Got 'em (all) - (oops) better late than never

 I intended to post this on October 14, but it somehow got stuck in my "drafts" file. Here it is late. 
 
It isn't often that I get the chance to capture every arrival and departure on a given day, but the combination of excellent weather, and a free Saturday made it possible.

First in was the Norwegian Jade. This is the first time I have seen this ship, built in 2006 as Pride of Hawai'i for Norwegian Cruise Lines' ill-fated American venture. After the line had huge losses, it was reassigned to Europe in 2008 and renamed, but apparently kept much of its Hawaiian themed décor. Until March of this year that is, when it was given an intensive three week refit and re-do.

By this time the sun was fully up (and directly in line with arrivals), so I skipped the next arrival, hoping to get it later on departure. Fritz Reuter (see below) tied up at pier 42.

The CCGS Sir Wilfred Grenfell left the Coast Guard base at BIO at 0800 for exercises offshore with Zodiacs.

Stationed in Newfoundland, the ship has been in these parts for a month or so replacing CCGS Earl Grey for the time being.

Built in 1985 in Marystown, NL as a supply ship on spec for the Newfoundland government, the MoT purchased and converted in 1987 for search and rescue work. It was removed from service and de-stored in a cost cutting purge in 2013, but was re-activated. It had a major refit this spring so should be in service for several years to come.

While in Dartmouth I noted the bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth tied up at the Irving Oil Woodside terminal. This may be a first.

When Algoma took over harbour bunkering, the fuel supplier was the Imperial Oil refinery. When the refinery shut down  Stirling Fuels (part of  Miller/ McAsphalt Industries) secured the fuel provision contract. At various times the ship has gone to Point Tupper to load at NuStar's tank storage, or has received fuel brought from Central Canada aboard McAsphalt's own tug/barge.
Since Stirling is not a refiner in its own right, I guess they can buy fuel wherever they want, so perhaps this time they have sourced in from Irving Oil.
Algoma Dartmouth can carry diesel or heavy fuel oil as needed.

 Next in was the small cargo / container ship Hollandia working for Nirint Shipping. It arrived with nickel cargo from Cuba and has been a regular caller since 2014.

 

It was built in 2007 by the Damen Okean Mykolayiv, Ukraine shipyard and finished by Damen Hoogezand, Foxhol, Netherlands. Launched as Trinitas it was renamed Nirint Hollandia on delivery. It measures 8,999 grt, 12,000 dwt and carries two 80 tonne cranes. It was renamed in 2012.

The largest arrival of the day was the impressive CMA CGM Thames. With is split superstructure it looks much bigger than its container capacity would suggest. At 95,263 grt, 113,900 dwt, that capacity is reported to be 9365 TEU, including 1458 reefers.

Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company built the ship in 2015.

At one point late in the afternoon all four Halterm cranes were alongside the ship, but only three were actually working. The southernmost crane (near the bow) was moved out of the way of the departing Friz Reuter - see below.

There was one more arrival, this morning, the cruise ship Seabourn Quest following on the heels of CMA CGM Thames.

 The ship is on a return visit to Halifax.

Seen from a slightly better angle leaving pier 23 on October 10.

Noted for its luxury cruises to Antarctica for only 450 passengers, Seabourn has the smallest cruise ships in any major fleet.
It was completed in 2011 by the T.Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, on a hull built by Viktor Lenac in Rijeka and measures 32,346 grt. It has many amenities but also has a number of Zodiacs garaged in the hull for passenger excursions.

By late afternoon Fritz Reuter was ready to sail.
 

The ship had arrived in the morning and tied up at Pier 42 and used two of Halterm's cranes.
The 1732 TEU (including 379 reefers) ship is on its 32nd trip for Melfi Lines. Starting in 2013 the ship has been a regular caller every five weeks on Melfi's Europe via Halifax to Cuba service.
The 18,480 grt, 23,732 dwt ship dates from 2006 when it was launched as Maruba Zonda by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard Co Ltd. It assumed its current name on delivery a few months later.


