East Meets West and All Around the Circle

 The variety of traffic in Halifax Harbour today (November 28) was not unusual, and so is a reminder of how vital the port is to a number of aspects of the Canadian economy. The amount of traffic was due in part to yesterday's stormy weather which caused the suspension of pilotage operations until early this morning when traffic began to arrive in a ,bunch.

HMCS Fredericton was outbound this morning and met the inbound CSL Tacoma in the Middle Ground area off Point Pleasant. The Canadian frigate is named for the capital city of New Brunswick and was built in Saint John, New Brunswick by Saint John Shipbuilding Ltd. It was commissioned in 1994 and is based in Halifax.

CSL Tacoma operates for CSL Americas and was named for the sister city to Seattle, WA, which occupies the southernmost reaches of Puget Sound. CSL operates ships on the Pacific coast also, often carrying aggregates from Canadian quarries to US cities such as Tacoma. Oddly there is a Tacoma Drive in Dartmouth, NS. How it acquired that name is not known to me, but it is in the Westphal area, which in itself is named for a pair of brother Royal Navy admirals, originally from Nova Scotia. One of the brothers, Sir George Augustus Alexander Westphal, served with Nelson (and was also wounded) on HMS Victory, and was the last surviving RN officer from the batle of Trafalgar when he died at age 90 in 1875.)

CSL Tacoma is a Trillium class self-unloading ocean bulker of 43,691 gt, 71,552 dwt, built in 2013 by Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, China. It will load a cargo of gypsum at the Gold Bond Gypsum facility in Bedford Basin.

Also arriving to load gypsum was Algoma Integrity, also a self-unloader, built in 2009 by EISA-Ilha in Rio de Janeiro. It was built for the United States Gypsum Company's Gypsum Transportation Ltd, and named Gypsum Integrity, Designed to serve their Hantsport and Little Narrows, Nova Scotia export facilities, it measured 33,047 gt, 47,761 dwt. When USG's Canadian subsidury Canadian Gypsum Corp (CGC) closed the Hantsport facility in 2011 the ship was chartered out and in 2015 was sold to Algoma and renamed Algoma Integrity. CGC closed the Little Narrows mine in 2016, but earlier this year announced the re-opening, although it will be some time before they ship any product.

Algoma Integrity will remain at anchor in Bedford Basin until the CSL Tacoma sails.

Lingering waves from yesterday's storm brought out some hardy surfers off Point Pleasant as ship traffic made its way inbound.

Another of those early arrivals was the container ship BF Fortaleza for the first time for Melfi Shipping of Cuba. The ship stood by off Halifax most of yesterday and boarded its pilot for 0700 hrs AST this morning.

It tied up at Pier 42 and so had a view of a lobster boat working just off the pier. The lobster season in this region opened a day early, on Sunday November 26, in view of the predicted weather for the usual opening day - the last Monday in November. I was surprised to see the boat however as there is a newly imposed ban this year on lobstering in many areas of Halifax harbour close to industrial and port facilities.

BF Fortaleza was built by the famed, but now defunct, J.J.Sietas shipyard in Nuenfeld, Germany in 1996. It was launched as Partnership but renamed Yvette on delivery. It became Partnership again from 2003 to 2004 then City of Lisbon until 2005, Carla until 2009 and WEC Rubens until 2011.  The 6362 gt, 7202 dwt ship has a capacity of 700 TEU, and unusual for Melfi, it is gearless.

Another ship that spent yesterday standing by off Halifax arrived this morning for Imperial Oil. The oddly named Silver Ginny is an otherwise typical Mid-Range tanker of 29,460 gt, 49,746 dwt, built in 2014 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan.

The ship is arriving from Good Hope -Norco, Louisiana, an area upstream of New Orelans on the Mississippi River, and home to two large refineries. Shell Oil's Norco refinery produces 250,000 bbl per day and Valero's St. Charles refinery produces 340,000 bbl per day. Both also produce a variety of chemicals. Since Shell and Valero are competitors of Imperial (Exxon Mobil) today's cargo is likely part of an elaborate trade off mechanism to meet a specific need.

The ship is owned by Sinokor Petrochemical Co Ltd which has several ships named "silver + woman's name".

Rounding off the arrivals was the westbound Atlantic Sky from Liverpool, UK.

