Morning Prosperity

 

Auto carriers carry cars of many models and brands, and those ships that are equipped for RoRo cargo can handle a wide assortment of other cargo. Halifax's Autoport handles mostly automobiles, and sends the imports on to destination by rail (Autoport Ltd is owned by CN Rail) or truck (CN also owns a specialist auto haul truck company).

There is also RoRo cargo that is not handled through Autoport. Some of that traffic is handled by PSA Halifax through their Fairview Cove terminal and the Atlantic Hub (South End Container Terminal). Atlantic Container Line (ACL) is the primary RoRo carrier [see yesterday's post] at Fairview Cove.

Oceanex, with its weekly service to St.John's takes on and discharges RoRo cargo at Fairview Cove and handles cars (generally new cars) at Autoport. 

This week the Oceanex Sanderling remained in port Friday night (October 31) and made a rare Saturday (November 1) departure for St.John's - likely due to the passing post tropical storm.

 TSMI makes its weekly trips to Argentia and St-Pierre et Miquelon from the South End Container Terminal and their ship, the Nolhan Ava, uses the RoRo ramp at Pier 39 / 41 (no longer visible from shore) which was built as part of the original Halterm container terminal. RoRo cargo can include vehicles from France.

Pier 9C in the Richmond Terminal, operated by Logistec, handles the rest of the RoRo traffic which can consist of the proverbial "soup to nuts" of construction, mining, forestry and other industrial machinery and equipment.

Today's (November 2) visitor at Pier 9C was the Morning Prosperity with the usual array of identifiable and unidentifiable cargo. The ship, belonging to the Eukor fleet, is operating on parent company Wallenius Wilhelmsen's North Atlantic route from Antwerp, Goteborg, Bremerhaven and Southampton and on to US east coast ports. 

 Hyundai Samho built the ship in 2017 with a gross tonnage of 66,802 and deadweight tonnage of 22.438, with a capacity of 7400 Car Equivalent Units. It is equipped with a stern ramp of 150 tonnes capacity and a smaller side ramp.

 Aside from the usual JCBs and wheeled cargo, two giant pipe joints or valves arrived secured to a MAFI trailer and were backed down to the pier (which, due to the state of the tide, was nearly level with the ship's main cargo deck.)

 On completion of work at Pier 9C at mid-day the ship moved to Autoport. It offloaded new cars there and sailed early this evening (November 2) for New York.

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Full House at Pier C

 The PSA Atlantic Gateway container terminal occupies the two numbered berths, Piers 41 and 42 at Pier C. There are seven container cranes, and it is possible to dock two Ultra size container ships at the same time, although not all the cranes can work the larger ships. Today was a more typical situation with one large ship and two small ships.

Left to right as viewed from Shearwater, the Nolhan Ava and Vivienne Sheri D occupied berth 42 and CMA CGM Norma was at 41.

Each of the small ships used one crane.The Canadian flag Nolhan Ava was loading for its weekly run to St-Pierre et Miquelon and Argentia, Newfoundland. It will move to Pier 30 (out of picture) later this afternoon to load RoRo cargo. Vivienne Sheri D, also Canadian owned, is on long term charter to Eimskip and is en route from Portland, ME also to Argentia, then on to Iceland.

The big ship CAM VGM Norma, is not exactly super sized at 9415 TEU, falling slightly below the 10,000 TEU number and is therefore a Post Panamax size. Built in 2006 by Hyundai Samho, it is registered at 107,711 gt, 113,909 dwt.

 

The ship is on the Ocean Alliance service from Asia to North America. It sailed fromPort Klang, Malaysia February 12 and is en route to New York.

CMA CGM stated in January that they would continue to divert ships from the Red Sea / Suez / Med route for the safety of crews and ships. It is unclear whether this ship in fact did travel via the Cape of Good Hope as routes are not normally published for secuity reasons.

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TMSI Ltd back at full strength

 With the arrival today, June 20, of the Container / RoRo ship Nolhan Ava TMSI Ltd is back at full strength. The company operates a network of trucking, warehousing, intermodal and shipping that is based on the sea service from Halifax to St-Pierre et Miquelon and Argentia, Newfoundland.

 

The Canadian flag Nohana Ava is the vital link in the chain and it has been in refit in Setubal, Portugal since April. While the ship was away its place has been taken by the Norwegian flagged Silver Arctic a smaller ship, lacking RoRo capability. It was acquired for a short term charter, starting on its sailing from Halifax April 5. The Canadian goverment issued a coasting license, which was expected to run for six to eight weeks, but the refit has been much longer than originally anticipated, so the ship has been kept on until today.

