Marine Atlantic - going shopping

 The Halifax Chronicle Herald newspaper reported on November 30 that Marine Atlantic is looking for a ship to replace the Leif Ericson in 2026.  

The oldest ship in the fleet*, the Leif Ericson was built in 1991 by Fosen Mekaniske Verksteder as the Stena Challenger for the Dover / Calais route across the English Channel. Marine Atlantic bought the ship from Stena Line of Sweden in 2000. They renamed it Leif Ericson in 2001 when it entered service between North Sydney, NS and Port aux Basques, NL.

The 18,523 gt, 4598 dwt ship is rated for 500 passengers, but is used almost exclusively for commercial vehicles and their drivers and drop trailers. With 1550 lane meters of vehicle deck it can carry 300 vehicles. It can be used for cars and passengers in case one of the other ships is out of service.

Marine Atlantic has a long standing relationship with Stena AB (and CN Marine before that) and has leased and purchased numerous ships from them, so they may well turn to them again.  

 There is even less need for passenger capacity now that Marine Atlantic added the Ala'suinu in 2024 with a capacity for 1,000 passengers, 470 cars and 120 trucks. It is therefore likely that the Leif Ericson replacement will be a similar RoRo freighter with limited accommodation.

* Footnote:

In addition to the ships mentioned CN Marine also operates the Blue Puttees ex Stena Trader and the Highlanders ex Stena Traveller on the North Sydney / Port aux Basques route. Built in 2006 and 2007 respectively, they were leased and extensively modified for the service in 2011. Marine Atlantic purchased the ships in 2015.

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Steel Import

 

Most import cargoes to Halifax come in containers, but the few that arrive regularly in breakbulk form are steel rails from Poland or nickel sulfides from Cuba. Aircraft components now arrive from Belfast, Northern Ireland on a regular basis too (they used to some as RoRo).

Last night's arrival is therefore an interesting variation - the bulk carrier Lake St.Clair from Vlissingen, Netherlands tied up at Pier 9C. Today (November 29) it began to off load a consignment of reinforcing rod (commonly called rebar). The material is shipped loose in (mostly) 40 foot lengths.

 The Lake St.Clair was built in 2005 by Wenchong Shipyard in Guangzhou as the Lake St.Clair but was renamed Federal Miramichi on  delivery to take up a charter to Fednav. In 2016, after ten years, it reverted to Lake St.Clair. It had been a regular on the Fednav's Europe / Great Lakes route and may have been chartered back as it continued to make regular trips to the Lakes. The 18,825 gt, 27,781 dwt ship is fitted with three 30 tonne SWL cranes and has five holds with one moveable bulkhead.

This year, after a stop to unload in Sorel April 17 to 23, the ship made its way up the St.Lawrence Seaway with stops to unload more cargo at Côte-Sainte-Catherine and Oshawa. It then proceeded in ballast to Thunder Bay where it languished at anchor from May 5 to 19 before loading export grain. It was reported outbound from the Seaway May 24 and may have stopped in Montreal.

It was back in Montreal August 27 and Sorel September 2 to 4 but headed again for Europe - likely with grain. It called in Savona and Torre Annunciata in Italy then headed for Arzew, Algeria. It next called in Gent, Belgium, Terneuzen, Netherlands and Wismar, Germany before reaching Vlissingen (Flushing) November 16.

Unloading the loose rebar, the ship uses its own cranes with spreader bars to land the material on the pier. It is them moved by forklifts (still sometimes called "towmotors" - once a brand name) and stacked in bundles with wood "stickers" for easier truck loading. One forklift  used slings and another used a custom spreader that may have come with the ship.

 

The ship is due to sail this evening. So far no destination has been published officially but one source does say Altamira, Mexico.

To save the longshore workers from a long trip on foot from the dock, up the gangway and down ladders to the hold, there is a faster way:

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ZIM

 One of the steadiest and longstanding shipping lines to call in Halifax is ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. As of this week it added a third service to the port - namely the ZCI  - see November 25 - Part 2. Normally a stand alone company, ZIM belongs to  none of the shipping alliances, however it has now joined with  CMA CGM, COSCO, ONE, OOCL, and Yang Ming to provide additional capacity on the busy a Mediterranean- North America traffic lane.

ZIM already has its weekly ZCA (ZIM Container Service Atlantic) Mediterranean - North Atlantic run with an eight ship rotation but the new ZCI serves several Italian ports that the ZCA does not cover. A third route is he ZCX - Colibri Express -connecting the west coast of South America and the Kingston Jamaica hub with New York and Halifax weekly, with a five ship roster.

Today, November 28, the ZCA arrival was the ZIM Pacific a product of the Hyundai Ulsan shipyard in 2009. It is a 41,358 gt, 51,701 dwt ship with a capacity of 4255 TEU (3480 TEU at 14 tonnes) and has 165 reefer plugs. 

