Send Off

 As the cruise season draws to a close - there is only one more ship scheduled - it was also time to see the last of a ship that made five calls in Halifax in 2025.

The Seabourn Sojourn made its first call in Halifax this year on September 10 when it berthed stern-in at Pier 23...  

...and was back again September 19, docking at the same berth, but this time bow-in...

 The ship was built in 2010 by T.Mariotti in Genoa as a "Mega Yacht" of 32,346 gt. It has 225 staterooms and can accommodate 458 passengers and 330 crew. 

It arrived  on its last visit November 4 on an eleven day cruise from Montreal to Miami. It remained in port over night, likely due to bad weather, and sailed yesterday afternoon November 5.

 An unofficial low altitude flyover by a pair of military helicopters saw the ship off for what may be its last ever Halifax call. It will make its last cruise for Seabourn Cruise Line in May 2026 in the Caribbean and will then be handed over to Mitsui Ocean Cruises for short term cruises in Japanese waters starting in September 2026. 

 Mitsui also operates the Mitsui Fuji the former Seabourn Odyssey and this ship is to be renamed Mitsui Sakura. (Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry blossom, the national flower of Japan. It can also mean the ornamental cherry tree itself.)

The last scheduled ship of the 2025 Halifax cruise season is the AIDAdiva due November 19. 

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Big on Reefers

 

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services operates two services to the Port of Halifax. The ZCA is a weekly trans Atlantic route from the eastern Mediterranean and is one of the oldest and largest customers of the Port of Halifax. The most recent arrival on that route was the ZIM Atlantic on November 3. It remained in port, until early November 5, as a storm passed offshore.

A newer operation is the  ZCX weekly service that runs from Halifax to the line's Kingston, Jamaica hub for Caribbean cargo and on to South America and return via New York.

The latter route also serves as a feeder service for the former route. It has been using a variety of short term charter ships that have not been re-named with ZIM names.

One of the ZCX ships, which made its first arrival here December 22, 2023 is the Annie B. Its most recent arrival was yesterday, November 5, from New York.

 Built in 2003 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan the 28,596 gt, 39,383 dwt ship has a capacity of 2826 TEU including 554 reefers. Its original name was Cardonia (still visible in welded letters on the bow) but was renamed on delivery as CMA CGM Ukraine, a name it carried until 2006 when it became Cardonia again. It was given the name of Annie B during the summer of 2023.

 Although lightly loaded it was carrying a large number of reefer containers. ZIM's reefers are labeled "ZIMonitor" to promote the company's tracking and control system for refrigerated cargoes. The system is "human-operated" and uses GPS to record the location of the containers and receives and sends signals to monitor and control temperature for perishables.

On sailing today, November 6,  the Annie B had slightly fewer reefers visible on deck. (We could have used some temperature control in Nova Scotia as there was significant snow fall at higher elevations, with a non-accumulating mixture of rain and snow along the coast.) 

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CMA CGM Libra - not so big

 A ship that once claimed the record as the largest container ship to call in Halifax returned today, only six years later without any special notice.

CMA CGM Libra was built in 2009 by Hyundai, Ulsan, and first called in Halifax January 12, 2019. Registering 131,332 gt, 131,235 dwt it had a nominal capacity of 11,356 TEU. Its owners, CMA CGM, have since given a figure of 11,388 TEU. Whichever the figure, it was the first ship to arrive in Halifax with a capacity greater than 11,000 TEU.

When it arrived in Halifax today (photo above), it appeared to be loaded to near capacity - at least by number of boxes on deck - as compared to its appearance in 2011...

 

It did not hold the size record for very long - barely a month - until it was eclipsed by fleet mate CMA CGM Thalassa then by several others until the number to exceed today is in the 16,000 TEU range - nearly 50% larger capacity than this ship.

One record it is likely to hold however is the largest ship to call in Halifax with unified superstructure aft. Most ships of this size and certainly larger ones have the "island bridge" mounted forward of midships.

The CMA CGM Libra is working the Ocean Alliance CJX service and its last port was Colombo. Based on the departure date from that port of October 7, I would say it sailed via the Cape of Good Hope.

