Repeaters, 1 and 2

 Repeater 1

 It is always good to see ships that are new to Halifax, but there are many ships that come to Halifax often and become regulars. Usually the repeaters do not attract much attention but sometimes their visit is worth noting.  Today (June 8)'s arrival of CSL's Baie St. Paul sees the return of a familiar ship, but its call may be worth a mention.

 On its way inbound late this morning the Baie St. Paul took the photographically preferrable route west of George's Island on its way to the Gold Bond Gypsum dock in Bedford Basin.

The 24,430 gt, 37,690 dwt ships was the first of CSL's Trillium class self-unloading bulkers, built in 2012 by Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, China. Initially intended for Great Lakes and St.Lawrence Seaway trading, it was later strengthened in order to make "short sea" voyages outside the confines of the Gulf of St.Lawrence to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. At the same time it began to carry salt loads out of the Magdalen Islands and to work well into the winter season to meet demand in upriver ports such as Montreal.

Included in those salt cargoes was four loads for Halifax landed at Pier 9C last year. See previous post at: September 20, 2021 . Approximately 100,000 to 150,000 tonnes of the material was stockpiled against the possibility of a disruption in supply from the Pugwash salt mine, which is the usual source for winter road salt in mainland Nova Scotia. (The same Shipfax post also explains the significance of the ship's name).

Now that CSL has taken delivery of a new purpose-built salt carrier called Nukumi (see previous posts at: March 27, April 6 and April 30), Baie St. Paul has returned to more traditional cargoes such as coal, aggregates and ore. In fact the ship is arriving today from Charlottetown where it delivered a load of construction aggregates from Auld's Cove, NS. That is a convenient run as the ship is built to Seawaymax dimensions, as is the Canso Lock, making it a short run along the Northumberland Strait to the PEI capital.

Salt is a notoriously destructive cargo for ships, so returning this ship to carrying less damaging materials should add a few years to its working life.

Recent loads of gypsum from Gold Bond to Canadian ports have been going to Hamilton, ON, although several other ports between here and there may also have demand for raw gypsum ore.

Repeater 2

The container carrier MSC Lucy arrived again today on the Mediterranean Shipping Company's Indus 2 service from north India. In my last post about the ship (see March 27 ) I  regretted that I could only get a "going away" photo instead of the better "arriving" view. So I stirred myself this morning to be on scene when it made its way in to PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub, Pier 41.

 The ship, which certainly appeared to be deeply loaded, took the western, deepwater, channel and used a tug as tethered escort astern. It was then met by two more tugs in the Middle Ground between Maugher's Beach and Ives Knoll.

Hyundai Heavy Industry and Construction Co, Busan, South Korea built the MSC Lucy  in 2005 and it measures 89,954 gt, 104,954 dwt. It has a container capacity of 8089 TEU including 550 reefers.

MSC seems to be doing good business on the Indus 2 service, with some of the orginal 8,200 TEU size ships now being replaced with larger ones. I am not sure they could squeeze too many more boxes aboard this one, so more capacity may be on the way.

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MSC Lucy and Manon

 MSC Lucy

"Going away" photos, especially backlit ones, are not the most desirable for those aficionados of ship photography, but when that is all you can get you take them anyway. Such was the case today ( March 27) with MSC Lucy. It had frustrated me on its visit in January when it arrived and departed in the dark when no photo was possible.

On that January call the ship had spent some days hove to in the Gulf of Maine waiting for the storms to pass before entering Halifax harbour. 

When MSC began calling Halifax with its Indus 2 service from northwest India via the Mediterranean to east coast North America in October 2021, there were eight ships in the rotation, but most of the first eight did not call again. MSC Lucy was the thirteenth ship when it made its first call in Halifax in January. 

With the pilot boat Capt. E.T.Rogers close alongside MSC Lucy has just cleared Pier 42 at PSA Halifax and is about to swing into the western (deep water) channel.

MSC Lucy is a 2005 product of Hanjin Heavy Industry and Construction Co Ltd in Busan, South Korea. It is a 89,954 gt, 104,954 deadweight ship with a capacity of 8089 TEU including 550 reefers. Its next port of call is to be Norfolk. The Indus 2 will be forsaking Norfolk next month and calling on Boston instead - this may be another opportunity for short sea traffic from Halifax.

