Return to normal

 After several days of unsettled weather and resulting delays, with ships at anchor, today, Sunday March 9, ships were once again coming and going.

The CMA CGM Hermes arrived this morning, March 9, at PSA Atlantic Gateway on the Ocean Alliance service from Colombo, via the Cape of Good Hope*. After standing by off Halifax since yesterday during a period of high winds, there was only a light snow to contend with today.

Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Shipbuilding delivered the ship in 2021, one of the five ship Zephyr class. It is rated at 154,995 gt, 150,055 dwt with a capacity of 15,536 TEU. It made its first call here February 9, 2022 .

 

Surprisingly CMA CGM has over taken Maersk as the second largest container shipping line, if the number of ships on order is included. With a capacity of 5.42 million TEU it edged ahead of Maerk's 5.28 million TEU.

 

The coastal tanker Algoscotia arrived March 5 at Imperial Oil then moved to Pier 25 March 6, due to the high winds. 

Yesterday, March 8 the ship returned to Imperial Oil to complete loading and is due to sail tonight for the usual eastern Canada ports.

 

As predicted the CB Pacific moved from anchorage to Irving Oil March 8 and is due to sail tonight for the St.Lawrence River. Its place will be taken by the Acadian.

 

The container / cargo vessel Frisian Octa arrived March 4 and docked at PSA Fairview Cove. The ship has been carrying containers loaded with propane in tanks to Moa, Cuba. It moved later in the same day to anchor in the lower harbour and remains there today.

 

 There has been no word yet if the ship will be making more trips.

 

Atlantic Container Line's Atlantic Sail departed yesterday - not the usual sailing day - probably delayed by weather -  eastbound for Liverpool, UK. 

Since ending the forty-year slot sharing arrangement with Hapag-Lloyd in November, ACL ships are almost exclusively loaded with the rust coloured or white ACL boxes and a few blue boxes from parent company Grimaldi.

 

 

Now with Daylight Saving Time in place, real spring isn't far off.

 

*CMA CGM is among the first lines to resume routing ships through the Suez Canal. Starting in January ships sailing from Asia for European ports resumed use of "the Ditch", However I cannot verify that this ship did so as no reports are available of any calling in points between Colombo and Halifax.

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Arrivals of Note (and Footnote)

 Among the arrivals in Halifax today, January 2, 2024, there were some notable ones.

The tanker Harbour Pioneer was noteworthy on a couple ofcounts. Firrst was that it arrived at Irving Oil's Woodside terminal from New York. By far the majority of ships that arrive at that dock are Irving Oil's own (albeit long term chartered) tankers, doing their rounds delivering product for local consumption from Irving's own refinery in Saint John, NB. Irving Oil also receives refined product at that dock from its own sources in Europe, shipped out of Amsterdam, but those shipments have been relatively rare lately.

Second point of interest is the ship's size. Instead of the usual MidRange ship of about 50,000 deadweight tonnes coming from Europe or the 37,500 dwt of its own tankers, the Harbour Pioneer is a mere 13,239 gt, 19,122 dwt. Built in 2010 by Yangfan in Zhoushan, China, it is owned by Vierte Nordtank of Hamburg. Ships of that company are well known Great Lakes callers but are seen here only once in a long while. I note the ship has enclosed bridge wings so it is likely Ice Class, as the prefix "Nord" in the company name implies.

I can also assume that the ship is carrying some small "package" of needed component such as winter fuel additive for local blending or some less commonly used product.

Another arrival has been the subject of some speculation (mine).

The Athina III is a 39,037 gt, 73,305 dwt Panamax bulk carrier, built in 2004 by Namura Shipbuilding Co Ltd at the Imari Shipyard + Works in Japan. It was delivered as the Ioannis Zafirakis and renamed Athina III in 2018 by the current owners Salvia Shipping, and the management of Eastern Mediterranean Maritime.

The ship arrived in Quebec City December 25 having departed Al Fujayrah, UAE anchorage November 19. It transited the Suez Canal November 28-29 and bunkered in Gibraltar December 7. After unloading in the Sillery section of the Port of Quebec (which has bulk cargo storage and distribution facilities) it departed December 29 and anchored off Halifax January 1.

