Surprise Louie visit

 A few years ago the base for the icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent was shifted from Halifax to St.John's, NL for political reasons. The (fictional) logic was that it would then be closer to its "work" in the arctic, and therefore more economical.

Halifax had always been the ship's base, and in fact it was refitted, repaired and modernized at Halifax Shipyard. Halifax was perhaps one day's sailing (via the west coast of Newfoundland and the Strait of Belle Isle) farther from the arctic than St.John's. But Halifax was roughly the same distance to the Gulf of St.Lawrence, and the St.Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers where the ship spent its winters.

Since that transfer there have been many changes, not least that Halifax Shipyard no longer does non-naval ship repair. The Coast Guard shifted its Halifax base from Dartmouth Cove to shared space with the Bedford Institute and built a new pier and other infrastructure, but left no room for a ship the size of the "Louie". Maintenance for the ship has been transferred to Davie in Lévis, QC, which has become "icebreaker central". See my March 11, 2025 post.

All of the above is a long-winded background to the fact that the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is now an infrequent caller in Halifax. Since there is rarely* any ice in the harbour, there is no reason for the ship to come here. That makes today's (March 21) arrival an unusual event, and perhaps somewhat counter to the convoluted logic that transferred it away. It arrived from Sydney - a leisurely and ice free 18 hour sail from Halifax.

 

CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent breaks through the fog arriving in Halifax March 21, 2025.

 With no room at the BIO inn, the ship tied up at Pier 26 in the Ocean Terminals at the southend of the harbour. On one of its previous visits the ship transferred fuel to other CCG ships before going into refit, but that was accomplished at anchor in Bedford Basin. On the other hand there is fuel nearby if the ship needs any.

 

Backing into the pier, the ship appeared to be using its bubbler system as side thruster.

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* Famously "Ice Free"  Halifax harbour has not been known to freeze over to any significant extent. On on occasions drift ice from the Gulf of St.Lawrence flowed in with the tides and winds and choked the harbour with broken ice. During that event, over several days in late March - early April 1987,  the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent cleared tracks for shipping in the inner harbour.

 

Since then the Louis S. St-Laurent has been rebuilt with a new bow; re-powered with diesel engines; and with an "extended life" it is a very different appearing ship. 

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Big price tag for the Louie's replacement

 

The CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent will be kept in service until replacements are delivered in 2030.

 On March 7 and March 9 the federal government announced contract signings to build the long-planned Polar Icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard. The much needed replacement for the aged CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent has been "in the works" for decades but with little progress until the National Shipbuilding Strategy was announced. Even then the needed replenishment ships for the Royal Canadian Navy and other research and survey vessels created a huge backlog at Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyard (VSY), and the RCN ships were given priority.

As previously announced, one ship, to be named the CCGS Arpatuuq, will be built by Seaspan Vancouver Shipyard (VSY). It will be a Polar Class 2 diesel-electric ship of 63,000 total horsepower delivered to one shaft and prop and two ABB azipods. The announced contract cost is $3.15 billion (exclusive of tax) with a delivery date of 2030. The ship was originally to be named the John Diefenbaker, but a change in policy (and political parties) resulted in a culturally significant name for northern populations. Arpatuuq refers to Akpatok Island, in Ungava Bay, Nunavut. The Canadian government commissioned STX to design the ship. That company, formerly associated with Wartsila, has Finnish icebreaker experience.

The government re-assessed its need for year round capability in the arctic and decided to include CDC in the National Shipbuilding Stratetgy and add a second  Polar icebreaker in the plan, while eastablishing the Lévis yard as a centre of excellence for icebreaker technology.

The second ship, to be named CCGS Imnaryuaq is to be built to a totally different design prepared by Chantier Davie Canada Inc (CDC) in association with their wholly owned Helsinki Shipyard. The ship will be built entirely in Canada at CDC's Lévis, QC shipyard but with icebreaker expertise from Finland. The PolarMax design is "off the shelf" from CDC/Helsinki, and will be a slightly smaller ship. Price tag for this one is $3.25 billion, also for delivery in 2030.

Its name comes from a 300 meter high cliff at the southern end of Banks Isand in the Amundsen Gulf, and was once named Nelson Head.

The CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent (affectionately called "The Louie") was launched by Canadian Vickers (now defunct) in Montreal in 1966 and commissioned in 1969. It has been endlessly refitted, rebuilt and repowered over the years, and will presumably require even more TLC to keep it going for another five years. 

