After many years of layup and on the sale broker's list, Atlantic Towing finally gave up on the
Atlantic Maple this summer and scrapping began at the Indiantown tug base in Saint John, NB, and is largely completed by now.
In the 1960s Atlantic Towing Ltd ordered a pair of sea-going tugs from Saint John SB & DD. First was
Irving Maple and second was the larger
Irving Birch.
Irving Maple was delivered in 1966 and set to work towing oil barges for Irving Oil. Some very large barges, such as Irving Whale and Irving Sealion were the usual consorts of this tug, which was also available for salvage and other towing work.
Her fine lines and high bow made her an excellent sea boat, and she proved herself many times over in bad weather and awkward tows.
In 1975 she towed the broken down Leslie from Newcastle NB to Philadelphia after a grounding.
Built for navigation in ice,
Maple made several trips to northern waters, the most memorable was in 1980. She assisted
Irving Birch in towing a mine plant barge from Trois-Rivières, QC to Little Cornwallis Island for Cominco’s zinc mine.
January weather in 1982 made for a difficult salvage job with
Irving Birch when they were called upon to retrieve the tanker Arhon which had been adrift for two weeks off Sable Island. They arrived safely in Halifax January 27, and the ship was eventually towed to Spain for repairs by
Irving Miami. In March of the same year
Maple took the lead in salvaging the abandoned Dalia D. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The ship had taken on a severe list in pack ice, but
Maple, assisted by
Irving Birch were able to get the ship safely into Gaspé Harbour.
In 1984 she towed the two large Irving tankers H.1060 and H.1070, in tandem, from Point Edward NS to Spain for scrap, arriving at Castellon July 9.
She also towed the paper barge Kent Carrier and Kent Transport on numerous occasions, up and down the east coast.
When business was slow in the 1980s recession, she was laid up at an anchorage in the Saint John River with
Irving Birch and
Culver. The fresh water in the river inhibited marine growth during the idle period.
In February 1995 she towed the newly launched
Atlantic Spruce (i) from Georgetown PEI to Halifax NS for completion.
With the elimination of tanker barge services and the delivery of new harbour tugs, Atlantic Towing changed the existing tug's names. After working a few years as
Atlantic Maple, the tug was laid up at Atlantic Towing’s Indiantown base in Saint John in 2003. Although there was some expectation that she would see service in 2008 she remained mothballed until demolition began in the summer of 2013.
Atlantic Maple, ex Irving Maple -96 O.N. 326466 IMO 6619578
487grt 1966 Saint John SB & DD [1063]
35.36m x 9.45m x 4.27m
8 cyl Polar (Nydqvist & Holm) = 3200bhp,
1 screw, controllable pitch prop in nozzle
.