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Shelter or Not

  The confluence of two low pressure storm centres off Cape Breton today, November 4, is bringing heavy rain, which the region needs badly, but also some less desirable very high winds and rough seas. Regional ferry services between Saint John, NB and Digby, NS; Caribou, NS and Wood Islands PE; and North Sydney, NS and Port aux Basques, NL have all had cancellations or delays. In an unusual move Bay Ferries advanced the departure time of the Fundy Rose from Saint John this morning by three hours to get a crossing in ahead of the bad weather.

Other ships depending on their destination, opted to remain in port or to bypass a port or to take shelter until conditions improved. Some ships rerouted to take a southern sweep to pass behind the north easterly moving storm (technically an extratropical cyclone).

 Last evening the cement carrier NACCArgonaut en route from Providence, RI to Port Daniel, QC, and in ballast, put in to Halifax rather than being caught out in the Gulf of St.Lawrence. The ship tied up at Pier 26.

The Canadian flag ship was built by Kyukyo Shipyard Corp in Shimonoseki in 2003, as a gearless bulk carrier named Arklow Wave. In 2017 - 2018 it was rebuilt as a cement carrier with a pneumatic self-unloading system. Nova Algoma Cement Carriers renamed the ship NACC Toronto briefly but later in 2018 changed its name to NACC Argonaut after Toronto's professional football team, the Argonauts. Its tonnages are now 9255 gt, 13,977 dwt, or 12,576 dwt in summer freshwater.

Two fleet mates the NACC Providence and NACC New Yorker, opted to shelter deep in St. Margaret's Bay (to the southwest of Halifax) off Queensland and Mill Cove respectively.
 

After closing out the cruise season in previous ports, the Allura opted not to call in Halifax this morning (November 4),  instead continuing southbound to Boston. Two other cruise ships did decide to call.

The Victory 1 arrived mid-day from the Great Lakes via Charlottetown and the Strait of Canso.

 The former Cape May Light, built in 2001 by Atlantic Marine in Jacksonville, FL, has been in Halifax previously under several of its former names: Sea Voyager, Saint Laurent and Ocean Voyager. It can carry up to 210 passengers in 105 suites and has a crew of 61. Its "retro" look is supposed to recall the grand inland passengers ships of the early 20th century. It has a substantial rub rail and fenders to prevent damage while transiting the St.Lawrence Seaway locks (and the Canso lock, which was built to the same dimensions.)

Due later today is the Seabourn Sojourn. It will remain in port until tomorrow afternoon.

One ship that opted to depart today was the container ship MSC Yang R, a first time caller here on the Canada Express route from Malaga, Sines, Antwerp and Le Havre, it is bound for Montreal. Since it will be following in the storm's wake, so to speak, it may do some slow steaming to avoid catching up.

A product of Samsung Shipbuilding & Heavy Industry Co Ltd in Geoje in 2002 it sailed initially under the name Cap San Rafael. In 2012 it was renamed  Cap Doukato until 2017 when it became the Doukato and in the same year took the name Xin Feng Yang Zi Jiang which it carried until 2021 when it was acquired by MSC and got its present name. A 40,085 gt, 51,059 dwt ship, it has a capacity of 3739 TEU with 800 reefer plugs.

On sailing today, the ship appeared very lightly loaded, having off loaded enough cargo here to reduce its draft here to suit St.Lawrence River conditions.

The container ship ZIM Atlantic arrived yesterday and remains in port until early tomorrow morning (November 5).

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IT

 IT International Telecom Canada Inc (to quote their website) "is a privately owned subsea network integrator that designs, installs, and maintains marine cable systems. IT is an ISO-certified company, with locations in Barbados, Montreal, Halifax and marine operations on the east and west coast of North America."

The company's marine base in Halifax is at Pier 9A, and ships of its fleet can be seen there refitting or preparing for submarine cable repair or cable laying projects. Aside from administrative space in the former transit shed on the pier, there is storage and maintenance space for specialized equipment and submarine cable. A moveable bridge is used to transfer cable from the shed to cable ships alongside.

