Bluer than Blue at PSA Halifax

 PSA Halifax welcomed two blue ships today, June 10, at its South End terminal, Atlantic Gateway. First in was the Ultra size CMA CGM Adonis. At 154,839 gt, 155,502 dwt, it has a capacity of 15,536 TEU including reefer plugs for 1800. The giant was built at Shanghai Jiangnan Chanxing Shipbuilding and was delivered in March of last year.

Although its capacity is about 1,000 TEU less than the largest ships to call in Halifax, it nevertheless made an impressive sight, occupying a large swath of Pier 41-42.

 It also used the three largest cranes leaving the two small cranes unused at the south end of the pier due to clearance issues.

The ship's dark blue hull looked dull in overcast conditions, but when the sun broke out for a few minutes it took on quite a glow.

Unfortunately the sun did not stay out long enough to light up the inbound Volga Maersk all the way in to Pier 41. Too bad because there are few more impressive sights than the (trade marked) Maersk Blue in bright sunshine,

This is the first time to see Maersk Lines' new white lettering and seven point star motif on the ship's hull. The A.P. Moller-Maersk company has used the seven point star on a sky blue background since 1886. It has appeared on their house flag since 1904 and on their funnels and more recently on their containers. They began to paint their ship's hulls in sky blue starting in 1955. At that time the ship's full name was painted on the side in black letters. Many Scandinavian ships, going back to the pre World War II  era, carried their full names in a similar fashion.

 The Halterm container terminal was operational, but they were still building one crane in January 1971 when I caught the Clifford Maersk at Pier 36.

In the late 70s the hull lettering was changed to "Maersk Line".

Maersk continued to use conventional cargo ships for several years because many of the ports they served could not handle containers. The Chastine Maersk was typical in that sense, but untypical in how scruffy it looked. Later that year it was rebuilt as a container ship with a new longer and wider forebody so maybe the neglect was intended as the old forebody was scrapped.(Note the word "Line" was added and the name "Chastine" was painted over, giving an unbalanced look to the billboard.)

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Volga Maersk was fresh from drydock when it joined the St-Laurent 1 service in April of this year, and still looks very neat on arrival today.

Volga Maersk dates from 2018 when it was built by COSCO Zhoushan Shipyard Co. It is a 34,882 gt, 40,079 dwt ship with a capacity of 3600 TEU. It is one of several (seven by may count) ships built to ice class for Maersk's Baltic service. When sanctions were imposed on Russia in 2022, two of the ships of this class were transferred to the St-Laurent 1 service operated by Maersk and CMA CGM. 

Sister ship Vistula Maersk remains on the St-Laurent 1 service and Vayenga Maersk has been in Setubal, Portugal since May 9, presumably in drydock where it is likely receiving the new white bill board. 

On its previous trip to Montreal in mid-May Volga Maersk returned directly to Bremerhaven and did not call in Halifax. It then called in Rotterdam and Antwerp on its way back to Montreal.

Sister Vayenga Maersk June 6, 2022 in the "old" livery.

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Blue and Black

The blue hulls were confined to the south end, as PSA Fairview Cove handled the more usual black hulled NYK Nebula for THE Alliance's AL5 route.

Another member of the large Constellation class and built in 2007 by Hyundai, Ulsan, the 55,534 gt, 65,600 dwt ship has a capacity of 4922 TEU. NYK is one of the partners in Ocean Network Express (ONE) along with MOL and K-Line. The lines new ships are painted in ONE's magenta and given ONE names, but the existing ships retain their individual line identities.

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Transitions

 I guess most of us will be pleased to see the end of 2020. However there must certainly be widespread consternation about 2021 as to whether it will be more of the same, a return to normal or the advent of a "new" normal. A transition of some sort is inevitable.

There was also anxiety, but on a different scale, in the shipping world, fifty years ago as containers were making a significant impact on how cargo was transported. Hard as it is to believe today, Maersk Lines, now the world's largest container operator, was slow to make a commitment to containers. Much of its trade was with Asia where things were still done in the traditional way. Therefore Maersk was still building conventional cargo ships.

