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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Australian Spirit departs in tow

The tanker Australian Spirit got underway on schedule this morning, in  the general direciton of Portugal.
The German tug Janus has the unenviable job of towing the rudderless tanker, and is giving a January 23 arrival. That seems a very fast tow, so it is possible that the ship may be giving some assistance despite its condition.

Atlantic Larch has pulled the bow off the dock at pier 9c and will swing around to the stern, where Atlantic Oak has the tethered escort position. Atlantic Willow is on the starboard quarter and not visible.

All three harbour tugs assisted in getting the ship off the berth at pier 9c, with Atlantic Oak providing tethered escort at the stern as far out as the pilot station. Atlantic Larch and Atlantic Willow took up positions on either side of the stern once underway, to guide the ship through the Narrows and out of the harbour.

Janus is inching ahead on the tow line, but the harbour tugs are doing all the work at this point.

With the tow line taught Janus is now providing the power as the ship begins to swing around the knuckle at pier 9 / pier 9a.

It is no coincidence that the tug Janus got the job to tow this ship for repairs. Australian Spirit is owned by the large tanker company Teekay Shipping. As part of their business, they also operate Teekay Offshore Partners (TOO) - which operates floating production and storage tankers (FPSOs), stationed on oil fields around the world. To better service these FPSOs, TOO took an ownership position in ALP Maritime Services, former managers of the Harms tugs, and made an offer to buy the six large tugs that Harms now operates (bit does not own). So certain were they that sale would go through, Teekay/ALP began to market the tugs under new names and brand. However Harms disputes the sale and has sued to have it overturned. The tugs are actually owned by German investment syndicates (KGs), and Harms is trying to overturn the decision of the shareholders to sell the tugs..

Janus and another Harms tug were working with a pipelaying barge, and had just towed the barge from Africa to Venezuela when the call came out to tow Australian Spirit. Therefore to keep the work in the family (at least for now) Janus sailed up from Venezuela, via Willemstad and San Juan.

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Tow out in the morning

If all goes according to plan the disabled tanker Australian Spirit will be leaving Halifax tomorrow (Wednesday) morning in tow of the tug Janus.

The 111,905 dwt tanker lost is rudder off Halifax December 9 while on a trip from Newfoundland to New York, with 90,000 tonnes of crude oil. It was towed in to Halifax December 12, and its cargo transferred to a sister ship. Since then it has been lying at pier 9c, and some repairs were carried out to its rudder post. However to have a new rudder installed it will be towed to the Lisnave shipyard in Setubal, Portugal.

The 19,000 bhp German tug Janus will  be doing the towing, but I expect all available harbour tugs will be called in to assist in getting the ship clear of the berth and out to sea.

As of 2100 hrs Tuesday, the pilots are booked for 10:30hrs Wednesday morning, and it will take up to an hour to let the lines go and get the ship underway.Normally there is a five hour confirmation window for pilot orders and I will post a bulletin in the morning if there is a change.

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Australian Spirit and storm preparations

Things are back on a more or less even keel aboard Australian Spirit at pier pier 9C.

With a couple of days of high winds, coupled with the Christmas break, the repair barge has been removed from under the ship's stern and the ship has been ballasted back to normal.
There may be more repair work to be done to the ship's rudder post, but from what can be seen from shore there doesn't seem to be any damage to the ship's propellor, so it may just be a situtaiotn of waiting until a new rudder can be delivered.

Also in advance of the weather the bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth moved to pier 9 this morning.

As it stands now the Oceanex Sanderling and Fusion will be spending Christmas in Halifax, but the port has been pretty well cleared out of other active shipping.

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Saturday update

Much less activity in the harbour today, with Maersk Palermo the only arrival (see also Tugfax). It and the container ship Tasman Strait sailed this evening.

However there was some activity at opposite ends of the harbour:

At pier 28 Genco Thunder was turned end for end this morning and loading began in earnest. The ship was initially docked stern in so that the grain spouts could reach some awkward spot in hold#1 that could not be reached otherwise. Once that was done, the ship could be positioned normally.

Out in the Basin crews must have been taking a brunch break in their repainting project on Crown II's funnel. The ship is due to sail Sunday morning, so perhaps they got some work done this afternoon..

They have a neatly rigged rope ladder and platform stage to reach the sides of the funnel.

And at pier 9c workers have erected staging on a work float under the stern of Australian Spirit.

 There appears to be some fresh brazing work on the lower gudgeon.

The ship has been ballasted down by the bow to facilitate the work.

Rudder terminology primer:

pintles on the rudder blade fit into the gudgeons, securing the blade to the rudder post

Spirit to Spirit transfer completed

The transfer of cargo from the damaged Australian Spirit to the sister ship Americas Spirit apparently went off without a hitch and was completed about noon time today.

Tugs come alongside to move the now loaded Americas Spirit away from Australian Spirit.

Once clear, the tug Atlantic Larch takes away the fenders.

Now underway, Americas Spirit has all three harbour tugs in attendance. Atlantic Fir as stern tethered escort. It will stay with the ship all the way out of the harbour. Atlantic Willow on the starboard bow and Atlantic Larch on the port bow, will escort the ship clear of the Narrows.