 The ship was built as the Shuaiba but was renamed UASC Shuaiba on delivery. In 2013 it was re named CPO Savannah and in 2018 it became Harpy Hunter. In 2020 it was taken on by ZIM and renamed ZIM Pacific.

ZIM also has a longstanding slot charter arrangement with Hapag-Lloyd on the ZCA route and a few H-L orange boxes can be seen peeking out from the stacks.

 It is difficult to trace the ship's current ownership, but it is likely a charter, instead of an owned ship, as no one has taken the trouble to apply any company funnel marking. If that is the case, the ship may be due for another change since charters are usually made on five year intervals.

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POL

 Ships of the Polish Steamship Line (Polski Zegluga Morska), known as POLSTEAM, can be seen in many St.Lawrence River and Great Lakes ports, but are rare callers in Halifax. Their ship, usually handy size bulk carriers arriving from European ports with steel and loading grain outbound. Last evening, November 26, saw the arrival of the Szare Szeregi at Pier 28.

 Regrettably ships at that pier are barely visible from shore and virtually unphotographable, so they best I could do shows the ship's bow, with hatch covers open. 

Blue hull paint is not typical of POL ships - they are usually black. The blue on this ship has applied within the past year - it was originally black. Such a move may indicate a sale and lease back. Current owners are listed as Jupiter Three Shipping Ltd, based in Cyprus.

The ship was built in 2017 by Yangfan Zhoushan to the Deltamarin 37 design.It is therefore a 25,278 gt ship with a deadweight ranging from 368,520 to 39,072. It carries four cranes with capacity of 30 tonnes. 

Polsteam has a fleet of more than fifty ships. with about seventeen of Lakermax size designed for transiting the St. Lawrence Seaway locks and with shallow draft / high deadweight. As with most ships of the type it is "open hatch" (that is double hull, with hatches the full width of the holds and thus no understow.

The ship's recent movements have seen the ship calling  in Baltimore September 1-6, Savannah September 10-13, River Tyne September 30 to October 7, Wismar October 10-15, Sparrow's Point November 12-13, Wilmington November 17-19, and Cape Canaveral November 20-21. Today's load, which appears to be wood pellets, is thus a change from the usual steel products.

There is always the hope that the ship will sail in daylight, and that a better photo will be possible. 

I have previously covered the interesting history of Polish shipping in Halifax, March 10, 2023.

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Two Big or Not Too Big - Part 2

 Today's two good sized container ships at PSA Atlantic Hub did not appear to strain the terminal's capacity as several of its seven Ship to Shore (STS) cranes were not needed to handle the volume of cargo.[See Part 1 posted earlier].

At Pier 42 (left in the photo) CMA CGM Ambition was using two cranes and APL Southampton at Pier 41 was using only one. The two cranes at the far south end of Pier 42 (left in photo) are not high enough to work bigger ships, but might have been able to handle this one.

 CMA CGM Ambition - a first time caller - is working on a Mediterranean- North America service jointly operated by CMA CGM, COSCO, ONE, OOCL, Yang Ming and ZIM. The addition of Halifax to port calls was announced November 5.

Port rotation is now Algeciras, Salerno, La Spezia, Genoa, Valencia, Algeciras, Halifax, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Miami, Algeciras. 

The ship was built in 2024 by Samsung Heavy Industry at Geoje. It is a dual fuel /LNG ship of 73,133 gt, 85,664 dwt with a capacity of 7327 TEU with 900 reefer points. 

APL Southampton was last here in May 14, 2023, on an unscheduled call. It dates from 2012 when it was delivered by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd in Geoje. It comes in at 128,929 gt, 131,357 dwt with a capacity of 10,070 TEU. It only needed one crane to handle its cargo today. (TEU capacity has also been reported at 10,800 and 10,960.)

 The ship is operating on the OCEAN Alliance (CMA CGM, COSCO / OOCL, Evergreen, ONE) Asia - North America service. and arrived from Colombo.  (Apparently non-stop via the Cape of Good Hope.)

In reverse of the expected configuration, the larger ship has its single superstructure aft of midships and the smaller ship has the split superstructure, with the bridge forward of midships.

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Two Big or Not Too Big - Part 1

 PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub, the South End Container Terminal and the Port of Halifax promote the facility's capability to handle two large ships at the same time., and therefore ships do not have to wait for a berth. Certainly the pier face, Pier C, with berths 41 and 42 at 800 meters long (2625 ft) is the length of two of the largest types of container ships, which are 396 to 400 meters long. There is also enough water alongside at 16 meters (52.5 feet) for the largest ships. 

While it might seem therefore that the pier can handle two of these ships at the same time, there is in fact not enough length for the ship's head lines to be run safely. To moor safely - particularly in windy conditions, the pier would need to be - wait for it - another 50 to 100 meters longer. A mooring dolphin off the end of Pier 42 might suffice for the short term, but would mean that the first few container stacks, nearest a ship's bow, could not be reached by crane.

