Small Quebec Tugs - Part 1

 The tug builder / owners GFFM Leclerc from Ile-aux-Coudres, Quebec have created a number of small but powerful tugs. Both Groupe Océan and Transport Desgagnés have several Leclerc-built tugs in their fleets -some owned and some rented - while Leclerc also rents tugs to them and to other companies.

The tugs are all built to a similar pattern, and have evolved over the years to the current design of shallow draft, triple screw, 900+ bhp boats of under 15 gross tons. That means they can be registered by number only, and the names displayed on the hulls are "unofficial". It is therefore difficult to pin down the date of build if the registration number is not visible.  (The tugs owned by Transport Desgagnés are generally registered by name however.)

Océan Seahawk is a typical Leclerc tug, and displays its official registration number C24893QC. It was first registered in 2021 and is rated at 990 bhp. Its unofficial name is only partially displayed on the bow, but in full on the stern.

Strictly "day boats", they have no accommodation space other than a sizeable wheelhouse.

 

This past summer I was able to see several of these tugs:

Transport Desgagnés uses Leclerc tugs for their Arctic Sealift work. The tugs, along with shallow draft barges, are carried north on the deck of northern supply ships, and are used to lighter the cargo ashore to communities without regular port facilities. They are lifted on and off with the ships' own cranes.

On July 3 the Zelada Desgagnés headed north for its first arctic supply trip of the season. On deck are a pair of shallow draft barges and two tugs. The Desgagnés- owned Siku (12.59 gt)(with yellow stripe) built by Meridien Marine in Matane, QC is forward of the GFFM Leclerc-owned tug Glacier Polaire.

 

The Narval Polaire C28772, built 2024, ferries workers ashore after loading the other tugs and barges.

The tugs and barges will be left at a northern port after the first trip and brought back south after the second or third trip of the season.

Several Leclerc tugs stand by the Rosaire A. Desgagnés as it loads a barge in the anhorage off Ile-aux-Coudres on July 7.

 

Groupe Océan uses the tugs in their dredging operations and large marine construction projects, and can be seen in many regions of Quebec, as far west as the St.Lawrence Seaway.

The dredge Ocean Basque 2 working off Ile-aux-Coudres, September 3. The Nuit Polaire and Ocean Seahawk are lashed up with the Grande Ourse and Petite Ourse to take silt out to a dumping ground.

 

 

 The Leclerc shipyard at the extreme east end of Ile-aux-Coudres turns out about one tug a year and usually a barge, and has ample storage and launch space.

 

The latest new build is for Transport Desgagnés, and is registered by name as Siqiniq:

 

 It was ready for launch in July. It is hull number C25 of the triple screw tugs. The previous twin screw tugs numbered about up to hull H7.

 Some of the older twin screw versions are stored in the yard and are available for rental.

and several of the newer units are in the water (or in the tidal mud) and ready to go: 

There are other small tugs working in Quebec too. A second installment will follow.

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Some Quebec tugs

  Although I was in Quebec this summer I was some distance away from any major ports, and as a result did not see much large tug activity. However I did see numerous small tugs,

Groupe Océan operates harbour tugs up and down the St.Lawrence but also has a large marine construction and dredging plant, not to mention their shipbuilding operation.

Among the dredging projects are the annual maintenance dredging at the ferry terminals in Rivière-du-Loup and at Ile-aux-Coudres. On September 8 the tug Océan Aqua arrived off St-Louis, Ile-aux-Coudres with the dredge Océan Basque 2, the dump scows Grande Ourse and Petite Ourse and the tug / workboat Océan Albatros. Despite a very stiff wind from the west they spudded down a short distance from the ferry dock.

The Océan Aqua was built by Damen Hardenxveld-Giessendam, Netherlands, in 2003 and aquired by Océan in 2022. It is twin screw tug of 1440 bhp.

 The Océan Albatros carried the name Qimu to 2018 and was built in 2008 by Chantier naval Forillon in Gaspé. It is a 700 bhp twin screw vessel.

It is heavily fendered forward and has prominent lifting straps, permitting it to be lifted out for transport.

