SFL Conductor

 The large shipowning company SFL (formerly Ship Finance International Corp) made another appearance in Halifax today. Since its founding in 2003 the company has expanded from tankers into bulk carriers, containers, auto carriers and oil rigs. 

Its last caller in Halifax was the large tanker SFL Thelon on March 20. The 159,500 dwt ship required repairs en route from Saudi Arabia to Saint John, NB with a cargo of crude oil. 

 

After a short spell in port here, it stood by about 50 miles offshore until repairs were completed and on March 23 it got underway for Saint John. It anchored off Saint John March 24 and today, March 29, moved in and connected with the Single Point Mooring unit off Canaport and began to discharge cargo via pipeline.

Meanwhile in Halifax SFL's presence was marked this morning by the auto carrier SFL Conductor, a ship that called here twice in 2022 (see Shipfax July 14  and December 30.)

Built in 2006 by Shin Kurushima in Onishi, Japan, the 60,116 gt, 17,709dwt ship served initially as Favorite Ace, becoming Glovis Ace in 2012 and SFL Conductor in 2019. It has a capacity of 6500 CEU, and is on charter to Volkswagen until the third quarter of 2023.

Although incorporated in Bermuda with its shares traded on the New York Stock exchange, SFL's owner's base of operations is Oslo. Its various subsidiaries have offices in London, Singapore and Limassol. The majority owner, with 18.6% of the shares, is a John Frederiksen family trust. Frederiksen is the publicized shipping magnate who has recently been involved in the take over of another tanker company, Euronav, controlled by the Belgian Saverys family. Euronav's "Cape" tankers are regular suppliers of Valero's Jean Gaulin refinery in Lévis, QC.

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SFL Thelon - updated

 It is not often that fully loaded crude oil tankers visit Halifax. There are no longer any oil refineries here, and neither of the oil terminals (Irving Oil nor Imperial Oil) currently handle crude oil. 

Today (March 20) the Suezmax tanker SFL Thelon arrived and anchored in number one anchorage in the lower harbour. The ship is en route from Saudi Arabia to Irving Oil's Canaport crude oil unloading facility off Saint John, NB. The ship will have tugs standing by for the duration of its stay in Halifax, while it undergoes some repairs, possibly weather related. Dominion Diving's Halmar met the ship on arrival with some personnel or materials from shore.

The tug Atlantic Bear stands by the bow of SFL Thelon in number one anchorage.

(The tug Atlantic Beaver is off the stern.)

 

The SFL Thelon was built in 2015 by Bohai Shipyard in Huludao, China and delivered as Atina. The 83,377 gt, 159,500 dwt ship was renamed in 2022 when it was acquired by current owners SFL Corporation (formerly Ship Finance International Ltd.), an associated company of the Norwegian mogul John Frederiksen. Records indicate that it is chartered to an arm of Koch Industries Inc, the Wichita based multi-nat conglomerate. It loaded crude at a Saudi Aramco crude oil storage terminal.

Currently SFL Corporation has 17 tankers on its roster (along with 15 dry bulkers and 36 container ships) several of which are named for rivers. The Thelon River is in Canada and stetches 900 km from the Northwest Territory to Baker Lake in Nunavut, and drains through Chesterfield Inlet to Hudson Bay. Perhaps not well known in the south, it is a major water course, with a huge drainage basin stetching as far south as Saskatchewan. The Thelon has been recognized as a Canadian Heritage River.

The ship is recorded as drawing 14.7m (48.22 ft) and interestingly did not appear to have taken a tethered stern escort tug as it glided inbound, however the tugs Atlantic Bear and Atlantic Beaver were nearby and came alongside as the ship reached the anchorage location.

Update:

Late in the afternoon, the ship put out to sea. Whether this was for trials or was actually a departure, I am not certain. It was characterised as a "Move" by pilot dispatch and the ship's AIS was not updated and shows Halifax as its destination. This leads me to believe that the ship may be returning to an outer anchorage (where no pilot is required.)

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