Here they come, There they go and a no show

Today (September 22) was a busy day for shipping as several ships made port and hustled to work their cargo in advance of the oncoming Fiona. Expected to be a post tropical storm when it reaches us late tomorrow, it is currently a dangerous hurricane, and is pushing high winds and seas and a storm surge. Ships do not like to be in port in such conditions, which stress mooring lines and anchor chains beyond their capacity, not to mention tossing ships against piers.

A partial tally of the activity: 

Arrivals included the Ultra class CMA CGM Brazil (not pictured) at PSA Atlantic Gateway, Pier 41. At Pier 42 it was MSC Manya (see yesterday's post) which sailed for Montreal on the Canex 1.

Its place was quickly taken by the MSC Angela, also westbound on the Canex 1 service.

A 41,225 gt, 50,568 dwt ship, built in 2008 by Zhejiang Shipbuilding Co in Ningbo, it has a capacity of 4254 TEU including 550 reefers.

Not to be left out PSA Fairview Cove welcomed the Conti Crystal westbound on THE Alliance's EC5 service.

Samsung Shipbuilding and Heavy Industry Co Ltd, built the ship in Koje in 2006. It was delivered as Hatsu Crystal and carried that name until 2018 when it was taken over by Hamburg based Conti. A sizeable ship of 90,449 gt, 106,930 dwt it has a capacity of 8084 TEU including 700 reefers.

The ship used three tugs as it made its way through the Narrows. Atlantic Willow (starboard side forward) was no longer needed when the ship reached Bedford Basin. Atlantic Oak, remained on the port side forward and assisted in turning the ship with Atlantic Bear on the stern giving lateral force.

The auto carrier Morning Chorus arrived early this morning and berthed at Pier 9C to off load RoRo cargo.

Built in 2007 by Hyundai, Ulsan, it is a 57,536 gt, 21,276 dwt vessel with a capacity of 6,645 cars.It can carry a variety of other RoRo cargo employing its 150 tonne capacity stern ramp.

Once the RoRo cargo is all landed the Morning Chorus will not go to Autoport as usual, as that facility is working another ship. Torrens also arrived today and is due to sail this evening. 

(Those cylindrical objects on rail cars are not part of this ship's cargo. They are jacking pipe sections that arrived on ACL ships and are headed for a gas pipeline project in western Canada.)

Built by Mitsubishi Nagasaki, the Torrens comes in at 61,482 gt, 21,965 dwt with a car capacity of 6,354 RT43 and a 237 tonne capacity stern ramp.

As Torrens was arriving Canada's naval Memorial, the Sackville was returning to its berth after a ceremony off Point Pleasant Shoal. The corvette was under control of the tugs Listerville on a bow line and the Glenbrook alongside.

One scheduled ship did not appear. Enchanted Princess out of Saint John on a cruise arrived off the pilot station at 1030 hrs. Instead of embarking a pilot and making its way into port, the ship put back out to sea, giving New York as its destination. I am assuming that the ship will head well out into the Atlantic to the east of Fiona's track and return its 3,660 passengers and 1,346 crew to New York intact. The 145,281 gt ship was built in 2020 by Fincantieri, Monflacone and entered service in November 2021 after a year's delay due to COVID.

There were several other movements of domestic shipping. The Irving Oil tanker East Coast went alongside the Woodside terminal after the Ipanema Street sailed [see previous post]. I expect the East Coast will unload and sail before the storm arrives.

Oceanex Sanderling went to sanchor in Bedford Basin indicating a long term stay. It will likely remain in port until after the storm passes and tracks for Newfoundland, which is expecting the brunt on Sunday / Monday.

Nolhan Ava which would also normally sail on Friday for Argentia and St-Pierre also went to anchor, presumably until after the storm passes.

The cruise regular Zaandam sailed this afternoon for Boston. Perhaps hoping to skirt to the west of Fiona and reaching port tomorrow. At time of writing this evening the ship was showing on AIS as bucketing along at 19.2 knots off southwest Nova Scotia. I think the passengers will get a thrill crossing the Gulf of Maine tonight. "Please fasten your seat belts".

