Part 2 of September 30, 2025

 As per Part 1 of today's posts, it was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada and many businesses, government facilities and schools were closed. It was also a rare day with no container ships in port. Private terminals (which is to say those not under the umbrella of the Port of Halifax) were working however and that included those leased by the Port to private operators. 

To clarify that arrangement, Richmond Terminal in the north end of the port, incorporating Pier 9B and Pier 9C, is operated by Logistec Stevedoring, and it had an early afternoon arrival, the general purpose / heavy lift ship BBC Everest. 

The ship was built in 2011 by Xingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry in Tianjin, and is a 8235 gt, 9282 dwt ship with a pair of 350 tonne SWL cranes which can combine for a 700 tonne lift.

In order to make those heavy lifts, the ship carries external ballast  pontoons that can be lowered overside and filled with water to counter balance heeling. The "boxes" are stowed on deck, and have their own small cranes to deploy them. A port in the ship's side contains the rigid connection point which secures the boxes

By early evening, just at sunset, the ship had already unloaded one aircraft component package and was lifting off another.
 

The components are not particularly heavy, but due to their size, they need two cranes to ensure they remain balanced. The units are placed directly on extended trailers operated by Total Transport and Rigging.

Another privately operated facility, not within the Port's limits is the Gold Bond Gypsum (formerly National Gypsum) dock in Wright's Cove, Lower Burnside, on the eastern side of Bedford Basin.  It loads out raw gypsum from the Milford mine, which is brought to the site by dedicated unit train and stockpiled. Today's arrival is one of several regular callers, CSL Tacoma, a Trillium class 43,694 gt,71,405 dwt self-unloader built in 2013 by Chengxi Shipyard in Tianjin, China.

 

Accompanied by the tug Atlantic Willow the ship is about to clear the A. Murray MacKay bridge en route to Bedford Basin.

At the other end of the harbour and technically outside of the Port of Halifax's limits are several other privately operated facilities. Adjacent to each other in Eastern Passage are Autoport, operated by Canadian National Railways, (CNRail) and McAsphalt Industries private dock.

At Autoport today, it was the autocarrier Glovis Sunrise and at McAsphalt the new tanker McAsphalt Advantage (see September 11 post)- the latter partly blocking the view of the former.

 

Both facilities use jetties and have mooring lines set out to anchored buoys. This requires the use of line boats, provided by Dominion Diving. Usually these are small tugs or workboats, but today it must have been the smallest tug in the fleet that lead out a stern line from the tanker. 

 

 

The Glovis Sunrise is a first time caller according to my records. Built in 2024 by Hyundai Samho, it is a Pure Car and Truck Carrier of 64,717 gt, 20.056 dwt with a capacity of about 7300 CEU.

 It is not clear what route the ship may be on as most references indicate it arrived from Brunswick, GA and is heading for Davisville, RI.

Not tying up at any dock, but instead anchoring in the lower harbour is the heavy load carrier White Marlin.

 

The ship was in Halifax in October and December of 2024 with a topsides structure for the Vineyard Wind project in the United States. I understand that it was taking up too much space in the harbour and so moved to Sydney, NS where it spent last winter and finally sailed August 3. It must have delivered its load, and then anchored off Saint John, NB for the past month. It may be here awaiting orders, or simply waiting out Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda, both making for Bermuda 

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Six Ship Day and More

 As if four cruise ships in port at once was not enough (yesterday, September 29),  today, September 30, there were SIX cruise ships in port at the same time. That meant that two ships anchored in the lower harbour and sent its passengers ashore in lighters, and one had to tie up in the industrial section of the Ocean Terminals. There was other business in the port too, but that will be in a separate post, to be filed later today.

Some passengers were no doubt disappointed that many stores and businesses were closed today (as were schools and government facilities) because it was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. However those passengers on the SH Vega, although berthed at Pier 27, did not have to contend with port workers loading rail cars and shifting freight - they had a holiday too.

