Service Disruption

The relentless to-ing and fro-ing of the Halifax harbour ferries was disrupted for a few hours today as heavy snow forced the shutdown of municipal services such as transit and refuse collection. With schools, colleges and unversities also closed and many businesses shuttered, at least for a time, the ferries would not have had much business had they been operational for the morning commute.

Unlike ferry services in less sheltered waters, the harbour ferries are rarely effected by weather, and then only in the most extreme conditions. They often run when all other means of transportation grind to a halt.

Today's interruption was short lived as the boats began to run again in the late morning once some roads were clear and it was safe for passengers (and crews) to reach the three terminals. Credited as the oldest (and continously operated) salt water ferry service in North America, and the second oldest in the world* after the Mersey ferry in England, the service dates back to the founding of Halifax in 1749. The first municipally chartered service began in 1752, and has relied on several means of propulsion including horses turning paddle wheels. They were double ended, with two wheelhouses.

 In the early 20th century, the boats were steam powered and carried automobiles until 1956 when the Angus L. Macdonald bridge was built connecting Halifax and Dartmouth. It was then that the noted naval architect William Roue (of schooner Bluenose fame) designed a pair of wooden hulled, diesel powered, pedestrian only, boats that established the basis for future designs.

The little double enders with a centre wheelhouse, did not need to turn around as they travelled  back and forth across the harbour, as they were built with propellors at bow and stern, and operated in forward or reverse mode.They also used the old docking slips at each end of the run. They operated until 1978 when a second generation of boats came into service. These new boats were steel hulled and were sideloading.  New floating terminal structures, gave passengers somewhat more shelter in bad weather.

Named Halifax III and Dartmouth III, they used the Voith - Schneider propulsion system, allowing the engines to change direction and speed by altering the pitch of the vertical prop blades. Otherwise they were remarkably similar in concept and appearance to their Roue-designed predecessors.

Designers E.Y.E. provided a virtually identical design when a third ferry was added to the fleet in 1986 when a second terminal was added on the Dartmouth shore at Woodside. The newest boat was named,  perhaps predictably, Woodside I.

The new route was longer, but all three boats were interchangeable and did take turns, sometimes confusing patrons. All three vessels were built by Ferguson Industries in Pictou, NS.

The current fleet numbers five boats. All were built by A.F.Thériault in Meteghan River between 2014 and 2018 to an upgraded E.Y.E. design, but which still has the distinctive profile given by Roue.
 

Having five boats in the fleet allows for two vessels on each route and a spare to cover maintenenace periods or breakdowns. All boats are named for people, and each boat carries an interpretive panel explaining that person's role in history. 

 

The Wikipedia page on the ferry service gives a brief bio of the namesake for each boat. 

See: Ferry and namesakes

When the current boats came into service the three previuous boats were sold. Dartmouth III made its way to Toronto where it was to run to a waterfront amusement park. So far it has not entered service. Dartmouth III and Woodside I, were acquired by the same owners, but at last report were laid up in Lunenburg, NS.

*I am always wary of "firsts" and "biggests" and "oldests". Our Eurocentric version of history normally excludes a lot of (perhaps) unrecorded events that happened far from western eyes. There have been salt water ferry services as long as there have been bodies of salt water to cross (real or imagined or even flaming). See: Charon

The current boats' "rooster tails" when underway give a bustling appearance, which is entirely appropriate. There is also a hardy breed of passengers who ride "outside" on the weather deck whenever possible. (Sometimes the crew closes the upper deck for safety.)

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Where are they now

The "Where Are They Now" department of Shipfax has not been heard from in some time, but a recent Facebook post has inspired a revisit.

The history of the Halifax - Dartmouth ferry service is a long one. In fact from the date of the first charter in 1752, it is claimed to be the oldest salt water ferry service in North America, and the second oldest in the world after the Mersey ferry between Liverpool and Birkenhead, England. Before the first steam paddle ferry was introduced in 1832, there was even a "team" ferry where horses were used on a sort of treadmill to power paddle wheels.

Although this photo from my collection is dated 1959 it is almost certainly pre-1956.

 The service carried vehicles until 1956 when the Angus L. Macdonald bridge was completed, allowing cars, trucks and buses to cross the harbour at will. At that time a pair of little wooden hulled pedestrian only ferries, designed by William Roue and built by Smith+Rhuland in Lunenburg entered service (They bore no resemblance to the schooner Bluenose designed and built by the same team!). They were named Dartmouth II and Halifax II after much larger car carrying predecessors. They were "double enders" and with dual controls of rudders and props fore and aft, they did not have to turn or reverse to dock at each end of the run.

