Lady Malou - standing by

 The tanker Lady Malou arrived in Halifax last evening (July 29) and took up position in #3 anchorage. It is expected to move alongside Imperial Oil's #3 dock later this evening (July 30).

A typical MidRange vessel of 29,762 gt, 51,486 dwt, it was built by Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan in 2013. It is a member of the Latsco fleet of 41 ships (mostly tankers). The company was founded in the 1940s by the well known Capt. John S. Latsis. Once known as Petrola International SA, the company changed its name when it branched out beyond tankers. It is now headquartered in Monaco. (The name Malou is a short from of Mary Louise / Marie-Louise or Maria-Lourdes).

The ship is arriving from Baytown, Texas (in the Houston-Galveston Bay area) where Exxon-Mobil operates the large 588,000 bbl/day (92,800 m3/day) refinery and numerous chemical plants. By comparison Canada's largest refinery, operated by Irving Oil in Saint John, NB has a refining rate of 320,000 bbl/day (51,000 m3/day).

Imperial Oil is a Canadian company 69.6% owned by Exxon-Mobil and retails product under the Esso and Mobil brands but also sells product to other retailers for sale under their own brand names. Its former refinery (89,000 bbl/day) in Dartmouth, NS, ceased refining operations in 2013, and Imperial now uses the large tank "farm" as a storage and distribution terminal for the Atlantic region. It has a truck loading operation for inland destinations. 

It imports various products, including propane, by rail and its tanker dock is used to import and distribute product. Ships of Algoma Tankers move product inbound from domestic sources primarily Imperial's own refineries in Sarnia and Nanticoke, Ontario and outbound to such smaller ports such as Sydney, NS, Corner Brook, NL and Sept-Iles, QC. Imported product usually comes from Antwerp, Belgium, so today's shipment from Baytown is a little out of the ordinary.

When the Lady Malou was here previously, on Novemebr 1, 2021, its funnel marking was more visible, with the large "L" for Latsis. John S. Latis was one of the great Greek shipping "tycoons", but more discrete and private than his contemporaries Aristotle Onassis and Stavros Niarchos to name a few others.

November 1, 2021.

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Fossil Fuels Flow

With climate change and the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels much in the news today, the material continues to be an essential commodity, and it flows into the Port of Halifax, by means of tankers and in the fuel tanks of ships.

Sources of refined petroleum products include refineries in Canada and in Europe and the United States. Imperial Oil, Exxon Mobil Corp's Canadian subsidiary, provides fuel to dealers under the brand names of Esso, Mobil and others. The company brought in more product today, November 1, on the tanker Lady Malou.

The ship makes its way round Ives Knoll with tug assistance. 

Built in 2013 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, it is a 29,762 gt, 51,486 dwt vessel. Its last port was Beaumont, TX where Exxon Mobil has a 366,000 bbl per day refinery.

Wearing the big Latsis "L" on its funnel, it is part of the 29 ship Latsco Shipping fleet, founded by Capt. John L. Latsis, consisting of 18 product carriers and 11 gas carriers. The company also has four VLCCs on order for delivery in 2022.

Another petroleum product, which is not used as fuel, but is an essential commodity in the construction of roads, is asphalt. The Port of Halifax has two asphalt import facilities. One is owned by McAsphalt Industries Ltd and one by General Liquids Ltd. Altough seemingly competitors in the road paving business, McAsphalt through Miller Paving and General through parent copmany Municipal Group, they both source asphalt from Irving Oil's refinery in Saint John, NB. McAsphalt's own tug / tanker barge delivers asphalt from Saint John to both companies. The barge is equipped with boilers to keep the asphalt in liquid form.

The barge John J. Carrick and its articulated tug Leo A. McArthur discharge to McAsphalt's terminal in Eastern Passage October 22.The insulated pipeline can be seen stretching from the head of the jetty to the shore where there are large storage tanks. 

McAsphalt received another load of material yesterday and over night the tug / barge moved to the Cherubini dock, not too far away, to hook up to the General Liquids pipeline to its storage tanks.

With the tanker Lady Malou in the background, John. J. Carrick discharges cargo today, November 1. The relatively small diameter hose leading ashore must mean a very slow discharge rate.

For the record both the McAsphalt and General terminals can also receive product by rail car and of course distribute the material to asphalt paving plants by truck.

Fossil fuels continue to power ships, as the reintroduction of sail and the use of alternatives such as stored electricity have not become feasible to any extent yet. However all ships must comply with new regulations, and use scrubbers if burning heavy fuel or burn low emission marine diesel fuel.

Ships such as the regular caller Lagarfoss from the Icelandic shipping company Eimskip, use low emission fuel.

Lagarfoss has very minimal freeboard as it arrives from Reykjavik en route to Portland. Its engines and auxiliaries also provide power for numerous reefer containers.

Lagarfoss was built in 2014 in Rongfeng, China by Ronfeng Shenfei Shipbuilding Co. It is a 10,119 gt, 11,811 dwt vessel with a capacity of 880 TEU and carries a pair of 45 tonne capacity cranes.

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