Nordic Wolverine

Not the usual product tanker, Nordic Wolverine made a short visit to anchorage in Halifax over night and sailed early this afternoon. The ship is a specialist chemical tanker with stainless steel and zinc tanks. It delivered a cargo of linear alkylbenzene (a detergent component) to Bécancour, QC and sailed directly to Halifax where it remained at anchor. Its next port is to be Altamira, MX.

Nordic Wolverine made a smoky departure from number 5 anchorage this afternoon.

The ship was built in 2006 with construction starting at the Aker Tulcea yard in Romania, and completion at the Aker Aukra yard in Norway. Launched as Nina the ship was delivered as Vaagen then renamed Northern Wolverine in 2010 and Nordic Wolverine in 2014.

The ship is owned by Bomar Four LLC and managed by Borealis Maritime Ltd. The latter is a 75 ship company based in Norway that manages ships for private and institutional investors.

Another Borealis managed ship is a regular caller in Halifax. Bomar Rebecca was in port yesterday sailing for Tropical Shipping. Its charter was recently extended by three months at $7,000 per day.

 

That period should see delivery of the sixth and final new ship for Tropical Shipping. When it is delivered, Tropical is likely to assign one of the new ships to the Halifax run, joining Tropic Hope, the first in the new build series.

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Elegant Ace - background check

Another of Mitsui OSK Line's car carriers arrived today. The company has a fleet of 120 of these ships, so it is little wonder that I have not seen this one before. Operating as Auto Carrier Express, MOL  farms some of the ships out to various other lines, and charters some in.  Although managed by MOL, this one is owned by Polar Express SA and registered in the Cayman Islands, suggesting that It is actually owned by someone else.

The former cable ferry LaHave II is now a spudded work barge for Dexter Construction.

As Elegant Ace tied up in the background at Autoport, work continues on a major upgrade to the adjacent McAsphalt pier. Formerly Dook's dock, the pier is a series of dolphins joined by a catwalk that carries the insulated pipeline.

For all the world like Wile E. Coyote, sawing off the tree limb from the wrong side, a concrete breaker demolishes the old dolphin at the end of the McAsphalt jetty.  The new, much more substantial dolphin is on the right in the photo.

It will be interesting to see how the machine is removed when it has finished its work, since the dolphin is connected to land only by a light catwalk.

 

The work is being carried out by Waterworks Construction, since 2017 a division of the Municipal Group of companies that includes Dexter Construction, a major road builder, and a competitor of McAsphalt in the paving business.

Elegant Ace also appears in the background as Mister Joe tows the dredge Derrick No.3 from Halterm to pier 9. The dredge began work this week and is knocking off for the weekend, and relocating to  Pier 9 due to a forecast of bad weather on Sunday.

At pier 25 Bomar Rebecca catches the last rays of afternoon sunshine. It works for Tropical Shipping, where the shade canopies over the bridge wings are of some use some of the time, but seem somehow out of place in January in Halifax. In the background the moon rises over the port bridge wing.


The ship is apparently sitting out a couple of trips for Tropical, as it did not sail this week, and its newest fleet made Tropic Hope is due again for next week's trip.

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Cinnamon and some weather

Normally thought of as a spice, cinnamon is also a colour, and that is why this particular ship carries the name it does. Like all ships in the Canfornav fleet, it is named for a species of duck, and the Cinnamon Teal has a cinnamon coloured body.

RST trucks provided bunker fuel to the Cinnamon at pier 9C south today. Note the rain water pouring out of the stern scuppers. Not so evident is the wind blasting down through the Narrows.

Built by the Wuhu Shipyard in China in 2003, Cinnamon is a geared bulker of 18,311 gt, 26,737 dwt and carries three 40 tonne cranes. Its last port of call was Bécancour, QC, where it unloaded a bulk cargo, and it is now in ballast. It anchored off Halifax yesterday but came into port in the evening to get ahead of high winds. Bunkering from trucks began today. RST, a J.D.Irving trucking company, delivered the fuel.

Cinnamon is part of the 40 ship fleet of the Montreal based Canadian Forest Navigation. Founded in 1976 the company has a long standing agreement with Navarone S.A. of Greece to  operate the ships, and most are registered in Cyprus.

Canfornav is privately owned, and is "dedicated to serving the St.Lawrence and Great Lakes" according to the company's website. Since 2000 it has been building progressively larger ships - some of which are too large for the Seaway, while also renewing its Seawaymax bulkers.  Traditionally it has chartered all its ships, but has begun to take up ownership of some ships, including buying some of the previously chartered vessels.

Cinnamon is one of five ships of the 26,000 dwt class, the smallest in the fleet. Most ships are in the 30,000 to 37,000 dwt size but is also has five 57,000 tonners and two 64,000 tonners.

The company's interest in ducks is not limited to naming their ships. They have also supported Ducks Unlimited and purchased a three island sanctuary area in the St.Lawrence River called Batture-aux-Loups-Marins (Sewolf Flats) off l'Islet. It is home to eiders, night herons and other species, and is a resting spot for large numbers of sandpipers and snow geese during spring and fall migration.

