Evans McKeil - end of the line (amended, again)(and again)

The Evans McKeil, a veteran Canadian tug has reached the end of its useful life and has gone to the breakers. Dating from 1936 it had a 53 year career under the United States flag before coming to Canada fro another 33 years of service.

In fact the tug had three careers, starting in the unusual location of Balboa, in what was then the Panama Canal Zone - in fact United States territory. The Panama Railroad Company was one of the operating entities of the US government (and actually pre-dated the Canal), and operated tugs and barges. It built this tug in its own shipyard, naming it Alhajeula (Spanish for a little jewel). As with many railroads of the time, they were changing over from steam to diesel locomotives, so were familiar with diesel electric propulsion. The tug was equipped with an Ingersoll Rand D-E plant with two 6 cylinder, 500 bhp Ingersoll Rand diesels, eacxh with 50 kW generator a 900 hp engine driving a 750 hp DC electric motor. (I don't know if that was the engine output or the power at the shaft.) *A single screw tug, it was 111 ft long x 25.6  ft breadth, and was intended for barge work with a heavily fendered hull. (Many railroad tugs in New York harbour were also diesel-electric and the Canadian Pacific Railroad had its own D-E tug the Prescotont in barge service between Prescott, ON and Ogdensburg, NY since 1930.)

On August 19, 1942 it was struck by a US Navy seaplane. A barge that the tug had in tow was carrying aviation fuel and it burst into flames. Six were killed on the tug, nine on the airplane.  It took nine months to rebuild the tug, which tehn returned to servic May 16, 1943.

The tug was repowered in 1965 with a 1700 hp GM 16-278 diesel.

In 1970 it was put up for sale by the Panama Canal Company. Malcolm Marine of St.Clair, MI bought the tug and brought it up the Hudson River and Richelieu River to the Great Lakes.They renamed it Barbara Ann and it went to work in general towing, salvage and ship docking. In 1976 it was repowered with a GM EMD 645-E6 main engine of 2150 bhp, making it a very powerful tug for its type.

In 1989 McKeil Work Boats of Hamilton, ON bought the tug and registered it in the company's homeport on September 20, 1990. It was then named for the founder Evans McKeil, (of Nova Scotia ancestry).

 

Under McKeil direction it ranged the Great Lakes, St.Lawrence and east coast - reaching Halifax on several occasions. It was given a raised wheelhouse in 1990 (which was raised again in 1991) to facilitate barge work. It operated with the brine tanker barge Salty Dog for several years, but also did other barge work, and towed old lakers to the scrap yards.

 One memorable tow from Halifax was with the retired submarine Ojibwa which was loaded on the floating drydock HM1 and towed to Port Burwell, ON in 2018 where the sub was  placed on display.

On May 8, 2022, the 1943 built tug Seahound towed the Evans McKeil upbound in the Welland Canal deadship from Hamilton, ON to Port Maitland, ON where it will be broken up.

Note: There are several reports that state the tug will not be broken up - at least not right away. Updates will be made under a separate posting.

*Thanks to a reader for providing the Canal Copmany's "as installed" drawing for the sister tug, showing the two diesels, generators and motor. It also showed electro-mechnical steering. 

.

John Spence - rare caller

1. John Spence after delivering a barge this morning.

The tug John Spence arrived this morning after a long absence from Halifax. By my reckoning it was here last in 1998. However it was once here all the time, and that goes back to its original owners and its original job.