The structure on the extreme right of the photo is the cable transfer bridge, projecting out from the shed toward the ship. Alongside is the cable ship IT Intrepid. The ship has a gantry / A-Frame on the stern used to launch and retrieve its ROV and plough. There is also a cable sheave on the stern which is used to feed the cable out.

The Barbados flag IT Intrepid arrived in Halifax October 23 from Florida and loaded cable for its next project. Since that project is in Canada, IT applied for a temporary coasting license which allows the foreign ship to operate in Canadian waters when there is no suitable Canadian ship available for the work. The license has apparently been granted and the ship sailed today for the Gulf of St.Lawrence.

It will lay a 160 km long fire optic cable from Sept-Iles to Ste-Anne-des-Monts. The work includes trenching, laying and burying the cable itself (all in one operation), using the ship's special Subsea Cable Plough. As the name implies the Sunoque III *cable is the third in a series of transGulf cables. Reports indicate that they are co-owned by Telus and Hydro-Quebec, and Bell has a right of use.

 I have described the now legendary IT Intrepid on this blog several times over the years, but the April 27, 2013 post is the most complete.

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 * SU = sud (south)

    NO = nord (north)  

     QUE =Québec

Morning Prosperity

 

Auto carriers carry cars of many models and brands, and those ships that are equipped for RoRo cargo can handle a wide assortment of other cargo. Halifax's Autoport handles mostly automobiles, and sends the imports on to destination by rail (Autoport Ltd is owned by CN Rail) or truck (CN also owns a specialist auto haul truck company).

There is also RoRo cargo that is not handled through Autoport. Some of that traffic is handled by PSA Halifax through their Fairview Cove terminal and the Atlantic Hub (South End Container Terminal). Atlantic Container Line (ACL) is the primary RoRo carrier [see yesterday's post] at Fairview Cove.

Oceanex, with its weekly service to St.John's takes on and discharges RoRo cargo at Fairview Cove and handles cars (generally new cars) at Autoport. 

This week the Oceanex Sanderling remained in port Friday night (October 31) and made a rare Saturday (November 1) departure for St.John's - likely due to the passing post tropical storm.

 TSMI makes its weekly trips to Argentia and St-Pierre et Miquelon from the South End Container Terminal and their ship, the Nolhan Ava, uses the RoRo ramp at Pier 39 / 41 (no longer visible from shore) which was built as part of the original Halterm container terminal. RoRo cargo can include vehicles from France.

Pier 9C in the Richmond Terminal, operated by Logistec, handles the rest of the RoRo traffic which can consist of the proverbial "soup to nuts" of construction, mining, forestry and other industrial machinery and equipment.

Today's (November 2) visitor at Pier 9C was the Morning Prosperity with the usual array of identifiable and unidentifiable cargo. The ship, belonging to the Eukor fleet, is operating on parent company Wallenius Wilhelmsen's North Atlantic route from Antwerp, Goteborg, Bremerhaven and Southampton and on to US east coast ports. 

 Hyundai Samho built the ship in 2017 with a gross tonnage of 66,802 and deadweight tonnage of 22.438, with a capacity of 7400 Car Equivalent Units. It is equipped with a stern ramp of 150 tonnes capacity and a smaller side ramp.

 Aside from the usual JCBs and wheeled cargo, two giant pipe joints or valves arrived secured to a MAFI trailer and were backed down to the pier (which, due to the state of the tide, was nearly level with the ship's main cargo deck.)

 On completion of work at Pier 9C at mid-day the ship moved to Autoport. It offloaded new cars there and sailed early this evening (November 2) for New York.

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Didn't help

 

Halifax Shipyard, November 1, future CCGS Donjek displaying a Blue Jays flag. 

("Canada's team" the Toronto Blue Jays, lost the World Series of Baseball to the Los Angeles Dodgers November 1.) 

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After the Blow

 After creating mass devastation in the Caribbean Hurricane Melissa weakened as it made its way northward. By the time it reached our latitude (45 degrees north or so) October 31- November 1, it was a post tropical storm and tracked well offshore. There was still wind in the 30 kph (18 mph) range with gusts over 60 kph (37 mph) which was enough to put unnecessary strain on mooring lines and jetties.With plenty of advance warning, ships took precautions by doubling up on lines or moving to better places. Some ships remained in port until the storm passed.

