Veteran Tug SEAHOUND

Though I was at Toronto's Port Lands between Christmas and New Years, I just didn't have enough time to get any close up snaps of the MCKEIL SPIRIT which is a unique vessel that was built as a gearless bulk carrier and then converted into a self unloading cement carrier. Now there's an interesting story to tell about her and I'll get into it in an upcoming blogpost but on a very cold last Sunday  morning while trying to get a full length pic of her from a high berm that was covered in scrubs along Unwin Avenue and beyond mountains of road salt and concrete rumble, I was especially surprised to see tied off to the SPIRIT was the cute little toot, the 65' veteran tug SEAHOUND.

Most other times when I snapped the SEAHOUND, she'd also be laying in wait but more often tied off above the pilot master's shack and boat J.W. COOPER along West Street in Port Colborne like in these shots on November 19, 2015.

I saw on MarineTraffic that the 1000 hp twin screw SEAHOUND was active last winter  working with other McKeil tugs and barges on the wind turbine project on Amherst Island across from Bath on Lake Ontario, but any other winter when I was in Port Colborne to visit my mother, I would see her, (the tug that is)  at the same spot and ready to conduct icebreaking duties when required.

Built at Equitable Equipment in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1941, the then named MAJOR WM. E. WARNER was one of 600  ST's (Small Tugs) that were built at shipyards all over America including the Great Lakes to support the U.S.Army's  transportation services. While I could not find out where the MAJOR WM. E. WARNER was based, some ST's were involved or destroyed in WWII battle theatres like Normandy, and during the Korean and Viet Nam conflicts. She became flagged Canadian and started a new lease on life on the Great Lakes working in marine construction and dredging when she was sold to McNamara Construction Equipment of Whitby in 1957 while named "SEA HOUND" and then as CAROLYN JO when she was acquired by Pitt Engineering Construction of Toronto in 1980. Her name was returned to SEAHOUND a year after she was sold to Nadro Marine of Port Dover, Ontario, a subsidiary of McKeil Marine in 1999.
In her proud Canadian red with white trim Nadro colours and company logo displayed on her black stack with a white and red banner, the twin screw, 1000 horsepower SEAHOUND has been captured by more than just my camera lens during her work and rest breaks on the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River and Seaway, and Welland Canal.

Michel Gosselin of St. Catharines caught the SEAHOUND assisting fleetmate LAC MANITOBA on the Welland Canal while delivering the former RCN Oberon-class submarine HMCS OJIBWA to her final home and duty as a museum at Port Burwell on Lake Erie. - November 18, 2012   

After a work project went terribly wrong in a swift hydro canal in Cornwall, Ontario, SEAHOUND was also there to bring the LAC MANITOBA home along with the McKeil tug SHARON M 1 as caught in this sad photo taken by Prescott's Helen Mott at Iroquois Lock on October 6, 2015.      

Joanne Crack, the administrator for the Facebook group, The Prescott Anchor, snapped the SEAHOUND on October 2, 2015 when moored in Prescott for supplies.

Lots of action in this photo taken December 31, 2017 by Michel Gosselin as the SEAHOUND clears a path through an unusually ice covered basin above Lock 1 in preparation for the arrival of Lower Lakes self unloader CUYAHOGA which would winter at Port Weller Dry Dock for an inspection and repairs    

Like in Michel's photo, all that remained of the Nadro Marine identity was their initials on her stack, that's barely visible  above the scrap tow, AMERICAN VICTORY's rudder as the SEAHOUND wedged herself beneath the stern and the lower Beauharnois lock wall in this pic to the right on June 27, 2018.

http://carlzboats.blogspot.com/2018/08/classic-laker-american-victory-her.html

Regardless of her new McKeil Marine strips and colour scheme, her unique size and ten tonne bollard pull were the qualities that were needed most when tasked to assist this other former World War Two veteran,  the 730' AMERICAN VICTORY to Montreal during her last voyage out of the Great Lakes  early last summer. Such is true for any job the SEAHOUND has done in her 78 years in service and proof positive that just because you're getting old it doesn't mean you don't have what it takes to get the job done. Rest when you can and give it your all when called upon. If it can work for this little pooch, it can work for us all too.
Oh YAAA!! c):-D

