Indiana Harbor joined the American Steamship fleet in March of 1979 following her construction at Sturgeon Bay, WI.. Externally she is similar to her sister-ship, the McCarthy ("B" type). Her power plant consists of four General Motors 20 cylinder Diesels and has a rated service speed of 16 knots, and presumably is equipped with bow and stern thrusters.

Much of Indiana Harbor's career has been spent carrying taconite pellets from western Lake Superior to ports in southern Lake Michigan, her namesake among them. More recently she has been on the "power-plant" run, hauling Western Coal from SMET in Superior to St. Clair and Monroe, MI and Nanticoke, Ontario.