The Switch

 When PSA took over the lease on the Fairview Cove container terminal recently it was expected that certain rationalizations would occur.

 

Some Lines that had been using the Fairview Cove terminal are expected to move to the PSA Halifax / South End, Atlantic Hub terminal and vice versa. There are a number of reasons for this, including faster cargo handling for large ships with more and better cranes at the South End, and reduction of truck traffic through downtown. Smaller ships could be equally well handled at Fairview, and would not be concerned with bridge clearance issues. There are virtually no restrictions at the South End, and even ships larger then the current record holder 16,000 TEU size can be accommodated..
 

Yesterday's [see May 12 ] caller at Fairview Cove, the MSC Sao Paulo was the first of those changes. En route to Montreal, it was in port for only a short time, and offloaded a few containers to reduce draft. It could be handled just as effectively at Fairview since it did not need extra large cranes, and it was small enough to transit the Narrows with ease. These top off and decant visits by MSC are now expected to be served by Fairview.

Today, May 13,  the "other shoe" dropped as you might say, as THE Alliance's MOL Charisma on the EC5 service, docked at The Atlantic Hub / South End terminal. Both THEA services, EC 5 and AL5 have until now used Fairview Cove. (Occasional shifts were accommodated.)

MOL ships are noted for their blue hulls, and the MOL Charisma  is no exception - in fact it appears to be in pristine condition, hinting at a recent shipyard visit.

Built in 2007 by Mitsubishi Heavy Inustries, Nagasaki, it is an 86,692 gt, 90,390 dwt vessel with a capacity of 9060 TEU including 630 reefers. It would have been nearly the maximum size that could access Fairview Cove, but can be handled with ease at the Hub. (The ship did anchor until mid-afternoon, but this was likely for CFIA invasive species inspection, rather than this morning's thick fog.) Launched as MOL Charisma it was immediately renamed APL France for a charter until 2010 when it reverted to its original and present name. Now on the EC5 route, its last port was Colombo, Sri Lanka.

While the MOL Charisma was docking the NYK Meteor arrived from Antwerp on the AL5 service and headed for Fairview Cove.

 Another of the twelve ship Daedalus class, it was built in 2007 by Hyundai, Ulsan, and at 55,534 gt, 65,935 dwt, has a capacity of 4922 TEU. The benefit of two terminals under common management was immediately obvious as this ship would have had to wait at anchor had the MOL Charisma been alongside Fairview Cove.

It may also be that strict assignment to one terminal or the other will be eliminated, and ships will be handled at the first available berth. This may cause headaches for railroads, trucks and cargo planners in the terminals, as considerable advance notice of berthing is needed, particularly for exports.

Both terminals are owned by the Halifax Port Autority, a federal crown corporation, and are operated under lease by PSA. PSA owns the cargo handling equipment within the terminals, and some supplier/contractors, such as reefer maintainers, also have facilities within the terminals.

 

The next step in the rationalization process will be to move some of the smaller lines from the South End Hub to Fairview. Oceanex, Tropical and Maersk /CMA CGM Canada Atlantic Express are all expected to make the move at some point. Whether or not these are "permanent" remains to be seen. The South End is about to embark on another expansion of ground space and rail lines. That is a multi-year process however, during which there may be disruptions. When it is completed in five years or so the shipping "landscape" may have changed considerably.
 

Long range planning for the Port is underway, and several major issues will be under consideration. Rising sea levels and autonomous vehicles (including trains) are among the big elephants in the room, but there are many others including a new bridge (or two) and further port expansion, such as a third terminal (in Dartmouth). Enough parentheses already.

The advantage of crown corporations is that they can see beyond the five year lifespan of current governments. So the pressure is on this particular corporation to stay ahead.

