Close call on a Great Lakes freighter

It was December 1992 and the 647 foot lake freighter J.L. Mauthe was properly in the channel headed for the Detroit River off of Lake Erie. The Cason J. Callaway, a 767 foot freighter, had other ideas. She departed from any of the prescribed sea lanes, cut the corner and proceeded full-speed to attempt cut off the Mauthe. I was in the pilothouse video taping the event as 12,309 tons of lakeboat came right at us. A collision and possibly being afloat on frigid Lake Erie on a self-inflating life raft were behind my nervous laughter.