Roundup

Shipfax was beset in the space of a few days last week, but has now overhauled most of its rigging and has resumed its course. What happened in the harbour was noted but not photo'd  observed, but there is still left over info from the previous weekend.

April 1

The bulker Longshore (ex Ethel -16) 23,456 *grt, 34,399 dwt arrived and anchored in Bedford Basin.
After few days of hold cleaning the ship moved to pier 28 and loaded grain.

It sailed April 8. Although the AIS shows its destination as Belledune, NB, that is clearly not the case since it headed south.
* with a grt of 23456 it should have a dwt of 34567!

Sailing April 1, the cargo ship Saimagraacht made its second call this year, on what has become a regular service for Spliethoff's.
Built in 2005 by Szczecinska Nowa in Poland the 18,321 grt, 23,660 dwt ship has side loading doors and enclosed elevators specifically for forest products, but as on this trip she was also carrying a few containers on deck. She can carry 1273 TEU.

The ship is also retro-fitted with an exhaust gas scrubber system (and none too elegantly either)  - which like most of those installation smokes like an old stogy. Nothing like removing SOx and NOx and leaving a trail of particulate.

The Frankenstein version scrubber system was added after the ship was built.



Also sailing on April 1, the CCGS Alfred Needler on temporary winter assignment to work out of Halifax, the research trawler headed for the Gulf and Argentia.

The ship was built in 1982 in Pictou and based in Halifax. After an engine room fire in 2003 it was laid up, but then rebuilt and transferred to Newfoundland,replacing sister ship Wilfred Templeman when it was retired in 2011.
Three replacement ships (one for the west coast) will be built by Seaspan as part of the National Ship Procurement program now under way.

April 2: becalmed 

April 3: in irons

April 4: broached to

April 5: decks swept

April 6: abacked

April 7: bilges pumped , jury rigged

The veteran Newfoundland based offshore patrol vessel Cape Roger sailed on another of its frequent patrols. It works out of Halifax in winter (February to April) then returns to Gulf and Newfoundland waters.
Built in 1977 by Ferguson Industries Ltd of Pictou it was modernized in 1996 at Shelburne, and wintered over in St.Catharines, ON 2010-2011 where it was refitted at the Port Weller drydock. At that time its flight deck was decommissioned and hangar removed.
Construction was well underway April 1, 1976 when fisheries minister (and later Governor General) Roméo LeBlanc announced its name and spring 1977 delivery. This year is its 40th anniversary.
A later vessel of the same basic design and class is CCGS Cygnus, built in 1982, and distinguishable by its full width all weather bridge and some smaller details such as mast placement. It is alo based in Newfoundland.

April 8: re-rigged and underway 

The big cable ship Dependable got underway for a cable repair job off Nova Scotia. It arrived April 6 to load cable for the work. Followng that job it will return to its normal base of Baltimore.

Dependable arrives in misty weather. The davit forward of amidships is used to deploy a buoy to mark one end of a severed cable while the ship goes off to retrieve the other end.  

Built in 2002 the ship is one of six sisters operated by TE-Subcom (formerlyTyco) world-wide. Some of the sisters, including Reliance and Responder have worked out of Halifax in the past.

 A 12,184 grt ship, built in 2002, it does its cable work over the stern through multiple sheaves.

There is also a gantry (here in the stowed position) that can be hoisted out over the stern to deploy is trenching plow.

The blue structure at left is the shoreside cable loading conveyor.

The usual run of  "car boats" visited Autoport during the week. However Wilhemsen's Toscana unloaded a large quantity of wheeled material and odd loads at pier 31, before shifting to Autoport.

Built in 2009 by MHI Nagasaki Shipyard and Engineering Works, the 61,328 grt ship can carry 6542 cars.
Odd loads? How about a shrink wrapped helicopter?

It was transferred from its Maafi trailer to a highway trailer today, ready for the next leg of its trip.

April 9: arrived in port

There was early morning activity in the harbour as the small chemical tanker Lutsen prepared to sail after taking bunkers overnight.

A.P.A. No.1 takes the pilot out to the departing Lutsen at number 2 anchorage, as Toscana unloads at Autoport.