Weather Footnote:

Cinnamon docked at pier 9C south, at the berth previously occupied by Thorco Liva. That ship went out to anchor in Bedford Basin last evening, but was found to be dragging its anchor a couple of times today in the very high winds. Pilots were sent out to re-anchor ship early this morning and again early this afternoon.

Those winds have also caused delays in port activity. The economically named tanker Pag from Saint John for Irving Woodside has been holding off port as have Bomar Rebecca and YM Modesty. Pilotage operations were suspended for today and tonight and will be reviewed in the morning.

The only arrival has been Oceanex Sanderling which is self-piloted, so there was no need to board a pilot in dangerous sea conditions.

There are a couple of other arrivals scheduled for tomorrow that might have arrived today had conditions permitted.

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Tropical Hope

When Tropical Shipping moved its operations from Saint John to Halifax starting in January 2017, it was with chartered ships, but the company had new ships on order, and they were expected in July and September of 2018. Time has flown as have delivery dates, but the first of the new ships arrived today. Tropical Hope was built by Guangzhou Wencheng Shipyard in China, the first of four in Tropical's Carib class. Measuring 15,125 gt, 20,400 dwt, it has a stated capacity of 1100 TEU including 260 reefers, and carries two 45 tonne cranes.

Two of the Carib ships will be assigned to Halifax calls, replacing chartered tonnage. Tropical Hope will sail January 7, replacing Asian Sun, which was here last on December 24, 2018 .

Bomar Rebecca will continue in service, having been delayed by weather on its last trip, but is expected January 14.

At 9,950gt, 13,700 dwt the chartered ships are much smaller than the new one, but are rated at 1118 TEU. The owners may be giving nominal TEU (as opposed to loaded TEU), whereas the new ship may be given a more realistic number allowing for a percentage of loaded boxes.

On Janaury 8, 2017, the first ship to call for Tropical was Vega Omega which was replaced by Asian Sun in September 2017. Bomar Rebecca was the second ship to call, January 16, 2017, but at the time carried the name AHS Hamburg. It was renamed in July 2017.

Although neither Halterm nor the shipping line give out numbers, it is widely believed that they are moving more than the predicted 500 boxes per week in and out of Halifax.

 Most of Tropical's containers are temperature controlled (white coloured). Dry boxes are a rusty colour, and all display the company name in large graphics.

The stylized "T" and arrow, looking like a palm tree, has also been applied to the crane pedestals on the new ship.

Tropical Hope tied  up at pier 37 Halterm for welcoming ceremonies.

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Repeat Performances

Seeing the same ships several times poses challenges for original photos. The same ship in the same place over and over again begins to dull the senses. Fortunately today, although the ships were the familiar, there was something different.

When USS Arleigh Burke sailed this afternoon, the sun was on the Halifax side of the ship - unlike morning arrivals, which is the usual time to see warships.

 Name ship of its class, Arleigh Burke is proceeding cautiously as it leaves Halifax.

Also of course there is the desire to take the photo from forward, but a going away shot can provide some interest too. The ship arrived September 7 and was able to stay in port for a few days. Its May 10, 2017 visit was much briefer, arriving at 1000 hrs and sailing at 1600 hrs.

The autocarrier Elektra is such a regular caller, that I don't photograph it often.  Built in 1999 the ship is still in fine form despite its age. Classed as a Large Car and Truck Carrier (LCTC) it has a capacity of 7,194 cars. This is partly thanks to the 2005 lengthening that increased the ship's grt from 57,018 to 67,264.

Elektra moves from Autoport to pier 28 to off load some non-cars.

Original builder of the ship was Daewoo Heavy Industries, Okpo and the lengthening operation was carried out by Hyundai-Vinishin in Vietnam. A new section of nearly 30 meters was added, increasing the ship's capacity by 20%. It was the first of five Wallenius ships to get the upgrade.

The tanker Alpine Venture was here once before, and that was March 14, 2017, also from Antwerp.  Predictably it was built by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan and is 29,130 grt, 46,046 dwt. On that last visit it had to move to Bedford Basin to wait out a storm. That is unlikely to happen this time.

When the ship was here last, most of the refinery was still intact, although de-commissioned. It is all gone now except for the tanks.

Another regular caller, usually seen approaching or sailing from Halterm is Bomar Rebecca. Plowing a regular furrow for Tropical Shipping, it calls every second Monday, regular as clockwork. Today however was different. It unloaded completely, then moved in ballast to pier 25-26.

It is unusual to see a container ship underway in ballast.

Because Hurricane Florence is expected to make shore in the Carolinas later this week, the ship is taking a trip off. It may also be an opportunity for some maintenance with the ship idled for a week. Its counterpart calling alternate weeks, Asian Sun is likely sitting this one out at the southern end of the route. It will not be calling next Monday, when Bomar Rebecca is scheduled to sail.

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Sunday traffic and updates

Not a particularly busy day in the port, with no cruise ships in but there was activity.

