BIO Fire and Dockyard Spill

With little shipping activity to view, a trip around Halifax harbour today still revealed a few itrems of note.
At around 1635 this afternoon a fire broke out at a building on the grounds of the Bedford Institute, close to dock. At first there was rapidly rising black smoke, typical of fire fueled by a source such as an oil tank. Within ten minutes or so it appeared that the fuel had burned off and the smoke became whiter as portions of the building began to burn.

From the Halifax side of the harbour the fire appeared to be contained in a single storey building not connected to the main BIO complex. It also did not appear to threaten any of the ships that were alongside.  Fire department resources were called in from around Dartmouth and from Halifax and soon extinguished the fire.

Hard by the MacKay bridge, the fire sent up a plume of jet back smoke at first. CCGS Hudson, CCGS Matthew and CCGS M.Perley were near the fire but did not appear to be threatened.

Meanwhile at HMC Dockyard, HMCS Athabaskan* was still boomed off today after a fuel spill January 22.  The ship was fueling from HMCS Preserver (now a sort of navy filling station, that does not go to sea) when about 800 liters escaped.

Canada's only active destroyer, Athabaskan* is soon to be retired and has suffered a litany of problems in recent months.

The spill was mostly contained in a boom and was cleaned up quickly, but no cause has been revealed. It appears that the problem was aboard Athabaskan* and it has been incarcerated until fixed. 


* Except for the fact that the photo shows Iroquois most of the above is true. Iroquois has been decommissioned and was apparently moved to this jetty recently as part of a shuffle of ships within the Dockyard. Athabaskan is elsewhere and my not be boomed off at all.

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BBC HAREN - a question of timing and luck

No sooner had Halterm announced the impending acquisition of some new shoreside equipment to the tune of $4.5 mn than they had a container crane failure while unloading the ship BBC Haren.

Container spreader on the ground and slack wires - a sure sign of trouble.

On Tuesday Halterm said they will acquire 3 front-end loaders, 8 intermodal tractors and 5 RoRo terminal tractors in the second Quarter of this year.

Some Halterm gear is getting a bit ragged. [file photo]

 

 [file photo]

 

Perhaps the new tractors will be like this Terberg demonstrator parked at pier 29 recently. It has the dealer's sticker NC Nielsen on the windshield. Terbergs are built in the Netherlands, and Nielsen is from Denmark.Note the rotated driver's seat that allows for better visibility for backing.

Halterm has already spent an undisclosed amount refitting the number one (southernmost) crane on Pier C during the past year, but it malfunctioned today and had to be removed from service. The other three cranes on Pier C were working on Zim Luanda and it wasn't until after 1530 that the number 2 crane could be moved into position to work BBC Haren. 

The second crane in line moves into position after finishing work on the Zim Luanda. The slack wires are sagging from the number one crane's boom. The government inspector's grey car is parked astern of the ship.

Fortunately it does not appear that there was any damage to crane, ship or cargo but the cargo was a high hazard one and perhaps they were lucky. Also the ship is a small one, with a small quantity of containers to unload, so it was not held up for a  long. The tank/containers were plastered with radioactive warning labels, and there was at least one government inspector on board the ship taking photos.

Special casks contain radioactive material. Uranium hexafluoride is a favourite such cargo.

BBC Haren is a member of the large BBC Chartering (Briese Schiffahrts) fleet of Haren (Ems), Germany and flies the Antigua and Barbuda flag. Built in 2010 by Damen Yichang (the Dutch company's Chinese  shipyard) as Beluga Loyalty, it was renamed BBC Haren  in 2011. It then dropped the BBC and sailed as Haren from 2012 to 2015 before adding the BBC again. A multipurpose ship of 7878 grt, 11,000 dwt, it carries two 80 tonne cranes that can perform a combined lift of 160 tonnes. It has a container capacity of 671 TEU, has box shaped holds and pontoon type hatch covers that are handled with a traveling gantry.


The bespoke logistics company Peters and May Group, specialists in race car, superyacht, and boat tranport have reserved space on the ship. Although it is too late for you to send your yacht south from Halifax there is still space from Port Everglades to Antigua and Saint Thomas after the Key West Race, but in time for the RORC600.

