Tugfax

Groupe Océan is forging ahead with the next in its series of TundRA class arctic/escort tugs, following on the impressive Océan Tundra, completed in 2013.

The 8,000 bhp, 100 tonne bollard pull Océan Tundra was built by the Groupe's own shipyard, Industrie Océan, to a unique Robert Allan design (hence the capital RA in TundRA). The immense size of the tug is not immediately apparent until one begins to look closely, particularly at the deckhand on the stern.

The next tug in the planned series of three is well underway at Ile-aux-Coudres, and a glimpse is possible when the shipyard shed door is open. The bow section will be fabricated in Quebec City, and will be joined on before launch. The superstructure, also to be built off site, will be added after launch.

Yet to be named officially, it will likely be delivered in 2015, and will join Océan Tundra in tanker escort work on the St.Lawrence, but will also work in the far north.

Long a fixture in New York harbor, the Catherine Turecamo has been sold. Dating from 1972, it was built by Main Iron Works of Houma, LA - noted for its long lasting, high quality tugs. Powered by a pair of EMDs giving 3200 bhp through twin screws, it is in many ways the typical US tug of its era.

Seen here with the Canadian tanker Mattea in the Kill van Kull of New York harbour,and in Moran colours.

Orginally Miss Lynn for Fonteneau + Smith Boat Co of Morgan City, LA, it became Newpark Sunburst when Newpark Marine took over F+S in 1978. It then went through a period with Gulf Marine of Houston, later Zapata and its various entities, and was renamed Gulf Tempest from 1982-1989 and again briefly in 1989. It was also Atlantic Tempest for a short time in 1989.

It was also in 1989 that Turecamo Bros of Staten Island acquired the tug, and named it Catherine Turecamo. In 1998 Moran Towing + Transportation purchased Turecamo, lock stock and barrel, but for the most part kept the Turecamo names.

Catherine Turecamo has now been sold to Calumet River Fleeting of Chicago (Selvick) and is a major boost in age and power for them. It will likely make the trip to the Lakes before the end of the navigation season. Once in fresh water it will likely last for many years to come.

Marcon International of Coupeville, WA brokered the sale, and some of the information above comes from their excellent website. http://www.marcon.com/ which contains more detail about the tug's equipment and fittings.

McKeil Marine has taken delivery of the first of two sister tugs, very similar to two more tugs already in the fleet.

Lois M was registered today in St.John's, NL - the centre of much McKeil activity these days, although the company is based in Hamilton, ON. The tug arrived in Mulgrave on September 17 and is fitting out for service.

Lois M tied up at Mulgrave this morning.

Built in 1991 by Matsuura Iron Shipbuilding (Tekko Zosen) of Higashino, Japan, the tug is fitted with two Niigata main engines generating 4,800 bhp and delivering 80 tonnes bollard pull through two Rexpeller azimuthing stern drives.

Lois M was delivered in July 1991 as Lambert for the Cleveland Cliffs - Robe River Iron of Australia and registered in Fremantle. It was the second of an identical pair, the first was Pannawonica I delivered in June of the same year. The tugs worked in the Pilbara iron ore region of Western Australia latterly under the management of Westug Management. Robe River Iron is now part of Rio Tinto, and Westug has upgraded its fleet with more modern units. [Their web site is worth a look: http://www.westug.com/]

McKeil acquired the pair earlier this year. In June they were reported in Singapore. It was flying the flag of St.Vincent and the Grenadines for the delivery. From photos on McKeil's web site, Pannawonica I has an elevated wheelhouse, but is otherwise identical. It is reported in Walvis Bay, Namibia.

Built to the same basic design, Beverly M 1 and Sharon M 1 have been working for McKeil since 2013. Beverly M 1 spent the summer as picket vessel for BP's offshore seismic work. That mission was completed last week and it has also returned to Mulgrave for cleanup. Sharon M 1 has an elevated wheelhouse and has been engaged in a variety of barge work and is currently in Bay Bulls, NL..

Lois M at left with fleetmate Beverly M 1 at Mulgrave.

R.J.Ballott taking stores early this morning.

A surprise visitor to the Svitzer Canada dock (formerly Ectug, formerly MIL Tug, formerly Foundation Maritime) early this morning is the R.J.Ballott. Mention has been made of this durable tug in these pages before, most recently when it received its current name:
http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/search/label/Jerry%20Newberry

Built in 1956 for Foundation Maritime as Foundation Victor it served Ectug as Point Victor, Pitts International as Kay Cole, McKeil as Kay Cole and Jerry Newberry and McNally as Jerry Newberry until purchased by Sealand Shipping Services Ltd of Baie Verte, NL last year. It is now named for the late father of the owner, a long time tug master for Foundation and Ectug.

A large tug for its era, with a dependable Fairbanks Morse engine (now upped to 1800 bhp) it is still a useful tug and the new owner has found a variety of work for it. Carrying rock from Wallace, NS to Caribou, PE, hauling the scrap barge for removal of the wrecked Miner at Scatarie Island and now headed for the Bay of Fundy to work on a power project, are among the many chores it is well suited for. Not just a harbour tug, it handled beautifully on its trip down to Halifax from Cape Breton last night, despite some lumpy seas and a tail wind.

Looking quite smart at the south side of the dock this afternoon.

