For a variety of reasons, several tugs are visiting Halifax for short stays.
Atlantic Towing Ltd leads the way with two tugs plus two tugs from their sister company.
Atlantic Elm, built in 1980 as Irving Elm is a 3460 bhp tug that operates in the summers with supply barges in Hudson's Bay. It was recently deployed from what would usually be winter layup, to assist in moving the BOA Barge 34 arrival in Sheet Harbour.
It is now tied up at Pier 9C North with the barge Atlantic Swordfish which is one of the northern supply barges. No towing gear is rigged yet, so it is unclear if the barge is to be moved - perhaps to Sheet Harbour? The tug became Atlantic Elm in 1996 during a corporate re-branding.
At nearby Pier 9C South the J.D.Irving group subsidiary Harbour Development Ltd has its dredge Cranemaster, a split hull spoil barge HD-9 and the tugs Wavemaster ( former Dutch naval tug Regge) and Atlantic Tamarack (former Irving Tamarack).
The equipment was working in Sheet Harbour for several months dredging to make room for the
Boa Barge 34. They are likely stopping over here due to weather en route to winter quarters.
Also involved in the Boa Barge 34 move is the Atlantic Hemlock in from Saint John. It will likely be returning to Saint John when Spitfire III returns to Halifax from Saint John.
Built by Irving's Eastisle Shipyard in 1996, the 4000 bhp ASD is the oldest tug in the series still in the ATL fleet. (Atlantic Willow, built in 1998 is a firefighting version, and is normally based in Halifax.)
Meanwhile in the backyard of Eastern Passage some small tugs have returned from Alberta where they were working in the oil industry. Owned by a subsidiary of Horizon Maritime, they are "truckable" due to their demountable wheelhouse roofs.
Horizon Glacier was built by GFFM Leclerc in Ile-aux-Coudres, QC in ca. 2014. As an under 15 gross tons vessel it is registered by number only, and has no official name. However it has carried the names Cercle Polaire to 2015 and Halifax Tugger to 2018.
Less easy to identify is Horizon Chinook with no registration number displayed on the hull. However there was a "loose" wheelhouse nearby:
Its registration number leads to a tug built by Meridien Maritime Reparations in Matane, QC in ca.2018.
Horizon also has a second Leclerc built tug, believed to be carrying the name Horizon Aurora which may be on its way back to if it has not been delivered already.
