Light Load on EC5

 Today's (August 7) arrival on THE Alliance's EC5 service is the Conti Contessa, a regular on the run for the last eleven months. Built as Ital Contessa by Samsung, Koje in 2006 it measures a hefty 90,449gt, 101,007 dwt with a considerable container capacity of 8084, including 700 reefers. It became Conti Contessa in 2019 under Conti11 Schiffahrts ownership and Niederelbe management.

The ship arrived from Norfolk, eastbound, and is relatively lightly loaded (see the top of its rudder peaking out from under the counter). It has lots of boxes aft (probably empties) but as far as payload is concerned it is obvious that the balance of trade is still cargo from the east and not to the east.

Although it is not felt on this particular route, there is a major shift underway to re-route cargo away from the congested West Coast of North America, in favour of the east coast via the Panama Canal - to the benefit of such ports as Savannah - and eventually possibly Halifax. The BigBox retailer Costco has even gone to the extent of chartering three ships for its own cargo. They will be calling in Halifax starting next month according to recent reports.

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More Heavy Weights

 The size of ships on various routes continues to increase as shipping lines cope with demand and backlogs. In some cases lines are going outside their own stable of ships with charters, but other lines are able to move ships around as needed.

THE Alliance continues to call on charters from outside its member group (HAPAG-Lloyd, Hyundai, ONE, Yang Ming) to find tonnage. Conti Contessa, owned and operated by Conti-Lines Group of Belgium, arrived again today July 20 on the EC5 service. This not its first call on this route, so it would seem to be on a longer term charter.

The 90,449 gt, 107,055 dwt ship was built in 2006 by Samsung Shipbuilding + Heavy Industry Co Ltd, Koje, and has a capacity of 8084 TEU, including 700 reefers.It carried the name ITAL Contessa until 2019.

Due to its size, the ship called on three tugs (one on each side, and a tethered escort astern) as it made its way inbound to PSA Fairview Cove.

The ship is at nearly the limit for the size of ship that can reach Fairview Cove.

 

The Southend container terminal PSA Atlantic Hub, also handled a large ship today, but it it is well shy of the largest that can be accommodated. CMA CGM La Pérouse is a 151,446 gt, 165,422 dwt, 13,880 TEU (including 800 reefers) ship, built in 2010 by Daewoo Shipbuilding + Marine Engineering Co Ltd, Okpo.

The Southend facility can handle ships of greater than 15,000 TEU - the largest ships currently calling at North American ports. Although there are now ships with 23,000 TEU capacity, ships of 20,000 TEU+ will only be running from Asia to Europe for the foreseable future.

With Pier 41 occupied, the Oceanex Sanderling moved from Autoport to Pier 36 this afternoon. For now, the ship can use the Pier 36 RoRo ramp, but that will not be the case for much longer as work to fill in the basin between Piers A-1 and B will soon be underway.

The sail excursion boat J.Farwell makes it way inbound under power, as Oceanex Sanderling crosses from Autoport to Pier 36.

The Oceanex Sanderling will be taking on RoRo cargo at Pier 36, but will have to move to Pier 41 or 42 so that cranes can load containers before the ship sails on Friday (July 22.)

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More Bluster

Mist, wind and rain again, (April showers, etc.,...) did not deter shipping activity in the harbour with several arrivals and departures today (April 8).

At Fairview Cove it was Conti Contessa on THE Alliance's EC5 service. The ship arrived early yesterday morning (April 7) and sailed early this afternoon, with some mist in the air. 

Built in 2006 by Samsung Koje, the 90,449 gt, 101,007 dwt ship has a capacity of 8084 TEU including 700 reefers. Initially named ITAL Contessa, it took its current name in 2019 for owners Niederelbe Schiffahrts. There was a very brisk breeze blowing on the ship as it headed for the Narrows, and the stern escort tug was working hard. Once into the Narrows, things were a little calmer, but the ship kept the all three tugs for the passage.

I've always wanted to catch a "did I miss the boat?" shot. A truck with a Hapag-Lloyd container hustles across the MacKay bridge toward Fairview Cove - after the ship has sailed.

