Eimskip - changes coming

 On about March 14 Eimskip, the Icelandic shipping company, announced that a Joint Venture with Ernst Russ has acquired an unidentified container ship to be delivered in the second quarter of this year. The 1025 TEU ship will be chartered to Eimskip for up to three years and renamed Bakkafoss. It will be placed on the line's North American Green Line route which runs from Reykjavik to Halifax and Portland Maine (acting as a New England feeder for CMA CGM from Halifax) and return via Halifax and Argentia, NL. 

Due to the added ship's size, Eimskip expects to reduce the number of ships on the Green route from  the current four to three while still maintaining what they call "system capacity" [I'm not sure I understand their arithmetic, nor how they hope to maintain a schedule]. This will mean the redeployment of two ships currently on the route. Almost certainly one of those will be the Canadian owned Vivienne Sheri D - which sailed from Halifax this morning, March 15, after waiting out weather. The gearless 10,965 gt, 12,640 dwt vessel was built by Naval Gijon SA in Spain in 2009. It has a capacity of 925 TEU including 200 reefer plugs. Intially named Pictor J it became Pictor in 2020.

Vivienne Sheri D at anchor March 14.

Of the other ships on the Green route, Lagarfoss 880 TEU and Selfoss 724 TEU are owned ships and will likely remain on the run, while the Skogafoss 698 TEU will likely be reassigned by another branch of  the Eimskip/Russ JV- Feederstar.

When the Picton, ON based Doornekamp Shipping Ltd acquired the Vivienne Sheri D in 2021, it was already chartered by Eimskip as the Pictor and  Doornekamp reportedly stated they would keep the ship with Eimskip for up to two years or so then transfer it to their own Transatlantic shipping operation. That operation, in coordination with Spliethoff, so far has only one ship, the Peyton Lynn C which runs into the Great Lakes seasonally.

So far Eimskip's published schedules are not showing any revision, but the second quarter of 2023 will soon be upon us and we will see how the Bakkafoss is slotted in.

Knowlegeable sources speculate that the Bakkafoss is currently sailing as the Elbsummer, built in 2009 and lengthened in 2014, now rated at 11,550 gt, 14,669 dwt. More on this ship later, if it appears in Halifax. 

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The large get larger, the small get smaller

So much cargo travels by container ship these days that ships are built of all different sizes to cater to the needs of specific trade routes. As some of those routes acquire larger and larger ships, what were once the "largest" ships are eclipsed. What would have been considered a large ship, in terms of capacity, years ago has now been relegated to mid-size or even small size.

Similarly the "largest" ship to call in Halifax holds the record only for a few months or a year until it is eclipsed by a larger ship. Today's sailing (April 10) of the CMA CGM T. Jefferson is a reminder of how elusive those records may be. The ship set the record for largest ship to call in Halifax on March 21, 2020. It was also the first ship to call here with a capacity of more than 14,000 TEU.

 Built in 2017 by Hyundai, Ulsan, it is still a large ship, at 148,872 gt, 147,966 dwt, but has since been eclipsed in December of the 2021 by the 16,020 TEU capacity ships of CMA CGM's Explorer class, such as CMA CGM Marco Polo - the current record holder.

At the other end of the scale is today's arrival for the Icelandic shipping company Eimskip. The Selfoss has a capacity of 698 TEU. 

That is an appropriate size for the ship that trades between Reykjavik, Halifax, Portland, ME and Argentia NL and back again. Many of its containers are refrigerated, so it is likely to have a large number of reefer plugs. It also has two cargo cranes, to handle boxes in smaller ports. 

The 7464 gt, 8166 dwt ship was built in 2008 by the Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Co in Fuzhou, China. Originally named Sophia by German owners, it was renamed Selfoss when acquired by Eimskip in 2017.

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Fog Delays

 The famous Halifax fog - more common in the early summer, descended on the port today September 10 and delayed ship movements, particularly in the Narrows. While at sea ships can navigate reasonably well with radar and satellite, but in the confines of the harbour they must rely on visibility, even with experienced pilots on board.

Higher than normal sea temperatures off Nova Scotia are to blame for the fog, but some pleasant onshore breezes coupled with rising tides bring the fog into the harbour, reducing visibility to a few yards at worst.

Two large container ships, one outbound and one inbound for Cerescorp's terminal at Fairview Cove were delayed by the arrival of the fog.

Three inbound naval vessels remained largely invisible in the Narrows until they emerged into clearer  conditions in Bedford Basin. HMCS Kingston, Summerside and Moncton are spending time in more sheltered waters as Hurricane Larry passes offshore en route to Newfoundland.

