US Navy visitor and other foggy arrivals plus news

 The USNS Robert E. Peary T-AKE-5 arrived in Halifax this afternoon, June 7 for a courtesy visit.

 Robert E. Peary emerges out of the fog inside Maugher's Beach, still sounding its fog signal, a surprisingly soft low tone.

Although not a fighting ship per se, (it is armed) it was built to support fighting ships by carrying vital supplies such as ammunition, dry stores, including provisions, and repair materials. A unit of the Lewis and Clark class of dry cargo ships, it was built by NASSCO, the National Steel Shipbuilding Corp in San Diego and entered service in 2008. It displaces 23,852 long tons light, 40,298 long tons loaded, and has a cargo capacity of 5,910 long tons. It is also equipped with replenishment at sea cargo handling gear. It also carries a pair of Kighthawk helicopters and decoy launchers.

 

The tugs Atlantic Willow and Atlantic Bear assist the ship to its berth at Navy Jetty Bravo.

USNS Robert E. Peary is owned by the United States Navy but is operated by the United States Military Sealift Command and thus is not a commissioned ship of the United States Navy. It carries the USNS (United States Navy Ship) prefix to its name and has a civilian crew of up to 143 with a military contingent of 49 for specific duties.
It is interesting that the ship arrived one day after the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing in Normandy during the Second World War. There was a large commemorative event held in France, but there seemed to be very little notice paid in Halifax, despite the ports strategic role in World War II and preparations for the invasion.

It is also of interest that the ship was named after the arctic explorer Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary whose many achievements in the north have been overshadowed by his now discredited claim to have reached the North Pole in 1909. 

Also  emerging from the fog and sounding its much louder fog signal earlier in the day was the feeder container ship Contship Art, sailing for ZIM's CFX service. The "reverb time" of its signal echoing off buildings on the Dartmouth side of the harbour was worthy of any cathedral.

The ship was built by Jangsu Yangzijiang Shipyard in Jiangyin in 2014 as Taipei Trader. It was renamed Cap Avatele on delivery and renamed Taipei Trader in 2016. It is a 9932 gt, 13,063 dwt vessel with a capacity of 1102 TEU including 220 reefers and carries two 45 tonne SWL cranes. As Taiepi Trader it called in Halifax for the CFX service in 2020 -2021. It was renamed Contship Art in 2022.

By the time the ship made it to Bedford Basin the fog had become a light mist so there was a clear view as it approached the PSA Fairview Cove terminal.

A late afternoon arrival also appeared through the fog, which had thinned out a bit offshore. The oddly named Hellas Revenger was in the clear while the anchored ONE Falcon had become faintly visible well offshore.

The Hellas Revenger inbound from Antwerp for Imperial Oil took the main channel, and did not use tethered escort tugs. The outbound Oceanex Sanderling gave the tanker lots of room by taking the western channel which involved making the big dogleg off Point Pleasant, thus appearing in broadside.

The Hellas Revenger built in 2016 by Hyundai, Mipo is a 29,410 gt, 49,975 dwt Long Range 1 size tanker. Owner Latsco Shipping Ltd of Athens, was founded by John L. Latsis in the 1940s and carries the letter "L" (instead of the Greek Lambda Λ) on its ships' funnels. Now strictly a tanker owner, it has a fleet of more than 36 tankers of all types.

Of note in the harbour was the arrival of the Fundy Monarch a herring seiner scouting for fish. The June arrival of herring seiners has diminshed from up to a dozen boats to only a handful or sometimes none at all in recent years. If the scout boat finds the migrating mass of herring it will call in other boats. (There is a moratorium on herring fishing in the Gulf of St.Lawrence, in force since 2022, and qutoas have been cut elsewhere.)

Built in 2014 by Chantier Naval Forillon in Gaspé, the Fundy Monarch was originally called Dual Venture (the second seiner of that name) and was renamed when acquired by Connors Brothers of Blacks Harbour, NB.

Also at work in the harbour was the new pilot boat Foundation Pilot. After arriving in Halifax on May 25 aboard the Acadia Desgagnés the boat completed trials and has been working a regular shift all this week.

The brand new aluminum hulled boat was built by Astilleros Armon in Puerto de Vegas, Spain and is registered at 60.54 gross tons. It is of conventional twin screw configuration with engines totaling 735 bhp.

On the other hand, although far from new, the tug Mister Joe (built in 1964!) continues to work hard for McNally Construction Ltd. Its current assignment is to shift mud scows from the dredging work at Halifax Shipyard to the settling beds at the IEL and Mobil docks in Woodside.

The Mister Joe takes the mud scow Pitts No.1 on the hip and departs from the Shipyard. The scow was  filled by the crane /barge Canadian Argosy as part of preparations for a pier extension project.

McNally Construction (the Canadian subsidiary of Weeks Marine - in turn owned by Kiewit Corporation since 2023) also added to its Halifax fleet this evening, June 7, with the arrival from the Great Lakes of the small tug / workboat W.A.Reid. The boat has been transferred from Weeks by inland waterways from New Jersey to Belleville, ON thence on down the St.Lawrence. With no sleeping accommodation on board, the tug has been leap frogging port to port since May 25. It will join sister tug D.D.Kaufman which has been working on the BIO pier extension since August 2023. More on these new tugs in companon blog Tugfax for December 21, 2023 and a future post.

