Smit increases its market share in Canada

Smit Marine Canada already operates extensive harbour and coastal towage services in Vancouver and the West Coast of Canada. Those services have been reinforced over the past year or so with a number of modern ASD tugs, transferred from Europe. This recent acquisition is still subject to official approval under the Investment Canada Act.

Until late in 2008 Minette Bay operated just two tugs, based at the Ridley Island terminal. Named TP1 and TP2, they are 30.33m tractor tugs of a most unusual ‘double-ended’ design, powered by a single 3,560bhp main engine coupled to a pair of azimuthing propulsion units, one each end. Both were constructed in 1979 by ES Fox Ltd of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

The original pair was joined in 2008 by a brand new tug built by Nichols Bros Boat Builders Inc of Freeland, Washington, USA to a modern ASD tug design by Jensen Maritime Consultants (JMC). Bearing the name TP3, the vessel is similar to the tugs Valor and Vigilant built for Bay Delta and now in operation with Crowley (Maritime Journal April 2008).

The tug is equipped for shiphandling, towage at sea and fire fighting to FiFi 1 standards. TP3 measures 30.46m in length with a 12.19m beam and a draft of 4.97m. Two Caterpillar 3516C main engines generate a total of 6,079bhp (4,474kW) to power a pair of Niigata ZP-41 fully azimuthing propulsion units. This arrangement gives the tug a bollard pull of over 90 tons towing ahead and 84 tons astern.

TP3 has towing winches fitted fore and aft but of different types and from different manufacturers, A single drum Markey winch is fitted on the foredeck for ship handling and carries a high performance manmade fibre towline deployed through a very large tubular staple style fairlead. The aft winch, used for towing at sea, is a JonRie series 525, incorporating spooling gear and accommodating a steel wire towline.