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International Tug+OSV Annual Review 2017

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The ABR Co Ltd, organizers of the International Tug, Salvage and OSV Conferences, held every two years and the annual Tugnology Conferences, have published their Annual Review 2017. As the cover states there are 103 tugs and offshore support vessels featured in the review, with more than thirty highly detailed write ups and general arrangement drawings in addirtion to some technical articles.



For the mecahanically minded there are detailed descriptions of the engines, winches, propulsion systems and all the principal equipment aboard. These small masterpieces of technical writing are succinct but thorough and highlight the unique characteristics of each vessel.

The general arrangement drawings are usually of very high quality and level of detail and show how the boats work for those who run them and live on board. Combined with the photos one can see quite clearly that the combination of function and form in the hands of skilled naval architects can produce stylish, even beautiful vessel.

Nowadays tugs are highly specialized craft, often designed for specific uses, but also with the same necessary features to push and pull larger and larger ships. The prolific Canadian naval architects Robert Allen Ltd are as usual at the forefront of  new technology. The cover feature tug, the Norwegian Dux owned by Ostensjo Rederi AS, is a dual fuel vessel built for extreme northern conditions and is one of several Allen deign featured this year.

While Europe is well represented in the various featured vessels, so are Asia, the United States and Canada. In fact two Canadian tugs have made the pages this year. Both tugs are operated by Groupe Océan. The first is Océan Catatug 1 a shallow draft catamaran tug with large working deck that is demountable for truck transport. Currently working with its sister tug Océan Catatug 2 on the Champlain Bridge project in Montreal, the tugs could be sent to remote locations accessible only by land. The other is the Océan Taiga the second of the 8,000 bhp ice class tugs for St.Lawrence River tanker escort and arctic work (also a Robert Allen design) . Both featured vessels were built by Océan's own shipyard at Ile-aux-Coudres, QC and fitted out at their Quebec City facility.

The features give a wide overview of the tugs built in the past year and cover a huge range from the small 10 tonne bollard pull training tug to the 100 tonne plus bollard pull behemoths. There is also a range of offshore service vessels from anchor handlers, to suppliers and support ships including icebreakers.

While the publication is aimed at the tug and OSV industry, it is also of special interest to ship designers and those in related fields. Of course die hard tug enthusiasts will find it endlessly fascinating too.

There is probably no more authoritative source for this kind of information in one place. It is available for £30 (plus £5.50 for airmail) from the publishers: www.tugandosv.com

The ABR organization will be hosting the 25th International Tug, Salvage and OSV (ITS 2018) conference June 25-29 in Marseille, France. Information on the conference is also available from the company website.

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Classic tug lost off Maine

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A tug built for the United States Army in 1944, sank off the coast of Maine on February 23.
It had a varied career until finally going out of documentation some years ago with the name Capt. Mackintire.

 As I remember the tug, when it was named the Marjorie L. Winslow.
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On Wednesday February 21, the old tug was in tow of a forty foot workboat which had then come alongside to transfer fuel, on a trip to Annapolis, MD. The workboat struck the tug causing it to take on water, possibly incurring some damage itself.
The USCG responded and towed the work boat called Helen Louise into Portland, ME and another vessel USCGC Reef Shark took the tug in tow. However in the 12 knot winds and six foot seas the tug began to  sink and the USCG had to cut the tow line early in the morning of February 23. The tug now rests on the bottom 3 miles off Kennebunk, ME in 158 feet of water. There it is likely to rest.


Virtually unchanged from its original appearance, but painted in classic US tug colours.

Various histories of the tug show up in on line accounts, but all seem incomplete. Here is what I know:

Built for the US Army as ST-725 by Pensacola Shipyard + Engine Co, fitted with 650 bhp Clarke engine.
1945: sold and renamed Utility for Jacksonville Utility Co, Jacksonville, FL.
1964: acquired by St.Philip Coastal Towing Co of Tampa, FL and renamed Marilyn.
1965: renamed Mary St.Philip by the same owners.
1969: bought by Coast Line Towing Corp of Providence, RI and renamed Castle Hill.
1977: acquired by Thames Towboat Co, New London, CT, but not renamed.
1977: acquired by Winslow Marine Inc of Southport and Falmouth, ME renamed  Marjorie J. Winslow
2012: bought by Eastport Port Authority, Eastport, ME and renamed Capt. Mackintire.
2014: sold to private owners and not renamed.

At the Boston Tug Muster and Parade in 1987.

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Listerville

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The Canadian Naval Auxiliary tug Listerville handled two large fenders today despite high cross winds in the Narrows. It moved the fenders from HMC Dockyard to the Bedford Institute. One was placed alongside CCGS Hudson and the other alongside the jetty. Very high water levels  - due to a stalled storm centre off Sable Island, and lunar high tides - may have made the fenders necessary to protect the ship from slamming against the pier.