The ship was carrying one boat on deck - completely rigged and ready to sail away once it is offloaded in warmer waters. Lagua is an Italian catamaran motorsailor en route from the Med to the Carib for the season.

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British Merlin - safe in port

The fully loaded BP Tanker British Merlin (Isle of Man flag) finally arrived in Halifax in the wee hours of this morning. It had reported a turbo charger malfunction and was taken in tow by the big tug/supplier Maersk Cutter, during a voyage from Whiffen Head, NL to Philadelphia with crude oil. The tow was slowed by weather for several days, and even today its towed speed was barely over 4 knots.

One of twelve ships in BP's "Bird" class, it is an AFRAmax ship (nothing to do with Africa) designed for efficient delivery of cargo to most of the world's ports. At 63,661 grt, 114,761 dwt with double hull and special ice bow, it measures 251.5m overall, 43.8m breadth and 15m depth.

All twelve BP birds were built by Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd, Koje, South Korea and are
powered by a 7 cylinder B+W engine, built under license by Hyundai Heavy Industries, Ulsan, generating 21,509 bhp and giving a speed of 15.7 knots, when all is well.

At one time most Aframax ships were also Panamax, but the limiting breadth of 32.31m was too restrictive and most recent Aframaxes are wider. They will be able to transit the new Panama Canal however.

Irving Oil has just applied to use the sister ship British Cygnet for two trips from Whiffen Head to Canaport in February. The ship will be carrying 675,000 bbl of Hibernia crude per trip.

Most sources state that British Merlin was completed in July 2003 and was in service soon after. For some reason BP's own website states that the ship was delivered March 2, 2005.
See BP's website here and click on Our Fleet, then look for Bird class.

Harbour regulations require that a ship at anchor, without use of its main engine, must have a tug alongside at all times. Svitzer Nerthus was given the job, and it tied on the ship's port bow in this photo, but later moved to starboard midships.

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Coast Guard Type 1100 upgades on the way

CCGS Sir William Alexander is one of six Type 1100 ships in the CCG fleet. It was built by Marine Industries Ltd in Sorel, QC in 1987.

 Two federal ministers descended on St.John's Friday January 22 to announce the latest expenditures in the $360mn Coast Guard upgrade program. The new minister of Public Services and Procurement and the new minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Coast Guard revealed the nature of the work aboard CCGS Ann Harvey.

Wartsila Canada has been awarded a $6.2 mn contract for design and supply of new propulsion control systems for CCGS Sir William Alexander and CCGS Ann Harvey. The systems will improve vessel operation and reduce maintenance. (Specifics were very thin. No mention is made if they will be more fuel efficient, or produce less SOx and NOx, so I guess not.)
Completion of the supply portion is due in two years (I am assuming it also includes installation.)

The contract has an option to extend the work to include all the other Type 1100s for another $12.7mn.
That would see CCGS Edward Cornwallis, Martha L. Black, George R. Pearkes and Sir Wilfrid Laurier all brought up to the same standard.


Both the Sir William Alexander and Ann Harvey are type 1100 light icebreaker / navaids ships that also multi-task in SAR and patrol duties.
The ships have diesel electric propulsion systems, consisting of three Alco / Bombardier diesel engines, three generators and two electric motors driving twin screws.

Different ships in the class have slightly different overall propulsive power according to Lloyd's Register:
George R. Pearkes, Martha L. Black and  Sir William Alexander have 2,991 bhp main engines and 3,550 shp electric motors for a total power of 8,937 hp.
Ann Harvey and Edward Cornwallis have 3,500 bhp main engines, 3,549 shp electric motors for a total power of   10,500 hp.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier has 3,500 bhp main engines, 3,549 shp motors and a total power of 10,650 hp.

The ships also vary in appearance. The two Halifax based ships, Edward Cornwallis and Sir William Alexander have one less deck in the superstructure below the bridge, and the latter ship is fitted with a crane instead of the traditional goal post mast and derrick.

