MSC Alyssa (again)

 I have noted the container ship MSC Alyssa half a dozen times since 2021 and as recently as April 7 and 16 of this month. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about its call today except that I only caught up with the ship on its departure.

Today, May 19, was the occasion of the 21st annual Bluenose Marathon, an event that ties up many of the city streets for the early part of the day, including my usual ship viewing spot at Point Pleasant Park. Since I live within the loop of the race route, it is difficult to get to the port, so I stayed home until the afternoon.

By the time MSC Alyssa sailed at 1645 hrs ADT, the race was long over and a steady drizzle had set in, but thanks to the magic of photo editing, the ship was made more visible.

 With the pilot boat Capt. E.T.Rogers keeping pace, the MSC Alyssa has cleared PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway outbound for Montreal.

 A regular caller on MSC's CANEX1 service to/from the Mediterranean the MSC Alyssa usually calls westbound en route to Montreal to lighten up to St.Lawrence draft, and eastbound to add cargo. Today it is westbound from Sines, Portugal and is due in Montreal on May 22. Although the ship still appeared to be well loaded, its draft on sailing was reported to be 10.8 meters. That will increase when it reaches the freshwater of the Upper St. Lawrence River. Montreal's maximum allowable draft is usually quoted at 11 meters, however during spring run off it is 12 meters or more. (Salinity in the river decreases the farther one goes upstream, but the water is brackish as far as the eastern end of the Ile d'Orléans.) 

Built in 2001 by Hanjin Heavy Industry + Construction Co in Busan, MSC Alyssa is a 43,575 gt, 61,487 dwt vessel with a capacity of 4340 TEU including 150 reefer plugs. The ship is due for its 25 year classification renewal September 30, 2026, by which time it will likely be due for retirement. The large number of new and more efficient ships on order or to be delivered this year and next may spell the end for ships of its vintage, no matter how sound they may be.

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MSC Alyssa - back again

 The MSC Alyssa arrived back in Halifax today, April 16, from Montreal on its way back to Europe on Mediterranean Shipping Company's CANEX 2 service. It was here April 7, 2024 from Europe on the westbound leg.

On that previous visit the ship's deck was loaded to various heights and had very few boxes stowed aft. It also appeared to have fairly light draft, so may only have offloaded some empties or express cargo here. This time it was uniformly loaded, three boxes high, for its entire length.

(Above) Previous visit, April 7, 2024.

(above) Today, April 16.

Normally ships on CANEX2 and other St.Lawrence River services stop in Halifax inbound to reduce draft. Outbound ships, once here in salt water, and beyond any other draft restriction on the St.Lawrence, can load to greater draft for ocean crossing. 

This time the MSC Alyssa maxed out its load in Montreal, but still has lots of capacity for salt water and deep water, and so will take on additional tiers of containers here before heading for Sines, Portugal.

Built in 2001 by Hyundai, Busan, MSC Alyssa is registered at 43,575 gt, 61,487 dwt with a capacity of 4340 TEU, including 150 reefers. 

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MSC Alyssa Makes a Splash

 Arriving today, April 7, on the Mediterranean Shipping Company's Canada Express 2 route from Sines, Portugal for Montreal, the MSC Alyssa faced a brisk headwind. The camera flattens the waves, and so does the wind, but the texture of the water is an indicator that it was very breezy.

The tugs Atlantic Beaver and Atlantic Oak met the ship inside Mauger's Beach and prepared to make up foreward and aft (respectively).

Despite several attempts the heaving line from the ship's bow kept blowing away and the deck hands on the Atlantic Beaver were getting soaked and perhaps dangerously so. 

 Fortunately Azimuthing Stern Drive tugs can work well going astern so the tug master peeled away and turned to come alongside stern first. This provided a bit of a lee for the tug's deck hands to make up their winch line to the ship's heaving line, but not before the tug was inundated with spray. (The winch is on the foredeck).

The Atlantic Beaver's after deck, which is much lower than the bow, took a lot of water. 

