1. Sable Sea was new to Secunda in June 2002.
The supplier
Sable Sea has been in refit at pier 9 and pier 9A for some months. Word on the waterfront is that the ship is for sale, but there does seem to be some work going on. Since completion of much of the work on the Deep Panuke offshore gas project the ship has not been needed and apparently no further work can be found for it.
The ship has a long history with Halifax, going back almost to the time the ship was new.
It was built in 1977 by Hermann Surken GmbH&Co KG of Papenburg, Germany, as
Kreuzturm [translates as Cross Tower] for the offshore arm of the venerable German shipping company DDG Hansa. It was built as a supply vessel only, with no towing capability, and was commonly called a pipe carrier, since it could carry lengths of drill pipe on deck, but also could carry other forms of deck cargo and had tankage for wet and dry cargoes such as drilling mud, cement, potable water, etc.,
DDG Hansa's offshore unit called VTG marketed its offshore vessels through OSA (Offshore Supply Association) of the UK, and I assume the ship was used in the North Sea for the first few years, but it was working in Canada by 1980.
It began to operate for Crosbie Offshore Services, although VTG remained the owners. When Crosbie failed (1982), the OSA set up a Canadian subsidiary and the ship continued to work in Canada. At about the same time DDG Hansa itself failed (1981). But OSA continued to operate it.
In 1985, along with the CCG cable ship
John Cabot it assisted in the recovery of debris from the Air India bombing over the Irish Sea, recovering debris from 2000 m of water using an unmanned submersible.
The ship was sold in 2000 to BOA Ltd, a Norwegian company and they owned it until 2002, giving it the name
Boa Carrier , although it did also carry the name
ADC Carrier for a time in 2000.
Secunda Marine acquired the ship in 2002 and it became
Sable Sea. It worked also overseas under the Barbados flag from 2004 until it returned to Canadian flag in 2005.
For a much more detailed history see;
http://www.ddghansa-shipsphotos.de/kreuzturm100.htm in German, but it can be translated by Google [if you translate it, the ship's name will appear as Cross Tower] .
It was part of the fleet in 2007 when J. Ray McDermott acquired Secunda. Earlier this year when Secunda was purchased from McDermott, the ship remained in the fleet, but has been idle for most of the time.
2. As Kreuzturm tied up at the Woodside dock in Dartmouth in 1980.
3. Sailing outbound for the Narrows in St.John's NL in 1983.
4. This morning at pier 9A. Note the removal of the lifeboat and installation of a fast rescue craft.
For more particulars on the ship, see Secunda Marine's new web site:
http://www.secunda.ca/
With the Sable Island area's importance to offshore oil and gas, it is little wonder that the name "Sable" appears in Secunda's fleet list more than once.
In fact there have been three
Sable Seas in Secunda's fleet.
The first was the former
Balder Baffin, built in 1980 by Marystown Shipyards, in Newfoundland. Secunda owned the ship only briefly, from 1987 to 1988. It too was a supplier, with no towing capability. Interestingly it was pressed into service in 1987 to cover the supply route from Rimouski to the lower North Shore of the Gulf of St.Lawrence until completion of the conversion of fleet mate
Tartan Sea to
Nordik Express.
5. Same pier, same name, different ship. The 1988 version.
6. As built, it was the Balder Baffin.
After its short time with Secunda, the ship was sold and became Marinous in 1989 and Toisa Mariner in 1990. It worked as diving support vessel and with a remotely operated underwater vehicle. It was then sold, becoming Bluestone Topaz in 1998. It was converted to a geotechnical drilling ship, working out of Singapore from 2009.
7. At the time of its sale and before conversion to a drill ship, it was anchored in Singapore.
It has not been reported lately, so it may have been removed from service.
