Atlantic Huron- bound for the scrappers????? Update

DECEMBER 31 UPDATE: REPORTS OF THIS SHIP'S DEMISE MAY HAVE BEEN PREMATURE-THE SHIP MOVED ALONG THE BERTH ON DECEMBER 30, AND THERE MAY BE WINTER REFIT WORK GOING ON, SO SHE MAY WELL BE SAILING AGAIN. AT THIS POINT ONLY TIME WILL TELL.

In one of those strange ironies Atlantic Huron is also bound for the scrappers. She arrived in Halifax on Christmas Day and tied up at her usual berth at pier 26, but for the last time.

Canada Steamship Lines had the ship built as the conventional bulk carrier Prairie Harvest in 1984 at Collingwood shipyard. Demand for self-unloading ships was building at that time, and in 1989 she was converted to a self-unloader at Port Weller DryDock and renamed Atlantic Huron. The new name recognized the fact that she would be able to trade on the Atlantic as well as the Great Lakes, and she was soon put to work in a variety of trades. She frequently brought grain to Halifax - unloading at pier 26. The cargo was often loaded in Thunder Bay, ON, and then topped up with corn in Windsor, ON. The cargo was used for milling and animal feed in the Atlantic region.

In 1990 she was shifted to Nassau registry and traded under that flag until 1992, but was back under the Bahamas flag a short time later.

When the original Melvin H. Baker retired [see the story below] Atlantic Huron was renamed Melvin H. Baker II arriving in Halifax April 16, 1994 with that name. She took up the gypsum run from Dartmouth until 1997 when she returned again to Canadian flag and refitted at Lauzon, QC. She reverted to Atlantic Huron at that time, and was fitted out to carry magnetite slurry, with special pumping gear fitted on her bow. Most of the work was done in Dartmouth. The slurry, a mixture of water and heavy iron ore, was loaded in Newfoundland and taken out to sea to ballast down the Hibernia gravity base. The special pumping gear and pipelines permitted the material to be delivered precisely into the cells of the base. After this operation the ship came back to Dartmouth, where the gear was removed and the ship restored to her previous condition and trades.

In December 2000 she arrived in Halifax for bottom rebuilding in preparation for widening. That work was done at Port Weller starting in December 2002. Prefabricated hull sections were grafted to the ship to take advantage of new regulations on the St.Lawrence Seaway allowing ships to be 78 feet wide, an increase from the previous 75 feet.

And now, as they say on the Lakes she is "done." Sold to Chinese breakers, for the same price per tonne as her illustrious predecessor.

There will be a major exodus of ships from the Great Lakes (it has actually already started) reflecting a major drop in business in the past year. The demand for iron ore for steel making (and then for automobiles) has dwindled and many ships are no longer earning their keep. Most will be bound for the scrappers, either under their own power or under tow.

The aging Canadian Great Lakes fleet needs renewal, and the governments stated intention of dropping the duty on ships built overseas, will spur shipowners to rid themselves of older ships and buy some new or used vessels from abroad. However the numbers of ships needed will be small in comparison to the size of the present fleet. Many familiar names will soon be gone, and their likes will never be seen again.

Photos show:

bottom:

Melvin H. Baker II, October 18, 1995 with black hull.

middle:

Atlantic Huron, July 8, 2003 showing her widened hull.

top:

Atlantic Huron, December 28, 2009 in her present bedraggled condition.

Oldie from the shoebox....Melvin H.Baker

It had to happen eventually, but it was a remarkable record. The self-unloading bulk carrier Melvin H. Baker has finally gone to the scrap yard after a lengthy career of 53 years.

This pioneering vessel was built in 1956 by A.G. Weser of Bremen to a conceptual design by the visionary Ole Skaarup. Skaarup, a New York shipowner, conceived of a bulk carrier with an octagonal shaped hold, and a conveyor system, which would speed unloading. Although given credit for this concept, it was not original- Great Lakes ships had variations on it- as did the gypsum carriers of Fundy Gypsum (US Gypsum)- but Skaarup carried it off with his customary panache, and took credfit for it.

Melvin H. Baker was built to carry gypsum from the then new National Gypsum pier in Dartmouth to US east coast ports, and made its first call August 1, 1956, fresh from the shipyard. For the next 38 years it plowed a furrow up and down the coast with gypsum. Aside from two trips to Rotterdam with coal, it carried on in the gypsum trade until its last visit to Halifax March 9, 1994. Even then it took a full load to Baltimore. The ship was named for the founder of the National Gypsum Company and a native of Buffalo, New York, and was on long term charter to National Gypsum from Skaarup Shipping Corp through various intermediaries. Her 1400th call in Dartmouth was marked in July of 1987, so it is likely that she made well over 1500 port visits in her lifetime- a record for the port of Halifax for one ship.

Skaarup sold the ship in 1994, but maintained the management, as the ship sailed from New York March 26, 1994 for Rijeka where she had a refit. Her new owners, Hon Tai Shipping of Taiwan, put her to work in the far east and so she soldiered on until December 24, 2009 when she was delivered to ship breakers, still bearing her original name.

It was an unparalleled career for a ship.