.

 

 

Let it Blow

Continuing bursts of high winds have been playing havoc with schedules. Gusts were down from the early week's 100 kph to 70 kph last night and weakening today, so ships began to arrive and depart again.

There was lots of splashing this morning as ships arrived in Bedford Basin, facing into northerly winds.

Budapest Bridge arriving at Fairview Cove. 

CSL Tacoma arrived for National Gypsum.

Things were calmer this afternoon at the south end as winds continued to die down.

Mister Joe dumped the split hull scow Pitts No.12 without much fuss at the Pier 42 extension.

X-Press Makalu sailed and 

Tropic Hope arrived to take its place at pier 42 as the pilot boat heads outbound. 
(APL Houston occupied Pier 41 from before sunrise until after sunset.) 

.

High Winds, High Seas

High winds lead to suspension of pilotage operations in Halifax over night and this morning. Conditions will be reviewed at noon time.

Ships that do not require pilots are free to move at their own discretion and that includes ships of the RCN. HMCS Ville de Quebec put out to sea this morning.

Pilot boats remain tied up at their dock as Ville de Quebec heads outbound.

( left to right: Capt. E.T.Rogers, APA No.18, and Nova Pilot occupy the north side of the Svitzer Canada wharf.)

Several ships will remain in harbour until pilotage operations resume. Hansa Meersburg, Vega Fynen, HC Svea-Kim and  MOL Paramount remain tired up.

The tanker Southern Quokka tugs on its anchor at number 5 anchorage. The ship arrived late last night from Rostock, Germany and was to sail early this morning. On the small size as product tankers go, it registers 14,965 gt, 26,077 dwt. It was built in 2017 by Asakawa Shipbuilding in Imabari, Japan, for Southern Dragon Chemical SA. Japan. [The quokka is a cat sized marsupial found in a few areas of Australia.]

The more common size of tanker we see is the Medium Range of up to 50,000 dwt, such as Elka Eleftheria which arrived yesterday from Saint John for Irving Oil. It measures 27,539 gt, 44,787 dwt. Built in 2001 by Brodosplit in Croatia, it was launched as Elka Eleftheria but delivered as Fulgar and carried that name until 2009.

Ships due to arrive in Halifax today are loitering offshore until conditions improve. These include the container ships Gerhard Schulte, Zim Momaco and Skogafoss and the autocarrier Theben

"Surf" was breaking over the cells of the pier 42 extension this morning, although filling was still underway where it could be reached by a shore based conveyor.

McNally Marine demobilized its barges to pier 9C yesterday in view of the predicted weather.

The tug Mister Joe heads north yesterday with Derrick No.4 making an early start for the weekend. 

.

The swings and roundabouts

The tanker BW Raven may be glad to see the last of Halifax after an extended visit. The ship is due to sail early this afternoon after several moves to anchorage, Imperial Oil and pier 31. Back at anchor this morning it was swinging round with the tide as harbour traffic goes about its business.

At number 5 anchorage in the lower harbour the ship has the former Coast Guard base, now called The Cove, as a backdrop.

The tug Mister Joe with the split hull hopper barge Pitts No.12 heads southbound with another load of fill for the pier 42 extension.

Standing by off the BW Raven Dominion Diving's Roseway appears to be waiting to disembark someone from the tanker.

At the Cove the suppliers Trinity Sea and Burin Sea await an uncertain fate. Trinity Sea has been laid up since August and Burin Sea arrived this week. The two former Russian suppliers, rebuilt by Secunda Marine may be looking at permanent retirement.

Also alongside the Cove is the research vessel LeeWay Odyssey. It is the former CGS Cape Harrison and Louis M. Lauzier and now calls The Cove its home base. See also:
http://shipfax.blogspot.com/search?q=leeway+odyssey

Both photos taken through window glass, hence the somewhat foggy appearance.

.

Five ships - no Mac [corrected]

With five cruise ships in port today, and thousands of visitors clogging the waterfront, I apologize that I was not too enthusiastic about mixing in with the crowds. Veendam, Zuiderdam, Regal Princess,and Fram are all familiar. The fifth ship, Riviera maybe less so, but with fading light again a factor I did not go to see it sail at 1800. However I can recommend today's issue of Halifax Shipping News which also has a series of photos taken aboard Asterix
 See: https://blog.halifaxshippingnews.ca/

For those interested in the Halterm extension, McNally continues to bring fill by barge from pier 9C to pier 42. The fill, from the port's stockpile in Fairview Cove, is dumped on the harbour bottom them clamshelled into the open cells of the cribs. Two crane barges are at work on this sort of reverse dredging.

The tug Mister Joe with one of the two dump scows (this one is Pitts No.12, a split hull type) running a shuttle from pier 9C to pier 42. The small tug J.F.Whalen helps to position the scow on arrival, where the fill is dumped on the bottom.

