Normal Comings and Goings

Seven Seas Navigator, arrived this morning and tied up at its usual berth at pier 23. To make the tight turn into the camber, the pilot used the tug Atlantic Oak to assist.

The ship has a somewhat unusual early history. It was originally laid down by the Admiralty Shipyard in Leningrad, USSR, as a satellite tracking ship, in 1988, and launched in 1991. To be named Akademik Nikolay Pilyugin. Caught up in collapse of the Soviet Union, the ship languished unfinished until 1998 when Radisson Seven Seas Cruises bought the hull. They had the T. Mariotti yard near Genoa build the superstructure and complete the ship for 490 passengers and 340 crew in 1999. Due to its relatively small size of 28,550 gt, almost all the cabins are outside with verandah.

Now operating as Regent Seven Seas Cruises, the company carried out a major refit to all public areas and suites in 2016.

The tanker Ardmore Sealifter arrived yesterday from Amsterdam for Irving Oil and was well along unloading this afternoon.

Built in 2008 by Onomichi Zosen, it is one of 26 or so ships in the Ardmore fleet of MidRange tankers, and measures 26,900 gt, 47,472 dwt. Its original name was Pacific Innovator but was renamed in 2014 when it joined the Ardmore pool. The bulkhead markings on its hull are still bright white from a July drydocking.

Arriving this morning at Ceres, Fairview Cove, the regular caller MOL Paramount also looked particularly neat and tidy as it transited the Narrows.

Dating from 2005 when it was built by Koyo Dockyard, it is a 71,902 gt, 72,968 dwt ship with a capacity of 6350 TEU , including 500 reefers. Industry wide slow steaming probably means that it never achieves its published maximum speed of 26 knots. The huge diameter exhaust pipe in the funnel leads from a 62,920 kW (84,377 bhp) MAN-B+W main engine.

Atlantic Bear is the tethered escort for braking and steering as they approach the Mac Kay bridge.

MOL Paramount is, at least for the time being, still maintaining its MOL identity despite the merged container interests of MOL, K-Line and NYK Line in Ocean Network Express. I am not looking forward to the day when it adopts the ONE hull color to match the ONE containers.

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