Unusual Ship for Halifax

1. Genco Pioneer at anchor in Bedford Basin [added 2011-04-15]

2. Arriving Halifax 2011-04-11.

Grab fitted log bulk carriers are rare sights in Halifax! Therefore yesterday morning's arrival of Genco Pioneer was a bit unusual. The Handysize vessel of 29,952 deadweight tonnes was built in 1999 and measures 18,036 gross tons. It is owned by the New York based Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd (an NYSE listed company of some 59 ships.) Nevertheless it is flagged in Hong Kong, managed by Wallem Ship Management of Hong Kong, and operates under the umbrella of the Danish JL Lauritzen company.

I suspect that the ship has a mechanical problem, since its arrival was very slow, and the tug Atlantic Willow took up a stern escort position for transiting the Narrows. It will anchor in Bedford Basin. There also appeared to be a boat load of technicians or inspectors waiting to board.

The ship is clearly in ballast, and was last reported heading for Teneriffe. The ship is fitted with large stanchions on deck to restrain deck loads of logs, a type of cargo more usually loaded on the west coast of North America.

For pictures of her at anchor in the Basin - see Cap'n Ken's blog - link on the left of this page under "My Faves".

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Return of the Louis

CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent returned to her old home port today for refit. The ship was transferred from Halifax to Argentia, but can only be drydocked in Halifax, so she has returned following her winter season in the St.Lawrence River and Gulf.

Canada's largest icebreaker still makes an impression anywhere she goes.

She will go to the Department of Fisheries & Oceans pier at the Bedford Institute to de-store, before heading to the shipyard for regular maintenance.

Originally commissioned in 1969, the ship was given a reprieve in 2000 when the Polar 8 icebreaker project was cancelled. She was then refitted to extend her service life to 2017 or thereabouts. Her replacement, to be named CCGS John G. Diefenbaker, is still in the design stage. Construction is supposed to begin in 2013 with completion by 2017.

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Quiet Weekend

1. OOCL Oakland sails Sunday, showing some signs of winter wear and tear. Atlantic Fir is stern escort.

2. OOCL Kaohsiung dwarfs Rotterdam Express at the dock. The extreme with of the OOCL ship prevents her from passing through the present Panama Canal, but helps to account for her much greater carrying capacity. She also stacks boxes much higher on deck.

It was a quiet weekend containershipwise, with activity concentrated at Cerescorp's Fairview Cove terminal.

On Saturday OOCL Kaohsiung and Rotterdam Express shared the terminal and on Sunday OOCL Oakland had it all to itself.

OOCL Kaohsiung and OOCL Oakland are sisters, of a class of 11 ships built betwween 2003 and 2008 by Koyo Dockyard in Mihara, Japan. They are post-Panamax ships of 5888 TEU. Both are Japanese owned, but by different owners. OOCL Kaohsiung has the distinction of being named after a Taiwanese port, but registered in Hong Kong. OOCL Oakland is registered in Panama.

Rotterdam Express has a much smaller capacity at 4890 TEU, and due to its width can pass through the current Panama Canal.

This distinction will be lost next year when the enlarged Panama Canal begins operation.

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Holiday Island - back for more

1. Holiday Island waits patiently at the Machine Ship wharf for her turn in the Novadock. (April 3 photo)

Among the surprises in the last few weeks has been the return of the ferry Holiday Island. She was in a for a big refit last fall, and had to return to port for a few days, but finally made it back to Caribou for winter layup date in December.

It transpires that there was additional work to do on her propulsion units, and so she is back.

I need to update some of the info in my post of last month. Apparently due to her more economical operation, Holiday Island is really the work horse of the Northumberland Ferries Ltd (NFL) fleet. She usually opens the season, and works through until late in the season. Her fleet mate Confederation then only operates during peak season, and late in the year when her enclosed car decks are more comfortable.

It is hoped that Holiday Island will be ready for service for the May 1 start-up. If not Confederation will have to be used.

Holiday Island returned to Halifax April 1, but the need to re-drydock Leif Ericson meant that she did not get onto the drydock until Friday (April 8.)

More bauxite

Another bauxite bulker in for bunkers today. Arnica, Liberian flag, is owned an operated from Odessa, Ukraine. It is a 31,759gross/56,106 dwt ship, built in 2010.

This one however is bound for Sept-Iles, Quebec where Aluminerie Alouette has a massive smelter operation. She is typical of the bulker in this trade, with four cranes and grab buckets.

Hapag-Lloyd in play

TUI, the parent company of Hapag-Lloyd has been trying to unload its 49.8% interest, while the Albert Ballin Group (Kuehne & Nagel) has been trying to sell its 50.2% in the container line.

Meanwhile it was announced this week that Onyx, an arm of the Oman Investment Fund has acquired 15% of Hapag-Lloyd, and a Chinese firm is interested in another 10% or so.

Just whose shares they are actually buying is not clear, but it seems that they are buying TUI's shares. TUI will then use the proceeds to buy Ballin's shares. Sounds complicated?

Hapag is the biggest container customer of the port of Halifax, on its own and through its tie ins to ACL, OOCL, etc., on shared services. Therefore its well being (and its ability to invest in newer ships) should be of major interest.

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Leif blowing

Leif Ericson finally got under way today. After a brief return to drydock following her refit, she was assisted out of the Novadock this morning by Atlantic Oak and put out to sea - destination North Sydney. But not before a compass adjust in number one anchorage.