John Spence - rare caller

1. John Spence after delivering a barge this morning.

The tug John Spence arrived this morning after a long absence from Halifax. By my reckoning it was here last in 1998. However it was once here all the time, and that goes back to its original owners and its original job.

2. Mary B VI at the old Sugar wharf, now the IEL wharf in Woodside, in 1976.

Among the first offshore tug/suppliers built in Canada, it came out of the Star Shipyard in New Westminster, BC in 1972 as Mary B VI for Fedcom /Nordic Offshore Services to support oil exploration off Nova Scotia. Only a year or so after traces of oil were found from drilling on Sable Island, it was the beginning of an on again off again oil exploration era.
With sister Janie B and Cathy B , the Mary B VI worked out of Halifax for several years then returned to the west coast. It was renamed Mary B from 1981-1982, but then returned to its original name. In 1983 it was sold to Arctic Transportation Ltd and was renamed Arctic Tuktu. It worked in the Beaufort Sea under that name but in 1994 made what turned out to be mid-life career change.
McKeil Marine of Hamilton, ON bought the boat, renamed it John Spence and rebuilt it as a tug for a variety of chores, but normally working with large barges on the St.Lawrence River and Seaway. This involved installing an elevated wheelhouse- and not a little bird's nest type, but a full sized one. In recent years it had been paired with the barge Niagara Spirit transporting aluminum ingots from Sept-Iles up through the Seaway.

3. Big barge PML 9000 has only a push plate type notch, and tugs use face wires when pushing. 

Its arrival today was a bit of a surprise, since it came with the big barge PML 9000, owned by Purvis Marine Ltd of Sault Ste.Marie. The barge came down through the Seaway in tow of Evans McKeil.and must have been handed over on the Strait of Canso on Friday. The 4,285 gross ton (9,000 deadweight) barge was built in 1968 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Div. in San Francisco. It was tied up at the Cherubini Metal Workers Ltd pier in Dartmouth, and will be loaded with large industrial fabrications.
Meanwhile John Spence has moved over to pier 31 in Halifax, likely for fuel and stores.

4. Belle D. moves alongside for a nudge while tying up at Cherubini's dock in Eisner's Cove.

As far as I know, John Spence is still equipped with its original pair of GM La Grange 16-567-C engines giving a total of 3,280 bhp, through twin fixed pitch props, despite the fact that the engines, although installed when the tug was new, were in fact assembled in 1951.

5. Tanker Kometik unloads at Imperial Oil in the background, while in the middle ground, Cherubini's yard is full of steel fabrications to be loaded on the barge.


.

Leonard M. - progress report

Thanks to Capt. Clar Vautier I have more photos of the McKeil tug Leonard M. (ex Point Halifax) in St.John's acquiring its new elevated wheelhouse.

It appears that the tug's original single mast has just been plunked down atop the new wheelhouse. As one commentator observed, if she was thought to be a poor sea boat before, this will not help!

For reference purposes, here is Point Halifax, less than a month after entering service in Halifax harbour.

Beverly M 1 - new McKeil name

McKeil Work Boats of Hamilton, ON has registered the first of its two newly acquired tugs in St. John's, NL. Beverly M 1  was registered February 20, and given official number 837218.
As usual documentation is incomplete, so we do not know which of the two recently purchased tugs this is, either the former Pacific Tempest or Pacific Typhoon.
Seehttp://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2013/01/new-for-mckeil.html for the original posting.
Stay tuned.

New for McKeil

Rumours are circulating that McKeil has acquired two tugs from Swire Pacific Offshore. Built in 1994 for Hong Kong Salvage & Towage Co Ltd, the former Mai Po and Shek O are 4,000 bhp stern drive anchor handling/supply tugs of 54.5 tonnes bollard pull.Currently named Pacific Tempest and Pacific Typhon respectively they are registered in Barbados, but operated through Swire's Singapore offices.
Built by Imamura Zosen in Kure, Japan, they are powered with Niigata main engines and Rexpeller stern drives. They also have bow and stern thrusters. These drive combinations are common in Asia, but virtually unheard of in Canada.
For spec sheets see: http://www.swire.com.sg/vessel_detail.aspx?code=TEP&status=0&class=14

For general arrangement:

While no doubt they are handy tugs, they will require considerable Canadianization I expect.

William J. Moore - end of the line?

