Halifax and Hamburg, and weekend catch up

At the recent Port Days event in Halifax, much was made of the similarity between the ports of Halifax and Hamburg. In fact one of the keynote speakers at the event was the president of the Port of Hamburg. He emphasized that in addition to meeting the needs of  Hamburg itself, the port of Hamburg serves a vast "hinterland" of north and central Europe. Because the Alps block easy access to much of northern Europe to Mediterranean ports, Hamburg is a much more efficient gateway to those areas.

Similarly Halifax is positioned to serve the "hinterland" of (geographical) mid-America, bypassing the congestion of ports such as New York and even west coast ports. To bolster this point an executive of Loblaws, a massive food and retail conglomerate, said that his corporation has shifted some of its shipping through Halifax instead of the west coast ports. As an importer of myriad products from Asia, it found that the dependability of west coast ports did not meet its needs.

As if to support the Hamburg connection, today two ships bearing the name of that important port visited Halifax.

 Hamburg glides away from pier 20....

First in was the small German cruise ship Hamburg. After a season of touring the Great Lakes it is now repositioning. Built in 1997 as c. Columbus (yes the first "c", for Christopher,  was small), the ship sailed for Hapag-Lloyd until 2012, also visiting the Great Lakes with stops in Halifax.

 ...and threads the needle between numerous pleasure craft, some of whom remain oblivious to the consequences of getting in the way of a ship. (The motor boat off the bow did not change course or move off. The ship gave a whistle warning that it was turning to starboard, but the motorboat operator would have no idea how tight a turn the ship could make.) The kayakers and sailboat kept a respectful distance.

With a capacity of 420 passengers, it provides a very different kind of cruising experience, catering mostly to Germans.

Later in the afternoon OOCL Hamburg arrived and tied up at Halterm, berth 41.

Note how light the ship is laden, despite having a lot of containers on deck. Most of those are empty.

 The ship called here September 15 on its westbound leg (with import cargo) and went on to discharge at US ports. It is now on its eastbound, return leg to Asia. The woeful trade imbalance to that part of the world is evident by the ship's light draft. That draft is the reason the ship called at Halterm, because it would not have clearance under the bridges at higher tides. (We are having extra low tides this week, so it might have made it today).

The stern portion of the ship is loaded to the top with empties, and looks like an old time punchboard.

The ship has little connection with Hamburg, except to recognize the name of that port. It was built in Korea and is owned and registered in Hong Kong. At 80673 TEU (1400 reefers) it is among the larger container ships to call in Halifax, although it will soon be eclipsed by 10,000 TEU vessels.

On its westbond visit, September 15, the ship was still deeply laden despite unloading many boxes at Fairview Cove. 

Catching up with some other weekend activities in Halifax::

Perhaps to confirm some claims that Halifax is not the end of the world, but you can see it from here, we did see the "end of The World " on Friday. That is, we saw the end of an overnight visit from the residence ship The World. Built in 2002, it was a unique concept, wherein, like condos ashore, its suites (and the entire ship) is owned by the residents. There are 165 residences, and on average 150 to 200 people are on board at any time. There is a crew of 260.

The ship has visited Halifax several times, including in its first year of operation, and on October 5, 2012, after completing its record breaking Northwest Passage from Nome, AK, to Nuuk, Greenland. It was the largest passenger ship to have done so. It returned to Halifax on October 28 of the same year on an unscheduled call when it was diverted by Hurricane Sandy.

The (sharp) end of The World on September 25, 2015.

The (blunt) end of The World in 2002.

For those more interested in ordinary merchant ships, there was another visitor for bunkers on Friday. The Panama flag United Harmony, although a conventional bulker of 24,328 grt, 38,994 dwt, with four 30 tonne cranes, it is something new for its owners.

 United Harmony airs it holds as it takes bunkers on a windy Friday afternoon.

The improbably named Hiong Guan Navegaçeon Co Ltd of Hong Kong, provides ships to the better known Dowa Line America Co Ltd, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, and carrying the Balsa and Century names. Previously specializing in small bulkers of under 10,000 dwt, its ships trade mostly in eastern North America and the Caribbean. This ship is much larger, and was delivered earlier this year by Shin Kurushima, Toyohashi, Japan. The bulker market is in the doldrums, but Dowa Line has carved a niche for itself. The ship sailed for Port Cartier, likely to load grain.

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Seven Seas Overnighter

Seven Seas Navigator extended its October 31 scheduled visit to an overnighter and sailed this morning - still into the teeth of a gale.

With The World due to sail this evening that will leave only Emerald Princess to arrive November 1 and  end the Halifax cruise season. The ship spent an extra night en route, sailing to Port Saguenay, then Corner Brook, to avoid storm Sandy. The ship skipped Bar Harbor April 28 and will also skip Newport on its return leg.

As The World reTurns

1. The World entering Halifax at dusk with the tug Atlantic Willow making up astern to assist it into pier 23.

The passenger ship The World returned to Halifax this evening. This unscheduled arrival falls three weeks after its last call, and has been brought about by Hurricane Sandy. The category 1 hurricane is working its way up the US eastern seaboard and has caused numerous cruise ship reroutings and schedule changes, some of which will be noticed here.
As it now appears Norwegian Dawn and Regatta will also be returning to Halifax, although  not originally intended to do so. Seven Seas Navigator appears to be planning an overnight stay, and Emerald Princess is now scheduled for November 1 instead of October 30. The www.cruisehalifax.ca web site may have more updates tomorrow.
The World is not a typical cruise ship as I mentioned in my October 5 post, but is a sort of floating condominium, with travellers owning their suites. They can also decide where the ship goes.
I did not note in that post that the ship recently set a record as the largest passenger ship to complete a Northwest Passage. This summer it sailed from the Pacific to the Atlantic, through the arctic, without icebreaker assistance. Because the ship was not on a fixed schedule it spent some time awaiting improved conditions, but was still able to visit several northern sites and take passengers ashore by inflatable boat.
It will be spending tomorrow and Tuesday in port before sailing Tuesday evening.

The World at our doorstep

The cruise ship The World sailed this evening after spending two days in Halifax. It arrived yesterday morning and tied up at pier 31 - not at a regular cruise ship terminal. But of course it is not a regular cruise ship. Built as a sort of floating condominium, the travelers actually own their suites (and can rent them out like time shares if they wish.)
This ship initiated the concept when it was built in 2002. It also called in Halifax September 26 of that first year. Measuring a modest 41,388 gross tons it has a high ratio of staff to passengers and provides a more intimate experience than the behemoths such as Jewel of the Seas at 90,090 gross tons (seen leaving port in the background).

The World at our Doorstep

The article "the" does not often appear in a ship's name, but in this case it may seem appropriate. The World is a different concept in cruising, for the passengers in fact own the ship. Much like a condominium on shore, the "owners" on this ship own their apartment and pay a monthly upkeep charge to keep the ship running, pay the crew, etc.

The costs are not for the faint hearted - the cabins (called apartment, studio apartment or studio) are not cheap and the monthly charges are steep, but the advantages are there. You may use your own cabin whenever and wherever you wish - join the ship as you please- make the cabin available to friends-sail leisurely around the world, often spending two or more days in a port. It is a far cry from the typical high volume cruise ship.

There are only 165 cabins, and the passenger total is usually between 100 and 300 at most. The ship was built in 2002 by Fosen Mek.Verk. A/S of Norway and is a modest 43,524 gross tons.

Also in port today were Maasdam, Eurodam and Jewel of the Seas, which dwarfed The World, tucked in a pier 23. The World arrived today and will stay overnight, sailing tomorrow.

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