Ojibway will make trip to scrapyard under her own power
Confirming what has been rumored since late last fall, the 1953-built Ojibway will be scrapped. She will sail under how own power from winter quarters at Sorel, QC, and is expected to arrive at the Marine Recycling Corp. scrapyard April 5. The information comes from the Facebook page of MRC owner Wayne Elliott.
Built by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, MI, in 1952 as Charles L. Hutchinson for the Pioneer Steamship Co., ownership passed to the Ford Motor Co. in 1963, where she was renamed Ernest R. Breech. Early in 1988, the vessel was purchased by Kinsman Lines (Great Lakes Associates Inc.) Rocky River, Ohio, to replace one of the Kinsman fleet’s 600-foot, coal-burning straight-deckers in the grain trade. She was renamed Kinsman Independent, the third vessel of the fleet to bear the name.
Kinsman Independent laid up for a final time in Buffalo, N.Y., on Dec.16, 2002. In 2004, she was bought by McKeil Work Boats Ltd. of Hamilton, ON, and towed there. In late May 2005, the bulker was officially registered and renamed Voyageur Independent on behalf of Voyageur Marine Transport Ltd., Ridgeville, ON, (after being acquired by them from McKeil Work Boats). The vessel received an extensive refit in Hamilton including the installation of a new General Electric V-16 four stroke, turbo-charged 7 FDM EFI diesel engine rated at 4,100 continuous b.h.p. at 1,050 R.P.M. (3,015 kW), a new propeller shaft, new propeller with a controllable pitch propeller control system and two new Caterpillar diesel generator sets. On Nov. 14, 2005, Voyageur Independent departed Hamilton on her maiden voyage in ballast to Thunder Bay.
On Aug. 28, 2007, Rand Logistics of New York, NY, announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Lower Lakes Towing Ltd of Port Dover, ON, had acquired the Voyageur Independent and fleet mate Voyageur Pioneer. On Feb. 29, 2008, Lower Lakes registered the bulker with Transport Canada under the new name Ojibway out of Nanticoke, ON. She has been busy since then in the grain trades, however an inspection last fall revealed that the hull needed significant steel work. The repairs were deemed not economically feasible, and Ojibway entered layup for the winter at Sorel.
According to Elliott, “MRC anticipates Ojibway will follow St Clair out of the water, before Manistee.”
Port of Oswego to export grain to Europe to combat shortages amid Ukraine conflict
Oswego, NY – The Port of Oswego is helping to combat a major worldwide grain shortage due to the war in Ukraine. On Thursday, a major export of grain was scheduled to happen sending more than 18,000 metric tons of grain to Europe, according to the Port of Oswego.
The grain comes from more than 100 Central New York farmers and is the first of at least six shipments scheduled for this year, the port said. The shipment is bound for Brussels and Ireland.
Port of Oswego
Cuyahoga first vessel of the season at Johnstown
Johnstown, ON –The Port of Johnstown, ON, welcomed the Cuyahoga as the first vessel of the 2022 shipping season Friday. She is taking out a load of soybeans. Edwardsburgh Cardinal Councilor Stephen Dillabough, Captain Tim Pryor and Port General Manager Robert Dalley.
