Where are the boxes

 The work week of Monday February 6 to Friday February 10, 2023 in Halifax was one of the quietest weeks for container shipping in some time. After the activity on Monday as per my previous post, there were no arrivals on Tuesday or Wednesday and only the Atlantic Sail and Oceanex Sanderling on Thursday.  It was Hyundai Force (for THE Alliance) and Nolhan Ava on Friday. This dearth of shipping is not unusual in the wake of Chinese New Year (January 22 this year) when Asian loadings are way down.

Today's arrivals consisted of Eimskip's regular Skogafoss and Atlantic Sun neither of which serve Asia. A third arrival CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt did come from Asia, but sailed from Shenzhen, China on January 2 - well before the holiday shutdown.  (It then made its way to Halifax via Singapore (January 11), Port Klang (January 13), Suez Canal (January 26), Malta (January 30) and Tanger Med (February 3).

The 176,546 gt, 186,802 dwt behemoth was built in 2013 by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd, Okpo, and has a capacity of 16,070 TEU. It is a sister ship to CMA CGM Jules Verne and CMA CGM Marco Polo, the largest container ships to call in Halifax.

CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt has called in Halifax regularly on about a four month rotation since its first visit December 27, 2021 on the Columbus JAX service run by CMA CGM jointly with COSCO, Evergreen and OOCL. The ship will next call at New York, Norfolk, Charleston and Savannah before retracing its route east bound through the Mediterranean and Suez Canal to numerous Asian ports, finallly crossing the Pacific to Oakland and Los Angeles.

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A Summer Sunday Summary

 There was a fair amount of activity in the harbour today (Aunday, August 28), including an abundance of pleasure craft. The last weekend before Labour Day weekend (which marks the traditional end of summer) is always a busy one for boaters - weather permitting. And this weekend weather was nearly perfect, with warm temperatures, light winds and lots of sun. That also meant ideal conditions for ship watching.

The Lake Wanaka arrived early this morning at Autoport from Emden, and sailed this afternoon for Davisville, RI weaving its way through small craft without incident.

 The Lake Wanaka was here March 30 of this year, and Shipfax reported its unusual movements and technical details. The 46,800 gt, 12,272 dwt PCTC was built in 2008 by Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co and has a capacity of 4902 CEU. The ship sailed under the name Triumph until 2019 when it was renamed after a lake in New Zealand. Since new it has been managed by Eastern Pacific Shipping UK, a 200 ship strong operator for many owners - some with uninformative corporate names.

Following it in was the Vayenga Maersk from Antwerp en route to Montreal, and docking at Pier 42, PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway (a.k.a. the southend terminal).

Shortly afterwards its route mate CMA CGM Montreal arrived at mid-berth Pier 41-42 from Montreal en route to Europe. The two ships (along with EM Kea and Vistula Maersk) operate the weekly joint Maersk/CMA CGM St.Lawrence service, and usually call in Halifax to top up (eastbound) or lighten (westbound) because of St.Lawrence River draft restrictions. Because of the many containers on the pier the CMA CGM Montreal was hidden from view.

Another arrival this morning was the Canadian tanker Algoterra from Sarnia, ON, docking at Imperial Oil, number 3 dock.(It is the only operational dock at Imperial Oil - docks 4 and 5 are still there but not in use. Docks 1 and 2 were demolished many years ago.)

Ships usually dock starboard side to at the oil dock (bows north) but for some reason Algoterra tied up bows south- thus an unusual photo angle. The harbour tour boat Silva of Halifax is just rounding George's Island on one of its regular outings with a full deckload (of people).

Algoma ships are usually painted a very dark blue, but Algoterra is the exception to the rule. It had very nice paint from original owners Knutsen Produkt Tanker of Norway when it was acquired in 2019, so presumably Algoma Tankers saw no reason to replace a perfectly good coating. The ship was built in 2010 by Jiangnan, Shanghai as Louise Knutsen. The 11,889 gt, 16,512 dwt ship was renamed Louise K. briefly in 2019 for the delivery trip to Canada. The paint is looking a bit faded now, but its next class renewal survey and drydocking is not due until March 2025 so it may not see new paint until then.

Amongst today's departures was the Contship Leo sailing for Kingston, Jamaica, the sole ship on ZIM's Canada Feeder Express service, CFX. The route also includes New York northbound.

 Contship Leo was built in 2008 by China Commerce Group Kouan Shipbuilding as Vega Saturn. It became CFS Paceno in 2016 and took on its current name in 2020. The 9957 gt, 13,803 dwt ship has a container capacity of 1118 TEU and carries two 45 tonne cranes.

The giant container ship CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt sailed early this morning from the southend terminal. Shipfax was not on  scene this time, but covered the ship on a previous visit on December 27, 2021.

