Miscellaneous outs and ins

Today, April 11, was another day for a variety of activity in Halifax harbour.

There were two departures of interest. First was the French Navy patrol vessel Fulmar. Based in St-Pierre et Miquelon, it is tasked with fisheries patrol and Search and Recue in the sliver of French Exclusive Economic Zone stretching south and east 200 miles from the islands. It is a yearly visitor to Halifax, and goes to Quebec for repairs and refits. This year it was participating in exercises with Canadian and US navies before arriving in port on April 7.

Built as the trawler Jonathan it was re-purposed in 1997 for the French police and commissioned into the French Navy in 2009. Construction of the 400 gt ship was started by the Metz Shipyard in Urk, Netherlands in 1990, and completed by SOCARENAM, Boulogne in 1991.

A much larger departure was the cable ship Decisive [see April 9 post].

As mentioned in the previous post, the ship works over the stern. It has aft facing bridge controls and a pair of large sheaves mounted on the stern. It also has an A-frame, which is stowed when underway (as in the photo) but which is raised when deploying the ROV and plow. (See also the Seacom funnel mark).

 

This afternoon's arrival was the chemical and product tanker Harbour Fashion. Built in 2011 by the Yangfan Group in Zhoushan, it is sized at 11,880 gt and 16,878 dwt. A member of the Icechem Tankers Ltd fleet, of Copenhagen, it carries the Ice Class 1A rating and its heated tanks are lined with polymer to protect against agressive chemicals.

The ship has had a most unusual itinerary. It sailed from Port Arthur, Texas on March 15 and arrived in Montreal March 26 (presumably sailing past Halifax.) It departed Montreal March 29  and took its time getting here, docking at Irving Oil's Woodside terminal this afternoon. It appears to have considerable cargo still on board, so what it was doing in Montreal is a bit of a mystery. (As a foreign flag ship, it is not permitted to deliver cargo from one Canadian port to another without a coasting license - which to my knowledge it does not have.)

Another tanker in port is the Maersk Corsica, which arrived yesterday from Antwerp.

 The ship is off loading at Imperial Oil's number 3 dock. Although the new red and white mooring buoys are in the water off the dock, the ship is not using them. A crane, visible on shore astern of the ship, is carrying out related work.

The Maersk Corsica was built in 2019 by Samsung Ningbo, and is a 29,816 gt, 49,919 dwt ship. Despite the Maersk name on the ship it is not owned by A.P.Moller-Maersk - the container line, but since 2017 by an A.P. Moller family trust. Its ships still carry the Maersk star on the funnel and have the unique blue coloured hull. Maersk Tankers is one of the largest tanker pool operators with 150 ships under management from 40 partner shipowners.

The Canadian coastal tanker Algoscotia is tied up at Pier 28 for a "time out" until the oil berth is available again. As usual ships at the berth are virtually unphotographable - and soon will be invisible as the new maintenance facility takes shape.

Also in port, but not scheduled to sail until tomorrow, is the familiar CSL Tacoma. The ship arrived  yesterday from Savannah for another load of Gold Bond gypsum.

The 43,691 gt, 71,552 dwt self-unloader was built in 2013 at Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, China. It is a member of the deep sea version of the Trillium class that CSL named for the floral emblem of Ontario. There are also Laker versions of the Trillium class, some strengthened to make coastal voyages.

CSL International has now ordered four more self-unloaders of the same "Kamsarmax" size from Jiangsu Yangzi-Mitsui, for delivery starting in July 2025. They will be replacing older ships in the CSL fleet.

At the Gold Bond dock in Bedford Basin, this morning, the loading conveyor is well forward, near the bow. It moves back and forth along the dock, distributing the gypsum evenly in the ship's holds so as not to overstress the ship's hull.

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Naval gazing and other views

Visiting naval craft have been rare in recent months but today was an opportunity to see two very different navy ships in Halifax.

It comes as a surprise to some to know that France has a naval presence in North America. The French department of St-Pierre et Miquelon off the south coast of Newfoundland is not just a group of small islands, but is also the centre of a 188 mile long, but only 10 1/2 mile wide Exclusive Economic Zone extending south out into the Atlantic Ocean.

As a consequence France maintains a patrol vessel, based in St-Pierre to police and enforce fisheries regulations in the area. The particular ship assigned to the role frequently visits Canadian mainland ports as a courtesy and Halifax is a regular port.

The current vessel, Fulmar P740, is a classed as a Coastal Patrol Craft (PC). Built as a trawler in 1990,it was converted in 1996-97 and recommissioned October 28, 1997 for service in St-Pierre.