HMCS Kingston slides out of the fog.

Canadian naval vessels are painted the same colour as Halifax fog, but become more visible in clear conditions. HMCS Summerside once into the Basin stood out from the shoreline.

Hyundai Faith the largest of the ships to navigate through the Narrows of Halifax harbour was able to enter port early in the morning when visibility was still tolerable. However by the time the ship was ready to sail, conditions had deteriorated significantly. At the pilot's discretion, the ship went to anchor in Bedford Basin until conditions improved.

The pilot boat Scotia Pilot heads out to disembark the pilot from the Hyundai Faith. The ship moved off the dock and anchored in Bedford Basin to await clearing in the Narrows. (The Basin was much clearer).

Hyundai Faith is a 8562 TEU ship built in 2008 by Hyundai Samho. At 94,511 gt, 98,967 dwt, it may be the largest pure container ship to call at Fairview Cove. (The ACL Con Ros are larger)

The inbound Hella opted to anchor in the lower harbour. It was able to get underway again by mid-afternoon and berth safely at Fairview Cove. Hyundai Faith, by then requiring tug assistance to turn and get underway sailed as soon as the tugs were freed up from the Hella.

Built in 2011 by Hyundai Samho the Hella is a 59,307 gt, 71,429 dwt ship with a capacity of 5100 TEU (some sources say 5605 TEU). It carried the name MOL Gateway until July of this year, presumably on a ten year charter.  Owners B. Schulte (Peter Doehle managers), renamed the ship on completion of that charter but the ship has not been repainted. It may now be on charter to HAPAG-Lloyd, but is nevertheless operating on THE Alliance's service, but is unscheduled, perhaps picking up empties?

Bright sunshine bathed the port in the late afternoon as the fog gradually retreated offshore.

The tug Atlantic Fir accompanied the Hyundai Faith through the Narrows, and has just been released to return to base.

The arriving Selfoss took the western channel inbound, allowing Hyundai Faith to take the straighter eastern channel as it made its way out. It was soon swallowed up in the fog. Its exhaust gas scrubber was emitting a constant stream of water vapour unto the near 100% relative humidity ambient air.

Selfoss serves Eimskip, the Iceland shipping company on its Green Line between Iceland and Portland, ME via Halifax, Argentia (and St.Anthony on demand). By comparison it has a TEU capacity of 698. Many of those are reefers as fish is the primary export from Iceland and perishables a major import.

Built by Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Co, Fuzhou, China in 2008, as Sophia, the ship was acquired and renamed by Eimskip in 2017. It has two 40 tonne SWL cranes.

HMCS Moncton wearing its commemorative Battle of the Atlantic disruptive paint scheme, could not deceive anyone by its presence in Bedford Basin in the early evening. When fog was well offshore,the setting sun was blazing down on the ship.

HMCS Moncton anchored in Bedford Basin with the CCG headquarters building the the background (adjacent to the Bedford Institute to the right).

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A mixed bag

 Ships big and small at PSA Halifax today show the wide range of vessels used to carry shipping containers.

Another of CMA CGM's Ultra size ships made a return appearance. CMA CGM Panama first called here in September 2020.  Built in 2019 by Hyundai, Samho, the 149,314 gt, 157,076 dwt ship has a reported container capacity of 14,855 TEU [although it has a theoretical capacity exceeding 15,000]

With containers stacked nine high, only PSA's largest cranes could manage to work the ship.

It was not the only ship using PSA Halifax's facilities however. Eimskp's Selfoss was also a caller.

At 7676 gt, 8627 dwt and a capacity of 724 TEU (including 144 reefers) it is a very convenient size for its regular route between Iceland, Canada and the USA and providing a feeder service between Halifax and Portland, Maine.

Oceanex Sanderling moved from PSA Halifax to Autoport then out to anchorage over night.

It will move in to Pier 41 tomorrow where it will use the RoRo ramp to load drop trailers and the crane for containers.

Also at PSA Halifax, the MSC Véronique moved out from Pier 36 to number one anchorage for trials.

With the assistance of Atlantic Fir and Atlantic Beaver the ship approaches the inner anchorage. Normally ships must have operable main engines if they are anchored in the harbour, and there was exhaust visible from the funnel, but the ship still had restrictions preventing it from leaving port.

Oddity

An unusual ship arrived at Pier 9B today. Northstar Challenger is a United States flagged research / workboat.

Based in Clermont, New Jersey the small vessel, only 92 feet long, is equipped to carry out various offshore tasks using its A-frame to deploy hydrographic and geophysical survey gear. Its visit hear is no doubt due to the impending arrival of Post Tropical storm Elsa over the next few days.

