Long Stay, Short Stay

Ships may make short or long visits to Halifax. Ranging from a few hours to weeks or months the length of the stay depends on a number of factors. Today, October 11 saw what was a very short stay for one ship and a range of stays for others.

The short stay was the familiar miniature cruise ship Pearl Mist arriving at Pier 23 around 0800 hrs ADT and sailing again at 1430 hrs.

The Pearl Mist eases in alongside Pier 23 using its bow thruster. With only three cruise ships in port today, the landing stage at Pier 24 is not needed.

The Pearl Mist was mostly built in Halifax, and completed elsewhere. Despite such an inauspicious beginning, it has had a successful career calling in many smaller ports.

 The second cruise ship, the Silver Shadow tied up at Pier 20 for a longer than usual stay. Also coming alongside for 0800 hrs it will remain in port until 2230 hrs this evening. Most ships are in and out in eight to ten 10 hours. [no photo]

The third cruise ship, which arrived at the pilot station at 1230 hrs and came alongside Pier 22 at about 1330 hrs was the Arcadia. [click for Wikipedia entry]

 

Unusually it had the tug Atlantic Willow assist in berthing. Black scuff marks likely ensued as the tug was not wearing the white canvas apron that used to be mandatory for berthing white ships. Cruise ships rarely need tugs in Halifax unless the weather is averse (which it was not) or the ship has a malfunction (possible).

The Arcadia will remain in port overnight and all day tomorrow - also unusual - and is scheduled to sail at 1630 hrs October 12.

Another arrival is likely to be in port for several days. It is the "Supramax" dry bulker Eva Bright. 

The ship came from the Jiangmen Nanyang Ship Engineering Co Ltd in 2023, measuring 25,130 gt and 40,577 dwt. Typical of ships of its type it carries four cargo cranes and grab buckets.

The ship tied up alongside the  AP Revelin at Pier 27 for no other possible purpose than to transload the latter ship's cargo. The AP Revelin lost its propellor off Nova Scotia and was towed in to port September 21 and was anchored for a time then moved alongside on October 3. I assume that its cargo must be offloaded before it can go to drydock for installation of a new prop and possibly repair to damage resulting from the loss.

 The transloading process will take several days at best, and is likely weather dependent, so may extend into weeks. [see Footnote]

What may also extend to a longer stay if past performance is an indicator, is today's move of the multi-purpose ship Nord Logos from Pier 9B to anchor in Bedford Basin.

 Since its most recent arrival on October 6 it has loaded cable racks, and will now wait for its appointment at the factory in Portsmouth (Newington) NH to load fibre optic cable. 

The Nord Logos may be a familiar sight to Basin watchers. It was last anchored here from December 11, 2024 to January 10, 2025 - also awaiting its turn for Portsmouth. The former Thorco Logos was also in port (on and off) from November 4, 2018 to February 10, 2019, also loading cable tanks and standing by to go to Portsmouth. It had a similar lengthy stay in 2017.

Footnote

The Port of Halifax has a large grain storage facility which is also used to store and export wood pellets. Pellets arrive in Halifax by truck and grain arrives by train or by ship. In recent years ships bringing in grain from the Lakehead, and sometimes corn from Windsor or other Great Lakes ports are self-unloaders. As a result the port's own offloader - called the grain leg - has fallen into disuse, and may no longer be serviceable. It is many years since it has been used, and I believe the last time it was used was to unload a ship that was damaged, and had to have its cargo removed. It may be easier to off load the AP Revelin directly into the Eva Bright than to re-commission (and sanitize) the grain leg and transfer the cargo (whatever that may be, and I don't know, but assume it is grain) through the grain elevator.

The grain leg (at right) at Pier 25-26, is no longer in use, except a s pigeon roost, now that self-unloading ships bring in grain cargo.

The grain leg in use in 1975, back when the world was black and white. The device consists of an endless loop of buckets that feeds grain to the conveyor system (above at right) transferring the cargo to the grain elevators.

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Tenders Ahoy

 There were three large cruise ships in Halifax again today, September 26. The Arcadia (84,342 gt, 285 meters) was assigned to Pier 20 and the Enchanted Princess (145,281 gt, 330 meters) to Pier 21- 22. That left no more room at the seawall so the smallest ship, the Volendam (60,906 gt, 237 meters), took up position in #1 anchorage in the lower harbour.

