Washington Marine Group

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Carrier Princess, Seaspan Coastal Intermodal ferry in Active Pass. March, 2007.
Carrier Princess, Seaspan Coastal Intermodal ferry in Active Pass. March, 2007.
A Seaspan barge off West Vancouver.
A Seaspan barge off West Vancouver.

The Washington Marine Group is a consortium of companies owned or largely owned by Dennis Washington of Montana. These companies provide a variety of transportation and marine services in British Columbia's waterways. Each of these companies has a long history in British Columbia and although all of these companies are still separate companies, they are now all part of the Washington Companies and are usually referred to collectively as the Washington Marine Group when talking about business operations.

Many of the companies in this consortium were originally brought together in the 1990s under Seaspan, which had already amalgamated much of the tugboat business in BC since its formation in 1970.

Included in the consortium are:

  • Seaspan International - Seaspan International Ltd. is headquartered in North Vancouver, B.C. and is a premier marine transportation company. They have successfully amalgamated a handful of century-old companies in the Vancouver area to create a complete marine transportation service entity. The company provides water transportation, barging and towing for industrial and forest materials in a coastal area from Mexico to Alaska. Seaspan also performs shipdocking and refueling in and around the Port of Vancouver. [1]. Divisions of Seaspan International Include:
    • Cates Tugs - Cates Tugs is the premier shipdocking company in the Port of Vancouver. [2]
    • Kingcome Navigation - Kingcome Navigation is an industry leader in log transportation. Kingcome built and operates the world's only two self-loading, self-dumping, self-propelled log ships and is an expert at transporting pulp and paper products. [3]
  • Washington Marine Group Shipyards - Shipyard operations consist of three units. Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. of North Vancouver, B.C. has an unmatched reputation for design, construction, maintenance and repair of all types of vessels. Victoria Shipyards Co. Ltd., at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, operates the largest ship repair complex on Canada's Pacific coast, handling vessels up to 100,000 DWT. Vancouver Drydock Company Ltd. facilities, at the Port of Vancouver, center on two floating drydocks and a Syncrolift marine elevator enabling the handling of vessels up to 85,000 DWT. Vancouver Ship Yards, Victoria Shipyards, and Vancouver Drydock
  • Seaspan Container Lines - Seaspan Container Lines Limited owns and leases container ships from 4250 TEU to 8100 TEU. Vessels are time chartered to China Shipping (Group) Company based in Shanghai or CP Shipping based in London. [4]
  • Seaspan Coastal Intermodal - Seaspan Coastal Intermodal, Ltd. is a commercial ferry service providing regularly scheduled transportation between the British Columbia mainland and Vancouver Island. The company carries truck trailers, containers and railcars on self-propelled ferries and pusher barges. [5]
  • Norsk Pacific Steamship Co.- Operating from Seattle, Washington, Norsk Pacific Steamship Co. Ltd. transports more than 300,000 metric tons of newsprint and specialty paper products annually from British Columbia to California. Dedicated to this trade is the MV Thorseggen, a specially-built newsprint carrier of 19,000 DWT. [6]
  • Seaspan Cyprus - Seaspan Cyprus, a joint venture with Boa Ltd of Norway, is a leader in heavy-lift transport and ocean towing. Operating a fleet of large submersible heavy-lift deck barges, Seaspan (Cyprus) transports a variety of cargoes such as drilling rigs, dredgers, oil platforms and container cranes around the world.

Other companies within the Washington Marine Group include: Manly Marine Closures, a manufacturer of watertight and airtight hatches, doors, and windows; Marine Petrobulk, a supplier of marine fuels; McKay Creek Technologies Ltd., industrial wastewater treatment; and the service companies Seaspan Ship Management Ltd., and Seaspan Shipbrokers.

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Washington Marine group no longer owns Manly Marine Closures. Sold company recently. one of the few companies D. washington has sold after buying

WMG engages in dubious labour practices. Their use of non union GMI contractors is currently the subject of arbitration between WMG and LIUNA, the labourers union.