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Not spring yet

 The Southend Container Terminal operated by PSA Halifax was a busy spot today, with ships waiting. Unseasonably cold weather may have been a factor. Coupled with a stiff northwest wind there was frozen spray on at least one of the arriving ships. The Icelandic Selfoss was coated with a thin, transparent film of spray on arrival early this morning.

Two other morning arrivals were obliged to wait for a berth. Melfi Llins' X-press Irazu anchored in the lower harbour and will likely be waiting until tomorrow to berth.

MSC Rochelle stood by in number one anchorage for an hour or so until its designated berth was clear. The ship was arriving from Montreal to top up its cargo before sailing to Spain. 

 

The hold up was caused by CMA CGM J.Adams which was scheduled to sail during the night. That ETD was pushed back to 0900 hrs this morning,  then delayed again as the ship did not get underway until 1100 hrs. 

Built in 2017 by Hyundai, Ulsan, the 140,872 gt, 148,992 dwt ship has a container capacity of 14,414 TEU. It is one of the largest ships to call in Halifax, and despite additional berth space and large cranes, its size must pose challenges for PSA Halifax to work the ship quickly.

Meanwhile at Pier 34 there was a clear sign of spring as the Canada Steamship Lines bulker Baie St.Paul got underway after a short "winter layup'. Great Lakes ships usually layup for a period of time during the winter when ice forms on the lakes and canals and the St.Lawrence Seaway is closed. Even ships such as Baie St.Paul, which spends much of its life in the Gulf and along the coast, takes a brief respite. It arrived here on February 25 and has been undergoing maintenance. 

Baie St.Paul moved to Gold Bond Gypsum's* pier in Bedford Basin this morning to load, likely for Hamilton, ON. According to reliable sources the ship will be the first ship of the year to enter the St.Lawrence Seaway at St-Lambert, QC, when the system opens for the season next Monday, March 22.

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* National Gypsum recently renamed itself using the trade name of its well known gypsum products. Founded in Buffalo, New York, the company operates the world's largest open pit gypsum mine in Milford, NS. The ore is transported by rail to Halifax where it is stockpiled at Wright's Cove, then shipped to Gold Bond factories in several locations on the US coast as far south as Tampa, FL. It is also shipped in smaller quantities to Montreal and ports on the Great Lakes.

A competitor, United States Gypsum (USG), and its Canadian arm Canadian Gypsum Co (CGC) are no longer active in Nova Scotia. Their mines in Wentwortth (near Windsor, NS), load out facility in Hantsport, and mine and port in Little Narrows, remain shuttered after several years of inactivity. As the time goes on there is less and less chance that they will be reactivated.

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Selfoss

Today a new to me ship arrived and sailed for the Icelandic shipping line Eimskip. Named Selfoss it has been in the Eimskip fleet since 2017, but has been serving other routes. Now it is appearing on the Green Line with Skogafoss and  EF Ava, replacing Pictor J which has been transferred to the Yellow Line.
See all of Eimskip's services here:  https://www.eimskip.com/services/liner-services/sailing-schedule/

Selfoss (Foss means waterfall in Iceland) is named for a prominent attraction and a town in south of Iceland. It was built in 2008 by Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Co in Fuzhou, China, as the Sophia for the German Capt. Manfred Draxl Group. It was acquired by Eimskip and renamed in 2017. The ship measures 7464 gt, 8166 dwt and has a capacity of 698 TEU. Two cranes have been fitted since the ship was built - possibly in 2017.  Oddly the ship is registered in the Faroe Islands, still part of Denmark, but now an autonomous territory, and not governed by Danish customs and business regulations.

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Halterm tied up and other activity

Two ships that were due to sail from Halterm's South End container facility have been delayed until tomorrow.
Melfi's Catharina Schulte and Eimskip's Selfoss will remain in port tonight. That meant that Nolhanava tied up at pier 37 and did not appear to be working cargo, since pier 36 was occupied by Selfoss - it did not appear to be working either. Oceanex Sanderling which is also in port, will remain at Autoport until midnight then move back to Halterm on departure of ZIM Qingdao.

 The inbound truck lanes numbered about 40 trucks late this afternoon, with more arriving. Border Services has completed scanning inbound containers from ZIM Qingdao and their scanner truck is headed home.

Selfoss is stern in at pier 36, with Nolhanava (barely visible) at pier 37.

The tanker Falcon Maryam moved earlier from anchorage to Imperial Oil dock 3.  

