Tecumseh makes short trip to Port Colborne for scrapping
The bulk carrier Tecumseh of Lower Lakes Towing Ltd., was towed from her long-term layup dock at Ashtabula, OH, Tuesday morning by the Great Lakes Towing tug Ohio. They arrived at the Marine Recycling Corp. scrapyard at Port Colborne, ON, in the evening, assisted on the final leg of the trip by the tugs John D. and Vac.
The 641-foot long Tecumseh was built in 1973 as Sugar Islander at Lockheed Shipbuilding & Construction Co., Seattle, Washington, for the Bankers Trust Co. In 1996, renamed Islander then renamed Judy Litrico the same year. In 2006 her name was changed to Tina Litrico before being sold to Lower Lakes Towing in 2011. She operated on the Great Lakes primarily transporting grain, until December 15, 2019, when she suffered an engine fire that left her out of control near Zug Island on the U.S. side of the Detroit River. There were no injuries among the 16 crew members. The vessel spent the winter of 2019-21 laid up at the Morterm dock in Windsor, Ontario, where her grain cargo was unloaded. Damage to the engine room was extensive.
McKeil Marine tugs Leonard M and Jarrett M towed the damaged Tecumseh to Ashtabula, Ohio, where owner Rand Logistics has a repair facility, in April 2020, however she was not repaired. The National Transportation Safety Board ruled The investigation determined that the fire on board the Tecumseh originated on the port main engine after a flexible fuel hose assembly supplying fuel to the main engine failed.
Janey Anderson
