THE Alliance - new to us

As THE Alliance swings into action, its new shipping roster continues to bring ships to Halifax for the first time.
Today there were two "new to us" ships at Fairview Cove.
Bilbao Bridge arrived early in the morning and sailed just at sunset.

The tug Spitfire III waits to put a line up on Bilbao Bridge as the last of the sun strikes the ship about 2004 hrs this evening.

 The ship is one of several K-Line ships that will be maintaining the Transatlantic route for THE Alliance. It is rather lightly loaded, but that is the nature of a new scheduled transatlantic service, as it builds its customer base. One thing of note  was the large number of UASC (United Arab Shipping Company) boxes on deck. UASC has been acquired by HAPAG-Lloyd, on the THE Alliance members.

Built in  2011 by Samsung SB+HI , Koje, the 46,444 grt, 58,200 dwt ship has a capacity of 4526 TEU. It is owned by Seaspan, the international ship financing arm of the Washington Group, based in Vancouver.

Arriving mid-day was the Malleco a member of the Peter Doehle fleet of Hamburg. The 75,752 grt, 60,400 dwt ships was built in 2009 by China Shipbuilding in Kaohsiung. With a capacity of 6589 TEU (including 1162 reefers) the ship flies the flag of Madeira, a Portuguese offshore registry.

 Despite its size, the ship seemed to navigate the Narrows with ease, and tethered escort Atlantic Oak did not have to work to hard to keep the ship in line.
 
A sister ship Maule has been a frequent caller for the old G6 Alliance. 

Wit the addition of these new ships, one wonders how much longer old G6 Alliance ships will continue to call.

The May 8 arrival of OOCL Kuala Lumpur may be the last we see of OOCL ships until a new alliance comes along.

Also among today's arrivals was the Adriatic Highway, which is now monthly caller trying to keep up with the demand for new automobiles in North America.

 Adriatic Highway enters port after a period at anchor offshore. Also anchored outside is the general cargo ship Thorco Luna which has been there for a week or more. It is due to enter port Monday, probably to load undersea cable drums.

Low financing rates and digressive German export policies has put such cars as Mercedes, BMW and Audi within reach of more Canadians.