I get misty

'Twas a misty day in Halifax with conditions deteriorating as the day went on to rain and fog.
Fortunately most of the action I wanted to capture occurred before it got too bad.

CCGS Cape Roger with its in water refit complete, sailed this afternoon for patrol. With the Coast Guard fleet spead thin these days due to emergency and scheduled repairs, ships are being repositioned, sometimes for from their home bases. An example is CCGS Samuel Risley, which has sailed for the Arctic from its base on the Great Lakes. This is the first arctic trip for the ships since it was built in 1985. In fact it has rarely left the Lakes. One notable exit was for refit in Shelburne, NS in 2004. It also did a replacement stint out of Halifax from July to September 2015. 
Its near sistership CCGS Early Grey, normally based in Halifax has been assigned to Newfoundland to cover for the CCGS Ann Harvey which ran aground in 2015. While under repair the decision was made to make an early start on a life extension program.This necessitated cutting out much of the accommodation to remove the electric propulsion motors for rebuild. That refit was to have been completed last year, but has now been extended to September of this year.
Also CCGS Terry Fox is in drydock for repairs in Port Weller (St.Catharines, ON) and Des Groseilliers in Lévis, QC for life extension.

The most significant arrival of the day had to take back seat to other ships as far as photos are concerned since it arrived and will sail in the dark, and was shrouded in mist during most of its stay. CMA CGM Chennai was delivered to Seaspan International in May and entered a three year charter to CMA CGM (with a three extension option). It is another ship that makes Halifax a member of the 10,000 TEU plus club for large container ships.

Built by Jiangsu Yangzi it measures 112,967 grt, 119,000 dwt with a nominal cpacity of 10,100 TEU, including 1420 reefer points.

 

CMA CGM Chennai forms a large gray lump in the left background of the chemical tanker  FMT Knidos.

First named Atlantik Glory when it was built by Selah Makina, Tuzla, Turkey in 2010, the 8,391 grt, 13,214 dwt ship is specially fitted for IMO Type II hazardous cargoes (Type I is most severe and Type III the least severe of the three grades of hazardous chemicals). It took its present name in 2017 and operates in the Team Tankers pool. It has twelve tanks, lined with epoxy, which on this trip contain caustic soda (NaOH), from Freeport, TX for Port Alfred, QC..

Full width bridges often indicate a ship built for winter conditions, but in this case I can find no ice notation, so it is more likely a means of protecting the crew from exposure to dangerous cargoes. 

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Basin Views a Priority

As far as picture taking is concerned, Bedford Basin was the action centre Friday evening.

Priority, a new to Halifax container ship berthed at Fairview Cove for THE Alliance. Also in port was the Atlantic Sea and in a rare occurrence it appeared that all four cranes were at work. Two cranes for each ship. The smallest crane was apparently able to work on the forward container cells of the Atlantic Sea. Usually this crane is too small to work most ships.

Priority is the former MOL Priority built in 2002 by IHI, Kure. The 74,701 grt, 74,453 dwt ship has a capacity of 6402 TEU including 500 reefers. Danaos took over the ship and renamed it in 2014 and it now flies the Malta flag.

At BIO the DFO ship Teleost sailed after a brief stay in port, and Cape Roger took a few turns in the Basin following an alongside refit. Also at BIO for the past couple of weeks is Alfred Needler. All are normally based in Newfoundland.

And although no ships are scheduled for National Gypsum in the near future, there is certainly an adequate stockpile built up.

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Early arrivals and Coast Guard Doings

 Early Arrival

The small Norwegian flag bulker Eidsvaag Sirius put in to Halifax last night and docked at pier 25. It was built in 2006 by the CSPL Shipyard in Decin, Czech Republic as the Marietje Benita for Dutch owners Danser Shipping CV, and managed by Wagenborgs. At that time it was classed as a general cargo ship, but was gearless, with open hatch design. The hatches were operated by a light gantry (or iron deck had as it is called on the Great Lakes.) It measures 2409 grt, 3200 dwt.

In 2009  Eidsvaag AS of Norway acquired the ships and it went to work for Skretting, a company that specializes in feed for fish farms. The ship was then equipped with an additional travelling gantry carrying a backhoe type crane for loading. It also received a small derrick, starboard side amidships, to handle the unloading hose.

Skretting has a Canadian operation, called Skretting Canada, based in Vancouver, and St.Andrews, NB.
Previously Skretting had the ship Eidsvaag Vinland (ex Vissersbank) a 1682 grt ship, built in 1994 working under Canadian flag, and managed by Norcon. It operated between Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
However that ship's registration has been closed and as of March it has been sailing as Superior under Norwegian flag for Marrbulk Rederi AS.

Eidsvaag Sirius appears to be its replacement.

CCG Doings

CCGS Cape Roger appears to be undergoing in water refit at BIO. It is tied up at the seawall with its lifeboats removed. The SAR cutter is normally based in St.John's but has been working out of Halifax this spring. The ship was built by Ferguson Industries in Pictou in 1977 and has been based in St.John's ever since, but has worked seasonally from Halifax.

Just astern of the Cape Rodger I spotted a pair of new looking aluminum work boat / landing craft. As unregistered vessels they are difficult to trace, or to find out who built them.

Yesterday another Newfoundland based Coast Guard ship arrived, perhaps for the first time in Halifax. CCGS George R. Pearkes was built in 1986 by Versatile Pacific in North Vancouver as  a light icebreaker and buoy tender. It is powered by three Alco diesels of 8447 bhp that drive a pair of GE  electric motors giving 7,040 shp. In 1991 it was transferred with CCGS Martha L. Black to Quebec City, then in 2004 to Newfoundland.

The ship has apparently loaded a cargo of new or re-conditioned buoys, and one of the new workboats.

CCGS Sir William Alexander made a brief stop at Pier 9B to offload a buoy, before docking at BIO.

The 3m buoy known as the Smartatlantic Buoy is a meteorological. and oceanographic buoy normally moored off Herring Cove. It measures wind speed and direction, air temperature, relative humidity and dew point, barometric pressure, water temperature, current speed and direction, wave height, direction and period, and spectral information. It provides a continuous data feed and can communicate directly with ships. It appears to be in need of some maintenance, but should be back on station soon.

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Roundup

Shipfax was beset in the space of a few days last week, but has now overhauled most of its rigging and has resumed its course. What happened in the harbour was noted but not photo'd  observed, but there is still left over info from the previous weekend.

April 1

The bulker Longshore (ex Ethel -16) 23,456 *grt, 34,399 dwt arrived and anchored in Bedford Basin.
After few days of hold cleaning the ship moved to pier 28 and loaded grain.

It sailed April 8. Although the AIS shows its destination as Belledune, NB, that is clearly not the case since it headed south.
* with a grt of 23456 it should have a dwt of 34567!

Sailing April 1, the cargo ship Saimagraacht made its second call this year, on what has become a regular service for Spliethoff's.
Built in 2005 by Szczecinska Nowa in Poland the 18,321 grt, 23,660 dwt ship has side loading doors and enclosed elevators specifically for forest products, but as on this trip she was also carrying a few containers on deck. She can carry 1273 TEU.

The ship is also retro-fitted with an exhaust gas scrubber system (and none too elegantly either)  - which like most of those installation smokes like an old stogy. Nothing like removing SOx and NOx and leaving a trail of particulate.

The Frankenstein version scrubber system was added after the ship was built.



Also sailing on April 1, the CCGS Alfred Needler on temporary winter assignment to work out of Halifax, the research trawler headed for the Gulf and Argentia.

The ship was built in 1982 in Pictou and based in Halifax. After an engine room fire in 2003 it was laid up, but then rebuilt and transferred to Newfoundland,replacing sister ship Wilfred Templeman when it was retired in 2011.
Three replacement ships (one for the west coast) will be built by Seaspan as part of the National Ship Procurement program now under way.

