Ship Photos of the Day – Ocean Taiga, One of Canada’s Most Powerful New Tugs

The 110 tonne bollard pull Ocean Taiga. Photo: Robert Allan Ltd.

The 6000 kW ASD tug Ocean Taiga was delivered October 28, 2016 to the Ocean Group Inc. of Quebec City, Canada. The icebreaking escort tug joins her sister Ocean Tundra as some of the most powerful tugs in the Canadian registry, part of a new generation of extremely capable tugs to provide the year-round escort towing capability to Canada’s east coast and the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The Ocean Taiga is the latest in the TundRA 3600 series of icebreaking tugs from Vancouver naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd, and constructed at Ocean Group’s own shipyard, Ocean Industries, on Iles aux Coudres, Quebec. 

With a nominal 100 tonnes bollard pull, this powerful tug will provide a wide range of services, including tanker escort, terminal support, general ship-docking operations and icebreaking/ice-management services in various ports along the St. Lawrence River. The vessel is also equipped for coastal/rescue towing and is equipped with a major fire-fighting capability. In addition, the vessel is equipped to carry lube oil as cargo, for transfer to transiting ships.

According to Robert Allan: 

This icebreaking hull form has been extensively model-tested to ensure superior performance in ice, as well as to provide the best possible open water and escort performance, bearing in mind the contradictory hull geometry requirements of those functions. The ice capabilities have been well demonstrated in similar slightly smaller tugs working in Sakhalin, Russia.

The tug was built under the inspection of and classed by Lloyd’s Register of Shipping with the following notation: ? 100 A1 Escort Tug, Fire-Fighting 1 with water spray; ? LMC, UMS; and Ice Class 1AS FS.

Ocean Taiga Particulars

Length overall: 36.0 m
Beam, moulded, extreme: 13.0 m
Depth, moulded (hull): 6.85 m
Maximum draft (DWL): 6.80 m

The trials of this powerful tug were completed in August, 2016 with the following results:

Bollard Pull, ahead: Over 110 tonnes
Free Running speed, ahead: 14.2 knots, calm water
Escort Steering Force (Predicted): 86 tonnes at 10 knots
Range at 12 knots: 3700 nautical miles

For more information on this or any of the TundRA series icebreaking tugs offered by Robert Allan Ltd., check out the Robert Allan website.