In for a bit

 With stormy weather coming the CCGS Cape Roger put in to Halifax this morning. The 1251 gt veteran offshore patrol vessel dates from 1977 when it was built by Ferguson Industries Ltd in Pictou, NS. Based in St.John's NL it can often be seen in Halifax during ice season.

 One of three offshore patrol vessels in the Atlantic Region it conducts fisheries surveillance, search and rescue and sovereignty patrols. The current National Shipbuilding Strategy calls for replacement vessels to be built by Seaspan in Vancouver.  In the meantime the two new Arctic and Offshore Patrol vessels under construction at Halifax Shipyard for the Canadian Coast Guard  may fill in to some extent even though they are substantially larger vessels, and may have conflicting assignments depending on the time of year. The first of those new ships is due for completion in 2026. 

The other six AOPS vessels, built for the Royal Canadian Navy, may be able to cover some of the patrol duties without interferring with naval deployments.

The Cape Roger is due for major maintenence next year, but is expected to remain in service for some time to come.

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Red and Green

 The colours red and green are usually associated with Christmas, so I guess it was appropriate that red ships and green ships dominated harbour activities today with Christmas just over a week away.

Among the red ships was the CCGS Cape Roger arriving from its normal St.John's, Newfoundland base of operations. With the annual southwest Nova Scotia lobster fishing season in full swing, the Coast Guard was seriously under strength for active all weather ships. In fact the only large vessel in service in the area has been the CCGS Jean Goodwill which has been on duty most of the time since early in the month when the fishery opened. (Lobstering is an inshore fishery and boats are small. CCG lifeboats in Sambro, Clarks Harbour, Wesport have been on duty too and often sail in poor weather.)

Built in 1977 by Ferguson Industries Ltd in Pictou, NS, the Cape Roger is a dedicated Search and Rescue and Fisheries Patrol vessel with some pollution response capability. It was originally equipped with a helicopter hangar and flight deck but both have since been removed. (It does have a helicopter winching system.) Both Cape Roger and near sister Cygnus under went Vessel Life Extensions (VLE) in the past year at Newdock in St.John's. The original contract for the work totaled $20.7 mn for the two ships and was to take five months each. Cape Roger's was from May to October 2021 and Cygnus from November 2021 to April 2022.

As Cape Roger was arriving this morning it had to loaf around in Bedford Basin for a few minutes until its berth at the Bedford Institute was freed up. That allowed a look at both sides of the ship, and its new articulated knuckle boom crane (starboard quarter) installed during the VLE.

The berth to be vacated was occupied by CCGS Jean Goodwill which returned from its most recent SAR patrol on Tuesday, December 13 (see post) - perhaps for crew change.

Berths are at a premium at the BIO. The CCGS Kopit Hopson 1752 (left) has been redelivered to the CCG after its VLE but has not yet returned to service. The now decommissioned Hudson (right) is soon to be moved out to another pier somewhere else in the harbour.

As part of its conversion from icebreaking offshore supply tug, the Jean Goodwill was fitted with a padded stern notch which will allow towing in ice should the need arise. Widely used in the Baltic (hence the term Baltic stern notch) the method is new to the CCG.

A red ship that has been in Halifax since October 7 finally sailed today (without acquiring a Canadian white stripe.)

The Norwegian-owned, Cyprus flagged, icebreaking tug supplier had been working in the Russian eastern arctic until its owners pulled out. The ship sailed via the Bering Strait and Panama Canal stopping in New York en route to Halifax. 

The vessel was available for charter and there was speculation that the Canadian Coast Guard might be interested in it as a temporary replacement for the CCGS Terry Fox which is scheduled for VLE next year and is currently undergoing repairs to fire damage. However the Polar Circle sailed today giving Boston as it destination. There has also been speculation that the USCG might be in need of its capabilities. That is a big guess in my opinion as Jones Act waivers and non-US flag ships are not exactly popular in the US right now.

Now for some green. The Canadian Forest Navigation (CANFORNAV) charter Sunda (see previous post December 12) sailed today with a full load of soybeans for Ghent, Belgium. 

The ship completed topping up its cargo several days ago but remained in port likely due to weather conditions on its proposed route. When the ship arrived from Johnstown, ON (via the Cabot Strait) it had built up a lot of frozen spray - some of which was still clinging to the ship's anchors earlier today.