Then there is the matter of the cranes. The terminal certainly has some large Ship to Shore (STS) cranes, but two of them are not large enough to service the high and wide deck loads of large container ships.

So in fact the terminal cannot handle efficiently two of the largest container ships currently running to the east coast of North America at the same time. Those ships are in the 15,000 TEU size and last week two 14,000 TEU ships arrived off Halifax and had to take their turn at the terminal.

What does the future hold? It appears that Halifax is being left behind. Politically the Port of Montreal has received support for its expansion to Contrecoeur. This may seem to be of no threat to Halifax, due to permanently shallow channels in the St.Lawrence. Currently many ships en route to or from Montreal stop in Halifax to decant or top up loads to adjust draft from /to saltwater /ocean - that is unlikely to change. However the added capacity in Montreal /Contrecouer may well convince shippers to pass up Halifax in favour of  more frequent sailings and/or with St.Lawrence class ships. To compete with Montreal, Halifax must expand its capacity to become a terminal port rather than a way point. This will require a major increase in pier and terminal space - even larger then the current expansion project at Pier A-1 and B.

As it stands now the largest container ships - in the 18,000 to 24,000 TEU capacity - are only sailing on the high volume Asia / Europe routes. However as more of the larger ships enter service and as the Suez Canal becomes a safe route to Europe again (which it appears to be doing) the new larger ships will displace smaller ships. As a result  there will be a surplus of ships in the 10,000 to 15.000 TEU range, and older ones will likely be scrapped. Ships in the 16,000 to 20,000 TEU range will begin to move to the North American east coast where some of the US ports such as Norfolk, Charleston and Savannah can likely handle them already. 

I fear that Halifax will be left out in the cold unless they put on an aggressive growth program. 

The current expansion is moving at a snail's pace. The schedule to fill in between Piers A-1 and B was initially set at five years, based on the local construction industry's need to dispose of acidic shale from building excavation. (Halifax bedrock, once excavated and exposed to air becomes acidic and cannot be reused as backfill- it can however be neutralized by "sequestering" in salt water. Despite the current construction boom in Halifax there is not enough fill being generated quickly enough. A huge stockpile in the Africville / Fairview Cove area - where it had been sequestered previously, but is not currently needed - should be moved (by barge or by slurry) to the southend. (Someone should by the Atlantic Huron from CSL - which is on its way to the scrapyard - and use it to transfer the material.)

The rail expansion within the terminal and the construction of new buildings has also been inexplicably slow. Private industry would never tolerate such performance even in this era of supply chain immobility.

The terminal will be getting one more berth at the end of Pier A-1 and B when the infill it is finally completed. But because it will not be aligned to Pier C it will not be able to share cranes. Therefore at least two more (new, large) STS cranes will be needed. Two of the current cranes, which are at Pier 42, are too small, and will need to be replaced with at least two more (new, large) cranes. Even then two more of the existing cranes are marginal and may need to be replaced.  A major replacement program is warranted.

 Today with two container ships, with a total capacity rating of 17.000 TEU were in port but the two older cranes could be used because they are too small. Strangely only three of the terminals seven cranes were actually in use.  

(The Port's website only acknowledge's five cranes at the PSA Halifax Hub. But in fact there are  seven.)
 

See Part 2 to follow 

Ardmore Exporter- miscellaneous caller

 The tanker Ardmore Exporter anchored in Halifax around midnight November 23-24. It appears to be in ballast, and is not scheduled to load or to take bunkers.

 The ship is arriving from Montreal where it appears to have unloaded a cargo from Corpus Christi, TX. Once the day dawned I noticed that the diving tender Allen Clipper was secured alongside. This usually means that some under water work such as hull or intake/discharge cleaning (invasive species removal), prop trim or entanglement clearing.

Ardmore Shipping Corp is  listed on the NYSE and owns and operates about 25 tankers product / chemical tankers and runs a pair of charters. Its ships are managed out of Singapore with corporate operations in Ireland and Delaware. The company maintains one of the most thorough web sites I can recall. It records every imaginable detail about its ships including the (to me) startling fact that this ship's crew consists of only 11 persons, incidentally of Indian nationality.

The ship is due to sail later tonight with some sources indicating that it is headed for Houston, thus missing impending winter conditions working eastward across southern Canada. So far in Halifax at least, the rain has not quite turned to snow but is reducing visibility.

 

The Ardmore Exporter 29,950 gt, 49,526 dwt was built in 2014 by STX Offshore and Shipbuilding in Jinhae and was named  Front Esk. It was renamed in 2016 by Ardmore. 

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Pit Stop

 An unusual ship for Halifax stopped briefly in port November 22 to refuel.

