Tugs in Transit - Part 2

 With Christmas and New Year holidays over, it was time to get back to work for some temporary visitors. Atlantic Elm sailed light tug on January 7 giving Liverpool, NS as destination. It only took a few hours to reach that port, and the tug appears to have tied up at the former Mersey Paper dock in Brooklyn.

This morning, January 8 the small Harbour Development flotilla got underway for Saint John. Wavemaster lead off towing the dredge Cranemaster.

The tug is the former Royal Netherlands Navy tug Regge, built in 1987. It was renamed in 2018 after HDL acquired and refitted it to suit Canadian regulations. 

They were followed by Atlantic Tamarack towing the split hopper barge HD-9. Unfortunately when I was poised for a photo a sudden snow shower blotted out the scene. It soon blew over and a distant shot was possible.

Harbour Development Ltd is a subsidiary of Atlantic Towing Ltd, part of the J.D.Irving group of companies. It is essentially a dredging contractor and is nominally based in Halifax. Its equipment works throughout the region, often in the Saint John, NB area. (Their website is woefully out of date, so do not take information from it at face value.)

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Southwestern (Nova Scotia) tugs

A couple of loops around southwestern Nova Scotia in the past few weeks turned up a bit of tug activity.

June 2 Lunenburg 

At Lunenburg Theodore Too was in port for a tune up before heading to its new summer base at Saint John, NB. It arrived there June 7.

 That looks like a new hard hat on the dock.

Also at the Lunenburg Foundry and Engineering's dock the basic tug  Mascot. It has an aluminum deckhouse, complete with an oar mounted on the cabin - not sure how much bollard pull they would achieve using that.

June 21 Shelburne

Shelburne Shipyard had two tugs alongside in addition to its own workboat.

 In the background the Canadian naval tug Glenbrook which arrived June 19 for refit. And alongside is SSR2 the former Stenpro III , which was transferred from Liverpool when Irving Shipbuilding Inc moved its operation to Shelburne.

 Undergoing a refit for Canadian service, the former Dutch naval tug Regge. At this time the  interior is being gutted to remove combustible material and fitting out new accommodations.

June 21 Meteghan River 

At the A.F. Thériault + Sons shipyard the much traveled Hudson Bay Explorer appears to be getting another makeover

The shallow draft tug/supplier was pre-fabbed by Vito Steel Boat + Barge Construction in Delta, BC in 1971 and was assembled in Hay River, NWT by Alberta Equipment Centre as Beaufort Sea Explorer for Arctic Transportation Ltd. After arctic service with several owners it was sold to Klynne Tugs (Lowestoft) Ltd and renamed Anglian Sea Explorer inn1992 and worked in the UK until returning to Canada in 1995 for Moosonee Transportation Ltd.

In 2003 it suffered a serious fire while on a slip in Wemindji, QC and was towed to St.John's where it was rebuilt from the main deck up. All new deckhouse and funnels changed the profile dramatically from its original Robert Allen design. Its original V-16 Cats, delivering 2250 bhp through two screws in nozzles, survived the fire and remained unchanged.

It then worked in Hudsons Bay, James Bay, and Voisey's Bay and on the St.Lawrence until 2006. It was then acquired by Peter Kiewit + Sons Ltd, along withe the barge The Pugwash and managed by their Marystown Shipyard. It also worked in Saint John, NB on the LNG terminal.

In 2017 Kelly's Cove Salmon Ltd, part of Cooke Aquaculture, bought the tug. I believe they had chartered it for some time prior. Now cocooned at Thériault's it will be interesting to see what it looks like when it is unveiled.

Ghosting through fog off Saint John, NB in 20007, the tug appeared to be carrying a payload of portable toilets.

Alongside and dried out at the tidal pier, Atlantic Tamarack was getting some TLC.

Built in Saint John in 1969 as Irving Tamarack the tug was originally assigned to the monobuoy serving Irving Oil's refinery. It has been working for Harbour Development Ltd for many years and usually attends the crane barge / dredge Cranemaster. That rig is in Shelburne for refit, so the tug is currently idled. Alongside it is what appears to be a modified seine skiff, which may be Thériault's own yard tug.

