Anchor or Dock on Arrival

 Container ships callling Halifax usually dock on arrival. Unless they require Canadian Food Inpection Agency clearance from invasive species or some repair, they rarely anchor in the harbour. Today, March 29, was one of the exceptions as the MSC container ship Karlskrona arrived and anchored in number one anchorage for several hours. All the berths at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway were free, so I am assuming some repair required shore assistance from a technician or parts. Another explanation is that the ship was late for the normal "start of day" work for longshore workers, and would thus incur overtime if it docked on arrival. Moving to the dock for an evening start could mean that the ship could be worked within an eight hour shift.

 

The Karlskrona has been here before, December 14, 2024, and had to standby offshore for a few days, but that was due to weather.

Odense Staalskibs in Lindø, Denmark built the ship for its parent company AP Moller-Maersk in 1996. Named Karen Maersk until 2008 it became Maersk Karlskrona until 2016 then MSC Karlskrona to 2018 when it was renamed Karl, briefly, in 2018 and then Maersk Karlskrona. In 2023 it took its present name. The 81,488 gt, 96,103 dwt ship has a capacity of 7403 TEU with 703 reefer plugs. It is noteworthy due to its full width enclosed bridge, usually a sign of an Ice Class ship.

With the Karlskrona in number one anchorage, the next inbound, the NYK Rigel, opted to stay well clear and passed west of George's Island on its way inbound to PSA Fairview Cove.  

NYK Rigel built by Hyundai, Samho in 2009 is a 55,487 gt, 66,051 dwt ship has a capacity of 4922 TEU including 330 reefers. It is a very familiar ship to Halifax, having called on the former THE Alliance AL5 (Atlantic Loop) service. THE Alliance has been renamed the Premier Alliance due to the withdrawal of Hapag-Lloyd. H-L has formed a new alliance with Maersk, called the Gemini Cooperation. So far that union has not listed Halifax among its ports of call.

Premier Alliance ships will apparently still use the same route designations, and the AL5 loop will still call at the same ports.

[  Why were the letters THE capitalized in the name of this THE Alliance ? (CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, Yang Ming) As usual the shipping world loves acronyms and abbreviations, and THE was supposed to stand for Transport High Efficiency.

[  A harder question to answer is why the AL5 is called the Atlantic Loop. European ports are (in order) Southampton, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp. The first North American port is Halifax, followed by Port Everglades, Cartagena, Panama, Los Angeles / Long Beach,  Oakland, Tacoma and Vancouver. The return eastbound leg is then Oakland, LA/LB, Panama, Caucedo Dominican Republic, Saint John, Halifax and Southampton. ]

Despite Hapag-Lloyd's exit, there are apparently still H-L boxes in transit. MSC also has a slot charter arrangement on some routes with Premier, but is not a member of the Premier Alliance. The members of the new Premier Alliance are ONE, HMM, and Yang Ming. 

The presence of a CMA CGM box on the ship is also interesting as ONE announced three joint Transatlantic services with CMA CGM and the other Ocean Alliance members (COSCO, OOCL, Evergreen) starting in February, as a Vessel Sharing program.  None of the services will be calling in Halifax.

 

Endeavor Returns

The research vessel Endeavor made a return visit today, March 26, presumably for the same reason that it was here seven and eight years ago.

Not Captain James Cooks's ship Endeavour (note the difference in spelling), this one flies the flag of the United States of America and is based in Narragansett, Rhode Island. It is owned by the United States Science Foundation and operated by Rhode Island University.

In 2017 and 2018 it was chartered by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to conduct the bi-national Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program annual survey. Canada's oceanographic research ship CCGS Hudson was in one of its prolonged life extension refits and was not available for the work. (Hudson has since been retired ansd scrapped and its replacement, orginally to be delivered in 2017, may now be delivered in 2026.) The Bedford Institute of Oceanography has chartered in replacement ships to meet some of its obligations, but its science programs have been severely hampered.

The Endeavor was built by Peterson Builders in Sturgeon Bay, WI in 1976. In 1993 it was lengthened from 177 ft to 185 ft ( 53.9m to 56.39m) and is now approximately 298 gross tons. It operates with a crew of 12 and can accommodate 18 scientists.

Canada's new oceanographic ship, when it is finally in service, will accomodate 26 scientists and will requiure a crew of 34. Its initial price tag of $109 mn has risen to $1.28 bn (as of now).

