Back again and load intact: ONE Aquila

The Suezmax container ship ONE Aquila arrived back in Halifax today on the westbound leg of its current voyage. It was last here west bound June 2, then eastbound June 27 to 29 and has since called in Singapore July 27 - 30; Laem Chabang August 2 - 4; Cai Mep August 7 - 9; Singapore August 13 -15 and Colombo August 18 - 19.

  

Named for the genus of eagles it is one of the large "bird" class of ships built by Japan Marine United in Kure. Delivered to NYK Line in 2018 it is a 145,647 gt, 138,611 dwt ship with a capacity of 14.052 TEU.

The ship made the headlines in 2020 when it lost about 100 containers overboard October 30 en route from Japan to Long Beach, California. It was diverted to Tacoma for cleanup. Photos taken at the time showed  that the lost containers had mostly been stowed on the after deck, and there were scores of lashing bars hanging over the stern. Unlike other container ships designed for transpacific work this one does not have extra high lashing frames at the stern to protect the containers from following seas. The actual cause of the loss had not been reported.

About one month later a sister ship, the ONE Apus lost 1,816 containers overboard in 16 meter seas 1600 km NW of Hawaii and returned to Kobe for repairs and clean up. In that case the lost boxes were from the main deck. It was apparent that there were stack collapses, but whether due to boarding seas or parametric rolling has not been reported. (The latter has been found as the cause for many recent box losses.)

 Tugs turn the ship off PSA Atlantic Hub,

The ships of the class were built to maximize carrying capacity, with containers stowed in 18 rows and 11 high columns in the hold and 20 rows wide by 9 columns high on deck.Since the 2020 incidents the ships have been transferrred from the Transpacific routes and several are on the Premier Alliance EC3 run.

The ships also have minimized engine room space, which, coupled with extra thick hi-tensile steel allows for greater loading.

Tugs slide the ONE Apus back into Pier 41.

 

 

ONE Apus and another bird

 The bird class of container ships, operated by Ocean Network Express (ONE) are regular callers in Halifax on the EC5 service, now operating as the Premier Alliance. They began to call under the previous THE Alliance which was renamed Premier Alliance after Hapag-Lloyd withdrew earlier this year.

There are fourteen ships in the 14000 TEU class, all built by Japan Marine United, in Kure between 2016 and 2019. Today's arrival ONE Apus was the thirteenth ship in the series. The first nine ships were given the prefix "NYK" but were renamed with "ONE" prefix when the three Japanese shipping companies NYK Line, K-Line and Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) joined together to form ONE in 2017. This ship is part of the NYK fleet and measures 146,694 gt, 138,611 dwt with a capacity of 14,052 TEU.

Some of the ship names are obscure as they use the Latin genus name. ONE Apus derives its name from the Common Swift Apus Apus, a fast flying bird found in Asia and Africa. (What Canadians know as a Chimney Swift is a different species but  similar in appearance and from the same avian family).

On arrival today the ONE Apus was met at the pilot station by the escort tugs Atlantic Ash and Atlantic Maple which each took a stern line. A third tug Atlantic Fir joined later off Herring Cove.

 Shortly after, an unusual rendez-vous took place as a Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140M Aurora aircraft made a low pass over the ship and flew in toward Halifax right over the main shipping channel.

 

 It must have turned somewhere around Bedford Basin and returned at low altitude, then passed astern of the ONE Apus. It made a graceful banking turn and headed east.

 

 

The Aurora is the Canadian CP-140 variant of the Lockheed P3 Orion dating from the 1980s. After a major overhaul, called the Aurora Incremental Modernisation Plan (AIMP) the aircraft were re-designated CP-140M. They were built for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), but as long distance craft they are also tasked with  intelligence surveillance (ISR), search and rescue (SAR) and overseas missions.

Another refurb (now completed), called the Aurora Life Extension Project (ASLEP) is expected to keep the planes flying until replacements start arriving in 2026. Those will be Boeing (oops) Poseidon P-8As which should be  full operation by 2033. East Coast based Auroras operate from Greenwood, Nova Scotia.

 

 As expected the ONE Apus was still carrying Hapag-Loyd containers. It will take some time before these boxes clear through the system, including perhaps empty re-delivery.

