The famed, historic Lake Michigan auto and passenger ferry that also is the last steamship operating on the Great Lakes will be in Sturgeon Bay for about two weeks starting April 30.
The Lake Michigan car and passenger ferry SS Badger, seen here on the lake in a 2024 photo, is coming to Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay on April 29 for repair work.
The SS Badger, which traverses Lake Michigan between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, heads to Sturgeon Bay under its own power for a propeller shaft bearing repair in dry dock at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding.
The 410-foot-long, 72-year-old vessel is expected to depart Ludington between 6 and 8 a.m. April 30. The approximately 12-hour trip takes the ship from Ludington toward Washington Island and the tip of the Door Peninsula, then back south through the bay of Green Bay to the bay of Sturgeon Bay to get to Bay Shipbuilding, instead of using the Sturgeon Bay ship canal.
The trip was scheduled for April 29, but delayed for 24 hours due to a National Weather Service forecast predicting gale force winds on Lake Michigan with surface winds to 50 knots possible.
The repairs are being made to prepare for the Badger’s upcoming season, which will begin May 16. The ship is expected to return to Ludington by May 11.
“It is the priority of (owner/operator) Lake Michigan Carferry and our parent company, Interlake Maritime Services, to keep the Badger in its best working condition,” Sara Spore, general manager of Lake Michigan Carferry, said in a press release. “Having these repairs done now will reduce interruptions to our summer sailing season.”
Andrew VerVelde, chief engineer of the Badger, said in the press release the ship is going into dry dock because the repair work requires taking the boat out of the water and removing its 13-foot, 10-inch starboard propeller.
The starboard propellor of the SS Badger, seen here when the Lake Michigan ferry was in dry dock for routine maintenance at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay in the winter of 2021-22, is returning to Bay Shipbuilding on April 29 for a bearing repair on the propellor before the ship’s ferry season starts May 16.
VerVelde also said the Badger is heading to Door County under its own power instead of being towed because, with the ship’s ferry season starting in less than three weeks, it’ll already have a crew on board doing its preseason “fit out,” getting the engines and machinery ready for the season.
“Since the crew is going to be aboard anyway, we might as well steam her over,” VerVelde said.
It’s a return to its birthplace for the Badger, which was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2016. It was built in 1953 by Christy Corp. at the same facilities now owned by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding. The ship was in dry dock at Bay Ship over the winter of 2021-22 for its routine five-year dry dock inspection.
The Badger operates between May and October as an auto and passenger ferry that also is capable of transporting commercial vehicles. The spring season for the four-hour voyage between Ludington and Manitowoc runs from May 16 to June 19, the summer season from June 20 to Sept. 1 and the fall season from Sept. 2 to Oct. 12. For tickets and more information, call 1-800-841-4243 or visit ssbadger.com.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or [email protected].
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Lake Michigan ferry comes to Sturgeon Bay for work before 2025 season
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