When spotted from shore yesterday (see previous post) the ship appeared to be loaded, but that was a view from sea level, and was misleading. From closer up today, the ship appears to be in ballast and therefore will take a full load in Halifax, not just a top-up. The ship has a history of carrying soybeans, and that is likely what it will load here.

 As you will have noticed from today's two photos, the angle of view and focal length of the camera lens can distort the appearance of the ship, exagerating its proportions.

The autocarrier  Thermopylae made a return visit today. The ship made a quick turn around after it last visit on November 27, 2023. It sailed from here on November 28 and called at Baltimore December 1, Gothenburg December 15, Bremerhaven December 17-18, Zeebrugge December 20 and Southampton December 22-24. On this trip it is carrying only cars for Halifax, so went directly to Autoport, without dropping RoRo cargo at Pier 9C as it did last time.

The first ship of the HERO class (High Efficiency RoRo). it was delivered in 2015 by Hyundai Samho, Mokpo. The 75,283 gt, 23,786 dwt ship can carry 8,000 RT43 class cars and uses a 320 tonne SWL stern ramp.

With port operations now back to normal after the holidays, two container ships arrived from offshore where they had been idling. ONE Wren tied up at Pier 41 and MOL Experience at PSA Fairview Cove. I expect the Atlantic Sail, arriving later today, will have interchange cargo for the idle Nolhan Ava which has been "parked" at Pier 9C. Tropic Lisette at Pier 42 resumed cargo operations today too and is due to sail at the end of the working day.

 Footnote

It is a good time to thank everyone who has supported this blog during the past year with comments including the always welcome corrections, and to add Best Wishes for 2024.

I do not monotize this blog, so I receive no financial reward for readership totals. But I do welcome readers to sign up as followers. 

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Firing on all cylinders

 It was a busy day in the Port of Halifax, with ships working at almost every available berth. This is not unheard of - particularly around a holiday. There is no holiday in Canada, but as yesterday was Thanksgiving in the United States, ships may well have adjusted their schedules to avoid overtime rates and traffic jams farther south.

Of course with containers and RoRo, the labour needed to load and off load ships is not what it once was, and ships can now arrive and leave in a matter of hours. The sight of ships tied up end to end at every berth for several days is not likely to happen as it did up until the 1960s.

 

By my count there are fifteen ships in this 1960s photo, occupying berths from Pier 20 to 39. All the transit sheds, except one at Pier 26 are now gone. The gross tonnage of all the ships would still be less than one of the Ultra Size ships that now calls in Halifax.

All those berths have become under-utlized, and that is why the Port of Halifax can expand the South End Container Terminal (SECT) by demolishing the transit sheds and filling in between the finger piers. The new land space will be used to increase the number of containers that can be handled as larger and larger ships arrive.

Even without those giant ships, the SECT was working three ships today, none exceptionally large. The MSC Alina, arrived at Pier 41 on its return, eastbound, leg of the Indusa service from Baltimore, Savannah, Norfolk and Philadelphia to northwest India.

 The ship was built in 2014 by Hyundai, Samho, registering 94,930 gt, 112,171 dwt, with a capacity of about 9,000 TEU. Operating briefly as UASC Tabuk it was renamed Skyros in the same year and became MSC Alina in 2021.

It was joined at Pier 41 by the Nolhan Ava on its weeekly run to Argentia and St-Pierre et Miquelon for TMSI. 

 

Oddly the Nolhan Ava appeared to be unloading an Eimskip container while the next arrival, the Skogafoss was arriving from Portland, ME en route to Argentia and Reykjavik also for Eimskip.

 

Also arriving this morning was the autocarrier Grande Halifax for Grimaldi Group. Built in 2018 by Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, the ship was officially dedicated in Halifax May 16, 2018 with the CEO of the Halifax Port Corporation as sponsor. On this trip it is arriving from Salerno and Livorno, Italy and Valencia, Spain.

The Grande Halifax is a mid-size ship of 62,134 gt,18,353 dwt with a 150 tonne SWL stern ramp and a capacity of 6700 CEU.

At PSA Fairveiw Cove the Oceanex Sanderling was loading for Newfoundland on its weektly trip to St.John's. It was joined late in the afternoon by Atlantic Sail arriving from Norfolk on its eastbound transatlantic run.

As Shipfax has reported before, eastbound transatlantic cargo levels are extremely thin and the relatively few containers on deck is a testament to this fact. The trade imbalance of imports far outweighing exports is seldom more obvious than in the Port of Halifax where finished goods cargoes are predominantly imports - both containers and autos.

