Bedford Basin - re-visit

After yesterday's lengthy post about Bedford Basin there is some follow up and some additional traffic to mention.

The tanker BSL Elsa sailed this morning (November 3) for Southwest Pass, Louisiana. One of the channels at the mouth of the Mississippi River, Southwest Pass is a convenient destination for ships that may be redirected to one of several oil ports in the region.

 As BSL Elsa cleared the Basin, the Royal Canadian Navy's chartered supply ship Asterix was on the move back to HMC Dockyard from the Bedford Magazine ammunition dock.

The Asterix returned to port October 26 after exercising with NATO ships and the USS Gerald R. Ford. It made the brief trip to the Bedford Magazine (Jetty November November in Navy lingo) this morning, presumably to off load some ordnance.

As a non-navy ship (with civilian crew) the Asterix uses civilian tugs when manoeuvering in the port.

These ship moves were carefully orchestrated with an arriving ship, so as to avoid meeting in the Narrows.

With the tugs Atlantic Cedar (forward) and Atlantic Fir aft, the autocarrier Don Carlos has just passed Pier 9C, and is about to pass beneath the A. Murray MacKay bridge and enter the Bedford Basin to turn and come back alongside Pier 9C. Once it unloads RoRo traffic (except cars) it will  move to Autoport to discharge cars. This is the reverse of its pattern on June 11, 2022 [qv].

Built 1997 by Daewo Okpo, the ship was lengthened 8.6m in 2006 by Hyundai Vinashin and now measures 227.9m long, 67,141 gt, 28,147 dwt, with a capacity of 7,194 (RT43) autos.

Also in the Basin the bulker Rt. Hon Paul E. Martin [see yesterday] completed loading at Gold Bond (formerly National Gypsum) and sailed about mid-day for Savannah, GA.

The ship does not load to its full capacity at Gold Bond due to draft restrictions alongside the dock. When National Gypsum built the facility in 1956 there was adequate water depth for ships of the era, but ships have grown!

In the lower harbour the tanker East Coast anchored on arrival. It moved to the Woodside terminal late in the afternoon.

On long term charter to Irving Oil, the 23,552 gt, 37,515 dwt ship was built in 2005 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, and carried the name Nor'Easter under Marshal Islands flag until 2014 when it was brought into Canadian registry. Its Dutch based owners, Vroon, display the letter "V" in a shield on the ship's bow. Vroon also opeates offshore suppliers (under the VOS name) and other tankers (under the Iver name).

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More busy

 Container traffic was only part of the activity in Halifax harbour today, June 23. The long awaited (and waiting) Vistula Maersk arrived on the joint Maersk and CMA/CGM St.Lawrence River service. This is the ship's first trip after replacing older Maersk ships.

 

Built in 2018 by COSCO (Zhoushan) Shipyard Co, it was the first of a series of ice class ships built as Baltic feeders. The 34,882 gt, 40,000 dwt ship has a capacity of 3600 TEU including 600 reefers. It has also been joined on the St.Lawrence run by sister ship Vayenga Maersk. Both ships became available when Baltic trade patterns changed after sanctions were imposed on Russia.

It arrived off Halifax from Montreal on June 20 and has been waiting at anchor until space was available at PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub (Southend terminal). It will top up its cargo here and depart for Europe late tonight.

Also at the Southend terminal is the Navarino on MSC's Indus 2 service from North India via Suez.

Navarino dates from 2010 when it was built by Hudong-Zhongua, Shanghai as MSC Navarino. It was renamed Carmen shortly after, then in 2011 became Hyundai Navarino. It reverted to Navarino in 2012. Owners Costamare provides ships to major container lines for varying charter durations, often renaming them to suit.The 91,354 gt, 102,302 dwt ship has a capacity of 8530 TEU.

PSA also had the Oceanex Connaigra at Pier 36 for RoRo trailers and cars (generally used ones and fleet cars). The ship shifted to Autoport for more cars (new ones) then was due to move to anchor over night. It will load containers tomorrow and depart for St.John's. 

