In May 1981 this vessel was stranded and broke her back,in Tolmie Passage BC salvaged and placed back in service. Gordon Tolman reports that (British Columbia Nautical History Facebook Group 09/12/2014) "The Haida Monarch was the world’s first carrier to self-load and self-dump without the need to use tug boats and cables. This made the transport of logs in British Columbia less treacherous in high seas.The most revolutionary vessel built in British Columbia in 1974 was the 423-foot self-propelled, self-loading self-unloading log barge Haida Monarch, designed by Talbot-Jackson & Associates of North Vancouver and built by Yarrows Ltd. for Kingcome Navigation Co. Resembling the modern towed log barges, but fitted with quarters for a 12-man crew, fully-equipped pilot house and powered by two GM diesels providing 7,200 horsepower, this vesseloperated independently at a service speed of 12 knots, making a round trip in five days, compared to the seven days required by the towed barges. In 2005 the Haida Monarch was renamed the Seaspan Survivor, now a towed barge. The Haida Monarch was the world’s first log carrier to self-load and self-dump without the need to use tug boats and cables. This vessel carried 15,000 tons of logs (equal to the contents of 400 logging trucks), two 50-ton deck mounted cranes can load the Haida Monarch full in 18 hours. MacMillan Bloedel, Queen Charlotte Logging Division adjacent to the Skidegate Operation booming grounds, Haida Gwaii." |