It was storing up this morning on the north side of the Svitzer dock, and had moved around to the south side this afternoon to make room for the pilot boat. This is very familiar territory for the tug - it was based at the same dock during its Foundation and Ectug years.

With Point Viking, Point Vim and Point Spencer in 1976 at the same dock.

Generally the outer ends of the Ectug dock were used by the duty tugs, and the inner berths by the tugs that would be on call if needed or in maintenance.

Interestingly the only tugs to tie up at the Svitzer Canada dock in the past year have been former Ectugs, and both formerly from Sept-Iles. R.J.Ballott and Océan Basques. The latter tug supplanting Point Victor as Pointe aux Basques when it was built in 1973. Point Victor then came to Halifax where it worked sporadically. It was not as agile as the smaller 1200 bhp tugs, and was only used as a spare most of the time. When the twin screw Point Vibert came back from Baie-Comeau in 1977, on delivery of the Pointe-Comeau, Point Victor was declared surplus.

Little changed except for fendering and paint scheme, Point Victor was and is an imposing sight.

As a harbour tug, Point Victor had only a patent quick release towing hook , but was fitted with a towing winch when in McKeil ownership. Its boat has been replaced by a raft and the twin davit cranes removed. It s also now registered in St.John's.

The Anchor Handling Tug Supplier Maersk Gabarus sailed from St.John's, NL, on October 4 [TO BE CONFIRMED] for an appointment with the shipbreakers in Gent, Belgium

Maersk Gabarus in the Narrows of Halifax harbour en route to Bedford Basin for trials.

Thanks to Dean Porter's blog for bringing this news to our attention.

Husky Oil Marketing Ltd and Bow Valley Resource Services Ltd, ushered in a new age of sophisticated and large offshore boats for Canadian waters when they ordered six new suppliers. Previously offshore work in Atlantic Canada was carried out by older US built boats, or European boats, designed for the North Sea or some relatively small Canadian craft.
These six boats, delivered in 1983 were purpose designed by the Vancouver firm of Cleaver & Walkingshaw* for work off Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
Four of the boats were built by Hyundai Heavy Industries of Ulsan, North Korea and two were built in Canada. The Canadian built pair, from Bel-Aire Shipyard in North Vancouver, and Vito Steel Boats in Delta, BC, were different in detail but otherwise sisters, and all featured a distinctive hull form and highly geometric bridge. To say that they are unique is an understatement.

Maersk Gabarus was one of the Hyundai group and as Gabarus Bay** arrived in Halifax July 25, 1983 for the first time. Two other Hyundai sisters, Chignecto Bay and Mahone Bay arrived here December 27, 1983 together towing the jack-up rig Rowan Gorilla 3 from the Gulf of Mexico. The last in the group, Trinity Bay arrived around December 31, 1983.
The Canadian pair Placentia Bay (Bel-Aire) and Bonavista Bay (Vito) had already arrived together June 23, 1983.

When Husky Bow Valley went on to to other things, the boats were put up for sale and in a surprise move A.P.Moller swept them up en bloc in 1988, and established themselves in St.John's as The Maersk Co Canada Ltd, since becoming Maersk Supply Service Canada Ltd. Maersk renamed all the boats by simply adding "Maersk" and subtracting "Bay" .

Maersk had just taken over the Husky boats, renamed them, and painted Maersk funnel marks when I took this slide in St.John's, NL March 15, 1988.That is Maersk Chignecto outobard of Maersk Gabarus.They still have their unique Husky Bow Valley hull colours.

At about 2770 grt and powered by four MaKs totaling 10,800 bhp, the boats developed 125 tonnes bollard pull, and were fully fitted for anchor handling, towing and supply work.

Over the years their paths began to diverge:

Maersk Bonavista:2007: Drive Bonavista (Norway) reported in Bengal Bay June 2014
Maersk Chignecto: still operating out of St.John's
Maersk Mahone: 1987: Maersk Supporter, 1998:Maersk Handler, 2002: Maersk Trinity, 2005: Misr Gulf VII, 2006: Anchorman, 2008: Ocean Supporter - last reported in Turkey (St.Kitts + Nevis flag)
Maersk Placentia: 1990: Maersk Shipper, 1997: Maersk Placentia, still operating out of St.John's.
MaerskTrinity:1987:Maersk Server 1999: Maersk Helper, 2002: Maersk Mahone, 2014: Drive Mahone (Norway) last reported at Port Said, Egypt, September 2014.

On December 27, 2004, while working off Nova Scotia, Maersk Gabarus was struck by a storm, which smashed windows and flooded the bridge. It made Halifax safely and was repaired.

Maersk Gabarus ex Gabarus Bay is the first of the boats to go for breaking up. It is due in Gent on October 14. It is replaced in St.John's by Maersk's latest new vessel Maersk Clipper a 6,490 grt behemoth with 15,000 bhp and 150 tonnes bollard pull. For more on her watch Dean's blog: http://wwwshipshots.blogspot.ca/

* Cleaver and Walkingshaw of Vancouver (formerly Jackson, Talbot, Walkingshaw, designers of Ocean Echo II and barges) were responsible for the design of the Canmar tug/suppliers and Arctic Transportation Ltd tug/suppliers. They became Polar Design Associates and were absorbed by Wartsila Artic, which evolved into Wartsila Marine, Kvaerner Masa Marine, Aker Yards Marine and STX Marine - designers of the CCG's new polar icebreaker and the RCN's Arctic Offshore vessels. It was announced this summer that they have now become Vard Marine Inc (a Fincantieri company).