CCGS Edward Cornwallis has a goal post mast and derrick for buoy handling.

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Milo moves on

The bunkering tanker Milo sailed this afternoon for Montreal.

Milo will be working for Shell Canada when it reaches Montreal, despite the Esso sign in the background of this photo.

Milo arrived January 17, [qv] and tied up at pier 31 for some voyage repairs.It is due in Montreal January 27 where it will be transferred from its current Belize registry to Canadian. Although double hulled, the ship is not rated for navigation in ice as far as I can tell.

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Atlantic Star - Give Me Forty Acres

ACL's new Atlantic Star made its return appearance in Halifax Wednesday January 20, eastbound. Some mechanical issues with the stern thruster and ramp again caused the ship to extend its stay in port until this afternoon (Friday).

It got away from Fairview Cove quite smartly, with Atlantic Oak in attendance on the stern.

In stead of trying for a sharp turn to starboard around Seaview Point, the ship headed east across the Basin almost to National Gypsum, where it then made a sweep to port. There was a stiff breeze blowing across the Basin, which likely accounted for the maneuver.

HMCS St.John's, which had been doing exercises in the south end of the Basin got well out of the way by going far north.(In the photo St.John's passes the newly renamed CSL Reliant at National Gyspum - see  today's   Halifax Shipping News for more on this.)


It reminded of the old country song Give Me Forty Acres and I"ll Turn this Rig Around. In this case however it was not the length of the ship, but its high sides, making it very subject to windage.

The ship passed a lineup of suppliers at pier 9C as it made its way up the Narrows, including Scotian Sea.

With Atlantic Oak still on the stern, the ship was well lined up for the Macdonald Bridge.

 Finally outbound for sea, the ship starts to pick up some speed.

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Busy Basin

Most of the shipping today was in Bedford Basin - although some of the ships weren't moving.

It was probably even colder than it looked, so this bench remained abandoned. 

With two ship unloading at Imperial Oil, there was no room for more, so two tankers were anchored in the Basin waiting their turns.

High Sun arrived January 17. The Maltese flagged tanker, owned by d'Amico Tankers' Dublin, Eire branch, is relatively new, dating from 2014 . It looks like a typical Korean-built handysize, but it was not built in Korea. However it came from the joint venture Hyundai-Vinashin Shipyard Co in Ninh Hoa, Viet Nam.

Torm Astrid arrived today, but is not painted with Torm's usual burnt orange superstructure. It was only acquired by Torm in 2015 after serving Overseas Maritime Services since 2012 as Maxwell Bay It was launched as Meriom Lily in 2012 by Guangzhou International in China.
The ship arrived from Paldiski, Estonia, showing the great lengths Imperial Oil will go to for product.

Originally planning to go in to Fairview Cove directly on arrival, Atlantic Star, on the return leg of its maiden trip, was forced to go to anchor when Atlantic Conveyor did not get away on its scheduled time.

                         Lightly loaded on its eastbound trip, Atlantic Star sits high in the water. 

This may be the first time the ship has anchored. It did not get into the Ceres terminal until nearly 2100.

HMCS St.John's returned from the Basin in a cold move, under control of three navy tugs. (A Glen tug is not visible, stationed on the ship's port quarter.) It is always amusing to see the pup tugs giving the impression that they are doing all the work. Granville on the bow and Merrickville on the stern were working hard nonetheless.

RHIB #29 had just carried out a personnel transfer under the MacKay bridge and was returning to HMC Dockyard. With a temperature around -6C it was cold enough, but the bowman had to withstand 30 knot winds - his was probably the least desirable job on Halifax harbour today.

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Kathryn Spirit - more trouble for troubled ship

Kathryn Spirit, an occasional visitor to Halifax and long a derelict in Quebec, appears be in for more trouble.
The ship has been tied up in Beauharnois, QC since 2011 where it was to be broken up. Local citizens were up in arms and the work was halted. Plans to move or remove it have come to naught. The site, just below the lower Beauharnois Lock of the St.Lawrence Seaway is a sensitive ecological zone, and the source of drinking water, only adding to the complexities.

Kathryn Spirit in June 2015.

