Tow In and Tow Out

There were two tows for Halifax today-one inbound and one outbound.
The first was the inbound tow of the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel HMCS Glace Bay from Shelburne by the tug CFAV Glenbrook. The ship is the second to be refitted under the current program for the Kingston class.
1. CFAV Glenbrook arrives with HMCS Glace Bay. The tow was shearing about considerably until they speed came off.

2. Glenbrook slows as they pass west of George's Island.

Glenbrook, although underpowered by today's standards at only 1750 bhp, is still quite capable of harbour berthing and short sea tows of light displacement vessels such as this. Note the miniature towing bridle arrangement at the ship's bow.

Tugfax has been reliably informed that the navy has carried out a feasibility study for the replacement of the Glen class tugs, but there has been no announcement yet on what may happen. A previous idea to privatise the HMC Dockyard tugs went nowhere.

The second event was the tow out of the barge Marmac 400 by the tug El Jaguar. This impressive tug had her EMDs humming smoothly when she left early this afternoon. She carries the usual open deck winch and strongback with spool typical of older US tugs. It makes for a very high tow wire over the after deck, but does allow crew members to work on deck beneath the wire as needed. Oddly it does not have an enclosed winch operator's house aft as do many tugs of this type.

1. El Jaguar's engines come up to speed as the tow gets underway.

2. The barge is carrying steel fabrications for the Vale/Inco nickel smelter in Long Harbour, NL. The tow stopped over in Halifax en route from the Gulf of Mexico as a large storm centre passed through the area.

See more on El Jaguar in the previous post.

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