Marine News - cont'd. 4. between Paducah, Kentucky, and Cairo, Illinois, and are the last two of the old-style locks with chanoine weir (wicket) dams still in use on the Ohio. These old locks are not used at all when river levels are normal or high, and even when activated when water levels are low, the lift in each may be only some ten feet or less, but the locks do create major river traffic jams as they are located on one of the busiest sections of the Ohio. Another pro ject going through the same sort of process as the Soo Lock is the planned addition of a second and larger lock at Kentucky Lock and Dam on the Tennessee River; the current small lock chamber is a major bottleneck on the Tennessee, just above the point where it meets the Ohio River at Paducah, and a new lock there would avoid the splitting of large tows currently ne cessary because of the size of the existing lock chamber. The lift/drop at Kentucky Lock is approximately 54 feet, depending upon water levels. On August 2nd, the American Steamship Company's seIf-unloader H. LEE WHITE grounded whilst departing Stoneport, Michigan, with a cargo of stone for De troit. Wind appears to have been a factor in the grounding of the stemwin der. The WHITE did take on some water in the incident, and her fleetmate BUFFALO was sent to Stoneport to lighter the WHITE in order to facilitate her refloating. For much of the summer, Toronto was "home" to the ULS Corporation's straight-deck bulk carriers CANADIAN MARINER, CANADIAN TRADER and SEAWAY QUEEN, whose tonnage was considered surplus to the needs of the Seaway Bulk Carriers consortium. The MARINER did go into service on May 20th but re turned to lay-up on July 31st. All three ships were reactivated for the au tumn grain "rush", however, such as it is, and all were fitted out in late September. Last of the trio to depart Toronto was SEAWAY QUEEN, which sailed on October 1st. Speaking of grain, the 1999 season has not been a particularly active sea son for the former Kinsman steamers KINSMAN INDEPENDENT (III) and KINSMAN ENTERPRISE (II). The 1927-built ENTERPRISE, (a) HARRY COULBY (89), has re mained idle as she has for the last several seasons. The INDEPENDENT of 1952, (a) CHARLES L. HUTCHINSON (62), (b) ERNEST R. BREECH (88), which did see some grain service this spring, left Duluth on her last trip to Buffalo on June 27, and on July 5th went on the Fraser Shipyards drydock at Superior, Wisconsin, for her five-year survey and routine repairs. She was expected to remain idle for the rest of the season. On August 19th, at ceremonies held at Houghton, Michigan, the Isle Royale National Park division of the U. S. National Park Service rededicated its 1958-built, 648 Gross Ton ferry RANGER III, as a bottle of champagne was broken across the bow of the 165-foot vessel. The cause for the celebrations was the $2. 1 million refit which the RANGER III, lifeline to the isolated Isle Royale park, received last winter at the Bay Shipbuilding yard at Stur geon Bay, Wisconsin. (RANGER III was originally built at Sturgeon Bay by the Christy Corporation. ) The major part of the refurbishing involved the remo val of the original two six-cylinder Kahlenburg Brothers diesel engines, which gave total braking horsepower of 1, 228, with two new Caterpillar die sels of 850 h. p. each being fitted in their place. A bowthruster also was installed. The two old Kahlenburg engines, amongst the last in active use, are to be preserved, one in Door County, Wisconsin, and the other at Copper Harbor, on Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. The rededication ceremonies were followed by a guest cruise aboard RANGER III through the Portage Canal. This summer has seen an outbreak of "ferry wars" on Lake Michigan. A new Wisconsin firm, Hydrolink LLC., has sought federal loan guarantees as part of an $80 million project to commence a summer-only, fast ferry service between Muskegon, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Representatives of the Ludington area, however, are opposing the loan guarantees as providing an unfair government subsidy to a service which would operate in competition with Ludington's Lake Michigan Carferry Service Inc., the operator of the