At Fairview Cove, the rebranding has started. With the PSA takeover and a new multi-year lease, the "Ceres" sign was coming down.

PSA rebranded the southend terminal when they took it over , but there are still a few remnants of "Halterm" if you look closely. Here's one I saw yesterday, looking a little worse for the wear:

At Imperial Oil the Chinese owned tanker Lian Xi Hu completed unloading product from Antwerp and sailed for Houston in ballast.

The ship took the western, deepwater channel to make room for the inbound MSC Annick.

Arriving from Montreal, to top up to sea going draft, the MSC Annick appears to be lightly loaded. As reported just about a year ago, the ship has been renamed eight times - see April 10, 2021

 By the time the ship neared PSA's Atlantic Hub Pier 42, the mist had become driving drizzle. With the high humidity, the ship's vapour plume lingered for quite a while. This ship's exhaust gas scrubber was obviously working (see yesterday's post where I accused a ship of turning off its scrubber).

The MSC Annick also had to wait for the Zim Tarragona to clear the berth, so sailed on into the harbour, turning north of George's Island. I bailed out before that happened, so no photos of the second ship to turn around George's Island recently. (See March 30 for the auto carrier MSC Antigua.)

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All systems go

 The port was bustling again today, December 28, after a few slow days during the Christmas break.

Fairview Cove completed working the Atlantic Star this morning. It arrived last night on the westbound leg of its regular crossing.

 Sailing outbound this morning Atlantic Star had near perfect conditions.

(Sunny, +1 C and no wind.)

Fleet mate and sister ship Atlantic Sun made the headlines when its anchor winch brake slipped and the ship started to drift off Almwch, North Wales on Christmas Day. The ship called for a pilot and stood off until December 27 when it was able to dock safely in Liverpool. It will be on its way to Halifax when the windlass problem has been rectified. The press report noted that the ship was in direct contact with the winch manufacturer while attempting (without success) to correct the problem. 

After Atlantic Star cleared the berth at Fairview Cove the Conti Contessa was in position to back in alongside.

The Port is gradually filling in a large area adjacent to the Fairview Cove terminal to enable a pier extension. The facility also needs more backup space on land and some new cranes.

PSA Halifax was also full out busy with ships coming and going. MSC Angela was alongside, topping up on its Canada Express 2 service from Montreal. MSC Naomi arrived on the Indus 2 service.

On its way inbound MSC Naomi passed the anchored ZIM Qingdao which is scheduled for PSA Halifax when MSC Angela sails.

MSC Naomi is a first time caller as the new Indus 2 service works its way through the roster for the first time. Built in 2015 by New Times Shipbuilding Co Ltd  in Jingjiang, China, it is a 96,333 gt, 109,510 dwt vessel with a container capacity of 8800 TEU.

The ship's exhaust gas scrubber was working away leaving a large plume of water vapour which was eventually absorbed by the cool dry air.

Scrubber retrofits no doubt take considerable ingenuity, but are usually clumsy looking. This ship's "side saddle" unit is no exception, but it did not take up any valuable cargo space. 

 

Autoport was also busy with another visit from the Morning Peace which was here as recently as November 19. It sailed late this afternoon, as did the bulk carrier Sheila Ann with a load of gypsum for Tampa FL. (see yesterday's post).

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Where are the ships - Part 3

 The container ships that had been anchored off Halifax, came in to port today, September 22, one each for PSA Halifax and Cerescorp, Fairview Cove.[ See previous post.]

First in at an early hour this morning was Conti Contessa tying up at Fairview Cove on THE Alliance's EC5 service.

Late in the afternoon it was time for MSC Shristi for PSA Halifax. Atlantic Fir came alongside first to push the ship's turn, with Atlantic Oak standing by to come alongside near the ship's starboard bow. Interestingly the ship used the Western / Deep Water channel, which the pilot referred to as the "Main Channel" when communicating with a sail boat.

