Clear Sailing

 After two days of intense fog (and the melting off of about 10 cm of snow left over from Christmas), today, December 31, there was a clear view of harbour activity.

Yesterday's arrival, the Coastal Shipping Ltd tanker Kitikmeot W., moved off Imperial Oil's number 3 dock and anchored in the lower harbour. This will be a short term position and I expect the ship will move again early in the New Year. 

It appears to have offloaded most, if not all of its cargo, so it will be interesting to see where it is headed next. Some of its fleet mates trade internationally over the winter. (Sister ship Kivalliq W. is in the Gulf of St. Lawrence en route to Rotterdam. Another sister, Qikiqtaaluk W. sailed from Halifax December 27 and arrived in St.John's December 29. Another sister ship Tuvaq W. currently in St.John's has been reflagged to the Marsall Islands.) This ship has been reflagged to Marshall Islands most years for about five to six months - usually December / January to May/June.

So far at least, the Canadian port of registry, St.John's, has not been painted over but there is a light blue space available for Majuro when the time comes.

Kitikmeot W, was built in 2010 by Icdas in Biga, Turkey and measures 13,097 grt, 19,983 dwt. It sailed as Icdas-09 until acquired by Coastal Shipping in 2108. It is rated Ice Class 1A by DNV. Halifax was its first port in Canada when it arrived May 8, 2018. [see my post from that date]

 It has since operated on Coastal's usual routes to the Woodward Group's home port of Goose Bay, NL, its operational base of Lewisporte, NL and many far north outposts with only seasonal access by sea. It has sourced petroleum products in several ports, mostly from Imperial Oil facilities.

On its current voyage the ship loaded in Sarnia, ON, December 21 to 23, having entered the St.Lawrence Seaway from Montreal on December 16 and exiting again December 26.

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Fogged in again

 For the second day in a row (although today was an improvement some of the time) thick fog covered much of the harbour activity. Yesterday's (July 2) arrival and departure of the Queen Mary 2 was largely invisible - no doubt disappointing the many fans that usually show up for its visits. (There has been no further information about the medical emergency that caused its unplanned visit to Halifax on June 29, when it was visible - see previous post.)

It is futile to try to demonstrate the thickness of the fog by photos, but I tried, and no amount of digital tweeking helped!

 

One arrival yesterday, and departure today that I also would have liked to photograph was Coastal Shipping Ltd's tanker Kitikmeot W.  It is not unknown in Halifax,  but this particular call was a bit unusual. Coastal Shipping, founded by Mel Woodward, Sr, in Goose Bay, NL has had a long-standing relationship with Imperial Oil and distributes their products into many isolated northern and arctic communities. Their tanker fleet is based in Lewisporte, NL - a port that is accessible year round.

 (file photo 2021-02-12)

On this particular trip the Kitikmeot W. has ventured outside its usual range and on May 24 it was upbound in the St.Lawrence Seaway for Imperial's refinery in Nanticoke, ON. It was downbound again June 3, but quickly discharged in the Montreal area and was reported upbound again June 7 for Sarnia. It then made an unusual call to Green Bay, WI before returning to Sarnia. It made another trip from Sarnia June19 to an unknown destination, returning June 24. It sailed June 25 and made its way to Halifax. On departure this afternoon (July 3) it gave its home port of Lewisporte as destination.

Built by Ikdas in Biga, Turkey in 2010 the 13,097 gt, 19,982 dwt ship was originally named Ikdas-09 and was acquired and renamed by Coastal Shipping Ltd in 2018. 

Another notable departure from Halifax today was by a pair of Royal Canadian Navy vessels, sailing for a four month deployment to NATO. HMCS Shawinigan MM704  and HMCS Summerside MM711 and are headed for the Baltic and Operation Reassurance.

 Both ships were built at Halifax Shipyards as part of the twelve ship Kingston class of coastal defence vessels. Shawinigan was launched (conventioanlly) November 15, 1996 and commissioned January 14, 1997. Summerside was the last ship in the series, and was launched September 25, 1998 and commissioned July 18, 1999.

The ships are propelled by azimuthing stern drives, (in reverse position for the launch in photo above) and are thus highly maneurverable.