The Volendam's tenders worked to lighter passengers ashore to the landing stage at Pier 24.

 With the gigantic Enchanted Princess taking the entire south two thirds of the seawall, it used the 150 tonne capacity yellow bollard at the end of the Pier 22 (see yesterday's post). The floating landing stage at Pier 24 was busy with the Volendam's tenders shuttling back and forth to the ship.

Volendam tenders 9,10 and 11 (and perhaps others) were in use late in the afternoon, ferrying passengers (and crew) back to the ship.

 The boats have bow and side loading doors with tarps as rudimetary awnings to protect from rain (there were very light showers). Labels near the stern declare the boats suitable for 90 persons when used as tenders and 150 persons for lifeboat service. (Flying the Dutch flag is a reminder that the ship uses its own (foreign) crews on the boats in apparent contravention of Canadian cabotage laws and as line handlers, contrary to the longshore union's collective agreement.)

The Volendam has been a perennial caller during the cruise season, and like the other two ships in port today, it was built by Fincantieri, this one at the Breda yard in Monfalcone in 1999. It carries 1432 passengers and 647 crew.

 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I repeat that the Arcadia is one of the best looking cruise ships despite the "super graphic" flag on the bow (not visible in thsi view).

It was also built by Fincantieri Breda in Monfalcone, but in 2005, and carries 1952 passengers (single) and 2,388 maximum, with a crew of 976.

As the afternoon wore on it became more and more gloomy and slightly drizzly so there is no current photo of the Enchanted Princess. Today's call was its last for this year, but I was able to get a photo on a previous visit (September 29, 2022).

 The ship came from Fincantieri's Italiani yard in Monfalcone in 2020 and has a capacity of 3660 passengers and 1346 crew.

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More Cruisin'

 There were only three cruise ships in Halifax today (October 2), down from five yesterday (see previous post) . It was a return to more or less normal visitor activity for this time of year. The largest of the three ships was Sky Princess contributing 3,660 passengers.

Despite a relatively late arrival time - 0915 hrs ADT at the pilot station - there were very few people in view on deck and I coudn't see anyone on a balcony. Granted what I saw was the shady side of the ship, but even so I would have expected more people enjoying the view and the arrival.

An earlier arrival was the Arcadia, a 0715 hrs ADT arrival at the pilot station. It arrived just at sunrise (at 0714 hrs), which would have been a quite pleasant experience. The sun shone brightly all day, and with a high temperature in the range of 20 degrees C (68 degrees F) it was a very good day for touring for the 2,000 or so passengers. Citadel Hill, for example was "crawling" with visitors from the Harbour Hoppers and more conventional coaches.

The third ship is the unique "live aboard" The World in which well heeled cruisers can buy an interest in the ship (and a suite) for about $13 million. It carries around 200 - some of whom are the owners and some are "sublets".

The World arrived yesterday and remained alongside Pier 23 all night. It has a pilot order for 2230 hrs ADT this evening. (see also yesterday's post).

This year the cruise season is extending well into November, with the last ship, the Silver Shadow due on November 9.

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Arcadia sails after extended stay -[ see update]

The P+O Cruises Arcadia sailed late this afternoon after an extended stay in Halifax. The ship arrived Friday morning September 22 and was due to sail that afternoon. However the departure was put off until this morning then extended to early this afternoon and finally to late this afternoon.

There was lots of activity on deck yesterday afternoon when the ship was originally scheduled to sail.
 

Finally sailing this afternoon in summer-like conditions.

Ordered in 2003 by Holland America line as a Vista class, it was allocated to Cunard and was to be "Queen Victoria". Shortly before launch, June 26, 2004, it was transferred to P+O Cruises and completed by Fincantieri Marghera as Arcadia.  (All these lines are part of Carnival) The 84,342 grt ship has a capacity of 2358 max passengers and 976 crew and is propelled by electric azipod drives.

Fleet mate Aurora, which was here September 3 had a fire in the engine room September 20 while en route from Bermuda to the Azores and was drifting without power for about an hour.

The 76,152 grt ships, built in 2000 by Jos. L. Meyer, Papenburg, has a capacity for 1878 passengers and 850 crew. The ship apparently reached the Azores safely.

