The way it was at Richmond Terminals Pier 9 to Pier 9C

 The Richmond Terminals area, Piers 9 to 9C, at the extreme north end of the harbour, are not highly active parts of the waterfront these days. Of the three large transit sheds, only one remains in use as such. The Pier 9 shed (once a Volvo assembly plant) is now used as a warehouse by Halifax Shipyard. The Pier 9A shed is now the home to IT International Telecom and does see some ships transferring specialized cargo including cable or undergoing refit.

Only the Pier 9B shed is used for freight. Lately it has been used to transfer cargo from rail car to container (mostly paper products as far as I can tell) and stainless steel wire for tire manufacturing.

The extra height boxcar is dedicated to paper transport, and is a rare Golden West reporting mark for Southern Pacific. Note the three Nova Scotia Power smoke stacks peeking above the roof. They are from the company's Tufts Cove generating station, which now burns natural gas, but was built for coal and oil

The open Pier 9C was recently rebuilt and provides a hard surfaced open area, which has has seen a variety of uses for project or bulk cargoes such as coal, and is now storing salt (see recent posts), but was also used as an offshore oil and gas service base.  

Before the most recent rebuild, Pier 9C was a large gravel surfaced open shoreline. It had been used to store bulk coal, seen here in 2004, but was mostly used for trailer storage.

Although the entire Pier 9B, 9C area may  look underutlized, it is a useful resource for odd cargoes, and a good place to tie up ships for repairs or short term layups. Oceanex Sanderling was there a week ago for repairs.

There is also the rarely used "Marine Terminal" at Pier 9 where a pipeline runs up to Wilson's Fuels storage tanks on Barrington Street. Originally Petrofina tanks, they have been used infrequently recently to receive fuel from Newfoundland, and to refuel some ships. Wilson's have sold the terminal and storage facility to Couche-Tard along with its Wilson's gas stations in the region, so it remains to be seen what the future will bring for the terminal.

In 1970 the tanker Texaco Chief delivered cargo to Petrofina via the pipeline from Pier 9 to the Barrington Street Marine Terminal. At the time, the shed to the right was a Volvo car assembly plant.

Volvo received crated and palletized car components from Sweden via early container ships (converted cargo ships). They were unloaded by shore cranes. This arrangement was discontinued when Atlantic Container Line began its container and RoRo service.  

(In the background Halifax Shipyard is busy building an oil rig.)

Hother Isle was built in 1956 by Howaldswerke, Hamburg as the general cargo ship Christiane, and in 1969 was lengthened 12m and converted to carry containers. It lasted until 1986 under numerous owners and names.

The sheds were built in the early 1960s to take pressure off the Deepwater Piers sheds in the southend, where the container pier was to be built. There was also a planned service to Newfoundland using side door ships with forklift loading (which in the end was short lived.) Among the users of the sheds in the late 1960s and into the 1970s was Saguenay Shipping and various other South American shipping lines such as Compania Sud American de Vapores (Chile) , Cia Peruana de Vapores, Columbiana Internacional de Vapores, and perhaps others, using their own ships and various tramps. These were generally state of the art express general cargo ships of fine lines and are still regarded as the epitome of ship aesthetics. 

Garcilaso at Pier 9C. Note only one stack at NS Power, Tuft's Cove in 1970.

Garcilaso was built by Wartsila, Turku, Finland in 1969 for Cia Peruana de Vapores SA. It lasted until 1994 when broken up in Peru.

 Anamilena from Colombiana Internacional de Vapores at Pier 9C in 1971 (by then there were two stacks at Tuft's Cove.)

Anamelina was built by Sociedad Espanola ce Construccion Naval  in Matagorda, Spain in 1968 but seems to have been repo'd in 1973. It served under six subsequent names and six flags until 2012 when its listing was dropped as "existence in doubt". 

Bordagain loading - it was a messy job with slings and forklifts speeding around.

The A.Murray MacKay bridge in the background did not open officially until July 10, 1970.

Bordagain built in 1958 by Redhead, South Shields, was Baron Garioch for H.Hogarth until 1968. It lasted until 1982 when it was broken up in Bombay. 

In the pre-container days when all cargo was "hand bombed" in slings, or on pallets, the Richmond Terminals were constantly busy with ships in port at all times. Cargo was transferred to / from rail or truck via the sheds from / to the ships and was very labour intensive.  It was the "last gasp" for conventional cargo ships that within a few years were relegated to third world service as container ships took over lucrative cargo work.

Hadjitsakos was another of the handsome general cargo ships.

AG Weser in Hamburg built the Hadjitsakos in 1956 for a Stavros G. Livanos company, and placed the corporate emblem on the bow. (See my September 15 post for a recent Livanos arrival in Halifax.) The ship was sold in 1972 but lasted until 1986 when it was scrapped in Aliaga.

The German ships tended to be the best looking:

Back to 1970 again, with only one chimney at Tuft's Cove, Poseidon is tied up at Pier 9C, but appears to be idle.

Built in 1952 by Flender, Lubeck, Poseidon was sold in 1971 then resold in 1981. As Viki K its owners secretly unloaded the ship's cargo in Egypt  then scuttled the ship and claimed on the insurance for ship and cargo.

British built ships were also good looking, although slightly more conservative in design.

Atlantic Fury with an inexplicable hole in its bow, joins fleet mate Hadjitsakos at Pier 9B.

Atlantic Fury was a 1960 product of Furness Shipbuilding, Haverton Hill, when it was built as Duke of Mistra. Livanos acquired and renamed the ship in 1965 and sold it on in 1975. It went through several names and owners until scrapped in 1983 on Gadani Beach.

Just to conclude the story of the smoke stacks, Nova Scotia Power Corp built the first part of the generating station boilers in 1965, known as Tufts Cove #1. Tufts Cove #2 was completed in 1972 and Tufts Cove #3 in 1976. Each boiler has its own 500 foot high (152 meters) chimney.

Oceanex Sanderling in port for repairs tied up at Pier 9B with the Tufts Cove generating station in the background. I usually attempt not to get the chimneys in the picture, but the red and white colours on ship and stacks were too good a target to miss. Even from a distance the chimneys tend to stand out.

NYK Constellation arriving September 25 has passed Richmond Terminals and Tuft's Cove and is about to pass under the A.Murray MacKay bridge. The extra wide angle lens was needed to include the entire 1398 ft (426 meters) of the main span. 

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Pioneer on its way to the scrappers, Ambassador may follow

The sad parade of ships to the scrap yards continues, so this is only one in series of ship "obits" that will appear in the coming months.

Pioneer is the latest on the list. It was one of two Canadian-built ships that were often seen in Halifax over the years that have now been removed from service. Both were built in the early 1980s - the last heyday for Canadian shipbuilding - by the same owners, in their own shipyard, for essentially the same service.

Pioneer

 

Older of the two is Pioneer, built as Canadian Pioneer in 1981 by Port Weller Drydock Ltd. The Upper Lakes Group owned both its own shipping line and the shipyard, and was always an innovative outfit, even though some of its ideas didn't work terribly well.

At 730' long x 75'-10 1/4" wide, Canadian Pioneer was of the then maximum permissible size for the St.Lawrence Seaway. Where it differed from other Great Lakes type self-unloaders was that it had a deeper hull and could load to ocean drafts, and could sail deep sea. At 24,113 gross tons, 37,448 deadweight tonnes at seagoing draft, its capacity was only 23,625 (pre-metric) tons at Seaway draft.  The intention was that the ship would sail seasonally on the lakes if needed, but mostly on coastal and ocean routes. Deep sea self-unloader capability was in its infancy then, and demand was fairly good as CSL discovered, and was also building "Salty Lakers".

The ship was fitted with a single contollable pitch prop, driven by a 9,000 bhp Doxford 76JC4R engine - the last engine built at Doxford's factory in Sunderland, England. Known for their durability and longevity, slow speed Doxfords have also been credited with ensuring the longevity of the ships they powered.

For the first few years the ship followed its intended pattern but by 1988 the demand for iron ore on the lakes had dipped, but there was work for it outside - however, not with Canadian pay scales and regulations.  On December 18, 1988 it arrived in Sorel, QC, and was re-registered in Port Vila, in the Republic of Vanuatu. That little known flag of convenience had recently come in to existence when the joint French/English territory of the New Hebrides became independent in 1980.

Renamed Pioneer by parent company Marbulk Shipping Inc (then a subsidiary of Upper Lakes Group) the ship went deep sea and only once revisited the Great Lakes. In 2002 it delivered a load of coke from Baltimore to Port Colborne. As part of Marbulk, Pioneer received the blue funnel with gold seahorse, originally the colours of Island Shipping, an Upper Lakes offshore company.

Canada Steamship Lines had formed a pool of seagoing self-unloaders with their own subsidiary CSL International Inc as operators. Pioneer joined the pool and was often seen in Nova Scotia, particularly in the Strait of Canso with coal or loading aggregate or gypsum. Halifax was also a regular port of call to load gypsum.It did go further afield, running coal from Norway to Germany for a time and also carrying aggregates on the west coast.

In 2000 CSL purchased Upper Lakes' 50% of Marbulk (Algoma had the other 50%) and the three Marbulk ships Ambassador (ex Canadian Ambassador) and Nelvana continued to work in the CSL pool.

In 2014 Pioneer made six visits to Halifax, mostly short runs from National Gypsum to Baltimore, MD or Burlington, NJ. On March 11 it experienced a propeller problem and was in port until March 23 until it was repaired. The ship was ballasted down by the bow and made an inglorious procession with tugs, from National Gypsum to pier 25-26.

The writing was on the wall for the ship as mechanical problems became more common, and it passed the thirty year mark. With a number of new ships coming into the CSL pool, it was now obsolete too. 

On June 19 it unloaded its last cargo in Cameron, LA and headed out to sea bound for Aliaga, Turkey and the scrap yard.It is due there July 18.

Ambassador

 

Fleetmate Ambassador (ex Canadian Ambassador) built in 1983 by Port Weller DD, had a parallel career, but went foreign in December 1986, when it hoisted the Vanuatu flag in Sorel, QC and took on the golden seahorse funnel marking.

It also measured 730' x 75'-10 1/4" with tonnages of 23,094 gross and 37,263 deadweight on a summer draft of 34'-5". It had a 4 cylinder Sulzer engine of 8,796 bhp and was generally similar in appearance to its fleet mate. A wider bridge, and slightly longer bulwark at the bow were the only noticeable differences.

On December 31, 1994 when unloading rock phosphate in Belledune, NB, a bearing failure in the conveyor system, ignited a rubber belt, causing a extensive damage. An estimated 25% of the accommodation was gutted and there was structural distortion. The ship was repaired and returned to service several month later.

It also worked overseas, running coal transatlantic from Norfolk for a time, and in Indonesia. It mostly worked in eastern North America however, from Newfoundland or the Strait of Canso as far as the Caribbean. The ship visited Halifax consistently for gypsum, and had several repair and refit sessions at Halifax Shipyards.

It was also notable for having delivered three cargoes of coal to Halifax -one each in 2000, 2002 and 2003. It unloaded onto the ground at pier 9D, for Canada Cement / Lafarge's Brookfield, NS plant.
 

On April 13, 2000 while in Halifax Shipyard, the ship was renamed Algosea and brought back under the Canadian flag, with Halifax as the port of registry. After meeting Algoma's short term need for another domestic ship, it reverted to Ambassador and the Vanuatu registry on December 31, 2000 at Trois-Rivières, QC.

In 2003 it was refitted with sliders in place of its roller swing gates at Gdansk Shipyard in Poland. On July 12, 2006 it damaged ballast tanks when it made heavy contact with an approach wall at the Canso Canal. It then seemed to enter a period of frequent repairs until late 2012 when it was sold.

Renamed Pramudita under the Indonesian flag, it was acquired by Jakarta owners to carry power plant coal. However, on September 12, 2013 in repetition of 1994, a fire broke out in the self-unloading area while discharging coal at Banten. Despite the efforts of fire tugs, the engine room and accommodation were gutted, and areas of the hull in way of the engine room and cargo holds were badly distorted. The ship was laid up, and it is unlikely that it will ever be repaired.   

Both ships were built with finer bow lines than a normal laker, however they were fitted with twin rudders and a bow thruster for improved maneuvering. They had no bridge wings, to ensure Seaway lock clearance, and continued until the end with their flimsy "fold-up" bridge wings, so they were something of a hybrid. As noted they rarely re-visited the Lakes, but they remained capable of doing so until the end.
All in all, judging by thirty or so years of service, they must have been a success.

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Ambassador sold

1. Ambassador clears the MacKay bridge in May 2012.

The self-unloading bulker Ambassador has been sold. A frequent caller in Halifax since the 1980s, it  carried many cargoes of gypsum and even brought in cargoes of coal.
Built by Port Weller Dry Dock in 1983 it was originally called Canadian Ambassador, and as I pointed out in May, she still had those letters on her bow, but they had been long since painted over. See http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2012/05/ambassador-takes-another-load-of-gypsum.html
Built by Upper Lakes Shipping to transit the St.Lawrence Seaway locks, the ship was also built for ocean service. In 1986  it was renamed Ambassador  reflagged to Vanuatu and has been trading world wide ever since, except for one brief return to the Lakes on charter to Algoma Central Marine in 2000. For that charter it was renamed Algosea at Halifax Shipyards April 13, 2000, but reverted to previous name and flag again December 21, 2000 at Trois-Rivières, QC, and called in Halifax January 7, 2001 for bunkers.
In inrternational service it was owned by Marbulk Canada Inc., but operated out of Beverly, MA as part of the CSL International pool. Upper Lakes Group sold a half interest in Marbulk to Algoma in 1997 and CSL bought ULG's 50% in 2000.

The ship has lead a largely incident free life.
One serious event occurred December 14, 1994 at Belledune, NB. While unloading phosphate rock, an overheated roller bearing ignited the unloading conveyor belt causing extensive damage to the unloading system, its casing, destroying 25% of the accommodation and causing extensive smoke and water damage elsewhere. Firefighters flooded the unloading tunnel to extinguish the fire, and only a spring loaded water tight door saved the ship.
On July 12, 2006 it made "heavy contact" with the Canso Canal and received damage to its ballast tanks.
The ship had a major refit at Halifax Shipyard from June to September 1998, and had other repairs there in 1999.
In 2003 it received a major refit at Gdansk Shipyard in Poland, with upgrades to its unloading system.
Aside from its numerous visits to Halifax to load gypsum, it brought in cargoes of coal in February 2000, December 2002 and October 2003, unloading  onto pier 9D.

2. Unloading 24,000 tonnes of coal at pier 9-D, destined for Canada Cement/Lafarge at Brookfield, NS.

3. The ship's shallow draft allowed to come close to shore to unload. Tugs assisted it in moving along the pier face. On the left of the picture is the abutment of the MacKay bridge.

It also made several visits over the years to take on bunker fuel.
With the slowdown in the US economy following 2008 the ships visits have been fewer and fewer. My last photo was taken when she sailed on May 8, 2012.