Unrelated to fog: As predicted there were some delays due to limited berth space at PSA Halifax south end terminal on the long weekend. There was a steady stream of ships from Friday through to today, with some anchoring to await their berth. 

The Atlantic Hub, southend terminal processed a remarkable ten ships from Friday June 30 to Monday July 3 whereas  Fairview Cove had only four. Some of the ships (3 or 4 by my count) were too large to get to Fairview Cove, but I believe some delays could have been avoided by rationalization. (i.e. by relocating some lines to Fairview Cove permanently).

I hear that some changes are indeed planned this month to balance demand for pier space with the under utilized Fairview Cove terminal. Details to follow.

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Follow Ups

 Several posts during the last week are in need of follow up, so this post combines three updates.

Update#1 Oceanex (from November 30)

Oceanex Sanderling arrived back in Halifax today (December 4) after making an extra trip to St.John's this week. The ship made Autoport its first stop, then moved to PSA Halifax. It is due to sailagain early tomorrow (Sunday) morning, about 36 hours later than its usual Friday sailing.

 Unique among container ships, Oceanex Sanderling carries 53 foot containers, both its own (blue) Oceanex boxes but those of other cariers such as Canadian Tire (a national hardware, houseware and auto supply chain).

Road wash outs in western Newfoundland delayed truck traffic to and from the island last week, and Oceanex took up some of the cargo by making a quick mid-week trip to Halifax and back to St.John's. Competitor Marine Atlantic was forced to shift its Newfoundland terminal from Port aux Basques to Argentia for a few days until damaged roads and bridges could be repaired. At one point there were 200 trucks waiting on the mainland side. 

Oceanex makes connections with container lines in Halifax so making an extra trip can mess up its normal schedule for coordinating with other same day callers. However the urgency of getting cargo to and from Newfoundland was more important.

Update #2 Kitikmeot W. (from December 2)

The Canadian-owned product tanker Kitikmeot W. did indeed change its registration while in Halifax this week. It sailed this evening under the Marshall Island's flag, with no destination given at first, but eventually showing Quebec City.

The ship is now registered in the port of Majuro while it works overseas for the winter on a bareboat charter arrrangement. The ship's history is quite plain to see on the stern with the previous registry ports of Istanbul, Turkey and St.John's, Newfoundland, still visible under layers of paint. 

The ship will likely return to Canadian flag in late May or early June 2022 in time for next year's northern supply work.

Update #3 MSC (from December 3)

Kotor Bay sailed this afternoon for Norfolk on MSC's Indus 2 service. As stated in the post, the majority of MSC's fleet is chartered. When the sun hit the ship's side at the right angle the name of its previous charter was highlighted.

 

The ship was built in 2009 for charter to Hyundai as Hyundai Loyalty and carried the name for twelve years. Charters of up to 18 years or more have been negotiated recently, and such arrangements are a common feature of container shipping. Charters allow operators to expand their fleet without actually financing or buying the ship. It is also a way for shipowners to find work for their ships without having to run a container line.

One interesting thing to note from today's photo is the complete absence of containers from any other container lines. There are boxes from leasing companies, but all the labelled containers appear to be MSC. This is a reflection of MSC's general independence and its policy of organic growth versus acquistion of other lines. By contrast Maersk, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd ships are usually a crazy quilt of containers bearing the names of past purchases or alliance partners.

Speaking of Maersk and CMA CGM, there is no ship scheduled for the Canada Atlantic Express (CAE) this weekend, but EM Kea is en route from Montreal giving Monday, December 6 as an arrival date instead of the usual Saturday call. It was likely delayed westbound by the bad weather earlier in the week.

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Kitikmeot W. and Pier 9c

The Canadian flag tanker Kitikmeot W. arrived in Halifax this morning (December 2) from Matane, QC and tied up at Pier 9C. 

Built in 2010 in Turkey by Icdas Celik Enerji Tersane ve Ulasim Sanagi to its own account as Icdas-09 it is a 13,097 gt, 19,983 dwt ice class chemical/product carrier. Coastal Shipping Ltd of Goose Bay, NL, part of the Woodward Group, acquired the ship and its sister Icdas-11 in 2018. (It became Qikiqtaaluk W. and was here November 21-22 [qv]).

