More busy

 Container traffic was only part of the activity in Halifax harbour today, June 23. The long awaited (and waiting) Vistula Maersk arrived on the joint Maersk and CMA/CGM St.Lawrence River service. This is the ship's first trip after replacing older Maersk ships.

 

Built in 2018 by COSCO (Zhoushan) Shipyard Co, it was the first of a series of ice class ships built as Baltic feeders. The 34,882 gt, 40,000 dwt ship has a capacity of 3600 TEU including 600 reefers. It has also been joined on the St.Lawrence run by sister ship Vayenga Maersk. Both ships became available when Baltic trade patterns changed after sanctions were imposed on Russia.

It arrived off Halifax from Montreal on June 20 and has been waiting at anchor until space was available at PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub (Southend terminal). It will top up its cargo here and depart for Europe late tonight.

Also at the Southend terminal is the Navarino on MSC's Indus 2 service from North India via Suez.

Navarino dates from 2010 when it was built by Hudong-Zhongua, Shanghai as MSC Navarino. It was renamed Carmen shortly after, then in 2011 became Hyundai Navarino. It reverted to Navarino in 2012. Owners Costamare provides ships to major container lines for varying charter durations, often renaming them to suit.The 91,354 gt, 102,302 dwt ship has a capacity of 8530 TEU.

PSA also had the Oceanex Connaigra at Pier 36 for RoRo trailers and cars (generally used ones and fleet cars). The ship shifted to Autoport for more cars (new ones) then was due to move to anchor over night. It will load containers tomorrow and depart for St.John's. 

This is supposed to be the ship's last call in Halifax as fleet mate Oceanex Sanderling is now due back from refit in Amsterdam before month's end, resuming duties from St.John's June 27 and Halifax June 30. Oceanex Connaigra and Oceanex Avalon have been alternating a weekly Montreal and Halifax service to St.John's since January when Oceanex Sanderling went off to the Damen shipyard in Waalhaven. That has meant only alternate week RoRo to Newfoundland from each port. Once Oceanex Sanderling is back there will be weekly RoRo service again from Halifax and Montreal.(The Con Ro Oceanex Connaigra and the non-RoRo Oceanex Avalon will each resume weekly sailings from Montreal).

PSA's Fairview Cove terminal hosted two ships today - both regulars. Nolhan Ava calls weekly on its container and RoRo service to St-Pierre et Miquelon and Argentia, NL.

 Nolhan Ava cuts through the glassy waters of the Narrows this morning en route to Fairview Cove.

There was news today that the Atlantic Pilotage Authority (APA) has made Belledune, NB, Sheet Harbour, NS and Argentia, NL mandatory pilotage ports. Until now the three had been non-compulsary, meaning that engaging harbour pilots was optional. In the case of Nolhan Ava the cost of pilotage in Argentia may be a severe blow to the operation's bottom line. However the vessel's master may qualify for a pilotage certificate, which would in fact be a waiver from the requirement for an APA pilot.

Later in the day it was NYK Deneb arriving on its regular slot on THE Alliance's AL5 route.

The 4922 TEU capacity ship was built by Hyundai Ulsan in 2007 and it is rated at 55,487 gt, 65,953 dwt.

Non-container activity included the quaintly named tanker The Sheriff which anchored for a good part of the day. (It was scheduled to get out of Dodge about mid-afternoon)

 

The ship was built by 3 Maj Brodogradiliste, Rijeka, Croatia in 2013 and is a 10,866 gt, 14,936 dwt asphalt  / bitumen carrier. It appeared to be carrying cargo, but since sailing from Langshan, China, and calling in Long Beach, CA (May 31 - June 1), it has transited the Panama Canal (June 12) and has been awaiting orders for a destination.

The purpose of its call in Halifax is unknown, but it is likely that it had a CFIA inspection for LDA moth larva. If so that would indicate a possible Canadian destination.

Returning to Halifax from unspecified exercises offshore the Canadian Navy's supply ship Asterix tied up at its usual berth in HMC Dockyard. HMCS Fredericton has been operating off Halifax for the last several days, so it may have been conducting refueling / stores transfer at sea trials.

Also on some unspecified activity with the RCN is the offshore tug/supplier Atlantic Osprey which docked at Jetty Alpha, at Shearwater.

Built by Halifax Shipyard in 2003 the 16,000 hp vessel, like many Canadian offshore support ships, has been idle but is therefore available for other work. Atlantic Osprey was laid up in Stephenville, NL until earlier this month. It departed St.John's five days ago (June 18).

 Tied up at Navy Jetty Alpha, the ship overlooks boats of the Shearwater Yacht Club.