** Gabarus Bay, on Cape Breton Island's east coast is pronounced Ga-Ba-ROOSE (rhymes with Goose).

Secunda Canada's supplier Scotian Sea headed to the Bedford Basin this afternoon for trials after being "reassembled" at pier 9. In April the boat was refitted to support BP's seismic exploration program off Nova Scotia. Work included removing the boats Fast Rescue craft and associated davits and other gear, and the fitting of large fenders. Scotain Sea and Mainport Pine ran a shuttle for supplies back and forth to the seismic ships working south and east of Sable Island.
Now that the seismic work is completed for the year, Scotian Sea has reacquired its FRCs and other gear.

Kvaerner Kleven of Lervik, Norway built the ship in 1997 as Rescue Saga for K/S/Rem Seismic, but it was soon sold to Havila Offshore and renamed Havila Runde in 1998. Secunda bought the ship in 2012 and renamed it. It is classed as a platform supply/ oil recovery vessel/ fire fighting.It is also capable of standby and other services.

Secunda is 50% owned by Siem Offshore of Norway and has moved many of its operations to Newfoundland, although most of its six vessel fleet still work in Nova Scotia waters. It has on order a new UT782WP supplier which will work for Hibernia and Hebron on a 5yr+15 year charter. The ship is expected late next year.

With news that Maersk Gabarus arrived in Gent, Belgium for scrap on October 14, [see TugfaxOctober 5] it was a pleasant surprise to see sister vessel Maersk Chignecto arrive in Halifax today.

Built by Hyundai, Ulsan in 1982 as Chignecto Bay it was one of the six AHTSs for Husky/Bow Valley.

All six boats went to Maersk in 1988, and were simply renamed. Since then they have worked out of Newfoundland, with assignments to Nova Scotia and the North Sea.When built their 10,880 bhp made them among the most powerful AHTSs in the area. Now with boats approaching twice that power, Maersks's three remaining Huskys find other work such as diving support vessels, with submersibles or ROVs.

Maersk Chignecto is now fitted with a stern gantry, a couple of SeaCans for control rooms and shops and a huge array of low level deck lights.

For the past few months the boat has been conducting seabed surveys at Hibernia and White Rose (for Husky). Last winter and spring it was working out of the Netherlands in the North Sea, for a rate of UKPds 22,000 per day.
Its visit to Halifax today may be related to the passing of Hurricane~~post tropical storm~~ Gonsalvo well offshore from Nova Scotia, but bound directly for the ~~Avalon Peninsula~~Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Halifax may have been the most convenient port of refuge from the former hurricane.

Calls have resumed again for rescue tugs off Canada's coasts. The on again and off again topic becomes hot when there is a near miss or accident then cools when there is no bad news of ships in distress. Once again we are reminded that the Canadian Coast Guard is unprepared to tow even a small ship (and to be fair they are not tasked, equipped or trained for this work.)

To rehash my several previous posts on this topic, Canada Needs Emergency Towing Vessels. Granted we do not have the traffic of the North Sea or English Channel which can justify a full time fleet of emergency tugs standing by for potential disasters. Even the British could not justify the cost of their part-time Coast Guard fleet and have largely abolished it in areas where the French or commercial tugs are reasonably available.

Canada however has no one else to fall back on, except maybe the US, which is what happened this weekend on the Pacific coast. The Russian 6,540 grt cargo ship Simushir, carrying containers of solvents and mining equipment, lost power off Haida Gwai and drifted perilously close to the pristine (and protected) shore line. CCGS Gordon Reid managed to tow the ship farther off the coast, but its lines parted three times before the US flag tug Barbara Foss could reach the scene. The ship is now under tow for Prince Rupert.
The ship was bound from Washington State to Russia when its fuel heater failed and it lost power. The ship's master had to be air evac'd due to injuries, and it had ten crew left on board.The nearest suitable tug was a day's sailing time away (and that is close compared to some stretches of our shoreline)

Here are the issues: Our Coast Guard is really nothing of the sort. It is a Search and Rescue operation, a maintainer of navigation aids and an icebreaking operation. It is now being equipped with patrol boats to carry RCMP and Canadian Border Services for near shore work only, but in terms of guarding our coasts from any serious security threats, only an armed force such as the navy can really do that.
It is unequipped (and untrained) to tow ships in distress, and thus certainly can't guard our coasts from environmental disasters. It can rescue people, and does that well, and so does the navy, but it can't tow ships, and will not even attempt to do so except in extreme circumstances.

Here is what must happen:
The Coast Guard's mandate must change - it must be charged with managing Emergency Towing operations. The British model, wherein chartered ETVs were free to do commercial work from time to time would seem to be a reasonable one to me, but they must be under the direction of the CCG, so that ETVs are on station within reasonable sailing times form strategic spots.
Alternatively the new breed of CCG ships must be built as ETVs, but also can be tasked with rescue, patrol and other duties, but they must be available to tow, at least until commercial tugs arrive. The typical offshore supply/anchor handling type AHST is ideal for this type of work. It would require little modification to a standard design and is relatively inexpensive compared to the usual over-designed government ship.

