Transformers 4 Casts Its Boat Set

After passing on the USS Bramble, Transformers 4 production has found and already filmed its boat based scenes for the film. According to CBCNews, the S.S. Columbia and S.S. Ste. Clair have been chosen by the production. The two boats were used to ferry people across the Detroit River to Boblo Island from Amherstburg, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan. The amusement park there closed in 1993. The Columbia was in service from 1902 to 1991 while the Ste. Clair ran from 1910 to 1991.

The Columbia's ship keeper, Sam Buchanan, said the St. Clair has "a prominent role" in the movie while the Columbia's appearance is "minor."

"When the movie folks are in town, they’re always looking for unique place to shoot so these boats came into play," Buchanan said. "They’re moving right along. They’ve been shooting primarily at night. I don’t know how much more is going to be going on there but they’re not nearly finished."

The City of River Rouge confirmed filming took place Wednesday and Thursday night.

"There were a lot of helicopters flying around," city clerk Sue Joseph said.

The steamships were put on the U.S. List of National Historic Landmarks in 1992.

Producers have added a second smokestack to the Ste. Clair.

"It was unique looking because both Boblo boats only had one smoke stack. They added a second one for some sort of explosion in the movie," Buchanan said. "It won’t harm the boat any. The boats won’t be harmed in any way, but they’re making their big Hollywood debute."

The owners of the boats are hoping to eventually restore them, a quest that will cost over $10 million dollars. While no info was provided on what TF4 paid for the privilege to use the site, it was revealed they did rebuilt S.S. Ste. Clair's decks for cast and crew safety. A video of the inside of one of the ships (S.S. Columbia I think) can be found here. Thanks to Wynton R and J1000 for the link.