Big Tug

Point Halifax returns from berthing the auotcarrier Lapis Arrow at Autoport on a cool January 31 morning. The 4200 bhp ASD tug was built in 1986 and was the backbone Eastern Canada Towing's operations in Halifax.

Since delivery of Svitzer Bedford in 2005 she has been freed up to do other work, including a winter in Freeport, Bahamas and two summers towing barges to Hudson's Bay.

With fleet mate Point Chebucto in drydock in Lunenburg, Point Halifax is back doing full shifts in Halifax.

Even Smaller Tug

Yes it is possible to have a smaller tug than Carly J. Le Grow's Marine also operate Harbour Diver, an aluminum hulled craft, powered by outboard motors. It is used more often in the pushing mode than in the towing mode, but it performs a variety of chores for Le Grows.

I have no details on her either, except that she has an interesting multi-chine hull, which gives her considerable stability.

More Tiny Tugs

Another small tug working in Halifax harbour is LeGrow Marine's Carly J. She was busy yesterday moving a sectional scow to the pilotage wharf. The scow was spudded down alongside the wharf to drive some sheet piles. I have no information on Carly J, except that she seems to have appeared in Halifax in the past five years.

Le Grow keeps her quite busy, handling scows, notably the international garbage scow used during the cruise ship season.

The B-Team

Atlantic Towing's "A-Team" the modern azimuthing stern drive harbour tugs, are kept at work berthing ships and other duties in Halifax.

In the background of the photo, taken this afternoon, Atlantic Larch 4000bhp, built 2000, is seen shifting the former protest vessel Farley Mowat. Mowat's famous tug stories Grey Seas Under and the Serpent's Coil, were based in Halifax, with tugs of Foundation Maritime. He has since lent his name to the seal hunt protest movement.

Atlantic's "B-Team" of much older tugs, find work in the dredging and marine construction areas, and are often laid up for extended periods. Such is the case in the foreground of the picture. Seen is the pier 7 area of Halifax Shipyard where Harbour Development, Atlantic Towing's dredging arm, keeps its equipment. In the front is the small tug Atlantic Tamarack, built in 1969, with 750 bhp. It is a twin screw vessel, used now for handling mud scows.

Bows north (facing to the left) is Swellmaster, built in 1965 in England as Atherfield, and acquired in 1971 when she was renamed Irving Hemlock. She got her present name in 1996. She is a twin screw tug, which was re powered and now has 2000bhp. She handles dredges and mud scows too, and last fall was working in the St.Lawrence Seaway. She returned to Halifax with the scow HD8, to which she is secured.

Facing to the right (bow south) is Atlantic Poplar, built in 1966 as Amherstburg, for McQueen Marine of the Ontario city of the same name. Irving acquired her in 1975 when she was renamed Irving Poplar, and received her present name in 1996. She is a 2920 bhp vessel with twin screws. She arrived in Halifax in tow October 31, 2009, and there is apparently some work going on to refit her. At that time she may rejoin the A-team or become a member of the B-team. Meanwhile she and her mates sit at pier 7 awaiting work, or spring, which ever comes first.

Smallest tug in Halifax

The miniature Waterworks 1 is not to be scoffed at as a tug. Even though her hull is made of fibreglass, she packs 220 bhp and makes her living towing and handling her owners' construction barges. She works year round, despite having no wheelhouse, and as you can see from the picture taken this morning, she does accumulate snow from time to time.

As a provincially registered vessel (C14941NS) her name is unofficial, and her builders name and date of build are not recorded. By her looks however, I would say that she was built as a herring skiff, used by herring seiners to handle purse nets. She would have been carried on the stern of the fishing boat and launched with one end of the net, which she would then bring round in a circle back to the boat to be drawn in.

In the photo she is tied up to a big concrete barge, which she has towed around the harbour to various construction sites. The most recent was the reconstruction of the piers at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic last summer.

Atlantic Hemlock drops in

Atlantic Hemlock arrived at the IEL pier in Dartmouth to supplement Atlantic Towing's harbour fleet. Fleet mate Atlantic Oak has been away in Newfoundland working since before Christmas, so Hemlock will bring the fleet up to three again, with Atlantic Spruce and Atlantic Larch.

Built in 1996, Atlantic Hemlock has 4,00bhp compared to the 5,000 bhp of the Oak, and carries no firefighting gear.

She has thin film of frozen spray on her from the trip, and still carries one of the aluminum guard plates on a wheelhouse window. Her winch is also enclosed by a tarp.

She is normally based in Saint John, New Brunswick, but does get around to other locations from time to time, and made a round trip to Europe in 2000 to promote sales. She was in Rotterdam and at the International Tug & Salvage Conference in St.Malo, France. The trip was successful as several of her yard mates have been sold to a variety of European owners.

Mister Joe

Although based in Halifax, the tug Mister Joe may be absent for long periods of time. Operated by Beaver Marine Ltd of Halifax (a division of McNally Construction of Hamilton, ON) the tug is used for marine construction projects all over eastern Canada. This has taken her to the Great Lakes, the coast of Labrador, all over Nova Scotia and New Brunswick- even up the Saint John River as far as Gagetown. She has also done some contract towing and other odd jobs.

Built in 1964 by Russel-Hipwell in Owen Sound, ON, she originally went to work as the Churchill River for Rupert's Land Trading Co Ltd (Hudson's Bay Company.) She worked in Churchill Manitoba and Mossonee, Ontario and other ports on Hudson's Bay and James Bay handling supply barges for the parent company.

In the late 1990s she was sold to the Churchill River Tug Co Ltd of Manuels, Newfoundland and was involved in the flurry of activity surrounding the Hibernia Project.

In June of 1997 she arrived in Halifax for the first time, for Beaver Marine Ltd. Since then she has often wintered in Halifax or refitted at Brenton Gray's shipyard in Sambro.

When McNally took over Beaver Marine in 2001, the tug was renamed Mister Joe and repainted in McNally colours. In May and June of that year she assisted in filming of the submarine movie K-19 The Widowmaker, but she never appeared on film. Instead she moved the former Russian submarine and did other chores during the filming.

In 2002 they gave her a major refit at Sambro, installing two new GM engines, totalling 750 bhp, to drive her twin screws.

Her most recent arrival in Halifax was January 5 towing the construction scow Beaver Kay. They offloaded construction equipment at the Halterm container pier for a pier extension.

She then left port to fetch the construciton barge William B. Dilly, arriving back in Halifax about January 12 and leaving January 13 towing it to Yarmouth.

File photo-2009