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3. Marine News - cont'd. NORTON was sold by the fleet for scrapping in 1964, and although there was a steamer named E. W. OGLEBAY on the lakes at one time, named for Earl W. Oglebay, she was owned by other operators and was a total loss by stranding in 1927, after which her hull became part of a dock at Drummond Island. The March 10, 1995, issue of the U . S. publication "Marine News" (not to be confused with the World Ship Society publication of the same name) reported that the U . S. "Maritime Administration has received a request from Oglebay Norton Co., Cleveland, Ohio, for permission to sell the 8, 796-gross-ton cargo tanker (sic) J. BURTON AYERS. The proposed purchaser is Black Creek Shipping Co., of Ontario, Canada... If approved, the vessel would be used in the bulk transportation trade. " The AYERS, of course, is not a tanker but rather a "Maritime Class" bulk carrier, (a) MESABI (I)(43), which was built in 1943 at Lorain and converted to a self-unloader in 1974. She has been laid up at Toledo for several years. Perhaps by the time this issue is in the hands of the members, more will be known about the proposed sale of the s t e a me r. The Port of Toronto was officially opened for the 1995 season on March 28th, when the Essroc Canada Inc. cement-carrier STEPHEN B. ROMAN, (a) FORT W I L LIAM (83), arrived from Picton with a cargo of cement. It was the tenth time in eleven years that the ROMAN has taken the port-opening honours, and the historic ceremonial hat was presented to Capt. James Leaney. Another early Toronto arrival was the Paterson motorship WINDOC, which arrived with a cargo of sugar for the Redpath plant only a week after the Seaway opened. This was a most unusual cargo for WINDOC, although MANTADOC brought sugar to Toronto in 1994 and is, we understand, expected back here several times during 1995. Although there has not been much new ship construction done on the Great Lakes in recent years, one yard that currently is very busy is that of M a rinette Marine, located on the Menominee River at Marinette, Wisconsin. The yard already had contracts to build for the U. S. Coast Guard the lead ship of the new Juniper class of 225-foot seagoing tenders and several s ister ships, but early in 1995 the yard builder also was awarded contracts to build three of the Keeper class of inshore tenders, as well as yet another Juniper-class boat. Meanwhile, it was announced in February that fiscal cut-backs by the U . S. Coast Guard will close or "downgrade" 41 boat stations around the country, including at least 12 in the Ninth District, which covers the lakes. Among those stations to be downsized or eliminated will be those at Marquette, Holland, Muskegon and Manistee, Michigan. A most unfortunate accident occurred at the Dofasco steel plant at Hamilton on Tuesday, March 28th, when one of the large ore bridges on the company's dock collapsed, part of the structure falling into the slip where freighters moor when they are being unloaded. Fortunately, no ship was there when the rig fell, but the operator was killed when his cab fell more than twenty metres and was crushed underneath the wreckage of the travelling bridge. The cause of the accident was not immediately known. It was recently reported in the public press that, in mid-March, the City of Toronto issued a demolition permit which would allow CanAmerica Foods and Central Soya of Canada to raze the disused plant and silos formerly operated by Victory Soya Mills Ltd. on the waterfront at the foot of Parliament Street. The demolition is expected to cost in the range of $3 million and could begin within two or three months. The Victory Mills plant is one of only three grain elevators remaining on Toronto Harbour, although none of them have been active in recent years. Despite suggestions for alternate uses for the Victory elevator, the city declined to protect it by de s i g nating it a historic site.