Launch Plan

 Work is underway for the next "launch" at Halifax Shipyard. The fourth Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessel for the Royal Canadian Navy is expected to take to the water next weekend.

Built largely undercover in "mega blocks" the two main components of the ship were rolled out in June and August and joined on the hardstand at pier 8.

Weather permitting, the future HMCS William Hall AOPV 433 will be rolled onto the semi-submersible barge Boa Barge 37 and transported to Bedford Basin where it will be floated off as the barge is submerged.

The shipyard has no floating dock of its own, so has chartered the Norwegian flagged Boa Barge 37 which has been on standby for the AOPS launches and the odd component transfer across the harbour from the Woodside plant.

Halifax Shipyard did have floating drydocks at one time - see my post from November 9, 2015- and in fact it was forty years ago this month that its largest unit was delivered to Halifax (in two sections.)  It was called Novadock and was (old) Panamax size. It was built and owned by the Province of Nova Scotia as a means of keeping the then Halifax Shipyards (plural) competitive in ship repair. 

November 15, 1982 the tugs Irving Miami and Irving Cedar assisted by Irving Teak towing in the larger section of the Novadock from Sorel, QC, where it ws built. (A smaller section was built in Pictou and joined in Halifax.)

 Since the advent of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) Irving Shipbuilding has become a strictly naval shipbuilding and repair centre and no longer carries out commercial ship repair. It still has the graving dock, which can accommodate a Halifax class frigate for refits, but it is understood that they would like to increase their drydocking capacity and possibly have enclosed space.

The NSPS, now the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), has been a bit of a double edged sword as it has opened up possibilities for several other shipyards for both repair and newbuilding work. But with Halifax booked to capacity for newbuilds and naval refits there is little room for repairs.

Davie Shipyard in Lévis, QC with two huge graving docks, has secured frigate repair work, icebreaker construction / conversions and has built and operates a supply ship for the RCN . (That ship, the Asterix is currently in drydock at the shipyard.) They also recently handed over CCGS Vincent Massey the last of three supply ship rebuilds as interim Coast Guard icebreakers, and completed a major refit on HMCS Toronto.

Heddle Marine from Hamilton, ON has rejuvenated the large graving dock in Thunder Bay and the former Port Weller Dry Dock in St.Catharines, ON and was recently awarded a big refit contract on CCGS Terry Fox.

Groupe Océan, operators of a small shipyard at Ile-aux-Coudres, QC, and a repair/ drydock/ fabrication facility in Quebec City, has completed the first of four tugs for the RCN. The Haro will be transported to Esquimalt, BC by heavy lift ship. The company has also acquired the Verreault shipyard in Méchins, QC, with its own large graving dock and extensive repair / fabrication (and future shipbuilding) capability. The Méchins yard is the closest large shipyard to the Atlantic coast, but is severely hampered in winter.

The only other large drydocking capability in eastern Canada is Newdock in St.John's, NL with a graving dock and synchrolift. (There are several capable smaller shipyards such as Pictou and Shelburne, NS that also do RCN and CCG refit work and commercial ship repair.)

The Royal Canadian Navy's own ship repair unit in Halifax, has a synchrolift that will need to be upgraded to accommodate larger ships. The facility now maintains submarines, and frigates.  

Without a large drydock, Halifax Shipyard is shut out of the commercial ship repair business, but that is to be expected as it now concentrates on naval work. It is inching ahead on the frigate replacement project which will keep the yard occupied for the next 10 to 15 years.

BoaBarge 37 transferring components across the harbour from Woodside to Halifax Shipyard.

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Halifax Shipyard - roll out and hand out -corrected

 The first super block for the fourth Arctic Patrol Vessel AOPS 4 (to be named William Hall AOPV 433) was rolled out on the hardstand at Halifax Shipyard this afternoon June 10.

The block was positioned adjacent to the Max Bernays, AOP3 (which is in the water), using a whole series of Fagioli Self-propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs)

The next block appears to be ready to rollout too, so I will have to check up on this tomorrow. (The Max Bernays is due to shift at the dock tomorrow too, in an unrelated move, but leading up to sea trials.)

