Box Ships and Cruisers

 The cruise season is now well underway and today, May 16, marked the arrival of both a familiar ship and a new ship to Halifax.

The Pearl Mist ought to be familiar because it was built by the Halifax Shipyard. Its story is a convoluted one, best summarized by its Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Mist

 With a passenger capacity of 210 (in 105 cabins, all outside with balconies) and 70 crew, the ship is one of the smallest cruise ships to call in Halifax. It arrived this morning from Portland, ME and sailed this afternoon for the Strait of Canso en route to the Great Lakes for the summer.

At the other end of the scale was the first time caller Norwegian Prima, a 143,535 gt behemoth with a passenger capacity of 3,099 and crew of 1,506.

 The first of six ships to be built by Fincantieri, Marghera, it is just about the ugliest passenger ship I have ever seen. It boasts large open deck space including a ten deck water slide and a race track, plus an exclusive First Class section called The Haven which is isolated from the common passenger area. No doubt it has many other amenities, which can be enjoyed without actually having to see the ship.

There was lots of more prosaic container ship activity in the port too. The MSC Rossella made a call at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway to top up cargo en route from Montreal to Barcelona on MSC's Canada Express 2 service.

A veteran ship, built in 1993 by Samsung Geoje, it is a 37,398 gt, 43,605 dwt vessel with a container capacity of 3398 TEU. Launched as Hansa Europe it was delivered as Ville de Carina and renamed MSC Rossella in 1997. With the fluctuating market for ships these days it is hard to know how much longer it will survive. With all the deliveries of new ships scheduled for 2023-2024, the market may become saturated, but few of then will be this size, which is ideal for the St.Lawrence trade. However thirty year old ships are rare due to the cost of keeping them in class. It is due for its next surveys later this year and almost all of its certificates expire December 31, 2023.

In the above photo, the MSC Rossella is outbound in the Main (Eastern) channel and the tug Atlantic Willow is on its way to meet the ZIM Qingdao inbound in the Deepwater (Western) channel. Ferguson's Cove is an ideal viewing spot for ships in the western channel as they swing close to shore.

On the Zim Container Atlantic (ZCA) service, arriving from Valencia, Spain, the ZIM Qingdao is a 39,906 gt, 60,690 dwt ship with a capacity of 4250 TEU. It was built in 2006 by Dalian New Shipbuilding.

By using the Western Channel, ZIM Qingdao gave the Norwegian Prima lots of room in the Eastern Channel.

Another arrival, about an hour later sailed on through the harbour to PSA Fairview Cove. The NYK Constellation is another of the Daedalus class of 55,534 gt, 65,919 dwt, with a capacity of 4922 TEU with 330 reefer plugs. As with several recent sister ships it is on THE Alliance's AL5 service arriving from Saint John, NB on the eastbound leg. Its sister ship NYK Daedalus arrived early this morning westbound from Antwerp, also at PSA Fairview Cove. There was thus the rare opportunity to see two ships of the same class together - which I missed.

Despite best efforts (Shipfax can only be in one place at a time - so far) I also managed to miss the MSC Cornelia on the Turkey-Greece run en route to Boston and the auto carrier Supreme Ace from Emden for Houston. (Both ships hsave been mentioned in this blog before.)

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Taking Shelter

 With a major Nor'easter storm on its way from New England to Nova Scotia, several container ships are remaining in the Port of Halifax, rather than risking conditions at sea, particulary in the Gulf of Maine. Container ships are vulnerable to loss of containers in severe storms, so the ships are taking a wise precaution of staying put. 

Also memories are still fresh, despite the passage of thirty years, of the loss of the Gold Bond Conveyor in just such a storm. Sailing out of Halifax for Tampa, FL with a load of gypsum, the ship went down with all thirty-three crew members on March 15, 1993.

The rare scene in Bedford Basin was two MSC ships at anchor.

 The Rockingham railyard was not the only place to see MSC containers.

