Swiftsure X

In 1938 this vessel was based at Port Arthur ON. Lonnie Edward Berrow reports (British Columbia Nautical History Facebook Group 27/11/2014 that "This vessel has been laid up in Coos Bay Oregon for many years, this vesselhas been converted into a charter vessel and looks similar to her sister ship Abitibi." This vessel is thought in 1994 to have been used as a fishing camp owned by Don Lambert." Kyle Stubbs (Email to Nauticapedia 17/12/2021) states "At Empire (OR) Parked right in front of me, moored to old pilings at what was probably once a sawmill, was one of the more intriguing "residents" of the harbor. Per the nameboard on the deckhouse, her name is EL CONQUISTADOR (IMO 5180520), however it is KAM per the painted letters at the bow. Her story started in 1938, when this vessel was delivered by Canadian Vickers Ltd at Montreal as the KAM (Canada ON 170259), one of a pair of big, 140 ft steel tugs ordered by the Abitibi Power & Paper Company for service on the Great Lakes. This vessel then passed through various Canadian owners, gaining the names GULF IVY, SEASPAN EXPLORER and SWIFTSURE X along the way.

In 2000 this vessel left Canadian documentation and was rebuilt as a cruise ship, flagged in Panama, gaining the EL CONQUISTADOR name. I'm sure there's a bunch of story after this point I could look up and add, but the long story short is that this vessel eventually wound up at Coos Bay while looking for employment, and has been there ever since, to the chagrin of the local port authorities. The last I had seen her this vessel was moored at an old pier in North Bend that was difficult to photograph from any direction. While this new vantage also suffers from an obscured foreground, it's still a huge improvement from anything I could manage at the previous location."