Sunday Tankers

Following a week of fog and drizzle, Sunday was an ideal day for ship photos, but the only ships to be seen moving were tankers.

The most interesting of three that I saw was the Panama flag Oceanic Crimson. Not your usual product tanker, this is a chemical tanker of 8,508 grt, 13, 273 dwt built in 2008 by the Jinse Shipyard in Busan, South Korea. It runs under an operating lease with Team Tankers (well known as the Sichem fleet) the ship has epoxy coated tanks, allowing it to carry certain chemicals (some other chemical carrier have stainless steel tanks).

As with most chemical tankers, its hull paints suffers from exposure to the fumes from its various cargoes, and looks to be in worse condition than it probably is. Many of the cargoes are volatile and the numerous red devices mounted above the deck allow for venting.
The ship is in very light condition and is headed for Norfolk, VA.

In port this afternoon, at Imperial Oil's number 4 dock, Glenda Megan is a typical product tanker of 29,130 grt, 47,147 dwt, built in 2009 by Hyundai, Mipo. Its owners Glenda International, which is 50% owned by the Italian d'Amico International Shipping, have several ships with the Glenda prefix, and are frequent callers in Halifax on charter to d'Amico. The ship arrived from Port Arthur, TX with refined
products.

And arriving for Imperial's number 3 dock Torm Thyra, a 30,058 grt, 46,308 dwt product tanker built in 2003 by STX Shipbuilding Co of Jinhae, South Korea. The Singapore flag ship (but formerly Marshal Islands, and originally Danish) is saved from being just another product tanker by its owner's distinctive colour scheme. Torm  A/S of Denmark is well known for its bright orange superstructures. This ship called here before, April 18-20, 2014.

First (again) for Amadea

Amadea inaugurated the 2017 Halifax cruise season for the third time today. The ship, operated by Phoenix Reisen of Germany, was the first ship of the year in 2008 and again in 2015. Each time it has been on the last leg of a long cruise. This year's 135 day / 136 night tour began in France, included the Mediterranean, Africa east coast, Cape of Good Hope, Brazil, South America west coast, Panama Canal, through the Caribbean. It arrived in Halifax from Boston and will be going on the St.John's (ice conditions permitting) then Ireland and Hamburg.

The ship arrived very much down by the stern. This was not "squat" brought about by high speed. As soon as the ship was tied up the bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth came alongside for refueling, so my guess is that the ship was trimmed by the stern intentionally and will be on an even keel again after taking on the new fuel.

Built in 1991 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagasaki as Asuka, the ship sailed for NYK Lines until 2006 when it was acquired the current owners, Amadea Shipping Company. Vessel management is by VShips Leisure for the charter to Phoenix Reisen.

While inbound, Amadea passed another German owned ship, the Louis S. This ship is a newcomer to the Maersk Transatlantic service, possibly covering off drydockings of the other ships. It is more than a week later than expected, so may have had trouble keeping up to the demanding Maersk schedule. This has happened before on this service when substitute ships have lagged behind the advertised dates. 

Built in 2003 by Stocznia Szczecinska in Poland, the 35,881 grt, 41,833 dwt ship has a capacity of 3108 TEU including 500 reefers. It is also fitted with three 45 tonne cranes. It is registered in Antigua for Reederei Rudolf Schepers GmbH+Co. The ship was laid down as Amasia, was renamed Patricia in 2003 for Peter Doehle and renamed Libra Santos in 2004 - a name it carried until 2012.

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THE Alliance gears up

The new shipping consortium, THE Alliance, that replaced the former G6 Alliance this month, is now almost in full swing. The Transatlantic Loop 6 service, called AL6, saw its first ship Brevik Bridge last week (see Shipfax April 21). The five ship rotation - with all K-Line ships has a port rotation of Livorno, La Spezia, Genoa, Fos, Barcelona, Valencia, Salerno, Halifax, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Salerno, Valencia, Livorno.

Today saw the arrival of YM Essence inaugurating the Transatlantic Loop 1, AL1, to be operated by four Yang Ming ships, with a rotation of Bremerhaven, Antwerp, London Gateway, Norfolk, Philadelphia, New York, Halifax, Bremerhaven.

 YM Essence takes its escort tug in the lower harbour. The ship is well laden aft - mostly with empties, judging by the ship's draft.

YM Essence is a 47,952 grt, 56,500dwt ship with a capacity of 4662 TEU. Built in 2014 by China Shipbuilding Corp in Kaohsiung, it flies the Taiwan flag for Yang Ming Marine Transport.
 

