A truck ferry offers a rare, gorgeous glimpse of Detroit River

The porthole of the Detroit-Windsor Truck Ferry’s tugboat, the Stormont, provides a view of U.S. Steel operations on Detroit’s Zug Island. (Bridge photo by Anthony Lanzilote) (SLIDESHOW >>>)

Hazardous materials are not allowed to cross the Ambassador Bridge, so every hour a tugboat takes tractor-trailers loaded with the materials across the Detroit River to and from Windsor. (Bridge photo by Anthony Lanzilote)

The ferry company is owned by Gregg Ward. Work is set to begin this year on another crossing, the Gordie Howe International Bridge, that will accommodate trucks loaded with hazardous materials and likely drive Ward’s ferry out of business. (Bridge photo by Anthony Lanzilote)

Captain Jonathan Gardo guides a tugboat, and a barge laden with hazardous materials, across the Detroit River on a pleasant April afternoon. (Bridge photo by Anthony Lanzilote)

Tractor-trailers and heavy industry along the Detroit River are visible from the view outside a window of a tugboat owned by the Detroit-Windsor Truck Ferry. (Bridge photo by Anthony Lanzilote)

The ferry’s barge can take eight trucks at a time across the Detroit Windsor, but is rarely at capacity. (Bridge photo by Anthony Lanzilote)