Old and New

 There was a contrast in Halifax harbour today, August 16 as an old ship was towed out of Halifax for the last time, a portion of a new ship was rolled out of the Assembly Hall at Halifax Shipyard.

 

 The Old

The old ship was of course the legendary CCGS Hudson, which was removed from service after propulsion system failures in December 2021. The Coast Guard awarded a contract to R.J.MacIsaac Construction Ltd to demolish the ship at Sheet Harbour. Prep work was to be conducted in Halifax as there is limited space at Sheet Harbour. The MacIsaac company was also contracted to demolish the ferry Holiday Island at Sheet Habour. Until it was sufficiently dismantled to free up space, the company had a"care and custody" contract for the Hudson in Halifax. (Ownership of the Hudson remains with the CCG.)

Today the tug Atlantic Fir made up the tow using the Hudson's anchor chains as a bridle, and with the aid of the Atlantic Oak, got under way for the overnight trip.

I have recounted the Hudson's story here before (more than once), most recently: January 19, 2022 and February 10, 2023

 

There was no official send off, but the ship has been decommissioned with its name painted out, although technically, it is still owned by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. The contract for demolition did not include the actual "sale" of the ship - at least not until it reaches the scrap yard.

An "insurance line" was rigged along the ship's starboard rail. In case the main tow line parts, this emergency towing line could be picked up by snagging the trailing line, which is buoyed. The ship was also showing its riding lights and bow and stern lights - all battery powered - as the ship is "dead" - with no power of its own and no crew.

The New

While the Hudson was getting underway ar Pier 9C, just a short distance away the first mega block of the future AOPV Frédérick Rolette was rolled out at Halifax Shipyard.

 Strings of self propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) linedup under the hull cradles, move the block to a precise location on the "hard" adjacent to the fitting out pier at Pier 8. The fourth ship, AOPV4 William Hall is in the water alongside, having completed its first sea trials.

The future ship will be the fifth of six Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessels for the RCN (to be followed by two more for the Coast Guard.) The main midships block will be joined by the bow and stern sections. and eventually floated off by semi-submersible barge, but that is many months away.

As reported here on August 11, Halifax Shipyard began to cut steel for the first of the Coast Guard AOPS.

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Tankers x 4 and begining of the end

 PART 1 (There is a Part 2 - scroll Way down)

It was a day (December 19) for tanker activity in Halifax after several days of delays due to high winds:

Tanker 1

The handsome Alkaios arrived last evening from New York (and Carteret NJ) and anchored in Bedford Basin. Unusual for a tanker arriving in Halifax, the ship is quite obviously in ballast.

Built in 2016 by Samsung Ningbo in Ningbo, China it is an ECO MidRange design of 29,770 gt, 50,137 dwt. (A very low ratio of gt to dwt, indicating an efficient use of space.) Owners are listed as Hercules Product Carrier SA, and the ship's name derives from one of many characters in Greek mythology.

This morning the ship moved through the Narrows to the lower harbour.

It was then met by tugs and eased into Pier 25 - a most unusual berth for a tanker.

In September it was announced that operators Capital Ship Management (part of the Evangelos Marinakis shipping group) had sold the ship and sister vessel Archon to Tufton Oceanic for $73 mn. The ship has now been placed under the management of Zeaborn Ship Management Tanker with a three to five year fixed rate charter to Trafigura. 

The visit to Pier 25 is to carry out handover activities. The actual transaction was to have taken effect in November. Part of the handover will include a change of name to Madelyn Grace. Registry will  change from Liberia to the Marshall Islands. Weather here is not suitable for painting over the large "Capital" billboards and flag motifs - that will have to wait until the ship reaches a warmer and dryer climate. I assume that there will be a complete crew change too, so it may be some time (perhaps after Christmas) before the ship sails.

Tanker 2

Algoscotia is a Canadian flag coastal tanker and it also arrived last night. It anchored in the lower harbour, and is scheduled to move to Imperial Oil as soon as the berth is clear.

The ship is returning from Sydney, NS and CornerBrook, NL where it delivered some product loaded in Halifax last week. Built in 2004 by Jiangnan Shipyard (Group)'s Qiuxin Shipyard in China, it is a 13,352 gt, 18,610 dwt ship and carries LR Ice Class 1A.