The ship was built in 1967 by Lindolmens Shipyard in Gothenburg, Sweden as Holmsund as a forest product carrier, fitted with two traveling gantry cranes. Measuring 9,261 grt, the ship was a longtime caller to the St.Lawrence and Great Lakes where it often loaded paper pulp. In 1997 it was renamed Menominee after the Wisconsin port of the same name. It continued in the same trade to ports including Pictou, NS.

Loading paper pulp in Pictou, with its gantry arms extended.

In 2006 Canadian owners McKeil Marine bought the ship and gave it the name Kathryn Spirit. They used the ship to carry aluminum from Sept-Iles to Trois-Rivières and for northern supply. On September 30, 2007 it arrived in Halifax with the first ever domestic shipment of grain out of Churchill, MB for Dover Mills. It was back again in April 2008 with an oversize cargo.

Work became hard to find and the ship was laid up in Sorel, QC. In August 2011 it was towed to Beauharnois where it was tied up alongside the barge Jean-Raymond where Groupe Saint-Pierre had plans to scrap the ship. When this activity was forbidden Saint-Pierre sold the ship to Reciclajes Ecologicos Maritimos of Mexico.


It was that company that hired the tug Craig Trans to fetch the ship and tow it out of the Seaway. In December 2012 the tug got as far as Halifax where it was eventually abandoned by its owner and sold at auction. It is still laid up at the old Gulf Oil pier in Wright's Cove (Lower Burnside).
In June 2013 it was announced that CAI Logistics had the contract to tow the ship to Mexico, but their tug Chaulk Determination (ex Commdore Strait, ex Haida Brave - built at Halifax Shipyard in 1966) had engine trouble and eventually sank at its berth in Trois-Rivières. It was abandoned by the owner and raised at great expense with government funds and sent for scrap.

This week it was revealed that Kathryn Spirit's Mexican owners have renounced ownership [I'm not sure how that is done]. They informed Groupe Saint-Pierre, who have been maintaining the ship on their behalf, that they would no longer pay to have pumps running. The mayor of Beauharnois has stated that it is only a matter of time before the ship sinks and its contents of oily waste will spill into the waters of Lac-St-Louis.

With this disaster in the making it is high time governments stop squabbling between themselves and step in and remove the ship. Now that the Seaway is closed for the season and Lac St-Louis likely frozen over, this will not be an easy task.

Kathryn Spirit and Jean-Raymond at the site of the banned scrap yard in Beauharnois.

Alongside Kathryn Spirit, the barge Jean-Raymond has a long and very peculiar history. It needs to be scrapped too.

Construction on the barge started in 1939 at the US Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia. It was finally completed late in 1941 as Catapult Lighter No.1. Intended to launch very large amphibious aircraft (that program was cancelled), then to train pilots, its catapult was unreliable and was instead used for trials. In 1956 the US Navy sold it for scrap but it was instead converted to carry pulpwood from the Bahamas to Jacksonville, FL. as Pulpwood No.1.

When that service ended, it was sold to Canadian owners Reed Maritime and it arrived in Halifax June 24, 1979 in tow of the tug Point Carroll. Renamed Jean-Raymond it was towed out of Halifax by the tug Laval (now Océan Echo II) and went to work carrying pulpwood between Forestville and Quebec City.
It moved on to ownership by Techno-Maritime and McKeil, carrying pulpwood or wood chips between such places as Anticosti Island and Cacouna and Trois-Rivières  among others, and large project cargoes.

 
Finally in 2011 it was again sold for scrap to Groupe Saint-Pierre - this time apparently for keeps and was beached at Beauharnois. It was to be used as a work platform for breaking up Kathryn Spirit, then would be scrapped itself.

Although it is not likely to be a source of much pollution, its removal would have to be part of the program to demolish Kathryn Spirit.

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Canadian Tanker traffic

The Canadian tanker business is in a state of flux, with comings and goings in various fleets.