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All Out

 It was a busy port today, September 13, with most available berths occupied. PSA's southend container terminal, known as the Atlantic Gateway, was going full bore, with ships arriving and departing. Like many container facilities world wide, it appears to be filling up with empty containers. The southern wing of the pier - usually empty - is now stacked with boxes.

Many of the boxes stacked at the south end of Pier 42 are designated as HAPAG-Lloyd, a line which serves this terminal through a slot arrangement with ZIM.

Lagarfoss arrived this morning on Eimskips Green Line weekly service from Iceland, and docked at berth 42. It sailed at noon time for Portland, ME.

 As the schooner Bluenose II glides past in the background, one crane works cargo on the Lagarfoss at berth 42.

Built in 2014 by Rongcheng Shenfei Shipbuilding Co Ltd the 10,119 gt, 11,811 dwt vessel has a capacity of 880 TEU and is fitted with a pair of cranes. The ship is registered in Thorshavn, the Faroe Islands.

With Lagarfoss at the south end of berth 42, the mid-berth was occupied by the MSC Angela which arrived yesterday morning and sailed in the early afternoon today.

It is now headed for Montreal after lightening its load to St.Lawrence River draft.The ship is a regular on MSC's Canada Express 2 service from Italy and Spain. It was built by Zhejiang Shipbuilding Co in Ningbo in 2008. Its 50,568 gt, 50,568 dwt gives a carrying capacity of 4254 TEU including 550 reefers. It appears to have lots of space aft for empties.

Shortly after the MSC ship sailed its place was taken by the CMA CGM Navegantes a first time caller in Halifax, arriving from Montreal.

It is the newest ship on CMA CGM's SL-1, Europe  / St.Lawrence River service, operated jointly with Maersk's CAE service, replacing the long time caller EM Kea.

CMA CGM Navegantes was built in 2006 by Hyundai Mipo as Irenes Rainbow. Renamed Kota Segar in 2008 and Irenes Rainbow again in 2010, it became CMA CGM Navegantes only last month (as of August 1 according to most sources). The 28,592 gt, 39,382 dwt ship can carry 2824 TEU including 554 reefers. It joins Vayenga Maersk and Vistula Maersk which were new additions to the St.Lawrence service earlier this year. The joint service calls in Halifax weekly, outbound from Montreal for Europe.

 The ZIM feeder Contship Leo which arrived last evening, was invisible behind stacked containers at berth 41. It is due to sail in the wee hours of tomorrow morning.

The port was also busy with three cruise ships alongside. 

Viking Star  was a mid-morning arrival from Sydney, NS.

 The sleek lines are the product of the Fincantieri Marghera shipyard in 2015. The resulting 47,842 gt ship carries 930 passengers and a relatively small crew of 602. One of the best looking of the cotemporary cruise ships, it is operated for Viking Ocean Cruises by Wilhelmsen Ship Management. It is free of hull graphics and extraneous recreational structures that would spoil its lines.

Following shortly after was the familiar Enchantment of the Seas arriving from Portland, ME to berth at Pier 22.

 

It is another fine looking vessel (even though its funnel is a bit far aft for my liking). Built in 1995 by Kvaerner Masa New Yard in Helsinki, it was lengthened 72 feet in 2005 by Keppel Verolme Shipyard in Rotterdam. The new section added 151 passenger cabins and increased the ship's gross tonnage from 74,136 gt to 82,910 gt. The Vision class ship can carry 2446 passengers and 760 crew. It also received a major refurb in 2012.

The third ship was Norwegian Pearl (see August 30) and it occupied Pier 31. Arriving from Sydney, NS it sailed in the late afternoon.

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Two for MSC and one each for the rest

 It was a busy day in Halifax today, Saturday, May 28, but rain and fog obscured some of the activity and made in downright unpleasant to be out. 

An early morning arrival was another 15,000TEU class ship, CMA CGM Mexico, from Colombo on Ocean Alliance service run by CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen and OOCL. It was a pre-dawn arrival and a midnight departure, so the only view was a poor shot from the Young Avenue bridge. The ship stretches out of sight, but its bridge structure is framed by the last crane on the right.

