Intrepid Sea bows out

The supplier Intrepid Sea (ex Sable Sea-02, Neftegaz 29-98) left port under cover of darkness tonight in tow of Atlantic Elm.
The former Russian supplier had been idle in Halifax since arriving here in tow November 15, 2001. Various parts had been cannibalized to assist in the conversion and repair of former fleet mates in the Secunda fleet, and the ship had been moved around to various locations in the port. It had been laid up most recently at Pier 9A.
In May of this year its Canadian registry was closed and it has since been referred to as N-29. Whether it is registered at present it is hard to know since it flies no flag nor displays any port of registry.
Its history has been given here before, so will not be repeated, but it is apparent that with the recent buyout of McDermott Canada Ltd by local management, the ship had no future with Secunda.
The ship's destination was given as Boston, with an arrival date of November 13.  Once in Boston, it is my assumption that it will be handed over to a US tug for onward towage to its final destination for scrap, likely Brownsville, TX.
Departure from pier 9A was assisted by Atlantic Larch. As the ship was moving off the dock part of its port deck rail gave way and the bits the tug was using parted company with the ship, in the bight of the Larch's line. The bits later dropped into the water in the main channel.
Also the supplier had some old Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs) on deck and possibly some other scrap material.

Neftegaz 29 aka Intrepid Sea - update

1. Dumpsters on the dock and an anchor on the brow of the pier.

Although there are few outward signs yet, scrapping has begun on the supplier Intrepid Sea ex Sable Sea, Neftegaz 29.
It has been eleven months since the supplier was moved from its long term layup at the Burnside pier to pier 9. At the time I speculated that this would be the end - see: http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2011/09/neftegaz-29-target.html
On May 4, 2012 the ship's registry was closed, and for some time now there have been dumpsters alongside. It appears that Dartmouth Metals is doing the work. They have scrapped many ships over the years, but this is the first one to be scrapped within the confines of Halifax Harbour for some time.
They will not be able to finish the work at pier 9, since the hull will have to be beached, and it will certainly become unstable well before that, and unsafe to work adjacent to a main navigation channel.
I will update this as work progresses.
As a footnote the ship is now known as N-29, but this is strictly informal as it is no longer registered. Its previous name, Intrepid Sea, never appeared anywhere on the ship, and is perhaps too closely associated with its former owners, Secunda Marine Services.

Big tug, little tugs at pier 9

More tug activity in the northend on Friday involved moving the old supplier Intrepid Sea a.k.a N-29, along pier 9B to pier 9A. The long dead Neftegaz 29 could not move on its own, and so Dominion Diving provided the motive power, and deck crew, using Halmar and Roseway - also two veterans.
Neftegaz 29 was built in Poland in 1983 as a pipe carrier/supplier for the USSR and acquired by Secunda Marine Services in 1998. Secunda rebuilt three sister vessels, with this one providing a lot of spares, but never reaching the conversion stage.

1. Its current name Intrepid Sea appears nowhere on the ship, so it is referred to as N-29. 

2. Neftegaz 29 was registered in the port of Kholmsk, which is on Sakhalin Island, just north of Japan in the eastern part of the Russia. Lloyd's Register never listed a registry port for the ship.

Friday's move was carried out by two classic boats, that have spent many years in Halifax. The more travelled of the two is Roseway, the former Department of Public Works tug, built in 1960 and acquired by Dominion Diving in 1989. It has performed numerous coastal tows but is most commonly seen these days as the line handling boat for Autoport.

3. Roseway reports for duty.

4. After moving a containment boom, Roseway takes a bow line and gets the ship moving using her 300 bhp on two screws. 

 Also built in 1960 is Halmar, one of the former Shipyards workboats. Its name is an amalgamation of HALifax Shipyards and Dartmouth MARine Slips,and it worked in both yards and all around the harbour until 1992. It was completely rebuilt and repowered in 2008-2009, with new superstructure and even a bow thruster. It can often be seen ferrying pilots to ships at anchor in the harbour when the pilot boat is out, but also does numerous other chores.

5. Halmar takes a stern line to keep the ship in line.

 

6. Her bow thruster was put to use several times during the move.

7. Roseway is often seen handling the head lines of ships at Autoport, where they are tethered to large buoys. 

8. On December 23, 1991 Roseway sank in 60 feet of water (and muck) while approaching the IEL dock. She was lifted off the bottom by slings and barge and moved to the pier where she was raised on December 28. Her electronics were replaced and and after cleanup was back in service within two months. [The tug in the background is Canmar Tugger, which became Atlantic Oak(i) and is now working on the west coast as Island Tugger. Coincidentally, it sank at its dock in Sydney in March 1993 and was raised by Dominion Diving.]

9. Halmar as she looked shortly after Dominion Diving acquired her from the Shipyards. [That is a lifeboat from CSS Hudson, and the retired icebreaker John A. Macdonald in the background]

10. In her Shipyard days Halmar worked around the harbour to assist in repairs, often with divers aboard. 



Neftegaz 29 a target?

1. Intrepid Sea a.k.a. Neftegaz 29 , is guided from Bedford Basin to pier 9 this afternoon.

2. The tug arrived in Halifax in 2001 in tow of Topaz. Even Russian tugs in service can look like derelicts.

3. Tugs moved Neftegaz 29 in 2002 (her official name was Sable Sea at the time.)

One of a large fleet of supply/pipe carriers built for the USSR in Poland, the former Neftegaz 29 moved today from its longtime layup position in Bedford Basin. Atlantic Oak and Atlantic Larch moved the old vessel as a dead ship to pier 9.

Built in 1984 by Stoc. im. Konuny Paryskiej in Gdynia, Poland it was one of 55 vessels of its class. Reportedly built of excellent steel, with ice capabilities, the ships were of an obsolete design, and some were laid up on delivery.

Secunda Marine Services of Dartmouth acquired four vessels of the class, Neftegaz numbers 1, 2, 14 and 29. Numbers 1 and 2 were converted to the tug suppliers Burin Sea and Trinity Sea. Number 14 was transformed in to Panuke Sea.

Number 29 arrived in Halifax November 15, 2001 in tow of the Russian tug Topaz. Even then it was apparent that the ship has been laid up for some time. Although there was some activity on board in 2002 and again 2003 when one of her engines was removed for use on a sister vessel, she has spent most of the last 10 years laid up at Secunda's (formerly Gulf Oil's) Burnside pier in Bedford Basin. Now that all useful parts have probably been removed for re-use, she is pretty much in derelict condition and there is evidence of vandalism.

Shortly after Secunda acquired the ship they renamed it Sable Sea, but in 2002 this was changed to Intrepid Sea to free up the name for another supplier. Neither of these names has ever been painted on the ship.

In 2007 ownership of Secunda was taken over by McDermott, but there were no outward signs of change in the company.

Today's move may mean the end for the ship. We will soon discover if she is going to be sold to the navy for use as a target (most likely scenario in my mind), sold for scrap or even (unlikely) rebuilt.

.