Tanker 3

An unusual tanker, with an unusual name arrived last night after it was weather delayed from its expected arrival of December 16. The Amigo is an asphalt / bitumen tanker built in 2012 by 3 Maj Brodogradiliste, Rijeka, Croatia. The 10,866 gt, 14,911 dwt ship was originally named Palanca Luanda and took its present name in 2018. It is now operated by Puma Energy Supply and Trading and arrived from Baltimore. (Prior to that it was in Saint John, NB December 3-4.)

The ship was due to sail for Montreal at mid-day, and did get underway from anchorage. However it came about in the Middle Ground area and returned to number one anchorage. I can only describe this as very unusual and likely in response to some kind of emergency. A larger ship could not have made such a tight turn. The ship is now scheduled to sail overnight.

Tanker 4

The Sea Caelum arrived Friday December 14 and also anchored until Saturday when it moved in alongside Imperial Oil dock 3. The ship will be offloading product from Antwerp, a common source for Imperial Oil's local needs.

The ship is named for a faint constellation in the southern sky - and its photo is also faint thanks to today's light mist. (The name comes from the Latin for "sky" or "heaven" and the 'c' is pronounced as an 's' according to all-knowing Wikipedia.)

A MidRange tanker of 30,946 gt, 45,999 dwt, it was built as British Mariner in 2016 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan. It became Maersk Caelum in 2020 and was renamed again earlier this year. It is operated by the Singapore based Synergy Marine Group's Copenhagen office. (Synergy manages 265 ships of all kinds.) When built for British Petroleum, it was name ship for a class of specialist tankers that could carry a variety of clean and dirty fuels and even crude oil of needed. A sister ship, British Sailor called here for Irving Oil in December 2017 and June 2018.
 

Part 2

Begining of the End

As posted previously the now-decommisioned Hudson was moved today from the Bedford Institute to Pier 9C where the demolition process is to begin. The ship had no power of its own, and a scatch crew of deck hands retrieved the mooring lines without the help of winches.

As the tugs Atlantic Willow (bow) and Atlantic Fir (stern) moved the ship away from the berth there was an eerie farewell whistle salute - probably from the CCGS Alfred Needler and a barely audible peep from the CCGS G.Peddle S.C.

Ugly scuff marks on the hull show where the ship has been ranging up against the dock since returning to Halifax January 24, 2022. The ship was retired unexpectedly earlier this year after a propulsion motor fault in November 2021. That forced the ship to cancel scientific work and to return to St.John's where it was determined that repairs were not warranted. Unlike its ceremonial return in January, today's "cold move" was made without fanfare. After unspecified work is carried out at Pier 9C the Hudson will be towed to Sheet Harbour where it will be cut up by R.J.MacIsaac Construction Ltd. See Shipfax post of November 30.

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Hudson to sea

 After a winter under wraps at the Bedford Institute CCGS Hudson put out to sea today for a short trial trip of a few hours duration.

I never tire of seeing this ship's graceful lines and will  be sorry when it goes into retirement - whenever that may happen. As posted previously, Seaspan Shipbuilding has started to cut steel for the replacement ship, optimistically due for delivery in 2024, with atrocious estimated costs.

In the meantime Hudson undergoes refit after refit to keep it in service until that replacement arrives. Built by the long defunct Saint John  Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co, the ship was delivered in December 1963 and (remarkably) commissioned in March 1964. 

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Full House at BIO

 The Bedford Institute has a full house for the holidays and as a result is farming out some of its craft to other locations in the harbour. The Canadian Coast Guard in Halifax has added two ships to its fleet this year, with no retirements, so far, so space is at a premium.

CCGS Hudson returned to port December 4 for winter layup and will be in refit until the end of March. A cocoon has already been installed to permit some sort of climate controlled work on her decks.

The CCGS Alfred Needler is idle for Christmas, but not undergoing any specific major maintenance, so has taken up temporary residence at Pier 9.

Despite delivery of new vessels, Alfred Needler is scheduled to remain in service for some time to come, and in fact was scheduled for drydocking this month.

Also at BIO is CCGS Jean Goodwill, recently delivered, but not in full service yet. That may not happen until after March 31, so it will need to be alongside a lot until then.

Also the Capt. Jacques Cartier will be in port over Christmas, taking up some more dock space. Most research vessels do not go to sea during the holidays.

