FALL 2015 NEWSLETTER NO 14
2015 in brief Overall
Marine Works and Dredging Revenues up
144 New employees 800+ Employees Naval Construction and Repair New Constructions Naval Repairs
200’
Length of the first section of the dry dock in construction at Bas-Caraquet
3rd Winter confirmed for the OTN down south 200+ Barges at Champlain Bridge 53’ Length of the new Catatug Towing and Navigation Salvages and assistances along the seaway
2017 Services extension at Bull Arm New operation site in Ontario de navire 1111 Assistances
Feedback of 2015 The year 2015 was an important year for Ocean Towing, which has consolidated its partnerships with Valero’s Jean-Gaulin Refinery and the Montréal market. Moreover, records were set for the activities of ship repair and marine equipment rental. Recent decreases in the number of operations in the different ports of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the cyclical downturn in the price of natural resources have affected the development of our markets and particularly on the North Shore. But beyond maritime activities, Ocean is an employer of choice for more than 800 workers. This is why during the past year, many efforts have been made to implement our strategic plan that consists of three priority objectives to propel the organization towards best practice and enable it to achieve sustainable growth by continuing to provide a safe and stimulating work environment for its employees Without a shadow of a doubt, 2015 will be a year to which we can build together for the future by continuing to offer the ingenious maritime solutions that distinguish us. OUR THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!
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GORDON BAIN PRESIDENT
NAVAL CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR New Constructions CATATUG: The 53 ‘long by 31’ wide aluminum tugboat was designed by the engineering team to meet the specific needs of OMW. It is called Catatug because of its innovative design that combines the properties of the catamaran to those of the tug. This makes it a light, fast, stable and efficient ship with a large deck area. The ship can be dismantled into seven (7) sections for road transport. The construction is at 71% completion. Currently the team is continuing the electrical and mechanical work to allow for delivery in the first days of December. CONTAINER BARGES (BOC): The construction project of fifty 40-ft container-type barges (BOC) for TMO is at 49% completion, 17 of them being completed. The assembly tests in water were conclusive. The work carried out in synergy by FNO, NIR and OI allows for the realization of this project. OCEAN TAÏGA: The vessel is at 80% completion. The feet of the Z-drives have been installed. Half of the hull is painted. The progression of wiring work, plumbing, HVAC system and the installation of equipment is well underway. The connection of certain equipment and interior finishing are already underway while the soundproofing of floors is complete. FLOATING DRY DOCK: In Bas-Caraquet, twenty workers are busy building the section A (central part) of the dry dock. Once completed, this will reach a length of 200’ and a width of 120’. This section consists of thirty units. Currently two units are completed and hauled outside the workshop.
Naval repairs In Isle-aux-Coudres, it is one repair after another! Work in dry dock follows one another: the OCEAN YVAN DESGAGNES, the CCGS Ile Saint-Ours, the AML’s Grand Fleuve and Rio Tinto Alcan’s FJORD Saguenay, occupied the main ramp. Major steel work on the Jean-Joseph is now keeping over sixty employees busy! Meanwhile, NIR completed the construction of an aluminum triangulated base for the hovercraft CCGS MAMILOSSA, baffles for Mistras’ work on the Champlain Bridge and emergency work on the STQ’s hovercraft. The teams are finalizing work on the CCGS Pierre Radisson at Pier 17, on the CCGS DESGROSEILLERS at the Quai de la Reine and the CCGS Amundsen at Pier 30 for BERG CHILLING, in addition to fall maintenance work at the incinerator in Québec. 3
TOWING AND NAVIGATION Assistances In late June, the OCEAN PIERRE JULIEN assisted the cruise ship Saint-Laurent when it struck the wall off Eisenhower Lock with 192 passengers on board. Following the evacuation of passengers, the heavily damaged ship was refloated and then escorted to Verreault shipyard located in Les Méchins. Meanwhile, the bulk carrier TUNDRA ran aground not far from the lock on Lake St. Francis. All tanks, ballast tanks, including the forepeak and the drinking water had to be emptied; the fuel was transferred to allow the INTREPIDE OCEAN and the OCEAN GEORGIE BAIN to get the ship out of her unfortunate position outside the channel. Recently, the same two tugs provided assistance to the JO Spirit tanker that ran aground in the metropolitan area.
Renewal with KKC Ocean Towing has recently renewed its agreement with KKC for the towing service in support of the construction of the Hebron drilling platform in the Bay of Bull Arm in Newfoundland and Labrador. The initial agreement for towing services which was to end in 2015 has been renewed until 2017. The lease of several OMW barges has also been renewed until the end of June 2017 as part of the same agreement. Over 50 persons are working on this project for Ocean Marine Services Newfoundland and Labrador.
