Ocean renames two

Groupe Océan has renamed two tugs it acquired earlier this year from Svitzer. The two tugs completed their obligations with Svitzer at the end of last month and returned from Milne Inlet, Baffin Island where they had been working for the last three summers.

Undergoing  refit in Quebec the pair have now been renamed Océan Raynald T (ex Svitzer Nerthus) and Océan Clovis T (ex Svitzer Njal).

They are a good fit with the Groupe Océan fleet, as they are Georgetown-built, ice class ASD, 66 tonne bollard pull, 5,000 bhp tugs, similar to most of the modern tugs in the Ocean fleet. No assignments have been announced for the tugs yet.


They were built in 2009 by East Isle Shipyard in PEI for Nordane shipping as Stevns Iceflower (ii) and Stevns Icequeen (ii) and sailed from trials in Halifax to Denmark. They were soon chartered and eventually acquired by Svitzer and renamed the same year.

 

Flying the Barbados flag for the delivery trip, the two tugs arrived back in Halifax in company June 4, 2015 and tied up at the Svitzer Canada dock.

When Svitzer won the Baffinland contract in 2015, they brought the two tugs back to Canada. They were stationed in Montreal in winter and worked in Milne Inlet in the brief summer navigation season from July to October.

In January of this year Svitzer decided to shut down its Montreal operation and sold three of its tugs to Groupe Océan.. The Svitzer Cartier (ex Svitzer Wombi-125, Hai Gang 107 -14) became Océan Cartier and was refitted in Quebec City but has not been assigned any work yet.

Svitzer Nerthus and Svitzer Njal were committed to the Baffinland project for this past summer but were handed over to Ocean on return south.

 
The fourth tug, Svitzer Montreal although a similar Georgetown class tug, is not ice strengthened, and Svitzer re-assigned it to its Point Tupper, NS operation which has the three other Svitzer Canada tugs.

For more on the tugs and photos see Tugfax : June 6, 2015

.

Quebec Shakeup [amended]

See addendum at the end of this article

A major shakeup in the Quebec tug scene can be summarized as "Svitzer out / Ocean in".
Svitzer Canada, part of the multi-national tug operator, a subsidiary of the giant AP Moller-Maersk shipping conglomerate has opted to discontinue its short lived four tug Montreal operation, selling most of its local assets to Groupe Océan.


Ocean had been the sole operator in the Port of Montreal since acquiring the former McAllister business. It appears now that loyalty to Océan was strong enough that Svitzer could not gain traction.

Svitzer Montréal refitting in Halifax shortly before taking up station in Montreal in the spring of 2016. The tug was transferred from Svitzer's operation in the Dominican Republic.

When Svitzer moved in last year, it was largely on the basis of having longstanding relationships with Algoma and CSL and of course to service Maersk Lines one weekly container ship. Whether parent company Maersk's financial belt tightening was a factor or not, there apparently was not enough business to sustain the operation.


Svitzer operated its service in Montreal initially with two tugs, which did double duty, by spending the summer in the high arctic at the Baffinland iron port at Milne Inlet, serving the Mary River mine. Océan originally had the Baffinland contract, and built two 8,000 bhp super tugs, Océan Tundra and Océan Taiga especially for the work, which was expected to extend to year round. When the Baffinland project stalled and ArcelorMittal gained control of the project in 2011 Svitzer wound up with the tug contract. The completed Océan Tundra found some work as an escort tug out of Quebec City, but construction of Océan Taiga was slowed down and only completed in 2016 due to a lack of demand for the vessels.

Svitzer Nerthus and Svitzer Njal after fitting out in Halifax, are almost ready to sail for their first season at Milne Inlet.

Svitzer Njal and Svitzer Nerthus were brought back to Canada by Svitzer in 2016, but at 5,000 bhp, they would only be able to work seasonally in the far north (July - October). As ice class tugs however, they are quite suitable for year round work in Montreal. They will be fulfilling the Baffinland contract this summer too, but at the end of the season they will become Océan tugs.

Baffinland had originally planned a year round rail line operating to a port on Steensby Inlet, which would be accessible to larger ships and presumably require larger tugs for year round service. It now seems they will build the rail line to Milne River instead, replacing the present 100km tote road for trucks. This will allow the mine to reach its 12 mn tonnes per year shipping target. They also plan to bring in ships of up to capesize, which will also require larger tugs.

Of the four Montreal based tugs, only Svitzer Cartier was not built by Eastisle Shipyard in Georgetown, PE. The Chinese built tug is the only Voith-Schneider tug in the lot.

