Bulker to Anchor

The Supramax bulk carrier Bulk Newport anchored in Bedford Basin this evening (October 4) after a day long stay at pier 27. The 29,862 gt, 52,587 dwt ship is a 2003 product of the Kamasashi shipyard in Toyohashi, where it was built as the oddly named Doric Samurai. In 2009 it became Royal Phoenix and took its present name in 2013. Its owners are listed as Bulk Phoenix Ltd, but beneficial owners are the Panagaea Logistics Solutions Ltd, a Bermuda Corporation that operates the ship under the Phoenix Bulk Carrier (US) LLC label and based in the unlikely port of Newport, RI (hence the ship's name.)

The ferry Vincent Coleman on the Woodside run from Halifax arranged a tight port to port passing as Bulk Newport headed for Bedford Basin from pier 27.

Panagaea is also the parent of Nordic Bulk Carriers out of Copenhagen and Singapore, and has become well known for its operations in Northwest and Northeast Passages. Several of its ships have loaded at the Baffinland port of Milne Inlet this summer, transporting iron ore to Europe (by conventional transatlantic route.) In 2018 two if its ships sailed via the Northern Sea Route (North East Passage) from Milne Inlet, south of Greenland, then north of Iceland, and north of Russia of the far east (Pacific) port of Nakhodka. In 2013 one of its ships also carried a cargo of coal from Vancouver to Finland via the Northwest Passage.
The company also operates American Bulk Carriers.

Bulk Newport's last port was listed as Port Alfred, likely with a cargo of bauxite or alumina. The ships four cranes are fitted for grabs, and at least one is visible on deck. There has been no explanation for why the ship berthed at pier 27 then moved to anchorage.

Panagea also owns (indirectly through Phoenix Bulk Carriers) the Canadian flag barge Miss Nora G. Pearl, stationed near Baie Verte, NL and used by Anaconda's Point Rousse gold mine operation. The 8098 gt 16,322 dwt barge was built in 1979 by Todd Shipyards Inc in Galveston, TX. The barge is used as a dock where waste rock (overburden) from the mine is crushed and exported to Charleston, South Carolina. Approximately 10 mn tonnes is to be shipped over the lifetime of the mine, reducing the cost of the mine.
Perhaps the ship will be heading there next.

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