Celestial Convergence

 Ships of NYK's Daedalus class are weekly visitors on THE Alliance's AL5 North Europe / North America service. It is rare however for two ships of the class to be in port at the same time. Today (February 17) when NYK Nebula arrived on its eastbound leg from Saint John, NB, its berth at PSA Fairview Cove was occupied by sister ship NYK Romulus, which ship, also eastbound, has been in port since February 13.

 NYK Nebula northbound in the Narrows heading for Fairview Cove. The tug Atlantic Oak is running alongside preparing to make up forward. Stern escort tug Atlantic Beaver is hidden from view.

The NYK Romulus may have some deficiency which is preventing it from putting to sea, but it was able to move under its own power to Pier 31. When it got away from the Fairview Cove west berth it went well out into Bedford Basin, leaving lots or room for NYK Nebula to turn and back in to the same berth.

This gave the opportunity to see both ships at the same time.

Once the NYK Nebula had cleared the way (stern escort tug Atlantic Beaver assisting with the Atlantic Oak) the NYK Romulus made its way southbound through the Narrows to Pier 31with tugs Atlantic Bear and Atlantic Larch.

The NYK Romulus is the second container ship to move to Pier 31 this week. MSC Porto III had sailed February 13, but after idling offshore it returned to port (yesterday) February 16 and tied up at Pier 31. It sailed later in the day. Pier 31 is not a working berth for containers or any cargo, so is used by ships that need to tie up for repairs that can't be effected at anchor.

The NYK Nebula and NYK Romulus may not be exact sister ships, but are built from the same basic design. NYK Nebula was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Ulsan shipyard in 2007. It is a 55,534 gt 65,600 dwt ship with a capacity of 4922 TEU. NYK Romulus came from Hyundai's Samho yard in 2009 and has the same gross tonnage and 4922 TEU capacity, including 330 reefer plugs, but its deadweight tonnage is recorded at 65,833.

At time of writing there was no ETD for NYK Romulus. NYK Nebula is due to sail overnight, efectivelty "lapping" its fleet mate.

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