(Above) TowBoat US Tug. Towboat US, and ther competition SeaTow are the towtrucks for pleasure craft owners. Its a membership service, and should you suffer a breakdown, you call, and they will tow you to safety.
(Below) Pilot boat Tampa of Egmont Key
(Above) RCCL Brilliance of the Seas, outbound at the pilot station.
The virginia class attack sub uss New Mexico arrived this afternoon and tied up at shearwater. The sub based in Grotten CT, recently spent some time under the arctic ice including surfacing through the ice at a temporary base.
Marc Milner is one of Canada’s preeminent naval historians and expert on the corvette. I suggest taking look at has recent article A Night Of Furious Action at http://legionmagazine.com. This Piece looks at the work of Escort Group C3, Protecting convoy ON 115 from July 29 to Aug. 1, 1942
Marc has also Produced a number of Books, Including Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy: 1939-1945
Painting Above- JOHN M. HORTON, BEAVERBROOK COLLECTION OF WAR ART/CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM—19840654-001
The Universitie de Quebec a Rimouski (UQAR) research vessel Coriolis II put in to port today, and tied up at the ECTug wharf.
You Can find our Full Coverage of the HMCS Athabaskan Tow Here
The Canadian Press was able to get the May 2013 report into the tow issues with HMCS Athabaskan. I have not seen the report, so the info below is from the CP Piece. The report, obtained under access-to-information law, says the punctures require 18 square metres of steel to be replaced. Another 711 square metres of the ship needs fresh hull coating because the broken lines rubbed against the vessel, while rails, stanchions and a smashed sonar operator compartment window also have to be replaced, the report says.
the repairs would cost approximately $2 million.
The report says the Defence Department was invoiced about $546,000 by Atlantic Towing to complete the tow from Sydney, N.S., to Halifax, on top of the $707,000 the department has been billed for the initial leg of the journey by original Contract winner Group Ocean.
Investigators say the Ocean Delta,one of the two tugboats involved in the operation suddenly lost power in the Gulf of St. Lawrence between Sept-Iles, Que., and the Magdalen Islands on the morning of Dec. 26 when an air leak caused the clutch to disengage. The tug then spins around, striking the navy ship along one side while its fenders “burst as a result of the force exerted on them during the collision,” the report says.
On the 28th, the tow to Halifax resumed. Then, over a course of hours, four lines snap while the ship is about 10 kilometres off the rocky coast of Scatarie Island. The report says winds did not exceed 45 kilometres per hour and waves were between one to two metres at the time.
The first tow line snapped at 10 p.m. A search and rescue helicopter was deployed by the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre to bring personnel onto the drifting ship to secure a new line, which was done early on the morning of Dec. 29.
That tow line snapped about five hours later, and then a mooring line was used to continue the tow. But that line also broke a few hours later, and another mooring line was attached.
On Dec. 30 at about 3:40 a.m., that line broke. A third mooring line was then attached to HMCS Athabaskan to return it to Sydney.
With the Rollover of the federal Budget year, and time for crew changes, The CCGS Terry Fox Sailed last night, just after 11pm.
This morning Hudson moved to the basin, likely for some pre deployment workups.
No Word on the Louis St. Laurent.
The Jana Desgagnes sailed earlier today for Sydney NS.
She Turned and Headed back to Halifax.
No Word why – though ice is an issue, she is an icebreaking Hull.
UPDATE:
She anchored, then moved to Imperial Oil the Next Day. Shen then Sailed for Sydney NS as intended, before heading for Cap Aux Meules
DND was fined 1$ and mandated to donate $20,000 to the Coastal Research Network and $7,500 to the Environmental Damages Fund as punishment for a March 2011 Spill, while fueling at Imperial Oil. Aprox 14,000 litres of marine diesel fuel was discharged, but caused no damage to the shore or Wildlife.
A Technical investigation conducted by the military determined the spill was caused by a defective valve on the supply ship’s grey-water line, a waste discharge pipe that runs through the main fuel tank. Once the vessel’s fuel tank was loaded to the point that the valve on the waste discharge pipe was submerged, the diesel fuel flowed into that line through the valve and was discharged overboard.
The Preserver had just been returned to the navy from a work period at Halifax shipyard, where repairs were made to the valve assembly running through the tank.
A photo Via Canadian Press from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission shows the dropped Flat with the HEX Cylinders in the hold of the ship.
See Also The failed Container after removal and our initial Report
The Ottawa Citizen is reporting that HMCS Iroquois Suffered stress cracks in her superstructure, while on recent exercises, and as a result will be restricted in heavy seas. Engineers are still evaluating the damage, however if the damage is significant, This will likely lead to the decommissioning of the Iroquois.
At 42 years old, The 280 class Tribals were not intended to be upgraded to support the CH149 Cyclone Helicopter, leaving them lacking the ability to Carry the aircraft once it comes into service. It was widely expected that they would be retired around 2017, And several of the Halifax Class vessels received the Command and Control features the tribals possessed that the frigates lacked.
The HMCS HURON was decommissioned in 2005. If Iroquois is Decommissioned, their will be 1 tribal remaining per coast – Algonquin on the West, and Athabaskan on the East.
(File Photo Above)
