Boatnerd Discussion Forum

The environmental rules in today's world make it difficult to paint over the side. Many ports just flat out prohibit it. Even a few drops from roller splatter that cause a sheen can be considered an oil spill.
It make it tough for those guys to get it done. They have their pride but in some cases are afraid of the risk.

Some factors regarding painting in today's world include:

-smaller crews (less time for painting).
-safety rules and hours-of-rest restrictions on the crew.
-the paints that are used today are expensive, and require proper preparation of the surface to be painted.

It is not a good use of resources to slap on some paint that will just fall off. That is why most ships are only sandblasted and painted at their regular dry-dock cycles.

I think I must be missing something here. Do not all lake carriers not all carry the same cargo varieties as Algoma ,particular the Canadian fleet plus canal and hit salt water.

The current paints, except the highly specialized things like Awlgrip, are not nearly as durable as the old high VOX, lead based paints were. The current products are much more environmentally friendly, so that is the trade off.

Isn't it true that hull paint is more difficult to maintain today because of environmental restrictions on when and where painting can be done?

Also take into consideration that a few of the Algoma vessels also carry lots of salt cargoes as well. That will also cause the hulls to look nasty and does wear and tear as well. The two vessels that are laid-up in Sarnia the Algosteel and Algoma Navigator both have carried lots of salt for Algoma this season and in the past few years as well. Both the Algorail and Algoway have carried lots of salt as well in their careers. That is part of the reason at least to why those four boats have looked nasty and why their hulls and paint also look bad as well. Hope that all of this information has helped.

You've also got to consider a lot of these boats go as far as Baie Comeau, Port Cartier, and Seven Islands. That's saltwater and that takes a toll on a boats paint job.

old sailer wrote:I took a drive along Sarnia north slip yesterday where the Algosteel and Algoma Navigate are tied up. They both look like relics that have been sitting in the bone yard for years. Does anyone know if it's Algoma company policy not to paint their ships.

Many boats in the Algoma fleet make frequent trips through the Welland and/or St Lawrence Seaway, sometimes transiting both directions in less than 36 hours. The scraping and bumping really takes a toll on hull paint. Some of the smaller boats may call on more than one port in 24 hours which leaves little time to touch up the hull. The Algolake came out this year in new paint and I'll bet she's already looking a bit ragged. These are hard working boats.

Perhaps your right, that these ships are relics. Their replacements are on the way. Just away for the company to save a few bucks.

I see ships of the Interlake fleet like the Herbert C Jackson
which we'll kept and painted. Also CSL Frontenac always looks good and is about the same age as Algosteel.

Algoma Mariner passed downbound on the St Clair River last night and for a relatively new ship, the paint was quite worn, with running rust apparent in several places. Not like the old days with constant upkeep on the hull coatings.

Algosteel was painted at Port Weller in the spring of 2012. She had tied up for the winter at the stone dock in Port Colborne and in January I was pleasantly surprised to see they were doing steel work in her holds.
Shortly after the canal opened she moved to the drydock for more work, a five year survey and a paint job.
The first week of May I got a shot of her shortly after leaving Port Weller.

As Denny mentioned, Algoma paints their ships every five or six years when they are drydocked for survey. The lone exception was the winter of 2012-2013, when they skipped painting the Algoway, Algowood, John D. Leitch, and Tim S. Dool during their surveys. They also occasionally paint on the go, which has been done recently on the Algomarine, Algorail, Algowood and others.

The Algosteel was just painted a few years ago but, I cannot recall where it was painted at? Algoma Navigator in fact I don't recall has been painted in quite sometime and I don't recall the last time she was painted? Algoma does indeed paint their vessels but usually whenever they are drydocked and in need of their 5 year surveys. If you look at a few the Algolake for example was just repainted this past winter as was the Algoma Enterprise. They both have sort of a blue paint job and gray below the water lines. This is the type of paint scheme that Algosteel had done on her just a few short years ago. Other Algoma vessels that have had this type of paint job done are the Algoma Transport and the Algoma Olympic along with the Capt. Henry Jackman. There may be more but, these are the ones that I can think of for now. Hope that this has helped.

I took a drive along Sarnia north slip yesterday where the Algosteel and Algoma Navigate are tied up. They both look like relics that have been sitting in the bone yard for years. Does anyone know if it's Algoma company policy not to paint their ships.