Hello, Goodbyes and tugs

 

Today, November 13 the port welcomed another first time caller and said goodbye to ship that has been in Halifax for part of three months. And then there was more tug activity - so much that it warrants a separate post on companion blog Tugfax.

Hello 

The first timer arrived in the dark, and it was nearly dark when it sailed, but it was still bright enough to see that it  was a very large ship. Carrying the odd name Zenith Lumos it is owned through Zodiac Marine, but is on charter to ONE (Ocean Network Express) and running on the Premier Alliance EC3 service from Colombo.

 The ship was built by Hyundai Ulsan in 2020 and is recorded at 149,525 gt and 157,097 dwt. This gives it a nominal capacity of 15,000 TEU (actual 14,052 TEU) with 1,000 reefer plugs. The ship appears to have somewhat higher freeboard than other ships of its size.

It is one of four sister ships with Zephyr Lumos, Zeus Lumos and Zeal Lumos built for charter to ONE. The Zenith Lumos appears to be the only one assigned to the Premier Alliance EC3 service. Many of the ships on this route have been swapped out for ONE "M" class ships but we are likely to see the odd COSCO or CMA CGM ship in the next month.

Goodbye #1

The disabled bulker AP Revelin finally got underway today in tow for New York. The ship lost its prop (or a blade from the prop) off Nova Scotia in September, and was unable to proceed on its own. The United States flag tug Ezra Sol was dispatched from Norfolk and towed the ship to Halifax, arriving September 21. (See this blog from September 26.)

Once in port it was anchored in Bedford Basin, with standby tug(s) until mid-October when another similar sized bulker, the Eva Bright arrived, and the tow ships berthed at Pier 27-28 where the AP Revelin's grain cargo was transferred to the Eva Bright using both ship's cranes.

The Eva Bright sailed November 7 for Liverpool,UK.

Meanwhile the tug Ezra Sol returned to Norfolk briefly, but came back to Halifax and stood by at Pier 25 awaiting favourable weather to tow the sip to a repair yard.

That window opened today and with minimal fuss the tug and tow got underway for New York.

 

Local tugs undocked the ship and provided tethered stern escort outbound. We are unlikely to see the ship in Halifax again.

 Goodbye # 2

Not a goodbye exactly, but a move saw one of the Halifax waterfront attractions leave its summer berth and go to its winter quarters. Canada's Naval Memorial the Sackville departed Sackville Landing under the control of the Naval Auxiliary tug Glenevis for HMC Dockyard.

 It will spend the winter connected to shore power (and steam) until May. It will likely receive some TLC before moving back to Sackville Landing again for the tourist season.

The Sackville (which served in the Second World War) berths adjacent to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic where the Acadia (a veteran of the First and Second World Wars) is also on display and open to the public seasonally.

 See Tugfax for more tug stuff.

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