Classic Self Unloader KAYE E. BARKER

While the locks along the St. Lawrence and Welland Canal sections of the Seaway closed for transiting on December 31st, the Poe Lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan remains open so American and Canadian lakers are rushing this way and that way to get another load of iron ore and grain from Lake Superior ports before the 1,200 foot lock closes for winter repairs at midnight on January 15th.
The ship activity now is much like what we experienced during our visit along the St. Clair River in 2016 when while standing on the dock at the Bluewater Resort in St. Clair, Michigan on September 20th, no sooner had the 1000 foot articulated tug & barge (ATB) PRESQUE ISLE motored by upbound, from the distance downbound on her way to Detroit was the 767' classic straight-deck self unloader, KAYE E. BARKER minutes later. What a great venue the Bluewater Resort is.  

When she went into service in 1952 her name was EDWARD B. GREENE and was one of eight AAA KOREA-class bulk carriers especially built due to the domestic demand of ore and coal after WWII and during the Korean conflict. Like the other triple A's, the EDWARD B. GREENE was 647 feet long and built for the Cleveland Cliff Steamship Company at American Shipbuilding of Toledo, Ohio to haul iron ore from Marquette, Michigan on Lake Superior to Cleveland, Ohio on Lake Erie. However unlike the other, she had a distinctive triple deck forward house which provided large guest accommodations for her corporate passengers.

In 1976 she was lengthen to her current 767' at Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wisconsin to increase her cargo capacity to 26,750 tons. In 1981 the GREENE returned to her original builder, in Toledo when she was converted into a self unloader with a 250' boom mounted onto her stern section which slightly reduced her cargo capacity to 25,900 tons but her turn around time to pick up another load of ore in Marquette was greatly reduced.

In 1985, her name was changed to BENSON FORD when sold to Rouge River Steel a division of Ford Corporation and began hauling ore from Marquette to Detroit. Her name was changed to KAYE E. BARKER after the wife of the Chairman of the Board and President of Interlakes Steamships, James R. Barker, when the Ford fleet was sold to the company started an exclusive contract to continue to haul Marquette ore to Ford's Rouge plant in 1989.

Riding high in ballast and pushing a white wake passed the Algoma tanker ALGOSOO and the oil refineries in Sarnia, I snapped the KAYE again upriver at Port Huron on the next day while she was motoring back to Marquette and obviously getting good use of her 8,160 horsepower diesel engines which replaced her original steam turbines in 2012.

Skimming along Michigan's upper peninsula is where I found the feisty KAYE E. BARKER this afternoon making one more run to Marquette and then back to the Rouge River  before laying up for winter. She's not the only boat out there as you can see from the MarineTraffic map. Battling strong gusts from the northeast on Lake Superior, is FAYE's husband, so to speak, the "footer" JAMES R. BARKER was well on her way to Whitefish Bay with a load of ore from Two Harbors for Nanticoke, Ontario on Lake Erie.
Until the Soo lock closes, every minute and cargo counts. But the good news is, it'll be business as usual before we know it in two and a half months. Meanwhile the rest will do us all good, don't you think? c):-D

Bulk Carrier NAREW

The dash is on. It's mid December and if all goes well, the Seaway and Welland Canal will be closed for the season just as the ball is dropping in Time Square in New York City. It'll be a nice change from last year when a deep freeze Russian blast from over the top hung over the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway near the end of December causing the seaway channels and most Great Lakes to ice over much quicker than normal. As a result of the untimely "Polar Vortex"the Montreal-based bulk carrier FEDERAL BISCAY got herself jammed in the ice at the entrance to Snell Lock and remained there for almost a week before finally being freed. It was almost another week before the BISCAY and the four other ships that were blocked in the system behind her to clear St. Lambert Lock across from Montreal on January 11.