Both ships cater to British cruisers and have subdued graphics compared to some of the exuberant floating bill boards we see, such as another ship that was in port today, AIDAdiva (see September 14) or its fleet mate AIDAluna on September 4.

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I prefer the plain vanilla ships such as another of today's visitors- Silver Whisper.

Built in 2000 by Mariotti, Genoa it has the understated elegance that is appropriate to an exclusive yacht-like ships. At 28,258 grt it carries only 382 passengers. When I checked two years ago it had the most space per passenger of any cruise ship with 74 gross tons per passenger and with 295 crew it also had the highest passenger to crew ratio of 1.3 to 1.


Update: Arcadia's long stay was due to rope entanglements in its prop(s). These were finally cleared, but not until the ship had missed three port calls. So it is not only whales that are suffering from phantom / abandoned fishing gear.

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Week's roundup

Several events were worthy of note in Halifax harbour this week (although I missed some of them).

The Irving Oil terminal in Woodside was recommissioned this week with the arrival of Acadian. The pier and all the lines running over and undergound to tanks high on the hill behind the terminal have been rebuilt in the past two years. 

Acadian at the Woodside terminal on September 21.

Irving had shared pier facilities with next door neighbour Imperial Oil for several years, but when Imperial ceased refining at that location and began importing all product, their two piers became too congested for Irving's liking. Irving thus rebuilt their old terminal for their own use. A pipeline connecting Esso to Irving's tanks was probably also removed.

HMCS St.John's was elevated on the HMC Dockyard synchrolift for some needed maintenance.

This is the first ship, other than a submarine, to be lifted in a long time.

Speaking of maintenance, Atlantic Container Line's new G4 LoRos are experiencing teething problems. Atlantic Sail has been anchored in Bedford Basin since Thursday September 22 with undisclosed mechanical problems. It has been restricted from sailing by Transport Canada until it has a clean bill of health.

For a time there was a tug alongside, indicating that its main propulsion engines were out of commission. This is the second delayed ACL recently, with G3 Atlantic Cartier hung up in port for several days awaiting parts earlier this month.

Atlantic Cartier sailing without indcident on September 22.

The cruise ship Arcadia was only one of 18 cruise ship visits in the last seven days as the season is in full swing.

Built in 2004 by Fincantieri, Porto Maghera, the ship was originally ordered by Holland America as a Vista class ship, but was transferred to Cunard, to be named Queen Victoria. However shortly before launch, parent company Carnival transferred it to P+O and it became Arcadia. The 84,342 grt ship has a capacity of 1952 regular passengers, but can carry 2388 maximum (the latter figure is used by the Port of Halifax, but I doubt she was carrying that many.)
The ship has been refitted twice, losing the traditional P&O buff colour on its funnel in the process and getting an exploded version of the union flag on her bow. The unfortunate implications of a such a design are too obvious to comment on here.

In 2014 the ship still had its traditional P+O funnel colour, even though the funnel was a Cunard style, less the cowl.

Despite the blue funnel, the ship has kept its attractive red boot topping.

The ship stood out at pier 31, with about 15m of its bow projecting out into the stream.

The expected arrival of Disney Magic at pier 31 tomorrow meant that Nirint Line's usual berth was occupied.

Helga arrived late Saturday night and berthed at pier 27. The 8999 gert, 12,944 dwt ship, was built in 2009 by Damen Yichang and completed by Damen Gorinchen, for Dutch owners Van Dijk Rederij of Westerbroek. Built as Helga, it was renamed Kent Atlas in 2010, Helga in 2012, Clipper Avalon in 2013, Thorco Tribute in 2014 and  reverted to Helga again in 2015.

Today's arrival for Hapag-Lloyd, Ningbo Express, was not deeply loaded, but had an ample quantity of containers aft of the superstructure. Many of these are likely to be empties, heading back to the far east. The 7506 TEU ship, built as Hong Kong Express in 2002 by Hyundai, Ulsan measures 88,493 grt and 100,016 dwt. It received its current name in 2012.

It was met by the tugs Atlantic Larch (filling in for Atlantic Willow which is getting some maintenance) and Atlantic Oak for its trip in to Fairview Cove. 