Its fleet mate, the smaller CCGS Terry Fox will also be replaced by the new Polar ships, and is in a $135.56 million Vessel Life Extension now at Heddle Shipyard in St.Catharines, Ontario.

 CCGS Terry Fox

CCGS Terry Fox built in 1983 for private industry. It was leased by the CCG in 1991, then purchased in 1993 as a temporary measure until new icebreakers could be delivered.

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CMA CGM arrives and CCGS sails

 The large container ship CMA CGM Lapérouse arrived today on the Ocean Alliance service from Colombo via the Cape of Good Hope. This is not the ship's first visit to Halifax, but due to its size it was still a noteworthy visitor. [See also: July 20, 2022 and March 25, 2023.]

As usual for large ships, it took the deep water, western channel inbound and had three tugs - two as tethered stern escorts (Atlantic Beaver and Atlantic Bear) and one well forward (Atlantic Oak) . The tugs could be seen assisting the ship to make the dog leg turns in the channel and also to turn the ship off the berth.

 Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co built the ship at Okpo in 2010. At 151,446 gt, 165,422 dwt, it has a capacity of 13,800 TEU. 

CMA CGM is the name of the ship's owners and the initials form part of the ship's name.

On the other hand CCGS stands for the Canadian Coast Guard Ship and vessels of that fleet are given the "CCGS" title in recognition of government service, but it forms no part of the ships' actual names.

The largest ship of the CCG fleet is CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent which has been at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Halifax since June 19 following a refit at the Davie shipyard in Lévis, QC. It sailed today as the CMA CGM Lapérouse was arriving. It is likely preparing for arctic operations but may also be testing some scientific equipment as the ship usually carries out reseach while in the far north.

The tug Atlantic Bear works to swing the stern of the CMA CGM LaPérouse as the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent slips by outbound for sea.

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Louis S. St-Laurent - does arrive

 Yesterday's June 18 post speculated on why the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent appeared to sail away from Halifax after coming within thirty or forty miles of port. It now appears that all the berths at the BIO (Bedford Institute of Oceanography) were occupied yesterday and the ship was just idling offshore until space became available to tie up.

When the CCGS Sir William Alexander sailed there was room to dock and so the Louis S. St-Laurent entered port this morning, June 19, and came alongside.

It appears that the refit at Chantier Davie involved re-coating the underwater portion of the ship's hull only up to the waterline, but not the remainder. I wonder if the crew will go overside for some touchups.

Nice job Davie - what you can see of it.

With CCGS Jean Goodwill and CCGS Capt. Jacques Cartier alongside at BIO there was just room for the Louie to tie up.

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Louis S. St-Laurent - Comes Close [see Update]

 Having completed its latest refit at Chantier Davie Canada Inc in Lévis, QC a few days ago, the icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is en route to its home base of St.John's, NL to prepare for another season in the far north.

Canada's largest icebraker was originally based in Halifax and had numerous refits here, including the extensive rebuild 1988 - 1993 when it was re-engined and received a new longer bow. Halifax no longer has drydocking availability due to naval refit commitments, and Davie is now the ship's caregiver.

March 4, 1970 the one year old ship is squeezed into the Graving Dock at Halifax Shipyard. That dock is now in perpetual use for naval refits.

 After the major rebuild, ths ship displays a new bow, new cargo handling gear and a crane replacing its landing craft gantry amongst numerous other mods. It had lost the white bulwarks some time before.

In the early 2000s its home base was transferred to Newfoundland (supposedly Argentia) for political reasons, and so it was a bit of a surprise when it was observed via satellite signal making a "right turn" at Cape North yesterday and heading for Halifax. 

This afternoon, June 18, about forty miles short of Halifax, the ship reversed course and set off for Newfoundland. I am assuming the diversion to the Halifax area was to board a helicopter. In any event the ship will not be seen here this time round. 

Its notable "Manhatttan crease on the starboard side. aft of midships gangway, is a reminder of its arctic history. That history in ice extended even to Halifax when drift ice packed into Halifax harbour in April 1987 and "The Louie" was called in to make a path for shipping. The memorable channel clearing for the Atlantic Cartier won't soon beforgotten.

The CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent in its original configuration off Ives Knoll after loosening up the drift ice for the Atlantic Cartier to sail.

 

UPDATE:

It turns out that the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent may jusat have been waiting for a clear berth, and was just loitering of Halifax until Wednesday June 19 . See new post for June 15.

