Friday

 High winds coupled with rain, may have slowed the work at container terminals again today November 15, but ships were still coming and going. Photos as a result are bit fuzzy due to the rain.

Yesterday the Oceanex Sanderling and ZIM Asia (photo above) joined the tanker Al Reem (see November 13 post and below) at anchor in Bedford Basin, awaiting their berths. When Atlantic Sail sailed later yesterday afternoon they both moved alongside PSA Fairview Cove.

Oceanex Sanderling is expected to sail late afternoon today on its usual departure for St.John's.

ZIM Asia sailed at noon time today, taking a wide turn out into Bedford Basin before lining up for the Narrows. 

A rather bedraggled Africville park asill looked green, thanks to recent mild weather. Canada geese, rather than migrate, have been feeding on the grass and making a mess. The flags were set up to discourage them, but also make effective wind indicators.

The inbound Delphinus C on THE Alliance's AL5 service arrived from Antwerp to take the ZIM Asia's berth.

Another of the seven ship Daedalus class ships built by Hyundai Ulsan in 2007, it was originally the NYK Delphinus, fifth in the series. The 55,487 gt, 65,950 dwt ship has a capacity of 4,888 TEU including 330 reefer plugs. In 2003 the ship was renamed Delphinus C by Cosmoship Management SA of Piraeus, but remains on the AL5 route.

Once again it is worth noting the large number of Hapag-Lloyd and UASC boxes on deck. In February 2025 when the new Maersk / Hapag-Lloyd Gemini Cooperation comes into effect Hapag-Lloyd will withdraw from THE Alliance. MSC may take up some of the slots but Gemini will form other services some of which will no doubt call in Halifax. New schedules will be posted in December.

At PSA Atlantic Gateway it was an unusual ship for the Ocean Alliance (CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, OOCL.) 

The CMA CGM Rigoletto is quite a bit smaller than the usual 15,000 TEU ships on the route from Asia via the Cape of Good Hope. (Last port Colombo.)

The CMA CGM Rigoletto comes in at 107,711 gt, 114,004 dwt with a capacity of 9415 TEU including 700 reefers. It would be among the largest ships with all superstructure aft. Most ships of that size have an "island" bridge well forward. It was built in 2006 by Hyundai Ulsan.

Still anchored in Bedford Basin, the tanker Al Reem (see above) awaits a berth at Imperial Oil.

Today the Algoscotia moved back from Pier 26 to Imperial Oil as winds died down sufficiently for safe operation. The Al Reem appears to have quite a bit of product yet to unload.

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It's an ill wind and other activity

There was activity in several areas of the port today, November 13:

Imperial Oil

  If it's an ill wind that blows no good, tell that to Imperial Oil. Despite new robust mooring facilities at the number 3 oil dock at the Imperoyal terminal in Dartmouth, it is still an unsuitable berth in high winds. It is also unsafe to be transferring oil cargo in wind in case mooring lines part and stresses cause the fueling line to let go. Imperial and other oil majors have strict operating procedures regarding conditions at the dock, and cease transfers before the arrival of high winds. Ships may then leave the dock for other piers or go to anchor until calmer conditions return.

That is the case today, November 13 with three tankers idled in port as the usual autumnal gales blast away.

The Canadian flag tanker Algoscotia arrived in Halifax November 9 (see previous posts) from Sydney, NS, and anchored in the lower harbour, waiting its turn at Imperial Oil.

 Yesterday, November 12, the ship moved from anchor to Pier 25 to wait out the winds.

It was the Marshal Island flag tanker Al Reem from Antwerp with a fresh batch of product that was next in cue. It arrived November 10 and docked directly at Imperial's number 3 dock to unload. It was windy on November 11, and 12, but still within safe limits.

Early this morning, November 13, as winds were predicted to pick up again the Al Reem moved to anchor in Bedford Basin.

 A typical Medium Range 2 (MR2) tanker of 29,155 gt, 46,046 dwt, it was built in 2010 [see following ship] by the Hyundai Mipo shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea. It was initially named Alpine Venture (an odd name for a seagoing ship) then became Celsius Randers in 2019. (Celsius Shipping is a Danish company and names its ships after cities. Randers is a Danish city.) In mid-2023 the Dubai based Marakeb Shipping LLC renamed the ship Al Reem after an island in Adu Dhabi.

While at anchor the ship did not stow its crane. The device is used to handle the ship's unloading hose and is usually rated at about 10 tonnes SWL.

Also in port was another Canadian tanker, the Algoberta. It also arrived November 11 and went directly to Pier 27 to wait for its turn at Imperial Oil.

Autoport

 Apparently uneffected by today's wind was the Container/ RoRo ship Grande Marocco (not named for a Starbucks order). Arriving from several Italian ports, it offloaded vehicles at Autoport.  The ship and its several sisters are occasional callers in Halifax, always from Italy, and always with cars and vans.

 Although the ship had a number of containers on deck, it did not handle any containers while in Halifax. Built in 2010 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, [see previous ship] it is a 47,636 gt, 25,725 dwt vessel with a capacity of 800 TEU and 2,000 CEU. It is fitted with a pair of 40 tonne SWL cranes and 250 tonne capacity stern ramp. It sailed later in the day for Baltimore.

PSA Fairview Cove

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services had the H Mercury in port on its ZCX feeder service to Jamaica. This is the ship's second visit after a first arrival October 9. It was unusual to see so many reefers on one ship,but ZIM is a major carrier of fruit.

High winds were blowing in from the north, pinning the ship on the dock. It may have been too windy for the cranes to work cargo.

The ship was built in 2022 by Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding in Jingjiang, China. At 28,848 gt, 24,468 dwt, it has a capacity of 1800 TEU. Owners are listed as Yangze Mercury Shipping Pte incorporated in Singapore.
 

Update:

Yesterday's arrival, the BBC Regalia, did not stay in port for very long. Arriving at the Halifax pilot station at 12 noon its pilot order for sailing from PSA Fairview Cove was for 2100 AST. It does not appear to have unloaded any of the deck cargo, so may only have handled some containers. Its next port is shown as Bécancour, QC, a port noted for handling wind turbine cargoes.

 

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