With the quantity of water streaming from the clearing ports there may have been more than a foot on deck.

 The white arrow on the ship's hull indicates a safe pushing point for the tug. The light heaving line can be seen draped over the ship's name.

Eventually the connection was made and the ship berthed successfully at Pier 42. (The flock of eider ducks were disinterested spectators.)

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Pre-Holiday

To avoid being in port over Christmas, the race was onto get as many ships as possible in and out of port today (December 23). The term "Christmas" as far as the port is concerned, starts December 24 and extends through the 25th (actual Christmas Day) and the 26th (Boxing Day). Premium wage rates apply for longshore workers on these holidays, and terminal gates are closed to truck traffic. To add to the volume of traffic was the fact that most of today's arrivals had been holding offshore due to weather for a day or two.

Almost every berth was occupied for the better part of the day today, with coming and going at some.

Starting in the north end of the port, the Baie St.Paul arrived at Gold Bond gypsum in Bedford Basin this morning, to squeeze in another cargo. The Canadian flagged ship may be heading for a Great Lakes port, so is in a rush to load and go before the St.Lawrence Seaway closes for the winter. This season's January 5 closing is the latest for the modern day system, which opened in 1959. (The old St.Lawrence Canals which preceded the Seaway usually closed before Christmas.) The Canso Canal closing date may also be a factor, as the ship would likely take that route. (The Canal / Lock usually closes on December 23 for repair and maintenance work.)

The Baie St.Paul is built to maximum Seaway dimensions, and was reinforced to make short ocean voyages - usually only as far as Halifax. For a ship built as recently as 2012 (by Chnengxi Shipyard Jiangyin, Jiangsu) it certainly appears in hard shape.

Aside from the usual late season "lock rash" that all maximum breadth Seaway ships exhibit, the ship also has the "hungry horse" look. That effect, where  hull plates have contorted between ribs, is usually the result of many years of torsional forces.

The Baie St. Paul is a 24,340 gt, 37,690 dwt ship but when loaded to maximum Seaway draft of 8.08 meters (26'-6")(in fresh water) it loads about 29,650 tonnes of gypsum in Halifax. 

Seaway maximum hull dimensions are 225.5m (740') x 23.77m (78'). Since the locks are 24.4m (80') wide, and ships usually slide along the approach wall to ensure that they enter the lock cleanly, "lock rash" is inevitable. However a factor in the "hungry horse" look is twisting of the the long and narrow hull form, so may also be inevitable over time.

The Baie St.Paul is a perfect fit at the Gold Bond dock in Lower Burnside. The facility's traveling conveyor moves back and forth along the length of the ship for even loading.

 PSA Fairview Cove was all out today with the early morning departure of the storm delayed NYK Rigel alongside since yesterday and Oceanex Sanderling waiting its turn at anchor.

On its weekly run to St.John's, the Oceanex Sanderling may be in no great hurry as it would not wish to arrive in St.John's on Christmas Day. It did manage to squeeze in a brief call at Autoport but in any event there is at least one more ship ahead of it for Fairview Cove.

The ZIM feeder Annie B (see yesterday's post) moved out to anchor this morning, but will likely move back in after the Navios Indigo sails. That ship arrived at PSA Fairview Cove this morning on the ZCA / AL7 service from Mediterranean ports.

 The 4250 TEU ship made its first call in Halifax October19, 2023 on the joint ZIM Container Services Atlantic/ Hapag-Lloyd route from the Mediterranean to North America east coast. That route's easternmost ports are Haifa and Ashdod, with scheduled calls in Egypt, Turkey, Italy and Spain. From Halifax it is due to call in New York, Norfolk and Savannah before heading eastbound again.

At PSA Halifax Gateway it was similarly busy with the Ultra size ONE Eagle alongside Pier 41 until late tonight. MSC Alyssa occupied Pier 42 most of the day with MSC Marianna due to take its place later. Also due is Eimskip's Lagarfoss and an ultra-size, CMA CGM T. Jefferson, is anchored offshore waiting its turn.

Some ice from the recent freezing rain still coats the grass and a picnic table at Point Pleasant Park while cranes work the MSC Alyssa at Pier 42. 

There was also a run on autocarriers trying to beat the deadline. The SFL Conductor made an unusual late night call last night, sailing at 0200 hrs this morning. Morning Concert arrived yesterday afternoon at Pier 9C to offload the usual array of machinery before moving to Autoport this morning to disembark cars. It will sail late this afternoon.

 The Grande Luanda is anchored off Halifax and is due this evening, after dark and is due to sail tomorrow mid-day.

The pilot boat Capt. E.T.Rogers makes its way inbound in glassy calm conditions as Grande Luanda rides at anchor offshore.

 Thr tanker Algocanada is still at anchor. It moved there to wait out the recent storm, but I assumed it would move to Imperial Oil's number 3 dock as soon as conditions calmed down. However another Canadian tanker, the Kivalliq W., arriving from Sarnia, put in this morning - it had been holding offshore due to weather. (The extra overtime rates do not apply at the oil terminals which are privately operated, but the supplies of fuel products are constantly in demand and deliveries are scheduled weeks or even months in advance. Depending on the product being carried some ships would be given priority to offload.)

Algocanada is fully loaded.

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Busy, Busy - REVISED

 Perhaps as the Tuesday following the Victoria Day long weekend, today, May 23, was little busier than usual in the port of Halifax.

There were ships at both container piers, with MSC Sandra docking at Fairview Cove on the Turkey-Greece service. (Ships on this route usually dock at the other terminal, but it was also busy).

 

Built in 2000 by Hanjin Heavy Industry + Construction Co Ltd in Busan, it is a 43,575 gt, 61,468 dwt  ship with a capacity of 4340 TEU including 150 reefers.

On sailing for Boston late this afternoon, the ship passed a sister ship (not just a fleet mate) at Pier 42.

MSC Alyssa was built at the same shipyard, but in 2001, and has the same gross tonnage and container capacity. Its deadweight tonnage is recorded as 61,487 however.  The ship is en route from Montreal on the Canada Express 2 service and is topping up to ocean draft before sailing this evening for Spain and Italy.

 Also at the southend terminal, but at Pier 41 was the APL California. It sailed late this afternoon for Suez after working its way up the usual US east coast ports of Norfolk, Charleston, and Savannah. The ship appears to be on a non-standard route from Asia. It passed Suez westbound on April 29.

Judging by the containers on deck it appears to be sailing for THE Alliance. As with all APL (for American President Line, owned by CMA CGM) ships it was built for transPacific work and has a large lashing frame at the stern to protect against following seas. The ship has also been retro-fitted with an exhaust gas scrubber system, in a huge enclosed structure. An entire bay of container capacity appears to have been sacrificed for the scrubber tower.

REVISION: I was asleep at the switch on this one, as the APL California is the second ship to call on CMA CGM's India service, operating jointly with COSCO and Hapag-Lloyd. The first call  was APL Southampton on May 14.

One general cargo ship arrived this afternoon. The Augusta Luna, a regular caller for Nirint Lines from Cuba, with some bagged nickel sulfides cargo.  A versatile ship of 12,772 gt, 17,370 dwt, Augusta Luna has a capacity of 903 TEU (nominal) including 60 reefers. It also carries two 150 tonne and one 80 tonne cranes. Built in 2011 by the Xinshun Shipyard Group in Yueqing, China, it started life as Rickmers Yokohama. In 2015 it became Lolland and Augusta Luna in 2019.

Nirint currently has six ships running between Europe and Cuba, with the Gotland and  Eagle II as the other regular callers in Halifax.

Tankers were not to be left out of the equation. As per yesterday's post the STI Pimlico moved from anchor to Irving Oil Woodside early in the morning on departure of the Acadian. At Imperial Oil it was the Navig8 Success arriving from Antwerp with a cargo of refined product.

