Margaretha - back to Spain

 The general cargo ship Margaretha made a brief call in Halifax today, June 4, arriving from Ceuta, Spain and sailing for Vigo, Spain this afternoon.

 

Construction of the ship started at the Damen Galati Shipyard in Romania, and was completed at Damen's Hoogezand shipyard in Foxhol, Netherlands in 2002. It is a 7752 gt, 10,526 dwt multipurpose tween decker with two 60 tonne SWL cranes and a capacity of 679 TEU (other sources say 673 TEU). It has two holds and moveable bulkheads and is strengthened for heavy cargoes.

It was laid down as the Anna-C but completed as Hanna-C for Carisbrooke Shipping from the Isle of Wight, UK in 2004. It was soon renamed Corral then  reverted to Hanna-C in 2004. In 2008 it became Opal Ace and in 2009 Hanna-C again until 2012. It was then renamed Margaretha when ownership changed from Carisbrooke to Rudolf Scheppers. In 2023 Reederei Jens Und Waller GmbH & Co KG took over, without change of name.

The ship has the distinctive sponsoned hull form, that keeps the cranes clear of the hatches. The ship has a double hull in the cargo holds, mostly box shaped holds and full width hatches, for no understow (termed open hatch).

Since April the ship has been in Beaumont TX, Point Comfort, TX, Pasai Antxo and Musel Arnao, Spain, Sete and Salerno, Italy sailing from Ceuta Spain, May 25. 

 The ship was here once previously in 2017 with a cargo rail. See my post of  January 7, 2017. Canadian National Railway usually imports its rail from Poland. Ceuta, Spain is a Spanish enclave in Africa, next to Morocco and is a tax free or low tax zone. 

 

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More fog (revised)

 If you read this before, you might be further enlightened if you read it again - particularly towards the end, where several typos disguised the meaning. Some other corrections and additions have also been made.

Another week of frequent fog and rain might discourage some shipwatchers, but it brings about the little appreciated side benefit of ship's whistles. The sound of those deep throated bellows penetrating through the soup and echoing endlessly off downtown buildings is a wonderful feature of this port city.

Today's arrivals and departures, while largely unseen, were certainly not unheard. Of particular note was Oceanex Sanderling, which early this evening made the half hour or so move from Autoport to Halterm. It sounded its fog signal for the entire trip. Much of that time if was steering a nor'west to westerly course, which meant that its fog horn was pointed directly at the southern half of the Halifax peninsula. I hope everyone appreciated it as much as I did.

Normal comings and goings during the past week included another load of rail for CN. The huge demand for track upgrade sees pier 27 stockpiling thousands of tonnes, which is sent out on special rail cars  on an almost daily basis. Once the stockpile begins to become depleted, along comes another ship from Poland with another load.

The ship's sponsoned hull - sure sign of a Damen and Carisbrooke ship - maximizes hold and hatch size while maintaining a narrower bow and stern.
The same ship was also here in January with a similar load.

 
The most recent ship arrived April 28 and sailed Friday, May 5. Margaretha discharged about 10,000 tonnes, using its own cranes. The ship is a popular type for this work, because it is built with boxlike holds, that help to keep the cargo from shifting. Its large hatches make it easy to pick the cargo directly from the hold without having to shift it within the ship.

The ship was built to their own standard design by the Dutch company Damen. The hull was built at their shipyard in Galati, Romania, but the ship was completed at the home yard in Hoogezand, Netherlands in 2002. Measuring 7752 grt, it it has a deadweight capacity of 10,526 tonnes.

It was built originally for Carisbrooke Shipping, based on the Isle of Wight in England. It was to be named Anna-C, bu t was renamed Hanna-C before launching. It was soon after renamed Corral then in 2006 Opal Ace and in 2009 became Hanna C. In 2012 it took its present name, and management was shifted from Carisbrooke to Reederei Rudolf Schepers GmbH+Co. It is registered in St.John's, Antigua.


I did observe on odd activity on Wednesday May 3 as the container ship  ZIM Constanza sailed from pier 42. The ship seemed to slide well south along the pier face, before its bow could be lifted off by tugs. Ships usually stay well clear off the end of pier 42 due to relatively shallow water.

The ship's stem was almost even with the end of the pier - something rarely seen. The ship then reversed, and began to move off.