After a summer working in the far north Kitikmeot W. is likely to be flagged out for the winter. It has been re-registered in the Marshall Islands from roughly December to the following May or June in 2019-20 and 2020-21 when it has returned to Canadian registration.

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Busy Sunday

There was a fair amount of activity in the Port today, some of which I was able to catch.

ZIM Constanza was an early morning arrival and early afternoon departure. Built by Jiangsu New Yangzijiang in Jingjiang, China it is a 40,542 gt , 50,107 dwt ship with a container capacity of 4256 TEU including 698 reefers. Interestingly the ship's keel was laid December 25, 2009, and it was completed August 11, 2010.

Meeting the inbound Algoma Mariner in the Middle Ground area took some careful coordination by the pilots.

Algoma Mariner was also built in China about a year later. Its keel was laid October 21, 2010 and it was completed May 31, 2011 by Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin.

The ship went to anchor in Bedford Basin for a time then went in to National Gypsum to load. A Seaway sized self-unloader its gt is 24,535 with a dwt of 35,500. Its last port was Sydney where it delivered a load of coal from the Great Lakes.

ZIM Constanza's Pier 41 berth was taken almost immediately by APL Yangshan. Another of the "biggies" with a capacity of 10,960 TEU, it measures 128,929 gt, 131,229 dwt. Built in 2012 by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co in Okpo, it is owned by NOL Liner Pte Ltd of Singapore. NOL (Neptune Orient Line) and APL (American President Line are all owned by CMA CGM.

There has been some unusual tanker activity at Imperial Oil in the last few days. I neglected to mention the very rare visit of a Canadian tanker. Algoscotia made a quick trip from Montreal, arriving December 17 and heading back December 18.

Since Imperial demolished the refinery the Dartmouth facility has been a depot for local deliveries, with the source of fuel usually the southern US or Europe, so getting product from Canada is rare.

The tanker Avon was on and off the dock several times due to weather and to allow Algoscotia to dock, then another Canadian tanker, Kitikmeot W.

Today Kitikmeot W. had moved to Pier 9 B where it was in the process off re-flagging to the Marshal Islands for the winter.

And Avon was back at Imperial Oil for the third time, unloading the last of its cargo.

And for something completely different the British research ship James Cook arrived at The Cove just as the threatened rain arrived.

Operated by the National Environment Research Council, the ship was built in 2006 in a combined effort between the Crist yard in Gdansk, Poland for the hull and Flekkefjord Slip in Norway for completion.
It has had many accomplishments in its career as a Royal Research Ship, many of which are listed in the Wikipedia entry:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRS_James_Cook

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Ringing in the New Year

There was harbour activity on January 1 despite blinding snow, later turning to rain, and more activity January 2.
Note: black bordered photos are form the Shipfax archive. Borderless photos are usually "fresh".

 Atlantic Tern

The offshore standby vessel Atlantic Tern had the distinction of being the first arrival of 2019. It was returning from its duties at Deep Panuke. The Encana facility stopped producing gas in May 2018 and is now in the dismantling process.  Fleet mate Atlantic Condor was built at Halifax Shipyard in 2010 for a ten year renewable contract as supply vessel for the troubled gas project.

 Atlantic Tern has a rough job standing by off Sable Island for a month at a time.

The other offshore gas producer, Sable Offshore Energy made the surprising announcement that it is halting production this week - one year earlier than planned. The Exxon Mobil lead project (with Shell, Imperial, Pengrowth and Mosbacher) came on line in 1999. It is also in a dismantling process.

Salarium

Heard but not seen for its arrival January 1 was the bulker Salarium. The ship arrived in very restricted visibility but its "fog horn" could be heard until it was secured at anchor in the lower harbour. Returning from Saint John, NB, where it had unloaded a cargo of road salt, the ship is en route to its loading port in the Magdalen Islands. Its stay in Halifax was brief, sailing again this morning less than 24 hours after arriving. Its visit was to shelter from very high winds last night. With the ship in ballast, it would not only be uncomfortable, but potentially dangerous at sea.

The ship was built for Great Lakes trade with limited seagoing and is restricted to Canadian waters south of 52 degrees latitude, and is permitted to go to St.John's, NL and "the eastern seaboard of Canada." which includes Halifax, Saint John. NB and the St.Croix River to Bayside, NB.

