Today (April 29) the Canadian government announced a $105 mn contract for four new tugs has been awarded to Industrie Océan shipyard in Ile-aux-Coudres, QC. The program, expected to take 42 months, will add 25 to 30 new jobs for the shipyard which employs up to 110 people, and will occupy about 40% of the yard's capacity.
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Despite its small footprint the shipyard has a large covered building hall where it could build two tugs at once. It also has repairs slips that can acommodate several ships at one. Parent company Groupe Océan also operates a fabrication facility in Quebec City which builds components up to the size of deckhouses and can do fit out.
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Long in the planning stage, the new tugs wil replace five Glen class tugs, three based in Halifax and tow in Esquimalt. The tugs will be operated as naval auxiliary vessels, using civilian crews, and will work within the naval dockyard for ship berthing and firefighting, but will also undertake coastal towing.
The original mandate of the program was to used "proven design" but there was been no revelation yet on propulsion systems, power or name of designer.
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Despite its small footprint the shipyard has a large covered building hall where it could build two tugs at once. It also has repairs slips that can acommodate several ships at one. Parent company Groupe Océan also operates a fabrication facility in Quebec City which builds components up to the size of deckhouses and can do fit out.
The five Glen class tugs, built in 1976-77 have only 1750 bhp, but due to Voith-Schneider propulsors are ideally suited for dockyard work,
Long in the planning stage, the new tugs wil replace five Glen class tugs, three based in Halifax and tow in Esquimalt. The tugs will be operated as naval auxiliary vessels, using civilian crews, and will work within the naval dockyard for ship berthing and firefighting, but will also undertake coastal towing.
The original mandate of the program was to used "proven design" but there was been no revelation yet on propulsion systems, power or name of designer.
Océan Serge Genois returns to base in Quebec City. It is likely to be the model for the new tugs.it has an enlarged wheelhouse compared to earlier versions.
Industrie Océan has built a flotilla of tugs of different sizes for parent company Groupe Océan.
Several have been of essentially the same Robert Allen compact tug design and have worked successfully in Montreal and along the St.Lawrence River. They are rated at 4200 bhp with azimuthing stern drives. Five, built between 1999 and 2010 currently serve the current Océan fleet. Another was built for export and another, formerly with Svitzer, now works on the west coast.
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