Australian Spirit departs in tow

The tanker Australian Spirit got underway on schedule this morning, in  the general direciton of Portugal.
The German tug Janus has the unenviable job of towing the rudderless tanker, and is giving a January 23 arrival. That seems a very fast tow, so it is possible that the ship may be giving some assistance despite its condition.

Atlantic Larch has pulled the bow off the dock at pier 9c and will swing around to the stern, where Atlantic Oak has the tethered escort position. Atlantic Willow is on the starboard quarter and not visible.

All three harbour tugs assisted in getting the ship off the berth at pier 9c, with Atlantic Oak providing tethered escort at the stern as far out as the pilot station. Atlantic Larch and Atlantic Willow took up positions on either side of the stern once underway, to guide the ship through the Narrows and out of the harbour.

Janus is inching ahead on the tow line, but the harbour tugs are doing all the work at this point.

With the tow line taught Janus is now providing the power as the ship begins to swing around the knuckle at pier 9 / pier 9a.

It is no coincidence that the tug Janus got the job to tow this ship for repairs. Australian Spirit is owned by the large tanker company Teekay Shipping. As part of their business, they also operate Teekay Offshore Partners (TOO) - which operates floating production and storage tankers (FPSOs), stationed on oil fields around the world. To better service these FPSOs, TOO took an ownership position in ALP Maritime Services, former managers of the Harms tugs, and made an offer to buy the six large tugs that Harms now operates (bit does not own). So certain were they that sale would go through, Teekay/ALP began to market the tugs under new names and brand. However Harms disputes the sale and has sued to have it overturned. The tugs are actually owned by German investment syndicates (KGs), and Harms is trying to overturn the decision of the shareholders to sell the tugs..

Janus and another Harms tug were working with a pipelaying barge, and had just towed the barge from Africa to Venezuela when the call came out to tow Australian Spirit. Therefore to keep the work in the family (at least for now) Janus sailed up from Venezuela, via Willemstad and San Juan.

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Mahanadi Spirit makes way for the navy

The oil products tanker Mahanadi Spirit moved off the dock at Imperial Oil for a few hours today to allow a Canadian navy ship to refuel. Naval vessels have priority at the oil dock, but only use the privilege when needed.

Mahanadi Spirit was built in 2000 and flies the Bahamas flag. It is owned and operated by Teekay Shipping from its Houston offices. Teekay is better known in Halifax for its crude oil tankers, but it also operates a fleet of smaller product tankers too.
The ship is named for a river in west central India, which empties into the Bay of Bengal.
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Teekay tanker brings rain

The Suezmax sized Teekay tanker Shenlong Spirit arrived yesterday for Imperial Oil. It has remained at anchorage number one however, probably because wind speeds exceed prudent limits for berthing at the number 5 dock.

The ship's name derives from the Chinese spirit dragon that in mythology is the master of storms and the bringer of rain. Sure enough ever since this ship has been in port we have had showers and drizzle.
Note to Teekay: we had enough of this weather in May.

Built in 2009 at Bohai Shipyard in China, the ship measures a healthy 85,030 gross tons and 159,021 deadweight tonnes (full load.) What makes it a Suezmax ship is that it was the maximum size for transiting the Suez canal at full draft when the ship was built. The current sliding scale draft regulations on the Canal limit ships to 66 feet of draft depending on width. (Ships wider than 164 feet must reduce draft to maintain the same wetted surface cross sectional area to ensure buoyancy.) The Suez was deepened in 2009, from 60 ft, so that a Suezmax ship is now in the region of 240,000 tonnes deadweight - much larger than Shenlong Spirit. If the Suez Canal Authority goes ahead with plans to deepen again to permit 70 feet of draft, then the Canal will probably accommodate almost every ship known or contemplated. (There is also an air draft restriction of about 215 feet.)

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