BBC ships to Canada

 Two ships from the large German heavy lift operator BBC Chartering will be working in the Canadian far north this summer with new names and flying the Canadian flag.

1.   Sivumut

A ship that was in Halifax in mid-May has become the latest addition to the Canadian northern supply company NEAS. BBC Arizona arrived in Halifax May 14 from Belfast, Northern Ireland with aircraft components and other oversize cargo, which it unloaded at Pier 9C using its own lifting gear. It has now been renamed Sivumut and was registered in Montreal on June 2. The word "sivumut" means "looking forward" in the Inuktitut language.

The Sivumut is a multi-purpose, heavy lift, heavy load ship of 9618 gt, 12,747 dwt, fitted with two 150 tonne SWL cranes that can lift up to 300 tonnes in tandem. It has a container capacity of 665 TEU (528 at 14 tonnes) and has 50 reefer plugs. It carries its own spreaders for overize loads.

Built in 2010 by Jiangdong Shipyard in Wuhu, China, it was originally named BBC Arizona. It was renamed Industrial Sailor in 2014, Arizona in 2015 and reverted to BBC Arizona in 2015.

After sailing from Halifax on May 16 it went to Argentia, Newfoundland May 17-20, then Portland, Maine May 22-25. It arrived in Montreal on May 30.

The NEAS Group owns Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping Inc and Nunavik Eastern Arctic Shipping Inc and provides sea lift to a range of communities in the Canadian far north. The NEAS Group is owned by the Makivik Corporation, Nunavik’s Inuit Birthright Corporation, and Transport Nanuk Inc., whose shareholders are Logistec Corporation and The North West Company. 

The current fleet of six ships has been built up over the years, generally from older Spliethoff ships, which are chartered back to Spliethoff in the off season and trade internationally under foreign flag. Their summer work includes carrying supplies for northern communities, some containerized, and also vehicles and heavy equipment for the several mining operations in the region. Generally ships of the fleet carry their own lighterage barges and tugs for offloading in shallow draft or unserviced ports. The heavy lift deck cranes are needed to handle the variety of loads including the tugs and barges. Some ports have larger tugs and barges stationed nearby for the summer.

Sivumut is scheduled to load at Bécancour June 15 to 20 and sailing to Rankin Inlet and Whale Cove, then reloading at Churchill for Whale Cove, Chesterfield Inlet, Baker Lake and Coral Harbour, then returning to Bécancour to load again. It wiLl make a seond and possibly a third northern trip.

2.   Marcellin Desgagnés

The other major player in the northern supply operations is Transport Desgagnés. They have acquired a number of ships with heavy lift / oversize capability, some of which were built for Beluga Shipping. They have also been chartered out for the winter, also usually to BBC Chartering. The current fleet consists of six ships and will soon include a seventh - the former BBC Parana built in 2012 by Tianjin Xingang, in Tianjin, China. A 12,980 gt, 16,953 dwt ship, it has one 80 tonne SWL capacity crane and two 250 tonne SWL capacity cranes that can work in combination for a 500 tonne load. The ship has recently been in Canadian waters, calling in Grande Anse, QC Jun 1-2, then sailing for New London, CT. It has not been registered in Canada yet, nor renamed officially, but is shown on Desgagnés Transarctik's schedule as sailing from Bécancour July 11. 

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