Norway - coming and going

 Despite its relatively small size (2023 population: 5.2 million) Norway is a major maritime nation. This may be due in part to its long indented coastline, where it is shorter, and usually faster, to go by sea than detouring around the famous fjords by land. The seagoing skills, and business acumen of many ship owners and shipyards, allowed the country to capitalize on North Sea oil. Its long coast also extends into the arctic, and the country has also developed expertise in northern shipping.

Today, June 15, two ship departures had Norwegian connectons.

Although it was the first to get away from the dock (pilot ordered for 1600 hrs ADT) , the cable ship IT Infinity stood off for a short time as the faster cruise ship Viking Sky sailed from Pier 20 (pilot ordered for 1615 hrs ADT),

Viking Sky was first to pass my position in Point Pleasant Park, and had put on some speed.

 The Viking Ocean Cruises ship was delivered in 2017 by Fincantieri, Arcona and rings in at 47,842 gt, with a passenger capacity of 930 in 465 cabins, a crew of 550. It flies the the Norwegian flag and is enrolled in the Norwegian International Registry.

On this trip it sailed from Norway in late May, circumnavigated Iceland, with four port calls, then carried on to Nuuk Greenland for June 11. It arrived in Halifax this morning.

 It is now sailing for New York where it will start a new cruise, returning to Halifax June 19, then calling at l'Anse aux Meadows, making two stops in Greenland and seven in Iceland and seven in Norway, ending in Bergen July 15.

The ship is noted for a nail-biting episode in 2019 when a lube oil system failure (due to ship's movement in 30 foot high seas) caused the automatic shut down of its main engines, while near shore in Norway. Helicopters were mobilized from near and far and made 30 trips to evacuate 436 passengers (458 crew reamained on board). First attempts to tow the ship away from land failed, but the crew were able to regain some power, toe lines re-established and the ship was towed to port. Reports indicate the ship was as close as 100 meters from running aground. It was later determined that there was a fault in the lube oil system, and that the ship should not have sailed in the predicted weather conditions.

Sailing for Norway, International Telecom's IT Infinity will be returning to its orginal home.  

 

IT Infinity, a 4277 gt, 4867 dwt former supplier, was built in 2008, by Aker Tulcea and completed by Brattvag. Orginally Volstad Princess it became Standard Princess in 2017. It was acquired by IT International Telecom and renamed IT Infinity in 2021.

In February 2024 the Vard shipyard in Brattvaag, Norway was awarded a  contract to refit the ship to a higher standard and to modernize existing systems. The work was completed with sea trials in November and the ship sailed from Rognan, Norway, December 18, and arrived in Halifax January 3, 2025.

Since then it has been working in the Gulf of Mexico, out of Port Fourchon, LA and arrived back in Halifax June 9.

Also depearting today, fleet mate IT Integrity is headed for the Panama Canal. It also has Norwegain roots: Built in 2001, its hull came from Aker Tulcea and it was completed by Soviknes Verft, Sovik. The 2244 gt, 3200 dwt supplier was named Highland Fortress and worked for several Tidewater operations in Europe until 2020 when IT acquired the ship and converted it for cable work (including laying, repair, plough burying and ROV splicing). 

IT Integrity file photo from 2022.

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Where the Action Is

 Once again today, Friday December 13, much of the activity was in the far north end of Halifax Harbour at Pier 9C and in Bedford  Basin.

In chronological order: it was the movement of the offshore installation vessel Symphony from Pier 9C to Pier 9A. The ship has been idle (with some fitting out) in Halifax for months, with fleet mate Connector, awaiting the call to work on an undisclosed project, likely the Vineyard Wind project in the United States. Yesterday it moved from Pier 9A to Pier 9C to make room for the cable ship IT Integrity. In order to make the move the Symphony went out into Bedford Basin, turned, then when the traffic cleared (see below) it came back in alongside Pier 9A.

