New life for old tugs

 A pair of elderly tugs appear to have been sold, or at least are in the process of being sold for further service.

The older of the two tugs is the W.N.Twolan, built by G.T.Davie + Sons Ltd, Lauzon, QC in 1962. A twin screw tug of 1520 bhp, it is powered by Werkspoor engines. It was considered to be a very powerful tug for its day, and even twin screw tugs were something of a rarity.

It was built to operate in the Port of Churchill, MB on Hudson Bay, to assist bulk carriers into the port to load grain. It was ice strengthened so it could continue to assist ships at the beginning and end in the short July to October season. There were facilities for minor maintenance in Churchill, but the tug sailed south in 1966-67 and again in the 1970s for five year surveys and refits. 

 

When in barge service with McKeil a small "birdhouse" was installed above the wheelhouse for improved visibility.

The tug was replaced in 1986 and passed through McKeil and Dufresne/McAllister ownership until 1995 when it was acquired Buchanan Forest Products of Thunder Bay, ON. They used it to push a lumber barge on Lake Superior. In 2011 it was chartered to push a grain barge but has been laid up in Toronto since about 2013.

Its AIS signal has reappeared in recent weeks in the area of Toronto Dry Dock Co, where it seems likely to be refitted for service. That company has successfully operated the veterans Salvage Monarch (1959) and Radium Yellowknife (1948) in recent years.

Another old tug destined for a new career is the Escorte, presently reported in Kingston, ON undergoing re-certification. Built in 1967 by Jakobson, Oyster Bay, NY for the US Navy as  Menasha YTM-773 and later YTM-761 it was (along with a sister tug Mascouta) the first Voith Schneider tugs built in the United States. As Menasha it worked for the St.Lawrence Seaway Authority for a time in the late 1980s until acquired by Groupe Océan. It worked with Océan's dredging fleet for several years until moving to Goderich, ON  for ship berthing duties.

The tug worked in Goderich, ON until April 2021. It then moved to Hamilton, ON in April, Oshawa, ON in May and Kingston. It has been idle at Kingston since mid-August in refit. It is rated at 1,000 bhp, (1300 ihp) 13 ton bollard pull  from two GM 12V-71 engines and two V-S units mounted forward - a true tractor tug.

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Tug changes in Goderich

Groupe Océan has assigned the tug Escorte to the port of Goderich, ON. Situated on Lake Huron the port sees about 250 ships a year. Most of those ships load salt at the Sifto Salt mine, located in mid-harbour. There is also a grain loading facility and a grain elevator in the port.
We are told that Groupe Océan has a contract with Algoma Marine for ship docking at the salt pier, and has provided tugs for several years. Most recently they used the former pilot boat Ocean Côte-Nord.
It was built by Industrie Océan at Ile-aux-Coudres in 2001 as Côte-Nord and was based at the Escoumins pilot station with near sister Charlevoix built in 1995.
When the Laurentian Pilotage Authority replaced the two boats, Charlevoix went to Les Services I.C.E. Inc and has been stationed in Sydney, NS transferring ice advisers to and from ships transiting the Gulf and  St.Lawrence River.

 Côte-Nord and sister Charlevoix at the Anse-aux-Basques dock at Les Escoumins, QC..

Côte-Nord was transformed into a tug and sent to Goderich, ON in 2014. With a modest bollard pull of 10.8 tons, it must have been a bit of a challenge to work lakers in the tight confines of the port. Goderich remains open well into the winter as demand for road salt continues, but the port and its approaches often become choked with ice and other boats are often needed to break and scatter the ice.

Early in December Océan Côte-Nord was reported downbound through the St. Lawrence Seaway system and arrived in Montreal December 5.

Escorte, based in Hamilton, ON for a time until 2010 and again since 2016, arrived in Goderich December 17 and began work December 18. I have recounted the history of the tug here before, September 11, 2011
Built in 1967 as USN 760 Menasha it was one of the earliest Voith-Schneider tugs in North America.

