Returning to normal - almost

The port began to return to normal late yesterday and into today. As the seas flattened out a bit and the wind tailed off, ships were able to arrive and depart safely.

APL Phoenix getting underway this morning, with ZIM Alabama also at anchor in the background. The Maugher's Beach lighthouse did indeed suffer damage and its light signal is now considered "unreliable".

Ships that had been trapped in the port were able to sail, starting with Toscana (which was not in for repairs after all, but was waiting out the weather since last Thursday) and Nolhanava (was due to sail Friday) both  left yesterday, and Aniara was able to move from pier 31 to Autoport, a move that had been intended for Friday).

Aniara was then able to get away this morning.

The Maersk/CMA CGM EM Kea arrived form Montreal yesterday and sailed this morning (it would have been a Saturday caller)

YM  Modesty and Altantic Star departed from Ceres in Fairview Cove. They had been scheduled to leave Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Among arrivals today APL Phoenix got in to Halterm, but left Zim Alabama waiting at anchor outside until tomorrow. Zim Ningbo is also at sea waiting for tomorrow - both several days behind schedule.

Tomar arrived for pier 31. It is a sister to Toscana at 61,328 grt, 22,144 dwt, built in 2008 by Mitsubishi Nagasaki, with a capacity of 6354 CEU

The long awaited Pegasus Highway also finally made it in today (was due March 1) and got underway again this afternoon. An interesting ship, it is rather old as autocarriers go, built in 1994 by Oshima Shipbuilding in Oshima, Japan, it is also relatively small by today's standards, at 49,012 grt and 15,553 dwt. On departure it gave its next port as Cristobal, Panama. It is unusual that it would have no USA stops.

Also making it into port today was the Irving Oil tanker East Coast and the Newfoundland connector Oceanex Sanderling.

The pilot boat Scotia Pilot was kept busy today, running in and out with pilots. Some pilots disembarked early and the boat, with pilot aboard, then escorted the ships out to the pilot station area.
 
This was a busy day in the port as a result, but there have been several other delayed arrivals due to the weather to the south. The regular Melfi and Tropical ships, usually here on Monday or Tuesday have extended ETAs. Melfi's Jona is scheduled for tomorrow (but not confirmed). Tropical's Bomar Rebecca has been postponed for a week to March 12, and all subsequent ships are advanced a week.

Numerous other schedules have also been thrown in disarray by weather both in Europe and the North American eastern seaboard.

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Suspension - day 3

Pilotage operations remain suspended for the third day as high winds and seas continue to blast the port. Despite sun and above zero C temperatures today and relative calm inside the harbour it continues to be very windy and unsafe to board or disembark pilots at the pilot station.

Seas crash over the Maugher's Beach spit.

There may be damage to the lighthouse since it appears to have a slight tilt.

 

 Even inside the harbour high gusty winds halted the movement of big ships. The master and pilot of Aniara agreed that it was too windy for the autocarrier to move from pier 31 to Autoport. The ship has been in port since Friday.

APL Phoenix continues to hold off Halifax. It did make an attempt to board a pilot this morning the but the operation was scrubbed.

The autocarrier, Pegasus Highway, has had its arrival put off again. It was originally due March 1, but because of the potential backlog at Autoport it remains at sea with no firm ETA. The ship was hove too off Cape Breton for the weekend, but today was it was noted closer to Halifax.There is concern ashore that the ship has cargo damage, but my sources are close lipped as usual.

HMCS Toronto completes a turn off Africville Park. Winds in the Basin averaged 24 knots and with gusts over 30 knots there were lots of white caps. 

There was small craft activity in the harbour today (see Tugfax) but the only large ship movement took place in the blustery Bedford Basin where HMCS Toronto was doing some high speed turns. Hope the crockery was well stowed.

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Weather Watch

Very high winds coupled with high tides resulted in delays for arrivals, departures and moves in the harbour.
The container ship APL Phoenix was due at the pilot station at 0800 but instead went to anchor off Chebucto Head until conditions become safe for pilot boarding and docking.

Although about 7 miles from my vantage point, the lens brings the ship closer and flattens out the seas that prevent the ship from entering port. 

The 109,712 grt, 115,075 dwt ship with a capacity of 9200 TEU is on the Columbus JAX service. It was built in 2013 by Daewoo Shipbuilding + Marine Engineering Ltd in Okpo for NOL (Neptune Orient Line) parent of APL (American President Line) which has since been taken over by CMA CGM.

The ship was not the only Daewoo Okpo product to be seen today.

Built in 2000 by the same yard, the ferry Fundy Rose is tied up at pier 9B for a refit.Earlier in the week the ship was turned end for end at the pier to allow work from the shore on extending the ship's fenders and other work. This morning workers had the stern ramp down.  And surprise - a personnel door adjacent to the ramp is still surmounted by a name plate identifying the ship in its original name.

 Although launched as Superferry Ithaki it was renamed Blue Star Ithaki before entering service for Blue Star Ferries, SA of Athens. That is the name that still appears on the plate - an interesting artifact of its previous life.

In October 2014 the ship made its last run between Tinos/Syros/Mykonos and arrived in Piraeus to be handed over the (Federal) Minister of Transport. It was renamed Canada 2014 for its delivery trip to Canada. It arrived in Saint John, NB, December 2, 2014 but was sent to Halifax for refit, arriving December 5. That refit at pier 9A took until July 13, 2015 when it sailed for Saint John, entering service between Saint John and Digby, NS July 18, 2015, operated by Bay Ferries Ltd. Its current refit was scheduled for completion by March 20, but that has been extended possibly to March 31.

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