Sub sandwich

 Today's photo "catch of the day" was the container ship NYK Meteor, but the picture was sandwiched between two semi-submersibles.

The semi-submersible Forte arrived mid-morning from Rotterdam and went directly to anchor deep in Bedford Basin.

A heavy load carrier, built in 2012 by Guangzhou International, it is measured at 36,653 gt and 48,312 dwt. It is semi-submersible to a draft of 26 meters, allowing it to float on and float off large cargoes.

The ship is a fleet mate, but smaller version, of the White Marlin which arrived in Halifax October 25 carrying a topside structure for Vineyard Wind. It sailed November 3 for Sydney, NS arriving there November 7 (and it is still there.)

 White Marlin in Halifax, October 25.

The ships were once at the centre of a major legal proceeding. In 2012 the company Fairstar Heavy Transport had taken delivery of two new semi-submersible heavy load carriers, Fjord and Fjell, with options for two more of the same class on order: Forte, Finesse. Another company, Dockwise, commenced a hostile takeover but some managers of Fairstar had ordered a fifth ship, to be called Fathom, "off book" (that is without financing in place and without the knowledge of the corporate Board of Directors and thus of Dockwise) as a poison pill to saddle Dockwise with more debt. Dockwise upgraded the order for the 'Fathom' and it was completed as the White Marlin. Dockwise took legal action against the four Fairstar managers. (They had also made adjustments in their compensation without the knowledge of the Board of Directors.) In 2013 Royal Bos Kalis Westminster took over Dockwise and continued the legal action. Eventually, in 2019, the Fairstar directors were found jointly and severally responsible and ordered to pay compensation. In 2011 the "Fathom" was valued at $110 million.

The container ship referred to above, the NYK Mercury, is another of the Daedalus class that are regular callers on THE Alliance's AL5 route from North Europe. Built by Hyundai Ulsan in 2007. The 55,534 gt, 65,935 dwt ship has a capacity of as much as 4922 TEU (some sources report 4888) and 330 reefers. 

 The ship kept its escort tug Atlantic Cedar as it made its way through the Narrows outbound for Port Everglades, FL.

The other "semi" in the sandwich was the Boabarge 37. Fresh from its transfer of AOPV 435 to Bedford Basin and its float off. (see previous post, December 9).

The barge left Halifax this afternoon for Sydney, NS in tow of the Atlantic Fir. All the AOPV's cradles and other gear have been removed, and the barge is sailing light.

 The barge was built in 2015 by Nanjing Wujiazu and comes in at 15,185 gt, 29,500 dwt, and is capable of taking a load of 30,000 tons. It is on long term charter to Irving Shipbuilding Inc, but still retains Norwegian registry. Each time it is to be used ISI applies for a coasting license. It has been used to transfer ships components, such as bow and signal mast, from Woodside to the Halifax Shipyard, and has been used as a launch platform for all six Arctic and Offshore Partrol Vessels. 

So far no application has been made to use the barge elsewhere in Canada, but since it is heading for Sydney, I expect it will have something to do with Vineyard Wind. Sydney is the staging area for the construction of that project. (The same may apply to the Forte also).

Footnote:

Another semi-submersible heavy cargo carrier is arriving tomorrow, December 16. There will be more about the Triumph when it hoves into view.

.

Traffic Control in Bedford Basin - revised

Bedford Basin, and the Narrows leading to it, was the place to be in order to see activity in Halifax harbour today, December 9. The most notable activity was the Float Off of the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel AOPV 435 (see previous post). It was moved from Halifax Shipyard aboard the barge Boabarge 37 and was floated off late in the afternoon.

At Pier 9C, the last berth to the north end of the Narrows, the Dutch flag ship Schippersgracht arrived to take on an unusual cargo.

The "S" class ship from the Spliethoff fleet is more usually loading forestry products or aluminum ingots or even yachts for seasonal relocations. Built in 2000 by Mitsubishi, Shimonoseki it is a multi-purpose ship of 16,641 gt, 21,402 dwt with moveble tween decks and three 120 tonne SWL cranes. It has starboard side doors accessing internal elevators. It also has a 1134 TEU container capacity.