At mid-day October 31 the coastal tanker Algoma Acadian moved from Irving Oil's Woodside terminal to anchorage number 12 in Bedford Basin. The oil terminal facility is quite exposed and not built to take the strain of bad weather. There is the added risk of parting an oil line, so ships generally move off in bad weather.

 Following soon after to number 10 anchorage in the Basin was the bulk carrier Eva Bright. It moved from Pier 27 where it had been transferring cargo from the AP Revelin (see yesterday's post and others). 

The AP Revelin moved to Pier 26 yesterday to free up the Pier 27 berth for last night's arrival of the Gotland  for Nirint Shipping.

Using its own cranes it discharged the latest cargo of nickel sulfides from Cuba. I can't track the ship's route to Halifax precisely, but it sailed from Moa October 25, well ahead of the hurricane. Moa was severely impacted by hurricane Melissa and detailed reports are hard to find because the eastern part of the island is still without power or most communications.

The ship is due to sail to sail this evening (November 1) for Villagarcia, Bilbao and Rotterdam.
 

The Gotland is a general cargo vessel of 12,772 gt, 17,400 dwt built in 2011 by the Xinshun Shipyard Group. It can carry about 900 TEU (630 at 14 tonnes), has 60 reefer plugs and has three cranes: one crane of 80 tonnes SWL and two cranes of 150 tonnes SWL which are combinable. 

The ship was built as the Rickmers Tianjin but was sold in 2015 to Gotland Schiffahrts. It has retained the famous green paint of the legendary Rickmers Group.  

 Another arrival from late October 31 was the EF Ava for the Icelandic shipping company Eimskip. It arrived on the regular Green Line service from Portland, ME and sailed today, November 1, for Reykjavik. From there it will head for the Faroe Islands, then Denmark and England and will remain operating in European waters for some time.

The ship seems to have missed the worst of the weather, but there will still be high seas to contend with. Ferry service to Newfoundland has been cancelled for today as the remnants of the storm work north easterly.

The EF Ava has been a regular for Eimskip since about 2018. Its original name was OPDR Rotterdam but that was changed on delivery in 2008 to OPDR Tanger for a ten year charter to Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampshiffs Rederei. Its current name, given in 2018, includes the initials EF which stands for ElbFeeder, which is a German company owned by Eimskip, and which builds and charters ships to Eimskip.

The EF Ava as built in 2008 by Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding and is reported to be 7545 gt, 8168dwt with a capacity of 698 TEU with 120 reefer plugs. It is gearless. 

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Thin on Top

 I don't pay close attention to Atlantic Container Lines ships - they come and go, usually twice weekly- one eastbound and one westbound - and are more or less a fixture of Halifax Harbour. Today however I took particular note of the Atlantic Sun  when it was alongside at PSA Fairview Cove. 

Through a rainy-streaked windshield (thanks to Post Tropical Storm Melissa, passing by well out to sea, there was no SUN) the ship appeared to have very few containers on deck.

Sister ship Atlantic Sky had less than a full deck load when I noticed it on September 11.  

After the rush of imports for late fall (US Thanksgiving and Christmas consumer goods), cargo volumes tend to tail off, so I should not be too surprised. East bound cargoes are always lighter than westbound too, and as today's arrival is eastbound from Norfolk I guess it is to be expected that it would be lightly loaded. 

Atlantic Container Line is owned by the Italian Grimaldi Group and is one of the longest standing customers of the port.

ACL runs five 100,430 gt. 49,600 dwt, ConRo ships Atlantic Star, Sail, Sea, Sky and Sun built in 2015-2016. In addition to a modest 3800 TEU container capacity, the have immense RoRo space of 6412 linear meters, served by a 420 tonne capacity stern ramp. 

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More Firsts, Updates, but first an Oops

Oops

Following upon yesterday's Firsts (October 29) is a needed correction regarding the new Canadian Coast Guard ice breaking patrol vessel Donjek. 

In fact it was rolled out in two sections (not in one piece as stated yesterday) which were very quickly aligned  ready for joining.