New mooring ropes A new mooring system has recently been introduced in the ports of Montréal and Québec. The new small-diameter ropes fitted with a protective sleeve are better suited for our tugs. Furthermore, they are the answer to various operation problems such as weight, handling, and management of inventory. Furthermore, the sheath provides better longevity of the product. These allow us to add a second working eye on tugs. Positioned 60 feet from the first, the additional eye serves as security in case of breakage of the main one. Several seamen of Québec, Sorel and Montréal have recently received extensive training in order to understand and use the new system on board.
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MARINE WORKS AND DREDGING OMW The equipment is still heavily used in Montréal for work on the Champlain Bridge, in Bull Arm for the Hebron project, in the Outaouais region for the demolition of the old Allumettes Bridge, in Halifax for repair of the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge, and in Port-Daniel for the construction of the marine terminal of McInnis cement factory. A first contract for a period of 15 months was formalized by the consortium Signature on the St. Lawrence Group (SSL), responsible for the construction of the new Champlain Bridge, for the rental of OC-42 boxes and two barges with towing services on an hourly rate to carry out excavation work. A second for the rental of two (2) crane barges and one (1) winch barge just been signed and the team is confident of obtaining further contracts of importance from the consortium in the coming weeks.
Floating wharf at the Champlain Bridge As part of the preparatory work for construction of the new Champlain Bridge, the SSL consortium had to build a central pier to support the new pillar of the cable holding structure (guyed). To do this, 260,000 tons of stones had to be transported to the site on the South Shore from a quarry east of Montréal. Looking for an alternative to the 16,000 trucks needed, SSL has asked the CSL Company to complete the transportation by sea. Thus, CSL has been using our services to get its bulk carrier to dock temporarily on the edge of the pier and allow the channel to be kept open for navigation. The temporary floating dock structure allowed docking and unloading the ship. The conveyor passed over the dike up to the pier. Nine (9) shipments were delivered to the site between August 11th and September 4th, 2015.
Dredging For the second summer in a row, the dredge OCEAN TRAVERSE NORD and its crew have performed dredging projects in Ontario. Thousands of cubic meters of sediment were extracted from the waters of the port of Kingsville on Lake Erie and in the channel of the St. Clair River north of Windsor. They then completed the fourth year of the dredging contract of the North Traverse. Dredging of this strategic location for navigation on the St. Lawrence has been successful. The ship is currently docked for maintenance and the crew is preparing to head down south for a third time this winter. As for mechanical dredging, several projects have been successfully completed, such as the North Traverse Bécancour area, Cap-aux-Meules and Wheatley in Ontario as well as the boom. The fall season will also be well filled for Ocean Dredging DM with several projects in the pipeline. 5
Risk Management Last year, risk management was identified as a priority strategic issue. We worked closely with the firm Mallette to implement a risk management process. Our risk management process consists in to analyzing, evaluating, listing and prioritizing the treatment of risks that may have adverse effects on the company and its workers. During the first assessment completed in 2015, 17 significant risks had been identified as potentially dangerous, of these, four were deemed of high level. They include human and material accidents, relationships with customers, environmental issues, planning and logistics of towing operations. These risks compose the portfolio risk, which must be continuously monitored and updated annually, starting with senior management and then within each of the sectors of the company. Risk management coordinators have been so designated to follow up in each of the sectors. To this end, they are responsible for validating that their risk portfolio remains current with their teams, that is to say that the list is always current, that the current formulation is representative of the risks and the action plans put in place to mitigate the risks are always enforced and that they are effective. The annual review exercise is underway, meetings with each of the operating units are completed and the executive committee must finalize the documentation and review action plans. The risk management coordination team should then communicate the new list and new action plans to the various stakeholders. As a growing company, the achievement of our objectives requires sound management of strategic risks in our daily activities and our processes. I remind you that risk management is everyone’s business! It is our duty to be alert, raise the risk and act quickly.
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PHILIPPE FILION DIRECTOR CORPORATE AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Health, Safety and Environment How many times have we heard «The health and safety of our workers and the environment are priorities for us»? Today, risk management is also part of the strategic issues. We all need to be alert, raise the risks and act quickly in order to have safe working conditions and operations of which we can all be proud. We will never repeat it enough times, it is essential that each of us understands its role and responsibilities in prevention and that we collectively protect ourselves by reducing the risk of incidents. This year, management decided to engage actively in promoting prevention and principles of excellence in health and safety and the environment by touring our workplaces. During the meetings, the management team performs a complete tour of the facilities, meets the staff and together identify opportunities to improve their working methods and to ensure that all the equipment necessary for the safe performance of their tasks are made available.
