Tag: towboats

August 18, 2018

West coast tugs and the Prime Minister’s babysitter

The federal government of Canada recently revealed a plaque commemorating the humble tug and its important role in BC’s development. Tugs and towing was a fundamental part of BC development, since all matters of products moving in and out of tight inlets and tricky narrows, deep fjords were generally move by tug and barge. BC’s tug industry spawned an important...

Categories Martin's Blog Entries Comments: 8

August 10, 2018

Government of Canada awards contract under the Oceans Protection Plan to increase emergency offshore towing capability off British Columbia coast

August 9, 2018 – Gatineau (Quebec) – Public Services and Procurement Canada Through the Oceans Protection Plan, the Government of Canada is working to achieve a world-leading marine safety system that protects Canada’s waters and coasts today and into the future. An important part of this Plan is ensuring the Canadian Coast Guard has the equipment it needs to prevent...

Categories Industry News/Press Release Comments: 3

April 6, 2018

U.S. Coast Guard seeks mariner input for Western Rivers study

WASHINGTON – The United States Coast Guard is seeking input for a study of navigation requirements for the entire Western Rivers System. The Coast Guard Waterways Analysis and Management System (WAMS) study will review the Western Rivers Aids to Navigation (ATON) System. The ATON system on the Western Rivers differs from the U.S. Coastal ATON System due to the unstable...

Categories Press Release Comments: 0

December 18, 2013

Zed is dead!

Third tug, third drydock, third contract After many years on “conventional” shaft and propeller powered vessels, I am quickly coming to appreciate the complexity of Z drives, right angle drives, or whatever these are called in your neck of the ocean. With three dry-docking in three contracts, on three different boats, in one year, I am getting some familiarization with...

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December 10, 2013

Cold and desolate

Pulling up the barge’s spuds on a very chilly day We pulled stakes – literally, the barge was “staked” in – from Deception Bay about three weeks ago (as written at the time when I had no internet service). However the weather deteriorating, and not having an anchor on the barge, meant we steamed around the bay doing circles for...

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June 26, 2012

Its ok to breath now…

Long time visitor and contributor to the site, Bilge Rat, sent me this video a few weeks back. It’s a riveting drama of a tug in a dire spot on the fast moving waters of the Mississippi, and another tug comes to the rescue. Also a good lesson for all sailors, whether sailing on green, blue or brown waters, always...

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January 31, 2011

Why TC does not comment

I was doing some research on another topic when I came across an interesting article from the Tyee, a BC based, shall we say, left leaning, epub. The articles chronicles the interaction of the paper, with Transport Canada, and their (varying) stance on crewing for tugs operating in Vancouver Harbour. The reason this subject has been in the news this...

Categories Uncategorised Comments: 2

January 9, 2011

A ray of Sun

The largest newspaper, west of the Canadian Rockies, has a feature on west coast tugs in today’s Business section. It features an optimistic outlook by the regional operators after several years of hardships – no pun intended. Seaspan is featured in the story, as is the Catherwood, Jones Marine, Smit, Pilots and others. An interesting read overall, but the history...

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