John J. Boland - Winter Layup Arrival! With a Fresh Blanket of Snow to Slumber Beneath

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Here is the John J. Boland arriving in Duluth, Minnesota shortly after 4am on a snowy January 16, 2026. She was arriving to begin her winter layup, following the two-month closure of the Soo Locks on January 15. The locks close every winter for annual maintenance, at which point most ships go into winter layup to their own maintenance. This also allows the crews some much-needed time off to be with their families. For this winter layup, the Boland is scheduled to get her five-year inspection and dry-docking at Fraser Shipyard in Superior.

In this video, we see the John J. Boland arrive through the Duluth shipping canal. The Boland lets out a master salute (three long and two short blasts), no doubt in celebration of her season's end. The Aerial Lift Bridge responds with her own master salute. The horns on both the Boland and lift bridge were feeling the effects of the cold temperatures, making them not as loud as we're used to hearing.

After watching the Boland's arrival through the shipping canal, I moved over to Rice's Point. I was expecting to see the Boland pass in front of us on her way towards Fraser Shipyard. But instead, as she rounded Rice's Point, she made a sharp turn to temporarily dock at the Ash Grove cement facility. The tugboat Missouri was on hand to assist the Boland with dock, sweeping away from the ice from the edge of the dock, so the Boland could tie up securely against the wall.

The rumble sound you hear as the Boland docks is the sound of her thrusters working to keep her up against the dock. You really notice just how loud it was once they are docked and the thrusters are turned off!

The Boland would depart Ash Grove later that morning and make her way into Fraser Shipyard. Unfortunately I missed the radio transmission that the Boland would be making that move, not expecting it would happen so soon. So I didn’t capture that part of her journey. Paul Scinocca's recent video picks up the action from where mine has left off, if you'd like to watch it here:    • Crashing through the ice to make it to Fra...  

The 680-foot John J. Boland was built at Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, entering service in 1973 under her original name Charles E. Wilson. She was renamed the John J. Boland in 2000, when the ship that previously held that name was sold to the Lower Lakes Towing Fleet (becoming the Saginaw). The Boland is powered by two 3,500 HP 20-cylinder General Motors Electro Motive Division (EMD) diesel engines. She also has 1000 HP bow and stern thrusters to help her manuever in port. Her six holds are accessible by 22 deck hatches and she can carry up to 34,000 tons of cargo. The Boland has a 250-foot self-unloading boom, which can swing up to 105 degrees in either direction. The Boland is owned by the American Steamship Company, but has been operated under lease to Grand River Navigation since the start of the 2021 shipping season.