Boatnerd Discussion Forum

In the background of the two pictures taken of the scrapping of the former HMS Ark Royal, the Richelieu can be seen moored just offshore. Not the best, but the only ones I have seen of her awaiting scrapping at Aliaga, Turkey. In one shot, the stern is visible, while in the other only part of the bow is visible.

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Its sad to see this class of ships going to scrap, I remember them fondly in their FedNav colors while growing up.

The crew that took her over are Canadian SIU members. Some of them it was their ship, others came from the hall. It is yet to be determined how many of these guys will take the other vessel, or if her own crew will go.

Final update:
reached Aligia at 12:30 UTC. has dropped the hook and is awaiting to be beached as of 12:40 eastern standard time.

another update:
she is to the west-northwest of the island of malta. according to marine traffic.com, she laid over in gibralter for about 11 hrs when she passed through there. any guess why?

She is now passing through the straits of Gibraltar, at 9:59 pm eastern time, or about 2:00 am utc, according to marine traffic .com interesting to note, that her listed max speed is 12.4 Kts, she has had listed speeds of 13.2 on this voyage.

ETA for straits of gilbraltar within 6-12 hrs as of 3:50 pm eastern standard time.

I watched the Saguenay followed by the Richelieu go past Cape Vincent not far from the lighthouse a year ago or so parked on the edge of the road with the St. Lawrence on the other side.

I couldn't quite finish due to an irate homeowner a few houses down that drove out to see what I was doing and got angry after a few minutes, but they both sounded great in the early darkness.

What's inside their engine rooms? Sounded like they ran at low RPM's and had a very deep throbbing sound. Not usually fond of salt water ships, but these two made me a fan that evening thanks to their sound and their classic names.

Denny wrote:Even the Pineglen is getting up there in age also as she was built in 1985 and in two years she will be at 30 years of age.

Wow, talk about feeling old! And she Still holds the distinction of being the last all-new, powered Great Lakes freighter built on the Lakes.

The plan is for the crew that's taking the Richelieu to fly back and take the Saguenay to Turkey. Oakglen and Mapleglen are still supposed to come out this year according to one of the shipkeepers.

St crapo wrote:I was wondering since she is sailing with a full crew and also is it a Canadian Crew or Foren? I also wonder is it cheaper to have her sail under her own power vs haveing a Tug come in and do a scrap tow? One last question I wonder if CSL will fly the crew back once there trip is done and put them on the Mapleglen or Oakglen and have them sail thoses two boats to the bone yard. Thanks for any information.
Dan

I too was wondering cost wise if its better to have a ship sail under its own power overseas to be scrapped rather then have a tug come in and do it. Also wondering the same as Dan as to what type crew is aboard and where they will go once they reach Turkey?
Thanks

Most of CSL's current straight deckers are 30 years old or older. The Birchglen and Spruceglen are both 30 this season, while the Saguenay built in 1981 I believe is also getting up there in age. Oakglen was also built in 1980 I think and she is past 30 years also. Mapleglen I believe was built in 1981 and she is also past the 30 mark as well. Even the Pineglen is getting up there in age also as she was built in 1985 and in two years she will be at 30 years of age. Of all CSL's current straight-deck bulk carriers, Cedarglen is the oldest one around. She was built in the late 1950's or early 60's and then later converted in the 1970's to a Great Lakes freighter from a saltie.

When the Wheat Board was in existence, they insisted a certain amount of tonnage in straight-deckers. The Richelieu was built in 1980 and is now 33-years old.

Andrew wrote:For that period between 2001 and 2010, most of their boats were -glen and it seems they have stopped that custom with the trilliums. As long as we are on the subject, I wonder how long the Birchglen, Spruceglen, Cedarglen, and Pineglen will last?

The Glens were straight deckers. The Trilliums, thus far, have been self-unloaders, so you really can't determine yet if the trend has stopped or not.

