Katherine Bickford

Seaspan Superior at the CPR dock in Nanaimo

I shot these images on Mar 30, 2016 – the night that fire crews were battling a major blaze in a historic building at Commercial Street and Terminal Avenue in Nanaimo. The sky was filled with smoke, and a yellow orange light bathed the Seaspan Superior and the waterfront.

As the Incan Superior, the vessel operated as a railroad and car ferry, running between Duluth, MN and Thunder Bay, Ontario from 1974 until 1992. The deck of the Incan Superior was fitted with five tracks that could carry up to 32 40-foot boxcars or 26 50-foot boxcars.

The Incan Superior made her last trip out of Duluth on November 19th, 1992. She was renamed Princess Superior 1993.

• Built: 1974, Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd, North Vancouver
• Deadweight (t):  4941
• Gross Tonnage (t): 3838.17
• Net Tonnage (t): 1733.00
• Construction Material: Steel
• Vessel Length (m): 113.48
• Vessel Breadth (m): 20.12
• Vessel Depth (m): 7.10
• Trailers: 38
• Engine: 2 x EMD 12V-645 E3  Two Stroke Diesel, 2150 Horsepower
• Fuel Consumption:  39 gallons per hour for each engine at load
• Speed (knots): 14.0
• Propulsion Method: Twin Screw