Fairview Cove - new work

 A $15 million project at Fairview Cove is now underway. The work consists of a new truck gate and a container examination facility.

The 1.03 hectare area will accommodate four "in" gates and two "out" gates, staging for trucks (sources say 140 trucks, but that seems like too many to me).

The examination facility will include a 2700 square meter building with eleven truck bays. It will house the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) inspection facility, and King's warehouse (for detained goods). CBSA also handles Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspections of containers, primarily for invasive species, but also for prohibited goods. 

CBSA container inspection has been carried out in the Burnside Industrial Park in Dartmouth, and has meant that containers had to be  trucked from the two container terminals across the MacKay bridge to reach the facility. Despite the Port's press releases the new facility will not reduce truck traffc through downtown Halifax, since containers from the Southend container pier will have to be trucked to Fairview Cove.

The new project is located on part of the infill area just to the east of the existing PSA Fairview Cove container terminal. 

So far some foundations are visible, and a mysterious tower - about 30 feet high (so far) - which did not show on previous renderings of the project.

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SFL Conductor

 The large shipowning company SFL (formerly Ship Finance International Corp) made another appearance in Halifax today. Since its founding in 2003 the company has expanded from tankers into bulk carriers, containers, auto carriers and oil rigs. 

Its last caller in Halifax was the large tanker SFL Thelon on March 20. The 159,500 dwt ship required repairs en route from Saudi Arabia to Saint John, NB with a cargo of crude oil. 

 

After a short spell in port here, it stood by about 50 miles offshore until repairs were completed and on March 23 it got underway for Saint John. It anchored off Saint John March 24 and today, March 29, moved in and connected with the Single Point Mooring unit off Canaport and began to discharge cargo via pipeline.

Meanwhile in Halifax SFL's presence was marked this morning by the auto carrier SFL Conductor, a ship that called here twice in 2022 (see Shipfax July 14  and December 30.)

Built in 2006 by Shin Kurushima in Onishi, Japan, the 60,116 gt, 17,709dwt ship served initially as Favorite Ace, becoming Glovis Ace in 2012 and SFL Conductor in 2019. It has a capacity of 6500 CEU, and is on charter to Volkswagen until the third quarter of 2023.

Although incorporated in Bermuda with its shares traded on the New York Stock exchange, SFL's owner's base of operations is Oslo. Its various subsidiaries have offices in London, Singapore and Limassol. The majority owner, with 18.6% of the shares, is a John Frederiksen family trust. Frederiksen is the publicized shipping magnate who has recently been involved in the take over of another tanker company, Euronav, controlled by the Belgian Saverys family. Euronav's "Cape" tankers are regular suppliers of Valero's Jean Gaulin refinery in Lévis, QC.

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Quiet Day

 Today, March 28, will be a quiet day in the harbour. The only scheduled arrivals are the Atlantic Sail at 1500 hrs and the CSL Tacoma at 2300 hrs. Therefore I have looked backward a few hours to a departure from last evening.With Daylight Saving Time now in effect, and with the days growing longer, it is still light enough in the early evening for some photography.

Last evening's departure was the general cargo ship Fairwind Legion from Pier 9C. (The pilot was called for 1900 hrs ADT).

 Deckhands rig the pilot ladder as the ship clears Pier 9C.

The ship arrived in Halifax March 11 (see Shipfax of that date) and was fitted with fibreoptic cable storage racks (called tanks). With that work completed, the ship sailed for Portsmouth, NH to load the cable.

As a relatively small ship, it was able to turn directly off the pier without having to go to Bedford Basin to turn. It did use two tugs however: Atlantic Beaver and Atlantic Willow.

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Something for everyone

 It was a real mixed bag in the harbour today, March 27, with several ships sailing and arriving. In more or less chronological order:

HMCS Montreal was in and out of the harbour as it works up for its deployment for the Indo-Pacific in the latest Operation Projection (see yesterday's post).

above: time stamp 15:58 hrs ADT

It sailed "officially" yesterday, but is expected to be in and out for the next few days, but not tying up in port.

