Weather (again)

 Another spell of high winds (accompanied by snow and rain) has delayed some harbour activity today, April 4. The tow out of the fire-damaged MSC Sao Paulo V has been postponed until tomorrow, April 5 when the wind is expected to die down and make towing a dead ship a little more manageable. The MSC Shristi is at Pier 41 taking on some of the containers from the Sao Paulo V destined for Sines, Portugal and beyond. 

Following up on yesterday's observation, since amended, the large crane at the north end of the Pier 41was operating today, so it may only be its ability to raise the boom that is (or was) impaired.

 When the tow does depart, vacating the berth at Pier 42, the Vivienne Sheri D will move alongside. The Canadian owned Eimskip charter anchored on arrival this morning.

In the teeth of a stiff breeze in the Narrows, the NYK Meteor arrived and made its way through to PSA Fairview Cove in Bedford Basin.

The ship is sailing for Ocean Network Express on THE Alliance's AL5 service from Antwerp. The NYK Meteor is another of the familiar Daedalus class built by Hyundai Ulsan - this one in 2007. The 55,534 gt, 65,935 dwt ship has a capacity of as much as 4922 TEU (some sources report 4888) and 330 reefers.

Over at Autoport, the 230 members of Unifor have accepted the latest contract offer and returned to work. Replacement workers were brought in during the five week strike and handled numerous ships. There is now pressure to ban replacement workers. A bill to do so in federally regulated work places was introduced in the Canadian parliament last November. A motion by the opposition to ban replacement workers across the board has been introduced in the Nova Scotia legislature.

Today's arrival at Autoport, the Morning Peace, was due to move to Pier 9C late this afternoon to offload machinery, with another autocarrier the Grande Marocco to take its place and the Morning Cindy is due tomorrow. Press reports state that Autoport handles 185,000 cars per year. (By comparison, the Dundalk termonal in Baltimore - currently blocked due to the bridge collapse, handles more than 850,000 cars per year.)

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MSC Sao Paulo V - Update #2

 Unloading the MSC Sao Paulo's cargo continued over night. By this morning, April 3, there were no containers left on deck and one crane was still working one hold.

The two Quebec tugs, Océan Taïga and Océan Raynald T. remained alongside the ship all night. I am assuming that because the ship is without power the winches are not operable, and the tensioner devices cannot pay out or ease in the lines depending tide or wind pressure. The ALP Sweeper moved to Pier 31over night but returned this morning to a position under the ship's bow.

An anticipated departure has been cancelled in view of approaching weather. Both MSC Shristi and now MSC Cornelia are standing by offshore to take the berth at Pier 42 when the tug and tow depart. Both will be sailing for Sines, Portugal and I can assume they will be sharing the MSC Sao Paulo's load as well as their own scheduled cargo.

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All Points Bulletin

 There was activity at almost every point in the harbour today, March 20.

Autoport had the Supreme Ace in from Emden (which means Volkswagen). The 59,022 gt, 18,334 dwt ship dates from 2011 when built by Minami Nippon in Shitanoe. It has a capacity of 6163 CEU and uses a 100 tonne capacity stern ramp and a smaller starboard side ramp.

MOL (Mitsui OSK Lines) operates under the ACE - Auto Carrier Express - name for its fleet of more than 100 autocarriers. It also has something like 375 dry bulkers, 195 tankers and a number of container, ferry and cruise ships. It is part of the Ocean Network Express pool of Japanese container ships.

Volkswagen and its owned brands such as Audi and Porsche, prefers to charter vessels instead of using common carriers such as Wallenius Wilhelmsen. This may allow for more control, but does not mitigate losses when one of their charters catches fire and sinks as the Felicity Ace did in February 2022. Several limited edition Porsches and Bentleys could never be replaced. The possible lithium-ion battery related fire could not be extinguished at sea and the vessel eventually sank with a reported 3,965 cars worth $400 million dollars on board. MOL valued the ship at $32.6 million and apparently has sued Porsche for the loss.

Across the harbour at PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub there were two ships working.

At Pier 42 it was MSC Shristi on the Canada Express 1 service en route from Sines, Portugal to Montreal. The ship started life as the Venice Bridge for K-Line, and used to call in Halifax in pre THE Alliance days (before 2016).

Venice Bridge arriving in Halifax February 15, 2010, followed by the ZIM New York.

