Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor Welcomes the First Vessel of the International Shipping Season
Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor celebrated the start of the 2026 international shipping season Saturday with the arrival of the Ocean7 Ranger. The ocean vessel completed a 52-day voyage carrying equipment for facility improvements at U.S. Steel Gary Works, the largest integrated steel mill in North America.
The 2026 opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway to ocean vessels marked one of the shortest winter closures in history, totaling just 69 days from Jan. 12 until March 22.
To commemorate the occasion, Burns Harbor Port Director Ryan McCoy presented the Ports of Indiana “Steel Stein” to Captain Ilia Kalachov on board the Ranger. The presentation celebrates the first ocean vessel’s arrival and Northwest Indiana’s role as “The Steel Capital of North America.”
Ocean7 Ranger is a general cargo carrier owned and operated by German ship management company HAMMONIA Reederei. The ship arrived at Indiana’s Lake Michigan port 52 days after departing from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, passing through the Pacific Ocean, Panama Canal, Atlantic Ocean, and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway.
The Ranger delivered a 63-ton dewatering drum that is being transferred from ship to dock, and then to barge for transport across the lake to U.S. Steel. Stevedore Logistec executes the port’s heavy lift transfers with support by local workers from the International Longshoremen’s Association and International Union of Operating Engineers.
The Ranger, a general cargo vessel built in 2005 by Volharding Shipyards in the Netherlands, is 441 feet long and 72 feet wide and has a dead weight tonnage capacity of 10,508 metric tons.
Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor handles over 2 million tons of cargo each year, including steel, steel-related materials, limestone, coke, salt, fertilizer, minerals, and iron ore.
The St. Lawrence Seaway opened March 22 for the 68th international shipping season. The Seaway routinely closes for up to three months during the winter for icy conditions and maintenance on the system’s 15 locks. However, groups are calling for implementation of new technologies, increased investment and added icebreaking capabilities that would extend the shipping season to promote growth in regional economies, new container shipping lines, and Great Lakes trade.
