Optimism rules

Thanks to the Asian Gyspy Moth for cheering up Halifax today. Amongst the usual run  of ships with businesslike names, we had Eternal Sunshine and Lucky Trader.

Eternal Sunshine was built as Pioneer Sunshine in 2004 by Shin Kurushima Onsihi Shipyard in Imabari, Japan to typical handy tanker dimensions of 28,059 grt, 45,915 dwt. It was acquired by current owners Product Shipping + Trading of Athens in 2013 and took on its cheery name and Marshall Islands registry.  It was only in port long enough for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to do its inspection, and sailed in bright sunshine.


The sunshine was not eternal as it turned out, for the arrival of Lucky Trader was under greying skies.

It was built in 1996 by Saiki Jukogyo KK of Saiki, Japan as Oriente Noble for Panamanian owners. Bischoff Reederei of Bremen acquired the ship last fall and registered it in Antigua and Barbuda. It is a handy size vessel as well, but a bulk carrier of 14,746 grt, 23,522 dwt, and fitted with four 30 tonne cranes. Its last port was Dakar.

Not to be outdone by the moth, Imperial Oil welcomed Bright Fortune today (it anchored in the Basin yesterday) and the more functionally named Elbtank Germany.

Elbtank Germany tied up at number 3 dock this morning. It is a 1999 product of Daewoo Shipbuilding +Marine Engineering of Geoje, South Korea, wth handysize measurements of 22,848 grt, 35,407 dwt. It carried the names Seine to 2007 and Beas Spirit to 2008. It is currently operated by Tb Marine Ship Management of Hamburg, and flies the flag of Maderia, an offshore registry of Portugal. It arrived from Paldiski, the port of Tallin, Estonia.

Bright Fortune was brought alongside number 4 dock late this afternoon. It measures 28,777 gross tons and 48,008 deadweight, just fitting under the nominal 50,000 dwt maximum for handysize tankers. It arrived from Houston. Built in 2010  by a yard I had never heard of before: Iwagi Shipbuilding of Kamijima, Japan, it flies the Panamanian flag for Shoei Kisen of Imabari, Japan. Its last port was Houston.

To round out the positive name parade, the Canadian tanker Travestern arrived, bunkered and sailed, headed for Cape Dorset in the far north.

Breaking from the habit of many shipowners Woodward Group and its tanker subsidiary Coastal Shipping Ltd has not renamed its current tankers. They continue to bear the names given them by prior owners. Perhaps the old marine superstition that it is unlucky to rename a ship prevails in their case.

Woodward purchased its three most recent tankers from Rigel Shiffahrts of Germany. Named for a prominent star, the company names most of its ships to include the world "Star" (in English) in their names. These three however use the suffix "stern" (which means star in German) and are prefixed by the names of three German rivers, thus: Alsterstern, Havelstern and Travestern.

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