MS ''Windoc'' was a

lake freighter Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carriers operating on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. Freighters typically have a long, narrow hull, a raised pilothouse, and the ...

or laker, initially constructed as an ocean-going

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially naval architecture, designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as Grain trade, grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrie ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in 1959. Entering service that year as ''Rhine Ore'', the ship was renamed ''Steelcliffe Hall'' in 1977 and reconstructed as a laker. In 1988 the laker was renamed ''Windoc'' and in 2001, was involved in a collision with a bridge on the

Welland Canal The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, and part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. The canal traverses the Niagara Peninsula between Port Weller, Ontario, Port Weller on Lake Ontario, and Port Colborne on Lak ...

which caused the ship to catch fire. The ship was declared a constructive total loss. While undergoing repairs in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, the ship broke free of its moorings and grounded. Later pulled free, the vessel was eventually converted into a

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

Description

''Windoc'' was initially constructed as the bulk carrier ''Rhine Ore''. As a bulk carrier the ship had a gross register tonnage of 8,202 tons and a

deadweight tonnage Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water Fresh water or ...

of 19,918 tons. The ship measured

overall Overalls or bib-and-brace overalls, also called dungarees in British English, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers ...

and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

with a beam of . The ship was powered by one

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

and had a maximum speed of . The ''Rhine Ore'' was part of a class of 8 sisterships ('' Ems Ore'', ''Rhine Ore'', ''

Ruhr Ore The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populatio ...

'', ''Weser Ore'', ''Clyde Ore'', ''Tees Ore'', ''Thames Ore'' and ''Tyne Ore''). Three of them were purchased by Hall Corp Ltd. of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and rebuilt as lakers. After the vessel's conversion to a laker, the gross register tonnage increased to 18,531 tons and the deadweight tonnage to 29,050 tons. The length overall of the ship was increased to and between perpendiculars to . The beam was also increased to .

Service history

''Rhine Ore'' was ordered from the Schlieker shipyard in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, West Germany by Transatlantic Bulk Carriers Inc. with the yard number 533. The vessel was launched on 11 April 1959 and completed in July. Registered under a

flag of convenience Flag of convenience (FOC) refers to a business practice whereby a ship's owners Ship registration, register a Merchant vessel, merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ens ...

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upon entering service, ''Rhine Ore'' sailed until sold to Hall Corp Ltd. The ship was renamed ''Steelcliffe Hall'' after the April 1977 sale, it was rebuilt in Canada that year as a laker, with cargo space added forward of the engine room, and the wheelhouse moved aft above the crew accommodation. After decades of service and changes to the function and structural conversions of the ship, in 1988 ''Steelcliffe Hall'' was given the name ''Windoc'' (2) after being acquired by N. M. Paterson & Sons Ltd., following the liquidation of the previous owner, Halco. On 11 August 2001, while traveling through the Welland Canal, ''Windoc'' was hit by Bridge 11 in Allanburg, Ontario. The accident caused minor damage to the

vertical lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swin ...

, and destroyed the ship's wheelhouse and funnel. The vessel caught fire, and was later declared a constructive total loss, but there were no reported injuries, no damage to the $6-$8 million cargo, and no pollution to the waterway. The Marine Investigation Report concluded "it is likely that the ertical lift bridgeoperator's performance was impaired while the bridge span was lowered onto the Windoc.""TSB Reports - Marine 2001 - M01C0054"
bst.gc.ca, Retrieved on 2007-10-20 The vessel was towed to

Hamilton Harbour Hamilton Harbour (formerly known as Burlington Bay) lies on the western tip of Lake Ontario, bounded on the northwest by the City of Burlington, on the south by the City of Hamilton, and on the east by Hamilton Beach (south of the Burlington ...

for repairs, and in March, 2002, it broke free of its moorings in an winter gale, and ran aground away in about of water, where it was pulled out by four

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

s three days later. N.M. Paterson & Sons left the shipping business the following year, after 87 years, and sued the canal operator, St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., for $16.9 million (C). Their remaining four active and three mothballed ships were sold in 2002. The canal operator denied any negligence, and blamed the shipping company and the ship's crew for the accident."Both sides to present arguments in Windoc-bridge collision."

Boatnerd The Boatnerd corporation is a registered not-for-profit corporation intended to spread information about vessels that ply the North American Great Lakes. Services The organization holds annual festivals at sites of interest to those intere ...

, 2002-07-15. Retrieved on 2007-08-16. A Transport Safety Bureau report on the collision points to the bridge operator and bridge operating procedures and policies as major factors. They also concluded that impairment of the bridge operator was the root cause. The ship was converted into a storage barge. It was scrapped in 2011 at Port Colborne.

References

* Miller, Al
"Windoc Accident: August 11, 2001."

, January, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.

External links

Amateur video of collision"Windoc Bridge Accident Caught on Tape"
(Video), 2008-12-03.
"TSB Report"
PDF), 2007-10-20. {{DEFAULTSORT:Windoc (1959) 1959 ships Merchant ships of Canada Maritime incidents in 2001 Ships built in Hamburg Great Lakes freighters

Description

Service history

See also

References

External links