The S.S. Keewatin steamship in Port McNicoll is getting a facelift.
The ship, which is often referred to as a “sister ship” to the Titanic, was built in 1907 and spent years as a passenger liner.
It sat in the United States for years after its service ended, but was brought to Port McNicoll recently by an extensive community effort.
Eric Conroy, president and CEO of the ‘Friends of the Keewatin’ group, says more than $1,000,000 has been spent since the ship arrived in Port McNicoll.
“We finally rebuilt the storm deck which is the top roof of the deck, so now we are able to bring the life boats back,” said Conroy. “We had to bring them back separately by truck because they were in such bad condition.”
A crane donated by two brothers whose father worked on the ship in the 1940s, was used to put the life boats on the top deck.
“It's an important part of the history of Port McNicoll” said Kevin Mateff, one of the two brothers.
Marvin Wright is the engineer overseeing the restoration of the ship’s boiler room, which he notes was built with much different technology than what’s available today.
"Nobody had a computer,” he said. “It was all done with a slide rule and a piece of paper and a pencil and it works, and it still works. Can we say that about the things we make today? I'm not sure."
Volunteers describe the restoration work as “not hard hours but fun hours.”
Since the Keewatin was returned to Port McNicoll two years ago, more than 50,000 people have come to see the ship.