Algoma
Algoma Tankers, which took over the Imperial Oil (Esso) fleet in 1998, faced a major shift in its business when Imperial decided to close the refinery in Halifax (Dartmouth) in 2013. Several ships that regularly served the refinery delivering refined products in the Atlantic region were moved around and changed their patterns, working instead from Montreal or on the Great Lakes.
Rumours abound as to the future plans for Algoma, and I have no particular insight, but the following  events are worthy of note.
Last year Algoma brought the Algoma Hansa under Canadian flag, very likely to cover for the troubled Algonova that seems to have perpetual mechanical issues, and to replace the Algoeast that was sold. Algonova is now reported to be for sale too.

Algonova was laid up for geabox repairs for much of the summer of 2015.

One of the older tankers, Algosar, that serves the Lakes with occasional trips on the St.Lawrence as far as Sept-Iles, was thought to be on the retirement list, but instead it seems to have caught a second wind and is being refitted this winter in Port Weller. (Algoma Central Corp  has rented the drydock from the St.Lawrence Seaway Authority and is carrying out the work with its own ship repair unit.)

Algoscotia arrived in Halifax August 13, 2004 fresh from the Quixin Shipyard in China.

Meanwhile their largest tanker, Algoscotia sailed form Sarnia December 22 for Finland, where it will take up a charter for at least four months. The work is apparently lucrative enough to warrant a transatlantic passage. The ship is high ice class so it will be useful in the winter Baltic.It will be reflagged for this work, and a return date is somewhat uncertain as the charter may be extended.


Algoma seems to be concentrating its efforts in the bulk business instead, with several orders for new Great Lakes ships announced this year.
On January 15 they also announced a joint venture with Nova Marine holdings of Switzerland, that will see Algoma buy a 50% interest in 3 existing and 2 new building cement carriers. The new venture, to be called NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers (NACC) [not much imagination in that name!] will concentrate in the Europe Asia regions.

Pétro-Nav

The tanker branch of Transport Desgagnés is going from strength to strength. It now has both of its large tankers Espada Desgagnés and Laurentia Desgagnés under the Canadian flag (the latter was registered January 6) and they are operating the shuttle service from the Montreal terminus of the Enbridge Line 9 pipeline to the Valéro refinery in Lévis, QC.
Among the other members of the tanker fleet Sarah Desgagnés is working in Europe again this winter as in the past.
Also the fleet will be expanding again when several new tankers are delivered, starting this year..
These include two new asphalt / bitumen tankers under construction in Turkey to be named Damia Desgagnés and Mia Desgagnés. They will be approximately 15,000 dwt dual fuel ships (diesel and LNG) and are expected this year. They will likely replace two older tankers, Vega Desgagnés sold in 2015 (now Fort Abel under the Panamanian flag and operating between Nigeria and Togo) and Thalassa Desgagnés.

Time is running out for Thalassa Desgagnés

A new  product tanker is also in the works.
Also recently announced is a joint venture with Stolt Tankers to serve the LNG plant in Becancour with two new build LNG carriers of approximately 30-45,000 cu.m. capacity. They will also be dual fuel.

Irving
Work on Irving Oil's new terminal at Woodside, on the Dartmouth side of Halifax harbour will be completed this spring. It will replace a shared facility with Imperial Oil and will allow Irving's tankers to come and go at will, and load directly into their own tank farm instead of routing through Imperial Oil.

McNally Construction has built the dolphins and crib for a new pier at Woodside. Right next door to Imperial's former refinery, it will connect directly to Irving Oil's tanks on shore, and more well inland, not visible in this photo. Imperial will be dismantling the refinery (in the background to the right)  over a stretch of several years, but will be keeping some storage tanks for local distribution of imported refined product. 

 

In 2015 Irving completed the installation of exhaust scrubbers on their four ship charter fleet, and in 2014 brought Nor'easter under Canadian flag as East Coast to join Acadian.

East Coast on long term charter from Vroon, carries the Vroon crest on the bow, but wears Irving hull colours and funnel mark.

That leaves two ships under foreign flag, Great Eastern and New England, trading from Saint John to the US East Coast. Another ship from the Vroon fleet, Iver Progress has been on dedicated Irving service in 2015, but has not been given an Irving name.
Irving Oil does do ship bunkering in Halifax, but delivers the fuel by truck to ships that are tied up. With the new facility they may be able once again to bunker ships from their own dock. 

