In the Fog

 Fog season is upon us again. May and June are notorious for fog in Halifax, and therefore frustrating for shipwatchers. Some ships come and go, totally unseen, but others may be barely visible if the rain lets up. Grabbing the right moment for a look is largrly a matter of luck. Today's (May 31) arrival at Pier 9C, the BBC Echo, did provide a brief glance, late this afternoon when work had wound up for the day.

BBC Echo arrived from Belfast with a mixed bag of cargo - what appeared to be a transformer, which was loaded onto a rail car, and a number of white shrink wrapped objects that appear to be UFOs. It also took the opportunity to refuel from tank trucks.

 

The ship was built in 2010 by Estaleiros Navais deViano do Castelo in Spain. It was launched with the name Delphinus J but was renamed Industrial Echo on delivery. In 2015 it became Delphinus J again then Industrial Echo in 2016. It carried that name until 2019 when it joined BBC Chartering and the name BBC Echo was applied.

Measuring 8750 gt and 10,308 dwt it is equipped with two 250 tonne capacity cranes. As a multi-purpose, heavy lift ship it is also rated for 628 TEU.

In recent months it has made two transtlantic crossings. In March It was reported in Brazil then sailed to Trinidad and Tobago in April, and to New York April 12 to 17 and Morehead City April 28. It arrived in Montoir, France May 9 departing May 10 for Belfast, arrriving there May 19 and sailing for Halifax May 21.

The ship may have more cargo to discharge here, and if so I may add to this post later. 

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Big Ship Day

 Today was a day (May 26) for big ships to arrive and sail from Halifax.

The first departure this morning was the heavy load carrier GPO Emerald, which arrived yesterday and berthed at Pier 27-28. It is carrying some wind generator pylons, en route to the Empire Wind 1 project off New York City.

The GPO Emerald is one of four sister ships built by the China Shipbuilding Corp in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. All but one of the ships called here previously with similar cargoes for the Vineyard wind project. Although not large in terms of tonnage, at 46,091 gt, 63,581 dwt, they can carry very large deck cargoes - as it is was doing today.

When it was in Halifax August 22, 2023 [https://shipfax.blogspot.com/2023/08/gpo-emerald.html] it was in a much more photographical position.  

A noon time arrival was the Capesize bulk carrier AM Tarang, which went to anchor in the lower harbour for Canadian Food Inspection Agency examination.
 

 The ship dates from 2019 when it was delivered by Shangahi Wai Gao Qiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd with the name True Valour. It was very soon after renamed AM Tarang. Its China based ship finance company owners placed it under the management of Synergy Maritime of Singapore. It is a 94,408 gt, 180,885 dwt ship of 292m length and 45m depth. With the recent enlargements to the Suez Canal it may now be able to use that waterway, but it is the current political climate that will force it to seek safer routes.

In March it loaded iron ored in Dalrymple, Australia and was next reported May 5 to 10 in Fos, France, then Musel Arnao (Gijon) Spain, May 17 to19. 

After receiving clearance the ship sailed late this afternoon for Port Cartier, QC, where it will likely load iron ore.

The only other arrival of note was the CMA CGM Lapérouse on the Ocean Alliance's Asia-North America service. Its last port was Colombo and it also sailed here via the Cape of Good Hope.

The ship was built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd in Geoje, and registers 151,446 gt and 162,422 dwt with a capacity of 13,830 TEU. It has 800 reefer points on deck for 40 ft containers.

To complete the day's ship movements the autocarrier Marvelous Ace also sailed. It was covered fully in yesterday's post when it arrived from Emden with a cargo of cars from the Volkswagen family. See https://shipfax.blogspot.com/2025/05/you-look-marvelous.html

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You look Marvelous

 Ships of the Mitsui OSK Line (otherwise known as MOL) always seem to look good. We don't see as many of them in Halifax as we once did because their container line has merged into the Ocean Network Express (ONE) along with the other major Japanese container lines (NYK and K-Line). 

MOL's Auto Carrier Express (ACE) ships remain separate and they do call in Halifax regularly, and as usual they always look well maintained. Today's arrival, the Marvelous Ace was no exception. 

Imabari Zosen built the Marvelous Ace in 2006 and it comes in at 59,161 gt, 19,401 dwt with a capacity (variously reported) of 6141 standard CEU. Despite its age, and last regulatory drydocking many years ago, its colours still look fresh. (The white marks on the hull near the waterline locate push points for tugs.)

