BBC Topaz Lift off and Touch down + update

The process of loading the workboat C-Horizon aboard the heavy lift ship BBC Topaz went off without any obvious hitches Saturday, March 30 at Pier 9C. The ship's own 400 tonne SWL capacity cranes and large lifting spreaders, were rigged Friday, March 29 (see previous post) and all was ready for the start of the work day Saturday.

The very slow process of lifting the boat from the water and raising it to the ship's deck level, and swinging it in over the ship's side took most of the morning.

Despite some intermittent light showers or drizzle, there was no wind and the necessarily slow process was not effected by weather. Positioning the boat precisely on deck distributed the load over several hatch covers, which are reinforced for heavy loads.

 

The C-Horizon was lifted just enough to swing it aboard, but that still gave a glimpse of the entire hull, including some of the bottom. The lift was achieved using straps, positioned around the hull (no doubt with the assistance of divers from Dominion Diving Ltd) in position to ensure equilibrium. A crew of welders were standing by and went to work immediately installing fasteners to keep the boat in place.That work may take some time.

The new owners of the C-Horizon acquired the boat after the previous owners, Sustainable Marine Energy Canada Ltd, entered voluntary receivership last year. The boat, then called Tidal Pioneer was laid up and put up for sale. ACL Shipbrokers Ltd, based in London, UK, and operating world wide, managed the sale to Leask Marine, an international marine contracting company also based in the UK. 

The workboat is a Neptune Eurocarrier type 2611 (approximate dimensions 26m x 11m), built in 2021. The two screw, 179gt vessel is a proprietary design of the builders, Neptune Shipyard. They built the components in the Netherlands and assembled them in Aalst, Belgium. It is equipped with Dynamic Positioning 1 and develops a bollard pull of 34.7 tonnes. It has push knees on the bow, and bow thrusters and is equipped with a variety of winches and two articulated cranes.

Eurocarriers are a sort of "jack of all trades" and in wide use in Europe and elsewhere, usually for marine construction and dredging. I also noted a white object on the boat's deck, below the wheelhouse. That appears to be a cable slide, used instead of a roller, to prevent chafing of a cable on a hard edge. They are used in submarine fibrepotic cable laying where there is a maximum bending radius that cannot be exceeded, and to eliminate wear on the sheathing. They are often installed temporarily on offshore supply ships when needed for cable work. 

Update:

The BBC Topaz sailed on Sunday March 31, giving Rotterdam as destination with an ETA of April 9. The C-Horizon was well secured on deck with substantial brackets. 

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Another BBC

 A second BBC Chartering ship arrived in Halifax today and anchored in Bedford Basin. Its fleet mate BBC Topaz has been in Halifax since March 20, docked at Pier 9C where it took on a large quantity of gas pipe. See previous post from March 21.

Today's arrival, BBC Rhonetal, will likely load the remainder of the pipe.

BBC Topaz arrived from Port Cartier, QC where it had off loaded vanes for a wind energy project. BBC Rhonetal had more vanes for the same project and waited offshore until the berth became clear to discharge its cargo.

Despite periods of zero visibility in the port today, I was able to grab a few photos when the fog shifted. (The fog tends to move in and out of port with the tide.)

BBC Rhonetal was built in 2013 by Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering Co and is a general purpose type ship with full width hatches and box shaped holds. The 14,941 gt, 17,577 dwt ship carries three 80 tonne SWL cranes that can be combined in pairs for 150 tonne lifts. It is also rated for 1047 TEU (nominal) with 152 reefer plugs.

 

BBC Topaz has completed loading gas pipe in the holds and its hatches have been closed and sealed. Crews spent much of the day rigging two large spreaders and connecting them to their next load.

 It looks like that load will be lifted aboard tomorrow, and as previously reported, it is to be the work boat C-Horizon the former Tidal Pioneer, which will be transported to Europe.

Following the bankruptcy of its previous owners, the vessel was laid up at Dominion Diving in Dartmouth Cove. It was Dominion's tug Dominion Rumbler and workboat Dominion Bearcat that moved the vessel today to Pier 9C alongside the BBC Topaz. (on the ship's port side, and not visible from the Halifax shore.)

I hope that conditions will be clear enough tomorrow to see something of the lifting operation - not as it was for some of the time today:

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Weather Watch

 With another bout of bad weather on the way some ships are taking precautions. 

Yesterday's move (see March 22 post) of the tanker CB Pacific from Irving Oil's Woodside terminal to an anchorage in Bedford Basin was perhaps a bit early as the high winds are not due until tonight (March 23-24). 

Once at anchor it was easier to see the ship's "windshield" installed over the foredeck to protect deck fittings and to streamline the ship.

Some ships have been built with this feature (and I think this is one) but some owners are retrofitting ships with shields , particularly container ships, to protect deck cargo from boarding seas, but also tankers that have exposed piping on deck.