Laden with grain from Duluth, the 492' NAREW continues to approach my lookout beneath the Windmill Point Lighthouse just east of Prescott, Ontario with the 443' Groupe Desgagnes tanker MIA DESGAGNES about 5 miles to her stern.

Built in 2012 at Sanfu Shipbuilding in Jiangsu, China, the NAREW flies the flag of Liberia though she's actually owned by the Polsteam, short for the Polish Steamship Company of Szczecin, Poland.

At 492' the "handy-size class" NAREW is slightly smaller than the first Polsteam bulk carrier I came across, the 489' NOGAT ( http://carlzboats.blogspot.com/2013/01/bulk-carrier-nogat.html) in Havana harbour almost 6 years ago, but is smaller than the IRMA (https://carlzboats.blogspot.com/2013/07/bulk-carrier-irma.html) which is just under 656'.

With all the buoys and bends on the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes behind her, regardless of what old man winter drops or blows our way from now until the end of 2018, it will be of no concern to the crew of the NAREW as the little big ship continues to make her way toward the Gulf of St. Lawrence and then to Gibraltar with her belly full of wheat from America's midwest.
On probably my last post of the year, I just want to say thanks for reading Carlz Boats and may I wish you all a Wonderful Holiday Season and a Great 2019. c):-D  

Dry Bulk Carrier ALGONORTH

Ships come and go, upbound or downbound, fully loaded or high in ballast. While no ship can sail forever, their names can be repeated time and time again. When the then 730’ straight-deck FRONTENAC entered service in 1968, four others sailed with that name. The American Steamships stern-end self unloading JOHN J. BOLAND is also the fourth to be named after the company’s founder. There’s been three SAGINAW’s to date and if you skim through the pages of your 2018 "Know Your SHIPS" you'll see a slew of others that have a repeated name at least once like the current CSL “Glen’s” CEDARGLEN, SPRUCEGLEN and OAKGLEN (three actually) and ditto that for their Trillium-class self discharging bulk carriers with the exception of the BAIE COMEAU which is the third to bear that name. In Algoma’s current fleet, "twice-namers" go to the ALGOSEA and ALGONOVA,  and soon the newly acquired 472’ tanker, RAMIRA will be the second ALGONORTH in their fleet.

My only opportunity to photograph the first ALGONORTH was on August 5, 2007 while taking in the fun activities on West Street during Port Colborne’s Canal Days festival that year. On that day the 729' 11" gearless bulk carrier approached Bridge 21 from Lake Erie sitting low in the water which probably was a load of grain for the elevators further down on the St. Lawrence River or Gulf.
Built in 1970 at Upper Clyde Shipbuilding in Govan, Scotland for Lambert Brothers Shipping of London, England, the then named TEMPLE BAR was 527’9” and had a cargo capacity of 22,157 tons. In September of 1976 TEMPLE BAR was sold to Nipigon Transport (Carryore Ltd.) of Montreal and two month later she arrived at Jurong Shipyards, in Singapore to be lengthened to one inch less of the then Seaway- max size and converted for service on the Great Lakes. Rebuilt and now with a cargo capacity of 28,750 tons in five holds and eighteen hatches, the TEMPLE BAR left Singapore in April 1977 for the Great Lakes via the Suez Canal.

A few thumbnails from my Canal Days video. Check it out below.

On May 19th she arrived at Port Colborne with a new name, LAKE NIPIGON for a final "pre-working on the Great Lakes" refit which included the installation of a hatch crane, deck winches and the removal of her deepsea strengthening steelwork. After all was completed, the LAKE NIPIGON  became busy like most gearless bulk carriers, hauling prairie wheat to St. Lawrence River grain elevators and returning to the upper lakes for more after having a cargo of Labrador iron ore unloadied at a Hamilton steel mill.

