It's an ill wind and other activity

There was activity in several areas of the port today, November 13:

Imperial Oil

  If it's an ill wind that blows no good, tell that to Imperial Oil. Despite new robust mooring facilities at the number 3 oil dock at the Imperoyal terminal in Dartmouth, it is still an unsuitable berth in high winds. It is also unsafe to be transferring oil cargo in wind in case mooring lines part and stresses cause the fueling line to let go. Imperial and other oil majors have strict operating procedures regarding conditions at the dock, and cease transfers before the arrival of high winds. Ships may then leave the dock for other piers or go to anchor until calmer conditions return.

That is the case today, November 13 with three tankers idled in port as the usual autumnal gales blast away.

The Canadian flag tanker Algoscotia arrived in Halifax November 9 (see previous posts) from Sydney, NS, and anchored in the lower harbour, waiting its turn at Imperial Oil.

 Yesterday, November 12, the ship moved from anchor to Pier 25 to wait out the winds.

It was the Marshal Island flag tanker Al Reem from Antwerp with a fresh batch of product that was next in cue. It arrived November 10 and docked directly at Imperial's number 3 dock to unload. It was windy on November 11, and 12, but still within safe limits.

Early this morning, November 13, as winds were predicted to pick up again the Al Reem moved to anchor in Bedford Basin.

 A typical Medium Range 2 (MR2) tanker of 29,155 gt, 46,046 dwt, it was built in 2010 [see following ship] by the Hyundai Mipo shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea. It was initially named Alpine Venture (an odd name for a seagoing ship) then became Celsius Randers in 2019. (Celsius Shipping is a Danish company and names its ships after cities. Randers is a Danish city.) In mid-2023 the Dubai based Marakeb Shipping LLC renamed the ship Al Reem after an island in Adu Dhabi.

While at anchor the ship did not stow its crane. The device is used to handle the ship's unloading hose and is usually rated at about 10 tonnes SWL.

Also in port was another Canadian tanker, the Algoberta. It also arrived November 11 and went directly to Pier 27 to wait for its turn at Imperial Oil.

Autoport

 Apparently uneffected by today's wind was the Container/ RoRo ship Grande Marocco (not named for a Starbucks order). Arriving from several Italian ports, it offloaded vehicles at Autoport.  The ship and its several sisters are occasional callers in Halifax, always from Italy, and always with cars and vans.

 Although the ship had a number of containers on deck, it did not handle any containers while in Halifax. Built in 2010 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, [see previous ship] it is a 47,636 gt, 25,725 dwt vessel with a capacity of 800 TEU and 2,000 CEU. It is fitted with a pair of 40 tonne SWL cranes and 250 tonne capacity stern ramp. It sailed later in the day for Baltimore.

PSA Fairview Cove

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services had the H Mercury in port on its ZCX feeder service to Jamaica. This is the ship's second visit after a first arrival October 9. It was unusual to see so many reefers on one ship,but ZIM is a major carrier of fruit.

High winds were blowing in from the north, pinning the ship on the dock. It may have been too windy for the cranes to work cargo.

The ship was built in 2022 by Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding in Jingjiang, China. At 28,848 gt, 24,468 dwt, it has a capacity of 1800 TEU. Owners are listed as Yangze Mercury Shipping Pte incorporated in Singapore.
 

Update:

Yesterday's arrival, the BBC Regalia, did not stay in port for very long. Arriving at the Halifax pilot station at 12 noon its pilot order for sailing from PSA Fairview Cove was for 2100 AST. It does not appear to have unloaded any of the deck cargo, so may only have handled some containers. Its next port is shown as Bécancour, QC, a port noted for handling wind turbine cargoes.

 

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Cars and Fuel

 As is often the case ships carrying automobiles and ships carrying fuel for cars and trucks were the major arrivals in the Port of Halifax today, May 16.

Cars

An early morning arrival and late afternoon departure was the Grimaldi ConRo Grande Marocco. Name ship of a series of five built by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan. A 47,636 gt, 25,725 dwt ship it can carry up to 3711 CEU (cars and vans) in 3839 lane meters of RoRo space. It has a capacity of 1276 TEU as well and has two 45 tonne cranes.

The Grande Marocco is one of several Grimaldi Lines ships that bring cars and vans from Italy, It was last here April 4and since then has been to Dvisville, RI, New York, Vigo, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Savona and Gioia Tauro. All that activity has resulted in some rust streaks detracting from the bright yellow Grimaldi trademark hull colour. 

This time the shipy is headed for its normal port of Baltimore now that a shipping channel has been opened.

Unlike last time however the ship does not seem to have any RoRo cargo on the open deck.