Meanwhile, there are press reports that Irving Shipbuilding will require additional investment in the Halifax Shipyard's facilities in order to complete the new RCN frigates. Those frigates keep growing - if not in dimension, certainly in displacement, and are nearing 9,000 tonnes -  and will be too large to launch on the rented semi-submersible barge Boa Barge 37 which is used to launch the AOP ships. In addition, the current graving dock, which is barely adequate for the current Halifax class frigates will be too small for the new frigates.

The 2013 concept drawing of the Halifax Shipyard modernisation showed a launch barge at Pier 6, but this will be inadequate for the new frigates. It also still had the Novadock, the (old) Panamax size floating drydock, available. The graving dock is out of sight, off the bottom left hand corner of the drawing.
 

At the very least the yard would need the services of a large semi-submersible ship, but would be better off with a new floating drydock or a synchrolift (elevating platform).  This would be a major investment, but there is precedent for government funding for such a facility. The last floating drydock at the yard, the Novadock, was financed and owned by the Provincial government. (It mysteriously ended up owned by the Shipyard before it sank and was sold.)

It is interesting that several of the major graving docks in Canada are owned by the federal government (or crown corporations) and are used by shipyards. These include:

-  Canada's largest graving dock, the Champlain dock, within Chantier Davie Canada in Quebec. The Lorne Drydock at Lauzon was built by the Federal Government as was the big graving dock in Saint John. Correction in bold - the Champlain drydock is owned by Chantier Davie.

- the Port Weller drydock in St.Catharines, ON, now leased by Heddle Marine, but owned by the St.Lawrence Seaway Management Corp,

- Esquimalt Drydock Victoria, BC used by Seaspan and others.

These docks are considered strategic assets, which justifies government ownership.

The Royal Canadian Navy has a synchrolift at HMC Dockyard (which is being upgraded for the new ships) but it is also needed for submarines and routine maintenance of other ships. The shipyard then needs an equivalant for launches and / or major repairs, and a new or enlarged graving dock for long term refits.

 

When Halifax Shipyard was still in the commercial ship repair business, it had two floating drydocks. Both were lost by "misadventure", some would say, and have not been missed until now.

The current graving dock is the original facility of the Halifax Graving Dock Co and is ancient of days. Built in 1889 it was once the largest such dock on the eastern seaboard of North America, and was used to drydock US naval verssels that were too large for facilities in the US. Aside from a new gate the dock is hardly changed from when it was built. 

 

It is also awkward of access and cannot be lengthened southward to any great extent. A weather tight enclosure would also be useful, as ships being refitted now are cocooned while in the graving dock.

The navy's last icebreaker, and later a Coast Guard ship, the Labrador, was a good fit in the graving dock, but even so left little room to work alongside. The original granite block walls still define the three sides of the dock.

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Halifax Shipyard's Drydocks

Halifax Shipyard was founded as the Halifax Graving Dock Co. Its prime asset was a graving dock, carved into the Halifax shoreline. It was built to cater to iron and steel ships of the Royal Navy and merchant ships that were fast displacing wooden ships. There were no adequate repair or docking facilities in eastern North America and the Royal Navy was pressing for such a facility. Even the US Navy could not drydock its largest ships in the USA.
Samuel L. Brookfield, a local industrialist, raised capital in the UK and arranged yearly subsidies from the Royal Navy, the Canadian government and the City of Halifax. Each contributed $10,000 per year for twenty years.

Graving Dock

 Believed to be HMS Canada, the first ship to use the graving dock officially. The wrecked vessel on the lower right has never been explained, but was obviously in the dock first.
Correction: the ship is the barque Noel.

Construction started in 1885 and the rock cut was lined  with stone and concrete and equipped with an iron  gate. When it opened for business in 1889 it was the largest graving dock on the eastern seaboard of North America.  The first ship to use the dock was HMS Canada, a rather small ship for the size of the dock, but when USS Indiana was able to drydock, it was a major coup for the Shipyard.
The USN’s first battleship, Indiana had been built without bilge keels, as it would have been too wide for any US east coast drydock. However on trials in 1896 the ship rolled alarmingly, causing its gun turrets to swing out of control, and bilge keels were ordered to be installed on it and other members of its class. This work was done in Halifax.
An iron caisson was used as a gate to the dock, fitted into a slot in the seaboard end of the dock. When a ship entered the dock the caisson was floated into position, then flooded to sink it into its slot, forming a tight seal. The dock itself could then be dewatered.

