Canada’s Algoma Central Corp has been awarded a $29.1m refund for the fourth and final shipbuilding contract it has been disputing with Nantong Mingde Heavy Industries.
The Canadian carrier was awarded its refund claim in July at an arbitration tribunal in London.
“The collection of this final refund guarantee brings to an end the extended process related to the cancellation of the four Mingde shipbuilding contracts,” Peter Winkley, Algoma’s CFO and vice-president of finance, said in a statement.
Including the latest award, Algoma has received $82.5m in refund guarantees for the four cancellations, which Winkley said would be “invested in active shipbuilding contracts now underway in Croatia and China”.
Algoma ordered six Equinox-class bulk carriers at Nantong Mingde in 2010 to replace aging ships in its domestic fleet. Only two of the vessels were delivered before the Chinese shipyard declared bankruptcy in August 2015.
Algoma cancelled the four remaining contracts and has received tribunal decisions in its favour for all four of the cancellations. It has since signed contracts with shipyards in Croatia and another builder in China to build the other five Equinoxes.
The Canadian company operates a fleet of dry and bulk carriers on the Great Lakes and the St Lawrence Waterway, plus has some interest in ocean-going dry bulk carriers.
That Great Algoma Central Corporation, Got it money, “But” Sadness me, We Have Four, (4) Shipyards on The Great Lakes, that can do the same think in Higher Quality, but it always come down to Cost?..Sturgeon Bay, Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Builds Icebreakers, Tankers, Tug, For East Coast USA Owners, Fraser Shipyard Group Inc., In Superior, Wisconsin, Does Re-Power Projects, & Misc Work, Surveyors, Toledo Shipyard in Toledo, Ohio, Also Does Misc work, and Scrap Ships, Donjon Shipyard Inc, Erie, Pa, Build Ships, Tug, and Barges, Re-Power, and Canadian: Port Weller, Ontario Shipyard, Only Does Survey, and Misc Work. This Shipyard, Was main stream to Building Brand New 730 foot Self-Unloaders. Auto Carriers, Tankers, Barges, and Tugs In Its Hay day of 1950, 60’s, 70’s, and Last Ship Built in this Yard was 1980′ and Now Nothing Built, Because of Cheapness of Price in Building in China. The Canadian Government, made ever easier to for Ship Owners to Build in China by Dropping An Import Tax Levies, Against Ships built in Foreign Yards. The Canadian Government, Has killed Any Future Employment In that Country Great Lakes Shipyard Business, and Because of that has Lost Hundred of Billion of dollars to China Over Past Thirty, (30) Years, Ya, That made a lot of Great Business Sense??? Back in My Day 1950’s, Their were well over 600 ships sailing The Great Lakes, For Both Canadian & American Fleet. Today, Their are less then 58 ships, The Great Lakes Shipping is Dying Off. Great Lakes Ship Owners, Are either selling out to other operators, or Leaving the market place, and scraping their fleet from its Competitors. Foreign Operators, in Past 15 years, Have dropped off coming into The Great Lakes, by 65%, Because of The long distance from Atlantic to Great Lakes, Pilot Fees, Are out of Control, & St. Lawrence Seaway Locks and Welland Canal are Small in Size, Limited to 738 foot Long x 78 Feet Wide x 26 foot draft. Seaway Only Open Nine (9) Months of Year, & It far cheaper dropping your freight in Port of Baltimore Maryland, Putting it on CSX Railroad Cars and Bringing Into Any Ports like Cleveland, Toledo, and Detroit in 24 Hours, Instead of wasting weeks coming in, Unloading, Reloading, and Sailing out again. Great Lakes Based Operator, McCaughrin Maritime Marine Systems., Inc, (MMMSI-MMMU), Left The Great Lakes after Ten (10) Years of Operationss fighting with them for changes in design and Lowering Canal and Locks Fees, and Getting hand on pilot fees across the board, sadly they were not at all interested, and So McCaughrin’s Now transit 100% of Its Cargoes from Port of Baltimore, Maryland to Detroit, Michigan, Via CSX Rail and $aved Well Over Hundred of thousand of dollar per month, and We Have never looked back.
Port Weller Drydocks was a shipbuilder located on the Welland Canal at the Lake Ontario entrance.
Founded in 1946, the two dry-docks are located on the east side of the canal in Port Weller, Ontario. It was sold to Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd. but later became insolvent.
Seaway Marine & Industrial Incorporated, renamed the facility Seaway Marine and Industrial Limited, but the firm went bankrupt in 2013 resulting in the closure of the shipyard and loss of jobs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Weller_Drydocks
Algoma Ship Repair, Limited, Division of Algoma Central Corporation, In the Last Two, Years, (2016- 2014), Had Taken Out Lease from the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority who Owns it. For Surveyors, & To Fix Its Own Vessels, & Its Competitors Vessels, It working out pretty good, No complaint so far..Seaway Marine & Industrial Limited Was Subsidiary of Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd, (ULSL) & Owner Mr. Jack Leitch, Sold out To Algoma, They put the Shipyard up for Lease. That when Algoma, Came in.
Good memories of Collingwood Shipyards. Highly respected by all. Most business lost to buildings in Asia.
Formed in 1882 as Collingwood Dry Dock, Shipbuilding and Foundry Company in Collingwood, Ontario by J.D Silcox and S.D Andrews and renamed with the shortened name in 1892, Collingwood Shipbuilding’s core business was building Lake freighters, ships built to fit the narrow locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Over the company’s lifetime it built over 200 ships. During the Second World War (1940-1944), the company was contracted to build 23 warships for the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Navy, mostly corvettes and minesweepers.
The shipyard was acquired by Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) in 1945. Business slowed in the 1970s and by the 1980s orders were in severe decline. The shipyard closed following the merger of CSL’s shipbuilding interest with Upper Lakes Shipping to form Canadian Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited in 1986. The company folded in 1986 with the last ship completed, CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier for the Canadian Coast Guard.
The Shipyard waterfront community
CSL retained ownership of the land and slowly the buildings and structures of the old shipyard were demolished. Left vacant for almost two decades and then sold to developers Fram + Slokker. Beginning in 2004 the former shipyard has been rezoned from industrial to commercial use. The property has been undergoing re-development as part of Collingwood Harbour’s revitalization plan. The area will be home to a residential community consisting of low-rise condos, townhomes and detached homes. The former berths will be surrounded by a boardwalk and feature docking facilities for pleasure craft. Landscaping will provide a setting to attract residents and visitors to enjoy the views of the harbour.