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Mar ine News - cont'd. 4. In our October issue, we m e n t i o n e d that the s e l f - u n l o a d i n g boom was to be remo ved from the 4 1 - y e a r - o l d Canad a Ste a m s h i p Lines steamer HOCH EL AG A, and that it w o u l d be placed aboard W I N N I P E G when she is con verted to a s e l f unloa d e r at Port Welle r during the coming winter. On Octob er 16, McKeil tugs ha u l e d H O C H E L A G A aw ay from her longtim e ber th on the south wall of T o r onto's Leslie Street slip (off the tur ni ng basin), and took her to the south side of Pier 35 at Poi so n Street. There, her bo om was lif te d off by the Toronto Harbour C o m m i s s i o n ' s heavy-lift, s h e a r - l e g g e d crane "Atlas" on October 22nd. That same evening, H O C H E L A G A was r e t u r n e d to her la y-up berth by the tugs G L E N S I D E and LAC COMO, there to await an even tu al scrap tow overseas. An un usual autumn lay -u p at To ronto this year has been the E n e r c h e m Tr a nsport Inc. a s p h a l t - t a n k e r E N E R C H E M ASPHALT, (a) 0 T MA R I N E (80), (b) A S F A M A R I N E (88). She ente r e d port on Oc tober 11th and, after u n l o a d i n g a cargo down in the ship channel, she p r o c e e d e d on the fo l l o w i n g da y to the w ha rf near the foot of S h e r b o u r n e Street, whe re she laid up. Since then, it has been o b s e r v e d that m a i n t e n a n c e and repai r w o r k has been b eing done aboa rd the ship, but she was still ly ing idle as Octo b e r drew to an end. D uring the m o n t h of Se ptember, E N E R C H E M A S P H A L T had e x p e r i e n c e d ge nerator prob le ms whilst in port at Halifax. A n o t h e r of the tankers of Enerc h e m T r a n s p o r t Inc. wil l be h e l p i n g to keep Port Weller Dry Docks b usy du r i n g the coming winter. The 19 69 -built E N E R C H E M FUSION, (a) C H E M I C A L T R A N S P O R T (86), was the rec i p i e n t of severe dam ag e in a gr o u n d i n g inciden t w h i c h took pl ace during the summe r in the S a g uenay River. We u n d e r s t a n d that the m o t o r t a n k e r was a b a n d o n e d to the u n d e r w r i t e r s and then was r e p u r c h a s e d by E n e r c h e m Tra ns po rt . She has remai n e d idle for the rest of the season, but will be m o v e d to Port Weller, wh ere pe rmanent repair s will be put in hand during the w i n t e r months. In recent years, the fleet of Mc K e i l Marine Ltd., f o r m e r l y of W i n o n a and now of Hamilton , has r a p i d l y e x p a n d e d w i t h the a c q u i s i t i o n of a v a r i e t y of tugs, barges, etc. One of the new tugs is EVANS McKEIL, the forme r BA RBARA ANN, w h i c h was a c q uired during 1989. On Oc tober 21st, EVANS M c K E I L ar rived at Toronto towing the bar ge W I T T R A N S P O R T II (the fo rmer CAPE T R A N S P O R T of the Hall fleet), w h i c h was br ought over from H a m i l t o n and spent several days ser v i c i n g the C uban sal ty S I BANIMAR as she lay along the outer wall at the Redp a t h Sugar plant. W I T T R A N S P O R T II is no w p a i n t e d a dark blue, while her deck gear and piping is grey. Earlier, back on J u l y 15th, EVANS McKE IL had been downbound in the Welland Canal wit h the fire-damaged tug PRESCOTONT, a 6 0 - y e a r - o l d v e t e r a n w h i c h most r e c e n t l y had o p e r a t e d on the Detroi t River for the W i n d s o r Detroit Barge Line Inc. We must ass um e that the Mc Keils are i n t e n d i n g to re build P R E S C O T O N T and opera te her. It is in t e r e s t i n g to note that McKeil Marine also owns the big deck barge O G D E N S BURG, w h i c h also was bui lt in 1930 and was s p e c i a l l y d e s igned to be towed by PRESC O T O N T in the C a n a d i a n Pacif ic c a r f e r r y se rvice betw e e n Pr escott and Ogdensburg, so it w o u l d seem that the two pa rtners no w are r e u n i t e d under comm on ownership. The Upp er Lakes To w i n g C o m p a n y Inc. tug /b ar ge c o m b i n a t i o n of J O S E P H H. TH O M P S O N JR. and J O S E P H H. T H O M P S O N ente r e d se rvice about the middle of October, the ba rge's first load bei ng a cargo of stone. The bar ge is now fitted w ith her s e l f - u n l o a d i n g equip me nt , wit h the boo m m o u n t e d aft. Much of her equ i p m e n t was m o v e d over from U pper Lakes' v e n e r a b l e s e l f - u n l o a d i n g barge BUCK E Y E (II), (a) L E O N A R D B. MI L L E R (37), (b) CH ARLES W. G A L L O W A Y (58), (c) R O B E R T C. N O R T O N (I)(74). The T H O M P S O N was in tended to operate w it h her forward cabins intact and the tug c o n t r o l l e d from the p i l o t h o u s e of the barge, and first pho to s of her wit h her new u n l o a d i n g gear show her wit h her cabins still in place. However, in order to conf o r m w i t h cert ai n Coast Guard c l a s s i f i c a t i o n requi re me nt s, the T H O M P S O N now has been stri pp ed of her cabins and will be n a v i g a t e d from the p i l o t h o u s e of the tug.