The original graving dock gate. Note the tapered and raked ends that allow it to drop into slots in the dock walls. It is built of riveted iron construction and lasted for more than one hundred years.

As a the ship gradually settled on blocks while the water was pumped out of the dock, it was left totally in the dry, allowing unlimited access to the hull. When work on the ship was complete the dock was filled with water thus refloating the ship. The gate was then pumped out, allowing it to float up out of its slot, and it was moved aside, to permit the ship to exit the dock.
The old gate was drydocked on the Dartmouth Marine Slip in September 1994 and was found to be in very poor condition. Work on a new steel caisson gate began soon after and it was completed in July 1995.

CCGS Labrador was an easy fit in the graving dock. Note the keel blocks and the special block under the bow. Rail tracks along the dock served cranes and an internal shipyard railway.

The graving dock remains in almost constant use. Currently it is used for the refits of the Halifax class RCN frigates,

    Graving Dock
    Dimensions: 172.81m x 31.09m

Lionel A. Forsyth

Built originally for the Department of National Defence, but operated by Halifax Shipyard, the floating drydock Lionel A. Forsyth was an essential part of the yard’s plant during World War II when it was called upon to repair severely damaged ships. The graving dock was in constant use and additional facilities were needed quickly. The floating dock, a submersible platform, that can raise ships out of the water, was built by the yard in 1941. It was the only floating drydock in Canada for many years. It was built in three sections, that were connected together, but could be detached when the dock was itself drydocked. Following hard use during the war, the dock was disconnected in 1950 and the three pieces moved to the graving dock for a much needed refit.

The dock was named for the Chairman of Dominion Steel and Coal Co (DOSCO), Lionel Avard Forsyth, QC, 1890-1957, a Nova Scotian by birth. Ownership was transferred to DOSCO (then parent of Halifax Shipyard) at the end of the War, but wound up in the hands of the Province of Nova Scotia when the yard was taken over in 1978. However the dock was in poor condition and a replacement was soon found.
Aside from two barges, the last ship to be lifted by the dock was the ferry Princess of Acadia in January 1979. Meanwhile the Minister of Public Works put the dock up for sale by sealed bid with the closing date of January 31, 1979.
The successful bidder was the Robert E. Derecktor Shipyard of Rhode Island Inc, which had just landed a contract to build US Coast Guard cutters. The Lionel A. Forsyth was towed out of Halifax by the tug Irving Miami on May 3, 1979 for the former Newport, Rhode Island Naval Base in Middletown, RI.
In 1992, when the Derecktor shipyard was declared bankrupt, most of its assets were sold for scrap, including, presumably, this drydock.

           Lionel A. Forsyth    O.N. 195182
            Built:    1941 by Dominion Bridge (Dosco)
            18,058 gross tons
            Lifting capacity: 25,000 tons
            Dimensions: 600 ft x 96' (clear of fenders)
            Equipment: 2 x 5 ton, 1 x 17 ton cranes

Scotiadock

The Minister of Development of the Province of Nova Scotia acquired a similar dock from the Netherlands for $6mn. The Prins Hendrik Dok No.4 was actually older than the dock it replaced. It was built in 1933 by and for De Rotterdamsche Drooogdik Maats NV. It had been extensively rebuilt following World War II and had a lifting capacity of 14,000 tons and was slightly smaller than its predecessor.
Legend has it that the drydock had been taken over by German forces during World War II, but was sabotaged by the resistance and British commandos, and thus survived the war on the bottom of Rotterdam harbour, which did it no real harm. Other working drydocks were bombed by the Allies, and so this one survived. 

It arrived in Halifax in tow the Dutch tug Zwarte Zee on June 6, 1979, was extensively refitted by HIL, and made its first lift January 13-18, 1980  with the ferry Princess of Acadia.
The dock’s name was changed officially to Scotiadock in 1983 [1984] but the new name had been used informally since it arrived.

