Other Port Activity

 The arrival of two Super Postpanamax cranes [see previous post] was not the only large scale activity in the Port of Halifax today, November 6. Across the harbour at the IEL wharf in Woodside the heavy lift crane ship Orion was completing another load out of offshore wind towers.

The Orion returned to Halifax yesterday from the Vineyard wind project off Massachusetts where it had been installing the previous load of monopiles and transition pieces.

 Orion arriving as seen from the Halifax Central Library.

Two heavy lift ships, GPO Grace and GPO Sapphire have been waiting offshore and in Halifax to transfer tower sections to the Orion.

GPO Grace at anchor,

(See HMCS Oriole in right background.)

The Orion uses its 5,000 tonne SWL crane to transfer the sections from GPO Sapphire.

GPO Grace after unloading, returned to anchor.

Once loading is completed this evening, Orion will be sailing to the Vineyard site and GPO Grace will move back alongside the IEL dock for bunkers.

GPO Sapphire (October 26 photo) will also be sailing this evening. It has been in Halifax since October 21.It had previously transferred some of its cargo to the Orion.

 

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GPO Emerald

 Another heavy load ship arrived today, August 22, with six more wind turbine towers. The GPO Emerald tied up at the Woodside dock where its sister ship GPO Grace had been tied up. The latter ship moved out to anchorage yesterday after off loading some smaller components.

GPO Emerald approaches the dock, and looms over the ferry Viola Desmond as it leaves the adjacent dock. 

The GPO Emerald is the newest of the four GPO heavy load sister ships. It was delivered in October 2021, but its hull paint looks freshly applied. Those draft marks are displayed to boat deck level, because the ship has semi-submersible capability and can submerge its cargo deck to 15 meters below the surface.

Sister ship GPO Grace has been in port since July 5 awaiting the return of the offshore installation vessel Orion to transfer its six wind tower components. With two ships in at the same time again  - it can only mean that installation off Massachusetts must be very slow.

GPO Grace waiting patiently at anchor, was built in 2017, and is the "oldest" of the four GPO ships.

All four ships were built by the China Shipbuilding Corp in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and have a deadweight capacity of 63,581 tonnes. The GPO Sapphire, also built in 2017 was here in June. The fourth sister, GPO Amethyst (built in 2018), has not been in Halifax, however it was in Providence, RI from July 25 to August 4, possibly in connection to the same Vineyard Wind project.

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Much ado #2 - the wind

 The second post outlining the busy action in Halifax harbour today, August 2, involves the ships working on the Vineyard Wind project. Halifax is the staging port for the project off the Massachusetts coast. The wind towers arrive in sections on heavy cargo ships and are then transferred to the installation ship. Today saw the departure of the GPO Sapphire (very early in the morning) after transferring its cargo of six towers to the Orion using the Orion's 5,000 tonne crane. [see previous posts]. The GPO Sapphire gave Rostock, Germany for destination.

Late in the morning the Orion sailed from the IEL dock in Woodside for the offshore construction site where it will assemble and place the towers.

That leaves the second heavy cargo ship GPO Grace at anchor with the components for six more towers. Presumably it will have to wait for the return of the Orion to off load. That may be up to a month depending on weather and mechanical issues at the Vineyard site. The GPO Grace arrived July 5 from Aviles, Spain.

 Once the Orion was clear, the heavy lift ship Pijlgracht moved from anchorage in Bedford Basin to the IEL dock. The Pijlgracht initially arrived July 25 [see updated post] at Pier 9C and unloaded a sonar array for the RCN. It then went to anchor on July 26.

I will keep an eye on the IEL dock to see what the ship will be unloading there. As previously reported it has two 700 tonne capacity cranes that can work in tandem for a 1400 tonne lift.

to be continued...

Halifax Harbour - sublime to ridiculous

 There is seemingly no end to the variety of shipping activity in Halifax harbour. From containers to bulk cargo, tankers to cruise ships, Navy and Coast Guard and personal recreation to super yachts.

Then there are the specialty vessels in several categories, among them the offshore installation ship Orion with its 5,000 tonne capacity crane dominating the skyline again. The ship returned Thursday, July 27 after its first session installing wind turbine towers off Massachusetts.

Due to some technical issues, the ship took a long time to install the first six towers. Now two heavy cargo ships are anchored in the harbour each carrying six more towers. The time clock must be running out on the installation season.

GPO Grace (pictured) and sister ship GPO Sapphire are both anchored in Halifax - each carrying the components for six wind towers. The components are to be transferred (six at a time) to the Orion which will them go to the Vineyard wind site for intallation.

Little notice is thereby given to the "ordinary" ships such as STI Marvel which also arrived July 27 from Amsterdam with a cargo of refined pteroleum products for Irving Oil. 

Built in 2019 by Hyundai Vinashin Shipyard Co in Ninh Hoa, Vietnam it is a 29,991 gt, 47,499 dwt chemical and product tanker operated by Scorpio Tankers Inc. It carried the name Marlin Marvel to 2020. The ship is due to sail this evening (July 29).

Similarlry, without fanfare, the Canadian flag self-unloading bulk carrier Baie St.Paul made its way to the Gold Bond Gypsum pier in Bedford Basin this afternoon (July 29) to take on another load, probably for Hamilton, ON.

The ship delivered a cargo of coal from the Great Lakes to Sydney, NS and arrived Halifax light ship.

The William Hall, the fourth Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessel is undergoing builder's sea trials off Halifax. It left Halifax Shipyard July 27 and after calibrations in Bedford Basin put out to sea. The ship has been put through its paces, allowing Irving Shipbuilding Inc to perform multiple tests and adjustments before handing the ship over to the Royal Canadian Navy later this year.

 At this time of the year the harbour is busy with pleasure craft and tour boats. many of the former are elegant sailing vessels or sleek motor yachts. The tour boat category includes a variety including sailing vessels and motor vessels - the latter are seldom elegant, but well suited to carrying passengers around the harbour and entertaining them as they feel necessary.

One vessel with a fake paddle wheel and fake chimneys and not fooling anyone as a Mississippi River boat. has been a regular in Halifax for decades and has a well earned reputation as a party boat and is very popular among locals and visitors.

Built in the improbable shipbuilding centre of Oromocto,NB in 1985 as Pioneer Princess II it has been operating in Halifax since 1986.

I wonder how long the Mi Cabana will operate in Halifax. Introduced in June of this year by Tiki Tours Halifax it is a pontoon craft built by Soudure Technikal 13 Inc of Shawinigan, QC [soudure translates as welding] earlier this year. It is one of several similar craft operating in Ottawa and Lake Huron all with the Tiki theme.

 Although its gross tonnage is listed as only 4.99 tons and it has two outboard motors, it is registered in the ship registry by name as a passenger vessel. The three aluminum pontoons would provide a stable ride in moderate conditions. That may mean that there will be some days off depending on wind and sea state. (Batten down the thatches?)

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Seeing Double

 It is not uncommon to see sister ships in the harbour, but the arrival on July 5 of GPO Grace was a rare opportunity to see two of the largest heavy load ships at the same time.

 This is the second visit of the GPO Grace. It was also here May 13-29 carrying components for offshore wind turbines. As it arrived this time it passed sister ship GPO Sapphire which has been alongside at the IEL dock since June 15.

Both ships are now waiting for the return of the offshore installation ship Orion from the Vineyard Wind site off the Massachusetts coast. It will use its 5,000 tonne capacity crane and other equipment to transfer the turbine components then return to the project site for placement and assembly.

GPO Grace was built in 2017 and is rated at 49,991 gt, 63,581 dwt. GPO Sapphire has the same tonnages but was built in 2019. Both ships, and two more identical sisters, GPO Amethyst  and GPO Emerald were built by CSBC Corp, Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 2018 and 2021 respectively.

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Orion departing

 The offshore installation ship Orion sailed this afternoon (May 27) on its first trip to the Vineyard Wind project site. While in Halifax the ship loaded the monopile and transition pieces for six offshore wind towers, which it will install off the Massachusetts coast.

 The tower sections arrived from Spain on the heavy lift ship GPO Grace which remains in port. The Orion used its 5,000 tonne capacity crane to transfer the tower pieces to the Orion while alongside the IEL pier in Woodside, but the crane was in the lowered nested position when the ship sailed.

When in the upright position the crane boom could be seen from miles away, but there were also closer views from the Halifax side of the harbour (below) and from the ferries (above and previous posts).

The Woodside pier is a convenient staging point for the project, but there are activities in other areas as well. Another Canadian connection is in Bayside, NB where the ship Flintstone loads gravel to deliver to the Vineyard site to form a filter layer. The ship places the 1 inch to 3 inch diameter stone on the bottom using a fallpipe, precisely positioned using DP2. (dynamic positioning with satellite navigation interfeace)

More turbine components arrived May 24 in New Bedford, MA where the local ILA members have gone on strike. They are refusing to unload the heavy lift ship UHL Felicity until they receive guarantees of permanent work. The components were to be staged in New Bedford, joined and barged out to the tower sites which are roughly 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard.

