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MARINE NEWS - Continued from Page 5 Expected to arrive at Montreal on August 21 was the McAsphalt Marine Trans­ portation Limited tank barge NORMAN McLEOD (C. 822829), built at the Jinling Shipyard at Nanjing, China. The barge, 379. 2 x 71. 5 x 30. 2, 6809 Gross and 3364 Net Tons, was towed from China by the South Korean tug HEADONG STAR NO. 99, with McKeil tugs taking over at Montreal. When on the lakes, she will be handled by the 1976-built EVERLAST (C. 822828), which came to the lakes in 2000 and has been undergoing preparatory work at Hamilton. McAsphalt Marine also owns the tug, although both tug and barge will be operated for McAshalt by the ULS Corporation. CSL TADOUSSAC, fresh from her major rebuilding and widening, and wearing a new coat of grey hull paint, departed the Port Weller shipyard on June 21st, bound for Bowmanville where she loaded a cargo of cement clinker for Detroit. During the winter of 2001-2002, Port Weller Dry Docks will do a similar "midbody job" on the 1967-built ULS seIf-unloader CANADIAN CENTURY. Mean­ while, however, concerns are being expressed over problems encountered in the Seaway system when 78-foot-beam ships encounter ice in the locks and be­ come stuck fast. There may be restrictions on when such vessels are permit­ ted to use the locks. In the April and May issues, we reported the sale of the Algoma Tankers Ltd. ALGOSCOTIA to McKeil Marine Ltd., which renamed the 1966-built ship (c) RALPH TUCKER in honour of one of its veteran tug masters. Scarcely had this happened, however, when the name was altered slightly, and the ship became (d) CAPT. RALPH TUCKER. Now if only McKeil would move the ship's name down to where Algoma had it, rather than having it way up on the forecastle head bulwarks. The TUCKER is running mainly in the calcium chloride trade. This summer has brought with it more than the usual number of vessel lay­ ups. Such summer time-outs usually only involve the straight-deck grain car­ riers, and indeed those were affected, such as CANADIAN PROVIDER which went to the wall at Toronto. But this year, the U. S. ore boats were severely af­ fected by a downturn in the economy and the steel business. ADAM E. CORNE­ LIUS, AMERICAN MARINER, AMERICAN REPUBLIC and GREAT LAKES TRADER were all idle at Toledo at various times, with the first two of those still idle. JOSEPH H. THOMPSON had a rest period at Escanaba, and ROGER BLOUGH was laid up at Superior on August 15. Other vessels may have tied up for shorter pe­ riods of time. The proposed Lake Erie ferry service seems unlikely to be working soon, and despite years of preparation, financial wrangling still seems to be holding back the fast ferry service proposed for the Rochester - Toronto route. But meanwhile, there also has been work done toward re-establishing a ferry ser­ vice across Lake Michigan between Muskegon and Milwaukee. Two companies have been pursuing this project, one of them being Lake Express, which wants to start a fast ferry service. The other is Lake Michigan Carferry Service Inc. which proposes to spent a great deal of money to refurbish the 1952-built SPARTAN, sistership of the BADGER. The SPARTAN last operated in 1979 and reportedly has given up many parts to keep BADGER running. * * * * * FRED WAGAR It is with regret that we note that Fred Wagar, of Wyandotte, Michigan, and Haines City, Florida, passed away on June 25th after a relatively short battle with cancer. Fred was an active shipping scene observer and carried T. M. H. S. membership number 550. We extend our deepest sympathy to his family and friends.