Wild Night in the Harbour

Winds gusting in excess of 70 knots tore through Halifax over night creating difficult conditions in the harbour. There were no actual mishaps as far as I can tell, but there were some tense moments.

CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent arrived for fuel (see previous post) but it was too rough to tie up at Imperial Oil, so she went to anchor in Bedford Basin, moving to Imperial Oil dock #3 first thing this morning.(It will take 24 hours to fill her tanks.)

1. Louis S. St-Laurent moving to Imperial Oil this morning.

Next to arrive was the diminutive feeder ship Fusion. After a stormy crossing from St-Pierre, the ship went to Bedford Basin and after a couple of tries managed to anchor securely. Big swells coming in to pier 36 made it unwise to tie up there. The adjacent berth, pier 34 was also untenable so the bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth had already moved down to pier 9.

While this was happening the bulker Barkald at National Gypsum was straining its lines and its winches started to payout after reaching their strain limit. Fortunately the tug Atlantic Oak, which had sought shelter at Fairview Cove was nearby and was dispatched by Halifax Traffic. It got to the ship in a matter of minutes and managed to get it back alongside before any lines parted.

2. Barkald in more pleasant conditions last April.

The weather also delayed loading operations, and the ship's departure, which was scheduled for 0500 Sunday morning, was postponed to mid -afternoon. Monday

The lower harbour anchorages also became untenable, and the tanker Alice was on storm watch as it was at the limits of its scope. However its anchor held more or less, but its position was noticeably different this morning. Not so with Energy Pioneer. Its anchor must have been dragging too, and the decision was made to go to sea instead. It is due to return this morning and tie up at Imperial Oil #4.

3. Energy Pioneer in anchorage #3 yesterday morning

Things seemed to be under control within HMC Dockyard, but the fireboat Firebird spent the night at Jetty Lima on the Dartmouth side of the harbour instead of her normal berth on the Halifax side.

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Naval Gazing

A walk out on the Angus L. Macdonald bridge on Thursday allowed for a good look down on part of HMC Dockyard.
First in view was CNAV Firebird, apparently fresh from its refit in Shelburne and looking quite sharp.

 It has not returned to service yet, and harbour safety patrols are being conducted by Glen and Ville class tugs. The safety patrols include several trips per day to the Defence Research and Development Corp barge in Bedford Basin.

Next up was HMCS Halifax still in the midst of its FELEX upgrades, and due to re-enter service in 2014.

Speaking of the harbour tugs, we here that Granville found the bottom in Eastern Passage the other day. There was no sign of any activity on it from the bridge.

Also absent was the Glen tug Glenevis - perhaps gone off for a refit.


This morning harbour tugs moved HMCS Montreal from the Graving Dock to the Machine Ship wharf at Halifax Shipyard. Since Halifax left the yard, Irving Shipbuilding has erected a number of buildings in the area, including a three story complex at the south end of the Machine Shop Wharf.

With no shipboard power on Montreal all lines had to be hauled by hand. A cheerful group of workers on the bow struggled long and hard with the head lines to secure the ship.