MSC Sena correction and ONE Madrid update

 From yesterday's post (September 13 ) there is a correction required regarding the MSC Sena. The ship is indeed on the Canada Express service, but it is east bound and arrived from Montreal to top up its cargo to sea going draft. Due to abnormally low water levels in the St.Lawrence River, the ship was even more limited than usual in how much it could load in Montreal. It therefore called in Halifax where it took on more containers, and sailed this afternoon for Malaga, Spain loaded closer to capacity. It appeared to have at least two more containers on each stack, and no gaps.

It faced a different hazard however, and that was a fleet of sailing craft, most of which had the good sense to stay clear, but inevitably there were one or two that were either too close, or showed no signs of "situaitonal awareness." The pilot had to sound warnings several times, including a five blast signal which seemed to do the trick in clearing the channel.

Another arrival from yesterday was the ONE Madrid which tied up at PSA Atlantic Hub, Pier 41, where the big cranes got to work.

 Most ships at Pier 41 would not be visible from the shore side, but this one towered over the containers stacked in the terminal.

To clarify yesterday's post, the ONE Madrid is also eastbound. It was last in Halifax August 17  (when I was not) on the westbound leg of its voyage.  It then called in New York, August 19-22; Savannah August 27-28; Charleston August 29-30; Norfolk September 4-5 and New York again September 7-10. The ship is on Voyage 27 for the EC3 service of the Premier Alliance and is due next in Singapore October 17 via the Cape of Good Hope.

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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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Initials and more initials

 It seems that the proliferation of initials or abbreviations is well entrenched among shipping companies, with a few notable exceptions. Today, March 21, saw six representatives of seven "initial companies", one hold out, and one anonymous.

PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway saw two "initial ships". The CMA CGM Nerval arrived from Bremerhaven on an unscheduled call. In other words, the ship is not on any of CMA CGM's regular routes through Halifax, and appears to be a "sweeper" dropping off or picking up boxes that have not been accommodated on the other CMA CGM services.

Built in 2010 by the Sungdong Shipbuilding + Marine Engineering Co Ltd in Tongyeong, it is a 72,884 gt, 83,318 dwt ship with a capacity of 6540 (or 6570 depending on sources) TEU including 500 reefers. It is an odd sized vessel for Halifax as we usually see larger or smaller ships.

The ship was carrying boxes from all the Ocean Alliance lines (APL, OOCL, Evergreen, and COSCO).

It sailed in the early afternoon for Charleston.

Its place was soon taken by the MSC Sena from Italy and Sines, Portugal on the CANEX 1 service to Montreal - here to off load some containers to reduce draft for the St.Lawrence River.

The ship has been renamed six times since built as ZIM Sydney by Halla Engineering +Heavy Industry, starting in their Inchon yard, and completed at Samho. The 30,280 gt, 35,966 dwt ship has a capacity of 2825 TEU including 214 reefers.

The ship was renamed in 2000: Rhein, 2002: E.R.Albany, 2004: CMA CGM Egypt, 2006: MacAndrews America, 2007: E.R.Albany and 2013: MSC Sena. [The MacAndrews name comes from the old time British MacAndrew Line, taken over by CMA CGM in 2002 and operated as a "niche service". Founded in 1770, it was was eliminated in 2019.]

Also at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway was the Tropic Hope, No initials in use by Tropical Shipping, as the name says it all in terms of its routes.

A hold out in today's initial parade, the ship shares Tropical's weekly service with sister ship Tropic  Lissette. Its company containers also spellout "Tropical" in huge letters.

Due to sail late this evening the ship will head for West Palm Beach, FL then take in several Caribbean ports in cluding San Juan, St Thomas, Philipsburg and Sint Eustatius.

There was a triple "initial" meet in Bedford Basin late this afternoon as two ACL and one CSL ship were visible at one time.

Atlantic Container Line  (ACL) usually has two ships in Halifax each week - one eastbound and one westbound. They rarely meet here, but it does happen once or twice a year when schedules get disturbed - usually by weather. It is always tricky to get both ships in the same frame.

Atlantic Sun arrived this morning on the eastbound leg of this voyage, and (right in picture) sailed for Hamburg.

As the Atlantic Sun was preparing to depart, with the tug Atlantic Beaver in attendance, the bulk carrier CSL Tacoma was gliding past the Bedford Insitute of Oceanography, heading for sea.

The initials CSL are used for the international operations of Canada Steamship Lines, but its domestic Canadian flag ships, use the full name, spelled out in full on the ship's hulls. The Bahamas flag CSL Tacoma has a load of gypsum bound for Baltimore.

ACL was founded by a consortium of traditional shipping lines, but now carry the letter "G" on the funnel recognizing the present owners, the Grimaldi Group.

The other ACL ship, the Atlantic Star, arriving from Liverpool on the westbound leg, held off until the berth was clear, but was already backing in as the Atlantic Sun was clear.

 A ship going the anonymous route - resisting the trend to emblazon the owner's initials on the hull - arrived at Autoport this morning and disgorged a quantity of new automobiles, loaded at the European ports of Bremerhaven March 1-3, Zeebrugge March 4-6 and Goteborg March 9. It is on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean transatlantic route.

A small fraction of the myriad new cars at Autoport inclues hundreds of Audis, probably offloaded yesterday by the Violet Ace.There is also some machinery and other RoRo cargo on the dock.
 

The Grand Pavo dates from 2005 and was built by Shin Kurushima Toyohashi, and at 59,217 gt, 18,376 dwt has a capacity of 6400 cars. The ship's operators are Cido Shipping of Korea and Hong Kong. They seem to be in the business of chartering ships out to others on various term lengths.

Are those the same scaups I saw ship watching at Black Rock Beach yesterday?

Rounding up the "Initial ships" was the after dark arrival of the bulker UBC Santos for Pier 28 to load wood pellets. "UBC"  stands for United Bulk Carriers and I expect to see  "UBC" emblazoned on the ship's hull - but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

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