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Dominion Warrior - on the way

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photo courtesy of Dominion Diving

The Dutch heavy lift ship Stellaprima is en route from Gibraltar for Halifax carrying the latest addition to the Dominion Diving fleet.

Dominion Diving's base in Dartmouth Cove is a colourful place, with a variety of watercraft.

Dominion, the colourful operator based in Dartmouth Cove, is a long established diving and marine services firm, with a variety of launches, tugs, diving tenders, research vessels and barges, but with the Dominion Warrior they have seemingly combined all those functions into one craft. Owners describe the vessel as a "Swiss Army Knife" combining the abilities of a tug with a powerful winch and 1200 bhp Cat engines (driving twin screws in nozzles) giving a 15 tonne bollard pull.

The hull, which is barge like (21.6m x 9m x 2m draft) with an offset raised wheelhouse gives a large clear deck space carrying a 50 tonne capacity crane and is reinforced to carry heavy deckloads. It can also tend a ROV for specialized diving. The "cargo/tug/workboat" has a deadweight of 130 tonnes, can go 30 miles to sea and has a range of 200 miles.

Built as Coastal Warrior in 2007 by Neptune Alst for Acta Marine to a Eurocarrier 2209 design (known generically as a Multicat), the vessel has worked in Europe and most recently in Kamsar, Guinea. It made its way through Conakry to Algeçiras, Spain, thence to Gibraltar to load onto the Stellaprima.

Although common in Europe and the rest of the world, this is the first vessel of its type to appear in Canada, and marks a major breakthrough in capability for Dominion Diving. Despite the ungainly look, it is quite sea capable but can also carry out beach landings among dozens of other functions.

For a more detailed look at the Dominion Warrior see: Coastal-Warrior
or Eurocarriers
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The Warrior has landed

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After a stormy day yesterday that prevented unloading, Dominion Warrior took to the water today from the heavy lift ship Stellaprima.



The new acquisition was shepherded by Dominion's Roseway to the Dartmouth Cove base, attended by Dominion Bearcat and Halmar. Both of these boats have been rebuilt by Dominion's own forces during their tenure with Dominion and it is likely that Dominion Warrior will receive similar treatment before it enters service.


As per the previous post, Dominion Warrior ex Coastal Warrior will expand Dominion's capabilities to support its diving and marine service business by being a multi-tasking vessel with tug / cargo/ and other capabilities.

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Light duties for Glenside

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In a break from the usual job of shoving naval ships around, the Canadian Naval Auxiliary Vessel Glenside was tasked this week to return two large fenders from the Bedford Institute to HMC Dockyard.

The Ville class "pup" tug Listerville moved the fenders originally (see a previous post) perhaps to be used to protect CCGS Hudson during the recent severe sou'easterly winds.


Glenside is one of three "Glen" class tugs based at HMC Dockyard in Halifax (there are two more at Esquimalt on the Pacific coast). Built in 1977-79 they are 1750 bhp (Ruston-Paxman) 19 tonne Bollard Pull Voith-Schneider tugs, and were quite revolutionary for their time. Despite their great agility and ability to move within the tight confines of HMC Dockyard, they are under-powered by today's standards and obviously are getting old and parts are hard to source.

Late last year the Department of Defense and the government procurement agency issued a Request for Information to "solicit feedback from industry" for replacement of these tugs. It was not a invitation for bids, since there is no funding in place yet, but more of a sounding out of those interested in building new tugs. I have detailed some of the particulars here before, but essentially the navy wants two new tugs in Halifax and two in Esquimalt, and they are to be more or less off-the- shelf commercial designs.

Canadian Navy tugs come under the direction of the Queen's Harbour Master (QHM) and and have civilian crews. The Master Attendant in the QHM is responsible for their daily operation.
When the current Glen tugs were planned, it was recognized by the QHM that work in HMC Dockyard had some unique characteristics due to the narrow cambers between the finger piers. The operators studied tugs in many other locations, including the Alcan tugs at Port Alfred, some of the earliest V-S tugs in Canada. Voith-Schneider tugs, with their ability to change thrust direction without having to re-orient hull direction, were ideal for the Dockyard work, but I believe it was a bit of hard sell to convince the top brass that the higher cost was justified. Perhaps that is why the horsepower is so low.

Things have changed since those days however, with  larger naval vessels in service and more to come. There are also many more options such as ROtor tugs (three thrusters), more sophisticated Azimuthing drives, including controllable pitch props, and more efficient V-S. It will be interesting to see what comes out of the RFI, which closed February 28.

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Local tugs assist

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Although details are sketchy and accounts are conflicting (and some obviously wrong) two local tugs and the Canadian Coast Guard came to the assistance of a ship in trouble off Nova Scotia at the end of last week. The cargo ship Nordika Desgagnés had a steering problem while outbound from the Gulf of St.Lawrence east of Louisbourg. Reportedly bound for Sydney, Australia, the ship called in with its problem March 13. A storm was passing through the area at the time, and conditions must have been very poor with extreme high winds and seas.

