Saturday, February 24, 2024

New Life for the Tidal Pioneer

 The Neptune Eurocarrier workboat Tidal Pioneer has found new work after its original owners declared banktuptcy last year.


 The "Swiss Army knife"of workboats is bristling with winches, thrusters and cranes to perform all sorts of marine construction work. Built in 2021 by Neptune Shipyard in the Netherlands, the 2 screw, 179gt vessel is a proprietary design of the builders. It is equipped with Dynamic Positioning 1 and develops a bollard pull of 34.7 tonnes.

It was acquired by Sustainable Marine Energy Canada Ltd (SMEC) to work with their tidal power project, which due to funding issues was halted and the company entered voluntary receivership in May 2023. The Tidal Pioneer was laid up in Dartmouth at Dominion Diving's base and listed for sale. (It has been maintained in working order.)

The vessel has now been sold to Leask Marine, an international marine contracting company based in the United Kingdom. Its Canadian registry was closed February 2 and it has been registered in the UK under the new name C-Horizon.

Leask Marine, through Nova Innovation CAN Ltd, has applied for a coasting license to use the boat to move a (submerged) tidal turbine from Meteghan, NS and install it in Petit Passage (between Digby Neck and Long Island, off Tiverton, NS). Citing the unique characteristics of the boat and the need to use experienced personnel (presumably not Canadian) a coasting license will be needed to use a non-Canadian vessel in Canadian waters. Although Eurocarrier type vessels are common in Europe they are rare in Canada, and no Canadian flag vessels are available for the work.

The work is to be carried out in March so that the C-Horizon can take up another contract in the UK by April 30.

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Friday, December 22, 2023

Working the Backlog

 When pilotage operations resumed early this morning (Friday, December 22) after the latest storm had passed and sea conditions moderated, there was a major backlog of shipping to accommodate. Most of these ships will have to take their turns in order of earliest scheduled arrival as there is a limit to the number of berths in the port. As of late afternoon there were still six ships hove to off Halifax waiting their turn.

Among the ships that did enter port was the Annie B, a first time caller on ZIM's CGX feeder service. It was due originally from New York on Wednesday December 20 but spent an uncomfortable two days slowly steaming back and forth or hove to well offshore away from the coastal swells.

The bright sunshine was deceptive as there was still a swell runnning in the harbour. With a very stiff northerly wind, and sub-zero temperatures, there was a lot of spray for the ship and the attendant tug Atlantic Larch.*   (See also yesterday's Tugfax for some more splashy photos.)

 

The ship Annie B was hastily renamed in late June or early July 2023 by anonymous new owners Clement Shipping Ltd.

Built in 2003 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan the 28,596 gt, 39,383 dwt ship has a capacity of 2826 TEU including 554 reefers. Its original name was Cardonia (still visible in welded letters on the bow) but was renamed on delivery as CMA CGM Ukraine, a name it carried until 2006 when it became Cardonia again.

 A report on social media says that the ship will unload 49 containers and load 1035 during its stay in Halifax, which even for a feeder service seems light. Seasonal variations and world events may be factors in loadings as the shipping world is in a state of flux these days.

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 * The Atlantic Larch, built by East Isle Shipyard in Georgetown, PE in 2000, is a 4,000 bhp tug with a 51 tonne bollard pull rating. It is based in Saint John, NB, but is designated as an "outside tug" available for coastal work and other assignments away from its home port. It arrived in Halifax to supplement the local tugs while Halifax Shipyard "launched" the latest Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship, AOPV 434 on December 9

There has also been additional activity in the port with more wind turbine components arriving and the Atlantic Bear had a short spell at the Shelburne Shipyard for its ten year classification renewal survey. Halifax can keep up with demand with five active tugs, but six would be preferrable in winter and other busy times. Regular tugs in Halifax are Atlantic Oak, Atlantic Fir, Atlantic Bear, Atlantic Beaver, and Atlantic Willow. Since early December the tug Atlantic Elm, not normally a harbour tug, has also been in Halifax, attending barges used during the transfer of the wind turbine towers, and other miscellaneous chores such as ship docking in Sheet Harbour. It also stood by in Cape Breton while the bulk carrier Genco Endeavour effected repairs.

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Thursday, December 21, 2023

D.D. Kaufman - new tug in town

 Although it has been in Halifax since August 16, today, December 21, was the first time I was able to get a close up look at the tug D.D. Kaufman. As I reported here on August 24, the tug arrived in Halifax from New Jersey, the long way round, via the New York state canals, the Great Lakes and the St.Lawrence Seaway. It is here working on the new Jetty L at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) where it is nearly impossible to see, let alone photograph. 