Built by Hyundai Samho in 2019, it comes in at 149,314 gt, 157,076 dwt and most sources indicate a capacity of 15,128 TEU.

Despite its size there was still room at the southend terminal (PSA Atlantic Hub) for another ship at Pier 42, and that was the afternoon arival MSC Angela eastbound on the CANEX 2 service from Montreal to Italy and Spain.

The ship dates from 2008 when it was built by Zhejiang (Yangfan) Shipbuilding Co, Ningbo. It is a 41,225 gt, 50,568 dwt vessel with a capacity of 4254 TEU, including 550 reefers. Due to draft restrictions on the St.Lawrence River, the ship is lightly loaded, but it will top up in Halifax before resuming its voyage.

MSC was also present at the other end of the harbour at Fairview Cove where MSC Mandy arrived westbound on the Canex 1 service from Italy (via Malta and Portugal).

It was performing the reverse operation to its fleet mate, that is to say it was off-loading some containers to reduce draft before sailing on to Montreal.

MSC Mandy is a true old-timer, built in 1993 by Bremer Vulkan, Vegesack. It is a ship of 37,701 gt, 46,852 dwt with a modest container capacity of 2650 TEU, including 100 reefers. It sailed as Bremen Senator until 2003, then as SCI Vaibhav until 2004.

When it sailed late this afternoon, there were some large gaps in its deck load, which was no more than four tiers high.

There was also activity at Autoport, but short of a visit to that side of the harbour, the ship was barely visible. Treasure is another "classic" dating from 1999, when it was delivered by Hashihama Zosen, Tadotsu. A 58,684 gt, 21,199 dwt PCTC it is rated at up to 6100 CEU (some sources say 5718). Initially named HUAL Treasure until 2006, it then became Hoegh Treasure and in 2014, took its present name.

Looming through the rain and fog, the ship still betrays it previous ownership by the paint scheme. However it is now owned by Blue Arrow Navigation Ltd of Haifa and managed by ASM Maritime BV of the Netherlands. It is en route from Bremerhaven for Wallenius Wilhelmsen and will sail for US ports .

Arriving from New York and occupying an anchorage, the cement carrier NACC Providence is in port for CFIA invasive species examination. Once it has been determined to be free of LDA moth, it will likely sail for Port Daniel, QC to load for McInnes Cement.

The 12,047 gt, 20,200 swt ship dates from 2006 when construction was completed by Labroy Shipbuilding and Engineering Pte Ltd in Singapore. The ship was laid down at Nahindah Mutiara Shipbuilding at Batam, Indonesia in 2005 and launched a year later, but it is unclear how much work was done there. Labroy completed the project in less than six months.It was named Glory Atlantic until February of this year.

NACC Providence is operated by Nova Algoma Cement Carriers, a joint venture between Algoma Central Corp of St.Catharines, ON and Nova, from Luxembourg. The ship is registered in Panama, and as its name implies will deliver cement to McInnes customers in the US northeast.

Meanwhile, despite the gloom and rain, Halifax Shipyard was in a festive mood for a double naming ceremony. 

The future HMCS Max Bernays, the third Artctic Offshore Patrol Vessel, was dressed all over and various banners and bunting were on display at Pier 6 -7 in the Shipyard. A special marquee tent was also erected to keep dignitaries fresh and dry. A naval trials crew has been busy on the ship starting in January when its captain was named. So far it has been known as AOPS 3, but will now be known as Max Bernays. (The HMCS designation will not be used until it is handed over to the RCN  and commissioned.) I believe the ship will soon be sailing to its west coast base in Esquimalt before it is actually commissioned. Post acceptance trials will be held en route or after arrival in Esquimalt.

Margaret Brooke (AOPS 2), at its Pier in HMC Dockyard was similarly decked out  and will also be named officially. The ship has been in RCN hands since July 2021 and has conducted post-acceptance ice trials and warm weather trials. The badging / naming / trialing and finally commissioning is a long and complex process, particularly with the sophisticated systems in use on naval vessels. I understand the ship will be commissioned in October, on the anniversary of the loss of the Newfoundland ferry Caribou in 1942.

