Titanic-era steamer Keewatin tow arrives at Hamilton
HAMILTON, ON – The tow of the iconic, Edwardian-era passenger ship Keewatin reached Hamilton Saturday around 2 p.m. after passing through the Welland Canal on Friday. Spectators lined the Burlington piers to watch the stately vessel’s arrival. She was towed in by the McKeil Marine tug Molly M1.
Keewatin is bound for the Heddle Marine shipyard. After drydocking, she will be towed to her hew home in the transportation collection of the Maritime Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston, ON.
The historic vessel was tugged out of Port McNicoll, ON, Monday afternoon, with hundreds of people lining the waterfront at Port Huron/Sarnia, Detroit/Windsor and at the Welland Canal to view the once-in-a-lifetime passage.
The Keewatin was built in Glasgow, Scotland and set out on her maiden voyage in September 1907, docking in Quebec. She spent nearly 60 years carrying passengers on the Great Lakes, often docking at Port McNicoll, Ontario. Port McNicoll was known as the “Chicago of the North” for some time until trains and ships stopped coming through in 1965 due to the completion of the Trans Canada Highway.
After coming out of service that same year, the Keewatin permanently docked in the Kalamazoo Harbor in Douglas in 1968, across from the summer resort town of Saugatuck.
The ship became a museum and sat in the harbor for more than 40 years, when it was towed out of the river back to Port McNicoll in June 2012. Her departure that summer was a big event, with large crowds gathering to see the historic ship make its way out of Saugatuck one last time.
The Keewatin is expected to arrive in Kingston sometime this fall.
Link to the Maritime Museum of the Great Lakes web site detailing plans for the Keewatin: https://www.marmuseum.ca/ss-keewatin?fbclid=IwAR2t49zFHYIOXV_hQD5QN8Zy0uX1kxE9TYAKmRJ0J0OBI88HXb83XU75wZ0
Link to an interview talking about work to be done on the vessel: https://toronto.citynews.ca/video/2023/04/29/historic-steamship-arrives-in-hamilton-on-long-journey/?fbclid=IwAR3mwGsEYZhfRbQdkKCCjH6ee0wf7GIWQRzRc4rXElnByP5vNsFL5ByhYXk