Svitzer acquired two more tugs for Quebec work. Svitzer Cartier, a Chinese built V-S tug initially arrived to provide additional tug service for Port-Cartier, where ArcelorMittal has a major iron ore and grain port, and two aging V-S tugs of its own.  Svitzer Cartier apparently did not work out well at Port-Cartier and was transferred to Montreal. Its fate is unknown at this time, but may be acquired by Océan. (see Addendum)


Océan has now also acquired the tug contract for Port-Cartier and will be moving two of its tugs there later in the year, replacing the ArcelorMittal owned tugs Brochu and Vachon. V-S tugs, they were adept at working in the tight confines of Port-Cartier, but Océan has no V-S tugs of comparable power, so it will interesting to know what tugs they will be using. They will have several tugs coming back from Newfoundland now that the Hebron gravity base project is complete.


Earlier this year Océan was awarded the operating contract for the V-S tug Pointe-Comeau, based in Baie-Comeau, and owned by Cargill Grain. The tug was under Svitzer (and previously Eastern Canada Towing) management since it was built in 1977. In fact predecessor copmay Foundation Maritime managed the Cargill owned Foundation Vibert from when it was built in 1961. It became Point Vibert under ECTUG management until replaced by Pointe-Comeau. 


The fourth Montreal tug, Svitzer Montreal (ex Caucedo) at 4500 bhp ASD will be sold to Océan and could be used in any one of several ports served by Océan. Three of the four tugs should be a good fit in the Océan stable, since they were built by Eastisle in Georgetown, PE to the same basic design as eight of Océan's tugs. (see Addendum)


Océan now has a tight lock on all St.Lawrence River ports, as the exclusive tug operator with tugs based in Sept-Iles, Port Cartier, Baie-Comeau, Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, Sorel and Montreal.

(In 2012 Océan won the Iron Ore Company of Canada contract at Sept-Iles held by Svitzer and predecessors since the 1950s. It also bought ECTUG's two Sept-Iles icebreaking tugs.)

Océan also operates tugs on the Great Lakes to serve Hamilton, Toronto and Oshawa and a small tug in the port of Goderich.


Business prospects for the port of Montreal in particular appear to be on the upswing, as the port shows increased container and tanker traffic. The St.Lawrence River can now accommodate much larger ships. although draft restriction still apply.

Svitzer is now reduced back to three tugs at Point Tupper, NS: Point Chebucto, Point Valiant and Svitzer Bedford. The rather surprising move to Montreal was a bit unusual for Svitzer, a company noted for negotiating long term terminal contracts, rather than speculative ventures into unknown territory.

.

Addenda:
 Since posting this blog more information has come to light.
1. Océan is not acquiring Svitzer Montréal The tug is not ice rated (it was built for the Dominican Republic) and thus will be re-assigned by Svitzer.
2. Océan has indeed acquired the Svitzer Cartier and will  be sending it to Ile-aux-Coudres for refit by Industrie Océan. This leads me to assume that it will assigned to Port-Cartier. At 5400 bhp it would certainly provide more power than the two 3600 bhp tugs in place there.
3.Océan will be supporting the Port-Cartier contract with two V-S tugs. Unknown at present what those tugs will be, however:
Océan has one other V-S tug:  Océan A. Simard ex Alexis Simard, 3290 bhp. It has been working on the Hebron project in Newfoundland, and seems a likely candidate for Port-Cartier.
At present Océan Arctique is supplementing the two ArcelorMittal tugs in Port-Cartier and will presumably remain there.

.

Svitzer does it

Svitzer Canada has struck a knife into the heart of the Quebec towing business by setting up shop in Montreal and going head to head against Groupe Océan in Canada's largest eastern port.

The surprise move occurred March 10 when the powerful 5,000 bhp ice class ASD tugs Svitzer Nerthus and Svitzer Njal arrived in their new home port.

Svitzer Nerthus and Svitzer Njal at the usually empty Svitzer dock in Halifax earlier this year.

There are a number of interesting aspects to this move, which I will mention in no particular order.

Since taking over Eastern Canada Towing Ltd Svitzer seemed to lose ground, having lost the Iron Ore Company of Canada contract in Sept-Iles to Océan. (Océan did buy their two old tugs however!)