I wasn't the only shipwatcher. A group of well dressed photographers followed the ship through the inbound, getting some closeups as it passed the pier 9 knuckle. They may have been Yang Ming officials.

 

 The ship favoured the western side of the channel as it made its way through the Narrows.

Yang Ming is new in Halifax, so it was interesting to see the company's logo and funnel marking.  

THE Alliance will also be serving Halifax with its Southeast Asia / North America EC5 service, with ships from a variety of lines, including Hapag-Lloyd, APL, Evergreen, NYK and MOL. It will also have a strategic co-operation with ZIM, and at least one of its ships may be included. The service has begun, but the first ship to reach Halifax is expected to be Ningbo Express in early May..
Port rotation on that service is Laem Chabang, Cai Mep, Singapore, Colombo, Halifax, New York, Savannah, Norfolk, Halifax, Jebel Ali, Singapore, Laem Chebang.

However the ship that did arrive today, Mary is on the G6 AZX Asia-North America Eastbound leg, completing the obligations of the old consortium.

 Escort tug Spitfire III takes up position astern as the ship comes up to Halifax Shipyard.

(See also Tugfax)

It has been a regular on this long haul run, since its first call in September 2016. The ship ship has a capacity of 6900 TEU (including 800 reefers). It was built in 2013 by Hyundai, Samho and measures 71,021 grt, 80,274 dwt. Owned by Technomar Shipping Inc of Athens it is on charter to one of the G6 partners.

Spitfire III leans in on its line rounding the pier 9 knuckle, passing an RCN small craft out for a Sunday spin.

 
At present there is no scheduled THE Alliance Transpacific/Panama Canal loop that includes Halifax.

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Wonder where the Bahris went

With all the container traffic in the port (and it is up again in  the last quarter) and the proliferation of new-to-Halifax ships, it is easy to overlook the fact that one of the port's regular callers seems to have forsaken Halifax, at least for the time being.

Bahri's handsome ConRos were welcome sights, after endless ranks of conventional container ships.(Bahri Jazan file photo)

The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) has not been seen in Halifax for since February because it has shifted its activities to Saint John, NB. The line had been making monthly calls in Halifax for many years, using pier 31 as its base until last year. Its new generation of ConRo ships came on stream from 2013 and last year it shifted operations to Fairview Cove, but that pier is so busy, the ships were sometimes forced to wait for a berth.

That is the likely reason for the shift to Saint John, which will continue monthly calls there until December when the line has two calls scheduled in Halifax again.

When the line shifted to Fairview Cove last year, it made it possible to see the ships up close as they transited the Narrows. (Bahri Tabuk file photo)

Perhaps Shipfax is to blame too. I frequently photographed the light armoured vehicles the line was transporting from Canada for Saudi Arabia's military. The LAVs, built by General Dynamics in London, ON were trucked to Halifax and could often be spotted in the parking lots for the piers. There has been political fallout for the Canadian government  over the manufacture and sale of the vehicles, which are not supposed to be used against the country's civilian population. The current federal Liberal government inherited the deal from the previous Conservative regime and decided to honour the contract, despite a public outcry.
The LAVs were highly visible at pier 31, and even after the move to Fairview Cove, the controversial vehicles were still visible from time to time and appeared in Shipfax and companion blog Truckfax.
Saint John is a shorter truck trip from London, ON, but also more secure from prying eyes.


There are six sister ships in the Bahri ConRo fleet. Two ships, Bahri Jeddah and Bahri Tabuk are currently assigned to North Europe service, the other four, Bahri Jazan, Bahri Hofuf, Bahri Abha (most recently in Saint John last week) and Bahri Yanbu are on the North American service.
Bahri also operates 37 VLCCs (and nine more on order), 36 chemical carriers and five dry bulkers.

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More Saturday

With gloomy weather and snow showers in the forecast I thought my early morning shot of Monte Toledo might be it for the day, but conditions improved somewhat allowing for a few more photos.

Over at Autoport it was more business as usual with Morning Cindy in port all day. The Panama flag ship owned by Excel Marine of Fukuoka, Japan arrived from Bremerhaven in the early hours of the morning. Sailing for the Eukor fleet (EURope-KORea) The 59,432 grt, 18,954 dwt ship was built in 2012 by Imabari Shipbuilding's Marugame shipyard in Japan.

It is low tide in Eastern Passage but Morning Cindy is immune thanks to the design of the pier, which allows ship's ramps to remain operational in all states of the tide.