The Bravenes is an offshore pipe burying vessel. It is equipped to carry aggregates and to deposit the material precisely to cover submarine pipes or cables. The ship uses a 1.1 meter diameter "fall pipe" to place the material. The pipe is equipped with an ROV at the end to monitor the work and the ship itself is fitted with DP3 dynamic positioning to ensure that the gravel covers the target installation completely. The fall pipe or a tremie pipe can be worked overside or through a moon pool. It can operate at depths up to 1,000 meters.

 The ship was built in 2017 by Zhejiang Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Ningbo. It is a 21,133 gt vessel with a deadweight tonnage variously reported at 15,500 tonnes up to 17,668 tonnes.  

 

 I am assuming the ship had been working on the transmission line for an offshore wind turbine installation in the United States. Its last port of call before Halifax was Bayside, NB, where aggregate has been sourced for these projects. The ship's next port of call is to be Eemshaven, a wind energy hub in the Netherlands.

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Dong-A Tanker, not a tanker

 The Dong-A Glaucos arrived in Halifax November 21 and docked at Autoport. after dark. It remained in port all day today November 22 and is expected to sail late tonight.

 The large sized banner on the ship's flank reads "DAT Dong-A Tanker". The ship is quite obviously not a tanker but an auto carrier built in 2011 by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industry Co Ltd in Youngam. It is a 72,408 gt, 26,985 dwt ship with a capacity of 7600 CEU [car equivalent units]. From 2011 to 2014 the ship carried the name A Ladybug.

It is owned by Dong-A Tanker Corp, a South Korean company established in 2006. Its current fleet includes seven bulk carriers, two MidRange chemical/product tankers , one LPG tanker and three Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTCs).

Its intriguing name begs explanation. "Dong A" translates from Korean as "East Asia". "Glaucos" was a mythical Greek god of the sea who rescued sailors from distress. He may also have rescued Dong-A Tankers too - it entered creditor protection in 2019. It emerged in 2020 under Pinetree Partners control, but earlier this year reduced capital by dramatically diluting the value of existing shares by about 80%.

Shipfax is neither a financial reporter nor financial advisor, but presumes that since this ship is reported to have a solid charter with Tesla it should be able to pay the bills. Its recent itinerary began in Pyeongtaeck September 20 + 21, then via the Cape of Good Hope to Zeebrugge November 4 to 7, and on to Bremerhaven, sailing from there November 8.

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Atlantic Freighter RIP

 A ship that once operated in freight only service between North Sydney and Argentia for CN Marine and Marine Atlantic arrived at Aliaga, Turkey November 19 to be scrapped.

Stena Grecia / Atlantic Freighter

Alongside at North Sydney, the Stena Grecia, future Atlantic Freighter, loads cargo in its first season with CN Marine.

CN Marine needed a freight only ship and they again turned to Stena in 1986, chartering Stena Grecia. A 5465 grt RoRo with capacity of 75 drop trailers/ 110 TEU , it was built for Tor Line as Tor Felicia by Hyundai, Ulsan in 1978 and ran for Merzario Line as Merzario Grecia from 1978 to 1983 until acquired by Stena Gulf Line Ltd. CN Marine chartered the ship for 150 days from April 1986 for its drop trailer service. (Drivers did not travel with their trucks, and CN Marine's work force drove the trailers on and off the ship.) 

 With Marine Atlantic's funnel mark, and renamed, the ship sits out most of the winter season in North Sydney. Other ships can carry the traffic until the busy summer tourist season. However the ship was brought out of layup from time to time in winter to clear backlogs.

During the charter CN Marine became Marine Atlantic, and at the end of the charter Marine Atlantic purchased the ship renaming it Atlantic Freighter. Although it had capacity for 12 passengers, it did not normally carry any.
In December 1990 the ship was chartered to the US Military Sealift for Persian Gulf war service. It was returned to Marine Atlantic in April 1991 having made only one trip, spending the rest of the time on standby in Italy.
Marine Atlantic had been planning to replace the ship since 1998, but the ship was kept in service. During the winter of 2007-2008 it underwent an asbestos removal process, then refitted at Halifax Shipyard.
It was finally sold in 2010 and renamed Pelagitis first for Panamanian, then Greek owners Ainaftis Shipping. It appears to have  been sold earlier this year to Togo Cargo Ferries and renamed Storno under the Togo flag. The ship was apparently laid up in Piraeus, Greece and never saw service under the last name.

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New Bulker, old car boat, Fill 'er Up

 New Bulker

A bulk carrier that was handed over by the shipyard in October made a brief call in Halifax today, November 20. The BBC Pluto is one a series of Supramax ships that is part of BBC Chartering's foray into new territory.

 BBC Chartering, based in Leer, Germany, is best known for its fleet of 140 multi-purpose general cargo ships, often equipped with heavy lift cranes. In 2024 the company accepted the first of its fifteen revolutionary (wheelhouse forward) Laker-Max class ships equipped for 500 tonne lifts.