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Jana Desgagnés update

Jana Desgagnés remains in heavy ice off the mouth of St.George's Bay in western Newfoundland. According to reports CCGS Captain Molly Kool has resumed towing (hooray) until conditions improve and the tug Lois M can take up the assignment.

In my previous report I stated that the nearest ice class tug to the scene was Océan Arctique. That was not strictly true since another Groupe Océan ice class tug, Océan Sept Iles is based in Gaspé this winter, however it is kept busy docking ships at the McInnis Cement plant in Port Daniel, QC. Océan Arctique is also busy with ship docking assignments in the port of Sept-Iles. Neither one was dispatched to the scene.

I did not count on the McKeil tug Lois M which has been tied up in North Sydney and not dedicated to any particular work. I am not sure of the tug's Ice Class (if any) - none appears to be listed in any source I can find.

Lois M in Quebec City last summer when it was working for Groupe Océan.

However this is the tug hired to assist Jana Desgagnés. It required CCGS Louis S. St-Laurnet to escort the tug to the tnaker's position. Ice conditions in the Gulf are the worst off the west coast of Newfoundland as several days of westerly winds have pushed the ice eastward. Shipping though the Gulf is now routing south of the Magdalen Islands, rather than north, to take avoid the heaviest ice concentrations.

The plan is to tow the Jana Desgagnés to Sydney, which appears to be largely free of ice, thanks to the wind. However getting through the Cabot Strait will be the challenge.

Jana Desgagnés was seen in Halifax more frequently as Jade Star .

Jade Star topping up the tanks at Nova Scotia Power's Tufts Cove generating station in 2005

As mentioned in the last post, the ship arrived in Canada for the first time in March 1994 and its name was changed from Jadestern to Jade Star while docked at the Ultramar jetty in Eastern Passage.

 Crew members are overside repainting the name and port of registry on the stern, March 6, 1994. The ship's registration in Canada was effective March 7, 1994.

The ship was operated by Desgagnés for several years before they purchased it outright in 2008 and renamed it in 2010.

Is it weather or is it climate

Following another day of intermittent withdrawal of pilotage services in and out of Halifax, and challenging ice conditions in the Gulf of St.Lawrence and Cabot Strait, it is fair to ask the question. Is it just that this is a bad year for weather related events or is it a new condition brought about by change in the climate?

Substitute pilot boat Captain E.T. Rogers dips it nose in a swell within the harbour, on its way outbound this afternoon.

Conventional wisdom now is that there is climate change, and one of the signs of it is more extremes in weather. Whether this will become the norm, and what can be done about it is an important issue. Certainly as a port, Halifax cannot become known as a place where you can expect delays because it is too rough for pilots. Schedule is important in container shipping, and other port users, so a solution needs to be found.

As for ice in the St.Lawrence there are several issues there as well, including the Canadian Coast Guard's ability to keep ships moving, and the adequacy of the ships themselves.

Periods of high winds and rough seas made it unsafe to embark and disembark pilots Friday and into this morning with several ships delayed or postponed.

The autocarrier Goodwood arrived early Friday morning but kept the tug Atlantic Willow alongside for the better part of the day. Whether this was due to high winds or some other issue with the ship, I have not heard. The next ship for Autoport, Boheme was due to arrive early this morning but it was put off  until noon time. Goodwood got away from the dock but went to anchorage number one, with two anchors down, where it remained until late this afternoon with a tug alongside for a time. (This suggests an engine problem.)

Goodwood weighs anchor after spending the afternoon in number one anchorage.

Boheme is tied up at Autoport in the background.

The gypsum carrier CSL Tacoma was due yesterday evening but has held off and for a time was scheduled for today, but is now due to enter tomorrow morning. It is outside the harbour drifting because the outer anchorages are not reliable in these conditions.

The container ship Zim Monaco was due to sail yesterday afternoon, but it remained in port over night and sailed this morning. The coastal container ship Nolhan Ava was due to sail yesterday afternoon, but went to anchor in Bedford Basin instead and may sail this evening. It is still under some regulatory restrictions and requires tug escort in and out of port.

Without harping on this anymore, is it possible that the port's pilot boarding arrangements make it too hazardous under certain circumstances, and if so, are there other arrangements that can be made?

Observers agree that this has been a year of very heavy ice in the Gulf of St.Lawrence. With ferry service disrupted the Canadian Coast Guard ended up delivering food stuffs by icebreaker to Strait of Belle Isle communities where many store shelves were almost empty of perishables. Milk was to be delivered by airplane. Even icebreakers could not keep the St.Barbe / Blanc Sablon ferry running.

