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Ship of the Month - cont'd. 10. WESTERN SHELL (II) (the first WESTERN SHELL having been a small tanker ope­ rated for some years by Shell Canada along the British Columbia coast) never saw any service under that name, and she remained in lay-up at Toronto. She was being held in reserve, but it turned out that she was not needed. It was reported in December of 1970 that the Enterprise Oil Company, of Detroit, Michigan, was negotiating to buy WESTERN SHELL for use in carrying Bunker C fuel oil from Sarnia to the Detroit area. The actual sale of the ship did not occur until the following spring, and on April 1st, 1971, WESTERN SHELL was acquired by Big D Line Ltd., of Marine City, Michigan, and Chatham, On­ tario. WESTERN SHELL was towed out of Toronto Harbour on June 28, 1971, by the ve­ nerable tug HERBERT A., and she was taken up to Port Colborne, where the next day she was "renamed" (f) ALFRED CYTACKI. She remained under Canadian registry, but it would appear that the new name never was officially regis­ tered, and that the official name remained WESTERN SHELL through to the end of the ship's life, despite the name ALFRED CYTACKI being painted on her hull. During the summer of 1971, ALFRED CYTACKI (and we shall call her that even if the name was not official) was used on the St. Clair River as a barge, carrying Bunker C and being towed by HERBERT A. On October 2, 1971, however, HERBERT A. brought the barge back to Port Colborne, reportedly as a result of the new owner's non-payment of the towing account of Herb Fraser & Asso­ ciates, of Port Colborne, which owned HERBERT A. It was late in 1971 that Big D Line acquired the big Lake Superior logging tug CHRIS M. (formerly THE wartime-built deep-sea tug EMPIRE SANDY and now a sail excursion boat at To­ ronto under her original name) to tow ALFRED CYTACKI. The official owner of the steam tug was Big D Transport Ltd. CHRIS M. and ALFRED CYTACKI did see some service, but the operation could best be described as "troubled". In December of 1971, the barge's owner was fined $1, 000 for having been responsible for a gasoline spillage, and ano­ ther fine of $2, 500 was levied in February of 1972 for a second episode of cargo spillage. It also was reported at the time that there were labour dif­ ficulties related to the CYTACKI's operations. CHRIS M. was sold in 1972 to Bluewater Towing Ltd. By April of 1973, ALFRED CYTACKI was at Erieau, Ontario, where her cabins were being removed. During 1973, the barge was purchased by the United Me­ tals Company Ltd., of Hamilton, and she was towed down the Welland Canal. She was broken up in 1974 at the United Metals scrapyard which was located at the foot of Strathearne Avenue, on the Hamilton waterfront. The registry of WESTERN SHELL was officially closed on November 27th, 1974. It was indeed unfortunate that the career of LAKESHELL (I) ended in such an ignominious manner, which was not reflective of her many years of stalwart service for the Shell Oil fleet. She was a tanker which frequented the To­ ronto area and your Editor often observed her as EASTERN SHELL, coming and going through the Toronto Eastern Gap. One of our fondest memories of her involves seeing EASTERN SHELL, resplendent in a sparkling new coat of paint, and looking rather larger than her canal dimensions, passing down through Lock One at Port Dalhousie on an early spring Saturday morning in 1965, beginning yet another year of service after a winter's drydocking. * * * Ed. Note: As usual with any of our features, we would appreciate hearing from any T. M. H. S. members who might have relevant information to add to our history of this interesting canaller. A really good photograph of her as LAKESHELL (I) would be a welcome addition for inclusion in a future issue of "Scanner". * * * * *