Atlantic Companion en route

The Atlantic Companion is now due in Halifax Sunday, February 8, after having retreated to Liverpool when  it suffered an engine breakdown January 20 south of Ireland. The ship left its anchorage in Bantry Bay January 25 reaching Liverpool the next day, and appears to have sailed January 30 for Halifax.

The ship is one of the stalwart G3 ships due to be replaced later this year after 31 years. Its maiden voyage arrival in Halifax was March 27, 1984. 

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Atlantic Companion - expect more delays

 Atlantic Companion arriving in Halifax in May 2009 escapes the notice of a couple on a bench. It may be a while before the ship's next arrival.

Atlantic Companion left Bantry Bay, Ireland this morning, doing 16.5 knots. After losing power last week and drifting for twelve hours, the crew has apparently made repairs to the engine, but the ship did not head for Halifax. Instead it is returning to Liverpool. After losing a week in the schedule and then returning to Liverpool means the ship will be doubling up with the next ship in the rotation. Whether this means a further repair session or the opportunity to pick up more cargo, time will tell.

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Casualty Updates

 Australian Spirit

The rudderless tanker Australian Spirit has arrived safely in Setubal, Portugal, in tow of the tug Janus. When leaving Halifax January 7, they gave an ETA of January 18 in Portugal. The arrival on January 21st is still not too shabby in view of the horrendous weather just north of the Iberian Peninsula, which no doubt slowed arrival somewhat.

Tugs assist Australian Spirit off the dock at pier 9C, and tug Janus prepares to take the strain:

Atlantic Companion

The disabled Atlantic Companion is still anchored in Bantry Bay, Ireland but is expected to sail for Halifax January 23. After losing power on Janaury 21, the ship was able to reach a safe anchorage after drifting for 12 hours.The crew is no doubt working feverishly on the repair to one cylinder. Sources have suggested that the switch from 30 years of burning heavy fuel has dislodged build up in the cylinders,. This is not the first cylinder problem ACL ships have experienced. In the last three years there were two if not three similar incidents, and one was on Atlantic Companion.

 Tugs assist Atlantic Companion to anchor after cylinder problem, March 20, 2013.

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Atlantic Companion - engine problems

The Atlantic Companion suffered an engine breakdown January 20 off the Fastnet Rocks and was adrift for about twelve hours. The ship was en route Liverpool, UK to Halifax, and drifted with the current until the crew managed to restart the engine and make for Bantry Bay, Ireland.

Atlantic Companion sailing beneath the MacKay bridge February 19, 2014.

The ship was built by Kockums shipyard in Malmo Sweden in 1986 and lengthened by Hyundai, Ulsan, South Korea in 1987.  From 1987 to 1994 it was renamed Companion Express for a vessel sharing agreement with Hapag-Lloyd, when it was assigned to the St.Lawrence River route for time.

It made it first call in Halifax March 27,1984, and aside from the brief spell mentioned above, the ship has been a monthly caller in Halifax ever since. 

On February 20, 2012 it lost power in one cylinder while arriving in Halifax and anchored for a time for repairs.

Atlantic Companion (in the background) in number one anchorage as fleet mate Atlantic Conveyor arrives.February 20, 2012.

All five ships in the ACL fleet are due for replacement starting this year. The first hull, to be called Atlantic Star has been floated out of the building dock and is due in service in May. The remaining ships will arrive at two month intervals thereafter. Called the G4 series, they are even bigger that Atlantic Companion and the other G3 series ships. At 30 years of age, the G3s have reached the end of their service lives, and more of these sorts of breakdowns might be expected. 

Fortunately this latest one has not resulted in any injuries or pollution.

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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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Harbour Roundup

Lots of activity in Halifax today - here's a quick summary:

Mainport Pine made its way in to pier 26 this afternoon on its first return trip from BP's seismic exploration project offshore. The boat took fuel from Irving Oil trucks and likely stocked up on other stores before sailing this evening. It takes turns with Scotia Sea in supplying necessities to the seismic fleet. Note the inflated rubber fenders fitted to the hull, which allow it to come alongside the ships while at sea. It also has accommodation for crew changes.

Meanwhile the tanker Challenge Paradise was preparing to put to sea. In port for a only a few hours for Asian Gypsy Moth inspection, the ship is bound for Saint John. NB. Owned by affiliates of the NYK Line, the ship was built in 2007 by Shin Kurushima, Onishi Shipyard in Imabari, Japan, and despite its size of 28,063 grt, 45,980 dwt, it looks like a large crude tanker.

