Follow Ups

 Several posts during the last week are in need of follow up, so this post combines three updates.

Update#1 Oceanex (from November 30)

Oceanex Sanderling arrived back in Halifax today (December 4) after making an extra trip to St.John's this week. The ship made Autoport its first stop, then moved to PSA Halifax. It is due to sailagain early tomorrow (Sunday) morning, about 36 hours later than its usual Friday sailing.

 Unique among container ships, Oceanex Sanderling carries 53 foot containers, both its own (blue) Oceanex boxes but those of other cariers such as Canadian Tire (a national hardware, houseware and auto supply chain).

Road wash outs in western Newfoundland delayed truck traffic to and from the island last week, and Oceanex took up some of the cargo by making a quick mid-week trip to Halifax and back to St.John's. Competitor Marine Atlantic was forced to shift its Newfoundland terminal from Port aux Basques to Argentia for a few days until damaged roads and bridges could be repaired. At one point there were 200 trucks waiting on the mainland side. 

Oceanex makes connections with container lines in Halifax so making an extra trip can mess up its normal schedule for coordinating with other same day callers. However the urgency of getting cargo to and from Newfoundland was more important.

Update #2 Kitikmeot W. (from December 2)

The Canadian-owned product tanker Kitikmeot W. did indeed change its registration while in Halifax this week. It sailed this evening under the Marshall Island's flag, with no destination given at first, but eventually showing Quebec City.

The ship is now registered in the port of Majuro while it works overseas for the winter on a bareboat charter arrrangement. The ship's history is quite plain to see on the stern with the previous registry ports of Istanbul, Turkey and St.John's, Newfoundland, still visible under layers of paint. 

The ship will likely return to Canadian flag in late May or early June 2022 in time for next year's northern supply work.

Update #3 MSC (from December 3)

Kotor Bay sailed this afternoon for Norfolk on MSC's Indus 2 service. As stated in the post, the majority of MSC's fleet is chartered. When the sun hit the ship's side at the right angle the name of its previous charter was highlighted.

 

The ship was built in 2009 for charter to Hyundai as Hyundai Loyalty and carried the name for twelve years. Charters of up to 18 years or more have been negotiated recently, and such arrangements are a common feature of container shipping. Charters allow operators to expand their fleet without actually financing or buying the ship. It is also a way for shipowners to find work for their ships without having to run a container line.

One interesting thing to note from today's photo is the complete absence of containers from any other container lines. There are boxes from leasing companies, but all the labelled containers appear to be MSC. This is a reflection of MSC's general independence and its policy of organic growth versus acquistion of other lines. By contrast Maersk, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd ships are usually a crazy quilt of containers bearing the names of past purchases or alliance partners.

Speaking of Maersk and CMA CGM, there is no ship scheduled for the Canada Atlantic Express (CAE) this weekend, but EM Kea is en route from Montreal giving Monday, December 6 as an arrival date instead of the usual Saturday call. It was likely delayed westbound by the bad weather earlier in the week.

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