Other Thursday Activity

It was a very busy day in Halifax with many arrivals and departures and moves, some trying to get in and out of port in advance of the Easter weekend.

The oldest registered vessel currently active in Halifax Harbour was hard at work again today.Commdive II is a barge, built in 1942 by TC Gorman (Nova Scotia) Ltd, (perhaps under another name). The main reason for its longevity is that it was built of concrete. Operated for some years now by Waterworks Construction, it has been busy the past few weeks carrying a crane used to lift the naval trot buoys in the harbour just south of the Macdonald Bridge. It completed removing the buoys last week, and this week is lifting the anchors.

 

With the tug Roseway pushing, the barge is moving to its work position. It will later be joined by Dominion Bearcat as diving tender. Divers will free the anchors from the harbour bottom and secure lifting gear. The buoys have not been used for years, and were a hazard to pleasure craft.

At number one anchorage the tanker Patroclus took bunkers, then had divers working around it during the morning, before sailing. The ship, arriving from Poit Tupper, appeared to have some cargo aboard. It was built as Astro Patroclus by Hyundia Ulsan in 2009, but acquired the shortened name the same year. The 79,890grt, 158,267 dwt ship sailed for Bayway, NJ.

 Just before the outbound Athabaskan in tow passed the ship, a kayaker crossed the channel ahead of the tow, no doubt giving the pilot a few tense moments. If he had a camera he got a close of view of Athabaskan's departure. He is just visible in the photo near the ship's bow.

One arrival today was the odd looking Kommandor Iona. Operated by Hays Shipping of Aberdeen, Scotland, it is a multi-task research vessel fitted with dynamic positioning and both side and stern A-frames.

The ship was built in 1985 for the Royal Navy as Salmoor, a heavy lifting ship for buoy and net placement or salvage work, with huge bow "horns". These were removed in 2015 when it was rebuilt for research, with added accommodation and the high bow.

Another research vessel, the Coriolis II made a trials trip to Bedford Basin this afternoon. It had been laid up all winter at the old Coast Guard Base in Dartmouth.

It is owned by the Université du Québec à Rimouski and operates for a number of research institutes in eastern Canada. Last year at about this time it filled in for CCGS Hudson during that ships prolonged refit.

HMCS Charlottetown also had a trip to Bedford Basin. It was a cold move however to Jetty November November, the Bedford Magazine, to de-store some ammunition.
 

On its return run, the ship was in charge of a pair of Glen, one secured on each quarter.
 
At pier 9B the crew broke out the paint and began to touch up Fundy Rose. The Bay Ferries schedule indicates that it will resume service between Digby, NS and Saint John, NB, April 10, so there must be some other work to do before it sails.

A new to Halifax ship arrived on THE Alliance EC3 service today. Hangzhou Bay Bridge is a very large one for Fairview Cove, but it has a relatively low air draft for its size, thanks to a flat top funnel and folding masts.

It was built in 2012 by IHI, Kure, and has a capacity of 9120 TEU, measuring 96,790 grt, 96,980 dwt. Although smaller in gross tonnage than the ACL Con-Ro ships, it is the largest pure container ship (both by tonnage and by capacity) to transit the Narrows and dock at the Cerescorp terminal as far as I know. Although it left around low tide, it certainly proved that the Fairview Cove terminal can handle some quite large ships.

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