New owner and operator for Great Lakes Fleet
To veteran boatwatchers on the Twin Ports waterfront, the eight boats of the storied Great Lakes Fleet slide by the watchers' observation points bearing long-familiar names:

Arthur M. Anderson (767 feet)
Cason J. Calloway (767)
Edgar B. Speer (1,004)
Edwin H. Gott (1,004)
John G. Munson (768)
Philip R. Clarke (767)
Roger Blough (858)
Barge Presque Isle (974)
Tug Presque Isle (153)

Behind the scenes, though, significant change has occurred. The fleet has a new owner, Canadian National Railway, and a new operator, Key Lakes, Inc.

(To comply with provisions of the Jones Act, which restricts domestic deep-sea, Great Lakes and inland trade to vessels owned, built, registered and crewed in the U.S. the railway has chartered the fleet to Keystone Shipping Co., a U.S. deep-sea vessel operator. Keystone Shipping in turn has leased the fleet to Key Lakes.)

Keystone Shipping, primarily a carrier of bulk cargoes, is one of the largest U.S. independent tank-ship operators. The company was founded in 1919 by Charles Kurz and is still family-owned and run.

One of its skippers over the past 20 years has been William C. Peterson. Toward the end of his two decades with Keystone, with another 15 years at sea before that, Mr. Peterson concluded that "it was time to come ashore." Today he is the fleet administrator and office manager of Great
Lakes Fleet, Inc./Key Lakes, Inc. He arrived in the Twin Ports in April 2004 and officially became fleet administrator in October 2004.

One of the first things this veteran of deep-sea sailing had to accept — and embrace — was a new word: "saltie." Over most of the world, ocean-going vessels are known simply as, well, ocean-going vessels. Once they enter the Great Lakes, though, ocean-going vessels become known by boatwatchers and even some members of the maritime community as "salties."

"Saying `saltie' took some getting used to," Mr. Peterson said with a smile, "but I'm getting pretty good at it."

Some friendly jibes between a longtime veteran of deep-sea sailing and a new cohort of freshwater mariners were to be expected, Mr. Peterson said. And as far as he's concerned, any tensions that might have surfaced early on are now part of the past, having been quickly resolved by mutual respect. The adjustments have all been part of a learning process.

"I've been out on every boat in this fleet," said Mr. Peterson, "and I've been amazed at the ship-handling of these skippers.

"And I don't know the ports as well as our skippers do. The guys have been really generous with sharing their knowledge and information with me."

Mr. Peterson said another thing he
has learned is that pace is quicker on the Lakes. "Delays in this fleet are measured in minutes," he said. "There is truly no time to lose."

At the same time, though, Mr. Peterson is quick to point out that safety is Keystone's number one priority: "Safety for our people. Safety for our boats. Safety for our environment. Those are this company's driving forces."

The Great Lakes Fleet's eight boats are staffed by 11 regular skippers and crews of 22 to 26 people per boat. Back in Duluth, at what used to be called the DM&IR ore docks, the fleet's offices are staffed by 11 people. Mr. Peterson is expecting an additional administrator to arrive this fall. That person will serve as his assistant, and that will allow him to spend more time on the lakes with his skippers and crews.

"One of my biggest complaints as a skipper was that the office didn't know what was really going on out on the water," he said. "And the only way to know your crews is to be on the boats. That's what I'll be doing this fall. Plus, I would rather be on a boat than in the office."