Ambassador can unload at up to 5,500 tonnes per hour, depending on the cargo. Its boom is 76m long and can swing out 90 degrees to the ship and can luff (raise) 15 degrees. Its hold capacity is 36,542 cubic meters. Gross tonnage: 24,094 and deadweight of 37,263 tonnes.
Its new owners, Caraka Tirta Pratama Pt of Djakarta, have renamed the ship Pramudita and it now flies the flag of Indonesia. 
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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 for gypsum - only ship 2 for 2012

1. Ambassador glides under the MacKay bridge on its way in this morning.

2. With the tug secure, they get ready to make the turn for National Gypsum.

3. In July 1974 Wheat King is unloading via the grain leg at pier pier 25.

Ambassador's arrival this morning marks only the second call for gypsum so far this year at National Gypsum. The sad state of the construction industry south of the border has resulted in the lowest demand for gypsum in years.

Ambassador is the most frequent ship to call for gypsum, when there is demand. Built in 1983 at Port Weller. ON as Canadian Ambassador it was flagged out to Vanuatu on 1986. It had a brief interlude in 2000 back under the Canadian flag as Algosea but has been running under foreign flag otherwise. The ship measures 37,500 deadweight tonnes.

Since 1986 it has carried the funnel marking once used by the Island Shipping Company (a foreign flag offshoot of Upper Lakes Shipping) consisting of a yellow seahorse on a blue background. (Island Shipping also had a white centre band on their funnel at one time.) The ship was however placed in the ownership of Marbulk Canada Inc (now owned by Algoma Shipping Corp) and is operated in the CSL International pool.

The seahorse motif for Island Shipping was first applied to the bulk carrier Wheat King once a regular caller in Halifax. Built as the tanker Llandaff by Lithgows of Port Glasgow in 1952, it was converted to a bulker and its wheelhouse moved aft in 1960-61. It traded transatlantic in various winters with grain. In 1965-66 it was the first Canadian ship to call in Liverpool in 15 years. (In 1961-62 it had been under Bermuda flag). It was also the first ship to arrive with the new Canadian flag. It was a familiar caller in Halifax with grain and carried gypsum back to the lakes from, but not from Dartmouth. In 1970 it took grain to Alexandria, Egypt.

During the winter of 1975-76 it had a new mid-body installed, and was lengthened to Seaway size, but was not reinforced for ocean going. At that time it lost the seahorse funnel and adopted the Upper Lakes Shipping mark. However it did make one more call in Halifax, and that was on the end of a tow wire.

It had been sold for scrap and departed Lauzon, QC in tow on November 24, 1986, but was damaged while clearing the dock. After an inspection in Sept-Iles, QC, it was brought to Halifax and spent December 2-10 here for repairs. It then sailed in tow of the Polish tug Jantar for Rotterdam where it was used for grain storage until 1989. It was then towed to Chittagong, Bangladesh where it was finally scrapped.
So the seahorse funnel mark has some tradition to it.

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Outbound bulkers

Two bulkers sailed today, reflecting the different types of vessel in this trade. First to sail was the Danish Nordkap 40,066 gross, 77,229 deadweight, built 2002. A sister to Nordpol (see: http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2011/03/third-bulker.html) a Kamsarmax bauxite carrier under charter to Rio Tinto-Alcan. It is fitted with cranes and clamshell buckets. The time it takes to unload this ship is considerable, but in view of the distance from the point of orgin of the cargo (Africa or South America) it is more economical to use a conventional bulk carrier. The ship was in port for bunkers, and anchored in Bedford Basin, and sailed at noon time. The second was the familiar Ambassador 24,094 gross tons, 37, 263 deadweight tonnes, built in 1983. It is a Seaway size self-unloader. Owned by Marbulk Canada Inc (50% Algoma, 50% CSL) it flies the flag of Vanuatu and works in the CSL International pool of self-unloaders. It is a regular here for gypsum. In view of the relatively short hops that it makes between ports, it makes sense to be able to unload rapidly and make more trips in a given period of time. Ambassador seems to have taken up the role of Georgia S., but it is a more versatile ship. It can carry a variety of cargoes including coal and stone and due to is slewing boom that can stretch out over a wide arc it can deposit cargo in most ports. .

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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