The Walter J. McCarthy and Capt. Henry Jackman were both running upbound from Detour toward the Soo Locks in the early hours of Wednesday morning, their ETAs separated by 51 minutes. AIS reports logged between 02:08 and 02:55 put the McCarthy at a 05:39 arrival and the Jackman at 06:30.
Two large upbounders queuing for the same approach within the same hour is a specific kind of geometry. Each vessel clears Detour and threads the St. Marys independently, but from a shore-side perspective they arrive as a pair, the McCarthy nosing in while the Jackman is still visible astern on the river. The upbound lane gets both before the workday starts.
The downbound side fills in across the afternoon. CSL Welland was running the Keweenaw passage overnight with a 12:51 ETA, and Whistler follows with a 16:02 arrival. Four passages on the Soo board before supper, distributed between the two directions, with the first one logged before most watchers are at a window.
A cold front is expected through Lake Huron tonight, veering winds from southwest to northwest after passage, with that northwest flow holding through Thursday. Vessels clearing the Soo this evening and running south on Huron will meet the shift before they reach the Straits.
Federal Oshima was running southbound past Harbor Beach before dawn with an 08:50 ETA at Port Huron's Vantage Point, last reported at 04:49. Herbert C. Jackson was on the same track with an 08:05 ETA, logged at 03:39. Two downbounders arriving at the Vantage Point within 45 minutes of each other makes a readable morning on the St. Clair.
Frontenac was upbound from the Detroit area with a 09:29 ETA at Port Huron, last reported at 04:33. Edwin H. Gott was downbound between the lake and the river with a 04:09 ETA at the Vantage Point, logged at 03:12.
At Toledo, Dirk S. VanEnkevort arrived with ore for Ironville, and Kaye E. Barker, the same vessel we tracked upbound through Port Huron yesterday, departed Sandusky with coal for Zug Island. American Integrity was reported outbound through the Duluth piers at 03:23 this morning.
Lake Ontario leads the system at 3.46 feet above Low Water Datum at Rochester. Lake Erie follows at 2.85 feet at Cleveland, Lake Michigan at 2.08 feet at Chicago, and Lake Huron at 2.02 feet at Harbor Beach. Lake Superior is tightest at 1.69 feet at Sault Ste. Marie. Ore carriers loading at Duluth and Superior watch that Superior number closely; Saginaw, expected at the BNSF dock in Superior this afternoon, will feel it at the rail.
Lake Michigan carries the day's roughest water: waves forecast at four feet as a slow-moving cold front sharpens the pressure gradient and holds south winds breezy through the morning. Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario each sit at one foot. The front crosses Huron tonight, pushing winds northwest after passage, and that flow holds through Thursday. Southbound traffic clearing the Soo this evening should expect a choppier run down the lake.
The Jones Act, the century-old federal law requiring domestic cargo to move on American-built, American-owned, and American-crewed vessels, has returned to the conversation this season. A series of federal waivers has raised questions about the law's reach, with particular attention from maritime programs such as Traverse City's Great Lakes Maritime Academy. For the lakes, where most carriers already sail under U.S. or Canadian registry and haul ore, stone, and grain between home ports, the practical consequences of sustained waivers remain unsettled. The debate is old; the waivers are recent.