Return Engagements

ONE update

 As predicted back in November the container ship ONE Maxim returned to Halifax on THE Alliance's EC5 service. Previous arrivals and departures under cover of darkness precluded the desired "underway" photos of the ship under this name. (There is something unsatisfying about a photo of a ship tied up.)

The ship did arrive this morning. Although not in full sunshine, its magenta hull paint does not require much light to appear bright.

As recounted November 22, 2020 the ship is the former MOL Maxim renamed and repainted earlier in 2020 during a refit. Other ships of MOL's M class are getting similar treatment, but there are still some members of the ten ship class with their original names, such as MOL Maestro due next week. THE Alliance is upping the size of ships on the EC5 and it may be the last one we see. [It is still scheduled into August]

In fact some of the new EC5  ships will be too big to reach Cerescorp's Fairview Cove terminal and will instead be handled by PSA Halifax, starting in July. That the two "rival" terminals would be  assisting each other is not unprecedented, but does add more fuel to rumours that PSA may be in line to purchase the Fairview Cove facility from NYK and rationalize operations.

CCG Update

CCGS Molly Kool returned to Halifax again this morning. It has been carrying out SAR duties in the region "on loan" from Newfoundland, to cover off refits. CCGS Kopit Hopson 1752 (ex Edward Cornwallis) will now be in refit until July and Cape Roger is starting a six month Vessel Life Extension. Sister ship Jean Goodwill is expected to be in refit until the end of June. It still remains to be seen if Captain Molly Kool will be returning to Davie for more upgrades. So far it does not seem that the ship has helicopter capability, which was to be one of the features of the conversion.

 

Departing (and returning) today for more sea trials, was CCGS Capt Jacques Cartier. According to press reports several deficiencies turned up in the first sea trials, delaying its entry into service - not to mention COVID related issues for suppliers and crews. Delays in refitting CCGS Alfred Needler have also meant that the new ship could not complete comparative testing. No date has been suggested for when Capt Jacques Cartier will be in full service. It was delivered from Seaspan to Halifax in November 2019.

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ONE Maxim shows up

 I am not sure when the novelty of Ocean Network Express ships painted in vivid magenta will wear off - not for a while I guess. As each ship is repainted or new ones delivered, it is still a shock to see a ship with such an "un-ship-like" paint colour.

Today's arrival at Cerescorp, Fairview Cove did not attract as much attention before August of this year when it sailed as MOL Maxim for Mitsui OSK Lines. Built in 2010 by Mitsubishi, Kobe, the 78316 gt, 79,373 dwt ship, with a capacity of 6724 TEU, including 500 reefers, was painted in MOL's standard blue hull paint. 

As the ship appeared in Halifax in February its hull paint looked a tad seedy, but as it was coming up on its ten year survey, it was expected to get a thorough overhaul, including a new paint job.

The ship apparently went in for refit in the summer and emerged in the colours of ONE, the entity that was formed by the major Japanese container operators, NYK, K-line and MOL to combine their operations.

There are ten sister ships of the MOL "M" class, and several are sailing for The Alliance shipping combine. As they all go through their refits and emerge in magenta, they will continue to attract attention. MOL Maxim arrived in the dark and sailed at dusk so photo opportunities were limited, but it will be back.

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New for Nirint, New for ONE [REVISED]

More first time callers in Halifax today.

Nirint Shipping BV, the Dutch company that runs a Europe / Caribbean container line, has the contract to carry nickel sulfides from Moa, Cuba to Halifax on the return leg. (The mineral is sent from Halifax by rail to Fort Saskatchewan, AB for primary processing, then goes to Belgium by way of Montreal for final refining.) Nirint uses a variety of chartered tonnage, usually on charters of a year or more, but seldom renames the ships. Today's arrival, Hooge does not appear again on Nirint Schedules after this trip, so seems to be covering off  other ships, perhaps for drydocking.

Hooge was built in 2006 by Shandong Weihai Shipyard in Weihai, China. The 15,633 gt, 16,986 dwt ship has a container capacity of 1306 TEU, including 238 reefers and has a a pair of 45 tonne cranes. It is a multi-purpose ship and although classed as a single deck, fully cellular container ship, it also has general cargo capability. Number two hatch has been kept clear to allow for unloading the bagged nickel in Halifax without having to unload any containers.

The name "Hooge" is taken from an island in the Nordfriesland district of Germany. The ship is managed by Briese Schiffahrts, a German company, and other ships of the same class are also named after nearby islands. Canadians might be forgiven for assuming it was named after Hooge, Belgium, near Ypres, where there is a Canadian World War I military cemetery called Hooge Crater, but that is not the case.

REVISION: Thanks to a reader for pointing out that HOOGE was here November 9-13, 2019 on a dry run / trial trip. In fact its visit was covered with two posts on this blog (!!)
http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2019/11/seasonal-change.html  and
http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2019/11/saturday-business.html 


The new to Halifax ship for Ocean Network Express is ONE Matrix, another of the former MOL ships repainted and renamed by ONE.

ONE Matrix works its way inbound to Halifax with the crane rig Thialf in the background.

Built as MOL Matrix in 2010 by Mitsubishi, Kobe, the ship was renamed in March of this year when it received ONE's magenta paint job. A 78,316 gt, 79,312 dwt vessel it has a capacity of 6724 TEU, including 500 reefers. It is another of ONE's contribution to THE Alliance's service along with several fleet mates of the same class.

Atlantic Oak (forward) and Atlantic Fir (stern) are active escorts as the ship passes west of George's Island in Halifax harbour.

The ship's last port of call was Colombo, Sri Lanka on April 6 - a very long way between stops.

Its magenta paint is still fresh and has not yet been scuffed up by tugs (at least on the port side) but that will not be the case for long.

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