Gypsum in Demand

 There seems to be a large demand for gypsum - with three ships in Halifax to carry away some of the material. It is usually the sign of a strong economy when there is demand for gypsum as it is used in building construction materials, steel making and other manufacturing.

As reported on April 15 the bulker Ocean Pearl arrived to load at Gold Bond. Due to its arrangement with many large hatch covers, it is a slow ship to load, as the travelling loader must be worked in and out around the covers. The usual self-unloading ships also have stacking hatch covers for quicker loading.

This morning, April 17, the ship was still loading with the traveller working well forward. A pilot has been ordered for 1700 to depart for sea with a destination of Tampa, FL.

Meanwhile the Canadian flag CSL self-unloader Baie St. Paul arrived yesterday, April 16, and anchoraged in the lower harbour awaiting its turn to load.

 The Baie St. Paul, like many Canadian ships that work the Great Lakes, was laid up from January 14 to March 12. When it left its layup berth in Montreal it proceeded up the Seaway system and the Great Lakes to Thunder Bay. Returning downbound it arrived in Montreal April 11. It unloaded its cargo (assumed to be grain) and sailed April 13 for Halifax.

When the Ocean Pearl sails this afternoon, the Baie St. Paul will move to the Gold Bond dock to load for Hamilton, ON. The Baie St. Paul is a member of the Trillium class of Lakers, and was built in 2012 by the Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, China. It is strengthened for coastal voyages and is a regular caller in Halifax.

This morning, April 17, the CSL Metis arrived and went to anchor in Bedford Basin to wait its turn to load.

Although it is now a self-unloading bulk carrier, that is the result of an extensive rebuilding. Starting life as the tanker Berge Helene in 1981 at the Mitsui Chiba shipyard it carried the names Lagovan Sinamaica from 1981 to 1993, Sinamaica from 1993 to 2000 and Ektoras from 2000 to 2007 and briefly Ektora in 2007. A 31,849 gt, 61,403 dwt ship, it was rendered obsolete when double hulls became mandatory for tankers. Its mechanicals and accommodations were still in good condition however, and CSL acquired the ship on favourable terms. They contracted Chengxi Shipyard to fabricate a new forebody (cargo section and bow), complete with self-unloading apparatus, which was joined to the stern section in a mere 53 days with completion in October 2007. It then became a 43,022 gt, 69,304 dwt ship and increased in length from 222.3m to 245.0m. It is registered in the Bahamas and works in the CSL Americas self-unloader pool of fifteen ships.

It is rare that we see two CSLers in port at the same time - one from the domestic Canada Steamship Lines fleet in traditional red hull colour - and one from the CSL Americas foreign flag fleet in black.

The CSL Metis arrived from Baltimore, which may also be its destinaiton as several recent gypsum loads have gone there. Other Gold Bond destinations are Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville and Tampa.

.

Different Strokes - updated

 Shipping activity in Halifax is usually fairly predictable. Even though there are frequent "new to Halifax" ships, most arrivals are scheduled, and there are many returnees as ships cycle through Halifax on rotation. However as noted in the April 14 post, container ships can now be assigned to available berths since both container terminals are under the common management of PSA. Lines that were once regular callers at one terminal may now be calling at the other terminal to suit the size of ships or to prevent delays when one terminal is busy.

Today, April 15, saw the first assignment of a Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) ship to PSA Fairview Cove. MSC ships have been handled by PSA Atlantic Gateway, southend terminal, but that pier was working  the Ultra sized CMA CGM Panama (see previous post). With the Fairview Cove berths free of ships it made sense to send MSC Anahita to the Bedford Basin facility where it could be handled more expeditiously.

 All three cranes were working on the ship at Fairview Cove.

 The MSC Anahita was built in 2006 as the Greenwich Bridge by Hyundai, Ulsan for charter to K-Line. The 68,570 gt, 71,270 dwt ship has a capacity of 5624 TEU, including 600 reefers. It was acquired by MSC and renamed in 2021 and is assigned to the Turkey and Greece service via Barcelona, Valencia, and the Sines, Portugal hub.

On completion of its stay at PSA Fairview Cove the MSC Anahita sailed for Boston just at dusk, and showing lots of reserve capacity, judging from the ship's draft.

 

There was another "unusual" caller on March 15: the Ocean Pearl arrived at Gold Bond Gypsum.

 The ship is a 29,829 gt, 51,758 dwt geared general cargo / bulker, built in 2009 by Oshima Shipbuilding in Saikai, Japan. An open hatch type, with box shaped holds, it carries four 30 tonne SWL cranes and grabs (which reduce crane capacity to 24 tonnes SWL). It started life as the Ocean Falcon, became the Ocean Friend in 2009 and Ocean Pearl in 2017. It is known to load aggregates at Auld's Cove on the Strait of Canso, and to carry coal.

CSL Americas has the contract to carry gypsum from Gold Bond, using belt conveyor type self-unloaders, so the arrival of this ship is very unusual. There must be either an increase in demand for gypsum or a shortage of available ships to bring this ship to Halifax.

  The ship carries its own grabs, which are secured on deck between the hatches.

The Ocean Pearl is operated (indirectly) by the Westport, CT based SMT Shipping (USA) LLC, with ties to Poland and Cyprus. SMT ships were once well known in Halifax. Several of its bulkers have loaded gypsum in Halifax over the years, but they have not been seen here recently. (The last references I have on Shipfax are in 2011 and 2012.)

.