Today, April 11, was another day for a variety of activity in Halifax harbour.
There were two departures of interest. First was the French Navy patrol vessel Fulmar. Based in St-Pierre et Miquelon, it is tasked with fisheries patrol and Search and Recue in the sliver of French Exclusive Economic Zone stretching south and east 200 miles from the islands. It is a yearly visitor to Halifax, and goes to Quebec for repairs and refits. This year it was participating in exercises with Canadian and US navies before arriving in port on April 7.
Built as the trawler Jonathan it was re-purposed in 1997 for the French police and commissioned into the French Navy in 2009. Construction of the 400 gt ship was started by the Metz Shipyard in Urk, Netherlands in 1990, and completed by SOCARENAM, Boulogne in 1991.
A much larger departure was the cable ship Decisive [see April 9 post].
As mentioned in the previous post, the ship works over the stern. It has aft facing bridge controls and a pair of large sheaves mounted on the stern. It also has an A-frame, which is stowed when underway (as in the photo) but which is raised when deploying the ROV and plow. (See also the Seacom funnel mark).
This afternoon's arrival was the chemical and product tanker Harbour Fashion. Built in 2011 by the Yangfan Group in Zhoushan, it is sized at 11,880 gt and 16,878 dwt. A member of the Icechem Tankers Ltd fleet, of Copenhagen, it carries the Ice Class 1A rating and its heated tanks are lined with polymer to protect against agressive chemicals.
The ship has had a most unusual itinerary. It sailed from Port Arthur, Texas on March 15 and arrived in Montreal March 26 (presumably sailing past Halifax.) It departed Montreal March 29 and took its time getting here, docking at Irving Oil's Woodside terminal this afternoon. It appears to have considerable cargo still on board, so what it was doing in Montreal is a bit of a mystery. (As a foreign flag ship, it is not permitted to deliver cargo from one Canadian port to another without a coasting license - which to my knowledge it does not have.)
Another tanker in port is the Maersk Corsica, which arrived yesterday from Antwerp.
The ship is off loading at Imperial Oil's number 3 dock. Although the new red and white mooring buoys are in the water off the dock, the ship is not using them. A crane, visible on shore astern of the ship, is carrying out related work.
The Maersk Corsica was built in 2019 by Samsung Ningbo, and is a 29,816 gt, 49,919 dwt ship. Despite the Maersk name on the ship it is not owned by A.P.Moller-Maersk - the container line, but since 2017 by an A.P. Moller family trust. Its ships still carry the Maersk star on the funnel and have the unique blue coloured hull. Maersk Tankers is one of the largest tanker pool operators with 150 ships under management from 40 partner shipowners.
The Canadian coastal tanker Algoscotia is tied up at Pier 28 for a "time out" until the oil berth is available again. As usual ships at the berth are virtually unphotographable - and soon will be invisible as the new maintenance facility takes shape.
Also in port, but not scheduled to sail until tomorrow, is the familiar CSL Tacoma. The ship arrived yesterday from Savannah for another load of Gold Bond gypsum.
The 43,691 gt, 71,552 dwt self-unloader was built in 2013 at Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, China. It is a member of the deep sea version of the Trillium class that CSL named for the floral emblem of Ontario. There are also Laker versions of the Trillium class, some strengthened to make coastal voyages.
CSL International has now ordered four more self-unloaders of the same "Kamsarmax" size from Jiangsu Yangzi-Mitsui, for delivery starting in July 2025. They will be replacing older ships in the CSL fleet.
At the Gold Bond dock in Bedford Basin, this morning, the loading conveyor is well forward, near the bow. It moves back and forth along the dock, distributing the gypsum evenly in the ship's holds so as not to overstress the ship's hull.
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