As a follow up to yesterday's post, the heavy load carrier GPO Emerald was preparing to get underway as Atlantic Sail arrived. Having unloaded its cargo of wind farm towers, the ship is headed for Rostock, Germany for more. The ship's deck is clear except for the cradles that hold the tower components, and a crib structure (black colour).  

 

Bedford Basin and ConRos - last NATOs

 Halifax Harbour is noted for Bedford Basin, a sheltered bay at the head of the harbour, measuring some 8 km x 5 km, that has at many times in its history, been a strategic asset. During World War I and World War II it was the forming up point for convoys and scores of ships could be seen at anchor preparing to carry important cargo overseas.

 The famous World War II photo shows the Narrrows at top left and Fairview Cove top right.

(Cargo and stores were taken out to anchored ships by the lighterage barges seen at top right).

Nowadays the Basin is more likely to be the site of sailboat races, and with one or two container ships at PSA Fairview Cove or a bulk carrier loading at Gold Bond Gypsum. Smaller ships come and go from the Bedford Institute of Oceanography and the Canadian Coast Guard dock.

But to see four ships in the Basin at one time is quite a rare sight. Unfortunately I am not in possession of a drone, so I could not capture all four ships in one view when it happened today (November 2.)

Also unusually, three of the ships were at anchor, with only one ship arriving from sea. 

Longest resident of the current group of ships in the Basin is the icebreaking supply / tug Polar Circle.

The Norwegiain vessel (right in the above photo) arrived from Russia (via Panama and New York) on October 7 [see that day's Shipfax post]. There was speculation about a Canadian government charter, but nothing has been heard lately. [With CCG Terry Fox going off the Heddle Marine in Ontario for a major refit, the CCG will be short a major icebreaker this winter and next summer. However CCGS Vincent Massey has just entered service.]

Another unusual anchored vessel is the tanker BSL Elsa. Most product tankers are in such demand that they do not linger in port very long, but this ship moved out to the Basin yesterday after discharging cargo from Antwerp at Imperial Oil.

Built in 2009 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan as CPO Korea, the 29,636 gt, 51,747 dwt tanker has been operated by Zeaborn Tankers under its present name since 2017. It arrived October 31, off loaded and anchored yesterday.

Anchored on the east side of the Basin was the self-unloading bulk carrier Hon Paul E. Martin.

 On this trip the ship arrived October 29, apparently freshly painted from the shipyard, possibly in Turkey, as its last port was given as Instanbul anchorage. After a brief stay at Pier 9C the ship moved out to anchor October 30. It was due to move in to Gold Bond Gypsum this afternoon to load. Again I have no definite news as to why it has been idle.

Built in 2012 by Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, the Trillium class ship is rated at 43,691 gt and 71,406 dwt. The ship is named for a prominent Canadian politician and late father of a former Canadian Prime Minister. The ship operates in the CSL Americas pool of self-unloaders. CSL (Canada Steramship Lines) is owned by the Martin family.

The arrival from sea was the regular ACL ship Atlantic Sail en route from Norfolk eastbound back to north Europe. (It was here on the westbound leg October 21.)

It is one of five sister ships that keep the weekly ACL schedule. They are the largest Container / RoRo (ConRo) ships in the world.  With the current labour strife in Liverpool, some of its normal aircraft component RoRo cargo has been shifted to other cargo ships and brought directly to Halifax from Belfast. BBC Weser was in last weeek with such a cargo.

At the other end of the port at the PSA Hub another ConRo, the Oceanex Sanderling was working containers at Pier 42. The ship usually uses Pier 36 or Pier 41 where there are RoRo ramps built into the pier faces, so it is a bit unsual to see it at Pier 42. As usual however it was unloading Oceanex's nearly unique sea-going 53 foot containers.

 

NATOs

The visiting NATO warships accompanying the USS Gerald R. Ford sailed yesterday, November 1, however one other (unheralded) ship sailed today - the United States flag offshore supplier Virginia Ann departed from Pier 9B.

Operated by Oceaneering International Inc of Houston, the gantry equipped ship supports all sorts of subsea work for private industry and government agencies. Its presence in Halifax while there were USN ships in port may just have been a coincidence. Built in 2005 by Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City, FL, as Bravante IX the 3518 gt, 4466 dwt arrived October298 and tied up out of the way at Pier 9B.