Silver Arctic arrived this morning from St-Pierre, presumably for the last time and tied up at Pier 42. Although it is not a RoRo ship some RoRo type cargo was carried on container platforms. (The French islands import automobiles from France for instance.)

Nolhan Ava arrived mid-morning from Argentia, and tied up at Pier 41, at the RoRo ramp. Its normal sailing day is Friday, so it will presumably work the usual domestic (Canada to Canada) cargo as well as interchange cargo from international shipping lines that call in Halifax by sea or with intermodal cargo that arrives by train. TMSI has it own trucking operation that shuttles containers stuffed at its Halifax warehouse and from other locations in the region. It also moves containers between PSA Fairview Cove and PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway.

Nolhana Ava (4758 gt, 4850 dwt) was built by Santieural Naval Constanta SA in Romania in 2000 to operate between Halifax and St-Pierre et Miquelon starting in 2001 under the name Shamrock. It was reassigned in 2004 due to financial issues with the owner. It then worked in the Caribbean until its return to Halifax in 2015 as Nolhanava (one word) for new owners SPMI. The ship went to China in 2016 for installation of a ceramic membrane exhaust gas scrubber system. It was brought into Canadian registry in 2018 as Nolhan Ava (two words) and Argentia was added to its route. 

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Silver Arctic substitute

 The weekly TMSI (Transport Maritime Service International) feeder line between Halifax, St-Pierre et Miquelon and Argentia, NL is served by the Container  / RoRo ship Nolhan Ava. It has been plying the route reliably for many a year, usually sailing from Halifax on Fridays.

 

The Shamrock in its original configuration.

The ship was built in 2000 specifically for the St-Pierre et Miquelon route as the Shamrock. However it was reassigned in 2004 due to financial issues with the owner. It then worked in the Caribbean until its return to Halifax in 2015 as Nolhan Ava. The ship was taken off the route for a time in 2016 for installation of a ceramic membrane exhaust gas scrubber system in China. When Argentia was added to the route in 2018 it was brought into Canadian registry.

In May 2023 it shifted its Halifax berth from PSA Fairview Cove to the Southend Container Terminal - which is operated as PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway.

The Nolhan Ava after installation of the scrubber.

It required time off for drydocking and maintenance in 2019 and again in 2021. It has now gone on a longer refit. As a unique ship, there is no Canadian flag vessel of its size and capability that could take its place, and TSMI applied for a coasting license to use a foreign flag replacement. That ship, the Silver Arctic, arrived in Halifax today, March 31 to prepare for the assignment.

The Silver Arctic is operated for the Silver Line of Bergen, Norway under the Norwegian International registry by Fjord Shipping AS of Mäloy. It was launched in 2010, but was not completed in 2012 when the builders Shipyard P+S Werften went bankrupt. Construction was transferred to Remontowa Shipbuilding in Gdansk, Poland in 2013 but there was further delay in 2018 when the original owners, Royal Arctic Line, refused acceptance. It was then sold to Fjord and completed in 2021. It is a 3162 gt, 2700 dwt ship with a capacity of 111 TEU (59 on deck) including 80 reefers (28 on deck) and carries one 25 tonne and one 45 tonne SWL crane. (It has no RoRo capability however.) The ship normally operates from Norway to Iceland, Faroes Islands, Scotland and Baltic ports, but also makes regular trips to Antarctica.  

It was in Cape Town January 5 and after servicing the Norwegian Antarctic base at Troll was back in Cape Town February 9, then was reported at Las Palmas February 27, Goteborg March 8, Aalborg March 9 and Trømsø March 13. It sailed for Halifax on March 14.

The Nolhan Ava sailed from Argentia on March 25 and is due in Setubal, Portugal April 4.The refit there is expected to take four weeks, and allowing another week for the return trip to Canada it is expected to be back in service by the end of May.

Meanwhile Silver Artic's actual charter is to start April 4 with the first sailing from Halifax April 5.

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Arrivals of Note (and Footnote)

 Among the arrivals in Halifax today, January 2, 2024, there were some notable ones.

The tanker Harbour Pioneer was noteworthy on a couple ofcounts. Firrst was that it arrived at Irving Oil's Woodside terminal from New York. By far the majority of ships that arrive at that dock are Irving Oil's own (albeit long term chartered) tankers, doing their rounds delivering product for local consumption from Irving's own refinery in Saint John, NB. Irving Oil also receives refined product at that dock from its own sources in Europe, shipped out of Amsterdam, but those shipments have been relatively rare lately.

Second point of interest is the ship's size. Instead of the usual MidRange ship of about 50,000 deadweight tonnes coming from Europe or the 37,500 dwt of its own tankers, the Harbour Pioneer is a mere 13,239 gt, 19,122 dwt. Built in 2010 by Yangfan in Zhoushan, China, it is owned by Vierte Nordtank of Hamburg. Ships of that company are well known Great Lakes callers but are seen here only once in a long while. I note the ship has enclosed bridge wings so it is likely Ice Class, as the prefix "Nord" in the company name implies.

I can also assume that the ship is carrying some small "package" of needed component such as winter fuel additive for local blending or some less commonly used product.

Another arrival has been the subject of some speculation (mine).

The Athina III is a 39,037 gt, 73,305 dwt Panamax bulk carrier, built in 2004 by Namura Shipbuilding Co Ltd at the Imari Shipyard + Works in Japan. It was delivered as the Ioannis Zafirakis and renamed Athina III in 2018 by the current owners Salvia Shipping, and the management of Eastern Mediterranean Maritime.

The ship arrived in Quebec City December 25 having departed Al Fujayrah, UAE anchorage November 19. It transited the Suez Canal November 28-29 and bunkered in Gibraltar December 7. After unloading in the Sillery section of the Port of Quebec (which has bulk cargo storage and distribution facilities) it departed December 29 and anchored off Halifax January 1.

When spotted from shore yesterday (see previous post) the ship appeared to be loaded, but that was a view from sea level, and was misleading. From closer up today, the ship appears to be in ballast and therefore will take a full load in Halifax, not just a top-up. The ship has a history of carrying soybeans, and that is likely what it will load here.

 As you will have noticed from today's two photos, the angle of view and focal length of the camera lens can distort the appearance of the ship, exagerating its proportions.

The autocarrier  Thermopylae made a return visit today. The ship made a quick turn around after it last visit on November 27, 2023. It sailed from here on November 28 and called at Baltimore December 1, Gothenburg December 15, Bremerhaven December 17-18, Zeebrugge December 20 and Southampton December 22-24. On this trip it is carrying only cars for Halifax, so went directly to Autoport, without dropping RoRo cargo at Pier 9C as it did last time.

The first ship of the HERO class (High Efficiency RoRo). it was delivered in 2015 by Hyundai Samho, Mokpo. The 75,283 gt, 23,786 dwt ship can carry 8,000 RT43 class cars and uses a 320 tonne SWL stern ramp.

With port operations now back to normal after the holidays, two container ships arrived from offshore where they had been idling. ONE Wren tied up at Pier 41 and MOL Experience at PSA Fairview Cove. I expect the Atlantic Sail, arriving later today, will have interchange cargo for the idle Nolhan Ava which has been "parked" at Pier 9C. Tropic Lisette at Pier 42 resumed cargo operations today too and is due to sail at the end of the working day.

 Footnote

It is a good time to thank everyone who has supported this blog during the past year with comments including the always welcome corrections, and to add Best Wishes for 2024.

I do not monotize this blog, so I receive no financial reward for readership totals. But I do welcome readers to sign up as followers. 

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Firing on all cylinders

 It was a busy day in the Port of Halifax, with ships working at almost every available berth. This is not unheard of - particularly around a holiday. There is no holiday in Canada, but as yesterday was Thanksgiving in the United States, ships may well have adjusted their schedules to avoid overtime rates and traffic jams farther south.

Of course with containers and RoRo, the labour needed to load and off load ships is not what it once was, and ships can now arrive and leave in a matter of hours. The sight of ships tied up end to end at every berth for several days is not likely to happen as it did up until the 1960s.

 

By my count there are fifteen ships in this 1960s photo, occupying berths from Pier 20 to 39. All the transit sheds, except one at Pier 26 are now gone. The gross tonnage of all the ships would still be less than one of the Ultra Size ships that now calls in Halifax.

All those berths have become under-utlized, and that is why the Port of Halifax can expand the South End Container Terminal (SECT) by demolishing the transit sheds and filling in between the finger piers. The new land space will be used to increase the number of containers that can be handled as larger and larger ships arrive.

Even without those giant ships, the SECT was working three ships today, none exceptionally large. The MSC Alina, arrived at Pier 41 on its return, eastbound, leg of the Indusa service from Baltimore, Savannah, Norfolk and Philadelphia to northwest India.

 The ship was built in 2014 by Hyundai, Samho, registering 94,930 gt, 112,171 dwt, with a capacity of about 9,000 TEU. Operating briefly as UASC Tabuk it was renamed Skyros in the same year and became MSC Alina in 2021.

It was joined at Pier 41 by the Nolhan Ava on its weeekly run to Argentia and St-Pierre et Miquelon for TMSI. 

 

Oddly the Nolhan Ava appeared to be unloading an Eimskip container while the next arrival, the Skogafoss was arriving from Portland, ME en route to Argentia and Reykjavik also for Eimskip.

 

Also arriving this morning was the autocarrier Grande Halifax for Grimaldi Group. Built in 2018 by Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, the ship was officially dedicated in Halifax May 16, 2018 with the CEO of the Halifax Port Corporation as sponsor. On this trip it is arriving from Salerno and Livorno, Italy and Valencia, Spain.

The Grande Halifax is a mid-size ship of 62,134 gt,18,353 dwt with a 150 tonne SWL stern ramp and a capacity of 6700 CEU.

At PSA Fairveiw Cove the Oceanex Sanderling was loading for Newfoundland on its weektly trip to St.John's. It was joined late in the afternoon by Atlantic Sail arriving from Norfolk on its eastbound transatlantic run.

As Shipfax has reported before, eastbound transatlantic cargo levels are extremely thin and the relatively few containers on deck is a testament to this fact. The trade imbalance of imports far outweighing exports is seldom more obvious than in the Port of Halifax where finished goods cargoes are predominantly imports - both containers and autos.

As a follow up to yesterday's post, the heavy load carrier GPO Emerald was preparing to get underway as Atlantic Sail arrived. Having unloaded its cargo of wind farm towers, the ship is headed for Rostock, Germany for more. The ship's deck is clear except for the cradles that hold the tower components, and a crib structure (black colour).  

 

Jessica B - odd ducks at Fairview Cove

Unusual ship calls are nothing rare in Halifax, so it may be unfair to call then "Odd Ducks" and perhaps a less unflattering term can be found:

 Rare Brid 1

  The two PSA container terminals in Halifax host numerous container ships over the course of a year, and also the ConRos (combination container and RoRo ships) of Atlantic Container Line and Oceanex and TSMI - see below). Almost all of those ships are on regularly scheduled service routes. Every once in a while it also sees a conventional cargo ship with a special or project cargo. Today, November 10, there was one such caller.

The Jessica B arrived off Halifax November 8 from ports in Turkey and Ceuta, Spain. It remained at anchor until this morning, then made its way in to port, docking at PSA Fairview Cove

The Jessica B dates from 2003 when it was built by Shanghai Shipyard as the Pochard for charter to Canada Forest Navigation. Canfornav is a large operator of bulk/general cargo ships trading into the Great Lakes, carrying all sorts of cargo, not just forest products. Most of their forty some ships are named for species of ducks, many of which are not native to our shores. However Pochard was almost immediately renamed Panarea (for a Greek Island) on delivery and carried that name until 2014 when it became Pochard S. 

The 22,734 gt, 37,384 dwt ship is classed as a bulk carrier and is equipped with four 35 tonne capacity cargo cranes and was a built to convenient size for the St.Lawrence Seaway. On this voyage however it is carrying containers on deck, prominently labelled  "TCCL". Some of the containers appear non-standard and may be tankers.

Some shippers grew frustrated by port delays in the last year or so, and chartered bulk carriers and general cargo ships to carry containers even though they are not entirely suitable due to the requirements for lashing and special rigging to secure the boxes in the hold or on deck. That does not appear to be the case here, but rather it more likely represents a large shipment from a single shipper that would be too large to accommodate on any regular liner service. Such "project cargoes" can also be directed to destinations where no regular connecitons exist.

Rare Bird 2

The small ConRo Nolhan Ava which operates for TSMI between Halifax, Argentia and St-Pierre et Miquelon had to adjust its berthing arrangements this week due to the arrival of the new cranes at PSA Atlantic Hub (South End Container Terminal). The transport ship Zhen Hua 23 is occupying berth 41 in order to land the cranes in position (see November 6 post). That effectively blocks the RoRo ramp that the Nolhan Ava uses. 

