Fogged in again

 For the second day in a row (although today was an improvement some of the time) thick fog covered much of the harbour activity. Yesterday's (July 2) arrival and departure of the Queen Mary 2 was largely invisible - no doubt disappointing the many fans that usually show up for its visits. (There has been no further information about the medical emergency that caused its unplanned visit to Halifax on June 29, when it was visible - see previous post.)

It is futile to try to demonstrate the thickness of the fog by photos, but I tried, and no amount of digital tweeking helped!

 

One arrival yesterday, and departure today that I also would have liked to photograph was Coastal Shipping Ltd's tanker Kitikmeot W.  It is not unknown in Halifax,  but this particular call was a bit unusual. Coastal Shipping, founded by Mel Woodward, Sr, in Goose Bay, NL has had a long-standing relationship with Imperial Oil and distributes their products into many isolated northern and arctic communities. Their tanker fleet is based in Lewisporte, NL - a port that is accessible year round.

 (file photo 2021-02-12)

On this particular trip the Kitikmeot W. has ventured outside its usual range and on May 24 it was upbound in the St.Lawrence Seaway for Imperial's refinery in Nanticoke, ON. It was downbound again June 3, but quickly discharged in the Montreal area and was reported upbound again June 7 for Sarnia. It then made an unusual call to Green Bay, WI before returning to Sarnia. It made another trip from Sarnia June19 to an unknown destination, returning June 24. It sailed June 25 and made its way to Halifax. On departure this afternoon (July 3) it gave its home port of Lewisporte as destination.

Built by Ikdas in Biga, Turkey in 2010 the 13,097 gt, 19,982 dwt ship was originally named Ikdas-09 and was acquired and renamed by Coastal Shipping Ltd in 2018. 

Another notable departure from Halifax today was by a pair of Royal Canadian Navy vessels, sailing for a four month deployment to NATO. HMCS Shawinigan MM704  and HMCS Summerside MM711 and are headed for the Baltic and Operation Reassurance.

 Both ships were built at Halifax Shipyards as part of the twelve ship Kingston class of coastal defence vessels. Shawinigan was launched (conventioanlly) November 15, 1996 and commissioned January 14, 1997. Summerside was the last ship in the series, and was launched September 25, 1998 and commissioned July 18, 1999.

The ships are propelled by azimuthing stern drives, (in reverse position for the launch in photo above) and are thus highly maneurverable.

Unrelated to fog: As predicted there were some delays due to limited berth space at PSA Halifax south end terminal on the long weekend. There was a steady stream of ships from Friday through to today, with some anchoring to await their berth. 

The Atlantic Hub, southend terminal processed a remarkable ten ships from Friday June 30 to Monday July 3 whereas  Fairview Cove had only four. Some of the ships (3 or 4 by my count) were too large to get to Fairview Cove, but I believe some delays could have been avoided by rationalization. (i.e. by relocating some lines to Fairview Cove permanently).

I hear that some changes are indeed planned this month to balance demand for pier space with the under utilized Fairview Cove terminal. Details to follow.

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Navy News

I have been neglecting navy news for the last few days simply because there was so much other shipping activity in Halifax Harbour.

The week started off on Sunday, June 26 with the sailing of two RCN ships for a four month tour of duty with NATO's Operation Reassurance in the North Atlantic and Baltic Sea. Both are coastal defence vessels that can do a wide range of work depending on which of several equipment modules they are carrying. Their principal duties however relate to mine countermeasures.

HMCS Kingston will be deploying an autonomous underwater vehicle and HMCS Summerside will be carrying a clearance dive team.

Kingston MM 700 is the lead ship of the class of twelve vessels, built by Halifax Shipyard. It was launched August 12, 1995 and commissioned in 1996.

HMCS Summerside MM 711 launched September 25, 1998 and was commissioned in 1999.

Altough difficult to see in the above photo, the ships are powered by diesel electric driven azimuthing stern drives (Z-drives) which give them manoeuvrability similar to harbour tugs.

Two frigates currently assigned to NATO, HMCS Montreal and HMCS Halifax are due to return to Halifax in July. Other ships are doing training or working up for future assignments. One ship has been exercising in near waters off Halifax for the last few weeks and is in and out of port frequently.

 HMCS Fredericton FFH 337 is a Halifax class general purpose / anti-submarine patrol frigate commissioned in 1994. It was built by Saint John Shipbuilding in Saint John, NB. The ship has served in a variety of missions including a six-month NATO deployment ending in late 2021.

