Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Scanner, v. 37, no. 1 (October 2004), p. 3

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

3. MARINE NEWS When last we came your way in these pages, the Toronto-Rochester ferry SPI­ RIT OF ONTARIO 1 (a. k. a "The Breeze") was crossing the lake with two round trips per day and good passenger loads. There was even talk of a second ship for the route. But then, on September 7th, with the 6: 45 p. m. sailing from Toronto, Canadian American Transportation System (CATS) announced that the service was being suspended indefinitely. It was said that the ferry service was U. S. $1.5 million in debt and that Australian backers were refusing to release funds to CATS until they straightened out problems with pilot fees, Canadian customs fees and a U. S. customs refusal to permit trucks to use the ferry, all this despite the fact that the Toronto Port Authority had begun construction of a permanent terminal facility. Since then, there has been public outcry, government concern (but no money), and offers by private bu­ sinesses to become involved, and U. S. customs has even relaxed the ban on trucks (although not in a meaningful manner). But still the SPIRIT sits idle at her Charlotte dock. CATS says it does plan to resume service, but won't say when, and the bills keep piling up (with no offsetting income) while the ferry lies idle. We miss seeing the SPIRIT moored by the Toronto Eastern Gap and hearing her warbly horn on departure, and we would like to see her back in service but, quite frankly, we doubt CATS' ability to overcome its moun­ tain of debt.. Meanwhile, LAKE EXPRESS, a similar but smaller ferry running across Lake Michigan between Muskegon and Milwaukee, seems to have been doing very well, although service has been suspended on several occasions due to rough weather on the lake. Thunder Bay Tug Services Ltd., which operates the tugs GLENADA and POINT VA­ LOUR at the Canadian Lakehead, has recently acquired another tug, and she is quite a surprise. She is the 85-foot, 1915-built MISEFORD, most recently owned by Nadro Marine Services Ltd., of Port Dover, but perhaps best known for her years of service for the McLean organization of the Canadian Soo. MISEFORD arrived at Thunder Bay on September 20. MISEFORD, her name taken from those of her first owners, Alvin J. Misener and Edwin J. Telford, of Port Burwell, was built by Matthew Beatty & Sons at Welland as a fishtug. She later served as an Ontario Government fisheries patrol vessel, and in 1940 was rebuilt into a tug by the McLeans. Originally steam powered, she was dieselized in 1949. The 47-foot C. C. G. S. THUNDER CAPE was seriously damaged during the course of rescuing two boaters off the mouth of the Mission River at Thunder Bay on September 19. After the rescued men were taken aboard an inflatable rescue boat, THUNDER CAPE struck the breakwater, damaging her propeller and shaft and puncturing her hull, and she had to be towed into port. She was to be taken aboard SAMUEL RISLEY and moved to Burlington. She is being replaced temporarily by C. C. G. S. 119 and was due to be replaced at Thunder Bay in October by C. C. G. S. CAPE CHAILLON, with THUNDER CAPE being stationed else­ where next year. This transfer was planned before the accident. Last issue, we reported the sale for scrapping of McKeil Marine's 1966-built tanker CAPT. RALPH TUCKER, (a) IMPERIAL ACADIA (97), (b) ALGOSCOTIA (i)(01), (c) RALPH TUCKER (01), which recently had been lying idle, briefly, at Ha­ milton. Renamed (d) RALPH TUCKER, and re-registered in St. Vincent and The Grenadines, the TUCKER departed Montreal on September 12 under her own power, bound for Chittagong, Bangladesh, where she is to be dismantled. She previously had made her own way from Hamilton on September 1, bound for Montreal. Also in the last issue, we reported on Algoma Tankers' sale for scrapping of ALGOFAX and ALGOSAR. Indeed, the 1969-built ALGOFAX, (a) IMPERIAL BEDFORD (97), has left Canadian waters. Renamed (c) HALIFAX, and re-registered at Batumi, Republic of Georgia, she sailed from Halifax on August 15, bound for Gibraltar for orders. Although she reportedly had been sold for scrapping in the Far East, rumours persist that she may operate for six months or so in

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy