St-Pierre et Miquelon changeover

 Fusion (October 2013)

The weekly RoRo container service between Halifax and St-Pierre et Miquelon entered a new phase on Friday June 12 when Nolhanava ex Shamrock replaced Fusion.
Fusion has now been laid up at pier 33 after seven years of service (off and on) on the run.Shamrock, which was built for the service and operated from 2001 to 2004 is now back under the new name.

Nolhanava this morning.

It returned to Halifax today after its first second trip.

FUSION

Fusion was built in 1977 by Blohm+Voss in the Steinwerder district of Hamburg, Germany. Measuring 2279 grt it has a capacity of 219 TEU with two 30 tonne cranes.Originally named Osteexpress it was renamed 78: Ghazi II, 78: Osteexpress, 79: Zim Caribe, 81: Elma Ocho, 82: Osteexpress, 86: ScanDutch Iberia, 86: Express, 87: North Empress, 2000: DutchLiner, 06: Fort Ross. It was under the latter name that it first took over the St-Pierre et Miquelon service for the first time July 18, 2007.
In 2008 the Canadian flagged Dutch Runner took over until 2010. 

Dutch Runner has been laid up since 2012, first in Souris, PE, and since October 2014 in Port Hawksbury, NS.

http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2010/11/adieu-dutch-runner.html

In 2009-10 Fort Ross had a major refit in Europe, was renamed Fusion, and returned to the service in August of that year on what was understood to be a three year contract.
http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2010/09/new-old-ship-on-st-pierre-run.html

In April 2012 Fusion sailed for the Ukraine where it went into another lengthy refit and returned in September. Its replacement at that time was Nils B.
http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2012/04/nils-b-update.html
 
Fusion has run consistently on the weekly service, however it has been subject to some mechanical problems and in March 2014 was towed in to Halifax after three days adrift.and was off the service for three trips until April.
http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2014/03/monday-roundup-admiralengracht-seattle.html
http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2014/03/anne-small-cargo-ship-for-halterm.html

SHAMROCK

I covered the return of Shamrock as Nolhanava back in April
http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2015/04/shamrock-coming-back-as-nolhanava.html

I did not comment on the ship's names however. The name Shamrock commemorated a legendary French trawler that worked out of St-Pierre for a number of years. It was the subject of a special postage stamp and a documentary.

As to Nolhavana I am stumped.Its possible that it commemorates a rum running vessel. They liked to have odd names, frequently with alternating vowels and consonants, but that it only a wild guess.
If anyone has any insights, I would appreciate hearing them.

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Contrasts + update

The St-Pierre et Miquelon feeder service was expecting to inaugurate its "new" ship today, marking the end of the line for the veteran Fusion. When Fusion loomed out of the fog this morning, it headed to pier 31 41 to unload. At the same time Nolhanava ex Shamrock moved from pier 34 to pier 36 to begin loading.

A deck hand heads aft to prepare for tying up at pier 41.

At some point during the day the loading of Nolhanava was cancelled and instead it now seems that Fusion will be making at least one more trip.Nolhanava arrived April 23 and there has been activity on deck and elsewhere indicating repairs and maintenance to ready the ship for its return to the St-Pierre run after an 11 year absence. See addendum



Speaking of fog the intense blanket was only beginning to burn off this morning as Selfoss arrived at Halterm pier 42 a few minutes before the Fusion.

As George's Island becomes visible, the fog still conceals most of the Dartmouth side of the harbour. No audio on this shot, but the ferries were sounding their fog horns.

 Selfoss emerges from the fog. A bit of photo editing shows more of the ship than I saw.

The fog soon burned off completely, and at Pier 9c there was good news for the Harefield as some new component arrive in a large crate. Work under the ship's stern has been going off and on, but it was apparent that they were waiting for something to be manufactured.

