North Eastern Maritime

It’s a cliché perhaps, but it remains as true today as it was half a century ago when America’s railroads purged themselves of their classic steam locomotives in favor of the diesel’s efficiency. The 1950's are commonly accepted as the end of the “steam era” in this country, but steam propulsion has lingered on for another five decades on our waterways, particularly the five freshwater seas known as the Great Lakes. Here, without the corrosive effects of salt water, a surprising number of vintage commercial vessels have enjoyed amazing longevity, a veritable time capsule of riveted hulls powered by steam or early diesel machinery.

Today, however, this era too is reaching its end, as modern economics are finally catching up with these survivors of another time. The last twelve years have seen the demise of the coal-fired freighter and the American straight-decker, the retirement of the last triple- and quadruple-expansion cargo steamers from active service, and a sharp reduction in the number of active steam turbine-driven vessels. Likewise, the traditional single-screw tugboats that work our nation’s harbors, and the once-ubiquitous commercial fishing vessels of the Great Lakes are rapidly dwindling in numbers.

Trade - both imports and exports - has been one of the fundamental pillars of the success of the U.S. economy. The early steamships may be dwarfed in comparison to today's supertankers but their contribution they made is in no way diminished by this.

Now a days, goods from all over the world are imported to the U.S. which makes it a great place to live to enjoy being a consumer.