FALL 2014NEWSLETTER NO 11

Picture : Patric Nadeau

Corporative ReorganizationAs presented by Gordon Bain and Jacques Tanguay during events held for the strategic planning during the past weeks, we need to organize ourselves better to allow us to strengthen our foundation and promote further growth.

To this end, we conducted on October 31 an administrative reorganization of the services offered by Ocean Towing companies, Ocean Dredging DSM and Services et Maintenance Océan.

In short, the pilot boat operations in all ports and salvage in Montreal will now be managed by new companies different from those offering towing services. In the same vein, the operations of mechanical and suction dredging will be separated into two new entities. Finally, the maintenance crews of vehicles and buildings will continue their work in a new company called Bâtiments et Mécanique Océan.

The accounting changes often seem complex and may create anxiety in some people. Rest assured, all is well; this reorganization aims to facilitate operation management and simplify the production of financial statements by activity and by services consolidated.

This transition will not impact the quality of the services we offer or the working conditions of the employees affected. It will enable us to be more efficient in managing our business.

JULIE CÔTÉ

DIRECTOR - FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING

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OCEAN DREDGING DSM INC.

SERVICES ET MAINTENANCE

OCÉAN INC.

SERVICES AUX PILOTES OCÉAN

SAUVETAGE MARITIME OCÉAN INC.

OCEAN DREDGINGDM INC.

OCEAN DREDGING DS INC.

BÂTIMENTS ET MÉCANIQUE OCÉAN INC.

QuébecTrois-RivièresSorelMontréal

Montréal

Separate mechanical and suction dredging

Separate pilot boatservice in all ports

Separate the vehicles and buildings maintenance from the fleet

Separate the salvage from towing operations in Montréal

Mechanical

Suction

Fleet

Buildings and vehicles

OCÉANREMORQUAGE

OCEAN INDUSTRIESFABRICATION NAVALE OCEANAND OCEAN NAVAL AND INDUSTRIAL REPAIRS

The progress of the construction of the Taiga and Notigi tugs is respectively 36% and 31%. Hull modules of the Taiga shipped from FNO workshops have been received at the shipyard and assembly work continues. The installation of large equipment such as engines, Z drives and generators, are planned in the coming weeks. The assembling and turning of the two sections of the Notigi’s hull are completed. Fitting-out work and production drawings for the installation of motors and generators are underway.

Over the past month, the FNO team also built a dozen unifloats for Ocean Marine Works. The production of ten others is scheduled for November.

New Constructions

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Regulatory dry-docking for ferry N.M. Lucien L. from STQ and a catamaran sounder CCGS-GC-03 belonging to the Canadian Coast Guard were conducted this fall. In both cases, sand blasting, replacement of steel and the painting have been done to revive the vessels. It is the CCGS-GC-03 which required the most steel work. In addition, its probe bars had to be replaced and the engine room insulated.

We are currently prefabricating steel structures for a new compartment of CO2 that will be installed on the ferry M.V. Joseph-Savard whose dry-docking is scheduled November 21.

Dry-docking

The OTN was dry docked before leaving for the winter. As the salt water of the South Seas caused rusting on the ship, sand blasting and painting had to be done. We took this opportunity to try a new method of sealing the hull using a polymer coating before applying the blue paint. The protective cages of the propellers were replaced, and we installed a new deck crane, gateways and storage platform to facilitate access to the crew and equipment storage. The maintenance of motors, generators and dredging equipment was also done.

The guarantee dry-docking of the Tundra was also performed. We completed the inspection of the ship, some paint touch-ups and the repositioning of the echo sounder.

Ocean Traverse Nord & Tundra

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OCEAN TOWINGAND OCEAN NAVIGATION

On August 17, the MAPLEGLEN bulker ran aground near Sept-Îles; the OCEAN ARCTIC is called to the scene to extricate it from its awkward position.

On September 13, the JOHN B. AIRD ran aground near Morrisburg in Ontario. The hull is pierced with holes of about seven feet. The owner called Ocean Remorquage Montréal to assist in the repairs and refloating. Afterwards, the boat was escorted to Iroquois Falls. The operation lasted one week.

On September 18, the cargo FLORAGRACHT hit bottom near Portneuf. A pilot boat was quickly dispatched with an inspector on board. Two tugs were then called to escort the ship to Québec. After a complete inspection, the ship was allowed to leave Québec on its own.

On September 30, the VEENDAM interrupts his cruise due to major mechanical failure. On October 4, the ship having to leave the docks of the Port to make way for the Legend of the Seas, OCEAN TUNDRA escorted it to Les Escoumins.

Salvages and assistance

On August 24, the OCEAN STEVNS left the Port of Trois-Rivières with the 89-meter barge Chaulk Lifter, owned by CAI Marine from Moncton. The latter was to be towed to Belledune in New Brunswick to be loaded with machinery and building materials and then delivered to Nain in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The contract of approximately eight weeks was a challenge for the crew; the community of Nain being the northernmost location of Newfoundland and Labrador, communications were difficult. In addition, once there, their expertise was tested because of the small size of the dock which made docking the imposing barge particularly difficult.

Towage in the North

On September 14, the OCEAN RAYMOND LEMAY left the port of Sept-Îles to attend four tugs already in place for the “slip operation” phase of the Hebron project.

The reinforced concrete structure had to be installed around the platform site in deep water, in order to protect it from the icebergs.

The tugs were used primarily to move barges between Broad Cove and Bull Arm for transporting the aggregates required for the construction of the concrete structure.

Many barges of Ocean Marine Works were also used in this new phase of the project that was completed on October 23. The customer is extremely satisfied with the quality and efficiency of the work. Our thanks to all employees as well as Louis Guay and Mark Norris for contributing to the success of this major project!

HebronAccess barge built by RNI at the beginning of the summer

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OCEAN MARINE WORKSAND OCEAN DREDGING

Several equipments are on the site of Champlain Bridge to help entrepreneurs Pomerleau, DJL and Hexagone in achieving the repairs to the section 5. The ambitious project began in May; more than sixty equipments are already on site, and dur to the scale of the project, 30 unifloats and 16 OC-45 barges left for Montreal on October 30.

In spite of the controversy, the construction project of the maritime terminal for the McInnis cement factory in Port-Daniel is progressing well. Six of the dozen pillars planned for the new dock have been installed since the beginning of the works in June. We planned that the barges Pugwash, Oka #12 and Submersible will be on site until December 2015.

The client, Hamel Construction, is very pleased with the progress, although on certain days, working conditions are difficult in the Baie-des-Chaleurs; strong northerly winds cause high waves that prevent the teams from working.

Current Projects

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Several equipments headed to Ontario for the replacement of the Allumettes Bridge. The bridge, built in 1957, connects Pembroke to Isle-aux-Allumettes in Quebec. It is an essential inter-provincial link, especially for the forest industry and transportation of lumber.

The current bridge, having reached the end of its useful life, must be completely replaced. Pomerleau will build a new parallel bridge before destroying the old one. Ocean Marine Works will provide the contractor with 14 OC-45 barges, the work boat Rapide Blanc and also two (2) winches and one (1) excavator. The work on the structure pillars of the new bridge should be completed in February 2015 to allow the construction of the deck the following month.

Allumettes Bridge

Shortly after completing the dredging of the North Traverse in a record time of 25 days, the dredge OCEAN TRAVERSE NORD and its crew have left Québec in direction of the British Virgin Islands on October 30. They will complete a dredging project consisting of the extraction of 35,000 m3 of sand to allow the expansion of a cruise dock. The OTN will then head to the Itabo power plant in the Dominican Republic for a two-week contract between December 15 and January 1st.

Ocean Dredging DSM surpassed 300,000 hours without a work stoppage.

Maintenance dredging of Iron Ore Company’s (IOC) port facilities in Sept-Îles was a success thanks to the collaboration of the Ocean Towing team.

Dredging

CAROLE GOUDREAULT

SENIOR DIRECTOR - HUMAN RESOURCES

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Email, is it really productive ?Communications are evolving at a rapid pace; within a few years, email has become our main communication tool. It is now possible to send, read and receive emails 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at work, at home, at the restaurant and around the world. This is why many of us are addicted ... We feel that its use allows us to save time and be more productive. But is this really the case?

Obsessed, we tend to overuse the email. We copy colleagues for everything and anything or reply using the «reply to all» function even if not relevant. These are just two of the many illustrations of actions more or less superfluous we do daily with the result of unnecessarily clogging our boxes.

We often overlook the interruption caused by receiving an email. Various studies have revealed that over 85% of respondents react to an email in less than two (2) minutes of receiving it, anywhere, any time! By interrupting our work, we will need 5 to 15 minutes to regain our concentration and our initial pace. Imagine the magnitude of the problem for those who receive dozens or hundreds of emails a day or a single message sent to a hundred employees.

It is certainly possible to better manage our communications in the era of the iPhone, social networks, Cloud and all the other technological tools. To help us, a quick reference guide on good practices in the use of Email Version 2.0 will soon be available on the intranet and on bulletin boards. Please check it out! Meanwhile, ask yourself about the relevance of email, consider instead a small meeting or phone call!

