The Northern Lights Share the Stage with World’s Oldest Active Freighter

On the nights of November 11th and 12th, 2025 the skies lit up across the world as a powerful solar flare hit the Earth, causing brilliant Auroras in places that rarely or never see them! Duluth was no exception, although it was overcast at first and we missed the initial brilliant red color that millions photographed across the world. It was during that period however that the steamship Alpena sailed into Duluth.

I actually almost missed her, the tracking program I use to keep tabs on the ships went down due to the intense solar activity, and I didn’t realize it until it was almost too late to catch her! Got the Canal right as she was passing the lighthouses but it worked out! Got a nice salute from her steam horns and got to see her show off her stuff. The Lift Bridge was lit a special green that day for Veteran’s Day. Afterwards, since I had a limited opportunity to see her, I followed her down Minnesota Point to watch her dock and noticed a bit of color in the skies. Left for a time to catch the John D Leitch (that will be an upcoming video) and noticed the clouds were continuing to thin, so went back to the Point, this time to the beach and caught the colors really starting to emerge. Ended up returning several times over the course of the evening into the next morning and the following night the next day, and the sight over the Lake kept getting better and better! Although I would have loved to see the Nothern Lights at their peak dancing over the Alpena and John D Leitch as they arrived, this was still absolutely incredible!

As for the ship, Alpena measures 519ft long with a carrying capacity of 17,100 tons. Built in 1942, the historic steamship is regarded as the oldest fully operational freighter in the world, although one could contend the 1906 built St Mary’s Challenger and 1937 built St Mary’s Conqueror both still sail as active freighters as well, just minus their engines, having been converted to ATB barges. Alpena was constructed as the Leone Fraser, a 639ft straight decked ore carrier constructed to handle the increased ore demand from World War 2, and one of the largest freighters of the day, just a few inches shorter than largest, Carl D Bradley. She primarily ran ore runs from NE Minnesota to various steel mills across the Lakes. The ship operated in this role until 1962, when her ever growing competition meant the ship was struggling to keep up. She was modified slightly in order to sail along the Atlantic Coast, and haul a wider variety of cargo such as grain. She operated Great Lakes to Newfoundland routes for the next 15 years. In that timespan she was purchased by US Steel, had her bow thruster installed, and her turbine was converted from coal to oil fueled. Due to her strengthened hull she was selected to experiment with winter runs, having a bubbler system installed in her hull for icebreaking, but it was ultimately unsuccessful. She made her last ocean run in 1977 and resumed her old ore runs. In 1978 she lost her rudder in the tight bends of the St Clair River at Port Huron, her crew using the thruster to successfully stay off the riverbank until reaching Lake Huron. In 1981 her retirement was announced and she was sold to an unlisted town, intended to be partially sunk and used as a harbor breakwater.

Somehow the effort ended up failing, and the ship was towed into long term layup for 8 years to await scrapping. The call never came however. In 1989 the ship was purchased by Fraser Shipyards, towed to Duluth/Superior and drydocked in a wildcard move. She was cut apart, shortened by 120ft to allow her to sail into any port and dock in the Lakes, and converted to a self unloading cement carrier, the largest on the Great Lakes at the time. The following year she was put up for sale, hoping for a bite. In 1991 she got one, being sold to the Inland Lakes Management company and renamed Alpena for their home city. In 2005 she lost her rudder a second time in Lake Michigan, then in 2015 a fire started in her stern while undergoing a refit in Sturgeon Bay, destroying her engineering crew quarters and damaging sections of the engine room. She was repaired and sailed out 6 months later with the new title of oldest fully operational freighter in the world following the conversion of the St Mary’s Challenger to an ATB. This year she becomes the last active vintage style laker with the fire and scrapping of the Cuyahoga, although she spent much of the season at a dock in Cleveland due to a crack in her steam engine. After 8 months of building custom parts and intensive repair efforts to get her on the water again, she sails for her 83rd year on the Lakes!

Hope you enjoy a spectacular sight!