                                                above: time stamp 16:52 hrs ADT

A pilot was ordered for 1600 hrs to sail the container ship Humen Bridge. It was some time before the ship was actually underway, and it departed Pier 41 with tug assistance. It kept the Atlantic Bear as stern tethered escort because the ship needed to make a sharp turn to use the western channel.

The Humen Bridge was built by IHI Kure in 2007 and is a 98,747 gt, 98,849 dwt ship with a capacity of 9040 TEU. Assigned to THE Alliance's EC5 service, it would normally have been handled at PSA Fairview Cove. But due to its size and the arrival of Atlantic Sky the  ship was handled at PSA Atlantic Gateway, (southend terminal).

Using the wesrern channel allowed the inbound tanker Great Epsilon to use the main channel.

The Great Epsilon was arriving from Antwerp with refined product for Imperial Oil. It is a 30,237 gt, 49,998 dwt MidRange 2 tanker built in 2020 by New Times Shipbuilding Co in Jingjiang, China. It is also scrubber fitted, allowing its Hyundai-built main engine to burn heavy fuel.

Also sailing was the cable ship IT Intrepid. The ship left its berth at Pier 9A early in the morning and  carried out trials in Bedford Basin before putting out to sea for more trials. It is expected back in port early this evening.

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Operation Projection - updated (again)

 The Royal Canadian Navy uses the title Operation Projection to describe many of its activities with other nations that include port visits and exercises around the world. The early 2023 version saw the Halifax based HMCS Glace Bay and HMCS Moncton sailing to the Gulf of Guinea in western Africa and returning via the Caribbean.

Today March 26, saw the departure of two more ships on the latest version of Operation Projection, but there is a difference. It is unusual for Halifax-based frigates to sail to the Pacific Ocean, but that is the destination for HMCS Montreal FFH 336. Along with NRU Asterix the ship sailed this morning in an unpleasant combinaton of driving wind and wet snowy / rain. However as their route to the Indo-Pacific will be via the Panama Canal, they will soon be changing to whites.

The NRU (Naval Resupply Unit)* Asterix is the privately owned and operated interim supply ship that the RCN has hired until new ships are constructed by Seaspan ULC in Vancouver. The ship operates with a combined civilian crew and specialist naval personnel as needed. It was commissioned in 2018 after it was converted from a container ship and is classed as a non-combattant.

However it has participated in numerous naval exercies and operations in the Atlantic and Pacific. Among them was a 2018-2019 deployment that took the ship to Hawaii and the Middle East. It was away from Halifax for 500 days. The ship is fitted with "refueling at sea" equipment and reportedly made 197 fuel transfers in that mission alone.

Asterix is Canada's only naval supply ship at the present time. The two new ships of the Protecteur class, (Canadianized Berlin class), are still several years away from completion. Current estimates are 2025 and 2027 deliveries, but even these seem optimistic. It is therefore likely that the Asterix may be in service longer than the originally suggested seven years.

This morning's conditions did not favour a photo of HMCS Montreal. The Halifax class frigate was commissioned in 1994, and has undergone numerous updates and refits. Thanks to AIS I was able to "see" the ship off Halifax later in the morning as it positioned itself to receive its CH-148 Cyclone helicopter which was to fly out from Shearwater and join the ship.

On December 12, 2021 the ship was highly visible on the Syncrolift at HMC Dockyard in Halifax, sporting a new coat of anti-fouling paint.

 

Update

The Asterix had to return to port late in the afternoon (March 26) to disembark a medical case. The ship picked up its (civilian) pilot at about 1700 hrs ADT and made the transfer north of George's Island in the main harbour, and returned to sea. HMCS Montreal stood by offshore. I do not know how the transfer was made or what watercraft participated. 

 

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Second Update

I have been made aware that I incorrectly applied the designation "NRU" to the ship Asterix. (In my defence [no pun intended] I used the designation based on an official news release.) However it turns out that the NRU is "a naval unit of people... that deploys detachments onboard Asterix to undertake naval functions" and should not be applied to the ship which is a "leased civilian vessel".

