Atlantic Hawk - sold and renamed Sayan Jarl

Offshore tug and supply operators have experienced a dramatic slowdown in activity over the past year. The reasons are related directly and indirectly to the pandemic, which resulted in a drop in demand for petroleum products and cutbacks in offshore activity by the oil companies.

Most tug/suppliers work under long term contracts, but even some of those have been subject to early cancellations, or the contracts simply have not been renewed or extended when they expired. Some boats have been placed on the "spot market", meaning intermittent work under daily rate hire.

 In 2020 Atlantic Towing Ltd had 13 vessels in its offshore fleet. Two of them, Atlantic Eagle and Atlantic Raven are working on the Pacific coast as Emergency Towing Vessels under contract to the federal government.  By the end of the year two boats, Atlantic Kestrel and Atlantic Merlin were operating in the North Sea and four were operating out of St.John's for Hibernia or Hebron: Atlantic Griffon, Atlantic Shrike, Atlantic Heron and Paul A. Sacuta. Three more were laid up in Stephenville, NL namely Atlantic Kingfisher, Atlantic Osprey, Atlantic Condor (see next post) and Atlantic Tern.

A fifth tug in layup was Atlantic Hawk which has now been reported sold to Russian owners and renamed Sayan Jarl under Cyprus registration.

Built in 2000 by Halifax Shipyard, it was the second of four similar vessels of Ulstein UT 722 design. (The first was Atlantic Eagle.) The third and fourth boats were UT722L design, meaning they were somewhat longer. Equipped as an anchor handling tug supplier, it has engines totaling  14,411 bhp.

The ship is reported to be in South Dildo, NL, refueling and taking on stores for its delivery trip to the new owners.

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Atlantic Towing supplants Secunda at Deep Panuke

A contract for supporting the offshore gas fields off Sable Island seems to have changed hands on or about January 1. The Secunda supplier Scotian Sea and standby tug Ryan Leet have been replaced by the Atlantic Hawk and Atlantic Tern respectively.

Scotian Sea  has been idle at pier 9B in Halifax since the first of the year.[January 11, 2014 photo]

Meanwhile Ryan Leet has been laid up in Mulgrave awaiting new work.[April 25, 2011 photo]

Meanwhile Secunda's Panuke Sea and Venture Sea are still working off Sable Island.

Ryan Leet and Atlantic Hawk

The tug Ryan Leet is in port probably for one of its regular, fuel/stores/crew change visits. The tug is tasked with standby duties off Sable Island. It only comes to port about once a month, usually toward the 28th.
Also in port is a rarer caller, Atlantic Towing Ltd's Atlantic Hawk. Built by Halifax Shipyard in 2000, it was the second of four big suppliers from the yard. It normally works off Newfoundland

 

 

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Maersk Challenger - gets the hot potato

The Lyubov Orlova tow off Newfoundland is like a hot potato game now, as the Port of St. John's in company with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has refused entry to the ship should it reach the coast.
According to press reports it is the Minister of Transport that is paying tugs to tow the ship around endlessly on the North Atlantic until they can determine what to do with it.

1. Maersk Challenger in Halifax in 2004.

At some point this evening the AHTS Atlantic Hawk is going to pass the tow over to another AHTS, the Maersk Challenger. Operated by The Maersk Company of Canada Ltd, it was built in 1986 at Orskov shipyard in Frederikshavn, Denmark, as Challenger III, becoming OIL Challenger in 1986, until acquired and re-named by Maersk in 1991. It came under Canadian flag in 2002, and has worked out of Halifax and St.John's.It is also a well equipped anchor handling/supply tug of 14,348 bhp. It is powered by four V-12 MAN engines through twin controllable pitch screws.

Atlantic Hawk - to the rescue

1. Atlantic Hawk as built.

Reports have reached me that the anchor handling tug/supplier Atlantic Hawk has taken the drifting Lyubov Orlova in tow. The tug secured the wayward ex cruise ship last night (January 30).
Destination for the tow has not yet been made known to me, although I suspect it will be St. John's. I doubt that there will be much of a welcome mat extended there, since the ship languished in that port for two years after being abandoned by its owners. The resident rodent population may be happy to have its hotel back, although I am told it was fumigated at some point before sailing on its ill-fated tow behind Charlene Hunt.
There is some question now if the Charlene Hunt was bareboat chartered to Lyuobov Orlova's owners or actually purchased by them.The US Coast Guard's web site still shows that tug owned by Hunt Marine I LLC of Narragansett, RI..
Atlantic Hawk was built by Halifax Shipyards in 2000, and was the second of a pair of UT 722 AHTSs constructed for Atlantic Towing Ltd. It is powered by a pair of monster V-12 Ulstein Bergen engines developing a total of 14,400 bhp, driving CPPs in nozzles for a Bollard Pull rating of 157 tonnes. It is also bristling with thrusters.
Since the photo above it has added a 20 tonne Iron Fist crane and FiFi II fire fighting gear.