Tug boat in Halifax Harbour on a foggy day

''Point Chebucto'' is a

harbour 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, s ...

that was built at the

Halifax Shipyard The Halifax Shipyard Limited is a Canadian shipbuilding company located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Founded in 1889, it is today a wholly owned subsidiary of Irving Shipbuilding Inc. and is that company's largest ship construction and repair facili ...

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

, Canada in 1992. She is one of very few harbour tugs that were built at the Halifax Shipyards. She has been aiding ships in and out of

Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harb ...

and later

Port Hawkesbury Port Hawkesbury (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Chlamhain'') is a municipality in southern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. While within the historical county of Inverness, it is not part of the Municipality of Inverness County. History ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

since she was registered in January 1993. The tug was built for Eastern Canada Towing Limited, a company that has been around for over 60 years. The tug is named after the point at

Chebucto Head Chebucto Head is a Canadian headland on Nova Scotia's Chebucto Peninsula located within the community of Duncan's Cove. Chebucto Head forms the most easterly point on the peninsula and is used to define the southwestern limit of Halifax Harb ...

, continuing the tradition of Eastern Canada Towing of naming its tugs after points. Eastern Canada Towing took over Foundation Maritime's work in the field of Harbour, Coastal and Deep-Sea tow and salvage. The firm owns and operate a fleet of modern tugs ranging from 1250 HP - 5400 HP. Most tugs are ice strengthened, with several having Ice Class 1 certification. Their head office is also in Halifax. Eastern Canada Towing was purchased in 2007 by Svitzer, a tug boat division of

Maersk (), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line ...

. ''Point Chebucto'' is powered by twin diesel engines which put out 4000 HP and is an azimuthing stern drive tug. Her tonnage is 434 gt and she is 33.31 meters long. Her breadth is 10 meters, she sits 4.24 meters in the water and has a max speed of 12 knots. She has a very high bow made for berthing high sided ships; however, she is too high for some ships that arrive in the Halifax Harbour. Smaller tugs would be used for such ships. She is equipped with the very latest in navigational equipment and is known as a very good sea boat in rough weather, although she has not operated much further from Halifax than

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia Lunenburg is a port town on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded in 1753, the town was one of the first British attempts to settle Protestants in Nova Scotia. The economy was traditionally based on the offshore fishery and today Lu ...

. Her companion tug is the ''Point Halifax'', which was built in England in 1986 and usually makes the long trips. However, she is not as sea friendly and the crews have noted that she is a "roller" compared to Point Chebucto. While ''Point Halifax'' was under protracted repairs to one of her stern drives from an incident in the

Strait of Belle Isle The Strait of Belle Isle (; french: Détroit de Belle Isle ) is a waterway in eastern Canada that separates the Labrador Peninsula from the island of Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Location The strait is the northern ...

last August, ''Point Chebucto'' took over her duties. In July 2010, ''Point Chebucto'', along with her sister tugs were reassigned from Halifax to

to handle ships in

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18 ...

as part of an agreement between Irving owned Atlantic Towing and Svitzer owned Eastern Canada Towing which left tug duties in Halifx to Atlantic Towing and tug work in Cape Breton to Svitzer. ''Point Chebucto'' left Halifax for Port Hawkesbury on July 29, ending nearly 100 years of tug work in Halifax by her company.Mac Mackay, "Svitzer Departs, Atlantic Arrives, July 29, 2010
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References

{{Shipbuilding in Atlantic Canada , state=expanded Ships built in Nova Scotia Transport in Halifax, Nova Scotia Transport in Inverness County, Nova Scotia Tugboats of Canada 1992 ships