PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub, the South End Container Terminal and the Port of Halifax promote the facility's capability to handle two large ships at the same time., and therefore ships do not have to wait for a berth. Certainly the pier face, Pier C, with berths 41 and 42 at 800 meters long (2625 ft) is the length of two of the largest types of container ships, which are 396 to 400 meters long. There is also enough water alongside at 16 meters (52.5 feet) for the largest ships.
While it might seem therefore that the pier can handle two of these ships at the same time, there is in fact not enough length for the ship's head lines to be run safely. To moor safely - particularly in windy conditions, the pier would need to be - wait for it - another 50 to 100 meters longer. A mooring dolphin off the end of Pier 42 might suffice for the short term, but would mean that the first few container stacks, nearest a ship's bow, could not be reached by crane.
Then there is the matter of the cranes. The terminal certainly has some large Ship to Shore (STS) cranes, but two of them are not large enough to service the high and wide deck loads of large container ships.
So in fact the terminal cannot handle efficiently two of the largest container ships currently running to the east coast of North America at the same time. Those ships are in the 15,000 TEU size and last week two 14,000 TEU ships arrived off Halifax and had to take their turn at the terminal.
What does the future hold? It appears that Halifax is being left behind. Politically the Port of Montreal has received support for its expansion to Contrecoeur. This may seem to be of no threat to Halifax, due to permanently shallow channels in the St.Lawrence. Currently many ships en route to or from Montreal stop in Halifax to decant or top up loads to adjust draft from /to saltwater /ocean - that is unlikely to change. However the added capacity in Montreal /Contrecouer may well convince shippers to pass up Halifax in favour of more frequent sailings and/or with St.Lawrence class ships. To compete with Montreal, Halifax must expand its capacity to become a terminal port rather than a way point. This will require a major increase in pier and terminal space - even larger then the current expansion project at Pier A-1 and B.
As it stands now the largest container ships - in the 18,000 to 24,000 TEU capacity - are only sailing on the high volume Asia / Europe routes. However as more of the larger ships enter service and as the Suez Canal becomes a safe route to Europe again (which it appears to be doing) the new larger ships will displace smaller ships. As a result there will be a surplus of ships in the 10,000 to 15.000 TEU range, and older ones will likely be scrapped. Ships in the 16,000 to 20,000 TEU range will begin to move to the North American east coast where some of the US ports such as Norfolk, Charleston and Savannah can likely handle them already.
I fear that Halifax will be left out in the cold unless they put on an aggressive growth program.
The current expansion is moving at a snail's pace. The schedule to fill in between Piers A-1 and B was initially set at five years, based on the local construction industry's need to dispose of acidic shale from building excavation. (Halifax bedrock, once excavated and exposed to air becomes acidic and cannot be reused as backfill- it can however be neutralized by "sequestering" in salt water. Despite the current construction boom in Halifax there is not enough fill being generated quickly enough. A huge stockpile in the Africville / Fairview Cove area - where it had been sequestered previously, but is not currently needed - should be moved (by barge or by slurry) to the southend. (Someone should by the Atlantic Huron from CSL - which is on its way to the scrapyard - and use it to transfer the material.)
The rail expansion within the terminal and the construction of new buildings has also been inexplicably slow. Private industry would never tolerate such performance even in this era of supply chain immobility.
The terminal will be getting one more berth at the end of Pier A-1 and B when the infill it is finally completed. But because it will not be aligned to Pier C it will not be able to share cranes. Therefore at least two more (new, large) STS cranes will be needed. Two of the current cranes, which are at Pier 42, are too small, and will need to be replaced with at least two more (new, large) cranes. Even then two more of the existing cranes are marginal and may need to be replaced. A major replacement program is warranted.
Today with two container ships, with a total capacity rating of 17.000 TEU were in port but the two older cranes could be used because they are too small. Strangely only three of the terminals seven cranes were actually in use.
See Part 2 to follow
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