Firing on all cylinders - revised

 See revision in bold italics regarding the tug/barge Leo A. McArthur / John J. Carrick

It was an exceptionally busy day in the Port of Halifax today, Saturday, October 15. There seemed to be ships at almost every berth with more arrivals in the offing for tomorrow. It was a gloomy, breezy and misty day, but the forecast rain held off.

At the South End terminal, PSA's Atlantic Hub, it was Vistula Maersk arriving on the weekly Maersk / CMA CGM service from Montreal, bound for Europe.

The scheduled arrival of CMA CGM Lapérouse was scrubbed and the 13,800 TEU ship is now due tomorrow.

PSA's Fairview Cove terminal had the AS Carlotta arriving in the early afternoon. This is the second ship to call on a dedicated charter for the Costco "big box store" brand. (The first was the Carpathia on August 23.)

Frustrated with port delays and unreliable delivery dates Costco announced in July that they had chartered three ships (the third is to be the Queen Esther) and leased several hundred containers from Triton. The ships would be running from China to the North American east coast. [They may be regretting that decision now, since they chartered the ships for three years at the top of the market - which is now in the process of collapsing, as are freight rates, due to a slump in demand for imports.]

The AS Carlotta appeared to have room for  more containers (perhaps returning empties) after working its way up the coast from the Panama Canal with stops in Savannah and Baltimore.

Built in 2006 by Aker, Wismar, as Cape Martin, the 28,372 gt, 37,882 dwt ship was renamed Fesco Bayal in 2006 and Cap Blanche later in 2006. taking its present name in 2018. It has a capacity of 2742 TEU including 400 reefers, and carries three 45 tonne SWL cranes.

In the ocean terminals, the Onego Duero, as predicted, returned to Pier 27 on October 13, to continue off loading rails, and at Pier 28 the Iberian Bulker held off loading wood pellets, due to predicted rainy weather. (But not before covering the southend of the city with a fine coat of sawdust last night.)

There were three cruise ships occupying berths 20-21, 21-22 and 23. At Pier 23 it was the Silver Whisper, which backed in with the assistance of the tug Atlantic Willow.

It was met by a flottilla of trucks carrying stores, including perishables, and fuel. I have seldom seen such a large support contingent for such a small ship (380 passengers and 302 crew). Built in 2001 by Mariotti, Genoa, the 28,258 gt ship is reputed to have the largest space per passenger ratio of any cruise ship.

At Pier 22 it was the familiar Caribbean Princess and at Pier 20-21 the Nieuw Statendam. On departure, the latter ship gave a prolonged whistle salute to the Port and city. This traditional farewell to mark a ship's last visit of the cruise season is a form of thank you for the hospitality shown to the ship (and crew) and such lines as Holland America are very careful to observe the custom.

Built in 2018 and sponsored by no less than Oprah Winfrey, the 99,902 gt ship can carry 2,666 passengers and 1,053 crew. Its first call in Halifax was on August 1 of this year and today marked its seventh and last call of this season. (The cruise season will run later than usual this year, with the last ship, the Insignia, due November 5.)

Because of the stiff breeze the ship had the tug Atlantic Oak in attendance to assist it off the berth (not sure if it was actually used) and to stand by as it made its turn north and east of George's Island outbound for sea.

Despite the blustery conditions (it was not cold) there were many passengers on the open upper decks for the outbound passage, heading for Saint John, NB.

The Dartmouth side of the harbour was also busy with tug / barge Leo A. McArthur / John J.Carrick discharging asphalt at the McAsphalt Cherubini dock for General Liquids Canada and the Morning Lena delivering cars to Autoport. Both will be in port over night and are planning to sail tomorrow.

Imperial Oil has the Algoterra alongside at number 3 dock, with another load from Nanticoke. (Algonova sailed mid-day yesterday after also delivering petroleum cargo from Nanticoke.)

Irving Oil completed working the Acadian late in the morning and it cast off for St.John's, NL.

While outbound the Acadian met the incoming Elka Delos with more product for Irving Oil, this time from Amsterdam.

Dating from 2005 the ship was built by Brodosplit in Croatia and is a 27,612 gt, 44,598 dwt MidRange type, operated by European Product Carriers  Ltd.

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