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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