Hoechst Express rolls in to Halifax

1. Hoechst Express rolling to port.

The German flagged container ship Hoechst Express was rolling noticeably as it arrived in Halifax this afternoon. If it was rolling this much within the harbour, it must have been pretty uncomfortable outside.

Built in 1991 by Samsung Shipbuilding & Heavy Industries Ltd in Koje, the 4,639 TEU ship has been a regular caller in Halifax for many years. It appeared to have a pretty full deck load, with a fine coating of frozen spray on top of the boxes. This would not be a significant factor in the ship's stability, so the rolling must be a normal habit.

At the extreme of the roll to the port side, the bottoms of the letters "p", "g" and "y" were just at the water line, when it rolled back to starboard, there was a couple of feet of black showing below them.

Hapag-Lloyd's parent TUI AG announced last month that it would be selling another 17.4% of the company to the group headed by Albert Ballin, bringing Ballin's total to 78%. The Ballin group is comprised of the State of Hamburg and other smaller investors and banks. An IPO was scrubbed last year due to uncertainty in the economy. TUI AG wants to concentrate on its travel company and to get out of shipping altogether.

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