I won't rant on about this, but in a few days the issue will die down and be forgotten for six months or a year when another incident occurs. Let's hope it doesn't take a serious accident to waken the powers to be to this issue.

Groupe Océan has sold the veteran tug-supplier and jack of all trades Océan Foxtrot. The versatile vessel served them well for nearly twenty years in a variety of tasks including barge work, offshore, seismic standby, ship assist, salvage, cable repair (photo above) and working in ice. It has ventured as far north as Greenland for Groupe Océan, and worked in the Beaufort Sea for Canmar.
Under Océan ownership, it was also available for bareboat charter, and Miller Group of Newfoundland was one such operator.
Built in 1971 by Cochrane + Sons Ltd in Selby, England, the 5280 bhp boat was originally named Polar Shore for Offshore Marine. In 1977 it went to Dome Petroleum's Canadian Marine Drilling as Canmar Supplier VII. Québec Tugs acquired it in 1995. Groupe Océan was formed in 1998, bringing toegther Québec Tugs and other marine interests.
After an extended layup in St.John's, Newfoundland, a sale was completed earlier this fall, and the boat' s Canadian registry was closed October 3.
It is now rumoured that the as yet unnamed new owners plan to use the tug to tow the near-derelict Comorant out of Bridgewater, NS. That unfortunate ex Italian trawler and ex Royal Canadian Navy dive ship has been an eyesore on the La Have River for many years, and no one will be sad to see it go. However it could prove to be another in the string of ill-timed of late season tows gone wrong.

The laker Miner fetched up on a beach in Nova Scotia after parting its tow line from an ill-equipped tug and is costing tax payers millions to remove. The derelict cruise ship Lyubov Orlova disappeared at sea when it was towed out of St.John's - again by a poorly suited tug. The tug Craig Trans was finally sold by the Port of Halifax after it (and its crew) were abandoned here after running up costs for pilots, agents, berthing and repatriation. It has been on its way to tow away a scrap ship in December.

Lets hope that Transport Canada is able to prevail on Foxtrot's new owners and prevent another fiasco.

I have covered Océan Foxtrot before: http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2013/12/ocean-on-move-again.html

Océan Foxtrot worked out of Halifax off an on over the years. In 2000 it was wearing Groupe Océan's current aqua over white colour scheme as it approached pier 9.

Companion blog Shipfaxis featuring the year 1984 in some recent posts, so it is time to dig into the tug shoebox for some nostalgia. Tug activity was at a peak in 1984 in Halifax with constant movements of oil rigs and several coastal tows.

The non-oil related ocean tows consisted of three old Sea-Land ships that had been laid up in Halifax. Jacksonville (ex Mission Solano), Houston (ex Mission Carmel) and Tampa (ex Mission Dolores) were built as T2 tankers, and in 1968 deepened and converted to container ships. They arrived in Halifax in 1983 for removal of their barite ballast which was salvaged for re-use in drilling mud. [Barite or baryte can be used for ballast because its basic element is barium, a heavy metal, and it is largely non-toxic, insoluable and non-magnetic. In drilling mud, it is used as a weighting agent, allowing for deeper drilling.]

In February 1984 Hamburg based Petersen + Alpers sent their newly acquired Hanseat to tow two of the ships.

Hanseat arriving off Halifax Shipyard where the tows were laid up.

The ships were initially to be sold to China for re-use, but in the end Spanish breakers bought them. Hanseat towed out Houston and Jacksonville as a tandem tow on February 23.They arrived in Seville March 17.

Harbour tugs Point Vigour,Point Vibert and Point Vim shepherded the tows out into the fairway. When well out of the harbour they were separated and towed in line astern.

The tug had a history of short term ownerships. Built in 1977 by Georg Eides Sonner AS in Norway as Karl Oskar, it worked for Wirens Rederi of Sweden until 1978 when it went to the East German Bagger+ Bugsier as Sturmvogel. In 1980 the Dutch company Arned acquired it and renamed it Triumph.
When it arrived in Halifax it had only recently been acquired by the legendary Hamburg owners Petersen + Alpers. In fact it sailed with uncured hull paint, some of which was washed off on the trip across the Atlantic.

In 1989 it became Zamtug IV for a mystery owner, possibly with Canadian connections, but within a year passed to McAllister Towing of New York. They renamed the tug Offshore Sovereign, flagged it in Liberia, and it was back in Halifax en route to Sheet Harbour, NS. From there it established a more or less regular barge service with paper products, to the US east coast as far south as Pensacola.

In McAllister colours, Offshore Sovereign visited Halifax in 1990.

McAllister acquired another tug for the paper barge service in 1991 (Offshore Monarch the former Belgian tug Union Four) and Offshore Sovereign passed on to other owners in 1995, without change of name. At first it raised the Vanuatu and Panama flags, then in 2012 it chose the flag of Peru. Now operating on the west coast of South America, it is owned by Offshore Express LLC of Houma, LA.

Its two 9 cyl Wichmann engines generate 6600 bhp, giving a 82 tonne bollard pull. It was also fitted with a large towing winch, and extended wheelhouse with winch controls.

Offshore Sovereign's winch dominates the stern - find the deck hand (with green LEKKO hat) under the strongback,

Hanseat at pier 32. The two old ships were moved from the shipyard to pier 33 a few days before the tow out. (February in Halifax was no time to touch up the hull paint).

Glensidein sub-zero (Fahrenheit) temperatures on Bedford Basin.