A more typical looking product tanker, NCC Rabigh moved from anchorage in Bedford Basin to number 4 oil dock on departure of Cenito. Both were pictured in a previous post.  NCC Rabigh is probably the first Saudi Arabian flagged tanker to call in Halifax, although Saudi container ships have been calling here for decades.

 

 

The familiar herring fleet is back again on its seasonal hunt for the migratory fish. This time round all the boats are blue, including Sealife II which used to be red. Lady Melissa, Dual Venture, Leroy and Barry II and Morning Star tied up amid yachts and tourists at the Maritime Museum and Queen's Wharf.

Despite each being distinctly different, they are all fitted  out with similar gear, including a skiff perched on the stern to take the purse seine net out and surround the fish, and pumping gear to pump the catch ashore..

Atlantic Companion sailed late this afternoon - the third ACL ship in as many days. (There were two on Monday.)

 

It was followed a few minutes later by HMCS Montreal from its anchorage position. It is always a pleasure to see these ships accelerate away from a standing start.

Also in port, but at pier 9 is the researcher Coriolis II . Earlier in the day it was stationary off Musquodoboit Harbour.

It was not all work in Halifax however. The weekly sail race from the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron took place against a background of black fog, that was beginning to creep inside Meagher's Beach. The boats managed to stay their course and remain in bright sunshine before they were blanketed in.

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Fairview Cove - back in business

The Fairview Cove container pier was back in business at 0800 today after a lockdown of over 30 hours due to a radiation scare.

 

Fairview Cove terminal from  above the Rockingham rail yard.

At about 2200 hrs Thursday, the bottom "fell out" of a container carrying uranium hexafluoride canisters. The container dropped about 20 feet onto the deck of the Atlantic Companion and became wedged between some other containers.

Atlantic Companion from Memorial Drive 

Cerescorp, operators of the terminal, instituted emergency procedures and halted all work. Halifax Fire + Emergency Services responded and tested workers and the work area. When no workers were found to be contaminated, they were sent home and the terminal was locked down. Cerescorp also halted work on the adjacent ship, London Express.

Emergency teams from New Brunswick (where there is an atomic reactor near Saint John) and from Ontario were also called in.

A small work area around the dropped canisters was sealed off and found to have higher than normal radiation levels, but the levels were well below danger levels according to the experts. The canisters were not ruptured, and there was no release of radioactive material.

Loaded rail cars were held in the terminal, and inbound cars were held in the Rockingham yard.

By 0800 Saturday March 15 workers were called back and work resumed. The dropped canisters still had to be recovered but once that was done, the Atlantic Companion could resume normal loading and unloading.

Because work on London Express was delayed, the next due ship, Dalian Express anchored in Bedford Basin, ready to move into the west berth when London Express sails this afternoon.

Dalian Express anchored in Bedford Basin. 

The canisters, called type 30B, consist of a flask carrying the granular uranium hexaflouride, surrounded by concrete and encapsulated in a cylindrical steel shell. Four of the cylinders are secured in a container called a PCP3 platform or flat rack. It is similar to a standard container, but without a top or side walls. The end walls are hinged to fold flat to save space when empty.

These particular cylinders are en route from an enrichment facility in the UK to South Carolina for use in a nuclear power plant. They were to be trucked from Halifax by specialist carrier RSB Logistic of Saskatoon.

In October 2013 a driver from RSD Logistic affixes radiation warning placards to a container carrying radioactive material. This is the same type of container and cylinders involved in Thursday night's accident.

One might well ask why these cargoes cannot be landed in the US, closer to their destination.  I suspect it is because the US does welcome such cargoes arriving by sea, but much prefers them arriving by land where they can be more closely monitored.

London Express sailed early in the afternoon (in heavy rain and fog) with Dalian Express taking its berth immediately. Atlantic Companion sailed at 16:30.

Atlantic Companion passing east of George's Island, seen from a high building in Halifax

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Atlantic Companion - roundabout trip

Atlantic Container Line's veteran ConRo Atlantic Companion made a roundabout arrival in Halifax and sailed (without tugs) this afternoon.

Atlantic Companion approaches the MacKay bridge this afternoon after clearing Fairview Cove without tugs.

 

The ship had sailed from Liverpool originally on January 27, but while rounding north of Ireland the crew discovered some hull cracking. Rather than risking extra hull stress by turning around, the ship sailed south down the west coast of Ireland and back to Liverpool via St. George's Channel, arriving on January 31.

