Saturday, August 25, 2012

The Algosar on the Detroit River

I thought the next ship was one that I haven't seen before but it turns out that I did.
 But the picture was similar to the one above as she was achored on the other side of the River at the Soo.   I think I prefer pictures of moving ships to ones that aren't moving though.
 The Algosar was born as the Gemini at the Levingston Shipyard in Orange, Texas in 1978.  She is a double hulled tanker and her first cargo was a load of fuel oil destined for Detroit.   From there, she went to Huron, OH where she got her name by her owners, Cleveland Tankers.
 She is powered by two diesel engines which give her a total rating of 5,220 Horsepower.  She is 432 feet long and can carry 75,000 barrels of product.
 She has had a number of incidents on the Great Lakes.  In her first season, she was trapped in the ice in the Saginaw Bay.  Another time, she collided with a railroad bridge over the Maumee River.  And then she was struck by an ice flow that caused considerable damage.
 She has also collided with a dock.
In 2005, she was sold to Algoma Central and given her current name.  With that sale came the end of Cleveland Tankers which has been on the lakes since 1933.  It's kind of sad when you think about the companies that have disappeared off the Lakes.  It is possible that the Algosar may disappear off the Lakes too.

No comments: