Haligonian III bows out

A long time fixture in Halifax harbour will be seen no more. Canadian Maritime Engineering (CME) is breaking up Haligonian III at their shipyard in Sambro Head, NS.

In later years, the boat had a steady following of gulls.

As one might suspect from its name this is the third "Haligonian" tour boat in the harbour. Haligonian and Haligonian II were a pair of wooden vessels and the only harbour tour boats in the port. Remarkably Haligonian II, built in 1968, is still running, but in Percé, QC.  It was extensively rebuilt in 1997.

Haligonian built in 1964 was the first harbour tour boat to carry the name.

The term "Haligonian" applies to a resident of Halifax and seems to have been coined in its namesake town in West Yorkshire and brought to Nova Scotia in 1749. The new settlement of Halifax was named for George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, President of the British Board of Trade at the time. I guess we should be happy we are not known as "Dunkers".

In 1948 a T-2 type tanker, built in 1943 as Fort Donelson was quite delightfully re-named Haligonian Lad by Acadia Overseas Freighters, managed by I.H.Mathers of Halifax, but it only carried the name for a year. The moniker has otherwise seldom appeared on ships or boats.

Haligonian III was originally painted all white. 

It is seen here passing the old Halterm breakwater, that had a lighthouse at the seaward end.

Haligonian III was built by Hike Metal Products Ltd in Wheatley, ON in 1972 to a standard design developed by the yard in the early 1960s, and repeated several times for various ports. When it arrived in Halifax it added a much needed degree of comfort to harbour tours, thanks to its stability.

 The boat has had a relatively uneventful life, with only one serious accident. On September 15, 1990 it was in collision with the small container ship Mathilde (bound for Cuba) off Halterm on a stormy day. The container ship was having a hard time getting off the pier due to the wind, but when it finally did get away, Haligonian III was in the way and the two vessels made contact. One passenger was injured - but there was minimal damage to the boat. I almost witnessed this incident, but did hear it unfold on VHF radio, and was able to get a photo shortly afterward.

After the collision, Halgonian III returned to base. It carried the light blue hull colour until 1992.
No wonder the ship had a visibility issues, with a an obstructing deck load and a truck on top.


Once more harbour tour boats began arriving in Halifax, the traditional route from downtown to the Northwest Arm and back was transferred to Harbour Queen I and Haligonian III was able to do extended tours out towards the harbour mouth for nature watching and fishing trips. Whale watching had become popular, and although Halifax is not noted for large numbers of whales, it was promoted with a large banner on the boat's side and there were numerous whale sightings.

An awning was added to the boats upper deck about the year 2000.

At the end of the 2015 season Haligonian III was laid up for the winter at Mill Cove, Bedford Basin and offered for sale. It then moved to Sambro Head where it was drydocked by CME. It seems likely that this was more for survey than for repairs, as the boat was then moved to long term layup in Sambro harbour.

On Christmas Day 2015 the boat made a painfully slow move on one engine to layup in Mill Cove.

Scrapping the boat seems to have started recently, and at the rate it is going, will likely be completed in the next few days or weeks.

Haligonian III has been replaced by Kawartha Spirit a vessel of the same basic design, also built by Hike Metal Products, but in 1964. Even though nearly a decade older than its predecessor, it has spent all those years in fresh water, and so was in excellent condition when purchased in 2016. I hope its oddly inappropriate name can be changed to reflect its new home.

Kawartha Spirit has essentially the same hull form and lower cabin.


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Holiday Catch Up

It was a busy day in the harbour to make up for the Christmas Day holiday when there was almost no activity. Longshoremen do not work on Christmas Day, so there were idle ships waiting to work cargo.

The big bulker Xin Hong arrived on Christmas Eve and tied up at pier 28. It loaded soybeans in Sorel, QC, to maximum allowable draft on that portion of the the St.Lawrence River, and will top off here.

Xin Hong is a product of the Dalian #2 shipyard in China and  measures 44,5453 grt, 82,226 dwt. Owned by FEH Shipping of the Cayman Islands, it is managed by Global Marine Ship Management of Qingdao and flies the flag of Hong Kong. It remained idle on December 26, also a holiday in Halifax, which means that longshoremen get paid overtime.

Two other ships in port on Christmas Day were Kobe Express [see below] and Dinkeldiep, the St-Pierre et Miquelon feeder ship. The latter's Ukrainian crew have spent Christmas in Halifax for many years.

There was also an early morning sailing from Imperial Oil on Christmas Day. Zambezi Star arrived on December 21 and was originally due to sail December 24, but likely remained in port due to very high winds on Christmas Eve.

December 22 photo

Zambezi Star was built in 2010 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, and measures only 23,312 grt, 37,814 dwt (most handysize tankers are in the 50,000 dwt range). It is owned by Rigel Schiffahrts of Bremen, Germany and flies the Isle of Man flag.

Among the few vessels moving in Halifax harbour on Christmas Day was the tour boat Haligonian III. It was on what would be called a re-positioning cruise if it had been carrying any passengers. There was no one aboard however, except the crew - and a small one at that - as the boat moved from its summer berth at the Cable Wharf to Bedford Basin where it joined its fleet mates in winter layup.

