Singelgracht arrived in tow

 The Dutch paper and multi-purpose carrier Singelgracht arrived in tow late this afternoon January 23 and tied up at Pier 9C. One of the Spliethoff "S class", the 16,641 gt, 21,402 dwt ship has side loading doors and elevators for paper products and three cranes of 120, 90 and 55 tonne capacity to handle a wide range of cargoes. It has a container capacity of 1134. Built in 2000 by Mitsubishi, Shimonoseki, it is one of eleven similar ships in the fleet.

Harbour tugs flock to assist the tow once inside Maugher's Beach.

The tow was carried out by Secunda's tug/supplier SIEM Commander which had been laid up at the C.O.V.E. dock in Dartmouth. Built in 2009 by Havyard, Liervik, Norway, as STRIL Commander it was acquired by SIEM from Simon Mokster in 2017. The 16,000 bhp tug/supplier arrived in Halifax in July 2019 and saw some work supplying and towing for Sable gas, but has been idle for some time.

The ship was en route from Zeebrugge to Philadelphia when it apparently had some sort of problem. SIEM Commander sailed from Halifax at midnight last night, so the ship was not far off. The tow was joined at the pilot station by the harbour tug Atlantic Cedar to provide braking and steering power. 

 This incident again raises the topic of Emergency Towing Vessels (ETVs) for the Atlantic Coast. With the absence of any offshore oil or gas activity, there are very few "vessels of opportunity" available to respond to the occasional emergency. The fact that there was any vessel of SIEM Commander's capability available, and that it could be mobilized at short notice (with a skilled crew) is quite fortuitous.

With towing line trailing off astern, SIEM Commander approaches Ives Knoll inbound to Pier 9C.

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Back to Work

It was a good morning to get back to work in Halifax harbour.

With the arrival of the 9200 TEU container ship APL Miami at PSA Halifax, all four cranes were back at work. The number 2 crane (second from the right) had been out of commission for a time after contact with a ship's crane, but appeared to be working fine this morning.

APL Miami using four cranes at pier 41-42.

HMCS Moncton sailed this morning after a cold move yesterday. It carries a commemorative paint scheme in recognition of the 75th anniversary of the end of the Battle of the Atlantic. [If you enter "Moncton" in the search box on the left you will find several references to this "Disruptive" means of confusing ship spotters.]

It sailed past a now vacant Woodside Industries (IEL) pier. The oil rig Noble Regina Allen was in the process of moving to #2 anchorage.

Siem Commander has the rig in tow, and with the assistance of harbour tugs Atlantic Oak, Atlantic Larch and Spitfire III is headed for the anchorage. The rig has been in for repairs before starting its next project.

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Full Astern

It seems that all the photos I wanted to take today had to be from astern. Not my favorite angle for a ship photo, but that's just the way it turned out.

Ethan tied up at pier 31 and spent the day fueling from RST trucks.  RST is a company owned  by the J.D.Irving side of the Irving family, and not the Irving Oil side of the company. However the trucks generally do carry Irving Oil.

The Togo flag flies from the stern of the Ethan.

The ship may sail tomorrow, with Freeport, Bahamas as its destination. [see previous posts for more on this ship.]

The only vantage points I have to get photos of Fairview Cove result in stern shots, and so it was with Dalian Express and Atlantic Sun.

There was no cargo work on Dalian Express but there was a dive tender along side (believed to be Captain's Pride).

The tanker East Coast made a late afternoon arrival at Irving Oil, Woodside, with the tugs Atlantic Willow forward and Spitfire III.

And at pier 25 the tug/supplier Siem Commander remains idle after towing in the oil rig Noble Regina Allen.

Note in the background, under the spouts, the bulk carrier Federal Churchill due to sail this evening.

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