Weekend catch up

Yesterday's weather meant that today was a catch up day for several ships, and for Shipfax too.

The tanker Acadian made it into port last evening, and apparently has not resolved the engine problems it had last week. It tied up at pier 27, not at the Irving Oil Woodside terminal.

The Nirint Lines charter Atlantic Pioneer arrived after dark last evening and worked its nickel cargo all


 day today. It has called here with three different names, Atlantic Pioneer, Ongeo Pioneer and now Atlantic Pioneer. I have covered the ship before and the interesting connection one of the those names has with Halifax:

http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2011/03/federal-pioneer-fourth.html
http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2015/11/bumper-to-bumper-at-piers-27-and-28-and.html

The 9034 TEU container ship UASC Zamzam arrived this morning (it would normally have called on a Saturday) and sailed late this afternoon. It held the record for largest container ship to call in Halifax for a brief time this year, but was soon eclipsed by CMA CGM Tage at 9365 TEU - both running for the CMA CGM Columbus Loop service, with COSCO. Owners of UASC (United Arab Shipping Company) saw an opportunity to cash in and  sold the line to Hapag-Lloyd for $5.6 bn earlier this year. It is expected that OOCL will join this loop and UASC will exit early in the new year.

As UASC Zamzam was leaving, the Panama flag auto carrier Oregon Highway was arriving. It was due yesterday, but held off until today.The Panama flag ship, built in 2007 by Toyohashi Ship Building in Japan, measures 57,147 grt, but only 17,699 deadweight.

Meanwhile at anchor, with divers working, Energy Panther made its second call in Halifax in as many weeks. It appears to be in ballast.

There was also an exodus of offshore suppliers today, with Siem Hanne and Scotian Sea sailing.

I normally cover tug, supply and workboats in my Tugfax.

I also recognize that I have been neglecting the Royal Canadian Navy of late. That is not intentional.

I have not mentioned that HMCS Iroquois weill be scrapped in Liverpool. That is not news now, but it is a a sad end to plans that Sorel-Tracy had to use the ship to interpret their lengthy shipbuilding history. It is amazing to think that a ship that so recently been decommissioned was in such deplorable condition that it was not safe to use for public display.

I hope that HMCS Athabaskan is in better condition. It certainly still looked impressive, when it arrived and made a graceful turned around George's Island and put out to sea again last Monday.

I also failed to mention that HMCS Preserver paid off officially October 21. No mention has been made of where it will be scrapped, but there has been talk that some of its cargo transfer gear might be transplanted onto HMCS Queenston, the "interim" supply ship under conversion at Davie Quebec. It was also reported that the gear from HMCS Protecteur would be used, but I have heard no more on that topic. It seems to me however that any such equipment would be easier to relocate directly ship to ship.

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Sunday follow up

As I mentioned yesterday the tanker Emergy Panther moved from anchor to Irving Oil Woodside - signalling an interesting development. Irving Oil is now importing refined product for local distribution.

 Energy Panther at Irving Woodside

One of Irving's own tankers, Acadian inaugurated the facility, then surprisingly moved to Imperial Oil where it may have discharged some product - another surprise, since product exchange between the two companies was thought to be at and end.

 Acadia sailing this afternoon

Acadian sailed yesterday, but was back in port last night. It sailed again this afternoon after rectifying some problem with its exhaust system. All four of the (chartered) Irving tankers had exhaust gas scrubber systems installed, allowing them to meet new pollution regulations while still burning heavy fuel.

 There was another tanker arrival today, but it was not to deliver or pick up cargo, Malmo docked at pier 27 to take on fuel delivered by truck. Not your typical product tanker, Malmo is smaller than most at 13,472 grt and 19,932 dwt, indicating that it is more likely to carry exotic chemicals. Its tanks are lined with an advance polymer coating called Marine Line 784, which permits it to carry food grade cargoes.

 Malmo at pier 27.

One of  series of similar ships built in 2008 by the Soli Shipyard in Kocaeli, Golucuk, Izmit, Turkey, it is operated by Empire Chemical Tankers of Piraeus and registered in Malta. Its last port was given as Paulsboro, NJ, one of the many refinery ports near Philadelphia. The ship appears to be in ballast, and this may be its last port before setting out on a transatlantic crossing.


