Tankers with a difference

 There were two tankers in Halifax today, July 12, but they did not follow the usual routine and tie up at Imperial Oil or Irving Oil.

The larger of the two ships, the Silver Zoe, arrived in the wee hours of the morning and anchored in number three anchorage in the lower harbour. 

The ship's last port was Amsterdam, and it was reported outbound at the Ijmuiden sea lock on June 30. Tracing the ship's movements back to mid-May, it has been in Durban, Carteya Guadarranque, Spain, Augusta Italy, and Hamburg before arriving in Amsterdam June 26. I suspect that the ship was in the far east earlier in the year and if so, it would require clearance from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before it is allowed to dock in Canada. Inpsectors would need determine that the ship is free of invasive species before proceeding.

By 1300 hrs this afternoon the ship was cleared to leave the anchorage and move to Pier 9C. The tugs Atlantic Oak (astern) and Atlantic Beaver (alongside) shepherded the ship through the Narrows to Bedford Basin then assisted it in turning round. It then entered the Narrows again and moved alongside Pier 9C bow south.

A typical Long Range 1 tanker, built by Hyundai, Mipo in 2015 it measures 29,327 gt, 49,635 dwt. Irving Oil has a terminal in Amsterdam and frequently sources refined products from there. Ships chartered by Irving Oil sometimes refuel in Halifax, and Pier 9C has easy access for tanker trucks. However I did not see any trucks waiting for the ship, so it may have docked for some other reason such as engine servicing.  

According to AIS reports the ship is headed for Quebec, so may have been diverted from Irving Oil.

The second tanker arrived at the pilot station at 0900 hrs and anchored in the lower harbour at anchorage number one. This anchorage is considered to be for short term visitors  such as ships requiring CFIA inspection. However the Linus P has been in Canadian waters already this summer, so would not normally require invasive species inspection.

From late May the ship has been in Houston, Port au Prince, Houston, New Orleans, Come-by-Chance (June 3-5), St.Croix, Port au Prince and again Houston (July 2-4) and is next due in Come-by-Chance July 14.

Although similar in appearance, and a 2016 product of Hyundai Mipo,Ulsan, the Linus P is significantly smaller than the other visitor at 17,858 gt, 25,161 dwt.

From what little information I can find about the ship's operators, Sterling Ocean Chemical Tankers, it appears that they are descended from Alterna Capital Partners, and have a fleet of about ten tankers on voyage charters, The ships are named for renowned scientists, in this case the two-time Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Linus Pauling (1901 - 1994).[ See the Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Pauling ]

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