A sad looking Scotiadock is moved from position in preparation to be towed away.

In June 1998 the dock was removed from service, to be replaced by a newer structure. Deterioration over time had resulted in the dock's original safe lifting capacity to be reduced to about half. Its last lift was the small bunkering tanker Imperial Lachine from April 23 to May 4, 1998.
The Province of Nova Scotia put the drydock up for sale and on November 5 it was towed out by the tug Kochab for Tampa, FL for new owners Gulf Marine Repair. It seems that the Florida yard outbid a local rival, International Ship Repair, in order to eliminate competition. They had no real need for the dock, but did not want their competitors to have it and it lay idle for a time, but was rebuilt and is still in service with Gulf Marine Repair and is known as "Scotia".  See http://www.gulfmarinerepair.com/service.html

Bright Florida sunshine did not improve the looks of the dock which remained idle in Tampa for a time before it was reconditioned.

            Scotiadock   O.N. 392652

            Dimensions 607' x 81'
            Built: 1933, rebuilt 1945, refitted: 1979
            9,897 gross tons
            Lifting capacity: 14,000 tons (27,5000 deadweight)
            Dimensions: 607 ft x 81' (clear of fenders) x 7m clear over blocks
              Equipment: 3 and 8 ton electric cranes

Novadock

To meet the demand to repair ever larger ships, the yard needed a larger floating drydock. Tankers, container ships and bulk carriers using the port of Halifax, and in transit through nearby waters, were generally to Panamax dimensions. These were the largest ships that could pass through the locks of the Panama canal as it existed. [A new Panamax definition will be required when larger locks are opened in 2016]
In the early 1980s such a large dock was beyond the capability of the yard to build, and the Minister of Development contracted with Marine Industries of Sorel, QC to build the larger portion of the dock. A smaller portion was built by Ferguson Industries Ltd of Pictou, NS. The dock was to be owned by the Province of Nova Scotia and leased to the yard.

On November 15, 1982 the larger section arrived from Sorel in tow of the tugs Irving Miami and  Irving Cedar with Irving Beech on the stern to provide steering. The shorter section arrived November 21 in tow of Irving Miami. The two sections were permanently connected at pier 6 and then moved to mooring dolphins outside the Scotiadock.

The first section of the Novadock arriving in Halifax.

Named Novadock, the new facility lifted its first ship, Irving Eskimo from November 11-28, 1983. (The yard's crane Timberland was the first vessel to be lifted for trials.)

Ownership of the dock was transferred to Halifax Shipyards at some point, well after Irving Shipbuilding acquired the yard in 1993.

Novadock was moored to dolphins off pier 6. It was connected to a jetty at the south end.

In July 2014 Irving Shipbuilding Inc announced that the dock had been removed from service in April because it was beyond repair and needed replacement. The last lift on dock was the tanker Havelstern in February 2014.
The dock was subsequently sold to International Ship Repair in Tampa, FL (Remember them? - the unsuccessful bidders for Scotiadock) and in August 2015 it was moved to the IEL dock in Dartmouth where it was cut in two athwartships.
In October 2015 the first section was floated aboard Boa Barge 33 and towed by the tug Boa Odin to Tampa, FL. The tug and barge returned in November and towed away the second section.  

            Novadock        ON 800549
            Panamax floating drydock
            Built:   1982: portion by Marine Industries, Sorel QC (hull no. 448)
                       1982: portion by Ferguson Industries Ltd, Pictou, NS (no hull no.)
            34,186 gross tons, as completed 1983   
            Dimensions: 257.25m x 52m x 19,81m
            Lifting capacity: 36,000 tons
            Deck dimensions: 257m x 38m (clear of walls) x 9m over blocks
            Equipment: 2 x 40 tonne cranes

Scotia Dock II    ex General Georges P. Vanier

With the aging Scotiadock in need of replacement the yard had the opportunity to purchase another floating dock. General Georges P. Vanier was built by and for the Canadian Vickers shipyard in Montreal. The last owners of the yard, Versatile Vickers Ltd had closed the yard and the dock was surplus. It was moved to Sorel and then to Lévis before it was sold.
(After a distinguished career in the military in two World Wars and as a diplomat, Montreal native Major-General Georges-Philéas Vanier PC DSO MC CD served as Governor General of Canada from 1959 to 1967.)
On June 9, 1998 the dock arrived in Halifax in tow of the tugs Atlantic Cedar, Atlantic Oak, and Atlantic Hemlock . The tow had sheltered in Gaspé en route due to inclement weather.
 

