Nova Dock departure

To follow up on my previous posting on Nova Dock, after she was towed from the Halifax Shipyard to the Woodside pier, I captured some photos of the now-cut-in-two Nova Dock being loaded onto Boa Barge 33 - well, at least part of it was loaded.

As a post-Panamax floating drydock, Nova Dock was easily ably to swallow the largest ships capable of transiting the Panama Canal while at Halifax Shipyard. Shown here, it accommodated HMCS PRESERVER with room to spare:

HMCS PRESERVER in Nova Dock during her final refit in 2010.

As an aside, during passage through the narrows after this refit, PRESERVER attempted a 180 degree turn and lost power, coming into contact with Nova Dock and damaging both ship and drydock.

Once, when I was living directly across the harbour from Nova Dock, it lifted both of the Canadian Coast Guard heavy icebreakers - Louis S. St. Laurent and Terry Fox - at the same time, with the two ships end-to-end. I have photos of that somewhere too, but of course, can't find them at the moment.

After being towed to Woodside, however, Nova Dock was cut in two in order to be shipped to Florida for a new owner. The ends where it was cut were plated in, and it will be shipped to Florida in two parts. The "aft" end (the part without the two cranes mounted), for lack of a better description, is going first.

On Monday afternoon, the semi-submersible barge Boa Barge 33 was towed from Halterm out to an anchorage in the harbour, in front of the former Canadian Coast Guard base.

Boa Barge 33 being towed out into the harbour.

On Tuesday morning, the deck of Boa Barge 33 (accompanied by tug Boa Odin) was submerged to allow Nova Dock to be floated on.

Boa Odin standing by the partially submerged Boa Odin 33.

Boa Odin then headed over to Woodside to float the "aft" section of Nova Dock over top of Boa Barge 33, apparently with some help from Dominion Diving vessels.

Boa Odin alongside one section of Nova Dock.

Nova Dock floating over the still submerged Boa Barge 33.

Once Nova Dock was in place, Boa Barge 33 was refloated underneath it, until Nova Dock was no longer floating on its own accord (though I didn't manage to photograph this until Wednesday morning).

Nova Dock now on the deck of Boa Odin 33.

Nova Dock was then fastened to the deck of Boa Barge 33 to ensure it doesn't shift during the tow to Florida. With luck, I might catch this tow as it leaves the harbour.

Other coverage can be found on Shipfax (here and here) and Halifax Shipping News.