Today however it was loading surplus* Canadian military vehicles.

Although the vehicles are wheeled, they are not being loaded as RoRo cargo, but are being lifted onboard individually. It also appears that the ship's cranes are spotting them precisely in the ship's hold.

While lifting operations were underway passing ships were requested to make minimal wake, and this was certainly the case as the container ship NYK Daedalus passed en route to PSA Fairview Cove.

 

Tugs Atlantic Fir and Atantic Maple kept the ship under control but at slow speed as it passed Pier 9C at close quarters.

Name ship of a class of seven ships built by Hyundai, Ulsan, it was completed in 2007. The 55,487 gt, 65,867 dwt ship has a capacity of 4,888 TEU with 330 reefer plugs. It is a regular on THE Alliance's AL5 North Europe to North America service. As with many Japanese ships it was initially registered in Panama, but in 2020 registry was transferred to the Cayman Islands, a rare flag of convenience for a container ship, particularly as it does not appear to have been connected with a change of ownership. (Perhaps Panama's revised registration regulations after the release of the "Panama Papers" might have been a reason.)

Thanks to good communication and good timing, there was no conflict with the ship departing PSA Fairview Cove at the same time. Atlantic Sea made a wide turn away from the berth and went well out into Bedford Basin to make room for the NYK Daedalus to berth. With tug assistance they also stayed clear of the float-off operation off the Rockingham shore.

The small red ouboard craft, leaving a nice wake, is returning to the float-off operation after a pizza run - I'm not sure who the pizzas were for, but they might have benefitted from some reheating after a 10 minute ride in an open boat.

The Atlantic Sea 100,430 gt, 55,738 dwt, and its four sister ships are the most familiar ships in Halifax harbour as they maintain weekly calls eastbound and westbound on their transatlantic service for Atlantic Container Line. They still hold the distinction as the largest multi-purpose container /RoRo (CONRO) ships in the world. They were built in Shanghai by Hudong-Zhonghua between 2015 and 2017, and have a capacity of 3800 TEU and 1300 CEU.

The only other traffic of note in the area was the tug Glenevis YTD 642 which made a brief foray to the Basin for a compass adjustment. This may mean a return to service for the tug, which would be good news as both it and Glenbrook have been in "prolonged" refits, leaving Glenside as the only operational Glen class tug in HMC Dockyard fleet for the past year.

Two replacement tugs for Halifax have been ordered from the Industrie Océan Shipyard in Quebec, but are still some years away from delivery. One of two for the west coast has been delivered. When the Glens were built in 1976, they were state-of-art, with Voith-Schneider propulsion systems, but only 1750 bhp and 19 ton bollard pull. The new tugs will be Azimuting Stern Drive (ASD) propulsion - a much less complex system - but regrettably they will be 20th century design - that is to say - non-electric, non alternate fuel, and not state of any current art. 

 The three Ville class pup tugs, built in1974, and 365 bhp, 7 ton bollard pull remain in service. (View of the tug basin from the Angus L. Macdonald bridge, November 12, 2024.)

------------------------------------

* The vehicles may not be surplus - they may be headed overseas for use by our forces or those of a friend.

.

Launch Day - AOPV 434 Frédérick Rolette

 Time was when launch day at a shipyard was a festive occasion. Dignitaries gathered on a special elevated stand - sometimes with a band in attendance. The sponsor - also known as the godmother - "christened" the vessel with champagne and a religious blessing. Employees not directly involved with the launch operation gathered, often with their families. The ship itself was usually festooned with bunting and streamers.

The CCGS Ann Harvey was built at Halifax Shipyard and launched stern first on a sloping launch way.

