Neebish Island Rock Cut and Ferry for the St. Marys River

Cut: (Satellite)

Ferry: (Satellite)

This canal allows the Lakers to avoid some rather sharp twists and turns in the St. Marys River.

Interlake Steamship Company posted

Perfect #FreighterFriday shot of our M/V Paul R. Tregurtha in the Neebish Island Rock Cut today!

: Dan Vaught

[The ship that got blown off course in the Suez Canal a few days ago is 300' longer than this freighter.]

Polish Jim Masĺowski: Right down the center with only inches underneath.

Comments on the above post

Robert Campbell posted
The Arthur M. Anderson is making her turn for the Neebish Rock cut in the summer of 1980.
[Not only do I now recognize where Neebish Rock Cut is, this photo caught the Laker before it was converted to self-unloading. You know it is an old Laker because it has the wheelhouse on the bow.]

USACE, Detroit District posted
In 1908, this mile long canal, cut from bedrock, opened creating up bound and down bound routes around NeebishIsland. #OTD [Apr 20] in 1932, the canal was dewatered and crews began deepening it to accommodate the deeper drafts of modern vessels.
David Schauer shared

David Schauer commented on his share
A view of the Rock Cut from 2022 (Walter J. McCarthy Jr).

The canal turned the and to the east of the canal into an island. So they have a ferry at the north end of the canal to access Neebish Island.

Satellite

Street View, Aug 2008

0:48 video @ 0:11
[The old is docked on the left and the new is docked on the right.]
After nearly eight decades of providing ferry service to and from Neebish Island in Barbeau (25 miles S/SE of Sault Ste Marie, MI), the Neebish Islander II was officially replaced by a brand spanking new ferry, the Neebish Islander III. On Wednesday, Nov 9, there was a dedication of the new ferry at the ferry dock. Here are some of the drone pictures from that event. Have a great weekend!
Ken Feldman: Just to say. The Neebish Islander II actually didn’t spend 80yrs at its present location. It started it career as the Sugar Islander and was made larger over those years. Then the new Sugar Islander II was put in service, the old boat was moved to the Neebish crossing😁 Sorry don’t have exact dates.
Pete N Vladdie shared

The ferry was built by Burger Boat. [Julie Hartlaub post]

safe_image for VESSEL REVIEW | NEEBISH ISLANDER III – VEHICLE FERRY TO SERVE MICHIGAN’S UPPER PENINSULA, Photo: Burger Boat Company
It is a Ro-Pax ferry that can operate year round. It has an ice-strengthened hull.
"The ferry has an LOA of 92 feet (28 metres), a moulded beam of 33 feet (10 metres), a moulded draught of 7.3 feet (2.2 metres) and capacity for 15 passenger-driven cars on its spacious deck. Two Caterpillar C18 EPA Tier III engines that each produce 600 hp (447 kW) at 1,800 rpm will enable the vessel to sail at 10 knots even when fully laden."
Nate Price: Delivered by the Captain and Engineer of the tug Cheyenne.

A 0:24 video of some  test trials. I can't believe that a professional chose a profile video format for Facebook.