June 21 Digby

McNally Marine is carrying out some work at the ferry terminal and clearing away before the 5pm arrival of the Fundy Rose, the tug J.F. Whalen is hauling the crane barge Beaver Kay toward Digby harbour.

The tug was built in 2014 in Gaspé and is a 540 bhp twin screw vessel with push knees. It has a removable wheelhouse to make it truckable. 

The barge is former HMC Dockyard steam crane barge YD251 built in 1953 in Saint John and purchased by Beaver Marine and rebuilt in 1996. McNally purchased Beaver Marine but did not rename the barge. 

Visitors to Ship Central Eastern (home of Shipfax and Tugfax) may be treated to the sight of the barge's original name board, among other artefacts. It was rescued - with permission - from a dumpster, causing much amusement for the demolition crew.

This is the steam crane shortly before I retrieved the name board. (October 10, 1995)

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Tug big: Barney Turecamo, Tug small: Atlantic Tamarack

After several weeks of no noteworthy tugs movements in Halifax, it was a big and small day today.

Small:

1. Atlantic Tamarack sailing early this afternoon.

Altantic Tamarack sailed light tug for Saint John, NB. After spending the winter in Halifax with little to do, the tug has apparently been called to work in Saint John dredging. There is still dredging at pier 6 in the Halifax Shipyard, but bigger sister tug Atlantic Hemlock is looking after the dredge and scows.
At 725 bhp, Tamarack must be considered on the small side these days, but it has plenty of power for wrangling dump scows and has made some long tows in its time. Built for work around Irving Oil's Canaport oil buoy off Saint John, it was not expected to do much in the way of towing when built in 1969 as Irving Tamarack. Since transferring to Atlantic Towing Ltd's subsidiary Harbour Development Ltd the tug has done its fair share.  

2. On a snowy December 28, 1981, Irving Tamarack was nestled in between Irving Teak (left) and Irving Beech (right) at the old Broad Street pier on Courtenay Bay in Saint John, NB.

Big:

3. Barney Turecamo and barge Georgia get away from Imperial Oil this evening.

 
Moran Towing Corporation's articulated tug/barge Barney Turecamo/Georgia  have been calling in Halifax off and on since 2006. The barge was built in 2005 and is a double hull unit with 118,000 bbl capacity. It is deeply notched to take the tug, which was built in 1995.
The tug's hull was built by Halter's Moss Point Yard and finished by their Escatawpa yard in Mississippi. Originally rated at 5600 bhp from two GM EMDs, recent publications show it at 5100bhp. It sailed for its home port of New York, with somewhat less than a full load. It was a calm evening so it is likely that the tug will remain in the notch at sea, although it can move very quickly to towing if needed.The tug has a towing winch and winch operator's house between the funnels.

4. Making a bit of a rooster tail as it passes the Ives Knoll buoy, Barney Turecamo is well fitted into the barge notch. A blue coloured emergency tow line is stretched along the side of the barge and can be retrived if the tug nust exit the notch. The high wheelhouse permits a view over the barge when it is in ballast.  

The tug was rebuilt in 2005 with a new elevated wheelhouse, replacing the traditional lower level wheelhouse and bird's nest type elevated wheelhouse. At the same time the tug was fitted with an Intercon Type C coupler system that mates it to the barge.

5. Barney Turecamo in pre-rebuild configuration at Moran's Staten Island yard, April 6, 2002.

Turecamo Bros was a long established Staten Island tug company that had expanded to Charleston, SC and Philadelphia when they were bought out by Moran in 1998. Existing Turecamo named tugs generally kept their names after the merger, but had long since lost their distinctive wood grain effect deck houses.The graining was in fact paint that was combed when wet to give a wood grain look, then covered with varnish. Also lost was the Turecamo Brothers funnel mark, which was at least as distinctive as Moran's mighty M. 

6. Poster hangin on a wall near Tug Central.

It should be a reasonable trip for both boats heading south with not too too much wind, and relatively calm seas.

