Océan sells off older units

 Quebec City based Groupe Océan has apparenty sold its four older units to the Georgetown, Guyana company BK Marine Inc. (The company is part of the huge BK Group, a conglomerate of transportation, construction, and infrastructure operations.) The tugs have been inactive for some time, but have been maintained in  "warm layup". All four are veterans, and can be expected to see a few more years of service in the Caribbean /South America.

The tugs are:

Ocean Echo II , previously covered in this blog May

 Now renamed Brianna K the tug is tied up in Quebec City with fleet mate Océan Basques which has been renamed  Bradley G. 

The Océan Basques has also been covered here numeorus times, including my September 2014 post.

Océan Echo II and Océan Basques at the Industrie Océan shipyard in Ile-aux-Coudres in 2014. Both are twin screw tugs.
 

BK Marine has also acquired the Avantage, now renamed Kane G. I speculated on its potential sale, also in May 2022.

 The fourth and final tug is Mega - not so far renamed, and presumably its barge Motti as well -both of which remain laid up in Sorel-Tracy, QC.

The Brianna T ex Océan Echo II is fitted  with hydraulic rams for articulated tug/barge work, and Mega is also paired with its barge, Motti and it is likely that BK Marine has found work for such combinations. Bradley G ex Océan Basques is a powerful twin screw tug, and could be an asset in the right place (but won't need its ice breaking abilities in Guyana).  Kane G ex Avantage as a low powered single screw tug is a little harder to figure, but perhaps in an "en bloc" sale, it was part of the deal. 

So far no sailing dates have been posted, but the tugs in Quebec City are flying the Guyana flag, and have their new names painted on.

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Océan cleans house - 1. Océan Echo II

 The Quebec City based operator Groupe Océan has been growing substantially in recent years with expansion to British Columbia and Jamaica and the acquistion of new tugs. On May 21 they took delivery of the small Océan Aqua delivered by heavy lift ship to Valleyfield, QC from Malta. A Damen Stantug, the former DMS Raven, it had been operating in the Persian Gulf for Damen Marine Services. The 1460 bhp twin screw tug was built in 2003 by Stoc.Kozle Serwis in Poland and Damen Hardinxveld in the Netherlands. 

Meanwhile the company is shedding three of its older tugs which have not been operational for several years. These include:

1. Océan Echo II

This twin screw 3,000 bhp veteran tug was built in 1969 by Port Weller Drydock for Atlantic and Pacific Barge Transport Ltd. Named Atlantic it was contracted, along with two 7850 ton deadweight barges built in the same yard, for a ten year charter to Anglo-Canadian Pulp and Paper to carry pulpwood from Forestville, QC to the paper mill in Quebec City. The barges Betsiamites and Sault au Cochon each had a 3600 cord capacity. While one barge was unloading in Quebec City, the tug was towing/pushing the other barge for another load.  The tug was renamed Laval in 1975. It generally pushed the barges from a stern notch using face wires, but also towed them on a tow line depending on conditions.

At the end of the charter in 1979 Anglo's subsidiary St.Charles Transportation Co Ltd bought the tug and barges and sent the Laval to Halifax for a third barge, named Jean Raymond. Reed Paper Ltd took over Anglo in 1974 and continued to operate the tug and barges.

Gordon Turner took this photo of the Laval in Reed Paper Co markings, in the Welland Canal.
 

Reed International Inc sold the operation to Daishowa Paper Manufacturing in 1988 and the tug and barges came under the ownership of Daishowa Maritime Inc.

In the early 1990s Groupe Océan acquired the tug and in 1996 gave it the named Océan Echo II. They also fitted it with Articulated Tug Barge rams in hull blisters, and modified the barge Betsiamites  accordingly. They now hauled wood chips to various paper mills. The barge also carried a crawler backhoe with a huge bucket to move the cargo.

In 2008 the tug was back in Halifax, this time to take away the former shipyard barge Timberland which had been acquired by Groupe Océan.

When tug and barge were not working on the St.Lawrence they sometimes ran wood chips to the paper mill in Point Tupper, NS, or loaded wood chips at Sheet Harbour, NS. 

In May 2014 the tug sustained severe bottom damage when it ran aground outbound from Kingston, ON. It was out of service for some time for repairs

 

In this view, the ATB rams in hull blisters are clearly visible.

