Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) is a shipping company with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The business has been operating for well over a century and a half.
Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that operate on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships.
Port Weller Dry Docks was a shipbuilder on the Welland Canal at the Lake Ontario entrance. The shipbuilder was founded in 1946 and the site was initially owned by the Government of Canada for storage purchases. The shipyard expanded to include ship repair, and reconstruction work. In 1956, the drydock was sold to the Upper Lakes Shipping Company, which began the construction of vessels at the site. The shipyard twice went insolvent, most recently in 2015. Port Weller Dry Docks was used to build, refit and repair cargo vessels.
Quebecois was a lake freighter that served the Great Lakes, operating between ports in the United States and Canada. The vessel was launched in 1962 by Canadian Vickers Ltd of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Used to carry grain and ore, Quebecois was built to the maximum dimensions allowed on the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The vessel entered service in 1963 and in 2012, the ship's named was altered to Algoma Quebecois. The ship was broken up for scrap at Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada in 2013.
MV Algocape was a Canadian lake freighter operated by Algoma Central Corp. Initially constructed for Canada Steamship Lines as Richelieu, the ship was sold to Algoma Central Corp in 2004 and renamed Algocape. In 2012, the ship was sold again to Dido Steel Corporation and renamed Goc and broken up for scrap.
Montrealais was a lake freighter launched in 1961. Constructed in two parts, the vessel was completed in 1962 and registered in Canada. Utilized as a bulk carrier, the vessel served on the Great Lakes until 2015. Montrealais was sold three times between 1962 and 2012, when the freighter was acquired by Algoma Central Corp. and renamed Algoma Montrealais. The bulk carrier continued in service until 2015, when the vessel was renamed Mont and sold for scrap. Mont was taken to Aliağa, Turkey and broken up beginning on 10 July 2015.
MV Algonorth was a Seawaymax lake freighter built in 1970 and completed in 1971 by the Govan Division of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd. in Govan, Scotland as the bulk carrier Temple Bar. Her original owners were Lambert Bros. Shipping Ltd., of London, United Kingdom, sold the vessel in 1976 to Nipigon Transport Ltd., who had her hull lengthened and installed a new power plant for Great Lakes service. Re-entering service as Lake Nipigon, the ship was renamed Laketon in 1984 before returning to the name Lake Nipigon in 1986. In 1987, the lake freighter was sold to Algoma Central Railway which gave the ship its final named, Algonorth. In 2007, the ship collided with a dock in Toledo, Ohio. The ship was scrapped in 2012.
Algorail was a lake freighter owned and operated by Algoma Central. The ship was built by Collingwood Shipyards in Collingwood, Ontario and was launched in 1967. The ship sailed on the North American Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway delivering coal/coke, aggregates, slag, iron ore/oxides, salt, fertilizers, grain products, gypsum, quartzite, or sand. The ship was laid up in 2016 and sold for scrap in 2018.
John B. Aird was a self-discharging lake freighter/bulk carrier that was launched in 1983 and served on the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway until 2017. The vessel was owned and operated by Algoma Central during that time, which had named the vessel for a former chairman of the Algoma Central Railway. Prior to the construction of Algoma Equinox in 2013, John B. Aird was the last vessel built for the company.
English River was a lake freighter and bulk carrier, launched in 1961 by Collingwood Shipyards of Collingwood, Ontario. In her initial years she carried bulk cargoes and deck cargoes to smaller ports on the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River watershed and estuary. In 1973, the vessel was converted into a cement carrier and carried mainly raw cement for the construction industry. The ship continued to operate until English River was removed from service and sold for scrap.
Algolake was a self-unloading bulk carrier owned and operated by Algoma Central. The ship entered service in 1977 on the Saint Lawrence Seaway. In 1994, the ship ran aground in the St. Lawrence River off Quebec. The ship was laid up for scrapping in 2018, renamed Gola and was later scrapped in Aliağa, Turkey.
The lake freighter MV Saginaw was launched as John J. Boland in 1953, the third vessel to bear that name. John J. Boland was owned and operated by the American Steamship Company and constructed by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. In 1999, the ship was sold to Lower Lakes Towing and renamed Saginaw. The ship is currently in service.