 

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ONE lucky bird

 Contrary to yesterday's post the ultra sized container ship ONE Apus did not arrive last  night, but held off Halifax until mid-morning today August 4. That allowed two other ships to dock at the Southend container terminal, PSA Halifax. (This is the first time that I am aware of that there are three ships at the Atlantic Gateway terminal at the same time: Nolhan Ava on its weekly service to St-Pierre et Miquelon and Argentia, and the ZIM feeder Contship Leo also a weekly caller on the CFX Canada Feeder Express.)

ONE Apus, built in 2019 by Japan Marine United, Kure, is one of the thirteen strong "bird" class of 14,052 TEU ships. (Apus in the genus of bird that includes swifts). Tonnages are recorded at 146,694 gt, 138,611 dwt. 

The "lucky" in the header refers to the November 30, 2020 incident when the ship lost more than 1800 containers over side and incurred damage to more than 900 on deck. En route from China to Long Beach, the ship was 1600 miles northwest of Hawaii at the time, but was able to put back to Kobe to be unloaded. It was March 2021 before the ship re-entered service, and made its call in Long Beach April 12, 2021.

An average of about 1300 containers are lost overboard world wide every year, so the 1800 figure is likely still a record for a single ship. The photo of the ship in the e-mag gCaptain is a truly remarkable one:

See: https://gcaptain.com/its-been-one-year-since-one-apus-epic-cargo-loss/

It appears from the photo that the ship may have been loaded to as much as eight containers high, at least for part of its length. It was loaded to a more modest maximum of six boxes high on arrival in Halifax today.

 Excessive rolling (parametric roll resonance), induced by the Pacific ocean swells is usually cited as a primary factor in these dramatic losses. However boxes are lost overboard world wide including the North Atlantic. Fortunately it has been many years since a container ship has arrived in Halifax with significant damage to deck cargo.

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More variety

 There was more variety in harbour traffic again today, August 3. 

A late morning arrival was the medium endurance USCGC Forward WMEC 911 out of Portsmouth, Virginia. 

It is a Hero class vessel, named for a former Secretary of Treasury 1841-1843, Walter Forward, whose "hero" status is at best questionable. Built by the Robert Derektor Shipyard Inc in Middletown, RI it was completed in 1989 and commissioned August 4, 1990. It appears that it will be observing that anniversary here along with the other Dockyard visitor FS Garonne (see yesterday's post), both of which will be in port for long-weekend holiday celebrations.

Traditionally the founding of Halifax - its Natal Day - was celebrated on June 21, even though the first 2,500 British colonial settlers arrived starting July 2, 1749. In recent years however the first Monday in August has been a civic holiday observed province-wide and not just in the former City of Halifax (which is now part of the Halifax Regional Municipality, formed in 1996 from four different municipalities, each with its own founding date.) Parades, fireworks, road races and other events coincide with the annual busker festival for an extended long weekend of celebration.

As Forward sailed it met the outbound HMCS Windsor which has been seen about the harbour and area in recent days, sometimes exercising with a helicopter.

HMCS Windsor in the Narrows, July 31.

An early morning arrival was the auto carrier Don Pasquale a regular at Autoport on Wallenius Wilhelmsen's transatlantic service. Late in the afternoon it shifted to Richmond Terminals, Pier 9C as it has done several times recently, to unload additional RoRo cargo.

As usual the ship went to Bedford Basin, turned and re-entered the Narrows to tie up starboard side to the dock. The Don Pasquale was built by Daewoo Heavy Industries in Okpo in 1997 and in 2007 it was lengthened from 219.3 to 227.9 m by Hyundai Vinaship in Vietnam. The reworked ship now registers 67,141 gt, 28,142 dwt with a capacity of 7,194 cars. Its stern ramp is rated for 125 tonnes.

The heavy lift ship Pijlgracht completed its work at the IEL dock this morning and sailed in the early afternoon for Providence, RI. That port is not far from the Vineyard Wind project, so perhaps it has more cargo for that project, in additon to what it unloaded here.

 

 

A late afternoon arrival was the NYK Constellation on THE Alliance's AL5 route from North Europe to North America. 

 The 55,534 gt, 65,919 dwt ship was built in 2007 by Hyundai, Ulsan and has a capacity of 4922 TEU including 330 reefers. It was certainly carrying a large number of reefers aft (likely empty). It berthed at PSA Fairview Cove.

A ship meeting, which would be interesting to see, was to take place in the late evening and after dark. The outbound ONE Falcon would meet the inbound ONE Apus outside the pilotage area in different traffic lanes where there is lots of sea room.  It is rare that two of the 14,000 TEU sister ships would be in the area at the same time. Normal schedules would have them several days apart.

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