CCGS Sir Wilfred Grenfell was first on the scene. Although based in  Newfoundland, it has been working out of Halifax this winter.



Built in 1985 in Marystown, NL, as an anchor handling / tug / supplier, on spec for the Newfoundland government, it was acquired by the Coast Guard and converted for Search and Rescue work. It was also upgraded to Ice Class I and fitted out for firefighting and equipped with survivor accommodation, including hospital.

Some reports indicate that the Grenfell took the Nordika in tow, but this seems unlikely. CCG ships are not normally equipped or mandated to tow vessels except in extreme circumstances. However under a new program recently announced, CCG ships are to be equipped with "towing kits" (whatever ever that may mean). Certainly a ship like Sir Wilfred Grenfell, with 12,860 bhp would be quite a capable towing vessel if it carried the right gear to tow.

Transport Desgagnés acquired Nordika Desgagnés a year ago, for use in northern supply work. Built in 2010 by Tianjin Xingang as  BBC Oder the 12,974 grt, 16,953 dwt ships is equipped with three 60 tonne cranes. As with many Desgagnés ships, it is chartered out bareboat for most of the year and brought back under Canadian flag from July to October during the northern re-supply season. A the time of this incident the ship is flying the Barbados flag, and is likely working for BBC Chartering.

Reports indicate that Sir Wilfred Grenfell handed off standby duties to the icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent  which was off Sydney headed for the Magdalen Islands at the time.  How long it carried on these duties is not known to me. Sir Wilfred Grenfell stood by off Eddy Point at the entrance to the Strait of Canso to relieve the Louis at some point.

Desgagnés apparently put out the call for a tug, and Atlantic Larch, based in Halifax, was sent to the scene. The 4,00 bhp ASD tug is fitted out with a towing winch  in addition to the shiphandling winch forward, and is considered the "outside" tug in the Halifax fleet of Atlantic Towing Ltd.



It is reported that the Atlantic Larch secured a tow line to the ship. It is not clear what happened then, but either the line parted or there was some other reason that caused Atlantic Larch to break off the tow and head for Port Hawksbury. (The original destination was given as Sydney, but that was upwind and likely to be more difficult).

It was then that the 7,000 bhp Atlantic Tern was called in from its standby duties off Sable Island, to take over the tow. This it apparently did and safely delivered the Nordika to the paper mill dock in Port Hawksbury early Saturday March 17.



Atlantic Tern is much rebuilt from its original appearance as Canmar Supplier II when it was built in 1975 by Vito Steel Boat in Delta, BC. Fitted with two Nohab Polar engines driving CP props it was an ice class anchor handler with FiFi1 for use in the Beaufort Sea.  In 1998 it became Rem Supporter for the Norwegian company Remoy then in 2005 Thor Supplier for Faroese owners Thor P/F. In the meantime it had been rebuilt with a raised forepeak and its wheelhouse extended aft. Atlantic Towing acquired the boat in 2012 and initially renamed it Atlantic Birch II. However as it was attached to Atlantic's offshore support vessel fleet , they gave it a more appropriate bird name in 2013. 

Ships working through ice frequently strain their steering gear or even jam their rudders while backing, especially with an inexperienced crew. That is one possibility of how the ship "lost" its steering. It could also be the strain of weather, or any one of a number of reasons. (The tanker Australian Spirit lost its rudder completely closer to Halifax in December 2014.)


However it has to be said that altough there was a speedy Coast Guard response, there was not a large towing vessel available to assist. Fortunately for all involved the weather improved dramatically and a tug was found to assist, but it does not take much to imagine more severe conditions where even a 7,000 bhp supply tug would not have been adequate. Calls for an Emergency Towing Vessel program for the east coast have apparently fallen on deaf ears. Either that or British Columbia called louder - they are getting ETVs.

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Dutch tug bound for Canada

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As the Royal Netherlands Navy upgrades its tug fleet, one of its veteran tugs is bound for Canada. Regge A875 is one of the four tug Linge class declared surplus. Although not powerful by today's standards at 1600 bhp it has been well maintained and has many good years left in the right trade.

Photo taken when the tug was new, by unknown photographer (photo acquired in trade)

Despite being built in 1987, it has many desirable characteristics: including twin screws with controllable pitch props and has firefighting gear. It also has sufficient accommodation above the waterline to ensure that it can be registered in Canada. Despite its somewhat spartan appearance (and also in terms of interior fittings), it seems well worth upgrading to Canadian regulations.

As usual anonymity surrounds the name of the buyer, but all will be revealed in due course, including arrival date in Canada. The tug has been based in Den Helder.
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Boa Bison en route Halifax

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The "monster" tug Boa Bison sailed from Rotterdam April 3 bound for Halifax. It has in tow the semi-submersible Boa Barge 37 .