Fuel

Although the type of fuel the ship is carrying is unknown, it is likely that the tanker Elka Delos has gasoline, or possibly diesel fuel. The cargo was loaded in Amsterdam for Irving Oil, but the ship will be anchored for a time before moving alongside to unload.

 The Elka Delos is part of the Athens based European Product Carriers Ltd fleet of ten ships. Built in 2005 by Brodosplit, in Split, Croatia. It is a 27,612 gt, 44,598 dwt MidRange chemical and product tanker. Unlike the previous ship, noted above, this one has no signs of rust and all the draft markings, name, tug marks and manifold locations are clearly legible. The ship received a classification survey January 22, so was presumably in drydock and was repainted at the time.  Nevertheless a Port State Inspection in Amsterdam on February 14 revealed ten deficiencies, many of which sounded fairly serious. One wonders why the Owners and Class Society would not have dealt with the issues during drydocking instead. Deficiencies noted by Port State Control usually result in the ship being detained in port, sometimes for several days, until the matters are resolved.

 

Three Car Carriers times Four

 It is unusual to see three car carriers in Halifax in one day, but it happened today April 5. If that was not enough one of them arrived twice.

The Morning Peace arrived first thing yesterday morning at Autoport then moved in the early evening to Pier 9C and unloaded the usual lot of forestry, agriculture, mining and construction machinery.

This was a return visit for the ship, which called here February 28 also on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean transatlantic route. Since then it went to New York, Brunswick, GA, Goteborg, Bremerhaven and Zeebrugge. A 2017 product of Hyundai Samho, the 66,802 gt, 22,438 dwt ship has a capacity of 7,368 (or 7,549 depending on the source) cars. 

It sailed this morning for New York.

 

Another arrival from yesterday was the Grande Marocco, which last here February 24. This time I was able to take a picture without scaring off the local duck and gull population.

 

Built in 2010 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, Grande Marocco is a 47,636 gt, 25,725 dwt ship with a container capacity of 800 TEU and a car/van capacity of 2,000. It has a large number of farm tractors and at least two mobile cranes on the open deck. It arrived from the Vigo, Livorno, Savona, and Gioia Tauro.

It was scheduled to sail at noon time, but in fact did not depart until mid to late afternoon, giving Davisville, RI as destination.(On its last visit it went to Baltimore - so this time it may be a diversion.)

With the Grande Marocco intending to sail at noontime, the next arriving auto carrier made its way in to the harbour. Morning Cindy intended to standby in the harbour anchorages, leaving room for the other ship to clear the berth and head out to sea.

Instead, when the Grande Marocco did not sail on the scheduled time, the Morning Cindy put back out to sea rather than anchoring, and made another arrival later in the afternoon. It then proceeded directly to Autoport.

Built in 2012 by Imabari Zosen in Marugame, Japan, the 59,580 gt 18,735 dwt ship has a capacity of 6,142 cars. Its route to Halifax was a little unusual, which may explain why it has not been seen here before. On January 27 it sailed from the Japanese port of Toyohashi and called at Nagoya, Sagunto the made directly for Portbury, UK (on the Bristol Channel), presumably via the Cape of Good Hope. It then procceded to Zeebrugge, Southampton and Marchwood (in Southampton water), sailing March 27. Marchwood is known as a military port.

There will be a let up in auto carrier traffic for a few days, with the next scheduled arrival, the Morning Lady, due on April 9, also from Southampton.

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Grande Marocco at Autoport

 The Container / RoRo Grande Marocco arrived at Autoport May 14 from Bremerhaven and remained alongside today, Sunday May 15 and is due to sail Monday. It is an unusual ship for Autoport, as most ships that call there are Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTCs).

Grimaldi Lines operates about 17 PCTCs and about two dozen ConRos similar to this one, including five of this class. They generally operate in African trades where they can handle a multitude of cargo types, and carry their own cranes for cargo work. Some Grimaldi ships can also carry a limited number of passengers, although they have suspended that feature for a time. (Grimaldi also owns Atlantic Container Line and their five huge CoRos).

Built in 2010 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, Grande Marocco is a 47,636 gt, 75,725 dwt ship with a container capacity of 800 TEU and a car/van capacity of 2,000 (according to Grimaldi. Other sources quote different numbers). Some cars can be carried on the open upper decks above the hold and on the superstructure. There were some front end loaders and a container in the open on the main deck. The cargo however is new German autos, carried under cover on the ship's four full length and eight part length decks. The ship has a 250 tonne capacity stern ramp, so can also handle high and heavy loads.

Since the ship did not appear on any advance schedules for the port, it may be a late substitute. There might well be a back log if the loss of the Felicity Ace in February is taken into account. (The ship sank March 1 as a result of the uncontrollable fire .)

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