Renamed Scotia Dock II it was about the same size as Scotiadock, and so fit into the same spot, inboard of the Novadock. After a refit and upgrade, the dock went into service. Its first lift was the coastal tanker Wellington Kent September 28, 1998. 
With enhanced capabilities the dock was suitable for the many smaller ships that came to the yard for repair.and refit.

Scotia Dock II was moored to dolphins off pier, inboard of the larger Novadock.

On May 5, 2010, while starting to berth the tug Stevns Breaker, a malfunction caused the dock to sink to the bottom. Several ruptures between compartments, and damage to equipment meant that the dock could not be raised on its own. The tug was unharmed, but the dock received extensive damage. Unfortunately the dock was just completing a major refurbishment, and much new work was lost.
A salvage operation started immediately, but it took a month to raise the dock from its position in 50 feet of water where only the crane rails were above the surface. Once raised it was moved to pier 6 until a decision could be made on its future. Damage was found to be so severe that it was declared a constructive total loss.

On August 12, 2012 the tug Eileen McAllister towed the Scotia Dock II out of Halifax destined for Brownsville, TX where it was scrapped.

               Scotia Dock II    ex General Georges P. Vanier   O.N. 322223
                Built: 1964 Canadian Vickers Ltd, Montreal (Hull No. 283)
                17,309 gross tons (later revised to 15,692)
                Hull dimensions: 161.19m x 32.6m x 5.09m (depth of hull)
                Capacity: 24,000 tonnes
                Deck dimensions: 183m x 31.5m(clear of walls)  x 8 m (over blocks)
                Equipment 2 x 15 tonnes cranes
 
       

Launching Platform

As part of the reconstruction of Halifax Shipyard in 2014-2015 to build new ships for the Royal Canadian Navy, the yard has established a new system of launching ships. No longer will ships slide down the launch ways and splash into the harbour. Instead they will be moved overland from the building hall to a launch platform which will then be submerged, and the ship will be floated off. A much less dramatic, but certainly safer method of putting ships in the water, with less risk of damage to ship or workers.
The new launching platform will be a floating dock in fact. Since it will only be used rarely for launching purposes, it may be used as a drydock for servicing other ships. So far Halifax Shipyard has not made any announcements about the launch platform, except to show it in artists renderings.
For now however the yard has no floating drydock - for the first time since 1941.

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Final Goodbye to Novadock

We got our last look at the remaining section of the Novadock floating drydock today as it "sailed" out of Halifax on the back of Boa Barge 33 in tow of the tug Boa Odin.

The pilot boat Chebucto Pilot (far left) takes the pilot out to the tug Boa Odin at noon.

Within a few minutes, the tug has swing the barge around..

... and is heading outbound. Halifax Tugger took off  the barge deck crew.

The tow made its stately progession to sea. 

Conditions were ideal for the departure, with no seas and no wind. At 1900 hrs this evening, with the tug well offshore it was doing 8.2 knots.

The weather buoy on La Have Bank south of Nov Scotia was recording a height of .5m and south winds 14 gusting to 18 kph (and water temperature of 13 degrees C.)

 Our first look at Novadock was on November 15, 1982, when the tugs Irving Miami and Irving Cedar (assisted by Irving Beech and Irving Teak) towed the larger portion of the dock into Halifax from Sorel, QC where it was built.

A smaller section, built in Pictou, NS, was towed in November 21. The sections were joined and the dock was completed at the shipyard.When the dock was cut in two this time, it was not cut along the same line. Note the position of the control room on the outer wing in the above photo, and compare to today's photos.

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Securing Novadock

Now that the first section of the Novadock is safely aboard the Boa Barge 33, work goes on to secure it in place. The work includes brackets to the underside of the Novadock where it overhangs the barge. Several small craft and barges from RMI Marine are employed in this work which will take several days. It must be very unpleasant work, with decades of marine growth built up on the hull and now exposed to the air.

