''Algonova'' was a single-hulled oil tanker launched in 1969 as ''Texaco Chief'' for Texaco Canada Ltd. In 1986, the ship was renamed ''A. G. Farquharson''. In 1995 the ship was sold to

Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent ...

. Purchased by Algoma Central in 1998, the ship was renamed ''Algonova''. In 2007, Algoma Central sold the vessel to Belgrave Investors Corporation, which renamed the vessel ''Pacifico Trader''. Helmer Business Incorporated acquired the vessel in 2012 and renamed the ship ''Great Portobello''. The vessel is currently in active service.

Description

The ship was initially designed as a

crane ship A crane vessel, crane ship or floating crane is a ship with a crane specialized in lifting heavy loads. The largest crane vessels are used for offshore construction. Conventional monohulls are used, but the largest crane vessels are often catam ...

. However, the plan was abandoned and the vessel was re-designed as a single-hulled

tanker Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum ta ...

. As built, the vessel was long overall and between perpendiculars and a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of . The vessel's gross register tonnage (GRT) was 5,038 and deadweight tonnage (DWT) of 6,358. The ship has a

depth of hold Depth(s) may refer to: Science and mathematics * Three-dimensional space * Depth (ring theory), an important invariant of rings and modules in commutative and homological algebra * Depth in a well, the measurement between two points in an oil w ...

of . The vessel had an initial ice class rating of Lloyd's Class 2, being built with an ice knife, but that was not renewed under its current ownership. The ship is powered by two Fairbanks Morse 12-38D8-1/8 12-cylinder diesel engines rated at . Fueled by marine diesel oil, the vessel is propelled by a single controllable pitch propeller and a bow thruster. The ship has a maximum speed of . The vessel has a current tonnage of 4,605 GRT and 6,996 DWT. The ship has a capacity of of oil.

Service history

The ship was laid down on 23 July 1968 by Collingwood Shipbuilding of Collingwood, Ontario, as a crane vessel for Yankcanuck Steamships Ltd. of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. In September 1968 the company decided not to build the ship, and the hull was sold to Texaco Canada Ltd., and redesigned as a single-hulled tanker. The ship was launched on 10 April 1969, and named ''Texaco Chief''. She served on the Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence River, and on the eastern coast of Canada. On 7 December 1969, ''Texaco Chief'' collided with in fog near Prescott, Ontario. ''Texaco Chief'' suffered minor damage and was repaired by Canadian Vickers in Montreal, Quebec. The ship

ran aground Ship grounding or ship stranding is the impact of a ship on seabed or waterway side. It may be intentional, as in beaching to land crew or cargo, and careening, for maintenance or repair, or unintentional, as in a marine accident. In accidenta ...

on 4 December 1972 near Ogdensburg, New York. The ship suffered no damage. In 1986 ''Texaco Chief'' was renamed ''A.G. Farquharson'', after the former president and CEO of Texaco Canada. The ship was purchased by

in 1995 and kept in service until laid up at Halifax, Nova Scotia in October 1996. The ship was purchased by

Algoma Tankers Limited Algoma Tankers Limited is a subsidiary of Canada's Algoma Central Marine, the country's largest inland shipping company. The firm's fleet has seven vessels, including , , , , ''Algoscotia'', and . Some of the vessels are built to withstand tr ...

, a subsidiary of Algoma Central, in early 1998 and renamed ''Algonova''. She operated mainly between Sarnia and Thunder Bay, until new regulations requiring double-hulled tankers in North American ports came into force in 2005. A new double-hulled tanker of the same name entered service in 2008. In 2006 the ship was sold to the Belgrave Investors Corporation of Panama City, Panama, and renamed ''Pacifico Trader''. In January 2007 she sailed for Panama where she operated as a bunker ship. In 2012, the ship was acquired by Helmer Business Incorporated of Panama City. The ship was renamed ''Great Portobello''.

References

{{Reflist 1969 ships Tankers of Canada Ships built in Collingwood, Ontario Algoma Central Marine