Therefore the proper designation is: "The NRU (Naval Replenishment Unit) aboard MV Asterix".

I note in the message I received that the author does not use the article "the" before the name of the ship. This departs from current convention where naval vessels are designated without the article, but civilian vessels are designated with "the". This modern convention (along with dropping the feminine in referring to ships) has been widely adopted in the maritime press including such august publications as Lloyd's List , The Maritime Executive, Splash 247.com and Shipfax. While respecting tradition generally, these publications have managed to face present day reality and celebrate political correctness despite some pointed criticism from readers.

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CMA CGM Lapérouse

The Ocean Alliance / Columbus JAX service brought in another Ultra size ship to PSA Halifax's Atlantic Gateway today, March 25. This time it is the CMA CGM Lapérouse, a 13,880 TEU ship, with reefer plugs for 800 TEU.

 

Built in 2010 by Daewoo SB + ME, Okpo, it is a 151,446 gt, 165,442 dwt ship, and as usual with ships of that size has the split superstructure with bridge and accommodation forward of midships.

The ship is named for the French naval officer and explorer Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de Lapérouse (1741-1788?). In his early naval career he was on re-supply ships to Louisbourg in 1757 and 1758 and in 1782 he captured Fort York and Fort Prince of Wales in Hudson Bay.

However he was better known for his expedition to the Pacific in which he was never seen again after sailing from Australia in early 1788. His disappearance was the mystery of the century and it was not until 1826 that some wreckage of his ships was found on the Vanikoro Islands  in the Solomon Islands. More was learned in expeditions of 1964, 2005 and 2008. It is believed that some members of the expedition survived for an extended time, but probably died in conflict with the local population.

The Lapérouse mystery was on many minds, including that of King Louis XVI who, on the day of his execution, January 21, 1793, is reported to have asked "Any news of Lapérouse?"

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Another Sign of Spring

 There have been a few signs of spring this year - intermixed with snow showers. This evening, March 24, was just one of those as the bulk carrier Baie St. Paul sailed with a load of gypsum, bound for Hamilton, ON.

As the ship was leaving Bedford Basin and as the sun was going down, a brief snow shower swept over the area. Although it did not effect visibility, the snow did "fuzzy up" the view as the ship approached the A. Murray MacKay bridge.

The sure sign of spring however was the annual opening of the St.Lawrence Seaway after nearly three months of winter shutdown. Despite the dire predictions in 1959 when the Seaway first opened it was not the death knell of Halifax as a port. In fact there continiues to be trade between Halifax and Great Lakes ports.

The tanker Algotitan, which has been working out of Halifax this winter is in the Seaway en route to Sarnia. The cement carrier NACC Argonaut, after leaving Halifax March 17, proceeded to Port Daniel, QC to load and arrived today at Cote-Ste-Catherine (near Montreal and within the Seaway) to offload.

The Baie St.Paul which often carries salt, is a regular caller at Gold Bond Gypsum in Bedford Basin and in recent years has delivered the raw material to Hamilton, ON. It is a Canadian flagged ship and as per a previous post is a member of Canada Steamship Lines' domestic fleet - a fact that is underlined by the large lettering on the ship's hull. Members of the company's international fleet make do with the abbreviated "CSL" on the flanks. The lettering on the red hull is not quite so legible in the glinting sun, but shows off well at a distance when in the shade.

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MSC, ZIM, UBC and WWO

 Continuing on the "initials" theme started two posts ago, today, March 23, was another "initial day" - but with some variations.

An early morning arrival was the ZIM Shekou a familiar caller since 2018 on the ZIM Container Atlantic (ZCA) service. Altough "ZIM" in the company name ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd is always capitalized and pronounced "zim" it is an ancient Hebrew word meaning "a fleet of ships" and should be pronounced "tsim". It is therefore not an abbreviation as many think - (that would be ZISS).

ZIM Shekou tied up at the south end of Pier 42 to allow room for the next arrival.

