CCGS Miskanaw

CCGS Miskanaw, now a museum ship in the Fort McMurray shipyard.

The CCGS Miskanaw was a Canadian Coast Guard vessel used to maintain aids to navigation on the Mackenzie River system.

She was built by Allied Shipbuilders, of Vancouver, BC, in 1958. Then, as was typical of vessels built for the Mackenzie River system, she was then partially disassembled into load that could fit on flatcars, and shipped, by rail, to Waterways, Alberta (now part of Fort McMurray). The river port at Waterways was then the northernmost extent of the North American rail grid. At Waterways she was reassembled, and launched onto the Clearwater River.

She would then have proceeded by water down the Athabasca River, to Lake Athabasca, as far as Fort Fitzgerald, Alberta, on the upper Slave River. Approximately 16 miles for rapids separate the navigable upper river from Fort Smith, and the navigable lower river. Larger items, like the Miskanaw, were mounted on very large wagons, and hauled across a long portage, by tractors.

The Miskanaw was in active service until 1996. Following her retirement she was donated to the Fort McMurray Heritage Society, and is maintained as a museum ship at the Fort McMurray shipyard.