Busy Sunday

 The port was unusually busy for a Sunday, today October 20, with arrivals and departures or ships working at most berths. Some of the more notable ones:

Autoport hosted the impressive Wolfsburg one of the pair of autocarriers on a ten year charter to Volkswagen from SFL.  The first ship, the Emden was here February 9, 2024.

The Wolfsburg was delivered in November 2023 by Guangzhou Shipyard International and is a 69,470 gt, 19,203 dwt ship with a capacity of 7,000 Car Equivalent Units on thirteen decks. Its main engine is an MAN (a Volkswagen subsidiary) and is rated for dual fuel. With two 1,675 cubic meter LNG fuel tanks, it has a range of 15,000 nautical miles. Its first call in Halifax was on February 27, 2024.

As the cruise season winds down (the last ship is due November 3) the Nautica was the only cruise ship in port.

 

It was built by Chantier Atlantique (Alsthom) at St-Nazaire in 2000. Originally the R Five for Renaissance Cruises the 30,277 gt ship has sailed as Nautica since 2004. It received a refresh in 2020 and appeared to be in fine form as it departed for Sydney, NS. It can carry 684 passengers (lower berths only) or 824 (all berths) with a crew of 386.

At Imperial Oil it was a familiar ship - if not in appearance - but by history. Fure Skagen was a regular fixture in Halifax under the name Algonorth between 2018 and 2023. The tanker was built by Tuzla Gemi in Turkey in 2008 initially named Gan-Gesture. In 2009 it then became Ramira until renamed and brought under Canadian flag by Algoma Tankers in 2018.  The ship was notable in those days for its bright red hull and white "racing stripe", which was not changed to Algoma colours.

In 2023 the Algonorth was transferred to Seabear SP/F a 50/50 joint venture between Algoma Tankers and Furetank Rederi AB of Sweden. It has since operated in Europe under Faroes Island registry. 

Earlier this year Algoma applied for a coasting license to operate a foreign flag ship in Canadian waters from August 20 to October 15. They did not specify the name of the ship, but on August 20 the Fure Skagen arrived in Montreal and in the coming days proceeded to the Great Lakes where it loaded in Nanticoke for Montreal, then returned to Nanticoke and loaded for Sarnia. It then sailed to Montreal for October 15 and arrived in Halifax yesterday, October 19.

Once unloaded at Imperial Oil this afternoon it moved to anchorage and will later move to Pier 27 - possibly to be transferred back to Canadian flag. During its "time away" it has been repainted with a blue hull, which is not quite the Algoma Tankers deep blue, but is certainly closer than its previous colour. I can't explain the line of white "dots" in two rows on the hull. Surely not "cut here".

A late afternoon arrival was the bulk carrier Verila a member of the Navigation Maritime Bulgare fleet. A 20,848 gt, 32,165 dwt ship it is fitted with three 35 tonne SWL cranes.

 

The Verilla tied up at Pier 28 to top up its cargo of (fill in: grain / corn/ soy) which it loaded in Goderich. ON. 

Its lengthy passage to the Great Lakes began September 30 when it transited the first set of St.Lawrence Seaway locks at St-Lambert. It then discharged a cargo, presumably steel, at Hamilton, ON, October 3 to 6. It then proceeded to anchorage above Sarnia, ON to await a berth in Goderich. It took on its unspecified cargo in Goderich October 10 to 12 and headed back down to the Port Colborne anchorages where it held for a day or so. It finally cleared the Seaway at Montreal October 16.

Ocean going ships cannot load to full capacity on the Great Lakes due to draft restrictions and fresh water buoyancy, and from time to time come to Halifax to top up, particularly in the late months of the grain season. This can be a paying proposition as the Verila's published summer ocean deadweight tonnage is 32,165 tonnes whereas its Seaway deadweight tonnage is 21,127 tonnes. 

Follow Up

1. In my October 3 post I was having trouble loading photos and thus could not show the protest / research vessel John Paul de Joria, so here it is now:

 

The ship sailed today for St.George's, Bermuda, but meanwhile activist Capt. Paul Watson is still imprisoned in Greenland awaiting extradition to Japan. However Watson has written to the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, requesting political asylum. (Watson lived in France prior to his arrest.)

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