 The impressive ship belongs to the Dredging + Maritime Management division of the Jan De Nul Group of Belgium. The ship is registered in Luxembourg.

It was built in 2011 as the Fugro Symphony and was renamed Global Symphony in 2017, then becoming Symphony in 2022. The 11,324 gt, 6500 dwt ship is equipped for trenching work, with an onboard ROV, a 150 tonne crane, and can accommodate 105 persons.

Next along in the Narrows was the auto carrier Mignon a familiar caller on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean transatlantic service. It went to Bedford Basin to turn before coming alongside at Pier 9C while the Symphony stood by well north in the anchorages.

Mignon is owned by Wallenius Lines AB of Sweden and was built in 1999 by Daewoo Heavy Industres, Okpo, South Korea. Originally it measured 57,018 grt, 14,841 dwt. In 2005 it was taken in hand by Hyundai-Vinashin Shipyard Co Ltd in Ninh Hoa, Vietnam and lengthened 29 meters by inserting a new section amidships. This 12 deck structure increased tonnages to 67,264 grt, 28,126 dwt and the car carrying capacity from about 3,000 to 7,194 units (Lane length increased from 5700m to 6840m). The ship's stern ramp is rated at 120 tonne capacity. There is also a small side ramp.

Ships of Wallenius Line and Wilhelmsen have been given a common colour scheme, but they are still owned and managed by the individual component companies. There are still traces of the old colour schemes, such as this ship's name board in the gold and green of the old Wallenius funnel colours.

The ship is flying the flag of Canada as a courtesy, the flag of Sweden, where the ship is registered, and, barely visible, the Wallenius flag -  green with a gold W. Normally ships fly the red and white "Hotel" flag when they have a pilot aboard, but I could not see one this time.

When the Mignon was safely alongside the Symphony came back from the Basin to Pier 9C, which had by this time been vacated by the IT Integrity.

 Built in 2001, its hull came from Aker Tulcea and it was completed by Soviknes Verft, Sovik. The 2244 gt, 3200 dwt supplier was named Highland Fortress and worked for several Tidewater operations in Europe until 2020 when IT International Telecom acquired the ship and converted it for cable work (including laying, repair, plough burying and ROV splicing). It is based in Halifax but spends extended periods away from port depending on cable work. It is now headed for Rose Blanche, NL according to AIS.

 If all of this was not enough activity, the container ship MSC Baltic III departed PSA Fairview Cove, headed for Montreal. 

 The ship is working between Halifax and Montreal on a coasting license in order to move the large number of containers stranded in Halifax from the port workers strike in Montreal. With fleet mate MSC Sagitta III, also with a coasting license, they have until December 31 to move the boxes. Both ships were taken off MSC's Canada Gulf Bridge service but the MSC Baltic III is scheduled to sail from Montreal December 24 on that service, so this may be its last call in Halifax.

There are still lots of MSC containers in Halifax, but they are mostly regular traffic by now.

 Once the MSC Baltic had cleared the west berth at Fairview Cove, the Oceanex Sanderling moved in from anchorage #7 to finish loading for Newfoundland. The ship usually anchors over night after working cargo at Autoport.

It is due to sail for St. John's early this evening.

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More Activity at IT International Telecom

 A second cable ship arrived at IT International Telecom's Marine Base at Pier 9A today, November 30. Today's arrival is IT Integrity the former supplier Highland Fortress acquired and renamed in 2020. The 2244 gt, 3200 dwt vessel was built by Aker Tulcea and completed by Soviknes Verft in Norway in 2001. The ship is fitted with special equipment for cable repair and laying - some of which is "modular" and can be lifted on and off the ship as needed.

Arriving from Port Alberni, BC, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the ship was working with fleeet mate IT Intrepid on the Google TOPAZ Transpacific fibreoptic cable system from Japan to Vancouver, via Port Alberni.

In Halifax IT Integrity joined another member of the IT fleet, IT Infinity, which is fitting out with more cable laying equipment.