CLAUDE DUVAL
The Ocean Industries shipyard, the ports of Québec, Trois-Rivières, Sorel, Montréal and the dredge OCEAN TRAVERSE NORD have been visited so far, and the tour continues.
SENIOR SAFETY PRACTITIONER
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Tribute to Albéric «Béric» Gauthier It is with great sadness that we announced the death of Albéric Gauthier that occurred on September 10th. He joined the Océan Transport Maritime team in 1996, shortly after the acquisition of the barge Betsiamites. Throughout his career as barge supervisor, Albéric stood out with his positive attitude and his extraordinary dedication. He was an unrivalled shovel operator and his talent has contributed to the success of many transfer operations. Albéric always took great care of «his barge,» he would regularly get up at night to make sure everything was okay. He did not hesitate to replace a tired operator to accelerate the pace. He was a real enthusiast; he had an extraordinary ability with the shovel. According to his colleagues, Albéric holds the record with the unloading of fifteen 53-ft trailers filled with sawdust in one hour. Many still speak of a trip to Cape St George wharf in Newfoundland when, in a storm, he decided to stabilize the tug using his shovel to reach the barge.
MANOU BERNARD
Reflecting the ingenuity that defines us, for Albéric, a problem was a call to the challenge. He also found a solution to rotate the docked barge on its cables without using the tug.
COORDINATOR SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
He died aboard his barge after nearly 19 years of service leaving behind his family and many colleagues who appreciated him very much, including his nephew Marc-André Gauthier with whom he shared his passion for the sea. His departure leaves a void but his memory will not be forgotten!
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OUR WORLD NEWS TV Series on Ocean The Corporate Affairs team is working on a television series on Ocean. The series consisting of eight episodes lasting half an hour should be broadcasted on the Canal D in 2017. The production team, the Marie Rock Productions, completed a series of interviews with staff during the summer, and filming began last September with pilot transfer at the Port of Québec, naval construction and repair at the Isle-aux-Coudres shipyard, towing maneuvers in Montréal and Sorel and a fire fighting exercise at the Port of Québec. More filming is planned in the coming months for the leasing of barges, the wintering of ships, towing maneuvers in ice and the launching of the OCEAN TAIGA.
Interview with Angelo Lavoie The Port of Québec recently released its first video of the series «Views of the Port» realized by Annick Beaulieu. This series aims to inform the public on the Port and its stakeholders by presenting little-known facets of port activities. The short film featuring Angelo Lavoie, tugboat captain for Ocean Remorquage Québec, allows the viewers to discover his professional career and the various aspects of his job as captain of a tugboat. Congratulations to Angelo for the beautiful testimony filled with passion. The video is available on the Facebook pages of Ocean and the Port of Québec and on our YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/PVCfCTWkmqE
Café Océan Last spring, Ocean announced its partnership with the Institut maritime du Québec (IMQ) in the student coffee shop rehabilitation project to foster a sense of belonging in youth towards the IMQ and the maritime industry. Thanks to a sponsorship and a financial package including among others the IMQ Foundation and the participation of students, young people discovered a whole new space last September. Unrecognizable, the Ocean Café has a trendy and marine look. All equipment and furnishings were changed and now students have access to a lounge and a new study room to enhance their stay at the institute.
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OUR WORLD NEWS New gas detectors The company Industrial Scientific Corporation has generously offered us four new DSXi gas detector calibration consoles worth $ 1,800 each. Besides serving to calibrate the sensing devices, these new consoles are equipped with the iNet Control system that allows access to the data history of gas detection devices used by employees, better manage alerts and issue statistics. The new consoles are available at the QuĂŠbec and Isle-aux-Coudres stores.
New HSC at ONB Following the training offered by safety practitioners Claude Duval and Olivier Simon last July, employees wanted to commit to promoting health and safety at the Naval Center. A Health and Safety Committee (OSH) has been created with four (4) employees / employers representatives. They have expressed interest in actively contributing to the prevention of accidents in the workplace by developing common vision on issues, priority actions to improve the safety of our facilities in New Brunswick.
Ocean Soapbox Racer It is in front of a record crowd of spectators that the BasCaraquet Mayor, Agnes Doiron, sped down Portage Street aboard the Ocean soapbox racer on August 3rd. Some thirty soapboxes participated in the activity that is part of the annual Festival Acadien celebrations. Ms. Doiron, who had been challenged with other mayors of the Peninsula, finished the race in fourth position. The mayor’s racer was sponsored by Ocean, painted in the colors of the Company by employees of Ocean Industries shipyard.
