MSC Sandra

One of the most frequent of MSC ships to call in Halifax over the past couple of years has been MSC Sandra. I first noted its arrival on September 19, 2021 on the Canada Express 2 service from Spain to the St.Lawrence River. (I had seen it previously in 2018, if not before, on the St.Lawrence.)  On those visits it was to lighten off cargo to meet St.Lawrence River draft restrictions.

MSC Sandra at St.Lawrence draft and at speed: 2018-08-17.

Its recent calls in Halifax have been on the Turkey-Greece service, via Israel, Italy, Spain and Sines, Portugal en route to Boston and beyond. The service has now shifted terminals from the PSA Atlantic Gateway, Southend terminal to PSA Fairview Cove. That presents some challenges for the harbour pilots as they navigate the length of the harbour to and from Bedford Basin.

From left to right, the Halifax Harbour Tours boat Violet Mac, harbour ferry Viola Desmond (in the distance), the amphibious Harbour Hopper 5, pilot boat Capt. E.T.Rogers and tug Atlantic Beaver (in the distance) have all cleared the way for the ship to pass.

Built in 2010 by Hyundai, Busan, the MSC Sandra is a 43,575 gt, 61,468 dwt ship with a capacity of 4340 TEU including 150 reefers. On this trip it appears to be moderately well loaded, but certainly not to capacity.

The one empty bay has presumably been left for Boston cargo. There also appears to be a substantial number of reefers stowed aft.

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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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Carnival Legend and Container Piers

 Legend

Most cruise ships arrive at the break of day to provide for a full day ashore. With three ships due in port today September 8, one ship had to be the last and that was Carnival Legend, arriving at the pilot station as late as 1000 hrs. This ship also tied up at Pier 31 which has been cleaned up and fenced off for the cruise season. (Zaandam tied upat Pier 20-21 and Adventure of the Seas at Pier 21-22.)

Built way back in 2002 by Kvaerner Masa, Helsinki, the ship somehow survived the purge of older ships in recent years. The 85,942 gt ship has a capacity of 2,124 passengers and 930 crew.

It is the first Carnival ship I have seen with the big blue "swoop" on the bow. It might be interesting to see this feature from a distance, which resembles the disruptive colour patterns used in war time. The new paint scheme, which includes a red and white stripe the full length of the hull, was introduced in 2021, and is in celebration of the company's 50th anniversary.

HMCS Moncton carries a disruptive paint pattern in commemoration of the Battle of the Atlantic. (September 3 photo)

 Containers

 There has been considerable activity at the container piers recently, which may explain an unusual move. 

CMA CGM Marco Polo sailed this morning after a 48 hour (approximately) stay at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway. 

The current record holder as largest container ship to call in Halifax, and any other Canadian port, was not the only ship served by the terminal in the past few days, it surely taxed the capacity of the facility.

With CMA CGM Marco Polo at Pier 41 and Tropical Lissette (left) at Pier 42 and Oceanex Sanderling at Pier 36 (barely visible at right) there was no more room at the Southend Terminal.

The MSC Sandra which had been at the southend terminal, was "bumped" Sunday September 4, and went to to anchor in Bedford Basin (see previous post). First thing this morning,instead of going bac=k to the southend terminal, it moved alongside PSA Fairview Cove where there was an available berth.

It seemed to be that the cranes were working the after deck, which is usually reserved for empties. MSC ships do dock at Fairview from time so this is not a unique event, except that the ship used both terminals during its stay in Halifax. The ship will sail this evening (September 8) for Europe.

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Three by Two

 Today (September 5) was the first "three ship" day of this year's cruise season. It was also a day with two ships anchored in Bedford Basin.

Threes

Early morning harbour watchers were rewarded with the arrivals of Mein Schiff 1,  Seabourn Quest and Caribbean Princess. All three arrived within an hour of each other and took up all available space at Piers 20-21, 22 and 23.

 Mein Schiff 1 is a 111,554 gt ship with a capacity of 2,534 to 2,894 passengers (in 1447 cabins) with a crew of 1,000. Built in 2018 by Meyer Turku at the Perno Shipyard in Finland, it is owned by TUI cruises and caters to German passengers. The hull graffiti promotes the healthy and luxurious ocean cruise experience and defies literal translation.

 Despite its name it is the second ship to carry the name, and replaced the 1996 incumbent.

Next in line was one of the smallest, but most luxuriousof the main line cruise ships. Seabourn Quest can accommoidate 450 passengers with 335 crew.

Built by the T.Marriotti Shipyard in Genoa in 2011, it received a major refit at the same yard in 2013,  and is now registered at 32,477 gt. It will be staying in Halifax over night.

The third ship was the Caribbean Princess which has already been here this year - and was posted on this blog on August 1. Its capacity is maximum 3600 passengers with 1200 crew. 

