E-Ship 1 offloaded

 The cargo ship E-Ship 1 completed offloading today, April 8, despite 5cm of wet snow. Fortunately I was able to get some photos before the snow fall. The ship's cargo would now be largely invisible, because the nacelles and other components for a wind power project, are all covered in white shrink wrap, and now surrounded with snow. The previously delivered tower components are also protected with white shrink wrapping.

 The Halifax Shipping News blog has some excellent drone photography showing the ship's hold from the air. See: https://blog.halifaxshippingnews.ca/ - well woth the visit.

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More newbies and Pier 9C update

 There were two "new to Halifax" ships in port today April 5 and as we are now into Invasive Species season, both anchored for Canadian Food Inpection Agency (CFIA) examination before docking.

MSC Manchester, as the larger ship, took up position in Number 1 anchorage in the lower harbour. (The auto carrier Lake Shirasagi is visible in the background, offloading at Autoport.)

As usual when that anchorage is occupied, incoming ships then pass to the west of George's Island. MSC Ingrid did just that as it proceeded to Number 3 anchorage.    

ONE Manchester was built in 2015 by Imabari Shipbuilding Co Ltd at the Hiroshima Shipyard as the Manchester Bridge. It was renamed and repainted in 1920 as K-Line had joined the other Japanese container lines to form Ocean Network Express (ONE). It is a 51,672 gt, 146,900 dwt ship with a capacity of 13,900 TEU including 800 reefer plugs. It is sailing on Premier Alliance EC3 sailing directly from Columbo via the Cape of Good Hope.

Later in the day MSC Ingrid moved to Pier 42.

 

MSC Ingrid dates from 1999 when it was delivered by Samsung, Geoje as the Saudi Jeddah. At 53, 208 gt, 67,678 dwt, it has a capacity of 4657 TEU including 300 reefers. It is operating on MSC's Canada Express en route from Le Havre for Montreal. It joined MSC in 2002 and has been retro-fitted with an exhaust gas scrubber.

ONE Manchester was cleared by CFIA, but remained at anchor until early eveningi before moving in to Pier 41 when the berth was clear. In bright sunlight it beame apparent that ONE's magenta colour scheme will require a great deal of maintenance. ONE Manchester's paint appears to have been applied hastily with minimal surface prep.

 

Pier 9C

At Pier 9C business was booming - pun intended. The E-Ship 1 (see yesterday's post) was off loading its project cargo wind generator components, including nacelles and containers of equipment.

With E-Ship 1 at the north end of Pier 9C there was just enough room for the Lake Shirasagi to dock. After discharging cargo at Autoport, it moved through the Narrows  to turn in Bedford Basin, then came in alongside astern of the E-Ship 1, with just enough room to deploy its stern ramp. There are so many wind tower sections on the pier, its RoRo cargo will be a tight fit.

 

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E-Ship 1 - old news

On May 5 the innovative E-Ship 1 arrived in Sheet Harbour, NS from Portugal with a cargo of nine wind turbine blades. Since it was built in 2010 the ship has made many trips, including transatlantic, using the assistance of its own form of wind turbines.
Its owners, Enercon, a major wind turbine manufacturer, developed the design for E-Ship 1 as a means of company promotion, but also as a real way to reduce fuel costs, and the environmental impact of the ship. No one is saying how much the ship actually cost, but as an experiment, it has shown fuel savings of 25% to 30% over conventional ships.
Part of the saving comes the use of four Flettner Rotors, 27m high x 4m in diameter, mounted on the "four corners" of the cargo deck.

Seen here on the St.Lawrence River in 2012, the ship's propulsion is assisted by the perpendicular force exerted by the four spinning rotors. Even on a calm evening such as this, the ship does not require any wind to use the rotors. Instead, exhaust gasses from its engines drive a steam turbine which spins the rotors. As the ship moves, the eddies generated by the spinning rotors generate a force, called the Magnus effect. A special rudder system allows the ship to use the force to assist in propulsion and control its direction.

Part of the economy of operation for the ship is also the result of its very fine underwater lines and its aerodynamic above water shape. It also utilizes sophisticated electronic controls to maximize engine efficiency.
From mid -2013 to February of this year, the ship was laid up for repairs after numerous technical glitches. The ship was also re-engined during that time, so its ultimate cost must be very high.

The Flettner rotors were also used in the 1920s and proved even then to be more efficient than conventional steam coal and diesel ships. High initial cost and the 1930s depression doomed the system until now.

It must remain to be seen whether this is just another experiment, or if it will be adopted over other innovative propulsion systems currently being developed.

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Vectis Harrier - Super Greenship

The first Super Greenship and the first "Cross-Bow" ship to call in Halifax arrived today:

1. Alongside at Fairview Cove, the distinctive fine bow is evident.

2. Entering the Narrows from Bedford Basin, outbound. A travelling gantry, stowed forward, is used to lift off the hatches.

Carisbrooke Shipping  of Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK, is building a fleet of super efficient ships. The first series are called the Super Greenship 8500 class. Based on a design by the Dutch firm of Groot Ship Design, the 8500 tonne deadweight multi-purpose ships feature the distinctive "Cross Bow" * form. Intended to reduce pitching and slamming at sea, the bow also claims to produce greater efficiency of operation when combined with a new propellor design and other features. The ship is also rated as Finnish Ice Class 1 A.
Built by Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Co Ltd in China and delivered earlier this year, Vectis Harrier tied up at Fairview Cove this morning and sailed at noon. While there it took on bunkers from Algoma Dartmouth but did not seem to work any cargo.
Aside from the bow, the ship looks like most small general cargo/bulk/container ships of 6190 gross tons, 8557 tonnes deadweight. It is fitted with two 80 tonne cranes and has a single box shaped hold, with lift off hatch covers.
The ship seems to be a throw back to olden years when knife-like ship's bows were all the rage. Their effectiveness in slicing open other ships in collisions (the Empress of Ireland being a prime example-it was sliced open by the collier Storstad) lead to the development of the "soft bow" which gave way in collisions, and tended to protect the forward collision bulkhead also.
[* a similar looking bow form called the "Axe Bow" has been developed by Damen Shipbuilding and similar versions are widely used in new offshore support vessels.]
Footnote:
Vectis Harrier is a fairly tame energy saver compared to the ship I saw on the St.Lawrence in August. E-Ship 1 is wind assisted. There are no sails however. The ship is fitted with four rotating cylinders which assist the ship to varying degrees, depending on wind speed and speed through the water. When I saw it on August 21 it was not getting much help from the wind.

3. E-Ship 1 downbound from my front porch in Quebec. The ship is about 5 miles away, and the church spire is more than 10 miles from my vantage point, so this is the best that can be expected from a 300mm lens.