Firing on all cylinders

 It was a busy day in the Port of Halifax, with ships working at almost every available berth. This is not unheard of - particularly around a holiday. There is no holiday in Canada, but as yesterday was Thanksgiving in the United States, ships may well have adjusted their schedules to avoid overtime rates and traffic jams farther south.

Of course with containers and RoRo, the labour needed to load and off load ships is not what it once was, and ships can now arrive and leave in a matter of hours. The sight of ships tied up end to end at every berth for several days is not likely to happen as it did up until the 1960s.

 

By my count there are fifteen ships in this 1960s photo, occupying berths from Pier 20 to 39. All the transit sheds, except one at Pier 26 are now gone. The gross tonnage of all the ships would still be less than one of the Ultra Size ships that now calls in Halifax.

All those berths have become under-utlized, and that is why the Port of Halifax can expand the South End Container Terminal (SECT) by demolishing the transit sheds and filling in between the finger piers. The new land space will be used to increase the number of containers that can be handled as larger and larger ships arrive.

Even without those giant ships, the SECT was working three ships today, none exceptionally large. The MSC Alina, arrived at Pier 41 on its return, eastbound, leg of the Indusa service from Baltimore, Savannah, Norfolk and Philadelphia to northwest India.

 The ship was built in 2014 by Hyundai, Samho, registering 94,930 gt, 112,171 dwt, with a capacity of about 9,000 TEU. Operating briefly as UASC Tabuk it was renamed Skyros in the same year and became MSC Alina in 2021.

It was joined at Pier 41 by the Nolhan Ava on its weeekly run to Argentia and St-Pierre et Miquelon for TMSI. 

 

Oddly the Nolhan Ava appeared to be unloading an Eimskip container while the next arrival, the Skogafoss was arriving from Portland, ME en route to Argentia and Reykjavik also for Eimskip.

 

Also arriving this morning was the autocarrier Grande Halifax for Grimaldi Group. Built in 2018 by Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, the ship was officially dedicated in Halifax May 16, 2018 with the CEO of the Halifax Port Corporation as sponsor. On this trip it is arriving from Salerno and Livorno, Italy and Valencia, Spain.

The Grande Halifax is a mid-size ship of 62,134 gt,18,353 dwt with a 150 tonne SWL stern ramp and a capacity of 6700 CEU.

At PSA Fairveiw Cove the Oceanex Sanderling was loading for Newfoundland on its weektly trip to St.John's. It was joined late in the afternoon by Atlantic Sail arriving from Norfolk on its eastbound transatlantic run.

As Shipfax has reported before, eastbound transatlantic cargo levels are extremely thin and the relatively few containers on deck is a testament to this fact. The trade imbalance of imports far outweighing exports is seldom more obvious than in the Port of Halifax where finished goods cargoes are predominantly imports - both containers and autos.

As a follow up to yesterday's post, the heavy load carrier GPO Emerald was preparing to get underway as Atlantic Sail arrived. Having unloaded its cargo of wind farm towers, the ship is headed for Rostock, Germany for more. The ship's deck is clear except for the cradles that hold the tower components, and a crib structure (black colour).  

 

Grande Halifax

 Another one of Grimaldi Lines' colourful auto carriers paid a visit to Halifax July 12 and 13. As with other ships of the line, it is named for a port or region where the ship is likely to call. In this case it is the Port of Halifax, and when the Grande Halifax called here for the first time in May 2018 it was received with considerable fanfare and an onboard naming ceremony.

This call was run of the mill however, except that it was a rare overnighter. Most auto carriers are in and out in eight hours. The ship sailed from Livorno June 30 and stopped in Savona (July 1) and Valencia (July 2-4) before setting out for Halifax, and arriving at the pilot station at 0530 hrs ADT July 12. Its sailing time this afternoon was for 1530 hrs.

Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing delivered the ship in January 2018. The 62,134 gt vessel measures 18,353 dwt and has a capacity of 6700 cars and is equipped with a 150 tonne SWL stern ramp. As I noted in 2018, the underside of its side ramp is also well painted in yellow.

The Grande Halifax is bound for New York harbour (but in fact will be docking in Newark, NJ) where its unfortunate fleet mate Grande Costa d'Avorio now rests as a burnt out hulk. That ship, loaded with cars and containers (it is a ConRo - not a Pure Car and Truck Carrier), caught fire July 4 and burned for five days. Two Newark firefighters lost their lives while fighting the fire, which resulted in the total constructive loss of the ship. Several recent auto carrier fires have been blamed on Electric Vehicles (EVs) but it is reported that there were no EVs aboard the ship.

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Port of Halifax - Cruise Cancellation

Cruise ships will not be calling in Halifax until July at the earliest. The announcement was made today as part of the latest set of precautions against the spread of the Covid-19 virus. The sole exception to this is cruise ships with fewer than 150  500 persons or less aboard.

While I normally zoom in on ships that are sailing from Halifax, I zoomed out today to show an empty waterfront boardwalk - possibly a sign of things to come.

Grimaldi Lines' Grande Halifax sets out for sea this afternoon, passing a boardwalk devoid of people. [see also footnote]

So far ship restrictions have been applied only to cruise ships, but measures to quarantine or restrict cargo ships are expected soon, since interactions with crews may be another risk area for spread of the disease.

Footnote:
"Develop Nova Scotia", the successor to the Waterfront Development Corporation, has succeeded in maintaining the curmudgeonly traditions of its predecessor. Instead of picking up their colorful deck chairs and putting them in storage somewhere for the winter, they have been chained to a bollard so they don't get thrown or blown into the harbour. Your average circus contortionist can still sit in them, but not necessarily facing the water. However there is a lovely view of the parking lot.
That move plus the "Not Maintained in Winter" signs on the boardwalk and dead trees in concrete tubs send a very unwelcoming message to those who do wish to visit the waterfront in the off season.
Maybe DNS should rename itself again. I suggest "Develop an Attitude Nova Scotia."

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Grande Halifax

Grimaldi Group's newest auto carrier Grande Halifax made its inaugural call in its namesake port today, amid considerable fanfare.

Arriving in the harbour it had to wait for the departure of Delhi Highway. Once that ship was clear of Eastern Passage, Grande Halifax began to make its way toward Autoport.The tug Atlantic Bear then began an impressive water display. This was one of the more spectacular such shows seen in Halifax for some time.

Once near Autoport tugs swung the ship around to display its side ramp, painted yellow on the underside. Compared with the rather business like look of K-Line auto carriers, Grande Halifax, certainly stands out in port, but probably also at sea.

The Grimaldi Group took delivery of Grande Halifax January 10, 2018 from the Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, China. There was a plan to sail the ship into Halifax January 14, but this was scrubbed due to bad weather. The ship had no cargo for Halifax on that trip, so it continued on to its next port. Measuring 62,134 grt, 18,353 dwt, the ship has a capacity of 6,700 cars.It also has four hoistable car decks and a 150 tonne capacity stern ramp to accept larger loads.

By contrast Delhi Highway, built in 2011 by Shin Kurushima in Toyohashi comes in at 58,997 grt, 18,891 dwt. Its capacity is similar at 6,120 CEU.

At a celebration to be held aboard the ship this afternoon, the Grande Halifax will be welcomed to Halifax, with Halifax Port Authority CEO Karen Oldfield as godmother. There will be a blessing of the ship and various dignitaries will give speeches. Grimaldi Group also owns Atlantic Container Line, an important customer of long standing in the port. ACL inaugurated container and RoRo service in Halifax in 1969 and are sure to be feted large next year when the Port celebrates the 50th anniversary of container shipping in Halifax.

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