Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. welcomes new tugboat

GLS Administrator Adam M. Tindall-Schlicht said the 60-foot-long, 27-foot-wide tugboat will carry out a variety of maintenance duties on the U.S. portion of the St. Lawrence Seaway, including routine maintenance of lock structures, maintenance of aids to navigation, emergency response and removal of ice from lock walls.

“This is replacing the tug Performance, which has been in operation here for the U.S. Seaway for several decades,” Mr. Tindall-Schlicht said. “We’re really excited. This complements the already received tugboat, the Seaway Guardian, which was received here in Massena a couple of years ago.”

He said the Seaway Trident is the smaller of the two tugboats.

“What’s exciting about her delivery is really this is a smaller ice class vessel that has the flexibility and nimbleness that really is going to add to and complement our fleet,” Mr. Tindall-Schlicht said. “Tugboats like the Trident, like the Guardian are incredibly consequential in terms of our ability to keep the locks fully available for vessel calls through the navigation season, especially in conditions where ice and snow are present towards the beginning of the shipping season, the middle of March each year, and especially towards the end of the shipping season, which generally takes place towards the end of December on an annual basis.”

He said about 120 federal employees are based in the north country and working for the Seaway.

“Nine individuals work in our Marine Services Team that are fully qualified to operate and support both the use of the Guardian and the Trident by and large,” Mr. Tindall-Schlicht said.

He said the Seaway Trident has “an array of services that it could provide.”

“It’s specifically outfitted to do some unique work during the winter season with ice removal from the lock walls themselves,” he said. “But both of the tugboats can help us with some of our operational responsibilities in terms of annual buoy removal, vessel assist and other safety-related elements.”

“It will also be used for maintenance purposes as well,” said Chris Guimond, director of lock operations. “We do a lot of maintenance on the locks. This will be able to push our barge and carry some equipment back and forth.”

The Seaway Guardian, meanwhile, was pulled from buoy retrieval in late December after issues were detected and has not returned to service. The tug was east of Morrisburg, Ontario, en route to Clayton to begin buoy retrieval from Lake Ontario and the upper St. Lawrence River.

“I believe it was yesterday in which we publicly offered a bid for some of that drydock work that we’re undertaking with the Guardian,” Mr. Tindall-Schlicht said.

He said a zinc anode problem with the tugboat was identified.

“The decision to take the Guardian, even though a new vessel, after the zinc anode problem was identified, was one that I really stand by. With a $24 million tugboat investment, we expect the Guardian to operate for decades ahead,” Mr. Tindall-Schlicht said. “I would rather be conservative, making sure that we’re doing everything that we can to understand what happened in those early weeks of her use, address it now, allowing her to operate successfully for many, many decades ahead.”

He said that if all goes well, the drydock and repair work would take place over the summer, “ideally returning her to service late this year or early next year.”

“It depends on the nature of the work and how the contract goes,” he said.

The Seaway Guardian replaced the Robinson Bay, which was built in 1958. Its primary missions are buoy maintenance and ice management. It is also equipped to assist in firefighting and emergency operational response on the St. Lawrence Seaway.