Bad weather on the eastern seaboard this winter seriously messed up Tropical Shipping's two ship schedule, especially in March. Bomar Rebecca's scheduled March 6 sailing was postponed by a week and the whole schedule slid ahead at week. A maintenance period for Asian Sun was also moved along by a week. That maintenance will happen in Halifax, as the ship arrived on Wednesday April 4 and discharged all its containers, then moved to pier 9B. There was therefore no Tropical Shipping sailing this week.

 

Asian Sun flushing its anchor cable at pier 9B with the refitting Fundy Rose in the background.

 Asian Sun was built in 2005 by Jiangdong, Wuhu. The 9956 grt, 13,698 dwt ship has a capacity of 1118 TEU and carries two 45 tonne cranes. Its first name was CSAV Colon, then became Aliança Cordillera in 2007, and Asian Moon in 2008. Tropical announced new ships for the route to be delivered in 2019.

The next Tropical sailing is scheduled for next week on Bomar Rebecca and Asian Sun will be back in service for the April 16 sailing.


Just south of Halterm, the lobster season is winding down and the Eastern Passage based Oralee was not finding much in its traps off Black Rock Beach.

The boat has been lobstering in this area for many years, but has only recently begun sporting the colourful Canadian flag on its bow. It was built in 1973 in Clarke's Harbour, NS.

Out in the Basin HMCS Charlottetown was doing some helicopter evolutions. It was very windy, so likely a good test.

Charlottetown does not seem to be straining on its anchor despite heading up in to a stiff breeze. Note the crash boat, manned and ready alongside.

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Reykjafoss reassigned

A ship that had been serving Halifax for the Icelandic company Eimskip since 2005 has been replaced. Reykjafoss has been renamed RS Mistral and is currently operating between Lisbon and Caniçal Madeira, Portugal.
The was the fourth ship to carry the name for Eimskip. Built in 1999 by Cassens, Emden, it measures 7541 grt, 8430 dwt and has a capacity of 712 TEU (including 100 reefers) and has two 40 tonne cargo handling cranes. It is owned by MS Westersingel of Haren Ems, and managed by Reider Shipping, Winschoten, Netherlands. It has carried several names over the years.

Earlier this year Eimskip announced that it was increasing the frequency of its "Green Line" sailings to provide a weekly service between Iceland, Argentia, NL, Halifax and Portland, ME. This would also serve as a New England feeder service for CMA CGM, They added the ship Selfoss joining Reykjafoss and Skogafoss.

Last month Pantonio replaced Skogafoss.
Pantonio is a similar sized vessel of 7545 grt, 8153 dwt, but is a newer gearless container ship built in 2007 by Sainty Shipbuilding (Yangzhou) Ltd. It has a container capacity of 698 TEU, but an increase in reefers to 120.
If Pantonio is a long term member of the fleet, it seems likely that at some point it will be renamed "Reykjafoss".

 This morning's arrival was less than conducive to photography, but does give an idea of the ship's general shape. It seems to have picked up quite a bit of frozen spray en route from Argentia.

There have been many references to the ships named Reykjafoss on Shipfax:
http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/search?q=reykjafoss

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New England and Newfoundland service expansions

Two service expansions from the Port of Halifax were announced this week.

Eimskip has announced a third vessel has been added to their Iceland /Argentia, Newfoundland/ Halifax / New England service. Selfoss will be re-joining Skogafoss and Reykjafoss to accommodate a slot arrangement with CMA CGM to serve New England. ( The ship had been added previously in 2015when Eimskip operated a Europe/ North America direct service without transshipment in Iceland, but has reverted to the previous mode with Iceland as the hub.)
There has been mention of Newfoundland bound cargo from Halifax for Eimskip and that remains a possibility (see below).


Several stand alone New England feeder services have run out of Halifax over the years, with varying degrees of success. By adding on to an existing service, CMA CGM may have struck on the best arrangement.

SPMI, which runs a weekly RoRo and container service out of Halifax to St-Pierre et Miquelon will now add Argentia, NL to its port rotation. Their ship Nolhanava has been serving the St-Pierre route for which it was built as Shamrock. Adding Argentia seems a natural expansion. Under old cabotage regulations, it was questionable if the ship could carry Canadian cargo between Canadian ports, even if it called in the foreign port of St-Pierre en route. With the new European free trade agreement, it can remain registered offshore and carry cargo between Canadian ports. There has been no exclusive arrangement with any particular line, so presumably they will carry anyone's cargo - container or RoRo to Newfoundland.
Oddly the ship was registered in Canada for one day September 1, 2017 as Nol Hanava.


