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The San Juan Prince Towing Logging Equipment
by John MacFarlane and Neil Malbon 2022
The tug San Juan Prince (Photo from the BC Forest Discovery Centre – Al Skene collection.)
You might not expect a forestry museum to be focused on nautical history but of course the two subjects are closely intertwined. Without the tugs that towed equipment barges and log booms the forest industry would never have been able to access many of their coastal cut blocks. The British Columbia Forest Discovery Centre at Duncan BC on Vancouver Island is cataloguing its collection of images and this tiny collection gives and indication of the fascinating material in it.
The Nauticapedia states that the tug San Juan Prince was built in 1976 by the West Coast Salvage & Contracting Co. Ltd. at Vancouver BC. 8.3m x 4.5m x 1.8m steel hull 9.68gt 6.58rt/nt. She was powered by a 340bhp diesel engine. In 1976–1990 she was owned by the British Columbia Forest Products Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 2004 she was owned by the Norske Skog Canada Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 2016–2022 she was owned by the Catalyst Paper Corp., Richmond BC.
The tug San Juan Prince and barge (Photo from the BC Forest Discovery Centre collection.)
Barges are often overlooked in favor of the tugs that are towing them. These barges are marvels in themselves and their cargoes are examples of the logistical skills of the combined towing and forest industries.
Flat deck barge carrying logging equipment. (Photo from the BC Forest Discovery Centre collection.)
This barge is carrying a Caterpillar 988 Log Stacker and a Pacific off highway logging truck trailer.
The flat deck barge Bute No. 5 carrying logging equipment. (Photo from the BC Forest Discovery Centre collection.)
The Bute No. 5 was built in 1967 by Bel–Aire Shipyards Ltd. at North Vancouver BC. She was 168’ x 48’ x 10.4’ (51.21m x 14.66m x 3.17m) steel 757gt/rt. In 1967–1993 she was owned by Saul Miller, Vancouver BC. In 1994–2004 she was owned by Rivtow Straits Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 2011–2022 she was owned by Delta Tug & Barge Ltd., Delta BC.
Flat deck barge carrying logging equipment. (Photo from the BC Forest Discovery Centre collection.)
This barge is carrying a Madill 27–25 044_Grapple_Yarder to a new site somewhere on the British Columbia coast.
The British Columbia Forest Discovery Centre is located at 2892 Drinkwater Rd, Duncan, BC V9L6C2. Whether on the track or on exhibit, the museum’s locomotive collection draws visitors into BC’s past. The sounds, power and presence of these impressive machines represent the ingenuity behind connecting towns and accessing many of the province’s rich natural resources. The locomotives in the collection date back over one hundred years. They demonstrate the changing face of technology during the 20th century and are powered by steam, gas and diesel electric engines. Its well worth a visit!
Photographs are from the Al Skene Collection
To quote from this article please cite:
MacFarlane, John and Neil Malbon (2022) The San Juan Prince Towing Logging Equipment. Nauticapedia.ca 2021. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/San_Juan_Prince.php
Site News: May 07, 2024
The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 92,798 vessel histories (with 15,646 images and 13,431 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,616 entries (with 4,013 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 a 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.