Note the small craft working under the overhang. The drydock has been plated over where it was cut in two (The new steel is painted in red primer.) Note also the cross bracing wires on the drydock to ensure that it did not sag during loading.

As a non-powered vessel, the Boa Barge 33 must have a tug alongside at all times when at anchor in case it is required to move, or if it goes adrift. That is its companion tug Boa Odin at the stern.

There is also a Caterpillar packaged generator on the drydock to provide power for lights and pumps.

New owners, International Ship Repairs in Tampa, FL have several other drydocks, some of which can be coupled together when needed to take larger ships. It seems likely that they would do the same with Novadock , but it was necessary to cut it in two for transport anyway.

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We Have Lift On

NASA may have Lift Off, but today Halifax harbour had Lift On. The semi-submersible heavy lift barge Boa Barge 33 was put to the test and came through swimmingly.

The barge arrived September 27 in tow of the tug Boa Odin- see Tugfax and after some time at pier 27 and pier 28, it moved out into the harbour yesterday:

Tugs Atlantic Larch (at the bow) and Boa Odin near the stern, move the Boa Barge 33 past the Novadock yesterday afternoon. It is easy to see that the barge is easily large enough to carry each section with room to spare.

Despite drizzly weather this morning the barge was submerged and the first section of the former Novadock was floated over.

 This morning the barge is all but invisible as it is submerged in number 6 anchorage area in the lower harbour. 

(Princess of Acadia remains laid up at the former Coast Guard base in Dartmouth.)

 Early this afternoon, with the Novadock in place, the refloating operation continues for the barge.

Once the load is secured and there is a suitable weather window the long trip to Florida will begin. The second section of the floating drydock will follow in due course. It is a larger and heavier section and will also depend on very good weather to make the trip.

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BIG Changes

It is a time of big changes in Halifax's port and on many other fronts.

To pick up where I left off, the veteran ferry Princess of Acadia was laid up in Saint John after its replacement Fundy Rose came into service. After de-storing by operators Bay Ferries, and their corporate symbols were painted over, it was handed over to owner, the Minister of Transport.

Saint John is not an ideal layup port, due to its high tides, requiring a lot of line tending. On September 11, it arrived in Halifax where it tied up at the old Coast Guard base in Dartmouth. That unused facility is still government property, so presumably there are no berthing fees, and Halifax's feeble tides require very little line tending.

  

Still handsome, but looking bare without its Bay Ferries markings, and still wearing storm shields over the lounge windows, Princess of Acadia awaits its fate. A sale for scrap is almost certain, but it may take a while.

 Halifax Shipyard finally rid itself of the decommissioned Novadock floating drydock. Its Canada registry was closed August 18 and it has been renamed F.D. Novadock under an undisclosed foreign flag, likely St.Vincent and the Grenadines. As reported in Halifax Shipping News, a flotilla of McKeil tugs moved the dock to the IEL pier in Dartmouth, where it has since been cut into two sections.

Novadock was originally built in two sections (not the same two sections which it now appears) by Marine Industries Ltd in Sorel and Ferguson Industries in Pictou, for the government of Nova Scotia. It was intended to bring Panamax ships to Halifax for repairs. It certainly did that, and when Irving Shipbuilding took over the yard, they also gained ownership of the Novadock.

Following award of the  National Shipbuilding contract for naval vessels, Halifax Shipyard rapidly lost  interest in ship repair in Halifax. (Irving Shipbuilding Inc still operates its smaller repair yard in Shelburne.)
With demolition of its older facilities and during construction of the new assembly building, the yard had no facilities available for ship repair anyway. The Novadock will not be replaced per se, but a new launching dock will be required for the new construction. No announcement has been made on where it will be procured or when.

With Novadock gone from the Shipyard, the full extent of the mammoth new building is revealed in all its splendour.

Steel has now been cut for the first hull under the new shipbuilding program and the first module is underway.

More work remains to the roll out area to the north, where the new Pier 6 cope wall is now under construction, and work has started on the huge roll out pad.