The ship anchored off Halifax September 19 en route from New York to Montreal. It still does not show on Montreal schedules and PSA Halifax gives it a voyage number XA135A, which may mean that it is an "extra loader" - not scheduled and just here to pick up or redistribute empties. On the other hand it may be here just to lighten its load to meet St.Lawrence River draft restrictions.

Rock On

Gypsum Integrity arrived at sunset this evening, making an interesting sight as it approached the MacKay bridge, with the tug Atlantic Beaver Bear en route to Gold Bond to load gypsum (rock).

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Where are the ships - Part 2

In partial answer to my September 18 post, wondering about the dearth of container ships in Halifax recently, there was some activity today, September 21.

MSC Weser, which arrived in Halifax September 5 put out to sea today for trials. It did not take long to confirm that whatever the problem had been, the ship was now fit for service and it soon returned to port. It tied up at Pier 41 and began to load (or re-load) cargo.

The ship will be re-joining MSC's Canada Gulf Bridge service. It was en route from Philadelphia to Montreal when it arrived here, and will now continue that voyage. It normally sails from Montreal to Corner Brook and Saint John then on to Freeport, Bahamas and Mexico. That service does not call in Halifax.

Since the ship was completely unloaded on its arrival in Halifax, it was in ballast for today's trials. Just what it may be loading now is a bit of a mystery. Presumably whatever cargo it had for Canada could have been forwarded by tuck and rail by now, and outbound cargo could also have been sent here. However the ship is due in Montreal September 25, sailing September 26.

Another Montreal-bound MSC ship anchored off Halifax September 19. MSC Shristi was en route from New York when it made a "hard left" and anchored offshore.

As seen at a distance from Halifax the ship appears to be reasonably well laden, but perhaps not fully loaded. It was due in Montreal September 21, but has since been removed from MSC schedules. It is now due in Halifax tomorrow, September 22.

Built as Venice Bridge in 2005 by Hyundai, Ulsan, it is a 54,519 gt, 64,989 dwt ship with a capacity of 4738 TEU including 374 reefers. In 2019 it was renamed Baltic East under MSC management and in 2020 became MSC Shristi.

Also coming to anchor off Halifax today is the Conti Contessa, a sizable ship on THE Alliance's EC5 route (Far Est / Med/ East Coast North America). Built as Ital Contessa by Samsung, Koje in 2006 it measures a hefty 90,449gt, 101,007 dwt with a considerable container capacity of 8084, including 700 reefers. It became Conti Contessa in 2019 under Conti11 Schiffahrts ownership and Niederelbe management.

The ship appears to be heavily loaded, but is scheduled to transit the Narrows to Fairview Cove tomorrow, September 22. Based on its German ownership, it is likely filling some of HAPAG-Loyd's tonnage commitment to THE Alliance. (With ONE, Yang Ming and HMM.)

It is a large ship for the Narrows, so its airdraft must be minimized. 

Also at the Fairview Cove terminal today was NYK Rumina, a 55,487 gt, 66,171 dwt ship built by Hyundai, Samho in 2010.

The ship has a capacity of 4922 TEU, including 330 reefers, and it is on THE Alliance's AL5 service, which connects western Europe with the west coast of North America. Its last European port is Antwerp and first and last North American port is Halifax, so it is in competition with several other lines on the North Atlantic. 

One prominent and highly reliable Halifax subscription news source stated earlier this week that PSA's takeover of the Cerescorp / NYK operation at Fairview Cove is a "done deal" awaiting regulatory approval from Competition Bureau Canada. No date was given for when the green light will be illuminated, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out if it is approved (which seems likely).

Major investment in equipment is needed at Fairview Cove, and is underway at PSA Halifax's Southend Container Terminal (formerly Halterm.)

Some shuffling of shipping lines is also expected, in part to ease road traffic issues in downtown Halifax. The city will be entering a period of extreme congestion when major re-developments of several roadways are set to begin soon. Keeping heavy truck traffic off the peninsula's streets (and onto trains) should be a top priority.

Halifax has so far avoided the congestion that is backlogging ports in many regions, but careful management of landside activity will be required. As one pundit stated recently "ports are a mess, but shipping company profits are at record highs." 

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