The Industrie Océan shipyard at Ile-aux-Coudres has delivered two tugs to the Royal Canadian Navy for use in Esquimalt, BC and is building two more for Halifax. The work is mostly carried out indoors so I was lucky to see a superstructure on the dock. The component was likely built at Océan's facility in the Port of Quebec and delivered to Ile-aux-Coudres by barge.

 

No trip to Ile-aux-Coudres would be complete without a look in at the GFFM Leclerc facility at the east end of the island. At this time of the year many of its rental tug fleet are at work in the far north on lighterage duty, but there were still three tugs at their shipyard.

 

 The Ours Polaire and Pivert Polaire await assignment, and the Vent Polaire appears fresh from refit. Meanwhille at the "Port de Refuge" basin four Desgagnés and Leclerc tugs were standing by for the next trip north. 

From left to right: the Silak, Lumaak, Glacier Polaire and Beluga Polaire.

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Tugs at Ile-aux-Coudres - Part 2

The GFFM Leclerc shipyard on the eastern tip of Ile-aux-Coudres builds small powerful shallow draft tugs for sale or charter. Many of the tugs find work as lighterage tugs in northern supply work. Others are kept on hand at the home port of Ile-aux-Coudres for general duties or leased out to others.

A small tidal basin adjacent to the ferry dock is the base, and on August 10 there were four Leclerc tugs and a pair of similar tugs operated by Transport Desgagnés.

The Desgagnés tug Lumaaq is an early version of the type, whereas Rénard Polaire is one the newer triple screw versions.
Lumaaq, Siku and a pair of lighters will be loaded aboard an outbound Desgagnés Transarctik ship to land sealift cargo in the far north.

 

Siku is awaiting its next northern assignment with fleetmate Lumaaq, and Ours Polaire is standing by for other work.

Béluga Polaire and Eclipse Polaire return from an assignment moving a barge out into the stream.

Béluga Polaire prepares to land some barge workers.

Eclipse Polaire returns to the dock.

The tugs move JMC 185 away from its berth.

The tugs had moved the barge JMC 185 out to the stream. Built in 2007 by LAD Salvage of Louisiana in Stephensville, LA as an ABS classed spud barge, it was owned by Cashman Equipment in Boston. Groupe Océan then acquired the barge for transporting reinforcing steel to the Hebron gravity base construction in Newfoundland from 2015 to 2017.  They then used the barge to transport precast concrete components from Sorel for the new Champlain Bridge project. CRT Construction has now acquired the barge for work in north Quebec with their tug CRT Express (see yesterday's post).

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Return visit to Ile-aux-Coudes

I was back at Ile-aux-Coudres over the weekend and got a different slant on my previous post a couple of weeks ago.

At Industrie Océan, the two tugs Océan Echo II and Océan Basques remain on the slips. Since it was the weekend there was little activity in the yard, but I did get photos from the road above the yard.

From this angle the housing for the hydraulic ram is visible. These devices were added to the tug after it was acquired by Groupe Océan in 1996. It had been used face wires for its barges when built.

By comparison, the cut away icebreaking bow of Océan Basque is highly visible. The letters from the tug's original name Pointe aux Basques have been ground off to make way for its current name.


Meanwhile tug builders GFFM Leclerc were preparing to launch their latest boat. To be named Réjeanne Polaire, it is the latest in a line of small tugs, used mostly for barge handling in the north. Unfortunately it was still inside the builder's shed and not visible yet.

The design for the tugs has evolved from twin screw to triple screw, in order to maintain shallow draft, but increase power from 600 bhp to the current 1130 bhp.

 Ours Polaire, built in 1998, was the first in the series of powerful small shallow draft tugs.

 A twin screw boat, it features a small wheelhouse with all round visibility. It has not entered service this year.

The hull is heavily fendered for handling small lighters.Cercle Polaire, built in 2011 was the 7th and last of the first series of tugs.

The design has evolved to the present tripe screw version:

 The latest generation are still shallow draft, but have a larger all weather wheelhouse. Horizon Polaire , built in 2012 is the first of the triple screw series, which now numbers 4 tugs.

With three engines and three props, the operator has a range of choices for propulsion, using one, two or all three Cummins engines. Renard Polaire was built in 2013.

The tugs are lifted aboard supply ships and taken to remote sites in the north where there are no port facilities. They then ferry the lightering scows to shore. They are also available for bareboat charter and have worked various jobs in southern waters.