Hyundai Ulsan built the 54,519 gt, 64,989 dwt ship in 2005, with a capacity of 4738 TEU including 374 reefers. In 2019 when ONE was formed, it was sold and renamed Baltic East and was swept up by MSC in 2020 becoming MSC Shristi.

Immediately astern under the big cranes at Pier 41 it was the first time caller CMA CGM Symi on the Ocean Alliance service.

The ship is one of the pioneering LNG powered container ships and has made the news several times as a result. Unfortunately it also made the news on November 24, 2023 when it was struck by a "suicide" drone in the Indian Ocean. Damage was not severe and there were no injuries.

Hyundai Samho delivered the ship in March 2022. It is a 150,844 gt, 159,614 dwt vessel with a capacity of 15,400 TEU. It is big, but not as big as the current Halifax record holder CMA CGM Marco Polo with a 16,020 TEU capacity.

The ship sailed from Los Angeles January 2 and made its way to Oakland, Kaohsiung, Nansha, Yantian, Singapore, Port Klang and Colombo on its usual route but then diverted to the southern route round the Cape of Good Hope to Tanger Med, Morocco arriving March 9. It then sailed directly for Halifax on March 11.

At Pier 9C (see yesterday's post) BBC Topaz was preparing to load by removing and stacking its hatch covers. More news on that ship in future posts.

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Mixed Bag

 There was a variety of shipping in Halifax today, November 13, starting with container ships.

Two ships arrived for PSA Fairview Cove. First was MSC Shristi from Las Palmas on the Turkey-Greece service. The ship called here previously in 2021.(Today's arrival was in the dark.)

MSC Shristi September 19, 2021.

Hyundai Heavy Industries built the ship in Ulsan in 2005 as Venice Bridge. It was renamed Baltic East in 2019 and MSC Shristi in 2020. A 54,519 gt, 64, 989 dwt vessel, it has a capacity of 4738 TEU including 374 reefers.

The MSC Shristi tied up at the west berth at Fairview Cove (nearest camera in photo above) and had by my count, sixty-three (probably empty) reefers stacked up aft. It was soon joined by ZIM Iberia (background in photo above).

ZIM Iberia dates from 2009 when it was built by Jiangsu New Yangzijiang in Jingjiang. First named Rudolf Schepers it became Arka Africa in 2017 then Als Juno in 2018. In 2022 it took its current name, which had previously been carried by a 1997 vintage ship that was scrapped in 2014.

Arriving at anchor in the lower harbour was the Sluisgracht belonging to the Dutch company Spliethoff. It is a multi-purpose tween decker of 16,639 gt, 21,449 dwt built in 2001 by Szczecinska Porta in Poland. It is equipped with three crane, of 120, 90 and 50 tonnes. It also has two large side load doors with five 16 tonne SWL elevators suited for package and palette handling.

 Spliethoffs built the ship to carry paper, lumber and other sensitive cargoes but the company has also developed a niche transporting yachts and small vessels. I believe that is what brought the ship to Halifax, but all I could see was a  Dominion Diving tug alongside.

The other arrival of interest was USS Marinette LCS 25, the latest in a series of Freedom class littoral combat ships built by Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, WI. The ship was commissioned on September 16 and is en route from the builders to its base in Mayport, FL. It was held over for a few days in Cleveland during the Seaway strike last month.

 USS Marinette inbound to HMC Dockyard.

(That is the German research vessel Maria S. Marien at the C.O.V.E dock in the background)

 Of the previous dozen ships in the series eight have called in Halifax on their delivery trips. The other four by-passed, including USS St.Louis in July 2020 due to COVID lockdown. The ships have also had their problems with propulsion and transmission issues that now seem to have been corrected on the more recent builds. Nevertheless five of the ships have already been decommissioned: USS Milwaukee LCS-5,  Detroit LCS-7, Little Rock LCS-9 and Sioux City LCS-11, all of which called here, and the lead ships Freedom LCS-1. Detroit and Little Rock are being held for possible sale to other countries. (The even numbered LCS ships are of an entirely different design and are Independence class trimarans built by Austal USA.)

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New to Halifax - Updated

 A pair of  "new to Halifax" ships arrived today. They are both veteran ships of 17 and 18 years of age however, so are not otherwise new.

First along was MSC Shristi sailing on the Mediterranean Shipping Company's Turkey and Greece service via Sines, Portugal.

 Hyundai, Ulsan built the ship in 2005 for service with K-Line as Venice Bridge. It was renamed Baltic East in 2019, then MSC Shristi in 2020 when acquired by MSC. The 54,519 gt, 64,989 dwt ship has a capacity of 4738 TEU, including 374 reefers.