The Vineyard wind project is to consist of 62 turbines, some of which are to be operational by the end of the year. Another part of the project is the offshore substation, a 3,200 ton platform supported by 4 piles and a sitting on a 2,000 ton jacket. It is now en route from Denmark on another heavy lift ship.

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Picture Perfect and Imperfect

 In today's world of digital photography taking pictures is nearly idiot proof - unless of course you forget to check the setting and forget to check the image immediately after taking the picture. That happened earlier today (May 27) when I spent hours driving to the other side of the harbour via Bedford (one bridge was closed for repairs and the other was backed up for miles) and back by the same route. 

It was only when I was back home and downloaded the pictures that I discovered the setting error. I salvaged what I could by fine tuning, but the result is far a from ideal way of noting the first arrival in Halifax of the container ship CMA CGM Pride. 

Delivered in October of 2022 by Hyundai Ulsan Samho it is a 150,783 gt, 160,194 dwt ship. Various sources claim its capacity at 15,264 TEU (nominal) / 10,370 TEU (@14 tonnes) and 1,000 reefer plugs (CMA CGM lists the capacity at 14,806 TEU nominal).

Barely visible in the photo is the proclamation that the ship is LNG Powered - as if to underline the point - in three places on each side of the ship. Whether that is the reason for exceptionally high funnel is a question I can't answer.

While in Dartmouth I was able (using a different camera, with the correct settings) to get some other images, including the articulated tug / barge Leo A. McArthur / John J. Carrick . The duo arrived May 25 from Hamilton, ON with a cargo of asphalt for McAsphalt's depot in Eastern Passage. 

I was interested to see the mooring arrangement (at low tide) which helps (?) to secure the pair at the jetty. They will be sailing again this evening returning to the Great Lakes.

Also in Dartmouth, work is progressing on the transfer and assembly of the wind farm towers from the heavy lift ship GPO Grace to the installation ship Orion.

 The Orion is due to sail tomorrow for Massachusetts to begin the installation process.

And finally conditions for photography were ideal in the early evening, and with the proper settings on the camera, pictures of the arriving tanker MRC Beliz turned out well.

Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan built the ship in 2007 as NCC Sudair for National Chemical Carriers Co of Saudi Arabia. Fitted with polymer lined tanks and equipped to carry 22 different parcels of cargo, it is a 29,575 gt, 46,012 dwt ship. In September of last year the ship was acquired and renamed by MRC Dentzcili Turizm, part of the Mercan Holding family group.

Unusually, the ship is arriving from Galveston, TX for Irving Oil. Irving Oil rarely brings in product that is not from their own refinery in Saint John, NB or from storage in Amsterdam.

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Big Arrivals

 A couple of big ships were among the arrivals in Halifax this morning, May 14. 

The container ship CMA CGM Marco Polo docked at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway with the last of the morning's fog retreating. 

The ship is still the record holder as the largest container ship to call in Halifax, established May 17, 2021 on its first visit here.

Built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd, Okpo, the 176,546 gt, 187,625 dwt ship has a container rating of 16,020 TEU. Sister ships CMA CGM Jules Verne and CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt have the same container capacity rating, but are listed at 186,470 dwt, making them slightly smaller (on paper at least).

On the other side of the harbour the heavy load carrier and semi-submersible ship GPO Grace arrived from Aviles, Spain and docked alongside the offshore installation ship Orion at the IEL dock in Woodside.

Often used to transport oil rigs, this time the GPO Grace is carrying wind farm tower components. Built by the CSBC Corp in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 2017, it is a 49,091 gt, 63,581 dwt ship with a large clear deck and the capability to submerge the deck 15 meters beow the sea surface.

The GPO Grace is one of four sister ships operated by the Norwegain copmany GPO Heavylift AS.

Also Norwegian operated, but at the other end of the size scale is another of this morning's arrivals. Viking Polaris is a Polar 6 class expedition type luxury cruise ship of 30,114 gt. Its passenger capacity of 378, with  256 crew, although small by cruise ship standards, makes it one of the larger cruise ships to visit Antarctic waters.

Already this year the ship has visited Lunenburg, Louisbourg, Magdalen Islands, Toronto, Trois-Rivières, Quebec City, Port Alfred, Sept-Iles and Charlottetown. It will continue making trips from New York to the Great Lakes (with many stops en route) until September when it sails for Ushuaia, Argentina for another Antarctic season. 

In December 2022 while on an antarctic cruise, the ship encountered a rogue wave and one passenger was killed by broken glass and four injured.

The ship's hull and superstructure was built at the VARD Shipyard in Tulcea, Romania and towed to Aalesund, Norway where it was completed by VARD Soviknes in 2021. 

 

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