Jerry Newberry sold

The veteran tug Jerry Newberry has found a new career. On the for sale list for more than a year, a buyer in Newfoundland has  purchased the tug, expecting to find work connected with the massive Hebron oil project. The tug is due to sail from its layup berth in Port Hawksbury in a few weeks, with a fresh coat of paint and some other improvements, to take up the new post.

The thrice renamed tug was the first in a new era of postwar tugs built in Canada for Foundation Maritime, the tug operation arm of the Foundation Company of Canada.With the development of new iron ore mines in Labrador and the looming opening of the St.Lawrence Seaway, Foundation saw a need for more powerful tugs. They set out to replace their entire fleet of pre-war and war-built tugs and in the end built ten new tugs over a seven year period, nine of them in Canada.

The Foundation Victor slid down the ways at Davie Shipbuilding in Lauzon, QC on November 19, 1956 and was handed over to her owners December 22. At 244 gross tons and 1380 bhp (delivered by an 8 cylinder Fairbanks Morse, to a single screw) it was a big tug for its time, and was thought to be capable of handling the biggest ships of the day. It was intended to work in Sept-Iles, QC in summer and Halifax in winter, following the pattern of the day when the Gulf of St.Lawrence was closed to winter navigation and Halifax and Saint John became the primary eastern Canada ports in winter.

The tug sailed from Lauzon January 11, 1957, and with the assistance of the icebreaker N.B.Mclean
worked through heavy ice to Bird Island. It then reached Sydney on its own to effect repairs to due to iced up radar and standard compass. It reached Halifax 19 hours after leaving Sydney.

Joined by near sister Foundation Valour in 1958, the pair continued in the winter/summer pattern for some time, but events eventually overtook them. Winter navigation became a reality and  Sept-Iles became a year round port. Ships increased in size and tug horsepower had to grow with it, and the duo were virtually obsolete with a few years. It was not until 1973 however that new 4,000 bhp icebreaking tugs displaced the pair from Sept-Iles and they transferred to Halifax permanently. Even in Halifax, which had become a year round port, they were underpowered as larger ships needed more powerful tugs, with quicker response times.

 

1. Point Victor was built with an elevated wheelhouse to provide added visibility when docking large bulk carriers.

Meanwhile Foundation had sold the tug fleet in 1968 to MIL Tug, a division of Marine Industries Ltd of Sorel, QC, who then sold MIL Tug in 1971 to what became Eastern Canada Towing Ltd (a joint venture between the Dutch Smit and British Cory) in 1973. Ectug, as it was known, renamed the tug Point Victor and  found some work for it, but sold it in 1977 to Pitts Engineering + Construction Ltd of Toronto.

2. Kay Cole was fitted with a towing winch, mounted low on the after deck, feeding the tow wire forward through a sheave at the former towing hook location, then aft over the stern.

Renamed Kay Cole the tug ranged far and wide around eastern Canada towing Pitts' dredges and scows to construction sites.They also fitted it with a towing winch. It had a good run with Pitts (which among many other companies merged into various other concerns including Foundation) until 1991 when it was sold to McKeil Work Boats of Hamilton, ON.

3. In McKeil colours, the tug lays over in Halifax while towing a barge with crane components to the US.

4. As Jerry Newberry the tug worked in Montreal for time when McKeil provided ship berthing services in the port.
 

McKeil ran the tug as Kay Cole until 1995 when it became Jerry Newberry. It ranged even farther afield for McKiel, including barge towing to the United States east coast, but as their fleet expanded it was sold to McNally Construction, also of Hamilton in 2007. It was used by their Beaver Marine subsidiary on the east coast and the north. It was while returning from Labrador that it lost the crane barge McNally Olympic when the tow line parted and the barge drifted ashore. The barge was also carrying the smaller tug Le Taureau which was also lost.

5. The tug was looking quite forlorn while laid up in Port Hawksbury last summer. Competitor Mac Isaac Construction had their tug/wokboat conversion Whsipering Seas II tied up alongside.

McNally laid up the tug in Port Hawksbury and listed it for sale, but it was only last month that new owners were found. They have not re-registered the tug or changed its name yet.

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Whitby to the rescue

When the ferry Princess of Acadia lost power on November 7, it was making its approach to the Digby, NS terminal and ran aground by the stern, not far away. The ship regained power and was able to berth at the dock two hours later. After several days of diver surveys, investigation and perhaps repairs, the ship was able to sail again on November 10.
Nowhere in the media coverage I saw, was the name of the tug Whitby mentioned, but it was on the scene and appeared in several media photos, alongside the ship's stern as it finally reached the dock. Normally the nearest tug to Digby is in Saint John, NB - several hours steaming time away.
Granted Whitby is not powerful, (474 bhp) if it figured in the "ungrounding" or was used as a precaution while the ship finally reached its berth I do not know, but its presence was fortuitous. Its owners, McNally Construction Ltd are finishing up work at the Digby terminal and it was only by chance that the tug was in the neighbourhood.
Built in 1978 for McNamara Construction, the tug worked in Halifax on the Halterm extension in 2010-2011 and left Halifax for Digby aboard the Canadian Argosy March ,11, 2013..

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Scotia Diver in port

The tug ex fishing boat Scotia Diver  has been spotted in port October 30, at pier 9C and at pier 6 - both positions awkward for photography. It is still in as of this evening.

