A grove of Firs

1. Atlantic Fir in the Narrows this afternoon. It is the third tug to carry the name in the Atlantic Towing Ltd fleet.

2. The second Atlantic Fir became Kotug's SD Jacoba in 1998. It is seen here in Rotterdam in 2006.

3. Undergoing pre-purchase trials, Atlantic Fir (ii) had its new name painted on, but coverd, until trials were completed and it was reflagged. 1998-11-27.

4. The first Atlantic Fir on pre-purchase trials in Halifax. It had its new name and number promintently displayed, but until handover it was still officially Atlantic Fir. 1997-09-22.

5. The first Atlantic Fir was based in Saint John, NB until sold to Norwegian owners. I twas only the second tug built to this pattern by East Isle Shipyard. 1996-04-14.


The tug Atlantic Fir, based in Halifax, is the third tug in the Atlantic Towing Ltd fleet to carry the name.
The first Atlantic Fir was built in 1995 and was a 4,000 bhp tug with fire fighting capability. In 1997 it was sold to Johannes Ostensjo oy (now Ostenso Rederi AS) of Haugesund, Norway, and renamed Alex, with the number 18 prominently displayed on its funnel (Ostensjo's tugs are not only named, but numbered sequentially.) It did it s pre-purchase trials in Halifax, then sailed to Cobh Ireland, where it is operated by Ostensjo's wholly owned subsidiary Lee Towage Ltd.
The second Atlantic Fir was built in 1998, and was also a 4,000 bhp tug, but without firefighting equipment. It was sold in the same year to Kotug of Rotterdam and renamed SD Jacoba. (SD stands for stern drive. All Kotugs have a prefix indicating type of drive, e.g. VS for Voith-Schneider and RT for Rotor drive - their patented three engine, three drive tugs.) After pre-purchase trials in Halifax the tug sailed on December 2, 1998 for use in Bremerhaven. It has since seen tours of duty in Rotterdam and Hamburg.
The current Atlantic Fir, as with all the others was built at the Irving owned East Isle Shipyard in Georgetown, PEI. It was built in 2005 and is an updated version of the previous tugs, with 5050 bhp and an escort skeg. It is also fitted for firefighting.

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