7. Sailin' away.

Tamarack is back

 1. Atlantic Tamarack comes alongside at pier 9.

The tug workboat Atlantic Tamarack arrived last weekend with the hopper scow HD7. Fleet mate Swellmaster also brought in the dredge Cranemaster, but returned to Saint John. All will be working at pier 6 on a major dredging and pier construction project for Halifax Shipyard.
Tamarack has become the dredge tender of choice for Harbour Development, although the old T-Boat Irving Chestnut is also in port. 

2. Irving Chestnut sits alongside as crews cut down the derrick scow Channelmaster at pier 9.

Changing of the Guard at pier 9 C

As work at pier 9c shifts from dredging to pier construction, there was a change of contractors and tugs were at work.
Harbour Development Ltd completed the dredging April 30 and their Atlantic Tamarack shifted all the scows and dredge from pier 9c to pier 7. (See also Shipfax) In order to get all the craft sorted out in the right order, Tamarack moved Swellmaster out of the way them back into place. Atlantic Tamarack has been handling most of the dredging scow work, although Swellmaster did some of the early work.Now that their part of the contract has been completed, the tugs and plant will be doing maintenance until the next jobs come along. Most dredging is done in the late summer and fall because spring run off (freshet) is continuing to deposit silt in places such as Saint John.

1. Atlantic Tamarack goes about its business while Atlantic Willow stands by for the ferry Highlanders to leave drydock.

2. Tamarack had to move Swellmaster twice to get all the plant arranged at pier 7.

On May 1 McNally Construction Inc took over the site and Mister Joe arrived with the tug Whitby and pile driving scow Derrick No.3 Ever on the move, Mister Joe returned almost immediately to Port Hawksbury, leaving Whitby here. McNallly's Carl M. has been here all winter and idle at pier 9 with other plant that was working on the pier c contract.



3. Mister Joe arrives on May 1 with Derrick No.3 on the hip. Whitby is hidden behind the scow.

4. Mister Joe departs light tug for Port Hawksbury.

And the Tamarack too.

1. This morning Atlantic Tamarack goes to work in the Narrows.

2. Back in 2001 it wore the soviet insignia on its funnel for a movie role.

With fleet mate Swellmaster off the Meteghan on another chore, it has fallen to Atlantic Tamarack to take over the wrangling of mud scows for the dredging project in the Narrows. Built in 1969 as Irving Tamarack, and renamed in 1997, the tug did duty as a standby vessel at the Canaport oil buoy off Saint John for many years before going to work for Harbour Development. The single screw tug was re-engined in 2010, and also seems to be going strong after all these years.

It also acted in a supporting role in the movie K-19:The Widowmaker in 2001. It wore the hammer and sickle and was seen pulling a sub out of drydock.

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Whole lotta towin' goin' on

In addition to the usual ship berthings, that happen every day, there was some other interesting towing going on in Halifax today.

This morning the veteran tug Swellmaster and the smaller tug Atlantic Tamarack arrived with an interesting tow, consisting of the dredge D-6 and the scow HD-9. Cradled in the scow was the tug/workboat Irving Chestnut. The convoy originated in Montreal, where the dredge plant worked on and off over the past few years in the St.Lawrence Seaway.
Once in past George's Island, Tamarack moved the scow alongside the dredge and assisted in tying up at pier 7.

Lining up for the approach to pier 7, Atlantic Tamarack leans into the D-6.

Swellmaster is running out of water forward, and has her stern up against D-6 ready to let go the bridle. A puff of smoke from Tamarack's newly installed Cat engine drifts across the dredge.

Later in the day the D-6 crane lifted Irving Chestnut out of the scow and placed it in the water. [Update: this did not happen, she is still in the scow as of late in the day]

The plant is operated by Harbour Development Ltd, a division of Atlantic Towing within the JD Irving group of companies. See http://www.harbourdev.com/

For more on the dredge D-6 see Shipfax.

Soon after these evolutions, the tug Whitby moved three scows from pier 9 to pier 9 C to free the berth for a tanker tomorrow. The scow Harold M was the last to be moved. It can be used for dredging or piling when a small crane is mounted.

Whitby rounds the knuckle with Harold M on a bridle. When it was secured to the (as yet unknown) scow on the right, Whitby returned to pier 42 to tend to dredging operations there, with Beaver Delta II and the dredge Canadian Argosy.

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