For the past three years the company has also been adding Supramax ships of about 40,000 dwt with four cranes, and now number ten in its fleet. BBC Pluto comes from Jiangmen Nanyoung Ship Engineering, It is a 25,173 ft, 40,459 dwt vessel with four 30 tonne capacity cranes. It is also features full length hatches and box shaped holds.

The ship arrival from Sundsvall, Sweden and is bound for Searsport, Maine. Reason for calling in Halifax: unknown; reason for going to Searsport: unknown.

 Old Car Boat

Tenty-two years of age is getting on for auto carriers. A booming demand after an industry-wide clear out a few years ago, is keeping even older ships on the hop.

The Spendid Ace dates from 2003 when it was built by Minami Nippon Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Osuki City. Gross tonnage has been quoted at both 36,026 gt and 56,439 gt. (the latter seems more accurate) and 19,863 dwt. Its capacity is 5,281 standard cars, but has also been  noted at 6,400 medium size cars. Side ramps are not as common as they once were, but port side ramps are even rarer. On line photos show that the ship has a starboard side ramp too.

On this trip the ship sailed from several ports in Japan, the last being Yokohama October 16. It has since called in San Juan, Brunswick, Dundalk (Baltimore) and New York. It is presumably carrying Japanese built cars, but avoiding the usual west coast auto terminals.

 Fill'er Up

Tankers need to refuel, and when they do they usually show brand loyalty. But in the case of Algoma Tankers, there may be choices. The company has ships on charter to both Imperial Oil and to Irving Oil.  So when the Algoscotia (which serves Imperial Oil) needs to refuel, it might be expected to use Esso product. Imperial has no refueling capability at its Woodside Dartmouth terminal, nor truck access on the docks, so ships need to tie up at a location where tanks trucks can reach the ship. Pier 9C was the choice this time.

 Imperial may supply the fuel, but it is RST that delivers it to the ship. RST (Road and Sea Transport) is owned by J.D.Irving Ltd - a totally separate company from Irving Oil - and the trucks and the gear to pump the fuel aboard. They will carry fuel from Imperial or Irving as required.

Algoscotia normally works from Halifax primarily to Sydney, but also to Charlottetown, Corner Brook and Sept-Ies, QC.

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Late, late show; Stacked Up; RoRo

 Late, late show

The cruise season for Halifax usually winds up in the last week of October or the fist week of November - and for good reason! The weather is usually cold and windy - not what cruise passengers are looking for - and the hurricane season is usually over in the south where it is still nice and warm. Today, November 19 marks the latest scheduled cruise ship visit in my recollection.  It was the German ship AIDAdiva setting the record.

It tied up at Pier 22 (with the grain leg tower in the background) and lucked into a fine day with a high of 7 ºC [44.6 ºF]. Passengers had the entire day ashore with the ship sailing at 1630 hrs. [Sunset is 1643 hrs AST]
 

The 69,203 gt ship was built in 2007 by Meyer Werft in Papenburg and has a capacity of 2,050 passengers and 646 crew. 

The ship sailed from Rostock Germany November 1 and stopped at most Scandinavian ports before calling in Portland, UK, sailing from there November 12.

It will now go on the Boston and New York then US east coast, Gulf of Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Hawaii, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Sti Lanka, the Maldives, Seychelles, Réunion, Cape Town, Cape Verde, Azores, Portugal and ending up in Hamburg March 23, 2026. If you had the starting price of €17,500 ($27,500 CAN) per person (double occupancy) to drop you could have joined the 133 day cruise. Top end price might be in the range of €24,000 ($38,887.68 at current rate of exchange).
 

Stacked Up Outside

Despite the fact that the PSA Atlantic Hub (southend container terminal) can handle two 10,000 TEU ships at the same time, it cannot, in its present configuration, work three such ships and A smaller ship at the same time. Today there were two ships alongside (one big, one small) and two more big ships waiting in the outer anchorages outside the port limits.

The alongside ships were the 14,414 TEU CMA CGM J. Adams at berth 41 and the 3108 TEU EM Kea at Pier 42.

 The CMA CGM J. Adams came from the Hyundai Ulsan shipyard in 2017 and is shown as 141,950 gt, 148,992 dwt. It arrived yesterday from Colombo on the Ocean Alliance Asia-North America service.

The EM Kea dates from 2007 when it was built  by Stocznia Szczecinska Nowa in Poland. The 35,824 gt, 42,165 fwt ship is on the regular CMA CGM /Maersk joint North Atlantic service from Montreal and bound for Bremerhaven. It also has 500 reefer plugs.

Stacked Up Outside

Unlike aircraft that circle seemingly endlessly when terminals are busy, ships sometimes have the option to anchor. Conditions were good for that off Halifax in recent days allowing for the unusual sight of two ships waiting outside thus avoiding port charges.

