CN strike - no sunshine

There does not seem to be even a small ray of sunshine on the horizon for a quick end to the CN Rail strike. So far CN management has been able to keep some trains running, but anything like regular traffic is being strangled at several choke points.

Halifax is totally dependent on CN to move a major proportion of its traffic in and out of the port, and there are already signs that some of that traffic is grinding to a halt. The empty tracks in Dartmouth (in the foreground of the photo above) may be misleading however.

CN has announced that it is laying off staff at Autoport (which it owns and operates). There is lots of storage space for incoming autos, and the port's longshoremen unload the import cars from the ships (they are not CN employees), so it is difficult to understand the move. Loaded auto rack rail cars were still leaving Autoport as recently as this morning, and auto carrying ships are still calling. Cars are one commodity that can be moved by truck, but obviously in much smaller quantities.

National Gypsum depends on CN rail to transport the ore from its mine in Milford to its ship loading facility in Wright's Cove (Lower Burnside) Dartmouth. While the company has a large stockpile on hand, it still depends on one or more trains per day to replenish the supply. National Gypsum also ships raw gypsum to other customers inland by rail.

CSL Tacoma inbound this afternoon to load at National Gypsum, while the George Washington Bridge sails outbound with containers.

Container traffic will be hard hit by a prolonged strike as import and export cargo gets hung up in terminals or en route. Very little of the port's container traffic is locally generated, so rail is critical to get the boxes to or from producers - mostly in the US midwest, and central Canada. Rail cars were still moving in and out of Halterm today, so it is hard to tell how much delay there may be. Container shippers have the option of using other ports if they can get better service from a different railroad.

CMA CGM Chennai under the cranes at Halterm today, but when its import boxes move from the pier may be a question.

Break bulk shippers may have options, but not all. Nirint's JSP Levante sailed today after discharging bagged nickel sulfides which are shipped onward from Halifax in open gondola cars to Fort Saskatchewan, AB (25 km outside Edmonton) for processing. The cargo can be held in Halifax for a time, but warehouse space would eventually run out and the mine in Cuba would not be able to ship their output.  (Fort Sask is served by both CN and CP Rail however.)

JSP Levante heading for sea after working breakbulk cargo from Cuba.

The Cuban nickel is just about the only break bulk import cargo Halifax gets. The only other significant break bulk cargo is rail for CN itself. It is generally stockpiled on the pier itself until needed.

So far there has been no appetite for government to step into the labour dispute, but there will certainly be pressure if the strike continues for another week. Moving crops to market, maintaining supplies of propane and stocking store shelves for Christmas will become more difficult in the days ahead.

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CMA CGM Chennai -10,000 TEU

CMA CGM Chennai berthed this afternoon at pier 41-42 Halterm, a day and a half later than scheduled due to high winds. Serving the Columbus JAX service, it is the only ship larger than 10,000 TEU regularly scheduled to visit Halifax. The other ships on the route range from 9130 to 9953 TEU.

Delivered in May of this year by Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding of Jianjiang, China, it made its first call here July 14. The ship measures 112,967 grt, 119,000 dwt, and carries containers 19 wide at the widest part of the ship.

Even though conditions had improved today, with unlimited visibility, the winds were still gusty, and the ship used three tugs to berth.

The ship is owned by Seaspan and operated by them for CMA CGM on a long term charter.

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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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