Shuttle changes in Newfoundland

A new deal between Teekay Offshore Partners and the operators of the Newfoundland offshore oil complex will see the replacement of Canada's four largest tankers.
The new deal, effective June 1, 2015 sees three of the present shuttle tankers remaining in service for a time, and three new tankers to be built to serve a 15 year contract.

The offshore owners have banded together to arrange for the shuttle tankers to serve the Hibernia, Terra Nova, White Rose and Hebron oil fields. These owners are Exxon Mobil Canada, Chevron Canada, Statoil ASA, Husky Energy, Suncor Energy and Murphy Oil.
Teekay is a world wide tanker operator, but for tax reasons, its headquarters is in Vancouver. To serve the Newfoundland offshore, they are establishing an office in St.John's.They have announced that they will order three new Suezmax DP2 tankers from Samsung Shipbuilding in South Korea for delivery Q4 2017 to Q2 2018.

Of the existing four tankers, Kometik is apparently not involved in the deal. Even though it is currently owned by a consortium of the oil field owners (Chevron 21 shares, Exxon Mobil 27 shares, Mobil Canada Hibernia Co Ltd 5, Chevron Hibernia Holding Co Ltd 5, and Murphy Atlantic Offshore Oil Co Ltd 6 shares) and managed by Canship Ugland.
It was built by Samsung in 1996 and measures 76,216 grt, 126,646 deadweight.

Kometik was built for offshore loading over the bow, and winter navigation.

It was also built with twin screws to help manouevering around the Hibernia gravity structure.

Rumours published on Halifax Shipping News last week are apparently true that the ship will be sold.


Sister ship Mattea will remain in service but only until September when it will be replaced by Teekay's Navion Hispania, built in 1999 by Astileleros Espanol SA, in Puerto Real, SpAin, measuring 72,753 grt, 126,183 dwt.

Mattea was built in 1997 by Samsung and measures 76,216 grt, 126,360 dwt.  It is owned by Penny  Ugland, a joint venture between Pennecon of Newfoundland and JJ Ugland of Norway.

Two never ships, which were built for a 15 year charter to Husky for the White Rose offshore project, will remain with Teekay until the new ships arrive. Both came from Samsung in 2005 and measure 80,918 grt, 148,706 dwt. They initially operated under Norwegian flag, but were transferred to Canadian in 2009.

Jasmine Knutsen and Heather Knutsen are owned by entities in the Knutsen company of Haugesund, Norway and managed by Canship Ugland.
Teekay however will be taking over direct operation and management of the ships, which will continue to sail under the Canadian flag with Canadian crews, with perhaps a change of name.

All these ships have called in Halifax from time to time for repairs, bunkers and maintenance.

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Bunkering Operation Part 2- Mattea

1. Mattea takes bunkers at number one anchorage, an area normally reserved for large deeply loaded ships.

2. The barge Columbia is showing a bit more freeboard.

After completing operations at Kometik, it was time for Mattea to receive bunkers. The operation lasted into the evening, after which Mattea was to go into Imperial Oil to discharge her cargo of crude, and the tug Siberian Sea and barge Columbia set out for New York.

3. Although a sister to Kometik, Mattea has the more impressive paint scheme. Both ships have been drydocked recently.

Bunkering Operations Part I - Kometik

1. Kometik at anchor on Sunday.

2. The fueling barge Columbia and tug Siberian Sea alongside this morning, with Atlantic Oak which has arrived to assist in shifting the barge to Mattea.

Part 1 of a two part bunkering operation finished up this morning.
The shuttle tanker Kometik (72,216 gross tons, 126,360 deadweight, built 1996) received low sulphur content fuel from the US barge Columbia, which arrived yesterday from New York with the tug Siberian Sea (see also Tugfax) and worked all night.
When the operation was completed at about 10 am today the bunkering barge moved on to sister ship Mattea at anchorage number 1.

3. Kometik sails, west of George's Island, destination Hibernia.

Coming and Going, Big and Little

It was a day for arrivals and departures of all sizes in Halifax. With bad weather on the way later this afternoon, most ships would be happier to be in port, but several also left-good luck to them.
The bulker Onego Chinook sailed in to an anchorage in Bedford Basin. I expect she has a cargo of rails destined for pier 27, which is currently occupied by Amurborg, working the same cargo. Interestingly Onego Chinook is a sister to MCP Troodos still at anchor following some repairs. Onego Chinook is one of seven sister ships working for Onego, but managed by Interships. She was built with two 40 tonne cranes, whereas MCP Troodos was built as MCP Alstertal, a gearless ship, and had the larger 80 tonne cranes installed only last year, and operates for Interships/Hartmann directly.
Onego Chinook flies the flag of Cyprus and is5338 gross tons/ 7709 deadweight. It is operated out of Onego's New York office.

OOCL Shanghai arrived just as the snow started and tied up at Fairview Cove. A post-Panamax type of 66,289 gross tons, it carries 5,762 TEUs and is owned by ER Schiffs of Germany, flies the German flag and was built in 1999.