It is difficult to see much of the cruise ships from the Halifax side of the harbour, but suffice it to say it is an impressive sight to see so much tonnage in one place.

 I did manage another photo with three ships in the frame. As Seabourn Quest was arriving it overtook the container ship Tropic Lissette while the Humen Bridge languished at anchor off the port. (It arrived September 1 and is now due alongside September 7.)

Twos

There is lots of room for tonnage in Bedford Basin. The famous World War II pictures showing scores of ships anchored there preparing to sail in convoy, attests to the size of this "lake" (actually an enclosed bay) at the head of Halifax harbour. Its extreme dimensions are 8 km x 5 km (4.9 miles x 3.1 miles).

Even so it is rare nowadays to see more than one ship anchored there at the same time. This morning's arrival of  the bulk carrier Baie St.Paul is typical of the ships that make use of the anchorage before loading at Gold Bond Gypsum.

A diver's launch was alongside the ship this afternoon. That may be the reason the ship did not go in to load. However other ships in the past weeks have also anchored for a time before going in.

Despite up to six trains a week (with 65 or so hopper cars) from the gypsum quarry in East Milford, NS, Gold Bond's stockpile appears to be relatively small right now, so it may be that strong demand is taxing the loading facility to keep up. (Note the "stacker" is loading up the stockpile in the photo.)

It is rare to see a container ship at anchor in Bedford Basin. Short duration stays normally anchor in the lower harbour, but ships that are in for an extended period are usually directed to Bedford Basin. MSC Sandra arrived yesterday (September 4) from Montreal to top off its cargo before heading to Europe on MSC's Canada Express 2 service. It moved to Basin anchorage last evening. 

Built in 2020 by Hyundai, Busan, the 43,575 gt, 61,468 dwt MSC Sandra has a capacity of 4340 TEU including 150 reefers. It does not appear to be fully loaded to ocean draft, so may be awaiting the end of the longshore Labour Day "no work" period before completing the loading process.

MSC's schedule shows the ship sailing September 6, but that may be optimistic as PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway will not have an available berth until at least September 7, as Tropic Lisssette is occupying Pier 42 and tomorrow will see the arrival of the giant 16,020 TEU CMA CGM Marco Polo at Pier 41.

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Chebucto Head

 One of the best ship viewing spots in Halifax is Chebucto Head, which is actually not within the harbour itself, but at the traditional entrance point well out on the coast.

It is marked by a lighthouse, a Vessel Traffic Services radar installation and several abandoned coastal defence gun emplacements. The 45 foot high lighthouse is located near the edge of the rocky headland, 162 ft above sea level. The only drawback to the location is that it is not directly accessible by car and involves a longish walk over a gated service road.The view of ships is ideal however.

This morning July 3 there were two outbound ships, and fortunately the fog retreated somewhat before they came into view.

MSC Sandra had dropped its pilot and was picking up speed en route for Barcelona on MSC's CANEX 2 service. The ship arrived in Halifax yesterday, July 2, from Montreal to top up its cargo to sea-going draft.

The ship was built in 2000 by Hanjin Heavy Industies + Construction Co Ltd in Busan. It is a 43,575 gt, 61,468 dwt vessel with a capacity of 4340 TEU including 150 reefers.

The second ship was CSL Tacoma with a cargo of raw gypsum ore loaded at Gold Bond's dock in Wright's Cove, lower Burnside, in Bedford Basin.

 Built by Chengxi Shipyard, Jiangyin in 2013 it is a 43,691 gt, 71,552 dwt self-unloader. It was not loaded to maximum draft because there is limited water depth alongside the Gold Bond dock. The ship arrived yesterday morning in ballast from Baltimore. Its destination on this trip was not updated on AIS.

While Chebucto Head is a great shipspotting location, it is a long way from town, and involves a long walk, so it is not a place I go very often. The excuse for today's visit was actually an outing for the Halifax Urban Sketchers Group, and I chose to draw the lighthouse and radar tower as one of my sketches. The structure on the right is the dangerously loud fog signal, which was not operating when I was there.

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MSC times two at PSA

 PSA Halifax handled two ships for the Mediterranean Shipping Co today March 5 - one east bound and one west bound.

The eastbound ship, MSC Sandra arrived last evening March 4 from Montreal on its regular Canada Express 2 service from Montreal to Spain. The ship stops in Halifax to top up cargo to seagoing draft after having to comply with St.Lawrence River draft restrictions.

