''Atlantic Spruce'' is a fire fighting

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

with a Robert Allan Design tug made from

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

, equipped with fire fighting (FIFI-1) The original ''Atlantic Spruce'' was the first tug of her kind built in Georgetown PEI. Since her launch, there have been many tugs built with the same design and ''Atlantic Spruce'' continues the Irving-owned Atlantic Towing tradition of naming their tugs after trees; ''Atlantic Fir'', ''Atlantic Hemlock'', ''Atlantic Cedar'', ''Atlantic Oak'', and ''Atlantic Willow''.

Construction

''Atlantic Spruce'' was first built in January 1995 at the East Isle shipyard in Georgetown, PEI, by

J.D. Irving Limited J. D. Irving Limited (JDI) is a privately owned Conglomerate (company), conglomerate company headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It is a part of the Irving Group of Companies and consists of various s ...

. She was first registered on February 23, 1995, and was in service on March 10, 1995. On April 21, 1997, she departed Halifax and was sold to Johannes østensjødy in

Haugesund, Norway Haugesund () is a municipality and town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of the population (37,008) live in the Haugesund urban area in t ...

.She was renamed Felix and continues to work in northwestern Europe. The second Atlantic Spruce, #4 of the series, was launched in 1997 as part of Atlantic Towing and was based in

Point Tupper, Nova Scotia Point Tupper (Mi'kmaq language, Mi'kmawi'simk: ''Tui'knek'') is a rural community in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Richmond County, Nova Scotia, on the Strait of Canso, in western Cape Breton Island. History Before settlement, the area was known ...

. ''Atlantic Spruce'' was the first tug of a series of tugs built with a Robert Allan Design, powered by twin Rolls-Royce- Aquamaster ASD (azimuthing stern drive), with 4000 to 6000 bhp. She was the start of a new series of tugs built following the same design as hers, such as '' Atlantic Oak'', ''Atlantic Fir'' and ''Atlantic Hemlock'', built in the same shipyard as ''Atlantic Spruce''. The run of 36 tugs based on ''Atlantic Spruce'' design represents the most successful line of tugs made in Eastern Canada.Mac Mackay, "What Next for East Isle Shipyard", ''Tugfax'', May 7, 2011
/ref> The first series of tugs are 4000 hp without a skeg. Next came the 5000 hp tugs with skegs and finally 5500–6000 series of three tugs built for LNG terminal work, also built with a skeg for escort work. All tugs were built with Cat engines The Atlantic Spruce has been working in Saint John as a harbour tug for a number of years

Voyage to Mexico

Atlantic Towing's ''Atlantic Spruce'' was on her way to

Vera Cruz, Mexico Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

, on September 24–26, 1997. She was previously stationed at Statia Terminals in Port Hawkesbury. She was the second

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

tug to go to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Working in Venezuela

The present Atlantic Spruce was also at one time chartered out to an oil terminal in eastern Venezuela

References

External links

Atlantic Towing Limited

{{Shipbuilding in Atlantic Canada , state=expanded Tugboats Tugboats of Canada Ships built in Prince Edward Island 1995 ships