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Marine News - cont'd. 4. In the last issue, we mentioned the late-season arrival in the lakes of FE­ DERAL WELLAND, latest in the current series of new-buildings for the Fednav fleet. Ceremonies honouring the vessel were planned, but the timing was not right on the upbound trip. Instead, recognition of the event took place on the afternoon of December 3rd, when the ship was above Lock 8 on her down­ bound passage. One of the two major reconstruction jobs to be done over the winter at Port Weller Dry Docks got underway on December 13th, when the CSL pilothouse- forward seIf-unloader TADOUSSAC went onto the "shelf" (the south side of the drydock) in preparation for the work that will increase her beam to "Seaway- max" 78 feet. She will also be fitted with a single-belt unloading system, her cargo gates will be automated, and a dust control system will be fitted so that she can carry cement clinker. The second winter job actually began last March 29th, when the keel was laid at Port Weller for Hull 79, the new fore and midsection for CSL's stemwinder LOUIS R. DESMARAIS. This section was floated on December 10th, and on the 17th, the DESMARAIS arrived at the yard and went into the deep north section of the drydock. Work began immediately on cutting away the ship's old fore­ body, because the lower section of the Welland Canal was to be drained for winter work soon after closure on December 24th, and the old hull section had to be out of the dock and the new one in before the draining. The old section will spend the winter sitting on the mud of the canal bottom alongside the fit-out wall. No name has yet been announced for the rebuilt DESMARAIS. May we hope that it is not a "people name"? A piece of history is currently disappearing at Quebec City, where one of the last few canaller hulls is being dismantled. She is P. S. BARGE NO. 1, the former (a) EDWIN T. DOUGLASS (C . 146334) (59). She was built in 1923 as Hull 240 of Napier and Miller Ltd. at Old Kilpatrick, Scotland, for the Eas­ tern Steamship Company Ltd. She was acquired in 1936 by Upper Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Company Ltd. Rendered obsolete by the new Seaway, she was sold to Pyke Salvage Ltd., Kingston, in 1959 and was converted to a salvage lighter. She later served the McAllister Towing fleet, and we believe that her last owner was Le Groupe Ocean Inc. Last issue, we noted the renaming and subsequent entry into the lakes of the former Christensen Canadian African Lines ships THORSHOPE (now LYKES WINNER) and THORSRIVER (now LYKES ENERGIZER - the "Lykes Bunny"? ). We now learn that the third sistership, THORSLAKE, also has been renamed, and that she is now LYKES INSPIRER. Her arrival in Canadian waters was, however, too late for her to venture into the lakes. A major shipyard acquisition took place quietly on November 20th, when the Manitowoc Corporation bought out Marinette Marine Inc. The Marinette yard is best known for its production of JUNIPER and "Keeper" class tenders for the U. S. Coast Guard, and recently received a contract for building three more JUNIPER class vessels, with options for an additional two. The takeover reportedly was worth something in the area of $48 million. The acquisition brings the Marinette Marine and Bay Shipbuilding operations under the same ownership. The most valuable part of the acquisition likely is the extremely good relationship which Marinette enjoyed with the U. S. Government as a re­ sult of the reliability of its products and their timely delivery. For those who weren't aware, we should note that a reorganizaton of USX Corp. holdings was announced in October. A firm known as Transtar Holdings is to become the sole owner of both USS Great Lakes Fleet Inc. and the Du­ luth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway, thus allowing them to be operated se­ parately from USX, which will become the sole owner of the Warrior and Gulf Navigation Company and the Birmingham Southern Railroad. What the end result of this will be is not yet clear, but it is thought that more sales of USS lake vessels may occur in the not-too-distant future.