‘It’s a Magic Day’: SS Keewatin Arrives at its New Home In Kingston
KINGSTON, ON – The century-old passenger steamship Keewatin arrived at Kingston, ON, Thursday to become a permanent part of The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston.
Hundreds of people lined the railings of the Kingston Dry Dock, itself a historic site, to watch the Titanic-era steamship get settled in its new home. “It’s a magic day, a really a magic day. It’s a day of celebration,” Chris West, chair of the museum’s board, said as he watched two tugboats push the Keewatin into the entrance of the dry dock.
The S.S. Keewatin, one of the last remaining Titanic-era vessels in the world, left Hamilton early Wednesday morning and passed through Oakville, Burlington, Mississauga and Toronto on Wednesday
The ship was originally scheduled to land in Kingston on Monday, but weather and other circumstances forced a delay in its arrival. The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston, will be taking in the steamship as part of its permanent collection
“I first saw the ship in 2016 and the museum had just lost its property. We were homeless,” he said. “So it was totally inappropriate to think this would be a wonderful ship at the museum someday, but I had that thought.
“Then we ended up back here, this wonderful historic site. We have the dry dock, the Keewatin needed a new home,” West said. “A whole lot of tremendous effort and volunteer effort and donor support was needed. It all came together.”
On hand for the arrival was Eric Conroy, who headed up the Friends of Keewatin group that operated the ship as a museum and tourist attraction in Port McNicholl.
“We spent seven weeks packing it, making it seaworthy and it obviously worked. It’s here and it didn’t sink,” Conroy said. “This is where it belongs, and it’ll get another 100 years here.
“It’s got the tourism to back it up. It’s got manpower, it’s got a good volunteer base — people that know what they’re doing — and it’s in a dry dock.”
The Keewatin was built in 1907 by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co Ltd. in Glasgow, Scotland and formerly owned by CP Rail. Steamships like the Keewatin took tourists and cargo throughout the Great Lakes until it was taken out of service in November of 1965.
The ship appeared in the seventh season of the CBC original series “Murdoch Mysteries,” and was featured on a 2020 Royal Canadian Mint coin.
View a photo gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/steamships-portmcnicoll/sets/72177720312216255/
Whig-Standarrd
Feds Need to Address Impact of St. Lawrence Seaway Strike, Stakeholders Say
Canada’s labour minister says he won’t interfere in negotiations to end the strike on the St. Lawrence seaway, but those who rely on the shipping channel argue there’s no time to wait for a deal with millions of dollars in grain at stake.
About 360 employees with the government-established St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. have been on the picket line since Sunday after negotiations broke down with union representatives at Unifor.
Company and union officials are expected back at the bargaining table on Friday when they sit down with federal mediators in Toronto.
For now roughly 100 ships, including cargo vessels, have been halted along the artery between Montreal and Lake Erie. The seaway connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.
The full Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway system, also known as “Highway H2O,” serves over 100 ports and commercial docks and helps Canada’s Prairie provinces and the U.S. Midwest export goods. Grain, iron ore, petroleum products, stone and coal are among its key commodities.
The strike has already hurt local producers according to Robert Dalley, who manages the port in Johnstown, Ont.
Truckloads of soybeans harvested by local farmers continue to be delivered to the port — approximately 5,500 tonnes every day — and stored inside grain elevators.
Ships are typically scheduled to come once a week to load and deliver the supply to buyers, which in turn creates more room for storage at the port. “When those vessels stop, eventually the system will back up,” said Dalley.
A line up of trucks at the Port of Johnstown, delivering soybeans harvested from local farmers.
About 125,000 tonnes of soybeans are yet to be harvested this season and would have nowhere to go, potentially costing farmers $62 million in lost revenue, he added, also noting the upcoming corn harvest.
Dalley urged both the union and seaway to come to an agreement quickly. n”As a worldwide exporter of grain, of soybean, we need to be reliable. We need to be able to move our grain into the port and move it out to Quebec and over to the European markets,” he said. “When you don’t do that and people are waiting for it, they will find it somewhere else.”
The union is demanding higher wages for workers and for the company to address “a toxic workplace,” said National President Lana Payne from the picket line Tuesday.
“We want a reasonable agreement for our members,” Payne said. “But it takes two to tango and the reality is … this employer has not been willing to make a serious offer.”
Lana Payne, national president of Unifor, talks to St. Lawrence seaway workers from a picket line in St. Catharines, Ont., Tuesday. (Paul Smith/CBC)
In a statement released earlier this week, company officials said they were “pleased” to resume talks with Unifor and they have been “extremely concerned” with the impacts caused by the current strike.