A 30,075 gt, 50,571 dwt ship it was built in 2009 by SPP Plant + Shipbuilding Co in Sacheon, South Korea. Navig8 Group claims to be the largest independant tanker pool and commercial management company. They have 140 ships under management of which they own 50. If the ship is scrubber equipped it appears to have been well integrated into the ship's superstructure.

As the ship made its way toward the number 3 dock, Imperial's "tank farm" formed a backdrop.

Also appearing in Halifax again this week was the cruise ship Zaandam on its regular itinerary, en route to Sydney and onwards to Montreal.

Despite (or perhps because of) its age - it was delivered by Fincantieri Marghera in 2000 - the ship has a certain elegance of line. It is also free of the added "amenities" of newer  and gaudier ships. Its 1432 passengers and 615 crew perhaps do not travel in, or pay for, extreme luxury, but the 61,396 gt ship provides reliable service.

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MSC Double Header

Two MSC ships arrived in Halifax today, April 19. MSC Alyssa arrived from Montreal on the CANEX2 service and docked at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway, southend container terminal and MSC Fiammetta arrived on the Turkey/Greece service and docked at PSA Fairview Cove. The use of both terminals allowed the two ships to be worked simultaneously and to sail within the same working day.

MSC Alyssa tied up at Pier 42, leaving space at Pier 41 for Oceanex Sanderling to unload containers and to use the RoRo ramp. Built in 2001 by Hanjin Heavy Industry and Construction Co Ltd in Busan, it is a 43,575 gt, 61,487 dwt ship with a capacity of 4340 TEU including 150 reefers.

 After topping up with a few more containers, the ship sailed for Barcelona.(Ships on this service call in Halifax ostensibly to take on more cargo that they could not load in Montreal due to draft restrictions on the St.Lawrence River. In this case whatever additional cargo it took on, the ship did not reach "ocean draft".)

MSC Fiammetta is a first time caller in Halifax. It is notable for the array of lashing frames on the after deck. These are a feature of ships built for the transpacific trade where rolling and following seas have resulted in losses of containers that were conventionally lashed down.

The MSC Fiammetta dates from 2008 when it was delivered by Samsung Shipbuilding + Heavy Industries Co Ltd, Geoje. It is a 66,399 gt, 73,355 dwt vessel with a capacity of 5762 TEU. 

On departure the ship gave Boston as its next port of call. It is the second MSC ship on the Turkey/Greece service to call in Halifax recently. The MSC Anahita was here on Saturday, April 15 and was the first from that service to call at PSA Fairview Cove.

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Back to Normal

 After a brief period of record cold temperatures February 3-4 when the mercury dropped to -25 degrees C (-13 F) in Halifax, there was a quick return to normal, and above, on February 5-6 when the high reached  +5C (41F). Several ships were late in arriving, probably to avoid the high winds and dangerous freezing spray.

Among the February 5 arrivals were two ships coming from the south, where conditions were slightly better. Viviene Sheri D running for Eimskip was en route from the US to Argentia, NL then Iceland and AS Felicia was on ZIM's Florida feeder service. 

Vivienne Sheri D had a dusting of frozen spray on its sides forward.
 

There was no frozen spray visible on AS Felicia.

On February 6 the NYK Deneb and Algoma Integrity arrived from the south, Cartagena and Portsmouth (Newington), NH respectively:

NYK Deneb headed directly for Fairview Cove.

Algoma Integrity also headed for Bedford Basin, but anchored waiting the CSL Kajika which was loading at Gold Bond Gypsum.

On February 6 the container ship MSC Alyssa arrived from Montreal, having travelled through a lot of ice on the St.Lawrence and very rough conditions in the Gulf. By the time it arrived in the afternoon, any sign of frozen spray had disappeared. It will top up cargo to ocean draft before heading back across the Atlantic.

The Siem Cicero Confucius arrived off Halifax February 3 and waited out the cold spell offshore until February 6 to enter port and tie up at Autoport. The ship sailed from Emden and is now headed for Baltimore.

