Another clean up for the Coast Guard

 During the period of high winds two weeks ago the derelict fishing trawler Hydra Mariner parted its mooring in the Wright's Cove area of Bedford Basin and fetched up on Navy Island. Today the Coast Guard's CGE310 could be seen alongside. That boat is used for pollution response.

Built in 1963 by George T. Davie + Son s Ltd in Lauzon ,QC as Cape Mira for National Sea Products, it was a groundfish trawler and fished out of Louisbourg, NS. It was later converted to a scallop dragger, having had several owners.

In 2001 it was sold and was renamed Hydra Mariner for intended conversion to a "chase boat" to protect offshore seismic operations, but the work was never completed.  It passed through several owners, but remained laid up at the Dartmouth Marine Slips. On June 4, 2009 it moved under its own power to the Navy Island Cove area where it has remained ever since except for other unscheduled departures from the mooring. I know of at least two - one in 2011 and one on 2014 when it also drifted and ran aground. It may have been a "live aboard" for a time, but seems to have been largely abandoned recently.

The Canadian Coast Guard will step in and carry out a clean up and charge the owner for costs, but if no owner can be found to take responsibility for the vessel, the taxpayers will be on the hook for any clean up and likely demolition.

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Wall to Wall at PSA

 Container traffic numbers must be doing well at PSA Halifax, with MSC ships as frequent callers these days, adding to the regular callers. Today was no exception with three ships occupying the piers. Oceanex Sanderling was at the stern ramp at Pier 41 and Tampa Trader for ZIM at the south part of berth 41.

  MSC Sariska was occupying Pier 41, with only one crane available to decant some cargo to reduce draft en route from Sines, Portugal to Montreal.

I gave the 4437 TEU ship a full write up when it called here in August: MSC Sariska

The former Maersk ship still looks sleek (if not Majestic) despite its 31 years of service.

PSA will be busy again tomorrow with regular callers Maersk Penang and  ZIM Shekou, the latter postponed from today.

PSA worldwide handled 86.6 million TEU in 2020 with Singapore alone accounting fore 36.6mn TEU. That makes Halifax a minuscule player in PSA's portfolio of ports around the world.

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Reminder of the Captain Jim tragedy

 On January 29, 2019 the service boat Captain Jim sank off Eastern Passage. The boat's skipper and a cargo surveyor were able to escape to a raft, but the boat's deckhand was apparently trapped below and died. The two survivors were picked up by the pilot boat, and the deckhand's body was recovered by navy divers. The boat itself was raised and broken up.

The Captain Jim was returning from a cargo sampling trip to a tanker anchored off Halifax. At the tine there were two such tankers, Star I bound for Imperial Oil and Elka Hercules bound for Irving Oil.

In one of those strange coincidences, Elka Hercules is in Halifax again two years later, and berthed at Irving Oil's Woodside terminal.

Elka Hercules arrived from Saint John, NB, January 28 and is pictured this morning January 29 discharging its remaining cargo at Irving Oil's Woodside Terminal.

Elka Hercules was built in 2002 by Brodosplit in Split Croatia, measuring 27,539 gt and 44,481 dwt. It is operated by European Product Carriers.

Also in Halifax, but anchored inside the harbour is  a tanker from Antwerp destined for Imperial Oil.  High Trust is operated by one of the d'Amico companies, part of the Societa d,Amico di Naigazione S.p.A., which also operates tankers and bulk carriers. It was built in 2016 by Hyundai Vinaship Shipyard Co in Ninh Hoa, Vietnam and measures 29,935 gt, 49,990 dwt.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating the loss of the Captain Jim. Initially they stated the investigation would likely take 450 days or 15 months, but no official report has yet been published.

For my posts on the loss of the Captain Jim see:

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2019/01/search-operation-underway.html

and

http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2019/01/captain-jim.html

Strange Sightings - Woolastook I

 There have been strange sightings in Halifax harbour over the years, but like most UFO sightings, there is a simple explanation.

With the tug out of sight on the ferry's starboard flank, it appears to be sailing on its own.

Perhaps a New Brunswick cable ferry* is not immediately identifiable as such (Nova Scotia has several too), but even so cable ferries are not equipped to stray from their normal routes**. And so it is with Woolastook I which normally plies the 0.7 km, 5 minute route from Grand Bay-Westfield to Hardings Point, not too far upstream from Saint John. This time however it is in control of the tug Strait Raven under tow for a refit at Port Hawksbury.