This is supposed to be the ship's last call in Halifax as fleet mate Oceanex Sanderling is now due back from refit in Amsterdam before month's end, resuming duties from St.John's June 27 and Halifax June 30. Oceanex Connaigra and Oceanex Avalon have been alternating a weekly Montreal and Halifax service to St.John's since January when Oceanex Sanderling went off to the Damen shipyard in Waalhaven. That has meant only alternate week RoRo to Newfoundland from each port. Once Oceanex Sanderling is back there will be weekly RoRo service again from Halifax and Montreal.(The Con Ro Oceanex Connaigra and the non-RoRo Oceanex Avalon will each resume weekly sailings from Montreal).

PSA's Fairview Cove terminal hosted two ships today - both regulars. Nolhan Ava calls weekly on its container and RoRo service to St-Pierre et Miquelon and Argentia, NL.

 Nolhan Ava cuts through the glassy waters of the Narrows this morning en route to Fairview Cove.

There was news today that the Atlantic Pilotage Authority (APA) has made Belledune, NB, Sheet Harbour, NS and Argentia, NL mandatory pilotage ports. Until now the three had been non-compulsary, meaning that engaging harbour pilots was optional. In the case of Nolhan Ava the cost of pilotage in Argentia may be a severe blow to the operation's bottom line. However the vessel's master may qualify for a pilotage certificate, which would in fact be a waiver from the requirement for an APA pilot.

Later in the day it was NYK Deneb arriving on its regular slot on THE Alliance's AL5 route.

The 4922 TEU capacity ship was built by Hyundai Ulsan in 2007 and it is rated at 55,487 gt, 65,953 dwt.

Non-container activity included the quaintly named tanker The Sheriff which anchored for a good part of the day. (It was scheduled to get out of Dodge about mid-afternoon)

 

The ship was built by 3 Maj Brodogradiliste, Rijeka, Croatia in 2013 and is a 10,866 gt, 14,936 dwt asphalt  / bitumen carrier. It appeared to be carrying cargo, but since sailing from Langshan, China, and calling in Long Beach, CA (May 31 - June 1), it has transited the Panama Canal (June 12) and has been awaiting orders for a destination.

The purpose of its call in Halifax is unknown, but it is likely that it had a CFIA inspection for LDA moth larva. If so that would indicate a possible Canadian destination.

Returning to Halifax from unspecified exercises offshore the Canadian Navy's supply ship Asterix tied up at its usual berth in HMC Dockyard. HMCS Fredericton has been operating off Halifax for the last several days, so it may have been conducting refueling / stores transfer at sea trials.

Also on some unspecified activity with the RCN is the offshore tug/supplier Atlantic Osprey which docked at Jetty Alpha, at Shearwater.

Built by Halifax Shipyard in 2003 the 16,000 hp vessel, like many Canadian offshore support ships, has been idle but is therefore available for other work. Atlantic Osprey was laid up in Stephenville, NL until earlier this month. It departed St.John's five days ago (June 18).

 Tied up at Navy Jetty Alpha, the ship overlooks boats of the Shearwater Yacht Club.

Despite concerns about the herring stock and the closure of the herring and mackeral fishery in some areas such as the Bay of Fundy, there are fish off Nova Scotia as the two seiners Lady Melissa and Morning Star are bringing their catches in daily and pumping off into tanker trucks. As soon as they are unloaded the boats head back out to sea. The trucks head for Comeau Seafod's herring processing plants in Saulnierville or East Pubnico, NS.

Lady Melissa heads back to sea for more with its skiff perched on the stern ready to deploy the seine net.

At the Cherubini Metal Workers dock in Eisner's Cove, next to Shearwater, the latest bridge for Toronto Harbour has now been loaded aboard the barge Glovertown Spirit. Once fully secured to the barge it will be taken in tow by the tug Beverly M1 for the long trip to Lake Ontario.

(Note the bright sunlight, but band of thick fog in the background.)

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Arrivals, Departures and Moves

 Most days in Halifax harbour there are several ship arrivals and departures and often some moves within the harbour. The arrivals and departures often coincide with the normal hours of the longshore workers, so tend to be early in the morning for the arrivals and late in the afternoon for the departures. Moves are usually unpredictable.

However there are times when the ship movements are at odd hours, more conducive for photos.Today June 20 was such a day, with several mid morning arrivals.

The container ship NYK Romulus was due at the pilot station at 1000 hrs, followed by the auto carrier Grande California at 1030 hrs.

Built in 2009 by Hyundai, Samho, the NYK Romulus is a 55,487 gt, 65,883 dwt vessel with a capacity of 4922 TEU including 330 reefers. It is sailing on THE Alliance's AL5 service (North Europe - North America).

