Until recently the largest American flagged powered tanker operating on the Great Lakes; this ship was built by Levingston Shipbuilding Co., Orange, TX as their hull #745. The keel was laid for the twin screwed, double hulled product tanker on November 1, 1977 with her launch date being on May 13, 1978. The new tanker departed Orange, TX on her maiden voyage in ballast to Baytown, TX where a cargo of #6 fuel oil was loaded aboard bound for Detroit, MI; passing upbound through the Welland Canal on September 8, 1978. After unloading, the vessel proceeded to Huron, OH where she was formally christened on October 28, 1978 as the Gemini for Cleveland Tankers Inc., Cleveland, OH (a subsidiary of Ashland Oil and Refining Co., Ashland, KY at that time). Following a naming pattern of celestial objects used for some this fleet’s vessels, this tanker’s namesake is the constellation Gemini located in the Northern Hemisphere.