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New for ZCX

 ZIM Integrated Shipping's ZCX weekly service from the west coast of South America to the east coast of North America uses spot charter or short term charter ships, and as a result there are frequent "new to Halifax" callers.

Today, March 25, it was a first time caller Contship Cup a feeder size container ship from the Contships Management Inc fleet.

 

The ship was built in 2012 by Zhejiang Ouhua Shipbuilding Co in Zhoushan, China to their Ouhua 1500 class. It is a 17,068 gt, 21,281 dwt gearless vessel with a capacity of 1,496 TEU and a substantial number of reefer plugs.

Orginally named Warnow Boatswain it was given its current name in 2024 when it was acquired by Contships. The company was formed in 2015 as specialist feeder operators but traces its roots through the Pateras family's shipping interests back to the 1870s. It now operates forty feeders in the 900 to 1500 TEU size. The fleet's ship names range from Contship Ace to Zoe with no consistent theme to the choices.

Feeder ships do not necessarily operate on short routes, but rather gather and distribute cargo between major hub ports and smaller ports. To maximize usage of ships they often cover long routes with frequent stops. This ship's recent port calls are an example. Departing Philadelphia February 15, it called in New York February 18-19, Kingston (Jamaica) February 26-27, Callao (Peru) March 5-6, Paita (Peru) March 8, Kingston March 14-15, Miami March 18, Philadelphia March 21 and New York March 22-23.

On departure it will likely head for New York to resume the cycle.

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Taking Turns

 Both Autoport and Pier 27 had two ships scheduled today, so, sensibly, they took turns.

Autoport

The early morning arrival at Autoport was the Palmela, eastbound from New York. As noted when it was here December 3, 2024 - December 4, 2024 it has a capacity of 5,080 CEU, as compared to most of the car boats we see here that are in the 6500 to 7500 CEU range.

 

 

Built in 2000 by Shin Kurushima Dock Yard Co Ltd in Onishi, Japan, it comes in at 55,926 gt, 20,581 dwt.  It is a fairly typical ship with a couple of exceptions. In addition to the usual stern ramp (rated at 80 tonnes capacity) the ship has two small side ramps - one on each side. The newest auto carrriers don't have side ramps anymore, and having two is most unusual.

The Palmela's counterclockwise routing had the ship sailing from Tsuneishi, Japan on February 4, then calling in Hitachinaka, Yokohama, then Kando February 14-15. It was next reported in Brunswick, GA March 14-15, Dundalk (Baltimore) March 18 - 19 and New York March 20.

Until recently there was high demand for auto carriers, and that may still be the case depending on origin and destination, so the occasional "oddball" caller can be expected. On completion of its stay at Autoport, the ship sailed for Cristobal, Panama the usual staging area for Panama Canal transits.

A more typical arrival was the next inbound, Wallenius Wilhelmsen's Tarifa on the usual transatlantic route from Bremerhaven, Goteborg and Zeebrugge March 14-15. In addition to automobiles, the ship also has RoRo cargo such as wheeled machinery for construction, mining and forestry. which will be off loaded first at Pier 9C.

The ship went first to Bedford Basin, where it turned, 

 

then came back to the Narrows, passing under the A. Murray MacKay bridge for the second time...

 

...to tie up starboard side to the pier.

Built in 2007 by Stocznia Gdynia in Poland, the ship was launched as Tarifa but renamed Morning Charisma on delivery for EUKOR, but was soon renamed Tarifa. The 57,692 gt, 21,120 dwt ship has a capacity of 6400 RT43 cars. Its stern ramp has a capacity of 150 tonnes and the small side ramp is rated for 22 tonnes. The ship has 13 decks, including four hoistable decks for larger RoRo cargo.

The ship was built orginally for charter to Eukor, but was delivered to Eukor's parent company Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean, and carries a traditional Wilhelmsen "T" name. The ship is under long term charter from a single ship company and the management of Stamco Ship Management of Piraeus, Greece.

On February 6 the ship was reported in Durban, South Africa, sailing February 7 for Luanda, Tema, Abidjan and Dakar, arriving in Vigo March 3 and Zeebrugge March 6 to 8 before slotting in to the Transatlantic route.  