 Still in navy colours, the tug worked for the US side of the Seaway.

After several transactions and refit it has served Océan in a variety of work, most recently in Hamilton, also assisting shipping in the Welland Canal.With more powerful V-S tugs now assigned to Hamilton, it has moved on once more.

No account of tug activities in Goderich would be complete without mention of the colourful fleet of MacDonald Marine [MacTug]. Their stylish little tugs have been a fixture in the port for decades, and the family owned business traces its origins to the days of sail.

MacTug handles ships using the grain berths, and sometimes the whole fleet is called out to work a ship.

 Debbie Lyn built 1950, 240 bhp.

 Donald Bert built 1953, 318 bhp.

 Ian Mac built 1955, 318 bhp.


Since the above photos were taken Ian Mac received a new wheelhouse:

Dover built 1930, (on a salvaged iron frame dating from 1905) 280 bhp, is reported to be out of service. its engine has been a fickle one by all accounts and that may be the problem. Its riveted hull, having been in fresh water its whole career is likely to still be sound.

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Océan finds work for Escorte

1. In the camber at Pointe-au-Pic with the Manoir Richelieu hotel in the background.


2. Operating stern first, she arrives at Cap-à-l'Aigle with a spoil scow.

3. Removal of the orginal funnel improved visibility to the stern.

4. Escorte stands off Pointe-au-Pic at dusk, after a day's work.

Groupe Océan of Quebec City, has found work for its excellent small tug Escorte. After several years of service at their Hamilton, ON operation it was replaced this year by Océan Golf, and was reported to be for sale.

However I saw it in action this summer assisting the dredging fleet with some barge handling work. The tug was tasked with handling the barges Milne Inlet and Mary River to carry contaminated dredge spoil, which was then pumped ashore for treatment and disposal. This operation took place at both the Pointe-au-Pic, QC and Cap-à-l'Aigle, QC wharfs, in preparation for new wharf ownership and future development.

Escorte was built by Jakobson's Shipyard in Oyster Bay, NY in 1967 for the US Navy, as Menasha and was assigned the USN number 760. It and sister tug Mascouta, 761, now Atlantic Towing's Atlantic Aspen, were reported to be experimental, since they were were the first USN tugs built with Voith propulsion, and developed a modest 675 bhp. (There exists some confusion about the actual ancestry of the tugs, since the USN had YTBs or YTMs of the same name built at the same yard a few years earlier. This pair were definitely more like YTLs or YTSs, since they measure only 120 gross tons.)

After naval service they showed up on the United States section of the St.Lawrence Seaway in about 1989, still in USN colours. They were soon repainted in St.Lawrence Seaway Development Corp colours of black hull and green deck house, and did see service in the Snell-Eisenhower lock areas, and even with ship assist work at Cornwall, ON. Menasha was sold to John Fedek of Ogdensburg, NY in 1991. Vandalized and sunk in August 1992 it was raised by Donald Gordon of Courtwright, ON, who took possession of the vessel in payment. He operated the tug for a time out of Sarnia, repainting the deckhouse blue. He must have liked the name because he renamed his next acquisition Menasha (ex W.C.Harms-97, Ruby Casho-88, Hamilton-86, W.C.Harms-54, 132 gross tons, built 1949, 900 bhp)

In 1995 MTL Marine Tug Inc of Montreal (part of Three Rivers Boatmen) acquired the tug, and she was again repainted - this time with white deck house. Her plain black funnel acquired the red and white vertical bars of 3RB, and she was renamed Escorte, with "Tractor Tug" painted on her bulwarks.

After Groupe Océan took over 3RB, she worked out of Trois-Rivières for a time, then in 2002 was sent to Quebec City for a refit. There her funnel was removed and replaced by exposed exhaust pipes (improving visibility aft) and of was again repainted, this time in Groupe Océan colours of the day. Those have since changed, but the tug is essentially unaltered since then.

As with all Groupe Océan tugs, she is maintainred in spotless condition, and looks to be in excellent condition. Long may she run!

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