Welland Canal

Yes I agree with you as there is a ship scrap yard in Port Colborne at the Lake Erie end of canal.
Back in September 2011 they were towing the Canadian Miner 730' X 75' to Turkey when they got caught in a storm off Nova Scotia they had to cut her loose and she blew up on Scatarie Island and as of today she is still there. The Federal Gov. has awarded a 12 Million dollar contract to scrap her on site.

WELL LOOK WHAT CAME BACK : The American Fortitude departed Toledo Ohio on November 26/14 under tow to Brownsville Texas to be scrapped. On December 1/14 she was towed down the Welland Canal then on to Montreal.
When she arrived in Montreal she was inspected by Transport Canada and they found the bunker oil was not removed and was put under arrest.In the end it was decided to tow her back up the seaway and up the Welland Canal to a scrap yard at the Lake Erie end of canal in Port Colborne. As there is a very strong current in the St. Lawrence River they now had to send a bigger tug with more horsepower to get her back into Lake Ontario. As it was late in the season and bad winds they are leaving her in Oswego NY for the winter as the Welland Canal is closed for the winter. I sure would not have to pay that tow bill .
The main reason they do not want another incident like the picture above as the Government is now paying a four million dollar bill to scrap the Canadian Miner on site.

Welland Canal closed December 31/15 for eleven weeks, and in that time they will spend 12 million dollars on repairs.
Picture 1 is lock 1
Picture 2 is from lock 1 looking south to lock 2
Picture 3 is from lock 2 looking south to lock 3
Picture 4 is from bridge 4 looking north to lock 2
Picture 5 is from bridge 4 looking south to lock 3

Picture 9 is from View attachment 68918 lock 7 looking south View attachment 68919 View attachment 68920 View attachment 68920 View attachment 68922 View attachment 68923

Made my first trip down the canal Sunday on a 52' Viking Hard Top.
Just a note to any delivery captains doing the Welland Canal you will have delays this year.
The Seaway is now installing Hand Free Mooring on the whole Seaway. This winter they cut the concrete walls at locks 1 and lock 2 and lock 3. They are now starting to install the machinery. They will not delay commercial ships as they pay
$ 23,000.00 to transit canal and yachts pay $ 200.00. so as soon as they have a break in commercial shipping they will shut down the locks to install the machinery. Canal could be closed four to six hours, in the mean time if a commercial ship comes along you will be behind him and it will be a twelve hour trip. Also 12 lock employees retired this year and they are not replacing them as they want to reduce the lock staff by 75 employees because off the new Hands Free Mooring, so the lock employees are now moving lock to lock. It will take 2 more years to complete the rest of the locks.

ANOTHER SHIP HEADS TO THE BONEYARD
I have attached a newspaper about this famous ship.
http://www.thestar.com/business/2015/05/28/captain-johns-pulls-away-from-toronto-berth.html

On Saturday took up M/Y Equation 112' Westport up the canal

WELLAND CANAL TEMPORARY CLOSED
This morning a fuel barge was fueling the Atlantic Huron in Port Weller harbor and had a major oil spill, all shipping is now stopped until clean up complete. In the picture you can see where oil ran down the deck to a deck drain hole.

Yes it has been a bad few days on the Seaway. Welland Canal was opened last night at 20:00 hrs.

When a ship enters lock up bound there is concrete wall in front of the upper gates it protects the upper gates.
You will see in the attached picture the bow is in on the breast wall. He must have been moving. t wall.

Injuries reported after passenger ship Saint-Laurent hits Eisenhower Lock bumper

6/19 - 3 p.m. update -The Coast Guard is continuing to respond Friday to a cruise ship that hit a concrete wall in the Eisenhower Lock in the St. Lawrence Seaway in Massena, New York.

Thursday night, 30 people were removed from the ship due to injuries. Of those, 28 were released from the hospital and returned to the ship.

Passengers and luggage are being taken off the vessel in baskets attached to cranes. They will be loaded onto buses, and driven to Montreal, Canada. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation personnel are in the baskets to assist passengers. U. S. Customs and Border Protection are on the vessel clearing all passengers before departure off the vessel. It may take up to six hours to remove all the people from the ship. There were 274 people, including passengers and crew, aboard at the time of the collision.

The vessel remains in the lock.

An initial damage assessment indicated that 10 feet of the bow was pushed inward during the impact, causing water intrusion in the bow area. There have been no reports of additional water intrusion since the lock was partially drained. Navigation is currently suspended in this section of the seaway until the Saint Laurent can be moved. At least nine vessels have been delayed due to the closure.

The ship will remain in the lock with both doors closed until it is safely refloated and can be moved to different location.

There continue to be no indications of any pollution.

The Eisenhower Lock is one of two U.S. locks on the 10-mile-long Wiley-Dondero Canal, which provides access to Lake St. Lawrence and is operated by the SLSDC, a modal administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Original report - The Saint Laurent - a 300 foot cruise ship - struck a part of the Eisenhower Lock late Thursday night and began taking on water, according to St. Lawrence County Emergency Manager Mike LeCuyer. He said the ship hit one of the gates to the lock.

As a precaution, the lock was drained of water, he said. The boat is sitting on concrete. He said three or four people were hurt - and one of the injuries may be serious.

Rescue squads and fire departments from around the Massena area and into Franklin County were called to the scene. LeCuyer said there were 124 people on board, and they would be brought out by crews using ladders. He said they were in no danger.

At 9:25 p.m. Thursday, Seaway Eisenhower called ships in its sector to ask them to proceed to anchorages or go to tie-up walls below the Eisenhower Lock and Snell locks.

Shortly thereafter, Eisenhower Lock radio reported that a crane had been called in to lift injured passengers from the vessel. They cannot raise the ship in the lock as she hit the bumper at the upper end of the lock so hard she has a large hole in her. Therefore the injured passengers had to be craned off the ship. The extent of the injuries were unknown.

The Seaway will be shut down until further notice.

Saint-Laurent is in her first season of Great Lakes/Seaway cruising. The vessel is being booked by the U.S.-based Haimark Line. Based in Denver with sales, marketing and, operations offices in Chicago, Haimark Line offers small-ship coastal expedition cruises in North, Central, and South America.

Ron Beaupre, Fox 7

SHIP AGROUND ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY
Tundra grounds, delaying shipping on the Seaway

6/21 - When the Seaway reopened Saturday afternoon after Saint Laurent was removed from the Eisenhower Lock, the saltwater ship Tundra was the second ship to pass down. Saturday night she left the shipping channel at buoy Delta 40, east of Cornwall and south of Lancaster, Ont., and ran aground. Several ships were delayed again. Sunday morning, at about 7 a.m., it was decided that since the Tundra is 800 yards out of the channel, it was safe for ships to proceed past her. No passing is permitted near Tundra. Cause of this mishap is unknown at this time. Note that buoy D 40 is a quick flashing turning buoy. If Tundra failed to turn there, she went into very shallow water and may be firmly stuck in the mud.