Highlanders in Novadock

 

1. Highlanders in Novadock at sunrise this morning.

The Marine Atlantic ferry Highlanders arrived at Halifax Shipyard January 4 and entered the Novadock floating drydock for refit work.
The ship has only been in service since April 2011, and was drydocked in Halifax as recently as April 2012. This seems an unusually short time between drydockings, but as a "new" ship perhaps this is to be expected.
Built in 2007 as Stena Traveller, the ship was extensively modified in 2010-2011 to run between North Sydney and Port aux Basques. It was shortened by about 13m and received additional passenger accommodation.
When it was acquired, the ship was to be chartered for five years with options for renewal.

Atlantic Vision - minor fire in Halifax Shipyard

1. Atlantic Vision at 4:30 this afternoon was in the Novadock floaoting drydock at Halifax Shipyard, but had not yet been raised.

Marine Atlantic's North Sydney/ Argentia ferry Atlantic Vision arrived at Halifax Shipyard today for drydocking. While preparing to be lifted a fire broke out on the ship at about 3 pm. It was quickly put down, but two persons were taken to hospital by ambulance with smoke inhalation. A spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Municipality Fire & Emergency Services was quoted on new reports stating that the ship's crew extinguished the blaze and a spokesperson for Irving Shipbuilding called the incident a "backfire."
There were no outward signs of the incident an hour later, but the ship had not been lifted yet.
Built in 2002 in Germany as Superfast IX, the ship was intended for Baltic service, and operated between ports in Sweden, Germany and Estonia until chartered to Marine Atlantic in 2008.
It operated from 2008 to 2009 under the Cypriot flag, but was but was registered in St. John's June 6, 2009. It operated for time on the North Sydney to Port aux Basques run but it was always intended for the Argentia run, which it took over when Marine Atlantic's Blue Puttees and Highlanders entered service.
At 30,285 gross tons, it is Canada's largest ferry, carrying 728 passengers at speeds up to 30 knots. It is also ABS ice class 1A super.
Today's arrival is the ship's first visit to Halifax.

2. The ship was lifted over night.

Blue Puttees in the drydock

The second of the new Marine Atlantic Inc ferries arrived this morning and entered the Novadock at Halifax Shipyard. Built in 2006 as Stena Trader, it was the first of the Seabridger class vessels acquired by MAI. It was shortened and had additional passenger capacity added to suit it for the North Sydney-Port aux Basques route.
It entered service in March 2011, as Blue Puttees a few months before sister ship Highlanders which completed its drydocking on Monday.
Once the Blue Puttees comes out of drydock in a few weeks, it will return to service allowing fleet mate Atlantic Vision to start the North Sydney to Argentia seasonal service.

Highlanders makes Halifax debut

1. Highlanders lines up to pass under the Macdonald bridge with tugs in attendance.

2. Passing HMC Dockyard, with HMCS Iroquois in the background.

3. As seen from pier 9 - this is a large ship!

After less than a year in service for Marine Atlantic Inc (MAI), the ferry Highlanders arrived this morning for drydocking at Halifax Shipyard.

Built in 2007 in Russia and completed in Norway as Stena Traveller, for Stena Rederi AB of Sweden, the ship initially ran under the Dutch flag between Hoek van Holland and Killingholme, UK. That service ended in 2009 and in 2010 Marine Atlantic chartered the ship and its sister Stena Trader (renamed Blue Putees) for five years with options to extend.

Over the winter of 2010-2011 the ships were modified at Bremerhaven for service as Seabridge class ships for the North Sydney-Port aux Basques route. Work included shortening the ships by 12 meters, adding a third bow thruster and more accommodation for passengers.

As completed the ships have 96 passenger cabins and 500 recliner chairs.

Highlanders arrived in North Sydney for the first time March 3, 2011 and entered service April 21. Both ships seem to have settled in well to the service and have been generally well received by travellers. With much increased capacity now, Marine Atlantic seems to have resolved the wait times issue.