The ship first went to Pier 30 and seems to have used the RoRo ramp there. But this evening after Oceanex Sanderling sails, the Nolhan Ava will move to occupy its berth at Fairview Cove. 

The two new red and white painted cranes are for Halifax (the green ones are for Sines, Portugal) and are painted that colour because they are in the area of low flying aircraft. Orginally in the flight path from the Shearwater base but now due to the proximity of the alternate landing pad for the Life Flight helicopter. The air ambulance service has landing platforms on the roofs of two of the Halifax hospitals, but if they are out of service, the alternative pad next to the container terminal can be used, and patients are then transported by road to the hospital.

As part of the crane upgrade project the tallest of the five existing cranes will be moved to a postion next to the new cranes. 

The disparity in heights of the cranes is evident in this May 5, 2023 photo with Nohan Ava at Pier 42.

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Whole lot of RoRo goin' on

 Halifax is in the midst of a couple of days of busy RoRo activity. It began this morning, June 7, with the arrival of the auto carrier Sunshine Ace from Emden. The ship has been a regular caller in Halifax for several years, most recently on May 14. On that visit it arrived from Veracruz, Mexico and sailed directly to Emden, arriving there May 25 and sailing again May 27 for Halifax.

File photo: April 21, 2018

 The Sunshine Ace dates from 2009 when it was built by Minami-Nippon in Marugame. The 58,917 grt, 18,858 dwt ship has a capacity of 5,200 cars.

June 7, 2023.

 A bit later in the morning it was the Asian Empire arriving from Goteborg (May 24-26) and Bremerhaven (May 28-30), It tied up at Pier 9C to off load non-automobile RoRo cargo.

As usual it had to transit the Narrows, turn in Bedford Basin and return to the Narrows in order to tie up starboard side to Pier 9C. Typical of most auto carriers, its fixed stern ramp is angled to starboard.

Built in 1998 by Hyundai, Ulsan, it is a 71,383 gt, 25,756 dwt ship with a capacity of 7,645 CEU (Car Equivalent Units).

After unloading maachinery and other RoRo cargo, the ship remains at Pier 9C over night and will  move to Autoport tomorrow morning.

With the Autoport pier occupied and Berth 41 at PSA Halifax also occupied with the container ship ONE Eagle there was nowhere for the Oceanex Sanderling to work its RoRo cargo. The ship's weekly run to and from St.John's includes trailers (loaded and unloaded at PSA) and new cars (loaded at Autoport) and some pickup trucks and cars at PSA. The ship's container cargo is handled at PSA Halifax.

The ship went to anchor for the night.

 Oceanex Sanderling carries a number of 53 foot long containers on deck.

Tomorrow another ConRo ship, Nohan Ava is due on its weekly call from Argentia, NL and St-Pierre et Miquelon. It has recently shifted is operation from PSA Fairview Cove to PSA's southend terminal (not sure why*) but there will be no space there tomorrow, so it will dock instead at Pier 9C. I am not sure how much cargo it can move there (it does have its own cargo cranes), but I doubt that it will be able to handle any RoRo since its stern ramp is not angled, and requires a shoreside ramp.

The Nolhan Ava pictured November 27, 2022, also carries 53 foot containers, and has a fixed stern ramp.

* Foot note: Nolhan Ava's owners TMSI Ltd shifted their operations from the Southend Container Terminal to Fairview Cove only in the last year or so. That made eminent sense as a lot of their traffic seemed to come on ACL ships from France. That cargo had to be unloaded at Fairview Cove, then interchanged over land (presumably in bond) through busy downtown Halifax streets. Now with many of those streets torn up, it seemed to me to make even more sense. 

Therefore the shift back to the South End is puzzling. I recently saw a small car and van on a flat container that had to be lifted from Fairview to the South End, which presumably would add cost compared to a move within the Fairvew Cove terminal. (Vehicles in St-Pierre et Miquelon are for the most part imported from France.)

Added to the container truck backlogs due the huge downtown Halifax road realignment project, the port is welcoming a steady stream of dump trucks for its own five year infill project.

With the Port of Halifax promoting the reduction of truck traffic downtown, it is apparent that not all of their "partners" are listening.

