One Plus One Equals One

The newly created Upper Lakes Group vessel M.V. Canadian Transfer was re-commissioned in a ceremony last month at Port Weller Dry Docks. The project involved combining components of two existing ships to create a new one, a complex engineering job completed at Port Weller Dry Docks during the past four months.

"We are proud that the new vessel, which is now equipped with updated unloading gear, deck equipment and electronics, will be 40 percent faster, more maneuverable, and will use less fuel to operate," said Marcel Rivard, President and CEO of Upper Lakes Group I n cCanadian Transfer is 651 ft. o?!!'!!!^"1! (198.3 m) long and 60 ft. (18.3 m) wide, with an unloading capacity of ^ ^ qqq ^ 4 , 0 0 0 tons per hour. Canadian Cargo copacify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J6,000 tons Transfer will join the Seaway Self Unloading capacity 4,000 tons/hour Unloaders fleet, a partnership of Upper Lakes Group Inc., Toronto, and Algoma Central Marine, St. Catharines, Ont. Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd. (CSE) is the parent company of Port Weller Dry Docks. CSE is one of Canada's premier shipbuilding and repair companies, with operating divisions at Port Weller, Canal Marine and CSE Marine Services, St. Catharines; Pascol Engineering, Thunder Bay, Ont.; and, Lansdowne Technologies Inc. in Ottawa. M. V. Canadian Transfer was re-constructed at Port Weller Dry Docks, St. Catharines, Ont. from portions of the M.V. Hamilton Transfer, and the M.V. Canadian Explorer, which were two Upper Lakes Group ships. The engine room portion of the M.V. Canadian Explorer, a 730- ft. (222-m) straight deck bulk carrier was joined to the M.V. Hamilton Transfer, a 620-ft. (188.9-m) self-unloading vessel. The cargo hold wheelhouse, and self-loading system of the Hamilton Transfer were retained, and a new, 24-ft. section was built to join the two ships. Upper Lakes Group Inc., Toronto, owns and operates one of Canada's largest fleets on the Great Lakes. With the addition of the Canadian Transfer, the number of self-unloading vessels in the Upper Lakes fleet increases to eight, with an additional 13 bulk carriers Port Weller Dry Docks is the only Canadian shipyard on the Great Lakes, located above Lock One on the Fourth Welland Canal connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The yard is, in 1998, completing a $5 million technology investment. It is equipped to build or convert vessels while retaining the capability of the full-service repair facility. Its dry docks are unique because they flood and empty by gravity rather than by the traditional method of pumping water. The yard itself consists of two parts, a deep dock for maximum-size Seaway vessels with a water depth of 26 ft. and a shelf with a water depth of 14 ft.