Three ship day for MSC - and more

 The Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has been the largest container shipping company in the world since it eased past Maersk in January 2022. Topping 4 million TEU at that time it has since exceeded 6.4 million TEU, with 900 ships servicing 320 routes.

It probably shouldn't be a surprise when I saw three of its ships in Halifax on the same day, but it is still worth noting.

The MSC Clarita III arrrived yesterday September 12 on the Med-Canadian service from Italy and Spain and bound for Montreal. The ship docked at PSA Fairview Cove mostly to offload cargo and reduce draft for the St.Lawrence River, which is experiencing very low water levels due to dry and arid conditions in eastern Canada. On sailing this afternoon (September 13) it was showing lots of boot topping. AIS reported a draft of 10 meters which seems incorrect since the port of Montreal currently restricts draft to 8 meters (and that is in fresh water). 

MSC Clarita III is a 32,968 gt, 38,608 dwt ship, with a capacity of 2867 TEU and was built in 2006 by STX Shipbuilding Co in Jinhae.  Launched as HS Amundsen it was renamed on delivery as Ital Onore, becoming Hs Onore in 2014 and As Clarita in 2017. It became the MSC Clarita III in 2024.

Also arriving yesterday, but at PSA Atlantic Hub (Southend Container Terminal) the MSC Mexico V is serving the Indus Express, sailing directly from Nhava Sheva (August 15). 

The harbour tour schooner Silva of Halifax shares the main channel with the MSC Mexico V sailing this afternoon.

 The third MSC ship had to wait its turn loitering off Halifax all day until there was a clear berth at PSA Atlantic Hub. (I don't know why there have been so many delays over the past few days, but most ships took much longer in port that initially scheduled.)

In the meantime the cruise ship Mein Schiff I sailed, looking ever so much like a graffiti covered wall waiting for a clean up.

 While it made its way out to sea, en route to Quebec, it met the inbound ONE Madrid.

 

And following the ONE Madrid was the MSC Sena. (Also sailing from Pier 41-42 was the Pictor on Eimskip service, but not picture here.)

 In rapidly fading light, the ONE Madrid made its way to PSA Atlantic Hub, berth 41, MSC Sena slow steaming until the ONE Madrid was secure then tied up at berth 42.

 

The ONE Madrid was built by Imabari Zosen, Mihara, Japan as Madrid Bridge, 152,068 gt, 146,778 dwt with a capacity of 13,900 TEU. The ship's owners, K-Line, joined the other Japanese container Lines, NYK Line and MOL to form Ocean Network Express (ONE) in 2017 and began the process of renaming their ships and giving them them the "cherry blossom" hull colour. Madrid Bridge was renamed in 2023.

MSC Sena did not get close enough for a good photo by the time the light was gone. Built in 1996 by Halla Inchon, and completed by Halla Samho, it started life as the ZIM Sydney, and was renamed Rhein in 2000, E.T.Albany in 2002, CMA CGM Egypt in 2004, MacAndrews America in 2006, E.R.Albany again in 2007 and finally settled on MSC Sena in 2013. It is a 30,280 gt, 44,215 dwt ship with a capacity variously reported as 28111 to 2825 TEU. It is on the Canada Express service, and will also lighten draft before proceeding to Montreal. (Unlike the other two MSC ships it has not had a Roman numeral appended to its name indicating container capacity range.) 

 

Although not qualifying as a ship,  there was another watercraft to add to the mix. A determined camper dressed all in black, hand pumped up a "rubber boat" on Black Rock Beach and set out for Macnab's island, loaded to the gunnels, threading their way between the ONE Madrid and MSC Sena warranting a warning toot from the latter (which appeared to have been ignored). I was concerned by the proximity to the tugs' wakes when they beganto push hard, but I lost sight of the boat in the fading light. I hope they made it to shore. [Note the use of the ungendered pronoun which I normally don't need to do].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tankers, Containers and Cargo

 Arrivals in the Port of Halifax today (October 12) saw the usual array of ship types. Included were several familiar callers including the cruise ship Emerald Princess (see also October 4) and container ships NYK Daedalus and NYK Remus for PSA Fairview Cove.