 The two are sister ships, both built by Japan Marine United, Kure. The ONE Wren was built in 2018 and the ONE Hawk in 2017. They were built for NYK Line and carried company names NYK Wren until 2021 and NYK Hawk until 2020. Both have similar tonnages of 145,251 gt, 139,995 dwt and 145,407 gt and 138,907 dwt respectively. They are both rated sat 14.026    TEU.

ONE Wren may have priority for berthing, but it is unlikely that both ships will be  docked at the same time since the smaller cranes may not be able to clear deck load.

RoRo 

The continuous parade of auto carriers continues with today's arrival of the Morning Lisa with both import automobiles and other RoRo cargo.

 

 On arrival the ship went north directly to Bedford Basin, turned then proceeded southbound again to tie up at Pier 9C in order to orient its stern ramp correctly.

 The Morning Lisa dates from 2008 when it was delivered by Hyundai, Samho. A 68,701 gt, 28,084 dwt vessel, it has a capacity of 8,011 Car Equivalent Units.

After discharging the usual mix of machinery at Pier 9C the ship moved to Autoport to unload cars.

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Algoma Legacy - Part 2

 The Algoma Legacy completed loading gypsum and sailed this afternoon, November 18, for Baltimore. The daytime departure allowed for a closer look at the new ship (which was detailed in yesterday's post).

 The ship's hull is painted in "Algoma blue"and carries numerous markings indicating bulkhead locations and tug push points. Usually the marking are abbreviations, but this one is different. It identifies the foremost hull compartment as "Bosun".

 

I doubt that the entire forepeak is dedicated to traditional bosun's stores such as rope and paint. It will also accommodate the bow thruster motor, chain lockers and likely ballast tanks. (Below the waterline the compartment is designated FPT - probably forepeak tank).

The ship is 229 meters long  - the maximum length of ship that can be accommodated at Kamsar, Guinea, the world's per-eminent bauxite loading port. Ships that meet that limit are termed Kamsarmax even though they may seldom if ever visit that port. Ship of that size can also transit the Panama Canal.

The ship is not loaded to its maximum draft due to the depth of water leading to and alongside the Gold Bond dock. The ship showed a draft of 9.9 meters and its maximum draft appears to be in the range of 12.5 meters.

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Algoma Legacy

The first of three new ships ordered by the Algoma Central Corporation arrived in Halifax last evening (July 16) and anchored in Bedford Basin over night. At first light it move alongside the Golf Bond Gypsum, pier in Wright's Cove. By early afternoon it had not started to load however.

 The ship was built by Jiangsu Yangzi-Mitsui Shipbuilding and is a self-unloading bulk carrier of 44.640 gt, 79.724 dwt and was delivered September 26 of this year. The second and third ships will be delivered in 2026 and 2027. All three are methanol ready,and can be converted when that fuel become readily available.

The Algoma Legacy represents the 100th ship that Algoma either owns or has an interest in through one of its joint ventures. The company owns a Canadian domestic fleet of Great Lakes / Seaway bulk carriers, coastal tankers and cement carriers. Its foreign flag operations include self-unloading bulkers and cement carriers and other bulkers though joint ventures. It also has up to ten ships on order or under construction.

The three new ships will be joining the self-unloader pool operated with CSL Americas and will replace three older ships. CSL pool ships usually bring coal from South America to Point Tupper, Nova Scotia and load aggregates there or gypsum here in Halifax for destinations in the United States. They also carry aggregates and sand cargoes in the Caribbean region and the west coast of North America.

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New or Not

 

There were two "new to Halifax" ships in port today, but neither one could be considered new in strictly chronological terms.

The first to arrive (in the near dark) was the Galani on Melfi Marine Corp's Medcan service from Europe to Cuba. Its last port was Barcelona.

Guangzhou Wenchong built the ship in 2006, and it is a 14,490 gt, 23,689 dwt vessel with a capacity of 1732 TEU with 320 reefer plugs. It also caries two 45 tonne SWL deck cranes. Typically Melfi uses short term charters which can carry containers and sometimes general cargo. On this trip the ship is carrying a number of tank containers on deck forward. These are probably empties that carried liquids (such as rum) or powders (such as sugar) to Europe. From its hub port of Mariel, Cuba Melfi operates several routes to Caribbean and South and Central American destinations linking with Europe.

The ship is operated by Astra Ship Management of Greece. The company names its ships for towns or villages in Greece, such as Galani  near the North Aegean coast on the Nexos River.

Next to arrive at mid-day was the tanker  SV Wakili from Houston. The ship went to anchor, but will likely move to Imperial Oil when the berth is clear. (The Algoluna is currently on the the number 3 berth).

Some shipwatchers gathered on the shore to observe the ship's arrival.

 A fairly typical LR type chemical/product tanker, it was built in 2012 by Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan. It was initially named the King Gregory and carried that name until March 2024. It comes in at 29,672 gt with a deadweight tonnage ranging from 49,999 to 51,441tonnes depending on conditions.