The ZIM Shekou was built in  2007 by the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co at its Dalian #2 (or New) shipyard. The 39,906 gt, 50,629 dwt ship has a capacity of 4260 TEU.

 At noon time it was another "new to Halifax" ship the MSC Zlata R. arriving on the Turkey / Greece service. MSC is known for running older ships, but it has invested in scrubbers to keep them running on heavy fuel. Scrubber equipped ships often switch from heavy fuel to lighter MDO while maneuvering, but in the case of this ship there was massive particulate emission - all the way in from the pilot station.

 

I have never heard of a ship being fined for air pollution in Halifax, but this one would certainly be a candidate.

 

The ship was built by Samsung HI Co Ltd in Geoje, South Korea in 2002. Its 45,803 gt, 53,452 dwt result in a capacity of 4112 TEU including 1300 reefers. It was launched as Santa Ricarda, but delivered as P+O Nedlloyd Botany Bay. In 2005 it was renamed Maersk Dunafare and became Cap Ricarda in 2010. In 2013 it reverted to Cap Ricarda and in 2015 took its present name.

Much of the smoke was expelled aft when it was still moving, but as the ship slowed the smoke gathered more around the funnel. It cannot have been pleasant for those on board. Even after the ship tied up at Pier 41 it continued to smoke, so perhaps the problems were with the ship's auxiliary engines.

A mid-afternoon departure was the bulker UBC Santos (see previous posts).

When it sailed its AIS signal gave a destination of Fort de France, Martinique.  The company Albioma operates an "all-biomass" generating station in Martinique, which generates power and supplies steam to a large sugar processing operation. The ship's cargo of Nova Scotia wood pellets will feed the plant.

Inbound shortly after was the autocarrier Bess. A 2010 product of Shin Kurushima Toyohashi, it is a 58.750 gt, 18,013 dwt ship with a capacity of 6,284 cars (RT43).

This was my first opportunity to catch the ship in the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean colours. It was originally painted in traditional Wallenius colours, and called here frequently with its green hull.

In my April 25, 2011 photo the ship looked brand new. It is interesting that the painters of the original scheme dropped the white topside to clear the banner name. The "broken" line certainly looked odd. In the new scheme they decided on a straight line, and the teal colour just barely clears the banner name, which appears to be in exactly the same location - no doubt outlined in a thin bead of weld.

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HMM Courage - more initials

 When the Hyundai Courage was last here on the westbound leg of the EC5 service of THE Alliance I posted ship's info and the details of HMM (formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine.) See: Shipfax March 7, 2023

At the time I was not able to get a decent photo, but today (March 21) when the ship returned on the eastbound leg conditions were ideal.

As the Hyundai Courage made its way inbound it passed the outbound CCGS Captain Jacques Cartier.

 Due to its size the ship used the tethered stern escort Atlantic Fir.

It was met by the Atlantic Oak in the lower harbour for the transit through the Narrows. Once the ship reached Bedford Basin it held off PSA Fairview Cove while the NYK Constellation got underway. That ship is on the westbound leg of THE Alliance's AL5 service from Antwerp and bound for Port Everglades.

Built in 2007 by Hyundai HI, Ulsan, it comes in at 55,534 gt, 65,919 dwt with a capacity of 4922 TEU including 330 reefers.

Back to the initials again, NYK Line or Nippon Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Mail Shipping Line) is part of the giant Mitsubishi conglomerate, with some 800 ships of all types in its fleet. However it spun off its container interests in 2017 with the founding of Ocean Network Express (ONE). NYK has a 38% interest in ONE with MOL (31%) and K-Line (31%). Some ships continue to appear in "heritage" colours and with parent group names., while others have adopted ONE colours and names.

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UBC Santos

 The bulk carrier UBC Santos arrived late last evening March 21 and tied up at Pier 28.This morning it began loading wood pellets from storage in Halifax Grain Elevators silos.

Spouts from the loading gallery have been positioned in three of the ship's five holds.

The UBC Santos operates under the United Bulk Carriers banner, a Philadelphia based operator of fifteen bulkers, but part of the larger Hartmann Group of Leer, Germany, which counts 150 ships of all types.