The 7,328 grt anchor handling tug / supplier was built in 2014 and its two Wartsila main engines develop 26,969 bhp giving a 275 tonne bollard pull. Used mainly in the North Sea oil patch, the tug has been laid up for two years for lack of activity in that sector. It has been recommissioned for this tow, but it is unknown where it will go after reaching Halifax about April 17.
 

The 15,185 grt, 29,500 dwt heavy lift semi-sub barge will be delivered to Halifax Shipyard and the Royal Canadian Navy for a four year contract to float out the new Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessels under construction in Halifax, and as a general purpose drydock.



Specifications and drawings of both tug and barge are available on Boa's web site:  http://www.boa.no

 Thanks to pilot Hans Hoffman for supplying these photos, taken after he disembarked from the tug off Rotterdam.

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Tidewater boats arrive

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To support the oil rig West Aquarius while it drills the exploration well Aspy D-11,  BP hired Halifax based Horizon Maritime to provide three vessels. Horizon's own supplier Horizon Star has been working for some time now to deliver riser pipe to the rig as it was mobilized in Newfoundland.

This week the rig (which is a self-propelled deep water semi-submersible) arrived at the drill site and the two other suppliers arrived in Halifax today (April 11) for the first time. Although they were initially based in Mulgrave, the drill riser and pipe is coming through Halifax.

Both of these suppliers have been bareboat chartered from Tidewater, one of many supplier companies with a large fleet of laid up boats in its 300 vessel fleet. ( It is estimated that about 36% of the world's Platform Supply Vessels are unemployed).

First to arrive this morning was Troms Sirius, a 4210 grt ship built by STX OSV. The hull was built in Tulcea Romania and finished by STX Soviknes in Sovik, Norway in 2012. It has diesel electric propulsion driving twin azimuthing drives, and is fitted with all the mod cons including Fire Fighter 2 and dynamic positioning.  It was registered in Canada March 9.


Tied up at pier 9C it was loading conventional drill pipe when I happened by, but there is still considerable riser pipe on the dock to be delivered to the rig when needed.(Riser pipe is encased in white buoyancy material whereas the drill pipe that actually goes down the drill hole is exposed steel. Small diameter pipe is drill pipe, large diameter is casing pipe.)

This afternoon the second PSV, Lundstrom Tide, arrived. A vessel of the same class,  it was built in 2013, and has slightly different stats of 3943 grt, and 9,430 hp driving twin z-drives.


It tied up at pier 25, likely awaiting its turn at pier 9C. It was registered in Canada April 4.

The drilling program is expected to take 60 days and is taking place about 250 km offshore in the Scotian Basin.. 

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After you, I insist

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Usually ships arriving and departing make passing arrangements so that neither ship is delayed. Today however there was the unusual situation where a ship stopped in the stream to allow another to maneuver.

Palena (despite its name, a HAPAG-Lloyd ship) was outbound from Fairview Cove. When it reached the lower harbour, there was no convenient spot to meet the inbound Maersk Patras. Palena kept its escort tug and stopped in the number one anchorage area until Maersk Patras was alongside at Halterm.




Palena 73,934 grt, 81,248 dwt, built Hyundai, Ulsan in 2006 is a 6541 TEU ship.It joined H-L through the merger with CSAV.



Maersk Patras built 1998 by Kvaerner Warnow Werft, Warnemunde, 31,333 grt, 37,842 dwt, 2890 TEU on its regular run from Montreal en route Rotterdam. It was built as P+O Nedlloyd Marseille and joined Maersk as part of a 2006 takeover.
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Point Valiant - long time no see

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The Svitzer Canada dock in Halifax is usually devoid of tugs, since the entire Canadian fleet is based in Point Tupper, but it had a welcome addition this morning. The Point Valiant put in its first appearance in Halifax since the fleet was transferred in 2010. (Svitzer and Atlantic Towing Ltd formed two joint ventures: Halifax Marine Towing to service Halifax and Point Tupper Towing for the Strait of Canso with ATL tugs working Halifax and Svitzer tugs in the Strait.)



Built by Industrie Océan in Ile-aux-Coudres, Point Valiant was acquired by then Eastern Canada Towing  Ltd (ECTUG) while still under construction.  Intended to be Océan Jupiter for the parent company Groupe Océan, it was offered to ECTUG instead and delivered to Halifax in December 1998. It was the second in what was originally a class of four tugs designed by Robert Allan Ltd. One was sold overseas, and two, Océan Intrepide and Océan Jupiter remained with Groupe Océan.
Groupe Océan has since gone on to build two more tugs of the class, but with extended wheelhouse. All four work in the Port of Montreal. They are powered by Mitsubishi high speed engines giving 4,076 bhp.