Once it had completed the unloading of RoRo cargo it then moved to Autoport (which by then was vacated by the Palmela) to off load cars.

 

Pier 27

 
 At Pier 27 the Onego Glomma left off unloading steel rail and moved out to anchor to free up the berth.

The morning sun highlighted a feature of the ship, not previously noted here on Saturday  March 21. The ship's mid-body, with its box shape holds, is sponsoned out from the fore and aft sections. This is done to provide space for the cranes on the starboard side, and walkways on both sides, outside the hatch coamings. The hatches are the full width of the hold without overhang. (The hull is double skin.)

Several crew members were working on deck to secure the hatches, but I don't know what the forward crane was doing. They appeared to be moving some gear tubs possibly containing material for handling the rail cargo. The ship is due to move back to Pier 27 this evening, but will probably not resume unloading before tomorrow.

 The Onego Glooma moved to allow the visit of a ship from another Dutch company. Nirint Shipping's Ijsselborg, a ship with similar characteristics, but slightly larger.

The Ijsselborg has been a regular caller in Halifax with nickel concentrate from Cuba, but difficult to see at the Pier 27 berth. On sailing today at dusk it was more visible.

 

Built in 2010, its hull came from the Damen Yichang shipyard in China. It was completed and fitted out at Damen's home yard in Gorinchem, Netherlands to a Damen standard design "Combi Freighter 12000" of 8,999 gt, 12,016 dwt. A multi-purpose dry cargo ship with moveable 'tween decks it has two hatches and two box shaped holds. It is also rated as Finnish Swedish Ice Class 1A and carries two 80 tonne SWL cranes that can work in combination for 160 tonne lifts. It has a container capacity of 686 TEU with 80 reefer plugs.

The ship was built as Ijsselborg, but renamed Onego Houston for a short time in 2011 then reverted to Ijsselborg. In 2012 it was renamed Clipper Alba then in 2015 became Nordana Saran, finally settling on Ijsselborg again in 2015. Wearing the colours and name style of the large Dutch company Royal Wagenborg it is actually owned by Rederij Smith BV with commercial managment in the hands of Royal Wagenborg and in turn chartered to Nirint.

The ship's recent movements remain something of a mystery, After calling in Halifax January 6 to 8 it arrived in Rotterdam January 17 and sailed January 18. It visited Villagarcia, Spain January 21-22 and Mariel Cuba February 7 to 10. It called in Halifax again February 21-22. It then departed from the regular route by arriving in Kingston, Jamaica March 2, sailing the next day for Halifax and arriving March 11. Its  movements between March 12 and today (March 24) are not available on any of the regular ship movement web sites. 

Its destination is again given as Moa, Cuba, and what it loaded or unloaded in Haifax is also not known. It does have two containers on deck, but it would not have taken all day to load them.

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CMA CGM President

 Ships of CMA CGM, a French company, often carry the names of United States presidents, thanks to CMA CGM's acquisition of American President Lines LLC (APL) in 2016 as part of its purchase of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL). In turn NOL had acquired APL in 1997

APL itself was formed in 1938 when the US government took over management of the Dollar Shipping Company which was in financial distress. Dollar Line as it was known was named for the Scottish born Canadian lumber baron and shipowner Robert Dollar who founded his transpacific shipping company in 1900. Dollar began to name his US built and US flagged  ships after US presidents in 1924. The tradition has continued now for over 100 years.

Today, March 23, the fourth president of the United States, James Madison (1751-1836), was recognized with the arrival of the CMA CGM J. Madison on the Ocean Alliance Columbus JAX service. The ship left Colombo February 25 and sailed non-stop to Halifax via the Cape of Good Hope. 

Built in 2018 by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Usan the 141,950gt, 147,966 dwt ship has a nominal capacity of 14,414 or 14,402 TEU depending on sources. The ship's gross tonnage has changed from 140,872 when it was here in 2021, possibly due to the retroftting of an exhaust gas scrubber system. (Gross tonnage represents volume of enclosed space within a ship, not weight.)

The ship made its way in using the western, deep water channel, and had the tug Atlantic Oak secured well forward and the Atlantic Ash (visible) and Atlantic Maple (not visible) splayed out to port and starboard astern as tethered escorts.