In a strategic alliance with Atlantic Towing Ltd (a J.D.Irving company), they formed joint venture companies to provide towing services in Halifax and on the Strait of Canso. That saw Svitzer's tugs pull out of Halifax and go to the Strait and Atlantic taking over all tug work in Halifax.
Then there were some disastrous northern towing contracts when Point Halifax was badly damaged and eventually sold to McKeil and Svitzer Bedford suffered a serious fire.

However last year signaled a turn around when Svitzer brought in the former Chinese tug Svitzer Cartier to help out in Port Cartier, QC. (I hear that contract is about to end however)

Svitzer Wombi arrived in Halifax March 30, 2015, where it was renamed Svitzer Cartier for service in Port-Cartier.

Also Svitzer won a contract to service the Baffinland Iron Mine project and brought in Svtizer Nerthus and Svitzer Njal from the parent company in Denmark. Both tugs were built in Canada however and passed to Svitzer through other Danish owners.

The Baffinland work was originally awarded to Océan, and on the strength of it they started work on two 8,000 bhp super ice class tugs at their own yard. By the time Océan Tundra. was delivered Baffinland was restructured and  became a seasonal operation in 2015 and Svitzer got the work. Construction of the sister Océan Taiga was slowed down as there was no apparent work for it. It will be completed in 2016.

The powerful Océan Tundra was built for year-round service in Baffin Island. When that work fell through it has been used for tanker escort on the St.Lawrence, but has been underutilized.

If Svitzers two tugs, acquired for Baffinland, are now based in Montreal, will they abandon the port from July to October or does Svitzer have another plan?  Or perhaps Baffinland has slowed down again. Maybe acquiring Océan Taiga and Océan Tundra from Océan would be a good idea, but I doubt they would get any break on price! Certainly reassigning the V-S tug Svitzer Cartier to Montreal does not seem like a good fit.

Svitzer worldwide, like one of its component companies, the former Cory Towage of Liverpool, NS, have long favoured terminal contracts, where they get a long term commitment to provide dedicated tug service to an oil terminal or a particular port. Competing head to head for work has never been to their liking.

Svitzer is part of the giant AP Moller Maersk company, but with only one Maersk ship a week in Montreal, there is hardly enough ''family work'' to support two tugs.
Increased tanker traffic on Montreal, some of which may require escort tugs, might be enough to justify the move if Svitzer has contracts in hand with specific companies.


Svitzer is a deep pocket company that is far more aggressive in the rest of the world than it has appeared to be in Canada. Their world wide fleet consists of 430 vessels (which includes some pilot boats and line boats, but is mostly tugs.) is continually growing as they find work in all corners of the globe and grow their fleet. Perhaps they have bigger plans for Canada than we can imagine.

For example there are still two more Canadian built tugs in Svitzer's European fleet. Both 5,000 bhp ice class ASDs, Svitzer Nabi (built as Stevns Breaker) and Svitzer Nari (ex Stevns Battler) might be available to Svitzer Canada if there was work here.

Once unthinkable mergers and new ventures among tug companies world wide, are common these days. Long time rivals have joined forces, for example Smit and Kooren in Europe, to exercise control and eliminate costly competition. Or as did Kooren in Hamburg, they have brought in superior equipment to take work away from the established companies.

McKeil tried to break into Montreal, and even acquired a pair of Dutch V-S tugs in 2008, but the project never got across the starting line and the tugs were sold. 

Nicloe M was one of the tugs McKeil bought and reconditioned  for use in Montreal. It was never licensed for service in Canada and was sold.

It makes one wonder if tug and towing will go they way of many other industries, where local owner entrepreneurs are swallowed up or overwhelmed by large multi-nationals, with deep pockets, low margins and economies of scale.

.

More tug updates

The tugs Svitzer Njal and Svitzer Nerthus are underway again and are upbound on the St.Lawrence River, giving a March 10 destination of Montreal. Stranger and stranger.






Atlantic Fir has settled in in Halifax and will be assigned here permanently, replacing Atlantic Larch. Halifax needed more horsepower, and Fir's 5,000 bhp will allow it to do escort work., This will avoid the crazy situation where two tugs were used as stern escort, when the other 5,000 bhp tug, Atlantic Oak was not available.  See: http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2016/02/atlantic-larch-and-atlantic-willow-on.html
Fir escorted the loaded tanker Afra Oak outbound this morning.






Atlantic Larch will now be an outside tug, used for towing assignments around the region. It was built originally for use at Point Tupper. It will now be based nominally in Saint John, but will be on the move most of the time.
Larch is giving a March 17 ETA for Colon, Panama and Corbin Foss with the former Protecteur in tow is now off Acapulco, still giving a March 17 ETA for Balboa.


