''Algonova'' was a single-hulled

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...

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. Purchased by

Algoma Central The Algoma Central Corporation is the result of a reorganization of the Algoma Central Railway in 1990. The company claims assets in excess of $400 million and revenue of $280 million. Corporate headquarters is located in St. Catharines, Ontario, C ...

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

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

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 Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, pro ...

(DWT) of 6,358. The ship has a depth of hold of . The vessel had an initial

ice class Ice class refers to a notation assigned by a classification society or a national authority to denote the additional level of strengthening as well as other arrangements that enable a ship to navigate through sea ice. Some ice classes also have ...

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 Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, fee ...

12-38D8-1/8 12-cylinder

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s rated at . Fueled by

marine diesel oil Marine Diesel Oil (MDO) is a type of fuel oil and is a blend of gasoil and heavy fuel oil, with more gasoil than intermediate fuel oil used in the maritime field. Marine Diesel Oil is also called "Distillate Marine Diesel". MDO is widely used by med ...

, the vessel is propelled by a single

controllable pitch propeller In marine propulsion, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change the blade pitch. Reversible propellers—those where the pitch can be set to negative values—can al ...

and a

bow thruster Manoeuvering thruster (bow thruster or stern thruster) is a transversal propulsion device built into, or mounted to, either the bow or stern, of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow thrusters make docking easier, since they allow th ...

. 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 Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 23 July 1968 by

Collingwood Shipbuilding Collingwood Shipbuilding was a major Canadian shipbuilder of the late 19th and 20th centuries. The facility was located in the Great Lakes and saw its business peak during the Second World War. The shipyard primarily constructed lake freighters ...

Collingwood, Ontario Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay. Collingwood is well known as a tourist destination, for its skiing in the winter, and limestone caves along the Nia ...

, as a crane vessel for Yankcanuck Steamships Ltd. of

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants ...

. 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 Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

, the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

, and on the eastern coast of Canada. On 7 December 1969, ''Texaco Chief'' collided with in fog near

Prescott, Ontario Prescott, Ontario is a small town on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Canada. In 2021, the town had a population of 4,078. The Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge, east of Presco ...

. ''Texaco Chief'' suffered minor damage and was repaired by

Canadian Vickers Canadian Vickers Limited was an aircraft and shipbuilding company that operated in Canada during the early part of the 20th century until 1944. A subsidiary of Vickers Limited, it built its own aircraft designs as well as others under licence. ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Quebec. The ship ran aground on 4 December 1972 near

Ogdensburg, New York Ogdensburg ( moh, Kaniatarahòn:tsi) is a city in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 10,436 at the 2019 census. In the late 18th century, European-American settlers named the community after American land owner and de ...

. 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 Imperial Oil in 1995 and kept in service until laid up at

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 ...

in October 1996. The ship was purchased by Algoma Tankers Limited, a subsidiary of

, in early 1998 and renamed ''Algonova''. She operated mainly between

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes w ...

and

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population i ...

, until new regulations requiring

double-hulled tanker A double-hulled tanker refers to an oil tanker which has a double hull. They reduce the likelihood of leaks occurring compared to single-hulled tankers, and their ability to prevent or reduce oil spills led to double hulls being standardized for o ...

s 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 City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

, 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