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CMA CGM and MSC - More Initials

 Where would the shipping world be without abbreviations, acronyms and portmanteaus? We would certainly be faced with numerous mouthfuls such as Orient Overseas Container Line and China Ocean Shipping Company Ltd or United Arab Shipping Company to mention only a few of the wordier outfits. They are among the many corporations that have, mercifully, abbreviated themselves to initials such as OOCL, COSCO and UASC thereby saving time, money (for paint if nothing else) and wear and tear on the tongue. For the most part these convenient abbreviations are a means of speeding up written communication, but aside from COSCO, defy easy pronunciation.

Today, December 14, was certainly a day for initials in Halifax harbour, particularly at the South End container terminal now known as PSA Halifax. The owners of the lease on that piece of port property were once the Port of Singapore Authority, but have long since outgrown that activity and therefore reduced themselves to another collection of almost meaningless initials. 

Alongside at the terminal this morning were the container ships MSC Angela and CMA CGM Panama. The latter sailed at 0900 hrs, and once it was well clear of the harbour the MSC Sandra, which had been loitering offshore, moved in. It did not dock however, but went to short term anchorage in the lower harbour (possibly due to high winds).

MSC Angela at Pier 42 had containers neatly stacked only four high, but was still too deeply laden for the St.Lawrence River, so was in port to decant some boxes before proceeding inland on the Canada Express 2 service from Spain.

The Mediterranean Shipping Company uses the MSC abbreviation as a convenient short form. Some of its containers carry the full name in small letters and also carry "MSC", but most now have the company logo of the letter M over a stylized wave, with SC below.

On the other hand CMA CGM does not use the long form names of its original constituant companies. The corporation was formed in 1996 with the merger of the Compagnie Maritime d' Affrètement and the Compagnie Genérale Maritime. Its CMA CGM Panama (see yesterday's post for details) would have a very long name indeed were it not for the abbreviation.

With its tethered escort tug preparing to let go from astern, CMA CGM Panama heads outbound for New York this morning. Yes it is taking a bit of a roll.

MSC Sandra arrived loaded to St.Lawrence maximum draft, and will "top up" once fleet mate MSC Angela sails. It is also on the Canada Express 2 service to Spain.

Making its way inbound for PSA Halifax, the ship was joined by tugs for berthing, but in the brisk breeze, it ended up going to anchor instead of trying to squeeze into Pier 41.

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Afternoon Arrival - Afternoon Departure

 With the return to Standard Time it is touch and go for late afternoon ship photos, but today two ships moved in good time. One was a scheduled 1530 sailing and one a 1600 arrival. [Both times are the pilotage assignment times].

Sailing promptly from Autoport, the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Traviata rounded Ives Knoll when there was still lots of light.

The third of four Hero class ships in the Wallenius fleet, it appears to be the last ship delivered in the traditional white over green Wallenius hull colour. Subsequent Wallenius and Wilhelmsen ships have been painted in the teal and white colour scheme of the merged fleets.

Built in 2019 by Tianjin Xingang, in Tianjin, China it is a 73,358 gt, 23,889 dwt Large Car and Truck Carrier with a capacity of 7656 cars. Its last ports were Southampton November 4-5, Zeebrugge October 30 - November 2, Bremerhaven October 28-30, Zeebrugge October 24-26 - the typical Wallenius Wilhelmsen SVC1 route.  Its next scheduled port is Baltimore.

As Traviata sailed the container ship MSC Angela was arriving, and the ships arranged to meet in the Middle Ground area with MSC Angela taking the western, deep water channel. Its exhaust gas scrubber system was working overtime producing a steam plume like a vapour trail. Most ships try to reduce or eliminate the steam plume with a de-mister, but that costs money and does not contribute to pollution reduction, since steam is considred harmless.

MSC Angela is a 41,225 gt, 50,568 dwt ship with a capacity of 4254 TEU including 550 reefers. It was built in 2008 as a Panamax vessel by Zhejiang YangFan Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Ningbo. Sailing on MSC's Canada Express 2 service from Valencia and Barcelona, the ship has been anchored off Halifax waiting its turn to offload some containers at PSA Halifax. Once the ship reduces its draft to St.Lawrence River limits it will sail to Montreal, its terminal port. 

