By Fred Sankoff

When the M. V. CITY OF OTTAWA arrived in Toronto on September 18, 1972, she began a new service into the lakes under the flag of the Canadian City Line. For the time being, the ships of this new line will terminate their Seaway passage at Toronto, but the route may be extended.

This Sankoff photo shows CITY OF OTTAWA outbound at Toronto's Western Gap on her first lake trip for Canadian City Line Ltd., September 22, 1972.

Three ships were selected from the Ellerman fleet to be used on the new service. The vessels have been renamed to honour Canadian cities and each ship bears the crest of its namesake city on the bow. The funnels have been changed from the Ellerman and Bucknall colours to a new and distinctive red with a white diamond and red maple leaf that can be spotted from a considerable distance. They fly a house flag which is red with three white diamonds, the centre one bearing a maple leaf and the wing diamonds carrying the letter "O" in red.

The new line is a joint venture of Ellerman and Bucknall of London and McLean-Kennedy of Montreal, their North American agents, who since 1936 have operated a service between Canada, India, Pakistan and Ceylon. With the advent of the Great Lakes route, South Africa is also added to the list of countries served. During the Seaway season, all of the Canadian City Line vessels will operate to Montreal and Toronto but in the winter they will run from St. John, N.B. Principal eastbound cargoes will be Canadian newsprint, woodpulp, machinery, asbestos, lead, zinc, copper and aluminum. Westbound, the ships will bring in tea, coffee, cashews, coconut, burlap, jute products, and other such items.

Vessels

CITY OF OTTAWA (a) CITY OF GLASGOW. (Br. 304535). Hull 173, Vickers-Armstrongs (S.Bs) Ltd., Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1963. 456'6 x 66'6 x 41'1. Gross 9710, Net 5478. 10723 DWT. 8-cylinder Sulzer diesel, 10300 BHP, 17 knots.

CITY OF TORONTO (a) CITY OF EASTBOURNE. (Br. 302928). Hull 172, Vickers-Armstrongs (S. Bs) Ltd., Newcastle, 1962. 465'6 x 66'6 x 41'1. Gross 9704, Net 5400. 10733 DWT. 8-cylinder Sulzer diesel, 9300 BHP, 17 1/2 knots.

CITY OF MONTREAL (a) CITY OF SYDNEY. (Br. 302514). Hull 744, Barclay Curie & Co. Ltd., Glasgow, 1960. 470'9 x 67'0 x 42'0. Gross 10242, Net 5799. 11570 DWT. 9-cylinder Sulzer diesel, 11700 BHP, 17 1/2 knots.

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