April 2: becalmed 

April 3: in irons

April 4: broached to

April 5: decks swept

April 6: abacked

April 7: bilges pumped , jury rigged

The veteran Newfoundland based offshore patrol vessel Cape Roger sailed on another of its frequent patrols. It works out of Halifax in winter (February to April) then returns to Gulf and Newfoundland waters.
Built in 1977 by Ferguson Industries Ltd of Pictou it was modernized in 1996 at Shelburne, and wintered over in St.Catharines, ON 2010-2011 where it was refitted at the Port Weller drydock. At that time its flight deck was decommissioned and hangar removed.
Construction was well underway April 1, 1976 when fisheries minister (and later Governor General) Roméo LeBlanc announced its name and spring 1977 delivery. This year is its 40th anniversary.
A later vessel of the same basic design and class is CCGS Cygnus, built in 1982, and distinguishable by its full width all weather bridge and some smaller details such as mast placement. It is alo based in Newfoundland.

April 8: re-rigged and underway 

The big cable ship Dependable got underway for a cable repair job off Nova Scotia. It arrived April 6 to load cable for the work. Followng that job it will return to its normal base of Baltimore.

Dependable arrives in misty weather. The davit forward of amidships is used to deploy a buoy to mark one end of a severed cable while the ship goes off to retrieve the other end.  

Built in 2002 the ship is one of six sisters operated by TE-Subcom (formerlyTyco) world-wide. Some of the sisters, including Reliance and Responder have worked out of Halifax in the past.

 A 12,184 grt ship, built in 2002, it does its cable work over the stern through multiple sheaves.

There is also a gantry (here in the stowed position) that can be hoisted out over the stern to deploy is trenching plow.

The blue structure at left is the shoreside cable loading conveyor.

The usual run of  "car boats" visited Autoport during the week. However Wilhemsen's Toscana unloaded a large quantity of wheeled material and odd loads at pier 31, before shifting to Autoport.

Built in 2009 by MHI Nagasaki Shipyard and Engineering Works, the 61,328 grt ship can carry 6542 cars.
Odd loads? How about a shrink wrapped helicopter?

It was transferred from its Maafi trailer to a highway trailer today, ready for the next leg of its trip.

April 9: arrived in port

There was early morning activity in the harbour as the small chemical tanker Lutsen prepared to sail after taking bunkers overnight.

A.P.A. No.1 takes the pilot out to the departing Lutsen at number 2 anchorage, as Toscana unloads at Autoport.

Lutsen was built in 2006 by Samho Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Tongyong as Songa Diamond. It weas quickly renamed Brovig Bay, then in 2007 it became Liquid Velvet and Ben. It was renamed Lutsen in 2016. Measuring only 8,450 grt and 12,901 dwt, it is small by contemporary standards.  It headed for Montreal.

Also at anchor April the general cargo ship Norderney underwent Asian gypsy moth inspection before proceeding to pier 9c.

At pier 9c work began to fit the ship with prefabbed cable tank components. This is a regular activity at the pier, with several ships fitted with the steel frames in the past few years.

Built in 2012 the ship measures 4591 grt, 5475 dwt. It flies the Antigua and Barbuda flag for German owners. It carries a pair of what appear to be 40 tonne cranes, serving box shaped holds.

Container traffic continues apace with several new faces, but some familiar ones too.


OOCL Kaohsiung a 5888 TEU (including 586 reefers) ship built in 2006 by Koyo Dockyard in Mihara, is operated under OOCL long term charter by Nissen Kaiun Co Ltd.

Where it will go when OOCL finally leaves the G6 Alliance, will be interesting to see since larger ships are displacing "old post Panamax" ships in large numbers.

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Saturday roundup - avant le déluge

The early bird was rewarded today as another heavy snow fall began late morning blotting out the view.
CCGS Cape Roger arrived last evening and anchored until this morning when it moved to Imperial Oil to refuel. The ship is on Search and Rescue standby along the South Shore of Nova Scotia.