And finally in the red and green theme, two Halifax regulars Oceanex Sanderling (red) and Nolhan Ava (green) are both in port on their typical weekly container and RoRo services. Oceanex Sanderling is due to sail for St.John's this evening. Nolhan Ava will likely leave for Argentia and St-Pierre tomorrow.

Red Footnote (or maybe more like orange):

 A ship that was in Halifax on June 10, 2022 [see for details] and again December 7 made the news on December 14. The autocarier San Martin which had arrived in Halifax from Emden, sailed on December 7 for Houston. It anchored in the Galveston Fairway on December 14 and called on the US Coast Guard for a medical evacuation of the ship's master. A helicopter and medic air lifted the captain to hospital in Galveston where the prognosis was favourable.

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Cape Roger participates in rescue - revised

 The Royal Canadian Air Force and the United States Coast Guard helicopter crews have pulled off one of the largest and most dangerous rescues in recent memory. Plucking a total of 32 27 people off the Riverport, Nova Scotia based scallop fishing trawler Atlantic Destiny, which had been on fire and was sinking, in storm conditions, and at  extreme flying range, is surely the stuff of legends.

The vessel was fishing on George's Bank, 120 miles south of Yarmouth, NS when the fire broke out. The boat's captain made the Mayday call asking for immediate assistance when the fire persisted and could not be extinguished. 

I may not have all the details correct here, but from what I read and see in various media, four other nearby fishing boats stood by while two Sikorski Jayhawk helicopters from USCG Cape Cod station (Falmouth, MA)  and one RCAF Cormorant helicopter from CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia, scrambled to the scene. Guided by a Canadian Hercules fixed wing aircraft, they reached the scene in the middle of the night with 55 knots wind and 8 meter seas to contend with.

After landing two SAR techs on board the ship, they were able to lift all but six four essential crew off by rescue baskets, one person at a time. Each helicopter was limited to about eight persons in addition to their own crew. All were landed in Yarmouth, NS (Photos show two USCG and one RCAF helo on the ground in addition to the Hercules.)

By daylight this morning it was apparent that the remaining six persons (four crew and two SAR TECHS) could not save the ship and they were evacuated to CCGS Cape Roger and headed for Shelburne, NS. The ship finally sank at about 1036 hrs AST March 3.

Atlantic Destiny was built in 2002. Construction began at Stel-Rem, Gdansk, Poland and was completed by Karstensens Skibsvaerft AS in Skagen, Denmark. The 1113 gt ship had a history of engine failures, leading up to the March 14, 2017 incident 370 km south of Yarmouth when serious mechanical damage resulted from a failed re-start  of the main engine. The Transportation Safety Board reported on that one: M17A0039

The Canadian Coast Guard's Fisheries Patrol Vessel Cape Roger is a 1255 gt ship, built in 1976 by Ferguson Industries, Pictou, NS. Although based in St.John's, NL it is frequently assigned to Nova Scotia waters, and works out of  the Bedford Institute. Although a very capable craft, its helicopter capability was removed in 2011. Its flight deck can no longer be used for landings, but only for hoisting.

In April the Cape Roger is due to go into a six month long Vessel Life Extension process. That means that a new vessel replacement will not be expected until late in this decade or perhaps the next. The Arctic Offshore Patrol ships that have been appended to the RCN program may take up some of that slack or (more likely) extend the replacement date well into the 2030s.

Among the vessels standing by during the rescue were reported to be: Cape La Have, Maude Adams,  Atlantic Preserver and Atlantic Protector, all Nova Scotia based.

Maude Adams is typical of the new generation of stern trawling / factory scallop draggers. Much larger than the old style side draggers, they also carry a larger crew to process the shellfish on board.

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Weather

It is often said that if Canadians did not have weather to talk about, conversations would grind to a halt. It is a more serious matter for mariners, who have to cope with all sorts of weather, some of it very dangerous. You will see from several recent posts here that weather can effect arrivals and departures and even vessels in the port. High winds for the last 24 hours, reaching the 90 kph range in Halifax have certainly delayed ships, but once the wind moved round from easterly to westerly, there was some lee created by the land and three ships were able board pilots and enter port, albeit later than planned.

Westerly winds blasting across Bedford Basin at times swept over the Bedford Institute pier.