The current Point Valiant is the second tug to carry the name,. The first was built as Foundaiton Valiant in 1963, became Point Valiant (i) in 1973 and  André H. in 1995 when ECTUG sold it to Trois-Rivières Boatmen. When Groupe Océan acquired that company from the Houde family, they retained the tug's name. When seen in Quebec City last summer, it was in need of a major refit.

The current Point Valiant appears to be en route to Lunenburg for its own refit.

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Glen tugs going about their business

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Although we see Glen tugs going about their business in Halifax Harbour they do go farther afield from time to time.

On Tuesday morning (April 24) Glenevis (YTB 642) was at work with the flat top scow YC600 moving from HMC Dockyard to Shearwater.


The deck load on the barge appeared to be trot buoy anchors. The old trot buoys used to be positioned off the dockyard on the Dartmouth side of the main channel to the Narrows. They have not been used for some years and were lifted this spring and their anchors retrieved by Dominion Diving using the Waterworks Construction crane barge.

RCN ships HMCS Iroquois, Huron and Skeena secured to the trot buoys for fleet review 1980.

The trot buoys were not navigational buoys, but were Admiralty pattern mooring buoys, large steel cylinders, about 15 feet long and 8 feet in diameter used by naval vessels as an alternative to the civilian anchorages which were generally reserved for merchant shipping. Especially agile crew members, called "buoy jumpers" took bow and stern lines to the buoys by boat, then and clambered up onto the buoys to make the lines fast or let them go. The buoys had the advantage of keeping the ships in the same position no matter the direction of wind or tide, unlike a single point anchor..

On April Wednesday April 18 the Glenside (YTB 644) left Halifax towing HMCS Goose Bay. I was not aware of the destination at the time, but by tracking on AIS (and referring to the St.John's Shipping blog) I have learned that the destination was St.John's NL. The tow arrived there safely April 23 and Summerside was delivered to Newdock for a refit.

 

The tug sailed from St.John's on April 25 and stopped over in Marystown until sailing last night giving Halifax as its destination.

Glen tugs regularly make short coastal voyages to Shelburne and Pictou towing small naval craft to refits, or to go on refit themselves, but St.John's is about as far away as they range.

The current class of five Glens (three in Halifax, two in Esquimalt) are the second generation of Glens, the first having served the RCN for better than thirty-five years, but went on to successful commercial careers for many years after.


 A pair of first generation Glen tugs at HMC Dockyard shortly while still in naval auxiliary service. Note the elaborate pudding fenders. These masterpieces of ropework were once common on tugs and sailors made them up out of old rope. Even after old tires became the standard for fendering, the Dockyard's rope shop "embroidered" the tires to give them the desired characteristics. These included reduced scuff marks (black smears on navy grey hulls were not desired!) and better friction on contact - not to mention appearance..




 The first Glenevis (CN 890, W.65, YTB 502) was built by Russel Brothers in Owen Sound, ON in 1944 and served the RCN until 1979. McKeil Workboats of Hamilton, ON purchased the tug, and replaced its 400 bhp engine with 900 bhp, converting is from single to twin screw.

McKeil did not rename the tugs, and its RCN replacements used the same name, thus creating the unusual situation of two vessels of the same name operating in Halifax at the same time. Since naval vessels are not registered the way private vessels are, there is no requirement for their names to be unique. Private vessels may not have the same name as a vessel already on the register, so this does not apply to naval vessel names.



On January 1, 1991 Glenevis sank at its berth in Pugwash, NS, but was raised on January 9. A major rebuild included a new raised wheelhouse with captain's cabin. The tug lasted in McKeil service until June, 2007 when it was sold to Caribbean owners and sailed through the Erie Canals to Long Island Sound. Its movements thereafter remain a mystery.


Glenside (i), (CN.88, W.93, YTB 500) also built by Russel in 1944, was also acquired by McKeil in 1979. It was assigned to their Remorqueurs et Barges de Montréal Inc subsidiary and received a similar rebuild in the same year, and  converted to twin screw, with new engines totaling 1450 bhp.


In 1998 it was also sold to Bahamas owners and sailed from the Great Lakes via the Erie Canal. It was renamed Tycoon but little is known beyond that except that it likely did barge work for Tycoon Management Ltd, a large local construction aggregates operator.

The third Halifax based Glen is Glenbrook (YTB 643). I have not seen it in action recently, and it may not be crewed at present.


Its predecessor the first Glenbrook (CN.889, W.64, YTB 501), also a 1944 Russel product  and acquired by McKeil in 1979, received a different rebuild in 1980 when it was repowered with engines totalling 1300 bhp.


Its wheelhouse was replaced in 1990 with a larger installation with all round windows. After its sale to Caribbean owners in 1999 its movements are not known to me.


The current Glens have served the RCN for thirty-eight years now, and seem likely to hit the forty mark, since the replacement process is still in its early stages.