There was one more container ship to deal with, but at the other end of the size scale at 354 TEU (including 100 reefer plugs). The 3871 gt, 3650 dwt Vantage which has been sailing for Eimskip, arrived from Reykjavik on Friday August 26. It was to have sailed that evening, but remained in port overnight and moved Saturday morning to Pier 36. Although that pier is within the PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway facility, it is not served by a container crane, so the ship cannot be working cargo. 

The ship started calling here June 11, 2022 on Eimskip's Green Line from Iceland to Argentia, NL, Halifax and Portland, ME. It is currently not showing on any future Green Line schedules, but appears to be carrying a deck load. (Those are just reflections on the bow - not damage.)

Despite the stacks of Tropical Shipping boxes on the dock, the Vantage is sailing for the Icelandic company Eimskip (and from the opposite direction).

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More is Better

 PSA Halifax announced today that it will be acquiring two new container cranes for its southend terminal during 2023. One crane was already on order, and there was an option for a second which has now been picked up. Both cranes will have a reach of 24 containers, which means they can handle the largest ships currently calling in eastern North America.

One of those ships, the 16,000 TEU  CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt was alongside today with two cranes finishing up work late this afternoon.

With the addition of the two new cranes, the terminal will have seven "Super Post Panamax" cranes of various heights and reaches.

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Current Events

 There were some notable events in the harbour today (March 17)  - some involving ships.

It was a return visit by CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt that triggered the pun in the title. [Puns are an hereditary affliction for which I cannot but apologize.] The huge current off the west coast of South America is named for the scientific explorer (1769-1859) as are several geographical features, areas, and towns around the world. In fact von Humboldt is reputed to be the first to recognize human induced climate change (in 1800 to 1831) but who was listening?

When the ship was first here December 27, 2021 I noted that its 16,020 TEU capacity put it in the running for largest ship to call in Halifax. CMA CGM's Explorer class of ships are all the "same size" but CMA CGM Marco Polo comes out slightly larger in the measurements game: CMA CGM, biggest

No matter which ship is the largest in the class, they are all impressive.

Also a large ship, relatively speaking, but nowhere near as large is Oceanex's 26,786 gt Oceanex Connaigra back in Halifax on its alternate week sailings to Newfoundland. With fleetmate Oceanex Avalon, the ship is filling in for the Oceanex Sanderling which is in an extended refit in Amsterdam.

Oceanex Connaigra crosses the harbour late this afternoon, moving from PSA Halifax to Autoport. It has a large stern ramp for RoRo cargo.

The Connaigra and Avalon each usually run weekly from Montreal to St.John's, but have been doing so only on alternate weeks since the Sanderling left in late December. Its return is expected in mid-June. In the meantime only the Connaigra has RoRo capability.

While waiting to see the Oceanex Connaigra I took a shot of Irving Oil's Woodside terminal, where the familiar East Coast was off loading its latest cargo of refined products.

Passing alongside the tanker and on its way to Autoport, was the small tug Roseway. The tug is used at both the Woodside jetty and at Autoport to run lines ashore or to a mooring buoy.

 

 Also passing was the duty pilot boat Captain E.T. Rogers. Built in 2012 by Abco Industries in Lunenburg, NS, it was originally named Chebucto Pilot, but was renamed when it was transferred to Saint John, NB in 2017. However it has been back in Halifax for some time.

 

In the background at the C.O.V.E. dock, the Coriolis II is in winter layup.

 

There are signs of spring in the air. Yesterday's snow fall has almost completely melted and I spotted a loon for the first time this year.

 

 

Although they are known to winter over in Halifax harbour, eiders have not been seen much in the area of Black Rock Beach this year, until this one this morning:

At Pier 9C the multi-purpose cargo ship Franbo Lohas is installing fibreopotic cable racks.

The ship was built in 2016 by Honda, Saiki as the Thorco Lohas, one of several ships of the same class. With portable pontoon type tween decks and a pair of 50 tonne capacity cranes, it is a particularly versatile ship of 13,110 gt, 16,966 dwt. 

In fact some of its sister ships have also been in Halifax for the same type of work. 

Thorco Liva, Logic (above), Logos and Luna and other members of the Thorco fleet have called in Halifax.

The ships must be particularly well suited for transporting fibreoptic cable. In Halifax partially prefabricated racks are loaded aboard and welded in place, and the ships sail for Newington, NH to load the cable directly from the manufacturing plant. Neither the ships, nor the cable racks are ever seen again in Halifax, as they are dispatched to sites around the world.

The ship was acquired last year and renamed by the Fanbo Lines Corp of Taiwan. The company is a fast growing one that also has bulk carriers which it is converting to carry containers.

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