Halifax back to normal

The port re-opened for business this morning when it became safe to board pilots at the pilot station off Chebucto Head. Maersk Patras and  Zim Rio Grande arrived for Halterm and OOCL Shanghai.for Fairview Cove, and Zim Barcelona and Fusion sailed from anchor, the latter not until 1300 due to concerns about its low freeboard and pilot safety.
Also the bulker Wadi Alarab, a gearless Panamax ship  arrived at pier 27-28 to load grain. Owned by the National Navigation Co of Cairo  (see http://www.nnc.com.eg/home/index.html ) it appears to be a hard bitten piece of work despite its fairly recent age.

Built in 2005 by Daewoo's yard in Geoje South Korea, it measures 37,500 gross tons and 64,214 deadweight tonnes. Since Egypt lies very low on the Paris MOU list, I expect it will receive lots of attention from the Steamship inspectors. The Paris MOU list rates state flags for incidence of detentions per inspection and Egypt is fifth from the bottom, with only Viet Nam, Cook Islands, Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines below it.

Port of Hailfax on weather watch-day 2, and more

 1. Seas roll in with Chebucto Head in the background.

For a second day the Port of Halifax saw no piloted arrivals or departures due to dangerous sea conditions at the pilot station. Stiff winds for the last several days have built up seas that would make it unsafe to embark or disembark pilots.

 2. Devil's Island is almost awash at times.

Yesterday's sole departure was the Oceanex Sanderling which does not require a pilot since her master has a pilotage certificate for Halifax.
One intended departure, Zim Barcelona, left pier 42 Halterm yesterday morning and went out to anchorage west of number 1 anchorage. Surely a rare sight to see a containership anchored there, but since there are no arrivals or departures scheduled it is not in the way. Also the St-Pierre RoRo Fusion moved to anchorage yesterday afternoon.

3. The pilot boat Capt. Alwin G. Soppitt returns to port after checking on conditions off Chebucto Head. Zim Barcelona will have to wait at least until morning.

Meanwhile the containerships Zim Rio Grande and OOCL Shanghai (both due March 8) and the bulker  Wadi Alarab (due March 7) are cooling their heels well offshore until tomorrow morning when conditions may permit their safe arrival.
Things are deceptively calm within the harbour, allowing repairs to continue on Nordpol Friday, with the ship taking bunkers today while workers take the day off.

4. Nordpol is ballasted down by the bow for stern repairs, but takes bunkers anyway. Panamax ships have Panamax size gangways.

Speaking of repairs, it appears that CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is receiving less than a full scale repair job after her collision off Sydney. From the looks of the work going on right now, she is being patched up to go back to sea, with more extensive repairs to be done later, if at all.

On Monday (upper photo)  a section of damaged rail has been cut out, and some distorted deck too. By this morning (lower photo) new plate has been welded in, and stanchions are back in place. There has been some patching work around the anchor pocket but, it appears to follow the line of the dent. Further aft, where damage appears to be somewhat less severe, no exterior work is evident..

Coming and Going, Big and Little

It was a day for arrivals and departures of all sizes in Halifax. With bad weather on the way later this afternoon, most ships would be happier to be in port, but several also left-good luck to them.
The bulker Onego Chinook sailed in to an anchorage in Bedford Basin. I expect she has a cargo of rails destined for pier 27, which is currently occupied by Amurborg, working the same cargo. Interestingly Onego Chinook is a sister to MCP Troodos still at anchor following some repairs. Onego Chinook is one of seven sister ships working for Onego, but managed by Interships. She was built with two 40 tonne cranes, whereas MCP Troodos was built as MCP Alstertal, a gearless ship, and had the larger 80 tonne cranes installed only last year, and operates for Interships/Hartmann directly.
Onego Chinook flies the flag of Cyprus and is5338 gross tons/ 7709 deadweight. It is operated out of Onego's New York office.

OOCL Shanghai arrived just as the snow started and tied up at Fairview Cove. A post-Panamax type of 66,289 gross tons, it carries 5,762 TEUs and is owned by ER Schiffs of Germany, flies the German flag and was built in 1999.

Nirint Hollandia unloaded her cargo of Cuban nickel ore and scurried off to sea again. She is very lightly loaded and will have an uncomfortable night at sea I expect. Built in 2007 it is owned by JW & PJ Danser (hence the "D" monogram on the bow) of the Netherlands and is managed by Wagenborg. It is a general cargo ship of 8999 gross tons and 12,000 deadweight.

The big tanker Mattea moved from her repair berth at pier 25-26 to an anchorage in Bedford Basin. This move was probably a precaution due to the high winds in the forecast. She will very likely be moving back to the pier once the system goes through. She is a Canadian flag, Hibernia shuttle tanker of 76,216 gross tons, 126,360 deadweight.

Also departing was the bulker Delos Ranger. This 31,1340 gross/ 54,057 deadweight ship built in 2008 flies the Bahamas flag and loaded gypsum. This is the first time she has ever been in Halifax and is a departure from the normal conveyor type self-unloaders we usually see. It is owned by Lagoon Shipholding Ltd and is managed by Enterprise Shipping & Trading of Athens.

And the grain carrier African Gardenia sailed with a load of food aid grain. She is a sister to several ships that specialize in carrying food aid grains. Built way back in 1981 she is a bulk carrier of 6498 gross and 9101 deadweight. Owned by a single ship company part of Elmira Shipping & Trading of Athens, she flies the Liberian flag.

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