The ship has made an interesting circuit since its last visit in Halifax April 6 of this year (bad weather - no photo). It had arrived from Sparrows Point, Maryland and returned to the same port, then went on to Freeport, TX and Veracruz, MX on April 19. It was next reported April 29 at Sparrows Point again. (Volkswagen operates its own import facility at Sparrows Point, in the Port of Baltimore, processing 120,000 cars a year.)

 

On May 1 it made a brief call in Davisville, RI and apparently crossed the Atlantic to Emden, loaded (for Volkswagen) and sailed directly back to Halifax.

 

According to the order sheet, the ship will remain in port over night and is due to sail late tomorrow afternoon. Judging by the number of VW (and family) cars and mini vans already on the ground at Autoport, the company must be anticipating a very good sales year - at least in Canada.

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Thun Vettern - passing through

 Today, May 26, saw another general purpose, intermediate size chemical and product tanker in port. Yesterday, May 25 it was the Swan Biscay with a delivery for Irving Oil, but today's caller had no cargo for Halifax.

 

Instead the Thun Vettern anchored in the lower harbour, probably for Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) clearance before sailing on for Trois-Rivières and Montréal.

This is the ship's first call in Canada since it was delivered last year in China, so it is subject to examination for invasive species from Asia before proceeding further into Canadian waters. The ship apparently passed muster, and sailed at noon time.

China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Yangzhou delivered the ship in June of 2024, to owners Erik Thun AB of Sweden.  It is a 12,763 gt, 17,945 dwt chemical and product tanker. Built to Ice Class 1A, it is capable of year round work in the North Sea and Baltic. It appears to have twelve tanks, which are epoxy lined, and it is a dual fuel ship (LNG/ LFB or gasoil) with a battery hybrid system, and is set up to plug into shore power. It is assigned to the Gothia Tanker Alliance pool. Its recent movements have been in the Antwerp, Rotterdam, Norway, Sweden and Poland range, sailing from Gdynia May 13.

The Thun Vettern* is one of Thun's Vinga series (all ship's names beginning with "V"), which exemplify the owner's responsible environmental policies. We are reminded of this by the slogan "environmental care with quality" along with a flag logo and the Thun Tankers name emblazoned on the slop tanks. (The interesting flag logo can also be seen on the ship's funnel.)

The ship is managed by Furetank Rederi AB, the Swedish joint venture partner with the Canadian company Algoma Tankers in Furebear. That company ordered ten ice class dual fuel tankers similar in size and specifications to this ship and also for Baltic work in the Gothia Alliance pool.  Five ships have been delivered so far and are trading in Europe.

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* Vettern or Vättern,is the largest lake in Sweden

Updates and New

Update from yestrday's post: the parcel tanker Swan Biscay did indeed move to lower harbour anchorage this morning, May 25. It was attended by some harbour craft - possibly divers - and ordered a pilot for 1500 hrs ADT.

Despite persistent drizzle, it was clear enough to get a better look at the ship as it prepared to sail - destination Houston.

 

New to Halifax Today's arrival at Pier 9C is the Wagenborg multi-purpose general cargo ship Arneborg. Despite the rain it was able to offload another aircraft fuselage from Belfast. These oversize units were previously carried by ACL RoRo, but recently they have been arriving on general cargo ships and unloaded by ships' cranes.

 Arneborg is a 11,864 gt, 17,356 dwt ship built in 2006 by Hudong-Zhonghua and is a typical open hatch (no overhangs) double skin type with moveable tween decks in two box shaped holds, stengthened for heavy cargoes. Its three 60 tonne SWL cranes can work in tandem and it carries its own spreader beam. By the time I caught up with the ship, it had completed work and its hatches were sealed up again. Some pontoon type tween deck sections were stowed on deck just forward of the bridge and on number one hatch cover.

Wagenborg ships are regular callers at St.Lawence River ports, loading forest products and aluminium. Its next port is shown as Baie-Comeau where it could load aluminium ingots or paper. 

 

The ship turned off the berth at Pier 9C without tug assistance, using its bow thruster.

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Parcel for Irving

 The small (by current standards) chemical tanker Swan Biscay arrived at Irving Oil's Woodside terminal today, May 24, from New York. At 5,206 gt and 6,711 dwt it is one of the smallest tankers to call in Halifax recently. Most foreign flag product tankers are in the 50,000 dwt size and domestic coastal tankers in the 20,000 to 30,000 dwt range.

Chemical tankers are not required to be large however as they frequently carry small quantities of cargoes, and often of several different types such as fuel additives, lubricants or a host of industrial commodities, including food grade. Hence the term "parcel tanker" which is often used to describe them.

