Northern Nova Scotia oldies report

A day trip to some northern Nova Scotia ports turned up a few vessels of interest - all of then quite old!

In Pictou the venerable ferry Holiday Island was certainly not looking its age as it reposed on the slip at the Pictou Shipyard. The ferry was built by Port Weller Dry Dock in 1971 for service between Cape Tormentine, NB and Borden, PE.  It was to be named after father of Confederation William Pope, but was an early victim of branding and instead took the name Holiday Island. (Sister vessel, the intended Thomas Haviland, became Vacationland, then the Fundy Paradise but has been laid up in Quebec City for years).

Holiday Island, 3037 grt, with a capacity of 150 cars and 487 passengers was powered with two V-16 English Electric (Ruston Engine Division) engines totalling 7,250 bhp and driven by Voith Schneider cycloidal drives. These were among the very earliest North American uses of these drives, more commonly found on tugs. It was announced in 2013 that the ship would be re-engined, retaining the Voith drives. Current work is to replace operator and engine room controls and local pitch controls (which were manual rods and levers) with new electronic systems.

With the opening of the Confederation Bridge in 1997, the ship was transferred to the Caribou-Wood Islands run, operated by Northumberland Ferries Ltd. Last year considerable steel replacement work was required and ferry service was adversely affected because the ship was not ready in time the start of the sailing season in May. Again this year the larger fleet mate Confederation opened the season. It is expected that Holiday Island will be back in the water by the end of June to meet demand during peak summer.

At Mulgrave on the Strait of Canso the bulk carrier Savannah Pearl completed loading armour stone for Ocean Cay, Bahamas. The 30,000 tonne load was handled using the ship's own gear which consists of a pair of 35 tonne capacity mobile gantries with 10m outreach. The ship carries two 15 cubic meter and one 17 cubic meter grabs.

Savannah Pearl stowing hatch covers, preparing to sail.

 
The ship was built way back in 1985 by Hyundai, Ulsan as Charles L.D. for Louis Dreyfus of France. It was renamed Wren Arrow in 1990 by Gearbulk and carried that name until 2013 when it went to work for current owners SMT Shipping. The company specializes in bulk handling and operates a fleet of similar open hatch type ships, with box shaped holds and travelling gantries. Savannah Pearl has seven holds and seven hatches with a grt of 27,824 and a deadweight tonnage of 43,003.

Underway from Mulgrave.

Ocean Cay is an artificial island near Bimini that is undergoing a huge expansion for MSC Cruises that will include a new resort with hotels, shopping, beaches, marinas and other features. Most of the land created will be Nova Scotia (in a manner of speaking) since all the armour stone will be coming from here.

At Port Hawksbury another veteran ship was also preparing to head south. The RoRo Dutch Runner after several years in layup had dockside engine trials this morning and was preparing for over night sea trials.
Built by the late lamented J.J. Seitas shipyard in Neuenfelde in 1988 as North King, the 2279 grt, 3056 dwt ship was renamed Dutch Runner in 2000 and P+O Nedlloyd Douala from 2001 to 2002. It was acquired by the Canadian company Great Lakes Feeder Lines LLC and registered in Montreal in 2008. It worked between Halifax and St-Pierre, then on charter to Desgagnés for northern supply, made trips to the Great Lakes, ran to Labrador for CN out of Lewisporte and various other short lived ventures until laid up in Souris, PE in 2012. It was towed to Port Hawksbury in 2014 and current owners are hoping to get the ship to the Caribbean.

 Dutch Runner engine running - prop feathered. (The orange lifeboat does not belong to the ship - it is a shore based training facility)

The small ConRo has a pair of 35 tonne cranes and capacity of 219 TEU or 16 trailers. After so many years of layup it is a wonder that it can still operate - even under provisional Panama flag.

.

.

Where Have All the Con-ros Gone - Part 8 (and last)

Canadian Con-Ros

Astron

Docked in St.John's - Mediterranean style - Astron shows off its flush deck with a hatch cover removed to load containers below deck.

Arriving in Halifax for Atlantc Searoute, Astron carries a lot of Terra Transport boxes. Terra was owned by CN, then operators of Marine Atlantic, and ASL's primary competitor, but in 1988 CN abandoned all rail operations in Newfoundland, and sold one of its rail ferries. ASL could compete with Terra by shipping the boxes directly to Halifax compared with Terra trucking them to Port aux Basques, then shipping them to the mainland.