When laid down by the Collingwood Shipyard, it was with the intention of naming it "Gleneagles" reviving a traditional CSL name. However it was launched as Nanticoke, named for a new Stelco steel mill built near the town of the same name, on Lake Erie. CSL had long standing  contracts to deliver iron ore to Stelco and it was a fitting choice. (The plant was located on Lake Erie, which allowed it to receive iron ore from upper lakes ports without having to send ships down through the Welland Canal to Hamilton.) A nearby coal fired generating plant provided power for the mill (until it was closed in 2014).  CSL was also in the coal delivery business.

Afrer an end of season grain delivery, Nanticoke was about to shift to Natyional Gypsum for its backhaul cargo.

A Seaway size self-unloader, Nanticoke plied the other usual routes for CSL carrying grain, gypsum, coal and ores. It also participated in the early top off operations in the Strait of Canso and Sept-Iles Bay where CSL self-unloaders completed the loading of large deep sea ships that could not load to maximum draft in their usual loading ports.

CSL self-unloaders used to have black hulls, which were thought to be more serviceable in view of the coal and other dirty cargoes they carried.

In May 1997 Nanticoke, Atlantic Huron (a regular Halifax caller) and Atlantic Erie (scrapped in 2016) were fitted with special cargo handling systems to deliver magnetite, in slurry form, to ballast the Hibernia Gravity Base structure on location off Newfoundland. The ships were converted and "unconverted" in Halifax.

A large pipeline was attached tho the ships' bows and pumps were used to move the heavy ballast

from shore to ship, then to the gravity base, well out at sea.

Not long after the Hibernia Challenge, CSL began to paint its self-unloaders with traditional red hulls, once reserved for bulkers and general cargo ships. 

Here Nanticoke disembarks its pilot at Escoumins as a whale tour boat sets out.

In 2009 CSL signed a long term contract to carry salt for (what is now) K+S Windsor Salt/Morton Salt, Mines Saleines in the Magdalen Islands. To make back haul voyages more profitable the ship hauls gypsum and other products, but rarely grain. Salt is very destructive, and despite lining the holds with special composites, the cargo does take its toll, and cleaning for grain handling must be hard work. It did deliver grain here in Septmber 2011.

At first Salarium did carry some grain cargoes, but has not done so for some time.

Renamed Salarium (the word describes "payment in salt", from which the word salary derives) [I used to be paid peanuts, now I just get the salt] the ship commonly runs the St.Lawrence River and into the Seaway, with occasional forays as far as the Great Lakes. It has also loaded gypsum in Halifax from time to time. Once the Seaway closes for the winter the ship can be seen on the aforementioned Atlantic seaboard delivering road salt.

A Mines Saleines logo was added to the CSL funnel.

The battle against rust must be constant when carrying salt.

When Halifax Shipyard was in the repair business, Salarium was a refit customer, and looked quite splendid when it emerged with its fresh paint.

Now the ship generally works year round and only drydocks for its five year renewals. With a big one coming up in 2022, one has to wonder how much longer the ship will remain in service.

Plowing its usual furrow on the St.Lawrence, Salarium spends the summer supplying stockpiles of road salt for the coming winter.

Kitikemeot W.

Coastal Shipping's tanker Kitikmeot W. is due to sail this afternoon, and as speculated the ship has been reflagged to the Marshal Islands for winter trading internationally.

Algonorth

On January 1, Algonorth shifted from Imperial Oil dock 4 to anchor. Because Salarium was occupying the lower harbour anchorage, Algonorth went to Bedford Basin. The ship may just be waiting out weather or possibly will be there for a longer term.

Thorco Liva

The general cargo ship Thorco Liva arrived this morning and tied up at pier 9c. This is the ship's third visit to Halifax. In October 2016 it was fitted with steel frames to carry fibreoptic cable. The prefabricated frames were loaded aboard and assembled here, and the ship loaded the cable in Newington, NH where it is manufactured. The ship returned to Halifax in January 2017, presumably loaded with cable, and anchored for nearly a month before sailing for Spain.