 

The ship is due to sail again late tomorrow afternoon, destined for New York. The Columbus JAX (CJX) route calls at 18 ports from Los Angels/ Oakland via Asia to the North American East Coast, using 23 ships to maintain a 161 day rotation. For security reasons the ships' route from Colombo to Halifax is not published. Ocean Alliance's schedule shows the CJX ships using the Suez Canal, but I believe they are still using the Cape route due to continuing hostilities in the Red Sea and Yemen. 

The Ocean Alliance is made up of CMA CGM, Evergreen, OOCL and COSCO.

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Rail

 Canadian National Railway has a constant demand for new steel rail. There is always a need to replace worn or damaged rail or to upgrade to heavier material. Most mainline rail is now welded to form continuous ribbons, eliminating the "clickety clack" of jointed rail for smoother and more durable track, which also reduces wear on rolling stock.

CN imports new rail from Poland, which is unloaded at Pier 28 in Halifax and either loaded directly to specialized flat cars or stockpiled on the pier. The rail is sent to Winnipeg to be prepared for installation.

The rail usually arrives in Halifax on ships from Onego Shipping & Chartering BV. The Dutch company manages a fleet of multi-purpose bulkers for investment syndicate owners. The ships are  "open hatch" types, where the hatches are the full width of the holds and are equipped with portable pontoon type tween decks.

On March 21 the Onego Glomma arrived from Szczecin, Poland (with a stop in Argentia, NL en route). As usual its berth at Pier 27 is difficult to see, so only partial pictures are possible.

 The Onego Glomma was built in 2004, partially by Yichang Shipyard in China and completed by Damen Hoogezand in Foxhol, Netherlands. It is a 7767 gt, 10,649 dwt ship with a pair of 60 tonne SWL cranes. Although it rarely carries containers, it would have a capacity of 675 TEU.

As is often the case with this type of ship it has had several names. It was initially called Serena and in 2015 it was  renamed Marmolokai, then in 2017 Thorco Cygnus before reverting to Marmolokai again in 2018, then was renamed Unicloud for a short time in the same year before becoming Marmolokai again. In 2019 it was renamed Nova and became Onego Glomma in 2024. 

Glomma is Norway's longest river at 621 km. It discharges into the North Sea at Oslo. 

The ship is German owned and flagged in Antigua and Barbuda, at that country's primary port of St.John's.

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Surprise Louie visit

 A few years ago the base for the icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent was shifted from Halifax to St.John's, NL for political reasons. The (fictional) logic was that it would then be closer to its "work" in the arctic, and therefore more economical.

Halifax had always been the ship's base, and in fact it was refitted, repaired and modernized at Halifax Shipyard. Halifax was perhaps one day's sailing (via the west coast of Newfoundland and the Strait of Belle Isle) farther from the arctic than St.John's. But Halifax was roughly the same distance to the Gulf of St.Lawrence, and the St.Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers where the ship spent its winters.

Since that transfer there have been many changes, not least that Halifax Shipyard no longer does non-naval ship repair. The Coast Guard shifted its Halifax base from Dartmouth Cove to shared space with the Bedford Institute and built a new pier and other infrastructure, but left no room for a ship the size of the "Louie". Maintenance for the ship has been transferred to Davie in Lévis, QC, which has become "icebreaker central". See my March 11, 2025 post.

All of the above is a long-winded background to the fact that the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is now an infrequent caller in Halifax. Since there is rarely* any ice in the harbour, there is no reason for the ship to come here. That makes today's (March 21) arrival an unusual event, and perhaps somewhat counter to the convoluted logic that transferred it away. It arrived from Sydney - a leisurely and ice free 18 hour sail from Halifax.

 

CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent breaks through the fog arriving in Halifax March 21, 2025.

 With no room at the BIO inn, the ship tied up at Pier 26 in the Ocean Terminals at the southend of the harbour. On one of its previous visits the ship transferred fuel to other CCG ships before going into refit, but that was accomplished at anchor in Bedford Basin. On the other hand there is fuel nearby if the ship needs any.

 

Backing into the pier, the ship appeared to be using its bubbler system as side thruster.

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* Famously "Ice Free"  Halifax harbour has not been known to freeze over to any significant extent. On on occasions drift ice from the Gulf of St.Lawrence flowed in with the tides and winds and choked the harbour with broken ice. During that event, over several days in late March - early April 1987,  the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent cleared tracks for shipping in the inner harbour.

