YM Mandate

 The Alliance continues increasing the size of ships on its service, with today's arrival YM Mandate. It is another of Yang Ming's "M" class of 7572 TEU (including 500 reefer) capacity ships.

As the evening light began to fail, YM Mandate was preparing to get underway from Fairview Cove.

Built by Hanjin Heavy Industry and Construction Co Ltd, Busan in 2010, it is a 73,675 gt, 83,200 dwt vessel. 

Its berth would not be vacant long as the 4526 TEU Budapest Bridge was waiting in the Basin to take its place.

.

November 11

November 11 is observed as Remembrance Day and most activity comes to a halt at least for a minute at 11:00 am, the hour of the Armistice that ended World War I. As might be expected there are numerous memorial sites around Halifax recognizing the contributions from various communities and the different armed services.

Nevertheless (shamefully) the day is not a statutory holiday in Nova Scotia, so many businesses remain open and industries such as construction and shipbuilding continue unabated. Some enlightened employers however do close their doors for the day and allow their employees to observe the day in their own ways.

At Halifax Shipyard it was a regular working day, with the newly launched AOPS2 (future Margaret Brooke pennant number 431) alongside at pier 6, after yesterday's float off (and yes Shipfax did not observe that operation).

Halterm welcomed Tropic Lissette for Tropical Shipping on the usual Monday schedule. The ship was off for one trip due to some mechanical issues, and may still have some deficiencies, but is at least back in service.

Cerescorp had two ships at Fairview Cove. CLI Pride is back again after several trips to Montreal and is now headed back to Rotterdam.

The much larger Budapest Bridge had the whole terminal to itself later in the day after CLI Pride sailed.

Even National Gypsum got in on the act today with CSL Tacoma sailing this morning for Savannah with less than a full load.

Siem Hanne was alongside at the southernmost end of pier pier 9B, and late in the day the Atlantic Condor arrived for pier 9C north.

One of the most attended Remembrance Day services is at the naval memorial at Point Pleasant Park. Seen from Purcell's Cove shortly after the end of the service, it was a particularly fine day to linger along the shore while poppies were placed at the base of the monument.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the service - and maybe not noticed by participants, was the aggregation of seals on rocks just off the point as the service progressed. From one seal at the start of the service, there were at least six by the time eleven o'clock had passed.

.

Slow Rush Hour

The end of the workday usually results in a build up of harbour traffic. Hardly a rush hour really, but usually a good time to do some shipwatching in a short period of time.

Today's miniature rush hour saw two departures and an in-harbour move all happening with a few minutes of each other. Before those however the pilot boat set out for the station.

Outbound ahead of the departures, Scotia Pilot catches a sunbeam as does HMCS Ville de Québec at anchor.

The container ship Budapest Bridge sailed from Cerescorp's Fairview Cove container terminal at 1700 but it was a full hour before the ship arrived in the lower harbour.

The sun was disappearing again as the ship made its way outbound.

As soon as the big ship was clear, Trinity Sea moved from the Exxon Mobil dock in Dartmouth to pier 27 in Halifax. This seems to be a popular layby berth for offshore suppliers. They don't usually load or unload there, but could take fuel if the Irving Oil terminal is occupied, as it was today with Irving Oil's East Coast.

A very dark squall chased the vessel across the harbour.

Horizon Star followed, heading for sea trials. The big offshore craft has been idle at the Cove in Dartmouth, since January 25 when it returned from the Yantian Express salvage operation.That ship is still stuck in Freeport, Bahamas with no destination yet revealed to unload its un-damaged cargo.

As the photos indicate the sun was in and out from behind clouds and rain squalls with gusty winds blew through every few minutes. Typical April weather.

Meanwhile dredging continues round the clock off pier 42. Two complete crews work 12 hour 7 to 7 shifts from  1900 Sunday night until Friday.

 Yesterday the dredge Derrick #4 was enshrouded in fog  and looked like it was in outer space.

 Note the water depth, from the height of the 70 foot spuds above the deck of the dredge.

There is still about three weeks of dredging left to do.

.

Alliances

Bilbao Bridge at Fairview Cove for the AL6 service.

The ultra-competitive container shipping scene is about to change (again) for Halifax, with the announcement of another service cut. Despite gains and losses of lines, mergers and alliances, increased traffic flow has given the Port of Halifax a notable boost in the past two years. However in a sign of things to come, the recent announcement by ONE that it will cut Halifax out of its AL6 service must come as a major blow.

ONE was front and centre at the recent Port Days, with one of its bubble gum coloured containers parked at the entrance to the Cunard Centre venue at Pier 23.

It is especially stinging since ONE, the Ocean Network Express, operates the Fairview Cove container terminal through its ownership of Cerescorp.  In order to remain a player in the world, ONE was formed out of desperation by the three major Japanese container lines, NYK, MOL and K-Line. The last named owned Cerescorp which was folded into the ONE stable. K-Line also supplies the ships that serve the AL 6 weekly service.
 

 K-Line charter from Seaspan International carries boxes from AL6 partners HAPAG-Loyd, UASC (owned by HAPAG), Zim, and Yang Ming.

That will all end in December when the the AL6 partners, ONE, Hapag-Lloyd, Yang Ming and Zim concentrate on US ports and bring CMA CGM and COSCO (China Ocean) into the fold using larger ships, up from 4500 TEU to 8000 TEU.

The current 4500 TEU ships such as Brevik Bridge can pass under harbour bridges with ease. The 8,000 TEU ships could make it too, but would need two escort tugs.

ZIM has traditionally not joined alliances, but has recently changed its policy and has teamed up with the 2M Alliance (Maersk and MSC) and with MSC alone to rationalize some Asia-US East Coast and India-Med routes. This has been the shakeup that most lines were looking for since it cuts competition and reduces the number of ships needed. Bigger ships are cheaper to operate, so all these alliance imply larger ships.

Brotonne Bridge is one of the five sister ships on the AL6 service.

In order to remain a world player, ONE is building new and bigger ships, but at the same time it is shedding overhead costs by returning charters, and cutting elsewhere. ONE's commitment to Fairview Cove is certainly brought into question with this recent cut. Lack of new equipment and berth space pressure must have been a factor in the AL6 cut. Seeing ships anchored waiting a berth is never good news in the container business. This does happen from time to time when ships have been delayed.

 Lots of fill going in at Fairview Cove, but no expansion plans. Budapest Bridge well loaded.

The AL6 service was threatened before, when it announced in December 2017 that Halifax would be dropped, but they recanted in February of this year. The most recent announcement appears to be final however.

Berlin Bridge outbound.

The five ships that have been supporting the service were all built by Samsung Shipbuilding + Heavy Industries Co in 2010-2011, and have a capacity of 4526 TEU, measuring 46,444 grt, 58,200 dwt.

.

Saturday ins and outs

Fog early meant no photo of CMA CGM Otello on the Columbus JAX serice. The 8488 TEU ship is similar to several other CMA CGM fleet mates that have called here before, but it is the first time for this ship.

There was better luck later in the day and in the early evening as the fog had disappeared (at least for now). Budapest Bridge arrived for THE Alliance AL6 transatlantic service. It is a sister ship to the other ships on the service, and is owned by Seaspan and on long term charter to K-Line.

 Budapest Express crosses the ferry track with the tug Atlantic Oak taking the tethered escort position aft.

Built in 2011 by Samsung Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries Co Ltd in Koje, South Korea, it has a 4526 TEU capacity on 46,444 grt, 58,200 dwt.

After it entered Bedford Basin it waited off Fairview Cove as NYU Atlas sailed. It is servicing THE Alliance also but on the long haul run which is heavily populated with NYK Line ships.

 NYK Atlas is trimmed down by the stern - perhaps to reduce air draft - as it transits the Narrows.

This one was built by IHI Marine in Kure, Japan in 2004 and measures 75,484 grt, 81,171 dwt with a capacity of 6492 TEU including 450 reefers.

Meanwhile alongside pier 9b the tanker Torm Atlantic is ballasted down by the bow for prop repairs.

Evidence of hasty renamings on the stern where the original name and port of registry (Majuro) in welded letters are still in place.  Although the ship has the Torm funnel mark it does not (yet) have the orange superstructure of typical Torm tankers.

A Medium Range tanker of 30,221 grt, 49,999 dwt, it was built in 2010 by Guangzhou International in China as Giacinta. In 2015 it very briefly carried the name Maersk Malta, before assuming its current name later in the same year. The ship arrived at Imperial Oil July 4 from Montreal. If it unloaded cargo it may be one of the unnamed ships chartered by Algoma and given temporary coasting licenses to carry Esso products.

.

Friday inaction

There was lots of action in Halifax harbour today - unfortunately I was somewhere else when most of it was happening, so almost all the photos were of static ships.

The autocarrier Manon finally got out of port after a lengthy stay. It arrived  Tuesday at pier 31, but when it completed unloading machinery, it remained there until late Thursday while Columbia Highway and Oceanex Sanderling did their work at Autoport.

Offshore fog swirls outside Eastern Passage while Manon completes unloading at Autport..

Manon sailed late this afternoon.

Back in service:

 Chebucto Pilot getting underway looking very smart after its refit. It is heading out with pilots for the inbound Budapest Bridge and will disembark the pilot from the outbound UACC Manama.

The Atlantic Pilotage Authority will soon be welcoming two more pilot boats. Under the current names of SC Lynx and SC Cheetah they are water jet propelled boats with 20 knot plus cruising speed, they were built in 2011 and 2012 respectively, and have been working in Europe.


In for CFIA inspection:

 Just getting underway after inspection UACC Manama exhibits no less than 27 manifold connections, signified by the dots between the "A" and the "C". This means that the ship can carry a wide array of chemicals at the same time. Note also the array of piping on deck compared to typical product carriers.

The chemical tanker UACC Manama bound for Quebec, stopped off for Asian Gypsy Moth inspection. A 2010 product of the SLS Shipbuilding Co in Tongyeong, South Korea, the 29,124 grt, 45,612 dwt ship was built as Bunga Balsam for MISC Bhd but was acquired by United Arab Chemical Carriers and renamed in 2014.

Short end of the pier:
K-Line's Budapest Bridge got the short end of the Fairview Cove container pier on its arrival on THE Alliance AL6 service.

The 4526 TEU ship is one of 5 on the Med/Transatlantic service, and is relatively small and lightly loaded, so can be served by the smaller cranes at the east end of the pier.

Long end of the pier:

Yang Ming's 6258 TEU  YM Movement occupied the west end  of the pier and used the bigger cranes.

The ship, an "old" post-Panamax is the leading edge of the wave as the new Panama Canal permits much larger ships to reach the North American east coast from the Pacific.
Although Cerescorp, operators of the pier, have not announced any future plans, they need to step up to the plate with bigger cranes and a longer pier if they are to stay ahead of this development. Most of the 6,000 TEU ships can make it under Halifax's bridges, so should be able to use the piers for some time to come.
I expect some announcement soon as the primary Japanese container lines consolidate, and Cerescorp's owners K-Line may have access to more capital.

Meanwhile back at the downtown waterfront the three herring seiners that have been in and out of Halifax for the past week, sailed again this afternoon.

Lady Janice II foreground and Lady Melissa back, sailed soon after, following Morning Star which had already sailed.

.