Nirint Hollandia unloaded her cargo of Cuban nickel ore and scurried off to sea again. She is very lightly loaded and will have an uncomfortable night at sea I expect. Built in 2007 it is owned by JW & PJ Danser (hence the "D" monogram on the bow) of the Netherlands and is managed by Wagenborg. It is a general cargo ship of 8999 gross tons and 12,000 deadweight.

The big tanker Mattea moved from her repair berth at pier 25-26 to an anchorage in Bedford Basin. This move was probably a precaution due to the high winds in the forecast. She will very likely be moving back to the pier once the system goes through. She is a Canadian flag, Hibernia shuttle tanker of 76,216 gross tons, 126,360 deadweight.

Also departing was the bulker Delos Ranger. This 31,1340 gross/ 54,057 deadweight ship built in 2008 flies the Bahamas flag and loaded gypsum. This is the first time she has ever been in Halifax and is a departure from the normal conveyor type self-unloaders we usually see. It is owned by Lagoon Shipholding Ltd and is managed by Enterprise Shipping & Trading of Athens.

And the grain carrier African Gardenia sailed with a load of food aid grain. She is a sister to several ships that specialize in carrying food aid grains. Built way back in 1981 she is a bulk carrier of 6498 gross and 9101 deadweight. Owned by a single ship company part of Elmira Shipping & Trading of Athens, she flies the Liberian flag.

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Big one in, big one out

The crude tanker Genmar St.Nikolas put in its first appearance in Halifax this afternoon. At 149,876 deadweight tonnes (79,235 gross) it is a more or less typical size for Halifax crude carriers. It flies the flag of the Marshal Islands and was built in 2008. Atlantic Fir is stern escort, and the tugs Atlantic Oak and Atlantic Willow are on the ship's starboard side assisting in her turn.

1. Atlantic Larch and Atlantic Fir assist Mattea from pier 27-28.

2. Mattea's high bow compared to the previous ship, contains specialized loading equipment.

3. Something spilled but left a nasty stain. The twin skegs and rudders are clearly visible in this view.

The long time it took to bring Genmar St.Nikolas alongside delayed the departure of the Canadian shuttle tanker Mattea by an hour and a half until two tugs became available. Mattea measures 126,360 deadweight tonnes (76, 216 gross) but is a slightly different animal, in that it has twin screws for maneuvering, and an elaborate bow loading apparatus for use at the offshore oil installations. It also has the enclosed bridge wings of a ship that works in northern waters. It sailed for Hibernia, and displayed some nasty smudges on the starboard quarter. These were the possible subject of the visit to Halifax. Several waste oil trucks were seen at the ship since it arrived Friday.

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Mattea in and Vinland gone

1. Vinland in Halifax November 8, 2001.

2. Mattea arriving Halifax December 9, 2010.

While remarking on the arrival of Mattea for maintenance on December 9, I was unaware that her fleet mate Vinland has left the Canadian flag and has now been registered in Norway.

Vinland was built in 2000 and sailed from the Ulsan shipyard September 10 of that year. On arrival in Canada she took up a ten year charter plus 15 year option to the seven owners of the Terra Nova oil field. The decision has apparently been made not to take up the 15 year option. Vinland's Canadian registry was closed November 10.

Reasoning behind this decision not to use a purpose built ship which is ably suited for the role, may be related to the current glut of tankers and low charter rates for foreign ships. Certainly oil production at Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose, have been below expectations recently, and that may also be a factor.

Another tanker which had Canadian crews, Catherine Knutsen, has also been reflagged.

Opinion seems to be that "second leg tankers" will be relied upon more and more. In other words Mattea and the remaining shuttle tankers will not be running to refineries in the US or Canada anymore. They will strictly shuttle to Whiffen Head or perhaps Point Tupper. Foreign flag (second-leg) tankers will then transfer the crude to refineries, at lower cost.

However my opinion is that current Canadian cabotage laws may also be behind the decision. Foreign tankers can be chartered in for shuttle work if no Canadian tankers are available. Get rid of the Canadian tankers and you have a loophole which allows for very low cost operation in Canadian waters, using non-Canadian crews. Don't be surprised to see applications for Vinland or similar ships to operate these shuttle services.

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Tanker Maintenance

1. Atlantic Larch and Atlantic Fir turn Mattea to line up for pier 25-26.

The big Canadian tanker Mattea arrived this afternoon for maintenance at pier 25-26. Halifax is a convenient place for inwater maintenance and repair work, since the ship can tie up at a pier where cranes and other equipment can be brought to the ship.

Mattea is one of the Newfoundland shuttle tankers, serving offshore oil facilities. These ships seldom enter a port other than an oil terminal, and are too big for ports such as St.John's.

Mattea was built by Samsung Heavy Industries in 1997 and measures 72,126 gross tons, 126,360 deadweight. She is owned and managed by Penney Ugland, a joint Canadian-Norwegian company.

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