Ships on MSC's St.Lawrence services have become regular callers in Halifax either inbound to off load a few containers to meet draft restrictions, or outbound to top up containers for sea-going draft. The secondary benefit is to shave several days off the sea leg of the trip, and thus providing an "express" service when coupled with speedy train transport.

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Fog in the Approaches

 The phrase "fog in the approaches" (to Halifax harbour) was once a common one when marine weather reports were broadcast on public radio. The phrase was particularly appropriate today. Fog lingered offshore and crept in and out with the tide, while the main harbour remained sunny and clear.

There were wisps of fog as MSC Angela got underway from PSA Halifax, bound for Montreal. The very high humidity meant that water vapour from the exhaust gas scrubber did not evaporate immediately and gave a "steamship-like" look.

Within a few ships' lengths, the ship was swallowed up by the fog. MSC Angela had reduced its deckload to four tiers of containers.

The departure of CMA CGM J. Adams a few hours later was largely invisible.

Once the arriving Atlantic Sun got well into the harbour, it was clear sailing through the Narrows.

Atlantic Fir was providing braking and steering assist from astern.

At the north end of the harbour and into Bedfrod Basin it was clear as a bell for another 100,000 tonner, as Conti Annapurna sailed from Cerescorp, Fairview Cove.

 

Built by Hyundai, Ulsan in 2004 as Pacific Link the 90,745 gt, 101,976 dwt ship has a capacity of 8738 TEU including 700 reefers. Renamed by NSB Niederelbe in 2016, the ship is a fairly recent addition to THE Alliance's EC5 service, which is introducing larger and larger ships. Soon to be classed (by me) as "Narrowsmax".

Also sailing from the Narrows in clear conditions was the "visiting" CCGS George R. Pearkes as it got underway from the Bedford Institute.

 

Normally based in Newfoundland, the Martha L. Black class light icebreaker and buoy tenders is covering for Halifax based ships in refit. Built by Versatile Pacific at the Burrard Drydock in North Vancouver, the ship was commissioned in 1986. It served in the Pacific region, then Quebec until assigned to St.John's in 2004.  It appeared to have an automated weather buoy on deck.

The only other activity that I was able to observe in the harbour today (unaffected by fog) was the continued off loading of rails at Pier 27 from Onego Maas.

The ship arrived in Halifax August 10 from Swinoujscie , Poland with the latest cargo for CN. The ship dates from 2011 when it was built by Damen, Yiching. It is a 8058 gt, 10,872 dwt ship with a pair of 80 tonne capacity cranes. It was launched as Wenningstedt but delivered as Thorco Copenhagen and subsequently renamed 2016: BBC Brasil, 2018: DC Brasil, 2019: BBC Brasil, and took its present name as recently as July 1, 2021. As with many general cargo ships it is a multi-purpose singledeck with portable tween decks and ventilated, box shaped holds. Its cranes can be operated in combo for a 150 tonne lift. It is also ice class  Swedish/Finnish 1A.

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MSC Angela returns

 One of MSC's St.Lawrence service regulars, MSC Angela arrived again today to "decant" some cargo.

The ship is noted for its exceptionally high superstructure, which allows for a high deckload. On arrival from Sines, Portugal today, the deck was stacked to a maximum of five containers. When it was here in March I noted that the deckload was reduced to four high before it sailed for Montreal.

The ship was built by Zhejiang Yang Fan Shipbuilding Co Ltd as 41,225 gt, 50,628 dwt vessel of 4254 TEU including 550 reefers. When built it was considered to be a Panamax ship, but is now an "old" Panamax size.

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Business as usual - for now

The container business is in disarray at the moment with the Suez Canal blocked by a grounded ship, and longshore labour uncertainty in Montreal. So far at least the Port of Halifax is keeping up, but that may be starting to change.

A PSA Halifax today Maersk Patras was working at Per 42. It would normally have called on Saturday, but both berths were occupied yesterday, so a one day delay is not too serious. 

