Casualty Updates

 Australian Spirit

The rudderless tanker Australian Spirit has arrived safely in Setubal, Portugal, in tow of the tug Janus. When leaving Halifax January 7, they gave an ETA of January 18 in Portugal. The arrival on January 21st is still not too shabby in view of the horrendous weather just north of the Iberian Peninsula, which no doubt slowed arrival somewhat.

Tugs assist Australian Spirit off the dock at pier 9C, and tug Janus prepares to take the strain:

Atlantic Companion

The disabled Atlantic Companion is still anchored in Bantry Bay, Ireland but is expected to sail for Halifax January 23. After losing power on Janaury 21, the ship was able to reach a safe anchorage after drifting for 12 hours.The crew is no doubt working feverishly on the repair to one cylinder. Sources have suggested that the switch from 30 years of burning heavy fuel has dislodged build up in the cylinders,. This is not the first cylinder problem ACL ships have experienced. In the last three years there were two if not three similar incidents, and one was on Atlantic Companion.

 Tugs assist Atlantic Companion to anchor after cylinder problem, March 20, 2013.

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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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Tow out in the morning

If all goes according to plan the disabled tanker Australian Spirit will be leaving Halifax tomorrow (Wednesday) morning in tow of the tug Janus.

The 111,905 dwt tanker lost is rudder off Halifax December 9 while on a trip from Newfoundland to New York, with 90,000 tonnes of crude oil. It was towed in to Halifax December 12, and its cargo transferred to a sister ship. Since then it has been lying at pier 9c, and some repairs were carried out to its rudder post. However to have a new rudder installed it will be towed to the Lisnave shipyard in Setubal, Portugal.

The 19,000 bhp German tug Janus will  be doing the towing, but I expect all available harbour tugs will be called in to assist in getting the ship clear of the berth and out to sea.

As of 2100 hrs Tuesday, the pilots are booked for 10:30hrs Wednesday morning, and it will take up to an hour to let the lines go and get the ship underway.Normally there is a five hour confirmation window for pilot orders and I will post a bulletin in the morning if there is a change.

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