And now for something completely different - yes the Royal Navy really does have an icebreaker. Used principally in the antarctic regions for hydrographic charting and various kinds of research, the ship is also a highly capable icebreaker and patrol vessel. HMS Protector A173 is taking a special route home this year. In early June it participated in the resumed Fleet Week in New York, followed by calls in Montreal and Quebec City. It then visited Sydney, NS where it was hosted by the Canadian Coast Guard College. Several Protector crew trained with the CCG in the Canadian arctic in 2020 and 2021.

The ship arrived in Halifax this morning, June 28, and tied up at Navy jetty Bravo 3.

The ship started life in 2000 as the Norwegian privately owned antarctic class icebreaker Polarbjørn, with a hull built by Western Shiprepair Yard in Klaipeda, Lithuania and outfitted by Havyard in Leirvik, Norway. Original owners were G.C. Rieber (once well known in Halifax from their fleet of sealer / researchers), who used the ship for expeditions and subsea work. In 2011 the Royal Navy chartered the ship and commissioned it as HMS Protector. In 2013 they purchased the ship outright.

HMS Protector is outfitted with huge array of equipment including a 50 tonne crane, a 25 tonne A-frame gantry and several small craft. In addition to survey and research work it has also carried out supply and rescue missions and humanitarian work.

The ship's Commanding Officer is Capt. Maryla (Milly) Ingham, the highest ranking female RN naval officer to command a ship. Capt. Ingham has commanded several ships in her RN career, but has reached the rank required for command of a large ship.

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This and That

 As I have said many times, one of the great things about Halifax harbour is the variety of shipping that can be seen on any given day. Today, December 8, was therefore fairly typical. At the South End container terminal operated by PSA Halifax, the Ultra class container ship CMA CGM A. Lincoln put in another apppearance.

The massive ship, measuring 140,872 gt, 148,992 dwt, has a capacity of 14,414 TEU. When it visited Halifax for the first time April 14, 2020 it was the largest container ship to call here, but that record has since been broken by several other ships. (The current record holder seems to be CMA CGM Marco Polo at 16,020 TEU. These ships also set the record for largest ship to call in any Canadian port, and any east coast North American port.)

The ship was built in 2007 by Hyundai Ulsan for APL (American President Lines) which was owned by NOL (Neptune Orient Lines) which in turn was acquired by CMA CGM. 

PSA Halifax used its largest cranes to work the ship, which tied up at berth 41. Although there was room at Pier 42, for some reason the MSC Weser, which was also due this morning, did not enter port, but sailed on to Montreal after some hours at anchor. That ship is on the Canada Gulf Bridge service which usually only calls in Montreal, Corner Brook and Saint John. Its visit here was planned but not as a regularly scheduled call.

Arriving at Imperial Oil's number three dock, the Canadian coastal tanker Qikiqtaaluk W. made its second appearance in less than a month. 

 

On its last visit November 21 to 24, it also unloaded at Imperial Oil. It then sailed for Sarnia, ON, for another cargo of refined petroleum products, passing up through the St.Lawrence Seaway November 28 and down again December 4.

Built as Icdas-11 by Icdas, Biga, Turkey it is a 13,097 gt, 19,998 dwt vessel. It was acquired by the Woodward group company Coastal Shipping Ltd in 2018 and normally serves arctic ports in the summer season. After unloading this time, the ship is likely to be reflagged to the Marshall Islands, as its sister ships Kitikmeot W. did last week, for winter work internationally.

Not all traffic in the harbour is commercial or civilian. There has been a fair amount of naval activity lately, particularly with the coastal defence vessels. This morning HMCS Summerside looked quite trim as it made its way inbound to Bedford Basin.

 Summerside MM711 is the twelfth and last of the Kingston class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels. It was built by Halifax Shipyards Ltd in 1998 and commissioned in 1999.

With a winter storm passing through over night December 8 - 9 and with significant snow accumulation possible, I do not expect much harbour activity (or Shipfax coverage) tomorrrow.

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Delays, Stays and Make Ways

 The passing of Hurricane Larry, well offshore from Nova Scotia, but making a direct hit on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland September 11 caused wild weather and sea conditions over a large area. Several ships steered wide of the storm, delaying their arrival or remained in port or returned to port. 

Among the delayed arrivals was EM Kea on its regular run from Montreal to northern Europe on the Maersk./CMA CGM service. It would normally arrive in Halifax on a Saturday, but instead steamed slowly across the Gulf of St.Lawrence, missing some of the worst conditions, and arrived today (Sunday instead.) This did not pose a problem for PSA Halifax, with only one other ship to handle.