Also in this week is CCGS Alfred Needler at BIO. Both ship are based in Newfoundland, but are often displaced in winter and spring by ice, and exchange places with Halifax based ships.
 

One visitor this week that I failed to post was CCGS Terry Fox, in for refueling March 25. We have now seen the entire east coast icebreaker fleet this spring - so much for the wisdom of moving them to Newfoundland.

Bow doors open, ramp being lowered on hydraulic pistons.

Bow ramp in lowered position appears very narrow and of a very low weight capacity compared to the stern ramp.     [ Say  AAAAH!]

At pier 9A work on the ferry Canada 2014 is, if you will pardon the expression, "ramping up". This morning workers had both the bow and stern doors open for work.

The stern ramp, with a red painted pedestrian pathway. A temporary partition has been built inside the car deck to retain heat during the refit process. After this photo a mobile crane came along to take the weight of the ramp for work on the bearing.

The ship is expected to enter service between Digby, NS and Saint John, NB, sometime this summer.


See Tugfax for the tug Lois M and barge Nunavut Spirit at pier 9B.


At pier 9C Harefield is still tied up for repairs.

Work continues on the rudder using a raft and various tackles to take the weight off the pintle.

In Bedford Basin the Torm Rosetta lies at anchor until it is time to go alongside Imperial Oil Another handysize tanker product tanker, it was built in 2003 by Onomichi Dockyard in Japan as Rosetta for OMI. It was acquired by Torm A/S in 2008. The ship measures 28,567 grt, 47,038 dwt and is enrolled under the Danish International register. (Denmark and Norway, among others have offshore registers which have different regulations from their national registers, as to foreign crewing, taxes, etc.,)

At anchor the tanker Sloman Hermes will be sailing this afternoon for the St.Lawrence. It has been awaiting the opening of the St.Lawrence Seaway, which has been postponed from March 25  27 to April 5 2 due to ice. Rather than anchoring in ice off the Escoumins pilot station or farther upriver, the ship opted for the comforts of Halifax harbour. An ice adviser boarded the ship late in the morning from the launch Halmar.

Autoport is still struggling with frozen in cars - thousands are still in ice up to their hubcaps, but it appears that more recent arrivals are still being processed, as the trains keep rolling out every days with a dozen or more autoracks full of imports. [In the photo of Terry Fox above, there is a string of autorack cars waiting in a siding.] Recent arrivals are leapfrogging ahead of the January and February arrivals which are waiting for natural melting to free them.

Today Mermaid Ace made a morning visit. It was built in 2010 by Minami- Nippon in Usuki, Japan, measuring 58,939 grt, 18,828 dwt, with a capacity of 5,219 cars. It is owned by Masumoto Shipping Co Ltd under the Panama flag, on charter to MOL (Mitsui OSK Lines).

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Cape Roger - rare visitor and Louis parked again

CCGS Cape Roger has been in and out of Halifax for the last week or so on an "exchange visit" from Newfoundland. Due to ice conditions in the Gulf of St.Lawrence, CCGS Sir William Alexander has been transferred to the Newfoundland region temporarily in exchange for Cape Roger

Cape Roger anchored off the old Coast Guard base this afternoon.

 

 

Built by Ferguson Industries in Pictou, NS in 1977 for $10 mn, Cape Roger is primarily a search and rescue and patrol vessel. At 966 gross tons and 205 ft long, she was large enough to land a helicopter, however this feature has now been dropped, and the flight deck is no longer usable.

The ship has been upgraded several times, including a major refit in Shelburne in 1966 and a $12 mn life extension refit at Seaway Marine and Industrial in St.Catharines ON in 2010-2011

The ship should be good for several more years of service since a replacement is in the far off future, and is not part of the National Ship Procurement Strategy, nor the subsequent small ship program.

This not the first time that Cape Roger has been assigned here. A similar exchange took place from February to April in 2003 when heavy ice saw the transfer of CCGS Edward Cornwallis to Newfoundland.

 

Meanwhile CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is still parked at the BIO dock. The ship has been in port for a week or more.

 

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