The tugboat Daniel McAllister after the 2009 restoration work.
Société du Vieux-Port de Montréal
A tugboat towing a ship, 1917.
Port de Montréal – Archives / APM-3167
Tugboats are small, powerful boats that guide, tow and push ships entering and leaving the port and assist them in docking. They are indispensable to port operations.
A century and counting
The Daniel McAllister is the largest preserved tug in Canada and the second-oldest oceangoing tug in the world. The Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board has recognized her as being of exceptional importance.
The Daniel McAllister’s home port and vocation have changed several times over the years, and she has undergone several transformations. Originally launched as Helena in 1907, she began service on the Atlantic coast. In the 1940s, while working on the Great Lakes, her steam engine was replaced with a more powerful diesel engine. After a major refit in 1956, she was rechristened Helen M.B. Later, in the 1960s in Montréal, McAllister Towing Limited named her Daniel McAllister after a member of this important family of ship owners. She was finally retired from service in the 1980s.
A fruitful partnership
When the Ocean Group purchased Montréal’s McAllister Towing Limited in 1997, the Daniel McAllister was acquired by the Musée maritime du Québec, which partnered with the Old Port of Montréal Corporation to ensure the ship’s preservation. The Old Port of Montréal Corporation acquired the ship in 2008, and restoration work began in 2009.
The mission of the Musée maritime du Québec is to safeguard, study, disseminate, and enhance Québec’s maritime heritage, including its Arctic territory.