Atlantic Vision out of drydock

Marine Atlantic's Atlantic Vision sailed this afternoon from Halifax Shipyard. The ship arrived in Halifax for the first time October 27 and entered the Novadock floating drydock for maintenance.
Using her thrusters she wiggled out of the drydock on her own, but did use the tugs Atlantic Willow and Atlantic Oak to turn once clear of the dock. She then proceeded to number one anchorage area for a compass swing before heading to sea.

Having completed her summer service between North Sydney and Argentia, the ship may now be on standby to fill in for Highlanders or Blue Puttees if needed, but otherwise will spend a quiet winter alongside. It will be spring however before the crew can get out and complete the much needed repainting of the main blue colour of the hull.

Halifax Shipyard - No Good News

CCGS Labrador in Halifax Shipyard's graving dock.

The first RCN vessel to transit the Northwest Passage, it was the navy's last arctic class ship when decommissioned in 1957 and handed over the Department of Transport.

A noted defence analyst sounded warning bells in today’s local newspaper about the much touted naval shipbuilding program at Halifax Shipyard.


Irving Shipbuilding hasn’t had much good news to report recently. With their Georgetown (Eastisle) yard shut down and little work in Shelburne (Shelburne Ship Repair) and much of its workforce now laid off, and the sudden departure of Halifax Shipyard’s CEO, the signing of a new labour agreement in Halifax with the CAW union should have been a bright spot this week.

However it is overshadowed by the possibility that a big change may be coming in the much touted Defence Procurement program.

The big shipbuilding agreement saw Halifax “the winner” with the award of the arctic patrol vessels (up to eight ships) and the frigate replacement (12 ships) but it now seems that the arctic patrol component may be canned.

In recent rumblings in Ottawa, from the Minister of National Defence among others, it seems that the Canadian Coast Guard will become an Armed Force, and will given the defence of the arctic - something the navy has had no experience with since the 1950s. At that time their icebreaker HMCS Labrador, was yanked from them and handed to the Department of Transport (later becoming the Coast Guard.) Powerful factions in the RCN have always shunned the arctic as beneath their dignity, but creating a new Armed Force seems an extreme way of dealing with these snobs. It seems more likely that political pressure from the US for border security and all sorts of environmental/ sovereignty/ and arctic navigation issues are at the root of the “armoring up” of the CCG.

This would mean cancellation of the Navy’s arctic patrol vessels in Halifax Shipyard, and adding ships to the Polar icebreaker program with Vancouver’s Seaspan Shipyard. The boats planned for Halifax were compromise ships, with reduced endurance/ice capability to offset the need for speed, weight of armour and weapons. The CCG wants long endurance heavy icebreakers that could work year round in any conditions, and with relatively light armament. This would be easy to achieve by building more Diefenbaker class icebreakers (only one had been planned originally.) With the USA in severe compromise for heavy arctic ships, and extended navigation in the arctic, this would make excellent sense.

But what a kick in the pants for Halifax!

So what will happen? According the analyst, Halifax will need a lot of work to make up the gap between the end of the Hero class and the ramp up to the start of the frigates, but there is no sign of anything yet. Much scrambling is in order, and much uncertainty is ahead for Halifax-in my prediction, lasting for two or three years at least. Worst case scenario - a major strategic alliance with a proven foreign hi-tech shipbuilder and the farming out of the really lucrative work.

Best case scenario? Nothing in sight.
\
Too bad.

Carol - bulkers in the Basin

1. Carol pases under the MacKay Bridge inbound.

The Malta flag bulker Carol arrived to anchor in Bedford Basin this morning. Built in 1999, Carol is 39,996 gross tons and 75,609 tonnes deadweight.  Operated by NYK Bulkers Atlantic NV of Antwerp, it is managed by NYK Ship Management of Singapore for the Japanese company NYK.
It has aboard a partial load of grain from the St.Lawrence River and will top off here before heading to sea. It may have to wait for a time since the grain is just arriving by rail.
On the way in  the ship passed the outbound Atlantic Huron headed in the opposite direction - to the Lakes.

2. Meanwhile Atlantic Huron is away from  from National Gypsum and preparing to turn outbound.

3. Atlantic Huron heads out with a load of gypsum.

Earl Grey - back from dumping day

1. CCGS Earl Grey returns to base at BIO this morning.

CCGS Earl Grey returned to port this morning after standing by for dumping day. The start of the annual local lobster from Halifax round to the Bay of Fundy sees hundreds of boats putting to sea loaded with  traps, and some inevitably get into trouble and need assistance. The start of this year's season was delayed by a day because of high winds, so conditions were virtually ideal for this morning's start.
The Canadian Coast Guard's ships are all on standby and spotted in various locations for dumping day. Since all ships are multi-tasked for search and rescue, the buoy tenders are included.
Earl Grey was built in Pictou, NS in 1986 to a design by Robert Allen Ltd, and has been based in this region ever since. Built along supply ship lines and fitted with a heavy crane it was a departure from the standard CCG light icebreaker / buoy tender design. It will be interesting to see if replacement ships, which may be announced soon, will follow this pattern or revert to the more traditional look.
Earl Grey was named after Canada's governor general, 1904-1911, who was also the donor of the Grey Cup, awarded annually to the Canadian football championship team. This year marked the 100th anniversary game, although the cup was donated in 1909.
CCGS Edward Cornwallis was built in 1986 and has the traditional layout of accommodation aft and working deck amidships. It is performing similar standby duty off southwestern Nova Scotia today. It has the added capability of of helicopter deck and hangar.