 

The tug's owners, McNally Construction Ltd of Hamilton, ON also have bases in Sorel, QC and Point Tupper, NS and carry out marine construction work throughout eastern Canada. They have a large fleet of scows, barges, and several tugs and workboats. Many of these are older units were acquired in the 1990s when McNally purchased the fleets of the former McNamara Marine, Cartier Construction, Beaver Marine, Canadian Dredge + Dock, and Pitts Engineering companies.

In 2017 Weeks Marine Inc of Cranford, NJ purchased the McNally Group, which also included McNally International, a tunneling specialist based in West Lake, OH. Then in turn as of January 1, 2023 the large construction company Kiewit Corporation acquired Weeks, including its Hawaiian subsidiary and North American Aggregates of Perth Amboy, NJ.


 All this is by way of explaining the history of the  D.D. Kaufman and its sister tug W.A. Reid. The two tugs were built for Weeks in 2016 by A+B Industries of Morgan City in Amelia, LA. Hull number 371 was built as Jody P and was renamed D.D. Kaufman when acquired by McNally and was registered in Halifax November 22, 2022. Hull 372 started out as Belinda B and was named W.A. Reid when registered in Hamilton, ON, also on November 22, 2022. They were transferred from Weeks ownership to McNally to replace or supplement some of those older tugs from the 1960s and 1970s.

Today, following a large storm surge in Halifax harbour, the D.D. Kaufman was dispatched from BIO to Pier 25 to check on the semi-submersible barge Beaver Neptune. The barge was used to build concrete caissons for the BIO Jetty, and on completion of that work was moved out of the way to Pier 25. 

 

It appeared to have weathered the storm with all its mooring lines intact, so the D.D. Kaufman returned to BIO. There was still quite a swell running in the harbour, so the tug's windscreen wipers got a good workout coming and going.


 


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Duga - no news

 Since September 28, 2023 when its Canadian registry was closed I have been waiting for news on the disposition of the tug Duga. So far there has been no information forthcoming except that it has registered in Bolivia (a land locked country!) and has been sold to foreign buyers, perhaps in Mexico.

 

Groupe Océan acquired the tug when they purchased Les Remorqueurs de Trois-Rivières in 2002, and the tug remained stationed in that port until it was moved to Quebec City and laid up in July of this year.

Construction of the tug was started by Rolf Rekdal A/S Tonura, Tomrefjord, Norway, and completed in 1977 by Langsten Slip A/S, Langsten. It was built as an ice strengthened anchor handling tug, of 4200 bhp with a 55 tonne bollard pull. Its twin contollable pitch props are mounted in fixed nozzles, and its hull is heavily fendered below the water line.

After service for J. Ostensjø of Haugesund, Norway it was brought to Canada for work in the Beaufort Sea for Arctic Offshore Marine Services, the Hay River based company owned by Capt Don Tétrault. It possibly made a northwest passage on its delivery. I am not sure of its route when it was then sold to Trois-Rivières, ca. 1987.

In the mid-1990s when Atlantic Towing Ltd had new tugs under construction for use at Point Tupper, Duga was chartered until the new tugs were delivered and it was based at the Statia terminal in Point Tupper.

The tug has been well maintained by Groupe Océan at their own shipyard, but I understand that the Wichmann main engines are unusual and perhaps a bit of a liability. 

It is interesting that the tug has kept its name since 1977, despite now five changes of ownership. (The world "duga" in old Norse can mean "help" or "aid" and has a similar meaning in several Scandanavian tongues, so seems appropriate for a tug,).

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Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Pups in the harbour

 His Majesty's Canadian Dockyard in Halifax operates six tugs through the King's Harbour Master. All are crewed by civilians and are not commissioned Royal Canadian Navy naval vessels, but are designated as Canadian Naval Auxiliary Vessels. Three of the tugs are the Glen class of 1750 bhp Voith-Schneider tractor tugs and three are Ville class "Pup" tugs. A new tug program is underway to build replacements for the 1977 era Glens but the even older Villes remain in service with no sign of replacements any time soon.

Those small pups can be seen bustling about the harbour conducting many duties including ship berthing, fender handling, securing to mooring buoys and security rounds. I have covered these tugs here before and in a previous post I called them Gofers of the Dockyard.

CNAV Granville is typical of the type. The mast can be struck for working close alongside ships.