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Post post tropical storm Fiona

Post tropical storm Fiona was the most powerful storm ever to hit Atlantic Canada. On September 23 and 24 it tore through eastern mainland Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, southeastern New Brunswick and  southwest Newfoundland. The lowest barometric pressure ever recorded on land anywhere in Canada was measured at Hart Island, NS at 932 millibars (unofficial). Unofficial wind gusts of 171 kph at Arisaig, NS (on the Northumberland Strait) and 177 kph at Wreckhouse, NF were among a dozen or so gusts over 125 kph reorded throughout the region.

 The storm left unaccountable damage to houses, businesses and infrastructure and left a nearly half a million people without power (at one time) and some hundreds without safe homes. I do not wish to ignore the heartbreak and agony suffered by many, but as this blog concentrates on shipping in Halifax, I will stick closer to that topic.

Halifax was spared the brunt of the storm although thousands of trees were down and utility lines severed. Ship Central Eastern, the home of Shipfax was without power for 84 hours - from 2300 hrs Friday September 23 to 1100 hrs today (September 27). There was a longer outage in September 2019 when Hurricane Dorian passed through, about 86 hours - but I wasn't counting that time. Wind gusts of 125 kph were recorded at the Stanfield International Airport - well inland from the port. Sustained wind of 70 to 80 kph in the city (and port area) were recorded in the early hours of Saturday September 24 and near 50 kph for most of the day. There was also heavy rain. 

As per my previous post, most of the harbour was "battened down". Several pleausre craft that had been left at moorings were mauled and some driven aground, but others survived unscathed. Major commercial ships had put out to sea under instruction from the Harbour Master. Both the coastal vessels Oceanex Sanderling and Nolhan Ava remained in port at anchorages in Bedford Basin. 

When conditions improved, and some services restored on Sunday September 25, Oceanex Sanderling returned to Pier 41 (PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway) and completed loading for St.John's. It sailed in the early hours of Monday the 26th.

Nolhan Ava sailed directly from anchorage for Argentia and St-Pierre on the 25th.

By Sunday the 25th it was mostly business as usual in the port even though it felt a bit surreal. Cruise ships Caribbean Princess and  Silver Whisper arrived as did several commercial vessels: ZIM Constanza (westbound from the Med), Augusta Luna (for Nirint with cargo from Cuba) and Atlantic Sail from New York, both of which must have jogged along slowly following the storm.

The warm sunny day was in complete contrast to the previous day, and cruise passengers had an ideal day ashore - where the roads were not blocked by fallen trees and the power had been restored. I think many were shocked by what they saw.

  Monday September 26 was also like a typical day in the port with Zaandam, Insignia and Seven Seas Navigator alongside. There was also a more typical drizzly mist.

The harbour tour boat Kawartha Spirit (and the inevitable Harbour Hopper 5) were also operating after holing up for a few days in safety.

Two commercial vessels returned to port to complete operations. CMA CGM Brazil, which put out to sea ahead of the storm in the early hours of Friday September 23 resumed its spot at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway, Pier 41. Morning Chorus had unloaded RoRo cargo at Pier 9C on September 22 (see previous post) and came back in to dock at Autoport to unload cars.

Tuesday, September 27 (today) was even mistier and rainier, but also busy with three more cruise ships: Norwegian Pearl, Star Pride and Voyager of the Seas.

Star Pride is no stranger to Halifax, as per my older post from September 5, 2018. From new in 1988 as Seabourn Pride, the ship was a regular here, and returned after it was sold and renamed in 2014 and refurbished in 2016. It has been refurbed again, this time just last year by Fincantieri, Palermo, with a new 25.6m mid-section containing 50 more cabins, as well as other upgrades. The now 12,995 gt ship (it was 9975 gt) carries 312 passengers (up from 208) and has a staff of 190. It tied up as usual at Pier 23, but stern in.

The big ships tied up at the seawall from Pier 20, 21 to 22.

It was a decidedly gloomy experience for passengers!

Among other interesting arrivals was the Vayenga Maersk which had weathered out the storm anchored off Queensland in St.Margaret's Bay. This unusual bit of navigation is not unheard of but is more commonly used by Coast Guard and Naval vessels.

