Another blow

 Another high wind event in Halifax harbour during the night of November 30 - December 1 had ships taking precautions again.  There was lots of warning in the weather forecasts, and so ships had time to move off their berths or to deploy extra mooring lines. By mid-morning today (December 1) things had returned to normal again and ships were returning to their docks.

Oceanex Sanderling arrived late last night and went directly to an anchorage in Bedford Basin. I cannot recall seeing the ship in the Basin before, although it has likely been there at some time in the 35 years it has been running between Halifax and Newfoundland.

The Oceanex Sanderling has cleared the MacKay bridge southbound heading for PSA South End Terminal. It is well loaded with containers returning from Newfoundland.

Also returning from Bedford Basin anchorage, the tanker Advantage Point headed back to Imperial Oil dock #3.

With the tug Atlantic Fir on a stern line, the tanker clears the MacKay bridge, southbound in the Narrows. The ship's blue hull paint was not visible in my previous photo November 29.

At PSA Fairview Cove, the container ship NYK Romulus took the precaution of keeping the tug Atlantic Oak at the terminal all night in case it was needed to hold the ship on the dock and relieve strain on the mooring lines. (As far as I can tell it was not needed.)

The Franbo Lohas is still at anchor in Bedford Basin, where it appears to have dragged its anchor and re-established a new anchorage position at some point during the night (according to the AIS track.) It is due to go out for a sea trial December 3. Based on its recent AIS track the Polar Circle also appears to have relocated over night - likely due to dragging anchor.

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Advantage Point for Imperial

 Today (November 29) marked the arrival of an unusual tanker from an unusual port. The tanker is named Advantage Point, sailing in the Norient Tanker Pool.

Built in 2006 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, it is a 23,356 gt, 37,029 dwt MR tanker, which was originally named Baltic Force (until 2017). That name, plus the full width enclosed bridge wings suggest that it is an ice class vessel. The Norient Pool (a joint venture between the Danish Norden and the Cypriot Interorient) operates around 130 tankers, most from Norden.

Normally Imperial Oil brings in refined product from its own Canadian refineries, or from Antwerp, Belgium. However this ship is arriving from New York, but with an interesting prior itinerary. Starting in Lavera, France October 28-November 1, the ship stopped in New York, November 16-19, Philadelphia November 19-21, Baltimore November 22-24, and New York November 24-27. 

Since the giant Lavera refinery [210,000 bbd] and chemical complex produces every imagineable kind of refined product, it is likely the ship was carrying some specialty products to the US ports, but has now brought more standard consumer goods such as gasoline and diesel fuel to Halifax for local use.

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