Polar Circle departs again

I just managed to catch the icebreaking tug Polar Circle departing Halifax for a second time - even though it was through very dirty office windows this time.

Polar Circle following the pilot boat out on 30 January 2023.

Polar Circle.

I wonder if she will make it farther afield this time? Last time she only went to a US port before returning to Halifax.

Icebreaking tug Polar Circle departs Halifax

The icebreaking tug Polar Circle has been laid up in Halifax for some time this fall, and finally departed the harbour for Boston this afternoon - her departure was perfectly timed for the 4:45 ferry to Dartmouth.

To get these photos of a moving ship from another moving ship, I stopped down to f/4 (the widest aperture for my 70-200mm lens) and I normally leave the camera set to auto-ISO - so in this case, the camera jumped the ISO up to between 5000 and 10,000 depending on the image. While not ideal, even the older Sony camera body that I use managed just fine with fairly natural looking grain at those levels.

Foundation Maritime: Salvaging HMCS QUINTE

Commissioned on August 30, 1941, the Bangor-class minesweeper HMCS QUINTE was essentially brand new and had undergone a recent refit in Lunenburg in late 1942 when she ran aground and had to be "beached" - at some point she seems to have additionally capsized and sunk in the St. Peter's Canal. Foundation Maritime deployed to salvage the wreck, but winter apparently set in and the canal froze over before work could begin in earnest.

QUINTE lies on her side in the frozen waters of the St. Peter's Canal. The salvage operation has begun, and righting masts with block and tackle have been set up on the pier to begin righting the ship. This photo looks to the south.

The salvage operation began with the ship up against the sea wall on the east side of the canal entrance. The ship was lying on her port side with the bow pointed to the north, up into the canal.

Looking to the north, a man stands on a gangway rigged from the pier to the wreck. Tackle rigged to the righting masts is already connected to the ship.

The ship is sitting on the bottom in these photos, and her exposed sides and deck would have been subject to the rise and fall of the tides - with all the ice present, this probably contributed to scouring paint from the hull.

QUINTE still on her side, with her starboard lifeboat davits pointing up into the air. The ground is still covered in snow in this image.

The tug that supported the operation at this stage was the Saint-class Ocean Eagle - a Canadian Government asset at this time, and formerly Royal Navy tug St. Arvans, she had been placed under the operational control of Foundation Maritime during the war.

Though ice remains in the canal, snow cover on the ground itself is receding, and Foundation Maritime has managed to maneuver the crane barge Foundation Scarboro into position alongside the now-righted wreck. Operated during the war by Foundation Maritime, the government tug Ocean Eagle can be seen to the right of the image. Foundation Scarboro's shear legs are in the stowed position in this photo - folded down onto the deck on the right side of the barge.

The masts and tackle are still in position after righting the wreck, though she has not yet been refloated. If is hard to tell if the wreck has already been relocated, or if some of the photos have been reversed, because she is now port side-to the pier as opposed to starboard side-to in the previous photos. I am assuming they would not have relocated the righting masts, so I believe this photo is mirrored - the opposite side of the canal in this photo should be the west side.

Once QUINTE was back on a more or less even keel, she was refloated. Presumably Foundation Scarboro's participation would have been critical to this state of the operation.

Now refloated, QUINTE is rafted outside Foundation Scarboro on the west side of the canal entrance, the latter with her shear legs now deployed. Ocean Eagle can be seen in the background. The righting masts can still be seen erected on the east (near) side of the canal.

Apart from the removal of a minesweeper wreck, this end of the St. Peter's Canal hasn't changed that much over the years - the sea wall is still there, and you can see the knuckles in the edge in these Google Map Streetview images to locate the action all those years ago. In fact, the house in the background appearing between the shear legs on Foundation Scarboro still appears in the Streetview image here. 

QUINTE alongside Foundation Scarboro on the west side of the canal. The house in the background right of the image still exists and can be seen in the Google Streetview link above.

A close-up of the now-refloated QUINTE, looking rather the worse for wear after her ordeal. This is the starboard side of the ship, which would have been exposed to tidal action and ice, and presumably the paint has been partially scoured off - although I am unable to immediately find a photo of QUINTE taken before her sinking, so I don't know what her paint scheme would have been - but the camouflage applied during the war tended to consist of lighter colours in order to blend in on the horizon.

After completing the salvage operation in 1943, QUINTE was towed to the Foundation Maritime-operated Pictou Shipyard, where she was repaired by 1944, and then she spent the rest of the war as a training ship attached to the HMCS CORNWALLIS training base in Digby, NS. Although the Bangors had been built with enclosed bridges, it would appear that QUINTE's new training role demanded an open bridge modeled along the lines of the Flower-class corvette, and she appears to have received a new armament outfit as well, at least as compared to her contemporary sisterships.

