Newbuilds will be birds of a feather

The Canadian Forest Navigation Company (popularly known as CanForNav) is getting its ducks in a row. These handsome little ducks will be swimming all over the world — including the Great Lakes — because in actuality they are Seaway-appropriate bulk carriers. And they are, or will be, brand new.

First in the flock is the Bluewing. As her sister ships will be, she is 581 feet in length and 78 feet in breadth and goes on the books as a 27,000-tonner.

The Bluewing is already in service. She first got her bottom wet upon launch at the shipyards in Wuhu, China, and went to work earlier this year.

All the CanForNav newbuilds will come from Wuhu. The Bluewing was to be followed in May by the Greenwing and, later yet this year, if all goes well at the shipyard, the Cinnamon and the Mandarin will come next.

Next year come the White Knight (true: not a duck) and finally the Kalkalwi (a word in India, according to Indian-born Errol Francis, who is vice president-operations at CanForNav, for "duck.")

A throng of workers, officials and school children celebrated the launch of CanForNav's Seaway-ready Bluewing at the shipyard in Wuhu, China.

Duluth-Superior boatwatchers, long accustomed to observing the aging fleet of Great Lakes vessels, are delighted at the prospect of seeing the CanForNav newbuilds. They also will recognize the blue wave/green treeline insignia that adorn the fleet's stacks.

Mr. Francis, in responding to a question about why CanForNav would build Seaway-ready ships in this era of unpredictable Great Lakes commerce, said, "It's basically very simple: Nobody else wants to build. They all want to build Panamax ships — and for the same price of our new ships. They don't want to put new ships through the locks and have them banging around in there.

"But in the long term we really had no choice, so we started our own building program. We want to support Great Lakes shipping. That has been our bread and butter for many years. This is where we are, and this is what we intend to support."

One important feature on the newbuilds is environmentally friendly. The new ships have special holds for containing ballast and the residue of emptied cargo holds. After leaving a port, the ships can disperse the materials in the containment holds at sea in deep water. "We are trying to take care of the environment," Mr. Francis said.

It's all about getting one's ducks in a row.