 Cape Roger, moved to the lee side of the wharf.

Ships heading southwest were finding it hard going at sea and Qamutik anchored off Halifax at about 2200 hrs to get out of the weather.  The ship has had an adventurous summer. The last supply ship to call in Milne Inlet for the Baffinland iron mine project, its arrival was delayed by heavy ice. It then suffered a main engine failure October 19. Fortunately the icebreaker Botnica and the tugs Océan Tundra and Océan Raynald T were on hand ready to return south and they were able to get the ship out of the area, but it had another delivery to conduct before the two tugs could tow it home. The convoy also took shelter near Havre St-Pierre for a time and finally arrived Sept-Iles Bay November 5. It must have unloaded its return cargo of empty containers and the like while in Pointe Noire. It may also have loaded a cargo of aluminum.
The ship was apparently repaired in good order and it was able sail November 12 destined for Baltimore. The ship is bareboat chartered back to Spliethoff's until next summer. Built as their Edisongracht in 1994 it has a grt of 8448 and dwt of 12,760 and is fitted with three 60 tonne cranes. It has been chartered back to Spliethoff each winter since 2008 when the Logistec subsidiary acquired it.

When the ship was in Halifax in 2015 it was carrying containers, some breakbulk, including steel plate, and a shrink wrapped power boat - typical cargo for Spliethoff.

The question has been raised if there have been more weather related delays. This may be an unanswerable question, because there are several factors at work.

The first is larger ships. The big container ships, some up to 10,000 TEUs, and autocarriers, are much more subject to windage than smaller ships, and thus much more difficult to bring into harbour and berth. It the winds are too high there is greater risk of damage to the ship or the port facilities with bigger ships. 

The huge slab sides of big container ships make them much more susceptible to windage.

More critical however is the ability of pilots to embark and disembark in safety. The huge freeboard on these ships is a factor. Some are equipped with pilot doors set into the side of the ships, but most are not. Therefore the pilot must climb a ladder or step onto a platform from a wildly gyrating pilot boat.

Set low in the side of this autocarrier the pilot ladder and accommodation ladder are used in combination.

It is a long way up to the main deck on container ships.

That brings up the pilot boats themselves. Built for good speed to reach the pilot station quickly, they must also have good seakeeping ability (including maintaining a course). The current Halifax pilot boats may be a factor in recent delays, at least according to some, but I would not support this opinion as the sole factor.

The current pilot boats, Nova Pilot and Scotia Pilot (in yellow) certainly have low freeboard compared to the older boats such as A.P.A.No.18, in port for refit, and are somewhat smaller. They are also waterjet propelled.

Then there is the climate and the prevalence of bad weather recently. This may be related to the location of the jet stream that forces its way south causing high winds. A seasonal fluctuation in the location of  jet stream, caused by forces as far away as the Pacific Ocean can effect weather here. It may also vary from year to year. This may be one of those years.

Weather is a reality for shipping and port operations, and I am sure will excellent fodder for continuing  discussion.

Triton Ace out, Cape Roger in

Yesterday's arrival at Autoport (seen only on the horizon in yesterday's post) sailed this afternoon after completing its cargo work.

Triton Ace dates from 2009 when it was delivered by Imabari Zosen, Marugame to NYK Line and placed under Mitsui OSK Line commercial management, flying the Panama flag. Listed at 60,8766 grt, 22,723 dwt  it is of the largest class in the MOL fleet with a capacity of 6400 cars.

 To give it room to pass around Ives Knoll, the inbound CCGS Cape Roger worked well over the west, for a starboard to starboard passing.

 Built in  1977 by Ferguson Industries in Pictou NS, the 699 grt vessel is based in Newfoundland and was scarcely seen in Nova Scotia until the 2000s. It works out of Halifax sometimes, covering for refits of other ships or ice conditions. The CCG fleet in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia is particularly short handed now with CCGS Earl Grey and Edward Cornwallis in refit and Ann Harvey in repair.

Cape Roger received a major refit in 1996 in Shelburne, NS, and again in 2010-2011 at the now defunct Seaway Marine Industries yard in Port Weller, ON. However its helicopter deck remains decommissioned.

New Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) (up to five in number) are among the vessels to be built by Seaspan in Vancouver under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy.

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