The Listuguj Mi’gmaq Government, an indigenous Canadian community on Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula, has accepted delivery of a new 19.81 by 7.31-meter (65 x24-foot) combination crab trap and groundfish trawler. The vessel was designed by NAVANEX and built by Chantier Naval Forillon, both of Gaspé, Quebec, Canada. Named Ugjit Mijua’ji’jg in the Mi’gmaw language, the name means “For Our Children”, a reference to the optimism that the community has for its continuing role in commercial fishery.

Repair, restoration and renovation of an old vessel is a significant undertaking. The reasons motivating a retrofit vary; however, in the case of Tivua, a 1982 Island Gypsy Europa MK1 retrofit, the impetus for change began in the engine room. “Before, the old engine oozed oil out of every corner,” said Rich Fricke, Tivua’s owner. “And we were so slow, running 7 - 7.5 knots and 6’s when windy. We were so slow that sailboats passed us.” And so the seven year retrofit began on this trawler’s 35th birthday, upgrading every system and appliance, inside and out.

  Atlas, the famed Titan in Greek mythology, is renowned for bearing the world and sky on his shoulders, a punishment inflicted by Zeus on the strongest man in the world. Somewhere near St. Louis, MO, the mortal Atlas, a 65-foot triple screw towboat, is besieged with nearly the same fate in his working life on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

Steber International is a family-owned boat building business, operating from a 4-acre site in Taree on the Mid North Coast of NSW. The business was founded in 1946 by Bruce and Beryl Steber, operating from their back yard in Brookvale on the northern beaches of Sydney. From those humble beginnings building timber clinker hull boats for the local market, the company quickly grew so began looking for ways to improve their products. This led to fiberglass (FRP) construction in 1959, placing Steber International as one of the pioneers of this technique in Australia.