As soon as Fritz Reuter was off the berth the next ship berthed (its bow is just visible in the photo above). EM Kea is on its regular visit as part of the Maersk / CMA CGM transatlantic service. So as not to block the channel for the outbound Reuter, the ship made an unusual turn to port to come alongside. Usually ships are turned to starboard and back in. However with two tugs alongside, and a bit less wind than earlier, it was the best move to make.

It was not all commercial activity in the port today. Late season sail races for small craft took place in very stiff breezes this morning.

Although there have been above normal temperatures recently, this morning's air temperatures were in the single digits, and barely scraped above 10C when the races started. Water temperature on the other hand exceeded 15C!

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Fairview Cove - back at work

It was a short holiday for the Fairview Cove container terminal . After clearing its last ship at noon time Saturday, the pier was at full swing again first thing this morning.

The big (old) post-Panamax Performance tied up at the west berth and the NYK Rumina at the east berth.

It is easy to see why ships the size of the NYK Rumina are considered obsolete, when ships the size of Performance (and larger) can now pass through the Panama Canal with ease.

Performance is a 74,0712 grt, 74,453 dwt ship with a capacity of 6402 TEU, including 500 reefers. It was built in 2002 by the Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industry (IHI) Kure yard in 2002 as MOL Performance for Mitsui OSK Line. They sold the ship in 2014 to Danaos Shipping Co Ltd of Piraeus and it was renamed.

Danaos is one of the hurting  non-operating container ship owners (meaning they do not operate their own shipping line but charter ships to the line operators). They had eight ships with Hanjin when it failed, and have 24 charters to expire in 2017 and three more in 2018. Not only that they reduced their charter hire rates 20% on 13 ships to help save Hyundai Merchant Marine from collapse. Banks have extended waivers to Danaos until April, so the future of the 55 ship fleet is in limbo.

Performance is now with the G6 Alliance on its AZX service, but with the re-organization of that alliance in 2017, we may not see much more of this ship. [AZX=Asia, Suez, East Coast North America]

Out in Bedford Basin Fritz Reuter awaits its move tomorrow morning to Halterm.

There was very litttle down time at the Oil docks in Dartmouth.
 

Piltene arrived in the late afternoon of December 25. It has been an off an on caller at Valero and Imperial Oil since 2014. Built in 2007 by the 3 Maj Shipbuilding Industri in Rijeka, Croatia, the 30,641 gret, 52,648 dwt ship is a nice break form the cookie cutter Korean  Mid Range [MR] product tankers we usually see. The Latvian Shipping Co of Riga also operates the tanker Latgale that was here last week.


The tanker East Coat arrived this morning at Irving Woodside.

One small correction to my Christmas Eve post regarding the supplier Skandi Flora. It did not in fact get a break of more than a few hours, for it sailed Christmas Day for the Stena IceMAX, however it returned to port again this morning.
The drill ship has moved much closer to Halifax for its maintenance work, meaning a shorter trip for the suppliers, which include Maersk Nexus (which also arrived today).

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Christmas Eve action

There has been a big rush over the past few days to clear cargo before the Christmas holiday. Both container terminals have been very busy, but Halterm cleared its last customer this morning when CMA CGM Altaviva sailed at daybreak. Oceanex Sanderling sailed from Autoport this morning too.  The bulk carrier Eider arrived and sailed over night from pier 28 where it took a quick top off load of grain en route from the Great Lakes.

The action then shifted farther north.

Federal Swift comes to anchor against a backdrop of idle cranes at Halterm.

The bulk carrier Federal Swift arrived from Baie-Comeau for bunkers and anchored in the lower harbour. The ship was built in 2012 by Zhejiang Ouhua Shipbuilding Co in Zhonshan, China. A ship of 24,196 grt, 37,140 dwt, it is in ballast likely having delivered bauxite or alumina to Baie-Comeau. The ship carries four 30 tonne cranes and grab buckets to handle such cargoes.