The tug William J. Moore and tanker barge McCleary's Spirit have been laid up by their owners K-Sea Canada Corp, and the crew has been let go. First and foremost this is sad news for the crew, particularly when foreign flag tankers have been brought in on short term charters to work essentially the same trade.
Both tug and barge have interesting histories, well worth repeating.

1. As built, Warrawee in Australian waters.

The tug was built by Adelaide Ship Construction Pty Ltd in Port Dover, South Australia in 1970 as Warawee for Adelaide Streamship Co. In 1975 it was sold to Seaspan Overseas Ltd but sent to work in the North Sea for Union Towing & Transportation Ltd from 1976 to 1988. It was then renamed Raider and came to Canada to work for Newfoundland Marine Energy Ltd in Come-by-Chance, Newfoundland. It briefly adopted the name Raider IV but then became Alice A. before the end of 1988. McKeil bought the Newfoundland Marine Energy fleet of three tugs (Bonnie B. III  and Carroll C II being the others) in 1999 but it wasn't until 2002 that the tug took its present name William J. Moore when it was paired with the barge. Two GM EMD main engines and a total of 4078 bhp drive twin controllable pitch screws.

2. Tucked into the stern notch of the barge. The raised wheelhouse was added for this work.

3. Heading downstream for the Ultramar refinery to load. 

The barge was built in 1969 as a coal barge Nieuwpoort in Temse, Belgium. In 1978 it became Gato da Mar and in 1984 L'Isle Sous le Vent and converted to a floating fish farm. McKeil bought the barge from layup in Falmouth, UK in 1999 and renamed it Le Vent with the tug Ocean Wrestler towing it to Canada. It was rebuilt to carry jet aviation fuel, and renamed McCleary's Spirit. It now measures 67,888 gross tons, with a cargo capacity of 13,385 tons.
In 2005 ownership passed to K-Sea Canada Corp with McKeil continuing to manage the pair and working under a charter to Pétro-Nav.

4. Heading back upstream a couple of days later, there is visibility from the lower wheelhouse,

but it is not being used.

5. The tug's derrick was also removed and other modifications made to work with the barge.

What the future will bring for the pair is not known. Although neither is very new, they could be expected to last for some time in freshwater service. The combo has been listed for sale for some time, so perhaps a foreign buyer will be found.



Point Halifax - gone to McKeil

McKeil Work Boats Ltd of Hamilton, ON have purchased the tug Point Halifax from Svitzer Canada Ltd. Once the backbone of Halifax harbour tug operations, and the first azimuthing stern drive tug on the east coast, it has obviously reached a certain age, and no longer suits Svitzer's needs.
Designed by EYE (Evans Yeatman Endal) of Halifax and built by McTay Marine of Bromborough, UK, the tug was delivered to Halifax in 1985 after a lengthy trials period in the UK, during which some modifications were made. It arrived in Halifax after a very rough crossing of the Atlantic, on December 21, 1986 and early in 1987 was in service. At 4,200 bhp it more than doubled the horsepower of any of its owner's Halifax tugs. Here is a retrospective look at the tug over its twenty-four years of service in Halifax.
Designed to work over the bow in ship berthing, it was also fitted with a towing winch, which saw little use in its early years. It also had an open working deck aft to carry offshore supply containers (which it did once to my knowledge) and a stern roller for anchor handling (which it never did to my knowledge). When it was delivered Eastern Canada Towing Ltd was a subsidiary of Smit and Cory International. When Smit bowed out, the funnel marking changed to one derived from the Cory parent, but with the word ECTUG on the blue diamond.

Not well regarded as a sea boat, it did some outside work, but was kept busy in Halifax until delivery of newer tugs freed it up somewhat.

When Wijsmuller acquired Cory there was a short interval when the tug carried Wijsmuller's logo, but this was soon displaced when Svitzer bought out Wijsmuller. A gradual change over to a new colour scheme started with the Svitzer cross on the funnel.

Under Svitzer ownership and delivery of another new tug, Point Halifax was freed up to work more outside. It was then sent to work in the Freeport, Bahamas one winter and on northern supply barge towing in the summer to Hudson's Bay. Svitzer ended up adopting a propeller logo on the funnel.

