Ernie Catherwood News

Catherwood Towing's owner, Ernie Catherwood, adds another tugboat to his 14-boat fleet that operates in and around Canada's Fraser River. The 39-year old boat was at a shipyard undergoing a scheduled Canadian Steamship Inspection. Ernie had marine surveyor Mark McAllister and his port engineer Trevor Sexton check the boat out, and they reported the boat sound with excellent 1/2-inch hull plating. But the old 12V149 Jimmies were tired, although their big Lufkin gears had recently been rebuilt and were in good shape.

Catherwood Towing operates a fleet of tugs on the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada. Owner Ernie Catherwood has built the fleet over the years and has recently been repowering with Cummins engines. In the spring of 2009 Ernie Catherwood took delivery of his first new-build with Cummins KTA19 main engines from Sylte Shipyard Ltd. The Sea Imp IX is 53.6 ft overall with a hefty 22 ft beam and a 9.75 ft draft. As were several of the boats already in the fleet, the new boat was built to a design by West Vancouver based A.