In 1946, she briefly operated with the Naval Research Establishment in Halifax, but paid off by October 25th of that year. All this might seem like a lot of work for little return, as QUINTE was scrapped in Sydney, NS, in 1947. But then, salt water has a bad effect on electrical wiring, and perhaps problems were beginning to surface - certainly, if her history was known, she would not have been among the first to be purchased by other navies after the war.

The entire incident seems to have been relatively unknown, to the extent that at least one RCN ship historian wasn't even sure that it had occurred - until I was able to produce the photos. And the only reason I myself had the photos was because I was able to access the archives of the Foundation Company of Canada in Toronto, thanks to the kind assistance of Harold Beswick, who combed the archives, collected anything he found of interest and couriered it to me in Nova Scotia, and then received it back when I was finished scanning it. I learned just last week that Harold passed away on April 10th, at the age of 87. So if you've read this and enjoyed it, please say a little thank-you to Harold.

Heavy Lifting

Over the last twenty years or so, Halifax has hosted visits by several heavy lift platforms associated with the Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP). In fact, the second largest of these platforms in the world, Thialf (Halifax Shipping News has written a piece here) is sitting offshore of Halifax Harbour as I write this. Like Thialf, the modern generation of heavy lift platform, such as the Saipem 7000 (currently the world's third largest) is designed (among other things) to transport and place jackets and topsides for offshore oil and gas exploration and production platforms. I have yet to take any photos of Thialf due to the current COVID-19 quarantine, but I have previously written about the visits of Saipem 7000 (1998) and Heerema's Hermod (2003).

Saipem 7000 approaching the jetty in Woodside, with two SOEP jackets onshore to the left of the image.

Saipem 7000 now alongside and with the two jackets lifted onboard.

Shown here in Halifax in 2003, Hermod has since been scrapped. Heerema replaced her, and presumably her older sister Balder, with the new platforms Sleipnir and Thialf.

The history of floating crane platforms lifting heavy loads in Halifax Harbour goes back much further than the last twenty years, however, with (admittedly much smaller) heavy lifts occurring at least as far back as the Second World War. For use in their marine construction and salvage operations, the Foundation Company of Canada and their marine arm, Foundation Maritime, operated several such platforms bearing names such as Foundation Masson, Foundation Mersey, Foundation Scarboro, and Foundation Shipshaw (among others). The heaviest lifter of this bunch was Foundation Scarboro, with a lifting capacity of 230 tons on her shear legs.

One particular operation in 1945 or so involved lifting a number of small wooden tugboats onto a freighter to take them overseas. 

Foundation Scarboro lifting the tug CT65 onto a freighter, which appears to be the Fort Moose. 

"Under Tow" by Donal M. Baird recounts that twenty-two of these small 50-60 ton tugs of the Tanac-class were built of wood in small east coast boat yards, and many were shipped overseas as deckloads, with Britain and the Mediterranean as some of the destinations - one made it as far as Australia. Some remained in, or were repatriated to, Canada and served as late as the 1990s for companies such as Atlantic Towing.

In place of a name, the Tanacs initially carried the letters CT (for Canadian Tug) and a number. CT61 through CT65 were built on the South Shore of Nova Scotia by Industrial Shipping Co. Ltd. in Mahone Bay (61 through 63) and by Smith & Rhuland in Lunenburg (64 and 65). The Shipbuilding History website indicates that CT65 ended up in Italy under the name Tenax. 

Foundation Scarboro underway in Halifax with CT63 on the hook.

Lifting CT65.

Foundation Scarboro started off life with just the two shear legs fitted, but was later refitted to include a rotating derrick crane for more flexible but lighter lifting.

A close-up of the connection detail between the spreader bar and the tug.

A close-up of the connection detail between the spreader bar and the tug.

A close-up of the connection detail between the spreader bar and the tug.

A steel cable wrapped in padding passes down from the spreader bar and under the hull of the tug.

Presumably CT63 on board a freighter.

CT61 and another Tanac tug on-board their freighter. I'm not sure how many of these tugs a freighter could carry at once, but it was at least two at a time. In the top right of the image, just to the left of the bridge of the tug on the right, is what I assume is one of the old Halifax Harbour ferries.

CT64 onboard a freighter.

