel was the first new ship ordered by Interlake since 1981, and the first Great Lakes bulker built on the Great Lakes since 1983.[1] Construction began in August 2019, when the first steel was cut.[2] The ship was built in modular sections, the first of which were joined together at a ceremonial keel laying in June 2020.[3] At the event, Interlake announced that she would be named MV Mark W. Barker, the ship was commissioned on 1 September 2022 [3]

The River class was designed by Interlake, Fincantieri Bay, and Bay Engineering, and measures 639 feet (195 m) long, with a beam of 78 feet (24 m) and a draft of 45 feet (14 m).[4] It has a deadweight tonnage of 28,000 DWT, with a unique cargo hold and hatch design that allows for the transport of both bulk raw materials and large individual cargo.[5] As a self-unloading ship, a bow-mounted conveyor system that is 249 feet (76 m) long is installed for offloading of bulk materials.[5] Ship propulsion power is about 7,800 horsepower (5,800 kW) from two diesel engines—EMD 710s on Mark W. Baker—and electrical power totals 3,440 kilowatts (4,610 hp) from a genset and a shaft-mounted generator on each main engine.[5] A single propeller gives the ship a service speed of about 15 miles per hour (13 kn; 24 km/h).[4]