What I saw yesterday was the bow section, which later emerged by itself, then was moved laterally in position in front of the other (western) door. (Although it appeared to have burst through a blue screen, it was some distance away from the roll up curtain/door.)

 

 

This apparently allowed the remainder of the ship to be rolled out and moved well away from the assembly hall.

 

The bow was moved into position in very short order, and was soon aligned ready to be joined. The red and white power plant chimneys and Canadian Tire containers in the background and foreground made for a colourful scene.

It will be interesting to see the ship in one piece and to compare it to the original RCN design. The two CCG version ships will have some differences in accommodation and other features such as helicopter facilities. The recent transfer of the Canadian Coast Guard from the federal government's Department of Fisheries and Oceans to the Department of National Defence, so far at least, does not signal a militarization of the CCG. It will still be a civilian service, with civilian crews, and as such will mean some very different features in these ships.

More Firsts

Among today's (October 30) firsts were an auto carrier and general cargo ship.

The NOCC Atlantic is a member of the Norwegian Car Carrier AS fleet. Built in 2009 by the Samjin Shipbuilding Industries Co Ltd shipyard in Weihai, China, it is a 60,868 gt, 22,500 dwt ship with a capacity of 6754 CEU. It has a 125 tonne capacity stern ramp and four hoistable car decks to make space for oversize loads. It also has a small side ramp.

 The ship is on an unusual routing. Instead of coming from western Europe it is arriving from Pyeongtaek, Masan and Ulsan, South Korea. Asian car makers are beginning to send cars to east coast North American cities directly, rather than facing congestion and other issues with west coast ports. Subaru is reported to be one of the manufacturers.

The general cargo ship is the Lady Diana from the well known Netherlands small ship operator Wijjnne & Barends  (part of the Spliethoff Group). A typical European style ship with box shaped holds, it was built in 2020 by Hexing Shipbuilding & Repair in Wenling, China. The 2862 gt, 4092 dwt ship is gearless and has a traveling gantry to move hatch covers.

The ship arrived from Belfast, so must be carrying aircraft components. A mobile crane was brought in to unload the cargo. (It looked to me like they first rigged some cargo-specific spreaders that stay in Halifax for use by the stevedores, Logistec.)

Update

As reported yesterday the disabled ship AT Revelin completed cargo transfer to the bulker Eva Bright at Pier 27-28, using the latter's cranes. They employed buckets from one ship or the other - more likely the AP Revelin.

 

The Eva Bright then moved to Number 10 anchorage in Bedford Basin...

 

...and AP Revelin was moved, cold move, by tugs to Pier 26, astern of the tug Ezra Sol.

 

 The Eva Bright did not appear fully loaded and the AP Revelin did not appear fully unloaded, so this operation may be reversed to complete the work after the predicted bad weather (wind and rain from post tropical storm Melissa) passes in the next two days.

 Lasts

Cruise ships are making their last appearances for the season, and in a traditional gesture, ships often salute the port in thanks for hospitality on their final departure. This evening (October 30) the Brilliance of the Seas sent out three window rattling blasts when it sailed from Pier 22 and headed for Boston. They may be headed into some rough weather, so Bon Voyage!

The ship was built by Meyer Weft, Papenburg, Germany in 2002. It can carry 2140 passengers (double occupancy) / 2543 maximum berths, with a very busy crew of 848.
 

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A day of firsts - and lasts

 Firsts

There were some first time callers today (October 29) in Halifax. The largest and most apparent was the Norwegian Prima - a ship that exemplifies the latest trends in popular cruise ship design (said to be "minimalist" on doubtful authority). Despite its hulking shape and 20 decks it is still only the 59th largest cruise ship in the world. (It arrived last evening after dark. and berthed at Pier 22.)

 Built by Fincantieri in 2022 it registers 145,535 gt with a capacity of 3,099 passengers and 1,506 crew. Sixteen of those 20 decks are accessible to guests. 

Among the ship's features are a visual reality theatre, the largest go-kart track afloat, an overside dry slide, and other venues for entertainment and eating beyond number.