 

After a couple of days at Gladstone Dock for welding repairs, the ship went back to her berth at Seaforth and topped up or re-stowed cargo. The ship then resumed her voyage on February 3, sailing out into the same stormy waters that the Asian Emperor may have encountered [ see previous and following posts]

 

Atlantic Companion made her first call in Halifax March 27, 1984. Since then she was lengthened in 1987, renamed Companion Express from 1987 to 1999 and sailed to Montreal for a few years when ACL and Hapag-Lloyd tried out different routings. New ships are on order for ACL,  for delivery in 2015 to replace Atlantic Companion and her four classmates.

 

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Atlantic Companion - an aversion to tugs

 1. Atlantic Companion  enters the Narrows on departure, with a stiff breeze blowing cross channel (the flags on the ship's mast are flying strait out.)

The Con Ro Atlantic Companion made its regular westbound call in Halifax today -a day earlier than the usual ACL call, probably to get to New York before the US Thanksgiving holiday.
In view of my recent blog about tethered escort tugs in the Narrows, it is interesting to observe that the ship may have arrived and tied up this morning without any tug assistance at all. At one time ACL ships routinely made "tug free" calls. Since the ships are equipped with bow and stern thrusters they berth and unberth more easily than most ships. However they have been using tugs much more frequently in recent years, and have frequently used a tethered escort tug in the Narrows - at least until there was extra charge for it..
This afternoon, with the breeze having picked up, the ship left with one tug to assist it off the berth and turn it  but the tug was not tethered during its transit of the Narrows.The tug Atlantic Larch remained close to the ships for the transit. Untethered, a tug can only be of limited use if needed, and tying up to an underway ship in a wind could be a challenge.

2. Atlantic Larch takes up position aft of the ship as it enters the Narrows, but remains untethered. (That is HMCS Fredericton at the trot buoys in Bedford Basin in the background)

3. Even on a cold and windy day in late November, you can't count on having the Narrows all to yourself.

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ACL double header

1. Atlantic Companion (left) glides into anchorage and Atlantic Conveyor overtakes, passing west of George's Island bound for Bedford Basin.

It is not unheard of to see two ACL ships in port at the same time - it usually happens once or twice a year - but it is still unusual enough to warrant notice. Because the ships make westbound and eastbound calls in Halifax, when the westbound ship is delayed, it overlaps the eastbound caller.
Today's duo is Atlantic Companion and Atlantic Conveyor. Although Atlantic Companion was first to arrive, it apparently lost power and was met by two tugs which shepherded it into the number one anchorage area. Atlantic Conveyor then proceeded up west of George's Island, without tugs and headed directly for Fairview Cove to berth unassisted.
Atlantic Conveyor was built in 1984 by Swan Hunter on the Tyne, and made its first call on Halifax February 1, 1985. It was lengthened in 1987 at Greenock, on the Clyde. As the British ship in Atlantic Container Line as it was originally organized, the ship was in fact owned and operated by Cunard Steamships Co Ltd, and was one of the last cargo ships operated by that venerable line. Under the current ACL configuration all ships are Swedish flagged.
Atlantic Companion was built by Kockums in Malmo, Sweden in 1984 and lengthened in 1987 by Ulsan in South Korea.Originally owned by the Bostroms Group it has always been Swedish registered. From 1987 to 1994 it was renamed Companion Express under a vessel sharing arrangement with Hapag-Lloyd.
Its first call in Halifax was a westbound voyage March 27, 1984. Eastbound out of Halifax on April 7, 1984 it had a supercharger failure and had to be towed back into port by the tugs Point Vibert and Point Vigour. It seems to have suffered a less serious mechanical failure this time round, since it has now anchored in number one anchorage for a few hours for repairs. Atlantic Larch will remain alongside as long as the ship has no engine power.
There are five ships in the ACL fleet, allowing them to maintain a weekly transatlantic schedule -one of the toughest in the world.All are due for replacement in the very near future.

Bad day for Atlantic Companion

1. Atlantic Companion arriving Halifax September 7, 2010.

Atlantic Container Line's Atlantic Companion parted its lines while docked in Baltimore on February 25. Wind gusts in the range of 65 to 70 miles per hour resulted in the ship breaking free from the Dundalk Terminal and drifting across the channel and, according to some reports, running aground.
The ship was freed by tugs some time later and returned to its berth.