The handsome Clifford Maersk was built in 1969 by Bergens MV in Norway. A 10,918 gt, 14,159 dwt ship it was equipped with an array of two 25 tonne cranes, one 60 ton, one 30 ton, ten 10 ton and six 5 ton derricks! It had six holds, some of which were refrigerated and accessed through side doors. It also had tank space to carry latex, vegetable oil or molasses and high flash point liquids. Its massive 9 cylinder B+W main engine propelled the ship at 22.5 knots.

In this early 1971 photo at pier 36,  you can see Canron erecting a container crane at Halterm in the background, and so the writing was definitely on the wall as ACL and DART had already started serving Halifax with containers and RoRo.

By 1980 Maersk built a new, longer, cellular forebody for the ship and converted it to a 21,349 gt, 21,349 dwt container ship. They sold it in 1988, and renamed Jian He it lasted until 1988 when it was broken up in Tianjin.

Clara Maersk was built to the similar specs by Kockums MV, Malmo, Sweden in 1968, measuring 11,000 gt, and 14,164 dwt, with one 80 ton, one 25 ton, eight 10 ton and twelve 5 ton derricks. In 1980 it received a similar conversion with a wider, longer forebody, emerging as a 21,609 gt, 25,078 dwt container ship. It served as TFL Adams from 1984-1986, reverting to Clara Maersk until 1988 when it was sold and renamed Yi He. It was not broken up until May 2004. 

 

Another sister of the C class was Chastine Maersk, also built by Bergens MV, but in 1968. The 10,918 gt, 14,169 dwt ship was equally equipped with a veritable catalog of cargo gear.It therefore made for an awkward container carrier.

Later in 1980 it received a similar conversion with a new 11.6 m longer forebody, resulting in a 21,609 gt, 25,007 dwt ship. Sold and renamed Hui He in 1987 it was reportedly broken up in China in 2002.
 

Maersk was regularly serving Halifax in 1970 with several similar ships, including Trein Maersk.

Seen here at pier 37, with the Canadian coaster O.K.Service XI at pier 34, they were all handling cargo the old way with slings and palettes, although modern "towmotor" forklifts had taken the place of hand carts.

Built at Maersk's company owned Odense Staalskibs AS, in Denmark, but completed by Burmeister + Wain's Copenhagen shipyard, in 1962 Trein Maersk measured 12,310 gt and 14,387 dwt. Also powered by B+W its speed was listed as 21.75 knots. It was fitted out with one 80 ton, one 25 ton, eight 10 ton and twelve 5 ton derricks. 

By 1981 Maersk became fully committed to containers and they sold the ship. It became New Stallion but only lasted until 1985 when it was broken up in China.  

 

Sister ship Thomas Maersk also dating from 1962 and 12,310gt, 14,390 dwt was built entirely by B+W in Copenhagen. Sold in 1980 and renamed Sarika B it was scrapped in Kaohsiung in 1982.

Slightly older ships such as Lica Maersk were also smaller, with five holds.

Built in 1962 by AG Weser in Bremen, it was a 6365 gt, 9725 dwt ship also fitted with tanks for vegetable oil, latex or molasses and had a similar outfit of one 80 ton, two 15 ton and twenty 5 ton derricks. It also had side doors (just forward of the "E" in "LINE" and midway aft). Its 10,000 bhp B+W, fitted amidships, gave it a tamer 17.5 knots cruising speed. Ships of this class did not make the cut when it came to the container age, and were sent directly to Kaohsiung, where this one was scrapped in 1980.

 

Maersk eventually made a successful transition to the "new normal" (although it is being challenged for the number one spot by MSC as noted in yesterday's post) and its trademark blue hulls and seven pointed star continue to be seen in Halifax and in ports around the world.

 

 

 Shipfax wishes all its readers a successful transition into 2021 and a safe and prosperous new year.

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