 Workers with heavy mallets knocked out the blocks that kept the ship in place and it began to slide down heavily greased rails, gradually picking up speed until it splashed into the water. (A later version had the ship mounted on a sled.) The crowd cheered as the ship floated free, and was taken in charge by tugs. Most ships were launched stern first, and some were launched sideways (but not inHalifax). When the ship was fully afloat, if its bow turned seaward, that was thought to be a very good omen. (Turning shoreward meant that the ship might someday run aground.)

 The future HMSC Summerside MM 711, the last of twelve Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels built at Halifax Shipyard, was launched stern first and with traditional fanfare September 26, 1998. It was mounted on a sled (yellow crib work) that had to be removed in drydock after the launch.

 Halifax Shipyard launched the Atlantic Eagle August 14, 1999, bow first in order to protect the azimuthing stern drives from impact damage.

These celebrations and traditional launches still do occur at some shipyards, but the practice of launching a ship down sloped launchways is a dangerous one for the workers and could also lead to damage to the ship. Many modern shipyards now "float off" the ship either by filling a drydock or using a launch barge. Halifax Shipyard now uses the latter method. [See also yesterday's post].

In a day long operation today (December 9) the barge Boabarge 37, with the AOPV5, the future HMCS Frédérick Rolette on board, moved from the Shipyard to Bedford Basin where it was gradually submerged until the ship had buoyancy. The attending tugs then eased the ship away from the barge and back to the shipyard, floating on its own for the first time.

Pilots were called for 0700 hrs AST, and the tugs Atlantic Fir, Atlantic Willow, and Atlantic Larch (the latter brought in from Saint John) arrived alongside.

 0807 hrs: In the glare of early morning sun, tugs move the barge off the dock ad turn it toward Bedford Basin. Parts of the ship then became visible in close up.

0819 hrs: the heavy ice knives will protect the ship's rudders and props when backing in ice.

0816 hrs: With the barge's bow heading for Bedford Basin, the ship's icebreaking bow faces seaward for the first time.

The tug Atlantic Fir is at the barge's bow pulling, Atlantic Willow is alongside for additional power and direction control and Atlantic Larch is on the stern for braking and turning.
 

0826 hrs the tow passes beneath the A.Murray MacKay bridge. Two Connor's Diving workboats have been launched at the Africville boat ramp, and will be working on the float off along with several other small craft.
 

1026 hrs: in position in Bedford Basin ballasting operations are underway as the barge's tanks are flooded. The Tuft's Cove power plant in the background was running only two turbines today, and burning natural gas.The chimneys were venting mostly water vapour.

1336 hrs: the barge's tanks are flooded progressively from the stern, (ship's bow).

 

1421 hrs: the ship is nearly afloat, and the barge's (red) hull is completely submerged.

 1446 hrs: viewed from Africville Park the ship is nearly afloat. The tug Atlantic Fir has a line up to the ship's bow ready to pull. The other tugs will stand by on each side to keep the ship in line.(The support cradles remain on the barge's deck, and could damage the ship's hull if not kept clear.)

1546 hrs: well clear of the barge, the ship is now passing the Africville park enroute to the Shipyard.

1602 hrs: the ship is off Pier 9 as the Shipyard's 4pm whistle sounded.

.
 

Post Blow - lift off

 With the return of calm conditions today the port was able to catch up on most of yesterday's delays. 

Among the arrivals was the first timer Protostar N for Costco's improvised shipping line.

Dissatisfied with the delays in ports and late deliveries from major shipping lines, Costco chartered its own ships and leased containers for its own exclusive use. The first of those ships to call here was the Carpathia on August 23 followed by AS Carlotta on October 15.

The Protostar N was built by Aker, with the forepart at the Warnemunde yard and the rest of the ship constructed and assembled at the Wismar yard in Germany. The 28,007 gt, 37,904 dwt ship has a capacity of 2741 TEU. Initially named Cape Manual, it took  its present name in 2013. The ship sailed from China October 23, passed the Panama Canal  November 13, then stopped in Jacksonville November 19-20, Savannah November 20-21 and Baltimore November 22. It will be interesting to see how long Costco is willing to make non-paying return trips to China with its own empty boxes. 