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Bulletin #1 - Boa Arrivals

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The extra large tug Boa Bison arrived today with the barge Boabarge 37 after a lengthy Atlantic crossing. (See previous post and today's Shipfax). The original ETA for the tow was April 17, but a series of storms and strong headwinds made the first leg of the journey - as far as the Azores - much longer than planned. The last 1500 miles or so was apparently much easier, although some poor weather did cross the track in the past few days.


Dominion Diving's Roseway, just about the smallest tug in Halifax Harbour scuttles past the inbound Boa Bison.

The tow line has been let go and Boabarge 37 is in control of the harbour tugs Atlantic Willow and Atlantic Oak (not visible). Harbour pilots, in orange oilskins direct the tugs from atop the starboard forward tower.

Boa Bison remained in port only long enough to take bunkers and sailed eastboundlate this afternoon, giving Bergen, Norway as its destination.

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Bulletion # 2 Groupe Océan makes another move and other news

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Word has reached me that Groupe Océan has made a change to improve service at Baie-Comeau, QC.
In 2017 Océan took over management of the tug Pointe-Comeau, owned by Cargill Ltd. Svitzer Canada, as successors to Eastern Canada Towing (ECTUG), MIL Tug and Foundation Maritime had been the tug operators in Baie-Comeau since the port was developed in the 1950s.(The Foundation Company built the piers and were involved in several of the plants that the port serves.)

Pointe-Comeau delivered to Halifax from the shipyard.
Pointe-Comeau, delivered by Marystown Shipyard in 1979, is a 3600 bhp, 48 tonne bollard pull V-S tug built specifically for operation in Baie-Comeau. Unlike its predecessors, it was owned by Cargill Grain Corp.  It took over from Point Vibert (ex Foundation Vibert) a 1700 bhp twin screw tug built by in 1961 by P.K.Harris + Sons Ltd, Appledore, UK , also for service in Baie-Comeau, but under direct ownership of Foundation Company of Canada subsidiary A.D.Ross + Co Ltd. Prior to that Foundation Maritime provided tugs seasonally from Sept-Iles or other locations.

 Pointe-Comeau in Svitzer colours at Baie-Comeau.

The latest development is that Groupe Océan has taken ownership of Pointe-Comeau and have sold Océan-Cartier to Cargill and will manage it on their behalf.

Océan Cartier in Quebec last summer after refitting.

Océan-Cartier was built as Hai Gang 107 in 2007 by Sam Lin Shipyard for the Port of Shanghai. It is a  56 tonne bollard pull, 5,149 bhp V-S tug and therefore can provide the power needed for the larger ships now using the port. In May 2014 the tug, and two others of its class, were acquired by Svitzer, originally for use in Newcastle, NSW, Australia and was renamed Svitzer Wombi. However by December of that year it was in Singapore to be ice strengthened. Then Svitzer Wombi was re-assigned to Svitzer Canada and arrived in Halifax March 30, 2015. (It had been transported across the Pacific by heavy lift ship, but sailed on its own hull from Panama.)

 As Svitzer Wombi arriving in Halifax for the first time.

After fitting out to Canadian compliance it was renamed Svitzer Cartier and sent to Port Cartier, QC to assist the two V-S tugs based there and owned and operated by ArcelorMittal. That arrangement did not last however and the tug was reassigned to Svitzer's short-lived Montreal operation.When Svitzer closed that operation in 2017 it sold most of its tugs to Océan, and Svitzer Cartier became Océan Cartier. Not long after, Océan took over the Port-Cartier tug service and at about the same time management of the Baie-Comeau tug. Svitzer Cartier has spent the past year in Quebec City, refitting for Groupe Océan service. It is expected to receive a new name in mid-May.

Pointe-Comeau, (which will also likely to be renamed) will be transferred to Sorel-Tracy, but it would not surprise me if it eventually went to Ontario where older V-S tugs are very useful. They do not have to deal with very large ships, their agility is needed in tight quarters, and working in fresh water will extend their lives almost indefinitely.


In other Océan news, the former Océan Hercule put in to Halifax Sunday, April 29. Sold last year to West Indies Petroleum Ltd and flying the Jamaican flag as Hercule, the veteran tug spent the winter in its old home port of Sorel-Tracy before heading south.


Built in 1976 by A.M.Liaaen in Aalesund, Norway as Stril Pilot the 4400 bhp tug carried the names Spirit Sky from 1981, Ierland from 1985, Ierlandia from 1989 until acquired in 1995 by Remorquage et Sauvetage McAllister of Montreal. Renamed Charles-Antoine it was taken up by Océan in 1997 when they acquired the McAllister assets and renamed it Océan Hercule. An ice strengthened tug with 63 tonne bollard pull it has twin screws in nozzles and is powered by two turbocharged V-12 Alcos downrated to 4400 bhp and a 200 bhp bow thruster.

 On  the slip at Industrie Océan, Ile-aux-Coudres, Océan Hercule shows off its finely moulded deep hull and twin controllable pitch screws.

 A tired looking Hercule slowly made its way into Halifax this afternoon.

