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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IXC TUGS

The annual sealift supply of northern Canadian settlements takes place during a short navigation season from July to October. One of the major operators is Groupe Desgagnés through their Desgagnés Transartik subsidiary. Ships load at various ports on the St.Lwrence River and head to ports in northern Quebec, Nunavik and Nunavut.

Many of the outports do not have piers or other port infrastructure due to the severe winter ice conditions, and thus ships going north frequently carry small tugs and scows to transship cargo from offshore anchorage to the beach.

On June 30 I was fortunate enough to catch some of the preparations for that work.
The ship Sedna Desgagnés had loaded most of its cargo upriver, then proceeded down to an anchorage off Ile-aux-Coudres. There it was met by a small flotilla of tugs, both company owned and those chartered from GFFM Leclerc, an Ile-aux-Coudres based builder and fleet owner of rental tugs.

Sedna Desgagnés came to anchor off the pier at St-Bernard, Ile-aux-Coudres.

Lead by the Eclipse Polaire four tugs get underway from the small marina.
 

Eclipse Polaire is typical of the latest generation of GFFM Leclerc tugs. It is a triple screw, shallow draft vessel of about 1130 bhp.
 

Lumaaq is a Desgagnés owned tug, of similar design, but twin screw and only about 319 bhp.

Vent Polaire is of an earlier generation Leclerc tug, 2 screw, 420 bhp. Getting away at the dock is Béluga Polaire another triple screw 1200 bhp tug.

Three other Desgagnés tugs and a large scow remain to be picked up by another ship.
Pivut, Ullakut and Ulluriaq are all twin screw, 620 bhp.
 

Eclipse Polaire picks up a scow from its mooring and heads out to the ship. On the scow's deck are some landing ramps.
 

Béluga Polaire pushes a larger scow out to the anchorage.

Tugs shepherd the larger scow alongside for the ship to hoist aboard using its heavy lift cranes.
 

It only takes one crane to lift the smaller scow.
 

While the lifting takes place, the tugs stand well off. A speed boat is also present - I assume taking photos or videos of the operation.

The small tugs remind me of ducklings.

 Once the barges are on board, it is time to lift the tugs:

The tugs takes their place among the various pick-up trucks, boats and even an ambulance heading north.
 

With three tugs on board (Lumaaq, Eclipse Poliare and Béluga Polaire), the ship cradles its cranes and weighs anchor. Its next port will be Rimouski where it will top off with more deck cargo.

Vent Polaire heads back to Ile-aux-Coudres with the deck crews.

When the annual sealift winds up for another season, the operation will be reversed and the tugs and scows will be returned to Ile-aux-Coudres for the winter.

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