Groupe Ocean conducted a traditional blessing of its newest tug, Ocean Taïga, the second ship of the TundRA series on October 26. The traditional blessing ceremony was held in the presence of the Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada, Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, Gordon Bain and Jacques Tanguay, respectively President and CEO of Ocean and Carmen Lacasse-Tanguay, the ship’s godmother and mother of Jacques Tanguay.
This 36-metre tug is equipped with the latest technologies and can operate in the most extreme conditions. The hull of the tug is reinforced and certified 1A Super FS for navigation in ice. Its engines develop 8,160 BHP of power, propelled by two Z-drive omnidirectional propellers and have a total bollard pull of more than 100 TM.
“We are very proud of the ingenuity and expertise developed by our teams from the shipyard located on Isle-aux-Coudres and in Québec. Today’s event helps celebrate this expertise, while emphasizing the quality jobs associated with it”, said Jacques Tanguay.
The new high-performance tug will perform docking and departure operations of ships and will be involved in escort, towing services over short and long distances as well as for rescue operations and recovery of shipwrecks.
“Ocean has built its reputation on its ability to exceed the expectations of its customers and anticipate their needs. The sustained growth we are enjoying, coupled with the quality of our products, accelerates our global ambitions. Operating from the Quebec base that defines us, we are optimistic that a tug such as Ocean Taïga can work around the globe”, added Gordon Bain.
Construction of this tug was made possible thanks to the financial support from Industry Canada through its Structured Finance Facility program. The support, granted to Ocean Remorquage Québec Inc., which commissioned the ship, and equivalent to $24 million, represented 15 per cent of its construction costs. Further support was received from the Ministry of Finance of Québec through the refundable tax credit for shipbuilders.