 The tugs turn the ship off Fairview Cove, where filing continues, presumably to enabel eventaul expension of the pier. Even though doubts have been expressed about the ability of Fairview Cove to continue serving large ships, Shipfax believes it will continue to serve ships up to and beyond the size of Ningbo Express.

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Cruise News - updated

It is the height of cruise season with some days seeing three or even four ships. It is also the time of year when weather may interfere with schedules but it is not often that mechanical repairs mess up cruise plans.
News is in that Veendam has now cancelled the October 11 cruise, in addition to the September 27 and October 4 cruises out of Quebec City due to propeller problems. The ship will be drydocked in Philadelphia. The ship is passing Halifax southbound as this is being written.  Its October 16 date in Halifax is still shown on the Cruise Halifax website.

Veendam's September 22 tug assisted arrival.

Meanwhile Pearl Mist spent Saturday night in Halifax. It had been intended to sail Saturday morning. Instead it left on Sunday morning.

Morning arrivals are now difficult to photograph due to sun angles and evening departures due to dark. This morning's attempt at Norwegian Gem bore mixed results.

 The tug in the background is returning from pier 31 where it stood by Arcadia for its tight turn into the berth. Legend of the Seas is also arriving this morning.

Update:

Arcadia, one of my favourites, made a splendid late afternoon departure.

Arcadia with Chebucto Pilot alongside. Does the ship have a slight squat to the stern?

Ordered originally by Holland America as a Vista class ship, it was transferred to Cunard during construction, and hence has a Cunard QE2 type mast and Cunard funnel (less the cowling at the base) and the clean appealing lines of a Cunarder. Shortly before launch parent Carnival transferred it to P+O and it took to the water at Fincantieri's Porto Marghera yard June 26, 2004 as Arcadia.

An adult only ship of 83,781 grt, with 11 decks, it carries 1952 passengers in normal configuration, but can max out at 2388, with 950 crew. It is propelled with diesel electric azipods, which makes me wonder why it had a tug in attendance this morning.

It was also closely accompanied by the pilot boat on departure. The ship had to signal for several inattentive sail boats to clear the channel (with 3 very longs and 1 short, double barrel blasts), so perhaps the pilot boat was there to ward them off. It soon shifted to the ship's port side and went out ahead.

For the record, the other ship in today, Legend of the Sea tied up at pier 20.

 Mackerel fishermen on the Tall Ship Quay were paying no attention to Legend of the Seas before it sailed.

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Cruise Parade

It is the height of the cruise season, with up to five ships in port on a given day. The late afternoon parade of ships is a great sight.
Sunday, September 30 -the weather was not too pleasant, and Eurodam was the only ship in port.

When it sailed in the late afternoon, the fog and rain did not bode well for a pleasant trip on to Boston.

Yesterday, October 1 -there were five ships in port:

left to right:
Maasdam, pier 20; Caribbean Princess pier 22; Quest for Adventure pier 23;  Emerald Princess pier 31, Regatta pier 34. Unfortunately weather did not co-operate for departure time photos.

Today was a different case however and there were four ships in :

left to right:
Norwegian Gem pier 31; Quest for Adventure pier 23, Norwegian Dawn pier 22, Arcadia pier 20.

The weather certainly did co-operate at departure time and the ships left in the following order:

Did you notice Wilhelmsen's Topeka? The autocarrier certainly stands out in crowd!

A pair of good looking ships

1. Arcadia - modern ship, respecting tradition. Arriving this morning with Theodore Too providing a welcoming escort.

2. HMCS Iroquois idles for a PAX transfer this morning. Sleek and powerful.

3. Iroquois makes a fast getaway after refueling Monday, September 12.

My preference is for traditional looking ships. Today's arrival of Arcadia and HMCS Iroquois remind me that there are still some good looking ships around.

P&O Cruises (part of Carnival) operates the 2005 built Arcadia. It successfully combines some modern touches with traditional P&O features, and resists the current trend of extraneous painted motifs on the hull.

Of course HMCS Iroquois cannot be beat for determined good looks. Despite her great age, and many refits, the ship's hull has maintained a crisp appearance of speed, even when standing still. The ship's motto "Relentless in Chase" seems most fitting. See its web site at: www.navy.forces.gc.ca/iroquois

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