Meet Our Veterans: Ashlea Sikon

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After 9/11, Ashlea Sikon sidelined her softball scholarship at a small Junior College in Southeast Kansas to join the Army ROTC Program at Kansas State University. She would commission into the Army as an officer less than four years later in May 2006. “Like many I served with post 9/11, the incident that day and the attack on our country compelled and motivated me to commit my life to serving in our military,” says Sikon, who joined Interlake in 2022 as Executive Assistant to President Mark W. Barker. “At the age of 22, I became one of the first female …

TV6’s Elizabeth Peterson begins her journey with the Lee A. Tregurtha through the Great Lakes

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MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) – For those along Lake Superior they are perhaps the most photographed, the most iconic, the most mysterious attraction of the Upper Peninsula. We’re captivated by them, drawn to them. We sit along the shore watching as they glide through the water, seemingly unphased by the wind, waves and wild weather conditions. We track them. Tourists plan trips for a chance to view them. We’re in awe at their size and all they accomplish. They have become a symbol of who we are. The ore boats of the Great Lakes. Rich in history. Rich in U-P culture. …

Meet the Mark W. Barker, a new 639-foot ship hauling cargo on the Great Lakes

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CLEVELAND, Ohio — A new freighter is sailing the Great Lakes and carrying cargo in and out of the Cuyahoga River. The Mark W. Barker, a 639-foot bulk carrier, is the 10th ship in the Interlake Steamship Co.’s fleet, a Great Lakes carrier headquartered in Middleburg Heights. It’s the company’s first newly built ship since 1981. The MWB arrived in Cleveland this week after embarking from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where it was built by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding. It’s already made eight deliveries.

Maiden Voyage Underway for the First U.S.-flagged Great Lakes Bulk Carrier in Nearly 40 years

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Nearly three years after the first cut of steel for the first Great Lakes freighter in nearly 40 years, the 639-foot M/V Mark W. Barker embarked on her maiden voyage today from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding. “This is a monumental day for our company and the US flag fleet as our much-anticipated freighter departs on her first voyage in what will be a long life of service on the Great Lakes,” says Mark W. Barker, President of The Interlake Steamship Company and namesake of the vessel – the company’s first new build since 1981. “The construction of this vessel, which was made from …