Remembrance Day

 November 11 is observed to varying degrees as Remembrance Day. The date was established by the signing of the Armistice that ended the First World War at 11:00 a.m. November 11, 1918. It has since become the commemoration day for those lost and those who served in the First and Second Word Wars, the Korean War and subsequent conflicts.

Some businesses close for all or part of the day, but it is not a statutory holiday. There are ceremonies and wreath laying at memorial sites throughout the country with gun salutes and (conditions permitting) fly pasts. 

In the Halifax area there are numerous events on land, with a minute of silence observed at 11:00 a.m. and a twenty-one gun salute from Citadel Hill. The Royal Canadian Navy participates with a wreath laying off the Naval Memorial at Point Pleasant. Today the HMCS St. John's was designated as host ship. It got underway from HMC Dockyard with three Dockyard tugs assisting then following at a distance to assist in positioning the ship for the ceremony.

A small RHIB boat brought the mooring party back on board after they cast off the ship's lines.

The tugs Glenside, Listerville and Granville assisted in the operation.

(The tanker Algoscotia, anchored in the background, is visible through the rain.) 

 Unfortunately due to the rain, high winds, and low ceiling, a helicopter fly past was cancelled. Last week I saw what may have been practice flights for formation flying - a rare event for naval helos.

                                       Three helicopters over Shearwater, November 3.

 

Two RCN Cormorant helicopters seen from Point Pleasant, November 6. 

Normal harbour traffic continued throughout the solemn hour with ships coming and going. Dollars win every war. Even the Hero class patrol vessel CCGC Private Robertson V.C. arrived about noon, apparently oblivious to the significance of the day and time and even the name of their own ship. Private James Peter Robertson was a native of Nova Scotia and died November 6, 1917 while rescuing two of his wounded comrades during the Second Battle of Passchendaele. He was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously, the highest military honour. Surely the ship could have timed its arrival by half and hour to at least stand by for the wreath laying.

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HMCS St.John's back home

 The Royal Canadian Navy's frigate HMCS St.John's FFH 340 returned to Halifax today (November 4) after its latest refit.  Davie Shipbuilding in Lévis, QC delivered the ship to the RCN on November 1 after an extensive maintenance and upgrade program that started August 12, 2020.

On arrival this morning the ship passed through the Narrows to Bedford Basin where it turned and proceeded back through the Narrows to its berth at HMC Dockyard.

Built by Saint John Shipbuilding and commissioned June 24,1996 the ship has received numerous upgrades over the years, but this latest work was aimed at hull, mechanical and engineering maintenance. Installation of a new .50 cal Naval Remote Weapon Sytem was also part of the work.

In 2019 the Canadian government announced this latest maintenance program that is expected to see the navy's twelve Halifax class frigates in commission until replacement ships are completed in 2040s. Three shipyards, Seaspan Victoria, Halifax Shipyard and Davie Shipbuilding will share in the $1.5 billion with a guarantee of a minimum three ship refits each. (The controversial decision to include Davie - which had no recent naval experience, was met with consternation in Halifax. Now claiming to be a "centre for excellence for naval maintenance" - after repairing a grand total of one ship - Davie is obviously angling for more naval work - particularly if there are delays in the frigate replacement project.) More maintenance work on the current ships will be needed, but it is hoped to be routine, with no major upgrades. It is reported that the RCN will spend $7.5 billion on the ships before they are retired.

The aim of the maintenance program is to ensure that the RCN has eight Halifax frigates in service at all times, with a planned decommissioning as new ships are delivered starting in the 2030s. 

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Week's roundup

Several events were worthy of note in Halifax harbour this week (although I missed some of them).

The Irving Oil terminal in Woodside was recommissioned this week with the arrival of Acadian. The pier and all the lines running over and undergound to tanks high on the hill behind the terminal have been rebuilt in the past two years. 

Acadian at the Woodside terminal on September 21.

Irving had shared pier facilities with next door neighbour Imperial Oil for several years, but when Imperial ceased refining at that location and began importing all product, their two piers became too congested for Irving's liking. Irving thus rebuilt their old terminal for their own use. A pipeline connecting Esso to Irving's tanks was probably also removed.

HMCS St.John's was elevated on the HMC Dockyard synchrolift for some needed maintenance.

This is the first ship, other than a submarine, to be lifted in a long time.

