Canadian Miner

[Phil]

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1124141

[tomg19]

Anyone have (to post) recent picture (s) of how the Canadian Miner looks

[Mac Mackay]

CBC News is reporting today that the Province of Nova Scotia is negotiating with the owners and two salvors to remove the wreck at no cost to taxpayers.

[fireman12]

I`m sure that once ULS had decided that she was done for good , the Miner had any items of use removed while she lay in Toronto at the Cherry Street basin . Pumps , motors , tools , parts , galley equipment etc that was deemed reusable was taken off and stored in ULS`s shore side facilities .

Anything left was probably taken off in Montreal at Sec 56 while she was getting made ready for the ill fated scrap tow . The rest was for the vultures .

[Randy S]

I'm sure that there are some collectibles aboard, such as porthole assemblies, but I doubt that much of anything would or will be saved. In scrapping like all other businesses, time is money and I don't think they would take the time to remove and save such items.

[Guest]

Concidering the present destruction of the Miner, other than scrapping the hull, what remains of unseable components that are stil available at the site? Have the crews' quarters been sanitized? How about the forward end and accomodations and plot house equipment? Are there many salvageable auxiliaries down in the engine room that are not ruinted?

[BobG]

Replying to Guest, the cargo hold bulkhead visible in the photo is a screen only. And then there is the certain bottom damage forward of that point.

[Guest]

It still looks like you could burn the Miner in half mid-ship and tow the bow section away.

[Bookworm]

Grey skies under was a great read. Mowat was definitely a wordsmith, able to make you laugh, cry, or swell with indignation. You surely had to feel the men who manned Franklin (definitely the low men on the maritime totem pole) were unsung heroes.

[fireman12]

Here are photos recently taken on January 3rd , while weather had abated a bit .

She is still in one piece , but the aft end is taking the brunt of the weather , and is coming apart ever so slowly . The cargo hold is more exposed , and the stbd Engine Room area is succumbing to the sea pounding on her , pretty hard to look at Nos 2 and 4 Main Engines being pounded apart by the wave action , I spent many an hour pulling out those bottom end rods .

[Guest]

With tongue-in-cheek the Miner sounds like some of the wrecks that Foundation Franklin in "Grey Seas Under" would recover and tow to the shipyard. That true book, by Farley Mowat, is a fantastic read. I read it about once a year and recommend it highly. Bantam Books - 1958. Happy New year to all.

You might also want to read The Serpent's Coil: An Incredible Story of Hurricane-Battered ships the Heroic Men Who Fought to Save Them (1961). Both those readings are great. You feel as if you are there. Two books that are hard to put down.

He also wrote '' The Boat Who Wouldn't Float (1969)'' Another excelent read.

Happy New year to all!

[Guest]

With tongue-in-cheek the Miner sounds like some of the wrecks that Foundation Franklin in "Grey Seas Under" would recover and tow to the shipyard. That true book, by Farley Mowat, is a fantastic read. I read it about once a year and recommend it highly. Bantam Books - 1958. Happy New year to all.

[Slip]

Recently went to Google maps to see if an update of the Scaterie Island (where Miner is beached) was available. No such luck. But I did notice on the East end of the island 3 or 4 small buildings. Anyone able to tell me what they are.? Are they lived in?

[Rob]

Any new pictures of her?

[Guest]

Keep in mind that the ships were built with a certain number of years for their service life. They were expected to last x number of years for the cost of building. They could build them to last forever but the cost would be much greater.

No ship is designed to be placed on dry land and beaten by waves.

[LeoA]

Ships will break apart in a situation like the Canadian Miner is in even if they're brand new and just left the builders yard on trials. It has even happened with things like navy destroyers and cruisers, and even battleships in years gone by (It used to not be uncommon, even up until WWII, for several naval ships to be lost in accidents each year, such as the nearly new battleship HMS Montagu that was lost on rocks in the early years of the 20th century in a situation not unlike the situation the Miner is in).

[wnyguest]

Anyone been out to the boat lately?

It would be an interesting photo documentary on how the hull of a laker comes apart from wave action and stress. I should think the information would be useful for the designers of new boats. Computer simulation can only go so far.
For example, look at the new mega ship that cracked while loading recently in South America. Someone will have an expensive repair bill there, I should think the owners will be looking to back charge the designers for some of it.
Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems to me there is considerable room for improvement in the design of ballast tanks and the resulting corrosion structurally weakening the hull.
It would be interesting to document what parts failed and how they failed and how that affected the rest of the vessel. Rather surprised to see top deck plates cracked from something going on 20 feet below and all this while it is sitting on a rock bottom, steel a bit too brittle maybe?
Seems to me also Titan salvage could have had that vessel up and out of there pretty quick had they been called, they have handled worse than that over the years.

[Guest]

http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/local/ac/w ... h/7532ccd0

[Guest]

Thanks for the info Fireman12. It would be great to see a photo of her now. Hope someone gets out there and snaps a few pics.
The web link you sent along to read the article wouldn't work.

[fireman12]

Winds were as high as 110 kph this past week , and it was one of the hardest blows we`ve had for awhile .

And CTV News Atlantic reports in today`s net news that ` Wreck Threatened by Mother Nature`s Wrath ` . The story goes on to say the engine is fully exposed , and the holes in the stern will keep eroding . Until we see a photo I`ll just guess either the ER cofferdam between it and the cofferdam is breeched open , and / or the hole in the stbd side of the ER got quite bigger and now #2 or #4 Main Engine is exposed .

Read the story for yourselves

http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/local/ac/w ... h/7532ccd0