This ship has twelve cargo tanks, each segregated with its own dedicated pumping. The tanks are polymer coated for protection and ease of cleaning.

As seen from the Halifax side of the harbour, its white superstructure blends in with Irving Oil's white storage tanks.

  The ship was built in 2021 by the Rushan Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Rushan, China and for such new ship it has had a surprising number of names. It was built as Erria China but in 2020 became Long Ping. That did not last long as it became the King Bay in 2021 and  Sh Sarah in 2022. In 2023 it was renamed again as Swan Biscay by owners Nordic Chemtanker Gmbh + Co KG of Germany and managed by Uni-chartering A/S of Denmark. 

After a period shuttling between Houston and Coatzacoalcos, Mexico from March to May of this year it reached Albany, NY May 18 and sailed to New York on May 19. It arrived in New York May 20 and sailed for Halifax May 21. New York is a major petro-chemical shipping port, so there si no way of telling what it may have loaded there, but recent arrivals at Irving Oil have included ethanol.

From a different angle, the background shifts to the neighbouring Imperial Oil storage tanks.

The ship will be moving to an anchorage tonight, so there might be a better view of it tomorrow.

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Large and Small

 There two cruise ships in Halifax today, May 22 - one large, one small. They effectivley demonstrated two trends in the cruise ship business.

The trend for bigger and bigger ships was demonstrated by the Liberty of the Seas and the market for smaller and more exclusive ships was exemplified by the SH Vega.

The size difference showed well as the ships were tied up at Piers 22 and 23.

 The Liberty of the Seas, 155,889 grt, with a capacity of 3,798 passengers and 1360 crew dates from 2007 when it was built by Aker Finnyards, Turku Shipyard in Finland. At that time it was the largest cruise ship in the world. It has now been eclipsed so often it sits in 38th place with the largest ship Icon of the Seas coming in at 248,663 gt with a maximum capacity of 7500. It has all the usual amenities including a giant water slide and and an ice skating rink.

On the other hand Swan Hellenic Cruises' SH Vega 10,517 gt, built in 2022 by the Helsinki Shipyard in Finland, has only 76 cabins, including six suites for 152 passengers. Providing  Luxury Polar Expedition Cruises to remote regions, it carries the usual array of Zodiacs and kayaks for shore excursions.

I included a tank truck in the photo. I am not sure what it was doing there - perhaps refueling. Almost visible under the bow is the dive boat Allen Clipper tending to some underwater work. The SH Vega is en route from Nassau to St-Pierre.

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Backlog

 As noted in yesterday's post there was the usual backlog after a holiday weekend. Unusually, the catch up appears to have extended to today, May 21.

 

Containers

The big ship arrival that I missed yesterday, the CMA CGM Chile was still in port this morning, finally getting underway at noon time. As required by harbour regulations, due to its size, it employed two tethered escort tugs, made up astern. They worked the ship to starboard to use the western, deep water channel.

 

The CMA CGM Chile was built in 2019 by Hyundai Samho and is registered at 149,314 gt and 157,076 dwt, with a capacity of 15,072 TEU. It is operating on the Ocean Alliance Asia-North America service. 

Of interest - the ship does not display the CMA CGM funnel mark, nor the large banner letters on the hull that other CMA CGM ships do. This may be explained by the fact that the ship is not owned by CMA CGM, but is on charter from Seaspan Ship Management. Now the largest container ship charter company, Seaspan's 223 ships have a capacity of 2,300,000 TEU.They finance, arrange for build. charter back and manage ships for many container shipping lines.

 

Cars

Autoport was also playing catch up as it completed working the Wallenius Wilhelmsen ship Tijuca (see yesterday's post). As the ship was ready to sail at noon time another Wallenius Wilhelmsen ship, the Carmen, was inbound to take the berth. The "meet" of the two ships was arranged for the lower harbour where the Carmen proceeded west of George's Island and turned north and then proceed east of the island. This allowed the Tijuca to take the usual outbound course from Eastern Passage, tight to Ives Knoll, thus avoiding any close quarters passages. There eas a close up view as the ship made its way inbound, with the tug Atlantic Cedar made up aft for turning assistance.

 

Carmen dates from 2011 when it was delivered by Daewoo Shipbuilding + Marine Engineering in Geoje, South Korea. It is a 74,258 gt, 31,143 dwt ship with a capacity of 7934 CEU (or 7879 RT43 size cars, depending on the source.) It has twelve decks, five of which are hoistable for oversize loads, and reinforced for heavy loads. It has a stern ramp with a 320 tonne capacity and a single side ramp with unknown capacity.