 The wooden ferries were given orange "speed" chevrons and wheelhouse bands in their later years.

As with all wooden hulled vessels, they had limited service lives and were replaced by the steel hulled vessels Dartmouth III and Halifax III in 1979. Built by Ferguson Industries Ltd in Pictou, NS, these unique craft were "side loaders" embarking and disembarking passengers to floating landing stages via short ramps on one side only. 

First day of service in 1979.

 

The landing stages had canopies to shelter passengers as they embarked or disembarked.

The "passenger" side of the ferry had a recessed, open vestibule with four small ramps that lowered to the landing stage. Steps lead to the open upper deck and there were doors to the main cabin.

The "off" side of the  boats had windows to the main cabin.

Propelled by Voith-Schneider drives, they were highly maneuverable and could sidle up to the landing crab wise.  They also kept their engines running at efficient rpms at all times and varied speed and direction by adjusting the pitch of the vertical drive blades. In 1986 a third ferry of the same design named Woodside I entered service. A new terminal on the Dartmouth side of the harbour in the Woodside neighbourhood was built to serve the growing Dartmouth suburbs, however the three ferries were interchangeable and any one of the three could be found on either the main Halifax-Alderney or new Halifax-Woodside route.

 

The boats had a variety of colour schmes over the years. At cruising speed the boats created a small "rooster tail" wake.

In 2013 the Halifax Regional Municipality began the next fleet replacement program. Between 2014 and 2018 A.F.Theriault + Son Ltd in Meteghan River, NS delivered five new boats, improved versions of the previous design. Named Christopher Stannix (2014), Craig Blake (2015), Viola Desmond (2016), Vincent Coleman (2018) and Rita Joe (2018), they allow for efficient service of both routes at all times while allowing for one boat to be out of service for maintenance and refits.

 

The second generation ferries are quite similar to the first, but have a roomier wheelhouse and peculiar exposed exhaust stacks (and distinctive sound).

As the new boats were delivered the first generation boats were decommissioned then put up for sale. In the end all three were sold to Toronto Island Transit Services Inc, a private enterprise associated with an amusement park in Toronto. Dartmouth III made the long haul to Toronto on its own in 2017, despite having no sleeping accommodation or galley. Since arriving in Toronto it has apparently not entered service. 

The other two boats also remain idle, but closer to home, with Halifax III in Sambro, NS and Woodside I in Lunenburg, NS.

Looking somewhat uncomfortable amid the fishing vessels, Halifax III is tied up in Sambro, NS.

Woodside I is looking equally unhappy in Lunenburg, with patches of pealing paint.

There is no sign that either one of the boats will be going anywhere soon, which is unfortunate since they did have some useful service left when they were retired. However with no maintenance, and sitting idle that may no longer be the case.

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Waiting it out - again

The third major storm to sweep through the area in as many weeks has once again disrupted arrivals and sailings. As today brightened up from last night's snow and rain, there was still very high wind and breaking waves in the harbour. Conditions outside are no doubt much worse.

0nce again a Wilhelmsen ship took up a position at pier 9C. Titania is a 2011 product of Daewoo, Okpo. The 74,255 grt, 30,907 dwt ship has a capacity of 7,934 CEU. It is also much larger, by about 1,000 cars,  than the last two Wilhelmsen ships, Tomar and Toscana that waited out weather at pier 9C.

Also at pier9C, Stellaprima unloaded the Multicat Dominion Warrior. See today's Tugfax.

At pier 27  BBC Ganges in from Baie-Comeau for a brief stopover - and no cargo work - is stuck in port until conditions improve outside.

Built in 2010 by Tianjin Xingang it is a 12,974 grt, 16,943 dwt ship has two 250 tonne cranes and one 80 tonne crane. The big cranes can work in tandem for a 500 tonne lift. The ship originally intended to stay in port for only a few hours yesterday.

At the adjacent pier 31 Hollandia had completed unloading nickel from Cuba for Nirint, and is waiting its turn to leave port.

On February 19 in Oranjestad, Aruba, while hoisting a mobile truck crane from its hold a sling parted and the unit was dropped on the tween deck and heavily damaged. Apparently the ship incurred minimal damage, but the truck crane was in a sorry state.

Once again at anchor in the lower harbour Nolhanava is repeating its performance of the past few weeks. On arrival from its St-Pierre et Miquelon run, its normal berth is occupied by Oceanex Sanderling and it will await its time either at anchor or at pier 9B.