 

Swan Hellenic Cruises' SH Vega 10,517 gt, built in 2022 by the Helsinki Shipyard in Finland, has only 76 cabins, including six suites for 152 passengers. Providing  Luxury Polar Expedition Cruises to remote regions, it carries the usual array of Zodiacs and kayaks for shore excursions. Those were not needed today, but the Pier 27 berth might be considered remote territory, more accustomed to dealing with cargoes of steel rail, nickel sulfides, grain or wood pellets.

 The two anchored ships included the Brilliant Lady which (to me) looked like a giant bug with larvae. Sorry for that unflattering opinion, but the Society for Aesthetic Responsibility (of which I may be the sole survivor) has deemed this ship "Sub Standard".

 Even more bug like (but slightly more attractive) was the Zuiderdam.

 

A mid-morning arrival was the Norwegian Gem  (I always want to type "Germ") which took the Pier 22 berth, joining the earlier arrival, the Vision of the Seas at Pier 20.

 

That left the Star Pride at Pier 23, with a front row seat for the landing stage at Pier 24 and the constant activity of the the shuttle tenders.

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Four ship day, and Update

Today September 29, was a four cruise ship day in the Port of Halifax. This meant of course that one ship anchored and used its tenders to ferry passengers ashore to the Pier 24 landing stage, and back again. The "fourth man out" was the Azamara Quest which found its spot in the northeast end of number one anchorage - not far off the Irving and Esso oil docks.  The other three ships took up the customary berths at Piers 20 to 23. 

In the photo above, from left to right (north to south), the Viking Polaris has berth 23, the Enchanted Princess at Pier 22 and in the background the Silver Shadow at Pier 20 with the Azamara Quest partially blocking the view.

 From a different angle, the Silver Shadow (at right) has the refuse scow alongside (actually sectional pontoons made into a barge) with the tug Mighty Edge. 

I don't usually edit photos on this blog, except to crop and level the horizon, but this time I attempted to erase several container cranes that projected above the profile of the Azamara Quest. Some traces remain however. I opted to leave the foreground fence that divides the Imperial Oil (Esso) and Irving Oil terminals.

The Azamara Quest has a long history going back to 2000 when it was delivered by Chantier de l'Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire as the R-Seven. In 2003 it became the Delphin Renaissance and in 2006 the Blue Moon before taking its present name in 2007. The 30,277 gt ship can carry 686 passengers and 408 crew.

The Viking Polaris was built by Fincantieri in 2022, with the hull constructed in Romania and fitting out by VARD in Norway. The 30,150 gt ship can carry 378 passengers in 189 staterooms. There are 15 crew cabins for a maximum of 646 persons on board. The ship is returning from the Great Lakes.

I have made links to the Wikipedia entries for the other ships:

Silver Shadow ; Enchanted Princes ; and 

Update

In my June 6, 2025 post I showed the Auto Carrier Way Forward docked at Autoport, but I declined to wade through tall grass to get a clear photo. For its call today, I was able to get a better view because the grass seems to have died back due to our on going drought - or perhaps it has been trampled down by hoards of ship watchers. In any event the ship looks the same.

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Big Bulker for the Basin

     A big bulk carrier arrived this afternoon, September 28, and headed straight through to an anchorage in Bedford Basin.

The Ireland was built in 2018 by Jiangsu New Hantong Ship Heavy Industry Co Ltd and is a 45,307 gt, 66,439 dwt self-unloader. Built to carry aggregates, it can unload at a rate of 4500 tonnes per hour, using its own built-in gravity fed conveyor system.

The ship operates for Vulica Shipping Co Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Vulcan Materials Company, the largest aggregate producers in the Unites States. The parent company is based in Birmingham, AB and was owned and operated by members of the Ireland family. The shipping operations are managed in Stafford, TX, near Houston.