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Back to Busy - amended

 

After yesterday's big visitor at PSA Halifax's Atlantic Hub, CMA CGM Magellan (13,880 TEU - sorry no photo) the facility was busy again today, with the Oceanex Connaigra in for Newfoundland cargo. While Oceanex Sanderling is in Amsterdam for refit the Connaigra provides RoRo service once every two weeks, as it alternates with Ocean Avalon (no RoRo) on the Montreal / St.John's and Halifax / St.John's routes. There were a lot of truck trailers waiting for the ship this time, in addition to the usual containers. [Oceanex is no longer showing a June 15 return to service of Oceanex Sanderling in its on-line schedule - it now shows July 8 as Voyage 1 from Halifax to St.John's.]

Oceanex carries 53 foot containers aboard ship - a very rare feature.

The PSA Atlantic Hub was also expecting the arrival of MSC Shanghai on an "unscheduled call", so they diverted the MSC Sao Paulo to Fairview Cove, now also under PSA management.

MSC Sao Paulo, built in 1998 by Hyundai, Ulsan, 53,324 gt, 63,537 dwt, has a capacity of 4688 TEU. It was built as CSAV Pyrenees and carried the name Pohang briefly in 2013 (under Laiesz ownership, the once famous "Flying P" line of square riggers) until adopting its current name. The ship serves MSC's Canada Express I service from Italy and is inbound from Gioia Tauro. After off loading some containers to reduce draft, it will head for Montreal. 

Whether these drop offs and top ups will move to Fairview Cove now that both terminals are under common management has not been announced. This may be a once only.

 

The other expected MSC ship arrived in late afternoon, and anchored for CFIA inspection. It is expected to move alongside early this evening.

 

MSC Shanghai was renamed just last year after nearly twenty years as ZIM Shanghai. (The ZIM banner is still visible on the ship's side. Built by Hyundai Ulsan in 2002 it is a 53,453 gt, 66,685 dwt vessel with a capacity of 4839 TEU. It arrived from Malaga, Spain, so may be a "sweeper" or an "extra" to meet added demand. The ship was once a regular caller in Halfax as ZIM Shanghai. See what it looked like June 18, 2011, here: Shipfax 2011

Amendment:The ship is apparenelt on the new service from Turkey and Greece.

 

 

PSA was not the only busy operator today, as Autoport was going full out. Morning Lena (see yesterday's post) sailed late this morning, and its place was taken almost immediately by Supreme Ace.

Supreme Ace took a big loop around number one anchorage to make room for Morning Lena (in the background) to clear Eastern Passage.

The ship was built in 2011 by Minami-Nippon in Shitane and is 59,022 gt, 18,384 dwt. In a reversal of the usual autocarrier routing it arrived from Davisville, RI and sailed for Emden, Germany. It took another loop through number one anchorage outbound to clear the MSC Shanghai.

 

At the same time it made a neat passing arrangement with Oceanex Connaigra which was on its way to occupy the Autoport berth.

 

As if that were not enough business for Autoport, another ship was "lurking" offshore waiting its turn. Lake Wanaka is due tomorrow.

 

Bonus Feature

Now for a complete change of pace: Today was moving day for Sackville, Canada's Naval War Memorial. Each year,  just before the Victoria Day weekend, Sackville moves from its winter berth at HMC Dockyard to Sackville Landing where it is open to the public in the summer. No longer self-propelled, the World War II corvette relies on Dockyard tugs to make the move, which usually involves a short "tour" of the harbour around George's Island.

CNAV Glenevis provided the power, and Listerville stood by for mooring as the last remaining World War II corvette made tthe annual move. Another Dockyard craft, YDT-325 Guardian accompanied the procession.

 

Also on the move this morning was the RCN sailing ketch HMCS Oriole.

 

It has the honour of being the oldest vessel in commission in the RCN (and the longest serving). Built in 1921 it also saw naval service in World War II. It was transferred back to Halifax from the west coast in 2018.

One Last Word

Today was the first really hot day this spring, with temperatures rocketing up to the 20s C (70s F). This brought out the "yachtsmen" - the bane of harbour pilots and other mariners.

