TransAtlantic

 The majority of ocean going ships that call in Halifax are either arriving from or emabarking on a transatlantic crossing. Some ships are in a transatlantic trade, but for others the Atlantic is just one leg of a much longer voyage or a "one of". Today (September 29) provided examples of all these.

At Imperial Oil the Libyan flag tanker Cartagena was unloading product from Antwerp. The ship arrived yesterday and on leaving here could go to any one of a number of ports, but it is a fairly frequent transatlantic trader.

The 29,341 gt, 46,923 dwt MidRange tanker was built by Hyundai Mipo in 2009. It carried the name Ocean Command very briefly in 2009 before taking its present name. It is part of the twenty-four ship General National Maritime Transport Company (GNMTC), the Libyan state owned tanker operator. Despite the current chaos in Libya, the ship still operates to a high standard, likely managed from one GNMTC's offshore offices, in Malta or Hong Kong.

PSA Fairview Cove worked a first time caller for ZIM Atlantic Container Service (ZCA) - the Tongala. A 2004 product of the Samsung Koje (now Geoje) shipyard it is a 40,030 gt, 50,828 dwt ship with a capacity of 4253 TEU including 400 reefers. It has had seven previous names, begining with P+O Nedlloyd Caribbean, then 2005: Maersk Deva, 2006: Vancouver Express, 2007: Maersk Deva, 2009: Bunga Raya Tujuh, 2010: Deva, 2018: ANL Tongala, and since 2021: Tongala.

A thin haze of forest fire smoke from western Canada has been lingering over the region, filtering photographs, particularly in low sun. (Time of photo: 1906 hrs, sunset was 1857 hrs ADT)

The ship seems to have worked through several of the major container lines, and joined ZIM on charter from Danaos earlier this year. It sailed on the ZCA service from Haifa September 7 and called in Mersin, Izmir, Piraeus, Genoa, and Barcelona en route to Halifax. It is now en route for New York, Norfolk, and Savannah before heading back across the Atlantic.

The other PSA operated terminal, PSA Atlantic Gateway had the "record holder" CMA CGM Marco Polo on the Columbus JAX service operating for the Ocean Alliance of CMA CGM, Evergreen, OOCL and COSCO. It is generally agreed that it is the largest container ship to call in Halifax (and any Canadian port, and several US east coast ports). A 176,546 gt, 187,625 dwt, ship, built in 2012, it has a container capacity of 16,020 TEU. Its sister ships from Daewoo, Okpo, CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt, CMA CGM Magellan and CMA CGM Jules Verne have nearly the same dimensions, tonnages and capacity, but are smaller "by inches". 

 With no other traffic, the ship came in via the main channel. Although it appears to be well loaded on deck, it was not drawing as much water as it might, judging by the amount of red boot topping showing at the waterline. The outbound Zaandam (see previous post) took its time getting away from Pier 20, allowing the CMA CGM Marco Polo to turn off the dock and back in alongside Pier 41-42.

The ship sailed from China, and Port Klang, Malaysia, passing via the Suez Canal to Tanger Med and on to Halifax. It will leave here for New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston, then back to Asia where it will also do a transpacific leg to Los Angles and Oakland.

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Business as usual

There was little activity in Halifax today and what there was, was business as usual. Autoport  saw another visit from Wallenius Wilhelmsen. This time it was Wilhelmsen's Tongala , last reported here just a year ago on November 27, 2017.

 

The ship itself was built in 2012 by Mitsubishi, Nagasaki with a grt of 61,106 grt, 22,585 dwt, with a capacity of 6459 cars. It also has a 300 tonne capacity stern ramp for special loads.

At Fairview Cove Dimitra C [see yesterday's post] completed its work and sailed this morning.

Still lightly loaded.

 
Eastbound ships usually carry less cargo than westbound ones, but even so it's rare to see a ship that is so light.

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T for two

Two ships arrived today and both their names begin with the letter T.

The tanker Transsib Bridge arrived from Beaumont, TX with a cargo of refined product for Imperial Oil. Operated by SCF, better known as Sovcomflot, a 100% state owned Russian corporation, the ship is also Russian built, by the Admiralty Shipyards in St.Petersburg in 2008. The company specializes in oil and gas transportation, and was founded in the Soviet era to bareboat charter ships as a means of financing fleet growth. Following its merger with Novoship in 2008, the company has become a very large operator with more than 150 ships under its control, totalling more than 13mn dwt.

 Four prominent tug markers share space on the ship's flank with locators for eight manifold connections. There is also a red flash at the foot of the gangway for pilot visibility.

Of course the ship's name celebrates the controversial Trans Siberian gas pipeline (Transsib), although the Trans Siberian Railroad is also referred to as Transsib in some quarters. It is a typical mid-range size tanker of 27,725 grt, 46,564 dwt. Managed by SCF Management Services (Dubai0 Ltd, it is flagged in Liberia.


The second T ship, is hardly a surprise visitor. Tongala is a regular caller for Wallenius Wilhelmsen since it was built in 2012 by Mitsubishi, Nagasaki. At 61,106 gert, 25,585 grt, it has a capacity of 6,459 cars, and although classed as a PCTC (pure car and truck carrier) its 300 tonne stern ramp allows it to carry a range of RoRo traffic. It has often unloaded at Pier 31 in Halifax with miscellaneous RoRo cargoes , but this time around it will only visit Autoport.

Atlantic Fir scurries to take up the bow position and Atlantic Oak makes up aft as Tongala proceeds inbound in the Middle Ground area.

Traditionally Wilhelmsen ships' names begin with the letter T. This particular ships recognizes a dairy farming town in northern Victoria, Australia.

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Tongala - one of the big ones

Wallenius Wilhelmsen's Tongala is one of the biggest car carriers to call in Halifax. Built in 2012 by Nagasaki Shipyard and Engineering Works, it measures 61,106 grt and 22,585 dwt. Its capacity is 6,459 cars, worked via a 300 tonne stern ramp. The side ramp is not use in Halifax.

Tongala looms over the Autoport pier this morning.

The ship's size is hard to judge without some context.

On arrival May 27, 2014, it dwarfed the tugs Atlantic Willow and Atlantic Oak as the Divecom III passed inbound.

The ship flies the Maltese flag and belongs to the Wilhlemsen Lines part of the Wallenius Wilhelmsen consortium.

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