Despite concerns about the herring stock and the closure of the herring and mackeral fishery in some areas such as the Bay of Fundy, there are fish off Nova Scotia as the two seiners Lady Melissa and Morning Star are bringing their catches in daily and pumping off into tanker trucks. As soon as they are unloaded the boats head back out to sea. The trucks head for Comeau Seafod's herring processing plants in Saulnierville or East Pubnico, NS.

Lady Melissa heads back to sea for more with its skiff perched on the stern ready to deploy the seine net.

At the Cherubini Metal Workers dock in Eisner's Cove, next to Shearwater, the latest bridge for Toronto Harbour has now been loaded aboard the barge Glovertown Spirit. Once fully secured to the barge it will be taken in tow by the tug Beverly M1 for the long trip to Lake Ontario.

(Note the bright sunlight, but band of thick fog in the background.)

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A very full day

 There was lots of harbour activity today, May 4, most of which I was able to observe first hand.

At Autoport the car carrier Goodwood arrived at an early hour from Emden, Germany.

Zodiac Maritime displays their "Z" trademark on the bow.

Operated by Zodiac Maritime, it is one of 14 car carriers in the fleet along with numerous ships of all types. Several of the car carriers are named for famous racetracks. Goodwood Circuit, near the south coast of England  started in 1948 on the perimeter of a wartime airfield.

The ship Goodwood has called here numerous times since built in 2014 by Imabari Zosen, Marugame, Japan It is 59,526 gt, 18,770 dwt Pure Car and Truck Carrier with a capacity of 6203 autos.

Also displaying a letter "Z" but his time on the funnel is the tanker Kibaz arriving from Saint John, NB and docking at Irving Oil, Woodside. Sources indicate that the ship is owned by Zenith Shipping through a single ship entity called Kibaz Shipping LP.

The ship apparently discharged most of its cargo of refined petroleum products in Saint John. Built in 2004 by Onomichi Zosen, in Japan, it is a 28,517 gt, 47,094 dwt vessel. It carried the name Baizo from 2004 to 2016.

Imperial Oil also received a ship today, but unlike recent fuel deliveries, this time it was domestic product. Algoscotia arrived from Imperial's refinery in Nanticoke, ON.

Algoscotia was also built in 2004, but by the Jiangnan Shipyard Group, Qiuxin Shipbuilding in Shanghai, China. It is a 13,352 gt, 18,601 dwt ship owned at operated by Algoma Tankers, mostly for Imperial Oil. The ship was laid up in Montreal from January 2 to April 25 when it sailed to Nanticoke, loading there April 27.

Heading for the St.Lawrence Seaway en route to Toronto, the tug Lois M sailed from the Cherubini dock in Eisner's Cove towing the barge Glovertown Spirit. On board the barge is one of five bridge sections for a new waterfront development in Toronto's docklands. The first bridge section was shipped on the same tug and barge last October.

The remaining bridge sections in the $100 million contract will also be shipped from Cherubini's own dock over the coming months.

Yesterday's arrival August Sun completed unloading its cargo of nickel sulfide from Cuba at Pier 31 and is expected to sail late in the day. The Pier 30-31 berth is virtually "unphotographable" from the shore side in Halifax, but given the right conditions it can be seen from the Dartmouth side of the harbour, and can be captured with a long lens.

 Augusta Sun 12,993 gt, 17,531 dwt, with a capacity of 1118 TEU and two 60 tonne cranes, has been a regular for Nirint Lines since 2017 under two different names. (It has had six). See several previous references, including: June 8, 2020

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Fairviewmax and bridge ready

 Fairviewmax?

With the proliferation of "max" ships, such as Panamax, post Panamax, Suezmax, Kamsarmax and others, I imagine today's visit of Dalian Express at Cerescorp's Fairview Cove container terminal  may represent the largest type of ship that can reach the facility in Bedford Basin. Air draft would seem to be the controlling factor as opposed to length, breadth or even draft, since ships must pass beneath two bridges, the A. Murray MacKay being the lower of the two. So would this be a Fairviewmax?

Yes, Dalian Express managed to squeeze beneath the MacKay bridge as it sailed from Fairview Cove on THE Alliance's EC5 service today.

Built in 2001 as Hamburg Express the 88,493 gt, 100,006 dwt ship has a container capacity of 7506 TEU, including 700 reefers. It has carried its current name since 2011 and has been a regular caller in Halifax for several years.

Bridge ready

The latest bridge for a large Toronto Island project is now loaded onto a barge and ready to leave Halifax. The second of four bridges in a $100 million project, it was built by Cherubini Metal Workers of Dartmouth at their waterfront plant. Yesterday it was rolled out onto the barge Glovertown Spirit.

