in 1964 the "gobeille" was sold to the gartland steamship company of chicago, illinois. after she was acquired by gartland steamship, she was converted to a self-unloading freighter by the manitowoc shipbuilding company. in 1965 she was renamed "nicolet". in 1969 gartland steamship's fleet was sold to the american steamship company of buffalo, new york (managed by boland & cornelius). on april 5, 1972 the "nicolet" cracked about 55 of her hull plates off beaver island on lake michigan when she was squeezed by ice. she saved herself by unloading part of her cargo into the nearby steamer "william g. mather". the cost to repair her was about $200,000. in 1974 the "nicolet" had a new diesel installed by the defoe shipbuilding company of bay city, michigan. on december 29, 1979 the nicolet's forward cabins were seriously damaged in a fire that broke out on her self-unloading gear when it was ignited by sparks from an acetylene torch, while she was being repaired in toledo, ohio by the hans hansen welding company. a new pilothouse and cabins were installed by the american shipbuilding company. the "nicolet" resumed service in 1981.