Amid much fanfare, the new Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker DESGROSEILLERS, built by Port Weller Dry Docks Ltd., was christened at Port Weller on Saturday, August 7th. The new vessel has been constructed as a replacement for the aging d'IBERVILLE. The sponsor for DESGROSEILLERS was Mme. Jean Luc Pepin, the wife of a prominent Canadian federal cabinet minister. We understand that DESGROSEILLERS will not be commissioned until late in September.

THE SOO RIVER COMPANY - A LATE REPORT: Word spread among the shipping fraternity on August 9th that the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce had foreclosed on the Soo River Company and had appointed Peat Marwick Ltd., Toronto, as Receivers. Apparently, writs were issued against the JOAN M. McCULLOUGH while she was unloading a cargo of soya beans at Victory Mills in Toronto, and against PIERSON DAUGHTERS, which was unloading at a Montreal elevator at the time. At present, the future of the Soo River Company is uncertain, but it is hoped that a satisfactory solution to the company's difficulties can be worked out. We sincerely hope that this will be the case, and that the colourful vessels of the Soo River Company will not pass from the Great Lakes shipping scene.

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