Algoma Progress was a self-unloading lake freighter and bulk carrier operating on the North American Great Lakes, owned by Algoma Central. Launched in 1968, the ship was originally named Canadian Progress and operated by the Upper Lakes Shipping. At launch, the ship was the largest self-unloading vessel on the Great Lakes. Canadian Progress was used to transport coal, iron ore, barley and road salt on the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway. Canadian Progress ran aground twice, the first in 1985 and then again in 1988. In 2011, Upper Lakes Shipping sold its entire fleet to Algoma Central, which renamed the vessel Algoma Progress. In 2014, Algoma Progress was sold for scrap and broken up at Port Colborne, Ontario.
Pineglen was a bulk carrier owned and operated by Canada Steamship Lines. She was built at the Collingwood Shipyards, in Collingwood, Ontario in 1985, to a single superstructure lake freighter design. Initially named Paterson, the vessel was sold to Canada Steamship Lines in 2002 and renamed. Unlike more modern lake freighters she was built to a "straight-deck" design – i.e. she was not equipped with a self-unloading boom. The vessel was sold for scrap in 2017.
Algoma Navigator was a Canadian bulk carrier operated by Algoma Central. Like other bulk carriers, her potential cargoes included: coal/coke, aggregates, slag, iron ore/oxides, salt, fertilizers, grain products, gypsum, quartzite, or sand. The vessel was constructed by John Readhead & Sons in the United Kingdom in 1967 for the Cambay Steamship Company and launched as Demeterton. The vessel was enlarged in 1967 and sold in 1975 to the Upper Lakes Group which renamed the ship St. Lawrence Navigator. In 1979, the vessel was renamed Canadian Navigator after a rebuild. In 2011, the ship was sold to Algoma and became Algoma Navigator. In 2016, the bulk carrier was renamed Navi before being sold for scrap and broken up in 2016.
CSL Tadoussac is a lake freighter currently operated by Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) on the Great Lakes. She was launched in 1969. Initially named Tadoussac, following her refit in 2001, she was renamed CSL Tadoussac She was the last freighter built for CSL in the traditional two superstructure design, which puts her bridge up in the ship's bow. The vessel primarily transports iron ore and coal.
Algosteel was a bulk carrier owned and operated by Algoma Central. The vessel was constructed in 1966 by Davie Shipbuilding at their yard in Lauzon, Quebec for Canada Steamship Lines and launched as A.S. Glossbrenner. In 1968, the vessel was acquired by the Labrador Steamship Company. In 1971, the ship was sold to Algoma Central. The vessel's name was changed to Algogulf in 1987 and to Algosteel in 1990. The bulk carrier primarily transported iron ore and grain along the Saint Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes. The vessel was taken out of service in April 2018 pending disposal and was scrapped in Aliağa, Turkey, in 2018 under the name Oste.
Algogulf was the third and last name of a bulk carrier launched in 1961, laid-up in 1999, and scrapped in 2002. The ship began her career in 1961 as J.N. McWatters, the second vessel of that name operated by the Misener Shipping Company. The bulk carrier was used to transport primarily grain and iron ore in the Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes. In 1991, the vessel was renamed Scott Misener by the company, the fourth of that name. In 1994, the ship was acquired by Algoma Central and renamed Algogulf, the second vessel of the name. The ship was laid up in 1999 and sold for scrapping in 2002.
Radcliffe R. Latimer is a lake freighter launched in 1978. The vessel is owned by Algoma Central but operated under charter to Canada Steamship Lines from 1994 to 1997. As Algobay, the bulk carrier was involved in a collision with another lake freighter in 1980. In 2009 the vessel was rebuilt in China for service in the Caribbean Sea. The vessel is currently in service.
Howard M. Hanna Jr. was a 500 ft (150 m) Great Lakes freighter that had a lengthy, 75-year career on the Great Lakes of Canada and America. Hanna was a product of the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The ship was commissioned by the Richardson Transportation Company to haul iron ore, coal and grain. She had a cargo capacity of 9,200 tons of bulk cargo, or 323,000 bushels of grain.
