Business as usual - for now

The container business is in disarray at the moment with the Suez Canal blocked by a grounded ship, and longshore labour uncertainty in Montreal. So far at least the Port of Halifax is keeping up, but that may be starting to change.

A PSA Halifax today Maersk Patras was working at Per 42. It would normally have called on Saturday, but both berths were occupied yesterday, so a one day delay is not too serious. 

The ship is on its usual eastbound run from Montreal, although there have been several missed calls over the winter. However its fleet mate Maersk Penang on its westbound run is not going to Montreal, but is instead arriving in Saint John today. It is still giving Halifax next weekend eastbound. It may be a blow to terminal operators PSA Halifax not to get all the westbound cargo, but I speculate that it might overwhelm the capacity of the terminal, what with other diversions also possible.

Also at PSA Halifax today is MSC Angela, another ship that is due to sail to Montreal, after reducing draft in Halifax by unloading some cargo. The ship has been sitting at anchor off Halifax since March 18. Perhaps waiting for developments in the Montreal situation. Fleet mate MSC Annick is standing by off Halifax.

Meanwhile at Fairview Cove ONE Magnificence is back on THE Alliance EC5 service. It is scheduled to arrive at the Suez Canal April 8, with its next port Jebel Ali on April 16. Whether the Canal will be re-opened and the traffic backlog cleared remains to be seen. There are reports that more than 300 ships are now waiting to transit, even with many diversions already sent via the Cape of Good Hope.

.

Containers: big and twice as big

ONE Magnificence made another visit to Cerescorp, Fairview Cove. The former MOL Magnificence made its debut in Halifax in April 2020 as the first ship to call with the Ocean Network Express (ONE)  magenta hull paint.

 When ONE came up with the magenta hull colour I wondered how it would wear after months of nudging by tugs. The ship looks remarkably fresh however, and if there are touch ups they don;t stand out.

The 6724 TEU ship was built by Mitsubishi, Kobe in 2010.

At the other end of the harbour at PSA Halifax, a first time caller was the 12,562 TEU (including 1,000 reefers) CMA CGM Alaska. At 140,259 gt, 146,114 dwt it is nearly twice the size.

Painted in a serviceable deep blue, the ship was built by Samsung, Koje in 2011.

.

 

More Pier 9C and beyond

Aside from regular port activity - that is scheduled shipping lines, with repetitive ships - Pier 9C is the location of unusual and "one of"  ships. Lately that has meant ships related to the decommissioning of the offshore gas fields.

Certainly that would explain the two Maersk tug/suppliers rafted together at the centre berth.

Maersk Detector on the outside of Maersk Cutter. Of very different designs, they are both equipped to support offshore activity and set anchors for rigs. Although both work for Maersk Supply Service Canada, under Canadian flag, they were both built in Chile, but by different ship yards. (Canada has a free trade agreement with Chile.)

Just to the north the general cargo ship BBC Kwiatkowski arrived July 11 from Willemstad, Curacao.

Built in 2008 by the Polish Shipyards Polnoca, completed by Remontowa, it was launched as Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski but completed with its present name. It is a 6115 gt, 7732 dwt ship with a pair of 120 tonne cranes. The ship has called in Halifax before for offshore related cargoes or to fit out to carry submarine cable. Its most recent visit was in February of this year, so it may be here to offload the cable racks.

At the south end of Pier 9C the big barge BOA Barge 37 finally made its move to the IEL dock in Woodside. The move had been planned for some time, but was postponed, I believe due to lack of visibility in fog.

The barge is on long term charter to Halifax Shipyard, and has two uses. One is to transfer ship's hull components from the Woodside fabrication hall to the shipyard. It is also used to launch the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships. The blue cradles on the deck are used to support the ship's hull or components. These will now be removed at the IEL dock.

As might be imagined the barge is idle a lot of the time. It was therefore available when COVID-19 delayed plans to install two new 300 tonne capacity cranes on the Hibernia offshore structure. The new crane was supposed to be installed by the giant crane ship Thialf but with time running out on its work off Nova Scotia plans had to change. Instead the cranes will be loaded onto the BOA Barge 34, and transferred to a storage site in Argentia, NL for installation next year.

There was also activity beyond Pier 9C today. At Cerscorp's Fairview Cove it was another visit of ONE Magnificence - so far the only ship of the Ocean Network Express to call here in the new magenta hull colour. (It was MOL Magnificence until early this year) But so far I have not been able to catch it with ideal lighting conditions or in the best location. (If it hadn't sailed during my dinner hour tonight I might have caught it this time.)

With the pilot boat running interference to clear pleasure craft from the route path, the ship approaches Ives Knoll. Meanwhile, in a well timed departure Bishu Highway clears Eastern Passage for Baltimore.

Built in 2009 by Toyohashi Shipbuilding Co Ltd the auto carrier is still in traditional K-Line colours. These are gradually being repainted with a new scheme. K-Line has kept ownership of all its ships except the container ships, which went into the One Network Express, ONE.

.

Missed ONE

"Heritage" boxes are still in use along with new ONE boxes.

Thanks to the advice of the Chief Medical Officer I was voluntarily "locked down" in self-isolation for yesterday's visit of the first ship to be seen here in Ocean Network Express magenta paint colour. 
ONE Magnificence ex MOL Magnificence was repainted during a recent refit. Its hull now matches the colour that ONE selected when it was formed from the merger of NYK, MOL and K Lines container operations.

It sailed during the night, but will be back and travel restrictions may be eased somewhat by then.

If you need to see a photo, go to Halifax Shipping News:
 https://blog.halifaxshippingnews.ca/2020/04/one-magnificence-is-pink.html

.