Autoport is once again stuffed full of cars, with Greeen Cove anchored off awaiting her turn tomorrow.

Across on the Halifax side, it was (nearly) all systems go at Halterm, with Maersk Penang at pier 42 and the CMA CGM Cendrillon arriving for pier 41. Oceanex Sanderling was back at pier 36, ballasted down by the stern again - probably to complete bow repairs from ice damage.

Tugs Atlantic Oak and Spitfire III take CMA Cendrillon in hand south of George's Island and turn it to back into the pier.

The 90,931 grt, 109,021 dwt ship, with a capacity of 8465 TEU was bilt by Samsung in 2009. Jusrt a coincidence, but Cendrillon translates as Cinderella in English - no relation to the Cindy at Autoport.

At pier 31 the Pure Car and Truck cxarrier Tosca was finishing off discharging non-car RoRo cargo. It had unloaded its cars yesterday at Autport.

Fairview Cove was all out too, with Atlantic Star and NYK Daedalus sailing early and Itea arriving late afternoon.

 Atlantic Oak moves Itea toward the Fairview Cove pier.

Itea has been calling for ACL since last July. The 39,582 grt, 48,304 dwt ship with a capacity of 3842 TEU is operated by Costamare under Liberian flag.  Built in 1998 by Hyundai, Ulsan, as Bunga Raya Satu, the ship was renamed KY Parissia in 2012 and MSC Itea in 2014. It was renamed Itea in 2016.

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Monte Toledo bunker call

The crude oil tanker Monte Toledo arrived yesterday for bunkers, and will be sailing later today. A stay of more than 24 hours is unusual for a bunker stop, but perhaps the ship is extra hungry. Its last port of call was Canaport, Saint John, NB.

Monte Toledo at number one anchorage. In the background the bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth takes on more fuel at Imperial Oil.

Built in 2004 by Universal Shipbuilding in Tsu, Japan, the 78,896 grt, 150,611 dwt ship is owned by the Ibaizabal Group of Spain, but flies the Portuguese offshore flag of Madeira. Ibaizabal's tanker fleet consists of only four ships, but the company is better known for its large Spanish domestic tug fleet.


We seldom see crude tankers in Halifax anymore, unless they are here for bunkers. Since it is impractical to bunker ships at the Canaport offshore mooring buoy, most of the tankers we do see come from Saint John.

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Brevik Bridge first call for THE Alliance

The newly formed service called THE Alliance, replacing the old G6 Alliance, brought in a first timer to Halifax today on its Transatlantic Loop 6 (AL6) service from the Mediterranean.


Brevik Bridge is a 4526 TEU ship of 46,444 gt, 58,200 dwt built in 2011 by Samsung SB+HI. Flying the Hong Kong flag it is owned and managed by Hong Kong-based Seaspan Corp, one of the largest ship leasing companies, and part of the Washington Group which also includes Seaspan shipyard and Seaspan towing in Vancouver.

The ship is on a 12 year charter, with two three year options to K-Line, a member of THE Alliance, along with Hapag-Lloyd, MOL and NYK. Yang Ming is also  member, and UASC by virtue of its owners Hapag-Lloyd is also represented in THE Alliance.


Still not on to all those abbreviations and acronyms?
K-Line = Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha
MOL = Mitsui OSK Line
NYK = Nippon Yusen Kaisha
UASC = United Arab Shipping Co


The three Japanese lines will be pooling their container fleets, and possibly re-branding.
UASC will also likely lose its identity when  fully merged into Hapag-Lloyd.
Yang Ming (of Taiwan) is on a sort of probation until it resolves some of its financial issues, which it may do sometime in 2017, at which time it would become a fully fledged member.
THE Alliance represents about 18% of the world's container capacity and is thus the smallest and potentially weakest of the latest round of shipping agreements.


The other major alliances are 2M which joins Maersk Line and MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Co) and Ocean Alliance which includes CMA-CGM, Evergreen (of Taiwan), OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line, Hong Kong) and COSCO (China).

The best I could do was a photo from the parking lot, where Cosco Japan dominates pier 41.

Interestingly, yesterday CMA CGM's Columbus Loop service call in Halifax was made by COSCO Japan, which is also a Seaspan owned ship on long charter to COSCO. The 91,051 gt, 101,500 dwt ship has a 8500 TEU capacity and is on a 12 year charter (plus three one year options) from its 2010 year of build by Hyundai.

With COSCO funnel marking and the Washington Group logo below the bridge.