Shell
Although not in the tanker business in Canada, Shell does a brisk ship bunkering business in Montreal and Sarnia. The motorized bunkering barge Arca (ex Murex-03, Josee M-03, Imperial Lachine-03), which began operating for them in Montreal in 2003 was laid up in December 2014 and was not operating in 2015 at all. Ships taking Shell bunkers in Montreal were doing so at Shell's dock, but I am sure this was unpopular with foreign shipping lines that do not want to hire pilots and tugs to shift docks just for fuel.
Opening of the Enbridge pipeline may have been a factor in Shell's decision to acquire a new bunkering tanker. That vessel, currently name Milo arrived in Halifax today (January 17) from South America.

Built in 2004 by Miura, Saiki, Japan, the 2191 grt, 1952 dwt ship is a miniature tanker, built specifically for bunkering work. Originally named Alios Apollo it worked for BP among others and was renamed Elin Apollo in 2010 for Elinoil.Its last port was Rosario, Argentina.

After such a long trip in ballast, with some very bad weather on the way,  I am sure the delivery crew could sing their own version of "Rolling Down to Rio". The ship was rolling a bit even in the harbour.

The big deck crane could be used to handle lube oil in drums. Shell is one of the few producers of that product in this region. 

 

Milo will likely remain in Halifax for a time to be Canadianized, and may get a more typical Shell name before taking up duties in Montreal. Its seagoing ability will allow it range outside the confines of Montreal harbour if need be to fuel ships in other river ports.It was flying the Belize flag on arrival in Halifax.

Coastal
Newfoundland based Coastal Shipping Ltd, part of the Woodward Group does most of its work seasonally, supplying northern ports in Labrador and the Arctic, but recently it has been supplying Wilson Fuels in Halifax. The tanker Nanny is due again this month at pier 9 where it will pump ashore to Wilson's tanks on north Barrington street.

Nanny at pier 9 in November.

The supply boat Skandi Flora taking on Wilson fuel at pier 9.

Interestingly the same pier 9 berth has also been supplying fuel to the support craft for Shell's offshore drilling ship Stena Icemax in the Shelburne Basin. This is the first time that I am aware of that Wilson has been done ship fueling, and is apparently in association with Shell Oil, since that is the ultimate user of the fuel.

Sterling / McAsphalt
Sterling Fuels still provides the bunkering fuel in Halifax that is delivered by the tanker Algoma Dartmouth. It is the only fuel company in Halifax that can deliver fuel to ships at anchor. Some of the fuel comes from Imperial Oil (likely diesel only). From time to time Algoma Dartmouth goes to Point Tupper to take on other grades of ship's fuel from the NuStar Energy storage facilities.  

Algoma Dartmouth makes an early morning run up the Narrows to bunker CSL Atlas at anchor in Bedford Basin.

Sterling's parent company McAsphalt continues to operate its two tug/tanker barge combinations, primarily on the Lower Great Lakes and Seaway, with very occasional trips to Saint John and Newfoundland. Both units carry only heavy fuel/ bunker C/ asphalt  and are wintering on the Great Lakes this year.

The Oil Majors
Oil companies themselves have generally remained at arm's length from tanker ownership and operation for many years, after several infamous oil spills and ship wrecks. Irving Oil (see above) is a notable exception.
Exxon Mobil's Canadian operation Imperial Oil (marketing under the  Esso label) now imports most of its Atlantic Canada supply or refined product from the US. Paying for that fuel in low value Canadian dollars, even with depressed oil prices, must still be painful. A steady stream of handysize foreign tankers comes and goes from Imperial's Dartmouth storage facility (and former refinery.) All that fule is for local consumption or is transported by truck in the region.
Imperial also supplies refined product from Montreal to Cape Breton and Newfoundland by ship, but not is own. It uses Algoma tankers for the most part.
Valéro's huge refinery in Lévis produces Ultramar brand product which is distributed by Desgagnés' PétroNav tankers. Valéro has a storage facility in Eastern Passage (also a former refinery) but it is seldom visited by ships.
Other nationally recognized brands such as PetroCanada and Shell purchase their product for this region from competitors and distribute it by truck.
Smaller local fuel suppliers such as Wilsons and the many independent furnace oil dealers, buy their products where they can from whom they can, and aside from Wilson (see above under Coastal) use truck and train to distribute.
  
