Atlantic Maple - splendid tug, gone for scrap.

After many years of layup and on the sale broker's list, Atlantic Towing finally gave up on the Atlantic Maple this summer and scrapping began at the Indiantown tug base in Saint John, NB, and is largely completed by now.

 
In the 1960s Atlantic Towing Ltd ordered a pair of sea-going tugs from Saint John SB & DD.  First was Irving Maple and second was the larger Irving Birch. Irving Maple was delivered in 1966 and set to work towing oil barges for Irving Oil. Some very large barges, such as Irving Whale and  Irving Sealion were the usual consorts of this tug, which was also available for salvage and other towing work.

    Her fine lines and high bow made her an excellent sea boat, and she proved herself many times over in bad weather and awkward tows.
     In 1975 she towed the broken down Leslie from Newcastle NB to Philadelphia after a grounding.
    Built for navigation in ice, Maple made several trips to northern waters, the most memorable was in 1980. She assisted Irving Birch in towing a mine plant barge from Trois-Rivières, QC to Little Cornwallis Island for Cominco’s zinc mine.

     January weather in 1982 made for a difficult salvage job with Irving Birch when they were called upon to retrieve the tanker Arhon which had been adrift for two weeks off Sable Island. They arrived safely in Halifax January 27, and the ship was eventually towed to Spain for repairs by Irving Miami. In March of the same year Maple took the lead in salvaging the abandoned Dalia D. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The ship had taken on a severe list in pack ice, but Maple, assisted by Irving Birch were able to get the ship safely into Gaspé Harbour.

    In 1984 she towed the two large Irving tankers H.1060 and H.1070, in tandem, from Point  Edward NS to Spain for scrap, arriving at Castellon July 9.
    She also towed the paper barge Kent Carrier and Kent Transport on numerous occasions, up and down the east coast.

    When business was slow in the 1980s recession, she was laid up at an anchorage in the Saint John River with Irving Birch and Culver. The fresh water in the river inhibited marine growth during the idle period.
    In February 1995 she towed the newly launched Atlantic Spruce (i) from Georgetown PEI to Halifax NS for completion.

    With the elimination of tanker barge services and the delivery of new harbour tugs, Atlantic Towing changed the existing tug's names. After working a few years as Atlantic Maple, the tug was laid up at Atlantic Towing’s Indiantown base in Saint John in 2003. Although there was some expectation that she would see service in 2008 she remained mothballed until demolition began in the summer of 2013.
   
Atlantic Maple, ex Irving Maple -96
    O.N. 326466    IMO 6619578
    487grt 1966 Saint John SB & DD [1063]
    35.36m x 9.45m x 4.27m
    8 cyl Polar (Nydqvist & Holm) = 3200bhp,
    1 screw, controllable pitch prop in nozzle

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McNally - still working pier 6, pier 9 and Fairview Cove

Three McNally tugs in Halifax involved with pier expansions at Fairview Cove and Halifax Shipyard. One new concrete crib, built by McNally, will soon be placed at Fairview Cove to extend the pier. They are currently using Derrick No.3 to place steel sheet piles in the area.
Meanwhile using pier 9c as a base McNally is building cribs for the Halifax Shipyard pier 6 expansion. So far five cribs have been positioned.  Derrick No.1 and the semi-submersible Beaver Neptune are in use along with the previously shown Dexter scows and workboats.
McNally's tug Jamie L seems to be the tug most in use, but Oshawa can also be seen from time to time. Bagotville does not seem to be very busy by comparison.

1. Oshawa gives Jamie L a tow while floating off a concrete crib at pier 9 September 17.

2. Jamie L makes up to tow Derrick No.1 from pier 6 to pier 9c.

3. Tow under way, September 20.

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Sable Sea - cleared for Portugal

The supplier Sable Sea sailed this afternoon for Portugal. Rumours that she will be scrapped haven't been confirmed, but it seems very likely.

The sale of the ship took place before the announcement that the owners of Secunda, Birch Hill Equity Partners Inc has sold 50 percent of the company to SIEM Offshore of Norway. SIEM has a forty-six ship fleet (including eleven under construction), compared to Secunda's current six ships.
Mostly suppliers, the SIEM fleet also includes some other types of support ships. Among them is the Halifax-built Joides Resolution drill ship.

