RoRo, LoLo, PoPo

 The terms RoRo for Roll / On Roll Off and LoLo for Lift On /  Lift Off are well used in these pages, but today I had to add PoPo for Pump On / Pump Off to include all the traffic in Halifax harbour today, Decmber 4.

RoRo 1

There was lots of RoRo activity including, at least for me, a surprise arrival. When the Palmela sailed from Autoport yesterday (December 3) it was giving Cristobal Panama as its destination. However once the ship was well offshore, it came about and stood by until late this morning (December 4) when it entered port again. Yesterday it offloaded at Autoport, but today it went to Pier 9C. This necessitated a trip through the Narrows to Bedford Basin to turn and then return back to dock, port side to the pier.

I rook a good many pictures of the ship's arrival yesterday, and noted that the ship had the unusual feature of a ramp on each side, but that they were obscured from view. Today they were both easy to see: The port side ramp is just forward of midships and just aft of the tug Atlantic Cedar.

The starboard side ramp, just forward of midships was also easy to see, [the broken line rectangle is presumably a safe pushing point for tugs] but the Plimsoll mark (at midships) could use a touch up.

The 80 tonne capacity stern ramp was also easier to see.

 I  am not sure why the ship went to sea over night, but I suppose it had to do with security as both Autoport and Pier 9C would require extra security if a ship were alongside, but it may also have been because another ship was scheduled for this morning at Autoport.

RoRo 2

The much larger autocarrier Tannhauser arrived early this morning (December 4) from European ports on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Atlantic service. 

Built in 2020 in Tianjin, China by Tianjin Xingang, it is a 73,358 gt, 23,892 dwt ship with a capacity of 7656 cars of RT43 size. It also has a 350 tonne capacity stern ramp to handle heavy cargo. Once it had completed its work at Autoport it was also due to move to Pier 9C (after dark).

RoRo3 LoLo1

The RoRo / LoLo ship Oceanex Sanderling (also termed a ConRo) has been a familiar sight in the harbour since 1987, running weekly (sometimes twice weekly) to Newfoundland. It arrived this morning as usual and headed directly to PSA Fairview Cove where it will handle container and RoRo cargo. The ship will also call at Autoport where it will load new cars and light trucks for Newfoundland. Its usual sailing time is end of working day on Fridays.

 As it strides through the Narrows, the Oceanex Sanderling passes Halifax Shipyard and the next RoRo on my list.

 

RoRo 4

The fourth RoRo is a little bit different: Boabarge 37 is a semi-submersible barge used by Halifax Shipyard to "launch" new ships by float off. The shipyard is preparing to launch the sixth and last Harry DeWolf class Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel. AOPV 435 will be rolled on to the barge using self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) in the next few days. Once lowered back onto the cradles the ship will then be readied to float off in Bedford Basin later in the month.

This morning tugs were positioning the barge in line with the pier so that the ship (at right) can be rolled onto the barge.

The barge remains in Norwegian registry, so Irving Shipbuilding Inc has to apply for a coasting license each time it is to be used. The current application runs from December 7 to 31. Once launched there will still be many months of fit out before the ship can be handed over to the RCN. It will eventually be commissioned as HMCS Robert Hampton Gray. 

Halifax Shipyard has two variants of the AOPV to be built for the Canadian Coast Guard before it  shifts to production of new River class destroyers for the Royal Canadian Navy.

LoLo2

 A relative new comer to Halifax is the Box Endurance on charter to ZIM's expanded ZCX service.

The feeder size ship was delivered in 2015 by Guangzhou Wenchong and is registered at 17,907 gt, 21,667 dwt with a capacity of 1708 TEU. It appears to have significant reefer capacity too. It last sailed from Halifax October 29 for Kingston, Jamaica and has since called at Callao, Peru and other west coast South America ports, then worked its way back through the Panama Canal to Kingston, Miami, and Philadelphia. 

It is always fun to catch a container on the bridge as a ship from the same line passes under. Lucky day today - unless the container missed the boat!

 

 LoLo 3

Another regular Lift On Lift Off ship is the Volga Maersk on the Maersk / CMA CGM transatlantic service from Montreal to Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and Antwerp. Built in 2018 by COSCO (Zhoushan) Shipyard Co in China, it is a 34,882 gt, 40,079 dwt ship rated as LR Ice Class 1A with a capacity of 3600 TEU. One of seven "V" class ships, it was intended for Baltic service to Russia, but was displaced due to sanctions imposed against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. It is an ideal size and classification for year round St.Lawrence River service. (Ships of this class were the largest ever Ice Class 1A ships when built.) The ship's Maersk sky blue colour is highly visible (and fresh looking) even from across the harbour.