Meanwhile Australian Spirt remains at anchor awaiting the return of the tugs, still has fenders alongside and the transfer hoses. Indeed the ship still has a rudder post, but no actual rudder is visible.

Compare the view of Americas Spirit's rudder at anchor (below), and Australian Spirit's rudder is clearly missing!

Answer to yesterday's quiz "Can you spot the difference"

Americas Spirit has two satellite domes on the wheelhouse, while Australian Spirit has only one.

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Spirit to Spirit transfer underway

Cargo transfer from Australian Spirit to Americas Spirit got underway this morning when tugs moved Americas Spirit to a position alongside its sister ship. By tomorrow the relative drafts of the two ships should be just about the opposite of what they were at noon time today.

It is unusual to see crude oil transfers, but even more unusual to see the transfer between two nearly  identical ships. Can you see the differences?

Halifax has been the scene of many transfers before, which I will describe in a later post.

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Saturday Roundup

The fog lifted at least for a time in Halifax allowing for a look at what was going on in the port.

At Autoport the car carrier Swan Ace was finished unloading by noon time. It was the second MOL car carrier in two days, with fleet mate Mermaid Ace in port on Thursday and Wilhelmsen's Torino slotted in between on Friday.

With the McAphalt pier in the foreground, Swan Ace still has its stern ramp down at Autoport.

Built in 2008 by Minanaminippon Shipbuilding in Usumi, Japan, the 58,628 grt Swan Ace flies the Bahamas flag and is owned directly by Mitsui OSK Lines and operates under its offshoot MOL Ship Management of Singapore.

The Bahamas flag tanker Gotland Marieann moved to Imperial Oil dock 3 from Valero in Eastern Passage.

Atlantic Fir nudges the ship alongside Imperial Oil dock 3.

It is a 29,283 grt, 53,143 dwt product of Guangzhou International Shipyard in China  Hafnia Tankers provides commercial management and Wisby Ship Management provides technical management to owners Gotland Tankers of Sweden.


Meanwhile in Bedford Basin Australian Spirit rest quietly at anchor (and with no standby tug) awaiting arrival of fleet mate Americas Spirit due tomorrow to start transferring its cargo.

The dead calm conditions in Bedford Basin are a contrast to the wild seas the ship experienced when adrift without a rudder for a day and a half off Halifax.

 At pier 31 another tanker, Sloman Hermes lies idle, also possibly for repairs.
 

 A huge gangway has been deployed to the pier.

It is a smaller chemical tanker of 11,298 grt, 16,418 dwt, one of three sisters built in 2012 by Jiangzhou Union Shipbuilding in Rui Chang, China. It is owned by Sloman Neptun of Bremen, Germany ( http://www.sloman-neptun.com/ ) but operates in the large Navig8group under tanker pool Brizo8, a spot market pool that includes Songa and Schulte tankers - frequent callers in the Great Lakes.


Amongst all these tankers, the bulk carrier Green Phoenix got underway from Bedford Basin anchorage. It arrived Friday and had divers down earlier in the day.

HMCS Windsor (far right) was also anchored in the Basin today.

It was built in 2011 by Mitsui Ishihara Engineering + Shipbuilding in Japan, and measures 31,763 grt and 56,116 dwt. It is fitted with four neatly stowed cranes and operates for MMS Tokyo, flying the Panama flag.

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Australian Spirit - big tanker coming

The crude oil tanker Australian Spirit finally arrived to anchor in Bedford Basin early this afternoon.
The ship was towed in by the Venture Sea, assisted by Atlantic Larch and joined by Atlantic Willow and Atlantic Fir to provide the steering.

 Australian Spirit passed Meagher's Beach in tow with a forest of ATL tugs on the stern. Not seen is CCGS Earl Grey standing off the stern.

I am told that the ship lost its rudder completely, and that is the reason it had no steering ability. While rudder losses are not unheard of, they are rare these days, particularly in fairly new ships. Australian Spirit was built in 2004 by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, South Korea. It measures 63,213 grt, 111,905 dwt.
While considerably smaller in capacity than the Heather Knutsen (see previous post) it is still of a good size:
Australian Spirit   256m loa x 44.84m breadth x 14m draft, 20 m depth
Heather Knutsen  276m loa x 46m breadth x 17m draft, 23m depth

The ship came in with a rising tide to ensure maximum depth of water as it transited the Narrows.The tide flow brought fog with it, and once the ship had passed the Macdonald bridge it sounded its fog signal, which boomed off adjacent buildings, making for a very eerie-and loud-impression. However as the ship was under tow and with no maneuverability, it sounded one long blast, followed by two short blasts, at intervals of less than one minute, as per regulations.  

 Yes this is a colour photo - you now know what "black thick of fog" means - and it got worse!

Once the ship anchored in Bedford Basin it was able to release the harbour tugs for other duties, but it must keep one tug alongside at all times since it is not able to sail independently.

Venture Sea will remain alongside the ship while it is anchored. Note the high towing point compared to conventional tugs.

My understanding is that the ship will have to unload into another ship, then move alongside to prepare for repairs. If a new rudder can be installed without drydocking, the work my be done in Halifax. However if the stern frame and rudder stock need to be replaced, the ship will have to be towed to a drydock That will have to be in the United States, the Caribbean or Europe, since there is no facility presently available in Canada that can handle a ship of its size.

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