Ocean Foxtrot is still in Marystown, NL.

.

Tug move updates - and more

I may have erred in the actual departure date of the tug Atlantic Larch from Halifax. Either that or it came back and left a second time. I caught it outbound for Colon, Panama on Saturday March 5.



Ocean Foxtrot put back to Marystown, NL in tow of Western Tugger and Coast Guard escort. After a four year layup, a day in rough seas stirred up enough sludge in its fuel thanks that it lost power. A thorough cleaning seems to be in order. However it is possible that the C.O.D. tow may have depleted the new owner's funds.Another abandonment seems possible.
 

The Halifax based tugs Svitzer Njal and Svitzer Nerthus sailed from Halifax March 3, bound for Sept-Iles, QC. It seems an odd destination, since there is little traffic in the port these days and Groupe Océan has all the work there having wrested away the Iron Ore Company of Canada contract from Svitzer several years ago. All I can think is that they are there to assist at Port-Cartier if needed, since ArcelorMittal is a major client. The contract for Svitzer Cartier expires shortly, so even that may be a wild guess.
Sept-Iles is relatively close to Méchins, QC, where Verreault Shipyard often services Svitzer tugs, so that may be a explanation too.



HEADLINE
Tugfax Blogger Suffers (another) Sudden Attack of Apoplexy.

My ongoing quest for responsible ship naming suffered another setback recently when I learned about another shipowner that has abdicated the responsibility of sensible ship naming by resorting to a contest for school children. A panel of judges (who obviously didn't know any better) selected the name  Iron Guppy for a new icebreaking tug/workboat for the Port of Toronto.

This ludicrous appellation will be applied to the craft which will be completed in June by Hike Metal Products. The 750 bhp single screw ABS Ice Class C0 boat  may last as long as 45 years, which its predecessor William Rest managed to do.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rest]
If so, the name should be thoroughly stale by then and so outdated as to be meaningless. Even the six to twelve year olds that came up with it may be thoroughly tired of it by then. I know I am already.
For more on the process see: http://www.portstoronto.com/PortsToronto/Media-Room/News/Waterfront-Elementary-Students-Name-PortsToronto%E2%80%99s.aspx

Not only is the name undignified for a tug, it is an embarrassment to a Port, that has a long maritime history. Its previous vessels have carried interesting and meaningful names, often with historic antecedents or symbols. Many have also been named for notable persons, such as the Port's fireboat William Lyon Mackenzie [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lyon_Mackenzie_%28fireboat%29 or for more on the man: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lyon_Mackenzie
or another (now retired tug) the Ned Hanlan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Hanlan_%28tugboat%29 

If not named for a memorable person, surely a tug deserves a name indicative of force, power, activity, purposefulness, utility or dependability.
For more on the new tug see: http://www.ral.ca/news/2016/2016-02-18.html
I am rendered speechless by Toronto's choice.

By the way the Toronto Marine Historical Society is a wonderful means of learning about that port's history, and much else related to Great Lakes shipping: http://www.tmhs.ca/

. 

Atlantic Fir - with a little help from my friends

The tug Atlantic Fir made it into Halifax today with the barge Oceanus - but not without the help of all three of Atlantic towing's harbour tugs.

Atlantic Fir (left) has the tow and Atlantic Oak is providing steering from the stern of the barge. Atlantic Larch is nosing up on the barge's starboard bow and Atlantic Willow is standing off the port bow as the barge begins to make its eastward turn off Ferguson's Cove.

Originally scheduled to arrive yesterday afternoon, the tug and barge put back out to the anchorages for about 24 hours while some mechanical and electrical problems were rectified. Then in perfect conditions it entered the harbour this afternoon, keeping to the western channel, but there was no other traffic at the time so there was lots of room to maneuver into the IEL dock in Dartmouth. (The western channel is deeper, and less likely to snag a heavy tow line.)

 Atlantic Fir is leaving the western deepwater channel (the towline is just visible).

Atlantic Oak with the stern line is ready to swing the barge back into the main channel.

The barge Oceanus is registered in the United States, but is working in Canada under coasting license from September 15, 2015 until September 14, 2016. It was brought in by ATL to make multiple trips from Port aux Basques, Cow Head and Bay Bulls with components for the Hebron Topsides Project. (The topsides will be mated to the gravity base at Bull Arm once the latter is completed). The components include the 400 ft x 100 ft, 340 tonne flare boom, the 5200 tonne drilling support, helideck and lifeboat station components ranging from 30 to 213 tonnes.