Her name was changed to LAKETON when she was chartered to Misener Transportation in 1984 but it was changed back to LAKE NIPIGON in the following year when she rejoined the Nipigon Transport fleet and that name was kept even when Algoma Central acquired the Nipigon and Carryore fleet in April 1986. However after a refit and having a coat of Algoma navy blue paint applied to her hull at Port Weller Dry Dock, the stern-end bulker re-entered service in the summer of ‘87, as the ALGONORTH. 

ALGONORTH staying far away from the "Grim Reaper" SALVAGE MONARCH tied off by the old coal dock.

For the next 25 years ALGONORTH continued in the same grain and ore trade that she had done since entering the Great Lakes 11 years earlier, but she did have more than her share of misfortunes such as groundings, making contact with a Toledo bridge in 1992 and then a dock there in 2011 than spilled 3,500 barrels of diesel fuel into the Maumee River. In August 1994 she collided with the saltie RIXTA OLDENDORF in the Beauharnois Canal, a fire broke out in a hold while wintering at the Redpath Sugar dock in Toronto in February 2005 and almost 6 months to the day a fire on Lake Superior caused an engine room blackout. Anchors dropped to prevent her from drifting, the Gravel and Lakes tug ROBERT JOHN was eventually dispatched to tow her back Thunder Bay. Due to a delay of parts, her stroke of bad luck or lack of stroke there of, forced the ALGONORTH to operate with only one engine after her starboard engine crankshaft seized up in June 2006.

Photo by Matt Carlson - July 13, 2012

The hardworking lady continued to lumber along for a few more years before her big Dutch built Werkpoor engine would be shut down for good on January 1, 2009 at the former Agricore United grain elevator slip at Thunder Bay, a place where she had been a fixture for more than 30 year carrying over 30 million tonnes of grain from that port's elevators.

Matthew Carlson, who was painting the tug, POINT VALOUR was definitely at the right place at the right time on July 13, 2012 when he captured the ALGONORTH being pulled out of the old Agricore United slip by the Sault Ste. Marie based Purvis Marine tug ANGLIAN LADY. Once beyond the dark shadow of the grain elevator exposed were the old girl's designed for deepsea trading big bulbous bow and above a long swatch of black paint spread sloppily over her name and Algoma's bear emblem. Anytime I had seen the built in 1953 in Southampton, England tug, she was pushing or pulling a company barge, but on the day, after a stern line was released to the Thunder Bay Tug Service's tug GLENADA at the entrance to the Lakehead's harbour, the 132' ANGLIAN LADY lead her nameless scrap-tow into Lake Superior.

Photo by Matt Carlson - July 13, 2012

Most everyone presumed the former bulk carrier would be taken to the new owner, Marine Recycling Corporation's ship breaking yard in Port Colborne, but they had enough work there, so instead the end of her last voyage was also her homeport, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, arriving there for the final time on July 19, 2012.

Algoma Central photo of homebound crew at Goteburg, Sweden

The hard steel of the original ore and grain carrying ALGONORTH maybe gone but her name, which referred to Algoma's railway route "NORTH" from Sault Ste. Marie, is also being re-used and now appearing on Algoma Tankers Ltd.'s seventh vessel, currently motoring at 13.2 knot in the Celtic Sea south of Ireland making her way to Canada. The "new" ALGONORTH was built in 2008 and has a 16,958 dwt liquid bulk cargo capacity, which is slightly less than fleetmate, ALGOSEA. Got to love the company's "Name The Tanker Contest" choice and we all wish her Atlantic transit crew posing in a photo I found on Facebook ship-watching group, The Prescott Anchor, a speedy but safe journey home.
Thank you Matthew Carlson for putting down that paint roller long enough to take these  great pics, and to you George Wharton for the well written Boatnerd.com backgrounder.  Here's my video of the ALGONORTH passing beneath Bridge 21 in Port Colborne during Canal Days on August 5, 2007. Enjoy!! (https://youtu.be/JMMBQlhbBxo)