When Svitzer Canada transferred its tugs to the Strait of Canso under its joint venture with Atlantic Towing Ltd, the Point Halifax was still undergoing costly repairs to its stern drives following a grounding in the Strait of Belle Isle. It was chartered to Atlantic Towing for barge work and not used in ship berthing at Point Tupper. (Although it may have been called in if needed.)

Now the tug has been sold to McKeil, who, although based on the Great Lakes, work all over the east coast. They are also noted as the buyers of most of Eastern Canada Towing's (and now Svitzer's) surplus tugs.

McKeil Marine as they are commonly known, usually name their tugs after people, so expect a name change soon.

.

W.N.Twolan sails again

1. W.N.Twolan in Halifax, while under McKeil ownership.

2. Handling the barge Loveland "The Twolan" leaves pier 23. The littel "bird house" wheelhouse was removed when sold by McKeil.

An interesting tug has found new work on the Great Lakes and upper St.Lawrence River, far from its original sphere of operations.
Built in 1962 by Geo. T. Davie & Sons Ltd (little Davie) in Lauzon, now Lévis, QC, it was designed for service in the port of Churchill, MB for the National Harbours Board. It was a twin screw vessel with two 700 bhp Gebr. Stork engines, two firefighting monitors rated at 1400 gpm at 150 psi, and a towing winch. It was also capable of working in ice, and was built to Lloyds Ice class 2. Its work at Churchill was to act as a pilot boat, and ship berthing tug, and was expected to work clearing ice at berths and other general port work. To accommodate pilots it was fitted with 10 crew berths and four spares.
It has managed to keep its distinctive ever since, through at series of owners. W. N. Twolan was the superintendent of pilots and later general manager of the Port of Churchill, MB on Hudson Bay. He retired in 1955 and the tug was named in his honour.
It went to Churchill to work, then in 1965-66 it came back to Halifax to winter over and for drydocking and refit. It repeated this every few years (1971-72, 1975-76) then went to other ports for refit.
It was replaced at Churchill in 1986 when the new 3030 bhp tug H.M.Wilson was built for the port. 'The Twolan' came south again. McKeil Work Boats had bought the tug and it ran for them in barge service and icebreaking from late 1986 to late 1992. It was a caller in Halifax from time to time, once in 1991 (as pictured) with the barge Loveland, which it picked up in the US.
The next owners were St.Lawrence Tug Boats, a company established in Montreal by Construction A. Dufresne and Berthiaume Marine, which had acquired McAllister Towing & Salvage. The tug worked in the Montreal area, and was useful in the ice, but by then underpowered for ship berthing work. They did not see fit the change the tug's name.
In 1995 W.N.Twolan was acquired,along with the barge McAllister 132, by a numbered company in Thunder Bay, ON doing business as ABM Marine, The company was associated with Buchanan Forest Products. The barge was set up to carry timber and packaged lumber and fitted with a high control house to see over the mountainous deck loads and to control the tug, which usually pushed from the stern. The pair traded from Thunder Bay, ON to various Lakes ports including Duluth, and as far afield as Detroit, MI and Erie, PA.
With the closure of some of that company's operations the Twolan was laid up at the end of the 2008 season.
This spring the tug has been brought out again, and sailed down to Oshawa, ON where it picked up two inland river type grain barges. It then set out for Prescott, ON where it exchanged barges and headed for Trois-Rivieres, QC.
The grain barges were previously handled by Upper Lakes Group's Marinelink tug Commodore Strait and the chartered Radium Yellowknife. Marinelink has ceased operations and the charter of Radium Yellowknife appears to have ended. That tug had some ownership and mechanical issues last year and was latterly operated by the Great Lakes Feeder Lines.

Recent Photos on the Boatnerd web site show the W.N.Twolan still carrying the ABM funnel marking.
After many years in fresh water, W.N.Twolan’s life has no doubt been extended. And it may well see many more years of service.

Footnote:
A tug of the same basic design was built in 1961 by the Saint John Dry Dock as Kelligrews for the Minister of Public Works, for service with the dredging fleet in Newfoundland. It was an ice class 3 vessel. Sold in 1989 to Verreault Navigation of Les Méchins, QC it carried the name Verreault No.25 for a brief time but was renamed Keta V later in 1989.It became the company’s main towing vessel and towed dredging plant all over eastern Canada. On October 3, 2000 it struck a ledge and sank while entering Liverpool, NS and was a total loss. Plans to raise it were never carried out, although the wreck was sealed and its tanks pumped out.