EMPLOYEE REFERRAL PROGRAM

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OUR JOBSWELDER-FITTERISLE-AUX-COUDRES ANDBAS-CARAQUET

MECHANICISLE-AUX-COUDRES

NAVAL ARCHITECTURE TECHNICIANQUÉBEC OR ISLE-AUX-COUDRES ANDBAS-CARAQUET

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING TECHNICIANQUÉBEC OR ISLE-AUX-COUDRES

SUPERVISOR - PURCHASINGQUÉBEC

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - PROJECTSQUÉBEC

SUPERINTENDENT - MAINTENANCEQUÉBEC

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTQUÉBEC

CAPTAINQUÉBEC AND MONTREAL

ENGINEERING OFFICERQUÉBEC , TROIS-RIVIÈRES AND MONTREAL

You know a trustworthy person who is looking for a job? Invite him/her to send us his/her application, and you could receive a $ 600 bonus.

To do this:

• Check regularly postings on our website or in the careers section of future newsletters. Discuss these opportunities with this person

• Complete the form (FO-RH-08 / Form candidate referral) available in the HR section under the tab Policies and Procedures on the intranet

• Ask the person to submit an application online through our website or send his resume to Human Resources (resshum@groupocean.com)

• Make sure the person indicates your name as a reference on his resume

Make sure that you do not jeopardize Ocean business relationships by soliciting candidates working for customers or key suppliers.

If the candidate is accepted, a human resources employee will contact you. The bonus will be paid in two deposits; first $ 200 at new employee hiring, the second $ 400 when he/she has completed a 12- month period of employment.

The full policy (in french only) is available on the intranet, Politiques et Procédures, Politiques RH, Politique_de_référence_de_candidats.

OUR WORLDNEWS

Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Sept-Iles on October 13 in order to make an announcement on the exploitation of hydrocarbons (gas) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He was accompanied by the Minister for Infrastructure and Intergovernmental Affairs, Denis Lebel, and the Quebec Minister responsible for Maritime Strategy, Jean D’Amour.

His announcement pertained to the management of gas in the Gulf and how to calculate revenues from this exploitation.

Mr. Harper took the time to visit the new multi-user dock in Pointe-Noire aboard the OCEAN ARCTIQUE. Thank you to the Ocean Remorquage Côte-Nord team for their collaboration on this day.

Prime Minister in Sept-Iles

The teams of Ocean Industries, Ocean Towing and SMO worked in synergy to upgrade the OCEAN BASQUES.

The inspection, the repairing of the tanks and the painting of the hull were done at the shipyard during dry docking. Afterwards, it took six weeks to update the machinery and deck equipment; improve the accommodations; install the Jason Cradle and a wireless network; and prepare the annual inspection with Bureau Veritas.

Several electrical components had to be modified or reinstalled. A new alarm monitoring system in the engine room (AMS) specially designed by Gilles Dallaire’s team was set on board. This is a first for Ocean which usually subcontracts this type of work. The new system has been in service and everything seems to work fine. Our thanks to all those who have contributed to this success.

OCEAN BASQUES

On September 26, several nautical teams from fire station near Québec participated in a special training on the water supply of a tanker with a tug. This knowledge, essential to the safety of the harbor, will allow firefighters to respond effectively in the event of fire in the port facilities. Among the learning: how to properly deploy the hoses, establish security perimeters necessary for feeding the pumper, help mooring the tug and install pumping piping on the ship.

Our thanks to the crew of the OCEAN HENRY BAIN for their contribution to the training that was held at Pier 26 in the Port of Québec.

Training in water supply

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Before After

New Ocean System

OUR WORLDNEWS

Recently, the media reported news about the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec regarding an investment of $ 5 million as a loan to Ocean.

This announcement follows the refinancing completed last year when we solicited several lenders in order to get the best financing terms available on the market. We chose a group of lenders of which the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is part.

As mentioned in the newspaper article, Ocean has demonstrated the strength of its business model and its management team through the years. The loan will allow us to continue our growth.

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In recent weeks, some of you have shown interest for Ocean winter jackets, sweaters and fleeces. Unfortunately, no new clothing is planned for this winter and our inventory of the 3 in 1 jacket produced at winter 2012 has expired. However, we still have some Helly Hansen waterproof coats for those interested.

Your requests have not fallen silent. We are working on a new line of clothing that should be available sometime in 2015.

For those whose corporate clothing is in their collective agreement, the range of products offered and the procedure remain the same.

Corporate jackets and fleeces

Last July, the OCEAN TRAVERSE NORD and its crew participated in the filming of the TV show BLEU released August 8 on Radio-Canada. BLEU is a weekly summer television series during which the host, Normand Latour, presents places and people who help shape the maritime environment. The episode featuring «The Magnificent» talks about the importance of dredging and puts forward the unique characteristics of our trailing suction dredge.

