Cars and Stripes

It was a day for car carriers of all stripes so to speak. Three ships from three different lines all within a few minutes of each other, made their way through the harbour, each exhibiting a distinctive colour pattern.

In the order that I took the photos, the first was Arabian Sea inbound for Autoport. Unusual amongst autocarriers is the paint scheme of an inverted V on the sides.This is apparently the design used by Sunship, the German operator. Built in 2010 by Xiamen Industry Co in China, the ship is small by current tonnage measurements at 46,800 gt, 13,059 dwt. With this it has a capacity of only 4900 CEU.

While Arabian Sea was making its way in the Viking Conquest was just leaving Autoport and the two ships met in the area of number 1 anchorage.  

Just getting away from Autoport in the background, Viking Conquest is partially hidden by Macnab's Island, while Arabian Sea has been joined by tugs and is turning toward Eastern Passage.

Viking Conquest has a more traditional paint scheme with a solid blue hull, typical of the ships owned by Gram Car Carriers. It was built in Jiangsu Jinling shipyard in Yizheng, China in 2017 and measures 62,105 gt, 18,488 dwt, still relatively small compared to other recent newbuilds.



While all this was going on another inbound was approaching.  Asian Empire is making its way in for pier 31. It will then move to Autoport tomorrow.

Viking Conquest (right) takes the western channel neatly avoiding a clash of cultures as the Asian Empire uses the main channel inbound.

 

Built in 1998 it is a still larger ship of 71,383 gt, 25,756 dwt. Operators Eukor [Europe/ Korea] had the ship built by Hyundai Ulsan, and in fact it carries its name in Korean and English characters on the bow. This is the first time I can recall seeing a ship with Korean characters in Halifax.

The ship sails under Wilhelmsen management, a company that frequently brings RoRo cargo other than cars to Halifax.

 Asian Empire's name spelled out in Korean characters on the bow.

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