 The three Villes in Halifax were built by Georgetown Shipyard in Prince Edward Island in 1975, and were named Listerville YTS 592, Merrickville YTS 593 and Marysville YTS 594. The last of the trio was later renamed Parksville then in 2003 renamed Granville. The pennant designations were also changed from YTS (Yard Tug Small) to YTL (Yard Tug Little).

The tugs are powered by a 365 bhp Caterpillar engine driving a single screw in a steerable nozzle, giving a bollard pull of 7.5 tons. They seldom stray very far from Halifax, but I did notice the Merrickville in Sambro today. Yesterday the Granville was returning from the static Sound Range trot buoys in Macnab's Cove and was heading into a stiff northerly breeze, which it weathered with its usual dignity.


A familiar task for the Pups is moving inflatable (Yokohama) fenders to berths outside the Dockyard for visiting naval vessels. They are secured in such a way as to still provide visibility.

As befitting their miniature size the tugs deploy tiny Yokohamas as hull fenders of their own.


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Sunday, October 15, 2023

Calusa Coast

 The United States flag tug Calusa Coast arrived today, October 15, from Boston and tied up at Pier 25. It arrived light tug.

Built in 1978 by Bollinger Machine Shop in Lockport LA, it carried the name Marc G until 1992 then became Katrina G. Dann Marine Towing Co of Chesapeake City, Maryland added the tug to their fleet and renamed it Calusa Coast in 2003. It has two GM-EMD 12-645-E2 main engines of 3400 bhp total driving two screws. The upper wheelhouse gives a 48 foot height of eye versus the 21 foot height of eye for the lower wheelhouse. It also carries a towing winch with 2,000 feet of 2 inch wire.

The tug shifted from dry cargo barge towing on the eastern seaboard to working on the Great Lakes from 2016 to 2020 with the barge Delaware delivering asphalt from Marathon, Detroit to sundry Lakes ports such as Cleveland and Buffalo. It left the Lakes in November 2020 and since then it has been reported in New York with barges carrying bulk sugar, but has likely been doing other work as well.

I am alwauys impressed by how well maintained these older US tugs appear. This one looks frech "from the showroom".

The tug is wearing its "lock ladders" - very long ladders on each side, standing upward, and which can be angled outward to allow agile crew members to land at the lock wall to assist passage if needed. They can also be used to access the deck of a light barge when the tugs goes "in the notch" for pushing.


 No destination has been given yet.

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Friday, September 29, 2023

Welcome back Mister Joe

 There was another visit from a McNally Construction tug today. This time it was the Mister Joe, a 1964 vintage tug, often seen in Halifax over the years. Built as the Churchill River by Russel Brothers in Owen Sound, ON it operated in Hudson Bay until coming south to Newfoundland in the 1990s. It was then bought by Beaver Marine in 1998. When Beaver was acquired by McNally Construction Ltd of Hamilton, ON, they renamed the tug after their founder in 2001.

The Mister Joe has been in and out of Halifax frequently ever since, and is generally based in Point Tupper, NS but has also worked on the Great Lakes. It underwent a major refit in 2013-2014 when its wheelhouse was rebuilt to the orginal plans, but with modern glazing. McNally carried out the work in house at their Point Anne, ON base.

Today's visit was very brief, just long enough to tether its tow to the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) pier and head back to sea.  The tow appears to be the Beaver Neptune a semi-submersible barge used to build concrete cribs. The cribs are slip-formed concrete caissons, which are floated off the barge then sunk in place and ballasted full with gravel.

 McNally has the contract to remove the old timber pile pier and build a new pier at the BIO. Fleet mate and near sister tug Sandra Mary was featured here August 24, 2023 when it towed in other plant for the project, including the Derrick No.4 and scow with small tug D.D.Kaufman. It was here again September 9 with the crane scow Idus Atwell. It then departed for Point Tupper directly.

The Sandra Mary did not hang around Point Tupper very long, for it was reported earlier this week departing Sorel, QC for McNally's main yard in Point Anne, ON, near Belleville, towing the tug Bagotville. Reports indicate that the Bagotville, built in 1964, and laid up for a few years, will be scrapped, but that remains to be seen. McNally has done some significant rebuilds over the years.

Bagotville in Halifax in 2013.

I reported Bagotville's history here on May 11, 2013. It has spent very little of its life in salt water, and aside from the last couple of years in layup it has been well maintained. Bulwarks take a beating in its kind of work, but they can be replaced. 

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