The 2006 ft long seawall, comprising berths 20 to 22, was well occupied today with two big ships, Caribbean Princess (951 ft long) which arrived yesterday and Serenade of the Seas (964 ft long) which arrived this morning.

Serenade of the Seas at pier 20-21, used the new bollard on the Tall Ships Quay for its headlines. The bollard was installed over last winter, just for occasions such this, so that the big ships do not have to tie up at the commercial piers which are about 1250 ft long.
With the ship's bow extending well north of the end of the seawall, passengers can enjoy the view from the forpeak and from the docking platform which has been left extended 

Caribbean Princess backed out of pier 21-22 and turned outbound in number one anchorage, heading for New York.
Serenade of the Seas sailed later in the evening for Charlottetown.

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Splendid sight

A rare sight in Halifax is two cruise ships meeting each other. This evening that event took place as the departing Celebrity Summit met the inbound Caribbean Princess.

After several bursts of 5 warning blasts to clear pleasure craft out of the way, Celebrity Summit takes the western channel to give lots of room for the inbound Caribbean Princess. The Oceanex Sanderling also followed close behind the Summit.

Normally cruise ships arrive in the morning and sail in the late afternoon or early evening. Caribbean Princess's late day arrival means an overnighter in Halifax for its passengers and crew.
A no show today was Aidadiva originally scheduled on its run from Reykjavik and St. John's to New York.

Classic Visitor

Marco Polo outclassed the other two cruise ships in Halifax today (Veendam and Carnival Splendour) not only with its classic good looks, but also with its unique history.

It was built in 1965 by the Mathis-Thesen yard in Wismar (which was in East Germany at the time) for the Baltic Steamship Company of the USSR as Aleksandr Pushkin, one of five sister ships. They were built for liner and cruising service, but could also do double duty as troop ships and as such had large cargo capacity and other non-typical features such as multi-berth cabins, and facilities for 500 deck passengers. 

On April 13, 1966 it entered North Atlantic liner service running from Leningrad, via Finland and England to Montreal. With the upcoming Expo 67 world's fair in Montreal, and the USSR's imposing pavilion, the ship drew considerable publicity for the motherland, which was as much a goal of its operators as commercial success at first. The Russian-American Line had ceased service in 1917, and this was the first USSR liner on the North Atlantic.(The service was seasonal, with cruising in the winter.) It eventually became the last transatlantic liner on the St.Lawrence River and a sentimental favourite.  In later years it made more cruises including North Sydney and St-Pierre et Miquelon.

The ship was also much admired by shipwatchers for its good looks, as compared to the Cunarders and CP Empresses, which it outlasted.

The ship's graceful shear and stylish funnel was an excellent blend of classic and modern looks - still apparent behind North Sydney's old cargo crane.

The ship was sold in 1991 and over two years was extensively rebuilt in Greece. Its higher funnel and extended passenger decks (occupying former cargo holds) did not improve the ship's looks in my mind, but the total refurbishing of its accommodation ensured that it would have an extended life as a popular cruise ship.

Readying to sail this evening at dusk, the ship is still stylish.

Lifting off a gangway section, the ship is almost cast off and ready to sail, but the sun was gone when it came clear.

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Liberty of the Seas

The Royal Caribbean International Freedom class Liberty of the Seas made a wide sweep around George's Island this morning on its approach to pier 20.

Built in 2007, the ship and its two sisters, Freedom of the Seas and Independence of the Seas  held the title of world's largest cruise ships until 2009 when the even larger Oasis class ships came along.
Rivaling in size the container ships mentioned yesterday, this ship measures 154,407 grt and has a capacity 3,634 passengers and 1360 crew. With an overall length of 1,119 ft it makes remarkably sharp turns using a variety of thrusters, all without the need of tugs.
The ship is based in Port Liberty, in Bayonne, NJ, on the western side of New York harbor. After the autumn season it will transfer to Galveston, TX in November.

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Big Day at Halterm

The official inauguration ceremony for CMA CGM's new service to Halifax took place at Halterm today. The CMA CGM Melisande arrived yesterday and after completing its work moved around to pier 36 for the event. Marquis tents were set up and tours arranged for dignitaries, many of whom would be in town for Port Days which starts later this week.

 
The ship, measuring 90,500 grt and 101,387 dwt was built in 2011 by Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industries for Danaos Shipping of Athens on long term charter to CMA CGM. It has a capacity of 8530 TEU (including 700 reefers).

If that was not enough, Halterm also hosted a Hapag-Lloyd ship today. H-L ships normally go to Fairview Cove, but that terminal's big cranes were working NYK Meteor. Halterm's big cranes were needed to work the even larger Colombo Express a  93,750 grt 103,800 dwt ship with a capacity of 8749 TEU (including 730 reefers). It dates from 2005 when it was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, Ulsan for direct ownership by Hapag-Lloyd.

The trend toward larger ships coming in Halifax is due in part to the trickle down theory. As larger and larger ships enter the Asia-Europe trade, they are displacing ships of 6,000 to 10,000 TEU. Lines are shedding smaller ships to reduce the cost per box to carry containers.A reduction in cargoes from China is accelerating this trend as lines fight for market share.