For that period between 2001 and 2010, most of their boats were -glen and it seems they have stopped that custom with the trilliums. As long as we are on the subject, I wonder how long the Birchglen, Spruceglen, Cedarglen, and Pineglen will last?

why would they build straight deckers a self unloader would save money and pay for its self over time and is the Richelieu that old

Andrew wrote:I would guess that if the other three are already at the wall, it won't be long. As for your second question, I think that possibly the names Richelieu and Saguenay might be possible candidates. Oakglen and Mapleglen are not likely to be used, as CSL is slowly phasing out of their -glen boats. I am guessing other likely names for these new four would be Georgian Bay, Rimouski, Murray Bay, Black Bay, or any of the old CSL names as they are sticking with that theme.

They still have Mapleglen, Oakglen, Birchglen, Cedarglen and Spruceglen - I'm not sure how that's phashing out the glen boats, considering they've used Mapleglen and Oakglen on two boats in their fleet now.

With CSL's fleet renewal progressing at a steady rate, it is no surprise that we will begin to see a series of sales involving its current vessels. When CSL acquired the four ex-Fednav vessels back in 2009, it was generally assumed that these ships, having seen extensive salt water service since being built between 1980-81, were purchased a stop-gap measure pending the arrival of new units built offshore. CSL has an interesting history in the operation of gearless bulk freighters on the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway. Interestingly, in 1994 this firm abandoned the operation of such vessels on the lakes when it sold all of its remaining gearless units to other fleets. In 2001, CSL reentered the straight decker trade on the lakes with the purchase of the Mapleglen and Oakglen from Parrish & Heimbecker. In a strange twist, the former vessel had been previously owned by CSL as the T. R. McLagan before being sold to P&H following the end of the 1989 shipping season.

I would assume a similar set of retirements will be made in the Algoma fleet, concerning the Algoma Discovery, Algoma Guardian, and Algoma Spirit, once new units for that fleet begin arriving from China.

As the years progress, it will be interesting to see how these new builds hold up compared to the ships that preceded them.

There's no news release at the CSL site announcing that they're exercising their options to double their bulker order to 4? I don't doubt it and it makes perfect sense, but they issued a release in 2011 announcing it on the same day that they signed the contract to double their self-unloader order.

By my count, they just have 7 straight deckers left with her departure. It seems like they'd want to hang on to at least a couple of these salties until their new builds start coming online next year. So I wouldn't expect a mass exodus just yet although it seems safe to expect them to follow her to scrap as their new builds start to arrive.

And so far they've been selecting historic names for their new self-unloaders so I imagine that there's a decent chance that a name like Richelieu won't be away for long. But they also have some names with a long history with the company that haven't been used in years like Black Bay to select from.

So I hope that they continue to select names that haven't been carried by a CSL vessel in years. Lemoyne is one with a long history that hasn't been used in many years. The original was Queen of the Lakes and opened the current Welland Canal and lasted well into the Seaway era before being scrapped in the late 60's. And the name was revived for a short time in the 80's and 90's.

Or how about the Donnacona. Was the first Canadian Queen of the Lakes and the name hasn't been seen since she was scrapped 40+ years ago.

I would guess that if the other three are already at the wall, it won't be long. As for your second question, I think that possibly the names Richelieu and Saguenay might be possible candidates. Oakglen and Mapleglen are not likely to be used, as CSL is slowly phasing out of their -glen boats. I am guessing other likely names for these new four would be Georgian Bay, Rimouski, Murray Bay, Black Bay, or any of the old CSL names as they are sticking with that theme.

With the Richelieu now going to scrap a few questions I have. First, how much longer can we wait before the other three head for scrapping? Will the Mapleglen, Oakglen and Saguenay all end up being scrapped in Turkey as is the Richelieu? Finally, with these four headed for scrap what are the chances that CSL may try to use any of these names on the new straightdeckers they are building in China? Just my thoughts on this.