MSC Rossella arrived from Montreal March 10 and moved out to anchor March 11 (see also Shipfax of March 11.) Headed for Italy and Spain on MSC's Canada Express 2 service, the ship would have to cross the storm's path while crossing the Atlantic.

It was joined at anchor by MSC Brianna which arrived yesterday March 13 from Sines, Portugal on the Canada Express 1 service, en route to Montreal. Rather than cross the storm's track somewhere in the Gulf of St.Lawrence, the ship opted to move out to anchor.  It now appears on tomorrow's (March 15) pilotage assignments to be moving to PSA Fairview Cove, instead of PSA Atlantic Gateway, to complete "decanting" of cargo to meet St.Lawrence draft restriction.

 Anchoring in the lower harbour was Eimskip's Vivienne Sheri D. which also arrived yesterday (March 13) from Iceland en route to Portland, ME. It moved out to anchor yesterday afternoon.(pictured today)

Today's arrival at the PSA Gateway, the Tropical Lissette spent the day at the pier, then in the late afternoon moved out to anchor in the lower harbour. It would not be safe to remain alongside the exposed pier face, due to swells, during a major storm.

It is scheduled to move back to the pier tomorrow to continue loading, before heading south.

 The non-container ship arrival today was the Canadian flag cement carrier NACC Argonaut from Setubal, Portugal.

The 9255 gt, 13,977 dwt sahip was built in 2003 by Kyokuyo Shipyard Corp ii  Chofu, Japan as Arklow Wave. It was acquired in 2016 by NACC Shipping Canada Ltd (the initials stand for Nova Algoma Cement Carriers) and initially renamed NACC Toronto but that was changed to the current name in 2018, presumably to honour the Canadain Football League team the Toronto Argonauts.

The ship sailed from Corner Brook, NL January 11, arriving in Setubal January 22. The mild weather in Portugal allows for painting and other work that would not be possible in Canada at this time of year. (Not to mention the few Canadian ship repair yards). On completion of the work, the ship sailed from Setubal February 19. It has apparently been creeping across the Atlantic at slow speed (perhaps on a southerly route.)

It tied up at Pier 25, I am assuming to await the opening of the St.Lawrence Seaway on March 23. 

The Gold Bond Conveyor's history has been give here before, see: September 14, 2014.

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MSC moves for CMA CGM, and other activity

 PSA Halifax usually has room to spare, since it operates both container terminals in the Port of Halifax. However it takes considerable advance coordination to shift cargo or ships from one facility to the other, because schedules are usuallly set weeks if not months ahead of time. Ships of the same line almost always dock at the same terminal, but there are exceptions (see MOL Charisma earlier in the week). Also due to size limits, some ships can only dock at the Southend terminal (PSA Atlantic Gateway).

Yesterday (March 10) the MSC Rossella arrived from Montreal on the Canada Express 2 service for Spain and Italy. After topping up with some cargo at Pier 41 PSA Atlantic Gateway, the ship moved out to anchor in Bedford Basin. I am assuming it moved to make way for today's arrival, CMA CGM Otello, and will move back alongside tomorrow or the next  day.

 The MSC Rossella was built in 1993 by Samsung Shipbuilding + Heavy Industry on Geoge Island (formerly rendered as Koje) South Korea. Launched as Hansa Europe it was renamed Ville de Carina on delivery. It became MSC Rossella in 1997. The 37,938 gt, 43,605 dwt ship has a capacity of 3398 TEU. 

MSC has come under criticism in recent days for running older ships, which it always has, but in poor condition. One ship was banned from Australia and another lost 45 empty containers overboard en route from Boston to the Dominican Republic. According to sources the company has acquired 292 second hand ships since August 2020 - an "unprecedented event in the history of shipping."

CMA CGM Otello arrived this afternoon from Tanger Med, Morocco on Ocean Alliance's Asia / North America Columbus JAX service. The last port of call for ships on this line used to be Colombo, Sri Lanka. Recently the ships have been stopping in the Morocco port, which is a useful depot for European feeder services. (MSC uses Sines Portugal in a similar way).