The ship is on a repositioning cruise from the Mediterranean, via Southampton, to the Caribbean. I imagined some alteration to plans would be inevitable, as the remnant of the disastrous hurricane Melissa pass offshore Nova Scotia, but the ship is scheduled to sail this evening for New York - break out the Dramamine.

A more subdued looking ship was also a first time caller in Halifax today. The Liberian flagged Koi arrived on CMA CGM's Indamex service from India for the US east coast. It appears that the ship came via the Suez Canal.CMA CGM has been an early return user of the Canal while many lines are still avoiding the Red Sea, and sailing via the Cape of Good Hope. The ship's last port was Tanger Med.

The ship was built in 2011 by Hyundai Samho as Hanjin Rotterdam but was renamed SM Savannah in 2017; then in 2020 it became DS Koi briefly until it was renamed Koi later in the same year. It is a 91,585 gt, 102,517 dwt ship with a capacity of 8586 TEU with 700 reefer plugs. It is among the largest container ships with a single superstructure. Most ships of 9,000 TEU or more have an isolated bridge structure farther forward.

Lasts

As the cruise season winds down, only half a dozen or so ships are scheduled before the season ends with the Aidadiva on November 19. There will be no more multiple ships days, so workers today retrieved the pontoons from the landing stage at Pier 24. There will be no more need for "lightering off" of passengers in ships' tenders from anchorage. [see several previous posts.]

 The removal will allow ships to tie up at the opposite side of the camber at Pier 25-26, and sure enough that began to happen. The American tug Ezra Sol arrived and tied up well in at Pier 25.

 It has returned from Norfolk, its home base, after its earlier visit September 21 to 26. On that call, it towed in the disabled AP Revelin and stood by it for a time. Now that ship has transferred cargo to the Eva Bright at nearby Pier 27, and tomorrow will be moved (cold move) to pier 26, just astern of the tug, where it will likely be rigged up for another tow.

 The AP Revelin will be going to drydock - somewhere - likely the United States, for repairs after losing its prop or a blade from the prop, and is therefore unable to move on its own. There way also be other damage related to the loss, which will also require repair. Its grain cargo will likely be taken by the Eva Bright to its original destination.

More Firsts 

We got a first glimpse at a new Canadian Coast Guard Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel as Halifax Shipyard prepares to roll out the first ship from the Assembly hall.

 To be named Domjek Glacier the ship is the first of two ships for the Canadian Coast Guard. They are variants of the Harry DeWolf class of six Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessels built for the Royal Canadian Navy. The two CCGS ships were added to the AOPV project to fill the void between completion of the RCN AOPVS and full scale work on the new RCN destroyers.

Little was revealed today, although there is some evidence of measures to be taken to resolve an issue with anchors on the RCN ships. Some plating has been removed or not yet installed over the anchor pockets. Perhaps there will be flaps over the pockets? (No more "old school" cementing the hawse pipes.)

 This is the first of the ships to be fully assembled under cover. the RCN ships were rolled out in sections and joined outdoors. The new destroyers will also be assembled indoors by all accounts.

Work is well underway at the new float out and fitting out berth at Pier 6 as Caisson number 15 was moved by McNally boats from the IEL pier in Dartmouth to the Shipyard.

Enormous amounts of fill have been trucked in from the quarry in Dartmouth to fill the caisson cells, but there will be much more to come as the cope walls are yet to be built. and the grade has to be built up to the level of the Assembly Hall.

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Inspiration at 23

 With two small cruise ships in port today, October 25, either one could have docked at Pier 23, but it was the smaller of the two that got the "inside" berth.  The larger Seabourn Sojourn, which had tied up at Pier 23 on previous visits ( see September 19 ) got the outside berth at Pier 22 while the Hanseatic Inspiration took the more sheltered inner berth of Pier 23.

Not that much shelter was required, but a brief rain and wind squall did pass over the area in the early afternoon. With a trace of rain still in the air, a faint rainbow appeared briefly over the Dartmouth shore in the background.

The Hanseatic Inspiration (the first word is capitalized on the ships' bow) dates from 2019 when it was built by Fincantieri's Norwegian subsidiary Vard. The hull/shell came from the Tulcea yard in Romania, and was completed and fitted out at the Langsten Slip in Norway.