These tugs were build for the Ministry of War, who ultimately distributed them as needed. According to the Shipbuilding History website, a total of 265 of these tugs were built in Canada between approximately 1943 and 1946. Interestingly, as one of the hundreds of cargo vessels built in Canada during the war, Fort Moose was also built in Canada, at Montreal in 1943.

As it turns out, Foundation Maritime also operated a Tanac tug for a few years after the war, the Foundation Alice. She was built as CT262 at Smith & Rhuland in 1945, but was sold on from Foundation in 1948.

Foundation Alice.

Atlantic Shrike on sea trials

Atlantic Shrike, the sister of Atlantic Towing's other new Damen-designed Atlantic Griffin, has also begun sea trials. She headed out this morning, the first time I have seen her on the move.

Sometimes I just get lucky, and my ferry ride this morning coincided perfectly with Atlantic Shrike's transit out to sea. 

Atlantic Shrike heading out on what might be her first set of sea trials.

A Navy RHIB is passing by as Atlantic Shrike passes the Dockyard. You can clearly see the different paint colour where the bridge superstructure was joined to the hull at Halifax Shipyard.

Atlantic Shrike.

Atlantic Shrike between the George's Island and McNab's Island lighthouses.

Where both Atlantic Griffin and Atlantic Shrike are registered in St. John's, NL, I'm not sure how often we will see them in Halifax once they are accepted into service by Atlantic Towing.

Atlantic Griffin begins sea trials (Updated)

Atlantic Towing's new offshore support vessel (OSV) Atlantic Griffin began sea trials yesterday, heading out during mid-day sometime, and returning after dark. She headed out again this morning,  just as fleet-sister Atlantic Condor was returning to port, and I managed to get a few shots of her as the sun came up.

Atlantic Griffin departing this morning just as Atlantic Condor was returning to port. This is a good contrast between the newer design of Griffin to the not-so-much older Condor.

Designed by Damen and built at their yard in Galatz, Romania, she is designated as a Platform Supply Vessel (PSV) 5000. The upper portion of the forward superstructure was separated from the rest of the hull, and the two parts were shipped to Halifax and assembly was completed at Halifax Shipyards. Sistership Atlantic Shrike is also completing in Halifax, and will presumably begin her own sea trials soon.

The lines of this new Damen design are fairly revolutionary, at least in these parts. Her hull certainly seemed to be cutting through the water with little fuss, though to be fair she wasn't going very fast.

Atlantic Griffin in front of Purdy's Wharf.

Atlantic Griffin approaches the lighthouse on George's Island.

There was a nice sky this morning, although the orange and reds in the sky made it difficult to selectively highlight the orange of Atlantic Griffin's hull.

Chebucto Pilot following Atlantic Griffin out this morning.

Atlantic Griffin returning last night.

I include this photo of Atlantic Griffin not because it is very good, but because I was surprised I was able to take it at all. I took this from the ferry, a moving platform, just before 7pm and it was dark enough that all my eyes could make out were the lights on the ship. I set my camera's ISO to 25,000, opened up the aperture to f4, and did my best to hold the camera steady - and was rewarded with an image of the entire tug, orange hull and all, and not just the lights. Camera technology has come a long way in the last 10 years.

Update:

According to Tugfax, Atlantic Griffin was performing a bollard test on January 20, see seen in the following photos.

Atlantic Griffin bollard pull test at Pier 26.

Atlantic Griffin bollard pull test at Pier 26.

Atlantic Griffin bollard pull test at Pier 26.

Atlantic Condor:

Atlantic Condor herself has also been in and out a fair bit lately.

Atlantic Condor taken just last week on January 13th, again with the George's Island lighthouse to the left.

Atlantic Condor passes in front of the Navy's Tribute Tower, the new Junior Ranks Mess and Accommodation.

Unlike her two newer fleet sisters, Atlantic Condor was build right here in Halifax, and was launched back in October of 2010. Here are some images from her launching.

The day prior to the launch, October 30, 2010, some of the smaller tugs such as Atlantic Larch put on a bit of a show.

This image of Atlantic Oak is one of my favourites.

The remainder of the images here were taken October 31, 2010, the actual day of the launch. Atlantic Condor was one of the last vessels launched from the old launch ways from which other fleet mates, the Coast Guard inshore patrol vessels, the MCDVs, and many other ships were launched over the years. 

Atlantic Condor has just started to slide down the ways, her bows meeting the water for the first time.

Here she really has her feet wet, with only her running gear and rudders still out of the water.

Once fully afloat, she was herded into place by her smaller fleet sisters. 

Atlantic Condor has been quite busy ever since, and one presumes that the newer Atlantic Griffin and Atlantic Shrike will be kept similarly busy.