Haligonian III has been a fixture in Halifax harbour since 1972 when it was built at Wheatley, ON by Hike Metal Products Ltd..
And why is it named Haligonian with a three?  There actually were Haligonians I and II, which were replaced when this boat was delivered.  They were wooden vessel, built on the lines of fishing boats. I caught Haligonian II in spring refit in Sambro in April 1970:

Built in 1968 by Deschamp + Jackson in Shelburne, NS, it was sold to owners in the Gaspé and is still in operation taking tourists to Percé rock. It was extensively rebuilt in 1997, but looks very much the same and surprisingly still carries its original name.

Mar (background) Haligonian III, Harbour Queen I, Summer Bay and Silva of Halifax at their winter quarters in Mill Cove, Bedford. Missing from this grouping is Theodore Too.

In recent years these boats have wintered at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth or at the Cable Wharf, so this is a new arrangement for them. The entire fleet and related business including Murphy's restaurant and gift ship was acquired during 2014 by Ambassatours, owners of a fleet of doubledecker and other tour buses and the Harbour Hoppers.


Both container piers were busy today, with two arrivals each. At Fairview Cove, the first in was OOCL Kuala Lumpur, a ship I have never photographed before, although it called in Halifax first July 30, 2012.

 Kuala Lumpur Express strides up the Narrows and into a brisk northerly wind with Atlantic Larch forward and Atlantic Oak as stern tethered escort. 

The ship was built by Koyo Dockyard Co in Mihara, Japan in 2007 for Nissen Kaiun Co and has been chartered to OOCL ever since. In 2012 it was sold to Grace Ocean Investment of Kowloon, Taiwan and reflagged from Hong Kong to Singapore. It measures 66,462 grt, 66,940 dwt and has a capacity of 5888 TEU including 586 reefers.

As the ship nears the A.Murray MacKay bridge the tug Atlantic Willow comes alongside. As soon as the ship clears the bridge, Atlantic Oak will cast off and return to the lower harbour for the next ship. Atlantic Larch and Atlantic Willow will berth the ship at Fairveiw Cove west, under the big cranes.

Atlantic Oak has control of  Oakland Express as it takes a broader turn around the knuckle at Pier 9-9A. It will go out into Bedford Basin to await its berth at Fairview Cove east - occupied by fleet mate Kobe Express.

By coincidence the ship was built as Kuala Lumpur Express in 2000 by Hyundai Mipo. Built for Costamare Shipping Co of Greece it has been on charter to Hapag-Lloyd ever since. It was renamed in 2008 to free up the name for a larger ship. In 2013 Costamare shifted its operation to a Chinese subsidiary and reflagged the ship from Greece to Hong Kong. It has been a regular caller in Halifax under both names.

Another regular caller in Halifax, Kobe Express arrived on the morning of December 24. It got about a half day's work then and finished up with a half day today sitting idle on Christmas Day.  It dates from 1998 when it was produced by Samsung, Koje as Shanghai Express. It rates 4612 TEU , including 350 reefers, carried by 52,523 grt, 67,058 dwt. The ship has always been owned by Hapag-Lloyd directly and received its current name in 2002 when a larger ship rated the Shanghai name.

Not to be outdone by commercial shipping, the sailing catamaran Butterflies are Free took a leisurely Boxing Day cruise around the harbour. In the background Wilhelmsen's Toledo unloads at Autoport. It later moved to Pier 31 to unload before sailing for New York.

Although identified as Butterflies are Free (US flag) on AIS, I believe this boat to be Pride MMXVI  A Dufour 44' built in 2014 and registered in Halifax on November 10. Perhaps it is time the owners reset the AIS.

Also getting in a last cruise, several kayakers round Point Pleasant Park as the next inbound arrives.

That inbound was due for Halterm where an early arrival was the regular Maerk Pembroke in from Montreal on the transatlantic Maersk - CMA CGM service.

It had no operational bow thruster on arrival, but it may have been fixed by the time the ship sailed.


The next arrival was another CMA CGM ship far from its usual run.

 A group of eider ducks, recently arrived for the winter, seems undisturbed by the arrival of a ship.


CMA CGM Lavender is one of seven ships on the Panama Direct Line, operated by CMA CGM, ANL and Marfret. [ANL is the former Australian National Line, now part of CMA CGM. Marfet (Marseille-Fret) is an independent, serving the Mediterranean, Caribbean and South Pacific.]

Its normal route is Tilbury - Rotterdam - Dunkerque - LeHavre - New York - Savannah - Kingston, Jamaica - Cartagena - Papeete, then returning northbound via Noumea - Sydney - Melbourne - Wellington - Tauranga - Napier - Lyttleton - Manzanillo - Savannah - Philadephia - Tilbury.

This is the first time I have seen Marfret containers in Halifax, but they are not likely to be unloaded here. Instead, I conjecture that the the ship will take on some of the containers left by HH Emilie and forward them on to another shipping hub, such as Kingston.

 The ship was built by Hyundai, Mipo in 2006 and measures a modest 28,927 grt, 39,418 dwt, with a nominal capacity of 2,824 TEU. It is very lightly loaded, so should be able to take a fair chunk of the boxes left by HH Emilia.

There was also a ship for Imperial Oil today. The colourful Inyala arrived mid-afternoon.

Another smaller handysize tanker of 25,400 grt, 40,037 dwt, it was built by SLS Shipbuilding Co, Tongyeong, South Korea in 2008 for Unicorn Shipping of Durban, part of Grindrod Shipping.

The Unicorn motif appears on the funnel and the bridge front, but the Inyala is a South African antelope with two horns, as far as I can tell..

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