Three by Two

 Today (September 5) was the first "three ship" day of this year's cruise season. It was also a day with two ships anchored in Bedford Basin.

Threes

Early morning harbour watchers were rewarded with the arrivals of Mein Schiff 1,  Seabourn Quest and Caribbean Princess. All three arrived within an hour of each other and took up all available space at Piers 20-21, 22 and 23.

 Mein Schiff 1 is a 111,554 gt ship with a capacity of 2,534 to 2,894 passengers (in 1447 cabins) with a crew of 1,000. Built in 2018 by Meyer Turku at the Perno Shipyard in Finland, it is owned by TUI cruises and caters to German passengers. The hull graffiti promotes the healthy and luxurious ocean cruise experience and defies literal translation.

 Despite its name it is the second ship to carry the name, and replaced the 1996 incumbent.

Next in line was one of the smallest, but most luxuriousof the main line cruise ships. Seabourn Quest can accommoidate 450 passengers with 335 crew.

Built by the T.Marriotti Shipyard in Genoa in 2011, it received a major refit at the same yard in 2013,  and is now registered at 32,477 gt. It will be staying in Halifax over night.

The third ship was the Caribbean Princess which has already been here this year - and was posted on this blog on August 1. Its capacity is maximum 3600 passengers with 1200 crew. 

It is difficult to see much of the cruise ships from the Halifax side of the harbour, but suffice it to say it is an impressive sight to see so much tonnage in one place.

 I did manage another photo with three ships in the frame. As Seabourn Quest was arriving it overtook the container ship Tropic Lissette while the Humen Bridge languished at anchor off the port. (It arrived September 1 and is now due alongside September 7.)

Twos

There is lots of room for tonnage in Bedford Basin. The famous World War II pictures showing scores of ships anchored there preparing to sail in convoy, attests to the size of this "lake" (actually an enclosed bay) at the head of Halifax harbour. Its extreme dimensions are 8 km x 5 km (4.9 miles x 3.1 miles).

Even so it is rare nowadays to see more than one ship anchored there at the same time. This morning's arrival of  the bulk carrier Baie St.Paul is typical of the ships that make use of the anchorage before loading at Gold Bond Gypsum.

A diver's launch was alongside the ship this afternoon. That may be the reason the ship did not go in to load. However other ships in the past weeks have also anchored for a time before going in.

Despite up to six trains a week (with 65 or so hopper cars) from the gypsum quarry in East Milford, NS, Gold Bond's stockpile appears to be relatively small right now, so it may be that strong demand is taxing the loading facility to keep up. (Note the "stacker" is loading up the stockpile in the photo.)

It is rare to see a container ship at anchor in Bedford Basin. Short duration stays normally anchor in the lower harbour, but ships that are in for an extended period are usually directed to Bedford Basin. MSC Sandra arrived yesterday (September 4) from Montreal to top off its cargo before heading to Europe on MSC's Canada Express 2 service. It moved to Basin anchorage last evening. 

Built in 2020 by Hyundai, Busan, the 43,575 gt, 61,468 dwt MSC Sandra has a capacity of 4340 TEU including 150 reefers. It does not appear to be fully loaded to ocean draft, so may be awaiting the end of the longshore Labour Day "no work" period before completing the loading process.

MSC's schedule shows the ship sailing September 6, but that may be optimistic as PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway will not have an available berth until at least September 7, as Tropic Lisssette is occupying Pier 42 and tomorrow will see the arrival of the giant 16,020 TEU CMA CGM Marco Polo at Pier 41.

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