.

Florence M tow trouble

1. Florence M leaves the Pictou wharf to head out to the barge to begin salvage work, November 12.

2. Florence M lies alongside the grounded barge Sault au Cochon off Pictou. The calm conditions November 13 are far different from the storm on November 10.

The former Halifax tug Florence M was towing the barge Sault au Cochon toward Pictou, NS Wednesday, November 10 in storm force winds and high short seas when her tow line parted. The barge drifted ashore near Pictou Lodge and dumped much of her load of pulpwood.

The tug was built in 1961 as Foundation Vibert for service in Baie Comeau, QC. Built with the then revolutionary hydroconic hull form (using flat plates instead of compound curved plates) it was a product of the P.K.Harris yard at Appledore, North Devon, UK. A twin screw tug, she is powered by two 4 cylinder Fairbanks Morse (opposed piston) Diesels, each developing 666 bhp.

Her intended service was to work in Baie Comeau, QC in summer then move to Halifax for the winter. By the 1970s however, Baie Comeau remained open year round, and larger ships began calling there. The newly formed Eastern Canada Towing Ltd, renamed the tug Point Vibert in 1973.

In 1977 Cargill Grain had the V-S tug Pointe-Comeau built with Ectug as managers, for service at Baie Comeau. Point Vibert was transferred to Halifax. Despite its limited power, it served as #2 tug in Halifax until Point Chebucto was delivered in 1993. The tug then went to Port Hawksbury until Ectug (Svitzer) withdrew from the Strait of Canso.

In 2001 McKeil Marine bought the tug and renamed in Florence M. It has since had a towing winch installed and has been working in barge service on the Lower St.Lawrence and Gulf for the past several years.

The barge Sault au Cochon was built by Port Weller DD in 1968 with the barge Betsiamites and tug Atlanitc (later Laval and now Ocean Echo II.) They were used to shuttle pulpwood from Forestville, QC to the Anglo-Canadian paper mill in Quebec City. When that service was halted by later owners, Sault au Cochon was acquired by Sablico and used for sand and gravel transport during the construction of the Confederation Bridge to PEI. In 1995 while loading gravel at Forestville, Quebec the barge broke in half. The barge was completely repaired and later sold to McKeil Work Boats of Hamilton, ON.

It has returned to pulpwood transport in the past several years and has worked all over the Gulf and Lower St.Lawrence.

As of November 13 salvage operations were underway on the barge and its cargo.

.

Tony MacKay - returns to old roost.

1. Tony MacKay ex Point Carroll at the Svitzer Canada Dock, September 2.

2. Tony MacKay towing out of Halifax September 6.

3. Tony MacKay giving some power to get underway with Fraser, September 6.

4. Point Carroll in her prime July 30, 1994.

The McKeil tug Tony MacKay returned to her old stomping grounds this past weekend. She was set to tow out the old naval vessel Fraser when a court challenge and Hurricane Earl intervened to delay the departure.

The court challenge, by parties attempting to preserve the destroyer escort, failed but Hurricane Earl held things up until Monday.

Meanwhile Tony MacKay tied up at the Svitzer Canada dock -her old home when she was Ectug's Point Carroll.

Built in 1973 for coastal towing and tanker berthing at Point Tupper and Come-by-Chance, Point Carroll and sister Point Spencer, were soon put out of work when both refineries were closed. The sisters and four fire tugs were laid up in Halifax where the owners Smit & Cory International had set up Eastern Canada Towing. All the other tugs were eventually returned to Smit & Cory, but Point Carroll remained in Canada, and was put to work by Ectug doing some ship berthing, ocean towing and salvage tows. She also worked with cable laying, towing a trenching plow and pushed oil barges. Eventually Ectug opted to sell the tug, since her single steerable prop and modest horsepower limited her effectiveness.

McKeil Boat Works Ltd of Hamilton, ON (known as McKeil Marine) bought her in 2001 and put her to work in barge service. She was heavily modified with an elevated wheelhouse and extended exhaust stack.

It is in this guise that she arrived in Halifax. She had to go to anchor during the hurricane, then on Monday morning she moved to navy Jetty Lima to pick up Fraser, and sailed for Port Maitland, ON.

[see Shipfax for more on Fraser]