 

Carmen turns around north of George's Island, to line up for Eastern Passage and Autoport. One of the Woodside ferries, in the background, was out of service today due to mechanical issues.

When built Carmen was painted in Wallenius' green and white colours. Wallenius Shipping and the Wilhelmsen Group merged in 2017 and adopted the current  colour scheme over time as ships underwent regular drydocking. This make the ship look very much like its fleet mate Tijuca which was by then outbound, passing a flotilla of disinterested eiders in summer plummage.

 

After completing work at Autoport in the later afternoon, the Carmen moved to Pier 9C to off load RoRo cargo and is due to sail later in the evening.

Among the other arrivals - briefly:

MSC Sagitta III arrived at Pier 42 from CornerBrook on what is termed the Halifax Feeder by the Halifax Port Authority. That service appears to be a new route joining Montral and Boston. In any event it is rare to see a ship with so few containers on deck - not to metion all four cranes at work.

General Cargo 

The Augusta Luna arrived this morning on the Nirint Shipping "nickel run" from Cuba. It will offload is usual cargo of bagged nickel sulfides at Pier 28.

Fish

The herring seiner Fundy Monarch arrived with a small catch that it unloaded to trucks at Pier 9C, then moved to Bishop's Landing. 

As I understand it, this boat is the "scout" and has been working for a few weeks off Nova Scotia, looking for migrating herring. If sufficent quantities are found other boats may arrive from southwestern Nova Scotia or New Brunswick to participate in the catch. 

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.  See older post May 31, 2015 on these boats.

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Weekend over

 The Monday closest to May 24 is a national holiday in Canada, celebrating the birthday of Queen Victoria (1819-1901). This year it fell on Monday May 19, and thus there was a long weekend for most workers.

It is generally reckoned to be the first weekend of summer in most parts of the country and most businesses are closed on the Monday. As a result ports are generally quiet as shippers do not wish to incur overtime charges for cargo handling. The Tuesday following is thus a return to work and can be busy handling any backlog, and so it was today Tueday May 20.

Among several arrivals was the AS Felicia on ZIM's ZCX feeder service. 

AS Felicia was built in 2006 by Zhejiang Ouhua Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Zhoushan, with tonnages of 15,375 grt, 18,291 dwt. It has a capacity of 1296 TEU, including 390 reefers, and has two 45 tonne cranes. It was launched as Medocean but entered service as EWL Cribbean. In 2007 it became APL Managua and in 2014  Medocean and in 2015  AS Felicia.

 

The ship has been a long time caller for ZIM, and worked the old CFX (Canada Florida Express) feeder service to New York and Kingston, Jamaica starting in 2018. Since earlier this year it has been on the extended ZCX Colibri Express from Kingston via the Panama Canal to the east coast of South America at Callao and Paita. On the return leg it calls in Kingston, Miami, Philadelphia and New York, before arriving in Halifax - the northern terminus.

 

Also at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway is the 15,000 TEU CMA CGM Chile - one I missed.

 

Arriving for Autoport was the auto carrier Tijuca from north European ports and Southampton. Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd built the ship in 2008 at Okpo. A 71,673 gt, 30,089 dwt vessel, it has a capacity of 7620 RT43 cars and is equipped with a 320 tonne capacity stern ramp and a small side ramp. It has the usual rounded superstructure forward, but its bridge structure is elevated three decks above the weather deck, which is at least one deck, if not two decks, higher than most auto carriers. While this must improve forward visibility, it is not a feature taken up on newer ships. It also has enclosed bridge wings- a uncommon feature among newer car boats.

 

The ship's name is for a National Park in Rio De Janiero and begins with the letter "T" as do all Wilhelmsen ships. (Partner company Wallenius names its ships for operatic characters)
 

Among departures was the crude oil tanker Ionic Anax from an anchorage in Bedford Basin. The ship arrived May 14, and as reported here May 15 it probably had an underwater hull cleaning while in port.

The ship came from Saint John, NB where it off-loaded crude oil for Irving Oil at the Canaport monobuoy. It is now en route to Come-by-Chance, NL to load some Newfoundland crude.

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Another Bridge Tragedy

 There has been another bridge strike by a ship, resulting in loss of life and serious injury. This time it occured in New York when the Mexican naval training barque ARM Cuauhtémoc alided with the Brooklyn Bridge May 17. The strike toppled the fore top mast and the main mast. So far reports state that two persons died and at least 19 were hospitalized, some with serious injures. No one went in the water.

