Back to Work

 After the Christmas break things begin to get back to normal. Ships put out  to sea, terminals open up and before long there is a return to routine, perhaps even to clear an accumulated backlog.

That has certainly been the case in the Port of Halifax with considerable activity yesterday and today (December 27 and 28)

Two of the three ships anchored in Bedford Basin sailed today - heading in opposite directions. The Boskalis fleet mates Forte and Triumph, in port since December 15 and 16 respectively, ordered pilots for 0830hrs and 0915 hrs AST. That meant the pilot boat only had to make one trip out to Bedford Basin - a one half hour round trip at best.

The Foundation Pilot is the newest pilot boat in service in Halifax, completed this year by the Armon Shipyard in Puerto de Vega, Spain. The 60.54 gt boat arrived in Halifax May 25, 2024 as deck cargo on the Acadia Desgagnés. [see post of that date.]

First away was the Forte heading for Newport News in ballast. The ship shows very little freeboard, even as light ship, and must sometimes see its deck awash at sea.

Triumph followed soon after, heading for St.George's Bay, Newfoundland, (not St.George's Bermuda as AIS would have it.)[The crew member who programmed the AIS will be in for a shock when they arrive in wintery Newfoundland!] The large bay on the southwest coast of the island of Newfoundland is the location of the Port of Stephenville (formerly Port Harmon) where the former military port has become a staging area for offshore wind projects.

The Triumph's deck cargo of wind turbine towers, will be unloaded and stored in Stephenville for transfer to an installation vessel. Work has resumed on the Vineyard Wind project off Massachusetts after a five month shutdown when one of the (Canadian made) wind blades shattered and fell (in pieces) into the sea. The blade failure was traced to faulty adhesive which was not picked up by QA at GE's factory in Gaspé, QC. Existing blades may have been replaced and new testing procedures have been instituted.

Also in Bedford Basin in was the second ship in two days to load at Gold Bond Gypsum. CSL Spirit loaded and sailed for Tampa December 26 and fleet mate CSL Tacoma arrived this morning.

CSL Tacoma is a regular in Halifax and since its last call November 1 delivered its gypsum cargo to Wilmington, North Carolina, November 9 then proceeded to Puerto Drummond, Colombia to load coal November 14 to 15. I'm not sure why it stopped in Baltimore Decmber 11-12, but it then sailed to Belledune, NB where it unloaded the coal.

The CSL Tacoma, 43,691 gt, 71,405 dwt was built in 2013 by Changxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, China and is a Trillium class self-unloader. It can discharge at 4,250 tonnes per hour of coal, 4,500 tph of gypsum, 5,000 tph aggregates and 6,000 tph iron ore.

The oil terminals in Halifax usually work right through holidays and that was certainly yhe case with Imperial Oil this year. The Canadian tanker Qikiqtaaluk W arrived December 24 with product from Sarnia and sailed early December 27 (sorry no photo). Its place at number 3 dock was almost immediately taken by the Malta flagged Aegea from anchorage off Halifax with product cargo from Antwerp.

SLS Shipbuilding Co in Tongyeong, South Korea built the ship as the Mare Di Venezia in 2008. The 29,683 gt, 51,371 dwt Medium Range tanker was renamed in 2018 when it changed hands from Gestioni Armatoriali SRL to Chandris Hellas.

There was also container ship activity, but that may be for another post.

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More Boskalis, less MSC, plus one

1.  Boskalis 

 Today, December 16, saw the arrival of another Boskalis-owned semi-submersible, heavy load carrier - the Triumph. This is quite a different sub-species of the category however. Instead of a purpose-built ship (see yesterday's long story) this one is a conversion.

 The Triumph started out as the Suezmax crude oil tanker Marble, built by Brodosplit in Croatia in 1992. It was a 77,931 gt, 149,999 dwt ship. As it neared fifteen years of age its owners, the Norwegian company Frontline, opted to sell the ship and the Dutch company Dockwise snapped it up. They sent it to the COSCO Guangdong shipyard where the existing cargo section was removed and scrapped and a new 130m x 44.5m mid-body was inserted. The bow and stern sections were then heavily modified to make the ship semi-submersible. Also an auxiliary navigation bridge was installed on the forepeak for use when visibility from the main bridge is blocked by deck cargo. The "new" Triumph, completed in 2008, was reduced from 269.0m overall length to 216.86m , with revised tonnages of 42,525 gt and 53,818 dwt.

