Herring Cove Breakwater

 Just off the mouth of Halifax harbour is the settlement of Herring Cove. The sheltered inlet was long the home of harbour pilots and even now provides a drop off or pick up point for the pilots, saving at least a one hour return trip by boat to the inner harbour.

The scenic harbour, also home to several small fishing vessels, is protected by a concrete pier / breakwater.

The little jetty certainly did its job under normal conditions, but it took some serious damage during Hurricane Dorion, September 8, 2019. As owners of the structure, the Atlantic Pilotage Authority under took to repair the pier and a new design of armour stone was prepared. Extensive consultation was carried out with the community, all of which has been well documented on the APA's web site: https://www.atlanticpilotage.com/

McNally Construction was awarded the repair contract and have now mobilised the crane barge Beaver Kay, dump scow Pitts No.1 and tug Jamie L. from Port Hawksbury and have set up a staging area at Pier 9C to load the armour stone onto the dump barge. 

Today, October 28, the Jamie L. moved the Beaver Kay to the site, and divers from Connors Diving are assisting in the process of removing old pilings.

Beaver Kay, is the former HMC Dockyard crane barge YDT 251, built in 1953 by George T. Davie + Sons Ltd in Quebec. It was acquired by Beaver Marine in 1995. They removed most of the superstructure, and employed the 115 ft x 60 ft hull as the working platform for a crawler type crane.  McNally Construction acquired Beaver Marine in 2001 and have continued to use the barge for a variety of projects in the Atlantic region.

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IT Interceptor finds work- so does Beaver Kay

1. IT Interrceptor shifting berths on December 11.

The cable ship IT Interceptor has been cleared to carry out emergency cable repairs and will be sailing in the morning. The ship has been standing by at pier 9 in Halifax for just such an event for the past several months.IT International Telecom Canada Inc operates the ship.
Because it is not a Canadian flagged ship (it is registered in Barbados) it had to apply for a coasting license to work in Canadian waters. The Canadian Transportation Agency made its ruling on January 14, that no Canadian ship was available, and forwarded it to the Minister of Public Safety for approval.
Interestingly the cable break is in a fibreoptic cable in the New Victoria area, at the mouth of Sydney Harbour. Could the parted towline of HMCS Athabaskan have been the cause of this break? (Just askin')

Meanwhile at the opposite end of the province McNally Construction's barge Beaver Kay has started work laying a power cable from Brier Island to Long Island on Digby Neck. The barge left Halifax in tow of Sandra Mary on December 16. They have been joined in Freeport by the tug Atlantic Spruce out of Saint John. The barge was fitted with cable laying equipment at pier 9 by IT International Telecom. They are carrying out the work, with McNally providing the tug and barge.