Maumee Conversion

[ST]

snis probably a lot off topc, but does anyone know why the reserve went to K&K versus going to american steamship like the armco?

KK wanted to buy a boat and Oglebay Norton sold them one. That sale was complete before the sale of the rest of the Oglebay fleet to ASC and the 3 river boats to Michigan Wisconsin SS.

[Guest]

snis probably a lot off topc, but does anyone know why the reserve went to K&K versus going to american steamship like the armco?

[MarcE]

I'm a Merchant Marine about to board the Maumee in a couple days. Before I board any new vessel I like to get a rundown of the ships history. I see that not too long ago the Maumee was converted to a self unloading barge. But why?

Barge is married up to the tug Victory. Good Captain and a even better Chief. Engine or deck?

OS Deck with a few months sea time

There are many of us here that have been in your shoes. Live it up, work hard, enjoy the adventure and come home safe at the end of the season!

[Guest]

Every US vessel returning to the USA from Canada must have the crew inspected by US Immigration. The entire crew has to be checked on the first trip of the year. After that only new crew members need to be inspected. With C-19 virus, what are the chances that immigration waits two weeks before they will board that vessel? Holding the crew in quarantine.

[Lakerman97]

I'm a Merchant Marine about to board the Maumee in a couple days. Before I board any new vessel I like to get a rundown of the ships history. I see that not too long ago the Maumee was converted to a self unloading barge. But why?

Barge is married up to the tug Victory. Good Captain and a even better Chief. Engine or deck?

OS Deck with a few months sea time

[Guest]

I'm a Merchant Marine about to board the Maumee in a couple days. Before I board any new vessel I like to get a rundown of the ships history. I see that not too long ago the Maumee was converted to a self unloading barge. But why?

Barge is married up to the tug Victory. Good Captain and a even better Chief. Engine or deck?

[ST]

I'll address several things.

The mentioned engine problem that caused the Reserve to layup was caused by an incompetent engineer who damaged the plant. The Reserve's engine, prior to that, was fine.

Repowering instead of the ATB conversion almost happened. The ATB route was chosen when the American Maritime Officers union decided to not play ball with the owner.

The reason the pilothouse was painted white was the office had not notified us on the boat about the final decision. We started painting things to the KK color scheme. We painted the majority of the pilot house, but didn't do the window frames as we got word the notch job was happening and stopped. Then on the last trip upbound on the St Clair River the Captain had us paint the window frames. He thought it looked silly the way it was and didn't want the ship looking like that in her last photos.

[hausen]

The operator at the time, K&K Warehousing Inc., wanted to move away from the aged and expensive to operate steam plants of the Maumee (Formerly the SS Reserve) and the Menominee (Formerly the SS Buckeye and earlier in life, the SS Sparrows Point).

For an example, during the final season for the Reserve as a steamship, she had engine troubles and had to sit out for a couple of months while repairs were made. The decision had already been made to turn her into an articulated barge, but this situation was one such concern that drove the decision.

I thought that there was discussion in the months leading up to Reserve's final voyage as a steamer saying that K&K were still deciding between turning Reserve into a barge vs. re-powering her with a diesel engine. It was mentioned at the time that the primary reason they went with a barge conversion may have been to avoid having to enter into a relationship with a labor union, or perhaps it was so they could avoid continuing their relationship with one. This dynamic could somewhat explain why Reserve's wheelhouse got a new coat of white paint (different from Oglebay Norton's old cabin cream) on one of her last trips before she laid up for conversion to a barge.

How cool would it have been to have another Columbia steamer still sailing relatively intact today with a new, efficient diesel?

[Guest]

The operator at the time, K&K Warehousing Inc., wanted to move away from the aged and expensive to operate steam plants of the Maumee (Formerly the SS Reserve) and the Menominee (Formerly the SS Buckeye and earlier in life, the SS Sparrows Point).

For an example, during the final season for the Reserve as a steamship, she had engine troubles and had to sit out for a couple of months while repairs were made. The decision had already been made to turn her into an articulated barge, but this situation was one such concern that drove the decision.

They also wanted to do it cheaply. Buying a 2nd hand tug with a reasonably modern power plant and barging the ship of this size is the cheapest way to repower a Great Lakes vessel of this size and gain the efficiencies of a more modern diesel.

It also yields a slightly smaller crew size (It used to be that an ATB operated with significantly less crew, but the gap has closed up a lot) and Coast Guard standards for a barge are less stringent and expensive to comply with.

The big downside is the hull form is much less efficient in the water, which means fuel efficiency is decreased from a traditional repowering job. High fuel prices at times and projections of rising prices for the life of a repowering job have been a big driver for why the more mainstream operators on the lakes are sticking with powered vessels.

The initial outlay to repower is more, but they save money in the longer-term by burning less fuel.

[Jon Paul]

On boatnerd.com home page go to Photo Galleries pick Fleet Photo Gallery and then scroll down to Lower Lakes Towing - Grand River Nav. for the Maumee

[Lakerman97]

I'm a Merchant Marine about to board the Maumee in a couple days. Before I board any new vessel I like to get a rundown of the ships history. I see that not too long ago the Maumee was converted to a self unloading barge. But why?