The ship was registered in Canada September 1, 2017.  The Canadian registration show its name as Nolhan Ava and that is how it will be shown here. For some reason the ship's registration is still shown in Transport Canada's online listings, but is also shown as closed, and the ship still carries Briidgetown (Barbados) on its stern. I understood that it was moved to Canadian flag to allow it to call in Newfoundland as well as St-Pierre on its weekly trips, but whether this has happened yet I am not sure. I believe it does carry a Canadian crew. 

In Bedford Basin CSL Tacoma is waiting out the weather with its cargo of gypsum bound for the US.

Also at anchor is the tanker Silver Millie Built in 2015 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, it is a typical mid-range (MR) product tanker, of 29,327 grt, 49,642 dwt.

When conditions improve, it will dock at Imperial Oil. Interestingly its last port was Vondeling, Netherlands (within the port of Rotterdam). It is the first foreign tanker at Imperial Oil in several weeks - ever since Algoscotia began shuttling product from Lévis, QC. Prior to that Imperial was getting refined product from the US Gulf.

 Harbour ferries were battling it out against wind and some swell as they maintained their regular schedules.

Woodside I was doing some rolling as it lined up for arrival in Halifax from Woodside.

Craig Blake was doing some splashing on its way to Halifax.

And at Fairview Cove, YM Epress moved under the big cranes to work cargo after Dalian Express had finished. Dalian Express then moved to the east end of the pier to await an improvement in sailing conditions.

Wind driven salt spray in the Narrows almost blots out the Dartmouth shore, despite bright sunshine.

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Woodside I turns 30

On November 29, 1986 the ferry Woodside I arrived in Dartmouth for the first time. Built to operate a new cross harbour service from Woodside on the Dartmouth shore to the Halifax terminal, it was intended to reduce car traffic in downtown Dartmouth, and to service the growing Dartmouth suburbs of Cole Harbour and Eastern Passage. A large parking lot and a bus terminal  on Mount Hope brought passengers to the new ferry terminal via a bridge over the railway tracks.

Under construction at Pictou, Woodside I shares the slips with the HMC Dockyard crane YD 253*, and the National Sea Products trawler Cape Farewell**. Off the end of the slipway is the tug Gulf Spray, now based in Halifax.

Woodside I was nearly identical to the Dartmouth III and Halifax III, built in 1979. It was also built in Pictou, NS by Pictou Industries Ltd, the successor to the Ferguson Industries Ltd shipyard. It is equipped with Voith Schneider "rudder propellers" fitted at each end, allowing for extreme manoeuvrability.
Launched ca. October 11, 1986 it  made its way to Halifax via the Canso Canal, escaping Pictou before ice set in and the Canal closed for the winter. [See fourth footnote]

As delivered, Woodside I sported the Metro Transit chevron pattern.

 

Because the Woodside terminal was not due for completion until spring, the new ferry was idle until January when it went into Halifax - Dartmouth service to give the other ferries time off for maintenance.
Therefore it was not until May 2, 1987 that it actually began on its intended Woodside-Halifax run.

 

Serving in all weathers, Woodside I has had a starboard list since earliest days. Here it carries a newer Metro Transit colour scheme with a thin icing of frozen spray. It has also been fitted with a new array of radars, including a mast head scanner.

The ferry's bow is the end with the anchor, but the boat travels equally well either bow or stern first and has duplicate nav. lights.

Since 1987 it has operated on both services, since the three ferries are interchangeable. With delivery in 2015 and 2016 of the new ferries Christopher Stannix and Viola Desmond, the Woodside I has replaced the Halifax Dartmouth III which has been laid up. Another pair of new ferries is on the way, and when they are delivered Woodside I and Dartmouth Halifax III will be retired.

Getting away smartly from Halifax, Woodside I carries another colour scheme - since revised. 

Here operating stern first, it will dock at the south side of the Halifax terminal. The passenger ramps on the starboard side (facing the camera) will be lowered when the ferry docks. Another colour scheme is in the works, but not yet applied.

The Woodside ferry terminal bridges the rail line below the Nova Scotia Hospital on Mount Hope. 

Pontoon I in the foreground started life as the Woodside ferry pontoon, built in 1986  and replaced in 2015 with a new floating landing stage.

The new ferry Viola Desmond has arrived at the terminal. It uses its propulsors at full athwartships thrust to remain alongside while passengers disembark and embark.

* YD 253 is still kicking around the Dockyard in Halifax, although its crane has not been rigged for years. I suspect that its fire tower is still considered an asset of the Dockyard fire department. Now that there is no dedicated fire tug, the crane tower could be used for high level firefighting.