Fairview Cove was also busy over the last few days. Agios Minas cleared over night and Tokyo Express arrived, but I must have put the curse on Atlantic Sea, because it was forced out to anchor early last evening with mechanical issues. It was joined later by NYK Rumina which will be anchored until December 26 before it moves in to Fairview Cove.

A regular caller for the G6 Alliance NYK Rumina will be anchored for a couple of days.

The 55,534 grt, 65,981 dwt ship has a capacity of 4922 TEU (including 330 reefers) and was built in 2010 by Hyundai Samho.

A late morning arrival, Fritz Reuter went directly to anchor in Bedford Basin where it will remain until December 27 before moving to Halterm.

This is the ship's 25th voyage for Melfi Marine, trading between Europe and Cuba. The 18,840 grt, 23,732 dwt ship has a capacity of 1732 TEU (including 379 reefers) and carries a pair of 45 tonne cranes  for ports without container cranes. Its first visit to Halifax was December 8, 2013.
Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard Co Ltd produced the ship as Maruba Zonda in 2006, but it was renamed on delivery to Norddeutsche Reederei Schulte of Hamburg.

It was followed by the supplier Skandi Flora for pier 9C. It will not be needed over Christmas while the drill ship Stena IceMAX suspends drilling for maintenance.

Skandi Flora was built in 2009 by STX Norway Offshore AS in Trondheim for DOF Rederi AS of Storebo, Norway. It is operated for DOF Subsea Canada Corp by Mathers Logistics of Halifax under a coasting license as a non-duty paid Canadian flag vessel and was registered in Halifax September 3, 2015.
The 4469 grt, 5005 dwt ship will be finishing up its work soon as Shell has announced they will stop drilling in the Shelburne Basin on completion of the current well.


Once the two inbounds were safely out of the way, Tokyo Express was able to move through the Narrows for sea.

Tokyo Express eases by pier 9A where IT Intrepid is lingering for the finishing touches to a refit. It should be sailing for a cable repair job on the St.Lawrence River after re-fueling next week. 

HAPAG-Lloyd's Tokyo Express came out of the Hyundai Heavy shipyard in Ulsan in 2000. At 54,465 grt, 67,145 dwt, with a capacity of 4890 TEU (including 370 reefers) it is among that endangered species of (formerly) Panamax ships that are no longer considered efficient carriers. Ships of its size are going to scrap
at a record rate as the industry tries to shed itself of unprofitable tonnage.

Atlantic Sea followed on its heals.

ACL's third (of five) new G4 class ships, Atlantic Sea was delivered in the summer of 2016. The Shanghai built ships have all been experiencing teething problems as new-builds are wont to do, but this one had been more or less trouble free. However it was restricted to port by Transport Canada from yesterday until late this morning due to some mechanical problem. It was allowed to sail, even though it is missing its starboard anchor. It may not be that easy to find an anchor for a 100,430 grt, 56,700 dwt ship on short notice, and ships usually don't carry spares.

The loss of an anchor is usually the result of defective chain. It can be a serious matter when a chain fails, and that is why chain manufacturing is such a highly specialised process. See this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY2JqGTvPh8

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Challenging afternoon

Strong winds persisted into the afternoon and evening as cold air continued to pump in.

The regular caller Frtiz Reuter  arrived on its 16th trip for Melfi Line and tied up at pier 42.

Atlantic Larch begins to push Fritz Reuter around to back in to pier 41 in a stiff breeze.

The next three callers were presented with a number of challenges, particularly since they were all due at the pilot station at 1600.
 
First in was OOCL Washington, which required the services of all three tugs to tie up at pier 41. Both the car carrier  Dignity Ace and the ConRo Atlantic Cartier took their pilots, then returned outbound to delay their arrivals until the tugs were freed up.

Yesterday's mirages were nothing compared to today's as OOCL Washington (right of centre) and Dignity Ace (left) approach the pilot station. Air temperature was -7C but water temperature remains a balmy 0C.

Dignity Ace then made its "re-entry", when the tugs Atlantic Larch and Atlantic Willow were available to take it in to Autoport. However once at Autoport the tugs could not hold the ship alongside in the high winds, and it left Eastern Passage for number one anchorage. Its anchor would not hold there, so it opted to head out to sea and try again in the morning. High sided ships like auto carriers are notorious for their sail effect, and must be handled with great care in windy conditions.