Once again the weakness of Transatlantic trade is evident with the very light deck load. Most Atlantic ports are showing a decline in traffic after a few years of dependably steady traffic or slight growth. Halifax and Montreal are no excepetions to this trend. The Port of Halifax saw a 12.9% decline in container traffic in the third quarter of 2023 over last year. That gives a year to date total of 409,000 TEU versus the 2022 YTD of 448,000 TEU. The year 2022 saw a record 601,700 TEU throughput (import + export). This year's projection may be be in the range of an 8% to 10% decline.

There were some small craft at work in the harbour too. The Halifax Port Corporation's own workboat Maintainer I was spotted at Pier 23 working on the removal of inflatable fenders for the winter. The fenders, commonly called Yokohama fenders (which is a trade name of the Yokohma Rubber Co) are deployed at cruise ship berths to protect visiting ships from impact with the piers. The resilient surfaces sometimes attract marine growth which is removed before they are set out again in the spring.

Built by A.F.Theriualt + Sons Ltd in Meteghan River, NS in 1995 it is a 12 gt vessel with a 210 bhp engine driving a single screw. It is equipped with a substantial Palfinger knuckle boom crane with a lifting capacity of up to 3.3 tonnes.

Nearby was the Canadian Coast Guard boat Point Caveau a 31.9 gt aluminum hulled work boat built in 2003 by ABCO in Lunenburg, NS. The 14.6m (47.9 ft) vessel has reputed top speed of 30 knots.

I think the Pointe Caveau was displaced from its usual inside berth at the Bedford Institute by construction of the new section of dock. Also displaced from BIO was CCGS Jean Goodwill which has been tied up at Pier 9C for the last couple of days. (November 27 photo)

The ship took on stores today and sailed on SAR patrol as CCGS Sir William Alexander arrived.

With lobster season now underway from in Areas 33 and 34, from Halifax down the southwest shore and around the western end of the province to Digby, Coast Guard SAR patrols are stepped up due to the hundreds of small craft in coastal waters.

.

Fleet Week Preparations

 The Royal Canadian Navy is hosting its first ever Fleet Week, (more accurately Fleet Weekend) between September 7 and 11. Several Canadian and visiting naval vessels will be in port and open to the public. The event will culminate on Sunday, September 10 with a sail past as most of the ships depart for an annual NATO exercise called Cutlass Shield. 

First among the visiting ships was HMS Portland F79 arriving September 5 at HMC Dockyard.

A type 23 frigate, it was commissioned in 2001 and established a record as the fastest ship of its class when it achieved 30.8 knots on trials.

Today saw the arrival of the first of four United States navy vessels to participate in the event. USS Porter DDG 78 is an Arleigh Burke class destroyer launched in 1997. The other three are due tomorrow.

Several RCN  ships will be positioned outside HMC Dockyard to make it easier for visiting. Appropriately HMCS Moncton MM708 will be at Sackville Landing, adjacent to Canada's naval memorial HMCS Sackville. Both vessels feature disruptive pattern paint schemes, designed to confuse visual recognition during World Wars I and II. The form of camouflage was applied to Moncton on the 75th anniversary of the end of the Battle of the Atlantic. It now has the added (genuine) rust streaks common on ships during war time when maintenance down time for painting was kept to a minimum.

HMCS Glace Bay MM 701 will be at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth. Both Kingston class ships were built at Halifax Shipyard and are based in Halifax.

HMCS Margaret Brooke will be open to the public at HMC Dockyard. Although it is not on the current open house list, Max Bernays was getting ready today by hoisting signal flags.

 Today also saw HMCS Fredericton FFH 337 moving to the Tall Ships Quay on the Halifax waterfront boardwalk. The move took some preparation and had to be coordinated with other harbour activities.

Two "camel" barges were moored at the quay to provide fendering and gangway access. HMC Dockyard craft such as YFU 128 and the "pup" tug Granville YTL 594 positioned the two camels and secured the fenders.

The Dockyard's own fleet of camels are all in use for its own and visting ships, so the scow Dominion Mercury from Dominion Diving was brought over from Dartmouth.

YFU 128 is a DockYard Fleet Utility boat.

Granville (Yard Tug Little 594 ) is one of the three "pup" tugs based in Halifax.

Once the camels and fenders were in place the area was left clear, briefly, for the departure of the cruise ship Zuiderdam, and for passage of the arriving of the Bluenose II and the ConRo Atlantic Sun as HMCS Fredericton stood off. Zuiderdam used the tug Atlantic Beaver to get off the berth at Pier 20 due to tight quarters with the camels and another cruise ship, the Norwegian Joy immediately astern.

Tight quarters at Pier 20.

Atlantic Beaver with a head line to assist Zuiderdam.