In 2012 when the ship procurement folks at naval HQ sounded the waters about available commercial tug designs, with limited offshore range, etc., there was some expectation that replacements for the 1976 era Glen class tractor tugs was on the horizon. See my Tugfaxpost:
http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2012/12/naval-large-tug-construction-project.html

What they soon found out was the Irving Shipbuilding had shut down their tugbuilding operation at Eastisle Shipyard in Georgetown, PEI, Industrie Océan shipyard in Quebec was busy building tugs to their own account, and no one else in Canada was building tugs of any significant size.
Recent large tug acquisitions for Canadian owners were coming from Turkey (Seaspan) the US or Holland (Smit)*

Therefore the RCN set up the Large Tug Construction program with the following timetable:
2015 definition approval
2016 implementation approval, and Request for Proposals from builders
2018 contract award
2021-2025 final delivery
budget $100 mn to $259 mn.

The six new tugs are to replace the five existing Glens and two Fire class firefloats in Halifax and Esquimalt.

Since 2012 Damen has come up with a design of naval tug for Sweden and Holland that may be a "package" for a smaller shipbuilder to buy. There are scores of commercial tugs designs already in production around the world, and evolutionary hull designs and propulsion systems abound (many of Canadian origin). It is a bit like shopping for a car, but once the design is chosen it seems strange to me that it would take two years to sign a contract and three years to produce the first tug.
It is also interesting that they are projecting a 25 year service life for the new tugs. The Glens will be 45 years old in 2021.

* On October 29, 2014 Smit Marine Canada Ltd registered the 2009 built Smit Saba under Canadian flag to supplement their BC fleet. It is a product of Damen's Galati, Romainia yard and is a 5,000 bhp stern drive.

As reported in Shipfax the Woodside ferry terminal in Dartmouth is getting a new pontoon. Meanwhile the Alderney terminal in Dartmouth and the Halifax terminal are losing their distinctive eyebrow canopies that more or less have protected passengers from the rain since the terminals were built in 1979.

To remove the canopies Waterworks Construction is using is concrete barge Commdive II with a crawler crane on deck. To move the barge around to the various terminals, they have acquired the services of Dominion Diving's tug Roseway and they are using their own boat Waterworks 1. I have featured the latter in these pages before, since it is arguably the smallest tug working in Halifax. It is also an "open-air" tug , with all the drawbacks and benefits that go with it.

Roseway towing and Waterworks 1 providing tethered escort services to Commdive II.

Commdive II was built in 1942 in Dartmouth, by T.C.Gorman (Nova Scotia) Ltd, a large marine construction firm. Wartime steel shortages precluded building barges of that material and wood was too fragile for the rough and tumble of marine work. The barge may have had a name or number when built, but when first registered in 1965 it was named Commdive II by its owners Commercial Divers Ltd. It was classed as a houseboat at that time, and I remember it with a wooden house-like structure on deck in the late 1960s. It may even have been a live aboard for a notorious waterfront character.

Nearing the destination, Waterworks 1 swings the barge around.

The open air tug allows for good verbal communication with the barge, but the operator has no protection if the tow line parts.

Destination is the Halifax ferry terminal, where the crane will be used to remove the weather canopy.

Easing the barge into position Waterworks 1 is almost underneath the ferry dock.

Waterworks 1 is registered by number, and its name is unofficial.

My apologies for the following, but it is possible to get a fuzzy glimpse of Commdive II in the background, tied up at pier 3, in what is now HMC Dockyard. The former minesweeper HMCS Birch Lake as it appeared when converted to the coastal freighter Aspy III is in the foreground, with just the deckhouse of Commdive II appearing in the background, and shadows. Oh for a digital camera November 2, 1968.

Secunda Marine Services was founded n Dartmouth, NS and has evolved over the years through ownership changes. When it started however, and had its first contracts with Shell Oil, it acquired a small fleet of US built anchor handling tug suppliers during the oil exploration boom of the mid 1980s.

Semi-submersible oil rigs were drilling for oil off Nova Scotia the mid 1980s.

Secunda acquired their first suppliers from a series of six identical vessels built for Theriot Offshore International Inc, for work in the North Sea. They were built by Todd Pacific Shipyard in Seattle in 1974 and were fitted with two 20 cylinder GM engines driving twin screws, totaling 7200 bhp. The could carry substantial deck cargo, and had the usual mud and other decks below deck. They were also ice strengthened.

Named Theriot Offshore I through VI, in 1977 they became Scotoil 1 through 6 when Nolty J. Theriot folded up. Scotoil Services Ltd of Aberdeen, then sold the boats to J.Ray McDermott in 1979 and Secunda acquired an interest in them, directly or through one ship companies. (McDermott eventually bought out Secunda, but no longer have an interest in the present day Secunda, which is now owned by Siem Offshore of Norway.)

New names, in order, were Maureen Sea, Tartan Sea, Claymore Sea, Magnus Sea, Brae Sea, and Heather Sea.

At least three of then worked in Canadian waters, based in Halifax or St.John's, and all were sold about 1987-88 for conversion to fishing vessels. The work took place at Aalesund, Norway, where the boats were lengthened 7 meters or more and re-engined.