The Vulica ships primarily load aggregate at the Punta Venado terminal in Mexico and deliver to Vulcan's various concrete, asphalt and other operations in the eastern US.  The company also uses ships from the CSL Americas self-unloader pool, and it is possible that the CSL may use Vulica ships. The Ireland's last port was Belledune, NB, where it likely delivered a cargo of coal. Oddly, CSL's ship, the Baie St.Paul, just passed Halifax after delivering a cargo - likely aggregates - to Bayside, NB - well outside its normal range too.

Ireland's arrival is the second bulk carrier to anchor in Bedford Basin. The propellor-less AP Revelin remains at anchor (see previous post).

 The tug Ezra Sol did not depart for sea as previously reported, but instead is tied up at Pier 9C. All three vessels may be awaiting weather developments as Hurricane Hugo Humberto makes its way toward the eastern seaboard.

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Bad News

 Computer issues have precluded posts on this blog for the last week. It may take some days to return to normal, so there will be fewer posts for a while.

In the meantime - in case you were wondering - the Croatian flag bulk carrier AP Revelin is anchored in Bedford Basin without a propellor. Bad news indeed.

 

The ship was towed in on September 21 by the US flag tug Ezra Sol from an outer anchorage.

 The once familiar tug Point Chebucto also arrived on September 24, from Port Hawksbury and will stand by the ship as long as it is anchored and without its own means of propulsion. (Point Chebucto 4,000 bhp, was built by Halifax Shipyard in 1993 and operated in Halifax until 2010 when it was transferred to Point Tupper. Earlier this summer three new tugs were commissioned in Point Tupper, and the three previous tugs were laid up in Port Hawksbury. Svitzer Bedford has now been re-positioned in North Sydney.Svitzer Montreal was used briefly at Point Tupper when one of the new tugs was out of service [possibly drydocked in Shelburne] but has returned to layup in Port Hawksbury.

The US flag tug Ezra Sol has also been standing by the ship, but is due to sail tonight  - presumably back to its home port of Norfolk.

The tugs is powered by three Cummins diesel engines, delivering about 8,000 bhp to three props. The three stacks show clearly in the photo.

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Single, Double and Quad and one offshore

 Today, September 19, saw a single caller at Autoport, and was a double day for MSC ships and a four ship day for cruise ships - and there is a bonus.

 

Single 

Autoport's ship was a first time caller, the Cadwell a new ship, just entering service in July. The 69,250 gt, 19,160 dwt Pure Car and Truck Carrier, with a capacity of 7,000 CEU, was built by CIMC Yantai Raffles Offshore Ltd in Yantai, China. It features an advanced dual fuel system and is the ninth in a ten ship "state of the art" order by Zodiac Maritime Ltd. Unusually for newer PCTCs it also has a side ramp, positioned well aft of midships.

As with many of Zodiac's ships it is named after a British race source. In this case one that is used mostly for motorbike racing, Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire. It is on long term charter and is serving Wallenius Wilhelmsen's transatlantic service from North Europe ports of Bremerhaven, Zeebrugge and Goteborg.
 

Double 

MSC Salina III arrived this morning on the Canada Express service from North Europe and as it sailed from PSA Atlantic Hub this afternoon it met the inbound MSC England which was heading for PSA Fairview Cove.

The MSC Salina III is a recent addition to the MSC fleet taking its present name as of July 1, and still carrying the colour scheme of previous operators. Built in 2009 by Guangzhou Wenchong as Cape Mele it was renamed POS Sydney in 2010 then Cape Male again in 2011. It is a 35,878 gt, 41,411 dwt ship with a capacity of 2758 TEU. It also carries four cargo cranes - three forward of the house and one aft.

 I saw the ship on August 10, upbound on the St.Lawrcnce River off La Malbaie at a speed of about 19 knots. The ship is operating on the Canada Express service and is  now outbound from Montreal for Le Havre, and was stopping in Halifax to top off. 

The inbound MSC England serves the Med-Canadian route and was arriving from MSC's Sines, Portugal hub. It will offload sufficient cargo to reduce its draft to suit St.Lawrence River restrictions.
 

