US Navy visitor and other foggy arrivals plus news

 The USNS Robert E. Peary T-AKE-5 arrived in Halifax this afternoon, June 7 for a courtesy visit.

 Robert E. Peary emerges out of the fog inside Maugher's Beach, still sounding its fog signal, a surprisingly soft low tone.

Although not a fighting ship per se, (it is armed) it was built to support fighting ships by carrying vital supplies such as ammunition, dry stores, including provisions, and repair materials. A unit of the Lewis and Clark class of dry cargo ships, it was built by NASSCO, the National Steel Shipbuilding Corp in San Diego and entered service in 2008. It displaces 23,852 long tons light, 40,298 long tons loaded, and has a cargo capacity of 5,910 long tons. It is also equipped with replenishment at sea cargo handling gear. It also carries a pair of Kighthawk helicopters and decoy launchers.

 

The tugs Atlantic Willow and Atlantic Bear assist the ship to its berth at Navy Jetty Bravo.

USNS Robert E. Peary is owned by the United States Navy but is operated by the United States Military Sealift Command and thus is not a commissioned ship of the United States Navy. It carries the USNS (United States Navy Ship) prefix to its name and has a civilian crew of up to 143 with a military contingent of 49 for specific duties.
It is interesting that the ship arrived one day after the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing in Normandy during the Second World War. There was a large commemorative event held in France, but there seemed to be very little notice paid in Halifax, despite the ports strategic role in World War II and preparations for the invasion.

It is also of interest that the ship was named after the arctic explorer Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary whose many achievements in the north have been overshadowed by his now discredited claim to have reached the North Pole in 1909. 

Also  emerging from the fog and sounding its much louder fog signal earlier in the day was the feeder container ship Contship Art, sailing for ZIM's CFX service. The "reverb time" of its signal echoing off buildings on the Dartmouth side of the harbour was worthy of any cathedral.

The ship was built by Jangsu Yangzijiang Shipyard in Jiangyin in 2014 as Taipei Trader. It was renamed Cap Avatele on delivery and renamed Taipei Trader in 2016. It is a 9932 gt, 13,063 dwt vessel with a capacity of 1102 TEU including 220 reefers and carries two 45 tonne SWL cranes. As Taiepi Trader it called in Halifax for the CFX service in 2020 -2021. It was renamed Contship Art in 2022.

By the time the ship made it to Bedford Basin the fog had become a light mist so there was a clear view as it approached the PSA Fairview Cove terminal.

A late afternoon arrival also appeared through the fog, which had thinned out a bit offshore. The oddly named Hellas Revenger was in the clear while the anchored ONE Falcon had become faintly visible well offshore.

The Hellas Revenger inbound from Antwerp for Imperial Oil took the main channel, and did not use tethered escort tugs. The outbound Oceanex Sanderling gave the tanker lots of room by taking the western channel which involved making the big dogleg off Point Pleasant, thus appearing in broadside.

The Hellas Revenger built in 2016 by Hyundai, Mipo is a 29,410 gt, 49,975 dwt Long Range 1 size tanker. Owner Latsco Shipping Ltd of Athens, was founded by John L. Latsis in the 1940s and carries the letter "L" (instead of the Greek Lambda Λ) on its ships' funnels. Now strictly a tanker owner, it has a fleet of more than 36 tankers of all types.

Of note in the harbour was the arrival of the Fundy Monarch a herring seiner scouting for fish. The June arrival of herring seiners has diminshed from up to a dozen boats to only a handful or sometimes none at all in recent years. If the scout boat finds the migrating mass of herring it will call in other boats. (There is a moratorium on herring fishing in the Gulf of St.Lawrence, in force since 2022, and qutoas have been cut elsewhere.)

Built in 2014 by Chantier Naval Forillon in Gaspé, the Fundy Monarch was originally called Dual Venture (the second seiner of that name) and was renamed when acquired by Connors Brothers of Blacks Harbour, NB.

Also at work in the harbour was the new pilot boat Foundation Pilot. After arriving in Halifax on May 25 aboard the Acadia Desgagnés the boat completed trials and has been working a regular shift all this week.

The brand new aluminum hulled boat was built by Astilleros Armon in Puerto de Vegas, Spain and is registered at 60.54 gross tons. It is of conventional twin screw configuration with engines totaling 735 bhp.

On the other hand, although far from new, the tug Mister Joe (built in 1964!) continues to work hard for McNally Construction Ltd. Its current assignment is to shift mud scows from the dredging work at Halifax Shipyard to the settling beds at the IEL and Mobil docks in Woodside.

The Mister Joe takes the mud scow Pitts No.1 on the hip and departs from the Shipyard. The scow was  filled by the crane /barge Canadian Argosy as part of preparations for a pier extension project.

McNally Construction (the Canadian subsidiary of Weeks Marine - in turn owned by Kiewit Corporation since 2023) also added to its Halifax fleet this evening, June 7, with the arrival from the Great Lakes of the small tug / workboat W.A.Reid. The boat has been transferred from Weeks by inland waterways from New Jersey to Belleville, ON thence on down the St.Lawrence. With no sleeping accommodation on board, the tug has been leap frogging port to port since May 25. It will join sister tug D.D.Kaufman which has been working on the BIO pier extension since August 2023. More on these new tugs in companon blog Tugfax for December 21, 2023 and a future post.

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