Superport Marine, operators of the tug, have developed expertise in refitting cable ferries, and won the contract for refitting Wollastook I in November 2020 with a bid of $424,637.50. Superport also recently completed the refit of a fleet mate which was delivered back to New Brunswick by the Strait Raven last week.

I believe the tug had a navigational system glitch (possibly radar) and put in to Halifax for repair.

Strait Raven comes alongside the Tall Ship Quay with Woolastook I.

 Woolastook I was built in 1980 by Apex Machine Works Ltd of Moncton, and has a capacity of 15 cars. It is owned by the New Brunswick Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Strait Raven is a 500 bhp tug, built in 2013 by Superport Marine of Port Hawksbury. 

* Cable ferries have no independent means of propulsion. A hauling engine (like a winch) picks up a cable which runs from shore to shore and winds the ferry back and forth across the river The cable is seldom visible since considerable slack is built in, allowing the cable sit on the river bottom so as not to impede other marine traffic. 

** On October 15, 1996, sister ferry F-39 which served the same route took an unscheduled 5 mile, 2 hour drift down river when its cable parted. On board, in addition to the crew was one auto with two adults and a child. The Transportation Safety Board determined that the cable was corroded, and made a number of recommendations, including the installation of anchors on cable ferries.

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Pictor - catching up with Eimskip

 With one of their ships out of service, the Icelandic shipping company Eimskip has responded by transferring ships and chartering in tonnage to meet schedules. On December 27 Lagsarfoss lost power and was towed back to Reykjavik, arriving December 30. Since then EF Ava has been transferred back to the Green Line (which serves Argentia, Halifax and Portland, Maine). This has allowed the line to catch up with the lost trip.

Today's arrival in Halifax is the regular caller Pictor, which began working for Eimskip on their Green Line in May 2019. At that time its name was Pictor J. That changed in August 2020 when it appears that the ship was sold by a one ship company manged by Jungerhans to Pictor Atlantic Feeder AG, managed by F+L Schiffahrts.

The ship was built in 2009 by the Naval Gijon shipyard in Spain, measuring 10,965 gt, 12,640 dwt. It is a gearless container ship with a capacity of 925 TEU including 200 reefers. That large reefer capacity is needed due to the large quantity of fish exported by Iceland.

The ship is due to sail this afternoon for Portland. 

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Singelgracht arrived in tow

 The Dutch paper and multi-purpose carrier Singelgracht arrived in tow late this afternoon January 23 and tied up at Pier 9C. One of the Spliethoff "S class", the 16,641 gt, 21,402 dwt ship has side loading doors and elevators for paper products and three cranes of 120, 90 and 55 tonne capacity to handle a wide range of cargoes. It has a container capacity of 1134. Built in 2000 by Mitsubishi, Shimonoseki, it is one of eleven similar ships in the fleet.

Harbour tugs flock to assist the tow once inside Maugher's Beach.

The tow was carried out by Secunda's tug/supplier SIEM Commander which had been laid up at the C.O.V.E. dock in Dartmouth. Built in 2009 by Havyard, Liervik, Norway, as STRIL Commander it was acquired by SIEM from Simon Mokster in 2017. The 16,000 bhp tug/supplier arrived in Halifax in July 2019 and saw some work supplying and towing for Sable gas, but has been idle for some time.

The ship was en route from Zeebrugge to Philadelphia when it apparently had some sort of problem. SIEM Commander sailed from Halifax at midnight last night, so the ship was not far off. The tow was joined at the pilot station by the harbour tug Atlantic Cedar to provide braking and steering power. 

 This incident again raises the topic of Emergency Towing Vessels (ETVs) for the Atlantic Coast. With the absence of any offshore oil or gas activity, there are very few "vessels of opportunity" available to respond to the occasional emergency. The fact that there was any vessel of SIEM Commander's capability available, and that it could be mobilized at short notice (with a skilled crew) is quite fortuitous.

With towing line trailing off astern, SIEM Commander approaches Ives Knoll inbound to Pier 9C.

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AOPS #3 Roll Out

 Another milestone was reached January 22 and 23 as Halifax Shipyard rolled out two of the three mega blocks for the third Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship. 

The internal fittings of the ship are in an advanced state before the roll out.

The be named HMCS Max Bernays AOPV 432 the ship will be fully assembled on dry land before it is floated out by semi-submersible barge.