 

The fully moulded hull was rare in tugs even as long ago as 1969. Note also it has no bilge keels.

In 2018 it took the barge NT811 from Quebec City to Iqaluit for a port construction project, but since then it has seen very little service. On May 17, 2022 its Canadian registration was closed, along with the tugs Océan Basquess and Mega [see separate posts for each.] Whether these boats have been sold to foreign owners, or for scrap is not known at this time. Further details will be posted here when known.

Ocean Echo II and Ocean Basques are tied up together in Quebec City and Mega is in Sorel, awaiting the next move.

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Tugboat frustration

With my movements restricted I am unable to post a lot of photos of some noteworthy tug boat activity in Halifax and nearby ports.

Arriving at pier 27 on March 29 was the tug Ocean Echo II, towing a dredge. The tug has a very interesting history and I am sorry not to be able to post a current picture of it on its second ever visit to Halifax.

Built in 1969 as Laval by Port Weller Dry Dock, it was originally teamed with a pair of barges, Sault au Cochon and Betsiamites, to carry bulk pulpwood from Forestville, QC to the Anglo Canadian paper mill in Quebec City. The plan was to have one barge unloading in Quebec while the other barge was in transit (usually being pushed, but sometimes towed). At the end of the original ten year charter in 1979, then-owners Reed Paper, decided that a third barge was needed and purchased Pulpwood No.1 in the US and had it towed from Jacksonville, FL to Halifax by Point Carroll.

Laval was sent to Halifax to pick it up. I got a glimpse of the tug leaving port December 4, 1979 and well recall my frustration in not getting a photo. [I think I am still frustrated actually.]

After a number of ownership changes the tug was finally acquired by Groupe Ocean and renamed. It was then fitted with barge connectors for ATB work and the barge Betsiamites was rebuilt to carry chips. The third barge was renamed Jean-Raymond but was really mis-matched and not used much as planned.

The tug and barge duo have worked up the St.Lawrence River as far as Trois-Rivieres, and as far east as Point Tupper, NS but never for very long periods of time. The tug itself also did duty as standby tug at Iroquois Lock last year when the St.Lawrence Seaway had to increase water flow rates.

I doubt that it was an ideal tug for that job, and has been replaced this year by Ocean K. Rusby.

Ocean Echo II spent the winter at Port Hawksbury, so this move must have been in the planning stages since last year.

The tug and tow sailed April 5 for Saint John, NB. The Groupe Ocean trailing suction hopper dredge Ocean Traverse Nord is already there. Usually dredging in Saint John does not start until after the spring "freshet" (meaning "flood") washes silt down the Saint John River. I therefore assume that there is some contract dredging to perform. This is hard to imagine right in the backyard of Harbour Development Ltd.

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Scrap Tow from Montreal

It seems likely that Océan Delta will soon embark on its last trip. Now under Panamanian registry, the tug was sold by Groupe Océan and its Canadian registry closed November  29, 2017. Since year end it has been idle in Sorel - Tracy, QC, latterly with crew aboard.

Lying in Sorel in August this year, the tug looked pretty tired.

It moved from Sorel September 5 to Montreal where it is slated to tow the decommissioned laker Nito to a scrapyard, likely in Aliga, Turkey, starting out Sunday, October 14.

Groupe Océan has sent both Océan Echo II to Montreal to take the stern line as far as the Escoumins pilot station.

It is very late in the year, but the former hurricane Michael is expected to peter out in the mid-Altantic this weekend. The record of late season tows has not been a starry one, particularly with this tug.


One of the last deep sea tugs under the Canadian, flag, and the last one on the east coast, its departure will follow only by a month of that other stalwart Ryan Leet which sailed from Sydney, NS for its new owners, and is now reported to be in Columbia. I was told that Ryan Leet was headed for a shipyard to be reconditioned for further use, but that seems too much to hope for at this stage for Océan Delta and most believe it will also be scrapped on arrival in Turkey.


Built in 1973 by Ulstein Mek.Verkstad AS in Ulsteinvik, Norway as Sistella it was an early member of the International Transport Contractors (ITC) fleet of deep sea towing tugs. In 1978 it was renamed Sandy Cape by the same owners until sold in 1980 to Quebec Tugs. As their Capt. Ioannis S. it was named for Capt "John" Styliadis, longtime Davie tug master.