Ice-related casualties have been rare however, there is one in the news now, The Quebec based tanker Jana Desgagnés  suffered steering failure Thursday March 21 in very heavy ice about 16 nautical wiles SW of Port aux Basques. As a result the ship was going to go where the ice took it and there were concerns since the tanker was fully laden with cargo loaded at Come by Chance and bound for Quebec.

Jana Desgagnés has an icebreaking bow and large ice knife at the stern to protect the rudder, but that was not enough in the difficult condition this winter.

The tanker, a veteran of many years of winter ice navigation on the St.Lawrence and arctic supply work, is certainly equipped for these kinds of conditions, but rudders are the most susceptible to being jammed by ice, and that it likely what happened in this case.

The ship was built in 1993 by MTW Schiffswerft, Wismar as Jadestern for Rigel Shipping. It arrived in Halifax March 5, 1994 under that name and was renamed Jade Star while docked at Ultramar, Eastern Passage. It worked for Rigel's Canadian subsidiary and on charter to Pétro-Nav, Desgagnés' tanker company for Ultramar until 2010 when it was acquired by Transport Desgagnés Inc and renamed Jana Desgagnés. A small ship of 6262 gt, 10,550 dwt, it distributes fuel for Valero's (formerly Ultramar) refinery in Lévis, QC.

The Coast Guard response, while timely and useful, does bring to mind a number of issues. First Canada's "newest" icebreaker CCGS Captain Molly Kool the former Swedish offshore supplier Vidar Viking, in its first season of work, was on scene quickly and stopped the ship's drift.  Captain Molly Kool is still apparently fully equipped for towing, and using tow wires nestled the tanker's bow into a notch in its stern and made fast.

Sometimes referred to as a Baltic stern notch, this form of close-in towing, is rarely used in Canada for several reasons. First it is contrary to CCG policy except in direst emergency, to actually tow a ship. And secondly because no Canadian icebreakers are fitted with a Baltic stern notch.

CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent's remarkably clean fantail is totally unequipped for towing, as per CCG policy.

The last CCG icebreaker to be so equipped was CCGS Labrador (which was built to the USCG Wind class design, and originally sailed for the RCN)  which was scrapped in 1989.

CCGS Labrador emerging from the Graving Dock at Halifax Shipyards, shows the stern notch and rope work pudding to protect the escorted ship's bow.

USCG Westwind, was similarly fitted. Apparently the USCG had no strictures against towing,

It is interesting that Captain Molly Kool retained this feature, because it was exactly what was needed in this case.

Had the Captain Molly Kool been an emergency towing vessel (ETV) which it could have been, it then would have towed the Jana Desgagnés to a safe port and sent the owners a bill for services or lodged a salvage claim.
However as a Coast Guard vessel it is obliged to stand by the tanker until a civilian tug arrives. The nearest available ice class tug is apparently Océan Arctique out of Sept-Iles. It was dispatched to the scene, and CCGS Louis St-Laurent was sent off to escort it to the scene. [See Updatre - March 25]

This seems a huge waste of resources where two CCG ships are tied up for days, when one ship (either CCG or a privately operated ETV) could have dealt with the matter in a day.

My previous cries for ETVs on this coast, that apparently fell on deaf ears, are hereby renewed.

In other CCG news Pierre Radisson has been assigned to spring break out on the Great Lakes and was the first ship up through the St.Lawrence Seaway on Thursday several days before the waterway re-opens for commercial traffic. The 'breaker is bound for Lake Superior (eventually) but has stopped off in Toronto, I hear because of engine problems.

This is not the first time the Radisson has gone to the Lakes, nor is it the first time it has had engine problems, despite several rebuilds and a re-engining.

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Coast Guard in - Coast Guard out

A sunrise arrival today was CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent a fairly rare sight in Halifax in recent years after its political transfer to Newfoundland.
 

Whether the ship was actually escorting the Icleandic Lomur (see yesterday's post) can't be confirmed, but that ship arrived a very few minutes later. There was no damage visible to Lomur from a great distance, and the containers I could see appeared intact.

The Louis S. St-Laurent had been on ice operations in the Cabot Strait, and tied up at Irving Oil in Woodside. Ice has retreated dramatically from the Nova Scotia coast in the past week thanks to warm temperatures and favourable winds. While there is still considerable ice in the central Gulf, even that is diminishing rapidly.

