Horizon Maritime Services Ltd is a company which provides vessels and offshore services for arctic duty in Canada and Norway. It is based in

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

, and its joint ventures include partnerships with two First Nations, the

Miawpukek Miawpukek First Nation is a Mi'kmaq First Nations band government in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with a registered population of 834 living on-reserve as of September 2019, with another 2,223 living off-reserve. They control the reserve ...

(as Miawpukek Horizon Maritime Services) and the Heiltsuk (as Heiltsuk Horizon); in addition, Horizon operates joint ventures with Kotug as Kotug Canada and with

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...

as Bourbon Horizon.

History

Horizon Maritime was started in spring 2015, offering services out of Halifax and

Mulgrave, Nova Scotia Mulgrave is a town on the Strait of Canso in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Located along the Marine Drive, Route 344 traverses the community. The town's current name was adopted in 1859 to honour the colonial Lieutenant Governor, th ...

; St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador; and Fort McMurray, Alberta. It was co-founded by Sean Leet and Steve Widmeyer, with funding from CFFI Ventures, owned by

John Risley John Carter Risley (born April 26, 1948) is a Canadian billionaire businessman with interests in fisheries, food supplements, and communications. He is the co-founder of Clearwater Seafoods. Early life and career Risley was born on April 26, 194 ...

. The Canadian offshore services market is served by Horizon,

Atlantic Towing J.D. Irving Limited (JDI) is a privately owned conglomerate company headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It is a subsidiary of the parent company, Irving Group of Companies, along with Irving Oil Refinery, Canaport, Irving T ...

, Maersk Supply Service, and Secunda Canada. Initially, Horizon was headquartered in Halifax and provided ship crews for other companies. Horizon acquired its first ship, platform supply vessel , in August 2017 for US$45 million; it was ordered as ''IES Energy'' by IES Pioneer and launched in 2015 at the Kleven Verft shipyard in Norway, but never was delivered. ''Horizon Star'' was christened by Jodie Thornton, married to Horizon executive vice-president Steve Widmeyer, on August 3, 2017 near Ultsteinvik, Norway, and delivered to

Bay Bulls, Newfoundland and Labrador Bay Bulls ( 2021 population: 1,566) is a small fishing town in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Geography Located in a sheltered bay, it has been home to many fishermen and a strategic location in early times as it is located ju ...

two weeks later. ''Horizon Star'' was sold to the government of Australia in 2022, which renamed it . Horizon acquired ''Tidewater Enabler'' from

Tidewater Tidewater may refer to: * Tidewater (region), a geographic area of southeast Virginia, southern Maryland, and northeast North Carolina. ** Tidewater accent, an accent of American English associated with the Tidewater region of Virginia * Tidewater ...

in November 2018; the multipurpose ship had been finished in 2010 by STX Offshore in Norway and was renamed to ''Horizon Enabler''. In March 2019, Horizon purchased anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS) ''Bourbon Arctic'' for US$41.5 million and renamed the ship . Heiltsuk Horizon was formed in May 2018 as a joint venture to bid on a contract to lease two emergency towing vessels to the Canadian Coast Guard. After losing the bid, Heiltsuk Horizon filed a complaint with the Canadian International Trade Tribunal which asserted the winning bidder, Atlantic Towing, had switched the proposed ship masters with less-experienced ones. The Miawpukek Horizon joint venture was launched in June 2020 after recruiting and developing First Nations sailors. The Miawpukek Horizon joint venture purchased (''Oqwatnukewey Eleke'wi'ji'jit'' in Mi'kmaq) in 2021 and operates it as a training ship for its cadets. The ship also has been leased to

Students on Ice Students on Ice Foundation (also known as SOI) is a Canadian charitable organisation that leads educational expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic for international high school and university students. Its mandate is to provide youth, educators and ...

and OceanGate for excursions. Horizon also has entered industry partnerships with Kotug International (as Kotug Canada, 2019) and

(as Horizon Bourbon, 2023). Kotug Canada mostly operates smaller tugboats; in 2021, Kotug Canada acquired the AHTS from Secunda Canada and renamed it ''K.J. Gardner'', which is owned by Kotug and operated by Horizon.

Notes

References

External links

* {{cite web , url=http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2020/12/tugs-in-transit.html , title=Tugs in Transit , date=December 19, 2020 , author=Mackay, Mac , website=Tugfax Canadian companies established in 2015