Clear and not so clear

 The autocarrier Asian Captain arrived in Halifax yesterday, March 14, just over a month after its last call. It was here February 6 and since then has been to New York, Brunswick, Charleston, Bremerhaven, Zeebrugge and Southampton. This is the usual circuit for ships in the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean transatlantic service, (It skipped Goteborg this time however.) Despite the EUKOR (Europe Korea) name, parent company Wilhelmsen also uses the Eukor ships to transport new European cars to North America. 

The Asian Captain stopped first at Autoport to discharge cars, then today, March 15, moved over to the Halifax side of the harbour to unload RoRo cargo at Pier 9C. That move necessitated passing through the Narrows to Bedford Basin, turning and coming back alongside, starboard side to the dock.

With assistance of the tugs Atlantic Oak and Atlantic Beaver the move was made quite neatly, and allowed a good view of both sides of the ship. Despite the hundreds of sections of gas pipe stacked on the pier there is still lots of room for the RoRo cargo such as agricultural, forestry and mining equipment.

Built in 1998  by Hyundai Ulsan the Asian Captain was originally a 55,729 gt, 21,466 dwt vessel, but in 2007 it was lengthened from 228.78m to 248m overall length, thus increasing its tonnages to 71,383 gt, 25,765 dwt. Its original capacity of 6,246 CEU  increased to 6,460 CEU.

The mid-day clear conditions did not last however as showers of rain combined with snow took over late in the afternoon, preventing clear views of the arriving NYK Remus on THE Alliance's AL5 service.

The ship is east bound from Pacific coast ports via Panama and Saint John, NB to Europe. One of several Constellation class ships the 55,534 gt, 65,981 dwt vessel was built in 2009 by Hyundai, Samho and has a capacity of 4922 TEU including 330 reefers. 

The NYK Remus has been here many times, both for the old G6 Alliance in the 20 teens and since 2021 for THE Alliance.  Not so the outbound ship MSC Sines R. on the CANEX 2 service from Montreal for its namesake port of Sines, Portugal.

 

It was built by Samsung Geoje in 2001 and measures 37,113 gt, 39,978 dwt with a capacity of 3430 TEU including 800 reefers.  It retains one 45 tonne SWL crane aft, but three more cranes once mounted forward have been removed - apparently since joiing MSC. 

The ship was launched as Santa Cristina, but was delivered as P + O Nedlloyd Bantam and carried that name until 2005 when it was renamed Santa Cristina. In 2010 it became Cristina Star and in 2020 MSC Sines R. 

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Asian Captain and Weather

 The EUKOR car carrier Asian Captain has been in Halifax twice by my count, and both times the weather has been less than ideal to say the least.

The last time it was here,  November 22, 2022 , there was a big blow that caused the ship to return to sea when it was too windy to approach Autoport or to anchor in the harbour.

Yesterday, February 5, 2023, the ship returned to Halifax and tied up at Pier 9C there was about 30 cm (one foot) of fresh snow on the ground, but port workers had the Pier cleared in time for the ship to offload machinery.

Last evening the ship moved to Autoport and off loaded cars. That facility also had a mounumental job to remove snow without damaging the thousands of cars in storage there. Workers were able to clear off enough space for the latest deliveries, and the ship sailed early this afternoon, February 6, in a stiff breeze with a light combination of mist and snow in the air.

Built in 1998  by Hyundai Ulsan the Asian Captain was originally a 55,729 gt, 21,466 dwt vessel, but in 2007 it was lengthened from 228.78 to 248m overall length, thus increasing its tonnages to 71,383 gt, 25,765 dwt. Its original capacity of 6,246 CEU was thus increased to 6,460 CEU.

The container piers also had a massive job to clear their facilities but they are equipped and prepared to do this and there were few delays. Some ships remained offshore during the storm, as much due to the winds. The ability of longshore workers to reach the piers may also have been an issue as many roads were impassible for a day or so. 

