Working the Backlog

 When pilotage operations resumed early this morning (Friday, December 22) after the latest storm had passed and sea conditions moderated, there was a major backlog of shipping to accommodate. Most of these ships will have to take their turns in order of earliest scheduled arrival as there is a limit to the number of berths in the port. As of late afternoon there were still six ships hove to off Halifax waiting their turn.

Among the ships that did enter port was the Annie B, a first time caller on ZIM's CGX feeder service. It was due originally from New York on Wednesday December 20 but spent an uncomfortable two days slowly steaming back and forth or hove to well offshore away from the coastal swells.

The bright sunshine was deceptive as there was still a swell runnning in the harbour. With a very stiff northerly wind, and sub-zero temperatures, there was a lot of spray for the ship and the attendant tug Atlantic Larch.*   (See also yesterday's Tugfax for some more splashy photos.)

 

The ship Annie B was hastily renamed in late June or early July 2023 by anonymous new owners Clement Shipping Ltd.

Built in 2003 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan the 28,596 gt, 39,383 dwt ship has a capacity of 2826 TEU including 554 reefers. Its original name was Cardonia (still visible in welded letters on the bow) but was renamed on delivery as CMA CGM Ukraine, a name it carried until 2006 when it became Cardonia again.

 A report on social media says that the ship will unload 49 containers and load 1035 during its stay in Halifax, which even for a feeder service seems light. Seasonal variations and world events may be factors in loadings as the shipping world is in a state of flux these days.

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 * The Atlantic Larch, built by East Isle Shipyard in Georgetown, PE in 2000, is a 4,000 bhp tug with a 51 tonne bollard pull rating. It is based in Saint John, NB, but is designated as an "outside tug" available for coastal work and other assignments away from its home port. It arrived in Halifax to supplement the local tugs while Halifax Shipyard "launched" the latest Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship, AOPV 434 on December 9. 

There has also been additional activity in the port with more wind turbine components arriving and the Atlantic Bear had a short spell at the Shelburne Shipyard for its ten year classification renewal survey. Halifax can keep up with demand with five active tugs, but six would be preferrable in winter and other busy times. Regular tugs in Halifax are Atlantic Oak, Atlantic Fir, Atlantic Bear, Atlantic Beaver, and Atlantic Willow. Since early December the tug Atlantic Elm, not normally a harbour tug, has also been in Halifax, attending barges used during the transfer of the wind turbine towers, and other miscellaneous chores such as ship docking in Sheet Harbour. It also stood by in Cape Breton while the bulk carrier Genco Endeavour effected repairs.

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D.D. Kaufman - new tug in town

 Although it has been in Halifax since August 16, today, December 21, was the first time I was able to get a close up look at the tug D.D. Kaufman. As I reported here on August 24, the tug arrived in Halifax from New Jersey, the long way round, via the New York state canals, the Great Lakes and the St.Lawrence Seaway. It is here working on the new Jetty L at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) where it is nearly impossible to see, let alone photograph. 

 

The tug's owners, McNally Construction Ltd of Hamilton, ON also have bases in Sorel, QC and Point Tupper, NS and carry out marine construction work throughout eastern Canada. They have a large fleet of scows, barges, and several tugs and workboats. Many of these are older units were acquired in the 1990s when McNally purchased the fleets of the former McNamara Marine, Cartier Construction, Beaver Marine, Canadian Dredge + Dock, and Pitts Engineering companies.

In 2017 Weeks Marine Inc of Cranford, NJ purchased the McNally Group, which also included McNally International, a tunneling specialist based in West Lake, OH. Then in turn as of January 1, 2023 the large construction company Kiewit Corporation acquired Weeks, including its Hawaiian subsidiary and North American Aggregates of Perth Amboy, NJ.

 All this is by way of explaining the history of the  D.D. Kaufman and its sister tug W.A. Reid. The two tugs were built for Weeks in 2016 by A+B Industries of Morgan City in Amelia, LA. Hull number 371 was built as Jody P and was renamed D.D. Kaufman when acquired by McNally and was registered in Halifax November 22, 2022. Hull 372 started out as Belinda B and was named W.A. Reid when registered in Hamilton, ON, also on November 22, 2022. They were transferred from Weeks ownership to McNally to replace or supplement some of those older tugs from the 1960s and 1970s.

Today, following a large storm surge in Halifax harbour, the D.D. Kaufman was dispatched from BIO to Pier 25 to check on the semi-submersible barge Beaver Neptune. The barge was used to build concrete caissons for the BIO Jetty, and on completion of that work was moved out of the way to Pier 25. 

 

It appeared to have weathered the storm with all its mooring lines intact, so the D.D. Kaufman returned to BIO. There was still quite a swell running in the harbour, so the tug's windscreen wipers got a good workout coming and going.

 

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Duga - no news

 Since September 28, 2023 when its Canadian registry was closed I have been waiting for news on the disposition of the tug Duga. So far there has been no information forthcoming except that it has registered in Bolivia (a land locked country!) and has been sold to foreign buyers, perhaps in Mexico.

 

Groupe Océan acquired the tug when they purchased Les Remorqueurs de Trois-Rivières in 2002, and the tug remained stationed in that port until it was moved to Quebec City and laid up in July of this year.

Construction of the tug was started by Rolf Rekdal A/S Tonura, Tomrefjord, Norway, and completed in 1977 by Langsten Slip A/S, Langsten. It was built as an ice strengthened anchor handling tug, of 4200 bhp with a 55 tonne bollard pull. Its twin contollable pitch props are mounted in fixed nozzles, and its hull is heavily fendered below the water line.

After service for J. Ostensjø of Haugesund, Norway it was brought to Canada for work in the Beaufort Sea for Arctic Offshore Marine Services, the Hay River based company owned by Capt Don Tétrault. It possibly made a northwest passage on its delivery. I am not sure of its route when it was then sold to Trois-Rivières, ca. 1987.

In the mid-1990s when Atlantic Towing Ltd had new tugs under construction for use at Point Tupper, Duga was chartered until the new tugs were delivered and it was based at the Statia terminal in Point Tupper.

The tug has been well maintained by Groupe Océan at their own shipyard, but I understand that the Wichmann main engines are unusual and perhaps a bit of a liability. 

It is interesting that the tug has kept its name since 1977, despite now five changes of ownership. (The world "duga" in old Norse can mean "help" or "aid" and has a similar meaning in several Scandanavian tongues, so seems appropriate for a tug,).

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