The HaiSea Wamis, the first in a series of five fully electric tugboats, has made its way from British Columbia’s North Vancouver to Kitimat, BC, the home of HaiSea Marine’s operations, HaiSea announced July 31.
The journey featured eight Haisla First Nation crew members, including three generations of one family.
“To bring the HaiSea Wamis up the Douglas Channel and into Kitamaat Village with my family and several other Haisla members was incredibly powerful,” Ed Ross, a deckhand with HaiSea Marine and Haisla Nation member, said. “Up until now, careers with HaiSea felt like a distant opportunity, but now the future is here and there are real careers for the next generation of Haisla mariners.”
The journey was a big moment for HaiSea Marine, the majority-owned partnership between the Haisla Nation and Seaspan ULC.
“When we were building HaiSea with the Haisla Nation, we had a major milestone for the project in mind: when the HaiSea Wamis set sail for Kitimat, crewed by Haisla members, coming back to work on their home waters just as their ancestors did for thousands of years,” Seaspan Marine Transportation Senior Vice President Jordan Pechie said. “It was an honor to bring that milestone to life and celebrate with the community and our partners.”
HaiSea said that it plans to fully operate in Kitimat by mid-August, supporting escort towing services to LNG carriers coming to LNG Canada’s new export facility in the Haisla Nation territory.
