Norisle

There is an article this week in the Manitoulin Expositor about the Norisle. Apparently the costs of keeping up are just getting too great for Manitowaning to handle and something will have to be done with it soon. Some suggestions so far include selling it for the scrap metal value or even sinking it to become a diving platform. The former would recover some of the costs of keeping the ship up over the years and the latter may bring in revenue in the future. It would at least keep the Norisle in the area and hopefully still draw some tourist dollars to the island.

I found the following information about the history of the Norisle at Wikipedia...

“The ship was 215ft in length and was one of the first vessels on the Great Lakes that could accommodate a large number of automobiles and livestock. The Norisle was built at the Collingwood shipyards in 1946—the first ship built in Canada after the end of World War II. Her engines were actually designed and built for a Royal Canadian Navy destroyer, however because of the end of the war, they were put into the Norisle instead. She sailed until the year 1974, when she and her sistership, the MS Norgoma, were replaced by the much larger and more modern MS Chi-Cheemaun which could accommodate a much larger number of automobiles, and passengers (but no livestock).”

Manitowaning just wouldn't be the same without this great reminder of the past inviting us onboard and I hope some way can be found to keep this bit of history afloat in the area.