McNally tug operations

 McNally Construction Inc has two projects underway in Halifax harbour at the moment and brought in some more "plant" today, June 22.

The longest running project is the extension to the pier at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography. After preparing the seafloor and building a mat, McNally built several cribs which are now in place and filled. At that site the tug D.D.Kaufman (see December 21, 2023) tends to the scows and crane barge used in the work.

Meanwhile at Halifax Shipyard there is also a new pier project underway in its initial stages. That involves dredging contaminants from the seafloor before building the mat and then building and installing cribs.

 The dump scow Pitts No.1 and the crane barge Canadian Argosy at Halifax Shipyard.

PittsNo.2 and another crane barge possible Idus Atwell also set up for dredging.

The dredged material is transported to the IEL dock in Woodside where it is prepared for disposal inland. The IEL dock is owned by the Province of Nova Scotia's development agency Nova Scotia Business Inc. The adjacent Mobil dock (which may also be government owned) is the primary settling area. Irving Shipbuilding Inc also leases most of the area to transfer ship components fabricated at Woodside, to the Halifax Shipyard.

The contaminated material is transfered from the shipyard in the dump scows Pitts No.1 and Pitts No.2 and unloaded by crane and bucket. Initially the tug Mister Joe was shifting the scows, but another recent McNally acquistion, the tug W.A.Reid is now doing the work. It is a sister of the  D.D.Kaufman mentioned above.

 Built by A+B Industries in Amelia, LA in 2016 the 630 bhp twin screw tug was initially named Belinda B for Weeks Marine Inc of Cranford, NJ. Weeks purchased McNally in 2017 and they transferred the tug to McNally in 2022. It was registered in Toronto and renamed November 22, 2022. It steamed from the New Jersey area via the Hudson River and Erie Canal to Lake Ontario and then to McNally's yard in Point Anne, near Belleville.

In late May of this year it departed for Halifax "day tripping" between ports since it has no sleeping accommodation. Stops included Brockville May 25, Valleyfield, Sorel-Tracy, Quebec City, Cacouna, Matane, Gande Vallée, possibly Miscou Island, Summerside, Strait of Canso (likely McNally's base in Point Tupper) arriving in Halifax June 7. 

Today, June 22, the tug Mister Joe arrived from Point Tupper, towing the scow McNally Flat Scow No.1.

 The scow was built in 1997 by Steel Style Inc, New Windsor, NY, and comes in at 431 gt with dimensions of 35.41m (116.7 ft) x 12.17 m (39.928 ft). It was registered in Toronto by McNally in 2007. I have not been able to trace any previous names or owners, but Weeks may be a possibility.

Mister Joe is the classic Russel built tug from 1964. Originally the Churchill River it worked in Hudson's Bay then Newfoundland and was renamed by McNally in 2001. They rebuilt the tug in 2014 and again in 2019 with a new wheelhouse, from the original drawings, but with better windows.

It is a twin screw tug of 750 bhp and has towed McNally plant all over eastern Canada. In 2023 Kiewit Corporation acquired Weeks Marine and thus McNally. However there has been no indication of identity change, except some Kiewit inventory numbers appearing on some (as yet unidentified) work boats.

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