Built in 2010 by Gunderson Marine LLC the 7913 grt barge measures 384 ft x 105 ft x 25 ft deep.   It is owned by Ulysses LLC of Belle Chasse, LA.

Atlantic Fir is a near sister to the Halifax based Atlantic Oak, a 5050 bhp ASD, built in 2005, with 68 tonne bollard pull and fire fighting gear. It differs visually from the Oak chiefly due to the large sat nav dome, fitted because it does ocean towing.

Earlier in the day Atlantic Towing called on Svitzer to provide the tug Svitzer Njal to assist with both container ships EM Kea and CMA CGM Titus in place of Atlantic Oak. Svitzer Njal and sister Svitzer Nerthus are wintering in Halifax until they go north again in July. Since Atlantic Towing Ltd and Svitzer operate the tugs in Halifax and Point Tupper in a joint venture, we might see this happen again from time to time. It would certainly avoid the kind of double escort we saw yesterday, which is really quite unsatisfactory for a number of reasons.

.

Svitzer Nerthus and Svitzer Njal - home again

A pair of Svitzer tugs have arrived back in Halifax after many months away.

Svitzer Nerthus and Svitzer Njal , acquired by Svitzer Canada last year from their parent company, were contracted to work at the Baffin Island port of Milne Inlet during last year's brief arctic summer shipping season. They assisted bulk carriers into the remote port to load iron ore from the Baffinland Iron mine at Mary River, operated by ArcelorMittal.


After fitting out in Halifax, the tugs headed north in July, to rendez-vous with the first ship of the season, Federal Tiber. At the end of the shipping season in October the two tugs made their way south to Point Tupper for a crew change then carried on to Bermuda, bypassing Halifax.


In Bermuda they assisted the bulk carrier Balder for seven loads of granite fill for the new South Basin. The granite came from Cape Porcupine, on the Strait of Canso, and was unloaded into a 9 acre fill area. Each shipment took up to 36 hours to unload, with frequent repositionings of the ship. In total Balder delivered some 175,000 cubic yards of granite, between November 6 and January 10.
The ship was one of the largest ships to enter Bermuda's Great Sound and required the assistance of two powerful tugs at all times.


Bermuda does have its own local tugs, Powerful and Faithful, but they are fully occupied with normal port activity. The 3,000 bhp tugs are notable as the last tugs built by the well known Cochrane shipbuilders in Selby, England in 1992.


The South Basin area will be the site of a new village to support the 2017 Americas Cup yacht races. See: http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20151106/NEWS25/151109824

.

Headed south

Activities in Canada's north are winding down for the year, which means that several tugs are returning to the south.

Svitzer Canada's two tugs Svitzer Nerthus and Svitzer Njal were reported arriving in Mulgrave October 23 and cleared this morning bound for Bermuda. Since July they had been working at Milne Inlet on the north side of Baffin Island assisting Fednav ships to load iron ore.

As Irving Elm, the tyug is hauled on the slip at the now deunct Stenpro shipyard in Liverpool, NS.
 
Atlantic Towing Ltd's Atlantic Elm and Atlantic Beech were reported off Nova Scotia October 24, heading for Saint John. They had been working in Rankin Inlet all summer, assisting Desgagnés ships as they delivered cargo to lighterage barges.

Atlantic Beech doing some shiphandling work with an autocarrier in Halifax in 2005.

. 

Off to the north

Svitzer Nerthus and Svitzer Njal sailed early this morning for Milne Inlet, Baffin Island to take up their new duties, ship berthing at the Baffinland Iron Mine project.

 (Photo taken 2015-06-04, when the tugs arrived from Denmark, the container on the dock has been loaded on the stern of Svitzer Njal)

The timing of their departure was related to the departure from Turkey of the first ship scheduled to load iron ore this season. (Believed to be Federal Tiber)
The ship and tugs will rendez-vous off Milne Inlet, which is still blocked by ice, although the port itself is clear. Icebreaker assistance is expected to clear the entry to the bay.

http://www.baffinland.com/the-project/location-and-project-history/?lang=en

There is still no word on what the tugs will be doing after the end of the shipping season in Ocotber.

See also previous posts:
http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2015/06/svitzer-nerthus-and-svitzer-njal-arrive.html
http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2015/07/fueled-and-ready.html

.

Fueled and ready

The tugs Svitzer Nerthus and Svitzer Njal took fuel in turns today. Both tugs moved from the Svitzer wharf to Pier 9C, where the fuele was delivered by RST tanker trucks.

