Colourful Comings and Goings

 There were several comings and goings in Halifax today (June 2) - some of which were notable for their colour.

A quick visit was all that was required for the product tanker Torm India to receive clearance from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to proceed on its way from Texas City to Montreal. Presumably the ship was in Asian waters in the last year where it could have picked up an invasive species of moth that would be particularly harmful to Canadian softwood forests.

 Ships of the Danish company Torm A/S always stand out due to their burnt orange coloured superstructure. In addition to the company name on the jet black hull, there is also a version of the company flag.

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co Ltd built the ship in 2010 with the name Atlantic Queen. The 29,141 gt, 46,838 dwt product tanker was renamed by Torm in 2020,

Another outbound was the new tanker Algoma East Coast which will become a regular caller as it delivers Irving Oil product to regional ports. Its deep blue hull is very different from the traditional Irving Oil colours, which will soon be history.

A new sister ship the Algoma Acadian is en route from Hyundai, Ulsan and was last reported in Brasil en route to Savannah. It will replace the Acadian which is still in service in the area en route from Saint John to Portland.

There was another colourful arrival, the ONE Aquila on the Premier Alliance's EC3 Asia-North America service, direct from Colombo via the Cape of Good Hope.

The ONE Aquila used the main channel (not the western deepwater channel as I expected) and met the Algoma East Coast in the Middle Ground between Maugher's Beach and Ives Knoll for a starboard to starboard passing.

It still had lots of room to turn and back into Pier 41, using three tugs.

 ONE Aquila a 145,647 gt, 138,611 dwt ship built in 2018 by Japan Marine United in Kure, has a capacity of just over 14,000 TEU. Most sources have it at 14,065 for ships of this class. It is managed by NYK Line and works in the Ocean Network Express consortium of Japanese container lines, and uses the Latin word for Eagle in its name.

Meanwhile at Pier 41 MSC Cagliari IV was in from Montreal on MSC's North Europe - North America service. Wearing the usual MSC Colours, there was an exceptioanlly large housing for the exhaust gas scrubber system, which was painted out the same buff colour as the adjacent superstructure.

A 2017 product of the Dalian Shipbuilding Co, it started life as the ZIM Genova presumably for a ten year charter, after which it was renamed Genova in 2018, and MSC Cagliari IV in 2022. It is a 40,372 gt, 52,943 dwt ship of the 4250 TEU class, now rated at 4253 TEU, with 400 reefer plugs. 

Most MSC ships that carry a Roman Numeral in their name use a number at the top end of their TEU rating. A "IV" would normally be applied to a ship with a capacity in the high 3,000s of TEUs.

At Pier 20 to 22 were two ships with what might or might not be "colour schemes". Holland America's Zuiderdam follows tradition and is black and white. (Colour theorists will say that black is all colours and white is no colour.) The ship came from Fincantieri Trieste in 2002 and at 82,820 gt has a total passenger capacity of 2278 (or 2388), in 824 cabins, with a crew of 767 (others say 842).

Silverseas Cruises was represented by the Silver Dawn, which is mostly white. A 2021 build by Fincantieri Italiani, Ancona, it is a 40,855 gt ship with a passenger capacity of 660 in 298 cabins and 423 crew in 262 cabins.The ship is enroute from Boston to St.John's, NL.

After a day in port the Zuiderdam was the first to get away, backing out to the number 1 anchorage, turning, then heading for sea - destination Sydney. 

Whether organized or not there was a flypast of two helicopters, both wearing camo paint schemes - clearly not Royal Canadian Navy - but perhaps flying out of Shearwater.

 Shipfax considers its mandate to be "in, on, under and above" the water (hence the "beyond" in the subtitle.)

Silver Dawn got straight away from Pier 20 and headed north about to pass west of George's Island. I thought the ship would be all white, but instead the hull from about deck five down is a non descript browny light gray.

 It was soon shown up - colourwise at least - by the ubiquitous Harbour Hopper in its virulant green hull. (Likely the Harbour Hopper 4, but I did not read the name.)