 

After heading north and east of George's Island the Zuiderdam arranged a port to port meet with the inbound Atlantic Sun. The schooner Bluenose II kept well to the west.

The Bluenose II was motoring, so was not under full sail.

Fredericton was on a "cold move" (i.e. not using its own engines) and had the pup tug Merrickville  YTL 593 pulling on a head line and Glenbrook YTB 643 aft for power.
 

As they neared the Tall Ships Quay they were joined by the Granville and turned to head bow north and come alongside.

.

Navy News

I have been neglecting navy news for the last few days simply because there was so much other shipping activity in Halifax Harbour.

The week started off on Sunday, June 26 with the sailing of two RCN ships for a four month tour of duty with NATO's Operation Reassurance in the North Atlantic and Baltic Sea. Both are coastal defence vessels that can do a wide range of work depending on which of several equipment modules they are carrying. Their principal duties however relate to mine countermeasures.

HMCS Kingston will be deploying an autonomous underwater vehicle and HMCS Summerside will be carrying a clearance dive team.

Kingston MM 700 is the lead ship of the class of twelve vessels, built by Halifax Shipyard. It was launched August 12, 1995 and commissioned in 1996.

HMCS Summerside MM 711 launched September 25, 1998 and was commissioned in 1999.

Altough difficult to see in the above photo, the ships are powered by diesel electric driven azimuthing stern drives (Z-drives) which give them manoeuvrability similar to harbour tugs.

Two frigates currently assigned to NATO, HMCS Montreal and HMCS Halifax are due to return to Halifax in July. Other ships are doing training or working up for future assignments. One ship has been exercising in near waters off Halifax for the last few weeks and is in and out of port frequently.

 HMCS Fredericton FFH 337 is a Halifax class general purpose / anti-submarine patrol frigate commissioned in 1994. It was built by Saint John Shipbuilding in Saint John, NB. The ship has served in a variety of missions including a six-month NATO deployment ending in late 2021.

And now for something completely different - yes the Royal Navy really does have an icebreaker. Used principally in the antarctic regions for hydrographic charting and various kinds of research, the ship is also a highly capable icebreaker and patrol vessel. HMS Protector A173 is taking a special route home this year. In early June it participated in the resumed Fleet Week in New York, followed by calls in Montreal and Quebec City. It then visited Sydney, NS where it was hosted by the Canadian Coast Guard College. Several Protector crew trained with the CCG in the Canadian arctic in 2020 and 2021.

The ship arrived in Halifax this morning, June 28, and tied up at Navy jetty Bravo 3.

The ship started life in 2000 as the Norwegian privately owned antarctic class icebreaker Polarbjørn, with a hull built by Western Shiprepair Yard in Klaipeda, Lithuania and outfitted by Havyard in Leirvik, Norway. Original owners were G.C. Rieber (once well known in Halifax from their fleet of sealer / researchers), who used the ship for expeditions and subsea work. In 2011 the Royal Navy chartered the ship and commissioned it as HMS Protector. In 2013 they purchased the ship outright.

HMS Protector is outfitted with huge array of equipment including a 50 tonne crane, a 25 tonne A-frame gantry and several small craft. In addition to survey and research work it has also carried out supply and rescue missions and humanitarian work.

The ship's Commanding Officer is Capt. Maryla (Milly) Ingham, the highest ranking female RN naval officer to command a ship. Capt. Ingham has commanded several ships in her RN career, but has reached the rank required for command of a large ship.

.

HMCS Fredericton off to NATO

 HMCS Fredericton sailed this morning for a six month stint with NATO's Operation Reassurance.

A helo made a few low passes and hovered over the deck as the ship made its way outbound. The waterfront was lined with family and well wishers on a warm summer morning, and were rewarded with a single whistle salute.

Fredericton hoisted a huge naval ensign in addition to other flags and signals.

About an hour before Fredericton departed the navy's supply vessel Asterix also put out to sea.

Asterix requires a civilian pilot since it is not a commissioned naval vessel. The duty pilot boat Scotia Pilot accompanied the ship to the pilot station to disembark the pilot.

.

An Ill Wind

 High winds and rough seas continue to cause delays to harbour traffic. Movements within the harbour are possible, but conditions are too rough at the pilot station to embark or disembark pilots.

CSL Thunder Bay completed loading at National Gypsum, then  rather than staying at an exposed berth overnight, moved to anchorage position number 1 in the lower harbour.

The ship will remain there until pilotage operations resume - perhaps this evening. Number one anchorage is for short term visitors, and it can accommodate large ships. I suppose Thunder Bay chose this anchorage to leave lots of room for other ships in Bedford Basin.