Heading for Autoport, Grimaldi's Grande California may be making its first call in Halifax.

Just a year old, the Grande America was delivered by the Yangfan Group, Zhoushan in early June 2021. It is a 65,148 gt, 15,853 dwt ship with a capacity of 7700 cars in 5,000 lane meters of deck space. It is arriving from Salerno and Gioia Tauro, Italy and Valencia, Spain.

While these two big ships were arriving, two smaller vessels were putting in an appearance.

 

Lady Melissa, built by Ferguson Industries in Pictou in 1990 and owned by Comeau's, Saulnierville, NS. Morning Star was built by Caraquet Marine Ltd in 1991 and is owned by Scotia Pelagic of Yarmouth.

 

Both are herring seiners, and have not been seen in Halifax for some time. The commercial herring and mackerel fisheries were closed by government order in April, so these boats must be operating for research or for a limited bait fishery. The collapse of the herring stock on both Atlantic and Pacific coasts is worrisome, but has happened before.

One ship arrived this morning and will sail again this evening - Irving Oil's tanker East Coast

Built in 2005 by Hyundai, Mipo for long term charter to Irving Oil, it was orginallly named Nor'Easter and sailed internationally out of Saint John, NB. It was brought under Canadain flag and renamed in 2014.It is a handysize vessel of 23,552 gt, 37,515 dwt.

Most of today's departures are echeduled for early evening (after this is posted) but one late afternoon sailing was the Royal Canadian Navy's chartered supply ship Asterix.

As usual with naval vessel movements, its destination was not given.

Movements within the harbour were limited to small craft as far as I could tell. Among these "craft" was the "Harbour Hopper 6", giving its cargo of tourists a cold and damp ride.

The Halifax Fire and Emergency Services "Fire Boat 1" was exercising its sealegs in the harbour too:

The boat is also named Kjipuktuk , the first nation's word for Halifax Harbour, which the early English settler-colonizers corrupted to "Chebucto". [I have "defaced" one of the crew men to avoid identification.]

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Asterix returns

 The Royal Canadian Navy's "afloat sustainment point" Asterix returned to Halifax today April 17 after nearly a month at sea. The ship sailed from Halifax March 21, first for NATO exercises and a call in Bermuda, then on across the Atlantic as far as the English Channel approaches with HMCS Halifax.

The ship then returned solo via the Azores, recrossing its eastbound track mid-Altantic. There may be some explanation for that odd return track- perhaps it was to stay clear of any iceberg zones. (This was  Titanic anniversary week).

Once past Mauger's Beach the ship deployed a couple of fast craft - which sped off into the harbour.

The ship is leased by the Royal Canadian Navy, and has a civilian crew. It therefore takes a civilian pilot and uses civilian tugs when arriving or departing port. However it also carries some navy personnel for specific duties, and I suspect these boat crews are navy matelots doing some boat drills.

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Asterix sails

 The Royal Canadian Navy's supply ship Asterix sailed today March 21, after a brief visit to the Naval Ammunition Depot in Bedford Basin.

 Asterix outbound in the Narrows this morning.The elaborate derrick systems permit the ship to carry out refueling and replenishment at sea.

As the name implies, the Naval Ammunition Depot (NAD) also known as the Bedford Magazine, is the storage facility for the RCN's ordnance. Presumably the ship stocked up so as to be able to re-supply Canada's warships when they are far away from their home port. In addition to ammunition the Asterix also carries the other supplies that ships need, including fuel and consumables. It can also serve as a spare parts and repair facility and has a large medical ward.

In the lower harbour, the ship heads for sea.

Unique among Canadian naval vessels, the Asterix is privately owned and operated by a civilian crew with naval specialists on board for specific missions. The ship is normally unarmed itself and has limited combat damage control.

(For a quick refresher see Wikipedia here.)
 

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Riding it out

 With another wind storm sweeping through Atlantic Canada, ships were riding it out in various places around the region. 

Chedabucto Bay - to the east of the Strait of Canso - saw the unsual sight of two ships with similar names. The bulk carrier Algoma Integrity anchored not far from the cable ship IT Integrity, both familiar Halifax callers. A third ship from Halifax, Nolhan Ava, en route to Argentia and St-Pierre et Miquelon on its weekly service also sheltered nearby.

