Océan Tundra-construction well underway

1. The new Océan Tundra is under construction at Groupe Océans's shipyard. 

On the weekend I got my first look at Groupe Océan's new TundRA 100 tug under construction at Industrie Océan at Ile-aux-Coudres, QC. The new 8,000 bhp, 100 tonne bollard pull ice class tug is the most powerful harbour tug to be built in Canada. The Robert Allen Tundra design ice class tug, will be built to Lloyds 1A Super F.S. and will be used in tanker escort on the St.Lawrence, and in the arctic.The name Océan Tundra has been applied to the hull, but the ship has not been named officially yet. That will come this summer when construction is completed.

2. It dwarfs fleetmate Duga at the adjacent repair slip. Note the large escort skeg, and cut away forefoot for working in ice.

The tug will be fitted with a forward shiphandling winch and after towing winch-both with special weather protection features, and will be fitted with fire fighting gear.

3. Large ice horns will protect the ASD drives while backing in ice. The  tug does have rolling chocks, not a common feature on ships that work in deep ice.

The photos show the large cooling intakes on the hull. These will in all likelihood be connected to heated seachests, to permit working in slushy ice. Engine cooling can be compromised in heavy ice if the seachests become clogged. External piped cooling devices, can be damaged by ice too, so the heated seachest system is used.