Late today workers were doing final securements and the tug Lois M had refueled and repositioned the barge at Cherubini's dock, ready to sail. There is a tentative pilot order for 2200 hrs tonight, unlike the last bridge that sailed last October in daylight.

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Toronto Bridges - Part 2

The Halifax company, Cherubini Metal Workers, has been contracted to build four bridges for a new waterfront development in Toronto. The company is uniquely placed to build bridge structures with one of its plants on the Halifax waterfront, incorporating its own dock. The company has built bridges for locations all over North America, including deck replacement sections for the Angus L. Macdonald bridge in Halifax, several of which have been delivered by barge.

The first Toronto bridge, for Cherry Street North was shipped by barge last fall. See posts of October 24 and October 29. That structure, weighing 375 tonnes was built to carry LRT and pedestrians 57 meters to a new island to be named Villiers Island.

Today the second bridge was loaded aboard the same barge, Glovertown Spirit at Cherubini's dock in Eisner's Cove, between South Woodside and Shearwater.

With the tug Lois M holding the barge in line with the dock, the bridge is wheeled aboard using self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs).

The bridge contract, estimated to be worth $100 million, consists of two 57 meter spans for Cherry Street North (the second of which will be for road traffic), one for Cherry Street South, 109 meters long, and one for Commissioners Street, 152 meters long (to be built in two sections). It is likely that two more of the bridges may be delivered this year. One unpainted unit is visible in the fabrication yard.

The arrows point at a portion of another bridge, still unpainted, just visible between some of Cherubini's buildings. (If you are sharp eyed you may see another ship spotter in the photo.)

All the bridges will be delivered in the same way, by tug and barge, using the St.Lawrence Seaway system to deliver the units to their precise destination.

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Bridge

 An unusual tow left Halifax harbour this afternoon,  but if you missed it you may have three more chances. 

Essentially it was the tug Lois M. and the barge Glovertown Spirit, but it was the barge's cargo that was unusual.

The cargo is in fact a bridge, built by Cherubini Metal Works in Dartmouth and loaded aboard the barge at their own dock in Eisner's Cove. The 340 tonne structure measures 57m x 21m x 10.21m high and is destined for Toronto. There it will be put to use as the Cherry Street North transit bridge linking the mainland to Villiers Island.

Cherubini Metal Workers Ltd has a contract to build four such bridges, all of which will be transported by barge to Toronto. 

The tug and barge owners, McKeil Marine Ltd of Hamilton, ON have a fleet of tugs and deck barges suitable for such work.

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Lois M back again

 A sometime visitor, Lois M has made another arrival in Halifax. It arrived October 24 with the flat deck barge Glovertown Spirit to take away a heavy load.

Both vessels are owned by McKeil Marine of Hamilton, ON, but generally work in the Nova Scotia / Newfoundland region - last port was Sydney, NS.

The Japanese-built Lois M dates from 1991 when it was built as Lambert for service in Australia. A 4800 bhp ASD, it was acquired by McKeil and renamed in 2014.  For more see: http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2014/09/first-of-two-for-mckeil.html

The barge will load a bridge built by Cherubini Metal Workers, which should be well within its 4800 tonne capacity. The barge was built by Damen, Gorinchem, Netherlands in 2012.

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Barge Day

 Today (October 24) should have been designated "barge day" in Halifax as there was one large barge arrival and one even larger barge move.

The arrival was the barge Glovertown Spirit from Sydney, NS in tow of the tug Lois M. The 2073 gt barge was built in 2012 by Damen Shipyards, Gorinchem, Netherlands for use in the Newfoundland oil projects, and is named for a town on the east cost of the island of Newfoundland. Both barge and tug are owned by McKeil Work Boats GP of Hamilton, ON.

The barge was secured at the Cherubini Metal Workers dock in Eisner's Cove, Dartmouth, to load a bridge built  by Cherubini.

The barge measures 74.25m x 23.5m and has a capacity of 4800 tonnes.

With the Imperial Oil docks in the background, Lois M springs the barge into position.

 The second barge is Boa Barge 37 on long term charter to Halifax Shipyard. As a foreign flag vessel, it requires a coasting license to operate in Canadian waters. The current license running from October 15 to November 6 allows the vessel to transport sections of the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships and cradles and trestles from the shipyard's Woodside fabrication facility to the main yard. Six units and 27 cradles totaling 503.044 tonnes are to be moved using wheeled transporters to drive the components on and off the barge.

Although the barge is semi-submersible, that capability will not be needed for this move. However its ballasting system will be used to ensure that the barge deck is level with the dock.

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