Dalian Express completed its cargo work at Cerescorp, Fairview Cove and moved to anchor in Bedford Basin yesterday, allowing Budapest Bridge to tie up. Dalian Express, 88,493 gt, 100,006 dwt, built in 2001 by Hyundai, Ulsan has a capacity of 7506 TEU (including 700 reefers).

Naval vessels also came in from sea to anchor, including HMCS Fredericton, which has been exercising offshore for several days.

Fredericton's helicopter sits on the flight deck as the ferry Vincent Coleman makes its way from the Halifax terminal to Woodside.

Yesterday's self-piloted departure from Imperial Oil, the Algoscotia [see: post ] left number 3 dock free, and Irving Oil's Acadian moved in there from Irving's Woodside terminal.

Irving and Imperial Oil used to share terminal and tank space, but it is now rare to see an Irving tanker at an Imperial dock. Irving Oil also used to be the only source for furnace oil in the region, so there may be a similar reason for this visit.

.

HMCS Fredericton helicopter

This evening CBC News is reporting that a Cyclone helicopter from HMCS Fredericton FFH 337 is missing in the Aegean Sea. Few details were immediately available, except that a large SAR mission is underway. It is night time in the area, so results may not be anticipated until morning.

Fredericton sailed from its Halifax home port January 20, 2020 to participate in Operation Reassurance in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. See: http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2016/01/hmcs-fredericton-sails-for-nato.html

Commissioned in 1994 the ship was extensively refitted between 2011 and 2013, and upgraded after that, in part to accommodate the Cyclone which replaced the Sea King in 2018.

 A Sea King overflies HMCS Fredericton in Halifax in 2014.

 .

and more

Some clearing later in the afternoon allowed for a brief outing to catch a traffic jam of one departing and two arriving ships. It was deftly handled and safe passages were had by all, although I did think that perhaps one ship was a little overly eager.

The departing ship was another queen (see earlier post) but this was a more prosaic one. Viking Queen is a Singapore flag autocarrier from the Gram Car Carriers fleet. Built in 2007 by the Uljanik shipyard in Pula, Croatia as Hoegh Delhi it was renamed in 2017.

The 55,775 gt, 16,840 dwt ship has a capacity of 7000 cars (CEUs) and as the largest and least maneuverable of the three ships, it claimed the main channel as its seaward course en route for Davisville, Rhode Island.

The first of the incoming vessels, HMCS Fredericton took the western, or deepwater channel to give Viking Queen some room.

Fredericton emerged from the latest repair session at Halifax Shipyard in November 2018 and for the past few weeks has been seen in Bedford Basin, at the static sound range and loitering offshore. Today's outing may or may not have included a commemoration of the the D-Day landings in Normandy 75 years ago. I could find no reference, to what it was doing, in particular.

As the departure point for thousands of Canadian troops sent to Europe during World War II, the port of Halifax was closer to the war than any other Canadian city. That was recognized today in a special ceremony attended by among others, the Governor General. Although it had to be moved indoors due to the weather - that was nothing new for those who know Halifax! - it was well reported by all news organizations. Attendees included some of the sadly diminishing ranks of those who served in World War II.

Third vessel in the mix was the supplier Trinity Sea returning from the Sable Island area on its regular supply run.

As the smallest of the ships it was able to hug the eastern side of the main channel and gave the outbound 'Queen a port to port passing.

Here is what it looked like as Fredericton emerged from the western channel, Viking Queen carried on and Trinity Sea kept to the eastern side.

.

Back to work - for some

 
After several days of tempestuous weather it was back to work for some harbour activity. High winds created rough conditions - too rough for dredging off Halterm - and that work has been suspended since Wednesday. It has not resumed today, and presumably will not be on again until Monday. Some set up work on shore has begun at pier 9C where the concrete caissons will be fabricated.

There were very few ship arrivals and departures over the past several days, and I am not aware that pilotage operations were actually suspended. The auto carrier Morning Conductor was held in port and required a tug to keep it alongside Autoport on Wednesday. It sailed Thursday.

Also arriving on Thursday the ZIM feeder ship Jennifer Schepers sailed today.

HMCS Fredericton has been in and out of harbour over the past several days and today moved with tug assistance from anchorage in Bedford Basin to HMC Dockyard.

Tugs Listerville and Glenbrook assist Fredericton through the Narrows to the Dockyard.

 
The Coast Guard rescue boats were carrying out their usual spring training this week for Coast Guard College students. They had some real rough weather experience before taking up their summer duties in several ports around the region.