The pilot boat Scotia Pilot accompanies the ship outbound. Rather than standing by at the pilot station in the lingering slop and swell, it remained in the harbour until it was time to set out to disembark the pilot.

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Busy, Busy, Busy - updated

 Halifax has now joined many other ports in the world with container ships waiting for berths as the terminals seem to be working full out. It is still nothing like the west coast US ports of Los Angeles / Long Beach or Chinese ports such as Shanghai. But to see ships anchored offshore for days, the terminals stretched for space, and CN putting on extra trains is virtually unheard of here.

PSA Halifax, operators of both container terminals, Southend (Atlantic Gateway) and Fairview Cove have been sharing the load between the two facilities, with big ships docking at the Southend and (relatively) smaller ships at Fairview Cove.

At the Southend the14,414 TEU CMA CGM J. Adams, (see yesterday's post) occupied berth 41 today (June 22).

That left berth 42 for the MSC Pratiti  on the Turkey-Greece service.

An interesting ship, MSC Pratiti was built in 2004 by Hyundai, Ulsan, and is a 53,453 gt, 66,597 dwt vessel with a capacity of 4814 TEU including 330 reefers. It was a frequent caller in Halifax under its original name, ZIM Pusan. It was renamed simply Pusan in 2014, then Kowloon Bay in 2017 and MSC Pratiti in 2021. 

I also noted that the ship was refueling while at Pier 42. This is not something I have seen much of as most container lines arrange bunker stops overseas.

As soon as CMA CGM J.Adams sailed this evening Navarino docked. It is MSC's Indus 2 route from North India. I will cover that ship tomorrow.

Back in 2017 Shipfax speculated that the ZIM Pusan was going for scrap. See February 7, 2017 , but it was apparently saved by the huge upswing in demand for even "uneconomic" sized ships, and MSC's buying spree.

Interestingly another MSC ship on the service from Turkey and Greece, MSC Matilde, which was due yesterday, has opted to bypass Halifax. In fact it just cleared Sines, Portugal June 21 and is giving a June 30 ETA for Freeport, Bahamas.

Heading for Fairview Cove, the MSC Alyssa is on the Canada Express 1 service from the Mediterranean. It will stop over long enough to unload boxes to reduce draft to meet St.Lawrence River restrictions.

On the way in it passed the Vistula Maersk, also bound for Montreal, which has been anchored offshore since June 20 awating its turn at the Southend.

 

Built in 2001 by Hyundai, Busan, MSC Alyssa is registered at 43,575 gt, 61,487 dwt with a capacity of 4340 TEU, including 150 reefers.

The ship took the tug Atlantic Oak as stern escort, as required by harbour regulations, to make its way through the Narrows to Bedford Basin where it anchored untill its berth was clear.

Fairview Cove was also working the Humen Bridge. It moved out to Basin anchorage in the evening to allow MSC Alyssa alongside.

 Humen Bridge, built 2007 by IHI, Kure, 98,747 gt, 98,849 dwt, with a capacity of 9040 TEU, settling in at anchor in the Basin. It sailed later in the evening.

Not to be left out, Autoport has been very busy too, with a great many cars originating from Volkswagen's port of Emden. Today's arrival was a first time caller I believe, SFL Composer.

Built in 2005 by Minami Nippon, Shitanoe, the 58,631 gt, 18,881 dwt ship was named Excellent Ace until 2012 then Glovis Composer until 2020. SFL Corp is a NYSE listed ship investment company with ships of all types, including six auto carriers, four of which (including this one) are dedicated to Volkswagen. It has a rated capacity of 6500 CEU.

On sailing this afternoon, the ship gave its destination as Davisville, RI. That port has recently expanded its auto piers and will now be able to handle more than its previous totals of 300,000 cars per year. By comparison Autoport in Halifax handles about 185,000 vehicles per year and is the sole new car import facility in eastern Canada.

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