W.N. Twolan

Photo by Marc Piché

Built in Lauzon, Quebec by George T. Davie & Sons, this large tug was delivered to the Government of Canada in 1962 as the W.N. Twolan. The government operated the Twolan out of Churchill, Manitoba as a harbor tug until 1986, when McKeil Marine Ltd. of Burlington, ON acquired the tug and began using her on the Great Lakes. In 1992 she was sold to McAllister Towing of Canada. Buchanan Forest Products (ABM Marine) of Thunder Bay, ON bought the Twolan in 1995 and paired her with the lumber barge McAllister 132. Operations for Buchanan ended in 2008, and the tug and barge were laid up in Thunder Bay. In 2011, she was chartered to Les Grains Lac Superior Ltee. and placed back in service handling grain barges. This service ended in 2012, and the tug remained laid up in Toronto until 2021 when she was sold to Sealand Shipping Services Ltd. of Baie Verte, Newfoundland and returned to service working in Newfoundland and the east coast of Canada.