| The Transportation Safety Board of Canada reports that "On 5 November, 1996, at approximately 2045[1], after departing from the beach at Long Creek on Quesnel Lake, with five vehicles stowed on deck, the barge "B-525", being pushed by the tug "Ospika", capsized when approximately 150m from the beach. The vehicles fell overboard and sank. A deckhand sustained minor bruises during the accident. No pollution occurred. The overturned barge was brought back to the beach and righted two days later. " "The "Ospika" is a small tug, of a typical tugboat construction, propelled by one diesel engine driving one propeller. Since 1988 the tug's main assignment was pushing the barge "B-525", serving logging camps on the shores of Quesnel Lake. When pushing, the bow rests in the barge's notch. The stern of the tug is secured with two steel wires lengthened by chains, one on each side, running forward to the barge's stern corners. Two flexible, hydraulic hoses are run between the tug's engine and the barge's ramp-lifting mechanism. " Captain Tony Toxopeus (Email to Nauticapedia 23/02/2022) stated "Here is lovely little workhorse that is still pushing the B 525 Ramp barge around Quesnell Lake mostly for West Fraser Forest products in Williams Lake. This vessel is powered by a V8-92 Detroit, and was getting her shaft done and a new propeller. Its amazing to see how little corrosion there is on a tug like this that has spent her entire life in fresh water. This vessel is operated by a real Character and nice fellow Captain Gerry Mitzel who has a long history down here in the Fraser & Pitt Rivers towing and log salvaging" |