This morning Highlanders was met by two tugs and backed in to the Novadock at Halifax Shipyard. It is scheduled to return to service on May 2.

.

More New Ferries for Newfoundland (and News)

Marine Atlantic’s new ferries Blue Puttees and Highlanders and now both in service, and despite some early controversy, including one death, things may finally be settling down for the long haul on the Strait.(Marine Atlantic seems to be a target-wonder why?)

It is now time to turn the spotlight on the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador’s own intraprovincial ferry service, operated by the Department of Transportation and Works. The department runs 15 ferry routes within the province, and has been suffering for years with an inadequate fleet. There is good news on the horizon however.

First off are two new 80 passenger short sea ferries, just completed by Pieter Kiewit’s Marystown/ Cow Head shipyard. [Perhaps the yard’s experience with these small ships has put them off big shipbuilding - they have withdrawn from the Federal shipbuilding strategy program.] The ships are reported to have cost $27.5mn each.

The two new ships, christened March 11 measure 42m in length and can carry a combination of vehicles, up to 16 cars. The first of these, Grace Sparkes, was registered in St. John’s on April 19. It will run on the St. Brendans route. It is named for the first woman to run for election to the provincial legislature.

Sister ship Hazel McIsaac, which will enter service within the next month, is named for the first woman to be elected to the legislature. It will serve ports in Green Bay.

These are proper little ships with bow doors and stern ramps. Excellent spec sheets, and photos are on line: http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2011/tw/0311n06specs.pdf

In further news, Fleetway Inc was contracted in January to design six more new ferries for a variety of routes around the province. Designs should be completed by early next year, and an expression of interest will be issued soon for construction. These boats will also be built in the province.

See the Newfoundland intraprovincial routes here:

http://www.tw.gov.nl.ca/ferryservices/schedules/index.html


News:
There is also news about the St. Barbe/Blanc Sablon service across the Strait of Belle Isle. This service is operated by Labrador Marine (part of the Woodward Group) under contract to the Province. During the past winter when the ferry Apollo was in refit in St.John's, the service was operated by the Province's much larger ferry Sir Robert Bond, but its Newfoundland terminus had to be switched to Corner Brook, due to the large size of the ship. That service ended mid-March when Apollo returned to service.
However on or about April 15, Apollo damaged a prop and shaft and had to go to St.John's for emergency drydocking. The ship will return to service next week, using only one prop, until the prop/shaft can be repaired or replaced. It will then go back to drydock for permanent repairs. In the meantime the ancient RoRo vessel Astron (also owned by Woodward) will service the route, supplemented by aircraft, since Astron can only carry 12 passengers.
Apollo will have to operate on one prop for several weeks.

For photos of some of these ships see: http://newfoundlandshipmovements.blogspot.com/

.

Leif Ericson's major refit

1. Leif Ericson resides in a snowy Novadock 2011-02-05

.

Work continues on Leif Ericson in the Novadock at Halifax Shipyard. Last year the Minister of Transport announced a $12mn refit on the ship which would be carried out over a period of a year. Some of that work is allocated to Halifax Shipyard.

A complete topside and hull repainting is underway, and there is work on the bow loading ramp. However most of the work is within and cannot be seen.

Marine Atlantic is able to get along without the services of the ship as the first of its new vessels Blue Puttees is about to enter service.

When Leif Ericson's refit is complete it will return to the North Sydney/ Port aux Basques route as a truck only carrier. It will not normally carry passengers other than truck drivers.

.

Turning over a new Leif

It doesn't seem that it was nine years ago that Marine Atlantic acquired the Stena Challenger and renamed it Leif Ericson (the second ship to carry that name in the fleet, but this time with a different spelling.)

The recent weather and mechanical interruptions added to the retirement of Caribou, have meant a tough early winter for Marine Atlantic. They are now down to two ships with Leif Ericson arriving at Halifax Shipyard this morning for scheduled refit. She entered the Novadock floating drydock, but as of noon time, the dock was not completely pumped up.

