SAAM Towage Canada bolsters fleet

The two new line handers arrived on 6 January to join SAAM Towage Canada’s fleet in Vancouver.

“These multipurpose vessels play a key role in berthing and unberthing vessels by transferring mooring lines from the ships being assisted to crews on the ground. They also assist with emergencies, rescuing people from the water and scanning for incipient changes in weather, tides, and wind for pilots at the terminal where they provide services,” explained Brook Walker, Director of Operations for SAAM Towage Canada

The new 14-metre-vessels were designed by Mcduff Shipdesign and built by Choey Lee Shipyards in Zhuhai (China).

“Adding these new line handlers enables us to keep our high service standards in Vancouver, optimize our operations and continue to efficiently support our customers,” he added.

SAAM Towage had already chosen the names for both vessels, SAAM Lucille and SAAM Eriks, to honour the company's history and inspire its employees.

Lucille is named after Lucille Johnstone, known as “Tugboat Annie”, an industry pioneer and driving force behind the company in the 70s and 80s as its Executive Director and President. The second vessel’s moniker is in homage to the Eriks family, especially John Eriks, who worked as a captain, dispatcher, and trained generations of colleagues.