After the Louis had been tied up for a while it was time for the departure of USCG Seneca WMEC 906 that had been in port since Friday at HMC Dockyard. There are often US vessels in port to commemorate important historical dates, but I can think of none this time. Maybe St.Patrick's day? If so at least some of the 100 strong complement were able to stand on deck for the departure.

Seneca is based in Boston, but gave Portland, ME as its last port of call before arriving here.
A member of the Famous class of Medium Endurance cutters, it was laid down in 1982 and launched in 1984 by the Robert Derektor Shipyard Inc in Middletown RI. It was in service in 1986, but not formally commissioned until 1987.  Despite their age, the Famous cutters are expected to remain in service until the 2030s, thanks in part to the transfer of weapons and equipment from decommissioned Oliver Hzard Perry class frigates.

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Louis S. St-Laurent and others - Quebec Report #4

The veteran Canadian icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent completed sea trials today and headed for St.John's.

 In mid-river, well out of the normal shipping channels, CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent conducts trials. The town of La Pocatière is to the left on the south shore.

Leaving Davie shipyard early this morning, it made its way down river past Cap-aux-Oies where the river widens out to about 12 miles, and spent a few hours doing evolutions as far downstream as Kamouraska, and upriver off La Pocatière.

It then returned up river as far as St-Joseph-de-la-Rive, where it disembarked a party of shipyard workers via the tug/workboat Ours Polaire.

With trials completed, the ship is met by the tug Ours Polaire and an outboard powered aluminum skiff, which seems to be on standby for lifesaving.

 Forced along by the tide, the ship is directly off the St-Joseph-de-la-Rive ferry dock.

Ours Polaire with a deck load of shipyard techs, heads in where a bus is waiting to take them back to Lévis. Since they were not wearing PFDs I assume the skiff was a precaution.

"The Louie" turns up the revs. The stern squat is real.

It made a very tight turn to port, and then took off, soon reaching 17 knots.

The ship had been on a $14 mn refit since February and really took the chance to kick up its heels. Perhaps it is moving with such alacrity because there is still time to participate in northern operations.

While awaiting the return of "The Louie"  there was more shipping to see from the vantage point of St-Joseph-de-la-Rive.

Upbound the HAPAG-Lloyd container ship Ottawa Express was getting a little boost from a powerful full moon tide.

Ottawa Express also making haste.

Built in 1998 by Daewoo SB+ME Ltd, Okpo, the 39,174 grt, 40,879 dwt ship has a modest container capacity of 2808 TEU. It was designed for year round St. Lawrence service to the restricted drafts of the time. It has carried the names Canmar Honour to 2005 then CP Honour to 2006.


A ship that is actually older (in part) than "The Louie" was creeping down river against the last of the tide. CSL's Cedarglen is an amalgam of the 1959 German-built Ems Ore. That ship was acquired  by Hall Corp  (with two sisters) and in 1977-78 Davie built a new forebody, and moved the island bridge aft. (That necessitated extending the funnel.) Renamed Montcliffe Hall it served Halco until 1988, when that company went out of business. It then went to N.M. Paterson + Sons Ltd where it served as their Cartierdoc. Paterson wound up their business after sister ship Windoc was badly damaged by a untimely bridge lowering in the Welland Canal. CSL acquired the Paterson fleet in 2002.

With a full load of grain, and against the last of the rising tide, Cedarglen makes no haste.

As Cedarglen the CSLer is one of the oldest cargo ships still operating on the St.Lawrence. It is headed from Montreal for Baie-Comeau, and at 6.4 knots was soon overtaken by the racing "Louie".

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Louis S. St-Laurent sails

Canada's largest icebreaker, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent sailed from the Bedford Institute pier late this afternoon for an undisclosed destination.

This year it went to work in the arctic leaving Halifax July 22 and sailing via Tromso, Norway. It was once again a visitor to the North Pole and returned to Halifax a week ago.

Still impressive after all these years, the ship will be among those that will need another upgrade or be replaced temporarily until is successor* finally arrives on the scene - maybe in 2012 or 2022. The Canadian Coast Guard has put out feelers for interim icebreaking capability as ships go into major refits or are retired in the next few years.

While the world does not abound in icebreakers, a number of nations and private companies do have them, some of which would be available due to the downturn in arctic oil exploration.

