Sloman Hera - Algoma says not better late than never

The fairly ordinary looking chemical product tanker anchored in Bedford Basin was part of a huge controversy that involved Canada's Algoma Central Corporation, two major German shipowners, a US shipowner and no less than the China Ocean Shipbuilding Industry Group Ltd.
In 2007 Algoma entered into an agreement with Jiangxi Jiangzhou Union Shipbuilding Co Ltd in China to build three product tankers. The ships were to enter the Hanseatic Shipping pool with Sloman Neptune,  Bernhard Schulte and Intrepid Shipping. The ships were of a new design and were to be the first chemical tankers built by the yard. What were termed as "excessive non-permissible delays" caused Algoma to rescind its orders in 2010 and demand return of $35.4mn paid in to the yard. The other partners opted to negotiate settlements on their cancellations and Sloman and Intrepid eventually took delivery of their tankers. As I understand it Algoma's tankers were only in very early stages of construction when cancelled, and so may not have been completed.
Algoma's case was to enter arbitration in September. Results have not been released to my knowledge.
Meanwhile the yard had built several of the tankers and Sloman Hera for example was launched August 21, 2009, but went into long term layup.
The July 1, 2012 date for new ballast tank coating regulations loomed large and Sloman Neptune were able to eventually reach a settlement and take delivery of three sister tankers in June 2012.
In the meantime Algoma walked away from the Hansa tanker pool, placing their one ship in the Navig8 pool instead. Orders for two larger tankers with another Chinese yard were converted to bulk carriers.
This is a much simplified version of all the ins and outs of the matter. It also caused financial distress for the shipyard and the other tanker owners too, and the Hansa pool was wound up.
To get back to Sloman Hera itself, it is listed as built in 2012 (altough launched in 2009) and measures 11,246 gross tons, 16,426 tonnes deadweight and has 14 cargo tanks.It is registered in Antigua and Barbuda, and is operated by Sloman Neptune of Germany.

Ambassador takes another load of gypsum

Things must be picking up a bit at National Gypsum with two ships in a week. Ambassador arrived late Sunday night and sailed this morning for Burlington, NJ. The ship was built in 1983 at Port Weller Dry Dock as Canadian Ambassador and the full name still appears on the ship's hull in welded letters.
It has not carried that name since 1986 however, because in that year it was flagged out to Vanuatu when it left the Upper Lakes Shipping domestic fleet for Marbulk.
Aside from a brief interlude from April to December 2000 when it was renamed Algosea and reflagged Canadian, it has been foreign flagged ever since.

 1. Ambassador has passed under the A. Murray MacKay bridge and is southbound in the Narrows off pier 9B, bound for sea.

2. The ship's previous name still appears on the hull, but there is little likelihood that it will ever be used again.

Upper Lakes Shipping sold its share of Marbulk in 2000 and has now exited shipping altogether, selling out to Algoma. Its ships which had the prefix "Canadian" have now been renamed. Algoma has been a co-owner of Marbulk since 1997 but are not likely to bring this older ship back to Canada, so the "Canadian" prefix is history. The ship operates within the CSL self-unloader pool.

Ambassador has appeared on this blog before - see previous posts for more info.

Ambassador

1. Ambassador creeps up west of George's Island, making barely any bow wave.

2. Once clear of the island she swings well to starboard to the anchorages. The asymmetrical name on her stern is a result of painting out the word "Canadian" when she was reflagged in 1986.

The self-unloading bulker Ambassador arrived this afternoon to take on bunkers. A frequent caller at National Gypsum over the years, she rarely puts in without taking cargo.

Built way back in 1983 at Port Weller Dry Dock in St. Catharines, ON, her original name was Canadian Ambassador and she was owned by Upper Lakes Shipping. Built to Seaway dimensions, she measured 24,320 gross tons, and was designed for 37,500 deadweight (less at Seaway draft.)

In 1986 she was placed under the flag of Vanuatu (registered at Port Vila) and began to operate internationally. Although usually confined to the eastern seaboard of North America, she has worked overseas too. The "Canadian" part of her name was painted over, but the welded letters are still there on the bow and stern.

When she was reflagged she was given blue funnels with a yellow seahorse, once the funnel marking for Island Shipping, an Upper Lakes subsidiary that operated some ships offshore. However ownership was vested in another UL subsidiary called Marbulk Shipping. In 1997 Algoma Central Corp acquired a 50% interest in Marbulk, then in 2000 CSL International acquired UL Group's 50%.

Since that time the ship has been in the coal/ aggregates/gypsum trades within the CSL International pool, and is operated from CSL International's offices in Beverly, MA. (CSL ships are in turn operated by V-Ships, a Monaco based company.)

The ship had a major refit in Halifax in 1998. Then in 2000 she came back under the Canadian flag for a few months, being renamed Algosea at Halifax Shipyard on April 13. (Because Upper Lakes no longer had an ownership interest in the ship, it was not appropriate to resume her original name.) The ship resumed trade on the Great Lakes until December 21, when she became Ambassador again, being renamed at Trois-Rivières, QC.

Since that time she has continued in the usual trades, and on this trip is en route from Newington, NH (a favourite gypsum offloading port) to Cape Porcupine, NS on the Strait of Canso to load aggregates.

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Algoma Guardian - first call

No sooner had Vinland sailed from pier 25 [see below] than Algoma Guardian moved in.

The ship is calling in Halifax for the first time under that name.

Built in 1987 in Yugoslavia, the ship sailed as Goviken until last year when she and two sisters were purchased by Algoma Central Corp. She remains registered in the Bahamas, and is still fulfilling the balance of a long term charter to Fednav, but is mostly in the grain and ore trades.

Since her acquisition by Algoma her deck cranes have been removed, making it easier for her to handle bulk cargoes.

Built to transit the St.Lawrence Seaway, she will continue to trade internationally until the expiry of the charter. It is then expected that she will transfer to Canadian registry, replacing older tonnage.

The tugs Svitzer Bedford and Atlantic Oak were tasked with moving her from anchorage to pier 25.