MSC in, NYK out , ONE in, (updated)

 A well organized meeting of container ships took place late this morning, June 11, as the arriving MSC Elma took the western, deep water, channel leaving the smaller NYK Nebula a straight run outbound in the shallower eastern channel.

The MSC Elma keeps close to the western shore...

 

 

 

leaving lots of room for the NYK Nebula.

(see yesterday's post for more on this ship)

When the MSC Elma re-entered the main channel it very unusually began its turn to back in to PSA Halifax, Pier 41. The turn is usually made much closer to the pier, but the ship was berthing at the extreme south end of Pier 42 to allow for the next arrival.

The tug Atlantic Fir acting as brake, assisted in the turn...

and was joined by the tug Atlantic Bear.

Note the unusual deck loading of alternate bays.

MSC Elma is the first ship to call in Halifax on a newly reconfigured MSC route from Northwest Europe to the west coast of South America, called the Ecuador - NWC (for North West Continent). The eight week rotation from Antwerp will call in Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Halifax, Boston, Freeport, Rodman (Balboa), Guayaquil, Puerto Bolivar, Guayaquil, Paita, Cristobal, Moin (Costa Rica) and Antwerp.

MSC has discontinued the "Boston Express" route that used four ships and ran from Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Boston, Montreal and Antwerp. The MSC Samira III (2564 TEU) was the last ship to service that route.

The MSC Elma was built in 2016 by Jinhai Heavy Industry Co in Daishan County, China. The 97,805 gt, 110,103 dwt ship has a capacity of 8800 TEU (other sources say 9408) including 1700 reefer plugs. 

So far three other ships names have been listed for the service: MSC Lily, MSC Antonella (both 8819 TEU) and MSC Amalfi (9403 TEU).

Addendum #1:

The South American route is considered "reefer heavy" with large quantities of fruit and other perishables coming out of the region and headed for the northern hemisphere. That may explain the lashing bridges on the main deck and the large number of white boxes.

Addendum #2:

It was late afternoon when ONE Wren arrived from Colombo, Ceylon- the latest of the bird class ships built for NYK now operating for ONE on THE Alliance's EC5 service.

The ship was built in 2018 by Japan Marine United in Kure as NYK Wren and delivered with the traditional NYK black hull, white superstructures and black funnel with two red stripes and three white stripes.

In 2021 the ship was renamed ONE Wren and repainted in the magenta based colour scheme of Ocean Network Express.

 The tug Atlantic Bear provided braking and steering assist with a line astern while Atlantic Oak worked forward on the port side. Atlantic Fir was not visible on the starboard side.

The ship's deck was loaded in four high tiers, unlike sister ship ONE Cygnus when it arrived June 6 loaded three high, but still appeared lightly loaded.

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