The multi-purpose tween deck cargo ship Franbo Lohas left its anchorage position in Bedford Basin this morning and put out to sea for a few hours of trials and returned to port at noon time. It then re-anchored in almost the same spot. More wind is predicted for later today and tonight, so a secure anchorage will be needed.
[Port regulations require that ships at anchor must have functioning main engines as they could be called upon to move or re-anchor on short notice. If the main engines are not functioning the ship is obliged to tie up at a pier or to have a tug standing by. ]
[Halifax Traffic, the Vessel Traffic Management Centre, monitors ship positions and can detect if the ship is beginning to drag anchor - sometimes before the ship is aware. If the ship has to re-anchor in a new position, a pilot is required. ]
The ship arrived in Halifax on November 6 and anchored in the Basin, then moved to Pier 9B on November 10. It then moved back to anchorage on November 22. On the night of November 30 - December 1 it began to drag anchor in high winds, but was secured again nearby.
The ship was previously in Halifax March 17, 2022 to March 26, 2022 when it loaded steel racks to carry fibreoptic cable. It then sailed to Portsmouth (Newington), NH to load newly manufactured cable.
Tracing the ship's subsequent movements is difficult but I did see a record of it in Vancouver for bunkers on October 1. It is therefore possible that it was involved in the same Google cable project as the IT Telecom ship IT Intrepid which arrived back in Halifax November 30 . Franbo Lohas was then reported in Port-au-Prince, Haiti October 20-26, and Savannah, GA October 30- November 2, before arriving in Halifax.
While the ship was alongside Pier 9B last month I did not see if new cable racks were installed or if the previous ones were removed. In any event the ship is apparently awaiting orders for its next assignment.
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