Owners Vitol International Shipping report that the ship 's tanks are phenolic coated, allowing it to carry a range of chemicals. Vitol not only operates tankers and gas carriers, but also owns refineries and storage facilities. Its 29 ship fleet also includes bulk carriers, and asphalt / bitumen tankers.

Vitol is based in Singapore (SV may stand for Singapore  Vitol) but also has interests in Africa where the word "wakili" means "agent" in the Hausa language of West Africa.

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MSC Rita V - back again

 

When the MSC Rita V arrived in Halifax in April, Shipfax gave the ship full coverage, leaving little to add this time around. See April 24, 2025.

For today's arrival (November 14) the ship is still wearing the blue hull paint of its former owners, Maersk Line, and the ship is no less impressive than it was then, even with the shabby paint. (Which always looks good in low angle sun).

 No longer operating at its design speed of 25 knots, but with its huge engine located amidships it has a racy look to it. According to AIS it was doing 19.9 knots at times during its five day passage from Sines, Portugal on MSC's Med Canadian service. It is due to sail for Montreal after reducing its draft by offloading some cargo here.

 Meanwhile the ship's owners, MSC, continue to grow, its ships now now exceeding 7 million TEU total capacity. The phenomenal growth from its 2022 capacity of 4.3 million TEU, is largely as a result of its buying spree of 400 second hand ships in the last five years. The company is now more than fifty per cent larger than its rival Maersk.

Not only does MSC scoop up older ships, but it also has an estimated 2.2 million TEU capacity of new ships on order. Its current fleet represents 4.2 million TEU of owned vessels - the remainder are on charter from third parties.

Shipping observers predict an over supply of ships in the near future and a general culling of older ships by scrapping, particularly if things calm down in the Red Sea and the shorter Suez route from Asia becomes safer. In order to maintain weekly schedules, most shipping lines have added ships to make up for the longer routing. As MSC accepts new ships in the next year or so, and other lines such as CMA CGM with 1.75million TEU on order do likewise we may see the last of these impressive "oldies".

There may be a silver lining however. Some lines that redirected large container ships from the Suez route found that the big ships had extra capacity which made import and export rates from west African countries more attractive. The economies of several of those countries are booming and some shipping lines may keep sailing "via the Cape" to keep the added business. If so then a large reduction in tonnage may not occur right away.

Since it can take a year or two or three to deliver new ships, ships ordered due to the Red Sea situation may not be arriving for a while yet. It must be remembered that many of the VLCCs that were ordered when the Suez Canal was closed from 1967 to 1975, after the Six Day War,  were rendered obsolete soon after delivery, Many were scrapped well before their "Best Before Dates." That is unlikely to occur this time as the new ships will have desirable new features, but it could spell the end or many of the smaller sized "oldies".

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Hello, Goodbyes and tugs

 

Today, November 13 the port welcomed another first time caller and said goodbye to ship that has been in Halifax for part of three months. And then there was more tug activity - so much that it warrants a separate post on companion blog Tugfax.

Hello 

The first timer arrived in the dark, and it was nearly dark when it sailed, but it was still bright enough to see that it  was a very large ship. Carrying the odd name Zenith Lumos it is owned through Zodiac Marine, but is on charter to ONE (Ocean Network Express) and running on the Premier Alliance EC3 service from Colombo.

 The ship was built by Hyundai Ulsan in 2020 and is recorded at 149,525 gt and 157,097 dwt. This gives it a nominal capacity of 15,000 TEU (actual 14,052 TEU) with 1,000 reefer plugs. The ship appears to have somewhat higher freeboard than other ships of its size.

It is one of four sister ships with Zephyr Lumos, Zeus Lumos and Zeal Lumos built for charter to ONE. The Zenith Lumos appears to be the only one assigned to the Premier Alliance EC3 service. Many of the ships on this route have been swapped out for ONE "M" class ships but we are likely to see the odd COSCO or CMA CGM ship in the next month.

Goodbye #1

The disabled bulker AP Revelin finally got underway today in tow for New York. The ship lost its prop (or a blade from the prop) off Nova Scotia in September, and was unable to proceed on its own. The United States flag tug Ezra Sol was dispatched from Norfolk and towed the ship to Halifax, arriving September 21. (See this blog from September 26.)

Once in port it was anchored in Bedford Basin, with standby tug(s) until mid-October when another similar sized bulker, the Eva Bright arrived, and the tow ships berthed at Pier 27-28 where the AP Revelin's grain cargo was transferred to the Eva Bright using both ship's cranes.

The Eva Bright sailed November 7 for Liverpool,UK.

Meanwhile the tug Ezra Sol returned to Norfolk briefly, but came back to Halifax and stood by at Pier 25 awaiting favourable weather to tow the sip to a repair yard.

That window opened today and with minimal fuss the tug and tow got underway for New York.