In 1999 after Groupe Océan took over Quebec Tugs, they renamed the vessel Océan Delta and re- powered it with two 8 cylinder MaKs, giving 6464 bhp, replacing the original 5600 bhp N+H engines, driving a single controllable pitch single screw.

Over the years the tug took part it too many tows to relate here, including many trips to the far north, but in later years this work became harder to find eventually leading to its sale.

In Halifax in 1980 after losing its tows in the Gulf.

The laker Nito has an even longer history than the tug, starting life in 1967 at Collingwood Shipyard as N.M.Paterson's Mantadoc. Renamed Teakglen in 2002 by CSL, it passed through ownership by Goderich Elevators Ltd and near sale to scrappers in 2005 when it was returned to service as Maritime Trader for Voyageur Maritime Trading Inc. In 2011 Lower Lakes Towing took over ownership and renamed the ship Manitoba. It is also among the last of its kind - a wheelhouse forward laker, with no self-unloading gear.

Océan Delta was lead tug in the unfortunate December 2012 tow of HMCS Athabaskan that resulted in damage to the ship and its hastened decommissioning. It did successfully tow several lakers to scrap in years past, but not all without incident. In 1980 with a double tow of two lakers, its CPP malfunctioned, and it backed over the tow line and both ships went astray. It was major operation by Ectug to round them up and bring them into Halifax.


However those are only unfortunate incidents in a long and successful career. Groupe Océan spent a lot of money keeping the tug going, even to the extent of re-engining it, so it was well cared for.

The tug has been featured here many times see:
tugfax/2010/09/
tugax/2011/07/
tugfax/2012/12/
tugfax/2013/12/
tugfax/2014/09/
tugfax/2017/12/

Groupe Océan's older tugs

In Groupe Océan's large tug fleet there are a number of older tugs. That they are still running is a tribute to their excellent maintenance, but also to the fact that many have served a lot of their time in fresh water. In early July two of their elderly tugs were on the slip at Industrie Océan in Ile-aux-Coudres undergoing major refits.

Océan Charlie dates from 1973 when is was built by Davie as Leonard W.  A 3900 bhp twin screw tug, it is ice strengthened. Original owners, were Davie, then owned by CSL, but spun off by Power Corp as Quebec Tugs (QUETUG)  and the original core of the fleet acquired by Groupe Océan. It has almost always been based in Quebec City, and is equipped to serve as a winter pilot boat.

In its Quetugs days, the tug looked particularly sharp with white gunwales.

Duga has quite a different history. Built in 1977, by Rolf Rekdal A/S and completed by Langsten Slip, Tomrefjord, Norway, it is a twin screw 4500 bhp tug. Original owners were Johann Ostensjo  but sold on to Arctic Offshore Marine Services of Hay River, NWT. They in turn sold it to Les Remorqueurs du St-Laurent (Three Rivers Boatmen) of Trois-Rivières. It also did a spell on charter to Atlantic Towing in Point Tupper. In 2002 Océan acquired the Trois-Rivières tugs, and it was later reassigned to Sorel.


Another pair of older tugs were idle in Quebec City. Oldest of these is Jerry G.  Built in 1960 by and for Davie, it is a 960 bhp single screw tug. Based in Quebec City for its earliest years, it was later moved up river and eventually into the Lakes, working out of Hamilton or Oshawa. When Océan brought in more power in its VS tugs for the Lakes, Jerry G. returned to Quebec City where it has been laid up. Now their tug La Prairie has been sent to Oshawa.

Also laid up for a couple of years in Quebec City is André H. The ex Point Valiant, Foundation Valiant dates from 1963 when it was built by Davie. A twin screw tug of 1650 bhp it was sold by ECTUG to Trois-Rivières/Three Rivers Boatmen in 1995 and entered the Océan fleet in 2002.

Sadly there is not much of a future for either Jerry G. or André H. due to their age and low power. As they exceed 50 years of age the chances of bringing them up to standard would be a daunting one for any new owner. Howevre with its own shipyard, Océan is in a better position to refit the tugs than ayne else, shold they be needed.