Dalian Express - big ship in the Narrows, and small ship repairs

Dalian Express ran the Narrows this afternoon in a stiff breeze as it made it way to Fairview Cove. Ably assisted by the tugs Atlantic Willow and Spitfire III (see Tugfax) the ship made quite a sight as it made a seemingly effortless passage.

The Dalian Express was built in 2001 as Hamburg Express by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd in Ulsan. The 88,493 grt, 100,006 dwt ship has a capacity of 7506 TEU (including 700 reefers). It was renamed in 2011 to free up the name for an even bigger Hapag-Lloyd ship. The new Hamburg Express carries in excess of 10,000 TEU.

As a reminder that driving ships is not always trouble free, Nolhanava is still tied up at pier 9c but repairs to its crumpled bridge wing have now begun.

 The crumpled bridge wing as it appeared on the weekend.

By today the damaged portion had been cut off.

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Sunday ins and outs and no shows

Oceanex Sanderling sailed this afternoon for St.John's. While normally a Friday departure, the ship has been in port since April 8 when it was taken out of service for repairs to an ice damaged bulbous bow. Fleet mate Ocean Connaigra was also out of service in St.John's with a similar problem. A mild winter and high winds have have brought vast quantities of multi-year ice in along the Newfoundland shore. While both ships are ice strengthened, they normally only encounter year old ice. Multi-year is much tougher stuff and can cause severe damage with only slight contact.

The Oceanex Sanderling is a tough veteran of the Halifax / Newfoundland trade. Built in 1977 in Sasebo, Japan it has been kept running due to its ConRo capability which would be costly to replace. Owners Oceanex claim they would replace the ship, but artificially low rates on Marine Atlantic are depriving them of rightful business and profits.

The autocarrier Adriatic Highway left anchorage off Halifax this afternoon and  made its way in toward Autoport. The ship appeared to have its anchor ready in case it was needed.

The ship has made several visits to Halifax recently, including March 19 and January 29.


On the eastbound leg of its trip for Atlantic Container Line, the Liberian flag Hammonia Antofagasta made its second call in Halifax. (It was here on the westbound leg April 7-8.  The ship is operated by Hammonia Reederei of Hamburg, a ship management company formed by ship owner Peter Dohle, fund investor  HCI Capital and General Electric Corp's ship financing arm.

Built in 2008 by Zhejiang Yangan Shipbuilding Co Ltd [FanShip Group] it is a 32,901 grt, 35,534 dwt ship with a capacity of 2797 TEU (including 746 reefers). Originally named Antofagasta, it was named Maersk Jennings from 2008 to 2013, then became Hammonia Antofagasta. In 2016 it took up a short term charter as CMA CGM Pointe Marin and was renamed again earlier this year.

There was no ship for the Maersk / CMA CGM transatlantic service this week. Normally it would be Maersk Pembroke but that ship is reported to be in Spain, perhaps for a refit. It substitute, Louis S is due tomorrow. The tough weekly transatlantic service is maintained by just four ships, which must take a beating.

See Tugfax for another of today's arrivals.

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Saturday - seeing stars

The ship Nica sailed this afternoon after discharging her cargo of nickel from Cuba (see yesterday's post). The ship belongs to the Lingenberg fleet of Albert Hauschild which specializes in smallish container feeder types. However Nica carries a pair of 40 tonne cranes, and can also carry general cargo, including the bagged nickel.

 

 Built in 2003 by Jinling Shipyard, Nanjing, it is one of a large number of similar feeder ships.
The ship is returning to Moa, Cuba, for Nirint Lines, perhaps for more of the same cargo.
 
There were a pair of NYK ship movements today - hence the "seeing stars". Arriving for Autoport, the Eridanus Leader passed the awaiting Adriatic Highway (from rival K-Line) still anchored offshore - it will not come in until late tomorrow.

Built in 2010 by Shin Kurushima, Toyohashi, Eridanus Leader measures 59,501 grt, 18,056 dwt.

The other NYK Line ship in port was NYK Rigel, on its regular rotation for the G6 Alliance. Built in 2009 Hyundai, Samho, the ship has a capacity of 4922 TEU (including 330 reefers) on 55,487 grt, 66,051 dwt.

It was pictured yesterday anchored off port.

Also in was Zim San Francisco, 50.963 gt, 63,355 dwt. Built in 2010 by Daewoo, Okpo, the 4884 TEU (including 560 reefers) stubbornly remained alongside so that I could not get a picture of it underway.
 

