More Shocks

 Shipping companies and ports have already begun to feel the effect of tarifs on goods and on certain (Chinese built) ships. The United States of America has imposed these tarifs in the misinformed and misguided belief that they will benefit the USA. In fact the tarifs will have the effect of isolating the US from coming to terms with itself and its neighbours and from finding ways to share the planet peacefully.

The latest shocker - if it is possible to be shocked anymore - follows on the US's earlier decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. It has now removed itself from meetings of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Those groups are attempting to reduce emissions - particularly from ships - to net zero by 2050.

In a supremely illogical statement the US claims that the effort to reduce emissions is an attempt to redistribute wealth under the guise of environmental protection by unwisely promoting the use of hypothetical and unproven fuels.

The truth of course is the very opposite: the US is atttempting to concentrate wealth by continuing to use (its own) fossil fuels at the expense of the environment and of other countries.

In recent days in the Port of Halifax we have seen:

 1. A ship fueled by LNG (still a fossil fuel) but which can be adapted to a future fuel.

Is the Lake Shirasagi an expensive exercise in "green washing" by a leading auto manufacturer or is its alternate fuel and shore power capability progress? 

There is the irony of a pier full of wind generator tower components with a wind propelled ship also alongside.

2. The same ship equipped to use shore power (too bad that power here is largely fossil fuel generated and is not available at most piers anyway.)

 

3. A Flettner rotor equipped ship, delivering components for offshore wind turbine power generation.

The E-Ship 1 uses windpower for propulsion assistance.

Notice those red and white striped power plant chimneys in the background. They are from the natural gas fueled power plant in the background (the white tanks at lower left store back up heavy fuel which is used when market fluctuations or pipeline interuptions dictate.)

4. An ancient (by shipping standards) container ship arrived spouting particulates with impunity.

MSC Ingrid, built in 1999, "steams" into Halifax April 5.

 5. The Port (and other Canadian ports) bragging about the opening of another cruise ship season - surely the most senselesss and uneeded use of fossil fuels - even if the ship and or port has shore power available. How can cruise ships be condoned in the era of climate emergency?

 

More irony?

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More newbies and Pier 9C update

 There were two "new to Halifax" ships in port today April 5 and as we are now into Invasive Species season, both anchored for Canadian Food Inpection Agency (CFIA) examination before docking.

MSC Manchester, as the larger ship, took up position in Number 1 anchorage in the lower harbour. (The auto carrier Lake Shirasagi is visible in the background, offloading at Autoport.)

As usual when that anchorage is occupied, incoming ships then pass to the west of George's Island. MSC Ingrid did just that as it proceeded to Number 3 anchorage.    

ONE Manchester was built in 2015 by Imabari Shipbuilding Co Ltd at the Hiroshima Shipyard as the Manchester Bridge. It was renamed and repainted in 1920 as K-Line had joined the other Japanese container lines to form Ocean Network Express (ONE). It is a 51,672 gt, 146,900 dwt ship with a capacity of 13,900 TEU including 800 reefer plugs. It is sailing on Premier Alliance EC3 sailing directly from Columbo via the Cape of Good Hope.

Later in the day MSC Ingrid moved to Pier 42.

 

MSC Ingrid dates from 1999 when it was delivered by Samsung, Geoje as the Saudi Jeddah. At 53, 208 gt, 67,678 dwt, it has a capacity of 4657 TEU including 300 reefers. It is operating on MSC's Canada Express en route from Le Havre for Montreal. It joined MSC in 2002 and has been retro-fitted with an exhaust gas scrubber.

ONE Manchester was cleared by CFIA, but remained at anchor until early eveningi before moving in to Pier 41 when the berth was clear. In bright sunlight it beame apparent that ONE's magenta colour scheme will require a great deal of maintenance. ONE Manchester's paint appears to have been applied hastily with minimal surface prep.

 

Pier 9C

At Pier 9C business was booming - pun intended. The E-Ship 1 (see yesterday's post) was off loading its project cargo wind generator components, including nacelles and containers of equipment.

With E-Ship 1 at the north end of Pier 9C there was just enough room for the Lake Shirasagi to dock. After discharging cargo at Autoport, it moved through the Narrows  to turn in Bedford Basin, then came in alongside astern of the E-Ship 1, with just enough room to deploy its stern ramp. There are so many wind tower sections on the pier, its RoRo cargo will be a tight fit.