The coastal tanker Algoscotia arrived this afternoon from Sydney and tied up at Imperial Oil, but it has scheduled a move to anchor over night. Imperial's dock number 3 consists of a jetty and dolphins and mooring buoys. Although it has been upgraded recently, ships do not remain alongside in bad weather. 

Also planning to move is the bulker Algoma Vision. It will be leaving the Gold Bond Gypsum dock for an anchorage in Bedford Basin. (See yesterday's post).

Loading operations are still underway at Pier 9C for BBC Topaz (see previous posts) which is taking on a cargo of pipe. Lifting of the cargo would certainly be curtailed in high winds. Crew members were renewing hatch seals today with Algoma Vision in the background.

 So far unfazed by weather the MOL Experience made its way in to PSA Fairview Cove late this afternoon.

Built by Hyundai, Ulsan in 2007, it is a 54,098 gt, 62,953 dwt ship with a capacity of 4803 TEU including 330 reefers. It carried the name APL Experience from 2008 to 2010. The ship is expected to sail during the night, perhaps before the weather worsens.

The ship operates on THE Alliance's AL5 service for partner Ocean Network Express (ONE) the Japanese container line consortium. The number of Hapag-Lloyd and UASC containers on deck is evidence of how important a partner Hapag-Lloyd is in THE Alliance. When Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk's new Gemini Cooperation comes into effect in February 2025, Hapag-Lloyd will leave THE Alliance. The remining partners HMM (former Hyundai Merchant Marine) Yang Ming and ONE will certainly have a major adjustment to make.

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BBTopaz loading and what happens next

 The laborious process of loading several hundred gas pipes aboard the BBC Topaz is underway in largely favourable weather conditions. A few extreme wind gusts and snow showers may have caused momentary delays, and some glitches may also have taken place but as far as I can tell the work is proceeding.

There is a fairly good view at Pier 9C, as the ship's cranes lift parcels of pipes and place them in the ship's hold. A reach stacker machine moves pipes from the lay down area to the brow of the pier constantly replenishing the small pile. 

I expect that passing ships are asked to keep a low wake to minimize any chance of the ship rolling.

The Oceanex Sanderling moving from Autoport to PSA Fairview Cove was certainly complying with that request with barely a ripple as it passed early this afternoon.

I was interested to see that the ship was only loading one hold, and using one crane. That will certainly mean that the loading process will continue into the weekend.

Once the pipe is loaded aboard I understand that the ship will take aboard the multi-purpose vessel C-Horizon ex Tidal Pioneer  See my February 27 post. Despite the coasting license application to use the vessel to move a tide turbine, I believe it was not used, and it is now being delivered to England to satisfy a previous commitment.

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All Points Bulletin

 There was activity at almost every point in the harbour today, March 20.

Autoport had the Supreme Ace in from Emden (which means Volkswagen). The 59,022 gt, 18,334 dwt ship dates from 2011 when built by Minami Nippon in Shitanoe. It has a capacity of 6163 CEU and uses a 100 tonne capacity stern ramp and a smaller starboard side ramp.

MOL (Mitsui OSK Lines) operates under the ACE - Auto Carrier Express - name for its fleet of more than 100 autocarriers. It also has something like 375 dry bulkers, 195 tankers and a number of container, ferry and cruise ships. It is part of the Ocean Network Express pool of Japanese container ships.

Volkswagen and its owned brands such as Audi and Porsche, prefers to charter vessels instead of using common carriers such as Wallenius Wilhelmsen. This may allow for more control, but does not mitigate losses when one of their charters catches fire and sinks as the Felicity Ace did in February 2022. Several limited edition Porsches and Bentleys could never be replaced. The possible lithium-ion battery related fire could not be extinguished at sea and the vessel eventually sank with a reported 3,965 cars worth $400 million dollars on board. MOL valued the ship at $32.6 million and apparently has sued Porsche for the loss.

Across the harbour at PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub there were two ships working.

At Pier 42 it was MSC Shristi on the Canada Express 1 service en route from Sines, Portugal to Montreal. The ship started life as the Venice Bridge for K-Line, and used to call in Halifax in pre THE Alliance days (before 2016).

Venice Bridge arriving in Halifax February 15, 2010, followed by the ZIM New York.

Hyundai Ulsan built the 54,519 gt, 64,989 dwt ship in 2005, with a capacity of 4738 TEU including 374 reefers. In 2019 when ONE was formed, it was sold and renamed Baltic East and was swept up by MSC in 2020 becoming MSC Shristi.

Immediately astern under the big cranes at Pier 41 it was the first time caller CMA CGM Symi on the Ocean Alliance service.

The ship is one of the pioneering LNG powered container ships and has made the news several times as a result. Unfortunately it also made the news on November 24, 2023 when it was struck by a "suicide" drone in the Indian Ocean. Damage was not severe and there were no injuries.