However relief is on the way. The first of Marine Atlantic's newest ships, Blue Puttees is on its way from Europe and should be arriving in Port aux Basques any day now. It will not enter service immediately, but it will eventually allow Atlantic Vision to concentrate on the Argentia service when Joseph and Clara Smallwood retires in the spring.

.

Caribou retiring

1. Caribou leaving Halifax May 7, 2004.

This week will mark the end of an era on Marine Atlantic's Sydney/Port aux Basques ferry service. The ferry Caribou will be retired, making her last crossing on November 28.
Both Caribou and fleet mate Joseph and Clara Smallwood have reached the end of their working lives and will be replaced in the new year.

Caribou was built by Versatile Davie Inc at Lévis, QC (the yard is in the village of Lauzon which disappeared as a place name in municipal amalgamations) in 1985. The ships was christened on September 7, 1985 by Governor General Jeanne Sauvé. It is the second Cabot Strait ferry of the same name. The first Caribou was torpedoed and sunk on October 14, 1942 with the loss of 137 passengers and crew. There were 101 survivors. The present Caribou therefore commemorates that terrible event that took the lives of Newfoundlanders, Canadians and Americans.

An impressive ship of 27,213* gross tons, Caribou (ii) was built to Ice Class 1A Super, for year round Cabot Strait service, with minimal icebreaker assistance. Cruising at an economical speed of 15 kn , but capable of 22 knots, she is powered by four Krupp MaK engines with a total horsepower of 24,700*, driving two controllable pitch screws. Her speed would allow her make four one way crossings per day at 4.5 to 5 hours each.

The ship is also fitted with two controllable pitch thrusters forward and two aft. These units permit the ship to berth without tug assistance. She drydocked in Halifax from time to time and it was always an impressive sight to see her steam directly in to the Novadock floating drydock with no help.

The design capacity of the ship was for 1146 (Marine Atlantic now says 1200) passengers. There are berths for 196 in 96 four-berth dormitory type cabins. There is capacity for 350 cars or 91 tractor trailers*. These are loaded through bow and stern doors, with retractable ramps, to two vehicle decks. Crew numbers vary seasonally with 106 in summer and 68 in winter.
Caribou arrived at Point Edward, Nova Scotia on March 29, 1986 for final fit out of owner's equipment, and made its maiden voyage from North Sydney to Port aux Basques on May 12, before going on to St.John's for a reception.

The ship has had numerous incidents in its career - each examined under the microscope of public opinion and political rivalry, since the ship maintains an essential service, a condition of Newfoundland's confederation with Canada in 1949. Regrettably Marine Atlantic and CN Marine before it, have been political footballs, kicked from pillar to post by all and sundry, and interfered with at all levels by countless politicians of all levels and stripes, both public and private, elected and non. Marine Atlantic's problems are far from over, as colossal sums of money will be spent in replacements, overshadowing Caribou's original price tag of under $100 million.

New ships are on the way, but before they arrive it is time to say goodbye to Caribou. It is not known what her future may be, but if history gives us any clues, we may be hearing more about her before she goes.

* Marine Atlantic's published numbers may vary from these figures which were taken from Lloyd's Register.
.

Marine Atlantic-building for the future

Big news from Marine Atlantic last week, that they have done a deal with Stena to acquire two RoPax ferries for charter and option to purchase, as replacements for the aged Caribou and Joseph and Clara Smallwood.

This is good news for Newfoundland travellers and truckers, but it will likely not be well received by the shipbuilding fraternity. However as Shipfax has reported in the past, the only yard in eastern Canada that is physically large enough to build ships such as these, is in no position to do so. Davie Yards in Quebec is under creditor protection and is looking at an infusion of capital (or sale) to survive. Even that is in doubt. West coast yards were not competitive in recent large ferry orders for BC Ferries, but have done well with smaller ferries for BC and are getting navy refit work. They also need more work to survive, but will be in the running if the navy ever gets around to building its new supply ships.