Despite a significant snowfall on Friday January 22, the roll out seems to have gone off  well.

It will join AOPS#1, HMCS Harry DeWolf AOPV 430 currently in post acceptance trials with the RCN.  AOPS#2 to become HMCS Margaret Brooke AOPV 431, is still alongside the fit out berth at Halifax Shipyard (directly behind in the photo above -gangway visible to the left) but has had engine run ups in preparation for sea trials.

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Three Arrivals, but all is not well

 Despite grim statistics for seaborne trade on the North Atlantic routes there were three container ship arrivals today, one for Fairview Cove and two for PSA Halifax. 

Fairview's was the well known Atlantic Sun, one of the five ConRo sisters operated by the Grimaldi Group's Atlantic Container Line on their weekly service to and from North Europe.

The current weakness of transatlantic trade is evident from the relatively few containers visible on the ship's deck. ACL however benefits from RoRo trade, and I have noted large numbers of cars arriving on these ships recently

Atlantic Sun arrived from Baltimore and will sail tonight for Liverpool on the eastbound leg of its run.

The two ships for PSA Halifax arrived at the same time, with Taipei Trader going first.

Tugs Atlantic Cedar (forward) and Atlantic Willow prepare to turn the Taipei Trader off PSA Halifax.

The ship and its sister Tampa Trader operate the weekly "Canada Florida Express" service for ZIM, which works as a feeder from Halifax to the US and ZIM's Kingston, Jamaica hub.  They are 1102 TEU (including 220 reefer) ships of 9932 gt, 13,063 dwt, built in 2014 by Jiangsu Newyangzi Shipbuilding in Jiangjiang, China, equipped with two 45 tonne cranes. Taipei Trader carried the name Cap Avatele from 2014 to 2016.

The third ship in was MSC Eleni on its second visit to Halifax. The first was on January 11 when it was westbound to Montreal.

Atlantic Fir has taken the forward position while Atlantic Oak (not visible) has moved to the starboard quarter to assist in turning the ship.

The ship is on MSC's longstanding transatlantic service, which has just started to call in Halifax to top off or decant cargo to reduce draft for the St.Lawrence River. It is now eastbound again and will top up with available cargo from Halifax.

MSC Eleni dates from 2004 when it was built by Hanjin Heavy Industry and Construction Co Ltd in Busan. The 54,881 gt, 68,254 dwt ship has a capacity of 5060 TEU including 400 reefers.

Unlike the transpacific trade which has clogged ports such as Los Angeles/Long Beach, container volume on the Atlantic has dropped off the cliff. The dearth of cargo has caused THE Alliance partner HAPAG-Lloyd to  "blank", "void" or cancel sailings altogether. Now they have announced the cancellation of one service altogether. The AL1 route is the victim of the downturn. That left only the ATA service calling in Halifax, but HAPAG-Lloyd announced today that Halifax has been added to the AL5 service which is a North Europe to North America West Coast via Panama. As first port in and last port out this keeps Halifax in a good position. However reliability will still be a question if ships are delayed for days or weeks by west coast port congestion.

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IT Intrepid sails

 The cable ship IT Intrepid sailed this afternoon after a period of maintenance at the owner's headquarters at Pier 9B. IT International Telecom is based in Halifax, but services cables in many areas around the North Atlantic basin.

The ship has been based here for many years, and mentioned in this blog many times:

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2013/04/it-intrepid-off-to-deep-panuke.html

As with all of the old time and traditional cable ships it has huge sheaves mounted over the bow, which are used to pay out or retrieve submarine cable.

 This morning before the ship departed some sailors were working in the bow, giving some idea of the scale of the sheaves.

(Water vapour exhaust from the Nova Scotia Power Corp's gas fired generating station at Tuft's Cove, in the background, is condensing in minus 0 degrees C air.)

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NS Stream and CSL Tarantau

 It took a telephoto lens and a wide angle lens to get pictures of two ships in Halifax today. 

NS Stream at Imperial Oil #3 dock was unloading some petroleum product from Port Arthur, TX. 

The ship is slightly unusual for a MidRange type tanker, in that it was not built by one of the well known Korean shipyards. Instead it came from Brodotrogir (the Trogir Shipyard in Trogir, Croatia) in 2006. The 27,357 gt, 47,197 dwt ship is owned and operated by SCF Novoship JSC of Russia. That company is one of the many tentacles of the joint-stock company [JSC] Sovcomflot [SCF], namely Novorossiysk Shipping Co [NSC]. The parent company owns 117 tankers, with more under construction and chartered. It also manages its fleet through various subsidiaries around the world - this ship from Dubai, UAE according to some sources.