2. Mary B VI at the old Sugar wharf, now the IEL wharf in Woodside, in 1976.

Among the first offshore tug/suppliers built in Canada, it came out of the Star Shipyard in New Westminster, BC in 1972 as Mary B VI for Fedcom /Nordic Offshore Services to support oil exploration off Nova Scotia. Only a year or so after traces of oil were found from drilling on Sable Island, it was the beginning of an on again off again oil exploration era.
With sister Janie B and Cathy B , the Mary B VI worked out of Halifax for several years then returned to the west coast. It was renamed Mary B from 1981-1982, but then returned to its original name. In 1983 it was sold to Arctic Transportation Ltd and was renamed Arctic Tuktu. It worked in the Beaufort Sea under that name but in 1994 made what turned out to be mid-life career change.
McKeil Marine of Hamilton, ON bought the boat, renamed it John Spence and rebuilt it as a tug for a variety of chores, but normally working with large barges on the St.Lawrence River and Seaway. This involved installing an elevated wheelhouse- and not a little bird's nest type, but a full sized one. In recent years it had been paired with the barge Niagara Spirit transporting aluminum ingots from Sept-Iles up through the Seaway.

3. Big barge PML 9000 has only a push plate type notch, and tugs use face wires when pushing. 

Its arrival today was a bit of a surprise, since it came with the big barge PML 9000, owned by Purvis Marine Ltd of Sault Ste.Marie. The barge came down through the Seaway in tow of Evans McKeil.and must have been handed over on the Strait of Canso on Friday. The 4,285 gross ton (9,000 deadweight) barge was built in 1968 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Div. in San Francisco. It was tied up at the Cherubini Metal Workers Ltd pier in Dartmouth, and will be loaded with large industrial fabrications.
Meanwhile John Spence has moved over to pier 31 in Halifax, likely for fuel and stores.

4. Belle D. moves alongside for a nudge while tying up at Cherubini's dock in Eisner's Cove.

As far as I know, John Spence is still equipped with its original pair of GM La Grange 16-567-C engines giving a total of 3,280 bhp, through twin fixed pitch props, despite the fact that the engines, although installed when the tug was new, were in fact assembled in 1951.

5. Tanker Kometik unloads at Imperial Oil in the background, while in the middle ground, Cherubini's yard is full of steel fabrications to be loaded on the barge.


.

Salvor now (and back then)

The McKeil tug Salvor arrived this afternoon towing the pollution control barge John P. Oxley from Shelburne. The barge has just completed a refit at Shelburne Ship Repair, and was returned to its berth at the Ultramar dock in Eastern Passage. The barge was built in 2001 by les chantiers Verreault in Méchins, QC and this is the first time it has left Halifax in the interim.
1. Salvor tied up at the Svitzer dock after completing its tow.

2. Salvor leaves the Eastern Passage bound for Halifax.

3, Salvor leaves the Ultramar dock in Eastern Passage after delivering the barge John P. Oxley.

4. Esther Moran arrived in Halifax 1982-05-03. One of her halyards has come free, but she looked quite trim in her Moran colours of green hull, red house, black funnel and huge white M.

The Salvor has been used in a variety of jobs since its acquisition by McKeil in 2000. In August it was pushing the barge Lambert Spirit on the St.Lawrence and Lakes.
The tug was built in 1963 for Moran Towing of New York and was named Esther Moran. It visited Halifax under this name in 1982 to tow out the El Paso Columbia. It was paired at that time with a sister tug M.Moran, which also was acquired by McKeil and renamed Salvager in 2000, and Wilf Seymour in 2004.) It is also in barge service, pushing the Alouette Spirit from Sept Iles to the Great Lakes.
.

Classic tug arrives

The veteran tug Evans McKeil made one of its infrequent arrivals in Halifax this morning towing the floating drydock HM Dock 1. [see also Shipfax.]

The tug was built in 1936 in Balboa, Panama Canal Zone by the Panama Railroad Co. and named Alhajuela. Originally a diesel electric vessel of a modest 750 bhp, it has been rebuilt and reconditioned several times in its long life.

In 1970 Malcom Marine of Port Huron, MI acquired the tug and ran it as Barbara Ann until 1989.

In that year McKeil Workboats of Hamilton ON became the owners and added an elevated wheelhouse for barge work. It is named for the founder of the company, the late Evans McKeil. In its current configuration the tug is powered by two GM EMD engines, geared to a single screw, giving 2150 bhp.

.