Back to Marine Atlantic Inc (MAI) . They have chartered for 5 years, with two 5 year extensions, and option to purchase, the large Freight and Passenger Ferries (RoPax) Stena Trader and Stena Traveller. Built in 2006 and 2007 they currently trade between Killingholme, England and Hoek van Holland. MAI have dubbed these the Seabridge class. They measure some 26,660 gross tons, and will be refitted (at least in part, in Europe one assumes) for MAI service in 2011.
The ships will have to be shortened 12.5m to fit the Port aux Basques terminal. This may not be as hard as it sounds, since they were both apparently lengthened for the present UK/Netherlands service.
When ready, they will accommodate 2,840 lane meters for cars and trucks. They will also have new passenger lounges added to increase capacity from 300 to 1,0000 persons (including crew) They presently have 50x4 bed rooms and 50x2 bed rooms, which will not change by the sound of things.
Capable of 20 knots or so, they are efficient modern vessels, fitted with stabilizers, and were built partly in Russia and partly in Norway. They have two level bow and stern loading, and unusual for the Cabot Strait area, large open car decks aft. How these will work out in the winter is a good question. In any event they have the capacity to handle passengers, cars, trucks and drop trailers to meet present and some future demand.
While no names have been selected yet, one can only hope that recent suggestions are not followed (John and Jane Crosbie and Brian and Mila Mulroney carry far too much baggage for even ships of this size!) Marine Atlantic's most recent ferry acquisition, Atlantic Vision, was named after a competition was held. This seems as good a method as any (although it did lack "Vision" in my opinion). I also fervently hope that the Caribou II or other such recent naming trends are not followed. That would be chickening out in my opinion. Pick a good solid and unique name and be proud of it.

As part of this process of acquiring new ships, the present Atlantic Vision has made some changes. Eighteen passenger cabins have been removed, freeing up space for 113 reclining sleeper chairs. This may allay the criticisms raised after its first season in service, that it did not cater to day passengers. In the 2010 season it will continue to run to Port aux Basques, but in 2011 it will run to Argentia, a service it is far better suited to in view of its large cabin capacity.

It is good to see Marine Atlantic moving ahead. For far too long it has been a political animal that has been kicked around and abused beyond reason. Finally they can see a clear future. Realistically no Canadian-built ships would be ready in any reasonable amount of time, and would cost the world. So MAI have turned to long time partners Stena (which has supplied many ships to MAI and CN Marine over the years) for some good ships, built with European experience and quality. How they will fare in winter remains a big question in my mind, but no ships are perfect, and solutions will be worked out.

See Marine Atlantic's web site for some interesting info and images:
www.marine-atlantic.ca/en/fleet/index.shtml

Smallwood in Novadock

The Marine Atlantic ferry Joseph and Clara Smallwood reposes in the Novadock floating drydock at Halifax shipyard for refit. The 27,229 gross ton ferry was built by MIL Davie in Lauzon, Quebec in 1989 and entered servcie January 10, 1990. Hard to believe the ship is twenty years old!

She was built to service the North Sydney to Argentia run, and is thus provided with more overnight accommodation than her near sister Caribou. Because the Argentia run is a seasonal one, the ship does operate to Port aux Basques on the off season to relieve other ships for seasonal refits.

Named for the legendary Newfoundland premier and his wife, the ship is a very capable vessel, but along with Caribou (built at the same yard in 1985) is nearing the end of its service life. How much longer that life will be is the subject of much speculation.

Purpose built replacements seem to be out of the picture for now, due to cost.

The attraction of second hand Baltic tonnage may be too much for Ottawa to resist. No matter how unsuitable, how huge or how unwieldy they would rather deposit tax money overseas than risk the embarrassment of cost over runs in a Canadian shipyard.

The only yard remaining in eastern Canada that could built such a ship, is the same one the Smallwood was built in. The yard has emerged from borderline bankruptcy and has been limping along of late with some overseas contracts, hoping to revive itself. Wouldn't a nice government contract for three or even four replacements over a five to ten or maybe fifteen year period be just what the doctor ordered?

Lets hope.