Saginaw River Report - October 2025

There was a total of 23 commercial vessel passages on the Saginaw River for the month of October 2025, with 13 different docks receiving 33 separate deliveries of product.  This accounts for split cargo loads, delivered by one vessel to more than one dock during a visit.  These 23 vessel passages represent one more load than recorded during October 2024.  Looking at long-term averages, October 2025, was higher than all of them, with the 5-year average at 21 passages, the 10-year average at 20 passages, the 15-year average at 18 passages, and the 20-year average at 20 commercial vessel passages for the month of October.

The total number of commercial vessel passages for the year-to-date is 161, which is one fewer passage than last year at this point.  Looking at the averages, the 161 passages for the year to date are again higher than all the long-terms with the 5-year average at 149, the 10-year average at 140, the 15-year average at 129, and the 20-year average at 141 vessel passages through the end of October.

During the month of October, there were 17 deliveries to the docks on the lower half of the Saginaw River, located in Essexville and Bay City, and 16 deliveries to upper river docks, located in Zilwaukee, Carrollton, and Saginaw.  10 vessels carried split loads with cargo unloaded at more than one dock.  These numbers for October are exactly the same as for September.  For the year-to-date, there have been 110 lower river deliveries and 84 upper river deliveries, with 54 split loads.

Vessels making deliveries to the Saginaw River in October were Olive L Moore/Menominee with 4, Defiance/Ashtabula, Alpena, American Courage, and Algoma Compass with 3 each, Northern Venture and Algoma Buffalo with 2, American Mariner, Algoma Innovator, and Iver Bright each with 1.

The number of deliveries and docks receiving or shipping cargo were:

7 – Port Fisher/Bay Aggregates Dock – Bay City

4 – ACE/Saginaw Paving – Crow Island Dock

3 – Wirt Sand & Stone Dock – Essexville

3 – Amrize Cement Dock – Essexville

3 – Burroughs North – GM Dock

2 – Wirt Stone Dock – Bay City

2 – Burroughs North – 1^st Street Dock - Saginaw

2 – Burroughs North – Zilwaukee Dock

2 – Wirt Stone Dock – Saginaw

2 – Sargent Docks & Terminal - Zilwaukee

1 – Port Fisher/Bit-Mat Dock – Bay City

1 – Port Fisher Terminals Dock – Bay City

1 – U.S. Paving and Stone Materials Dock – Carrollton