 

Since then the Louis S. St-Laurent has been rebuilt with a new bow; re-powered with diesel engines; and with an "extended life" it is a very different appearing ship. 

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MSC Switch

 Ships of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) are known to call in Halifax for a variety of reasons, including lightering off cargo to reduce draft for the St.Lawrence River. When I saw the ship early this afternoon it was off loading containers.

On previous vidits the ship has called at PSA Atlantic Gateway. All berths were open at that terminal today, March 20, so its visit to PSA Fairview Cove in Bedford Basin is unusual. It also used the west berth (which has the RoRo ramp, and larger crane), leaving the east berth and the two smaller cranes for the Atlantic Sea. 

 

MSC Kim at Fairview Cove on a foggy March 20, 2025.

The MSC Kim is on the Mediterranean Canada route. Its last port was Sines, Portugal and it is due in Montreal March 24.

ACL's G4 ships do not need special shore facilities for RoRo. They carry a long, slewed ramp that can reach over the dock cope wall. 

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ZIM meets ZIM

 Today March 19, ZIM had two of its regular callers at PSA Fairview Cove. The early morning arrival was the semi-feeder Box Endurance on the ZCX service from the west coast of South America and the Caribbean.

 

The feeder size ship was delivered in 2015 by Guangzhou Wenchong and is registered at 17,907 gt, 21,667 dwt with a capacity of 1708 TEU. The Liberian flagged ship is owned by Aigli Navigation Inc, which is associated with Allseas Marine of Athens, Greece.

In the early evening the ZIM Virginia arrived on the ZCA transatlantic run from Valencia, Spain.

It made its way through to Bedford Basin with the tug Atlantic Cedar assisting,

it then turned and backed in to the PSA Fairview Cove west berth.

ZIM Virginia is owned by Ymir International Ltd a subsidiary of ZIM and flies the flag of Israel. It was built in 2002 by Hyundai, Ulsan and measures 53,453 grt, 66, 686 dwt and carries 4839 TEU.

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Pier 9 activity

 In yesterday's post ( March 17 ) I noted the activity at Pier 9C where the Asian Empire sailed after delivering RoRo cargo, and Algoscotia moved from Imperial Oil to Pier 9C. The latter ship, on its usual route from Halifax to Sydney, NS and other ports such as Corner Brook and Sept-Iles delivering refined oil products, would not normally have a reason to go the Pier 9C, since that pier has no bulk liquid cargo facilities, and at present is nearly full of RoRo and wind farm tower sections.

 This time however the ship was met by at least two tank trucks from GHL Inc, a Transforce / TFI International company based in Anjou, QC. That is quite near Imperial Oil's Montreal East refinery, so they were likely carrying some product most likely MDO (Marine Diesel Oil) to refuel the ship itself.

The ship was flying a red warning flag from the foremast (along with the Algoma company flag) to indicate it was working flammable material. Since there is no longer a bunkering barge in the port, ships rarely refuel here, but when they do it is usually with product from Irving Oil - a competitor of Imperial, and delivered by truck, usually to Pier 27-28. 

At Pier 9B another Thorco ship, this time Thorco Liva, completed taking on cable racks and sailed this afternoon for Portsmouth, NH to load subsea fibreoptic cable direct from the SubCom factory in suburban Newington.

 

The ship arrived March 11 and loaded the racks in sections, which were then assembled in the ship's hold with the assistance of its own cranes. The ship, and several of its fleet mates have called here many times before, always to load the single use racks. What becomes of the racks after the cable is delivered is a mystery - they never seem to come back.
 

Thorco Liva arriving March 11.

 Built in 2012 by the family-owned Honda Shipyard in Saiki, Japan, Thorco Liva is a 13,110 gt, 16,901 dwt ship. It is fitted with portable pontoon tween decks and a pair of 50 tonne SWL capacity cranes.

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Harbour Meet

 Ships often meet entering or leaving Halifax, and good communication ship-to-ship and between the ship and the Vessel Traffic Centre ensure that the meets occur without incident.

Meets become complicated when they take place in the lower harbour when one ship may be leaving the Narrows and another will be entering the Narrows where there is no room to pass. It is made even more complicated as two passenger ferry routes cross the vessel track. At peak hours there are two ferries on each route, and they normally give way to larger ships, unless the ship's pilot judges that they have time to cross the ship's track safely. 

