MSC Diversion fallout

 Short term work stoppages followed by an indefinite longshore workers strike in the Port of Montreal started on October 31. The employers then declared a lock out as of November 10. The strikers were ordered back to work, by government edict, effective today, November 16, with binding arbitration to follow. As a result of the Montreal shutdown The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) diverted ships to Halifax. The scale of the diversions was apparent from the number of MSC boxes piled up at the two container terminals. [see previous posts]

It is also apparent that clearing those boxes and sending them back on their way to Montreal now that the strike is over will be a major operation. CN Rail has added extra trains, but that is apparently insufficient to move the large number of stranded containers on top of the normal amount of cargo moving through the port at the height of the consumer goods season.

Montreal is a terminal port, where ships unload completely then load new cargo. Halifax in the other hand is usually a waypoint, handling only a portion of the cargo aboard any given ship. When Montreal is unavailable the ships that divert to Halifax must offload all their cargo here. It is fortunate that the Port of Halifax has the additional capacity available so that ships can keep moving instead of being stalled at anchor for the duration of a strike.

MSC has applied for coasting licenses to use two foreign flag ships to move the stranded boxes from Halifax to Montreal. There are no Canadian ships able to handle the amount and type containers, so it is expected that permission will be granted. Trade between Canadian ports is restricted by law to Canadian flagged ships. If no suitable Canadian ships are available a coasting license may be granted to a foreign flag ship by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness upon recommendation by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA).

In their application to the CTA, MSC requested permission to use the MSC Baltic III 2526 TEU and MSC Sagitta III 3426 TEU for three trips each between November 24 and December 31 from Halifax to Montreal. The ships normally operate on the Canada Gulf Bridge route from Montreal to Mexico, so may be calling in Halifax on their northbound legs and adding the diverted boxes to whatever cargo they may already have on board or they may be making special trips. They also have relatively large reefer capacity - in excess of 300 TEU each.

In its application to the CTA MSC noted the names of ships that were diverted to Halifax while en route to Montreal: MSC Nahara, MSC Levina III, MSC England and MSC Jordan III [see previous posts]. The application suggests that in excess of 5,000 containers are involved, both loads and empties. There are several hundred temperature controlled containers included, that must be maintained in operation.

Readily identifiable MSC boxes, and others that may have been carried on MSC ships, are stacked in all available space in the two terminals sharing space with the regular number of containers from other lines.

A letter from the Port of Halifax supporting the CTA application states that yard utilization stands at 60% for PSA Fairview Cove and 92% for the PSA Atlantic Gateway. Plug in space for temperature controlled boxes stands at 95% for Fairview and 65% for the Atlantic Gateway.

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Golden Oldies

 Long known for operating older ships, the Mediterranean Shipping Company lived up to that reputation today, November 9, with two ships in port that were built in the last century. Wallenius Wilhelmsen are no slouches either, as they get the most out of their ships too, however their representative today was a teenager.

The oldest of the ships is MSC Jordan III arriving from Zebrugge on the Canada Express service. The ship has been diverted from Montreal due to the longshore workers strike in that port.

 Built back in 1993 by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel, it was originally named Sovcomflot Senator and measured 37,071 gt and 47,120 dwt (since revised to 56,123 dwt) with a capacity of 2668 TEU. In 2003 it was renamed MSC Jordan. The Roman numeral "III" was added in 2023, representing the capacity class.

The ship was last in Halifax October 15 (also a diversion from Montreal) and has since been to Le Havre and Zeebrugge. The ship was standing by off Halifax from October 7, presumably awaiting the arrival of export cargo by train from inland points. (Rail traffic to the Port of Montreal has been suspended during the strike.) The ship is due to sail for Freeport, Bahamas.

Second oldest, the Kleven made an impressive sight as it departed PSA Atlantic Gateway at noon time, as the ship sported a fairly fresh coat of paint. (Streaks on the ship's flanks are from salt water draining from the decks.)

 A truly elegant ship, with impressive lines, it was built as the Kate Maersk in 1996 by Maersk's own shipyard (since closed), Odense Staalskibs, Lindø, Denmark. A very large ship for its time, it was registered at 81,488 gt, 96,103 dwt with a capacity of 7403 TEU and 703 reefer plugs.

In 2008 it was renamed Maersk Kleven when it was sold and chartered back. Then in 2016 it became MSC Kleven but was economically renamed Even for a short time the same year then became Maersk Kleven again. In 2023 current owners, Costamare, renamed the ship Kleven. It has now been spot chartered by MSC as a sweeper to pick up and distribute miscellaneous boxes as an "extra vessel" on no specific route or service line.

It arrived from Colon, Panama after a series of stops in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Panama.

Oddly, the Kleven took the eastern channel outbound while the smaller, and shallower draft Algoscotia inbound from Sydney in ballast, took the western deepwater channel. The ships met in the Middle Ground area, with lots of searoom. making the Algoscotia look larger, when in fact the 13,352 gt, 18,610 dwt tanker is very much smaller.

Wallenius's contribuiton to the age parade was the veteran Fedelio, built in 2007. Seventeen is not old for autocarriers which do not see the hard duty that some other ships may experience.

 Delivered by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Company in Okpo for Wallenius Lines, the 71,583 gt, 30,137 dwt ship, has a capacity of 7500 RT43 cars, and a 240 tonne SWL stern ramp and a small side ramp. 

I wonder if that side ramp would have been placed in another spot had the ship been built for Wallenius Wilhelmsen. The slightly awkward banner on the starboard side is placed more symmetrically on the port side where it is not interrupted by a side ramp.

 The ship was wearing the original Wallenius green and white livery when it arived in Halifax in 2021. Even though the Wallenius Wilhelmsen merger had long since taken place, the new teal and gray scheme had not yet been applied.

The Swedish Wallenius Lines joined with the Norwegian Wilhelm Wilhelmsen in 1999 but it was not until 2017 that their auto carrier operations were effectively merged. Even now ships are still owned through the original entities with Wallenius owned ships named for operatic characters and Wilhelmsen ships named with the letter "T". The fleet of 123 autocarriers now operates under the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean trading name, and most, if not all of the ships have been repainted.

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