The 15,651 gt ship can carry 230 guests in 120 state rooms and has a crew of 175. It was built to Polar 6 standards for cruises to the Arctic and Antarctic. For the latter, passenger numbers are limited to 199.

This year the ship made a Northwest Passage, west to east, August 21 to September 3. After calls in Greenland, it made its way to the Great Lakes and reached as far inland as Milwaukee visiting half a dozen Great Lakes sites en route. It then retraced its steps via most of the same ports. After calls in Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City it stopped in Tadoussac, Gaspé, the Magdalen Islands, and Charlottetown.

After some "bruisin' in the cruisin' " through the locks it was time for a little touchup work, and Pier 23 was an ideal location.

A modern day equivalent of a bosun's chair was suspended over side, allowing a lucky crew member to apply some fresh paint. The ship is equipped with a traveling window washing gantry on each side, that runs on a recessed rail above the bridge deck. The bosun's chair was suspended from that unit, with another crew member attending from above.

 After Halifax, the Hanseatic Inspiration will make a fourteen day trip to Panama then some local cruising. It departs Colon November 19 for Valparaiso and on December 5 leaves for Ushuaia where it will be based for three trips of 22 to 23 days duration, to Antarctica. On February 23, 2026 it is due to sail from Puerto Montt for Tahiti. After cruising in the Pacific it is due to sail again from Singapore in August for Halifax via the Northwest Passage, Greenland and the Great Lakes. By which time it should be due for some more paint touch up.

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Two for the South End

 

There were two late morning arrivals at the PSA Atlantic Hub today, October 24. Most container ships arrive earlier in the morning - often before sunrise, making picture taking difficult if not impossible. So today, despite backlighting, the ships were clearly visible.

First in line was the CMA CGM T. Roosevelt on the Ocean Alliance Asia-North America service USEC3, directly from Singapore - a 29 day voyage of 12,193.33 miles. 

One of six ships in the neo-Panamax A.Lincoln class it was delivered by Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2017. A 140,872 gt, 138,384 dwt ship it has a theoretical capacity of 14,855 TEU, which is also quoted as 14,414 depending on the source, and 1400 reefer plugs.

On its first trip in 2017 it was the largest ship to transit the Panama Canal and held that record until 2019. Its immense dimensions of 336m long (1202 ft) and 48m breadth (157 ft) can best be appreciated at close range when it is possible to count the number of boxes. (eighteen across and up to nine high). There is also a large lashing frame structure on the after deck to secure containers to secure containers in case of following seas.

 

As tugs swung the ship around to slide back in alongside Pier 41, the next ship was making its way in close behind to tie up at Pier 42. MSC Kilimanjaro IV is on the Med-Canada route from Sines, Portugal, bound for Montreal.

 Despite a retro-fitted exhaust gas scrubber, the ship was able to contribute some particulate matter to the pristine air of Halifax harbour.

Built in 2006 by the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Group it comes in at 40,110 gt, 50,689 dwt with a capacity of 4253 TEU. It operated as the ZIM Livorno until 2017 (and was a regular caller in Halifax), then ran as the Livorno from 2017 to 2019. It carried the name X-Press Kilimanjaro from 2019 to 2024 when it received its current name. Oddly, Roman the numeral in MSC ship's names usually refers to the next largest 1,000 TEU capacity, and so this ship would normally have a V for 5,000 TEU. It is possible therefore that the 4253 TEU number is over stated.

 As the ship turned to back in to the berth, the exhaust gas scrubber tower could be seen aft of the regular funnel, with a large exposed pipe angling in to the original funnel casing.

The ship will offload some containers in Halifax to reduce draft. Record low water levels on the St.Lawrence River mean more business for Halifax as ships drop off cargo here before sailing to Montreal and then top up again outbound. Currently ship are restricted to 11 meters draft in the freshwater port of Montreal. This is well below optimal seagoing (salt water) draft for ships in the 5,000 to 6,000 TEU size. To take advantage of that capacity, and maximize efficiency, ships are making the calls in Halifax. This of course, inadvertently makes for an express service through Halifax, cutting off a day or more from the transit time to inland destinations, by moving the "extra" containers by rail. 

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