The harbour hopper amphibians were doing their Transport Canada trials today. Harbour Hoppers1, 3, 5 and 6 all took brief dips in the harbour.

Harbour Hopper 1 was the first of four amphibians to do its spring swims.

The pilot boat Nova Pilot was also trialing and did a simulated disembarkation with Jennifer Schepers.

And there were signs that the former CCG ship Matthew is coming back to life. Dominion Diving's Dominion Bearcat was alongside today with divers in the water, and a crane was set up on shore. The ship was recently sold to Newfoundland owners and re-registered as Miss MJ. It has been laid up since 2012, so it will take a lot of work to get it going again.

Dominion Bearcat with divers in the water alongside Miss MJ at BIO. CCGS M.Perley (right) is also coming out of layup.

.

Naval Gazing

HMCS Fredericton emerged from under its cocoon earlier this month, then moved from the Graving Dock to the Machine Shop Wharf at Halifax Shipyard last Wednesday. It had been in the shipyard since last fall, most of the time completely tarped in, to allow work to continue out of the weather. It is widely believed that the Shipyard will build a structure over the graving dock to allow for all weather work.

Cryptically referred to as undergoing a "Docking Work Period", it was in the Graving Dock for nine months. At a reported cost of $30 million, the DWP would seem to have included more than just the "routine maintenance and upgrades" phrase also used to describe the work. The Halifax class ship, commissioned in  September 1994, had its FELEX upgrade at the Shipyard from October 2011 to January 2013, then returned to HMC Dockyard for more work, returning to service late in 2014. It is the second ship to have a "DWP" - HMCS Halifax was first.

While gazing at Fredericton yesterday, HMCS Kingston sailed by on its way to Bedford Basin for the day.

Lead ship of the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels, Kingston was launched by Halifax Shipyard August 12, 1995. It was the first naval launch at the yard in thirty years, and marked the start of the a resurgence in activity at the yard, culminating in the present day position of the yard as the main driver of the Halifax industrial economy.

Originally built as minesweepers, the ships are now largely relegated to training and flag showing, but have participated in NATO and drug interdiction activities. Their future remains in doubt, as a mid-life refit program was cancelled. Instead it is expected that the 12 vessels will be retired as the five (or six?) Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessels now under construction at Halifax Shipyard enter service.

.

Busy cruise day

Another four ship cruise day in Halifax had every bus with four round wheels on the waterfront to carry passengers to the surrounding sights Celebrity Summit and Serenade of the Seas lined the seawall from pier 20 to 22. Disney Magic was stern in at pier 31 and the smaller Azamara Journey tucked in at pier 23.
Ships are staying in port longer into the evening now and often leave after dark. They usually arrive in darkness of early light, so picture taking is a challenge.
I did manage to get some nice light on the Serenade when she sailed.

The 90,000 tonner (2,490 passengers) is not considered a large ship now, but when she came out of Meyer Werft in July 2003 she was the largest ship ever built in Germany. Royal Caribbean arranged for her August christening in New York by no less than Whoopi Goldberg. This was the ship's fourth of a schedule eight calls this year. (In 2003, its first year, it made twelve calls, including one storm induced over-nighter).

Royal Caribbean also had Azamara Quest in port, one of its exclusive small ships, at 30,277 grt and 702 passengers. Built in 2000 as R Seven for Renaissance it became Delphin Renaissance in 2003, and Blue Moon in 2006. It took its present name in 2007. I don't recall this ship ever calling in Halifax before.

Regular harbour activity included the arrival of the hardworking HMCS Fredericton. After a stint in Operation Reassurance in the Mediterranean from December 30, 2015 to July 5 of this year, the ship is now returning from operation Cutlass Fury with NATO ships off our coast.

The departure of the still shiny Oceanex Sanderling, was marred somewhat by all that unhealthy looking smoke. Although nothing has been announced, Oceanex must be planning on replacing the 39 year old veteran.

Built by Sasebo Heavy Industries in 1977 as Ravenfels for the lamented DDG Hansa, it became Essen in 1980, Kongsfjord in 1981 and Onno in 1983. In 1987 it became ASL Sanderling and has plowed its furrow between Halifax and Newfoundland - often bi-weekly ever since. When Atlantic Searoute morphed into Oceanex it kept up the same routine and was renamed in 2008. It has had some major refits over the years including at least one serious engine rebuild, but time must be catching up on the ship.

Its most recent three month re-do in Gibraltar completed in June of this year will certainly keep it going for a another few years. 

.