A historic Great Lakes vessel
with a questionable future is the
Canadian steam-powered passenger
ferry Norisle, which was built by
Collingwood Shipyards in 1946 as the
first steamship completed in Canada
after the end of World War II.
The vessel was once operated
as a floating museum at the
Manitowaning Heritage complexon Lake Huron’s Manitoulin Island,
but access to her was terminated in
2008 because of her deteriorating
condition. Over the past year the
steamer has been the subject of
a lawsuit between the owner, the
Township of Assiginack, which would
like to sell the ship for scrap, and the
SS Norisle Steamship Society, which
would like to restore her.40 • Summer 2018 • http://www.shipsmonthly.com
old forebody was replaced
by a new wider and deeper
forebody, with the original
twin Pielstick diesels retained.
By using longitudinal
framing in the hold area,
combined with larger
measurements overall, the
ship’s deadweight capacity
was increased to 35,500
tonnes. Retained from the
original hull was the Stephens
Adamson-designed lifting gear
and discharge boom, which
was mated to a new multi-
belt conveyor system and
automated cargo gate control
system. This allows the rebuilt
vessel to unload iron ore pellets
at a rate of 5,300 tonnes per
hour and coal at the rate of
4,500 tonnes per hour.ArticulAted tugs
Articulated tug/barge (ATB)
units have also entered Great
Lakes trading, particularly with
US companies that face high
shipbuilding and manning
costs. One of the largest of Equipped with a stern anchor, and
seen in rather cold surroundings,
the Laker Herbert C. Jackson was
completed as a ‘straight decker’ in
1959, but was converted to a self-
unloader in 1975, and new diesel
engines replaced her original steam
turbines in 2016. DaviD Ruff For many years one of the oldest
ships on the Lakes, the 1904-built
J. B. Ford served her final years as
a stationary cement storage vessel
before going to the Azcon scrapyard
at Duluth, Minnasota in 2015. HuRon Once a museum ship at Douglas,
Michigan, the 1907-built former Canadian
Pacific steamer Keewatin is now on
display at Port McNicoll, Ontario, her
longtime homeport. DaviD Ruff The 72-year-old Great Lakes steamer Norisle is slowly deteriorating on
Lake Huron as her fate is being decided by a court. SS noRiSle SteamSHip SoccAn norisle be sAved?
these is the 10,200hp tug
Joyce Van Enkevort which was
mated to the 700ft notched
barge Great Lakes Trader in
2001 following the barge’s
completion on the US Gulf
Coast. This resulted in an
overall ATB length of 844ft
with a full load displacement
of 46,290 tons and a carrying
capacity of 39,600 tons.
Another ATB operating on
the Lakes is the tug Victory,
originally built for Gulf Coast
employment but brought
to the Lakes in 2006 to be
mated to the self-unloading
barge James L. Kuber. In
this case the barge had once
been an active steamship, the
1953-built Reserve, which had
been fitted with self-unloading
gear in 1982 but cut down to
a barge with a carrying capacity
of 25,500 tons in 2008.new ships
Among new ships being built
for operation on the Great
Lakes are Algoma Central