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@ The last salty, the AKRA RION, a 389-foot Greek freighter, went through the Welland on Dec. 18, ending fears that some overseas vessels might be trapped in the Lakes over the winter. On Nov. 22 there had been 231 salties above Montreal, compared with 125 the year before and 61 had entered the Seaway on waivers after the Nov. 12 deadline. This year 222 more foreign vessels passed Detroit both up and down- bound than last year, due to the demand for steel in antici- pation of the steel strike that didn't occur, and to the coastal dock strikes. Unusually warm weather and efforts by Seaway authorities of both the U.S. and Canada, kept the Seaway open far beyond the official deadline of Dec. 12. A Coast Guard hovercraft brought into the Lakes to assist in the program to extend the winter shipping season sank Nov. 23 in 110 feet of water near Martin's Reef in northern Lake Huron. It had been ferrying men and sup- plies to various lighthouses when it sank during a storm. Ef- forts to locate the unusual, $750,000 craft were without suc- cess until Dec. 17 when divers from Ocean Systems, Inc., of Arlington, Va., working under LOG oo contract to the Navy, found it. By that time a second hovercraft was being readied in San Fran- cisco to continue the project. Known also as an air cushion vehicle (ACV) that travels on a cushion of air over land, water or ice, it had previously been considered unsinkable -- like the TITANIC. The Upper Lakes freighter THOR- OLD is laid up at Ramey's Bend but apparently is not due for the shipbreakers yet. The last two letters of her name have been painted out so that she is now the "THORO." Hall Corp. has four vessels up for sale as “operating units," not scrap. They are WESTCLIFFE HALL, NORTHCLIFFE HALL, EAGLES- CLIFFE HALL and CONISCLIFFE HALL all presently laid up at Kings- ton. All are twin-screw diesels. The Coast Guard buoy tender WOODBINE will be decommissioned Feb. 15 with her icebreaking job to be taken over by the polar icebreaker EDISTO, now stationed at Milwaukee for the winter per- iod. The Cleveland Plain Dealer Dec. 3 devoted a full page to the Erie Isles boats of the Newman, Miller and Parker families.