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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