IT Infinity, a 4277 gt, 4867 dwt former supplier, was built in 2008, also by Aker Tulcea and completed by Brattvag. Orginally Volstad Princess it became Standard Princess in 2017. It was acquired and renamed IT Infinity in 2021. When it arrived in Halifax in July it was flying the Barbados flag. It sailed to Mulgrave, NS on October 21 and on return to Halifax November 8 it was registered under the Canadian flag on November 9.

 

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IT Integrity - trouble in BC

 The cable ship IT Integrity is reported tied up in Port Alberni, BC after its main engine was disabled due to "fuel issues". The Halifax registered ship, owned by interests connected to IT International Telecom Canada Inc.

Acquired last year, the former offshore supplier and ROV supporter Highland Fortress was built in 2001 by Soviknes Verft AS in Norway. It was refitted for cable work at Pier 9A in Halifax. It first arrived in Halifax May 28, 2020 and was registered September 21, 2020.

It sailed from Halifax May 15, 2021 and transited the Panama Canal Jun 8-9. It appears to have been working off California at least until July before moving on to British Columbia waters.

As part of the Halifax refit a large A-Frame assembly was installed aft, presumably for ROV work.

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Halifax - lots of integrity

Use of the word "integrity" seems to be on the increase. Once it was just an assumed characteristic of most people and things. It now seems necessary to assure others that you, your company or its product has integrity. Overstating it does little to reassure me, but it does make those companies that can bring themselves to use it a sort of cachet, if only in their own minds. 

The Port of Halifax has had lots of "integrity" lately with three ships of the name showing up in within a few days. Yesterday it was the autocarrier Integrity operating for American Roll On Roll Off Carriers. (That company likes the name so well it also has a ship called ARC Integrity in its fleet too.)

When IT International Telecom added another cable ship to its fleet, based at Pier 9A in Halifax, they named it IT Integrity. It returned to port December 12 from a repair mission to Cabot Strait.

Passing Pier 9A today on its way inbound to National Gypsum, Algoma Integrity caught the sunlight quite nicely.

The ship more or less inherited its name from its original owners, Canadian Gypsum who called it Gypsum Integrity. Since they intended it for use in our northerly climate, they equipped it with enclosed bridge wings, giving excellent weather protection year round. The ship is on a more or less regular run these days delivering raw gypsum to Baltimore, and other US ports. It was here twice in November.

Current owners Algoma Central Corp, gave the ship its current name in 2015, and placed it in the CSL Americas pool.

Aspirational and perhaps inspirational names for ships seem common nowadays, but as with many fads and fashions they do get overworked after a time. Perhaps this particular word has hit that mark and thus lost its integrity. 

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IT Intrepid - a classic

With the arrival on May 17 of IT Integrity, International Telecom's new ship, the veteran IT Intrepid may not be around that much longer, so I am taking every opportunity to get photos of the older ship.

IT Integrity at left and IT Intrepid at right both arrived in Halifax on May 17.

IT Intrepid returned to Halifax after a few days of work in Newfoundland and sailed this afternoon for an even shorter trip.

Outbound this afternoon IT Intrepid displays what are now considered to be classic lines for a cable ship. The bow sheaves are very rarely seen anymore.

The ship is heading out to International waters (still 12 miles for Canada Customs purposes) to fulfill some sort of legal obligation, and will be returning to Halifax later this evening.

IT Intrepid has worked out of Halifax for many years and has been featured in this blog many times:

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/search?q=it+intrepid

The ship is  certainly getting on in years, but had a major survey renewal in March of last year, so is good until 2024. We suspect that IT Integrity , which appears to be more of a cable repair ship than a cable laying ship, will supplement IT Intrepid at least for a time, but retirement is inevitable.

In the last few years IT International Telecom has hired local tug/suppliers from Maersk and Atlantic Towing for some cable repair work, so it looks like IT Integrity may be able to keep that work in house.

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