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3. Marine News - cont'd. Navigation, the U. S. subsidiary of Lower Lakes Towing Ltd., looks very good in Lower Lakes colours. As we reported last issue, McKEE SONS, after a leng­ thy refit at Sarnia, began her first trip under tow of the tug INVINCIBLE on September 4th. Another self-unloading barge, and one which for many years was an American Steamship Company fleetmate of McKEE SONS, now is being pushed by a diffe­ rent tug than the one which has handled her since 1995. Great Lakes Trans­ port Ltd. 's SARAH SPENCER, (a) ADAM E. CORNELIUS (III) (89), (b) CAPT. EDWARD V. SMITH (91), (c) SEA BARGE ONE (96), had been handled by the tug ATLANTIC HICKORY, (a) IRVING MIAMI (95), which was chartered from Atlantic Towing Ltd. However, ATLANTIC HICKORY left the SPENCER at Walkerville and passed down the Welland Canal on October 6th, bound back to the east coast. The Gaelic tugs SHANNON and CAROLYN HOEY moved the SPENCER to Detroit on October 13th, and there she was picked up on the 18th by her new tug, JANE ANN IV, (a) OURO FINO (81), (b) BOMARE (93), (c) TIGNISH SEA (98). Registered at Ha­ lifax (C. 814399), the tug was built in 1978 by the Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. at Osaka, Japan. She is 137. 5 x 42. 7 x 21. 3, 954 Gross and 286 Net Tons. Most shipping observers won't even be aware of it, but a long-time denizen of Toronto Harbour left port during the spring. Idle for many years in Lighthouse Pond at Gibraltar Point was the steel-hulled derrick barge PRO­ GRESS III (C. 193643), 86 feet and 167 tons both Gross and Net, built in 1951 by Muir Bros, at Port Dalhousie. Constructed originally for the City of To­ ronto, she soon passed to the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, and was part of the "Metro Marine" fleet. McKeil tugs towed her from Toronto, although we do not know the actual date of her departure. She reportedly now is at Lorain, Ohio, although we haven't the foggiest idea why! It was back in 1994 that Neuman Boat Line Inc., of Sandusky, Ohio, had the 143-foot excursion vessel EMERALD EMPRESS (U. S. 999192) built by Washburn & Doughty Associates, of East Boothbay, Maine. Now comes word that she has left the lakes and will go to work for new owners at San Diego, California. She passed down the Welland Canal on October 12th, and the St. Lawrence canals the following day. Visiting the Canadian Coast Guard base at Prescott on September 26th was the aluminum-hulled R. C. M. P. catamaran NADON. Built in 1991 as Hull 334 of Shore Boat Builders, Richmond, British Columbia, the boat's visit to Prescott was part of a 6-month voyage to commemorate the 1940-1942 trip of the wooden­ hulled R. C. M. P. schooner ST. ROCH through the Northwest Passage. NADON, bearing the name ST. ROCH II for the trip, left Vancouver on July 1st and was escorted through the Arctic waters by the C. C. G. S. SIMON FRASER. She encountered no pack ice along the way, which probably was very fortunate. (An aluminum hull in heavy ice? No, thank you! ) After completing the pas­ sage, NADON/ST. ROCH II was visiting several Canadian and U. S. ports en route back to Vancouver via the Panama Canal. The Fednav charter DAVIKEN, (a) MALINSKA (97), suffered an electrical fire about noon on October 20th whilst crossing Lake St. Clair. She lost steering and grounded on a sandy bar near Buoy 25. Gaelic tugs from Detroit refloated her shortly after 10: 00 p. m. on the 21st. Only a few days before, Toronto had received a four-day visit from her sistership SANDVIKEN, (a) PETKA. This was SANDVIKEN's first visit to the lakes under that name. The third sister of the trio is GOVIKEN, (a) OMISALJ (97), likewise on long-term Fednav char­ ter. These are the 1986-1987 built Yugoslav "almost-copies" of the Scottish- built Misener ocean-lakers SELKIRK SETTLER, CANADA MARQUIS and SASKATCHEWAN PIONEER of 1983. Another recent grounding involved the 1995-built Norwegian bulker FOSSNES, which suffered a steering gear failure and found the bottom off Cape Martin in the St. Lawrence River, 62 miles east of Quebec City. She was pulled off by tugs that night on the high tide. She was bound for Sarnia with a load of