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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Mister Joe, Beaver Kay and Whitby - oldies but goodies

1. Mister Joe gets underway from pier 9 towing Beaver Kay.

2. On deck is Whitby, much in need of hull cleaning.

3. The barge is on a short tow line until clear of the harbour.

4. Beaver Kay was built as YD 251 a steam derrick for the naval dockyard. What looks like a gun tub as the top of the derrick was a fire monitor. Photo October 10, 1995 at pier 35.

After a hard summer's work the various dredging and marine construction fleets are getting ready to go into the barn for the winter.

This morning the tug Mister Joe sailed form Halifax towing the Beaver Kay with Whitby on deck. Yesterday a crane was offloaded from the Beaver Kay and positioned on the new pier C extension at Halterm where it will continue the work from the land side. Whitby was also working steadily on the pier C project, but will not be needed now.

These vessels all belong to McNally Construction Inc, which, since July is a wholly owned subsidiary of Weeks Marine, Inc of Cranford, New Jersey.

Mister Joe started life as the Churchill River in 1964 at Russel-Hipwell Engines in Owen Sound ON. Built for the Hudson Bay Company it worked for them in the far north until sold to work on the Hibernia project. It moved to Beaver Marine in 1997 and was renamed when Beaver was integrated into McNally. It is a twin screw tug of 750 bhp.

Whitby was built in 1978 by and for McNamara Construction. McNally took over that operation and the tug has worked all over eastern Canada. It is also twin screw with 474 bhp.

The senior citizen in the bunch is Beaver Kay. Built in 1953 by Geo. T. Davie & Sons Ltd in Lauzon, QC, it was the steam crane YD 251 and worked in the HMC Dockyard in Halifax until 1995. Beaver marine acquired it in that year and removed the crane derrick and all the steam machinery, leaving a small portion of the deck house. It was registered for the first time in Halifax December 17, 1996 and named Beaver Kay. It is a very wide (115 feet long x 60 feet wide) and stable hull, and makes a good working platform for some very big cranes for dredging, pile driving and other work.

The little flotilla is headed for Point Tupper where McNally has its maintenance base. Whitby needs a good shave and a haircut, and there is work to do on Beaver Kay too. Mister Joe usually keeps running until December.

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