 The ship was built in 2008 by Saiki Jukogyo in Saiki, Japan. It is a 19,748 gt, 31,569 dwt ship with four 30 tonne SWL cranes and grabs ranging in size from 8 cubic meters to 12 cubic meters. The ship is also equipped with cement hatches, and has box shaped holds.

As with many bulk carriers it is not equipped with a bow thruster, nor is it fitted for the St.Lawrence Seaway.

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Initials and more initials

 It seems that the proliferation of initials or abbreviations is well entrenched among shipping companies, with a few notable exceptions. Today, March 21, saw six representatives of seven "initial companies", one hold out, and one anonymous.

PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway saw two "initial ships". The CMA CGM Nerval arrived from Bremerhaven on an unscheduled call. In other words, the ship is not on any of CMA CGM's regular routes through Halifax, and appears to be a "sweeper" dropping off or picking up boxes that have not been accommodated on the other CMA CGM services.

Built in 2010 by the Sungdong Shipbuilding + Marine Engineering Co Ltd in Tongyeong, it is a 72,884 gt, 83,318 dwt ship with a capacity of 6540 (or 6570 depending on sources) TEU including 500 reefers. It is an odd sized vessel for Halifax as we usually see larger or smaller ships.

The ship was carrying boxes from all the Ocean Alliance lines (APL, OOCL, Evergreen, and COSCO).

It sailed in the early afternoon for Charleston.

Its place was soon taken by the MSC Sena from Italy and Sines, Portugal on the CANEX 1 service to Montreal - here to off load some containers to reduce draft for the St.Lawrence River.

The ship has been renamed six times since built as ZIM Sydney by Halla Engineering +Heavy Industry, starting in their Inchon yard, and completed at Samho. The 30,280 gt, 35,966 dwt ship has a capacity of 2825 TEU including 214 reefers.

The ship was renamed in 2000: Rhein, 2002: E.R.Albany, 2004: CMA CGM Egypt, 2006: MacAndrews America, 2007: E.R.Albany and 2013: MSC Sena. [The MacAndrews name comes from the old time British MacAndrew Line, taken over by CMA CGM in 2002 and operated as a "niche service". Founded in 1770, it was was eliminated in 2019.]

Also at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway was the Tropic Hope, No initials in use by Tropical Shipping, as the name says it all in terms of its routes.

A hold out in today's initial parade, the ship shares Tropical's weekly service with sister ship Tropic  Lissette. Its company containers also spellout "Tropical" in huge letters.

Due to sail late this evening the ship will head for West Palm Beach, FL then take in several Caribbean ports in cluding San Juan, St Thomas, Philipsburg and Sint Eustatius.

There was a triple "initial" meet in Bedford Basin late this afternoon as two ACL and one CSL ship were visible at one time.

Atlantic Container Line  (ACL) usually has two ships in Halifax each week - one eastbound and one westbound. They rarely meet here, but it does happen once or twice a year when schedules get disturbed - usually by weather. It is always tricky to get both ships in the same frame.

Atlantic Sun arrived this morning on the eastbound leg of this voyage, and (right in picture) sailed for Hamburg.

As the Atlantic Sun was preparing to depart, with the tug Atlantic Beaver in attendance, the bulk carrier CSL Tacoma was gliding past the Bedford Insitute of Oceanography, heading for sea.

The initials CSL are used for the international operations of Canada Steamship Lines, but its domestic Canadian flag ships, use the full name, spelled out in full on the ship's hulls. The Bahamas flag CSL Tacoma has a load of gypsum bound for Baltimore.

ACL was founded by a consortium of traditional shipping lines, but now carry the letter "G" on the funnel recognizing the present owners, the Grimaldi Group.

The other ACL ship, the Atlantic Star, arriving from Liverpool on the westbound leg, held off until the berth was clear, but was already backing in as the Atlantic Sun was clear.