Although the photo was taken on December 25, 1986 it could have been taken many times over. She is seen passing Seaview Park inbound for National Gypsum. The distinctive protuberence on her stern houses conveyors that would be extended out from the ship's sides when unloading. The system is still in use today on another Skaarup ship Georgia S (presently anchored in Bedford Basin) but has become something of a liability, as it restricts the ship to only certain unloading ports that are suited to those conveyors. The more typical deck mounted slewing boom, used by Great Lakes type ships, allows the cargo to be unloaded just about anywhere.

Nirint Pride returns

The container/cargo ship Nirint Pride returned to Halifax this morning after a serious accident in August.
The ship, which runs between the Netherlands, Halifax and Cuba/ Caribbean has a newly rebuilt bow after colliding with the container ship MSC Nikita off Hook van Holland on August 30. Nirint Pride survived the collision, which holed the MSC Nikita in the engine room, causing it to take on water. The damage was so severe that MSC Nikita was dispatched to the scrap yard.
Nirint Pride, which seems to have hit MSC Nikita square on, suffered a compressed bow, but her collision bulkhead held and the ship was able to sail for repairs on her own. Some containers also caught fire, but they were quickly extinguished.

At daybreak this morning Nirint Pride was met off pier C by Point Chebucto and guided into pier 31.

There are a number of links to follow on the collision - but the best photos are found on Shipspotting.com:

www.shipspotting.com/search.php?query=nirint+pride&action=results

and:

www.shipspotting.com/search.php?query=MSC+Nikita&mid=7&action=showall&andor=AND&start=0

Smallwood in Novadock

The Marine Atlantic ferry Joseph and Clara Smallwood reposes in the Novadock floating drydock at Halifax shipyard for refit. The 27,229 gross ton ferry was built by MIL Davie in Lauzon, Quebec in 1989 and entered servcie January 10, 1990. Hard to believe the ship is twenty years old!

She was built to service the North Sydney to Argentia run, and is thus provided with more overnight accommodation than her near sister Caribou. Because the Argentia run is a seasonal one, the ship does operate to Port aux Basques on the off season to relieve other ships for seasonal refits.

Named for the legendary Newfoundland premier and his wife, the ship is a very capable vessel, but along with Caribou (built at the same yard in 1985) is nearing the end of its service life. How much longer that life will be is the subject of much speculation.

Purpose built replacements seem to be out of the picture for now, due to cost.

The attraction of second hand Baltic tonnage may be too much for Ottawa to resist. No matter how unsuitable, how huge or how unwieldy they would rather deposit tax money overseas than risk the embarrassment of cost over runs in a Canadian shipyard.

The only yard remaining in eastern Canada that could built such a ship, is the same one the Smallwood was built in. The yard has emerged from borderline bankruptcy and has been limping along of late with some overseas contracts, hoping to revive itself. Wouldn't a nice government contract for three or even four replacements over a five to ten or maybe fifteen year period be just what the doctor ordered?

Lets hope.

Arrested in Spain

The former Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans vessel Parizeau was arrested off Spain on December 22 in a huge drug bust. According to the CBC, Spanish forces intercepted the ship 320 km offshore while bound from the Caribbean to Vigo, Spain. They found one tonne of cocaine on board, and arrested the crew (including one Canadian) and several more people on shore. The CBC quotes a Scotland Yard source, that they were part of a drug ring extending from Columbia to London.

Now called Destiny Empress , the ship was built in 1967 by Burrard Dry Dock in North Vancouver and worked as a research vessel out of Patricia Bay near Victoria.

In 1995 she was transferred to Halifax to replace the similar ship Dawson, which had been retired, and was based at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography.

When she arrived, she still wore the traditional white hull paint of survey ships. In September 1996 she was repainted in the red colours of the Coast Guard/ Fisheries and Oceans vessels.

Her career as a research ship ended in 2000 when she was renamed 2001-04 in preparation for disposal, which occurred in November 2003.

She then laid up at the IEL pier in Dartmouth and was renamed Destiny Empress in January 2005. She sailed June 14, 2005 and went to Shelburne. By October she was in in trouble 280 miles north of Bermuda when she was out of contact for several days. She then reported that she had experienced engine trouble, and was returning to Shelburne.

At that time she was supposed to have been sold to a US millionaire for $350,000, and that he would spend $1.2mn on a refit.

Reports reached Shipfax in April of this year that she had been sold to a Spanish millionaire.

These former government vessels, with no discern able value to anyone else, seem to attract strange owners, who then go on and do strange things with the ships. Is there a pattern here?

The current case would certainly indicate a very inept lot of smugglers, who do not even bother to change the ship's name for nearly five years, and sail right into the hands of the Spanish navy.

Incidentally the ship is still carried on the Canadian registry, under the ownership of The Empress Investment Group, c/o the Marler Law Firm, Oakville, Ontario.

RG III departs (finally)

The drilling rig Rowan Gorilla III finally got underway this morning after several false starts over the past few weeks. Bound for the Deep Panuke gas field off Sable Island, the rig will be working for 200 and some days for Encana.

Tugs Hebron Sea, Maersk Challenger and Ryan Leet will take 36 hours to tow the rig to position. Harbour tugs Point Chebucto, Atlantic Larch and Atlantic Spruce helped to turn the rig around and keep it on track as they sailed out of the harbour.

Merry Christmas

A very Merry Christmas to all.

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