A crane gets ready to offload a crate, positioning it so that the Harefield's engine room gantry will be able to access its contents. Note the exhaust scrubber adjacent to the ship's funnel, partly blocking the Gearbulk logo. It allows the ship to burn heavy fuel and still meet emissions regulations.

Addendum:

Saturday update: Nolhanava idle at pier 36, Fusion loading at pier 37 Saturday morning, with a sailing time scheduled for later in the day.

No fun: Fusion loading in the driving rain, and Nolhanava idle.

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Saturday Roundup

The officially renamed Fundy Rose was turned at Pier 9B this afternoon. The ship's port side has been repainted from the shoreside after the installation of new liferaft launching equipment. It will now be the turn for portions of the starboard side.

Fundy Rose comes off the pier, showing the 'blisters" on the hull for the liferaft system.

The ship's former name, Blue Star Ithaki will be burned off bow and stern and the liferaft gear will be installed before repainting. Sadly it appears that the ship's new name will only be painted on - no steel letters welded on. Also yet to come will be the Bay Ferries logo.

The ship is still carrying the temporary name Canada 2014 on its starboard bow and stern, and the old liferaft system.

 
The ship did not use its own engines for the move, but did have a working bow thruster, and the tugs Atlantic Larch and Atlantic Willow provided the power. The ships auxiliary engines were also running to to provide power to the mooring winches.

The ship's bow thruster exerts considerable force.

 Now bow south, the ship is nearly back alongside.

 Atlantic Huron, looking fairly rugged, works off its cargo at pier 26.

At pier 26, Atlantic Huron was unloading the first grain cargo of the season since the St.Lawrence Seaway opened. The veteran self-unloader has been an off and on visitor with grain and to load gypsum for many years.

Forklifts haul away the cargo of bagged nickel concentrate.

Meanwhile at the other deepwater piers, there was more activity. HC Melina at pier 31 was unloading bagged nickel concentrate from Cuba for Nirint Shipping. A newcomer to Halifax, the ship was built in 2011 as Flinterschelde by Ben Kien Shipyard in Haiphong, Viet Nam. It joined IMM Shipping of Germany in 2011 and took its present name. The ship measures 6577 grt, 9120 dwt, has a capacity of 505 TEU and carries a pair of 80 tonne cranes that can work in combination for 160 tonne lifts.

At pier 36 all was quiet aboard Sina, which arrived last night for Melfi Lines. After its last arrival April 11, it went back out to sea to exchange ballast  water.
http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2015/04/whats-with-sina.html
http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2015/04/sina-returns-from-mystery-tour-sense-of.html

This time it appears to be in ballast, with no cargo. Melfi had Helene J. here on Tuesday, so there may not be much cargo for this ship. In any event it is not scheduled to sail until May 27.

Fusion has its pilot aboard and is about to weigh anchor.

Yesterday pier 36 was occupied by Fusion on its regular St-Pierre et Miquelon run. It went to anchor overnight and sailed this morning.

Nolhanava in the foreground, with Algoma Dartmouth at pier 33 in the background.

Meanwhile its replacement Nolhanava ex Shamrock is still at pier 34, with some maintenance work going on, but no indication of when it will actually go into service. It still carries the Thien and Hyenga funnel markings of its previous managers. I expect that to change, and its name too, before it enters service.

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Weekend Roundup

Work continues seven days a week to prepare Canada 2014 for its service between Digby ands Saint John.

The ship's old name, Blue Star Ithaki has been burned off the bow and stern, at least on the shore side. Let's hope something at least as stylish and appropriate replaces the temporary name.

Please be seated. A trailer load of old seats - headed for the dump? or to be recovered?

Work has resumed on the Harefield's ice damaged rudder. There was no activity for a couple of weeks while new components were fabricated.

Fusion sailed on Friday as usual, but has been advertised for sale.
http://commercial.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=410506
Work on replacement Nolhavna continues at pier 34. Perhaps this week will see Fusion's last call.