Vayenga Maersk anchored in St.Margaret's Bay 

(photo contributed, with thanks, by anon).

Another unusual visitor was the RRS (Royal Research Ship) James Cook arriving from Vigo, Spain and docking at the Bedford Institute.

Completed in 2006 by Flekkefjord Slip + Maskinfabriek AS in Norway on a hull built by Crist in Gdansk, Poland, the 5401 gt ship is operated by the Natural Environment Research Council of the UK with nine officers and 13 crew and technicians, and can carry 32 scientists at full complement.

Another sign that things are returning to normal was Develop Nova Scotia's workboat returning the floating jetties to the Halifax waterfront. With a few weeks of good weather left, they are expecting small craft to tie up alongside.

A deck load of gulls got a free ride across the harbour on the jetties. 
 

Navy tugs moved the Sackville back to its summer berth from HMC Dockyard, where it had been sheltered during the storm. As one of the few remaining ships from World War II (and the only corvette) it is also one of the very few ships left afloat that once carried the designation His Majesty's Canadian Ship. With the ascent to the throne of King Charles III all Canadian naval vessels are again His Majesty's Canadian Ships.

There have been numerous other arrivals, departures and moves, not to mention cancellations of cruise ship calls and bypasses by cargo ships. There are too many to account for here. There have also been numerous missed photo opportunities due to limited access to the waterfront. Some areas are still cordoned off for clearing operations and damage repair.

As usual Shipfax will try to stay on top of it all.

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ACL Meets

 The Atlantic Container Line has been serving Halifax since 1969 with a weekly container and RoRo route from North Europe to the east coast of Canada and the United States and return. The five 100,430 gt sister ships currently maintaining the operation are the fourth generation of vessels running what is acknowledged to be one of the most gruelling year round lines.  Thye are also the world's largeat combination container  / RoRo ships.

The ships usually call in Halifax both east and westbound, although they may bypass from time to time. There is some slack built into the schedule, and once in a while eastbound and westbound ships will meet in Halifax. Such a meet occurred August 10 with the ships passing each other in Bedford Basin.

Atlantic Sail arrived westbound en route to New York. Always an impressive sight, these ships are especially interesting as they fill the Narrows en route to the PSA Fairview Cove terminal.

Just passing Pier 9C, the Atlantic Sail is lined up to pass beneath the A. Murray MacKay bridge.

Tethered escort tug Atlantic Fir is exerting some rudder assist.

As Atlantic Sail cleared the Narrows, Atlantic Sea with its own escort tug Atlantic Oak was setting its course for the Narrows, having left the inbound lots of room.

 Atlantic Sea stood well off in the Basin after clearing PSA Fairview Cove.

Once there was a clear run, Atlantic Sea made its way toward the Narrows with the tug helping to line it up for mid-span.

Atlantic Sea headed eastbound and is due in Hamburg August 17.

One item of note was the presence of what appear to be orange tarps on the starboard boat deck ventilators on the the Atlantic Sail. Perhaps they are covering some damage caused by an errant container during loading or unloading.

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What's In Port

 It was a quiet November 11 in the port, with arrivals and departures mostly happening in the dark. Irving Oil had the East Coast arriving from Boston last night and due to sail this evening.

As one of Irving Oil's Canadian flag tankers it is more often seen in Canadian ports, but it is also well known in several northeastern US ports.

The 23,552 gt, 37,515 dwt ship was built in 2005 by Hyundai, Mipo and is on long term charter from Vroon / Iver .

Imperial Oil also had a tanker alongside. Hafnia Lise is a 29,658 gt, 49,876 dwt vessel, built in 2016 by Guangzhou International. It is notable for having enclosed bridge wings.

Its last port was Port Neches, TX, situated between Port Arthur and Beaumont on Sabine Lake.

The Atlantic Sail arrived in the late afternoon for Fairview Cove.

PSA Halifax had the Edison alongside all day. It arrived in the early morning and is not due to sail before midnight. It is the first time the ship has called in Halifax, and regrettably photos were awkward to say the least.

Owned by Zodiac Maritime Ltd it is operating on the Ocean Alliance, CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, OOCL service, better known as the Columbus Loop. It is a 142,052 gt, 141,448 dwt ship with a capacity of 13,092 TEU including 1,000 reefers. It was built in 2011 by Hyundai Samho as Maersk Edison. On completion of the Maersk charter it became Edison in 2017.

