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| Detroit River |
Mike Nicholls |
Great Lakes Fleet Page Vessel Feature -- Canadian Olympic
By George Wharton
The Great Lakes self-unloading bulk carrier Canadian Olympic was built
at a cost of $30 million by Port Weller Dry Docks, St. Catherines, ON
and was float-launched to the fit-out berth on May 24, 1976 for the
Upper Lakes Group, Inc., Toronto, ON. She was named in recognition of
the 1976 Olympic Games held in Montreal, PQ. The Canadian Olympic is
powered by two MAN 8-cylinder 5,000 horsepower diesel engines driving a
controllable pitch propeller giving her a rated service speed of 13
knots and is equipped with a 1,000 horsepower bow thruster. Her 22
hatches feed into one large hold where she can carry 26,650 tons at maximum
Seaway draft of 26 feet and is capable of carrying 35,100 tons at her
maximum mid-summer draft of 30-feet 1-inch. Her self-unloading
equipment consists of a single belt gravity system with a reclaiming
machine feeding a stern-mounted loop belt elevator to a 250-foot
discharge boom that can be swung 100 degrees to port or starboard and
unload at a rate of up to 6,096 tons/hour. This loop belt unloading
system was the most efficient system developed at the time as it reduced
spillage in the tunnel while unloading.
ULGI reinvested over $2 million in the Canadian Olympic during the
winter lay-up of 1999/2000 when its unloading tunnel and loop were
completely overhauled and renewed. Included were the replacement of all
93 hydraulically operated unloading gates and the gate hoppers. Also,
the hold belt and roller frames were removed with all steelwork being
sandblasted and epoxy coated; the tunnel tanktop was completely reclad
with 3/8" steel; new roller frames were installed with a third of the
rollers being replaced; and the loop belt housing was sandblasted and
epoxy coated.
The Canadian Olympic sails under the management of the newly created
Seaway Marine Transport of St. Catherines, ON. Seaway Marine Transport
was formed by the merging of the former Seaway Self-Unloaders and Seaway
Bulk Carriers and remains a partnership of Algoma Central and Upper
Lakes Group. Coal is one of the Canadian Olympic's main cargoes
delivering to various power generating stations along the Great Lakes.
Other commodities such as taconite pellets, grain products, or salt
could be carried.
Her recent updates should secure her future on the Great Lakes for many
years to come.
| Overall dimensions |
| Length |
730'00" |
| Beam |
75'00" |
| Depth |
46'06" |
| Capacity (tons) |
35,100 |
| Diesel engines horsepower |
9,000 |
| Self-unloading boom |
250' |

Ice escort, January, 2001. N. Schultheiss - from the Canadian Coast Guard
Ship Samuel Risley. |

Stuck at the lower end of the Livingston Channel. |
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USCG Mackinaw assists. |
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