The barque was getting underway for sea and as usual many of the cadets or crew members were "manning" the yards. Reports indicate that the vessel lost power and was swept under the bridge by the current, fetching up on the island base of one of the abutment towers. Seemingly a tug was used to move off the berth, but had been let go once clear. Videos show the tug, after the masts came down, making speed to catch up and try to slow or stop the vessel before it ran ashore. It was never the intention of the barque to pass under the bridge, but it only did do so due to loss of power and river current.

The Cuauhtemoc has been in Halifax more than once, usually on courtesy calls, and as a participant in Tall Ship events.

On May 12, 2016 it was tied up at the Cable Wharf in Halifax on a bright sunny day, and as usual had hoisted a giant national flag, as it was at the time of the this most recent accident. (Compare to the size of the Canadian flag.)

According to most sources, bridge clearance for the Brooklyn Bridge is 41.15meters (135 ft) at highest tide. [Beware of AI generated "stories" riddled with errors on this topic.] Air draft for the Cuauhtémoc is variously reported at 48.2 meters (158 ft).

The Cuauhtémoc was built in 1982 in Bilbao, Spain, one of several sister ships used for sail training by other hispanic countries. With a displacement of 1800 tons, it can carry up to 227 persons, including 90 cadets, when on training cruises.  It is rated as a Class A Tall Ship and has participated in numerous events world-wide.

 Conditions were not quite so pleasant a few days later - May 15, 20I6. The Cable Wharf is well south (to seaward) of the first harbour bridge.

It will be many months before the reasons for the accident can be determined officially. Repairs will also be costly and time consuming, so it may be some time before we see the Cuauhtémoc in Halifax again. 

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Pronunciation of the ship's name (the name of the last Aztec Emperor) has presented a challenge to news sources - some of whom have given up completely, and not tried to use the name at all.  I have found a You Tube audio guide:

I recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-_JwsuNJeE  

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Clockwise Delivery

 Autoport, the busy automobile facility in the Eastern Passage of Halifax Harbour, operated by CN Rail, is most frequently used by ships arriving from European ports in Germany, Belgium, Sweden and the UK and occasionally Italy. In recent months however there have been imports from Asia.

Japanese, Korean and Chinese built cars used to be imported to Canada through CN's Vancouver Autoport, but some manufacturers, notably Subaru, are now shipping through Halifax.

Ships from Asia use the Panama Canal to reach the east coast of the United States and on to Halifax, which also allows them to make calls in Mexico.

The Frontier Ace's movements from January 7 when it sailed from Veracruz, Mexico, can be traced to Jacksonville, Port Newark and back to Veracruz, then Jacksonville, Brunswick, and on to Cristobal and Panama City where it refueled February 24. It was then picked up refueling at the Aoshan terminal in China March 18. There is a bit of gap in the ship's movements until it was reported again April 7 in Higachi-Ogishima, Japan. It then sailed to Lazaro Cárdenás, Mexico, arriving April 28. It made the Panama Canal transit May 3-4 and arrived in Jacksonville May 9, Baltimore May 12 and arriving in Halifax May 16.

 The Frontier Ace was built by Minami Nippon in Shitanoe in 2000. It is thus relatively small by today's standards at 52,276 gt, 17,693 dwt with a capacity of 4,518 CEU.

On departure mid-day, May 16, the ship gave a destination of Veracruz, Mexico. 

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End of the Ferry Tale

Old-time fairy tales ended with "they lived happily ever after". Old time ferry tales - despite sounding the same - unfortunately end at the scrap yard. And such is the case for one of a long line of ferries that once joined New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

The narrow stretch of the Northumberland Strait between Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick and Borden, Prince Edward Island (sometimes referred to as the Abegeweit Passage) was long the favoured crossing route joining the "island province" with the mainland. The Canadian government operated the service, with management by the Canadian National Railway and then their subsidiary CN Marine, which along with the railroad was later privatized as Marine Atlantic. The ferries themselves were owned for the government of Canada by the Minister of Transport.

The 12,900 meter (8 mile) long Confederation Bridge (under construction in the background) meant the end of year round ferry service between Borden and Cape Tormentine.

 In winter it was ruggged ice class ships that maintained the crossing, but in summer there were additional craft to meet the demands of the tourist trade. These featured more open decks that allowed passengers to enjoy the "sea breezes" during the crossings.

 The summer ferries in their winter quarters at Borden. The open decks were tarped in to permit maintenance work.