** Cape Farewell was built in 1973 by Ferguson Industries Ltd in Pictou, and had just been lengthened from 49.3m to 52m when this photo was taken. In 1994 NatSea sold the trawler and it was renamed Atlantic King, and its Canadian registry was closed. In 1997 it became Orca 1 and was converted for research. In 2004 it was renamed VOS Eastwind and used as a standby safety vessel in the North Sea. It was broken up in Den Helder, Netherlands in 2007.

*** Pontoon 1 is now owned by Waterworks Construction Co Ltd, along with the concrete barge Commdive II and the mini tug Waterworks 1 (among other equipment) based next to the Woodside Terminal. The pontoon was registered as a barge May 7, 2015 and now measures 197 grt. It was previously unregistered when it was a landing stage.

Fourth Footnote:
Two sponsors christened by Woodside I at its launching in Pictou in October 1986. Mrs. Ulah Currie (née Mott) was born before the turn of the 20th century in a house which was demolished in 1909 to make room to expand the Mount Hope Asylum, now called the Nova Scotia Hospital. She was married in 1922 and her husband was one of the original workers at the Imperial Oil refinery in South Woodside, known as Imperoyal.
The other sponsor was Mrs. Hilda Robart whose husband Vernon was also an original employee at Imperoyal when it opened in 1919. Mrs. Robart had lived in Woodside for 67 years.
An article in the Halifax Chronicle Herald on October 10, 1986 concluded with this lovely sentence:
"Both women are close to the age of 90, although they won't give their exact ages."

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Ferries Named Halifax and Dartmouth - Part 2

Continuing the story of ferries named Halifax and Dartmouth a fourth set of ferries bearing the names entered service in 1979. Although they looked vaguely similar to their predecessors, they were radically different in many ways.
Both boats were built by Ferguson Industries in Pictou , NS. Dartmouth III arrived from the builders May 3, 1979 and Halifax III in July. They spend several months on trials and in crew training due their unique characteristics.

On Day 1 of the service, Dartmouth III heads for Dartmouth. The passenger loading side has ramps that fold up flush with the hull. (Shipfax made a one way trip on each boat on Day 1)

 Halifax III approaches Halifax. The off-side of the boats has more windows, and engine exhaust vents just above deck level.

The hull was still short and wide with rounded ends, and the wheelhouse was perched amidships (but offset to one side), but the similarity ended there. The most obvious new feature was that they were side loading. Passengers embarked and disembarked on new floating landing stages, and remained under cover and out of the weather all the way through the new ferry terminals, that were built as part of the ferry replacement program.
Gone also were the ladies and gents cabins, although that segregation had ended many years before. Passengers were accommodated in one full width cabin, with molded plastic seats, instead of slatted pew like benches and for the diehard outdoors types, there was an open deck with similar plastic seats.

Halifax III passenger boarding side.

The most novel aspect of the new boats however was not visible. These were the Voith-Schneider propulsion drives, located bow and stern. Consisting of variable pitch vertical blades, rotating on a turntable, they allowed the boats to move sideways with ease. Direction and speed were controlled by blade pitch, permitting constant engine speed and better fuel efficiency. The boats could travel equally wqell ahead or astern.. This propulsion system had been in use on tugs for many years (including navy tugs in Halifax, built at about the same time) and on two Northumberland Strait summer ferries. It was a relatively costly system and was unusual in smaller vessels such as these.
 
A joint christening ceremony was held September 9, 1979 with Lorraine Morris, the wife of Halifax Mayor Edmund Morris sponsoring Halifax III and Genevieve Brownlow the wife of Halifax mayor Daniel Brownlow performing the honors for Dartmouth III.
The boats entered service on September 10, 1979 and have been running ever since.

The original colour scheme featured alternating dark and light blue chevrons and a light blue stripe on the wheelhouse.

Management of the boats has changed over the years, and with it their various paint schemes.Original owners were the City of Dartmouth. In 1981 Halifax and Dartmouth merged their bus systems, forming Metro Transit, and in 1994 it was entrusted with the operation of the ferries. Fare structures are integrated, and bus stops are located at the ferry termini.

 In Metro Transit colours, the light blue became green, and chevrons were removed, a stylized "M" appeared with a green blue band.

The words Metro Transit also appeared bow and stern. in line with the stripe.

Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford and Halifax County merged in 1996 forming the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), and Metro Transit rejuvenated its graphics.

 

Yellow replaced lime green in a new Metro Transit graphic scheme.

 Another graphic change features a dramatic swoop of blue of yellow. Note also that the mast has been extended and another radar scanner mounted on the top.

