New Life for the Tidal Pioneer - updated

 The Neptune Eurocarrier workboat Tidal Pioneer has found new work after its original owners declared banktuptcy last year.

 The "Swiss Army knife"of workboats is bristling with winches, thrusters and cranes to perform all sorts of marine construction work. Built in 2021 by Neptune Shipyard in the Netherlands, the 2 screw, 179gt vessel is a proprietary design of the builders. It is equipped with Dynamic Positioning 1 and develops a bollard pull of 34.7 tonnes.

It was acquired by Sustainable Marine Energy Canada Ltd (SMEC) to work with their tidal power project, which due to funding issues was halted and the company entered voluntary receivership in May 2023. The Tidal Pioneer was laid up in Dartmouth at Dominion Diving's base and listed for sale. (It has been maintained in working order.)

The vessel has now been sold to Leask Marine, an international marine contracting company based in the United Kingdom. Its Canadian registry was closed February 2 and it has been registered in the UK under the new name C-Horizon.

Leask Marine, through Nova Innovation CAN Ltd, has applied for a coasting license to use the boat to move a (submerged) tidal turbine from Meteghan, NS and install it in Petit Passage (between Digby Neck and Long Island, off Tiverton, NS). Citing the unique characteristics of the boat and the need to use experienced personnel (presumably not Canadian) a coasting license will be needed to use a non-Canadian vessel in Canadian waters. Although Eurocarrier type vessels are common in Europe they are rare in Canada, and no Canadian flag vessels are available for the work.

The work is to be carried out in March so that the C-Horizon can take up another contract in the UK by April 30.

Update:

As it turned out C-Horizon did not carry out the turbine move, and the vessel will be relocated to Europe on the heavy lift ship BBC Topaz late in March. See copmanion blog Shipfax for more news.  

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Dominion Warrior at Work - updated (and again)

 Dominion Diving's Dominion Warrior put to sea on a towing job September 21. 

Dominion Warrior at its base in Dartmouth Cove.

 Eurocarrier type vessels are commonly used for towing in Europe as they are equipped with towing winches, shark jaws and all the usual appurtenances for towing. However they are such rare vessels in Canada (there are only two, and both in Halifax - see below) that it is still a bit of a novelty to see one towing. 

 Today's tow is the Scotia Tide a specially constructed lift barge, designed for the placement (and retrieval) of tidal turbines from the sea bottom. When the orginal tidal power project was cancelled, the barge was laid up Saint John, NB where it was the subject of extended litigation, and eventually ended up in Halifax.

The launch Halmar retrieves the line handlers from the barge as it heads for sea.

According to reports the barge's new owners are planning to put the unit back in service, and are sending it to the shipyard for renewal of its classification. Despite the Dominion Warrior's AIS signal giving a destination of Gibraltar, it is more likely to be heading for a shipyard closer to home.

The 1293 gt barge was built at the Aecon Atlantic Industrial Inc shipyard in Pictou, NS. It is registered at 1293 gt (and surprisingly was not listed on the pilot dispatch list, as vessels of more than 1,000 gt usually require a pilot).

Footnotes:

 1. The Federal Court ordered sale of the other Euro Carrier, Tidal Pioneer is expected next week (October 4). It is laid up at Dominion Diving Ltd's base in Dartmouth Cove. [see previous post].

Update:

 2. Thanks to a reader I have learned that there is also a Euro Carrier vessel working on Canada's Pacific Coast. The Haisla Northwind was built by Neptune in 2019 and is owned by Bridgemans GP Ltd of Richmond, BC. It is currently at work on the LNG Canada terminal construction project in Kitimat.

3. I have just discovered another Eurocarrier - this one in Newfoundland, operated by 360 Marine of Harbour Breton. As far as I can tell it is a 2209 model (21.6 m length overall x 9 m breadth), twin screw 748 kW and 15 tonnes bollard pull. Built in 2022 and orginally operated in the Netherlands as NP 574 , it was registered in St.John's in June as 360 Handler. It has been reported in St.John's, Harbour Breton, Marystown and Argentia.

