For the Record

 The old adage "Don't believe everything you read" might also include the post script "and be careful how you read it".

Halifax's daily newspaper The Chronicle-Herald includes a weekly history page which contains accounts of interesting events in Nova Scotia's and more particularly Halifax's past. Today (Saturday, November 18) there were two statements that need clarification, because they could be misread. The writer, a respected author, relied on published material - some of which was out of date - and perhaps misunderstood some of it. I have personal recollections (and notes) that may clarify what was writtten in today's piece.

1. Quote " November 21, 1970 - Atlantic Cinderella - the Atlantic Container Line's (ACL) first ship - arrived in Halifax to unload at container Pier C adjacent to Point Pleasant Park. ACL has been continuously calling on the Port of Halifax ever since."

This of course deserves two observations:

1. Atlantic Cinderella was the first ship to unload at what was then called the Halterm container pier (now PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub), but the ships of the Atlantic Container Line had been calling in Halifax well before the Halterm facility was completed. I have previously published my July 1970 photo of the Atantic Cinderella at Pier 36 with a Halterm crane under construction in the background.

The ACL ships also carried the first Roll On - Roll Off (RoRo) cargo for Halifax starting in March 1970 when the Atlantic Star, delivered kits for 200 Volvo cars to be assembled in Halifax and 200 finished Volvo cars for the United States market. The line also transported other vehicles such as Volkswagen Westfalia "camper vans" (early version RVs) for European tourists visiting North America. The MAFI trailer in the foreground was used to to carry the Volvo crates and other "un-wheeled" cargo on and off the ship.

The kit components were loaded by a "SIMA Lift" trailer and transported to the Volvo assembly plant at Pier 9. (Photo dated April 1970). (Volvo did not sell or make trucks in North America at that time, so used a Chevrolet.)

(The National Harbour's Board (NHB) cold storage facility in the background has long since been demolished.)

So the start of the "continuously" was well before November 1970.

2. In 1987 ACL merged its services with Hapag-Lloyd, renamed its ships with Hapag style names (e.g. the Atlantic Concert was renamed Concert Express) before reverting back to their orginal names in 1994. They shifted some of their Canadian operations from Halifax to Montreal. Although the ships may have continued to call in Halifax I believe it (technically) may have interrupted the "continuous" chain that is claimed since they were not operating independently.

 

Incidentally the statement that the Fairview Cove container terminal "was operated by Cerescorp Inc (now a subsidiary of the Japanese Shipping Company Nippon Yusen)" is factual, but may leave the impression that they still operate the facility. In fact since 2022 PSA has been operating both Halifax container terminals, PSA Fairview Cove and the Southend Container Terminal - PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub (not as stated).

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South End terminal reaches fifty-one

 On November 21, 1970 the container / RoRo vessel Atlantic Cinderalla (738 TEU) became the first ship to tie up at the new Southend container terminal in Halifax. Container ships had been calling at other piers in Halifax for more than a year while the terminal was under construction, but this was the first to use the new facility including its specially built Canron container cranes, and a RoRo ramp. Atlantic Container Line was one of two "pioneer" container lines to call in Halifax.

Atlantic Cinderella was the first customer at the new pier.

The other "pioneer" line, Dart Container Line, had been using chartered ships but its new ships were soon completed and began to use the new facility too.

 A view from the adjacent Point Pleasant Park in 1971. On the extreme left is the former Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron building. The club and yacht basin were relocated to the Northwest Arm to make room for the container pier.

The new terminal's pier, built roughly perpendicular to the existing finger Pier B was designated Pier C with berths numbered 41 and 42. It has since  been extended twice and can accommodate the largest container ships calling at any Canadian port. Its cranes and other equipment have also been upgraded. 

The new pier begins to the right of centre. The large sheds on Pier B (just to the right of centre) have long since been demolished, as have the freezer buildings to the far left.

(1973 view)

The pier's most important customer for many years has been ZIM  (Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd). The publicly owned company is headquartered in Israel. (1975 view)

The terminal was operated by a company called  Halterm, which name was also applied to the entire facility. Macquarie became the owners of Halterm in 2007 and they sold the operation to PSA in 2019. PSA has since renamed the terminal PSA Halifax.