The cruise ship Sirena was to sail this afternoon, but that has now been put off until midnight. High wind have apparently played havoc with the ship's schedule. In the interests of passenger comfort, they have decided to wait for better conditions.
Other ships may also have been delayed by weather. The autocarrier Tosca was due at Autoport today, but it has held off until tomorrow.

There was ConRo activity today, with ACL's veteran Atlantic Cartier arriving from Europe and the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia's Bahri Jazan arriving from Houston on its return toward home. The two ships passed each other in the Middle Ground area south of Point Pleasant.

Atlantic Cartier has just cleared the MacKay bridge outbound and catches a last slant of sun.

Bahri Jazan also enjoying some sun inbound.

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That's the breaks

Thanks to some well timed breaks in the fog and driving rain, there were a few photo ops of harbour activity today.

The cruise ship Sirena arrived and tied up at pier 22. Although there was not a great deal of wind at the time of arrival, the ship took two tugs to berth. It is very unusual for cruise ships to take tugs - they have lots of thrusters and usually make out fine by themselves. Since most cruise ships are painted white they also hate to get fender scuffs by using tugs.

Sirena loiters in mist in the anchorages awaiting tugs.

 

Whatever the reason, the ship had to wait until tugs became available. Atlantic Oak had just sailed the tanker Acadian from Irving Woodside, and it became available first. However the other tugs were moving Energy Panther from anchorage to Irving Woodside, and it was some time before Atlantic Willow was freed up to assist.

Underway again towards pier 22, with one tug on the port bow, it will take its second tug just off the pier.

Sirena is a new name for Halifax. The ship was built in 1999 by Chantier Atlantique, St-Nazaire as R Four for the ill-fated Renaissance Cruise Line. It became Tahitian Princess in 2002 and Ocean Princess in 2009. Now owned by NCL Bahamas of Miami, it received its current name earlier this year when it received a major refit. It has a stated capacity of 850 passengers.

The Energy Panther - see yesterday- is the first non-Irving tanker to tie up at Irving Woodside. Its last port was given as Ijmuiden, Holland, so even Irving Oil with its massive refining capacity in Saint John, is now importing refined products. The company recently purchased a refinery in Ireland, so it seems likely that they will be moving product around the oceans.

Another tanker arrived last night and anchored in Bedford Basin. CPO France is smaller than the usual handy-size, medium range tanker we are accustomed to seeing. Built in 2008 by Hyundai Mipo, it comes in at 23,353 grt, 37,304 dwt.

 CPO France appears to be carrying very little cargo.

Operated by Offen Tankers of Hamburg, it was due to move to Imperial Oil this afternoon during a period of heavy rain. However for a brief shining moment late this morning it was in a spot of sun in the Bedford Basin. However I was not quick enough to get there to capture the event.

So how foggy was it?
CMA CGM Tancredit was sounding its fog horn, and was almost invisible until it got right up to Halterm.

It was even foggier later in the afternoon when OOCL Kaohsiung arrived. It was sounding its fog horn all the way through the harbour and up into the Narrows.

The ship became visible as it neared the MacKay bridge

It finally emerged into a clear patch in  Bedford Basin.

All in all a fine day for ship watching.

Energy Panther heads up

The tanker Energy Panther took up an unusual position in the harbour today. Ships at anchor are normally oriented with the bows in the northeasterly direction. However with a weather system building in today the winds have backed round and the ship is positioned with its bow in a southerly direction. It also appears to be much closer the Halifax side of the harbor, but that may be as much my height of view, and the scope on the anchor cable.

Dominion Diving's Halmar is alongside and the Maritime Museum's Acadia is in the foreground.

Energy Panther is a typical Korean built mid-range tanker of 29,494 grt, 46,610 dwt. However it was built in 2008 at the little known Sungdong Ship Building + Engineering of Tongyoung. The ship is managed by Enterprises Shipping + Trading SA of Athens, but owned and registered on the Isle of Man. It is part of the Golden Energy pool of tankers.


It arrived from Ijmuiden, Netherlands.

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