A 39,812 gt, 51,020 dwt ship, built on 2001 by Hyundai, Ulsan, has as its capacity 4132 TEU with 500 reefer points. It has been retrofitted with an exhaust gas scrubber system, and trails the distinctive plume of water vapour.

I also saw this ship on the St.Lawrence, August 14, downbound in the south channel off Kamouraska, also at good speed.

Quadruple 

Four cruise ships arrived today with ships berthing at Pier 20, 22 and 23 and the fourth ship landing passengers  in tenders from an anchorage in mid-harbour. 

The  anchored ship was Holland America's Volendam from Montreal, Quebec City, and Charlottetown, bound for Eastport, Maine.

 

The ship used at least three of its own tenders (numbers 9, 10 and 12 by my count), delivering passengers to the landing stage at Pier 24.

 

Meanwhile at the adjacent Pier 23 the Seabourn Sojourn was decanting refuse to a barge, handled by the tug Mighty Edge. The Radiance of the Seas was an early morning arrival at Pier 22 and the Norwegian Getaway was an early afternoon arrival at Pier 22.(no images of those on this call.) 

 There was one more ship of note, although so far it has not actually entered the port. The Croatian flag AP Revelin was noted off the coast several days ago giving an ETA for Halifax of September 17. The 25,494 gt, 38,785 dwt ship is a handysize bulker built in 2016 by Qinshan in Wuhan, China. The ship rendez-voused instead with the United States flag tug Ezra Sol and with the assistance of the Halifax-based tug Atlantic Maple took up anchorage in the outer anchorage, outside the harbour limits (and outside the pilotage zone) on September 18.

The AP Revelin hull down on the horizon viewed from Shore Road, Eastern Passage. The elevated wheelhouse of the tug Ezra Sol can just be seen between the two pairs of cranes. The ship's last port was Port Allen, LA (near Baton Rouge) and the tug came out of Norfolk. 

It seems likely that the ship was in need of repairs which would require disabling the main engine, thus having a tug alongside for security. In case repairs are not succesful, towing the ship might be required and the 6,000 bhp tug would be right there. [There is no Canadian tug with that power in this region, and the local 4,000 to 5,000 bhp tugs are fully committed to harbour work and would not be available for extended standby duties.]

The tug Ezra Sol was built in 2002 by Main Iron Works in Houma, LA, and is powered by three Cummins main engines driving three screws. Originally named O.J.Cenac it became the O.J. in 2008, Copper Mountain in 2013 and Ezra Sol in 2023  when acquired by Seaward Marine Corp of Norfolk.

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Sail Ho

  A Wind-Assisted Propulsion System (WAPS) ship arrived in Halifax today, September 18, with a somewhat ironic cargo. 

The ship, the Eems Traveller, is a typical gearless single hold vessel often seen in European waters, but due to its size is somewhat rarer as a transatlantic carrier. It is unique however because it  has been equipped with two suction eSAILS [registered trademark] that provide added thrust and thus a saving in fuel costs. The 17 meter high towers on this ship, were (and may still be) the largest installation of their type.

 The ship itself was built by the now defunct Tille Scheepsbouw in Kootstertille, Netherlands in 2000. A 2214 gt, 2930 dwt ship, it has sectional hatch covers and a travelling gantry to lift and stack the covers to provide clear access to the large hold. 

Once alongside at Pier 9C a shoreside truck crane offloaded a single lift, an aircraft component carrier from Belfast which was landed directly on an extended truck chassis. Fuselage and wing and tail sections for aircraft are manufactured in Northern Ireland and brought to Canada where they are assembled and completed.

 

The developer of the eSAIL, bound4blue, installed the units in 2023. The foundations were installed during a regular drydocking in the Netherlands. The towers themselves were installed in Bilbao, Spain in a mere four hours. 

The irony is that the suction eSAILs provide lift just aircraft wings do, however the thrust in this case is provided by wind.

