Elizabeth - short stay

The US flag tug Elizabeth made one of her very quick visits to Halifax July 5 to 6. As usual this was to load steel fabrications from Cherubini Metal Works at their pier in Eisner's Cove. The tug, with barge Weeks 297 arrived in the very wee hours of Thursday July 5 and loading commenced almost at once. The barge was aligned with the wharf at high tide to allow the fabrications to be driven on to the barge using several Mammoet multi-axle powered trailers.
After securing the load, the pair sailed early this evening.
The tug was built in 1984 as Kitty Hawk, but was acquired by Weeks Marine Inc of New Jersey and renamed. It is a typical southern US design tug, with a small elevated wheelhouse for pushing work. It is rated at 2000 bhp with Cat engine.

Weeks Marine Inc is now the parent company of McNally Construction Ltd.

McNally sells to Weeks

1. Whitby at work on July 11 at the Halterm extension.

2. Carl M swings around the Canadian Argosy at Halterm July 11.

3. Mister Joe arriving in Halifax in May.

As reported in Shipfax, McNally Construction has been purchased by Weeks Marine, Inc of New Jersey. McNally will continue to operate under its current name as a wholly owned subsidiary.

As the largest marine construction operation in eastern Canada (Ocean Group is probably a distant #2) McNally has a substantial fleet of work barges, scows, dredges and about 20 tugs.

There is unlikely to be any outward change in the look of the fleet in the near future, but some of the older plant is certainly due for replacement.

One of McNally's hard working tugs is Mister Joe, built in 1964 by Russel-Hipwell in Owen Sound, ON as Churchill River. After a career in James Bay and Hudson Bay, it worked on Hibernia for a time, before its acquisition of Beaver Marine (a McNally subsidiary that was folded into the larger company) in 2000. The twin screw tug of 750 bhp is named for Joe McNally, one of the company founders.

Smaller tugs include Carl M, built in 1957 as Louis M (renamed in 1975) and acquired from the now defunct McNamara Construction rates 475 bhp. Whitby (also a former McNamara tug) was built in 1978 and rates 474 bhp.

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