Neither snow nor rain...(again)

 I have often referred to the US Postal Service's motto here when weather makes it difficult for shipping in the harbour (and for me to keep track of it.)

The last couple of days, April 12 and 13, have seen heavy rain and high wind (but fortunately no snow) and dense fog. Pilotage operations have been suspended for various periods due to swells and surges and several arrivals and departures have been delayed.

As for operations in the harbour, unless winds are extremely high, the container piers* can still work cargo. (There is a maximum wind speed for safe operation of the cranes.) Containers are largely impervious to rain, so if the ship can make it into port, it can be loaded and unloaded.

Today's (April 13) arrival for the ZCA service ZIM Container Atlantic, the Navios Indigo, managed to reach port before the latest pilotage suspension. The ship started calling for ZIM last year. See my post for October 27, 2023

Lingering fog was considerably thinner over Bedford Basin where the ship was tied up at the Fairview Cove west berth*.

 At Pier 9C* the BBC Rhonetal continued to load gas pipe despite the rain.

The ship was using its own cranes to load, and appears to have been working two or even three holds at one time, but has closed most of the hatches. There are hundreds of pipes left to load, so the ship will be here for some time yet. They are often loaded in bundles of two or three, depending on how they are to be organized and secured below deck.

Some ships were able to sail, one being the Fairwind Legion which departed long term anchorage in Bedford Basin for Portsmouth, New Hampshire to load submarine cable. It has been in port since February 28.

[April 3 photo]

See my post of February 28 for details on the ship. A sister ship Nord Logos has been waiting offshore and is due tomorrow, probably to load cable racks. 

* Footnote on Terminolgy

The Port of Halifax does not use  standard terminology to designate some of its facilities - see subsequent post for my exposition on this topic.

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MSC moves for CMA CGM, and other activity

 PSA Halifax usually has room to spare, since it operates both container terminals in the Port of Halifax. However it takes considerable advance coordination to shift cargo or ships from one facility to the other, because schedules are usuallly set weeks if not months ahead of time. Ships of the same line almost always dock at the same terminal, but there are exceptions (see MOL Charisma earlier in the week). Also due to size limits, some ships can only dock at the Southend terminal (PSA Atlantic Gateway).

Yesterday (March 10) the MSC Rossella arrived from Montreal on the Canada Express 2 service for Spain and Italy. After topping up with some cargo at Pier 41 PSA Atlantic Gateway, the ship moved out to anchor in Bedford Basin. I am assuming it moved to make way for today's arrival, CMA CGM Otello, and will move back alongside tomorrow or the next  day.

 The MSC Rossella was built in 1993 by Samsung Shipbuilding + Heavy Industry on Geoge Island (formerly rendered as Koje) South Korea. Launched as Hansa Europe it was renamed Ville de Carina on delivery. It became MSC Rossella in 1997. The 37,938 gt, 43,605 dwt ship has a capacity of 3398 TEU. 

MSC has come under criticism in recent days for running older ships, which it always has, but in poor condition. One ship was banned from Australia and another lost 45 empty containers overboard en route from Boston to the Dominican Republic. According to sources the company has acquired 292 second hand ships since August 2020 - an "unprecedented event in the history of shipping."

CMA CGM Otello arrived this afternoon from Tanger Med, Morocco on Ocean Alliance's Asia / North America Columbus JAX service. The last port of call for ships on this line used to be Colombo, Sri Lanka. Recently the ships have been stopping in the Morocco port, which is a useful depot for European feeder services. (MSC uses Sines Portugal in a similar way).

Built in 2006 by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, the 91,410 grt, 101,810 dwt ship has a capacity of 8488 TEU (including 700 reefers). The ship made its first call here July 8, 2017, but this was the first opportunity I have had for a photo.

The CAM CGM Otello needed the larger cranes at Pier 41, while one of the smaller cranes at Pier 42 was working Melfi Lines X-Press Irazu.

The ship dates from 2007 when it was built by Guangzhou Wenchang Shipyard Co Ltd. At 18,480 gt, 23,716 dwt, it has a capacity of 1732 TEU including 379 reefers. It also carries a pair of 45 tonne capacity cranes.

The Melfi route, called MEDCAN, is westbound from Livorno, Genoa, Barcelona, Valencia, Setubal (for Lisbon), Halifax, then Mariel, Cuba.

At Irving Oil's Woodside terminal the Aldabra was discharging refined product loaded in Amsterdam.

 Onomichi Zosen, in Onomichi, Japan delivered the ship in 2008 as Nord Organiser. In 2020 it was renamed Dee4 Dogwood and in 2022 it took on its current name. The 26,900 gt, 47,399 dwt MidRange type tanker operates in the Hafnia MR pool.

Another Japanese built ship was also in port, tied up at Pier 9C. The Fairwind Legion is the former Thorco Legion (to 2020) a 13,110 gt, 16,957 gt multi-purpose general cargo ship built in 2015 by Honda Shipbuilding in Saiki, and equipped with a pair of 50 tonne SWL cranes. Several of its "L" class sisters have also been here to be fitted with fibreoptic cable storage racks. (See March 4, 2023 post and  for example December 22, 2022.)

 

For the sake of completeness there was another arrival today, the auto carrier Elektra at Autoport. It is a regular on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean trans Atlantic run.

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