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Sunrise to Sunset and more on W. tankers

 Although it only shows as a pin point, just to the right of centre on the horizon - there is a ship out there. [0730 hrs AST]

To my surprise there were bright lights on the horizon at sunrise this morning - I wasn't expecting any ship arrivals, so it took time to realize that it was Qikiqtaaluk W.  anchored (again) outside the port. After repairs were completed yesterday at pier 31 the ship sailed, still giving Savannah as its destination, but instead appears to have made a short sea trial and anchored outside the pilotage zone. However early this evening the ship did get underway and last seen (on AIS) was headed south, still for Savannah.

After yesterday's speculation about sister ship Kitikmeot W. I see a pilotage order for 2200hrs this evening for the ship to move from Imperial Oil to pier 27. This may be for change of flag and crew change.

There was some ship activity in Halifax today, but mostly after dark and of familiar ships. After showing several sunrise photos, it is time for a sunset shot- this time taken from the excellent vantage point that was the once the Dartmouth Marine Slip Long Wharf, now turned over to residential development.

Looking straight across the harbour at HMC Dockyard, HMCS Sackville is dead centre. A lone sailboat remains at anchor in the new yacht basin created off the old shipyard.

To the left HMCS Halifax (stern to us) and all of the Halifax based Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels are tied up for the holidays.

The spire to the right is St.Patrick's church and just to the left of that is the bulk of the Halifax Armories, now under restoration.

[1630 hrs AST]

Mostly Tankers - updated

Aside from tone container ship, and the mandatory autocarrier, there was a preponderance of tanker activity today.

Oregon Highway arrived with another load of autos. The K-Line ship dates from 2007 when it was built by Toyohashi Shipbuilding. At 57,147 grt, 17,699 dwt, it has a capacity of 6,135 cars.

The ship's last port of call was Portbury, UK and it is destined for Cristobal, Panama.

Imperial Oil wasted no time in sailing one ship and berthing another. Star I [ referred to as Star i , not Star one] sailed for Freeport, Bahamas.

It passed the inbound Kitikmeot W. at Middle Ground, which went directly to number 4 dock.

Kitikmeot W. appears to be shuttling from Montreal as is Algonorth, reducing the need for imported product. If so there is a chance it will be remaining under Canadian flag for the winter.

Meanwhile Kitikmeot W.'s sister ship Qikiqtaaluk W., which has been flagged out for the winter, is at pier 31 for repairs, but is expected to sail this afternoon evening. It has what was described as a "propulsion failure" after leaving Montreal December 23, and presumably another yesterday, when it had to be towed into port.

 Through fences and between poles, and over machinery - the fleeting glimpse of pier 31.

Trade to Cuba must be booming, as Melfi is bringing in larger ships all the time. Also the ships are gearless, indicating better container handling facilities in Mariel.

The lone container ship today is Artemis for Melfi Lines. The 26,358 gt, 34,439 dwt ship has a 2546 TEU capacity. Built by Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipyard, in Jiangyin, China in 2008 it has carried the names 08: TS Korea, 08: Artemis, and 17: Independent Venture and was renamed earlier this year under the management of Peter Doehle. It is due to sail later today.

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Outer Anchorage

The tanker Qikiqtaaluk W. arrived today at the outer anchorages, but is so far not scheduled to enter port. According to most sources it is en route from Montreal to Savannah.

With Devil's Island to the left Qikiqtaaluk W. rides high at anchor. Frozen spray on the shoreline hints at the frigid air temperature.

The ship was built as Icdas-11 in 2011 and is an ice class vessel measuring 13,097 grt, 19,984 dwt, fitted with twelve tanks and fourteen manifolds. One of two sister ships acquired by Coastal Shipping Ltd this year, it is named for the eastern portion of the Nunavut region. (The former Icdas-09 named for Nunavut's western region is now Kitikmeot W. It is currently loading in Come-by-Chance, NL).

After supplying arctic settlements during the northern navigation season, it went off to Europe, and was spotted in Ijmuiden November 8. It then had a stint in drydock and Blohm+Voss, Hamburg from November 12 for prop and shaft work. It was then spotted in Emden November 23.
On December 16 it was upbound in the St.Lawrence Seaway for Oshawa, arriving December 18. It sailed again the next day and was out of the Seaway again December 20, sailing directly for Halifax.

At some point it took up its winter bareboat charter and was reflagged to the Marshal Islands, possibly while in Europe.

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