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All Out

 Today, December 30, was another busy day in the Port of Halifax with activity at almost every pier in advance of another long holiday weekend. Both container terminals had ships alongside and more due while Autoport had its third ship in as many days.

PSA Fairview Cove had the colourful ONE Helsinki for THE Alliance. When it sailed NYK Romulus took its berth. The coastal ConRo Nolhan Ava was also alongside loading for Argentia, NL and St-Pierre et Miquelon.

 Built in 2012 by IHI, Kure as Helsinki Bridge the 96,801gt, 96,980 dwt ONE Helsinki has a capacity of 8930 TEU according to most sources. K-Line renamed the ship in 2020 as part of the Ocean Network Express amalgamation (in 2017) of the primary Japanese container lines (K-Line, MOL and NYK) to form Ocean Network Express.

The photo shows quite clearly why a second navigating bridge was added above the orginal one. It allows for the required visibility forward when the deck load was increased to six-high container stacks. 

Predictably ONE's choice of hull colour - magenta - has not proven to be terribly practical. The paint has faded due to ultra-violet degradation (and not evenly at that.) and touch ups do not match older paint. Also the usual wear and tear, rust streaks and tug and pilot boat contact scuff marks show up much more readily than on other colours. The problem is most obvious around the pilot door, but also appears at scuppers and drains.

As one of the biggest ships to call at PSA Fairview Cove, this ship made use of the tugs Atlantic Bear (alongside) and Atlantic Oak (tehered stern escort) as it made its way outbound through the Narrows.

 PSA's Southend terminal has ZIM Yokohama alongside with APL Sentosa due on its departure. Oceanex Sanderling was also working at the Atlantic Hub, but moved to Autoport when the berth was free. When there is a space clear tomorrow the smaller Lagarfoss, in Eimskip's Green Line service, will come alongside at Pier 42. In the meantine it anchored in the lower harbour.

Autoport had the SFL Conductor in from Emden, Germany.

Built in 2006 as Favorite Ace by Shin Kurushima, Hiroshima, the 60,118 gt, 17,709 dwt ship was renamed Glovis Conductor in 2012 and SFL Conductor in 2019. It has a capacity of 6500 Car Equivalent Units. The ship gave Baltimore as its destination on departure this afternoon

There was one more notable arrival, but that will be the suject of another post. See "Name Changer".

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Red and Green

 The colours red and green are usually associated with Christmas, so I guess it was appropriate that red ships and green ships dominated harbour activities today with Christmas just over a week away.

Among the red ships was the CCGS Cape Roger arriving from its normal St.John's, Newfoundland base of operations. With the annual southwest Nova Scotia lobster fishing season in full swing, the Coast Guard was seriously under strength for active all weather ships. In fact the only large vessel in service in the area has been the CCGS Jean Goodwill which has been on duty most of the time since early in the month when the fishery opened. (Lobstering is an inshore fishery and boats are small. CCG lifeboats in Sambro, Clarks Harbour, Wesport have been on duty too and often sail in poor weather.)

Built in 1977 by Ferguson Industries Ltd in Pictou, NS, the Cape Roger is a dedicated Search and Rescue and Fisheries Patrol vessel with some pollution response capability. It was originally equipped with a helicopter hangar and flight deck but both have since been removed. (It does have a helicopter winching system.) Both Cape Roger and near sister Cygnus under went Vessel Life Extensions (VLE) in the past year at Newdock in St.John's. The original contract for the work totaled $20.7 mn for the two ships and was to take five months each. Cape Roger's was from May to October 2021 and Cygnus from November 2021 to April 2022.

As Cape Roger was arriving this morning it had to loaf around in Bedford Basin for a few minutes until its berth at the Bedford Institute was freed up. That allowed a look at both sides of the ship, and its new articulated knuckle boom crane (starboard quarter) installed during the VLE.

The berth to be vacated was occupied by CCGS Jean Goodwill which returned from its most recent SAR patrol on Tuesday, December 13 (see post) - perhaps for crew change.

Berths are at a premium at the BIO. The CCGS Kopit Hopson 1752 (left) has been redelivered to the CCG after its VLE but has not yet returned to service. The now decommissioned Hudson (right) is soon to be moved out to another pier somewhere else in the harbour.

As part of its conversion from icebreaking offshore supply tug, the Jean Goodwill was fitted with a padded stern notch which will allow towing in ice should the need arise. Widely used in the Baltic (hence the term Baltic stern notch) the method is new to the CCG.