Even with the additional ships, BIO is still down two vessels from normal strength. CCGS Edward Cornwallis is in Vessel Life Extension at Shelburne and CCGS Earl Grey is in drydock in St.John's.

CCGS Sir William Alexander was in today, possibly for crew change, occupying the last open berth. It soon returned to SAR patrol.

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Endeavor returns

The (United States) National Science Foundation research vessel Endeavor returned to Halifax this afternoon after completing the first 23 day scientific charter from the Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the Bedford Institute.

Built by Peterson Builders in Sturgeon Bay, WI in 1976, the 784 long ton displacement, 298 grt vessel is operated by the Graduate School of Oceanography of the University of Rhode Island and is based in Narragansett, RI. It had a major mid-life refit in 1993, during which the hull was lengthened from 177 ft to 185 ft loa and modified. Its single GM EMD delivers 3,050 shp to a controllable pitch prop in a steering nozzle. 

  According to figures published by the CBC, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (aka DFO) hired the vessel at a cost of $1,041,044 for work that CCGS Hudson was slated to do. Because Hudson's $4mn refit was still incomplete in November, the ship was yanked from the Heddle Marine in Hamilton, ON and returned to Halifax. DFO has said that the work will be finished alongside BIO by April 2018.

However the University of Rhode Island's web site reports that Endeavor has been hired again for continuation of the work for 23 days in April / May 2018 for an additional $(US)649,632. The Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program on the Scotian Slope and Gulf of Maine is a continuing process and requires fall and spring surveys.Perhaps DFO scientists do not believe their own department's press releases.

Meanwhile at the old Coast Guard base in Dartmouth Coriolis II is in winter layup after also chartering to Fisheries and Oceans for work that Hudson could not do. That expedition to the Gulf of St.Lawrence cost $721,568.

 Leeway Oyssey at left and Coriolis II at right in winter layup at the old Coast Guard base.

Off Newfoundland the Fugro Discovery (Panama flag) was also hired for work that Hudson could not do at a cost of $822,000.

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Big Sunday

With ten arrivals and six departures, today was an unusually busy day for a Sunday. Tomorrow, although it will be a holiday, Canada's Thanksgiving Day, the port promises to be even busier, so I will cram much of today's activities into one post.

The early riser was rewarded with an impressive sunrise, even though cloud cover actually blocked out direct sunlight for the rest of the day. I like sunrises, but don't usually see them unless they coincide with ship arrivals.

Eurodam leads the inbound parade at sunrise.

A triple arrival at sunrise was worth getting up for, so I took it in this time. In the lead, Eurodam was followed by Albatros and finally CMA CGM Tancredi.

Eurodam is a regular caller in cruise season, but on departure passengers were given a pair of treats. First was Atlantic Oak going full speed in reverse. The tug was outbound to meet the arriving OOCL Washington (see later) and because of that timing, Eurodam took the western channel, giving the second treat coming close to the shore off York Redout.

  

 Next inbound was Albatros.

Albatros came in east of George's Island to tie up at pier 20.

Albatros has now reached the veteran status. Built in 1973 by OY Wartsila, Helsingfors as Royal Viking Sea, it was lengthened in 1983, adding a new 93 foot long mid-section. It became Royal Odyssey in 1991, Norwegian Star in 1997, Norwegian Star 1 in 2001, Crown in 2002 and Albatros in 2004.
 

Royal Viking Sky was one of the best looking ships of its day.

The albatross was thought to be the bearer of bad luck by ancient mariners, but it must have been good to current operators Phoenix Reisen, since this is the second ship to carry the name for them.

The first Albatros' ancestry was well hidden by many changes to convert it to cruising.

 
The first Albatros was also a veteran. Built on the Clyde in 1957 by John Brown as Sylvania, it was the last of four Cunard transatlantic liner sisters initially operating to Quebec and Montreal in summer and Halifax in winter. It was also given the R.M.S. designation as it carried mail on its regular liner service.

In 1961 it was transferred to year round operation Liverpool to New York, It was sold in 1968 becoming Fairwind, the Sitmar Fairwind in 1988, Dawn Princess in 1988 (and refitted for cruising), and Albatros in 1993.
In 2003 it was renamed Genoa for its trip to the breakers in Alang, arriving there in December of that year.

A well loaded CMA CGM Tancredi takes its tugs off Halterm.