Speaking of maintenance, Atlantic Container Line's new G4 LoRos are experiencing teething problems. Atlantic Sail has been anchored in Bedford Basin since Thursday September 22 with undisclosed mechanical problems. It has been restricted from sailing by Transport Canada until it has a clean bill of health.

For a time there was a tug alongside, indicating that its main propulsion engines were out of commission. This is the second delayed ACL recently, with G3 Atlantic Cartier hung up in port for several days awaiting parts earlier this month.

Atlantic Cartier sailing without indcident on September 22.

The cruise ship Arcadia was only one of 18 cruise ship visits in the last seven days as the season is in full swing.

Built in 2004 by Fincantieri, Porto Maghera, the ship was originally ordered by Holland America as a Vista class ship, but was transferred to Cunard, to be named Queen Victoria. However shortly before launch, parent company Carnival transferred it to P+O and it became Arcadia. The 84,342 grt ship has a capacity of 1952 regular passengers, but can carry 2388 maximum (the latter figure is used by the Port of Halifax, but I doubt she was carrying that many.)
The ship has been refitted twice, losing the traditional P&O buff colour on its funnel in the process and getting an exploded version of the union flag on her bow. The unfortunate implications of a such a design are too obvious to comment on here.

In 2014 the ship still had its traditional P+O funnel colour, even though the funnel was a Cunard style, less the cowl.

Despite the blue funnel, the ship has kept its attractive red boot topping.

The ship stood out at pier 31, with about 15m of its bow projecting out into the stream.

The expected arrival of Disney Magic at pier 31 tomorrow meant that Nirint Line's usual berth was occupied.

Helga arrived late Saturday night and berthed at pier 27. The 8999 gert, 12,944 dwt ship, was built in 2009 by Damen Yichang and completed by Damen Gorinchen, for Dutch owners Van Dijk Rederij of Westerbroek. Built as Helga, it was renamed Kent Atlas in 2010, Helga in 2012, Clipper Avalon in 2013, Thorco Tribute in 2014 and  reverted to Helga again in 2015.

Today's arrival for Hapag-Lloyd, Ningbo Express, was not deeply loaded, but had an ample quantity of containers aft of the superstructure. Many of these are likely to be empties, heading back to the far east. The 7506 TEU ship, built as Hong Kong Express in 2002 by Hyundai, Ulsan measures 88,493 grt and 100,016 dwt. It received its current name in 2012.

It was met by the tugs Atlantic Larch (filling in for Atlantic Willow which is getting some maintenance) and Atlantic Oak for its trip in to Fairview Cove. 

 The tugs turn the ship off Fairview Cove, where filing continues, presumably to enabel eventaul expension of the pier. Even though doubts have been expressed about the ability of Fairview Cove to continue serving large ships, Shipfax believes it will continue to serve ships up to and beyond the size of Ningbo Express.

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Atlantic Star - Give Me Forty Acres

ACL's new Atlantic Star made its return appearance in Halifax Wednesday January 20, eastbound. Some mechanical issues with the stern thruster and ramp again caused the ship to extend its stay in port until this afternoon (Friday).

It got away from Fairview Cove quite smartly, with Atlantic Oak in attendance on the stern.

In stead of trying for a sharp turn to starboard around Seaview Point, the ship headed east across the Basin almost to National Gypsum, where it then made a sweep to port. There was a stiff breeze blowing across the Basin, which likely accounted for the maneuver.

HMCS St.John's, which had been doing exercises in the south end of the Basin got well out of the way by going far north.(In the photo St.John's passes the newly renamed CSL Reliant at National Gyspum - see  today's   Halifax Shipping News for more on this.)


It reminded of the old country song Give Me Forty Acres and I"ll Turn this Rig Around. In this case however it was not the length of the ship, but its high sides, making it very subject to windage.

The ship passed a lineup of suppliers at pier 9C as it made its way up the Narrows, including Scotian Sea.

With Atlantic Oak still on the stern, the ship was well lined up for the Macdonald Bridge.

 Finally outbound for sea, the ship starts to pick up some speed.

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Busy Basin

Most of the shipping today was in Bedford Basin - although some of the ships weren't moving.

It was probably even colder than it looked, so this bench remained abandoned. 

With two ship unloading at Imperial Oil, there was no room for more, so two tankers were anchored in the Basin waiting their turns.

High Sun arrived January 17. The Maltese flagged tanker, owned by d'Amico Tankers' Dublin, Eire branch, is relatively new, dating from 2014 . It looks like a typical Korean-built handysize, but it was not built in Korea. However it came from the joint venture Hyundai-Vinashin Shipyard Co in Ninh Hoa, Viet Nam.