Maureen Sea (ex Scotoil 1, Theriot Offshore I) was renamed several times and was again converted in 2009 for the Brazilian Navy as an icebreaking oceanographic ship. As such it is unrecognizeable today as Almirante Maximiano, pennant number H41. There is a capsule description at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almirante_Maximiano_%28H-41%29

Magnus Sea (ex Scotoil 2, Theriot Offshore II) is still in service as the fishing vessel Pacific Glacier, working out of Seattle.

Claymore Sea at the Mobil dock in Dartmouth. The tanker Irvingwood is in the background.

Rafted with competitors Balder Kiel and Liberty Service in St.John's.

Claymore Sea (ex Scotoil 3, Theriot Offshore III) was sold to Russian owners in 2004 and became Vulkan Ksudach. Its listing is out of date with Lloyd's and is likely laid up or scrapped.

Tartan Sea in the Narrows in Halifax harbour. It was based at pier 9 for some of its work.

Tartan Sea with its replacement, the second generation Secunda vessel Terra Nova Sea at the Dartmouth Marine Slips.

Tartan Sea (Scotoil 4, Theriot Offshore IV) alone escaped fish conversion when Secunda converted it in 1987 to a passenger and cargo ferry to work the North Shore of the Gulf of St.Lawrence out of Rimouski. The major rebuild included installation of a heavy cargo crane and passenger decks. It was renamed Nordik Express and began a five charter to the Quebec Minister of Transport.

Secunda sold the ship after the 1987 season to Transport Desgagnés and it operated for the subsidiary Relais Nordique until 2013 (an extra two years when its replacement was delayed at the shipyard.) It has been laid up in Quebec City ever since.

Brae Sea (Scotoil 5, Theriot Offshore V), after several name changes, is also flying the US flag as the fishing vessel Arctic Fjord, owned in Seattle.

Heather Sea (Scotoil 6, Theriot Offshore VI) after conversion to a fishing vessel was converted to a pipelayer in 2008 and was under conversion to a research vessel in Russia 2009. That work may never have been completed, although the vessel is still listed by Lloyds

Unique looking boats, they must have had terrific stability since all the rebuildings added top hamper. They also lasted well, and must have been made of good stuff.

Heather Sea and Claymore Sea laid up at Secunda's Dartmouth base before sailing toNorway to undergo conversion..

The classic, and much traveled, tug Molly M 1 is lying in Lunenburg after completion of work in the Saint John, NB area with the barge OC 181.

With the Lunenburg Academy building as backdrop, Molly M 1 lies alongside the Lunenburg Foundry pier, showing off her tugboat red deckhouse.

The barge OC 181 has been modified bow and stern for a construction project. Built in 1972 by National Bridge in Nashville, TN, it came to Canada in 1994 for work on the Confederation Bridge project.

Built in 1962 as Foundation Vigour, one of six 1,200 bhp sister tugs, it roamed over eastern Canada, often towing a barge, until 1968 when MIL Tug + Salvage took over the Foundation fleet. Smit+Cory took over management in 1971 and in 1973 with the formation of Eastern Canada Towing it became Point Vigour. With ECTUGit worked mostly as a harbour tug in Halifax, but did stints in Port Hawksbury and covered ship movements in Liverpool and Sheet Harbour.

In the original ECTUG livery, the tug had a gold stripe around the deck line.

It changed paint schemes several times over the years, as Smit+Cory, then Cory, then Wijsmuller and finally Svitzer owned ECTUG, however the best looking was the Smit+Cory/ECTUG version with a gold hull stripe.
In 2006 it was sold to McKeil Workboats of Hamilton, ON, for operation by Nadro Marine Services of Port Dover, ON, on and renamed Molly M 1 in 2007.

Powered by a Fairbanks Morse engine, driving a single screw in a fixed nozzle, the tug has taken up its wandering ways and again roams all over Eastern Canada wherever work takes it. Under the current ownership it has changed very little. Most noticeable are the aluminum watertight doors in the wheelhouse, replacing the original varnished wood doors.

Berthing the bulker Balao at pier 25-26 in 1980. In 1982 a Kort nozzle was fitted, increasing bollard pull from 18 to 26 tons. The engine was also uprated to 1500 bhp at that time. Ballasting the tug slightly by the stern improved the "bite" of the prop.

After last March's disastrous encounter with the stern of the RoRo ship Cavallo the small tug Gulf Spray was badly banged up.See three posts:
http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2014_03_01_archive.html

However it was restored and went back to work for the cruise ship season. The unglamorous job of tending refuse and waste scows goes on largely unnoticed, but is an essential service for ships calling in Halifax. International waste must be treated differently from ordinary domestic waste, and cruise ships generate a lot. They also yield mountains of recyclabes, such as drink bottles and cans and cardboard.

An early morning start across the harbour with a liquid waste barge, to work alongside a cruise ship.

Built to a similar pattern to navy pup tugs and Department of Public Works tugs, the stovepipe from the forward cabin was a prominent feature.

Built in 1959 by Ferguson Industries in Pictou to their own account, the tug assisted ships on and off the marine cradles in Pictou for years until the yard was closed. In 2007 new owners in Halifax rebuilt the tug, with its cabin fitted out in yacht like style.

Alongside pier 24 with a sold waste scow, and various sorting bins, Gulf Spray shows off its large single wheelhouse window.

The port side of that house was badly damaged and the funnel dislodged in last winter's incident, but it has all been put right now.With the end of the cruise season, the boat may find other work, but it has earned a well deserved rest.

