Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) is a Canadian shipping company with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec.
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CSL had humble beginnings in Canada East in 1845, operating river boats on the St. Lawrence River in general commerce. Subsequent growth over the years was tied to expansion of the canal system on the upper St. Lawrence River (the precursor to the St. Lawrence Seaway), and to a new Welland Canal connecting to the upper Great Lakes. The big year of 1913 saw the merger of CSL with Northern Navigation Company, the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Company, and the Niagara Navigation Company, which resulted in the acquisition of several passenger vessels, including the vessels "Chicora", "Carona", "Chippewa" and "Cayuga"; built 1864(?), 1896, 1893 and 1907 respectively, with the "Cayuga" being the last of them to be in service by 1936. She was sold in 1954 and scrapped by 1961. CSL had also acquired the new ships "Hamonic"(1909), "Huronic"(1901), and the ill-fated "Noronic"(1913). By 1924, CSL purchased its first self-unloaded bulk carrier, the Collier, and also owned a shipyard in Collingwood, Ontario where CSL and competitor lakers were being built. CSL also came into ownership of one of Canada's largest shipyards, Davie Shipbuilding, in Lauzon, Quebec for a period in the 1960s-1970s and was at one time a major passenger line on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
CSL's growth through the industrial booms of both world wars was largely tied to the increasing importance of the steel industry in Ontario, where mills were built, or soon to be built, in Sault Ste. Marie, Hamilton, and Nanticoke. CSL also tapped into the last of the remaining coal traffic from Pennsylvania across the Great Lakes to railways in Canada. Following railway dieselization, subsequent coal traffic would be moved by CSL to large fossil-fuel burning electrical power plants.
In addition to it's cargo shipping, the company expanded it's overnight passenger shipping traffic as well. Most notably the popular Hamonic, Huronic and Noronic of the old Niagara Navigation Company 1902-1912 lineage (roughly 6,000 GRT and 350 foot a piece). Their last passenger ships, however, came out in 1928. They were the cruise ships, "St. Lawrence", "[Quebec]"and "Tadoussac"; all built at the Davie Shipbuilding and Repair Co. in Lauzon, P.Q. "St. Lawrence" was built in 1927, and "Quebec" and "Tadoussac" were identical sister ships of 1928. They ran together with the "Richelieu", the former "Narraganset" (1913)of Long Island Sound, which was purchased by CSL about the same time the other three were built by Davie. The three ships were all 350 feet in length, had a breadth of 70 feet, and were 8,000 tones GRT; the "Richelieu" was slightly smaller. They sailed on the St Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers, departing from Montreal and stopping at Quebec City, Murray Bay and Tadoussac (where the company owned hotels) and up the Saguenay to Bagotville (La Baie). The "Richelieu was able to go on to Chicoutimi because of its shallower draft. The Quebec burned at Tadoussac in 1950 without loss of life, and the other three ships continued on the route until 1965. After the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, the "Tadoussac's" bow was modified to make it able to make a few trips into Lake Ontario, and even made occasional trips through the updated Welland Canal to Buffalo and Detroit in the early 1960's. With the Yarmouth Castle fire in 1965 near the Bahamas, stricter coast guard safety regulations in the form of the new international SOLAS program put and end to the three ship's long careers. The "Richelieu", "St. Lawrence", and "Tadoussac" were all sold to Joseph de Smedt of Belgium. The "Tadoussac" was renamed "Passenger No. 2" and the "Richelieu" "Passenger No. 3". "Passenger No. 2" and the old "St. Lawrence" were eventually scrapped after serving as accommodation ships in the early 1970's, while "Passenger No. 3" was sold to Danish interests and was renamed "St. Lawrence 2" and served as an accommodation ship for Eastern Block refugees before being sold to Arab interests in 1975 as worker's barracks in Sharjah, UAE, where she became half-buried in sand by 1981. The earlier "Hamonic" had burned due to a dock side fire in 1945 at Point Edward and was later scrapped. "Huronic" had already been converted to carry only freight by 1944, was retired and scrapped in 1950.
CSL was found responsible for the disastrous September 1949 fire and destruction of its ship the SS Noronic in Toronto Harbour. The fire swept through the ship killing 118 to 139 passengers (many as they slept), but no members of the crew. Inadequate alarm, passenger evacuation plans, and neglected extinguishing systems are found at fault. The captain was suspended one year for abandoning the ship before ensuring crew and passengers were safe. She was demolished in 1950.
No new passenger ships were built by this line or most other shipping lines due to the declining passenger ferry trade. To date, CSL has no known plans for a cruise ship service on or off of the Great Lakes.
In 1951, Sir James Dunn, the owner of Algoma Steel, gained effective control over the company. Following his passing in 1956, Dunn's estate would eventually sell off the CSL shares and in 1963 Paul Desmarais would acquire a major position until taking effective control a few years later.
CSL saw operations increase exponentially in the late 1950s with the opening of the expanded St. Lawrence Seaway and the timely discovery and exploitation of some of the world's largest iron ore deposits on the Labrador Peninsula in Labrador City, Schefferville, and Mont Wright. Ore was moved to Sept-Îles and Port Cartier by the Quebec, North Shore and Labrador Railway and Cartier Railway respectively, where it was then loaded into bulk carriers for transfer to Canadian and U.S. steel mills on the Great Lakes. CSL exploited this traffic by continually refining its self-unloading bulk carrier designs, coupled with improvements in stevedoring at various ports to arrive at a minimal number of human operators required.