Today, March 17 there was such an interesting meet as the coastal tanker Algoscotia moved from Imperial Oil to Pier C in the Narrows. The autocarrier Asian Empire completed unloading RoRo cargo at Pier 9C and was moving to Autoport. The meet was arranged so that it took place in the widest part of the harbour, and between the two ferry tracks.

 The Algoscotia passes the Woodside ferry terminal, northbound for the Narrows.

 

The Asian Empire has passed both ferry tracks, southbound (one ferry is visible in the background).

 

 

The  Asian Empire passes east of Geroge's Island en route to Autoport with the tug Atlantic Oak alongside.

 

Built in 1998 the Asian Empire is a larger size Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) of 71,383 gt, 25,756 dwt with a capacity of 7,645 CEU. Operators Eukor [Europe/ Korea] had the ship built by Hyundai Ulsan, and in fact it carries its name in Korean and English characters on the bow and flies the flag of the Republic of South Korea.

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Full House at Pier C

 The PSA Atlantic Gateway container terminal occupies the two numbered berths, Piers 41 and 42 at Pier C. There are seven container cranes, and it is possible to dock two Ultra size container ships at the same time, although not all the cranes can work the larger ships. Today was a more typical situation with one large ship and two small ships.

Left to right as viewed from Shearwater, the Nolhan Ava and Vivienne Sheri D occupied berth 42 and CMA CGM Norma was at 41.

Each of the small ships used one crane.The Canadian flag Nolhan Ava was loading for its weekly run to St-Pierre et Miquelon and Argentia, Newfoundland. It will move to Pier 30 (out of picture) later this afternoon to load RoRo cargo. Vivienne Sheri D, also Canadian owned, is on long term charter to Eimskip and is en route from Portland, ME also to Argentia, then on to Iceland.

The big ship CAM VGM Norma, is not exactly super sized at 9415 TEU, falling slightly below the 10,000 TEU number and is therefore a Post Panamax size. Built in 2006 by Hyundai Samho, it is registered at 107,711 gt, 113,909 dwt.

 

The ship is on the Ocean Alliance service from Asia to North America. It sailed fromPort Klang, Malaysia February 12 and is en route to New York.

CMA CGM stated in January that they would continue to divert ships from the Red Sea / Suez / Med route for the safety of crews and ships. It is unclear whether this ship in fact did travel via the Cape of Good Hope as routes are not normally published for secuity reasons.

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Still More Cars

 The spring run on automobiles continued today, March 13, as the Lake Tazawa arrived at Autoport on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean transatlantic service.

 

This is the second Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) ship delivered in December 2024 by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard Co to Eastern Pacific Shipping Pte Ltd (EPS) for charter to Eukor. Sister ship Lake Shirasagi was here on its first trip February 24 .

The 71,631 gt, 19,213 dwt ship has a capacity of 7,000 CEU on 12 decks with a 150 tonne capacity stern ramp and a 20 tonne starboard side ramp.The ship is dual fuel to Tier III standard and carries two 2,000 cubic meter LNG tanks. It also has shaft generators and lithium battery storage and can connect to shore power.

 The ship sailed from Antwerp February 13 and has called on Rotterdam / Rozenburg, Tilbury, Wallhamn, Goteborg, Bremerhaven and departed Southampton February 28.

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More Cars

 Traditionally as spring returns, car sales increase and so do the numbers of European import cars arriving at Autoport. Even with the current economic uncertainty this year, there does seem to be the usual influx.

Today, March 12, saw two ships in succession at Autoport. MOL's Supreme Ace arrived early this morning and sailed early this afternoon. The Siem Confucious arrived in the afternoon and is due to sail this evening. The two ships did not meeet in the harbour as I expected, and the Siem Confucious waited outside the pilot station until the Supreme Ace had cleared.

The Foundation Pilot makes its way outbound as the Supreme Ace leaves Eastern Passage to swing into the main harbour.

Owned by Mitsui OSK Lines of Japan and operating under their Auto Carrier Express (ACE) fleet of about 110 ships, the Supreme Ace was built in 2011 by Minami Nippon, Shitanoe. The 59,022 gt, 18,834 dwt ship has a capacity of 6,183 small cars or 5,063 medium size or 4,425 large cars. It has the usual stern ramp and a smaller starboard side ramp.

