Tug Saint-Georges - another trip

 A tug that arrived in Halifax on a barge from the Netherlands has embarked on another long trip as cargo on a heavy lift ship.

The Saint-Georges was one of three tugs built by Damen Shipyard, Gorinchem to a Stantug 1205 design. Twin screw, powered by Volvo engines developing 600 hp total, they are rated at 8.5 tonnes bollard pull. 

Two of the tugs, Dominion Enforcer and Dominion Rumbler were for Dominion Diving of Halifax while the Saint-Georges was for Pomerleau Inc, a large construction company based in St-Georges, QC. They arrived in Halifax December 5, 2021 on the barge Jacob Joseph C towed from Gibraltar by the tug Amy Lynn D, both of which had been purchased by H.R. Doornekamp Construction Inc of Odessa, ON. Once the two Halifax tugs were unloaded the larger tug and tow proceeded to Montreal where the Saint-Georges was offloaded. Amy Lynn D and barge continued on to Doornekamp's base in Picton, Ontario. 

Pomerleau Inc had also acquired the 808 kW (1,000 bhp) tug Intense built in Turkey in 2016 from SNC Lavalin, where it had been used on the new Champlain Bridge project in Montreal. 

Now Pomerleau has decided to transfer both Intense and Saint-Georges to British Columbia and they were loaded aboard the heavy lift ship Poolgracht in Trois-Rivières, QC between June18 and 22.

Poolgracht had also been engaged to carry the two new Royal Canadian Navy tugs Barkerville and Haro from Quebec City to Victoria.They were loaded last week and ship sailed from Quebec City June 27. It will stop at Newport, RI and Port Everglades, FL, possibly to  carry some pleasure craft, before transiting the Panama Canal en route to Victoria. I will cover these tugs in another post.

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Safe Arrival

 Most transatlantic tows from Canada involve large barges or ships eastbound en route to the scrap yard in Turkey. Last night (December 5) marked the arrival in Halifax of  a somewhat smaller vessel. The barge Jacob Joseph C, 2076 GT in tow of the tug Amy Lynn D. Tug and tow are of interest in themselves, but of added interest is the deck cargo on the barge - three small tugs.

The tug Amy Lynn D is much traveled since it was built in 2013 by Damen's Hardinxveld shipyard in the Netherlands.  Originally named Otago it operated for Damen's own chartering fleet, but in New Zeland. In 2018 it as sold and renamed MSC Allianz Explorer by Allianz Middle East under the management of Maritime Craft Services Clyde. Earlier this year Damen apparently did a buy back and re-sold the tug to Canadian owners the Doornekamp company of Odessa, ON. They renamed the tug Amy Lynn D and it will be put to work in the Wolfe Island area in eastern Lake Ontario.

The tug is a Shoalbuster 3209 standard design, powered by two Cat engines giving 3498 bhp and 46.8 tonnes bollard pull (maximum) with two fixed pitch props in nozzles and a 350 bhp hydraulic bow thruster.

The tug was last working in the United Arab Emirates, and sailed from there to Algeciras, Spain (Gibraltar) where it rendez-voused with the barge. Also a Damen standard product (called a Stanpontoon), the barge had departed Rotterdam about a month ago and was towed to Algeciras.

On board the barge are three small tugs of the Damen Stantug 1205 class. Powerful for their 13m length, the 600 bhp vessels deliver a 8.5 tonne bollard pull. Standard main engines are Volvo driving twin screws in nozzles. They are also fitted out to a very high standard of finish with a complete suite of navigation gear.

Two of the tugs are destined for local owners, Dominion Diving Ltd. The company operates a number of work boats to support its diving and other work, but also provides line boat and pilot and agent transport in Halifax harbour. The Dominion Rumbler and Dominion Enforcer will be off loaded from the barge - weather permitting - December 7.

The third tug, Saint Georges is destined for Quebec owners and will remain on the barge until it reaches Quebec.

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