Chinese shipyards made similar conversions, using ships with good maintenance records and reliable engines. The Triumph has a 6 cylinder MAN / B&W Diesel main engine rated at 13,364 kW, built under license by Brododplit, which was likely a factor in its selection.

On arrival in Halifax today it headed for anchorage in Bedford Basin, quite near its fleetmate Forte. Unlike that ship, this one has a deck load consisting of wind turbine pylon components.

 Triumph heading north into Bedford Basin with the Forte in the distance.

The visible pylon section carried the designation AJ 06, which indictes it is likely headed for the Wineyard Wind project, where 62 wind turbines are to be installed offshore Massachusetts.

This is not the Triumph's first call in Halifax. On its previous visit January 8 to January 11, 2011, it showed its versatility by lifting the jack-up drilling rig Rowan Gorilla III.

2. MSC

The movement of containers left in Halifax during the Montreal port workers strike last month continued today with MSC Sagitta III taking another turn. The ship arived yesterday on its second call under a coasting license to carry stranded containers from Halifax to Montreal, and other empties to balance supply. It docked at PSA Fairview Cove where the majority of boxes seemed to have been stored. This morning it moved to PSA Atlantic Hub, but first it did a 360 turn in Bedford Basin, then went to anchor in the lower harbour until berth 41 was vacated.

 

MSC applied to use both MSC Sagitta III and MSC Baltic III for an estimated three trips each between Halifax and Montreal under the coasting license by the completion date of December 31.

The berth at Pier 41 was occupied by the CMA CGM Lapérouse, but it sailed at noon time, and MSC Sagitta III moved in shortly after.

 

 3. Plus One

The Shipfax TMU (terrestrial mobile unit) was kept scurrying today to catch all the action, which also included an Autoport caller. The Traviata appeared in Wallenius Wilhelmsen colours, which have been applied within the last year. 

 The Dominion Rumbler scurries ahead to handle the ship's head lines to the mooting buoy off Autoport.

When the ship was here December 27, 2023 it was still wearing the Wallenius Lines white over green hull colour.

The ship was built in 2019 by Tianjin Xingang, to the HERO class design used by both Wallenius and Wilhelmsen. It must have beeen one of the last - or indeed the last - ship to use the old Wallenius colour scheme. Since it was due for a five year survey in 2023 it was probably repainted during the drydocking.

The 73,358 gt, 23,889 dwt ship, has a capacity of 7656 RT43 autos, and mounts a 320 tonne SWL stern ramp. As with most modern autocarriers it has no side ramp.

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Sub sandwich

 Today's photo "catch of the day" was the container ship NYK Meteor, but the picture was sandwiched between two semi-submersibles.

The semi-submersible Forte arrived mid-morning from Rotterdam and went directly to anchor deep in Bedford Basin.

A heavy load carrier, built in 2012 by Guangzhou International, it is measured at 36,653 gt and 48,312 dwt. It is semi-submersible to a draft of 26 meters, allowing it to float on and float off large cargoes.

The ship is a fleet mate, but smaller version, of the White Marlin which arrived in Halifax October 25 carrying a topside structure for Vineyard Wind. It sailed November 3 for Sydney, NS arriving there November 7 (and it is still there.)

 White Marlin in Halifax, October 25.

The ships were once at the centre of a major legal proceeding. In 2012 the company Fairstar Heavy Transport had taken delivery of two new semi-submersible heavy load carriers, Fjord and Fjell, with options for two more of the same class on order: Forte, Finesse. Another company, Dockwise, commenced a hostile takeover but some managers of Fairstar had ordered a fifth ship, to be called Fathom, "off book" (that is without financing in place and without the knowledge of the corporate Board of Directors and thus of Dockwise) as a poison pill to saddle Dockwise with more debt. Dockwise upgraded the order for the 'Fathom' and it was completed as the White Marlin. Dockwise took legal action against the four Fairstar managers. (They had also made adjustments in their compensation without the knowledge of the Board of Directors.) In 2013 Royal Bos Kalis Westminster took over Dockwise and continued the legal action. Eventually, in 2019, the Fairstar directors were found jointly and severally responsible and ordered to pay compensation. In 2011 the "Fathom" was valued at $110 million.