 

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Eco cargo, Eco cars, Eco tours - UPDATE

 There were lots of references to the environment and ecology in the Port of Halifax today, April 4. Only history will tell if these measures are futile. [Glass half full readers may wish to skip ahead.]

 The first cruise ship of the 2025 season arrived good and early this morning, beating its 2024 first arrival date by six days.  According the February 14 press release, the ship was not due in Halifax until April 18 this year*. Today's arrival may have been on short notice, as the Port's workboat Maintainer I was setting out fenders only yesterday.

 

Today's excellent +10ºC temperature and bright sunshine encouraged a gaggle of hardy passengers to take a kayak expedition from Pier 22 to the Northwest Arm. By the time they were on the return leg they had evacuated to a motorboat and did not have to paddle back to the ship.

These so-called expedition cruise ships, despite allowing passengers to see the wonders of the world are notorious fuel users, and someday must face restrictions.
 

Amongst today's arrivals was the LNG powered Lake Shirasagi for Autoport with another batch of Volkswagen cars. The dual fuel ship also promotes the use of shore power (when possible). Nova Scotia's reliance on coal for a good chunk of its electricity makes this a less desirable option.

Lake Shirasagi made its inaugural voyage in February, arriving in Halifax February 24 [qv]. It will move to Pier 9C tomorrow to offload RoRo cargo.

Pier 9C was the destination today for the wind assisted E-Ship 1. The ship is equipped with rotating towers that provide supplementary propulsion power.

The E-Ship 1 is carrying generator nacelles that will convert wind to power for a wind project. The towers arrived in sections and have been sitting on Pier 9C for several months.

Built in 2010 by Lindenau, Kiel, the 12,968 gt, 10,020 dwt ship carries two cranes with maximum 90 tonne SWL and a single open hold with removable hatch covers giving total access to the cargo space. It can carry heavy cargo, RoRo and containers up to 853 TEU.

 

 The ship has never been in Halifax before, but was in Sheet Harbour, NS in 2014, and made a trip on the St.Lawrence River in 2012. See my post from May 11, 2014.

 

A ship with no apparent pretensions to saving the planet was one of three container ships in port today. The MSC Eleni has been an off and on caller over the years, but never a regular. Ships on MSC's Med Canada service do call from time to time to offload a few containers to meet St.Lawrence River draft restrictions or to top up a few boxes to maximize ocean draft. The latter seemed to be the case today as the ship arrived from Montreal and sailed for Salerno.

 

 

As MSC Eleni clears PSA Halifax Pier 42, and sheds its tug, the Lake Shirasagi is just disappearing from view into Eastern Passage.

 

MSCEleni dates from 2004 when it was built by Hanjin Heavy Industry and Construction Co Ltd in Busan. The 54,881 gt, 68,254 dwt ship has a capacity of 5060 TEU including 400 reefers.

 

 *UPDATE: This is incorrect. I misread the original press release, seeing the last letter in the word "April" in the phrase "April 8" as a number 1.

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Brand New PCTC

 The hot market for autocarriers has lead shipping companies to make major investments in new Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) ships, but also to make improvements in their efficiency both commercially and environmentally. As previously reported here on February 5 Volkswagen has partnered with Wallenius Lines to build more aerodynamic ships incorporating improvements in hull and propulsion design.

Today's (February 24) arrival the Lake Shirasagi is the third of ten new ships to be built in China for Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) with LNG as its primary fuel. The ship is also equipped to connect to shore power where available. All these features are vividly broadcast on the ships sides.

 The Lake Shirasagi was delivered in December 2024 by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing. It is a 71,631 gt, 19.046 dwt ship with a capacity of 7,000 CEU. Its twelve decks, four of which are hoistable for high loads, are served by a 150 tonne  capacity stern ramp and a 20 tonne capacity starboard side ramp. (Side ramps are rare on newer PCTCs.)

The ship is on its first voyage, and has been assigned to the Wallenius Wilhelmsen transatlantic car and RoRo service. It has called on the usual rotation of European ports, Tilbury, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Rozenburg, Bremerhaven, Goteborg, Zebrugge and Southampton. 

On arrival this afternoon, the ship made its way to Bedford Basin, turned and came alongside Pier 9C to discharge RoRo cargo. It is scheduled to move to Autoport this evening.

When it arrived in Singapore in December it took on 1629m3 of LNG from an LNG bunkering vessel. These Ship to Ship (STS) refuelings are now available in other major ports such as Vancouver, but so far there would very little demand in Halifax, although the Port of Halifax is studying the provision of alternative fuels such as hydrogen.

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