Another first time caller for CMA CGM's joint service followed the cruise ships. CMA CGM Tancredi is another 8530 TEU ship (including 700 reefers). Built by Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industries in 2011, it measures 91,498 grt, 101,386 dwt. Owners Danaos Shipping Co Ltd of Piraeus operate it on long term charter to CMA CGM.

A pair of Algomas at pier 25-26.

A rare arrival for Halifax in recent years, is a ship with grain. Algoma Mariner arrived from the Great Lakes mid-morning and began to unload what seems to be a partial cargo. Before unloading operations began, the ship bunkered from fleet mate Algoma Dartmouth.

 No matter that she is old and worn, Hudson is still a classy ship.

After hydrographic work south of Nova Scotia CCGS Hudson returned to the Bedford Institute. I will be sad to see this classic ship go, which it will do, probably next year*, when its replacement is completed. First steel for the new ship was cut by Seaspan in Vancouver in June. [*Oops, replacement due in 2020 ar the earliest - see comment below. First steel was cut of the trawler type researchers.]

Speaking of classics that will go: Princess of Acadia remains tied up at the old Coast Guard dock in Dartmouth, but has been kept in ready condition. It was said that this was to enable the ship to sail to the breakers under its own power, and that will likely be the case. But in the meantime, as reported by the Ottawa Citizen, the ship will be used in naval exercises starting next week. It will pose as a "vessel of interest" in counter-terrorism training operations south off Yarmouth.

Last inbound ship of interest for me was OOCL Washington, which arrived for Halterm, taking CMA Tancredi's berth. (It took the western channel to allow room for the inbound.)

The OOCL ship called here for the first time September 29 at Fairview Cove on the G6 westbound service. Now that it has discharged at US ports and is on the return eastbound leg, it is high in the water, and berthed at Halterm to avoid bridge clearance issues. Built in 2010 by Samsung Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries in South Korea, it measures 89,097 grt, 99,631 dwt. Its container capacity is 8,063 TEU, including capacity for 1400 reefers.

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Storm Chaser?

The research ship Hudson sailed this afternoon in deteriorating weather. With Hurricane Ophelia churning up the Atlantic, it might be imagined that this will not be the most comfortable of trips. If she retraces her most recent survey string she will go right out in to the storm's path.

This wonderful ship, built in 1963, is still in active service for the Department of Fisheries & Oceans / Canadian Coast Guard. Her replacement will be built as part of the new government shipbuilding program, which will unfold over the next few weeks and months.

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On the drawing boards

1. CCGS Hudson inbound in the Narrows May 16, 2001.

2. CCGS Wilfred Templeman inbound Halifax February 2, 2004.

3. CCGS Alfred Needler, outbound in the Narrows January 27, 1999.

The federal government has awarded design contracts for replacement of four Canadian Coast Guard/ Department of Fisheries and Oceans vessels.

STX Canada Marine will be designing the replacement for CCGS Hudson. The research vessel based at the Bedford Institute in Halifax dates from 1962 (when it was launched by Saint John Shipbuilding & Dry Dock) / 1964 (when it was commissioned) and is justifiably renowned for its many scientific discoveries. Although built as a hydrographic research vessel it has also conducted significant oceanography work, and as a Coast Guard vessel, has been multi-tasked. It participated in recovery operations following the sinking of the Ocean Ranger in 1982 and the Swissair crash in 1998 among others.

The replacement vessel will be 90m long and will accommodate 59 crew and scientists. It will play essentially the same role as Hudson, but will include many newer features including dynamic positioning.

STX Canada Marine is the former Aker Yards Marine Inc and its Canadian operations are based in Vancouver.

Robert Allan Ltd, also of Vancouver, will prepare a single design for three new offshore research vessels to replace the Alfred Needler and Wilfred Templeman on the east coast and the W.E. Ricker on the west coast. These will carry 39 crew and scientists and will do fish surveys and oceanography. The current ships are essentially stern trawlers, but the new vessels will have upgraded capability. Alfred Needler, based at Bedford Institute and Wilfred Templeman, based in St.John's, are sister ships, built at Ferguson Industries in Pictou in 1982. W.E.Ricker was built as Calistratus in 1978 in Hokkaido, Japan.

These are design contracts only, and no construction contracts have been awarded yet. However it is expected that all the ships will be delivered in 2014, allowing Hudson to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

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