Both tugs are now sporting "Halifax" on their quarters as port of registry, as both tugs were registered in Canada June 9. (They had been flagged to St.Vincent and the Grenadines for their delivery from Denmark.)
Also a suggested name change has not been made on either tug (yet).

Svitzer Njal has fueled and is returning to the Svitzer dock.

Svitzer Njal has been loaded with a special Svitzer container holding shore supplies for their new base on Baffin Island, so a sailing date must be nearing.

.

Svitzer Nerthus and Svitzer Njal arrive

Two tugs that Svitzer Canada will use in its Baffinland contract arrived in Halifax together this morning.
As previously reported: http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2015/05/svitzer-lands-big-one.html Svitzer will service the contract with two Canadian built tugs, Svitzer Nerthus ex Stevns Iceflower (ii) and Svitzer Njal ex Stevns Icequeen (ii)

 

The two arrived off Halifax sometime last evening and conveniently boarded their pilots in daylight this morning. It is great to see tugs at the Svitzer dock again, although they will only be here for a matter of a few weeks for Canadianization, which will also include new names.The tugs were temporarily registered in Kingstown, St.Vincent and Grenadines for delivery trip from Fredericia, Denmark. Svitzer Nerthus sailed May 18 and Svitzer Njal May 17 with professional delivery crews. 

A brief tour aboard revealed that they are both in superb condition, and arrived "all found" with complete equipment and spares.

The tugs have Caterpillar main engines totaling just over 5,000 bhp, with Rolls Royce controllable pitch props in azimuthing stern drives and bow thruster.

For the curious the name Nerthus is that of a goddess of legend, and Njal a figure in ancient Icelandic sagas. Svitzer Canada seems to favour place names from the area of operation,  following the word Svitzer, so it will be interesting to see what names these tugs get now.

.

Svitzer lands a big one

Svitzer Canada has landed a big contract requiring two tugs for work in the far north.

Baffinland Iron Mines, developers of an ambitious project on Baffin Island, (72 degrees north latitude, 79 degrees west longitude)  have constructed a port in Milne Inlet to export iron ore from the Mary River mine, initially between July and October. The mine will be running all year, stockpiling the product for shipping during the open water season, then loading out in summer.

The project originally called for a rail line to a proposed new port facility at Steenby Inlet, and year round shipping with icebreaking bulk carriers. The project was scaled back when the world demand for iron ore softened, and the original promoters sold the project. It is now owned 50% by ArcelorMittal and 50% by Nunavut Iron Ore. After several years of delay the project seems to be back on track.
See the Baffinland web site for more: http://www.baffinland.com/
But also see oppostion to year-round shipping: http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_regulatory_org_says_no_to_baffinland/
There is also a potted history of the project here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baffinland_Iron_Mine

Much of the development work for the port facility was carried out by Groupe Océan, who built two small tugs and used barges to shuttle test samples of ore out to anchored ships. Ocean also transported mining and construction equipment to the site using their tugs and barges. I assumed that the two arctic class tugs, Océan Tundra and its yet to be named sister tug, would also be used in the new Baffin port.*

Other supplies for the port and mine arrived last year on the ships of Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping (NEAS) using their own tugs and lighterage barges.

Svitzer has now won the contract for tug service and will be transferring two tugs from Europe for the work. Both tugs were built in 2009 by East Isle Shipyard in Georgetown, PE for the Danish company Nordane, and were chartered to, then purchased by Svitzer's Swedish subsidiary Svitzer Sverige.

Svitzer Njal is the former Stevns Icequeen (ii), was completed in September 2009 and
Svitzer Nerthus is the former Stevns Iceflower (ii) completed in December 2009.

Stevns Icequeen arriving in Halifax fresh from the shipyard.

After trials, and with spray shields fitted over the engine room air intakes, the tug sails for Denmark.

Both tugs completed final fitout  and conducted their trials and bollard pull tests in Halifax before sailing to Demark on their own hulls.After charter to Svitzer they were repainted in Svitzer colours. They are due in Halifax early in June for "Canadianization" and renaming before entering service in mid-July this summer.

.

* Both tugs were also intended for tanker escort on the St.Lawrence River, but a recent decision not to allow a gas port at Cacouna has also reduced demand for these super tugs. At time of writing Océan Tundra is offered for sale or charter through Marcon International with the notation "Owner not keen to sell, but will consider tempting offers."

.