Hyundai Samho delivered the ship in March 2022. It is a 150,844 gt, 159,614 dwt vessel with a capacity of 15,400 TEU. It is big, but not as big as the current Halifax record holder CMA CGM Marco Polo with a 16,020 TEU capacity.

The ship sailed from Los Angeles January 2 and made its way to Oakland, Kaohsiung, Nansha, Yantian, Singapore, Port Klang and Colombo on its usual route but then diverted to the southern route round the Cape of Good Hope to Tanger Med, Morocco arriving March 9. It then sailed directly for Halifax on March 11.

At Pier 9C (see yesterday's post) BBC Topaz was preparing to load by removing and stacking its hatch covers. More news on that ship in future posts.

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Expected BBC Topaz

 The heavy lift ship BBC Topaz is expected in Halifax tomorrow - March 20 - on a long trip that originated in Viet Nam and Singapore then via the Cape of Good Hope to Port Cartier, QC. The ship was last here January 31, 2023 when it loaded some heat recovery steam generators at Pier 9C.

BBC Topaz at Pier 9C on January 31, 2023. The large yellow and green objects, were manufactured by Innovative Steam Technologies in Cambridge, ON.

This time around the ship will be loading quite a different cargo, which I will detail once the ship arrives.

BBC Chartering operates the BBC Topaz which was built in 2010 by Sainty Jiangdu shipyard in China. The 12,810 gt, 14,288 dwt ship is equipped with two 400 tonne capacity and one 80 tonne capacity cranes. It also has large and unobstructed holds with two position tween decks and can be configured to carry a wide variety of heavy and oversize cargoes. With its accommodation block and wheelhouse forward, it can carry high deck loads that would otherwise obstruct visibility. 

The ship was launched as the Eris J but delivered as Industrial Fighter. In 2013 it became HHI Everest then Eris J again in 2014, Daniella in 2015, Eris J in 2015, Industrial Fighter again in 2018 and BBC Topaz in 2019. Although operating in the BBC Chartering fleet the ship is owned by Jüngerhans Heavy-Lift and is still shown as member of the fleet on the Reederei Jüngerhans website as Eris J.

BBC Chartering has also just announced a new class of ships to be built specifically for the St.Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes. Termed "Lakermax" the ships will have two 250 tonne capacity cranes and two large unobstructed box shaped holds. Like BBC Topaz they will have all accommodation forward allowing for large deck cargoes such as wind turbine blades. There will be ten ships in the series which will be delivered over the course of the next two years.

The BBC Topaz is arriving from Port Cartier, QC where it delivered a cargo of wind turbine blades for the 200MW Apuit project which will be partly on traditional First Nation territory and partly in Port Cartier.

The ship made the headlines during a recent storm when the master opted not to heed local advice to move the ship off the dock. When the storm struck, the ship's lines parted and two tugs were needed to re-secure the ship before it drifted aground. The ship was detained in Port-Cartier for two days by Port State Control March 13 to 17. Unloading had already been delayed by a crane failure, and a sister ship, BBC Rhonedal,was waiting to offload.

BBC Chartering has also made the news in Australia when three of its ships have been banned due to deficiencies. One ship was banned for ninety days due to unsafe stowage of explosives.

BBC Topaz sailing from Halifax on February 1, 2023.

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BBC Topaz at Pier 9C

The heavy lift ship BBC Topaz arrived at Pier 9C this morning, January 31, to load a consignment of four package boilers, which arrived in Halifax some time ago on rail cars. The boilers were built by IST (Innovative Steam Techologies) based in Cambridge, ON. The "Once Through Heat Recovery Steam Generators" employ waste heat from gas turbines and other industrial processes, to generate steam.

Large green and yellow package boilers on rail cars are positioned along the pier face ready to be lifted on the ship by its own cranes.(A fourth unit is out of sight to the right).

BBC Chartering operates the BBC Topaz which was built in 2010 by Sainty Jiangdu shipyard in China. The 12,810 gt, 14,288 dwt ship is equipped with two 400 tonne capacity and one 80 tonne capacity cranes. It also has large and unobstructed holds with two position tween decks and can be configured to carry a wide variety of heavy and oversize cargoes. With its accommodation block and wheelhouse forward, it can carry high deck loads that would otherwise obstruct visibility. 

The ship was launched as the Eris J but delivered as Industrial Fighter. In 2013 it became HHI Everest then Eris J again in 2014, Daniella in 2015, Eris J in 2015, Industrial Fighter again in 2018 and BBC Topaz in 2019. Although operating in the BBC Chartering fleet the ship is owned by Jüngerhans Heavy-Lift and is still shown as member of the fleet on the Reederei Jüngerhans website as Eris J.

Weather permitting (it is expected to snow all day) the loading should be completed by late afternoon. The boilers, built as package units, are relatively easy to stow, as they don't require special rigging to secure. The destination for the boilers is unknown to me, but the ship is giving an ETA of February 7 for the Panama Canal.

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