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3. Marine News - c o n t 'd . has sold the J. C. PHILLIPS, (a) GULF GATINEAU (85), and L. ROCHETTE, (a) GULF MACKENZIE (85), for $6 million, and expects to sell HUBERT GAUCHER, (a) L'ERABLE NO. 1 (82), for $8 million, then taking the GAUCHER back on charter. One reason for the sale, according to "The Gazette", is that Socanav's QMT Navigation Inc. division will lose its contract with Ultramar Canada Inc. during 1996. Heavy debt load is reported to have been another problem. The U . S. Army Corps of Engineers has two new vessels operating for it in the Duluth/Superior area. The last new ship built by Peterson Builders Inc. at Sturgeon Bay is the crane barge H. J. SCHWARTZ, which replaces the old steam derrick COLEMAN, and the former Navy tug NATCHITOCHES, brought up from Charleston, South Carolina, takes the place of the handsome but venerable tug LAKE SUPERIOR. NATCHITOCHES and the SCHWARTZ were upbound at the Soo on October 30th, assisted by the Basic Towing tug KRYSTAL K. out of Escanaba. Canada Steamship Lines Inc. is expanding its deep-sea self-unloader opera tions. It was announced recently that CSL, in partnership with the Egon Oldendorff organization, of Lubeck, Germany, has contracted with a Shanghai, China, shipyard for the construction of three "Panamax" self-unloaders to be delivered in 1998. The 735-foot ships will have articulated unloading booms mounted midships and facing aft. It is interesting to note that Oldendorff is also associated with another Canadian shipowner, Algoma Central Marine, in that Oldendorff will own two of the six salt-water bulkers being built at Gdansk, Poland, for delivery in 1997, which Algoma will operate. The World Ship Society recently reported on the disposition of two former lake vessels. The former Socanav tanker LE FRENE NO. 1, (a) JOS. SIMARD (82), which, as we have mentioned, was sold overseas for scrapping during 1995, went via Honduran purchasers to Indian Shipbreakers, and she arrived at the scrapping beach at Alang on May 29, 1995. The 1964-built tanker made the delivery trip under her own power. The 1963-built Canada Steamship Lines package freighter FORT ST. LOUIS was sold to Christos P. Shipping Corp., of Belize, and was renamed (b) CHRISTOS P. The date of this sale was not reported. In the January issue, we reported the late-season grounding in the St. L a w rence section of the Seaway of the salt-water ship OLYMPIC MENTOR. We now have some further detail. The "last deep-sea ship of the season" was reported to be LAKE MICHIGAN, the former FEDERAL MAAS (95), which passed down the Seaway on December 26th, but OLYMPIC MENTOR grounded on Christmas Day in Lake St. Louis and she was the last salty to clear the system. Not only was CECILIA DESGAGNES brought out of lay-up at Montreal to assist in lightering OLYMPIC MENTOR, but the salvage barge P. S. BARGE NO. 1 (the former Upper Lakes & St. Lawrence canaller EDWIN T. DOUGLASS [59], of 1923) was also brought up from Montreal to assist. The tugs CAPT. IOANNIS S., OCEAN FOXTROT, DUGA, CHARLES ANTOINE and SALVAGE MONARCH also came to a s sist in the salvage effort which was hampered by severe weather conditions. Finally freed on December 28th, OLYMPIC MENTOR was the last commercial vessel to lock downbound at St. Lambert that same day, but she did not a c tually clear the Seaway until the 29th, as she spent the night on the St. Lambert lower wall and cleared on the 29th for a Montreal dock, where P. S. BARGE NO. 1 reloaded her cargo into her. Another "victim" of late-season weather was the CSL self-unloader TADOUSSAC, which arrived at Midland, Ontario, on December 26th with a cargo of wheat for the A . D. M. elevator (the old Town House). TADOUSSAC was escorted to her berth by the Coast Guard icebreaker GRIFFON, which then had to leave to assist ice-beset ships in the St. Clair River. TADOUSSAC, unloaded, at tempted to leave Midland without an icebreaker on December 28th, but was u n able to get herself turned around and headed out of the port, so she was laid up for the winter at Midland. TADOUSSAC had been scheduled to take a no ther load to the elevator before lay-up, but that wheat must now be brought in by truck.