A Seaway ship that pre-dates the Seaway itself...
At 620 feet long, the 1943-built CUYAHOGA would have been a fair sized ship in her day - And would have been too large to transit the canals before the Seaway was completed in 1959.
White no stranger to this section of river, she's only been this way a couple times in 2021.
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| CUYAHOGA passes Mariatown, nearing the Iroquois Locks |
The CUYAHOGA, destined for Clarkson (a neighborhood in Mississauga) on the shore of Lake Ontario, expected to arrive within a day.
After sitting idle from 1990-1995, she got a new lease on life after being acquired by Lower Lakes Towing.She's been sailing under their colors for the past quarter century.
A classic look that's slowly going the way of the dinosaur..
Following the ship upriver, I encountered the downbound oil/chemical tanker VS SALOME.A rather infrequent visitor to the Seaway, the VS SALOME is a fleetmate to the more familiar CHANTACO.
The upbound CUYAHOGA meets the downbound VS SALOME below the Iroquois Locks. The small tanker was apparently en route to the port of New Orleans.
From her position in this snapshot, the VS SALOME was expected to arrive at her destination in ten days.
With a relatively thin strip of grey hull visible, it appears as if CUYAHOGA is loaded with cargo.
Back in 1943 when she was launched, I can't imagine that the builders would have anticipated that she'd last well into the next century.
CUYAHOGA is one of just a handful of remaining ships to have the forward pilothouse.
A few others that come to mind are fleetmate OJIBWAY, along with Algoma Central's JACK D. LEITCH (aka CANADIAN CENTURY).
Looking at the stern section as seen from Iroquois Locks.
Trying to look at the entire ship as it transit the Iroquois Locks. The view is cluttered with apparatus pertaining to the Locks.
This has got to be the fastest transit of the Iroquois Lock that I've ever seen...
At only 60 feet wide (as compared to newer vessels of 78 feet), she seemed to effortlessly glide in and out of the locks faster than I've ever seen a ship pass through.
Closeup of the wheelouse with portholes on the deck below.
Something that used to be the norm is slowly becoming a rarity.
Big, tall smokestacks would have been a common sight on the river at the time of the Seaway's creation...
She's truly a relic from another time.