The outbound tanker Algoscotia sounded five warning blasts, twice, to warn this sailor to clear the track, but I am not sure it did any good. The sailor blithely kept his course, coming about only after the tanker had passed by. 

Algoscotia had delivered a cargo from Imperial Oil's refinery in Nanticoke, ON. Nevertheless we will be paying world price for fuel at the pumps in Halifax: $190.9 / liter, but likely to go up again tomorrow.

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This and That

 While waiting for arrivals at PSA Halifax's Atlantic Hub (the terminal formerly known as Halterm) I was able to wander out to the end of the breakwater, which has finally opened after its winter closure. This gave an excellent view of the departing Thalatta from Autoport. On its way out from Eastern Passage it passed Imperial Oil's number 3 dock where the Lian Xi Hu was still offloading product from Antwerp. Yesterday's backlit photo did not do justice to the latter ship's blue hull colour.

Speaking of colour I was not impressed by the browm smoke from the supposedly scrubber equipped autocarrier. Scrubbbers can apparently be bypassed at will.

There was time for one more "for the road" photo of the Thalatta despite plenty from the last two days.

The ship left a tremendous amount of cargo at Pier 9C before moving over to Autoport last night. [see also previous posts]

 The two late afternoon arrivals were a sort of bonus since ships usually arrive pre-dawn. First up was Oceanex Avalon arriving from St.John's, NL.

The ship is substituting on Oceanex's Halifax - St.John's service, alternating weekly with Oceanex Connaigra. On alternate weeks each ship runs to and from Montreal. This routine is expected to continue at least until June 17, the predicted return date for Oceanex Sanderling which is undergoing an extended refit in Amsterdam.

Oceanex Avalon has a hatch cover over number one hold, but the remainder of the cargo hold space is open to the elements. This speeds up loading and unloading, since heavy hatch covers do not have to be lifted on and off. The last "bay" of containers, immediatley forward of the bridge, is carried on the deck over the engine room, and terminates with a large lashing frame.

The ship I was waiting for arrived next for Pier 42. MSC Sao Paulo arrived on MSC's CANEX1 service from the Mediterranean.

Built "way back" in 1998 by Hyundai, Ulsan, it is a 53,324 gt, 63,537 dwt ship with a container capacity of 4688 TEU. It started life as Pohang Senator and in 2008 became CSAV Pyrenees and in 2013 became Pohang for a short spell before taking its present name. (As usual these former names give a road map of developments in world shipping- see footnote)

Once the ship offloads some boxes here and reduces its draft to suit St.Lawrence River regulations, it will sail for Montreal.

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 The names ships carry can often tell a story, not just about the ship and where it traded, but about the companies it worked for, and events in the shipping businesss.

> Many ships were built for German investment syndicates and chartered out to shipping lines. These arrangements were beneficial to both parties and in the case of this ship, the charter was with Senator Line. Initially a German line, Senator went through a number of owners, finally in the hands of the Korean Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd, with the venerable German company Laiesz, having a minority holding. In 2009, with Hanjin ranked as seventh largest container line, Hanjin-Senator was closed down. In 2016 Hanjin itself was insolvent and was delcared bankrupt in 2017 - the largest ever failure of a container line. Hanjin-Senator's Mediterranean-Montreal traffic was largely picked up by MSC.

> CSAV, Compagnia Sud-Americana de Vapores is a large Chilean owned shipping conglomerate. In 2014 it merged its container shipping business into Hapag-Lloyd, while keeping its other shipping interests independent. Rationalisation of service meant that several chartered ships, including this one, were released. An early end of the charter meant the ship was on the spot maket for a time before a longer term arrangement could be found, this time with MSC. It is now close to the 10th year of that charter, and with an aging ship, it will be interesting to see what is next. Demand is so high for container ships right now, that even 24 year old ships are making top dollar.

> As a rule MSC ships with women's names are owned directly by MSC or indirectly through one of its subsidiaries. Ships with geographical names are on charter from arm's length independent owners.

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