The container ship referred to above, the NYK Mercury, is another of the Daedalus class that are regular callers on THE Alliance's AL5 route from North Europe. Built by Hyundai Ulsan in 2007. The 55,534 gt, 65,935 dwt ship has a capacity of as much as 4922 TEU (some sources report 4888) and 330 reefers. 

 The ship kept its escort tug Atlantic Cedar as it made its way through the Narrows outbound for Port Everglades, FL.

The other "semi" in the sandwich was the Boabarge 37. Fresh from its transfer of AOPV 435 to Bedford Basin and its float off. (see previous post, December 9).

The barge left Halifax this afternoon for Sydney, NS in tow of the Atlantic Fir. All the AOPV's cradles and other gear have been removed, and the barge is sailing light.

 The barge was built in 2015 by Nanjing Wujiazu and comes in at 15,185 gt, 29,500 dwt, and is capable of taking a load of 30,000 tons. It is on long term charter to Irving Shipbuilding Inc, but still retains Norwegian registry. Each time it is to be used ISI applies for a coasting license. It has been used to transfer ships components, such as bow and signal mast, from Woodside to the Halifax Shipyard, and has been used as a launch platform for all six Arctic and Offshore Partrol Vessels. 

So far no application has been made to use the barge elsewhere in Canada, but since it is heading for Sydney, I expect it will have something to do with Vineyard Wind. Sydney is the staging area for the construction of that project. (The same may apply to the Forte also).

Footnote:

Another semi-submersible heavy cargo carrier is arriving tomorrow, December 16. There will be more about the Triumph when it hoves into view.

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Orange and Red

The tanker Torm Carina arrived Friday from Ijmuiden, Netherlands (sea lock for Amsterdam) with another load of refined product for Irving Oil. A 30,024 grt, 46,291 dwt tanker, built by STX Shipbuilding Co, Jinhae, South Korea in 2003 it was originally named Guld Falk for the Italian d'Amico company. In 2005 it was sold to Torm A/S of Denmark, renamed and painted in their distinctive orange colour scheme.

 
Although tied up at Irving Oil's Woodside dock, neighbouring Imperial Oil's tanks are visible in the background, complete with Imperial's new corporate badge. The familiar Esso oval is gone or going.

In Bedford Basin the heavy load carrier Forte is anchored awaiting its next assignment. It delivered the jack-up rig Noble Regina Allen November 7 and remained in number 1 anchorage in the lower harbour until November 15 when it moved to long term anchorage. Specialized ships such as this one often are often idle for extended periods between gigs.

Also in Bedford Basin the supplier Atlantic Condor was just completing some exercises with its fast rescue craft.

 Halifax Shipyard built the vessel in 2010 for a ten year contract with Encana to support the Deep Panuke gas project. With that project under performing (and in fact not producing at all according to recent reports), Encana is looking for contractors to begin dismantling the topsides structures.

 
And at the Bedford Institute, CCGS Hudson is back at its old stand. It arrived November 13 from Hamilton, ON where it was in refit. That refit was supposed to be complete last spring, but as time went on the Coast Guard became concerned that the ship would be trapped on the Lakes when the Seaway closes for the winter at the end of the year. They then took the unusual step of  re-possessing the ship from the Heddle Marine Shipyard. After couple of weeks alongside the CCG base in Hamilton the ship was able to sail November 8 and made a bee-line for home.

The Coast Guard has not revealed what work remains to be done on the ship and when it will return to service. The extended refit meant that many planned research programs had to be postponed, cancelled or transferred to other ships.

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Forte sheds its load

The heavy load carrier Forte shed its load today under ideal conditions. There was no wind and starting early this morning the ship was submerged and the rig Noble Regina Allen floated off and was spudded down at the IEL wharf.

Noble Regina Allen spudded down at the IEL wharf.

Forte in number one anchorage.

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