 A ship going the anonymous route - resisting the trend to emblazon the owner's initials on the hull - arrived at Autoport this morning and disgorged a quantity of new automobiles, loaded at the European ports of Bremerhaven March 1-3, Zeebrugge March 4-6 and Goteborg March 9. It is on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean transatlantic route.

A small fraction of the myriad new cars at Autoport inclues hundreds of Audis, probably offloaded yesterday by the Violet Ace.There is also some machinery and other RoRo cargo on the dock.
 

The Grand Pavo dates from 2005 and was built by Shin Kurushima Toyohashi, and at 59,217 gt, 18,376 dwt has a capacity of 6400 cars. The ship's operators are Cido Shipping of Korea and Hong Kong. They seem to be in the business of chartering ships out to others on various term lengths.

Are those the same scaups I saw ship watching at Black Rock Beach yesterday?

Rounding up the "Initial ships" was the after dark arrival of the bulker UBC Santos for Pier 28 to load wood pellets. "UBC"  stands for United Bulk Carriers and I expect to see  "UBC" emblazoned on the ship's hull - but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

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SFL Thelon - updated

 It is not often that fully loaded crude oil tankers visit Halifax. There are no longer any oil refineries here, and neither of the oil terminals (Irving Oil nor Imperial Oil) currently handle crude oil. 

Today (March 20) the Suezmax tanker SFL Thelon arrived and anchored in number one anchorage in the lower harbour. The ship is en route from Saudi Arabia to Irving Oil's Canaport crude oil unloading facility off Saint John, NB. The ship will have tugs standing by for the duration of its stay in Halifax, while it undergoes some repairs, possibly weather related. Dominion Diving's Halmar met the ship on arrival with some personnel or materials from shore.

The tug Atlantic Bear stands by the bow of SFL Thelon in number one anchorage.

(The tug Atlantic Beaver is off the stern.)

 

The SFL Thelon was built in 2015 by Bohai Shipyard in Huludao, China and delivered as Atina. The 83,377 gt, 159,500 dwt ship was renamed in 2022 when it was acquired by current owners SFL Corporation (formerly Ship Finance International Ltd.), an associated company of the Norwegian mogul John Frederiksen. Records indicate that it is chartered to an arm of Koch Industries Inc, the Wichita based multi-nat conglomerate. It loaded crude at a Saudi Aramco crude oil storage terminal.

Currently SFL Corporation has 17 tankers on its roster (along with 15 dry bulkers and 36 container ships) several of which are named for rivers. The Thelon River is in Canada and stetches 900 km from the Northwest Territory to Baker Lake in Nunavut, and drains through Chesterfield Inlet to Hudson Bay. Perhaps not well known in the south, it is a major water course, with a huge drainage basin stetching as far south as Saskatchewan. The Thelon has been recognized as a Canadian Heritage River.

The ship is recorded as drawing 14.7m (48.22 ft) and interestingly did not appear to have taken a tethered stern escort tug as it glided inbound, however the tugs Atlantic Bear and Atlantic Beaver were nearby and came alongside as the ship reached the anchorage location.

Update:

Late in the afternoon, the ship put out to sea. Whether this was for trials or was actually a departure, I am not certain. It was characterised as a "Move" by pilot dispatch and the ship's AIS was not updated and shows Halifax as its destination. This leads me to believe that the ship may be returning to an outer anchorage (where no pilot is required.)

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Qingdao double header

Several container lines name their ships for cities - usually important ports on their routes, or sources of cargo. HAPAG-Lloyd is one such line as is ZIM. Other lines seem to have various naming schemes and sometimes use cities - MSC is one of the latter.

It had to happen that two ships named after the same city would arrive in Halifax on the same day, and today, March 19, was the day.

First in was MSC Qingdao, joined later in the day by ZIM Qingdao, tying up at adjacent berths at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway.

ZIM Qingdao is securing at Pier 42 (left) while the larger MSC Qingdao occupies Pier 41 (right)

The city of Qingdao (meaning Azuere Island), China, is in Shandong Province on the Yellow Sea. A major commercial and technical hub it has a population in excess of 10 million. Its port is an important one for the region and is served by most shipping lines.