4.There is slighly larger Turkish-built version also working in Newfoundland. Its name is Oderin and it is also working in the Marystown / Argentia area for NL Marine Services Inc of St.John's. It was built in 2017 and operated in Turkey as Ulubey and was renamed Ulubey 1 in 2019. It was registered in Canada and given its present name in 2020.

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Tidal Pioneer for sale

 A notice in the Halifax Chronicle Herald newspaper on September 12 announced that the mult-purpose workboat Tidal Pioneer is offered for sale by tender. Its owners, Sustainable Marine Energy (Canada) Ltd entered into voluntary bankruptcy earlier this year, citing government permitting issues. After operating a pilot project in Grand Passage, Digby Neck, the company wanted to install floating tidal generators in Minas Passage, further up the Bay of Fundy where there is an extremely large tidal range and fast flowing currents. 

The Tidal Pioneer was used to tow the generators and install them on location, and service them once they were anchored and operational. The company suspended operations in April-May and the generators were to be scrapped according to press reports.

[There were controversial issues with this tidal power project which will not be dealt with here. An internet seach will reveal more information from news sites.]

The Tidal Pioneer was built in 2019 by Neptune Shipyards BV in Aalst, Netherlands.  It is a standard design EuroCarrier 2611 type, a twin screw flat deck vessel with two Caterpillar main engines delivering 1940 kW with 35 tonne Bollard Pull. It carries two deck cranes and a variety of towing and anchor handling gear. The hull measures 24.5m x 11.04m x 3.45m depth (about 2m draft). The offset superstructure allows for large deck loads. [Details from Neptune's web site for typical craft of the type.]

This type of vessel is popular in Europe, and has been exported world wide, but is still rare in North America. Remarkably it made an unassisted Atlantic crossing via the Azores, arriving in Halifax August 24, 2021. (Dominion Diving's Dominion Warrior is the only other vessel of the type in Canada and although only slightly smaller, it arrived in Halifax on a heavy lift ship in 2018.)

The sale ad notes that any claims against the vessel must be registered in the Federal Court of Canada by October 7, 2023.

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Transatlantic Crossing

 It may be the first time that a "multi-cat" type vessel has made an unassisted transatlantic crossing. Even if it is not the first, today's arrival (August 24) of Tidal Pioneer is a notable one. The small workboat, measuring only 26m x 11m, and rectangular in shape, sailed from Rotterdam August 5. After a stop in the Azores, it resumed its voyage August 15 and sailed through the tail of Post Tropical Storm Henri before arriving in Halifax this morning.

Built on strictly utilitarian lines, the vessel has a square "bow" with push knees, large working deck, open from  bow to stern, with wheelhouse offset to starboard, a small superstructure and exhaust stacks to port, and a pair of cranes - one forward and one aft. 

This type of vessel, commonly called a "multicat", although that is a trademark, is popular world wide, but still rare in North America. Dominion Diving's Dominion Warrior was the first to be seen in these parts, and it arrived from Europe on a heavy lift ship in 2018. 

Tidal Pioneer is owned by Sustainable Marine Energy, the Scottish/Canadian company that has developed floating tidal power generators. It is currently commissioning the Grand Passage project, between Digby Neck and Brier Island, Nova Scotia. The floating platform has been built by A.F.Theriault + Sons, Meteghan River, NS, and equipped with tidal turbines built by Schottel. Seabed anchors and undersea power cable work are scheduled for completion this summer. Presumably Tidal Pioneer will be used in the construction and servicing of the installation.

Tidal Pioneer was initially laid down in 2019 by Neptune Shipyard in Aalst, Netherlands as their hull number 556 then fitted out and completed for SME earlier this year. Neptune's multi-purpose vessels are called "Eurocarrier" and Tidal Pioneer appears to be based on the 2611 standard design, with many modifications to suit the specific needs of SME. It is a twin screw vessel, of 2600 bhp.

Registered in Canada July 2, it was reflagged to Belize for the delivery trip. This is standard procedure for ship delivery companies. They are contracted by means of a charter arrangement, and use experienced delivery crews, mostly from the Netherlands. These crews also perform warrantee monitoring, break in procedures and other work during the delivery voyage. They must also be a hardy breed of seafarer to withstand a transatlantic voyage like this one.

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