* It seems possible that the Louis's replacement will be delivered under a Liberal government. If so there will be a lot of pressure to change its name from the current designation John G. Diefenbaker to the Pierre Eliot Trudeau. I have always favoured the name Mike Pearson for the ship, since the former Liberal Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was known as that during his days as a flyer in the Royal Flying Corps in World War I and as a diplomatic courier in World War II.  He was also a multi-sport athlete, and Mike seems a more befitting name for a man of his talents and achievememts.

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Two tankers and not much else but the Louis

It was a wet and windy day in Halifax with very little harbour avctivity. During a brief lull in the weather I was able squeeze of a couple of shots of tankers at Imperial Oil.

Gotland Carolina was at number 4 dock.

With four beefy headlines out due to high wind, Gotland Carolina is well secured at number 4 dock Imperial Oil.

Built at Guangzhou International Shipyard in China in 2006, the 29,203 grt, 53,160 dwt ship is built for winter navigation, and was last here January 7, 2015 with a a light coating of frozen spray. Hafnia Ship Management of Hellerup Denmark operates the ship. On this trip it arrived November 20 and is due to sail early tomorrow morning.

The Panama flag tanker High Strength arrived at number 3 dock yesterday.

High Strength also has its lines out too, but they are not as visible in the misty air.

A more typical looking handysize tanker of 28,231 grt, 46,592 dwt, it appears to be more suited to tropical conditions and even has awning frames on its bridge wings. Unlike most of the handysizes we see, this one was built in Japan, by Naiki Shipyard in Setoda and even more unusual it is owned by DM Shipping Ltd of Dublin, Ireland, but is managed by Ishima Pte Ltd of Singapore.


Also in port CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent arrived at the Bedford Institute from the North Pole. Both CCGS Terry Fox and the Louis visited that spot this summer, and is making a fairly late return south.

The original, unrebuilt CGS Louis S. St-Laurent in the graving dock at Halifax Shipyard in 1970.

Argentia, NL  is supposedly the base for the Louis but she fits in better here. Lets hope the new government, which has vowed to fix the Coast Guard, with its own minister in cabinet, erases this fiction of St.John's bring a better base for CG icebreakers.(Maybe they'll get the red funnel band back too.)
Too bad the shipyard has no capability of drydocking the ship anymore, since the graving dock is tied up full time with FELEX refits and the floating docks are gone.

Sailing from Halifax in January 2014. The ship is here almost as much as if it was based here anyway.

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Saturday Summary

It was quiet in Halifax harbour for most of the day, then all activity seemed to be happening at once for a short time, before quietng down again. Here is a north to south tour:

Early this morning saw CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent at BIO undergoing maintenance in preparation for her summer duties.

Louis S. St-Laurent at BIO, and behind her Sir William Alexander prepares for  trials trip.\

At pier 9C the beleaguered Harefield, still undergoing repairs since March 21, has been keeping her crew busy on daywork touching up paint and maintaining the two gantry cranes. 

 I noticed last evening one of the gantry cranes had been moved toward midships, and the crew were working on deck.

Today I discovered why...

They had built a net screen around their basketball hoop, to contain errant free throws. After being in port for nearly two months, and to now built this net, suggests that they expect to be here for some time to come.

At pier 9 the classic herring seiner Margaret Elizabeth No.1 put in one of her occasional appearances.

The grande dame of the herring fleet was built in 1971 in Pictou and has been featured here before. It was joined later in the day by Lady Melissa and Leroy and Barry II both also elder statesmen in the fleet. 

http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2012/04/margaret-elizabeth-no1-is-number-one.html

http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2011/06/halifax-herring-season-winds-down.html

Early this morning the autocarrier Grand Ruby anchored for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to conduct a check for Asian Gypsy Moth.

Built by Toyohashi Shipbuidlig in Japam, the 59,217 grt, 18,117 dwt ship flies the Panama flag and operates for Cido Shipping Korea Ltd.

 Once the berth at Autoport was clear later this afternoon, the ship weighed anchor and got underway.

At Autoport since mid-day yesterday, Wallenius Wilhelmsen's Elektra finished its work mid-afternoon and got underway to move over to the Halifax side to unload machinery at pier 31. 

 The tugs Atlantic Willow, bow, and Atlantic Larch stern, made fast,

and turned the ship in number one anchorage to back it in to pier 31. Appearing on the right is the arrival for Halterm:

Maersk Pembroke looks pretty good in the afternoon sun, on arrival from Montreal.

But on close inspection the ship is definitely showing signs of heavy use. The wrinkled bow plates speak of heavy slamming into seas as it makes its way back and forth across the Atlantic. 

The port then returned to relative quietude.

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