Built in 1979 by Lunenburg Foundry + Engineering as the fishing vessel Wanda and Paula, it was renamed Scotia Diver in 1997 when Halifax owners bought it as a dive tender/towboat. It did see frequent use in Halifax and as far away as Gaspé for a time, but was then laid up for number of years until sold in 2010. The current owner, from Port Hawksbury, has put the boat to good use in general towing and contracting work.
I assume the tug is in Halifax to tow out the small dump scows SA2 and SA3 that Dexter was using in  at Pier 6. They are owned by Indian Head Towing of Port Hastings, NS. Scotia Diver probably towed them to Halifax as well, but I missed that. The wild weather for the last few days has no doubt resulted in a postponement of any departure.

The new owner has done a lot of work on the tug, but this is how she appeared in 1999.

Roseway and the reef balls (and more)

A project to promote marine life in Halifax  got underway yesterday and part one was completed today. Since the commissioning of a new sewage treatment system, marine life has experienced a slow comeback in the harbour waters. Scientists have now developed a perforated concrete cone or ball which, it is hoped, will accelerate the growth of some marine growth in shallow water where sunlight can penetrate. Called reef balls, the devices also promote eddies and currents and provide a sheltered enclosure for some types of plants and animals.
Irving Shipbulding Inc is funding the balls, and they being placed by Dominion Diving Ltd. Using their tug Roseway (built in 1960), their work barge DD 2000 (built in the mid-20th century*) and the scow RB Barge (built in 1994) Dominion Diving placed a series of the balls close to shore near Point Pleasant Park's Black Rock beach.

1. The reef balls were lowered to the bottom by crane and divers ensured their correct placement. The barge DD2000 is secured by four anchors.

Once work was completed today, Roseway began the tow back to Dominion Diving's base in Dartmouth Cove.

2.Roseway gets under way. The scow RB Barge was used to transport the reef balls from base to site.  (In the background a pusher tug handles a barge** headed for the Northwest Arm.)

3. The deckhand lets out a little more line for the tow home.

3. Underway again.

Foot Notes:

*  The barge DD 2000 was once the Dartmouth Marine Slips Work Barge No.1:

4. Pictured in 1976, it was not new then!  I have always suspected that it was acquired in the United States with a number of other scows used in construction of the oil rigs at Halifax Shipyard in the 1960s, but have never been able to confirm it.

** The bandy legged legged spud scow in the background of photo number 2 is this item:

5. T.K.L. No.6 was built in 1976 by Sydney Engineering + Dry Dock Co Ltd as the cable ferry Angus MacAskill for the Province of Nova Scotia. It is now owned by R.J.MacIsaac Construction Ltd of Antigonish, NS. In photo 2 it appears to be under the control of the pusher Lina see: http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2012/04/tug-lina-history-not-known.html

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From the (black and white) shoe box

With little tug activity to remark upon in Halifax recently, it was time to dig into the shoebox for some oldies.

Back in 1983 Cartier Construction, a Quebec company, included most of the assets of the former McNamara Construction Co. Among those was the tug Oshawa (built in 1969) and still going today for McNally Construction Ltd.

1. and 2. Oshawa pulling (and an aluminum motorboat pushing) the dredge Harold M and scow alongSide at Pointe-au-Pic, QC, 1983-08-20.

3. 2013-10-19 in Halifax.

In 1984 Canadian Dredge and Dock were the operators of the tug Bagotville (built in 1964)

4. and 5. Bagotville was tied up in Toronto 1984-04-13.

6. In Halifax, 2013-10-19.

BONUS

Also in Toronto in April 1984 was the Canadian Dredge and Dock Co's tug Traveller. It visited Halifax two times that I know of. It was built as the steam tug Dalhousie Rover in 1941 by Muir Bros DD of Port Dalhousie, ON for C.S.Boone Dredging & Construction. However due to wartime needs it was chartered to Saint John Tug Boat Co. It arrived in Halifax October 24, 1941 from Pictou and cleared for Saint John., NB. (It may have returned to the Great Lakes seasonally.)

On March 12, 1945, while towing a ship from Saint John Dry Dock it capsized and sank in Courtenay Bay, with the loss of three lives. Six others were rescued. The tug was raised, repaired, and called in Halifax October 31, 1945 en route to Sorel.

On June 29, 1946 it foundered in Lock 1 of the Welland Canal and six were drowned. It was again raised and repaired and renamed Towmaster. 

In 1949 it was briefly renamed Shediac (possibly for work in New Brunswick), but was soon renamed Traveller by Canadian Dredge and Dock Co Ltd.In 1960 CD+D rebuilt it at their own yard in Kingston, ON, converting it to a diesel tug, upping its horsepower from 450 ihp to 720 bhp with a 6 cyl B+W Alpha. Its steam winch and windlass were converted to electric by Russel-Hipwell of Owen Sound, who also supplied Lister auxiliaries, steering gear and pumps from the Steelcraft line.

The tug seems to have lead an uneventful life thereafter, lasting until 1995 when it was broken up in Port Maitland, ON.

Its similarity to the Glen class tugs of the RCN, built very soon after, but as diesel tugs, is worth noting. 

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Océan Tundra update - launch-- UPDATE

Océan Tundra took to the water October 18.


See the following link for an incomparable photo:

http://www.charlevoixendirect.com/index.asp?s=detail_actualite&ID=137576


Océan Henry Bain assisted the new 100 tonne bollard bollard, $25mn tug to the fitting out berth.
The article promises more detail in a future issue.

Update:
For a photo album of the unsual launch see:
http://www.charlevoixendirect.com/index.asp?s=photo&album=526 

Gleeful tugs

It is debatable whether tugs can be gleeful, but it seems that the three McNally Construction tugs in Halifax were gleeful at noon time today when they completed placement of the last of the cribs at pier 6 in Halifax shipyard.

 

Freed from towing the huge concrete cribs at glacial speeds, and hours of nudging them into position, the tugs seemed to kick up their heels when the job was completed. The workers were also pleased to have the rest of the week end off too.

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