Work on cleaning the hull of the tanker Endeavour (see yesterday's post) has progressed down the port side and onto the starboard side. The difference is noticeable.

No ETD has been posted for the ship yet.

KSL Seville did take bunkers today, but remains in number 1 anchorage. It must be in for some sort of repair.

The Yang Ming container ship YM Express arrived this afternoon. Its first visit for THE Alliance's AL1 service was April 30 but I missed it on that day.

 
Built by China Shipbuilding Corp, Kaohsiung in 2015, the 47,952 grt, 57,320 dwt ship has a capacity of 4662 TEU (including 700 reefers).

 
The ship displays a variety of boxes, but CSAV is now a major owner of HAPAG-Lloyd and H-L has purchased UASC (United Arab Shipping Co). Activities of the latter have now been totally merged into H-L.

At Autoport MSC Immacolata made a brief visit, tying up just before noon and sailing at 1530 hrs.

Due the crowd at Halterm yesterday (the 9365 TEU CMA CGM Rhone and the 3108 TEU EM Kea  and all four big cranes hard at work ) there was no room  at pier 41-42. Tropical Shipping's Bomar Rebecca tied up at pier 36.  Oddly the ship used its own cranes to unload some containers and this evening moved to pier 41 to begin loading tomorrow. Tropical's destinations and schedules may well have been disrupted by recent hurricanes, which might account for the early arrival. Tropical ships usually arrive and sail on Mondays.

There are four cranes lining pier 36-37, but only one (the one on the far right) is a working crane. The others are no longer functional. The fact that Bomar Rebecca did not use it may or may not be significant. 

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Polar Prince, other royalty and...

To mark the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, a 150 day Coast to Coast to Coast expedition, called Canada C3, will bring together scientists, educators, students and others to see and explore Canada as few others can, aboard the icebreaker Polar Prince. 

 Polar Prince disembarks some RHIBS as it approaches the lower harbour.

Organized in 15 legs, the ship will sail from Toronto to Victoria via the Northwest Passage.
The expedition has its own web site at: https://canadac3.ca/en/homepage/

The ship Polar Prince is no stranger to Halifax and Nova Scotia since it has spent several winters in Lunenburg. However it does go back further than that.
Built in 1959 by Davie Shipbuilding Ltd, Lauzon, QC the ship was named Sir Humphrey Gilbert and was stationed in Newfoundland.

In 1983 it arrived in Halifax where it underwent a major reconstruction, that included a new icebreaking bow. The old bow was broken up in Dartmouth.

Its derrick system was also reconfigured. Changing from the traditional derrick mounted on the house, with control room under the bridge, it received a new goal post type structure mounted at the break of the forecastle with the derrick house on the forepeak. It retained its old mast, less the boom. The refit was completed in early 1985 and it returned to Newfoundland. It was back in Halifax again in 1996 for a refit.

It was decommissioned then in November 2001renamed 2001-06 . It was sold to Gilbert Enterprises of Clarenville, NL and renamed Gilbert I, then in July 2002 to Norcon Marine Services in Glovertown, NL and renamed Polar Prince. Since then it has been owned by Deep Ocean Research Ltd of St.John's and current owner GX Technology Canada Ltd of Calgary. During that time it has been Canada's only commercial icebreaker (there are several icebreaker class commercial cargo ships, and a number of government icebreakers) and was last in Halifax in 2010.

It received another major modernization in 2009. For the Canada C3 expedition, it has received a new paint scheme that includes the Canadian flag.

There was other royalty in port too, as Queen Mary 2 made another visit.

Trying to get a view of the ship from a different angle this time, I managed a "going away" shot from Herring Cove.

 Yang Ming Line's YM Evolution is a regular now on the AL1 service of THE Alliance. HAPAG-Lloyd, a partner in the service seems to have no ships in this particular loop - it is all Yang Ming.

YM Evolution's bow dips slightly as she works into the swell off Herring Cove outbound for sea.

One of five sister ships, it was built by the China Shipbuilding Corp in Kaoshiung in 2014 and carries 4662 TEU on 47,952 grt, 57,320 dwt. It is registered in Taiwan.

This morning's arrival for Tropical Shipping was AHS Hamburg, one of two ships to service the line from Halifax. By late morning however its name disappeared from the bow ...

... and this afternoon was replaced by the name Bomar Rebecca.

At the same time the ship's registry was changed from Antigua and Barbuda to Liberia. When it sailed it still had the Carsten Rehder funnel marking, but this seems likely to change at its next port of call, which is to be West Palm Beach. The new name suggests that the ship has been acquired by Boreal Maritime of London, and will  be under the management of Bernhard Schulte. It is too early to tell if the ship will remain on the Tropical Shipping run.

The ship was built in 2008 by Jingling Shipyard in Nanjing as Pacific Hawk. It was renamed AHS Hamburg in 2012. The 9957 grt, 13,760 dwt ship carries two 45 tonne cranes and has a capacity of 1118 TEU.

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