To the Basin for shelter

With another major storm passing through from the south, Bedford Basin is once again hosting a number of ships. Of these only the Canadian cargo ship Evans Spirit is making a detour from its normal course to seek shelter.

The ship is en route back to Sept-Iles, QC in ballast, from the US after delivering another cargo of aluminum. This is the second time the ship has sought shelter here (the first was on February 9) this winter.  And once again I didn't manage to get any decent photo.

Despite conflicting traffic signals, the Evans McKeil is heading in the right direction - toward Bedford Basin.


The three other ships, all tankers, went to anchor instead of occupying berths at oil docks. The Irving Oil tanker East Coast was the first to arrive and went directly to the Basin rather than tying up at the Irving Woodside jetty. That berth, although it is recently rebuilt, is not suitable in rough weather.

The next arrival was the Singaporean tanker Alpine Venture. It was due to tie up at Imperial Oil number 3 dock, but went to the Basin. Built in 2010 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, the 29,120 grt, 45,046 dwt ship is part of the Transpetrol fleet.

 With Atlantic Oak made up astern as tethered escort, Alpine Venture lines up for the Narrows and Bedford Basin.

The third tanker is Gotland Sofia (see yesterday's post). It moved from Imperial Oil number 3 dock, which is also an untenable berth in a storm. The ship may have completed unloading in any event, so will likely be heading to sea once the storm passes.

There was one sign of spring in the harbour however. The research vessel Coriolis II ventured away from her layup dock at the old Coast Guard base for some harbour trials.

The former CCGS John Jacobsen was built in 1980 by Versatile Pacific in Victoria, BC as a 500 class rescue cutter CCGS 501. It was renamed in 1992 and declared surplus in 2000, becoming 2000-03. In 2001 the Université de Québec à Rimouski bought and renamed the ship for research use by a consortium of Quebec universities and research institutes, under the umbrella name of Institut national des sciences de la mer (ISMER)  It is also available for commercial charter work.

The former Coast Guard base is to become the Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE), but has already become the stopover site for research and offshore vessels in layup or conversion such as Trinity Sea (background of photo above.)
See: COVE

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Nolhanava - still sharp, and other traffic

The ConRo feeder ship that links Halifax with St-Pierre et Miquelon is still a striking sight, even after eight months of  weekly service. Nolhanava is unmistakable, for it resembles no other ship in shape and colour.
 

It arrived in Halifax Thursday evening and anchored during a snow storm with blizzard conditions. Today, while waiting for its customary berth at pier 36, it showed off that form and hue in bright sun.

Built in 2000 in Constanza, Romania, as Shamrock, the 4654 grt ship was refitted in China in 2015-2016 with an exhaust gas scrubber system and acquired its elaborate paint scheme. It arrived back in Halifax in June 2016 and resumed the St-Pierre service that it was built for. As Shamrock it had operated on the run from January 2001 for only three years before it was sold and sent to the Caribbean. It returned to Halifax in April 2015 and resumed it original service until September 2015 when it sailed to China for the refit.

Also anchoring over night in Halifax was the Canadian general cargo ship Evans Spirit. The ship was en route from Baltimore to Sept-Iles and put in for shelter. It sailed early this afternoon - skillfully eluding this photographer.

There are lots of photos on the net however: https://www.google.ca/search?q=evans+spirit&biw=1205&bih=719&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjy3ema2YbSAhVB7CYKHU5VAH0Q_AUIBigB

It was built in 2007 by KNS Delfzijl, Netherlands (on a hull built in Turkey) as Spavalda for Italian owners. McKeil Marine bought the ship in 2015 and named it after company founder Evans McKeil, a Nova Scotia native. As Evans Spirit it has been put to work carrying aluminum ingots out of Sept-Iles, but is also fitted to carry bulk cement. Its shallow draft allows it to call in ports that other ships can't reach. Tonnages are 9,286 grt, 15,026 dwt.  A sister ship, named Ardita has also been acquired by McKeil Marine and will be operating under foreign flag for a time, but is expected to become Canadian later this year. McKeil has recently been awarded a major cement hauling contract on the Great Lakes, which it is expected to serve.

Arriving this afternoon, CCGS Corporal McLaren M.M.V. still had some traces of snow and ice on it from last night's storm. Built by Halifax Shipyard to a Damen design, it was completed in October 2013 and is based in Halifax.

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