Classic WWII-Era Lake Freighter Makes Final Voyage to a Scrapyard

The classic WWII-era laker Cuyahoga has completed her final voyage and arrived at a scrapyard in Port Colborne, Ontario. Damaged in a conveyor fire in 2024, the Cuyahoga was deemed unsuitable for repair and consigned to demolition.

The Cuyahoga is an 18,000 dwt self-unloader built in 1943 by the American Ship Building Company, one of 16 sister ships that were quickly delivered to transport iron ore for the Great Lakes steel mills to feed the wartime production effort. The L6 "Maritimer"-class was the first bulker design on the Lakes with a cruiser stern, a classic style now rarely seen. She was later renamed and flagged-out to a Canadian operator. At the time of decommissioning, Cuyahoga was the oldest Canadian-flagged laker in service, and the very last of her class.

Cuyahoga survived a serious engine room fire in 2023, but was thoroughly repaired and returned to service later that year. In March 2024, while in winter layup in Ashtabula County, Ohio, another fire broke out aboard Cuyahoga - this time in the conveyor belt system, reportedly ignited when a contract worker "used welding equipment to remove paint" during repairs in a cargo hold, according to OSHA. Self-unloader conveyors use thick rubber belting systems that are as flammable as rubber tires, and they burn fiercely once ignited. Local fire department crews provided boundary cooling, and the fire eventually burned out; no personnel were reported injured, but the damage was extensive. OSHA fined the repair services company $160,000 for allegedly exposing workers to fire and smoke inhalation risk.

Late last year, Cuyahoga's operator confirmed that the vessel would be scrapped in 2025, ending her 80-year run on the Great Lakes. This week, the vessel was towed the short distance across Lake Erie from Ashtabula to Port Colborne's Marine Recycling Corp. yard, where she will be dismantled for her steel.

Top image credit: Still The Oldie / CC BY NC ND 2.0