Today, June 15, was one of those days when Halifax Harbour was the scene of a great variety of shipping activity. There seemed to something happening in almost every sector.
A visitor to number one anchorage represented the bulk carrier category. Danae arrived for clearance from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before proceeding on to La Baie, QC. The ship is carrying bauxite, loaded at the west African port of Kamsar, Guinea, the world's leading bauxite exporter. Due to limits on the size of ships than can load there a whole class of bulk carriers are named "Kamsarmax". With a maximum length of 229m, ships of the class are also sized to navigate the Panama Canal, so are limited to 80,000 to 85,000 tonnes deadweight.
Built in 2012 by Penglai Zhonghai Jinglu, in Penglai, China Danae is a gearless bulker of 44,060 gt, 80,989 dwt. The ship arrived during the late evening June 14 and sailed late morning today. It is destined for Rio Tinto Alcan's unloading facility in Port Alfred. Its cargo will feed the giant aluminum production complex in the Saguenay region.
Intermittent fog during the day did not seem to delay shipping to any degree, but some ships did perhaps sneek in or out more or less invisibly. The Kingston class HMCS Moncton wearing its commemorative disruptive paint scheme, was one of them. The camouflage was applied to the vessel as a tribute to
vessels that served during World War II's Battle of the Atlantic.
The fog was thicker in a seaward direction, but as it lifted it also revealed container ship activity at PSA Halifax. The MSC Nuria remained hidden at Pier 42, but the ZIM Luanda could be seen at Pier 42, even if the tops of idle cranes were not.
The 40,030 gt, 50,697 dwt ship dating from 2009 has a capacity of 4253 TEU. Samsumg Shipbuilding + Heavy Industry Co Ltd built the ship at its Koje (now khown as Geoje) shipyard. The ship is a long time regular caller on the ZIM Container Atlantic (ZCA) route.
There was only one herring seiner in Halifax today. The Morning Star arrived in mid-morning and sailed at noon time after unloading its catch to tank trucks. (The gull escorts accompanied the boat in from sea).
The difference in size between the Danae and Morning Star presented quite a contrast.
Autoport received an unsual vessel, the Grande Togo one of about 27 Container / RoRo's operated by the Grimaldi Group. (Grimaldi also owns the Atlantic Container Line, which has five more ConRos.) The ships of this increasingly rare type usually operate between Europe and Africa, where they can handle a wide variety of cargo at all kinds of ports. Grimaldi is one of the last operators of ConRos of any substantial number. Its presence on a transatlantic run is certainly an "one of".
Built in 2011 by Uljanik Shipyard in Pula, Croatia, it is a 47,232 gt, 26,650 dwt ship with a capacity of 1318 TEU and 3037 cars. It is equipped with two cranes (probably of 40 tonne SWL capacity).
Of note are the truck cab/chassis units stowed on the open deck. It must be the first time in many years that vehicles have been seen here in the clear like this. There is some evidence of protective panels on the front grillles of some of the cabs, but they must have taken at bit of a saltwater shower en route. The ship is not taking the usual transatlantic route. Although it loaded in Antwerp, Jun 3-6, it also called on Vigo, Spain June 8-9 before embarking on its transatlantic voyage.
Another consignment of wind farm pylons arrived this afternoon on the GPO Sapphire. The ship is a fleet mate of GPO Grace which delivered a similar cargo in May.
The six pylons, including pilings, bases and towers will be assembled and transferred to the installation vessel Orion at the IEL pier in Dartmouth. The Orion is currently installing the first six units in the Vineyard Wind project off Massachusetts.
There is one more type of vessel, not covered in the above "catalog" and that is pleasure craft. While Halifax is home to scores of small craft, from PWCs on up (see yesterday's post), it is also a way point for larger vessels en route to and from the various pleasure ports of the world. Two such "boats" are in port now, and are perhaps worthy of mention.
Epiphany (with the "i" given as "!") is a 132 gt motor sailer built in 2003 in New Zealand. It previously carried the names Nephele and Ipanema. The 34m x 8m aluminum hulled craft can accommodate six guests and five crew (in 3 cabins). It arrived from Newport June 12. Its mast is visible from blocks away.
On the other side of the pier, the motor yacht Vive la Vie provides something of a contrast. It is a 60 m long miniature ship of 1277 gt, built in 2009. Its more spacious hull can cater to 12 guests in six cabins and has eight double berth cabins for crew. It arrived from Gibraltar June 13.
These two craft are tied up at a new timber pier built on the site of the old Foundation dock, which to my mind was a lot more interesting when it was home to the tugs of Foundation Maritime and later Eastern Canada Towing. It was a little less pedestrian friendly however.
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