 

The trees have grown as has the container terminal, so the above view from 1971 is almost unbelievable today.

 

 The ships have grown in size too:

 Dart Europe, built in 1970, was a large ship in its day, measuring 31,611 gt, 28,034 dwt, and had a capacity of 1,000TEU. 

All the orginal cranes have been replaced with higher units with longer reach:

The ACL and Dart ships pale in comparison with the 15,000 TEU ships of today.

Sadly, the expansion of the terminal over the years has meant the loss of the delightful little lighthouse that was perched at the end of the breakwater.

 The pier has been extended south (to the right in the photo) past the end of the breakwater:

Although the walkway extends around the end of the pier, it is seldom open, and when it is, visitors are greeted by unfriendly signs:

 

A present day view shows the most recent extension (to the right). The walkway is closed when any cranes are overhanging it - which is almost always - and for the winter. The extension was termed "temporary" when it was initialy proposed, but no one believed that, and the term is no longer applied.

Now plans are afoot to re-organize some of the shoreside areas again, expanding the container storage areas, the rail lines and the staff parking. A new truck gate and likely re-alignment of the marginal road are also in the works. At least one more crane is on order and other equipment as well. As the premier Canadian container terminal on the east coast, PSA Halifax will continue to be a major component of the Port of Halifax.

Much of the open area outside the fence may be included in the expanded shore side facilities.

 

The PSA terminal now includes the Pier B and Pier C areas, totaling 76.5 acres (31 Hectares) with five super post panamax cranes. There are 714 on ground reefer plugs and the current annual throughput is 500,000 TEU. Pier C itself is now more than a km long, and additional finger pier berths are now within the terminal and include berths 30-31, 33-34 and 36-37 and 39.

I suggested the above idea when the last extension of the pier (in red) was announced, but it is more likely that the space between the finger piers A-1 and B will be filled in instead. I hope that the grain terminal will be retained as a national asset, and the space between Pier A and A-1 will not be filled in.

 

In this older plan, the latest pier extension is not shown. Also the balloon or loop track, around the perimeter of the terminal has since been removed. It was used to turn passenger trains around, as Halifax is the end of the line. However it was apparently a major nuisance for the terminal operations. Trains are no longer turned - the engines are now paired end to end and just move from one end of the train to the other when they reach Halifax. Crane tracks extending out along the north face of Pier B are also no longer in use - the present cranes are a wider gauge. 

 

With the current boom in container shipping (shipping line profits have never been higher) but a huge imbalance between supply / demand and location of containers, not to mention shoreside congestion in many ports, Halifax remains - at least so far - free from backups and delays, but the PSA facility is crowded and more space is certainly needed.

New RTGs (Rubber Tired Gantries) that can stack containers five high, have replaced older units that could only reach four high. This has increased the storage capacity of the terminal, but space is still at a premium.

One of the early customers of Halterm was HAPAG-Lloyd. They also operated a feeder service from Halifax to US ports using the Yankee Clipper.

Yankee Clipper at Pier 36 with one of the Canron "Portainer" cranes in the background.

 

Before the first extension, the breakwater extended beyond the pier face and this view of activities was possible. However the breakwater was cut off when the pier was extended southward.

 

 

Now the pier extends so far south (right) of the breakwater that it can accommodate an entire ship.This allows PSA Halifax to work two "Ultra" size container ships (more than 10,000 TEU capacity) at the same time.

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It's a long story

Atlantic Container Line is now on its fourth generation of Container RoRo ships, all of which called in Halifax since 1969.

The first generation "S" class, 700 TEU ships built in 1967 included Atlantic Saga operated by Swedish America Line.

Stern in at pier 36, Atlantic Saga flies the Swedish flag.

The next generation, Among the early generation were the G2 900 TEU "C" series ships of 1969 and 1970.

Also at pier 36, a few months later in 1970, with the first Halterm crane under construction at Pier C in the background.

Atlantic Cinderella was also Swedish, operated by Wallenius, another one of the founding partners of ACL.