Iroquois at Jetty NB Sunday morning. The former HMCS Iroquois was paid off with great pomp and ceremony Friday.

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Shamrock coming back (as Nolhanava)

Arriving in Halifax for the fist time January 20, 2001.

A ship built specifically to run between Halifax and St-Pierre et Miquelon is arriving back in Halifax tomorrow and tying up at pier 34. Built in 2000 by Santierul Naval Constanta SA of Romania as Shamrock, it operated weekly from Halifax starting with its first arrival January 20, 2001.

It was was registered in the French offshore registry of the Kerguelan Islands (French Antarctic Territories) and is a RoRo cargo ship of 4,654 grt, 4,850 dwt and carries two 40 tonne cranes. It two MAN engines drive two cp props for a speed of 16 knots.

By 2004 the ship was operating a feeder service from Halifax to Portland, ME and Boston, having lost the St-Pierre route.

In July 2004 it was arrested in Portland. ME and was sold at auction to Clarke Inc's CIS Shipping International Inc and placed under the Barbados flag. It returned to Halifax in December 2004 for drydocking and repainting, and was placed under the management of Thien + Hyenga Bereederungs for service between Fort Lauderdale, FL and the Cayman Islands.


Once a large operator of ships in Canada, Clarke Inc and its antecedents also had an interest in the Halterm container pier and DART Container Line, but in recent years has divested its transportation interests. Last year it sold its trucking business to TransForce, although the Clarke name is still used.

Early this year St-Pierre interests acquired the Shamrock. The new owners are styled MG Management SAS  with TMS-AV SARL as managers, and in March renamed the ship Nolhanava.


It appears that the ship is set to take over the St-Pierre et Miquelon service once again, from the current incumbent Fusion, that has been on a series of charters since 2007. Current owners of Fusion are listed as MD Shipping Co of Odessa, Ukraine, and the similarity of owners names suggest a connection, but there may not be one.

Fusion will be arriving at is usual berth at pier 36 tomorrow - maybe for the last time?

As recently as last week Fusion had mechanical problems and had to delay its arrival from anchor off Halifax until they were corrected. If it is indeed replaced, I will post more of its story.

Fusion looked good sailing from Halifax in late afternoon sun October 25, 2013.

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Tankers in waiting, a first timer and a no show, among other things

There is nothing new about tankers in waiting in Halifax. It seems to be the rule now that product tankers arrive, wait their time at Imperial Oil and sail - most never to be seen here again. Except there is a minor twist on today's list.

Valle Bianca tugs at its anchor line in a stiff breeze in Bedford Basin.

Valle Bianca, Italian owned and flagged, predictably built in South Korea in 2007, measures 29,996 grt, 50,633 dwt. Builders are listed as SPP Shipbuilding Co, Tongyeong - a new one on me. It is anchored in Bedford Basin until Esso is ready for it.

East Coast, also Korean built, has been flying the Canadian flag since October 6, when Irving Oil needed another ship for domestic work. It is on long term charter from Vroon and previously flew the Marshal Islands flag as Nor'Easter. http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2014/10/noreaster-blows-in-to-east-coast.html

 East Coast comes to anchor this afternoon in the lower harbour.

This is not the first time it has been in Halifax with its new name, but when it was here October 16, the fog was too thick to see it, let alone take a picture. It is here for bunkers, but may have to wait until the wind dies down before Algoma Dartmouth comes alongside. It is interesting that the ship would bunker with fuel other than Irving's own, but I understand that the Saint John terminal is very busy importing crude and exporting product due to work on the Canaport buoy, where the crude is normally unloaded. Some crude tankers are even going into the LNG terminal to unload.  A shuttle has also been set up with the Afrodite and  Great Eastern pressed into service as lighters to transfer crude from anchored ships to the refinery terminal. 

 The letter "N" below the funnel  distinguishes the ship from its three sisters.

