The downbound tanker ship KATHY MCKEIL (which, until very recently, was named ALGOSEA) is seen here just after passing the Skyway, heading towards Lock 2, on Dec.2, 2023. Reaching the west wall above Lock 2, MCKEIL waits as the upbound Polsteam NARIE departs Lock 2.
KATHY MCKEIL is on her Final Welland Canal Voyage as a tanker, before undergoing a planned rebuild in China, during which the tanker will be converted into a bulk cargo ship.
This vessel was built as a tanker in Mobile, Alabama in 1998, under her original name AGGERSBORG. In 2005, her name was changed to ALGOSEA after being purchased by Algoma.
It is a rather odd circumstance that this downbound ship, under the name KATHY MCKEIL, is seen here on her final-ever Welland Canal downbound voyage - yet, she never had any UP-bound Welland Canal voyage! (This is because when this tanker ship made its most recent trip up the Welland Canal, it was still known as the venerable tanker ALGOSEA)
The ship's name was changed to KATHY MCKEIL on Nov.19, 2023, while docked at Sarnia, and so, when the ship later departed and went downbound (seen here) through the Welland Canal, it was under her new name.
Not sure of the exact date on which this tanker vessel last came up the Welland Canal as ALGOSEA {...it was likely recently... maybe 2 weeks ago...??} That trip ended up being ALGOSEA's last-ever upbound trip on the Welland Canal - without ALGOSEA having any corresponding downbound trip!!
In the same vein, the newly-named tanker KATHY MCKEIL has never (...yet!) had an upbound trip on the Welland Canal (...because obviously, the vessel was still named ALGOSEA at the time it went up) but she DID have her first downbound trip (...which is the one seen here on Dec.2, 2023).
In other words, the ship KATHY MCKEIL - as a tanker - has not had her Maiden Upbound Voyage on the Welland Canal, but she already HAS made her Maiden Downbound Voyage (seen here)!
So, to get back to the title, why categorize this as being KATHY MCKEIL's 'Last Welland Canal voyage'??
That's due to another nuance in this odd circumstance: this vessel - as we see it right now - is heading directly to China to be converted from a tanker to a bulk cargo ship.
When she returns after her transformation, this vessel will not be the exact same ship as the KATHY MCKEIL seen here, she'll be substantially changed.
She won't be a tanker any longer.
So, what we see here today (on Dec 2, 2023) is that this is not only KATHY MCKEIL's Maiden Voyage on the Welland Canal as a tanker - it is simultaneously also her LAST time on the Welland Canal as a tanker!!
The tanker known as KATHY MCKEIL never did get to make a Maiden Upbound Voyage on the Welland Canal - and she never will.
In the future, when this vessel returns to the Welland Canal after its transformation into a cargo ship, she'll finally do the Maiden Upbound Voyage - however, it will really be the maiden upbound voyage for a different ship with the same name.
(Update: As of Jan. 24, 2024, KATHY MCKEIL's voyage to China found her on a NE heading, having passed through the Singapore Strait and rounding the southern tip of Malaysia!)
14 окт 2024