An early afternoon arrival was the tanker Alpine Marina [conjurs up a strange mental image] from Saint John for Irving Oil and prior to that from Amsterdam.

An MR2 chemical product tanker of 29,155 gt, 46,162 dwt, it was built in 2010 by Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan. Operator Oxygen Maritime Management Inc is based in Zurich and runs four tankers in total, in this case for the ship owner Tornado Navigation Inc.

The Alpine Marina may not be in port very long, since it appears to be very lighly loaded. [Irving Oil's Saint John refinery is in the midst of a $190 million maintenace "turn around" period, so I expect to see more ships from Amsterdam.]

Arriving from Sines, Portugal on the CANEX 1 service for MSC, the MSC Mexico V tied up at Pier 41-42. [The Nolhan Ava is at Pier 41 using the RoRo ramp - see yesteday's post].

 A veteran carrier, built in 2002 by Hyundai, Ulsan, the 53,453 gt, 66,547 dwt ship has a capacity of 4839 TEU.

It also has a history with Halifax, having arrived here for the first time April 5, 2002 on its maiden voyage. It was then called ZIM Mediterranean and continued to call here for several years. It was the first of a series of six Panamax ships built for ZIM, and flying the Israeli flag.

(I managed to get a picture on its second arrival, in May of the same year.)

In 2014 it was chartered to OOCL and renamed OOCL Mexico and called here June 12, 2016.

 

On that trip it docked at Fairview Cove for what was then the G6 Alliance. As far as I can recall it did not adopt the OOCL colours or hull banner.

In 2016 it was again renamed, this time simply as Mexico, carrying that name until 2022 when it was briefly renamed MSC Mexico before taking the "V" suffix as MSC Mexico V later in 2022.

On its current visit to Halifax the ship is en route to Montreal and is due there October 16. It does not appear to need much in the way of draft reduction, so will be here for only a short stay.

To fill out the berths at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway, Eimskip's Skogafoss arrived late in the afternoon and eased in to Pier 42, possibly without tug assistance. (It was a pleasantly calm day,)

A regular on Eimskip's Green Line service since 2011, the ship is one of three ships on the Reykjavik, Halifax, Portland and return (via Argentia) line that also acts as a New England feeder from Halifax for CMA CGM. It is due in Argentia on October 14 and Reykjavik on October 20 on the eastbound leg.

United States flagged ships are a rarity in Halifx, and it was interesting to see the arival of the general cargo ship SLNC Magothy this afernoon.[SLNC stands for Schuyler Line Navigation Company from Annapolis, MD, which names its ships for rivers in Maryland. Its four crane bulker SLNC Severn has been here a couple of times en route to or from Auld's Cove for aggregates.]

The ship was built in 2009 by Qingsham, Wuhan as an ice class tween decker of 15,459 gt, 17,478 dwt, fitted with two 400 tonne and one 120 tonne SWL deck cranes. It can carry 1,009 TEU. Orginally named the Beluga Persuasion, it was renamed Beluga Singapore in 2010 but was then caught up in the fraud-related collapse of the Beluga Shipping, and resulting sell off of its heavy lift fleet. It became Singapore in 2012,  HHL Lisbon in 2012. Norfolk in 2015 and SLNC Magothy in 2019. As a non-Jones Act ship (i.e. not built in the USA) it cannot trade between US ports, but it is given preference over foreign ships for US government cargo. 

I am assuming, since it tied up at Pier 9C that it is here to load a couple of dozen US military Light Tactical Vehicles, (ATVs) that have been arriving by truck over the last few days.
 

Built by Oshkosh, they come in several versions and are used by the US Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy. They have also been exported to other nations.

Lined up at Pier 9C, they would seem to be more easily loaded on a RoRo ship. Since the ship has recently been in Poland, I am also guessing that these vehicles may be headed for Europe. How it is that they would be shipped thtough Halifax is so far unexplainable. (Note the Nova Scotia license plate on the truck trailer above. The tractor was from elsewhere - possibly Ontario.)

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