''Lake Express'' is a high-speed

auto Auto may refer to: Vehicles * An automobile, or car * An autonomous car, a self-driving car * An auto rickshaw Mechanisms * Short for automatic * An automaton * An automatic transmission Media * Auto (art), a form of Portuguese dramatic play * ...

and passenger

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

that is in service on a route across

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

. ''Lake Express'' links the cities of

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, and

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Muskegon County, Michigan, United States. Situated around a harbor of Lake Michigan, Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, and boating. It is the most populous city along Lake Michigan' ...

, from late spring to the fall of each year.

Background

The ship travels at a top speed of and makes the trip three times daily from each side of the lake during the peak of its operational schedule. ''Lake Express'' is able to cross the lake in two and a half hours. It was constructed by

Austal USA Austal USA is an American shipbuilder based on Blakeley Island in Mobile, Alabama. It is a subsidiary of the Australian shipbuilder Austal, operating under a Special Security Arrangement which allows it to work independently and separately on s ...

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, and began service on June 1, 2004. It was one of the first high-speed

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

-style auto/passenger ferries built in the United States. It was also the first high-speed auto ferry to see service on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

, beating out the ''

Spirit of Ontario I The HSC ''Virgen de Coromoto'' is an fast catamaran ferry operated by Consolidada de Ferrys C.A. in Venezuela. It was built in Australia in 2004 for a fast ferry service on Lake Ontario between Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Rochester, New York, ...

'', which was beset by a series of last-minute delays, by one month. On August 21, 2005, the ferry rescued a man whose boat had capsized in the middle of Lake Michigan.

Gallery

File:Lake_express_terminal.jpg, Terminal in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Harbor File:Lake_express.jpg, En route to Muskegon, Milwaukee fades away at the horizon File:Lake express on lake michigan from airplane.jpg, Lake express visible from airplane File:Kerry-wind.jpg,

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

and

Teresa Heinz Teresa Heinz (born Maria Teresa Thierstein Simões-Ferreira; October 5, 1938), also known as Teresa Heinz Kerry, is a Portuguese-American businesswoman and philanthropist. Heinz is the widow of former United States Senate, U.S. Senator John Hein ...

on the Lake express during the

2004 presidential campaign This electoral calendar 2004 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2004 in the de jure and de facto list of sovereign states, sovereign states and their list of dependent territories, dependent territories. Referendums are included, ...

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Express Ferries of Michigan Ferries of Wisconsin Transportation in Milwaukee Transportation in Michigan Transportation in Muskegon County, Michigan 2004 ships Passenger ships of the Great Lakes Ships built in Mobile, Alabama

Background

Gallery

See also

References

External links