Narrows

 Today, December 6, the 105th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion in which thousands were killed and many more injured and left homeless, the focus was on the Narrows of Halifax of Harbour. That is where the two ships Imo and Mont Blanc collided and caught fire. The resulting explosion was to be the largest man-made explosion before the Atomic bomb at Hiroshima in 1945. 

Flags at Halifax Shipyard flew at half mast in commemoration. Many workers at the original Halifax Graving Dock Co were killed in the explosion, only 300 meters away, and their families were also decimated as many lived nearby.

At what has come to be known as Ground Zero there is little sign of the historic event as the Halifax Shipyard has expanded significantly since those days. The neighbourhood on the Halifax side of the Narrows is called Richmond, and the Port's facilities in the area are called the Richmond Terminals, comprising Piers 9, 9A, 9B and 9C.

IT International Telecom has its marine base at Pier 9A where the IT Infinity is fitting out for cable work. Its original name Standard Princess is still visible on the hull.

 Further north at Pier 9C the icebreaking tug/supplier Polar Circle was alongside today to take on stores from the ship chandlers Bluewater. The ship arrived in Halifax on October 7, and aside from one other brief visit to Pier 9B has been anchored in Bedford Basin awaiting assignment.

The Norwegian owned (but Cyprus registered) ship was operating in Russia, and rumours abound as to what it is doing in Halifax, but there has been no explanation yet.

On the Dartmouth side of the Narrows at Tufts Cove (see yesterday's post) the tanker Ice Fighter is unloading heavy fuel at the Nova Scotia Power Corp generating station.

 

After years of trying to avoid getting the chimneys in the picture, today's calm conditions made a photo mandatory. As mentioned yesterday, the ship is boomed off during unloading operations.

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