 

When the Confederation Bridge opened for car and truck traffic, at essentially the same location, the Borden / Tormentine ferry route was discontinued. The ferries were sold off, with the exception of the summer ferry Holiday Island which was transferred to the seasonal Caribou, Nova Scotia to Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island service, operated by Northumberland Ferries Ltd (NFL).

 It soldiered on in that role until 2022 when it had an engine room fire resulting in a constructive total loss. It was eventually broken up in 2023 in Sheet Harbour, NS.

The sister summer ferry Vacationland was proposed to operate from Black's Harbour, New Brunswick to Grand Manan Island, NB. It was renamed Fundy Paradise but it was unsuited to sea conditions, and was also too large for the port facilites, so it was sold off too.

By this time the ship was beyond its "best before date" and was then laid up in Liverpool and Sydney, NS then Sorel, QC and finally Quebec City in  2010. Plans to convert the ship to a sand dredge for use on the St.Lawrence River came to naught when the holders of the existing dredging contract blocked the idea. 

With no particular plans for the future the ship languished at various berths in Quebec City, building up port fees and continuing to deteriorate.
 

Finally this spring arrangements were made to scrap the ship at the Marine Recycling Corp's North Sydney, NS, yard. On Sunday, May 11 the tug W.N.Twolan pulled the hulk out of Quebec City. To keep the tow on the straight and narrow, the Quebec City-based tug Océan Raynald T. was stern tethered escort downstream as far as the Cacouna area.

The Fundy Paradise and sister Holiday Island were built by Port Weller Dry Dock in1971. They measured 3139 gt and had a capacity for 405 passengers and 155 vehicles. They operated as double enders with loading ramps and navigation bridges fore and aft. They were powered by two Ruston V-16 engines totalling 7250 bhp, driving Voith-Schneider cycloidal propulsors fore and aft.

The ships were originally to be named after two "Fathers of Confederation", from Prince Edward Island.  The names selected were William Pope (1825-1879) and Thomas Haviland (1822-1895). (Their roles in Canada's late nineteenth century history are far too complex to go into here.) The tourism marketing experts apparently weighed in on the choices, and they were soon dropped. The proposed William Pope became the Holiday Island and the Thomas Haviland became the Vacationland.

 With the imminent scrapping of the Fundy Paradise there remains only one ship still afloat from the old Borden-Tormentine route and that is the 1947 built Abegweit which since 1983 has served as floating headquarters for the Columbia Yacht Club in Chicago. Safely berthed in fresh water, it will likely last longer than I will.

The W.N.Twolan and Fundy Paradise arrived in North Sydney May 15.

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Big Ships in the Big Harbour

 Halifax Harbour has been known as "the big harbour" since time immemorial. The original Mi'kmaq people called it that in their language, which modern orthography renders as Kjipuktuk. The name Kjipuktuk has been given to the Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services fireboat, which also has the unofficial call out name "Fireboat No.1".

 English colonizers corrupted Kjipuktuk to Chebucto, which continues as the name for an important road and countless other uses. Nevertheless Halifax remains the name of the Metropolitan area and the harbour.

The Big Harbour continues to live up to its name as it hosts ships of all sorts, some that might not be able to use other ports due to their size. Both the main harbour and the headwater Bedford Basin are in almost constant use.

In the Bedford Basin the tanker Ionic Anax has been at anchor since May 14 when it arrived in ballast from Canaport, off Saint John, NB, after unloading a cargo of Texas crude.

The diving tender Allen Clipper is alongside the ship - usually a sign of some underwater activity such as hull cleaning. (If the tender had been closer to the stern I would have suspected propellor trimming or removal of tangled rope.) 

Built in 2017 by Namura Shipbuilding in Imari, Japan, it is a 63,502 gt, 114,720 dwt Suezmax ship. As the name implies it is Greek owned and named for a mythical giant.

Arriving today, May 15, to anchor in the lower harbour is a former crude oil tanker, converted to a far different use. The Target is now a semi-submersible heavy load carrier.

Built in 1990 by Brodosplit in Croatia, as the Jahre Target it was renamed Nord-Jahre Target in 1993,  Crude Target in 2000, and was renamed Genmar Centaur in 2003 and Front Target in 2004. In 2007 it was rebuilt to its present configuration by Cosco Nantong Shipyard and renamed Target. It can now be ballasted down to submerge its main deck so that cargo can be floated over.

In the rebuild it was shortened about 10 meters, and its hull cut down and and a heavily reinforced deck installed, with resulting changes to its tonnages, from 77,931 gt to 42,515 gt and 142,031 dwt to 53,806 dwt. A secondary wheelhouse was installed forward for use if large loads block sightlines from the main bridge.

