Saginaw River Year End Report - 2025 Season - Part 6

     Arriving on the Saginaw River in June of 2023, the Great Lakes Towing tug, North Dakota, kept herself busy during the 2025 season, assisting vessels on 32 different occasions, including much icebreaking during the month of December.  

-        The saltwater vessel BBC Ukraine became the first and only saltwater vessel to visit the Saginaw River in 2025 from overseas, calling on the Port Fisher Terminals Dock in Bay City to unload industrial equipment for a local business project.  BBC Ukraine arrived on December 1^st.

-        On September 10^th, Defiance/Ashtabula arrived on the Saginaw River and was assisted to the Port Fisher Terminals Dock by the tug North Dakota.  The pair arrived for repairs to their bow thruster and departed early morning on 9/12/25, again assisted by North Dakota.  They did not deliver a cargo on this trip.

     As always, the shipping industry continues to change, evolve, adapt and move forward.   It is always my hope that commercial traffic on the Saginaw River will remain stable and even more so continue grow as the products and materials handled here continue to evolve and expand.  Hopefully 2026 will continue to build on the successes of the 2025 season and will be a safe and profitable one for everyone. 

I wish you all a safe and prosperous shipping season in 2026.  Thank you for following me during the year, supporting my social media pages, attending my presentations, and commenting on my photos!  Your support means more than you know.