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Seabourn Quest tragedy

Some time after leaving Boston on September 11 a passenger was lost overboard from the cruise ship Seabourn Quest, 10 miles off Cape Ann. A large search was initiated and the Rockport harbour master's launch recovered a woman's body about two hours later 8 miles offshore. The ship continued on its trip to Bar Harbor.

It will now arrive in Halifax Sunday September 13 as scheduled.

This loss of another life follows on the crew member lost overboard from Queen Mary 2 August 14 while 750 km east of Newfoundland.

Queen Mary 2 arrived in Halifax August 1, just as I was leaving for Quebec.

 

Postscript:

The cruise ship Norwegian Gem, also bound for Halifax and due September 14, had a medical emergency off Nantucket September 13. The passenger was evacuated by helicopter for hospital treatment at Cape Cod.



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BIG Changes

It is a time of big changes in Halifax's port and on many other fronts.

To pick up where I left off, the veteran ferry Princess of Acadia was laid up in Saint John after its replacement Fundy Rose came into service. After de-storing by operators Bay Ferries, and their corporate symbols were painted over, it was handed over to owner, the Minister of Transport.

Saint John is not an ideal layup port, due to its high tides, requiring a lot of line tending. On September 11, it arrived in Halifax where it tied up at the old Coast Guard base in Dartmouth. That unused facility is still government property, so presumably there are no berthing fees, and Halifax's feeble tides require very little line tending.

  

Still handsome, but looking bare without its Bay Ferries markings, and still wearing storm shields over the lounge windows, Princess of Acadia awaits its fate. A sale for scrap is almost certain, but it may take a while.

 Halifax Shipyard finally rid itself of the decommissioned Novadock floating drydock. Its Canada registry was closed August 18 and it has been renamed F.D. Novadock under an undisclosed foreign flag, likely St.Vincent and the Grenadines. As reported in Halifax Shipping News, a flotilla of McKeil tugs moved the dock to the IEL pier in Dartmouth, where it has since been cut into two sections.

Novadock was originally built in two sections (not the same two sections which it now appears) by Marine Industries Ltd in Sorel and Ferguson Industries in Pictou, for the government of Nova Scotia. It was intended to bring Panamax ships to Halifax for repairs. It certainly did that, and when Irving Shipbuilding took over the yard, they also gained ownership of the Novadock.

Following award of the  National Shipbuilding contract for naval vessels, Halifax Shipyard rapidly lost  interest in ship repair in Halifax. (Irving Shipbuilding Inc still operates its smaller repair yard in Shelburne.)
With demolition of its older facilities and during construction of the new assembly building, the yard had no facilities available for ship repair anyway. The Novadock will not be replaced per se, but a new launching dock will be required for the new construction. No announcement has been made on where it will be procured or when.

With Novadock gone from the Shipyard, the full extent of the mammoth new building is revealed in all its splendour.

Steel has now been cut for the first hull under the new shipbuilding program and the first module is underway.

More work remains to the roll out area to the north, where the new Pier 6 cope wall is now under construction, and work has started on the huge roll out pad.

Changes are also underway at the Angus L. Macdonald bridge where the deck replacement project is about to begin in earnest.

Atlantic Cartier [see below] passes beneath the bridge, denuded of its walkway and bike lane and fitted with a traveler for the work, the bridge is ready for its first new deck section starting next weekend.

 The Cherubini dock is all set up to transport the sections with their giant crane and chartered barges.

Atlantic Container Line has started the process of retiring its G3 ships, with Atlantic Concert the first to go. It arrived off the Bhavnagar anchorage in India September 5. The first new G4 ship, Atlantic Star, was registered in England September 1. It is still at the shipyard Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai, but is due for imminent delivery, followed every two months by is four sisters.

ACL'S schedule still shows Atlantic Concert's next call in Halifax on October 18, so that is the likely arrival date for the first new ship.

A sight soon to be no more, Atlantic Cartier  clear of the Narrows and heading on a course to pass east of George's Island.

More big ships are coming. Ships of the size of  Ningbo Express and OOCL Southampton are joined by CMA CGM ships as lines try to increase efficiency and as the "superships" displace the merely big or not so big on the main trade routes.

Some other changes noted after my return from my August vacation:

McNally Marine has started work on the new HMC Dockyard Jetty under the Macdonald bridge, to accommodate the Arctic Offshore patrol vessels.

Work continues on the new Irving Oil dock in Woodside, also by McNally. Irving Oil has taken delivery of the refurbished Acadian now fitted with an exhaust gas scrubber, just like sister East Coast, both under Canadian flag. As soon as the new dock is completed, Irving ships will  no longer call at the Esso docks.

Of the Marshall Islands pair of the Irving quartet, Great Eastern has now gone to Gibraltar for its similar refit and New England has a Canadian coasting license until September 26.

The navy has revealed the desperate condition of the Athabaskan (no surprise) but it has gone to sea again in recent days.

With no operational supply ship to support its fleet, the RCN is turning to Davie to rebuild a container ship as an interim supplier. Preserver is now a floating feul depot in the Dockyard, no longer moving under its own power when it shifts from one berth to another.

There are other changes too, but perhaps the more relevant here is the upcoming change to Shipfax as I transition to a more relaxed format, but more on that later.

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