Two cranes clamshell the fill from the bottom into the open crib cells. The barge on the left is Idus Atwell and on the right Derrick No.4.

Yesterday workers were setting up a hopper and conveyor system at the end of pier 42.

Today I noted that the conveyor system has started working to place material in the crib cells too. That material is arriving by dump truck (through city traffic) and fed to the conveyor system. It appears to be a high quality gravel.

Today, while one of the cranes is clamshelling fill from the harbour bottom, the conveyor is placing gravel.For more on the tugs and barges, see past posts on Tugfax.

Correction:

I  got the names of the October 2 cruise ships wrong (all except one). In fact the ships in port on October 2 were: 
Serenade of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Silver Wind, Norwegian Escape and Fram, and I did see the last one of these sail.

I must underline that I did not travel to Norway to see this.

.

Elegant Ace - background check

Another of Mitsui OSK Line's car carriers arrived today. The company has a fleet of 120 of these ships, so it is little wonder that I have not seen this one before. Operating as Auto Carrier Express, MOL  farms some of the ships out to various other lines, and charters some in.  Although managed by MOL, this one is owned by Polar Express SA and registered in the Cayman Islands, suggesting that It is actually owned by someone else.

The former cable ferry LaHave II is now a spudded work barge for Dexter Construction.

As Elegant Ace tied up in the background at Autoport, work continues on a major upgrade to the adjacent McAsphalt pier. Formerly Dook's dock, the pier is a series of dolphins joined by a catwalk that carries the insulated pipeline.

For all the world like Wile E. Coyote, sawing off the tree limb from the wrong side, a concrete breaker demolishes the old dolphin at the end of the McAsphalt jetty.  The new, much more substantial dolphin is on the right in the photo.

It will be interesting to see how the machine is removed when it has finished its work, since the dolphin is connected to land only by a light catwalk.

 

The work is being carried out by Waterworks Construction, since 2017 a division of the Municipal Group of companies that includes Dexter Construction, a major road builder, and a competitor of McAsphalt in the paving business.

Elegant Ace also appears in the background as Mister Joe tows the dredge Derrick No.3 from Halterm to pier 9. The dredge began work this week and is knocking off for the weekend, and relocating to  Pier 9 due to a forecast of bad weather on Sunday.

At pier 25 Bomar Rebecca catches the last rays of afternoon sunshine. It works for Tropical Shipping, where the shade canopies over the bridge wings are of some use some of the time, but seem somehow out of place in January in Halifax. In the background the moon rises over the port bridge wing.


The ship is apparently sitting out a couple of trips for Tropical, as it did not sail this week, and its newest fleet made Tropic Hope is due again for next week's trip.

.

A very quiet day

It was an unusually quiet day in Halifax for a Saturday. The usual Maersk ship, this week it was the Maersk Penang, arrived and sailed without fanfare. The ferry Fundy Rose sailed for sea trials and will return tonight.
At Autoport Don Carlos finished cargo work (after a day at pier 31 also) and sailed.

The tug Mister Joe arrived from Saint John (via way ports) with the dump scow  S11 en route to Point Tupper. It will wait out some more weather for a few days before continuing its trip. And at the Bedford Institute Imperial Dartmouth bunkered CCGS Hudson - another sign that the refit must be nearing completion.

Meanwhile off the end of Pier B (berth 31) the scowl that has been working all this week was still hard at it. (A close examination will show three men operating the drill.)

This work is to take core samples from the harbour bottom, usually in advance of dredging or major marine construction. Although no plans have been announced there continues to be speculation that the Port's master plan does not involve moving the Halterm container pier after all, but to expand it dramatically by filling the cambers between some of the deep water piers.
(In the background of the photo above, the yellow objects are rail cars (car racks) waiting their turn at Autoport. They are now highly visible because little trace remains of the Imperial Oil refinery, which has been scrapped and demolished to grade level.

.

Phase 2 at Pier 9C

Extension work at pier 9c entered a new pase today. Harbour Development Ltd completed dredging yesterday (April 30) and moved its equipment back to pier 7. The tug Atlantic Tamarack moved the dredge Cranemaster and the mud scows HD6, HD 7 and HD 8 to pier 7 to tie up with the rest of the Harbour Development fleet (dredges D-6, Channelmaster, tug Swellmaster and work boat Atlantic Chestnut.)

1. Cranemaster in tow back to pier 7.

2. The last dredging was done quite close to the A. Murray MacKay bridge, under the power lines, and over a submerged cable - tricky work.

Meanwhile McNally Construction Inc moved on site with shore based cranes, and this morning (May 1) the tug Mister Joe arrived from Port Hawksbury with the tug Whitby and Derrick No.3. The latter craft is new to Halifax, but is certainly a veteran unit. Built back in 1941 in Kingston, ON by Canadian Dredge & Dock to its own account, the scow has spent most of its life in fresh water. It is fitted with spuds and a vintage Bucyrus Erie crane. The crane iss fited for pile driving, and that is where McNally's contract will start.

3. Mister Joe has Derrick No.3 on the hip as the tug Whitby detaches from the tow and brings the bargemaster out .

See also Tugfax for more on the tugs.