LoLo 4

Not quite so visible was the other ship in at PSA Atlantic Gateway. The MSC Matilde V is en route to Montreal on the Med Canadian route. (Photo taken December 3).

The ship was built in 1999 by Samsung Geoje and registers 53,208 gt, 70,753 dwt, with a capacity of 4400 TEU with 350 reefer plugs.

The ship was originally called Saudi Jubail and in 2002 was renamed MSC Matilde. The Roman numeral "V" was added in 2023 to denote MSC's cargo capacity class.

Since August 2020 MSC has purchased more than 400 second hand ships equalling 1.6 million TEU. With an average age of 20 years, the ships maintain MSC's reputation for getting the most out of older tonnage. The company is building new ships too, with an order book of twenty ships under construction or pending - all from Chinese shipyards. 

Competitor Maersk held off building new ships until recently but has just signed for construction of twenty new dual fuel ships ranging in size from 9,000 TEU to 17,000 TEU, (six from Korea, 14 from China) for delivery between 2028 and 2030. It will also charter ships with a total of some 500,000 TEU capacity and dual fuel capability of methanol and LNG.

Po Po

I left the "new" category of Pump On / Pump Off to last as the operation is somewhat specialized. The barge John J. Carrick and its articulated tug Leo A. McArthur arrived this morning with a cargo of asphalt for General Liquids Canada. The cargo, which must be kept heated, is pumped ashore in an insulated pipeline to tanks at Eisner's Cove.

The pipeline runs from the Cherubini pier to the so called Dexter Terminal, where the storage tanks are located. General Liquids is part of the Dexter Group of companies which includes Municipal Contracting - a large quarrying and road building operation. They carry out asphalt paving as part of their work, and would seem to be in competition with Miller / McAsphalt - operators of the tug / barge and paving contractors in their own right. They are also asphalt producers and formulators and are part of the Colas Group from France. McAsphalt also has its own marine terminal and storage tanks farther along into Eastern Passage next to Autoport.

McAsphalt has taken delivery of its new 73,600 bbl capacity tanker Asphalt Advantage. It arrived in Montreal from China last month and is now in Hamilton, ON. It is still not known if the new ship will be an addition to the current fleet or if it will mean the retirement of an older articulated tug/barge.  

The tug Everlast was built in 1977 and with its barge Norman McLeod (built in 2001) are normally used only on the Great Lakes / St.Lawrence. If they are retired the Leo A. McArthur / John J.Carrick might take their place and the Asphalt Advantage would do the coastal work. We will have to wait and see as the winter shutdown of the St.Lawrence Seaway nears.

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AOPV3 - roll on, float off - UPDATED

 The third Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessel to be built by Irving Shipbuilding Inc's Halifax Shipyard has taken another step toward completion. Yesterday, October 22, it was rolled onto the launch platform Boa Barge 37 and today, October 23, the barge was moved to an anchorage in Bedford Basin. Later today the barge will be semi-submerged and the ship floated off. The ship will return to Halifax Shipyard for additional fitting out before being handed over to the Royal Canadian Navy. When it is commissioned next year it will be named HMCS Max Bernays AOPV 432.

October 22, halfway onto the barge, the ship is moving on an array of Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs).

 

October 23, tug Atlantic Cedar pulls the barge away from Pier 6 while the tug Atlantic Fir stands by.

Moving through the Narrows the barge and cargo approach the MacKay bridge.

 

Once into Bedford Basin the barge will be anchored and the float off process will begin.

 Update:

As the afternoon wore on drizzle began and intensified into rain, and darkness ensued. Therefore there was not enough light or clarity to catch the actual moment of flotation. 

A number of small craft attended the operation, including RMI Marine's Tidal Runner, RMI Seafox and Speculator, the Coast Guard work boat CGE 316 and the tugs Atlantic Cedar and Atlantic Fir which were later joined by the Atlantic Willow.

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Barge Day

 Today (October 24) should have been designated "barge day" in Halifax as there was one large barge arrival and one even larger barge move.

The arrival was the barge Glovertown Spirit from Sydney, NS in tow of the tug Lois M. The 2073 gt barge was built in 2012 by Damen Shipyards, Gorinchem, Netherlands for use in the Newfoundland oil projects, and is named for a town on the east cost of the island of Newfoundland. Both barge and tug are owned by McKeil Work Boats GP of Hamilton, ON.

The barge was secured at the Cherubini Metal Workers dock in Eisner's Cove, Dartmouth, to load a bridge built  by Cherubini.

The barge measures 74.25m x 23.5m and has a capacity of 4800 tonnes.

With the Imperial Oil docks in the background, Lois M springs the barge into position.