 The ship is taking an unusual port rotation. Since leaving Kanda, Japan on January 30 it has stopped in Mazatlan, San Juan, New York and Baltimore (Dundalk). It is now headed for Brunswick, Georgia.

The second arrival was Siem Confucius, on charter to Volkswagen. It is the first of Siem's Super-Ecos, and was delivered by Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry in 2020. It first called here in August 2021. The 72,090 gt, 19,090 VLPCTC (Very Large Pure Car and Truck Carrier) has a capacity of 7500 CEU, which works out to about 4800 vehicles of Volkswagen's normal mix. The ship has a 200 tonne capacity stern ramp, 45.1m long x14.94m wide and a 20 tonne capacity starboard side ramp 25m long x 7.7m wide. The ship uses LNG fuel, which is available at VW's home port of Emden.

 The ship was previously here on January 25 and has since called in Sparrows Point, and Veracruz. It sailed from Emden Febraury 27 and seems to have taken a long time to reach Halifax. Siem Car Carriers AS, an arm of the Norwegian Siem Group, operates five autocarriers. The parent copmany is also active in reefer and bulk shipping and offshore petroleum support.

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Big price tag for the Louie's replacement

 

The CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent will be kept in service until replacements are delivered in 2030.

 On March 7 and March 9 the federal government announced contract signings to build the long-planned Polar Icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard. The much needed replacement for the aged CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent has been "in the works" for decades but with little progress until the National Shipbuilding Strategy was announced. Even then the needed replenishment ships for the Royal Canadian Navy and other research and survey vessels created a huge backlog at Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyard (VSY), and the RCN ships were given priority.

As previously announced, one ship, to be named the CCGS Arpatuuq, will be built by Seaspan Vancouver Shipyard (VSY). It will be a Polar Class 2 diesel-electric ship of 63,000 total horsepower delivered to one shaft and prop and two ABB azipods. The announced contract cost is $3.15 billion (exclusive of tax) with a delivery date of 2030. The ship was originally to be named the John Diefenbaker, but a change in policy (and political parties) resulted in a culturally significant name for northern populations. Arpatuuq refers to Akpatok Island, in Ungava Bay, Nunavut. The Canadian government commissioned STX to design the ship. That company, formerly associated with Wartsila, has Finnish icebreaker experience.

The government re-assessed its need for year round capability in the arctic and decided to include CDC in the National Shipbuilding Stratetgy and add a second  Polar icebreaker in the plan, while eastablishing the Lévis yard as a centre of excellence for icebreaker technology.

The second ship, to be named CCGS Imnaryuaq is to be built to a totally different design prepared by Chantier Davie Canada Inc (CDC) in association with their wholly owned Helsinki Shipyard. The ship will be built entirely in Canada at CDC's Lévis, QC shipyard but with icebreaker expertise from Finland. The PolarMax design is "off the shelf" from CDC/Helsinki, and will be a slightly smaller ship. Price tag for this one is $3.25 billion, also for delivery in 2030.

Its name comes from a 300 meter high cliff at the southern end of Banks Isand in the Amundsen Gulf, and was once named Nelson Head.

The CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent (affectionately called "The Louie") was launched by Canadian Vickers (now defunct) in Montreal in 1966 and commissioned in 1969. It has been endlessly refitted, rebuilt and repowered over the years, and will presumably require even more TLC to keep it going for another five years. 

Its fleet mate, the smaller CCGS Terry Fox will also be replaced by the new Polar ships, and is in a $135.56 million Vessel Life Extension now at Heddle Shipyard in St.Catharines, Ontario.

 CCGS Terry Fox

CCGS Terry Fox built in 1983 for private industry. It was leased by the CCG in 1991, then purchased in 1993 as a temporary measure until new icebreakers could be delivered.

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A bit of everything

As usual the Port of Halifax provides something for everybody, with a wide range of shipping activity. Today, March 10, had an unusual variety.

At PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway, Tropical Shipping's Tropic Lissette was alongside Pier 42. Its sister ship Tropic Hope did not call last Monday on the weekly service - perhaps avoiding bad weather on the US east coast by staying in Freeport, Bahamas, so there may be more cargo to work today. 