Changes are also underway at the Angus L. Macdonald bridge where the deck replacement project is about to begin in earnest.

Atlantic Cartier [see below] passes beneath the bridge, denuded of its walkway and bike lane and fitted with a traveler for the work, the bridge is ready for its first new deck section starting next weekend.

 The Cherubini dock is all set up to transport the sections with their giant crane and chartered barges.

Atlantic Container Line has started the process of retiring its G3 ships, with Atlantic Concert the first to go. It arrived off the Bhavnagar anchorage in India September 5. The first new G4 ship, Atlantic Star, was registered in England September 1. It is still at the shipyard Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai, but is due for imminent delivery, followed every two months by is four sisters.

ACL'S schedule still shows Atlantic Concert's next call in Halifax on October 18, so that is the likely arrival date for the first new ship.

A sight soon to be no more, Atlantic Cartier  clear of the Narrows and heading on a course to pass east of George's Island.

More big ships are coming. Ships of the size of  Ningbo Express and OOCL Southampton are joined by CMA CGM ships as lines try to increase efficiency and as the "superships" displace the merely big or not so big on the main trade routes.

Some other changes noted after my return from my August vacation:

McNally Marine has started work on the new HMC Dockyard Jetty under the Macdonald bridge, to accommodate the Arctic Offshore patrol vessels.

Work continues on the new Irving Oil dock in Woodside, also by McNally. Irving Oil has taken delivery of the refurbished Acadian now fitted with an exhaust gas scrubber, just like sister East Coast, both under Canadian flag. As soon as the new dock is completed, Irving ships will  no longer call at the Esso docks.

Of the Marshall Islands pair of the Irving quartet, Great Eastern has now gone to Gibraltar for its similar refit and New England has a Canadian coasting license until September 26.

The navy has revealed the desperate condition of the Athabaskan (no surprise) but it has gone to sea again in recent days.

With no operational supply ship to support its fleet, the RCN is turning to Davie to rebuild a container ship as an interim supplier. Preserver is now a floating feul depot in the Dockyard, no longer moving under its own power when it shifts from one berth to another.

There are other changes too, but perhaps the more relevant here is the upcoming change to Shipfax as I transition to a more relaxed format, but more on that later.

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Halifax Shipyard gets the green light

Good News Item 1 

 File photos of the new building hall at Halifax Shipyard.

The long awaited finalization of the contract to build Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) was announced yesterday. Halifax Shipyard will build a minimum of five and a maximum six of the ships for the RCN, with the first delivery in 2018 and the remainder every nine months thereafter. At a price tag of $3.5bn, there is a strong incentive for the yard to build "smart" so that all six ships can be completed for the price.
It must be a said that the original intention to build eight such ships was probably unrealistic, given that it was not based on a final design. The need for speed and thus a light displacement versus the need for ice capability and therefore a heavier displacement had to be balanced, but that has now apparently been settled, with a $400mn increase from the original budget.

As of today, the new shipyard building is fully enclosed, including the bright blue fabric doors.

Good News Item 2

 Novadock has been out of service for a year.

According to press reports,  the shipyard will also be tendering for replacement of the Novadock floating drydock. This is also good news, since the shipyard has been unable to accept any repair work for months. The small floating drydock Scotiadock II was scrapped in 2013 after it sank at its berth. The Novadock, a Panamax size floating dock was removed from service last year after it was determined that is was in such poor condition that it was not worth fixing.
The reports indicate that the Novadock replacement will be in addition to the new launch table, which is fact also a floating drydock. It will be used to transfer newly built ships from the land to the water, without the traditional launchway.  With the new building hall, ships will be in high state of completion before they are floated, and the risk of damage will be minimized using a launching platform instead of a launchway.
As to the new floating drydock, the term Panamax will be obsolete once it is delivered, due to the opening of the new Panama Canal in 2016. So will the drydock be built to New Panamax dimensions? Let us hope so, because then it could handle the largest container ships presently calling in Halifax, and many of the crude oil tankers that work in our region. It would certainly make Halifax a competitive repair port once again.
(The graving dock at the yard is fully occupied by RCN frigates during the FELEX upgrade program.)

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