Island Chief (I)

R.L. (Bob) Shields states (Email to Bill Carey 07/12/2018) that "this vessel was built in 1958 in Vancouver by John Manly Ltd. This vessel was constructed in two halves to allow for transport by either rail or truck to Kootney Lake. Which method was originally used I’m not sure. Once at the lake the two hull haves were welded together and the main deck house and wheelhouse were bolted in place. When the rail link shut down on the lake the tug was put up for sale in 1978. At the time we were building a new oil barge for service with Imperial Oil and felt that with her two Gardiner 8L slow speed engines, this vessel would be a perfect addition to the Shields Navigation Fleet. Once purchased, the wheelhouse and deck house were unbolted, removed, and trucked to our yard in False Creek. The hull was removed from the lake and a large set of dual bogies welded to the stern. A large 5th wheel hitch was added to the bow and the complete hull was towed to Vancouver in this manner. With the extra-over width and other restrictions, the tow had to take place during the night so progress was quite slow. In Vancouver, the hull was refloated by simply backing the whole unit into the water and later removing the towing attachments. The deckhouses were re-installed afloat, a few other modification made to make her suitable for coastal service, and this vessel was pressed back into service as the Storm Spray.

In the 1990s we built a new house structure for her at Shore Boat Builders which was installed afloat at our new docks at Berry Point. All the electrical systems were upgraded to AC power with dual generators and this vesseljoined the Island Tug and Barge fleet as Island Chief still married to the tank barge ITB 5 (ex SN5) While the Gardner diesels have undergone a few rebuilds, they are still the original engines as installed in the 1950s. With ITB phasing out the last of their single skin tank barges by 2010 (5 years ahead of regulation), and with all of the replacement barges growing in size, the Island Chief no longer had a companion and so was subsequently sold. I am pleased to report that the Island Chief remains hard at work with a new owner and is now based out of Campbell River. "