André H and tow at Mulgrave

1. Groupe Océan's André H. at Mulgrave, NS on Saturday.

Groupe Océan's André H. (ex Point Valiant, Foundation Valiant) has recently made a trip into its old familiar territory. In its days with Foundation Maritime and Eastern Canada Towing it did many coastal trips to Nova Scotia, but in recent years has been based in Trois-Rivières, with a spell in Sept-Iles last year.

At the end of March Groupe Océan acquired the assets of Dragage Verreault (see Shipfax for more on this)  and since then have been moving the plant from various points to the Industrie Océan shipyard in Ile-aux-Coudres, QC.

The dredge Rosaire and hopper boat I.V.No.14 were laid up in Meteghan, NS, and André H. was dispatched to pick them up, arriving in Meteghan on April 17 and sailing on April 18. I tracked to tow on AIS the best I could and predicted that they would reach the Canso Lock on April 20 in the early afternoon if they maintained their speed of 7.5 knots. I set out to meet them there , but they did not show up before dark on the 20th.

As you will see from the photos, they experienced a bit of an issue with the I.V.No.14 and tied up in Mulgrave. I was able to see then there on the 21st, while repairs were underway.

2. The hopper boat I.V.No.14 had some trouble en route, and repair crews are at work.

Point Valiant was built in 1963 as a larger version of the six boat order that included Foundation Vim and Foundation Vigour (now McKeil's Molly M.1). Point Valiant was intended as a small seagoing tug, and is an excellent seaboat. It is a twin screw vessel, with two Fairbanks Morse engines of 900 bhp each.

In 1995 it was sold to Three Rivers Boatmen, which later became part of Groupe Océan.

3. Although 13 years old when this photo was taken, the tug was in its original configuration. It was not fitted with a towing winch when built, and had a small derrick for handling towing and salvage gear.