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Return of the Jamie L

 
McNally Construction's Jamie L has returned to Halifax after several years of work in other locations. It arrived during August with the crane scow Derrick No.1 (built by Canadian Dredge and Dock in  Kingston, ON in 1979).
Now working both at Fairview Cove on the pier extension and at pier 9C with the pier 6 crib work, it can be seen running back and forth to the various locations. Built in 1987 by Navigation Verreault at Méchins, QC for Public Works Canada, it was originally named Baie Ste-Anne, and measured 41 feet overall length,  25 gross tons, and was fitted with engines totaling 470 bhp driving twin screws. In 1996 when PWC decided to get out of the dredging business, the tug was renamed T.1.  It was soon snapped up by Beaver Marine and continued to operate under that name until 1998. By that time the name Baie Ste-Anne had been taken by another vessel, so the tug became Baie Ste-Anne II. In 2005 as Beaver became fully integrated into McNally Construction the tug was renamed again this time as Jamie L.
As built, the tug had a grey hull and white superstructure, and yellow funnels with black cap and red maple leaf. Beaver painted the hull black, then the deckhouse red, leaving the PWC funnels unchanged. In 2005 McNally gave it the green and cream colour scheme that it carries now, but it still carries the red maple leaf - a nice touch revealing its history, and showing a little patriotism too.
Jamie L's near sister tug, built by Ben Livingstone Shipyard in Charlottetown PE in 1987 was called George Bay. Based in Yarmouth, it was transferred to the Canadian Coast Guard by PWC, then sold in 1997 to Navimar Inc of Quebec and renamed Le Taureau. (after a French immigrant ship of 1656-1658 , and translated means "The Bull"). In 1999 Beaver Marine acquired the tug and at that time it was reported to be fitted with two 6 cyl GM 6V92s delivering 660 bhp.
On October 6, 2007, it was on the deck of the crane scow McNally Olympic when they parted a tow line and went ashore near Hebron, Labrador in heavy seas. Both tug and barge were lost, but the towing tug Jerry Newberry made it through.

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Sable Sea - sad story

 1. Sable Sea at pier 9A on Saturday. Still in Secunda colurs, but now sold, presumably for scrap.

The supplier Sable Sea has finally found a buyer after many months of maintenance/ layup at pier 9 and other locations in the harbour. It would seem however that the sale is for scrap rather than for further use.
New owners are listed as Icefresh Ltd, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, UK. They are the same people that bought the trawlers Cape Ballard and Cape Beaver last year. While on delivery to the scrappers, Cape Beaver sank, but Cape Ballard reached port safely after rescuing Cape Beaver's riding crew. Icefresh is apparently associated with Icelandic and Danish interests.


I have covered the history of Sable Sea before, see: 
http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2012/09/sable-sea-at-pier-9a-times-two.html
According to Transport Canada's website, Sable Sea has been re-classified as a yacht - thus freeing it from commercial standards before being cleared to sail from Canada. Nevertheless, it still required a pilot when it sailed some days ago, but experienced engine trouble and had to return to port, again requiring another pilot.
I understand that the ship has now been detained with several liens placed against it by creditors, so ti may be here for some time to come.

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Groupe Océan update

The two Stevns tugs arrived at Ile-aux-Coudres on schedule during the night of August 7. They were hauled out in turn on the marine slip at Industrie Océan for delivery inspection, and perhaps some small underwater work.
I was on the scene the next morning and gave them a quick appraisal. They are in surprisingly good condition, and are impressive tugs despite being overshadowed by the giant Océan Tundra under construction at the yard.

1. Altough dwarfed by the newbuilding Océan Tundra, Stevns Arctic is still an impressive tug. Note the stern lacks the ice knives of the new tug, however their hull lines are essentially the same.

2. Stevns Océan, the older of the pair, is still in pristine condition despite an ocean crossing.

Following a few days on the slip, the tugs went on to Quebec City where they were repainted in Océan colours and renamed at Océans ship repair base.
Stevns Ocean (built in 2002) has become Océan Stevns, at least for the duration of the charter, and Stevns Arctric (completed in 2005) is now Océan Arctique. The tugs were registered in Ottawa, on August 15. They have been placed under the management of Océan Remorquage Côte-Nord Inc, which confirms that they will be assigned to the Iron Company of Canada contract at Sept-Iles when  Svitzer's contract expires later this year.
Strangely, Transport Canada's web site lists their power as 1850 kW. This is the power of each of their two MaK engines, at roughly 2500 bhp each, totaling 5,000.

3. The business end features this double drum ship handling winch, with anchor windlass.

 

4. The after deck is small, but features a towing winch and a small tugger winch.

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