Torm Astrid arrived today, but is not painted with Torm's usual burnt orange superstructure. It was only acquired by Torm in 2015 after serving Overseas Maritime Services since 2012 as Maxwell Bay It was launched as Meriom Lily in 2012 by Guangzhou International in China.
The ship arrived from Paldiski, Estonia, showing the great lengths Imperial Oil will go to for product.

Originally planning to go in to Fairview Cove directly on arrival, Atlantic Star, on the return leg of its maiden trip, was forced to go to anchor when Atlantic Conveyor did not get away on its scheduled time.

                         Lightly loaded on its eastbound trip, Atlantic Star sits high in the water. 

This may be the first time the ship has anchored. It did not get into the Ceres terminal until nearly 2100.

HMCS St.John's returned from the Basin in a cold move, under control of three navy tugs. (A Glen tug is not visible, stationed on the ship's port quarter.) It is always amusing to see the pup tugs giving the impression that they are doing all the work. Granville on the bow and Merrickville on the stern were working hard nonetheless.

RHIB #29 had just carried out a personnel transfer under the MacKay bridge and was returning to HMC Dockyard. With a temperature around -6C it was cold enough, but the bowman had to withstand 30 knot winds - his was probably the least desirable job on Halifax harbour today.

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HMCS St.John's from the graving dock

Tugs moved HMCS St.John's from the graving dock to the Machine Shop wharf at Halifax Shipyard this morning.

Her upper works still shrouded with scaffolding, the grey ship emerged from the first phase of her FELEX upgrade program on a grey day. The first part of the upgrade is done in the graving dock, the second stage alongside the shipyard and the third in HMC Dockyard itself. The process is about 19 months in duraton.
HMCS St.John's is the fifth east coast ship into the FELEX program  - Halifax, Fredericton, Montreal, and Charlottetown preceded. If  the schedule I have is correct, HMCS Ville de Québec will be next followed by Toronto.

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HMCS St.John's - big oops

A mishap during refueling HMCS St.John's resulted in a what the RCN is calling a "significant" fuel spill into Halifax harbour. The ship arrived last night and anchored. Why it chose to refuel at anchor rather than alongside at a boomed off location has not been explained as yet.
The area around the Dartmouth ferry terminal was abuzz with cleanup craft all day and there remains a sheen and odour late this afternoon. Workers will continue cleaning up until dark and resume again tomorrow.

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Naval Exodus

Three RCN ships sailed this morning.
First out was HMCS St.John's:

Followed by HMCS Iroquois:

And HMCS Preserver:

 

Bedford Basin helo ops

It was an unusual sight in Bedford Basin today to see three Canadian warships riding at anchor, all ready for helicopter operations. The safety nets around their helo decks were lowered, but I only saw one 'copter operating when I was there.

1. Left to right: Iroquois, St.John's, Charlottetown. Ville de Québec

2. Charlottetown Ville de Québec nets down and ready.

3. St.John's also ready.

4. Sea King casts its shadow on Iroquois on approach.

5. In position.

6. And down.

HMCS St. John's - backdrop to conference

A Global Security conference, scheduled for Halifax this weekend will have HMCS St.John's as a backdrop. This morning, tugs moved the ship to pier 21, in a cold move (the ship's main engines were not fired up). The content of the conference will likely be overshadowed by the absence of General Petraeus, who resigned as head of the CIA in disgrace after a distinguished military career.
See accompanying post on Tugfax on the work of navy tugs.

Shipfax View of Halifax Harbour- soon to be compromised?

Shipfax-the eye on the harbour- may not be able to see this kind of picture for much longer. The large parking lot across the street will be closed on June 1 as construction starts on a major hotel/ shopping complex.

In this photo HMCS St. John's returns from a four day visit to its namesake city. She will be tying up at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

To the left is the famous Foundation Maritime Salvage Shed (now owned by Svitzer Canada), and in the background is the tanker North Point at anchor. She arrived yesterday in ballast from New York.

St.John's is escorted by naval auxiliary tug Glenevis. Behind her is the 3 masted tour boat Silva. On the Dartmouth shore is the Woodside ferry terminal, and a portion of a train, with autoracks from Autoport.

In the foreground are some Purolater courier trucks marshaling for the 5 o'clock rush.