2. CCGS Edward Cornwallis sails from BIO November 18, headed for the southwest.

At least two rescues were carried out in the southwest this morning-one by helicopter.

Atlantic Huron

1. Atlantic Huron at pier 25-26. After working well into the night last night, the ship had not started to unload at 7 this morning. Thanks to artificial lighting on the adjacent dock it appears to be in bright sunshine, but the sun had not risen yet.

Despite dire predictions on the future of this ship on this site three years ago (which proved to be untrue-the ship was not sold for scrap) the bulker Atlantic Huron continues to work for Canada Steamships Lines and arrived in Halifax last evening with another load of grain.
Its first load this year was on May 5, a little later than its April 15, 2011 arrival.
Built in 1984 at Collingwood and converted to a self-unloader at Port Weller in 1989, the ship was also widened at Port Weller in 2002.
CSL has new ships on the way. The new Baie St-Paul is on its delivery trip from China and is off Florida bound for the Lakes before winter, and similar ships are to follow. There are older ships than Atlantic Huron in the CSL fleet that will likely be replaced before this one, so it has a few years left. However as it approaches the 30 year mark one has to wonder how much longer it will serve.

Sadie and Eva

I heard a wonderful interview today with two little girls, aged 3 and 5, one of whom just gave the other an unauthorized hair cut. If you haven't heard it, it's all over the net, try here:
http://gawker.com/5922086/npr-reporter-interviews-his-two-little-girls-after-one-gives-the-other-the-worst-haircut-ever

The reason for reporting it is that the names of the two little girls are Sadie and Eva.
By coincidence that happened to be the name of a trading schooner that used to call in Halifax from time to time in the 1960s. Sadie and Eva was built in Port aux Basques, NL in 1963 and measured only 128 gross tons. It was among the last of the schooner hull type traders and it only lasted until October 22, 1970 when it was lost to fire in the Cabot Strait.
It generally freighted salt fish to Halifax, unloading at Smith's wharf, then loading up with raw salt again to return to Newfoundland. It also carried general freight and did coastal work around Newfoundland, and was likely a familiar sight in North Sydney where a lot of that trade was based.
It had unusually high freeboard for a schooner, but typical of its type it had a boxy midships cabin with a minimum of windows to protect from it from the seas.
I only took one picture of it, September 6, 1969 at Smith's wharf:

By the way, I have sent a copy of the photo to the girls' father, an NPR reporter who conducted the interview.

Atlantik Confidence changes port of registry

1. The ship's port of registry appears in whiter paint than its name.

Atlantik Confidence arrived last night flying the flag of Malta, but today switched to the Cook Islands, the port of registry changing from Valletta to Avatiu (a town on Raratonga.).
Built in 1996 by Hanjin Heavy Industries in Ulsan, South Korea, the ship started out life as Hanjin Antwerp for Hanjin Shipping. In 2009 it became Atlantic Confidence then in 2011 received the current spelling of its name. Its present operator is Atlantic Denizcilik Ticaret of Instanbul, Turkey.
A typical five hold/ four crane (of 25 tonnes) bulker it measures 16,252 gross tons/ 27,209 deadweight tonnes.
Many Turkish ships are registered in Malta, which has become a leading open register (flag of convenience) which has in recent years tightened up on its regulatory regime. The Cook Islands, located in the mid-Pacific between New Zealand and Hawaii, has also become an open register in recent years, promoting its ease of registration on-line 24-7-365. There are also no taxes paid by ships registered there, but that is typical of most open registers (that is they are open to non-resident owners). What the particular attraction of the Cook Islands may be to this particular ship owner is open to speculation. The Cook Islands is listed as a Grey List state by the Paris MOU*.
The ship's last port was Puerto Cabello, and after bunkering the ship was due to sail this afternoon. However Connors Diving's boat Northcom arrived alongside and diving started about 1 pm. The ship is now due to sail at 1 pm tomorrow.

2. Algoma Dartmouth is parked alongside bunkering.

*  The Paris MOU on port State Control, representing 27 nations, aims to eliminate sub-standard ships through a harmonized system of port State control. All the signatory states inspect for and enforce safety, security, environmental and working condition standards on ships calling in their ports. The MOU covers the North Atlantic Basin ands European coastal states. It ranks the various flags of registration by degree of risk based on the inspection performance of ships from those states.  The Black List of 18 states are also graded in severity of risk. Very few black list flags show up in Canadian ports as a result, since they are targeted immediately for inspection, usuallly have deficiencies and are often detained.
The Grey List states, which are considered average, include Egypt at the bottom, followed by Cook Islands, and consist of mostly open registers or developing nations, but does have USA at the top.
The White List contains most of the well known registries and Malta is in the middle. All told there are 84 flags on the lists.
For more on the Paris MOU, see their web site at: http://www.parismou.org/
Canada does not appear on any of the lists, even though it is a signatory to the MOU, simply because Canada does not have a statistically significant number of ships trading internationally and thus cannot be ranked.