Manon

Women's names have long been popular for ships (see MSC above.) The other departure today, Wallenius Wilhelmsen's Manon, is named for an opera character, the theme for all Wallenius ship names. Wallenius had either Puccini's Italian language opera Manon Lescaut or Massenet's French language opera Manon to choose from - both based on the same French novel.

I have seen this ship many times, particularly in its original Wallenius green and white paint scheme, but had not been able to get a clear shot of the ship underway since it was repainted in the combined fleet colours last year. (See an alongside photo at Autoport, exactly one year ago: March 27, 2021)

Built in 1999 by Daewoo Heavy Industry in Okpo, South Korea, the ship was orginally rated at 57,018 gt, 14,863 dwt. It was lengthened from 199.2 to 227.9 meters in 2005, thus increasing its tonnages to 67,264 gt, 28,360 dwt. Its capacity is now 7,194 RT43 Car Equivalent Units. It has a 125 tonne capacity stern ramp.

The pilot boat doesn't look quite so small in comparison to the ship from this angle.

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Waiting it out - or not

 A big wind and snow storm moved across the Atlantic provinces yesterday, January 14, through today and extending into tomorrow for northern areas. Interprovincial ferry services were cancelled and the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island was closed to all traffic. These legendary "nor'easters" are to be avoided if possible, and some ships sought sheltered anchorages and others skipped scheduled port calls altogether.

Waiting it out 1

Oceanex sent its ship Oceanex Avalon to anchor in Halifax last night rather than heading out to sea for St.John's. 

 The Oceanex Avalon in anchorage number one, just off the PSA Halifax terminal.

The ship has been temporarily assigned to the Halifax / St.John's route for alternate weeks while Oceanex Sanderling is in refit in Amsterdam. Fleet mate Oceanex Connaigra is sharing the duties, leaving Montreal with only one ship per week to St.John's during the month long refit period.

The Oceanex Avalon is now scheduled to sail this evening.

The ship may also be staying in port during foul weather because it is hatchless over most of its cargo space. It only has number one hatch covered. The rest of the hold is open to the elements and perhaps there are restrictions on when it can sail.

Waiting it out 2

Anchored in Bedford Basin, the bulk carrier Tanja also appears to be waiting out the bad weather as it heads south. Its last port was Grande Anse on the Saguenay River and it appears to be in ballast.

Tanja was built in 2016 by AVIC Dingheng in Yangzhou, China. It is a 19,104 gt, 27,674 dwt ship with box shaped holds and double skin, equipped with three 30 tonne cranes. It is also fitted to carry kaolin clay in slurry form and has a large slop tank near mid-ships.

Kaolin is used in paper making which explains its vists to Point Tupper, Quebec City, Grande Anse and other ports with nearby paper mills.

 

The ship had to call for a pilot this morning to re-anchor as it was dragging in high winds. Note the "bar taught" anchor line. Maximum winds speeds in excess of 65 kph(40 mph) and a maximum gust of 89 kph (55 mph) were recorded in the harbour today. Temperatures were in the - 12C (+10 F) range.

Waiting it out 3

The ConRo Nolhan Ava remained at Fairview Cove rather than sailing on its usual Friday departure for Argentia, NL and St-Pierre et Miquelon. It is a small ship and sailing in very bad weather risks damage to ship or cargo.

File photo from June 24, 2016.  The ship carries a range of containers, trailers and RoRO.

 

 

Skips and misses

 I noticed the ConRo ship Atlantic Sky by passing Halifax today en route from Liverpool, UK to New York. The ship did not appear on the Port's schedule for today, so this appears to have have been a planned "skip"  - it is due back on the eastbound leg January 22.

Another odd movement is MSC Lucy which arrived in Halifax January 13 and sailed early in the morning of January 14. Since then it was seen idling in the Gulf of Maine in a position roughly on a line between Bar Harbor, ME and Yarmouth, NS. It is now heading back toward Halifax and is due tomorrow January16. The ship is on MSC's Indus 2 service from North India via the Mediterranean.

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