The ship is on its usual eastbound run from Montreal, although there have been several missed calls over the winter. However its fleet mate Maersk Penang on its westbound run is not going to Montreal, but is instead arriving in Saint John today. It is still giving Halifax next weekend eastbound. It may be a blow to terminal operators PSA Halifax not to get all the westbound cargo, but I speculate that it might overwhelm the capacity of the terminal, what with other diversions also possible.

Also at PSA Halifax today is MSC Angela, another ship that is due to sail to Montreal, after reducing draft in Halifax by unloading some cargo. The ship has been sitting at anchor off Halifax since March 18. Perhaps waiting for developments in the Montreal situation. Fleet mate MSC Annick is standing by off Halifax.

Meanwhile at Fairview Cove ONE Magnificence is back on THE Alliance EC5 service. It is scheduled to arrive at the Suez Canal April 8, with its next port Jebel Ali on April 16. Whether the Canal will be re-opened and the traffic backlog cleared remains to be seen. There are reports that more than 300 ships are now waiting to transit, even with many diversions already sent via the Cape of Good Hope.

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Suez Dilema

 On March 23 the ultra large container ship Ever Given drove its bow into one bank of the Suez Canal. Its stern then swung outward, effectively blocking one of the world's busiest waterways. Initial efforts by tugs could not dislodge the ship, and traffic began to build up in both directions.

So much for the facts. Media coverage of this event has ranged (sadly) from the bizarre to perceptive, with even my beloved CBC national radio news dropping the ball in initial reports. I won't dwell too much on the CBC's clangers, but the error filled report included having the ship "tip over". The account must have been written by a summer intern from the prairies left alone on the graveyard shift.

I have been guilty of many errors in this blog (see previous post about the mv Arctic), but I am not a professional journalist, nor am I a shipping industry insider. I am merely an informed enthusiast expressing my opinions and relaying such information as I have been able to gather, and (usually) to confirm. News organizations should be able to do better than rip it off the wire service, even in the middle of the night. Bottom line: don't rely on one source (like me) for news.

The Ever Given has a capacity of more than 20,000 TEU. The largest container ships to call in Halifax are in the 15,000 TEU range, so the ship is an immense one. In fact it is 400 meters in length. Surely the average adult human can relate to that many meters in some way. Nevertheless some journalists insist on converting meters to new units of measurement such as the Football Pitch (presumably European, but maybe American or even Canadian?).  I haven't heard of the Hockey Rink unit yet, but I am waiting. My favourite unit of all is the "Eiffel" as if the innumerate listener can cope with the concept of the Eiffel Tower (324 meters) fallen on its side and blocking the Seine. (It would if it did.)

Yes it's a big ship, but the point is its a big ship in a narrow waterway. The implication of a big ship stuck in a narrow waterway was not lost on the early reporters of the incident. But those that passed the news on, like a game of multi-lingual telephone, missed the point about this particular waterway. It carries a high proportion of the world's goods and fuel, and blockage of even a few days will disrupt world trade, right down to the price of gasoline at the pump and availability of certain goods.

Refloating the ship is a monumental headache since there is no realistic way of lightening it by offloading in any kind of a hurry. Dredging around and under may be the only practical way, but even that is fraught with danger as an over stressed hull could fracture.

Alternative trade routes present onerous barriers, and are generally out of the question unless there is a prolonged closure. Britain and much of the western world was put on a war footing when President Nasser of Egypt nationalized the Canal in 1956. Called the Suez Crisis, it came close to involving the major super powers in open conflict. As it was Britain and France invaded Egypt to secure the canal for international trade. Egypt won however and the United Nations created a peacekeeping force (including Canada) to safeguard the Canal while clean up efforts to remove wrecks took months. 

Then again the Arab-Israeli Six Day war in 1967 closed the Suez Canal for eight years and spawned a whole new concept in shipbuilding. Super tankers were built to make the much longer trip around the Cape of Good Hope to feed the western word's need for crude oil. But in those days Asian countries were not the major producers of the world's trade goods as they are today. In fact most such goods were produced in Europe and North America, and container ships were barely heard of. Even then the world economy took a major hit and a long time to recover. The trade implications for a prolonged Suez closure these days are therefore pretty severe with the quantity of goods sourced in Asia for Europe and North America.

