A run on tankers and a ZIM feeder

There seems to be a real run on Algoma tankers right now, which is odd in view of the lack of demand for petroleum products. Perhaps the large tank farm that used to be the Imperial Oil refinery is an attractive storage place for fuel that no one wants. Algoscotianova sailed this afternoon, Algocanada is in port and Algonorth is due tomorrow morning.

Algoscotianova lets its lines go from Imperial Oil.

Algocanada awaits its turn at anchor.

ZIM's feeder service brought in Taipei Trader from New York.

Built by Jiangsu Yangzijiang in 2014 with its present name, it carried the name Cap Avatele from 2014 to 2016. A 99332 grt, 13,063 dwt ship it has a capacity of 1102 TEU, including 220 reefers and has a pair of 45 tonne cranes.

Port activity seems to be keeping up with ship visits, but tonnages may be well down.  Also the number of auto imports is down. The cars unloaded at pier 9C by the Grand Diamond on April 6 are now being moved by truck to Autoport. http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2020/04/autos-and-more-autos.html

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Thunder Bay

Another of Canada Steamship Line's versatile Trillium class ships arrived in Halifax this afternoon. Thunder Bay was built in 2012 by Chengxi Shipyard Co Ltd in Jiangyin, Jingsu, China. The 24,430gt, 34,433 dwt self-unloader was built to maximum St.Lawrence Seaway size. Although it sailed from China on its own hull, it required substantial temporary hull bracing for the trip. It was then restricted to Great Lakes and St.Lawrence service.

 Thunder Bay makes its way past a desolate looking Tall Ships Quay inbound.

Now however some of the ships of the class have been upgraded to "Nova Scotia" specification, allowing them to make short sea voyages. So far that has included ports such as Saint John, NB, St.John's, NL and various regional ports such as Lower Cove, NL, Charlottetown and Summerside, PE. The Strait of Canso is another favoured destination to load aggregates.

Typical Halifax weather-  the ship was into blazing sun by the time it passed the Macdonald bridge.

Once clear of the Narrows the ship was back into the gloom at Bedford Basin as it headed for National Gypsum to load.

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Ins and Outs

After unloading trucks and Machinery at pier 31 [see previous post] ARC Integrity moved to Autoport this morning and off loaded cars then sailed this afternoon. Although operated by Atlantic RoRo Carrier it is apparently still working for Wallenius Wilhelmsen.

Sailing at the same time was the longstanding pilot boat A.P.A. No.18 en route eastbound - possibly to Cape Breton or even Newfoundland. Built in 1974 the boat has served in various ports, and most recently did a short stint in Halifax.

An early morning arrival from the Sable offshore, Maersk Mobiliser tied up at pier 9C and opened its garage door for all to see.

Both Maersk Mobiliser and sister ship Maersk Maker are both attending the crane ship Thialf as it dismantles the Sable gas field.

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Activity

There was some activity in the port today, and once the rain stopped and the sun came out, I had missed most of it. However there were a couple of ships of interest in difficult places to see - piers 27 and 31.

At pier 31 it was the autocarrier ARC Integrity flying the flag of the United States (metaphorically at least - there was no flag flying aft). Its operator is American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier (ARC). They acquired the ship in 2019 from Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines where it operated as the Fedora and has appeared in this blog before.

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2010/05/tip-of-fedora.html

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2014/04/autoport-stuffed-to-gills-and-beyond.html

To summarize, the ship was built by Daewoo, Okpo in 2008, and has a capacity of 7500 autos. Its gross tonnage is 72,118 and deadweight tonnage is 30,386. ARC currently operate eleven autocarriers under US flag - most on transatlantic service. As US flag carriers, ARC ships regularly carry US military cargo, and thus are sailing even when auto imports have been reduced.
With US auto importing facilities becoming backed up, many autocarrier sailings have been cancelled. However this ship had some wheeled machinery and other non-automobile cargo for Halifax.

When I came along, the ship had stopped working cargo and its ramp was up and the tug Atlantic Willow was alongside. Some very high winds were gusting, so they may have been putting out more lines. The ship is due to move to Autoport tomorrow (Sunday) morning.