Before sailing several crew members gathered on the forecastle head to clear lines. The ship had picked up a dusting of frozen spray on its way in. After previous posts on the subject, this is an example of an anchor being iced up, but apparently free to deploy if needed. (The mate may have been having a Jack Dawson moment).*

MSC Sandra dates from 2000 when it was built by Hyundai, Busan. A 43,575 gt, 61,468 dwt vessel it has a capacity of 4340 TEU including 150 reefers. On sailing late this afternoon it gave its destination as Barcelona.

Arriving at noon time today was fleet mate MSC Kim from Sines, Portugal en route to Montreal on MSC's Canada Express 1 service from Italy and Portugal.

MSC Kim is a slightly newer ship, built by Zhejiang Yangfan in 2008. At 41,225 gt, 50,547 dwt it has a capacity of 4254 TEU including 550 reefers. It is due to sail for Montreal overnight after unloading some containers to reduce draft.

A regular on the St.Lawrence River for several years, I photo'd the ship in August 2107, very lightly loaded and doing 18.5 knots. It is always i,mpressive to see these ships booming along at speed.

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* My apolgies for a couple of perhaps oblique movie references in recent days.

The first was in the title to my post of March 3. It was a play on the title of a wonderful 1966 move entitled "The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming", which in itself was a play on the reputed Paul Revere cry "The British are Coming, the British are Coming". The movie was about a Russian submarine crew that sought help from a New England island village when their sub ran aground. If you haven't seen the movie, or haven't seen it for a long time, the Wikipedia entry is worth a read at: Russians

The second reference is in today's post to the fictional Jack Dawson in the 1997 movie "Titanic" who, perched on the very prow of the ship, proclaims that he is "king of the world". 

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CMA CGM and MSC - More Initials

 Where would the shipping world be without abbreviations, acronyms and portmanteaus? We would certainly be faced with numerous mouthfuls such as Orient Overseas Container Line and China Ocean Shipping Company Ltd or United Arab Shipping Company to mention only a few of the wordier outfits. They are among the many corporations that have, mercifully, abbreviated themselves to initials such as OOCL, COSCO and UASC thereby saving time, money (for paint if nothing else) and wear and tear on the tongue. For the most part these convenient abbreviations are a means of speeding up written communication, but aside from COSCO, defy easy pronunciation.

Today, December 14, was certainly a day for initials in Halifax harbour, particularly at the South End container terminal now known as PSA Halifax. The owners of the lease on that piece of port property were once the Port of Singapore Authority, but have long since outgrown that activity and therefore reduced themselves to another collection of almost meaningless initials. 

Alongside at the terminal this morning were the container ships MSC Angela and CMA CGM Panama. The latter sailed at 0900 hrs, and once it was well clear of the harbour the MSC Sandra, which had been loitering offshore, moved in. It did not dock however, but went to short term anchorage in the lower harbour (possibly due to high winds).

MSC Angela at Pier 42 had containers neatly stacked only four high, but was still too deeply laden for the St.Lawrence River, so was in port to decant some boxes before proceeding inland on the Canada Express 2 service from Spain.

The Mediterranean Shipping Company uses the MSC abbreviation as a convenient short form. Some of its containers carry the full name in small letters and also carry "MSC", but most now have the company logo of the letter M over a stylized wave, with SC below.

On the other hand CMA CGM does not use the long form names of its original constituant companies. The corporation was formed in 1996 with the merger of the Compagnie Maritime d' Affrètement and the Compagnie Genérale Maritime. Its CMA CGM Panama (see yesterday's post for details) would have a very long name indeed were it not for the abbreviation.

With its tethered escort tug preparing to let go from astern, CMA CGM Panama heads outbound for New York this morning. Yes it is taking a bit of a roll.

MSC Sandra arrived loaded to St.Lawrence maximum draft, and will "top up" once fleet mate MSC Angela sails. It is also on the Canada Express 2 service to Spain.

Making its way inbound for PSA Halifax, the ship was joined by tugs for berthing, but in the brisk breeze, it ended up going to anchor instead of trying to squeeze into Pier 41.

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MSC Sandra - full speed ahead

MSC Sandra made a day long call in Halifax today, August 19, to lighter off some cargo en route to Montreal.  Built in 2000 by Hanjin Heavy Industry + Construction Co Ltd, it is a 43,575 gt, 61,468 dwt ship with a container capacity of 4340 TEU, including 150 reefers.

Sailing this evening the ship still had a deck load of at most five high, but generally four high. This is still more than what I have seen in the past, such as my photo of almost exactly three years ago on the St.Lawrence when it was only loaded to three tiers high - and no containers on the after deck.

The ship is quite an impressive sight (and sound) at 18 knots or more. 

Halifax remains unaffected directly by port delays in the US, with such ports as New York/New Jersey and Savannah with  nine to seventeen ships (respectively) anchored offshore waiting several days for berths. There have been no diversions to Halifax, as a lot of the delays are in export cargo, due to truck and labour shortages.

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