I photographed the ship at the same berth but from a different angle July 23, 2015.

At that time there was still most of Imperial's refinery in the background. Glad the ship got some paint.

CSL Tarantau was the subject of the super wide angle (18 mm equivalent) at Pier 9C.

The ship arrived January 13 for maintenance [see previous post]  which is winding up today, with the ship scheduled to sail this evening. I don't have a destination yet, but will add it in later when AIS picks it up. (The ship took tug assistance out into Bedford Basin to turn around before setting course outbound.)

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Morning in the Afternoon

 The auto carrier Morning Cornelia arrived this afternoon for Autoport.

The ship is operated by EUKOR a company owned 80% by Wallenius Wilhelmsen and 10% each by Hyundai and Kia. Specializing in transporting Korean automobiles (EUKOR = EURope + KORea) their ships also operate on the world wide Wallenius Wilhelmsen routes carrying all brands of cars. 

Korea is known as "The Land of Morning Calm" and most of EUKOR's ships have "Morning" as a prefix.

Morning Cornelia was built by Imabari Zosen in Japan and is a 60,002 gt, 22,530 dwt ship with a capacity of 6,458 cars.

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In From the Storm

A couple of days of very high winds forced the suspension of pilotage activities on the weekend, which delayed the arrival of some ships. One of these was Tropic Lissette which rode out the stormy weather anchored deep within St. Margaret's Bay off  Mill Cove. 

The Tropic Lissette has been a regular for Tropical Shipping ever since September 16, 2019 fresh from  Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard in China. The 15,215 gt, 20,313 dwt ship has a capacity of 1100 TEU, including 200 reefers, and alternates its weekly calls with sister ship Tropic Hope. 

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MOL Glide for the first time

 Another first timer, MOL Glide arrived at Fairview Cove this morning (early) and will sail after dark this evening.

I have always liked the MOL hull colour, especially when combined with the orange funnel. And now while in service with THE Alliance with lots of HAPAG-Lloyd boxes on deck it looks even more colourful.

Otherwise the ship is a pretty standard Hyundai Samho product of 2011, coming in at 59.307 gt and 71,339 dwt, it has a capacity of 5100 TEU.

The ship is owned by Heliconia Shipping Ltd (part of Singapore's Temasek Holdings) but with seemingly German managers, and therefore likely on long term charter to MOL. MOL is now part of Ocean Network Express (ONE), but many of its ships will continue to carry "heritage" names and colour schemes until the charters run out. 

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MSC Ornella -another first timer

 Another first time caller arrived for MSC yesterday and sailed today.

 Built in 2004 by Hanjin Heavy Industry and Construction Ltd in Busan, it is a 54,304 gt, 68,372 dwt ship with a 5050 TEU capacity. After working cargo at PSA Halifax, Pier 42 it moved early this morning to Pier 27-28 for repairs. The ship had a technical deficiency when it arrived, which was corrected, allowing the ship to sail for Montreal. 

Ships of this size are currently the largest that sail to Montreal, but due to seasonal draft restrictions they are not able to load to full capacity. Dropping off or topping up in Halifax allows the ships to sail more efficiently.

Halifax on the other had has no such restrictions (nor ice) and so can handle the largest ships currently trading to the east coast of North America, such as APL Sentosa which arrived at PSA Halifax today.

This is the second call in Halifax (see April photo above) for the 13,892 TEU ship. At 151,015 gt, 150,936 dwt it is not far off the 14,400+ TEU size of the current record holders.

Halifax still needs some more cranes to be able to handle two such ships at once, but that is unlikely to happen soon unless other lines up the size of their callers.

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CSL times two

 CSL Tacoma arrived during the night at National Gypsum. The ship is a regular caller and would not normally rate much notice. However when fleet mate and sister ship CSL Tarantau arrived at Pier 9C for repairs it became a challenge to get a photo with both ships in the same frame.

With portions of CCGS Jean Goodwill (left) and CCGS Captain Jacques Cartier at right, and CCGS G.Peddle S.C. at the BIO, CSL Tacoma is still visible at National Gypsum's dock in Wright's Cove.