The ship is carrying cradles on deck which are used for transporting wind generator monopiles.

At PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway the large container ship ONE Wren sailed this morning after a 24 hour port call.

 The ship was built by Japan Marine United in Kure in 2018 as NYK Wren. When it was renamed in 2021 its gross tonnage was revised from 144,285 to 146,409 tons.  Deadweight tonnage remained the same at 139,335 tonnes as did container capacity of 14,026 TEU. 

The ONE Wren is on the EC3 service of the new Premier Alliance. It was previously a regular on the old THE Alliance service which has been renamed after the withdrawal of Hapag-Lloyd. Remaining members HMM, ONE and Yang Ming formed the Premier Alliance, maintaining many of the same routes and using the same designations. The EC3 runs to and from Asia and the US east coast. ONE Wren is currently east bound from New York and is due in Singapore June 18. It will likely be sailing non-stop via the Cape of Good Hope.

Not all ships using the harbour are big however. Some are realtively small, such as the multi-purpose general cargo ship Franbo Logic which sailed today after a shortish visit. It arrived May 12 from the Philppines via the Cape of Good Hope.

 Although the ship appears lightly loaded, it did take on steel racking to spool fibreoptic submarine cable. It also seems to have refueled at Pier 27 this morning. It has been here several times before going back to 2019, to take on the same "cargo". 

The ship was built by the Honda Heavy Industries Co Ltd in Saiki, Japan under the name Thorco Logic. It is a 13,110 gt, 16,969 dwt with movable pontoon tween decks and two 50 tonne cranes. It was renamed in 2021.

A sister ship the Franbo Lohas ex Thorco Lohas was port in April (see April 18) and also took on cable racking. It eventually sailed to Portsmouth, NH to load cable. However today's departure, the Franbo Logic, sailed for Avonmouth, UK.

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 A sister shipm Franbo Logic is

 
 

Export bulk cargo

 Halifax has significant bulk cargo exports, mostly gypsum, but there are occasional exports from the Port of Halifax's grain elevator facility. These cargoes may be grains or soy pellets but also include wood pellets for use as fuel.

The most recent export left port today, May 14 on the ship Jacqueline C bound for Fort de France, Martinique. That port is noted for its oil refinery and its agrifood industry. I therefore conclude that the cargo will be converted to animal feed and is therefore an edible crop.

 

The Jacqueline C is a multi-purpose general cargo ship of the open hatch type, with two box shaped holds and four moveable bulkheads. It was built in 2009 by Jiangsu, Yangzijiang, and is rated at 9530 gt, 12,914 dwt and fitted with two 80 tonne SWL cranes (which can be combined for a 180 tonnne lift). It also carries two 10 cubic meter grabs and can also carry containers,

Original owners were the well known Isle of Wight-based Carisbrooke Shipping - their ships carry feminine names and the letter "C". On delivery the Jacqueline C was renamed UAL Gabon and, still under Carisbrooke management, carried the name until 2015. At that point its name reverted to Jacqueline C but apparently was no longer associated with Carisbrooke. Management is now in the hands of SMT Shipping, the Polish bulk shipping specialist.

Owners are now listed as Jacqueline C Shipping Co Ltd Malta, and the ship is enrolled with the Portuguese offshore registry in Madeira.

The ship loaded at Pier 28, a notoriously difficult location for a photo. However the stern view shows some of the "grain spouts" that can be slewed out from the grain gallery and directed to the ship's holds.

The ship also has a light duty stores crane mounted at the stern and a free fall lifeboat.

 

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Tanker Traffic

 With no oil refinery in Halifax (there used to be two) we generally see tankers that carry refined product such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and sometimes heavy oil. Crude oil tankers are rare but they do call here from time to time for inspections or repairs.

There is another whole world of tankers out there that we rarely see. These specialize in industrial chemicals and in some cases edible oils. They are generally much smaller than the product tankers, and even than Canadian coastal tankers.Today, May 12, saw the arrival of one such chemical tanker, apparently for repairs.

 Basat was built in 2008 by Tersan Tersanecilik in Tuzla, Turkey and is rated at 7,260 gt, 10,745 dwt. It is classed as an IMO Type II tanker, which means it meets safety standards for moderately hazardous cargoes. It has fourteen cargo tanks and thus can carry a number of different cargoes at the same time. Frequent tank cleaning between cargoes is necessary to ensure that there is no contamination or chemical reaction. The ship carries two slop tanks (on deck) to store tank washings until they can be landed for reprocessing. Pumping gear is also designed to prevent cross-contamination. 