At Pier 41 it was the CMA CGM Paranagua on the joint Maerk CMA CGM service from Montreal. Again the ship is not on the usual Saturday call, so may have been delayed due to St.Lawrence ice or other factors. The Vistula Maersk, on the same service, was just here March 8-9.

 

Imperial Oil was taking a delivery of refined product from Antwerp on the unusually named CL Toni Morrison. A 30,259 gt, 49,352 dwt Long Range tanker, it was built in 2024 by New Times Shipbuilding Co Ltd and delivered to Chinese owners associated with the China Development Bank, just a year ago.

The ship is named for the Nobel prize winning American author, teacher and editor (1931-2019), but I do not know what "CL" stands for. Other ships in the fleet, managed by Synergy Denmark A/S, are also named for female authors and have the CI prefix.

The unusual angle for the preceeding photos was due to my outlook from the Shearwater Married Quarters park where I positioned myself to photograph the arrival of an unusual naval visitor.

 FS Tourville S637 is a Suffren class nuclear attack submarine of the French navy. It is also quite new, and was commissioned November 16, 2024. (Construction started in 2011).

The boat (subs are called boats) was met by an entourage of two Glen and two Ville class tugs and several small craft.  

The Royal Canadian Navy will be in the market for submarines soon, and let's hope they can avoid the controversy the Australians had when they cancelled plans to buy French subs and paid a monetary penalty. Canada already abandonded an earlier scheme to buy French non-nuclear subs.

The good news for the RCN, Irving Shipbuilding and Halifax in general, is the announcement that an $8 billion deal has been signed for the first six years of construction of the new RCN River class destroyers. Halifax Shipyard will build an initial tranche of three destroyers at an estimated cost of $22.2 billion (all in with taxes, equipment, and even ammunition), with the remaining ships to be delivered by 2039. (Total dollar numbers and even dates at this stage must be considered wildly optimistic at best in my opinion.)

Work is well under way on the new berth at the Shipyard. McNally Construction has been dredging, preparing seabottom and building caissons for the new pier and launch facility.

The Shipyard will employ more than 5,000 people, ensuring that Halifax's boom times continue as the remaining twelve ships (fifteen ships in total) are built at the yard. 

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Return to normal

 After several days of unsettled weather and resulting delays, with ships at anchor, today, Sunday March 9, ships were once again coming and going.

The CMA CGM Hermes arrived this morning, March 9, at PSA Atlantic Gateway on the Ocean Alliance service from Colombo, via the Cape of Good Hope*. After standing by off Halifax since yesterday during a period of high winds, there was only a light snow to contend with today.

Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Shipbuilding delivered the ship in 2021, one of the five ship Zephyr class. It is rated at 154,995 gt, 150,055 dwt with a capacity of 15,536 TEU. It made its first call here February 9, 2022 .

 

Surprisingly CMA CGM has over taken Maersk as the second largest container shipping line, if the number of ships on order is included. With a capacity of 5.42 million TEU it edged ahead of Maerk's 5.28 million TEU.

 

The coastal tanker Algoscotia arrived March 5 at Imperial Oil then moved to Pier 25 March 6, due to the high winds. 

Yesterday, March 8 the ship returned to Imperial Oil to complete loading and is due to sail tonight for the usual eastern Canada ports.

 

As predicted the CB Pacific moved from anchorage to Irving Oil March 8 and is due to sail tonight for the St.Lawrence River. Its place will be taken by the Acadian.

 

The container / cargo vessel Frisian Octa arrived March 4 and docked at PSA Fairview Cove. The ship has been carrying containers loaded with propane in tanks to Moa, Cuba. It moved later in the same day to anchor in the lower harbour and remains there today.

 

 There has been no word yet if the ship will be making more trips.

 

Atlantic Container Line's Atlantic Sail departed yesterday - not the usual sailing day - probably delayed by weather -  eastbound for Liverpool, UK. 

Since ending the forty-year slot sharing arrangement with Hapag-Lloyd in November, ACL ships are almost exclusively loaded with the rust coloured or white ACL boxes and a few blue boxes from parent company Grimaldi.

 

 

Now with Daylight Saving Time in place, real spring isn't far off.

 

*CMA CGM is among the first lines to resume routing ships through the Suez Canal. Starting in January ships sailing from Asia for European ports resumed use of "the Ditch", However I cannot verify that this ship did so as no reports are available of any calling in points between Colombo and Halifax.

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