Built in 2006 by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, the 91,410 grt, 101,810 dwt ship has a capacity of 8488 TEU (including 700 reefers). The ship made its first call here July 8, 2017, but this was the first opportunity I have had for a photo.

The CAM CGM Otello needed the larger cranes at Pier 41, while one of the smaller cranes at Pier 42 was working Melfi Lines X-Press Irazu.

The ship dates from 2007 when it was built by Guangzhou Wenchang Shipyard Co Ltd. At 18,480 gt, 23,716 dwt, it has a capacity of 1732 TEU including 379 reefers. It also carries a pair of 45 tonne capacity cranes.

The Melfi route, called MEDCAN, is westbound from Livorno, Genoa, Barcelona, Valencia, Setubal (for Lisbon), Halifax, then Mariel, Cuba.

At Irving Oil's Woodside terminal the Aldabra was discharging refined product loaded in Amsterdam.

 Onomichi Zosen, in Onomichi, Japan delivered the ship in 2008 as Nord Organiser. In 2020 it was renamed Dee4 Dogwood and in 2022 it took on its current name. The 26,900 gt, 47,399 dwt MidRange type tanker operates in the Hafnia MR pool.

Another Japanese built ship was also in port, tied up at Pier 9C. The Fairwind Legion is the former Thorco Legion (to 2020) a 13,110 gt, 16,957 gt multi-purpose general cargo ship built in 2015 by Honda Shipbuilding in Saiki, and equipped with a pair of 50 tonne SWL cranes. Several of its "L" class sisters have also been here to be fitted with fibreoptic cable storage racks. (See March 4, 2023 post and  for example December 22, 2022.)

 

For the sake of completeness there was another arrival today, the auto carrier Elektra at Autoport. It is a regular on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean trans Atlantic run.

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MSC Rossella

 The Mediterranean Shipping Company names its owned ships with female names (charters have various themes). Reports indicate that as of October 2022 the company owned 394 ships, chartered 312 ships and had 126 ships on order. (Total carrying capacity is well in excess of 4 million TEU.) As the fleet grows, earlier this year overtaking Maersk as the world's largest, they keep finding unique names for their ships. Today's arrival (November 15) appears to be a feminization of the male name "Ross": MSC Rossella.

Sailing on the CANEX 2 service, the ship arrived at PSA Atlantic Hub this morning from Montreal. The ship will top up cargo to bring it to sea going draft, then sail for Barcelona, Leghorn, Genoa and Valencia. 

A typical MSC ship - they are well known for maintaining older ships - the MSC Rossella was built in 1993 by Samsung Shipbuilding + Heavy Industry on Geoge Island (formerly rendered as Koje) South Korea. Launched as Hansa Europe it was renamed Ville de Carina on delivery. It became MSC Rossella in 1997. The 37,938 gt, 43,605 dwt ship has a capacity of 3398 TEU.

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MSC Rossella - just passing through

 The container ship MSC Rossella arrived at the pilot station at 2359 hrs, June 26 and proceeded in to number one anchorage.

Halifax is not on the ship's normal route, so it did not tie up at any terminal. It has a pilot ordered for 1100 hrs June 27. I assume the ship called in Halifax only for Canadian Food Inspection Agency clearance. 

I believe the ship is new to MSC's Canada Shuttle route to Malaga, Spain and Sines, Portugal from Montreal. The ship was in Asia in the last few months, having undergone a class inspection in Shanghai in February, so would be a canadidate for LDA moth invasive species inspection. Its most recent ports were Sines June 11-12, Thames June 15-16 and Antwerp June 16-19.

MSC Rossella was launched as Hansa Europe in 1993 by Samsung, Koje, but delivered as Ville de Carina. It received its current name in 1997. The 27,398 gt, 43,605 dwt ship has a capacity of 3398 TEU. 

MSC has long been noted for operating elderly ships, and this would seem to qualify, but the "goal posts" keep moving as the demand for hulls is so high. A well found ship capable of 22.5 kts, but with modest capacity is well suited to St.Lawrence service, especially with a tight two week schedule even if it is nearly thirty years old. 

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