They said work is ongoing to reach a “mutually beneficial agreement.”
Those concerns are echoed by federal officials who are keeping a close eye on the situation, but said they have no plans to intervene in negotiations. They continue to urge both parties to return to the bargaining table.
“We just keep talking to our American counterparts. They’re obviously very concerned and have a lot at stake, as do a lot of members of this caucus around the Great Lakes communities,” Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said Wednesday
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCOC) has called on the government to “immediately intervene to prevent further damage to supply chains and limit the impact on Canadians,” saying the situation can’t wait until Friday.
“Canada is at a critical point right now,” said Pascal Chan, senior director of transportation, infrastructure and construction at the CCOC.
“Our supply chains are fragile and they have been impacted over the last few years by events such as wildfires, floods, the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as most recently the port strike in British Columbia.”
Other groups such as the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses have asked the government to keep the seaway fully operational to minimize damage to small and large markets as negotiations continue.
CBC
Shipwreck Museum’s 48th Anniversary Fitzgerald Memorial to be Virtual in 2023
WHITEFISH POINT, MI – The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum’s annual Edmund Fitzgerald memorial ceremony will be a virtual ceremony this year. The event, scheduled for Friday, November 10, 2023 (7pm), will be available on a live-stream access, details to be announced soon. The livestream link will be posted on www.shipwreckmuseum.com during the week of the event.
The buildings of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, will not be open to the public on November 10, 2023. In addition, the Michigan Maritime Museum (www.michiganmaritimemuseum.org) of South Haven, MI, will host a viewing of the Shipwreck Museum’s Edmund Fitzgerald (live-streamed) memorial service.
For more information, visit Shipwreckmuseum.com.
Flying Boats at Whitefish Point? Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum Gets New Exhibit
WHITEFISH POINT, MI – Actual Flying boats at Whitefish Point? Not really, but for about 5 minutes on October 11th, we saw the rare USCG Type TR Motor Lifeboat CG 36381 being lifted by a huge crane and “flying” over the roofs of our campus.
But it didn’t start there. The beautifully restored 36-foot-long boat, CG 36381 (CG meaning Coast Guard), coming home has been years in the making. The Motor Lifeboat (MLB) was discovered in a boat yard around 10 years ago in a marina in Maryland. Back then, CG 36381 was destined to be burned to the ground for its hardware.
Luckily, some friends of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS), Jeff Shook and Glen Cathers, let us know about this unique opportunity. CG 36381 was then purchased and shipped to Michigan with the help of a generous donation from David Sutton, as well as Brad and Keith Tolles of ADS Transport, Wixom, MI.
Restoration of the MLB started at Passage Boat Works in Detour, MI, and then shifted to E.J. Mertaugh Boat Works in Hessel, MI. The masterful work took about 6 years until the time came for CG 36381 go to its new home at Whitefish Point
“Delivery day for a once in a lifetime project. The boat left Mertaugh Boat Works in Hessel, MI yesterday for Whitefish Point anticipating the arrival of the crane and crew for today’s lift/swing/fly. Loshaw Crane did an amazing job flying the boat to her home. Ken Graham trucking delivered her within feet of her new home. Fantastic work guys.” President of E.J. Mertaugh Boat Works, Geoff Hamilton said. “Although all the staff members that have worked on this project, past and present were not able to attend today your work will be on display for all to see. Outstanding. Considering the timeline, logistics, weather and equipment that made this adventure an enjoyable success…I thank you.”
“The list is long of the people that have been involved in the restoration of Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat # 36381 here at E.J Mertaugh Boat Works. This restoration project was all made possible by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society Museum’s board and Bruce Lynn’s commitment and dedication to seeing this project to its conclusion.” Said E.J. Mertaugh Boat Works CEO, Brad Koster. “Many years have passed since this project began with a pandemic sandwiched in between. Through all the efforts of so many people added up to this day when we placed her back in her house at Whitefish Point. Now it’s time for everyone to go see her, that’s the ultimate reward of this project.
“In order to make our 1923 Motor Lifeboat House restoration complete, we really needed a Motor Lifeboat!”, reflected Shipwreck Museum Executive Director Bruce Lynn. “This was a tall order…not many of these boats are left. Fortunately, some friends made us aware of a Type TR motor lifeboat that was only 10 hull numbers from the original that arrived at Whitefish Point in 1933. I can’t tell you how excited we were to get this old boat…and we are so excited now to see it in its new home!”
The GLSHS will be hosting a dedication ceremony for the Motor Lifeboat next summer. Stay tuned for more information on times and dates. To watch the video of CG 36381’s trip from Hessel, MI to Whitefish Point visit shipwreckmuseum.com where pictures will also be provided.