    

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Back in business

Left over rough seas and continuing high winds from last night's storm had the Halifax pilot boat off station this morning. As the day wore on conditions improved and the boat got underway at noon. Three ships then arrived in quick succession. All would have arrived Sunday or earlier today.

The tanker Afrodite arrived first and anchored. It was originally due yesterday, but went into a holding pattern offshore over night.

The Afrodite was here at least once before (September 18, 2011) and anchored that time too. The ship is was due in Montreal today, and in Quebec City -  so it will not be  be in port long. Its first stop will likely be Quebec City to discharge, then it will go to Montreal to load at the Norcan pipeline.
A Hyundai Mipo-built handysize of 30,053 grt, 53,082 dwt, the tanker dates from 2005 when it was built as Western Antarctic, a name it carried for only a year. It is now owned by Tsakos Columbia Shipmanagement of Greece, and flies the Bahamas flag.

Next along was EM Kea one of the four ships servicing the joint Maersk / CMA CGM transatlantic St.Lawrence service. The ship represents CMA CGM on what they call the "St-Laurent 1" route. It would normally have called in Halifax on Saturday or Sunday at the latest. It is due in Bremerhaven January 18, so will not waste much time getting back on track.

Capable of 22 knots, the ship was built in 2007 by Stoc.Szczecinska Nowa in Poland and is owned by Eurobulk Ltd of Athens. It has been on this route since July 2015, and carries 3108 TEU on its 35,824 grt, 42,166 dwt.
The other four ships on the Maersk / CMA CGM run are Maersk ships, and not nearly as handsome looking if I may be pardoned for saying so.

For me, the highlight of the arrivals was the third ship. Atlantic Runner is making one of the infrequent calls by Atlantic RoRo Carriers. The line, which operates out of St.Petersburg, Russia and serves east coast North America and the Gulf of Mexico, proudly claims to be the largest operator of Astrakhan class ships.
The Astrakhans have been featured here before many times including January of last year

Built for commercial/military use by the USSR, they have proven to be highly versatile ships with their combination of RoRo and LoLo and their own cranes. Fitted for work in ice, and for carrying dangerous cargoes, they also have long endurance ability.

 

They are getting on it years now, but Atlantic Runner appears to be in good condition and dates from 1992, as part of the Type III variant, fitted with cranes only (the earlier versions also had derricks).
The ships were built by Warnowerft in Warnemunde, it what was East Germany. This one measures 16,075 grt, 18,731 dwt and has five 80 tonne cranes with two pairs that can work in combination. Its modest RoRo ramp is fited on the starboard quarter.

It started life as Krasnograd, but was soon chartered out and renamed in succession: Nordana Kitale, 98: Nordana Kigoma, 99: Nordana Surveyor, 01: Lykes Runner. It became Atlantic Runner in 2004, and is operated by Atlantic Ship Management of Odessa, Ukraine under the Maltese flag.

Speaking of dangerous cargo those tank containers on deck look like they might contain radioactive material, sent from Russia for re-processing in Canada.

Janet C is at pier 27, a member of the growing Carisbrooke Shipping fleet, based on the Isle of Wight.
An open hatch type ship, with box shaped holds and movable 'tween decks, it started life in 2009 at Yangzijiang Shipyard in China. With two 80 tonne cranes it is ideally suited for its cargo of rails from Poland for CN Rail. It was chartered out as UAL Capetown until last year.

The ship arrived at noon time yesterday, but has not been working cargo, and seems to have attracted a lot of attention from Canada Border Services.

Carisbrooke has an interesting web site that shows ships' positions: http://www.carisbrooke.co/
It is a few days out of date however, since it shows Janet C just passing the Azores on January 2.

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