The boarding side is less dramatic, but the chevrons have returned beside the words Metro Transit.

In July 2014, Metro transit was renamed Halifax Transit, as part of a rebranding of the HRM to simply Halifax which had started in April. Since then they have changed their graphic design once more, with the cross bar free HALIFAX. This was too late for the newest ferry, so another repainting is expected in 2015.
(Urban Legend has it that a graphic designer who had been staring at his Samsung monitor too long, decided to drop the cross bars on the letter A in Halifax and declared "what a good boy am I")

Halifax III and Dartmouth III were joined in 1986 by Woodside I a virtually exact sister, when a new route was inaugurated between Woodside and Halifax. Any of the tree boats might be found on any run, to allow for maintenance work or training..

In 2014 A.F.Thériault + Son of Meteghan River, NS, delivered Christopher Stannix, an upgrade of the same basic design. A fourth boat, to be named Craig Blake will be delivered by the same yard in 2015 and is slated to replace one of the original pair, and a third new boat will join in 2016.
However due to a two year long redecking of the Angus L.Macdonald bridge, ferry traffic is expected to increase, at least for a time, and so it is likely that the displaced boat (s) will be kept on for backup and standby.

Perhaps there will be a return to excursions, which used to happen from time to time, as family day for the ship's crews, or for open house days on George's Island..

Halifax III returns from a rare trip to Bedford Basin, passing beneath the A. Murray MacKay bridge. The excursion was part of family day for the ferry crews. A ferry service to Bedford has been an on and off topic for years, but has been quiet lately.

Another interesting aspect of the boats is that they identifiable bows and sterns. The bow is identified by the centre line anchor mounting.

Dartmouth II approaches Halifax, working bow forward.

Thus passengers board via the starboard side, and the wheelhouse is offset to starboard. The stern is flush without an anchor, and carries the port of registration

Woodside I leaves Dartmouth, working stern first toward Halifax. All lights are duplicated. so the boat can work in either direction at night. The offset wheelhouse shows up in this photo.

Dartmouth III approaches Halifax stern first. The boat's port of registration is shown as "Halifax, NS."

The eyebrow over the loading gates has since been removed, because in certain conditions the wheelhouse could strike the structure. The wheelhouse offset allows the operator to see the landing area.

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Free Ferry Day

To celebrate the arrival of the new Halifax harbour ferry, Metro Transit declared today to be Free Ferry Day.
Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I made my way to the waterfront and enjoyed an all expenses paid cruise from Halifax to Woodside and return on the Woodside I . (Even at full fare it is one of the best bargain cruises available.)

Built by Ferguson Industries in Pictou, its naming ceremony was held  October 11, 1986, and it arrived in Halifax November 29, 1986, but did not enter service until January 1987. It began the Woodside service May 2, 1987. (It does not run exclusively Halifax-Woodside, but takes turns with the other boats on both runs.)

 
Meanwhile the other two ferries Halifax III and Dartmouth III  were running between Halifax and Dartmouth, as they have done since 1979. Also built in Pictou, Dartmouth III arrived in Halifax in May 1979 and Halifax III in July 1979 (in those days the City of Dartmouth operated the ferry system.) Both ferries entered service September 10, 1979, and I rode one way on each of the ferries on that day.

In 2004 Metro Transit took over operation of the ferries, and have now taken delivery of Christopher Stannix, built to the same basic design, but with many modifications, from A.F.Theriault +Son Ltd of Meteghan River, NS. Although the boat arrived in Halifax on Sunday, it has not entered service, but is undergoing trials and crew training until early next month.

Well out in the lower harbour, with Chebucto Head in the background, Christopher Stannix does trials and training. Here it is sailing bow first (the anchor is on the centre line of the bow.)

The most noticeable differences in the new craft are the exhaust pipes, moved from the waterline location to an upright position adjacent to the wheelhouse, which is also larger. Differences in windows and fittings are also apparent.

As with its fleetmates, the boat loads from one side only (its starboard side) but works equally well running forward or aft, and carries dual riding lights for forward or reverse operation.

Aside from the noticeable differences, the new ferry will run just as the others do, and although built to supplement the Halifax-Woodside route, it will be able to operate on the Alderney (Halifax-Dartmouth) service too.

For a more detailed look at the new boat see today's Halifax Shipping News.

On September 9, 1979 the previous ferries Halifax II and Dartmouth II were laid up together. Of wooden construction, they were built by Smith +Rhuland in Lunenburg in 1956. Following a collision with the tug Point Viking July 26, 1979, Dartmouth II wore a plywood patch over the hole. Therefore it is the ferry on the left:

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