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MARINE NEWS 2. It was on August 1st, 1983, that the C . S . L. ce m e n t - c a r r i e r METIS laid up at Kingston, ha vin g been re placed by STEP H E N B. ROMAN, (a) FORT W I L L I A M (83). The latter had been p u r chased by the Lake Ontario Cement Company and ever since has been operated for that firm by Canada S t e amship Lines, her former owner. The idle METIS lay at Ki ngston until all the old hulls were moved away from the elevator there, and on October 29, 1987, she ar rived under tow at Toronto. Since then, she has been lying on the south side of the Lake Ont ario Cement pier, corner of V i l liers and Cherry Streets, her sad app ea ra nc e silent testimony to her years of idleness. There have, however, been pe rsi ste nt rumours that the ship w o u l d be r e a c t i v a t e d in some capacity, and we now may report that, on January 18th, METIS was sold to Lake Ontario Cement. Wi t h i n a week, a towing notch had been cut into her stern, i n d i cating that the former m o t o r s h i p will now be used as a barge. H av in g r e c en tl y c o m m i s s i o n e d its se l f - u n l o a d i n g barge JOSEPH H. T H O M P S O N and tug JO S E P H H. T H O M P S O N JR. (which was made out of the stern of the former steamer), the Upper Lakes Towing Comp a n y Inc., Escanaba, has again added to its fleet. Late in the autumn, Upper Lakes acquired from the A m e r s a n d S t ea ms hi p C o r p o r a t i o n (American Steamship Company, managers), the se lf -u n l o a d i n g steamer M c K E E SONS, (a) MARINE A NGEL (53), which has been inactive at Toledo since 21st December, 1979. The barge c o nversion of McKEE SONS will be muc h easier than that of her former h u l l - s i s t e r s h i p , the THOMPSON, be cau se she al ready has unl o a d i n g gear. As well, it will not be n e c e s s a r y to create another tug, for McKEE SONS r e p o r t e d l y will be handled by OLIVE L. MO ORE now that the latter's former consort, BUCKEYE, is used only for storag e and transfer purposes. McKEE SONS was hauled out of the Frog Pond at Toledo on Janu a r y 3rd, and early on the morning of the 4th, she cleare d To ledo in tow of TUG M A L C O L M (bow) and P R OTECTOR (stern), bound for Menominee, Michigan. About daybreak on Ja nuary 5, McKEE SONS was made fast at the Port Huron Marine Terminal, to wait for weather, and the unusua l l a t e - s e a s o n tow did not get u n d e r w a y again until about 2: 00 p. m. on the 7th. PRO TE CT OR left the tow in the lake above the H uron Cut. It has been i n dicated by Ned A. Smith, the new president and C . E . O. of the A m e r i c a n S t e am sh ip Comp a n y (r eplacing Ward Fuller, who is p r o moted to preside nt and C . E . O. of GATC Corporation), that the company does indeed intend to r e f urbish the se l f - u n l o a d i n g steamer JOHN J. BOLAND (III). This ship, built at Mani towoc in 1953, actually is owned by members of the Reiss family, and has been idle at Superior, Wisconsin, since late in 1984. She will need c o n s i derable wor k before r e - e n t e r i n g service, but no formal details have bee n made known. It will be good to see the BOLAND back in operation, as most observers had e x p ected that she would be sold for scrapping, as was her newer ne a r - s i s t e r DE TROIT EDISON (II) back in 1986. The r e l a t i v e l y mi ld weat h e r of late autumn allowed the St. Lawrence canals to remain open later than usual in 1990. The last salty to clear the system was the C y p r u s - r e g i s t e r e d C A R I B B E A N QUEEN, w hich was d o wnbound on December 22 after u n l o a d i n g sugar at Toronto. On her way out, she had a par t - l o a d of old Tor onto Transit C o m m i s s i o n buses w h i c h were going to Cuba for use ( ! ! ) there. The last lakers of the season were in the Seaway on C h r istmas Day, J. N. MC W A T T E R S up bound in ballast for H a m i l t o n and DAVID K. GARDINER d o w nb ou nd wit h wheat for Montreal. GARDINER, the last comm ercial ship of the year, cl ea re d the canal on December 26, and the actual last lockage was C . C . G . S. TR ACY the same day. (She spent the night on the St. Lambert lower wall and d e p a r t e d on De cember 27th for S o r e l . ) We earlier spoke of the July 20, 1990, grounding of E N E R C H E M FUSIO N in the Sag ue na y River after leaving C h icoutimi downbound. The tanker, w h i c h at one stage was d e c la red a con s t r u c t i v e total loss, was said to be headed to Port W ell er Dry Docks for repairs during the winter, but instead she remai n e d in lay-up at Montreal. E N E R C H E M FU SION left Montreal under tow on Janu a r y 3rd, stopped ov ern igh t at Trois-Ri vieres, and arrived at Lauzon late on the 4th.