New double-ended ferry launched for Lake Erie
Designed by TAI Engineers, LLC and built in Houma, La. by Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors, LLC (TMC), the new ferry Carmen Lee is expected to enter service in early 2022 for a partnership between the Lorain Port Authority (LPA) and Kelleys Island Ferry Boat Line in Ohio. It can hold 149 passengers and 36 trucks and automobiles, providing service between Marblehead, Ohio and Kelleys Island, Ohio.
Similar to an existing Kelleys Island Ferry Boat Line ferry Shirley Irene already serving the route, the 168- by 45-foot Carmen Lee is specifically designed to operate on lakes, bays and sounds. The main deck is high-strength AH 36 steel to withstand tire loadings from up to 36 cars or equipment trucks in four lanes. The quad azimuthing drive ferry is equipped with four Caterpillar C18 propulsion engines 470 BHP at 1,800 RM, each driving Schottel SRP 150FP Z-drives using Twin Disc HPTO hydraulic clutches. This allows precision maneuvering in challenging Lake Erie approaches during harsh weather and provides propulsion redundancy, TAI said. The vessel has two Onan 40 kW marine gensets.
Carmen Lee has been built to conform (but not certified) to American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) standards and is inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard. It has a steel hull and deckhouse design and is compliant with USCG 46 CFR Subchapter T regulations.
TAI noted it was selected in a competitive procurement by LPA in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to provide naval architecture and marine engineering services for the design and specification of this ferry. TAI also provided professional support for the competitive procurement of a shipyard to build the vessel.
“TAI Engineers and S&B Infrastructure are proud to utilize our marine engineering expertise to help improve transportation, mobility and accessibility for the Lorain Port Authority and Kelleys Island Ferry Boat Line,” said Danny Rios, President of S&B Infrastructure. “TAI’s marine capabilities, especially in passenger and automobile ferries, nicely complement S&B’s transportation and highway design capabilities.”
‘Viable entity’ interested in purchasing MS Norgoma
Sault Ste. Marie, ON – There may be a renewed interest in the MS Norgoma. City staff won’t say who is interested or what the vessel’s future purpose may be, but a “viable entity” has been looking at the potential to acquire the former museum ship.
Tom Vair, deputy commissioner of community development and enterprise services, said he can’t say more about the matter until January when city council is expected to receive a report on the matter. Vair said the party interested in the Norgoma is not local.
While the City of Sault Ste. Marie hasn’t been actively advertising the vessel for sale, Vair said the marine community is a tight one and word of mouth can go a long way. “People in the marine community know each other and word spreads,” he said.
The Norgoma remains docked, costing taxpayers $40 per day in docking fees. City council turned down a budget request earlier this week to pay the $325,000 in decommissioning fees to get rid of it. To date, docking fees have cost about $39,000.
The city thought it had an Owen Sound, Ont.,-based purchaser for the vessel, but that deal was nixed in November 2020 after Tobermory Real Estate Investors completed a feasibility study showing the relocation of the Norgoma could not be moved to Owen Sound without causing “significant and unacceptable disruption to the existing dockage arrangements” in that community.
Earlier that year, city council had approved the sale of the Norgoma to TREI at a cost of $2,500. That sale had several conditions, including making sure the ship could withstand the tow to Tobermory, and making sure it would have a home once it got there.
Vair said that based on that experience, the city now better understands the process required by Transport Canada to get permits and insurance to move the ship. “There was no issue with moving it, but it was a process and now we understand how to do that and we can assist with that process,” Vair said.
Any costs associated with moving the vessel would be borne by the purchaser.
The City of Sault Ste. Marie had acquired the Norgoma in 1975 and conveyed it to the St. Mary’s River Marine Heritage Centre in 1981 to allow the centre to continue to operate it as a museum ship and tourist attraction.
For many years, the Norgoma, which served as a ship museum in the city’s downtown waterfront, struggled to survive. Council pulled the plug on the Norgoma in 2019, arguing the St. Mary’s River Marine Heritage Centre breached its contact. The vessel was reconveyed to the city later that year and attempts have been made to sell it.
Sault Star
Tug W.N. Twolan headed for Canada’s East Coast
Toronto, ON – A veteran tug that has been laid up at Toronto for several years has found a new owner and a new lease on life. The W.N. Twolan has recently undergone a refit for new owner Halls Bay Marine Services Ltd., Springdale, Newfoundland. The tug was built by Geo, T. Davie & Sons, Lauzon, QC, in 1962. She was a familiar sight on the upper lakes in the 1990s pushing the barge McAllister 132 carrying paper products out of Thunder Bay.
