by Andrew » April 5, 2022, 2:02 pm
It is a shame and it's really sad to see her go. It can hardly be said, though, that the Ojibway didn't have her share of second chances, and I think most boatwatchers would definitely put her up there as the Cinderella story of ships. Reaching 70 years is something that few people thought would ever happen.
The two questions you raised, essentially, are why the ship is getting recycled and what ship will replace the Ojibway. To the first, her main issue are the ballast tanks, which apparently are in really bad shape, perhaps even worse than the Anderson and Callaway. If you recall, many speculators thought the Anderson would go for scrap because of those issues, and some speculators are presuming that for the Callaway, though nothing has been said definitively. The ballast system and interior steel needs almost complete replacement in cases like this, and for a company with a fairly large fleet at their disposal and no Jones Act, it doesn't make sense to do the restoration work on a steamer that will maybe only last another decade or so without another major amount of work, including repowering. Working the locks does a number on those Canadian ships as well, so they just don't last as long. So, the amount of work needed for a ship that age, given the Jones Act and the ability to get newbuilds overseas, all contributed to her end.
As to the second, LLT will likely scramble things up as they are apt to do when they lose a ship. I assume it will be a self-unloader, despite the grain cargo, simply because the only other straight decker they have is the Kaministiqua, which is already fairly busy moving grain from T-Bay. It could be the Michipicoten, which has seen a fair amount of deviation from her regular Soo Express run in recent seasons due to the Algoma Steel contract and demand being a little different.
With Rand being four ships down since 2020 (Ojibway, Mississagi, Tecumseh, Manistee), if the Valor was ever going to get repowered, it would be this year to take over some of the iron ore runs on Lake Superior and free up some of the smaller ships to work the Lower Lakes. Looking at the condition of the 3 Oglebay Norton river class ships and considering the time they were built, it may be that these ships are within a few years of retirement as well. I would assume we will see a couple ASC ships either get reflagged, a couple newcomers to the lakes, or the Valor get repowered as a solution to the fleet losing a few ships.
It is a shame and it's really sad to see her go. It can hardly be said, though, that the Ojibway didn't have her share of second chances, and I think most boatwatchers would definitely put her up there as the Cinderella story of ships. Reaching 70 years is something that few people thought would ever happen.
The two questions you raised, essentially, are why the ship is getting recycled and what ship will replace the Ojibway. To the first, her main issue are the ballast tanks, which apparently are in really bad shape, perhaps even worse than the Anderson and Callaway. If you recall, many speculators thought the Anderson would go for scrap because of those issues, and some speculators are presuming that for the Callaway, though nothing has been said definitively. The ballast system and interior steel needs almost complete replacement in cases like this, and for a company with a fairly large fleet at their disposal and no Jones Act, it doesn't make sense to do the restoration work on a steamer that will maybe only last another decade or so without another major amount of work, including repowering. Working the locks does a number on those Canadian ships as well, so they just don't last as long. So, the amount of work needed for a ship that age, given the Jones Act and the ability to get newbuilds overseas, all contributed to her end.
As to the second, LLT will likely scramble things up as they are apt to do when they lose a ship. I assume it will be a self-unloader, despite the grain cargo, simply because the only other straight decker they have is the Kaministiqua, which is already fairly busy moving grain from T-Bay. It could be the Michipicoten, which has seen a fair amount of deviation from her regular Soo Express run in recent seasons due to the Algoma Steel contract and demand being a little different.
With Rand being four ships down since 2020 (Ojibway, Mississagi, Tecumseh, Manistee), if the Valor was ever going to get repowered, it would be this year to take over some of the iron ore runs on Lake Superior and free up some of the smaller ships to work the Lower Lakes. Looking at the condition of the 3 Oglebay Norton river class ships and considering the time they were built, it may be that these ships are within a few years of retirement as well. I would assume we will see a couple ASC ships either get reflagged, a couple newcomers to the lakes, or the Valor get repowered as a solution to the fleet losing a few ships.