| In 1970 this vessel was operated by British Columbia Forest Products Ltd., Vancouver BC and later transferred to the Swiftsure Towing Division of British Columbia Forest Products Ltd., Vancouver BC. On December 26, 1975 high winds tore her from her moorings in the Fraser River and swept her upstream on a flood tide where this vesselhit the New Westminster railway bridge. This vessel knocked a 380 foot span off its foundation. this vessel was secured at Fraser Mills by Captain Russel V. Cooper, General Manager of Westminster Tug Boats Ltd., in the Westminster Hyack. On May 5, 2008 this vesselstruck Rose Spit, sustaining some damage. Wade Bauck (British Columbia Nautical History Facebook Group 28/11/2019) stated "Wade Bauck A discussion took place on this site awhile back about an incident involving the log barge Swiftsure Prince hitting the N.W. Rail bridge on Boxing Day in 1975. The barge broke loose from its moorings in New West during a wind storm with upriver winds reaching 40 knots, as well as a flood tide. The barge struck the N.W. rail bridge fixed span on the N.W. side, knocking the entire structure into the river. The question arose on this site about the final fate of the submerged bridge structure, ie was it left in the river or was it removed. I spoke to Don Reid, a long term FRPD employee, recently who confirmed this section of the bridge was cut up into smaller pieces under water and removed by crane soon after the incident occurred. The new section in place now is commonly referred to as the “log span”." |