When the ship was built, its deadweight tonnage was listed as 50,963. This was increased dramatically to the current figure, when it was  determined that the deck load could be increased in height.
The ship is owned by an investment syndicate and managed by Niderelbe Schiffahrts GmbH + Co KG.

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Friday report

Friday was a holiday for most, altoughh wa some limited activity in the port.

At pier 31 the Antigua and Barbuda registered Nica was idle, part way through discharging a cargo of nickel from Cuba. In the photo taken Thursday the ship was busy unloading and taking on fuel, although some ballasting /trimming was going to be necessary!

The ship was built in 2003  as Atlantic Hawk, renamed Caribbean Sina in 20903, Atlantic Hawk again in 2003 and becoming Nica in 2014. The 4450 grt, 5577 dwt ship is using its own cranes to unload some cargo into waiting rail cars and some into storage.

There were also ships waiting outside. The autocarrier Adriatic Highway will wait for another ship, Eridanus Leader to visit Autoport tomorrow before coming in to take its turn.
NYK Rigel will wait until 0500 hrs tomorrow to take its pilot into Fairview Cove.

The ships are anchored 7 miles from my vantage point at the Point Pleasant breakwater, and because I was only about 15 feet above sea level the ships appear to be over the horizon.

An unusual visitor did come into port to work today. Umiak I is a Canadian registered bulker, built specifically to carry nickel concentrate from the Voisey's Bay Mine in Labrador. It is built to a very high ice class, so is able to work year round from Voisey's Bay for Vale Inco delivering cargo to the Long Harbour nickel processor in Newfoundland.
This does not occupy the ship full time, so it also able to run from Deception Bay in northern Quebec's Nunavik region carrying nickel ore from Xstrata's RaglanMine.
 

Built in 2006 by Universal Shipbuilding Co in Maizuru, Jpaan, the 22,462 grt, 31,992 dwt ship is owned by the Fednav Group. It is one of three Canadian flag extreme ice class ships in the Fednav fleet that work in the north, the other two are Arctic and Nunavik.

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Some comings - but no goings

Another arrival at Irving Woodside with refined product from Ijmuiden, Netherlands. This time is the Swedish owned, Bahamas flagged Ami operated for Gotland Rederi AB. Other ships of the same fleet have called here many times, but usually they carry the "Gotland" name as a prefix to a woman's name, such as Gotland Sofia which was here last month. However those ships have also been from the company's "Superice" class with full width bridge.

This ship has open bridge wings, so is apparently of a different class. Built in 2012 by Guangzhou Shipyard International in China, it has a grt of 24,494, but a deadweight of only 39,310 (versus about 50,000 for ships of its size.) The reason appears to be that at 183.2m x 27.4m x 11.7m, it is about 4m narrower and 1m shallower than Gotland Sofia, but the same length. According to the company web site the ship is on charter to Shell Tankers Singapore.

Nolhanava arrived on an unaccustomed day - usually it is a Thursday arrival / Friday departure on its weekly service to St-Pierre et Miquelon. After unloading at pier 41 it moved to pier 9c. The reason for which only became apparent after the ship turned to back alongside.

  

A severely crumpled starboard bridge wing - carefully tarped over, will evidently need some repair before it puts to sea again. Details I have none, except it must be a fairly recent occurrence.
In view of the coming Easter weekend it may well be into next week before the ship sails.

At pier 36, Oceanex Sanderling has been alongside ballasted down by the stern since Saturday. It did not sail on schedule and the parking lot is full of cargo awaiting conclusion of whatever repairs it is undergoing. It is so blocked from view, that there is no way of telling what may be going on near the waterline.

The ship had a barge alongside and a crane on shore over the weekend, but that appears to be gone now. Again - I have no details - but at a guess I would think it is thruster repairs.

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Roundup

Shipfax was beset in the space of a few days last week, but has now overhauled most of its rigging and has resumed its course. What happened in the harbour was noted but not photo'd  observed, but there is still left over info from the previous weekend.

April 1

The bulker Longshore (ex Ethel -16) 23,456 *grt, 34,399 dwt arrived and anchored in Bedford Basin.
After few days of hold cleaning the ship moved to pier 28 and loaded grain.

It sailed April 8. Although the AIS shows its destination as Belledune, NB, that is clearly not the case since it headed south.
* with a grt of 23456 it should have a dwt of 34567!

Sailing April 1, the cargo ship Saimagraacht made its second call this year, on what has become a regular service for Spliethoff's.
Built in 2005 by Szczecinska Nowa in Poland the 18,321 grt, 23,660 dwt ship has side loading doors and enclosed elevators specifically for forest products, but as on this trip she was also carrying a few containers on deck. She can carry 1273 TEU.