Running free at hull speed yesterday, Gulf Spray still looks first class.

A group in Ijmuiden, Netherlands is looking for an old Wijsmuller tug to restore. They want to bring it back to Ijmuiden to pay tribute to the famous tugboat company. They have their aim set on four potential tugs in various parts of the world, all in dubious condition at this point. However based on the experience with other old Dutch tugs that have been restored, they may be on to a good thing.

We did not see many Wijsmuller tugs in Halifax, but in the fall of 1978 and again in 1980, Bureau Wijsmuller, as it was known then, based a tug in Halifax on standby for salvage work. They used the old Purdy's Wharf as their salvage station, but I don't think they got any business and the Wijsmuller logo was not seen in Halifax again until 2000.

Jacob van Heemskerk was stationed here in 1978. Built in 1964 it was a single screw (with nozzle) tug of 3550 bhp. It was sold to the Philippines in 1981, renamed Hurricane II and broken up in Manila in 1995.

The slightly smaller Noord-Hooland was stationed here in the autumn of 1980. Built in 1965 as a single screw tug of 2950 bhp, it was re-engined in 1970, had a nozzle added in 1971 and re-engined again in 1975 to 4200 bhp. It was sold in 1984 becoming Sierra and in 1989 it was sold again and renamed Asetec. It was sold at auction in 2001 and a rather cryptic note in Lloyd's 2013 says "whereabouts unknown."

On January 14, 2000 Wijsmuller stunned the tug world by buying the Cory Towage Group from Ocean Group plc, and thus Eastern Canada Towing (ECTUG) became a Wijsmuller company. The tugs were gradually repainted, with white superstructure, red visor, blue funnel with white stripe and black cap, blue mast and trim and the "global link" logo prominently displayed.

By summer 2000 Point Chebucto was repainted except for the winch. Two Wijsmuller logos appeared on the bridge front.

Point Halifax in full Wijsmuller colours.

Point Valiant's winch remained in black paint.

Pointe Sept-Iles had its line reels painted blue, and a section of deck painted blue aft.

It was well into the year 2000 by the time this scheme was completed on most of the ECTUG fleet. In fact the smaller tugs were not completely repainted when in 2001 Svitzer, in another stunning move, swallowed Wijsmuller and the repainting started again!. First to go was the Wijsmuller logo, and the Svitzer cross appeared on the white stripe of the funnels, but it took a long time to completely repaint the tugs again.

The tugs in Halifax are all so similar in appearance, it is somtimes hard to tell which is which. This past weekend there was a change that might not have been noticeable to the casual observer.

Easiest to identify is Atlantic Larch because it has no firefighting gear:

Built in 2000 it is a 4,000 bhp ASD tug. It is fitted with a towing winch and is sometimes sent away from Halifax for various chores where a winch is needed. However it does look very similar to the Atlantic Hemlock which sometimes comes to Halifax.

Atlantic Willow is a firefighting tug, with prominent water cannons:

It dates from 1998 and is also a 4,000 bhp ASD, and has no towing winch. However it has open bulwarks at the bits fore and aft, and a strongback on the stern rail to protect the line if it is using its towing hook.

Atlantic Oak is a firefighting tug with less prominent water cannons:

It also has the open rails, but is fitted with stainless steel shields over the air intakes on the funnel casings and has a side door on the wheelhouse. It was built in 2004 and is a 5,050 bhp tug, and as the most powerful tug in Halifax it is the one used most often for tethered escort work.

However Atlantic Oak has a sister tug named Atlantic Fir, based in Saint John:

Aside from different shields on its water cannons it was virtually indistinguishable from its sister. It was built in 2005 and is also rated at 5050 bhp. Since it travels about a great deal, it does show up in Halifax from time to time. Unless one was really alert, it was hard to tell which tug it was - until now.

This weekend Atlantic Willow was sent off to Liverpool to berth the ship Thorco Dolphin with wind turbine components and Atlantic Oak was sent to Shelburne for refit. When Atlantic Fir arrived to fill in I noted that something new had been added:

Two satellite domes have been appeared. A small one on the mast and larger one on its own pole. These certainly make the tug stand out from the rest! They may have been added for navigation purposes likely for the tow out of the Gravity Base in Newfoundland, where precise location was required. It is not clear if these have been tied into the tug's autopilot to provide dynamic positioning.They are for communication only.

Up close then, there is now little doubt that one is seeing Atlantic Fir. but from a distance it still requires some experience to pick it out.

Atlantic Larch on the left, and Atlantic Fir, at Atlantic Oak's normal berth at the IEL dock in Woodside. From a distance the sat domes are barely visible.

Eileen McAllister is returning home to the US after her planned tow out was scrubbed. The tug had arrived in Quebec City prepared to tow the old Great Lakes bulker American Fortitude ex Courtney Burton, ex Ernest T. Weir to Brownsville, TX for scrapping.
Due to the condition of the ship itself, and some issues with the tow, its progress down the Seaway was halted by Transport Canada at Côte-Ste-Catherine, above Montreal.
The veteran bulker was built in 1953 and converted to a self-unloader in 1980, but had been laid up in Toledo, OH since 2008. The Canadian tugs Evans McKeil, on the bow and Jarrett M ex Atomic on the stern, towed the ship down through through the Welland Canal and most of the Seaway until it was stopped. The indeterminate delay resulted in McAllister Towing opting to recall Eileen McAllister. (She had arrived from Norfolk, VA.)