CSL Tacoma was built by the Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, China and is a member of CSL's ocean going Trillium class of self-unloaders. It measures 43,691 gt, 71,552 dwt.

CSL Tarantau, also a Trillium class ship, built by the same yard in 2013 with a tonnages of 43,691gt comes in at 71,279 dwt. did not start life as a CSL ship. It was built for CSL Americas pool partner Klaveness and named Balto.

In 2016 Klaveness withdrew from the pool and sold its ships to the other partners, CSL and Algoma. Although Balto's orange hull was repainted and labelled for CSL, the CSL Tarantau still has orange painted self-unloading gear, betraying its Klaveness ancestry.

CSL Tarantau's arrival at Pier 9C was not unexpected. A crane and a truck load of equipment and several smaller vehicles and workers were ready to greet the ship. Some of the equipment may include replacement belts for the self-unloading equipment. Belts are subject to considerable wear and tear and need replacement after conveying thousands of tons of material.

It seems that the CSL ships may have been involved in a "topping off" operation in the Strait of Canso over the last few days. The big bulker NSU Voyager 107,829 gt, 208,745 dwt with a cargo of coal from Norfolk, VA was anchored for several days and CSL Tacoma was recorded alongside. CSL Tarantau on the other hand likely delivered a load of coal to Sydney, NS before coming here.

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Notorious Barge arrival

 The barge at the centre of the controversial tidal power turbine in the Minas Passage, Upper Bay of Fundy, arrived in Halifax today.

For more on the barge Scotia Tide and its towing tug, Atlantic Elm - see today's post on Tugfax

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New for Melfi, the Imedghassen

 Melfi Lines, the trading name for the Melfi Marine Corp is a long time user of the port of Halifax. Its regular trade from Europe to Cuba, and onward connections to Caribbean and South American ports, now consists of a twelve day rotation with five days transit from the PSA Halifax terminal to the home port of Mariel. Over the years, the company has used a variety of chartered vessels, some short term and others quite long term. Today's arrival, on its first trip for Melfi Lines, is fairly typical of the ships the line uses, which is to say, multi-purpose, fitted to carry containers, and generals, and equipped with cranes for cargo handling.

    

The smart looking ship was built in 2012 by Daesun Shipbuilding + Engineering Co, Pusan as Majority and has carried the names 2013: Dignity C, 2017: Sofrana Surville, 2019: Majority and taking up its present name in 2019. It measures 9998 gt, 12,754 dwt with a capacity of 1048 TEU and carrying two 40 tonne cranes.

The ship is owned and operated by Global Maritime Algerie SpA, and flies the Algerian flag. Its name also refers to a temple-mausolueum dating perhaps to 200 BC and considered to be one of the country's major heritage sites. 

The ship arrived with some sort of technical deficiency and was escorted from the pilot station by the tug Spitfire III. It then tied up at pier 34, a berth usually used for repairs or layups. Its scheduled departure date was January 8, but that has now been extended.

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Augusta Luna - in the news, twice

 Most ships lead uneventful lives, seldom appearing in the news or attracting much attention to their activities. That has certainly been the case with Nirint Shipping's Augusta Luna, a regular caller in Halifax. It plies its normal route from Europe to the Caribbean and back via Halifax with nickel sulfides from Cuba. The cargo, which is very tricky to handle in bulk, (it tends to behave like a liquid) is therefore shipped in large bags which prevents liquification and means that it can be handled as break bulk cargo.

A versatile ship of 12,772 gt, 17,370 dwt, Augusta Luna has a capacity of 903 TEU (nominal) including 60 reefers. It also carries two 150 tonne and one 80 tonne cranes. Built in 2011 by the Xinshun Shipyard Group in Yueqing, China, it started life as Rickmers Yokohama. In 2015 it became Lolland and Augusta Luna in 2019. 

To assist in loading heavy cargo the ship carries a pair of large spreaders, stowed starboard side forward at number one hatch (painted the same colour as the cranes.) Those cranes were put to good use "recently" when the ship loaded "a number" of Russian built railway locomotives for Cuba. The press release about the move was rather coy about details, but did state that the engines weighted 86,000 kg each - fairly light work for this ship. Even at a 31 meter outreach the larger cranes have an 80 tonne maximum capacity. 

