Victoria Machinery Depot News

Over the last few years, as the design output from Robert Allan Ltd. to the global tugboat community began to border on the prodigious, we were often asked, “How many tugs has your company designed?” Until very recently we really did not have a good handle on that number, so the answer was usually either “a lot” or “many hundreds”, neither of which were particularly illuminating. So a search was begun late in 2016 to review our archives and try to determine the tug tally much more precisely. Would we rival Helen? Where did it all begin?

The Queen of Victoria has been sold to a private operator in the Dominican Republic, BC Ferries' president and CEO Bob Lingwood announced. A total of six bids were received for the 38-year-old ferry and evaluated during the public bid process. "We've accepted an offer of $550,000 Canadian for the Queen of Victoria, which has become surplus to our needs," said Lingwood. R & G Importadora & Exportadora, the new owner, is expected to take possession of the vessel by the end of the year. The Queen of Victoria was built at the Victoria Machinery Depot in 1962 and provided ferry service on BC Ferries' Tsawwassen - Swartz Bay route until 1998. Since then, the vessel has been used for storage at the corporation's Deas Dock refit complex in Richmond.