The distance between Mumbai and London via Suez is 6,200 nautical miles. Via the Cape the distance is 10,800 miles. That approximates two weeks of steaming time for an average ship. At say $20,000 per day to operate a ship that's an extra $280,000 per trip, and perhaps much more for a larger ship.

There is no easy work around to a closure. With west coast US ports clogged due to Covid related issues, a transpacific alternative is highly unlikely, but shippers must be weighing all the options at this point, including transpacific /Panama. Normally however it takes many months to position ships for radical schedule changes.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has been continually upgrading and expanding but has not been able to keep up with the growth in the size of ships. The current situation will not halt ship owners from building larger ships nor will the SCA catch up with the boom in shipbuilding. Incidents such as the current one with the Ever Given can be expected to recur, even with increased tug escorts and other safety measures that mat ensue.

How will Halifax be effected you may ask?

As it happens today's lone container ship arrival * was at PSA Halifax where the  APL Dublin tied up centre berth, straddling Pier 41-42. Its last port of call was Colombo, Sri Lanka, sailing directly to Halifax non-stop via the Suez Canal.

 

APL Dublin, built in 2012 by Daewoo, Okpo, 128,929 gt, 131,097 dwt has a capacity of 10,960 TEU just slightly more than half the capacity of Ever Given.

The next ship on the CMA CGM Columbus JAX service, CMA CGM Mexico is due to sail from Colombo today, and is expected at Suez April 4. Even if Ever Given is freed in a very few days, the CMA CGM ship will be caught up in the backlog of waiting ships that in itself will take additional weeks to clear.

Many other ships that call in Halifax have cargo that originates in Asia but that has been transferred in the Mediterranean or elsewhere in Europe, so we may expect those ships to come with very much lighter loads.  As it is there is a huge demand for container ships that cannot be met with the current world supply. The Suez closure will make maters worse, and there will be all sorts of service disruptions, delays and cancelled sailings.

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* There was another container ship arrival today, but it did not actually enter port. MSC Annick anchored off Chebucto Head, outside the port limits, joining MSC Angela. Both ships are destined for Montreal, but labour uncertainty in that port may keep the ships here for some time.  MSC's Montreal schedules are in disarray as it is, and certainly the CANEX 1 (Western Mediterranean-Canada) service will not be helped by the Suez situation.

MSC Veronique at last, and MOL double header

 The container ship MSC Veronique tied up at PSA Halifax this morning after better than two weeks anchored outside the port. The ship arrived from Sines, Portugal on March 7 and has been at anchor or hove to at sea ever since. [The ship went out to sea as a storm passed, since the anchorage area is not considered suitable in periods of high winds.]

 The ship appears to be fully loaded, so customers awaiting their cargo must be getting impatient by now. I am no expert on the intricacies of MSC scheduling, but the ship appears to be part of the CANEX 1 service, which is West Mediterranean-Canada run from Malta, Naples, Leghorn, Genoa and Sines to Montreal, with top off and decanting for draft in Halifax eastbound and westbound.

The extended stay at anchor is almost certainly related to labour issues in Montreal. Longshore workers there have once again failed to agree to terms with employers and have withdrawn their services. It seems to be a re-run of last August's shutdown in Montreal which jammed the port of Halifax with diverted containers and took CN Rail some time to clear.

Another MSC ship, MSC Angela is also anchored off Halifax. It arrived March 18, and seems to be on the CANEX 2 service which runs Valencia, Halifax, Montreal, Halifax, Barcelona.

It was a double header day at Cerescorp's Fairview Cover terminal with two MOL ships in quick succession. MOL Maneuver 6724 TEU arrived early this morning and was off the berth again by 1530 hrs. It moved well out into Bedford Basin to leave for the inbound. Once clear it proceeded outbound for New York.

The inbound ship was fleet mate MOL Glide 5100 TEU, from New York.

MOL Glide only began calling here in January, and this was my first chance to see it underway. Both ships are part of Ocean Network Express (ONE) which is a partner in THE Alliance with HAPAG-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Yang Ming.

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