Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd., a subsidiary of Upper Lakes Group Inc., has announced that it and its unrelated partner in Seaway Marine Transport have entered into an agreement with Chengxi Shipyard in China for the construction of an aft end that will be joined with the completed second coastal forebody built and currently positioned at the same shipyard.
The contracted delivery date of the vessel is 31 January 2011. The vessel will be crewed by Upper Lakes and bare boat chartered to Seaway Marine Transport for service beginning in the 2011 shipping season.
The completed self-unloader will be named the Canadian Mariner in honour of all the sailors who have contributed to Upper Lakes Shipping’s storied success on the waters of the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway and Eastern Seaboard. The company’s former gearless bulker of the same name served the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway proudly first as the New Brunswicker when built in 1963 and then as the Canadian Mariner when purchased by Upper Lakes in1972 until her retirement in 2007.
Along with its recently delivered coastal fleetmate, the Algobay, the ‘new’ Canadian Mariner leads the way to the renewal of Seaway Marine Transport’s dry bulk fleet. The vessel will be fitted with a 7,200kW MAN B&W Tier I emissions compliant engine and built to full Seaway size. The vessel will also accommodate other equipment and systems that will enable her to be the most environmentally friendly vessel on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway and, with the help of design partners, Deltamarin, the vessel will represent one of the most modern, safe and efficient vessels operating under Canadian flag.