Oglebay Norton Marine Co. lakers Sold

[GP30M4216]

Today, six of Oglebay Norton's remaining 9 vessels went into "second fitout," tying up at docks around the Great Lakes as the sale is completed of these vessels to their new owner, Liberty Steamship (or Liberty Marine), a subsidiary of the American Steamship Company. The three remaining Oglebay Norton vessels will remain with the company for now, but will eventually be sold to another firm. Two additional ONCO vessels have been sold over the past year, and one scrapped. What was once one of the finest and best known great lakes fleets (known for decades as the Columbia Transportation Division of the Oglebay Norton Company) has now reduced itself to a three ship fleet and hopes to be out of the shipping business by the end of the year.

Here are the fates of the last 12 Oglebay Norton vessels:
To Liberty Steamship, and currently docked for "second fitout"
Armco Built 1953 767'x70' Steamer AAA class
Courtney Burton Built 1953 690'x70' Steamer
Middletown Built 1942 730'x75' Steamer Converted T-3 tanker built for WWII by the Navy
Columbia Star Built 1981 1000'x105' Last US flagged powered vessel built
Oglebay Norton Built 1978 1000'x105'
Fred R. White Jr. Built 1979 630'x68'

Remaining as a part of Oglebay Norton Marine Services (for now)
Earl W. Oglebay Built 1973 630'x68'
David Z. Norton Built 1973 630'x68'
Wolverine Built 1974 630'x68'
All three of these vessels were built as "River Class" vessels to transit the twisty Cuyahoga River in Cleveland

Sold to K&K Warehousing for service on the lakes:
Buckeye Built 1952 698'x70' Steamer - Sold in early 2005 to K&K, currently being cut down to a self unloading barge in Erie, PA, and will be renamed , returning to service in the next few months.
Reserve Built 1953 767'x70' Steamer AAA class - Sold to K&K in late 2005. Currently operating as a steamer with ONCO logos removed from stack and sides. Will remain as a steam powered vessel through this season and possibly until her next 5 year survey. Rumored to be cut down to a barge after that expires.

Leased to Kinsman Marine Transport, then scrapped at International Marine Salvage:
Joseph H. Frantz Built 1925 618'x62' Was the oldest vessel still carrying a variety of cargos on the lakes. Was leased on a 5 year plan to Great Lakes Associated (Kinsman) in 2003, and sailed during 2004. Did not sail in 2005 and was later sold to IMS for scrapping, which has nearly been completed.

According to Boatnerd.com, here are some of the rumored name changes (yuck, give me a break these are awful):
Courtney Burton -- American Fortitude; Armco -- American Valor; Oglebay Norton -- American Integrity; Columbia Star -- American Century; and Fred R. White, Jr. -- American Courage.

[patrick]

Thanks Nathan, I agree, the new names are bad news.

[sd70accsxt700]

I guess that explains why Olgbay Norton, was in dock here in toledo tonight

[Mr. Tops]

Columbia Star was just unloading coal at Consumers here a few days ago.

[GP30M4216]

Columbia Star is AMERICAN CENTURY
Courtney Burton is AMERICAN FORTITUDE
Middletown is AMERICAN VICTORY
Oglebay Norton is AMERICAN INTEGRITY.

The Armco and Fred R. White Jr. wil be renamed AMERICAN VALOR and AMERICAN COURAGE. I believe those names are respective to their order but am not 100 percent sure.

Overall I'm not too impressed with these names. The old one I think is cool is the Middletown being called the American Victory. I'm not sure if this was coincidental or intential, but the Middletown seriously resembles another well known (but sadly long gone) great lakes vessel, the Cliffs Victory. Both were built during WWII and featured sharply curved bows, and both were speedsters. Cliffs Victory was owned by the Cleveland Cliffs Steamship Company and through the 50s and 60s was considered the fastest ship on the lakes. In addition, it was unique as the only laker with cargo holds behind its rear deckhouse, a one-of-a-kind feature. Below are photos of both the Middletown and Cliffs Victory (scrapped in 1986), from Boatnerd.com:

MIDDLETOWN



CLIFFS VICTORY

[sd70accsxt700]

Yes Olgbay Norton, is that name. As I crossed the Maumee River on the way home tonight the Norton lettering had been painted over, and one side said American Ingunity, the other was just a brown patch, no lettering yet. Also the cherry picker on the dock was going down the side spraying somthing, on the whole side. Also at the Toledo Ship yard, on the way north, was two Norton ships, on the way home only the smaller of the two was still there.

[sd70accsxt700]

Well this moring all were gone. In fact the only thing left in town was the Coast Guard boat.

[rustbeltrailroad]

Does anybody have any info on locomotives oglebay norton owned?

[hoborich]

Anybody know why ONCO is getting out of the shipping business?

I sailed all over the great lakes for over 30 years on my sailboat, and I've seen all of those boats. The Cliffs Victory was easy to identify from a distance, because the rear deckhouse was set so far forward of the stern. I always preferred the traditional designs like the Middletown, over the 1000 footers with their aft pilothouse.

What are the advantages of a tug/barge combo over a traditional powered ship?

[MagnumForce]

This thread is 9 years old

[Standard Railfan]

Most, if not all of the ships are over 50 years old.

[Standard Railfan]

Anybody know why ONCO is getting out of the shipping business?

I sailed all over the great lakes for over 30 years on my sailboat, and I've seen all of those boats. The Cliffs Victory was easy to identify from a distance, because the rear deckhouse was set so far forward of the stern. I always preferred the traditional designs like the Middletown, over the 1000 footers with their aft pilothouse.

What are the advantages of a tug/barge combo over a traditional powered ship?

Oglebay Norton went on a buying spree in the early 2000s trying to become the dominant player in their markets. Predictably, the strategy failed as the debt load became to great.

The company was split into pieces and sold off. I do not think ON exists as a corporate entity any longer.

I believe the tug/barge configuration allows the vessel use a smaller crew resulting in a cost savings.