Contship Pep, ZIM feeder

 One of the feeder ships used by ZIM's CGX service to New York and Jamaica, the Contship Pep has been calling in Halifax since late 2023, but had been arriving and sailing in the dark, thus eluding my lens. Today (March 8) however it arrived in full daylight and made its way in to Fairview Cove accompanied by the tug Atlantic Willow.

The ship was built in 2006 by the Yangfan Group's Zhoushan shipyard. A 9981 gt, 11,834 dwt ship, it has a capacity of 966 TEU and carries a pair of 45 tonne SWL cranes.

Originally named Pauline it became Vega Carina in 2013 and Vega Hercules in 2016 and Contship Pep in 2022. Contships Management Inc, based in Athens, operates 47 feeder ships of 900 to 1500 TEU capacity. It is an operating arm of the Pateras family. (See March 1 post).

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ZIM feeder

 ZIM's feeder service to New York and Kingston, Jamaica, called CFX (Canada Feeder Express) has apparently been combined with another feeder service the Central America Gulf Express (CGX) which includes calls in Kingston, Houston and Altamira, Mexico. The recent callers on the CFX, the Contship Leo and Contship Pep have extended their trips to the Gulf of Mexico and today's arrival (November 17), the Pacific Trader was listed for CGX, arriving from Altamira (October 30 - November 2), Kingston (November 8-9) and New York (November 14-15).

Built as the Pacific Trader in 2008 by Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, the 9957 gt, 13,760 dwt ship has a capacity of 1118 TEU and carried tow 45 tonne SWL cranes. (The cranes are extended over side to clear the shore cranes as the ship works cargo at PSA Fairview Cove.) The ship carried the name Mell Semakau from 2010 to 2012.

Combining the two feeder services is likely a way of better utilizing the ships. After couple of boom years, shipping lines are being forced to tighten their belts again, with some shipping rates in free fall and charter rates for ships diving.

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