(WXYZ) — The Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie are a critical piece to the ever-important Great Lakes shipping industry.
Each year, from late March through mid-January of the next year, hundreds of ships go through Lakes Superior and Huron, up and the St. Mary's River transporting tens of millions of tons of cargo.
Video below: The 5 ships that went through the Soo Locks the most in 2024
Data obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the Soo Locks, shows just how many ships and how often those ships went through the locks.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, there were 240 ships and tugs that went through the Soo Locks between March 25, 2024, and Jan. 16, 2025. During that time, there were 3,651 total locks.
Many of those ships only went twice – a trip through the lock upbound and then back downbound, or vice-versa.
Below are the top 30 ships and how often they went through the lakes.
1. Lee. A Tregurtha - 90 locks
2. Edwin H. Gott - 80 locks
3. American Century - 79 locks (tie)
4. Hon. James L. Oberstar - 79 locks (tie)
5. Edgar B. Speer - 76 locks (tie)
6. Indiana Harbor - 76 locks (tie)
7. Presque Isle - 75 locks (tie)
8. Tug Shirley Ann - 75 locks (tie)
9. Paul R. Tregurtha - 73 locks
10. Walter J. McCarthy Jr. - 71 locks
11. American Integrity - 70 locks (tie)
12. James R. Barker - 70 locks (tie)
13. Joseph L. Block -70 locks (tie)
14. Mesabi Miner - 70 locks (tie)
15. John G. Munson - 66 locks
16. Arthur M. Anderson - 65 locks
17. H. Lee White - 64 locks
18. Joyce L Vanenkevort - 62 locks
19. Burns Harbor - 60 locks
20. American Spirit - 67 locks
21. Stewart J. Cort - 56 locks
22. Kaye E. Barker - 54 locks
23. Tug Clyde S. Vanenkevort - 53 locks
24. American Mariner - 52 locks (tie)
25. Phillip R. Clarke - 52 locks (tie)
26. Victory - 52 locks (tie)
27. Tug Sharon M 1 - 49 locks
28. Harvest Spirit - 48 locks
29. Manitoulin - 46 locks
30. Saginaw - 45 locks
