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5. M A R I N E NEWS In the November issue, we not ed that a new company, call ed QMT Na vigation, had been formed by So canav Inc., of Montreal. It now is known that the name of the firm is an acro ny m s t a nding for "Quebec M o n treal Tankers". In our report, we m e n t i o n e d our u n d e r s t a n d i n g that the new comp a n y was to have three vessels, and that they w ould be W. M. VACY ASH, L. R O C HETTE and LE BRAVE. In fact, those three tankers are in the new fleet, but so is one a dditional Soc ana v ship, the HENRI TELLIER. It is repor t e d that they will be carrying different funnel m a r k i n g s in their new service, w hich will be carrying p e t r o l e u m produc ts for the Ul tramar organization. QMT Nav i g a t i o n ' s tanker LE BRAVE, (a) TEX AC O BRAVE ( I I ) (86), will be carryi ng a new aid to n a v i g a t i o n this wi n t e r wh ilst she opera te s between Mo n tre al and Quebec City. An el ec tronic c h a r t - d i s p l a y and n a v i g a t i o n system, dev e l o p e d by the federal g o vernment toget he r w ith Of fshore Systems Ltd., of Vancouver. The project is part of a six-year, $ 7 . 6 m i l l i o n federal pr ogramme to dev elop p r o d u c t i o n of e l e c t r o n i c n a v i g a t i o n charts for major c o mmercial vessel operations. T H A L A S S A DESGAGNES, (a) JO A S L A (79), (b) OR INOCO (82), (c) RIO ORIN OC O (93), now owned by the De sg agnes o r g a n i z a t i o n after hav in g bee n sal va ge d from the shore of An t i c o s t i Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, fina l l y left the d r y dock at Lauzon, Quebec, on Novem b e r 10th, after the c o m p l e t i o n of e x t ensive hull repairs and an ov erall ref ur bi sh in g. Her first trip was short, however, for she just m o v e d across the St. Lawr en ce River to Sect i o n 30 of the Port of Quebec, w h i c h is lo cated at the m outh of the St. Char le s River. At the close of the 1965 n a v i g a t i o n season, the C a n a d i a n Pacific Rail w a y aba n d o n e d its Great Lakes p a ssenger service, w hich had bee n ope r a t i n g for more than eighty years. The last two ve ssels run ni ng the route betw e e n Port M c N i c o l l and Thun d e r Bay wer e the m a g n i f i c e n t 1907-built, steam-powered sister ships K E E W A T I N and AS SI NIBOIA, w h i c h for their entir e lives had been immensely popular amongst the tr av elling public. K E E W A T I N was re tired c o m p l e t e l y at the end of 1965, and then lay idle at Port McNicoll, while ASSINI BOIA, more e conomical to run becau se she was fir ed wit h oil rather than coal, carried on in freight-only service du r i n g 1966 and 1967, fol l o w i n g w h i c h she, too, was retired. A S S I N I B O I A went to the P h i l a d e l p h i a area in 1968 for use as a restaurant, but soon burned to a total loss. K E E W A T I N was e v e n t u a l l y a c q u i r e d by Ro l a n d J. Peterson, who took her to Do uglas (Saugatuck), Michigan, and has d i s p l a y e d her ever since as a mar in e museum. She has r e m ained open to the public, but all rep or ts ind ic at e that her con d i t i o n has d e t e r i o r a t e d consi de ra bl y, most n o t a b l y in respect of the w o o d e n boat deck over the upp er dec k cabin. It was r e p orted during the autumn of 1993 that a group of pri va te i n vestors in Thunder Bay is hop in g to acq ui re K E E W A T I N and ret ur n her to Th under Bay for r e s t o r a t i o n and use there as a fl oating museum, rest au ra nt , nigh tc lu b, casino, or whatever . The pla n is a costl y one, r e p o r t e d l y to cost some $2 to $3 m i l l i o n in excess of the U . S. $ 7 5 0 , 000 w h i c h her cur re nt owner is said to be ask ing for KEEWATIN, and the in ve stors have req u e s t e d a s sistance from the City of Thunder Bay. We are ver y w ary about any plans to use K E E W A T I N for a n y t h i n g other than a m u s e u m (the thought of a casino aboard the gra nd lady does not impress us), but it ce r t a i n l y w o u l d be good to see the steam er return to the waters in w h i c h she op erated for so man y years. A n o t h e r ven e r a b l e vess el w h i c h survives today is the 1 8 96-built st eam tug EDNA G., w h i c h for man y years was op erated at Two Harbors, Minn es ot a, by the Duluth, Miss a b e and Iron Ran ge Railway. For the last twelve years, however, EDNA G. has been a static d i s p l a y at her old home port. On S e ptember 13th, the Two Harb o r s city counc il vot ed to expend the sum of $ 1 0 0 , 900 on a general r e f u r b i s h m e n t of EDN A G. in an effort to ensure her co n t i n u e d e x i s tence. It was r e p o r t e d that the 102-foot tug w ould be towed to Superior, Wisconsin, for d r y d o c k i n g there as part of the work.