EM Kea at PSA Halifax pier 42 had two cranes while MSC Veronique at Pier 41 got three.

Opting to stay in port, Oceanex Sanderling did not make its usual Friday (September 10) departure for St.John's (scheduled arrival September 12) but instead remained in Halifax. After a time at anchor it moved to Pier 9B, perhaps to give the crew some shore leave. Update: Later reported the ship had a stack fire shortly after sailing October 10 and returned to port.

Conditions remain somewhat chaotic in Newfoundland with damage ashore and power outages, so no new departure date has been set for the ship, but also a  hint that the ship may be here for more than a day or two.

Returning to port, smaller naval vessels that were participating in Operation Cutlass Shield 2021, avoided the severe conditions, and instead exercised in Bedford Basin yesterday. This morning they sailed again, accompanied by the fishing trawler Patrick and William*, which appears to have been hired to work with the operation. HMCS Summerside and HMCS Moncton sailed while HMCS Kingston remained in Bedford Basin.

Lead by HMCS Montreal, the small flotilla sails out the main channel while the container ship MSC Maria Clara takes the western channel and hoots for some pleasure craft to clear the way.

MSC Maria Clara arrived to anchor in the lower harbour for Canadain Food Inspection Agency clearance. The ship, which has only recently been acquired as part of MSC's ship buying binge, was no doubt in Asian ports recently and needs to be inspected for Limantria Dispar larvae. No stranger to Halifax in its varied career, the ship deserves a post all of its own, which I will file later.

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* Footnote

Patrick and William showed up in port September 3.

Built by Glovertown Marine Ltd in 2001 as Katrina Charlene it was renamed in 2019 by RS Marine Ltd of St.John's. 

In port R and R

It was an idyllic evening in Halifax and that was embodied by by HMCS Summerside resting at anchor in Bedford Basin, with its anchor cable straight up and down.

It looked like a pinic on the after deck, but apparently this was a well earned rest. Summerside and CCGC Cape Edensaw (note correct spelling - the JTFA doesn't know how to spell it) figured in a medical evacuation from a fishing vessel off Halifax at some point today. The CCG lifeboat is based in Sambro and landed the patient there where he was taken to hospital by ambulance.

JTFA identifies the fishing boat as "IVO" but I don't know of any boat with that name.

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Side by Side

This morning, early, the Canadian Naval Auxiliary tug Glenside arrived towing the Royal Canadian Navy's Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Summerside from Shelburne, where it has been refitted by Irving Shipbuilding Inc's Shelburne Marine Shipyard.  It was a case of Side (towed) by Side.

Once the pair were well inside the harbour and just before reaching the ferry track, one of the pup tugs came along to assist in wrangling the Summerside to her berth.

HMCS Summerside MM 711 was the last of the twelve Kingston class built at Halifax Shipyards. Its keel went down on March 28, 1998 and it was launched with much ceremony September 26, 1998 in an advanced state of completion.

The bow section was built in Georgetown PE by Irving Shipbuilding's Eastisle Shipyard, barged to Halifax and joined with the hull in August.

 The inbound Summerside passes the outbound Kingston in Halifax.

The first ship in the class, HMCS Kingston was laid down December 20, 1994 and launched August 8, 1995. It was commissioned September 21, 1996. Summerside was commissioned July 18, 1999.

Since then the ship has traveled widely, including the Arctic in 2013 and exercises in the Caribbean in July 2014.

The future of the Kingston class vessels has apparently been decided. Normally they would have been scheduled for mid-life refits, starting in about 2020. This would extend their lives to more than fifty years (2045-2055). Instead the $100mn program was scrapped and the ships will run out their normal lives, with decommissioning beginning in 2026 for Kingston and ending in 2029 for Summerside. By that time other vessels will have taken over their patrol duties (for which they were never designed originally anyway).

In the meantime at least two boats on each coast will be always be in mothballs, (Moncton and Goose Bay are the current ones on this coast apparently) for two years at a time, to reduce costs.

Built as mine counter measure vessels originally, and built to commercial ship standards, the patrol duties were thrust on them, and then the ships were deemed to be too small and too slow (duh).

What with shortages of available crews and mothballing ("extended readiness" ) and normal refits, there will generally be two to three such boats in active service on each coast at any given time until 2020.Whether in fact they will really last until the projected decommissioning dates is any body's guess.

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