For its arrival in Halifax March 10 the Nolhan Ava had calm conditions.

High winds forced other ships to leave their berths for more secure moorings. Among them was the Canadian Navy's chartered supply ship Asterix . On Friday March 11 it was tied up at Irving Oil's Woodside terminal for one of its periodic refills but returned to HMC Dockyard on Saturday March 12. It will move back to Woodside when conditions improve.

Asterix tied up at Irving Oil's Woodside dock, but next door neighbour Imperial Oil's tank dominates the lamdscape with its label facing Halifax. The red and white checkered tank is part of the Shearwater military base.

Ferry services on the Bay of Funday and Cabot Strait were suspended due to high winds, but fortunately two troubled ships had reached port safely. The container ship MSC Kim arrived in Sydney Friday March 11 in tow of the Atlantic Kingfisher with the tug Atlantic Spruce as tethered escort and CCGS Jean Goodwill standing by. It lost power in the Gulf of St.Lawrence on March 7.

Meanwhile in Newfoundland the 180,000 dwt bulk carrier Comanche was brought to anchor in Placentia Bay March 12 by local tugs. The ship lost power after bunkering at Come by Chance on a trip from Sept-Iles to Asia (via Suez) with a cargo of iron ore. The supply tug Maersk Clipper was mobilized from layup to assist. CCGS Terry Fox was also nearby.

In Halifax harbour, the Canadian product tanker Algoterra went to anchor in Bedford Basin on arrival March 12. Its eventual destination is Imperial Oil, but the berth there is not safe in these high winds.

 

 

Algoterra first arrived in Halifax April 14, 2019 after it was purchased from Knutsen Product Tankers. Built in 2010 by Jiangnan, Shanghai as Louise Knutsen it carried the name Louise K for the delivery trip from Amsterdam. It was registered in Halifax April 15, 2019.

Algoterra is a 11,889 gt, 16,512 dwt ice class product tnaker. It was in winter layup in Montreal from December 12, 2020 and sailed March 7 to Lévis, QC. There it loaded March 8 and 9 and sailed for Halifax. Recent world events may have disrupted normal supply chains and brought the ship back into service. Imperial Oil does not usually acquire product from its competitor refinery.

Recent tanker acquistions by Algoma have kept the paint schemes of the previous owners and may not appear in Algoma blue until their next scheduled drydocking. Algoterra still wears the orange hull of Knutsen ships, but does carry the Algoma "Bear Spot" funnel mark.

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HMCS Fredericton off to NATO

 HMCS Fredericton sailed this morning for a six month stint with NATO's Operation Reassurance.

A helo made a few low passes and hovered over the deck as the ship made its way outbound. The waterfront was lined with family and well wishers on a warm summer morning, and were rewarded with a single whistle salute.

Fredericton hoisted a huge naval ensign in addition to other flags and signals.

About an hour before Fredericton departed the navy's supply vessel Asterix also put out to sea.

Asterix requires a civilian pilot since it is not a commissioned naval vessel. The duty pilot boat Scotia Pilot accompanied the ship to the pilot station to disembark the pilot.

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Asterix sails

I generally resist the temptation to post multiple images of ships arriving or departing.  Today was an exception because there was an unusual event in the harbour. It was a case of "double pilotage".

Canadian navy ships are not required to use civilian pilots in Halifax harbour. They use navy pilots from the Queen's Harbour Master to berth and unberth ships and direct naval tugs. Navigating in and out of the harbour is done by the ship's own officers and crew.

This is in part a carry over from the days when the HMC Dockyard tugs were commissioned naval vessels and civilians did not give orders to naval personnel. Nowadays, with civilian crews on naval tugs, it is more a question of familiarity and usage. Dockyard pilots know how to use the Dockyard's VS tugs. They have developed a common terminology for directing the tugs, which may be different from the language used to direct the civilian ASD tugs.

Foreign navy ships visiting Halifax use civilian pilots to transit in and out of the harbour and to berth and unberth, and use civilian tugs.

The RCN has an unusual situation now that it has a leased ship in its fleet. The supply ship Asterix, from Federal Fleet Services, has a civilian crew with embarked naval personnel and specialists. My observation before today has been that the ship has used a civilian pilot and civilian tugs on arrival, departure and movements within the harbour. Today however the ship used naval tugs. Although the ship had a civilian pilot aboard, there was also a navy pilot. After directing the operation of the navy tugs, that pilot disembarked to a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat [RHIB] after the ship was clear of the pier and underway. The civilian pilot then took the ship to sea.

