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The Tug Chieftain III
by John MacFarlane 2017
The Tug Chieftain III in the Fraser River (Photo from the Loch McJannett collection. )
In 1963 she was built at Vancouver BC by Benson Brothers Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. 16.61m x 6.16m x 2.53m (54.2’ x 20.2’ x 8.3’) steel hulled 65.47gt 44.52rt She was powered by a 600hp Stork–Werkspoor engine.
The Tug Chieftain III (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection. )
In 1963–1967 she was owned by McDougall Towing Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 1977 she was owned by Chieftain Towing Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 1979–1986 she was owned by Pacific Towing Services Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 1987–1991 she was owned by Island Merchant Marine Ltd., Nanaimo BC. In 1992 she was owned by Mercury Launch & Tug Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 1993–1999 she was owned by Qualicum Towing (1989) Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 2000–2017 she was owned by Pacific Cachalot Ltd., Campbell River BC.
The Tug Chieftain III (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection. )
In February 1975 a gale caught the tug and her loaded barge in Malaspina Strait BC en route from Squamish for the MacMillan–Bloedel pulp mill at Powell River. The barge was carrying 250 tons of liquid caustic soda in below deck tanks and four railway cars of chlorine. The barge capsized at the north end of Texada Island BC. The submarine Pisces enabled a subsequent salvage operation.
The Tug Chieftain III (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection. )
To quote from this article please cite:
MacFarlane, John M. (2017) The Tug Chieftain III. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Chieftain_III.php
Site News: August 18, 2024
The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 93,618 vessel histories (with 15,919 images and 13,842 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,620 entries (with 4,020 images).
In 2023 the Nauticapedia celebrated the 50th Anniversary of it’s original inception in 1973 (initially it was on 3" x 5" file cards). It has developed, expanded, digitized and enlarged in those ensuing years to what it is now online. If it was printed out it would fill more than 300,000 pages!
My special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.
Also my special thanks to my volunteer content accuracy checker, John Spivey of Irvine CA USA, who has proofread thousands of Nauticapedia vessel histories and provided input to improve more than 11,000 entries. His attention to detail has been a huge unexpected bonus in improving and updating the vessel detail content.