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3. Marine News - cont'd. A strange situation developed early in January along the Genesee River at Rochester, New York. Lying idle in the river for some time had been the tug CHEYENNE II, a barge-canal type tug reported to be 70 feet in length, but looking longer than that to us. The tug was nowhere to be seen by late De­ cember, and by early January, houseboat owners and shoreline residents were complaining of the smell of fuel oil. Pooling of oil was found along the shore and near the Stutson Street Bridge. Searching for the source of the oil, authorities finally located CHEYENNE II lying on the bottom of the ri­ ver. A containment boom was set up, but it was estimated that some 200 gal­ lons of diesel fuel already had escaped from the tug, which apparently sank sometime between December 1st and 24th. No environmental damage was antici­ pated. There was no published explanation for why the tug's owner, a Roches­ ter resident, had not reported the sinking of the CHEYENNE II to the autho­ rities when it happened, nor was any cause given for the sinking. Reported early in January was the sale by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation of its 1, 000-footer STEWART J. CORT to "a group of investors arranged by and including General Electric Capital Corporation". The vessel, which was the lakes' first 1, 000-foot ship, then was immediately leased back to Bethlehem. It was reported that the transaction would provide some $30 million in addi­ tional liquidity to Bethlehem. It was not until January 3rd that Port Weller Dry Docks was ready to remove the old forebody of LOUIS R. DESMARAIS from the deep dock and put in its place Hull 79, the new forebody of the ship. The work, which began in the early evening and involved the tugs JAMES E. McGRATH, PROGRESS and LAC COMO, was not completed until the wee small hours of the 4th, with ice causing problems. Once the job was completed, the tugs had to be taken out through Lock 1, as the lower canal was to be dewatered for the winter. Their depar­ ture was made difficult by frozen lock gates and the fact that the water le­ vel in the pool above the lock had already been dropped substantially. We should note that the young persons who vandalized NORGOMA at the Soo late in 2000 eventually were apprehended as a result of peers "ratting" on the culprits. We suppose it is too much to hope that the courts will deal harsh-, ly with these jerks or force their parents to pay for the damage, despite Ontario's new parental responsibility law. Local businesses apparently have chipped in to help offset the cost of repairing all the broken glass and light fixtures. Marine vandalism seems to be an increasing problem around the lakes, however. We learn that the steam dipper dredge COL. D. D. GAIL­ LARD, on display at Superior, Wisconsin, was so badly damaged by vandals last spring that she had to be closed to the public. The vandals destroyed everything breakable and even tried to burn the GAILLARD's superstructure. Vandals have even done damage to the whaleback tanker METEOR, also at Supe­ rior's Barker's Island. The Verreault Navigation Inc. tug KETA V. (C. 311874), (a) KELLIGREWS (89), (b) VERREAULT (89), (c) VERREAULT NO. 25 (89), built at Saint John, New Brunswick, in 1961, was lost recently. She grounded October 3, 2000, at Eas­ tern Head, off Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and sank two days later. KETA V. had been in the lakes, but was not a frequent visitor. The USS Great Lakes Fleet Inc. 's CASON J. CALLAWAY, currently wintering at Superior, will have her main steam machinery and all of her auxiliaries automated while she is laid up. Not only will this allow direct pilothouse control of the engine but will allow the CALLAWAY to operate with a one-man engineroom watch. The cost is significantly less than would be involved with a diesel conversion and subsequent maintenance of diesel machinery. * * * * * LAY-UPS: Didn't send us your list? Write us. Or phone (416) 921-8436. Or Fax (416) 368-7054. Or e-mail john_baseom@ca. cgugroup. com Just please let us now hear from you in time for the March issue (by February 20, latest. mailto:john_baseom@ca.cgugroup.com