IT Intrepid - fuels up at Imperial

Lending credence to rumours of the demise of ship to ship bunkering in Halifax, the cable ship IT Interceptor sailed over to Imperial Oil this morning, fueled up and sailed back to Pier 9 this afternoon (via Bedford Basin to turn). The ship is in port to transfer cable at pier 9, but imagine how much more convenient it would have been to take fuel right at the berth, without moving, and having to pay for pilotage, etc., The ship uses diesel fuel, so that is apparently still available at Imperial Oil.

Originally I thought that Imperial Oil had merely stopped producing bunker C and that lighter marine fuels would still be available for Algoma Dartmouth to deliver. Now it seems that only diesel will be available from Imperial, and no heavy oils or marine fuels will be stored.
Therefore there is nothing for Algoma Dartmouth to deliver and she will likely be removed from service after making a last delivery to Oceanex Sanderling this weekend. ( Bunker C and heavy marine fuels are considered to be "black" or "dirty" oil, and need to be heated to flow properly - diesel is considered to be "clean", is light and is not heated. Tankers require different equipment to handle clean products, and Algoma Dartmouth was built as a bunkering tanker for "dirty" products only.)

This is a major blow to Halifax's status as a full service port. If a ship comes in now for fuel, it must tie up at Imperial Oil to get diesel, or tie up at a pier and have the other grades of fuel trucked in from Saint John or Quebec. That can't be cheap compared to tanker delivery. It is also well nigh impossible for a cruise ship to fuel from trucks while embarking and disembarking passengers over the same pier, so that business will be lost.

Visiting naval vessels often received fuel while in port, and that business will be gone - I can't imagine a dozen tanker trucks lined up along their piers to fuel a ship. Similarly container ships will not be able to fuel while they are working cargo - the cranes will be in the way- not to mention the chaos that would be created with fuel trucks on the pier.

Then there is the matter of fueling naval, Coast Guard and government ships - I wonder where they will get their fuel (those that don't burn diesel.)

With the decline in use of Bunker C fuel for ships, it is only a matter of time until it is banned completely, as it is now in the coastal US. Other marine fuels will still be needed, but they won't be available here by bunkering tanker.  Algoma Dartmouth's days are numbered.

It is sad to see another reduction in service to the port, just when it is poised to take advantage of some new developments, such as the opening of the new Panama Canal. As first/last North American stop, one of the advantages of Halifax was that it was also a ready source of fuel, that could be taken while a ship was at anchor. The provincial government even removed some tax from the product to encourage ships to come here just to take bunkers.

Not so anymore.

.

IT Intrepid - more work

The cable ship IT Intrepid has been granted a coasting license for more work in Canadian waters. This time it will be to remove concrete tunnels and install temporary scour protection along the face of the remaining concrete tunnel at Deep Panuke.
While this does not sound like cable work, it does seem to require the services of an ROV, for which IT Intrepid is fitted.
Work is permitted from April 20 to May 4.

 IT Intrepid is fitting out for the work at pier 9, the base for International Telecom.Meanwhile fleet mate IT Interceptor is also at pier 9, standing by for cable repair work.

It has been many years since two cable ships have been in Halifax for any extended period. In November 1966 the cable ships Lord Kelvin and Cyrus Field were towed out for scrap after being laid up at the Western Union Cable Wharf.

IT Intrepid and IT Interceptor, seeing double at pier 9

The cable ship IT Intrepid arrived this morning and tied up alongside IT Interceptor at pier 9. Soon after the crews began transferring material from one ship to the other.
International Telecom Canada Inc was granted a coastal license to all IT Intrepid to work in Canadian waters (the ship is registered in Barbados) to repair a fibre optic cable in the Cabot Strait off Rose Blanche, NL, using a type of unmanned submarine, or ROV. The license covers the period March 13 to March 25.
The ship is specially equipped with a gantry aft, which I assume is to handle the ROV.

IT Interceptor finds work- so does Beaver Kay

1. IT Interrceptor shifting berths on December 11.

The cable ship IT Interceptor has been cleared to carry out emergency cable repairs and will be sailing in the morning. The ship has been standing by at pier 9 in Halifax for just such an event for the past several months.IT International Telecom Canada Inc operates the ship.
Because it is not a Canadian flagged ship (it is registered in Barbados) it had to apply for a coasting license to work in Canadian waters. The Canadian Transportation Agency made its ruling on January 14, that no Canadian ship was available, and forwarded it to the Minister of Public Safety for approval.
Interestingly the cable break is in a fibreoptic cable in the New Victoria area, at the mouth of Sydney Harbour. Could the parted towline of HMCS Athabaskan have been the cause of this break? (Just askin')

Meanwhile at the opposite end of the province McNally Construction's barge Beaver Kay has started work laying a power cable from Brier Island to Long Island on Digby Neck. The barge left Halifax in tow of Sandra Mary on December 16. They have been joined in Freeport by the tug Atlantic Spruce out of Saint John. The barge was fitted with cable laying equipment at pier 9 by IT International Telecom. They are carrying out the work, with McNally providing the tug and barge.

Wave Sentinel - Cable Ship Rendezvous

The cable ship Wave Sentinel arrived this morning and tied up at pier 9 alongside another cable ship, IT Interceptor. This generally means a transfer of cable from one ship to another. Cable is a notoriously difficult cargo to transport, requiring special holds and gear.
IT Interceptor is registered in Barbados, but is operated by IT International, the Canadian cable company.
Wave Sentinel is operated by Global Marine Systems of the UK.

Wave Sentinel was built in 1995 and is of a modern design-working the cable over the stern only. IT Interceptor , built in 1988, is of a traditional design, working over bow and stern.