Big Day, Big Ships

 It was a big day in the Port today, October 6, with three cruise ships and some more usual and unusual traffic.

The three cruise ships were the Zuiderdam, Queen Mary 2 and Brilliant Lady. In order to accommodate all three at one time the Brilliant Lady anchored and ferried passengers ashore by tender while the other two ships took up the entire length of the Sea Wall (Piers 20 to 22).

 

The usual refuse barge is shown alongside the Zuiderdam at Pier 20 (right in photo) while the Queen Mary 2 may be carrying out lifeboat drills or training at Pier 22 (left in photo).

 

The Brilliant Lady, anchored in the lower harbour, used its port side tenders, (I saw numbers 10 (shown below), 11 and 12) to transfer passengers to and from the landing stage at Pier 24.

 Also arriving in the morning was the tug Atlantic Fir towing the semi-submersible heavy load barge Boa Barge 38 37 from Sydney, NS to the Halifax Shipyard.

 

As the tow was shortening up off the Shipyard a McNally Marine crew boat sped past on its way to the Shipyard construction site of the new Pier 6.

 The barge is used to transfer components from Woodside fabrication site to the Shipyard, but more notably as the launch platform for new ships. The first of two Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel variants for the Canadian Coast Guard is in an advanced state of construction, and for the first time, has been assembled entirely indoors. (The naval AOP Vessels were built in blocks and the three mega blocks were joined outdoors.)

When the newest ship, to be named CCGS Donjek Glacier is rolled out it will be loaded onto the Boa Barge 38 and floated off in Bedford Basin. The barge was moved to Sydney Harbour last year to provide space for construction of the new Pier 6 at the Shipyard.

It was quiet in the harbour until late in the afternoon, when there were four departures and one arrival in quick succession. 

The first departure was the Zuiderdam on its way to Sydney. It is a near weekly caller during the cruise season.

 

Next along  was the auto carrier Morning Lily arriving for Autoport.

 Built by Hyundai, Ulsan in 2011 it is a large PCTC of 70,687 gt, 27,283 dwt and has a capacity of 8,011 CEU. In a carefully arranged meet in the main channel, it made a starboard to starboard pass with the outbound Queen Mary 2.

 The camera lens made the ships look closer that they probably were, but even so it was unusual to see two such large ships so close together in the same channel (and making  some odd overlaps).

Next along was the coastal tanker Algoscotia en route to Sydney, NS. It arrived October 4 at Imperial Oil, then yesterday, October 5, it moved to Pier 9B, likely for some maintenance work that could not be done at the oil dock.

Sydney is the ship's most frequent port of call, making on average three to four visits a month. It also delivers product as far away as Sept-Iles, QC and occasionally to Newfoundland.

 Next away was the MSC Sena clearing the PSA Atlantic Hub, Pier 42 for Montreal on MSC's Canada Express service from Western Europe.

 The ship arrived off Halifax yesterday and was due to take a pilot at 1530 hrs. Tugs were standing by in the harbour, but seemingly at the last minute, the ship put back to an offshore anchorage. It did take a pilot at 2330 hrs and docked after midnight.

 Built in 1996 by Halla Inchon, and completed by Halla Samho (now Hyundai Samho), it started life as the ZIM Sydney, and was renamed Rhein in 2000, E.T.Albany in 2002, CMA CGM Egypt in 2004, MacAndrews America in 2006, E.R.Albany again in 2007 and finally settled on MSC Sena in 2013. It is a 30,280 gt, 44,215 dwt ship with a capacity variously reported as 28111 to 2825 TEU. 

The ship is headed for Montreal, and although I  did not see the ship yesterday, it apparently off loaded enough cargo to reduce draft significantly. The St.Lawrence River has very low water levels this year, due to the severe drought in the region. The ship's after deck, usually used primarily for empties,  is completely bare.

 

 There was other harbour activity, which I may be able to catch up on tomorrow.

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Six Ship Day and More

 As if four cruise ships in port at once was not enough (yesterday, September 29),  today, September 30, there were SIX cruise ships in port at the same time. That meant that two ships anchored in the lower harbour and sent its passengers ashore in lighters, and one had to tie up in the industrial section of the Ocean Terminals. There was other business in the port too, but that will be in a separate post, to be filed later today.

Some passengers were no doubt disappointed that many stores and businesses were closed today (as were schools and government facilities) because it was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. However those passengers on the SH Vega, although berthed at Pier 27, did not have to contend with port workers loading rail cars and shifting freight - they had a holiday too.

 

Swan Hellenic Cruises' SH Vega 10,517 gt, built in 2022 by the Helsinki Shipyard in Finland, has only 76 cabins, including six suites for 152 passengers. Providing  Luxury Polar Expedition Cruises to remote regions, it carries the usual array of Zodiacs and kayaks for shore excursions. Those were not needed today, but the Pier 27 berth might be considered remote territory, more accustomed to dealing with cargoes of steel rail, nickel sulfides, grain or wood pellets.

 The two anchored ships included the Brilliant Lady which (to me) looked like a giant bug with larvae. Sorry for that unflattering opinion, but the Society for Aesthetic Responsibility (of which I may be the sole survivor) has deemed this ship "Sub Standard".

 Even more bug like (but slightly more attractive) was the Zuiderdam.

 

A mid-morning arrival was the Norwegian Gem  (I always want to type "Germ") which took the Pier 22 berth, joining the earlier arrival, the Vision of the Seas at Pier 20.

 

That left the Star Pride at Pier 23, with a front row seat for the landing stage at Pier 24 and the constant activity of the the shuttle tenders.

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Cruise 2025

 The Port of Halifax has announced details of the upcoming cruise season. The first cruise ship to call will be the Viking Polaris on April 18.

The 30,114 gt ship, built in 2022 by Fincantieri carries 378 passengers and 256 crew.  It was also the first ship last season too, when it arived April 10, 2024. 

The 2025 season is expected to extend to November 19 with the last caller, Aidadiva. The Port expects 188 calls with 328,000 "guests" (that would include passengers and crew). 

Other details include six inaugural calls, one overnight and two turn arounds. Of note there will be thirteen tendering vessels including three days with two tendering ships anchored in the harbour. 

The port's system of landing stages and ramps can certainly accommodate that number of tenders but it will be busy!

There will also be 52 multiple ship days, some of which may also necessitate tendering. 

Also noted will be three calls by Queen Mary 2 and the inaugural call for Virgin Cruises and their newest ship Brilliant Lady, a 2700 passenger vessel of 108,232 gt in its first season.

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