As with many of the larger container ships, it has a split superstructure with accommodation and bridge forward and engine toward to the stern.

Remembrance Day obervances were held in severla locations, with HMCS Kingston standing by off the Navy Memorial at Point Pleasant.

                                                              (File photo - not taken today)

 

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Atlantic Sail and NYK Remus - taking turns

 The Narrows between Halifax harbour and Bedford Basin is a well named body of water - too narrow for two large ships to pass. When two ships are likely to meet, pilots work out passing arrangements in advance so that there is no repetition of the tragic collision of 1917.

Today's perfectly orchestrated meeting had the Atlantic Sail inbound for Fairview Cove,  clearing the Narrows and well into Bedford Basin before the outbound NYK Remus lined up for the Narrows.

NYK Remus is a recent addition to THE Alliance's AL5 service, but was a frequent caller here five years ago or so, in the days of the G6 Alliance.

NYK Remus is one of twelve NYK ships of the same design. The 55,534 gt, 65,981 dwt vessel has a container capacity of 4922 TEU, including 330 reefers. It was built in 2009 by Hyundai, Samho.

After Halifax, the ship will skip US east coast ports and head for the Panama Canal, then call at Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle and Vancouver before returning along the same route. It is scheduled for Halifax again July 12 en route to Southampton and Le Havre.

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Busy Day

There were several busy spots in the harbour today, starting in Eastern Passage

The Integrated Tug/Barge Leo A. McArthur / John J. Carrick arrived in the early hours to offload a cargo of asphalt from the Great Lakes for McAsphalt Industries. 

Immediately astern Oceanex Sanderling was working its cargo to/from Newfoundland, but was getting ready to move back to PSA Halifax.

While the Sanderling was crossing the harbour, the auto carrier Torrens was making its way from Pier 31 to Autoport. The tug Spitfire III appears in both photos as it crosses to meet up with the Torrens. The ship will need two tugs to turn and berth at Autoport. Atlantic Oak, was already tied on after helping to get the ship away from Pier 31.

Torrens is sporting the new Wallenius Wilhelmsen colour scheme. Built in 2004, it was until recently still in the traditional red. It has a capacity of 6,354 CEU.

In the lower harbour the tanker Elka Glory was anchored awaiting its turn at Irving Oil Woodside (on departure of Gaïa Desgagnés - see yesterday's post) after arriving from Amsterdam with refined products.

A fairly typical ship of its type, built in 2003 by Brodosplit, Croatia, it measures 27,612 gt, 44,598 dwt. It operates for European Product Carriers and wears their letter "E" on the bow and funnel. This is its second call this year, after three calls in 2019.

Also arriving at anchor, but in number one anchorage, is another bulk carrier bound for Sept-Iles, QC for iron ore. Estela Claire dates from 2017 when it was built by Tsuneishi Zhoushan, a Japanese owned shipyard in Daishan, China, near Shanghai.

The 43,062 gt,m 81,886 dwt ship will undergo inspection for Asian Gypsy Moth. The ship's last port was Aughinish, Eire, where it unloaded bauxite for that port's Rusal Alumina works. However it has presumably been in an Asian port within the last few months.

Two ships in Baltimore, MD were recently discovered to have Asian Gypsy moth larvae, which so far is unknown in the USA, so I am sure the inspection will be a thorough one. One ship was carrying aluminum from India.

There was container traffic today too, with Cerescorp handling the big and the small.

Nolhan Ava arrived on its weekly call. Primarily serving St-Pierre et Miquelon, the ship also calls in Argentia, NL with container and RoRo service, providing some level of competition with Marine Atlantic and Oceanex. There have been shipping links between Halifax and the French islands for centuries, but this is the first ship in many years to fly the Canadian flag and thus be able to carry cargo between Canadian ports also.

At the larger end of the ConRo scale (in fact sharing the title of the world's largest ConRo with its four sister ships) Atlantic Sail made its regular arrival.

With the tethered escort tug Atlantic Oak making up astern the big ship glides in west of George's Island, to avoid the major course corrections needed to steer around the anchored Estela Claire at number one anchorage.

Despite the similarity of names there is no corporate connection between Atlantic Towing Ltd and Atlantic Container Line.

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