Now holding the record as Canada's oldest Con-Ro, Astron has been a fixture in eastern Canada since 1978. It was built in 1971 by A. Vuyk+Zonen in Capelle o/d Ijssel, Netherlands as Atlantic Bermudian, becoming Londis in 1973 and Merzario Sardinia in 1976. It was acquired by Coastal Shipping Ltd and at first operated under the Bermuda flag. Its normal area of operation was Newfoundland and Labrador, but from time to time was called on to assist the St-Pierre Con-Ro service in 1988, 1992, 1995-1996 and Atlantic Sea Route in 1989, showing up in Halifax from time to time.In 1983 it ran aground in Domino Run en route to Goose Bay and was declared a constructive total loss. It was repaired and returned to service.
Its 108 TEU capacity included 33 reefers. The TEU was later upped to 113. It can carry 40 trailers or some combination thereof. Its hold, fitted with flush hatch covers, can accommodate 40 - 20' boxes. The traveling gantry crane has a 30 tonne capacity.
In 2011 it was called in to replace the newer Con-Ro Dutch Runner which could not maintain its Lewisporte / Labrador summer supply schedule.
The ship is still in service and looks to be good for some years to come.

Dutch Runner
Built by the famed German builders J.J.Seitas  in 1988 as North King the ship was renamed Dutch Runner in 2000 and P+O Nedlloyd Douala in 2001. It reverted to the name Dutch Runner again in 2002 when the Great Lakes Feeder Line ULC was formed and based in Calgary, AB. However it did not begin to fly the Canadian flag until 2008.

It operated on the Halifax -St-Pierre et Miquelon service in 2008-2009 and again in 2010. It also had a charter to Desgagnés for northern work in 2010 then made a trip to the Great Lakes calling in such ports as Deseronto, Thunder Bay, Owen Sound and Cleveland. In November 2010 it arrived in Halifax with a small consignment of aluminum ingots bound for Rotterdam. It was to have reflagged to make that trip, but returned from what I can tell it remained Canadian.
It was chartered for the summer of 2011 by CAI to work out of Lewisporte, NL for Labrador. The ship was apparently slow to load and a large backlog of undelivered cargo accumulated as winter closed in. Astron was brought in to replace Dutch Runner. It then was reported in Pugwash, NS in November running salt cargoes to Mulgrave, NS. It may have made a run up the St.Lawrence before laying up in Souris, PE in December 2011.

It remained there until October 2014 when it was towed to Port Hawksbury ostensibly for refit, but has been idle there since. The ship has a capacity of 219 TEU or 16 trailers, and has two 35 tonne crane. The future seems fairly bleak for this interesting little ship as demand for Con-Ros has diminished. It will likely end up in the Caribbean somewhere.

Nada / Trans Gulf
Another ship to work the Lewisporte to Labrador route was Nada. Its contract with the Province of Newfoundland was for three years, 2003, 2004 and 2005, and owners were Star Line Inc of Clarenville, NL. That company was also associated with the Clarenville Dockyard, and is better known as owners of the icebreaker Polar Prince ex Sir Humphrey Gilbert.
Built in 1974 as Nornan Fjord by D.W.Krmer Sohn, Eimshorn for Norwegian owners. The 1197 grt ship, with a single 22 tonne crane and stern ramp does not have a TEU rating listed in Lloyd's Register. It was renamed Sea Fisher in 1979 then in 1981 it was sold to Sharjah owners and renamed Strong Roc. Abdu Dhabi owners  took over in 1987 when it became  Transgulf for the first time. In 1966 the name Nada appeared on its bows.Owners were listed as Nada Shipping, with Canship Ugland as managers, and it was registered in the Bahamas.

The ship was running to Grand Manan Island when I saw it in Black's Harbour, NB in 2002.

It took Canadian registry in May 2003 and that was closed in November 2006, during that time it was renamed Trans Gulf (this time as two words).
In 2006 it was sold to Panamanian owners and renamed Pacific II. Then in 2013 it became Trans Gulf (also two words) under the Panama flag, but owned Sloman Shipping Line Inc and managed by the grandiosely named World Shipping Management Corp SA, both of Medley, FL.


Conclusion
Since question marks are not allowed in the titles of blog posts, the title Where Have All the Con-Ros Gone should have been phrased Where All the Con-Ros Went. In any event the preceding posts should have answered the question, if it was one.

