I've known about Halifax's Neftegaz-29 for quite some time.

The problem was that I was never in Halifax with a surplus of free time.

Instead of learning the Halifax Metro bus system, I walked from GW's house, to the cove where the Neftegaz-29 was moored.

I stepped off the breakwall and onto the boat. As I quickly moved into the interior to get out of sight, I could only explore the rooms with portholes, as I didn't bring a flashlight.

I also didn't bring a tripod - so the pictures are even worse than normal!

Now a ship is usually cool enough, but this was also a Russian ship!

Back in 1983, the Russian Department of Oil contracted Poland to have 55 Neftegaz-series ships built for them. Constructed at the shipyard in Gdansk, these ships were to serve as supply carriers for the USSR.

Gulf Oil's Halifax Department purchased 4 Neftegaz boats in the late 90s/early 2000s. Three of the four were quickly retrofitted and sent to work (1 of them actually works off the coast of Newfoundland).

The Neftegaz-29 would sit in Halifax (Wright's Cove) and wait for its retrofitting though.

Even when it first arrived from its lay up in Russia, people commented on the deteriorated condition of the boat. Furthermore, seeing as Gulf Oil removed one of Neftegaz-29's engines to put in one of their other boats; maybe retrofitting wasn't eventually coming?

(Maybe the fact that it has been idling since 2001, might be a good indicator as well there Navi)

This is the first time I've ever extensively explored anything with Cyrillic lettering, so suddenly the worker's quarters & the mechanical rooms required time & a more careful inspection.

Full speed ahead Captain Comrade!

The control rooms provided an impressive view over the deck & an impressive number of controls. There was even one of those SONAR, beep-beep, circular glass map devices that you see in movies.

A lot of time was spent in the control rooms as well.

In researching the Neftegaz-29 for this write-up, I came across recent pictures of her being towed to Pier 9 - indicating that she's likely to be scrapped or destroyed, rather than restored.

It looks like it was a good decision to find time on this June afternoon.