Containers on the move

 Both container terminnls were working today, Sunday, November 13 and there was one ship waiting. Unlike yesterday's high winds and driving rain, it was mostly sunny and calm.

The South End Terminal, PSA's Atlantic Hub, was working another Ultra size ship the CMA CGM Jules Verne.

 

The 176,435 gt, 196,470 dwt ship dates from 2013 when it was delivered by Daewoo Shipbuilding + Marine Engineering Co Ltd in Okpo. The ship measures 396 m (1299.21 feet) long and has a capacity of 16,020 TEU. 

As mentioned in a previous post the Maersk Idaho returned to port yesterday, November 12, after idling offshore for two days, and anchored in Bedford Basin. Perhaps the move was made to avoid the high winds and steep seas accompanying the remnant of the late season post tropical storm (former hurricane) Nicole which was  passing over.

 

As per my previous post there is some mystery associated with this particular ship as it shows no sign of working cargo or moving on to another port. Cargo owners must be frustrated if they are waiting for goods. Although the ship has lots of boxes on deck, its draft marks indicate that it is lightly loaded.

At PSA Fairview Cove it was MOL Maestro on THE Alliance's EC5 route from Vietnam, Singapore, Sri Lanka via Suez to Halifax and on to New York.

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) is one of the lines (with NYK and K-Line) that founded Ocean Network Express. However their ships retain the MOL standard blue hull and orange funnel. It seems that it is mostly new ships built for ONE that are painted in the unique magenta hull colour. 

MOL Maestro was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industry Ltd in Kobe in 2010. It is a 78,316 gt, 79,423 dwt ship with a capacity of 6724 TEU including 500 reefers.

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Nordic Tatiana for Irving Oil

 The tanker Nordic Tatiana arrived this afternoon with product for Irving Oil. The cargo was loaded in Amsterdam, and the ship has aleady off loaded some of the fuel in Saint John, NB.

The ship is somewhat unusual - both in appearance and in size.

Most product tankers we see were built in Korea, but this one comes from the Guangzhou International shipyard in China, which may explain why it looks different. The acommodation block appears squat in comparison to the Korean ships, because the main deck is enclosed below the acccommodation block on this ship whereas most Korean ships are flush decked and the area is open.

The ship is also somewhat smaller than the usual MidRange tankers we usually see. It is listed at 24,112 gt and 38,396 dwt as opposed the usual 50,000 dwt, making it a "Handysize". When it was originally built in 2007 it was named  Amy but was renamed Nordic Hanne in 2008 and Nordic Tatiana in 2021. 

The ship is operated by the Jacob Shipping Group of Germany, now a tanker operator, but at one time operators of general cargo ships that used to call in Halifax.

On its way inbound this afternoon the ship took the main channel, while the outbound MOL Maestro took the western deep water, channel.

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MOL Maestro - to Fairview Cove

 MOL Maestro arrived this afternoon, June 3, and docked at PSA Fairview Cove. It is on THE Alliance's EC5 service, and is eastbound. Oddly it is the second EC5 eastbound caller this week. The other one, on June 1 (see a previous post) was MOL Charisma, but it docked at PSA Atlantic Hub (south end terminal).

Tugs met the MOL Maestro to escort it through the Narrows to Fairview Cove.

MOL Maestro dates from 2010 when it was delivered by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Kobe, and is a 78,316 gt, 79,423 dwt ship with a capacity of 6724 TEU, including 500 reefers.

 

Although MOL Maestro is a sizeable ship, the previous caller was somewhat larger at 86,692 gt, 90,390 dwt, with a capacity of 9060 TEU, including 630 reefers, which may explain why it did not go on to Fairview Cove. PSA is directing larger ships to the southend facility where there are no air daft restrictions and no narrow channels. In addition, today the Atlantic Hub had other ships scheduled, namely Oceanex Avalon And the ZIM feeder Contship Leo which would have been using most of the cranes.

 

MOL Maestro lines up for the Narrows after working is way past harbour ferries and tourist craft. Tethered escort Atlantic Oak trailed astern on a long line for braking and steering. Atlantic Fir was working forward.

 

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Bonus Round

 Today's earlier post concentrated on activity at the south end of the port. There was also activity at the north end, some of which was late in the day.

Following the spring time theme, HMCS Windsor moved out of HMC Dockyard to the newly refurbished trot buoys on Jonquière Bank in Bedford Basin.

HMCS Windsor at anchor with CSL's Baie St.Paul loading gypsum in the background (see earlier post).

The sub has been alongside in HMC Dockyard all winter, but remains in active service.

At the Fairview Cove container terminal it was all change as MOL Maestro got underway and Yang Ming Modesty arrived to take its place. Both ships are sailing for THE Alliance. 

Although not visible on the vessel itself, the AIS signal for the supplier Siem Hanne has changed name to  PSV  Hakan. It had been rumoured for some time that the Secunda 'Canada's Norwegian parent company Siem Offshore was going to repatriate the supplier. The name change seems to indicate that in fact they have sold the boat. It has been alongside at Pier 9C for a few weeks, perhaps undergoing some re-commissioning work. [see also Tugfax on this topic.]

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Two MOLs

 It happens often enough, but it is still interesting to see two ships from the same line in Halifax at the same time. Today it was two MOL (Mitsui OSK Line) ships, with one arriving as the other departed.

The larger ship MOL Maestro was the first ship in, arriving early this morning. This afternoon, when it was ready to go, MOL Emissary was inbound. To avoid an awkward meet in the harbour, the Emissary sailed straight through to Bedford Basin allowing lots of room for Maestro to sail after it had passed.

(    If this all sounds slightly familiar MOL Emissary did the same thing June 1 with Atlantic Sail as the outbound ship, and thus a photo from exactly the same position.)

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2020/06/ships-that-pass-in-basin.html

MOL Emissary, 54,940 gt, 67,170 dwt has a capacity of 5087 TEU including 330 reefers and was built in 2009 by Hyundai, Ulsan. It is owned by Seaspan Corp on long term charter to MOL under Hong Kong flag.

MOL Maestro a first time caller if my records are correct, is a 78,316 gt, 79,423 dwt ship with a capacity of 6724 TEU including 500 reefers. It was built by Mitsubishi, Kobe in 2010 and is owned by a Panama corporation.

MOL (31%), K-Line (31%) and NYK (38%), the three principal Japanese container lines, merged their container shipping operations to form ONE (Ocean Network Express) in 2017. Existing ships have maintained their old corporate identities but new ships are branded for ONE.

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