MS Chi-Cheemaun

The MS Chi-Cheemaun painted in Ontario Northland colours.
Name:	Chi-Cheemaun
Owner:	Owen Sound Transportation Company Limited, (an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines) - under contract
Operator:	Ministry of Transportation
Route:	Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula to South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island
Builder:	Collingwood Shipyards Canada
Cost:	$121 million CAD
Yard number:	346838
Laid down:	1974
Launched:	1974
Christened:	Chi Cheemaun
Completed:	1974
Acquired:	1974
Maiden voyage:	September 10, 1974
In service:	1974-present
Status:	Active

The MS Chi-Cheemaun is a passenger and car ferry in Ontario, Canada, which traverses Lake Huron between Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula and South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island. The ferry connects the two geographically separate portions of Highway 6 and is the vessel that replaced the M.S. Norgoma and the S.S. Norisle in 1974. The ferry service runs seasonally from mid-May to mid-October.

Chi-Cheemaun (in folk orthography or chi-jiimaan in the more standard Fiero double vowel spelling) means 'big canoe' in Ojibwe.

History

A trip aboard the MS Chi-Cheemaun is a long standing Great Lakes tradition dating back to the 1930s when a small, wooden vessel, the Kagawong, first ferried automobiles across the waters of Georgian Bay between Tobermory and South Baymouth.

At the time of its launch the $12 million Canadian MS Chi-Cheemaun was the "largest, most modern vessel ever built for ferry service on the Great Lakes".^{[cite this quote]} It features a drive-on, drive-off bow and stern loading and unloading through a visored bow system and a square door stern section. The ship is 365 feet (111 m) long with a 62 foot (19 m) beam and has capacity for 648 passengers and 143 vehicles, including room for large highway vehicles such as buses and transport trucks.

The ship is powered by two Ruston 3500 horsepower (2.6 MW) diesel engines and an 800 horsepower (600 kW) bow thruster engine which improves the handling of the vessel at slow speeds. During the 2006-07 winter layover period the ship received four new Caterpillar V8 diesels.^[1] The addition of two mezzanine decks in 1982 increased the ship's vehicle carrying capacity to 240.

Like its predecessor ships on Lake Huron, the MS Chi-Cheemaun is owned by the Owen Sound Transportation Company Limited, an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, and operated under contract to the Ministry of Transportation.

The ship makes the 40km (25 mile) trip in about 1¾ hours 4 times each day, during peak season and 2 times a day during May and October. A link to the current schedule can be found in the External links section below.

For a short time, from 1989 to 1992, the MS Chi-Cheemaun had a sister ship, the MS Nindawayma, which ran the same route. However, the MS Nindawayma was retired because of service problems leading to public dissatisfaction and now sits rusting in Sault Ste. Marie.

Information radio

Two low power radio stations, CHEI-FM (89.9 FM in South Baymouth) and CHEE-FM (89.9 FM in Tobermory) broadcast tourist notices and schedule information for travellers on the ferry. Decision CRTC 99-40

• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CHEI-FM
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CHEE-FM

Facts

As of 2004^[update], 85,000 vehicles 220,000 Passengers have taken the MS Chi-Cheemaun.

Additional images

The MS Chi-Cheemaun at Tobermory with her bow open to accept passenger vehicles.

MS Chi-Cheemaun in Owen Sound.

MS Chi-Cheemaun docking near Tobermory.

References

• Algie, Jim. [1] "Chi-Cheemaun back in local water", The Owen Sound Sun Times, April 27, 2007. Accessed April 30, 2007.
• 'She's one big happy canoe', Toronto Star, June 4, 2005 p A3

See also

• Spirit of Ontario I, a ferry on Lake Ontario
• S.S. Badger, a larger ferry on Lake Michigan

External links

Schedule & Fare Information