 Once clear the ship took the normal outbound course.

ZIM Constanza was builtr in 2010 Jiangsu by Yangzijiang Shipyard in Jiangyin, China. It has a capacity of 4256 TEU (including 698 reefers)  and measures 40,542 grt, 50,170 dwt.
The ship (known by some wags as the ZIM George Constanza) is on the ZIM Container Service Atlantic (ZCA), from Haifa to Piraeus, Genoa, Tarragona, Halifax, New York, Savannah, Kingston, Tarragona, Haifa. This ship inaugurated the service June 28, 2012 and has been a regular caller ever since.

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Saturday Activity

There was a fair amount of activity on the Halifax waterfront Saturday morning. Ships were hustling to get their work done in advance of a major snow storm.
At pier 31 Helga was busily unloading its nickel cargo onto rail cars and into the wharf shed.

Using its own 80 tonne cranes for the work, Helga unloads its cargo from Cuba.

Meanwhile at pier 27 opposite Margaretha was working its cargo of rail track, also using its own cranes. The ship had put in at St.John's, NL January 1 on its way from Europe, possibly to re-stow some of the cargo. It's port of registry is also in St.John's, but it is the port in Antigua.

Margaretha has the sponsoned hull form, allowing for large box shaped holds and maximum hatch size.

Both ships are products of the Netherland based Damen shipbuilding group.
Margaretha was built as Hanna C for Carisbrooke Shipping, Isle of Wight. The hull was fabricated in Galati, Romania, then towed to Hoogezand, Holland for completion in 2002. In 2002 it was renamed Corral, in 2004 Hanna C again, then in 2006 Opalace and in 2009 Hanna C.  In 2012 Rudolph Schepers, GmbH of Haren (Ems) acquired the ship and gave it its present name. The ship measures 7752 grt, 10,526 dwt.

Helga on the other hand was built at Damen's Yichang Shipyard in China. It was built as Helga, but renamed in 2010: Kent Atlas, 2012: Helga, 2013: Clipper Avalon, 2014: Thorco Tribute, reverting the Helga again in 2015. Owners are listed as VanDijk Rederij, Westerbroek, Netherlands, with Wagenborg Shipping BV as managers. It has been calling in  Halifax since 2015 for Nirint Shipping. A 8999grt, 12.044 dwt ship it is a member of the CF12000 class of combi-freighters.

Margaretha was not the only ship with a sponsoned hull. At pier 25 Atlantic Huron is in port for winter layup. The ship was widened below the level of the main deck in 2002 to take advantage of greater allowable width in the St.Lawrence Seaway locks. The modification increased the ship's deadweight capacity by about 2,000 tonnes.

A thin layer of snow along the hull projection shows were the ship was widened. Great Lakes ships take tremendous abuse entering the Seaway locks, and the numerous dented plates at the "knuckle" show how hard life can be for lakers.

The tanker Cape Brasilia was working at Imperial Oil. It arrived Thursday, but had been anchored outside since earlier in the week.

A 2008 Hyundai, Mipo - built ship of 25,108 grt,  40,237dwt, it is owned by Columbia Ship Management of Hamburg and works in the large United Product Tankers (UPT) pool.

It was a very un-Saudi Arabian scene at Fairview Cove where Bahri Abha was finishing up its work. The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia ship made its fir call in Halifax May 17, 2013.

In the foreground some snowy picnic tables at the Africville Museum, in the middle ground some fill stockpiling for future expansion of the Fairview Cove container terminal, and a pollutant containment mountain. In the background CN Rail's Rockingham yard.

Also this morning Atlantic Towing tugs moved Atlantic Towing Ltd's new supplier Atlantic Griffon from Halifax Shipyard to pier 9B. The cold move signified completion of the construction process and commencement of the trials period. One of tow suppliers built by Damen's Galati yard in Romania, it arrived in Halifax in two pieces in August. The superstructure was connected to the main hull over the last four months, and it is now being made ready for sea trials.

Atlantic Willlow pushes on the bow while Atlantic Oak works the stern as Atlantic Griffon is made fast alongside pier 9B.

 Immediately astern, Algoma Dartmouth has taken up a berth to shelter from the incoming storm, and astern of her Maersk Nexus is tied up at pier 9C.

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