Lutsen was built in 2006 by Samho Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Tongyong as Songa Diamond. It weas quickly renamed Brovig Bay, then in 2007 it became Liquid Velvet and Ben. It was renamed Lutsen in 2016. Measuring only 8,450 grt and 12,901 dwt, it is small by contemporary standards.  It headed for Montreal.

Also at anchor April the general cargo ship Norderney underwent Asian gypsy moth inspection before proceeding to pier 9c.

At pier 9c work began to fit the ship with prefabbed cable tank components. This is a regular activity at the pier, with several ships fitted with the steel frames in the past few years.

Built in 2012 the ship measures 4591 grt, 5475 dwt. It flies the Antigua and Barbuda flag for German owners. It carries a pair of what appear to be 40 tonne cranes, serving box shaped holds.

Container traffic continues apace with several new faces, but some familiar ones too.


OOCL Kaohsiung a 5888 TEU (including 586 reefers) ship built in 2006 by Koyo Dockyard in Mihara, is operated under OOCL long term charter by Nissen Kaiun Co Ltd.

Where it will go when OOCL finally leaves the G6 Alliance, will be interesting to see since larger ships are displacing "old post Panamax" ships in large numbers.

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That's the breaks

Thanks to some well timed breaks in the fog and driving rain, there were a few photo ops of harbour activity today.

The cruise ship Sirena arrived and tied up at pier 22. Although there was not a great deal of wind at the time of arrival, the ship took two tugs to berth. It is very unusual for cruise ships to take tugs - they have lots of thrusters and usually make out fine by themselves. Since most cruise ships are painted white they also hate to get fender scuffs by using tugs.

Sirena loiters in mist in the anchorages awaiting tugs.

 

Whatever the reason, the ship had to wait until tugs became available. Atlantic Oak had just sailed the tanker Acadian from Irving Woodside, and it became available first. However the other tugs were moving Energy Panther from anchorage to Irving Woodside, and it was some time before Atlantic Willow was freed up to assist.

Underway again towards pier 22, with one tug on the port bow, it will take its second tug just off the pier.

Sirena is a new name for Halifax. The ship was built in 1999 by Chantier Atlantique, St-Nazaire as R Four for the ill-fated Renaissance Cruise Line. It became Tahitian Princess in 2002 and Ocean Princess in 2009. Now owned by NCL Bahamas of Miami, it received its current name earlier this year when it received a major refit. It has a stated capacity of 850 passengers.

The Energy Panther - see yesterday- is the first non-Irving tanker to tie up at Irving Woodside. Its last port was given as Ijmuiden, Holland, so even Irving Oil with its massive refining capacity in Saint John, is now importing refined products. The company recently purchased a refinery in Ireland, so it seems likely that they will be moving product around the oceans.

Another tanker arrived last night and anchored in Bedford Basin. CPO France is smaller than the usual handy-size, medium range tanker we are accustomed to seeing. Built in 2008 by Hyundai Mipo, it comes in at 23,353 grt, 37,304 dwt.

 CPO France appears to be carrying very little cargo.

Operated by Offen Tankers of Hamburg, it was due to move to Imperial Oil this afternoon during a period of heavy rain. However for a brief shining moment late this morning it was in a spot of sun in the Bedford Basin. However I was not quick enough to get there to capture the event.

So how foggy was it?
CMA CGM Tancredit was sounding its fog horn, and was almost invisible until it got right up to Halterm.

It was even foggier later in the afternoon when OOCL Kaohsiung arrived. It was sounding its fog horn all the way through the harbour and up into the Narrows.

The ship became visible as it neared the MacKay bridge

It finally emerged into a clear patch in  Bedford Basin.

All in all a fine day for ship watching.

Another busy weekend

Stormy weather at the end of last week, and some mechanical "issues" meant some ships spent longer in port or arrived later than expected. Other ships opted to remain in port rather than sailing into bad weather. All this lead to busy times at the container terminals and in the Bedford Basin anchorages. 

NYK Diana arrived on Thursday.

On Friday it moved out to anchor in Bedford Basin, joining Bahri Jazan which had moved out earlier to layover during the incoming weather.
It was too windy to board pilots for much of the day Friday and several ship werr delayed in arriving. These including NYK Constellation, Dinkeldiep and BBC London.