Thanks to Philippe Filion, Captain Christian Cafiti and Officer Robert Martin for their testimony during the episode. Furthermore, thank you to the rest of the crew who took part in the shooting. You can watch the full episode on our YouTube channel, using the link on the photo or by scanning the QR code (in French version only).

OTN on Bleu TV show

The Caisse lends $5 M to Ocean

http://goo.gl/PMEcL0

OUR WORLDNEWS

Ports of Sept-Îles and Quebec decided to open their facilities to the general public this fall. Ocean participated in both events. The activity at the Port of Sept-Îles took place during the weekend of October 4 and 5 in the form of a fair. Several companies and maritime organizations in the region were present and Ocean ran a booth. We also organized tours aboard one of our tugs. A total of 1,200 visitors attended the day. At the port of Quebec, the doors were open on October 19. Several activities, including crafts, face painting and inflatable games were organized and Ocean made a water cannons demonstration. Since this day was to inform visitors about the port, we also had a booth at the cruise terminal where about 4 000 people entered.

Thank you to all those who contributed to the success of these events.

Open house at the Ports

Nathalie Robitaille from Ocean Remorquage, recently participated in the Desert Rose Trophy, a competition for which she had been preparing for since Fall 2012. The competition in the Moroccan desert consisted of six steps; including the marathon where participants had to spend 48 hours in autonomy in the desert, and the famous dunes. This step is often eagerly awaited as it involve crossing 20 kilometres of giant dunes. This is the stage where the pressure gets higher. It brought a lot of adrenaline to Nathalie and her teammate who performed exceptionally by finishing 5th. For the marathon, the girls experienced uncontrollable glitches. Despite these incidents, they have got an excellent place overall, finishing 22nd on the 148 participating teams. These 10 days in the desert were very rewarding for the duo confirming that their preparation over the past months has been worth it! Visit http://bellesetrebelles.trophee-roses-des-sables.org/ to know the details of their trip.

Desert Rose Trophy

A dozen employees took part in the Foam Fest at the ski station Le Relais in Lac-Beauport. The event, an obstacle course of five kilometres in foam and mud, took place on September 13. The Foam Fest is not a competition, but rather an entertaining race with the goal of having fun and getting people to move. In total, the course comprised 15 different obstacles. It includes, among others, crawling in the mud, inflatable structures filled with foam and bubbles, slides and climbing walls.

Congratulations to Peggy Flowers, Klaudia Trudel, Kim Tremblay, Marie-Neige Saucier, Daniel Gauthier, Jonathan Richard and some friends and spouses who have proudly represented Ocean in this race and a special mention to Marie-Neige Saucier who organized the activity.

Foam Fest

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EVENTS OF THESTRATEGIC PLANNINGQuébec, Isle-aux-Coudres, Montréal, Trois-Rivières, Sept-Îles - In recent weeks, our leaders traveled to meet you about the new orientation issued from the strategic planning; clarify the roles and responsibilities, develop relationships with our customers and identify best practices to reduce the risks associated with our operations.

As mentioned by Gordon Bain and Jacques Tanguay during these events, «We are proud to have a team like ours! We want to continue working together in synergy and build a solid foundation for a promising future.» Thank you to everyone who participated in such large numbers.

The short video presented as part of these events is now available on our You Tube channel GroupoceanTV.

If you have comments or suggestions for improving the newsletter, please let us know!

Communicate with us: vicky.boivin@groupocean.com oumelanie.guay@groupocean.com

TO COMEOCEAN CHRISTMAS PARTYDATE AND TIME : Firday December 12, 5 PM

LOCATION : Terminal des croisières Ross Gaudreault

CHILDREN PARTYDATE AND TIME : Sunday Decemeber14, 9 to 11 AM

LOCATION :Méga Parc, Galeries de la Capitale

Imagine OceanFollowing the success experienced last year, Ocean is organizing a second children’s drawings contest that will illustrate the company’s Christmas card. To this end, we seek the creativity of your children, aged 12 and under, to produce work on a festive Christmas theme.

Participation prizes will be awarded among the young participants. The selected drawing will be printed on the cards sent to our customers and will win an IPAD MINI.

The winner will be selected based on the originality of his work on November 17.

To participate:

Submit your child’s artwork no later than November 15 by one of the following methods:

By mail: To the attention of Vicky Boivin, 500-105 Abraham-Martin, Québec (QC) G1K 8N1

By email : concours@groupocean.com

In person: To the attention of Vicky Boivin, at the reception of 105 Abraham-Martin, bureau 500

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