Seattle out, Barnacle passing, Sanderling arriving and more on the Louis

The bulker Seattle  sailed this afternoon after discharging its cargo of nickel ore. While in port it acquired a little frozen spray on its bulbous bow

Assist tug Atlantic Larch  has her bulwarks coated in frozen spray after returning from a trip to Shelburne escorting he bulker Hon. Paul E. Martin [see previous post]

An unofficial Sea King escort flew near the ship as it passed Ives Knoll, on its way to Cristobal, Panama (the ship that is).

Once out at sea Seattle passed the Barnacle, inbound from Panama, which will be picking up an ice adviser on its way to Belledune, NB. Connor's Diving's Eastcom will take the adviser out to meet the ship.
The heaviest ice in the Gulf in many years will make that it interesting trip. For more on ice advisers, listen to my CBC Information Morning item of today's date: http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningns/2014/03/18/more-ice-than-usual-on-the-north-atlantic/

Speaking of ice and freezing spray, Oceanex Sanderling arrived today with some remnants of ice around her anchors, but also on the breakwater above the forepeak and on the containers. She crossed from Newfoundland in stormy conditions and accumulated quite bit of ice.

And finally back to the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent.
The ship had been on "lay days" a term defined by the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Treasury Board in their collective agreement- to whit the crew on this ship falls under Annex E
 Quote:

1. Subject to operational requirements, the Employer will operate the selected vessels on a lay-day system. Under this system, all days will be considered as working days and there will be no days of rest.
2. "Day" in relation to an employee means the twenty-four (24) hour period during which that employee is normally required to perform the duties of his/her position and commences at the designated crew change time.
3. "Lay-Day" means a day off work with pay to which an employee becomes entitled by working on the Lay-Day Work System for a number of days. A lay-day shall be considered a part of the work cycle and as such is not considered as a day of authorized leave with pay.

End Quote

- meaning, in lay parlance, all dressed up and nowhere to go or ship with crew, but not working.

We now learn that the ship has used up its fuel allotment for the fiscal year (which ends March 31) due to extended operations. I'm not sure what those operations were since the ship was in refit for a long time. Perhaps the powers that be put the ship on reduced rations this year due to that refit, and when she was brought out to cover for CCGS Terry Fox she blew the budget.

There is some thought that the ship may be reactivated after March 31 "if ice conditions warrant" , but maybe that will eat into its summer fuel budget for the Arctic. Wait (like the Louie) and see.
Since CCGS Martha L. Black and Pierre Radisson will be heading up into the Seaway March 22 and March 25 respectively, the CCG will be woefully short of power in the Gulf and lower river.

This particularly gloomy photo of CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent  was taken on Coast Guard Day, June 8, 1975. It shows the ship in her "as built" condition, and was taken from the bridge of CCGS Alert.

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Monday roundup - Admiralengracht, Seattle, Fusion, and updates

There was a lot of activity in Halifax this Monday, so instead of a number of different postings, this roundup will summarize the more interesting ones.

Another Spliethoff ship called in Halifax today. This time it was one of the smaller type of ships of the ten ship A class. Admiralengracht dates form 1990 and measures 7,949grt, 12,150 dwt. It is fitted with three 40 tonne cranes and as with all Spliethoff ships, can carry a variety of cargoes
It tied up at pier 37, an unusual pier for general cargo, since it is within the Halterm container terminal, but one that is often used for "one of" or military cargoes. I have since learned that the ship was in fact filling in for Fusion- see below.

Atlantic Oak assists Admiralengracht in getting away from pier 37 this evening.

 

The distinctive green containers on deck do not belong to any regularly scheduled container line calling in Halifax. Also last week I spotted some military vehicles in the pier 37 area, and they may have been loaded too.

 

Military vehicles on pier 37 March 10. This were in fact exported on a Zim ship earlier in the week

 

While in the area, it is worth noting that Fusion is still sitting idle at pier 36, perhaps undergoing repairs. The ship was towed in on March 11 and unloaded, but has not loaded any cargo. There were a couple of tank trucks on the pier the other day, but they appeared to be fueling the ship.

 

 

As mentioned the ship is owned in Odessa, Ukraine, and one hopes that it is not caught up in the present unrest of that country.

 

At nearby pier 31 the Cyprus flag Seattle is offloading nickel sulfides from Cuba. It is not a usual Nirint ship, but has a larger capacity than those ships, so perhaps has been called in to make up a backlog.

 

 

Built in 2000 by Saiki Heavy Industry of Japan it is a bulk carrier of 19,743 grt, 31,923 dwt and carries four cranes, which it is using to discharge. The ship carried the name Stornes from 2000 to 2004, and UBC Seattle until 2004.

 

Other updates:

Peresenk - completed prop repairs, and is bunkering and will sail this evening.

Pioneer -   work is still underway on the prop hub.

Beverly M 1 tug, was finally able to sail today with the Derrick#1 for St.John's, NL. They held in port to avoid bad weather,. They must now skirt ice to reach their destination.

 

The tanker Cape Brasilia  finally made it into Imperial Oil dock 4 today. It first arrived off Halifax March 4 from Houston. It had to put back out to sea at least once due to weather, but finally came in last night on departure of Energy Pride.

 

 

 

Built in 2006 by Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan, South Korea, it is a chemical product tanker of 25,108 grt, 40,327 dwt. It is owned by Columbia Ship Management of Hamburg, Germany and operates under the UPT pool, whose brilliant hull colour it wears. A fairly standard looking ship, it does have an unusual reverse rake funnel cap.

 

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