I wondered in my previous post if the ship would have its letter "N" replaced with an "E" - that has not happened yet. Perhaps uniquely in a tanker fleet, each ship carries the first letter of its name on its superstructure. Since all four of the ships are identical, this is likely a means of identifying them visually when the name isn't visible.
There is a credible rumour that Irving Oil will be acquiring a fifth charter tanker which will be named Nor'Easter.

Atlantic Larch on the port bow, and Atlantic Willow on the starboard quarter (not visible) get set to turn Macao Strait in the stream off Halterm.One tug could do the job if there was no wind.

Melfi Lines ships change in and out frequently, so a first timer is not a rarity. Today's arrival Macao Strait is on its first voyage for Melfi from Europe to Cuba. The 21,108 grt, 25,903 dwt ship is a product of the Taizhou Kouan Shipbuidling Co in Taizhou, China in 2008. It is equipped with a pair of 40 tonne cranes and has a capacity of 1795 TEU of which 319 may be refrigerated. It is owned by the German company of Carsten Rehder and has changed names six times in its short life. It started off as Macao Strait but was soon renamed Niledutch Qingdao for a charter. When that ended in 2011 it reverted to its original name and in 2012 became BG Freight Atlantic. That only lasted to 2103 when it reverted again briefly, before becoming Vento di Ponente. It assumed its original name again earlier this year. It is registered in the Portuguese offshore registry in Madeira.


What was to be the last cruise ship of the 2014 season arrived off Halifax early this morning, but opted to keep on going. There were very high winds and seas at the time, and perhaps that is why it kept going. In any event it continued on its merry way at all of 12 knots until late this afternoon when it struck out across the Gulf of Maine and picked up its pace to 13 knots. This cruising speed may have been to give its passengers a more pleasant ride - I hope so, because it might have been unpleasant out there otherwise.

 Legend of the Seas on a more placid day when it did arrive as scheduled in September.

Legend of the Seas was to be the finalist in the 2014 cruise season, but that distinction now reverts to yesterday's visitor Hamburg. This was the first year for this Legend to call in Halifax - see also: http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2014/09/legend-arrives.html

Seas had flattened, making it possible for the pilot to disembark safely when Fusion sailed this afternoon, but it was still breezy.

The wind was severe enough that the St-Pierre RoRo ship Fusion remained in port last night and waited until noon today to sail. Also the cargo ship Clipper Helvetia that was supposed to come up from Liverpool, NS this morning remained there.

High winds also forced the cancellation of the ferry services between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia and Newfoundland today. Also the Bay of Fundy service between Digby, NS and Saint John, NB was to resume today, but did not. The ferry Princess of Acadia passed Halifax last night en route from its repairs at the Verreault shipyard in Méchins, but it hove too off Yarmouth for the night due to wind and sea conditions.
The winds are headed for Newfoundland and Oceanex's Oceanex Avalon opted to go north about on its departure from St.John's yesterday. Instead of heading south, then through the Cabot Strait to the Gulf as usual, it set a course for the Strait of Belle Isle and will sail through the Mingan Passage, north of Anticosti Island on its way to Montreal.. Such a rerouting is not unheard of, but only occurs in the most severe conditions.

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Monday roundup - Admiralengracht, Seattle, Fusion, and updates

There was a lot of activity in Halifax this Monday, so instead of a number of different postings, this roundup will summarize the more interesting ones.

Another Spliethoff ship called in Halifax today. This time it was one of the smaller type of ships of the ten ship A class. Admiralengracht dates form 1990 and measures 7,949grt, 12,150 dwt. It is fitted with three 40 tonne cranes and as with all Spliethoff ships, can carry a variety of cargoes
It tied up at pier 37, an unusual pier for general cargo, since it is within the Halterm container terminal, but one that is often used for "one of" or military cargoes. I have since learned that the ship was in fact filling in for Fusion- see below.

Atlantic Oak assists Admiralengracht in getting away from pier 37 this evening.

