CATHERWOOD TOWING

The company is completely owned and directed by Ernie Catherwood. The business commenced operations on the Fraser River at Mission in 1971 with a small wooden tug purchased and operated by Ernie. Initially the purpose of the business was to deliver booms, to the area shake and shingle mills, from local storage grounds, and to provide assistance to other companies that towed log booms and barges through the Mission rail bridge traveling both upstream and downstream As the business grew and its reputation for reliable and quality services spread, the company began getting orders to tow rafts from local booming grounds to storage grounds and mills further down stream (from Mission) as well as to tow booms, from points downstream of Mission, up the river.

Over the years as the volume of business grew Ernie purchased an additional vessel, constructed a new vessel and so on, until today where we have a fleet of 15 tugs, consisting of 7 single screw (400 Hp) tugs, 1 single screw (625 Hp) tug, 3 shallow draft (fast water) tugs, 1 shallow draft (pusher style) tug, 3 twin screw (800 Hp) vessels and 1 twin screw (1,000 Hp) tug. Most of these are fitted with Kort Nozzles for additional thrust efficiencies to work in the Fraser River between Point Grey and Hope, in Harrison Lake, on the south and mid-coast, around Vancouver Island and on inland lakes in the province. In addition, we own and operate 4 barges on the Fraser River, west coast and on inland lakes. Our vessels form one of the most modern fleets on the west coast of Canada, each fitted with the very latest electronic gear to minimize safety risk, maximize efficiencies and provide generous crew comforts. These safety and efficiency features include state of the art radar units, depth sounders, GPS systems, auto pilots, radios and telephones.

Along with these vessels our crew has grown to over 50 full time and up to 30 part time employees to man the vessels, conduct repairs, and carry out payroll, billing, accounting, dispatching and management duties.

As the larger (by size and horsepower) boats were built some of our customers indicated an interest in having us tow barges to carry shake/shingle blocks from remote logging camps along the BC coast and Vancouver Island to the mills at Mission. With this encouragement, we undertook to do some of this work beginning in 1986. We also operate a smaller barge which primarily provides equipment and general freight moving services on the Fraser and Harrison Lake as well as log transportation from sites which are not suitable for dumping and booming. In October of 2003, Fraser River Pile and Dredge’s marine towing contractor ceased operations and we met with them to propose that we become their primary supplier of towing services. We now provide much of FRPD’s marine towing and tending requirements to work at their yard in New Westminster and job sites on the Fraser River, Vancouver Island and the coast of British Columbia.

In 1983 the company entered into an agreement with Houston Forest Products (HFP) to dump and boom truckloads of logs at Babine Lake (North Central BC), tow the completed booms to the opposite end of the lake, break the booms down, dewater and re-load onto trucks. This ‘summer & winter’ operation continued for 10 years until HFP decided to commence hauling directly from the woods to the mill using a truck transporter barge/ferry system to cross the lake.

They proposed a self propelled barge to carry 8 loaded log trucks and called for tender bids. We submitted a complex proposal for the work and carried out exhaustive negotiations, but were unsuccessful with the contract eventually awarded to a competitor. Subsequently, HFP tendered a similar transportation link on Ootsa Lake, at Tahtsa Narrows, for which we proposed an alternative system of a tug and barge running on guide cables. Our proposal was accepted (over 5 others) and in operation, as Catherwood Transportation Ltd., by November of 1993. The Ootsa system consists of a 40 foot wide by 138 foot long barge (constructed at the site) with loading ramps on both ends (for roll on/roll off service) and a 32 foot tug. The ferry system moves back and forth across the lake on a year round basis with the help of an air bubble system to prevent ice from forming on the crossing channel during cold winter periods.

Throughout these past 30 years much has changed in our company, but our commitment to our basic philosophy has remained unchanged. This includes the safe and efficient quality of service that brought the work from other operators in the first place, crew safety and our careful protection of the environment (in which we all work, live and raise our families). As a result, we, with the help of our crews, have been instrumental in pioneering a number of concepts in the marine industry such as:

The use of Wagner Autopilots for boom towing in the river to minimize power loss, from over-steering, in the current (particularly in freshet time) to improve towing speed, fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.
A cofferdam assembly under the engine and gear to collect any leaked fuel and lubricants so that they can be removed from the vessel for disposal rather than being pumped overboard with the bilge water.
The use of diapers to collect fuel and lubricant drippings in the bilge of vessels that were built before the cofferdam concept. This also has the effect of highlighting leaks in the power train and encourages timely repair.
The use of steel pipes for dolphins (instead of wood sticks) to provide much longer term installations, hence less riverbed disturbance due to pulling rotten pilings and a greater margin of safety through more predictable strength. Eg. less storage grounds security problems and the resulting debris/hazards from damaged rafts.
Our crew formed a union, which is duly certified by the BC Ministry of Labour. This organization is designed to better react to the specialized needs of our employees while providing better flexibility for our company to react more effectively to customer needs than the traditional maritime unions. This ability to react to specialized needs remains a major factor in the ongoing success of Catherwood Towing.

Catherwood Towing Fleet at Mission Docks

In addition to the above, we operate a considerable support network, to enhance towing operations and customer services such as:

A commercial fuel dock on the Fraser River (at Mission) to fuel our own vessels, other operators tugs and pleasure craft. We currently pump about 3 to 4 million liters of diesel per year.
A repair depot to carry out day to day vessel maintenance, most major repairs to vessels and to warehouse supplies.
More than 40 boom storage grounds along the Fraser River, Harrison River and Harrison Lake to provide maximum efficiency and security for boom towing operations. These grounds comprise over 100,000 feet in total length and are capable of storing in excess of 3,700 sections (at 66 feet) of log booms which represents up to 1,000,000 cubic meters of logs.

In summary, we are proud that over these past 36 years our relationships with customers, crew and suppliers have been based on trust and rarely more than handshake agreements. In support of this, our customer list has never decreased, our crew turnover has averaged less than 2% per year and many of our suppliers, such Imperial Oil, have primarily supplied all of those respective requirements since our beginning in 1971. Finally, we have (at Catherwood) a team that has the ingenuity, experience and integrity to successfully develop and complete almost any domestic marine assignment, plus the company has the necessary assets and financial base to acquire additional equipment and working capital when required and economically justified.

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