The other newsworthy recent event occurred on December 25 in Mariel, Cuba, when the ship allided* with the tug Capricornio I, causing a 50cm dent in the hull in the way of the starboard number 1 ballast tank. No dent was obvious today while seen through a couple of layers of fence. The press item also stated that the dent was 7.4 meters above the waterline. Even at light draft that would seem to me to be very high on the hull for a ballast tank.

(* The term allision, which I like, means coming into contact with a stationary object, as opposed to a collision when two moving objects come into contact.)

After completing its cargo work tomorrow, the ship will be returning to Rotterdam to start its cycle again. It is due next in Halifax February 18.

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Maersk Nimbus

A.P.Moller-Maersk A/S (known as "Maersk") is only one component  of the huge Moller family of companies, which includes real estate, supply chain management, retail, port terminals and others. (It hived off its oil and gas investments in 2016). Best known as the largest container shipping company in the world, Maersk also owns the largest tug company in the world (Svitzer), a significant offshore support vessel fleet, autocarriers (in joint venture with Hoegh) and tankers.

Today's arrival, Maersk Nimbus is one of five "cloud class" tankers built in 2016 and 2017 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan. However they were not built for Maersk but for BP Tankers. British Nimbus, as it was originally named, was delivered in 2016 and measured 28,137 grt and 39,999 dwt. With its sisters it was among the smallest ships in the BP fleet, intended for MidRange trade in North Europe and the Mediterranean. The ships are equipped with exhaust gas scrubbers and other state of the art equipment to ensure economical operation.

In late 2019 BP did a lease back deal with Maersk to take over ownership of eleven tankers, and lease them back to BP for three years. These sorts of deals are more common with new ships, but they are also a way for companies to take debt from its books and to raise funds.

The ship became Maersk Nimbus in February 2020 and the Maersk funnel colours were applied. That does not disguise the huge scrubber casing installed aft of the superstructure. 

The ship's last port was New York, and it tied up at Imperial Oil.

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Algonorth - again, and close up

 I was not expecting Algonorth to remain in Halifax when I made yesterday's post. However,  once the ship finished unloading last night it moved over to pier 25-26. That berth is used to unload grain, so is often selected for short term stays for repairs or for winter layups.

The ship is certainly showing signs of wear and tear from transiting the St.Lawrence and Great Lakes locks. The "lock rash" is all the evidence needed to show why the attractive Swedish paint job is impractical for working the Seaway.

It now appears that Algonorth will be staying in Halifax for a maintenance period. "Fire wires" have been deployed over side forward and aft, which will allow tugs to move the ship in case of emergency without having to rely on a ship's crew to rig lines.

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Algonorth

 The tanker Algonorth arrived in Halifax January 3, and due to high winds, it anchored in the harbour. When things calmed down this morning it moved in and tied up at Imperial Oil's number 3 dock.

Oddly, the ship docked with its bow facing south - the first time I have seen this that I can recall. The only explanation I can give is that there may have been frozen spray on the starboard side manifold.

Algonorth is unusual several ways. Most obvious is the red hull paint, a carry over from its previous owners, Alvtank Rederi of Sweden. The ship was built in 2008 by Tuzla, Turkey, as Gan-Gesture  but was delivered as Ramira. Measuring 12,164 gt, 16,979 dwt, it is an ice class vessel, suitable for Great Lakes trading.

Algoma Tankers acquired the ship late in 2018, but have not repainted it in traditional Algoma colours of very deep blue hull and beige superstructure.  The white hull stripe is also a fashion statement that is not much indulged in by shipowners these days. It therefore stands out and has drawn a lot of favourable comment.

The other notable thing about the ship is that it was the last ship to exit the St.Lawrence Seaway system before it closed for the season on December 31, 2020. Algonorth loaded a cargo at Imperial's refinery in Nanticoke, ON for Halifax, and will presumably spend the winter working the St.Lawrence River and east coast.

For more on the ship see: http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2018/12/new-for-algoma.html

HMCS Halifax send off

 The waterfront was lined with well wishers at mid-day today to send off HMCS Halifax  FFH 330 on a six-month deployment with NATO's Operation Reassurance in the Mediterranean Sea.

The ship's company lined the rails to wave to family and friends. Lead ship of the Halifax class of Canadian Patrol Frigates, the ship was launched in 1988 and commissioned in 1992. It has since received major upgrades to systems and weaponry. It was also reinforced to carry the Cyclone helicopter. It had a year long refit in 2016-2017 and returned from its most recent posting with NATO in January 2020.

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