Flying over British Columbia's verdant mountain coast and sparkling blue waters, Dennis Washington points to some of his recent acquisitions plying the waters below. Bright red tugboats and barges emblazoned with large white Ws lug wood pulp, logs and newsprint from lumber mills in the north to Vancouver and points beyond. Not visible from Washington's seaplane, a vintage 1973 DeHavilland Twin Otter converted into a modern 11-seater, is the biggest piece of his marine empire: a fleet of 23 container ships that include some of the largest ever constructed. At 1,100 feet, the biggest ships are as long as the aircraft carrier Nimitz and can carry the equivalent of 9,600 twenty-foot shipping containers. "I love boats," he says wistfully. "Anything that runs, anything mechanical. It's my God-given passion in life."
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