Another older tug with a questionable future is named Océan Brochu, but that is not the name painted on its bow. Built in 1973 as Brochu for Quebec Cartier Mining and based in Port-Cartier, QC for its entire working career, it is a 32000 bhp VS tug. Océan was in the process of acquiring the tug and sister Vachon from last owner ArcelorMittalMines Canada as part of their takeover of Port-Cartier tug services when a fire broke out in Brochu's engine room. The tug was seriously damaged and may well be a total loss. Nevertheless it still appears to be in Océan's possession, and it is said that after being parted out for its sister, now renamed Océan A. Gauthier, it will be scrapped. The Océan prefix has not been added to its name, and its funnel is still in ArcelorMittal orange, lending credence to this opinion.

With it is the Avantage, appearing in pristine condition, despite being built in 1969. The former Belgian Sealion came to Canada in 1997 for MTL Marine Tug Inc of Montreal. Remorqueuers Trois-Rivières got the tug in 1999 then it passed to Océan with the acquisition in 2002. The 2160 bhp single screw tug has proven useful in the past but again its age, power, and single screw hold against it.

Another veteran tug is Océan Echo II, also built in 1969 a 3,000 bhp twin screw built for barge work and towing.  Some its chip barge work may have been taken up by the cargo ship Jean-Joseph this summer, but it has done some stern escort on laker scrap tows.

Of course there is also the "mega" tug Mega and its bulk barge Motti laid up in Sorel-Tracy for several years. The ATB was acquired for a contract that fell through and has seen only limited use. It has even made some wood chip deliveries to Point Tupper, NS, but with the current state of the paper business,there may be few opportunities for it. Apparently the thought of converting the barge for salt or cement transport did not go very far beyond idle doodling. The tug dates from 1975 and is twin screw, diesel electric of 5500 bhp.

The erstwhile tug Océan Côte-Nord has returned to the work it was built for and is now one of two duty pilot boats in Quebec City. Built as Côte-Nord for the Escoumins pilot staton in 2001, it was renamed in 2014.

It worked as a tug in Goderich, ON last year, but has since been replaced by the Escorte, a V-S tug, dating from 1967, but again, serving mostly in fresh water.

Not an old tug, but one that should be mentioned is Océan Uannaq. One of a pair of tugs built in 2008 for the Baffinland project, it is a 12 grt boat with 770 bhp and twin screws. After service in the far north during the building of the Milne Inlet port, it returned south and was used by Océan's dredging arm to handle spoil barges. In 2015 it was reassigned to work on the Champlain Bridge project. In an unfortunate accident April 1, 2016 it capsized and sank, luckily without loss of life. Although it was soon raised it was declared a total loss. It is now resting in Quebec City, and based on looks alone it seems that it could be repaired and returned to service.

Groupe Océan also has a large fleet of smaller tugs used by its marine construction and dredging arms for a variety of tasks. Some of these may remain out of service for lengthy periods depending on demand, but are then brought back into use when need. Two such tugs are currently on the dock in Quebec City.

 Left  to Right:
- W.D.Indock, built in 192 by Zenith Steel Fabricators of Richmond, BC for Resolute Shipping, a division of Fednav, as Mokka Fjord. Used by them for barge lightering work in the far north, it passed through several owners including McKeil, while acquiring its present name. It was also rebuilt in 1998-99. Groupe Océan got the tug in 2011 after it had worked around the Thorold, ON area for several years.

My 1974 photo does not do justice to its then bright red hull. It was at pier 23 in Halifax, waiting to go north on Tundraland.

- likely a former CCG landing craft - tarped over.

- Océan A. Martin is an aluminum hull former Escoumins pilot boat. Built as A.Martin by MonArk Boats,  Monticello, AK in 1983,  it was last used as a survey boat for dredging work.

 A. Martin at speed off Escoumins as a pilot boat.

 
- Coucoucache is a typical Russel Bros built winder boat, one of many in the Océan stable. However, since it was built in 1937 it may be one of the oldest. 

 Despite its age, the boat appeared to be in excellent condition when it was acquired by Océan after a career in the Mauricie watershed, handling wood booms.

The boat's intriguing name derives from the Amerindian name for an owl.

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