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OUR WORLD NEWS New automated telephone system An automated telephone answering system will soon be in place to allow callers to access you directly by dialing your extension number. To this effect, your electronic signature was recently updated. We also invite you to communicate it to your correspondents. For those who use an Ocean cellphone, we suggest setting the cell transfer function on your office phone. This feature will allow the caller to be transferred directly to your cell phone from your voicemail.
DIRECT TRANSFER TO YOUR CELLPHONE • DIAL 100 AND ENTER YOUR VOICE MAIL CODE • DIAL 8 • DIAL 2 • SELECT OPTION2 : SET UP PERSONAL CONTACTS • ENTER YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER STARTING WITH 9
Halloween On October 30th, Ocean celebrated Halloween with its traditional costume contest. Several employees of the Québec offices participated in the event. The participation prizes, four (4) gift cards of $ 50 for Galeries de la Capitale, were won by Linda Gagné, Isabelle Boivin, Francois Turcotte and Melanie Simard. All photographs of costumed staff for the event are in the following directory G:\IMAGES-VIDEOS\Général Photos\Événements Photos\ Halloween 2015.
Social Club Your social club recently held a paintball activity in Ste-Tite-desCaps and a family brunch at the Québec Aquarium. Many employees contributed to the success of these events and several new activities are planned in the near future including an evening at Bootlegger house and bobsleighing at the Massif de Charlevoix. Due to the large number of participants who withdrew from the latest activities without warning, the social club has been forced to add a cancellation clause to the registration forms. Once registered, members have up to 72 hours before the event to cancel their presence. If no notice is sent within this period and the member does not attend, he/she will have to cover costs incurred by the social club for participation in the event. 11
OUR WORLD NEWS Upcoming Events
Ocean jackets Man
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e Management is pleased to offer you the opportunity to buy your Helly Hansen winter jacket, in Ocean’s corporate colours. The Squamish 3 in 1 detail price is usually $ 250. With a volume discount and a generous contribution of the shareholders, it is offered at $ 80 plus tax.
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Samples are available at the reception of 105 Abraham-Martin and others will be available on rotation for employees in the Ports of Hamilton, Montréal, Sorel, Trois-Rivières, Sept-Îles and at Bull Arm as well as the shipyards in Isle-aux-Coudres and Bas-Caraquet. The women’s jacket size is similar to Helly Hansen waterproof jackets that we had offered in 2013. For men, the jacket is made larger than the previous one, the sizes are more regular. All orders must be made on the web as described below: 1. Go to www.impressionssoleil.com/branding/goemploye Then enter your username and your password as follows: Username: firstnamefamilyname (ex.: vickyboivin) Password : Ocean 2. Clic on the tab « Gestion du compte (Manage Account) ». 3. Complete information with billing address (address as indicated on your credit card statement) 4. Change your password to secure your transaction. 5. Click on « OK » to register your informations. 6. Click on the tab « Commande des travaux (Order of Work) ». 7. Select desired jacket size by clicking on « Ajouter au panier (Add to Cart) ». 8. Check «J’ai examiné l’épreuve et je l’accepte (I have reviewed and I accept)» then click « Ajouter au panier et passer la commande (Add to Cart and place the order) ». 9. Click « Obtenir le prix (Get Quote) » to display the price and then « Valider la commande (Validate your order) ». 10. Validate the shipping informations * then those of billing and « Passer la commande (Confirm Order) ». 11. Payment is made securely online with PayPal. 12. Your order is now complete. 13. You will receive an order confirmation by email. *All jackets must be delivered at your home address, shipping and handling fees are paid by Ocean. (NO DELIVERY WILL BE TOLERATED IN OUR BUSINESS PLACES)
Deliveries will start on November 27th, and delays may vary between 3 and 7 business days, depending on the region. In order to complete the order and offer you the jackets quickly, we had to confirm a quantity depending on the inventory available at HH. That is why we are limiting the order to one jacket per employee. The quantities in stock will be updated automatically on the website, and if unfortunately, the size of the jacket you want to order is not available, we will take your order for subsequent delivery, being a month and a half later. Contact Vicky Boivin at vicky.boivin@groupocean.com to this effect.
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OCEAN CHRISTMAS PARTY i
e DATE Friday, December 11th Starting at 5 PM LOCATION Ross-Gaudreault Cruise Terminal 2nd floor 84 Dalhousie Québec, QC TO REGISTER (Before November 27th) party@groupocean.com
CHILDREN CHRISTMAS PARTY DATE Sunday, December 13th Starting at 9 AM LOCATIONS Galeries de la Capitale Amusement Park 5401 Boulevard des Galeries Québec, QC TO REGISTER (Before December 2nd) denise.couture@groupocean.com
If you have comments or suggestions for improving our newsletter, please let us know! Contact us: vicky.boivin@groupocean.com or rose-marie.hache@groupocean.com