Nowadays ACL is part of the Grimaldi Group and its ships are registered in the UK such as Atlantic Star. They now use the Fairview Cove Container Terminal and at 100,430 grt they are the largest ships to sail through the Narrows regularly.

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ACL's (almost) new names and some more history

Thanks to Halifax Shipping News for alerting us to the names selected for Atlantic Container Lines' new G4 ConRo ships. The names Atlantic Star, Atlantic Sail, Atlantic Sea, Atlantic Sky and Atlantic Sun will become familiar to Halifax as the new ships come into service next year. However one of the names is already familiar, at least to us old timers.

 Atlantic Star (i) March 3, 1970- a banner day.

The first ocean RoRo cargo ever delivered to Halifax was carried aboard the first Atlantic Star, a G1 (1st generation) ACL Con Ro ship. That cargo arrived March 3, 1970 and consisted of 200 crated Volvo car chassis for assembly in Halifax, and 200 finished Volvos for onward distribution to US markets. It landed at the newly built RoRo ramp at pier 36 (still in use today but now within Halterm). Halterm construction was still underway, and no container cranes existed in Halifax. It does not appear that the ship unloaded any containers on that trip.

Dutch flag flying, Atlantic Star has completed unloading the first RoRo cargo.

Ramp down at pier 36 - note the old freight shed - long since gone. The tarped pallet on the left is part of the RoRo cargo. The ship carries the original ACL logo and buff funnel.

 
Atlantic Star was built in 1967 by Atelier et chantier de Dunkerque et Bordeaux (France-Gironde) at Dunkirk, France for Holland-America Line, a founding partner in ACL. In 1976 the ship was sent to Japan and lengthened 25.8 meters by Hitachi Zosen, Innoshima. They also added hull sponsons for strength and stability.  Gross tonnage increased from 11,839 to 15,000 (sources differ) and deadweight from 18,500 to 20,400 (references differ due to changes in tonnage calculations methods, conversion to metric, etc.,). Its container capacity increased by 400 TEU to 1154. The ship had four cellular holds forward and carried 367/20 ft, 94/40 ft containers below deck and 191/20 ft, 204/40 ft on deck.
Ship's propulsion was by means of a single 9 cylinder MAN engine generating 20,700 bhp through a single controllable pitch prop. As built its speed was listed as 21 knots, but this was reduced to 20 knots after lengthening. The twin funnels allowed for a clear RoRo deck access amidships.

After lengthening - the hull sponsons were necessary, but unpopular with pilots, who had to board the ship just above a specially built notch.

Passing under the MacKay bridge in 1984, the long gone Navicula and E.E.Prince are among the boats tied up at BIO, along with a weather buoy on the dock.

ACLS's original partners, Holland-America, A/B Transatlantic, Swedish-America Line and Wallenius Lines were joined in 1967 by Cie Générale Transatlantique and Cunard Steamships. As ACL ownership evolved, Atlantic Star was transferred to Cunard in 1983, and they were the owners when it was sent to Kaohsiung for scrapping December 14, 1987. It went out flying the British flag, and registered in Liverpool.

Sailing from Halifax for the last time October 11, 1987, the ship still looked impressive, despite the sponsons.

Note the dimple in the sponson where the pilot had to board.

There were only four G1 ships: Atlantic Saga, Atlantic Song, Atlantic Span (later renamed Atlantic Service) and Atlantic Star.
The G1s overlapped with the six G2 ships Atlantic Champagne, Atlantic Causeway,  Atlantic Crown, Atlantic Cinderella, Atlantic Cognac, and Atlantic Conveyor (i) and the five (current) G3 ships Atlantic Companion, Atlantic Concert, Atlantic Compass, Atlantic Conveyor (ii) and Atlantic Cartier until they in turn were lengthened in 1987.

The mighty G2s raced across the Atlantic at 24 knots, carrying RoRo cargo and a modest 738 TEU and at great cost. Powered by four STAL-Laval steam turbines giving 35,000 shp to two screws, they were "gas guzzlers" extraordinaire, which meant a relatively short service life. Atlantic Cinderella (the Wallenius motto on the bow, explains the name choice - Wallenius uses operatic figures for all its ship's names) at pier 33-34, for repairs May 12, 1980. It did not sail until May 15.