MSC's ship took its name in 2019 when the former OOCL Qingdao was renamed MSC Qingdao. It was built in 2004 by Samsung HI in Geoje and is an 89,097 gt, 105,162 dwt ship with a capacity of 8063 TEU including 1400 reefers. MSC usually uses women's names for its own ships, but in this case the ship is chartered, so is an exception. It also carries the funnel markings of its managers Technomar Shipping Inc.

 Most OOCL ships were built for trans Pacific service and have sturdy lashing frames on the stern to secure containers from following seas.

(A flotilla of ducks - I believe Greater Scaups - ignores the arrival)

ZIM's ship was built in 2006 by Dalian New Shipbuilding and is a 39,906 gt, 50,689 dwt vessel with a capacity of 4250 TEU.

 

 In this file photo, the ship is seen with many Hapag-Lloyd containers. ZIM and Hapag-Loyd have a slot agreement.

Both ships have been calling in Halifax for several years, but this is the first time that the two have been in port at the same time.

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Fog Season

 With the arrival of spring comes fog. Although it is a major annoyance for photographers, it is only a minor hindrance to shipping, which carries on with due caution.

Today's (March 18) blanket of fog lifted in the afternoon, and despite off and on showers, it became possible to see some shipping.

Yesterday the tanker British Engineer arrived off Halifax and anchored for a time. The launch Eastcom appeared to have rendez-voused with the ship while at anchor - perhaps with a technician. Later in the evening the ship made its way to an anchorage in the main harbour, where it was shrouded in fog for the early part of the day today.

The ship made a gloomy sight if it was visible at all.

(In fact the camera saw more than the human eye in this case.)

 By mid-afternoon the fog had retreated and the ship became visible from the Halifax shore.

Passengers on the ferry Rita Joe got a very good look at the ship en route from Dartmouth to Halifax.

The Mid Range type tanker of 30,948 gt, 45,999 dwt was built in 2017 by Hyundai Mipo, and as with all British Petroleum Tankers it has superior accommodation and always looks smart with its traditional funnel marking. 

[Who first thought of painting what was essentially an exhaust pipe, in  company colours ?]

Fog lingered over the Halifax side of the harbour.

The British Engineer has a cargo of refined petroleum products from Amsterdam and will move alongside Irving Oil's Woodside terminal on departure of their tanker Acadian.

Meanwhile the Rossi A. Desgagnés (see yesterday's post) completed unloading at Imperial Oil and sailed for Saint John seemingly for another load.

At Pier 9C the early morning arrival of the Don Pasquale was also fog covered, but the ship became visible once it was alongside.

It was carrying a huge consignment of RoRos, with machinery from red, yellow and green manufacturers. The ship is expected to move to Autoport tomorrow to off load cars.

 The Don Pasquale was built by Daewoo Heavy Industries in Okpo in 1997 and in 2007 it was lengthened from 219.3 to 227.9 m by Hyundai Vinaship in Vietnam. The reworked ship now registers 67,141 gt, 28,142 dwt with a capacity of 7,194 cars.

At the southend, PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway welcomed the "Ultra" size CMA CGM Amerigo Vespucci . Altough somewhat smaller than the largest container ships to call in Halifax, it was nevertheless an impressive sight as it made its way inbound with the assistance of three tugs.

 

 A group of wintering mallards were a tough audience and not easily impressed.

At 151,446 gt, 165,171 dwt, the ship is rated for 13,880 TEU including 800 reefers. Daewoo Shipbuidlng + Marine Engineering Co Ltd built the ship in 2010 at their Okpo yard.

At Pier 27 the Onego Deusto (see previous post) continued to unload rail - one piece at a time. The photo shows a large forklift carrying a single rail. A shore side crane removes the rails from the ship  (also one at a time) and a forklift moves the item to the carefully stacked stockpile. 

Foreground in the photo is a weigh scale for trucks that are bringing in material to fill the area at Pier 33-37. The pile of crushed stone to the right is for backfilling around the foundations for a new PSA  maintenance facility that will block this view.

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