 The second barge is Boa Barge 37 on long term charter to Halifax Shipyard. As a foreign flag vessel, it requires a coasting license to operate in Canadian waters. The current license running from October 15 to November 6 allows the vessel to transport sections of the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships and cradles and trestles from the shipyard's Woodside fabrication facility to the main yard. Six units and 27 cradles totaling 503.044 tonnes are to be moved using wheeled transporters to drive the components on and off the barge.

Although the barge is semi-submersible, that capability will not be needed for this move. However its ballasting system will be used to ensure that the barge deck is level with the dock.

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More Pier 9C and beyond

Aside from regular port activity - that is scheduled shipping lines, with repetitive ships - Pier 9C is the location of unusual and "one of"  ships. Lately that has meant ships related to the decommissioning of the offshore gas fields.

Certainly that would explain the two Maersk tug/suppliers rafted together at the centre berth.

Maersk Detector on the outside of Maersk Cutter. Of very different designs, they are both equipped to support offshore activity and set anchors for rigs. Although both work for Maersk Supply Service Canada, under Canadian flag, they were both built in Chile, but by different ship yards. (Canada has a free trade agreement with Chile.)

Just to the north the general cargo ship BBC Kwiatkowski arrived July 11 from Willemstad, Curacao.

Built in 2008 by the Polish Shipyards Polnoca, completed by Remontowa, it was launched as Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski but completed with its present name. It is a 6115 gt, 7732 dwt ship with a pair of 120 tonne cranes. The ship has called in Halifax before for offshore related cargoes or to fit out to carry submarine cable. Its most recent visit was in February of this year, so it may be here to offload the cable racks.

At the south end of Pier 9C the big barge BOA Barge 37 finally made its move to the IEL dock in Woodside. The move had been planned for some time, but was postponed, I believe due to lack of visibility in fog.

The barge is on long term charter to Halifax Shipyard, and has two uses. One is to transfer ship's hull components from the Woodside fabrication hall to the shipyard. It is also used to launch the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships. The blue cradles on the deck are used to support the ship's hull or components. These will now be removed at the IEL dock.

As might be imagined the barge is idle a lot of the time. It was therefore available when COVID-19 delayed plans to install two new 300 tonne capacity cranes on the Hibernia offshore structure. The new crane was supposed to be installed by the giant crane ship Thialf but with time running out on its work off Nova Scotia plans had to change. Instead the cranes will be loaded onto the BOA Barge 34, and transferred to a storage site in Argentia, NL for installation next year.

There was also activity beyond Pier 9C today. At Cerscorp's Fairview Cove it was another visit of ONE Magnificence - so far the only ship of the Ocean Network Express to call here in the new magenta hull colour. (It was MOL Magnificence until early this year) But so far I have not been able to catch it with ideal lighting conditions or in the best location. (If it hadn't sailed during my dinner hour tonight I might have caught it this time.)

With the pilot boat running interference to clear pleasure craft from the route path, the ship approaches Ives Knoll. Meanwhile, in a well timed departure Bishu Highway clears Eastern Passage for Baltimore.

Built in 2009 by Toyohashi Shipbuilding Co Ltd the auto carrier is still in traditional K-Line colours. These are gradually being repainted with a new scheme. K-Line has kept ownership of all its ships except the container ships, which went into the One Network Express, ONE.

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News Flash

Ever wonder how Halifax Shipyard will be launching the Harry DeWolf and its subsequent sister ships?
The answer is on its way to Halifax.

The shipyard (or the navy) has hired Boabarge 37, a heavy lift semi-submersible barge for four years, and it left Rotterdam Waalhaven for Halifax today in tow of the tug Boa Bison.
 

Muller tugs En Avant 1, 5 and 27 move the barge from the berth this morning.

 

Built in Nanjing in 2015 the barge measures 152m x 38m x 9.15m and can submerge up to 12.5 forward, 16.6m aft. It has a grt of 15,185 and dwt of 29,500 with a carrying capacity of 30,000 tonnes.

It last assignment was the mating of the Hebron topside in Newfoundland, so it is no stranger to Canadian waters.


The current ETA for Halifax is April 17.

Pilot off, tow underway.

The tug Boa Bison , which has been laid up for two years has been re-mobilized for this tow. Built in 2014 it measures 7,328 grt, and  and with 26,969 bhp produces 275 tonnes bollard pull. Classed as an Anchor Handling Tug / Supplier, it is nevertheless a superb towing vessel for project like this.

Thanks to Rotterdam pilot Hans Hoffman, who piloted the tow outbound today, for providing these photos.

More information about the tug and barge, including specifications and drawings is available on the Boa web site:  http://www.boa.no/

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