What may be another weather related visit is the container ship MSC Malena which tied up at Pier 31 on Friday, Febraury 2. The ship sails on MSC's Canada Gulf Bridge service and normally would be en route from New York to Montreal with subsequent calls in CornerBrook and Saint John en route to Freeport, Altamira and Progreso. It sailed from New York January 31, but there is no posted ETA for Montreal. Schedules show it due in Corner Brook February 14 and Saint John, February 17.

Pier 31 is not a working berth for container ships, so it is possible the ship is in for repairs.

Built in 2000 by Samsung Heavy Industries in Geoje, it was launched as Santa Adriana and delivered as P+O Nedlloyd Algoa. It was immediateley renamed MOL Parana until 2002 when it reverted to P+O Nedlloyd Algoa. In 2005 it became Santa Adriana again for five years until it became EM Athens in 2010. Keeping that name for ten years it was renamed MSC Malena in 2020.

The 25,294 gt, 32,350 dwt ship has a capacity of 2506 TEU including 420 reefers, and carries four crane, three of 45 tonnes SWL and one of 35 tonnes SWL. 

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Big Blow

 A large low pressure zone worked its way across the region this morning (November 26). The accompanying high winds peaked in Halifax harbour around noon, with gusts of about 80 kph (50 mph), causing minor havoc with shipping.

A thin mist of wind driven spray did not obscure vision but made photos appear out of focus.

The coastal tanker Algoscotia moved off the Imperial Oil No.3 dock to anchor in the lower harbour. (Imperial Oil has only recently completed upgrades to its mooring equipment to allow ships to remain alongside in bad weather, but today's gusts were likely beyond the safe range.)

The tug Atlantic Beaver at the bow of the Algoscotia holds it alongside as the linehandling tug Roseway arrives to let the headlines go from the jetty.

 

The Algoscotia at anchor.

The ship arrived in Halifax November 24 from Imperial's refinery in Nanticoke, ON. It is likely to move back alongside to finish unloading before sailing for Sydney, NS. 

At the same time the autocarrier Asian Captain was making its way inbound passing Ives Knoll, but instead of turning into Eastern Passage for Autoport, it headed for lower harbour anchorage too.

Once in the anchorage position it was apparent that the winds were too high for the ship to anchor. Due to their large surface area autocarriers are difficult to handle in high winds, and are known to drift while at anchor.

The ship reached the anchorage position at the height of the wind gusts, and the flying spray was at its densest.

 The ship swung round in its position and headed back out to sea.

As it passed Ives Point again outbound there was a rare opportunity to see both sides of the ship  without tugs alongside.

 

Built in 1998  by Hyundai Ulsan the Asian Captain was originally a 55,729 gt, 21,466 dwt vessel, but in 2007 it was lengthened from 228.78 to 248m overall length, thus increasing its tonnages to 71,383 gt, 25,765 dwt. Its original capacity of 6,246 CEU was thus increased to 6,460 CEU.

While all this was going on HMCS Montreal slipped back into port from Operation Wolverine in the Eastern Atlantic with USS Gerald R. Ford and NATO navies.

It was met by navy tugs and safely tied up at HMC Dockyard.

The ship was neatly bracketed between Canadian flags at Summit Place and the Dominion Federal Building. The red colour on Canadian flags showed up surprisingly well in the atomizer-like spray.

 The high winds did not seem to deter the big move at Halifax Shipyard. The fourth APOV ship was succesfully transported from the hard stand at Pier 8 to the launch barge Boabarge 37.

 The tug Atlantic Willow holds the Boabarge 37 alongside at Pier 7.

The ship was inched aboard the barge in a morning-long operation using multi-wheel Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs). Plans to move the barge to Bedford Basin today have been postponed -  likely to tomorrow - when the ship will be floated off.
 

Speaking of the Bedford Basin the ConRo Nolhan Ava opted to remain in port until better conditions prevail before settting out on its weekly trip to St-Pierre et Miquelon and Argentia. It went to anchor in Bedford Basin where the X-Press Machu Piccu, Franbo Lohas and Polar Circle have planted teir anchors.

Several other ship arrivals were postponed until tomorrow. Boarding conditions would not unsafe for pilots, but also the ships would be at risk of parting lines while alongside. Also the high winds would preclude container crane operation at the terminals. Tomorrow promises to be a busy day.

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