 The ship appears to be in ballast and was en route from Rotterdam when it was diverted to Halifax with an unknown problem, needing repair. It was steaming very slowly when it arrived off port and took the tug Atlantic Ash as stern tethered escort fom the pilot station area, and was joined by the Atlantic Maple for berthing, even though it has a bow thruster.

It tied up at Pier 25, which has convenient access for shore support such as trucks.

The use of two tugs for berthing may have been as a precaution to stay clear of the cruise ship Viking Neptune's bow, which was protruding beyond the end of Pier 22 (left background in photo.)
 

 

Seeing double

 It is not unusual to see two ships from the same shipping company at the same time. Particularly with companies like the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) that have several service lines, serving the same port, ships come and go with no coordination between them. The ships generally arrive on their own timetables and sometimes meet in port.

It may not happen as often with general cargo ships from the same owners. Because they operate more or less at random, having two ships in port at the same time is worthy of note.

Today May 11, two ships each from two owners appear in Halifax.

There were two MSC ships scheduled to arrive at the pilot station at 0600 ADT this morning. The MSC Carmen proceeded inbound to PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway Pier 41 where four cranes went to work.

Launched as the Buxcity it was delivered in 2008 by Daewoo-Mangalia as MSC Carmen. The 50,963 gt, 63,359 dwt ship has a capacity of 4884 TEU including 560 reefers. 

On a previous call in Halifax, September 30, 2023, MSC Carmen was on the INDUSA (India / USA) service, but has since shifted to the Canada Express service from London, Antwerp, Le Havre, but arriving from Sines, Portugal and is en route to Montreal.

The other MSC arrival was the MSC Aquarius, but it did not dock immediately - instead it went to number one anchorage. The ship was subject to examination for invasive species by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

After few hours the ship was underway for Pier 42, while fleet mate MSC Carmen slid along the dock to Pier 42. The MSC Aquarius is on the INDUSA service from India and having been in Asia recently requires clearance from CFIA before landing at a Canadain port. The ship arrived from Mundra via the Cape of Good Hope. MSC may or may not be re-instituting the INDUSA service here - it has been bypassing Halifax recently.

MSC Aquarius was built as NYK Aquarius by IHI Kure in 2003. It is a 75,484 gt, 81,171 dwt ship with a capacity if 6492 TEU. It changed name - but not owners - in 2019. Those owners are based in Cyprus where the ship is registered.

 The other fleet mates in port today are Canadian owned by Transport Desgagnés Inc. Marcellin A. Desgagnés arrived yesterday May 10 and also anchored in the lower harbour. It is currently flying the Barbados flag, having spent the winter months trading internationally. In March it was reported in Brazil, then the Gulf of Mexico. In early April it sailed from Morehead City, SC, for Montoir, France, then called in Antwerp and Esbjerg, Denmark before heading back across the Atlantic to New London, CT.

 

The MSC Carmen has left anchorage, heading for Pier 42 as Marcellin A. Desgagnés awaits.

The Marcellin A. Desgagnés is a two hold, ice class 3 general cargo ship, strengthened to carry leavy loads and fitted to carry containers. It carres two 250 tonne SWL cranes that can combine for a 500tonne lift, and one 80 tonne SWL crane. It was built in 2012 by Tianjin Xingang Shipbuilding and Heavy Industry Co Ltd as BBC Parana and was acquired by Desgagnés and renamed in 2023. For the winters of 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 it was reflagged to Bardaos and worked for BBC. It may return to Canadian flag while in Halifax. That would likely include a crew change.

 The other Desgagnés ship in port also arrived yesterday, May 10, and tied up at Pier 9C.  Argentia Desgagnés is classed as a general cargo ship, but frequently carries bulk salt and is equipped with two 35 tonne cranes and carries its own clam shell bucket grabs. The grabs are stowed alongside the forward crane.

Built in 2007 by Ustaoglu Yat in Eregli, Turkey, it served as the Ofmar from 2007 to 2017. It is a three hold ship of 6369 gt, 8950 dwt, strengthened to carry heavy cargo. In season, it is a frequent caller in Pugwash, Nova Scotia where it loads road salt. I believe the ship's last port was Gros Cacouna, QC.

 So far there has been no sign of cargo work - it is likely waiting for the start of the work week tomorrow (Monday, May 12). Pier 9C is chock full of wind generator tower sections, but there is still room alongside the ship for truck and rail access.

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