Lord Selkirk 2 Cruise Ship

[Manitoba Mariner]

Thanks for the information Mike. It is sad to her the old girl is going to scrap. I was hoping the old girl would have been immortalized beside the Kenora.

I owe my career to this ship, as my first sailing job was a deck hand on her from 1989-1990. I am now a Chief Mate on the Great Lakes, and with every ship I have sailed on since the Lord Selkirk II, I have not forgotten the days sailing up and down the Red River onboard her.

[akopin]

Thank you for helping us to remember yet another piece of history, suffering such a tragic fate. That is a really nice website regarding her memory. It is such a shame to think that freshwater and two Cat diesels weren't enough for someone to recoginze her ability to continue to serve. Thanks again, I will remember her.

[ManitobaMike]

It was my pleasure. I worked on the Lord Selkirk as a deckhand for 5 years 1985-1989 when the ship ran her daily crusies up and down the river. If I had the time and desire, I could probably right a book on some of the mishaps of the ship. She was just Too Big to go up and down the Red River every day.

It is just so sad for me to see the state the ship was in. There was some luke warm interest in running the her on Lake Winnipeg again, but the cost to bringing it back up to code was too prohibitive. She will be missed by Manitobans and Winnipeggers.

[Les Weston]

Welcome aboard, and thanks for the links.

[ManitobaMike]

Hello board members. I am from Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. This is my 1st post and I am here to tell you about a vessel called the "Lord Selkirk 2" This vessel was the ship was the largest passenger vessel ever built in Western Canada. She was built as a successor to another ship called the SS/MS Keenora. The ships sailed down the "Red River Of The North" and to the very end of Lake Winnipeg, carrying passengers and cargo to Very isolated communities along the Lake. The "Keenora" was forced into retirement in 1965 because of its age. The "Lord Selkirk" was launched in 1969. Not long after she was built, she became obsolete due to air strips and roads being built in those isolated communities. The "Lord Selkirk" cruised Lake Winnipeg until 1982. In 1984, the ship was gutted and began running daily cruises down the Red River out of Winnipeg until 1990. She has not run since. She currently sits in Selkirk Manitoba in an area called the Selkirk Slough. It is a bay off of the Red River where all of the tour boats stay during the winter. The "Lord Selkirk" was sold this winter and is destined to sadly be scrapped. The "Keenora" sits in the "Marine Museum of Manitoba' I have enclosed 4 links. Please enjoy and I am proud to now call myself a "Boatnerd"

http://www.lordselkirk2.com/
http://www.marinemuseum.ca/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Keenora
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:SS_Keenora