A red ship that has been in Halifax since October 7 finally sailed today (without acquiring a Canadian white stripe.)

The Norwegian-owned, Cyprus flagged, icebreaking tug supplier had been working in the Russian eastern arctic until its owners pulled out. The ship sailed via the Bering Strait and Panama Canal stopping in New York en route to Halifax. 

The vessel was available for charter and there was speculation that the Canadian Coast Guard might be interested in it as a temporary replacement for the CCGS Terry Fox which is scheduled for VLE next year and is currently undergoing repairs to fire damage. However the Polar Circle sailed today giving Boston as it destination. There has also been speculation that the USCG might be in need of its capabilities. That is a big guess in my opinion as Jones Act waivers and non-US flag ships are not exactly popular in the US right now.

Now for some green. The Canadian Forest Navigation (CANFORNAV) charter Sunda (see previous post December 12) sailed today with a full load of soybeans for Ghent, Belgium. 

The ship completed topping up its cargo several days ago but remained in port likely due to weather conditions on its proposed route. When the ship arrived from Johnstown, ON (via the Cabot Strait) it had built up a lot of frozen spray - some of which was still clinging to the ship's anchors earlier today.

And finally in the red and green theme, two Halifax regulars Oceanex Sanderling (red) and Nolhan Ava (green) are both in port on their typical weekly container and RoRo services. Oceanex Sanderling is due to sail for St.John's this evening. Nolhan Ava will likely leave for Argentia and St-Pierre tomorrow.

Red Footnote (or maybe more like orange):

 A ship that was in Halifax on June 10, 2022 [see for details] and again December 7 made the news on December 14. The autocarier San Martin which had arrived in Halifax from Emden, sailed on December 7 for Houston. It anchored in the Galveston Fairway on December 14 and called on the US Coast Guard for a medical evacuation of the ship's master. A helicopter and medic air lifted the captain to hospital in Galveston where the prognosis was favourable.

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Post Blow - lift off

 With the return of calm conditions today the port was able to catch up on most of yesterday's delays. 

Among the arrivals was the first timer Protostar N for Costco's improvised shipping line.

Dissatisfied with the delays in ports and late deliveries from major shipping lines, Costco chartered its own ships and leased containers for its own exclusive use. The first of those ships to call here was the Carpathia on August 23 followed by AS Carlotta on October 15.

The Protostar N was built by Aker, with the forepart at the Warnemunde yard and the rest of the ship constructed and assembled at the Wismar yard in Germany. The 28,007 gt, 37,904 dwt ship has a capacity of 2741 TEU. Initially named Cape Manual, it took  its present name in 2013. The ship sailed from China October 23, passed the Panama Canal  November 13, then stopped in Jacksonville November 19-20, Savannah November 20-21 and Baltimore November 22. It will be interesting to see how long Costco is willing to make non-paying return trips to China with its own empty boxes. 

 The coastal container / RoRo Nolhan Ava over nighted at anchor in Bedford Basin and sailed late this morning.

Taht left X-press Machu Picchu (left background in photo) awaiting its turn at PSA Halifax South End terminal where the 15,128 TEU CMA CGM Chile was monopolizing the berth (sorry no photo.) The Franbo Lohas is also at anchor in Bedford Basin (right background in photo) as is the Polar Circle.

That also left the Skogafoss at anchor in the lower harbour, also destined for the South End Atlantic Hub.

The main event however was the float off of Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessel Number 4 from Halifax Shipyard. Yesterday the ship was transported aboard the submersible barge Boabarge 37 and this morning ship and barge were moved to Bedford Basin. In a day long operation the barge was submersed and the ship floated off and was moved back to the Shipyard.

With the barge in position, operators began to flood the ballast tanks to submerge the barge.

With the barge submerged almost out of sight, the ship is finally floating on its own hull and free of the support cradles.

Tugs took charge of the ship and moved it clear of the barge, and it was soon underway for the  Shipyard.

It will be well into next year before the ship is completed and handed over to the RCN. When it is commissioned it will be named HMCS William Hall (1827-1904) for the African Nova Scotian recipient of the Victoria Cross. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hall_(VC)

Another sailing today was USCGC Morro Bay (see November 25) which left the Tall Ships Quay around noon. The vessel is headed for its home port of Cleveland, OH,  but will be calling at Quebec City en route.

 

I mentioned the extraordinary condition of its hull paint in my previous posts - here is an example:

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