Panuke Sea - off into the sunset

 The former Secunda Marine Services supplier Panuke Sea sailed from Sydney, Nova Scotia today November 14 as KYDY Sea under Panamanian flag. Giving a destination of Calderas, Dominican Republic, it is unclear if the vessel will see further service or if it is destined for scrap. In view of its age and years out of service, the latter seems more likely.

Rebuilt from the 1984 era Neftegaz 14, it has been covered in this blog several times. Most recently:

http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2016/11/panuke-sea-up-for-sale.html

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Court Sale - ex Panuke Sea

The well known OSV, formerly Panuke Sea, has been ordered sold by the Federal Court. An ad appeared in local newspapers today giving creditors 30 days to file liens. The ship has been laid up in Sydport, Sydney harbour and is not being maintained. According to court filings on behalf of Heddle Marine, operators of the facility, the vessel is taking up needed space, and its resale value is diminishing.

Panuke Sea on trials after its second rebuild.

The ship is one of four former USSR suppliers acquired by Secunda Marine Services and rebuilt. Originally Neftegaz 14, it was built in 1984 by Komuny Paryskiej in Gydnia, Poland, powered by a pair of Sulzer engines (built under license by Zagoda) giving 7200 bhp. The USSR Ministry of Gas Industry built a large fleet of similar vessels with excellent ice class hulls, but with privatization of the Russian petroleum industry many were laid up.

Secunda acquired the tug / supplier in 2001 and it arrived in Halifax under its own power with a Russian crew on October 15. It was registered in Halifax as Panuke Sea on October 22.

I have covered the subsequent rebuilding of the vessel previously. To summarize it was rebuilt alongside in Halifax over that winter, then went to St.John's for drydocking and returned to Halifax for trials in July 2002. However the ship did not meet standards for visibility of the afterdeck, and another rebuild began which was not completed until March 2003.

See: http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2016/11/panuke-sea-up-for-sale.html

Panuke Sea was named for the area off Sable Island where oil and gas fields were developed,
and it is likely it served some of that activity as well as other Secunda contracts. Secunda changed ownership several times, through J.Ray McDermott, and back to Secunda Canada LP, but in 2006 when the company was again being sold the ship was put up for sale asking $600,000.

New owners, identified as Servimax Servicos Lda, acquired the ship and closed Canadian registration September 19, 2017. They renamed it Kydy Sea and hoisted the flag of Togo. It has remained in Sydney Harbour ever since.

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Panuke Sea - up for sale

Tugfax got a little mixed up with the last post and it is in fact Panuke Sea that is for sale.

Neftegaz 14 arrived in Halifax under its own power.

Although it started out as a Neftegaz tug / supplier, it has had a slightly different history.  Built in 1984 by Komuny Paryskiej in Gdynia, Poland it was named Neftegaz 14 for the USSR's Ministry of Gas Industry. It was working under Femco management when when Secunda acquired it in 2001. It arrived under its own power  with a Russian crew on October 15 and by October 22 it had been renamed Panuke Sea and reflagged to Canada.

During the winter it was renovated, but did not get the extensive conversion that Burin Sea and Trinity Sea got. On May 23, 2002 it sailed to St.John's, NL for drydocking and returned to Halifax July 11 painted in Secunda colours and within a week was doing harbour trials.

After its first refit, the Panuke Sea still had the original superstructure.

Visibility to the after deck was compromised and limited its ability to find work.

It was soon discovered that its opportunities for work were severely limited because it had poor astern visibility and the decision was made to start a second conversion, this time at pier 29 in Halifax. It emerged from this process in March 2003 with a raised forecastle and a full width aft facing bridge.

The second refit was carried out at pier 29.

The second time around the tug had a raised forecastle for better sea keeping.

It also had a full width aft facing bridge, with unobstructed visibility of the working deck. However it was not fitted with a towing winch.

Soon after it had a main engine failure, and the engine was replaced with another from sister Neftegaz 29. [Secunda had also acquired that supplier, but never did convert it. Although it was renamed Sable Sea in 1998 and Intrepid Sea in 2002, it languished in Halifax until 2012 when it was finally sold for scrap. On November 11, 2012 Altantic Elm towed out for Boston.]

Specs for the converted Panule Sea included the DNV 1A1 ICE-1C ice class, three thrusters, and 7200bhp from two 6 cylinder Sulzers, built under license by Zgoda. producing a modest bollard pull of 80 tonnes. Since there is no towing winch fitted, the boat was used for supply work, without towing. Including rescue capacity it has 28 berths.

It spent most of its working life in Nova Scotia waters, servicing the Sable Gas project. With hundreds of supplier laid up around the world, there is little prospect of a continued career in the oil and gas industry, but  perhaps its extremely low asking price of $600,000 will attract a buyer.

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