 The coastal container / RoRo Nolhan Ava over nighted at anchor in Bedford Basin and sailed late this morning.

Taht left X-press Machu Picchu (left background in photo) awaiting its turn at PSA Halifax South End terminal where the 15,128 TEU CMA CGM Chile was monopolizing the berth (sorry no photo.) The Franbo Lohas is also at anchor in Bedford Basin (right background in photo) as is the Polar Circle.

That also left the Skogafoss at anchor in the lower harbour, also destined for the South End Atlantic Hub.

The main event however was the float off of Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessel Number 4 from Halifax Shipyard. Yesterday the ship was transported aboard the submersible barge Boabarge 37 and this morning ship and barge were moved to Bedford Basin. In a day long operation the barge was submersed and the ship floated off and was moved back to the Shipyard.

With the barge in position, operators began to flood the ballast tanks to submerge the barge.

With the barge submerged almost out of sight, the ship is finally floating on its own hull and free of the support cradles.

Tugs took charge of the ship and moved it clear of the barge, and it was soon underway for the  Shipyard.

It will be well into next year before the ship is completed and handed over to the RCN. When it is commissioned it will be named HMCS William Hall (1827-1904) for the African Nova Scotian recipient of the Victoria Cross. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hall_(VC)

Another sailing today was USCGC Morro Bay (see November 25) which left the Tall Ships Quay around noon. The vessel is headed for its home port of Cleveland, OH,  but will be calling at Quebec City en route.

 

I mentioned the extraordinary condition of its hull paint in my previous posts - here is an example:

.

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.

.

Boabarge to ground zero

On the 102nd anniversary of the great explosion that killed and maimed several thousand people and  laid waste to much of north end Halifax there were several quiet ceremonies commemorating the event, including in Fort Needham Memorial Park. The explosion shaped the future of Halifax in many ways, not least of Halifax Shipyard.

The memorial bell tower on Fort Needham, high above Pier 6.

In 1917 the Halifax Graving Dock Co was a small repair yard. The graving dock itself was an important facility, particularly during war time, where it was able to accommodate military and civilian vessels in need of drydocking. The fire and subsequent explosion that resulted from the collision of the ships Mont Blanc and Imo, took place only 300 meters from the Graving Dock in the area in the Narrows off pier 6 and has become known as Ground Zero.

Remarkably, Samuel L. Brookfield, owner of the yard, was able to get it back up and running within a month of the explosion despite most of the buildings being flattened and the equipment damaged or destroyed.

For his efforts the Canadian government, under Prime Minister Robert Borden (a Nova Scotian) expropriated the shipyard and essentially gave it to a group of Montreal speculators as part of a grandiose plan to built a Canadian merchant ship fleet. The repair yard soon became a fully fledged shipbuilding yard, one of the keystones of the British Empire Steel and Coal Co, and later the Dominion Steel and Coal Co (DOSCO) Canada's largest employer.

It took Brookfield nearly twenty years to have his compensation claim settled in court. The shipyard has off and on been a political pawn and its fortunes have also had many ups and downs ever since. Currently on a roll under the ownership of Irving Shipbuilding Inc, the pier 6 area is just a part of the yard's laydown area, with no special note being made of its importance.

The Narrows and Halifax Shipyard as seen from the Dartmouth shore. 

Pier 6 is in the centre of the photo, adjacent to the large building.

This morning, not long after the commemoration ceremonies on Fort Needham, tugs moved the Boabarge 37 from the IEL dock in Woodside to pier 6 9c.

The barge has been chartered by Irving Shipbuilding Inc (ISI) as a launch vessel for the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships built under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. Its deck currently carries a number of cradles that have been prepped for the roll out of the third vessel in the current shipbuilding program. That operation is expected early in the new year.

In view of the proximity of the explosion, and the loss of life in the shipyard due to the explosion, I hope ISI was able to make some sort of remembrance as part of its workday today.

.