Across the camber at pier 27 it was the heavy lift carrier Hilke with a cargo of wind turbines.

Built in 2010 by Taizhou Kauan Shipbuilding Co in China, it is a 11,473 gt, 10,052 dwt ship equipped with a two cranes each of 450 tonne capacity. The cranes can work in tandem for a 900 tonne lift. Originally named Palabora it was renamed in 2019 but continues be operated by Harren + Partner, for SAL Heavy Lift Gmbh of Germany.

The ship's destination is given as Escoumins, QC, which is the St. Lawrence River pilot station, so it is possible that the ship is here for repairs, or to sit out the extreme high winds predicted for the next few days. The ship is likely destined for the Great Lakes. [I later learned it is destined for Cleveland.]
It visited the Lakes in 2018 and a sister ship Caroline (ex Palmerton) was on the Lakes last year. I took several photos of that ship when it was in Halifax in 2016:

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2016/02/palmerton-unloads-gas-pipe.html

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Asterix back

The Navy's rented supply ship Asterix arrived back in port today. It sailed April 30 for Norfolk, VA, only one day after the RCN helicopter crash in Europe that claimed six lives. All Cyclone helicopters in the RCN were removed from operation as a result of the crash. That may have reduced the ability of Asterix to participate some operations.

Civilian tugs Atlantic Willow and Atlantic Oak met Asterix in the lower harbour to turn the ship and assist it back to its berth. 

At the ceremonial keel laying for the future HMCS Protecteur in North Vancouver on January 16, delivery date for the first of the navy's new supply ships was given as 2023. Asterix is expected to be in service at least until the second ship is delivered to ensure that there is one support ship on each coast.

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Mission Accomplished

Despite a bracingly cool wind, and some driving droplets of what could only be described as a cross between fog and drizzle, I braved the elements to catch MOL Mission arriving this afternoon as it transited the Narrows en route to Fairview Cove.

One of ten "M" class ships built for MOL it came from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kobe in 2011. As with all its sisters it measures 78,316 gt and has a capacity of 6724 TEU, including 500 reefers. Its design deadweight tonnage was 79,000 but was revised to 79,491 after delivery.

Mitsui OSK Lines has been subsumed into the new Japanese container line Ocean Network Express along with NYK and K-Line. As the MOL M class ships enter their required drydockings they are being repainted in ONE's magenta hull colour and renamed with ONE replacing MOL in the name.

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Wind off Virginia

As most days prove in Nova Scotia the wind blows steadily on the coast. As a power generation source the wind is employed in the shallow waters of many European countries, but is relatively unknown in eastern North America where land space is not at a premium. That is about to change, at least in coastal Virginia, where Dominion Energy is about to install two 6MW turbines 27 miles off Virginia Beach as an initial test program. Eventually they hope to have up to seventy turbines in the same area.

Because the United States has no offshore installation vessels, a way had to be found to install the two units and still be in compliance with the United States's restrictive cabotage laws, commonly known as the Jones Act.

The wind turbines, including the towers and blades were built in Europe and arrived in Halifax April 28 on the specialist heavy cargo ship Rolldock Beaufort, seen here alongside the IEL dock in Woodside (Dartmouth).

The United States' cabotage law prescribes that only US built, owned, crewed and flagged ships may work between US ports. It would therefore require a Jones Act compliant ship to move the components from shore to installation site.

A loophole in the Jones Act means that ships arriving directly from overseas, without landing in the US can apparently work in US waters. [This has been contentious in the Gulf of Mexico oil patch, where US seafarers are been deprived of work in US waters.] Therefore Bigroll Beaufort will transfer its components here, and a specialists installation ship will pick them up in stages and install them directly without landing in a US port.

That installation ship is Jan de Nul Group's Vole au Vent which arrived in Portland, UK today, presumably en route to Halifax. Equipped with a 1500 tonne capacity crane, the ship is a jack-up vessel that can work in 50 meters of water. (More on the ship when it arrives here.) The de Nul company, well known Belgian dredging contractors, have also developed a specialty in offshore turbine foundations and installation.

Vole au Vent could not carry the entire project cargo in one trip, and there is not enough time to return to Europe to do the work in phases and still complete the project this year, so Halifax has become the staging point.

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