The ship is also retro-fitted with an exhaust gas scrubber system (and none too elegantly either)  - which like most of those installation smokes like an old stogy. Nothing like removing SOx and NOx and leaving a trail of particulate.

The Frankenstein version scrubber system was added after the ship was built.



Also sailing on April 1, the CCGS Alfred Needler on temporary winter assignment to work out of Halifax, the research trawler headed for the Gulf and Argentia.

The ship was built in 1982 in Pictou and based in Halifax. After an engine room fire in 2003 it was laid up, but then rebuilt and transferred to Newfoundland,replacing sister ship Wilfred Templeman when it was retired in 2011.
Three replacement ships (one for the west coast) will be built by Seaspan as part of the National Ship Procurement program now under way.

April 2: becalmed 

April 3: in irons

April 4: broached to

April 5: decks swept

April 6: abacked

April 7: bilges pumped , jury rigged

The veteran Newfoundland based offshore patrol vessel Cape Roger sailed on another of its frequent patrols. It works out of Halifax in winter (February to April) then returns to Gulf and Newfoundland waters.
Built in 1977 by Ferguson Industries Ltd of Pictou it was modernized in 1996 at Shelburne, and wintered over in St.Catharines, ON 2010-2011 where it was refitted at the Port Weller drydock. At that time its flight deck was decommissioned and hangar removed.
Construction was well underway April 1, 1976 when fisheries minister (and later Governor General) Roméo LeBlanc announced its name and spring 1977 delivery. This year is its 40th anniversary.
A later vessel of the same basic design and class is CCGS Cygnus, built in 1982, and distinguishable by its full width all weather bridge and some smaller details such as mast placement. It is alo based in Newfoundland.

April 8: re-rigged and underway 

The big cable ship Dependable got underway for a cable repair job off Nova Scotia. It arrived April 6 to load cable for the work. Followng that job it will return to its normal base of Baltimore.

Dependable arrives in misty weather. The davit forward of amidships is used to deploy a buoy to mark one end of a severed cable while the ship goes off to retrieve the other end.  

Built in 2002 the ship is one of six sisters operated by TE-Subcom (formerlyTyco) world-wide. Some of the sisters, including Reliance and Responder have worked out of Halifax in the past.

 A 12,184 grt ship, built in 2002, it does its cable work over the stern through multiple sheaves.

There is also a gantry (here in the stowed position) that can be hoisted out over the stern to deploy is trenching plow.

The blue structure at left is the shoreside cable loading conveyor.

The usual run of  "car boats" visited Autoport during the week. However Wilhemsen's Toscana unloaded a large quantity of wheeled material and odd loads at pier 31, before shifting to Autoport.

Built in 2009 by MHI Nagasaki Shipyard and Engineering Works, the 61,328 grt ship can carry 6542 cars.
Odd loads? How about a shrink wrapped helicopter?

It was transferred from its Maafi trailer to a highway trailer today, ready for the next leg of its trip.

April 9: arrived in port

There was early morning activity in the harbour as the small chemical tanker Lutsen prepared to sail after taking bunkers overnight.

A.P.A. No.1 takes the pilot out to the departing Lutsen at number 2 anchorage, as Toscana unloads at Autoport.

Lutsen was built in 2006 by Samho Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Tongyong as Songa Diamond. It weas quickly renamed Brovig Bay, then in 2007 it became Liquid Velvet and Ben. It was renamed Lutsen in 2016. Measuring only 8,450 grt and 12,901 dwt, it is small by contemporary standards.  It headed for Montreal.

Also at anchor April the general cargo ship Norderney underwent Asian gypsy moth inspection before proceeding to pier 9c.

At pier 9c work began to fit the ship with prefabbed cable tank components. This is a regular activity at the pier, with several ships fitted with the steel frames in the past few years.

Built in 2012 the ship measures 4591 grt, 5475 dwt. It flies the Antigua and Barbuda flag for German owners. It carries a pair of what appear to be 40 tonne cranes, serving box shaped holds.

Container traffic continues apace with several new faces, but some familiar ones too.


OOCL Kaohsiung a 5888 TEU (including 586 reefers) ship built in 2006 by Koyo Dockyard in Mihara, is operated under OOCL long term charter by Nissen Kaiun Co Ltd.

Where it will go when OOCL finally leaves the G6 Alliance, will be interesting to see since larger ships are displacing "old post Panamax" ships in large numbers.

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