Meanwhile Atlantic Cartier took the tug Atlantic Oak as stern escort through the Narrows to Bedford Basin. Once there it had to await Atlantic Willow before it could get alongside Fairview Cove. The ship is also high sided and subject to windage too, but was able to dock safely eventually.

Dignity Ace is a first time caller, and at 6697 car capacity, it is the biggest ship in the MOL ACE car carrier fleet of 120 or so ships. It was built in 2010 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, and measures 58,767 grt, 20,589 dwt. Flying the Bahamas flag, it is owned by Ray Car Carriers of Douglas, Isle of Man, and is on long term charter to Mitsui OSK Lines Auto Carrier Express.

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Halterm Action

All the action was at Halterm today. First ship in was the Maersk Penang berthing at pier 42 early and leaving mid-afternoon. The number of empty Maersk reefers containers on the dock is diminishing as the fall season for produce and fish draws to a close.

Late morning the arrival was CMA CGM Figaro, the most recent first time caller on the Columbus Lopp service of 17 ships.  Built in 2010 by Samsung Shipbuidling and Heavy Industroes of South Korea, it is typical of its class. At 99,931 grt, 109,000 dwt it is rated at 8465 TEU.

 

It flies the French flag, carries Marseille on the sternm but is in fact registered in one of the French ofhsore registries.It will sail after dark this evening.

The late afternoon arrival was the perennial Fritz Reuter on its 15th voyage for Melfi Lines, en route Europe to Cuba and the Caribbean.

 
It has been pictured here before, but to recap, it was built as Maruba Zonda in 2006 by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard Co Ltd in China, and took its present name on delivery to Norddeutsche Rederei Schuldt of Hamburg. It measure 19,840 grt, 23,732 dwt with a container cpacity od 1732 (including 379 reefers) and carries two 45 tonne cranes.

Fritz Reuter gets away

The Melfi Lines ship Fritz Reuter sailed from Halterm at noon time today, heading for sunny and warm Cuba, a winter holiday destination for many Nova Scotians. Most would not have expected winter to linger this long in Halifax, so it must have come as a relief for the ship's crew to be escaping our climate too.
Regular callers in the port seem to get short shrift on this blog after their fist call or until after their last call, but this ship has made 11 visits to Halifax so far since taking up its charter with Melfi in 2013, rather a long tenure for a line that frequently uses ships on shorter duration arrangements.
More details can be found in this previous reference: December 2013 Shipfax.

From the ship's bridge, the harbour pilot in orange floater coat, flanked by two ship's officers in white shirts oversee the linesmen letting go the last lines.

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Famous Germans in port: Fritz Reuter - ready to work, HS Beethoven - not so much

The Melfi Lines charter Fritz Reuter arrived this afternoon and is ready to work cargo Monday morning.

1. Fritz Reuter at mid-berth Halterm has her cargo booms swung out clear to allow shore cranes to work containers.

Built by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard Co Ltd in China in 2006 as Maruba Zonda, the ship was renamed Fritz Reuter on delivery to owners Norddeutsche Reederei Schuldt, Hamburg. Flying the Liberian flag, the ship can carry 1732 TEUs (379 reefers) and has two 45 tonne cranes. Her gross tonnage is 18,480 and deadweight is 23,732 tonnes.

Fritz Reuter, the man (1810-1874), was a prominent writer of his day. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Reuter

Meanwhile at the other end of the port HS Beethoven lies at Fairview Cove east berth, unloaded and de-ballasted for repairs to her tank top.

2. HS Beethoven is all lit up, but it is hard to tell if repair work is underway or not.

Although there is little outward sign of activity on repairs, it must be assumed that her owners are doing what they can to get her back in service as soon as possible. The penalties for going "off charter" are usually quite severe, especially on a scheduled container ship service.

Ludvig von Beethoven, the man, needs no introduction from me.

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