As far as I can tell from online sources, early Silver Cruises ships were was all white up to 2019, when the two tone new colour scheme was introduced. This ship has always been two tone, but I am suggesting it was designed to be monchrome white as there is no natural break line between colours, such as a deck line (see Zuiderdam above.)

 

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MSC Cagliari IV for Montreal and other Chinese built ships

 The MSC Cagliari IV on MSC's Canada Express service called today, April 19, at PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub, Pier 42. The ship's last port was Antwerp and it is en route to en route to Montreal.

 

The ship may have been here before under a previous name. It was built in 2007 as ZIM Genova and became Genova in 2018 and MSC Genova IV in 2022. It is a 40,372 gt, 52,943 dwt ship with a capacity of 4253 TEU including 400 reefers. The Roman numeral "IV" in its name indicates the ship's capacity range. It is therefore an aid to classifying the ship in the bewildering array of ships in the Mediterranean Shipping Company fleet.

That fleet has just reached the (almost) unheard of number of 900 ships. Aside from Helen of Troy's reputed flotilla, no other shipping fleet has reached that size. (MSC owns several separate companies which are included to make up the 900 ship total.) The fleet consists of 609 owned and 291 chartered vessels with a capacity of 6.7 million TEU (that's a million TEU larger than Maersk). A further 132 ships are on firm order with various shipyards. 

This one was built at the Dalian Ship Industry Co in Dalian, China, and as such may soon be facing  a Trump tax on Chinese built ships.

Another ship that will be facing that punishing tax also called in Halifax today. The auto carrier Lake Tazawa docked first at Pier 9C with RoRo cargo then moved to Autoport to discharge cars.

The 71,631 gt, 19,213 dwt ship has a capacity of 7,000 CEU on 12 decks with a 150 tonne capacity stern ramp and a 20 tonne starboard side ramp.The ship is dual fuel to Tier III standard and carries two 2,000 cubic meter LNG tanks. It also has shaft generators and lithium battery storage and can connect to shore power.

It was built in 2024 by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard Co Ltd, and is one of series of ships to be operated by Eukor. It and its sister ship Lake Shirasagi are now regular callers on the Wallenius Wilhemsen transatlantic service - at least for now. The addition of punishing tarifs on imported cars may well change that.

Another familiar caller is back again and will not be facing any similar taxes. As one the few US built cruise ships Victory I resumes its usual itinerary of cruises to the Great Lakes. 

Docked at Pier 23, its heavy fendering shows up well. The combination of standoffs and a full length rub rail protect the ship's hull while transiting the Seaway locks. With sister ship Victory II they have had checkered careers since delivered by Atlantic Marine of Jacksonville, FL in 2001and 2004 as Cape May  Light and Cape Cod Light respectively. After several renamings and ownership changes, the 200 paasnger ships remain popular.

Coming from the direction of the Great Lakes is the Canadian tanker Kivalliq W. of Coastal Shipping Ltd. It anchored in the lower harbour waiting its turn at Imperial Oil with cargo from Sarnia, ON.

The ship's owner, part of the Woodward Group, is headquartered in Goose Bay, NL, but the ship operates out of Lewisporte, NL and in the summer season serves the far north. In the off season, as it was this past winter, it is flagged out to operate overseas. Its registration was shifted to the Marshall Islands December 1, 2024 and it returned to Canadian flag April 7.

Built in 2004 by Jiangyang Shipyard, Shanghai it is listed at 8882 gt, 13,670 dwt. Initially named Falcon it was renamed Sten Fjord in 2009 and renamed again when acquired by Coastal Shipping in 2018. It rarely trades to the United States so will likely escape the tax on Chinese built ships.

 

Algoberta at Imperial dock number 3, April 18.

Algoma's thanker Algoberta also working for Imperial Oil sailed back to Nanticoke this morning after unloading and Algoscotia, which has been waiting at Pier 27, moved over to Imperial Oil on departure. Algoscotia most commonly runs between Halifax and Sydney, NS.

 While Algoscotia was at Pier 27 April 8, there was a tank truck on the dock (not visible in the photo) possibly for refueling or possibly to take off tank washings.

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