Know Your Ships 2025
More than just a boatwatching guide...
Know Your Ships has 200 pages bursting with color photos of lakers past and present, and is meant not only for those with a casual interest in the parade of nautical commerce that passes our shores, but also for more serious-minded individuals who have a passion for the ships that ply the inland seas. Some refer to the annual Know Your Ships as the Boatwatchers' Bible, however we consider it as a field guide to boats and boatwatching on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway.
Know Your Ships offers everything ship fans need to know about the freighters, tankers, tugs, barges, salties, passenger ships, international visitors and other vessels in regular Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, including owner and port of registry, year and shipyard where built, length, beam, depth, cargo capacity and former names, type of engine and horsepower.
​Our cover image
The cover photo for the 2025 edition was taken by Capt. Eric Treece, who is pilot on the saltwater vessels that come into the Great Lakes. It ties in to a story in the book by Sam Hankinson that takes a look at the large number of new salties being built for Great Lakes and Seaway service.
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What else?
The book features more than 100 pictures taken by photographers and fans from all over the Great Lakes region. Through the lenses of our photographers, Know Your Ships 2025 tells the story of Great Lakes shipping and the changes that have taken place since our last edition. This includes the arrival of new vessels, unique cargoes and port calls, and the retirement of old ships. Thanks to the dozens of different photographers who submitted images for consideration!
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The book also includes meanings of whistle signals, seven pages of colorful stack markings of all Great Lakes & Seaway fleets, including stack markings of many of the saltwater fleets that regularly visit the Seaway system, maps of the Great Lakes and Seaway system, a guide to Marine Museums of the Great Lakes, an Extra Tonnage section that includes a look at cargoes carried by lakers, a locks and canals profile, and charts that show travel times and call-in points for the St. Marys, St. Clair and Detroit Rivers so you can track the progress of your favorite freighter.
Spotlight
This year, we place our spotlight on the huge investments being made in Great Lakes and Seaway port infrastructure. We also pay tribute to Polsteam’s I-Class salties recently retired and visit the busy Sault Ste. Marie supply boat Ojibway and take a look at the barge Metis, last of the canallers.
History
In addition, we continue to remember the past with a historic photo gallery featuring more images from our archives showing lakers from bygone years. You might recognize some of the ships in the historic photo gallery as vessels that have recently been retired.
Legacy
Know Your Ships has covered the waterfront for more than six decades, so we have lots of images from which to choose. Our team has enjoyed putting the 2025 edition together and we hope our fans enjoy using it to find out more about the ships that sail the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. Smooth sailing!
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