Present day Con-Ro activity in this area, except for Atlantic Container Line, and Bahri (National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia) is confined to coastal traffic, and so we have the weekly callers Oceanex Sanderling to Newfoundland and Fusion to St-Pierre et Miquelon. Oceanex also operates its Oceanex Connaigra on the Montreal / St.John's weekly run.
Groupe Desgagnes has its Anna Desgagnes on arctic supply work. That ship, one of the Russian Astrakhan class may not be with us much longer. It used to pick up winter work under the Barbados flag, but has been laid up for the last two winters in Montreal. You may see more of her in this blog at a later date, since Desgagnes seems to be on an expansion program, replacing some of its older tonnage - both tanker and dry cargo.
Other than that the sight of a Con-Ro is becoming an increasingly rare one. There is limited demand for the mix since dedicated car carriers and car/truck carriers have taken a large slice of the RoRo traffic. The huge investment needed to build a RoRo compared to a simpler Lo-Lo (lift on - lift off) container ship is just not warranted for occasional use.

.

Dutch Runner sails

As posted previously Dutch Runner arrived in Halifax November 14 en route to Europe. The purpose of her call included re-flagging to Barbados and a resultant crew change.

When she sailed this morning, she was still flying the Canadian flag, and the port of registry of Quebec was still painted on her quarter.

However her AIS tag had been updated to Barbados flag.

.

Adieu Dutch Runner

The container RoRo Dutch Runner put in to Halifax this afternoon, perhaps for the last time. The little ship was a familiar caller here from 2008 when she served as the weekly feeder to St-Pierre et Miquelon.

That contract was awarded to Fusion earlier this year and Dutch Runner has been "tramping" ever since. This summer she made northern supply trips on charter to Transport Desgagnés, and was laid up for a time in Montreal. This fall she went to Desoronto, ON and loaded, by barge, some large metal fabrications for Thunder Bay. In Thunder Bay she took a cargo to Owen Sound and loaded there for Quebec City. She stopped briefly in Cleveland, OH to promote a future container service from Montreal, and continued on her way to Quebec. She then went on to Pointe Noire, QC and loaded a cargo of aluminum ingots for Rotterdam.

She has arrived in Halifax to reflag to Barbados and change over to a foreign crew.

It is apparent that she will be trading, for the winter at least, in Europe, and may not return to Halifax.

Built in 1988 by the JJ Seitas shipyard in Hamburg, she can carry 219 TEU (or 221 TEU according to company specs) or 16 trailers and carries two cranes each rated at 35 tonnes.

.

New Old ship on St-Pierre run

The shuttle service between Halifax and the French island of St-Pierre et Miquelon has been assigned to the ship Fusion flying the flag of St Vincent and the Grenadines, but owned and operated by Ukrainian interests.

The ship is a familiar one, having previously operated on the same run as Fort Ross starting July 18, 2007.

The ship was built in 1977 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg and has carried numerous names in her lengthy career. After a major refit in Europe, she was renamed Fusion earlier this year. She is now looking at a three year charter to run to St-Pierre.

The ship can carry bulk cargo, general cargo and RoRo and has two 30 tonne cranes. Her maximum container capacity is 319 TEUs.

She takes over the St-Pierre run from Svendborg (see previous post) which was just a fill in, after Dutch Runner completed her contract and went off to do charter work for Desgagnés.

She is shown above approaching pier 9 on Friday September 3 to tie up in advance of Hurricane Earl. She was loaded and ready to sail when the hurricane passed, and left on Sunday.

New Ship on St-Pierre service

A new ship is doing the weekly run from Halifax to St-Pierre. Svendborg, registered in Gibraltar, but owned by Bischoff Shiffs, of Germany has been on the run for three weeks. Today is the first chance I've had, thanks to foggy weather, to get a proper picture of the ship.

Built in 1993, she can carry 185 TEU of which 50 can be reefers. She has two 25 tonne cranes, but has no RoRo capability, as you will see from the cars sitting on deck.

She appears to have had the same owners for most of her career, but she has had a large collection of names: built as Svendborg Governor, she became 93: IAL Governor, 94 Svendborg Governor, 02 CEC Svendborg, 02 Vedr, 02 CEC Svendborg, 03 NDS Kuito, 04 CEC Svendborg, 08 BBC Columbia.

Her predecessor on the run, Dutch Runner, a Canadian flagged RoRo ship, has been chartered to Desgagnés for the summer for arctic supply and is expected to return to the run in the fall.