 

Local tugs undocked the ship and provided tethered stern escort outbound. We are unlikely to see the ship in Halifax again.

 Goodbye # 2

Not a goodbye exactly, but a move saw one of the Halifax waterfront attractions leave its summer berth and go to its winter quarters. Canada's Naval Memorial the Sackville departed Sackville Landing under the control of the Naval Auxiliary tug Glenevis for HMC Dockyard.

 It will spend the winter connected to shore power (and steam) until May. It will likely receive some TLC before moving back to Sackville Landing again for the tourist season.

The Sackville (which served in the Second World War) berths adjacent to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic where the Acadia (a veteran of the First and Second World Wars) is also on display and open to the public seasonally.

 See Tugfax for more tug stuff.

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Two Grachts, etc.,

The Amsterdam based Spliethoff Group, which includes Big Lift Shipping and Forestwave, operates about 145 ships. The company has found several niches for trade that can take their ships to the four corners of the earth. Even so it is rare to have two of their ships in the Port of Halifax on the same day (but not at the same time.)

Today, November 11 was such a day, and despite it being a national day of remembrance, there was some activity in the port. The truck gates at the two container terminals were closed, but the two ships at PSA Fairview Cove sailed in the morning.

The first to sail was the Jamaica followed a bit later by the Muntgracht [see yesterday's post.]

The Jamaica ex ZIM Luanda outbound in the Narrows this morning has cleared the A. Murray MacKay bridge and is passing Pier 9 (left background).

The Muntgracht with a deck load of unusual objects sailed from Fairview Cove and is headed for Matane, QC. Number one hatch has been left clear for future load or unload. That port handles a variety of cargoes including export of paper pulp, import of wind turbine components and due to a train and car ferry services to Baie Comeau and Sept-Iles, can also transship other products.

The second "Gracht" (Dutch for 'canal') arrived this afternoon From Belfast and docked at Pier 9C.  

One of Spliethoff's niche trades is yacht transport, and on this trip, it is carrying new boats representing several models from the same builder. 

Since visiting the Great Lakes in early September, the ship has been to Naples September 30 to October 3, Gdansk October 10-18, then Belfast October 28 -29. On sailing today the ship gave Palm Beach as its destination. (Despite having been to the Lakes, the ship does not appear to have suffered the same case of "lock rash" as its fleet mate.)

On arrival the ship made a neat turn off the dock, assisted by the Atlantic Oak and came alongside starboard side to. 

 

Predictably, the ship off loaded a large aircraft component package (loaded in Belfast), which was landed directly on a trombone (extendible) truck trailer and whisked away.

The Floretgracht is a member of Spliethoff's "F"class and is similar to the "M" class, and was also built in 2012, but by Jiangsu Yangzi Changbo Shipyard Co Ltd. The 8620 gt, 12,500 dwt ship is a multi-purpose type with box shaped holds and full width hatches. It has three cranes rated at 80 tonnes SWL, which can combine and can carry 658 TEU.

 Etc.,

There was also activity at the Irving Oil terminal in Woodside with the Algoma East Coast arriving with product from Saint John.

 And at Autoport it was the Morning Cornelia on an interesting rotation. 

 

The ship sailed from Nagoya September 5 and Toyohashi September 7 and was next reported in Sagunto (Valencia) Spain October 13. That would indicate a Suez passage, but was not reported as such in my usual sources. It then called in Portbury, UK October 18, Zeebrugge October 20-24 and Goteborg October 26 to 28. 

Built by Imabari Zosen in Japan in 2010 it is a 60,002 gt, 22,530 dwt ship with a capacity of 6,458 cars. In addition to the usual stern ramp, it has a small starboard side ramp as well.

As a bit of an update, the asphalt tanker ATB Leo A. McArthur, John J. Carrick was still unloading at the McAsphalt dock, and the orange buoy in the photo above marks the mooring point for the tanker's stern line. (seen from a different view point in the photo below). The sun was behind heavy cloud cover this morning, so there was no glare to spoil a picture.

 

Not to be left out, there was another arrival in Halifax today, the Atlantic Star made its way inbound from Liverpool and berthed at PSA Fairview Cove and then another coincidence occurred.

Later in the afternoon the big stern trawler Mersey Venture moved from its berth at COVE to an anchorage in Bedford Basin.

 It is a 2337 gt freezer trawler built in 1988. Construction was started by Tangen Verft, and completed by Langsten Slip, Tomrefjord. It fishes predominantly in the Greenland area for shrimp and cod but during seasonal layup it is often hired by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for research work. It is likely doing some calibrations or other preparations for another research trip.

The coincidence is that it is also based in Liverpool, but not the same Liverpool. Liverpool, Nova Scotia is a small port on the southeast shore of Nova Scotia, predictably situated at the mouth of the Mersey River. (The original British settlers had a cruel sense of humour). It is home to Mersey Seafoods, owners of the trawler pictured above. 

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