Ship underway, Navy pilot disembarking.

Pilot boat Scotia Pilot (yellow) sets out to disembark the civilian pilot at the pilot station (45 minutes away.)

The blue boat is Maintainer I, the Port Authority's work boat.

Preparing to re-embark the RHIB

If you think you have seen this picture of the Asterix before.....

.....it may be because you saw one taken by one of these COVID-19 ignorers. 

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Asterix back

The Navy's rented supply ship Asterix arrived back in port today. It sailed April 30 for Norfolk, VA, only one day after the RCN helicopter crash in Europe that claimed six lives. All Cyclone helicopters in the RCN were removed from operation as a result of the crash. That may have reduced the ability of Asterix to participate some operations.

Civilian tugs Atlantic Willow and Atlantic Oak met Asterix in the lower harbour to turn the ship and assist it back to its berth. 

At the ceremonial keel laying for the future HMCS Protecteur in North Vancouver on January 16, delivery date for the first of the navy's new supply ships was given as 2023. Asterix is expected to be in service at least until the second ship is delivered to ensure that there is one support ship on each coast.

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Some Business as Usual

Following ACL's decision to divert ships from Halifax and today's statement by HAPAG-Lloyd that it will likely follow suit, things were not noticeably quieter in the Port of Halifax.

At Autoport the Grande America made a scheduled stop. The CN owned facility served layoff notices yesterday to its own staff. However it may well be able to accept deliveries of cars since these are generally offloaded by members of the Longshoremen' s union. CN's own employees prepare the vehicles and load them for onward delivery. Because CN also has a great deal of storage space and usually keeps cars until they are needed, they may well continue to receive deliveries.

 The Grande New York, outbound from Eastern Passage, passes the drill rig Noble Regina Allen which is due to sail tomorrow.

At Cerescorp Fairview Cove MOL Motivator (not pictured), a first time caller for THE Alliance, arrived and sailed on schedule on its westbound leg. Whatever it unloaded here that was to go on by train will be sitting on the ground for a time unless it can be trucked. The ship would normally pick up eastbound cargo in a week or so when it comes back on the return leg. Unless rail service resumes soon, there may not be much of that.

At PSA Halifax the terminal was working today with arrivals and departures and ships alongside. The ZIM feeder Hansa Meersburg made its regular call from New York, but with a very light deck load, and very high in the water. Its arrival is timed with tomorrow's arrival of Zim Monaco but it is apparently not planning to take any of that ship's cargo, as it will have sailed from Halifax before Monaco arrives.

ZIM will certainly be one of the lines weighing its options if there is a prolonged loss of rail service in Halifax.

Not affected by the lack of rail service the small general cargo ship BBC Kwiatkowski got away from pier 9 destined for Cristobal, Panama. It appears the ship has been fitted out to carry undersea cable and is off to pick up a load.

The ship has been known to call here before, sometimes carrying rail for CN. Built in Gdansk as Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski in 2008, the 6155 gt, 7732 dwt ship carries a pair of 120 tonne capacity cranes.

Also unaffected by rail serve, the naval supply vessel Asterix moved over to the Irving Oil Woodside terminal this morning as soon as Acadian had sailed.

Acadian arrived yesterday and sailed this morning.

Because the ship has now been alongside all day, it is safe to assume it is taking on more than its own fuel. It is likely also taking on re-supply fuel for other ships for annual spring exercises.

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All Canada Day

There was no foreign flag shipping in Halifax harbour today. All shipping was Canadian - surely a very rare occurrence.

The Royal Canadian Navy's chartered supply ship Asterix returned to port yesterday after a maintenance session at parent shipyard Davie in Lévis, QC. It refueled at the Irving Oil dock in Dartmouth and this morning moved to jetty Juliet in HMC Dockyard. (Its place at Irving was taken by HMCS Fredericton which sailed later.)

During a brief snow shower, the coastal ConRo Oceanex Sanderling arrived from St.John's.

Nolhanva slipped into port around noon time and tied up at pier 27 - not its usual berth at Cerescorp, Fairview Cove.

And late this afternoon Radcliffe R. Latimer sailed after unloading its part load of grain. The ship is bound for Lower Cove, NL in ballast.

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