It has made many visits to Halifax, and is usually here every year to escort the annual St-Pierre sailing race. The chaotic start to the 2010 race resulted in part from the ship sailing without a pilot then maintaining radio silence. A close call with the inbound Essen Express could have turned out badly.

 

Sailing this afternoon, the ship was not displaying a pilot flag. However it did have a pilot this time.

It also has its periodic refits in Canadian shipyards. Previous refits were conducted in Lunenburg. In 2017 France entered into a four year contract with the Industrie Océan shipyard in Ile-aux-Coudres, QC for annual refits for the Fulmar in the autumn but also for emergency repairs (which it needed in May 2017). The contract applies to all French naval vessels in North American waters that may require repairs.


A very much  larger and more sophisticated warship tied up at HMC Dockyard this morning. USS Jason Dunham DDG-109 is one of the large class of Arleigh Burke destroyers. Based in Norfolk, VA the ship was built by Bath Iron Works in Maine in a very short space of time. Laid down in April 2008 it was launched in August 2009 and commissioned in November 2010. One can only hope that the production efficiencies that Bath has developed can be transferred to Halifax Shipyard when it comes time to replace Canada's frigates.

Tied up at Jetty NB with HMCS Ville de Québec in the background.

This is not the ship's first visit to Halifax. It was here from July 13 to 15, 2017.

While not a naval vessel strictly speaking, USCG Cambpell WMEC 909 is also in town, but perched out on the end of a pier in HMC Dockyard and difficult to photograph. It is a Famous class medium endurance cutter, based at the US Navy's Portsmouth naval dockyard in Kittery, Maine. Launched in 1986 and commissioned in 1988, it has been extensively refitted and reconditioned. It has visited Halifax several times, as far back as January 2000.

USCG Campbell at the same jetty with several ships in the background. Certain aspects of its appearance have changed since 2000.

As for commercial shipping, the general cargo ship BBC Brazil, which arrived at anchor yesterday, moved to Pier 9C this afternoon.

The 8059 gt, 10,872 dwt ship dates from 2011 when it was built by the Damen Yichang shipyard in China, and completed by the home yard in Gorinchem, Netherlands. Launched as Wenningstadt it was delivered as Thorco Copenhagen. It reverted to its original name in 2016 but was again renamed BBC Brazil. It became Ds Brazil January 1, 2018, but reverted to BBC Brazil January 1, 2019. The ship carries two 80 tonne cranes.

At anchor early this morning, the ship shows the hull sponsons square off the main cargo holds into box shapes.

Tomorrow, fleet mate BBC California is due to berth alongside the ship at Pier 9C. Perhaps it will use its pair of 180 tonne cranes to make some sort of cargo transfer. Built in 2008 by Jiangdong, Wuhu, it was first named Beluga Fraternity. When Beluga failed, it became Fraternity briefly in 2011 before becoming BBC California later the same year. It measures 9611 gt and 12,672 dwt.

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Private Robertson VC- in from sea trials; Montreal- into drydock, Fulmar-outbound for sea

The first Hero class patrol boat, Private Robertson VC, spent the day off Halifax on sea trials. Unofficial indications are that they went well, but as with all new builds, it will still be some time before the ship is handed over.

At the same time HMCS Montreal entered the graving dock at Halifax Shipyard for her FELEX refit. The ship was in the news today because of the delays to the navy's new Sikorsky Cyclone helicopters. The ship was refitted to accommodate the helicopter, but as a result cannot handle the existing Sea Kings. This will not be an issue if the ship is in refit! However sister ship HMCS Regina had to be un-refitted to take up her duties in the Far East with the Sea King. The Cyclones continue to be delayed, with no firm delivery date in sight.

The French patrol vessel Fulmar left port after her annual courtesy call. This time she took a pilot, avoiding the potentially disastrous incident of a previous visit when the ship was incommunicado while attending the start of a sailing race, with major harbour traffic in the vicinity. One hopes that heads rolled after that episode.

Fulmar flies in again

The French naval patrol vessel Fulmar arrived this morning and tied up at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. The former trawler is assigned to St-Pierre et Miquelon and makes yearly courtesy calls to Halifax.

Last year's July 10, 2010 visit [see http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2010/07/close-calls-in-harbour.html] was somewhat lacking in the courtesy department, when the vessel sailed without a pilot (perhaps on the basis of unofficial advice from someone in the Canadian navy.) I am sure there will be no repeat of that incident this time round.