The tug's hastily painted-over former name has already been partly washed away.

The crew was able to minimize the amount of new paint used to modify its previous port of registry from Montreal to Montego Bay. Note the heavy reinforcing on the stern for anchor handling.

 Charles-Antoine, as it was then, arrived in Halifax for the first time July 25, 1995 on one engine. After repairs it sailed again July 26, towing the barge Marmac 15 with lifting frames to raise the barge Irving Whale. (The lift operation was cancelled that year and the Irving Whale was raised in 1996 - it is currently tied up in Halifax as Atlantic Sea Lion.) 


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Ryan Leet - the yacht

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The magnificent tug Ryan Leet has been temporarily relegated to yacht classification. Word has reached me that the current owner has made this change to allow for a trip to the Dominican Republic for a refit sufficient to have its certificates renewed.


I hear that work is currently underway on a gear box that will allow the "yacht" to sail in a couple of weeks from its layup berth in Point Edward (Sydney Harbour).


One can only hope that the vessel will return to tug status and continue to work, despite a couple of years laid up. Its Canadian registration was closed December 15, 2016 and it moved from Mulgrave to Point Edward, in Syndey harbour. Its last significant work was in the summer of 2015 when it did some survey work for the fibre optic cable to Hibernia.


I have covered the history of this tug before, the former Abeille Provence,built in 1978 by Beliard-Murdoch, Ostend, Belgium. It was built in response to the need for large salvage and rescue tugs off the French coast. As ships continued to grow, more power was needed and it and sister Abeille Normandie were sold to Venezuela. Secunda Marine Services picked up the pair in 1990 and they were refitted at Pictou, the Salvor Commander ex Abeille Provence becoming Ryan Leet and Salvor General becoming Magdalen Sea.
Secunda did another refit on Ryan Leet in 1995 installing a pair of V-20 GM EMDs to replace the original SACMs. They also installed a 550 bhp azimuthing thruster up forward. It already had controllable pitch props in nozzles and triple rudders.

In 2004 Secunda sold the Magdalen Sea to Greek owners and it sailed from Halifax as Zouros Hellas. In 2007 it became Tsavliris Hellas. It was in service until last year, but is now laid up in Greece.



Magdalen Sea had a flume stabilization tank forward of the bridge.


Secunda hung on the Ryan Leet even when the company was sold to McDermott, but its days were numbered when a management buyout and eventual sale to Siem lead to a leaner fleet.


Working for Secunda the Ryan Leet did numerous rig tows, several important salvage jobs and worked both in Canada and the North Sea. In its last years it was used for rescue / standby, idling around off offshore gas installations with only its azimuthing thruster to keep station. Although this was very economical operation, it certainly did not take advantage of the tug's towing potential.


It will be a sad when when it finally sails - especially as a yacht - but there is hope that it will return to service as a tug again.

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Point Valiant away

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The tug Point Valiant sailed from Sambro, NS this evening May 17 on the first leg of its trip to its new home. Sold by Svitzer Canada, as reported last month, the tug was re-registered in Vancouver on May 15 to new owners Davies Tugboat Ltd of Burnaby, BC. The tug was slipped at Sambro where the hull was cleaned and repainted red, the fourth colour scheme for the tug.
 


It is now headed for Narragansett Bay, RI where it will be lifted aboard the heavy lift vessel believed to be Spliethoff's Fortunagracht. It will than get a luxury ride to British Columbia, possibly with some high proced yachts loaded in Newport, RI.

Built by Industrie Océan for Groupe Océan and to be named Océan Jupiter, it was sold while fitting out to Eastern Canada Towing in 1998 and named Point Valiant, the second tug in the fleet to carry that name. Fourteen tugs and workboats in the predecessor Foundation Maritime and in the ECTUG fleet had names beginning with the letter "V", starting in 1948 with Foundation Vera. This was the last tug to follow that tradition.




When Cory Towage Ltd, parent of Eastern Canada Towing Ltd, was taken over by Wijsmuller, the tug was repainted, but that did not last long.


The paint was barely dry when Svitzer took over the expanded Wijsmuller, and the tug was repainted again.



In 2010 the tug was transferred from Halifax along with three other Svitzer tugs to Point Tupper.   The tug was particulary useful in some of the tight peir spaces in Halifax. What it lacked in weight it made up for in agility. Last year when Svitzer Montreal arrived in Point Tupper, Point Valiant became redundant, as the lowest powered tug in the Svitzer Canada fleet. Most work there involves docking tankers and bulk cariers at open docks where power is the main requirement.

Its new owners will presumably find the tug an excellent worker.

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Return of the Osprey and other Atlantic Towing activity

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The Province  of Nova Scotia's official bird is the osprey, a migratory fish hawk that usually puts in its first appearance of the year in late April or early May. Today's return of the big tug supplier Atlantic Osprey is certainly seasonally correct, but as to origin, it is coming from St.John's Newfoundland rather than more southern waters.



