Tankers in waiting, a first timer and a no show, among other things

There is nothing new about tankers in waiting in Halifax. It seems to be the rule now that product tankers arrive, wait their time at Imperial Oil and sail - most never to be seen here again. Except there is a minor twist on today's list.

Valle Bianca tugs at its anchor line in a stiff breeze in Bedford Basin.

Valle Bianca, Italian owned and flagged, predictably built in South Korea in 2007, measures 29,996 grt, 50,633 dwt. Builders are listed as SPP Shipbuilding Co, Tongyeong - a new one on me. It is anchored in Bedford Basin until Esso is ready for it.

East Coast, also Korean built, has been flying the Canadian flag since October 6, when Irving Oil needed another ship for domestic work. It is on long term charter from Vroon and previously flew the Marshal Islands flag as Nor'Easter. http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2014/10/noreaster-blows-in-to-east-coast.html

 East Coast comes to anchor this afternoon in the lower harbour.

This is not the first time it has been in Halifax with its new name, but when it was here October 16, the fog was too thick to see it, let alone take a picture. It is here for bunkers, but may have to wait until the wind dies down before Algoma Dartmouth comes alongside. It is interesting that the ship would bunker with fuel other than Irving's own, but I understand that the Saint John terminal is very busy importing crude and exporting product due to work on the Canaport buoy, where the crude is normally unloaded. Some crude tankers are even going into the LNG terminal to unload.  A shuttle has also been set up with the Afrodite and  Great Eastern pressed into service as lighters to transfer crude from anchored ships to the refinery terminal. 

 The letter "N" below the funnel  distinguishes the ship from its three sisters.

I wondered in my previous post if the ship would have its letter "N" replaced with an "E" - that has not happened yet. Perhaps uniquely in a tanker fleet, each ship carries the first letter of its name on its superstructure. Since all four of the ships are identical, this is likely a means of identifying them visually when the name isn't visible.
There is a credible rumour that Irving Oil will be acquiring a fifth charter tanker which will be named Nor'Easter.

Atlantic Larch on the port bow, and Atlantic Willow on the starboard quarter (not visible) get set to turn Macao Strait in the stream off Halterm.One tug could do the job if there was no wind.

Melfi Lines ships change in and out frequently, so a first timer is not a rarity. Today's arrival Macao Strait is on its first voyage for Melfi from Europe to Cuba. The 21,108 grt, 25,903 dwt ship is a product of the Taizhou Kouan Shipbuidling Co in Taizhou, China in 2008. It is equipped with a pair of 40 tonne cranes and has a capacity of 1795 TEU of which 319 may be refrigerated. It is owned by the German company of Carsten Rehder and has changed names six times in its short life. It started off as Macao Strait but was soon renamed Niledutch Qingdao for a charter. When that ended in 2011 it reverted to its original name and in 2012 became BG Freight Atlantic. That only lasted to 2103 when it reverted again briefly, before becoming Vento di Ponente. It assumed its original name again earlier this year. It is registered in the Portuguese offshore registry in Madeira.


What was to be the last cruise ship of the 2014 season arrived off Halifax early this morning, but opted to keep on going. There were very high winds and seas at the time, and perhaps that is why it kept going. In any event it continued on its merry way at all of 12 knots until late this afternoon when it struck out across the Gulf of Maine and picked up its pace to 13 knots. This cruising speed may have been to give its passengers a more pleasant ride - I hope so, because it might have been unpleasant out there otherwise.

 Legend of the Seas on a more placid day when it did arrive as scheduled in September.

Legend of the Seas was to be the finalist in the 2014 cruise season, but that distinction now reverts to yesterday's visitor Hamburg. This was the first year for this Legend to call in Halifax - see also: http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2014/09/legend-arrives.html

Seas had flattened, making it possible for the pilot to disembark safely when Fusion sailed this afternoon, but it was still breezy.

The wind was severe enough that the St-Pierre RoRo ship Fusion remained in port last night and waited until noon today to sail. Also the cargo ship Clipper Helvetia that was supposed to come up from Liverpool, NS this morning remained there.

High winds also forced the cancellation of the ferry services between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia and Newfoundland today. Also the Bay of Fundy service between Digby, NS and Saint John, NB was to resume today, but did not. The ferry Princess of Acadia passed Halifax last night en route from its repairs at the Verreault shipyard in Méchins, but it hove too off Yarmouth for the night due to wind and sea conditions.
The winds are headed for Newfoundland and Oceanex's Oceanex Avalon opted to go north about on its departure from St.John's yesterday. Instead of heading south, then through the Cabot Strait to the Gulf as usual, it set a course for the Strait of Belle Isle and will sail through the Mingan Passage, north of Anticosti Island on its way to Montreal.. Such a rerouting is not unheard of, but only occurs in the most severe conditions.

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Cruise News - updated

It is the height of cruise season with some days seeing three or even four ships. It is also the time of year when weather may interfere with schedules but it is not often that mechanical repairs mess up cruise plans.
News is in that Veendam has now cancelled the October 11 cruise, in addition to the September 27 and October 4 cruises out of Quebec City due to propeller problems. The ship will be drydocked in Philadelphia. The ship is passing Halifax southbound as this is being written.  Its October 16 date in Halifax is still shown on the Cruise Halifax website.

Veendam's September 22 tug assisted arrival.

Meanwhile Pearl Mist spent Saturday night in Halifax. It had been intended to sail Saturday morning. Instead it left on Sunday morning.

Morning arrivals are now difficult to photograph due to sun angles and evening departures due to dark. This morning's attempt at Norwegian Gem bore mixed results.

 The tug in the background is returning from pier 31 where it stood by Arcadia for its tight turn into the berth. Legend of the Seas is also arriving this morning.

Update:

Arcadia, one of my favourites, made a splendid late afternoon departure.

Arcadia with Chebucto Pilot alongside. Does the ship have a slight squat to the stern?

Ordered originally by Holland America as a Vista class ship, it was transferred to Cunard during construction, and hence has a Cunard QE2 type mast and Cunard funnel (less the cowling at the base) and the clean appealing lines of a Cunarder. Shortly before launch parent Carnival transferred it to P+O and it took to the water at Fincantieri's Porto Marghera yard June 26, 2004 as Arcadia.

An adult only ship of 83,781 grt, with 11 decks, it carries 1952 passengers in normal configuration, but can max out at 2388, with 950 crew. It is propelled with diesel electric azipods, which makes me wonder why it had a tug in attendance this morning.

It was also closely accompanied by the pilot boat on departure. The ship had to signal for several inattentive sail boats to clear the channel (with 3 very longs and 1 short, double barrel blasts), so perhaps the pilot boat was there to ward them off. It soon shifted to the ship's port side and went out ahead.

For the record, the other ship in today, Legend of the Sea tied up at pier 20.

 Mackerel fishermen on the Tall Ship Quay were paying no attention to Legend of the Seas before it sailed.

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Legend arrives

Despite being something of a veteran amongst modern day cruise ships, Legend of the Seas had never called in Halifax until this morning's arrival. The ship was built in 1995 by Chantier de l'Atlantique in St-Nazaire, France as the first of six Vision class ships for Royal Caribbean.

Measuring a modest 69,742 grt, it carries 2,076 passengers, a crew of 720 and has eleven decks.

The ship had a particularly gracious stern, but like most first generation ships had a bustle added st the waterline for increased stability. This one is better looking than most, as the ship showed when it sailed this evening.

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