It is late in the season, with ice forming and recent experiences with HMCS Athabaskan and Miner probably lead to wisdom prevailing.

Eillen McAllister, in bright Houston sunshine, shows off her heavy hull fendering, similar to the railroad tugs of New York.

Eileen McAllister was in Halifax in August 2012 and towed out the old floating drydock Scotiadock II, also for scrap. Built in 1977 by Main Iron Works in Houma, LA, the 4300 bhp tug is of traditional US design. Like most tugs from that builder it is of extremely durable construction, and its GM EMD engines are famed for their longevity.

Eileen McAllister steams smartly into Halifax August 1, 2012 with company pennant flying.

The next day she makes her way outbound, with tow rigged, complete with gog line.

Her tow was an old floating drydock.

McKeil has taken delivery of its second ASD tug from Singapore. Pannawonica I arrived in Sydney, NS recently and was registered today in St.John's as Tim McKeil.
My earlier posting about sister tug Lois M gives most of the details about the tug. See:
http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2014/09/first-of-two-for-mckeil.html

Both tugs were delivered by the noted Dutch ship delivery company Redwise. They will deliver just about any floating object anywhere, but they specialize in tugs, largely because they are an offshoot or the famous, but now vanished, tug company Wijsmuller. Long a freestanding independent, their roots are still in tugs.

First both tugs were delivered to Singapore from Australia, some 2200 miles in February 2014. Once there they entered a shipyard for what was described as TLC.

Lois M (as Lambert) sailed from Singapore May 23*, traveling 16,500 miles in 4 1/2 months towing two dump scows, Marmac 250 and Marmac 251, and stopping in Mauritius June 23 and Walvis Bay July 15 for fuel. After delivering the scows to Tampico Mexico, the tug sailed light to Mulgrave. A near disaster was averted off Tampico when Marmac 251 broke loose in Hurricane Dolly September 4. Fortunately it was recovered undamaged by a local tug.

Tim McKeil (as Pannawonica I ) spent more time in the shipyard, where work included the installation of an elevated wheelhouse. They sailed from Singapore July 6, reaching Fremantle July 20 where they had more work done, including prop polishing. There they picked up two split hopper scows, GL 501 and GL 502. Stopping in Mauritius August 28, Walvis Bay September 23, Cape Verde Islands October 20-24, they delivered the scows to Miami November 15, then sailed light tug to Sydney. A five month trip of 5,000 miles.

During the trips, Redwise crews did considerable running maintenance and generally handed over the tugs in better condition than they found them. These crews are a breed unto themselves, taking on long voyages in small ships, often battling severe conditions of weather, heat and deprivation when systems break down. Rusty water tanks, decks awash and other risks are taken in stride.

Redwise has a website, and crews keep blogs of the trips. If you can't read Dutch, Bing Translation can give you a very rough approximation if your computer has that feature.

Company website: http://www.redwise.com/page/ship-delivery-transport-crewing.html [go to the bottom of the page for English]

* all dates are approximate.

Two Halifax based tugs put to sea today to assist the drifting tanker Australian Spirit. En route from Whiffen Head, Newfoundlad with 90,000 tonnes of crude oil for New York, the tanker lost is steering on last night (December 9).
Gale force winds and 4 meter seas along with driving rain and limited visibility have raised concerns about the safety of the ship which is 40 nautical miles off Halifax's Chebucto Head. CCGS Earl Grey also put to sea to standby.

Atlantic Towing's Atlantic Larch was the first tug to respond. The 4,000 bhp tug is fitted with a towing winch in addition to its shiphandling winch forward. It would not be large enough to tow the tanker single handedly, but it could certainly assist in keeping its head up to winds and seas, if it can secure and maintain a tow line in rough conditions.

Also sailing from Halifax the anchor handling tug supplier Venture Sea with 12,280 bhp would certainly be able to tow the ship. The Secunda Canada tug was in Halifax on a regular run from the Sable Island gas operations when it was called out. Built in 1998 by Halter Marine in Pascagoula, it has worked for Secunda in Canada and overseas.

Australian Spirit is operated by Teekay Shipping and was built in 2004 by Hyundai Heavy Industries of Ulsan, South Korea. It measures 68,213 grt, 111, 9045 dwt.

Halifax Harbour is under weather watch due to winds and seas, with several ships waiting offshore for improved conditions to make it possible to enter port. These conditions will make it difficult to manage Australian Spirit, which will no doubt have to enter port to effect repairs.

Quebec Report 5 - TundRA class

Veteran US tug changes hands.

First of Two for McKeil

R.J.Ballott at the old dock

Maersk Gabarus - soon to be history

Scotian Sea back in harness

Maersk Chignecto

Rescue Tugs called for (again)

Océan Foxtrot - Canadian registry closed

Hanseat - back to the shoebox

Glen tugs - long may they live

Tug work at the terminals

Secunda Marine Services - first generation suppliers

Molly M 1 in Lunenburg

Gulf Spray restored to service

Call out for Wijsmuller tug

Temporary tug change for Halifax

Eileen McAllister - Mission Scrubbed

Number two is Tim McKeil

Venture Sea and Atlantic Larch called out to sea