New or Not

 

There were two "new to Halifax" ships in port today, but neither one could be considered new in strictly chronological terms.

The first to arrive (in the near dark) was the Galani on Melfi Marine Corp's Medcan service from Europe to Cuba. Its last port was Barcelona.

Guangzhou Wenchong built the ship in 2006, and it is a 14,490 gt, 23,689 dwt vessel with a capacity of 1732 TEU with 320 reefer plugs. It also caries two 45 tonne SWL deck cranes. Typically Melfi uses short term charters which can carry containers and sometimes general cargo. On this trip the ship is carrying a number of tank containers on deck forward. These are probably empties that carried liquids (such as rum) or powders (such as sugar) to Europe. From its hub port of Mariel, Cuba Melfi operates several routes to Caribbean and South and Central American destinations linking with Europe.

The ship is operated by Astra Ship Management of Greece. The company names its ships for towns or villages in Greece, such as Galani  near the North Aegean coast on the Nexos River.

Next to arrive at mid-day was the tanker  SV Wakili from Houston. The ship went to anchor, but will likely move to Imperial Oil when the berth is clear. (The Algoluna is currently on the the number 3 berth).

Some shipwatchers gathered on the shore to observe the ship's arrival.

 A fairly typical LR type chemical/product tanker, it was built in 2012 by Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan. It was initially named the King Gregory and carried that name until March 2024. It comes in at 29,672 gt with a deadweight tonnage ranging from 49,999 to 51,441tonnes depending on conditions.

Owners Vitol International Shipping report that the ship 's tanks are phenolic coated, allowing it to carry a range of chemicals. Vitol not only operates tankers and gas carriers, but also owns refineries and storage facilities. Its 29 ship fleet also includes bulk carriers, and asphalt / bitumen tankers.

Vitol is based in Singapore (SV may stand for Singapore  Vitol) but also has interests in Africa where the word "wakili" means "agent" in the Hausa language of West Africa.

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