Meanwhile at Argentia, Eimskip is completing the commissioning of a new 450 tonne capacity crane which will be available to all port users on a commercial basis.

Oceanex, the other Newfoundland service out of Halifax serves only St.John's. It used to serve CornerBrook, but that port was dropped due to low traffic and the time it took using their ASL Sanderling. Particularly in winter, it was not always possible to keep a weekly schedule with that ship. Since then Oceanex has been able to maintain a twice weekly service from Halifax to St.John's in peak demand times.
Oceanex is already coping with the competitive advantage of Marine Atlantic as a subsidized service. As part of the terms of Confederation when Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, the Canadian government is obliged to maintain the ferry service from North Sydney. Oceanex is disputing this in court, but no outcome has been reached. More competition will surely not be welcome news for Oceanex, particularly if it siphons off regular traffic from some of its prime customers.

All four lines use Halterm.

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Freezing spray and fog

That unique combination of frozen spray and fog prevailed today as temperatures rose to zero and above. The melting snow from two days ago and light rain saturated the air which was still cooler than the sea surface temperature, resulting in a moderately thick fog.
However colder temperatures just a day ago had given inbound ships a thick coating of frozen spray. Not much effort was made to remove the stuff, since it was sloughing off in the warmer air anyway.

Atlantic Concert picked up a heavy of frozen spray south of Newfoundland on its way across the Atlantic.

It sailed from Fairview Cove this morning and its booming fog signal echoed off the walls along the Narrows and could still be heard even after the ship had passed Meagher's Beach on the way out to sea. Thick ice still coated the fore section of the ship, but was sliding off periodically.

A regular caller since June 1984 the ship and its remaining three sisters are on the way out, with the news that the first G4 ship Atlantic Star sailed from Liverpool December 28. It is due in Halifax January 4 or 5, replacing Atlantic Companion, which has already gone to the scrappers.

At Haltern, another ship that had followed a similar course across the Atlantic, picked up its frozen spray on the way from Argentia to Halifax.

Selfoss  had a thick coating on its breakwater, making for awkward work on the foredeck for the crew. The ship is now bound for Portland, ME and warmer temperatures.

Selfoss has been a regular since February of this year when it was added to the Eimskip service with Reykjafoss and  Skogafoss. It was built in 1991  by Orskov Christensens in Frederickshavn, Denmark, first as Hanne Sif. It was soon renamed Maersk Tertio, then Hanne Sif, Elizabeth Delams, Vento di Ponenete and Hanne Sif again before becoming Selfoss in 1999.
It carries 724 TEU and two 40 tonne cranes and measures 7676 grt.

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Eimskip adds sailings - revised

Eimskip, the Icelandic shipping company that celebrated its 100th anniversary January 14, 2014, has combined its previous Red Line and Green Line into one service, called the Green Line. Ships will now sail between Europe and North America, via Iceland, but without transshipping cargo as was the case with the two line system.
The Green Line previously operated with two ships, Skogaoss and Reykjafoss (foss means waterfall) and now adds Selfoss to the rotation. This will result in five* more sailings per year for the line.
Halifax is an east bound port of call for Eimskip, and Selfoss arrived today for the inauguration of the new Green Line.

 
 The ship was built in 1991 by Orskov Christensens in Frederikhavn, Denmark as Hanne Sif, but began trading as Maersk Tertio. It returned to is original name in 1994 and was renamed Elizabeth Delmas in 1995, Venti Di Ponente in 1996 for a time and was again renamed Hanne Sif until 1999. It has carried the name Selfoss ever since. Of 7676 grt, it has a container capacity of 724 TEU and has two 40 tonne cranes.

The port rotation for the new Green Line is a lengthy one. After leaving Halifax the ship will call in Portland, ME, Argentia, NL, St. Anthony, NL (subject to ice and cargo), Reykjavik, Isafjordur, Akureyri, Rotterdam, (some ships will call in Immingham, UK and Sortland, Norway), Reykjavik, Argentia, Halifax.

Eimskip is also a large operator of freezer warehouses in various parts of the word, and most of the cargo it handles in Halifax is refrigerated goods.

With every container berth in the harbour occupied this morning, the ship will anchor until a spot is available.

Update: The number of sailings will increase, but it now appears that it mat be much more than by 5. Another source says it will increase from 13 per year to 31. This would imply that the ships will call in Halifax both eastbound and westbound. Effectively they would thus be creating a feeder service between Halifax and Portland. The lengthy list of failed stand alone feeder services from Halifax to New England would discourage many shipping lines, but since Eimskip's ships are on the run anyway, perhaps they could make a go of it.

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