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Marine News - cont'd. 4. r en a m e d N O M A D I C P O L L U X d u r i n g repairs, and on A u g u s t 24 she was d o w n b o u n d in the S ea w ay , en r o u te to Belgium. This was one of the large st damage re p a i r jobs e ve r d on e on a s a l ty at a G re at Lakes shipyard. E x p e c t e d to be in s e r v i c e d u r i n g the a u t u m n of 1990 was the fo rm er H an na st e a m e r J O S E P H H. T H O M P S O N , w h i c h has bee n c o n v e r t e d to a barge by the Up p e r L a k e s T o w i n g C o m p a n y Inc., of Esca nab a, Mich iga n. Out of the stern of the T H O M P S O N , and p o w e r e d by the m a c h i n e r y from old r ai l w a y engines, has been c r e a t e d the tug J O S E P H H. T H O M P S O N JR., w h i ch will ha ndl e the barge, c o n t r o l l e d fr o m the T H O M P S O N ' S e x i s t i n g pi lo th o us e. On June 30, the tug ( t r a v e l l i n g a l on e) was d o w n b o u n d in the St. Cl air and De tr oit River s, bound for Port W e l l e r D r y D ock s, w h e re she was to re ce iv e some final hull work t og e t h e r w i t h s u r v e y and i n s p e c tio n. Wh en the tug and barge are in servi ce tog e t he r , t he y c e r t a i n l y w i l l make one of the s tr an g e s t c o m b i n a t i o n s on the l a k e s ... Ever s i n ce she was retired from d uty in 1970, the HURON LIGHTSHIP ( o r i g i n a l l y NO. 103) has b e e n m o o r e d at Port H ur o n ' s Pine Gr ove Park, wher e it was i n t e n d e d that she be on pub li c display. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , the idle lightship h ad fallen i n to disrepair and was the victim of extensive va n d a l i s m . In 1989, h o w e v e r , she was taken over by the Lake H u r o n Lore Ma r i n e S o c i et y , w h o s e m e m b e r s c o m p l e t e l y r e f u r b i s h e d the vessel. On Augu st 2nd, the r e s t o r e d l i g h t s h i p was de di ca te d, and a U . S. N a t i o n a l H i s t o r i c Landmark p l aq u e was p l a c e d a b o a rd by Ray Ki mpe l of the N a t i o n a l Park Serv i ce , U . S. D e p a r t m e n t of the Interior. A m a ri ne radi o s t at io n has been set up a b o a r d the l i g h t s h i p and its first t r a n s m i s s i o n s were mad e on the day of the d e d i c a t i o n c e r e m o n i es . We h av e a r ep o r t to the e f f e c t that the C a na da S t e a m s h i p Lines s t r a i gh tdec k b u l k c a r r i e r W I N N I P E G , (a) RUHR ORE (76), (b) C A R T I E R C L I F F E H A L L (88), wi l l be c o n v e r t e d to a s e l f - u n l o a d e r , w i t h the w or k to be done at Port W e l l e r D r y Do c k s d u r i n g the c om in g winter. We had r e p o r t e d ea r l i e r that the 4 1 - y e a r - o l d C . S . L. s e l f - u n l o a d e r H O C H E L A G A w o u l d be s c r a p p e d this ye ar but that h er n e a r l y - n e w u n l o a d i n g b oo m w o u l d be r e m o v e d be fo re she we nt to scrap. It w o u l d n o w a p p e a r that these two event s will be related, and that the b o o m f r o m H O C H E L A G A w i l l be u t i l i z e d a bo ar d W IN NI PE G. It has be en said that H O C H E L A G A 's b o o m w i l l be r e m o v e d e it he r by the H a r b o u r C o m m i s s i o n ' s h e a v y - l i f t cr a n e at T o r o n t o , or else at the fi t- ou t b e rt h at Por t Well er bef o re the s h ip h e a d s o v e r s e a s to the bre ake rs. H O C H E L A G A a l r e a d y has been st r i p p e d out w h i l s t l y i n g in the L e sl ie St re et slip at Toronto. A n o t h e r C a n a d a S t e a m s h i p L i n e s se lf - u n l o a d e r , the A T L A N T I C H U R O N (II), P RA I R I E HARVEST (89), has be en flagged-out of Canadian registry fa c i l i t a t e her o p e r a t i o n on salt water. Of course, this a ct io n a l l ow s to be m a n n e d by a f o r e i g n crew, at c o n s i d e r a b l y less ex pe nse tha n if wer e to be o p e r a t e d w i t h a C a n a d i a n crew. Wh e n A T L A N T I C H U R O N a r r i v e d Hal i f a x , N o v a Sco ti a, on S e p t e m b e r 9th, she was f l y i n g the flag of Bah a m a s a nd w a s r e g i s t e r e d at Nassau. (a) to her she at the A f t e r a l e n g t h y study, the U . S. A r m y Corps of E n g i n e e r s has d e c i d e d to d i s c o n t i n u e f o r m a l a n n u a l c l o s i n g c r i t e r i a for the Soo Locks. Inst ead, the C or p s has d e c i d e d to e s t a b l i s h J a n u a r y 15th as the n o r m a l cl o s i n g date for the St. M a r y ' s F a l l s C anal. The se tt in g of this p e r m a n e n t c lo s i n g date does not, h o w e v e r , rule out i n d i v i d u a l y e a r l y v a r i a t i o n s b a s e d up o n n a v i g a t i o n c o n d i t i o n s a nd ice f o r m a t i o n . The f o r m e r C a n o n i e tug K A R E N A N D R I E was p u r c h a s e d last a u t u m n by Basic M a r i n e Inc., E s c a n a b a , M i c h i g a n, was r ep ow ere d, and has bee n o p e r a t i n g in 1990 u n d e r the n a m e (c) E R I K A K O BASIC. The v e ss el is s i g n i f i c a n t in that she is the 1 1 0 - f o o t , f o r m e r i c e b r e a k i n g tug AR U NDE L, w h i c h was b uilt for the U . S. C o as t G u a r d in 1939. She is the last of that h a n d s o m e cl ass of tug s ti ll in o p e r a t i o n on the lakes, and was sold out of the Co ast G u a rd in 1984. * * * * *