Can't get enough shipwatching? Here's how you can spend the day watching 'lakers' pass by

The massive freighters that ply the Great Lakes are back at work following the early reopening of the Soo Locks for the 2025-26 season, and they're doing it all under the watchful eyes of webcams that track them from Minnesota to New York.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the Soo Locks, shut down the system Jan. 16 for winter maintenance. The system reopened March 21, a few days ahead of schedule.

Great Lakes freighters immediately began traversing between Lake Huron and Lake Superior, hauling iron ore and other bulk commodities from one end of the lake system to the other.

Meanwhile, webcams set up in Duluth, Sault Ste. Marie, Detroit and many other places are keeping watch and thrilling ship watchers who can't get enough of the vessels.

Here's how you can watch along with others.

Where are there webcams and livestreams to watch?

• Visit Sault Ste. Marie: The tourist website maintains five different webcams providing live coverage of the St. Marys River and ship traffic, both to the east and west, traffic on the International Bridge, both to the U.S. and Canada, and a falcon cam on the bridge.
• Lake Superior Magazine: The website maintains assorted webcam sites around Lake Superior. Some may not be active at all times. Among them is a feed of the lift bridge in Houghton, the Soo Locks, Two Harbors, Minnesota, and others.
• The Detroit Historical Society: The Dossin Great Lakes Museum provides the "Detroit RiverCam" showing passing lake and ocean freighters, motor and sailboats, and even the rowing shells.
• Duluth: A website promoting the city and tourism maintains several webcams highlighting different aspects of the Minnesota city, including its harbor, canal and bridge.
• Duluth harborcam: The website has a live view of the entrance to the city's harbor.
• Mackinac Bridge Authority: The MBA website offers camera images that automatically update every 60 seconds from various angles allowing you to see ships pass under the bridge.
• StreamTime live: The YouTube channel maintains a live feed of the St. Clair River near the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron. The panning camera provides views of the river toward Canada.
• Manistee Harbor: The city of Manistee maintains a webcam showing the harbor on Lake Michigan.
• UpNorthLive: The website maintains a webcam on the Holiday Inn Express in Mackinaw City looking north at the Mackinac Bridge.
• Mackinac Island: The Mackinac Island tourist site maintains several webcams, some of which focus on the Straits of Mackinac.
• Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum: The museum website includes a live webcam that shows the lighthouse and the waters of Lake Superior.
• Lakeart.com: The site maintains a list of more than 100 webcams on the Great Lakes.
• Thumbwind.com: The site maintains a list of more than 30 Great Lakes webcams for viewing.

How can I see where ships are on the lakes?

Marinetraffic.com maintains a real-time map of all international shipping and includes the ability to click on Great Lakes ships to see their names, destinations and speeds.

Other options allow you to see where a ship has been and its route, ports of call, ownership, photos, ship details, and more.

The website also shows the placement of navigational aids and other key points.

Marinevesseltraffic.com focuses on ships on the Great Lakes and includes links to vesselfinder.com and marinetraffic.com.

What's the largest ship on the Great Lakes?

The Paul R. Tregurtha, known as the Queen of the Great Lakes, is the longest freighter. Also known as “Big Paulie,” she was the last of the 1,000-foot freighters.

The Tregurtha is 1,013 feet, 5 inches long and was built in 1981. By contrast, the ill-fated Edmund Fitzgerald was 728 feet long.

There are 13 1,000-foot ships on the lakes, according to Visit Sault Ste. Marie.