Very Big Visitor - Update

 The Port of Halifax sees some large ships - usually cruise ships or container ships - but occasionally a large bulk carrier shows up. That was the case today, August 9, when the Mineral Maureen took up position in number one anchorage in the lower harbour.

It is here for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to search for the invasive LDA moth larvae. The species is prevalent in Asia, and its eggs may be laid around light fixtures. Ships that have been in Asian regions recently must be inspected, and it found free of the larvae, given clearance by the CFIA before proceeding further into Canadian waters. Canada's coniferous forests are particularly at risk of damage by the LDA species.

The Mineral Maureen is en route to Sept-Iles, QC, which, although it is major iron ore port, is in the valuable spruce forest region that produces huge quantities of pulpwood for paper and lumber, and could be harmed by an LDA moth invasion.

The HHIC (Hanjin Heavy Industry and Construction Inc) shipyard in Subic, Philippines built the ship in 2012. [The shipyard was taken over by the New York based investment firm Cerberus Capital Management LP in 2022 and is now known as Agila Subic.] First named Mineral Perth by Bocimar, it was soon renamed FMG Matilda (for a charter to Fortescue Metal Poducts) in 2012, then became Mineral Maureen in 2016. With tonnages of 106,952 gt and 205,203 dwt, it is one of the largest ships of any kind to call in Halifax. Ships of that size are too large to transit the Suez and Panama Canals and are thus called Capesize - meaning that they must round the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn instead of using the canals.

The ship's last port was Rotterdam (which can also accommodate very large ships) where it unloaded a cargo of iron ore from Saldanha Bay, South Africa. That port, 60 miles northwest of Cape Town, is the deepest port in the southern hemisphere. It exports iron ore from the Northern Cape mines, transported on a 861km (535 miles) rail line, to the dock built to load Capesize ships.

The shipowner's name "Bocimar" on the ship's side is a port manteau coined by the original founders of the company. The two Belgian companies Cobelfret and Boelwerf later took in Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) as a partner and it eventually took over complete ownership. Bocimar International NV is CMB's drybulk operator. CMB also owns Exmar and the tanker company Euronav, among many others. All are controlled by the Saverys family.

Normally CFIA inspections take only a few hours, but the ship is scheduled to remain in port until tomorrow.  It may be possible to get a better picture by then, if so I will add it to this post. [Drizzly rain and fog, off and on, limited photo ops today.]

Update:

August 10: The ship remained at anchor until late morning, allowing for some more pictures.

From bow on the Mineral Maureen shows off its 50 meter breadth.

(That is the Oceanex Sanderling at Autoport, in the background.)

 

The ship is 299.9 meters long.

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