Tag: towboats

October 27, 2010

Steaming Master

The SS Master Society is an all-volunteer non-profit group of dedicated individual that today is navigating in troubled waters. Unless new revenue streams are identified and maintained, the SS Master just may find herself without the funds to continue on steaming. For years the society has always been able to rely on a small gaming grant from the BC Lottery...

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October 15, 2010

Seaspan swallows SMIT / Rivtow

Big news on Canada’s west coast today, my sources have just sent me an email saying that Seaspan has just swallowed SMIT Canada, ex Rivtow. I have from good sources that Boskalis has sold all assets to Seaspan. You can read here, a bit about Rivtow’s prolific presence on the West Coast. Rivtow was at one time a massive industrial...

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December 16, 2009

A new Legacy continues

I saw this little bit of “news” the other day. Chevron Canada is replacing its venerable fuel dock in Coal Harbour with a new one. There isn’t too many towboaters on the coast who have not the had to stop, and pick up some half million liters (or so), of diesel, from Ron Graham’s Chevron Fuel Dock, sitting, lonely, between...

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December 12, 2009

“Economic conditions”

West Coast Canada remains under a great deal of influence cause by the recession, south of the border. With forest products being a major component of the maritime trade on BC’s coast, its been a heck of a few years, felt well before the official recognition of trouble. As such, I was surprised to see that Seaspan’s recent announcement took...

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October 21, 2009

Venture goes belly up

Vancouver based North Arm Transportation is no stranger to the hazards and intricacies of the BC coast. They have been moving cargo up and down the province’s coast for countless years and have amassed a lot of experience doing so. Some say experience comes from situations that did not work the way they planned out, such is the case with...

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August 21, 2009

Kayakers and container liners need a little rescue

I made a blog entry last week about Seaspan and their new ship docking tug the Seaspan Resolution, as that entry was getting bit long, I did not get to express all my observations about the company. So here is a follow up post with a Seaspan theme… The 1350 hp, 20 meter long, tug, Comox Crown, towing three loaded...

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April 1, 2009

SMITen’ with Minette

To most industry watchers in the area, this little blurb on SMIT’s takeover of Prince Rupert based Minette Bay Ship Docking probably comes as no surprise. Rotterdam based tug and salvage giant SMIT, gained a foothold in Canada when it acquired the assets of Rivtow, back at the turn of the millennium. Fledgling at the time, Rivtow was a shadow...

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February 5, 2009

Icy warm welcome

I do apologize for the lack of recent post. Several factors have conspire to keep me away from the hobby I love doing, about the job and the industry we all share some fondness for. As I grow older I find myself being responsible. What happened! One minute I was in the pub “having a pint with the mates” not...

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