 

The distinctive green containers on deck do not belong to any regularly scheduled container line calling in Halifax. Also last week I spotted some military vehicles in the pier 37 area, and they may have been loaded too.

 

Military vehicles on pier 37 March 10. This were in fact exported on a Zim ship earlier in the week

 

While in the area, it is worth noting that Fusion is still sitting idle at pier 36, perhaps undergoing repairs. The ship was towed in on March 11 and unloaded, but has not loaded any cargo. There were a couple of tank trucks on the pier the other day, but they appeared to be fueling the ship.

 

 

As mentioned the ship is owned in Odessa, Ukraine, and one hopes that it is not caught up in the present unrest of that country.

 

At nearby pier 31 the Cyprus flag Seattle is offloading nickel sulfides from Cuba. It is not a usual Nirint ship, but has a larger capacity than those ships, so perhaps has been called in to make up a backlog.

 

 

Built in 2000 by Saiki Heavy Industry of Japan it is a bulk carrier of 19,743 grt, 31,923 dwt and carries four cranes, which it is using to discharge. The ship carried the name Stornes from 2000 to 2004, and UBC Seattle until 2004.

 

Other updates:

Peresenk - completed prop repairs, and is bunkering and will sail this evening.

Pioneer -   work is still underway on the prop hub.

Beverly M 1 tug, was finally able to sail today with the Derrick#1 for St.John's, NL. They held in port to avoid bad weather,. They must now skirt ice to reach their destination.

 

The tanker Cape Brasilia  finally made it into Imperial Oil dock 4 today. It first arrived off Halifax March 4 from Houston. It had to put back out to sea at least once due to weather, but finally came in last night on departure of Energy Pride.

 

 

 

Built in 2006 by Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan, South Korea, it is a chemical product tanker of 25,108 grt, 40,327 dwt. It is owned by Columbia Ship Management of Hamburg, Germany and operates under the UPT pool, whose brilliant hull colour it wears. A fairly standard looking ship, it does have an unusual reverse rake funnel cap.

 

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Fusion in tow for Halifax

The small ConRo Fusion is due in Halifax March 11, dead ship, under tow of the tug Atlantic Hemlock. The ship was normally due in Halifax last week, to meet its usual Friday sailing schedule, however it did not appear, so the problem likely occurred sometime last week.

 

The ship serves St-Pierre et Miquelon in a weekly service from Halifax. The service has always been a marginal one, and has seen a series of operators over the years, with many of them going out of business. There has also been a wide variety of ships, some even carrying passengers.
Fusion was built in 1977 by Blohm + Voss and has a capacity of 219 TEUs, and carries two 30 tonne cranes. It has been renamed no less than 12 times. It first started on the St-Pierre route in 2007 as Fort Ross and resumed the service after an extensive refit  in 2010 refit, as Fusion, initially on a three year contract. It was also refitted in 2012.
Current owners are listed as MD Shipping of Odessa, Ukraine, and the ship flies the flag of St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

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Wild Night in the Harbour

Winds gusting in excess of 70 knots tore through Halifax over night creating difficult conditions in the harbour. There were no actual mishaps as far as I can tell, but there were some tense moments.

CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent arrived for fuel (see previous post) but it was too rough to tie up at Imperial Oil, so she went to anchor in Bedford Basin, moving to Imperial Oil dock #3 first thing this morning.(It will take 24 hours to fill her tanks.)

1. Louis S. St-Laurent moving to Imperial Oil this morning.

Next to arrive was the diminutive feeder ship Fusion. After a stormy crossing from St-Pierre, the ship went to Bedford Basin and after a couple of tries managed to anchor securely. Big swells coming in to pier 36 made it unwise to tie up there. The adjacent berth, pier 34 was also untenable so the bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth had already moved down to pier 9.

