Algonova was a single-hulled oil tanker laid down on 23 July 1968 by Collingwood Shipbuilding of Collingwood, Ontario, as a crane vessel for Yankcanuck Steamships Ltd. of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. In September 1968 the company decided not to build the ship, and the hull was sold to Texaco Canada Ltd., and redesigned as a single-hulled tanker. The ship was launched on 10 April 1969, and named Texaco Chief. She served on the Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence River, and on the eastern coast of Canada. In 1986 the Texaco Chief was renamed A.G. Farquharson, after the former president and CEO of Texaco Canada, until laid up at Halifax in October 1996.