On Saturday, things had returned to normal and the North Atlantic veteran Atlantic Conveyor arrived on what may be its last trip.

It is debraggled looking as little effort is made to maintain the ship which is expected to head to the scrap yard very soon.

As it arrived the Atlantic Star moved out to anchor, having been in port since Wednesday with "mechanical issues". Atlantic Conveyor then moved alongside Fairveiw Cove.

BBC London was busy at Pier 9C, unloading more riser pipe for Shell's exploration drill ship Stena Icemax. BBC London  was built in 2011 by Dongfang Shipbuilding Group in Yueqing, China as Rhoon. It was renamed in 2014. It measures 7138 grt, 7892 dwt and carrieds a pair of 80 tonne cranes that in combination can lift up to 160 tonnes. 

 Unlike the first shipment, this pipe came with the flotation collars already applied.

As Saturday wore on Bahri Jazan sailed, passing the CCGS Sir Wilfred Grenfell tied up at pier 9A. The ship spent early Friday morning wandering around Bedford Basin dragging anchor. A pilot was called in and the ship re-established its position. See Halifax Shipping News for a plot of its track.
While Bedfrod Bassin is well sheltered from the sea, it does not provide great "holding ground" for anchored ships. High sided vessels can often find themselves drifting in windy conditions.

After disembarking some technicians by service launch, Atlantic Star sailed at low tide. 

As it made its way through the Narrows, the stern tethered escort tug Atlantic Oak earned its keep by pulling the ship's stern around as it cleared the dogleg at pier 9.

CCGS Hudson went out to Bedford Basin for trials, then cleared for sea.

At the McAsphalt dock in Eastern Passage the tanker Esta Desgagnés made one of its infrequent visits. Normally dedicated to Ultramar service on the St.Lawrence it does make the odd trip to these parts. After bunkering at anchor from Algoma Dartmouth in the afternoon, it returned to the dock then sailed Sunday morning.

A heavy snow fall early Sunday followed freezing rain Saturday night, but it was melting quickly by early afternoon

Nanny is becoming a regular at pier 9 with cargo from Come-by-Chance for Wilson's Fuel. It arrived Sunday morning and connected to the underground pipeline.

BBC London completed unloading its cargo of risers,seen neatly arrayed on pier 9C, and prepared to sail in the evening.

Another North Atlantic veteran Atlantic Compass made a westbound port call today to, making it a three ACL weekend.

Chebucto Pilot sets out as Atlantic Compass sails. It is also carrying the pilot for the next inbound ship.

That ship was the post-Panamax (for now but not for long as the new canal is about to open) OOCL Kaohsiung for Fairview Cove.

A stiff breeze blowing across the Basin gave Atlantic Fir and Atlantic Oak a bit of a workout.

The last daytime arrival was Maersk Palermo in from Montreal. It would normally be here on a Saturday, but was likely slowed by the bad weather Friday and Saturday night.

Quiet Weekend

1. OOCL Oakland sails Sunday, showing some signs of winter wear and tear. Atlantic Fir is stern escort.

2. OOCL Kaohsiung dwarfs Rotterdam Express at the dock. The extreme with of the OOCL ship prevents her from passing through the present Panama Canal, but helps to account for her much greater carrying capacity. She also stacks boxes much higher on deck.

It was a quiet weekend containershipwise, with activity concentrated at Cerescorp's Fairview Cove terminal.

On Saturday OOCL Kaohsiung and Rotterdam Express shared the terminal and on Sunday OOCL Oakland had it all to itself.

OOCL Kaohsiung and OOCL Oakland are sisters, of a class of 11 ships built betwween 2003 and 2008 by Koyo Dockyard in Mihara, Japan. They are post-Panamax ships of 5888 TEU. Both are Japanese owned, but by different owners. OOCL Kaohsiung has the distinction of being named after a Taiwanese port, but registered in Hong Kong. OOCL Oakland is registered in Panama.

Rotterdam Express has a much smaller capacity at 4890 TEU, and due to its width can pass through the current Panama Canal.

This distinction will be lost next year when the enlarged Panama Canal begins operation.

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