While this was happening the bulker Barkald at National Gypsum was straining its lines and its winches started to payout after reaching their strain limit. Fortunately the tug Atlantic Oak, which had sought shelter at Fairview Cove was nearby and was dispatched by Halifax Traffic. It got to the ship in a matter of minutes and managed to get it back alongside before any lines parted.

2. Barkald in more pleasant conditions last April.

The weather also delayed loading operations, and the ship's departure, which was scheduled for 0500 Sunday morning, was postponed to mid -afternoon. Monday

The lower harbour anchorages also became untenable, and the tanker Alice was on storm watch as it was at the limits of its scope. However its anchor held more or less, but its position was noticeably different this morning. Not so with Energy Pioneer. Its anchor must have been dragging too, and the decision was made to go to sea instead. It is due to return this morning and tie up at Imperial Oil #4.

3. Energy Pioneer in anchorage #3 yesterday morning

Things seemed to be under control within HMC Dockyard, but the fireboat Firebird spent the night at Jetty Lima on the Dartmouth side of the harbour instead of her normal berth on the Halifax side.

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Crane move - nearly complete

The Halterm crane move apparently took place over night, because by this morning it was at pier 36, and workers were burning off the lifting brackets and preparing to set it down in position.

1. Crane #3 now at pier 36.

There seemed to be very little inconvenience to shipping. Normally the St-Pierre feeder Fusion would work at pier 36 on Friday, using the RoRo ramp. Today she was at pier 42. One has to wonder how they worked RoRo cargo since Oceanex Sanderling was at pier 41, monopolizing the only other RoRo ramp.

2. Fusion at an unusual dock.

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Max 4 in service

The second of the new Halterm cranes, Max 4,  went into service today for the first time, working Oceanex Sanderling at pier 41.

1. Max 4 is aligned with Oceanex Sanderling at pier 41.

Sanderling's usual berth at pier 36 was not available due to the presence of Fusion, which provides the weekly service to the French islands of St-Pierre et Miquelon. 

2. Fusion departing for St-Pierre.

Halifax back to normal

The port re-opened for business this morning when it became safe to board pilots at the pilot station off Chebucto Head. Maersk Patras and  Zim Rio Grande arrived for Halterm and OOCL Shanghai.for Fairview Cove, and Zim Barcelona and Fusion sailed from anchor, the latter not until 1300 due to concerns about its low freeboard and pilot safety.
Also the bulker Wadi Alarab, a gearless Panamax ship  arrived at pier 27-28 to load grain. Owned by the National Navigation Co of Cairo  (see http://www.nnc.com.eg/home/index.html ) it appears to be a hard bitten piece of work despite its fairly recent age.

Built in 2005 by Daewoo's yard in Geoje South Korea, it measures 37,500 gross tons and 64,214 deadweight tonnes. Since Egypt lies very low on the Paris MOU list, I expect it will receive lots of attention from the Steamship inspectors. The Paris MOU list rates state flags for incidence of detentions per inspection and Egypt is fifth from the bottom, with only Viet Nam, Cook Islands, Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines below it.

Christmas Business

As usual the port was very quiet on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

On Christmas Eve, the last ship to leave port was Hollandia. It sailed for Grande Anse, QC:

On Christmas Day itself, the St-Pierre et Miquelon feeder Fusion sailed from anchorage in Bedford Basin, to arrive at St-Pierre tonight.
And today the RoRo ASL Sanderling made a rare mid-day arrival for Autoport:

Remaining in port over the holiday were three foreign flag ships. The tug Craig Trans still detained for deficiencies, the cable ship IT Interceptor standing by at pier 9 and the container ship Renate Schulte. Crews from Dominion Diving have been working at the bow of the ship since before Christmas. The ship was moved end for end at pier 36 on the 24th to give them some more shelter. The ship has also been ballasted down by the stern and to the starboard.  I am assuming this is to give better access to the bow thruster, which is the likely source of the problem.

The ship's position makes photography somewhat awkward. Not visible is Dominion Diving's tug/workboat Roseway tucked in under the bow.