The ship's operator, Amasus Shipping BV of Delfzijl, Netherlands, has a fleet of more than seventy ships, and can thus compare the benefits of the eSAILs to conventionally powered ships.

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Ferry Tales

  An infrequent update on ferries in eastern Canada:

 1.  Société des traversiers du Québec 

As the STQ updates it ferry fleets the chartered Svanoy continues to operate between St-Joseph-de-la-Rive and Ile-aux-Coudres. The charter may be through Logistec, but the boat itself is operated by Canship Ugland with a crew made up mostly of Newfoundlanders. I understand that the charter is for five years.

 In order for the Svanoy to align with the wharf ramps, it has been fitted with "stand-offs". The boat only operates on a daytime schedule and must find another berth at night to keep the dock free for the other boat. That means travelling to Pointe-au-Pic, St-Siméon or Cacouna depending on availability.

The regular ferries on the run have much wider car decks, that align directly with the ramps.

The Joseph-Savard, one of the two regular ferries, has a narrow hull but the deck projects well outboard. It has gone into refit again at the end of this summer and the Felix-Antoine-Savard has returned to the route. 

 The Felix-Antoine-Savard also has the cantilevered car deck. It also has bow visor. (2024 photo)

2.  Traversier Rivière-du-Loup / St-Siméon

There is still some uncertainty about a shift of the south shore terminal to Gros Cacouna and delivery of  a new ice strengthened ferry.

Therefore the aged Trans-St-Laurent soldiers on, seasonally. Built in 1963, it is certainly showing its age, but operates quite reliably. ( Its engines were rebuilt a nimber of years ago, and it is in refit from January to April each year.) 

 The ship has received some minor modifications over the years, including the addition of hoistable car decks that can be used for smaller cars in peak season.

The most noticeable change however occurred during the 2024-2025 off season. That was the removal of the huge original lifeboats and davits from the boat deck.

 

They have apparently been replaced by inflatible rafts and evacuation slides, housed in grey boxes.

 

This has freed up additional deck space for passengers, but also allowed for the installation of a FRV (Fast Rescue Craft).

 

The last ship of the large Clarke Steamship company (now Clarke Inc), the Trans-St-Laurent still has a few years left in its contract with the STQ. In 2021 the STQ extended the contract until the end of the 2025 season (which would be January 2026) but that has been extended again and again and now goes to January 2028. That still isn't long enough in my opinion to build a temporary terminal in Gros Cacouna, nor to allay the fears of those concerned about the dangers to the beluga calving ground in the area.

The "new" ferry is to be the Saaremaa I a spare ferry operated by the STQ when other ships are out of service. It was "loaned" to Northumberland Ferries Ltd to cover the Caribou, NS - Wood Islands, PE service when the Holiday Island became a total loss due to fire in 2022, and when the Confederation damaged its bow door. The Saaremaa I is currently (as of today, September 16) in drydock at Pictou, NS.

It will be a stop gap until a newly built ship enters service - now due in 2031.  Also a new terminal will be built in the port of Gros Cacouna to suit the new ferry.

3,  Northumberland Ferries Ltd

The Northumberland entered service in the spring, joining the Confederation and seems to be working well. It is also a stop gap vessel until a new custom-built ship is delivered in 2028. (That sounds optimistic to me.)

 The ship operates as a double ender. It flies the Nova Scotia flag and Canada flag at what is the bow in the photo above, and the Prince Edward Island and NFL flags at what is the stern. The wheelhouse is amidships, and it has dual riding lights. The main difference is the diameter of the masts,with the larger mast "forward" in the photo above.

On departure, with no need to turn off the dock, the ship makes a quick getaway with the visor still closing.

 

As of August 1, 2025 the Canadian government reduced the fares by 50% while at the same time reducing the toll on the Confederation Bridge from $50.25 to $20. The federal government owns the ferries, and contracts with NFL to operate them. This explains the  port of registry of the ships.

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