The 3453 grt, 16,000 bhp OSV is one of four similar ships in the ATL offshore fleet, two of which are UT 722 and two are UT 722L (L=long), all built at Halifax Shipyard under license from Ulstein. The boat was laid up for a time over last winter, and a large deck crane and other gear, such as an ROV davit have been removed.


While arriving it passed Atlantic Towing Ltd's Woodside tug base, where the usual four harbour tugs, Atlantic Oak, Atlantic Fir, Atlantic Willow and Atlantic Bear have been joined temporarily by Atlantic Larch. The latter tug will likely be towing out the barge Atlantic Sea Lion for northern supply work.

Atlantic Bear went to Saint John last week to assist with an LNG tanker, but returned to Halifax in time to put on a water demonstration for the inaugural call of the auto carrier Grande Halifax on Wednesday (see also Shipfax).



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Theodore Too takes a trip

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Ambassatours, the parent company of Murphy Sailing Tours Ltd, owners of Theodore Too, will be moving the iconic tug boat replica from The Big Harbour (a.k.a. Halifax) to Saint John, NB in June. The operators made the announcement last week.

Theodore Too spent the winter at Mill Cove in Bedford and appears to be in need of a little freshening before he moves to Saint John.

This is certainly not the first time Theodore Too has left the confines of Halifax. In fact the boat is probably more travelled than many of its full size counterparts. It has sailed all along the eastern seaboard as far south as Miami and into the Great Lakes as far as Chicago. The move to Saint John coincides with the cruise ship season and is likely brought about by the disruption along the Halifax waterfront due to construction of new piers for the Queen's Marque project.

Ambassatours is hoping to appeal to nostalgic millennials who grew up with the TV series Theodore Tugboat and now want to revisit their childhood or perhaps introduce the cute fellow to their own children. 


When the boat was built by Snyder's Shipyard in Dayspring, NS in 2000 it only carried the name Theodore but this was soon changed to Theodore Too because someone had already grabbed the Theodore name for their own vessel - a real tug at that.


That Theodore was built by Canadian Vickers, Montreal,  in 1932 as an oil-fired steam vessel of about 64 tons for Mont Louis Seignory Ltd, a subsidiary of the Hall Corporation.Named Vigilant it was used to tend pulpwood booms. It later passed into the hands of Marine Industries Ltd in Sorel and took the name Roseanne Simard. It was converted to a motor vessel in 1952 with 440 bhp engine. It passed through several other owners including Gaston Elie of Montreal, Coastlake Tankers Ltd of Montreal, and JW+J Anderson of Burnt Church, NB. In 1973 Techno-Maritime of Quebec City bought the tug and in 1976 renamed it Techno Manic. New owners Dufresne Construction Ltd renamed it simply Manic in 1989 and Les Constructions Ger-Con Ltée kept the name after they took it over. In about 1995 it passed into private ownership, and is believed to have sunk at its berth in St-Joseph-de-la-Rive, QC.

 


However it was salvaged and given a major upgrade including a new larger wheelhouse, and renamed Heritage 1932.
 


However it soon became Theodore, pre-empting the name for the full size replica. Now based in Montreal it still does sea time seasonally. Although it bears little resemblance to the TV character, it does wear the same colours as the "real"Theodore.


The cruise season usually ends about the end of October. Let's hope Theodore Too is back home by then, when it will be time to start a Movember moustache.


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Lois M picks up a tow

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The McKeil Marine's tug Lois M arrived in Halifax June 8 to pick up a tow, and sailed this morning.


Lois M alongside its tow at the Valéro dock in Eastern Passage.

Built in 1991 by Matsuura Iron Shipbuilding (Tekko Zosen) in Higashino the 60 tonne BP tug is powered by two Niigata engines delivering 4800 bhp to ASD drives. It started life as Lambert for Robe River Mining Co in Australia, with Westug as operators. McKeil acquired the tug in 2014 and it traveled from Singapore 16,500 miles via Mauritius and Walvis Bay to Tampico. MX, delivering a pair of dump scows Marmac 250 and Marmac 251.  It then sailed light to Mulgrave, NS where the Redwise delivery crew handed it over to McKeil. The crew had entertained themselves on the long trip by making repairs and upgrades and painting.
It was registered in St. John's as Lois M September 23, 2014.


Leaving Eastern Passage this morning.
 
On this trip to Halifax it picked up the 1352 grt oil spill response barge John P.Oxley for a tow to North Sydney and drydocking. The barge was built by les chantiers Verreault, Méchins for Eastern Canada Response Corp and was delivered to Halifax in December 2001 by Océan Foxtrot. The only time it has left Halifax since then was in 2011 when it went for a refit in Shelburne, NS in tow of McKeil's Salvor.

With its tow on a short wire, Lois M is outbound past the Shearwater Yacht Club moorings.

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