In 1963, a non-controlling share of CSL was purchased by Montreal-headquartered Power Corporation, a Quebec industrial conglomerate with interests in electricity generation, pulp and paper, and oil and gas. CSL continued operating and expanding its great lakes shipping line and the Collingwood and Lauzon shipyards through the 1960s, and witnessed several labour disputes.
In 1969, Power Corporation took a controlling-share in CSL. On December 2, 1970, Paul Martin, the 32-year old executive assistant to Power Corporation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Maurice Strong, was appointed to the CSL board of directors. In 1971 CSL minority shareholders sold outstanding shares to Power Corporation, making CSL a Power Corporation subsidiary.
At this time, CSL was given elevated status, where in the words of Power Corporation "...in order to increase its [Power Corporation's] own cash flow and take advantage of new federal tax regulations benefiting operating companies over holding companies, CSL took over most of Power’s investment portfolio at book value."
CSL suffered losses in 1972 when forced to cover unexpected cost overruns in the construction of three 80,000-ton ocean-going tankers at Davie Shipbuilding. On November 22, 1973 Paul Martin was appointed President and CEO of the CSL Group. In 1974, CSL earnings were further hurt by an eight-week strike on the Great Lakes.
In 1976, Power Corporation reversed itself and took over the investment portfolio which had been sold to CSL five years earlier. CSL reverted to an operating division of Power Corporation at this time. On June 7, 1981, CSL President and CEO Paul Martin announced plans to expand outside of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River: "The Great Lakes are essentially a Canadian pond... Canadians have captured 95 percent of the business. Now we want our chance to try our wings on the oceans."
One month later, in July, 1981 Power Corporation announced it was selling its subsidiary CSL Group for $195 million (CAD). CSL Group at this time included the shipping company, shipyards, engineering firms, and a bus service (Voyageur, previously known as Provincial Transport). The following month in August, 1981, Paul Martin and his friend Lawrence Pathy secured financing and announced their intention to purchase CSL Group Incorporated for the price advertised by Power Corporation.
On August 9, 1983 citing federal government interference in the shipping industry, Martin stated: "then... they are going to come in with some grand and glorious package that will give the government control of the industry because they don't understand private enterprise."
By the mid-1980s, CSL's only remaining shipyard (Collingwood) was undergoing financial difficulties and was closed on September 12, 1986 with the loss of 800 jobs. At the same time, CSL Group Inc.'s expansion outside of Canada was well underway. In November, 1988 President and CEO Paul Martin was elected as a Member of Parliament and stepped aside from directing the day-to-day operations of the company.
In March 1991, following changes to Canada's taxation laws regarding international earnings, CSL backed away from threats to move its headquarters outside of Canada, however in December the president who replaced Martin resigned in opposition to plans to move international operations outside the country.
Replacement management in April, 1992 formed a new CSL Group Inc. subsidiary headquartered in Massachusetts to be called CSL International Inc. Canada Steamship Lines Inc. would remain as the Canadian operation under CSL Group Inc., and the conglomerate would remain headquartered in Montreal.
In November, 1993 the newly re-elected Paul Martin was appointed to the cabinet and named Minister of Finance. On February 1, 1994 Martin placed his shares in CSL Group Inc. under a "Supervisory Agreement" to be managed by lawyers and financial advisors, although he would be allowed to intervene in company decision-making should events warrant.
In June, 2002 Martin quit the cabinet as Minister of Finance to pursue a bid for leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. On March 11, 2003 Martin bowed to public and media pressure on his interest in CSL Group Inc. and announced that he would sell his interests in the company to his three sons, saying that his ownership would "provide an unnecessary distraction during the leadership race."
On December 12, 2003 Martin becomes the 21st Prime Minister of Canada. On January 28, 2004 the federal government, in response to opposition party and media enquiries, revealed that CSL Group Inc. had received $162 million in federal government contracts, grants and loans since Paul Martin became Minister of Finance in 1993. Earlier figures released in 2003 had suggested CSL Group Inc. had only earned $137,000 in federal government contracts during this time period.
Throughout the 1990s, CSL Group Inc. oversaw the reflagging of several former Canadian-registered vessels which were placed under the shipping registries of nations commonly referred to as flags of convenience, where safety and labour laws were relaxed to be more business-friendly.
CSL Group Incorporated operates Canadian (Canada Steamship Lines) and international (CSL International) subsidiaries. In 2001, they overtook Asia Pacific Marine Container Lines, also a Canadian shipping company, becoming the world's largest fleet of dry-bulk self-unloading vessels.
These lake freighters are all in the 700-footer class (between 729 and 739 feet):
Self Unloading vessels
Atlantic Erie, Atlantic Huron, Atlantic Superior, CSL Assiniboine (formerly Jean Parisien), CSL Laurentien (formerly Louis R. Desmarais), CSL Niagara (formerly J.W. McGiffin), CSL Tadoussac, Frontenac, Salarium (formerly Nanticoke), Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin (formerly H.M. Griffith) (named after Paul Martin Sr.),
Gear Less Bulk Vessels
Birchglen, Cedarglen, Pineglen, Spruceglen, Mapleglen, Oakglen, Richelieu, Saguenay
Alice Oldendorff, Ambassador, Bahama Spirit, Balder, Ballangen, Barkald, Bauta, Bernhard Oldendorff, CSL Acadian, CSL Atlas, CSL Argosy, CSL Cabo, CSL Metis, CSL Spirit, CSL Trailblazer, Eastern Power, Harmen Oldendorff, Honourable Henry Jackman, Johanna Oldendorff, Nelvana, Pioneer, Sheila Ann (named after Paul Martin's wife), Sophie Oldendorff, Yeoman Brook, Weser Stahl*