All in a day's work

 Halifax is a great harbour for shipwatching because of the great variety of shipping that can be seen on a given day. Of course container ships get most of the glory due to their size and colourful appearance.

The 5087 TEU MOL Emissary dates from 2009 when it was built by Hyundai, Ulsan for Seaspan Corp. It is chartered to MOL (a partner in ONE) and working for THE Alliance on the AL5 service. I have photo'd the ship many times as it passes through the Narrows en route to the Fairview Cover container terminal.

Another often photo'd ship is CSL's Thunder Bay, en route to Gold Bond Gypsum's dock in Bedford Basin.

The self-unloader, built in 2013 by Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, China is a 24,430 gt, 34,433 dwt ship that sails under the Canadain flag and works in and out of the Great Lakes. The noticeable abrasions on the hull near the bow signify frequent passages through the locks of the St.Lawrence Seaway.

Naval vessels are also frequent callers in Halifax, since the port is home Canada's east coast navy base, at HMC Dockyard. The Canadian Coast Guard also has a large presence here as does the Department of Fisheries and Oceans of which it is a part.  When a member of the United States Coast Guard visits Halifax it is usually as a guest of the Royal Canadian Navy, which has better facilities but is also a military organization, which the Canadian Coast Guard is not. One such guest for the past few days has been USCGC Healy WAGB-20, which sailed this afternoon.

The ship recently completed a west to east Northwest Passage. These northern waters are claimed by Canada as territorial waters, while other nations claim they are international waters. Canada is increasing its activities in the north in order to underscore its claim, and sent HMCS Harry DeWolf on an east to west Northwest Passage. Although the USA is one of the nations claiming the waters are international, it nevertheless went though the process of advising Canada in advance of Healy's trip. The trip was also completed in compliance with Canadian environmental and health regulations for the Arctic.

The Canadian Coast Guard was at work today as CCGS George R. Pearkes did some buoy tending off Halifax. The ship has been drafted in from Newfoundland while other ships are in refit.

The Pearkes is visible on the horizon as Dominion Bearcat works on some reef balls off Black Rock Beach, Point Pleasant Park. Despite the best efforts of generations of seabirds the black rocks are still black.  (mostly).

Not to neglect the tug industry, see also today's post on Tugfax

And as a follow up on yesterday's post, the tanker New England moved alongside Irving Oil's Woodside terminal late this afternoon. If you didn't catch my amendment yesterday there was more information added after the initial post.

Unusually warm weather brought out a multitude of pleasure craft today. 

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Busy, busy - catch up

 There was a lot of activity in the harbour as the port caught up with weather delays. Very high winds starting yesterday resulted in suspension of pilotage operations until this morning when ships began to sail and arrive again. Most of the arriving ships had spent the night circling offshore waiting for the pilot boat to resume operation.

Among those sailing was the MOL Emissary a familiar caller for THE Alliance.

Built in 2009 by Hyundai, Ulsan the 54,940 gt, 67,170 dwt ship has a capacity of 5087 TEU including 330 reefers. As the ship is on long term charter from Seaspan Corp, it may well serve out its charter in MOL colours rather than take on the ONE magenta hull paint that owned ships would get.

Among the arrivals this morning was the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Titus which went first to Pier 31 to unload special RoRo cargo. It will shift to Autoport this evening to discharge cars.

The 73,358 gt, 23,889 dwt ship, with a capacity of 7656 cars, built in 2018  by Tianjin Xingang, is among the last to be delivered in the old paint scheme of its Wallenius parent.  Since mid 2019 ships are being painted in a new scheme of the merged Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean. Wilhlemsen ships were red/orange and Wallenius were green. The ships still retain the traditional naming themes, with Wilhelmsen ships beginning with the letter "T" and Wallenius named for operatic characters (some of whom have "T" names.)

There was lots of traffic for National Gypsum today too. Algoma Verity docked on arrival from Tampa. A familiar caller since it was built in 2000 as Alice Odendorff it was renamed in 2019 when Algoma acquired the three Oldendorff ships in the CSL self-unloader pool.

The 28,747 gt, 47,404 dwt ship is readily identifiable thanks to its unusual crane/ conveyor/ hopper self-unloading system. It was built by Shanghai Shipyard as a conventional four crane bulker, with the conveyor/hoppers added as a conversion.

A stiff northerly breeze across the Basin meant a wet ride for the tugs' deckhands.

Next in was Algoma Integrity from Baltimore. It was last here November 15, so I will not repeat its details.

With Algoma Verity along side at National Gypsum, Algoma Integrity will cool its heels at anchor until the berth is free.

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Two MOLs

 It happens often enough, but it is still interesting to see two ships from the same line in Halifax at the same time. Today it was two MOL (Mitsui OSK Line) ships, with one arriving as the other departed.

The larger ship MOL Maestro was the first ship in, arriving early this morning. This afternoon, when it was ready to go, MOL Emissary was inbound. To avoid an awkward meet in the harbour, the Emissary sailed straight through to Bedford Basin allowing lots of room for Maestro to sail after it had passed.

(    If this all sounds slightly familiar MOL Emissary did the same thing June 1 with Atlantic Sail as the outbound ship, and thus a photo from exactly the same position.)

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2020/06/ships-that-pass-in-basin.html

MOL Emissary, 54,940 gt, 67,170 dwt has a capacity of 5087 TEU including 330 reefers and was built in 2009 by Hyundai, Ulsan. It is owned by Seaspan Corp on long term charter to MOL under Hong Kong flag.

MOL Maestro a first time caller if my records are correct, is a 78,316 gt, 79,423 dwt ship with a capacity of 6724 TEU including 500 reefers. It was built by Mitsubishi, Kobe in 2010 and is owned by a Panama corporation.

MOL (31%), K-Line (31%) and NYK (38%), the three principal Japanese container lines, merged their container shipping operations to form ONE (Ocean Network Express) in 2017. Existing ships have maintained their old corporate identities but new ships are branded for ONE.

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Ships that pass in the Basin

Cerescorp's terminal at Fairview Cove was host to two ships today, one after the other. First in was Atlantic Container Line's Atlantic Sail, berthing at the west berth to discharge RoRo cargo. When it completed work the inbound MOL Emissary was inbound to take its place.

Atlantic Sail made a very wide loop out into Bedford Basin to give the inbound ship lots of room. Once MOL Emissary was clear of the MacKay Bridge, Atlantic Sail had a clear shot at the Narrows.

Once into the Basin the stern escort tug Atlantic Beaver was able to brake and begin to turn the ship.
MOL Emissary, 54,940 gt, 67,170 dwt, 5087 TEU (including 330 reefers), was built in 2009 by Hyundai, Ulsan.

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