Atlantic Cinderella was built at Dunkirrk, in 1970 and measured 15,347 gt. It was laid up in Jacksonville, FL in December 1984 and left in tow in October 1985 for Kaohsiung. It arrived at the scrappers January 19, 1986, ending a very short life span for a ConRo ship.
It was stated that at the time when they were no diesel engines powerful enough to drive these ships at 24 knots, and steam was the only alternative.


When the G1s and G2s were scrapped ACL's services on its own ships were consolidated on the G3s and an arrangement was made with HAPAG-Loyd to also carry ACL boxes. After several iterations, Grimaldi Group became ACL's sole owners in 2007.

Back to 1984 for a minute - the G3 ships were brand new in 1984 and 1985, and had some teething trouble:

On April 7, 1984, Atlantic Companion was making its first eastbound transatlantic crossing when it had a supercharger breakdown shortly after leaving Halifax and was towed back in by Point Vibert and Point Vigour It was tied up at pier 33-34 for repairs. The ship was launched December 3, 1983 and made its maiden voyage to Halifax, arriving March 27, 1984. Celebrating thirty years of service this year, these ships have proven to be more durable and more reliable than the G2s and even the G1s.

The red reflection in the photo above is from Cavallo (a.k.a. Cabot in later life) - making its departure from - you guessed it- pier 36. Here's what she looked like in 1984:

Cavallo entering Eastern Passage en route to Autoport, May 28, 1984. It began its weekly sailings to Newfoundland in 1982. Renamed Cabot in 1988 it continued to operate on the St.Lawrence, but sometimes from Halifax, until earlier this year when it finally went to scrap in Turkey. Much more on this ship in earlier Shipfax posts.  (ASL stood for Atlantic SeaRoute, which through mergers, became present day Oceanex).

Addendum - to keep track of the G4s go to: http://www.nextgenerationconro.com/

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Atlantic Conveyor 1 and 2

1. Atlantic Conveyor (number two) sails from Halifax this afternoon.

2. Atlantic Conveyor (number one) taking on water from the navy lighter YSW 219 at pier 36 on her maiden voyage in May 1970.

3. ACL's Atlantic Cinderella also at pier 36. Halterm's first container crane is still under construction in the background, and there are still sheds on pier B.

4. Ten years later Atlantic Cinderella lies at pier 33 with some mechanical problems.

The posting about Atlantic Container Lines two weeks ago when Atlantic Cartier had engine trouble, mentioned that these are the third generation of ConRo ships operated by ACL.

The first generation ships were built in 1970 and started calling in Halifax before the Halterm container pier was completed. There were six ships in this class, named Atlantic Causeway, Atlantic Cinderella, Atlantic Cognac, Atlantic Crown, Atlantic Champage and Atlantic Conveyor. They were very large ships for the time (but puny by today's standards) of 14,946 gross tons, powered by 38,500 shp steam turbines. Each was owned by one of the original partners in ACL.

The first Atlantic Conveyor was built by Swan Hunter at the Walker yard in Newcastle, UK and owned by the Cunard Steamship Co Ltd.

It made its first call in Halifax fresh from the shipyard, and operated on ACL's regular transatlantic route until 1982. At that time it was requisitioned by the British Minister of Defense for service in the Falklands War. On May 25, 1982 it was struck by two Exocet missiles fired from an Argentinian aircraft. The explosion and following fire lead to the death of six crew and three servicemen, including its well liked Capt. North. The ship was a total loss and sank about May 31.

In honour of this ship the new G3 ship was named Atlantic Conveyor in 1986, a name it still carries, despite the subsequent sale of the ship to Sweden and later acquisition by the Grimaldi group.

It was built by the same Swan Hunter yard and made its maiden voyage to Halifax February 1, 1985. It was lengthened in 1987 at Greenock, and with its four fleet mates shares the distinction of being the largest ConRo ships in service.

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