It is one of the many ships purchased by MSC in the last few years that have projected the line into the position as the world's largest container shipping fleet. The most recent figures I have seen show MSC with 775 ships with a capacity of 5.1 million TEU plus 125 more ships on order. Maersk is in second place with 4.1 million TEU capacity and 33 ships on order.

The second new to Halifax arrival is an auto carrier, but not from one of the fleets we usually see here. Lake Taupo belongs to the Eastern Pacific (UK) Shipping fleet of 22 such ships. 

Built in 2006 by Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co, it served as Morning Miracle for EUKOR until 2017. The 46,800 gt, 12,600 dwt ship has a modest capacity of 4,902 Car Equivalent Units.

The ship was not shown on the Port's vessel schedule, and unusually for an autocarrier is eastbound from Houston, Veracruz and Jacksonville, sailing from the last port of September 16.  The ship also arrived with a slight list to starboard, which makes me wonder if it had an encounter with Hurricane Lee, en route. If so it might be here to re-secure some cargo.

...to be updated if new information is received.

Post Script

I couls see no sign of anything amiss from shofreside, and the ship was happily unloading Volkswagons, presumably made in Mexico. 

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Where are the ships - Part 3

 The container ships that had been anchored off Halifax, came in to port today, September 22, one each for PSA Halifax and Cerescorp, Fairview Cove.[ See previous post.]

First in at an early hour this morning was Conti Contessa tying up at Fairview Cove on THE Alliance's EC5 service.

Late in the afternoon it was time for MSC Shristi for PSA Halifax. Atlantic Fir came alongside first to push the ship's turn, with Atlantic Oak standing by to come alongside near the ship's starboard bow. Interestingly the ship used the Western / Deep Water channel, which the pilot referred to as the "Main Channel" when communicating with a sail boat.

The ship anchored off Halifax September 19 en route from New York to Montreal. It still does not show on Montreal schedules and PSA Halifax gives it a voyage number XA135A, which may mean that it is an "extra loader" - not scheduled and just here to pick up or redistribute empties. On the other hand it may be here just to lighten its load to meet St.Lawrence River draft restrictions.

Rock On

Gypsum Integrity arrived at sunset this evening, making an interesting sight as it approached the MacKay bridge, with the tug Atlantic Beaver Bear en route to Gold Bond to load gypsum (rock).

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Where are the ships - Part 2

In partial answer to my September 18 post, wondering about the dearth of container ships in Halifax recently, there was some activity today, September 21.

MSC Weser, which arrived in Halifax September 5 put out to sea today for trials. It did not take long to confirm that whatever the problem had been, the ship was now fit for service and it soon returned to port. It tied up at Pier 41 and began to load (or re-load) cargo.

The ship will be re-joining MSC's Canada Gulf Bridge service. It was en route from Philadelphia to Montreal when it arrived here, and will now continue that voyage. It normally sails from Montreal to Corner Brook and Saint John then on to Freeport, Bahamas and Mexico. That service does not call in Halifax.

Since the ship was completely unloaded on its arrival in Halifax, it was in ballast for today's trials. Just what it may be loading now is a bit of a mystery. Presumably whatever cargo it had for Canada could have been forwarded by tuck and rail by now, and outbound cargo could also have been sent here. However the ship is due in Montreal September 25, sailing September 26.

Another Montreal-bound MSC ship anchored off Halifax September 19. MSC Shristi was en route from New York when it made a "hard left" and anchored offshore.

As seen at a distance from Halifax the ship appears to be reasonably well laden, but perhaps not fully loaded. It was due in Montreal September 21, but has since been removed from MSC schedules. It is now due in Halifax tomorrow, September 22.

Built as Venice Bridge in 2005 by Hyundai, Ulsan, it is a 54,519 gt, 64,989 dwt ship with a capacity of 4738 TEU including 374 reefers. In 2019 it was renamed Baltic East under MSC management and in 2020 became MSC Shristi.

Also coming to anchor off Halifax today is the Conti Contessa, a sizable ship on THE Alliance's EC5 route (Far Est / Med/ East Coast North America). Built as Ital Contessa by Samsung, Koje in 2006 it measures a hefty 90,449gt, 101,007 dwt with a considerable container capacity of 8084, including 700 reefers. It became Conti Contessa in 2019 under Conti11 Schiffahrts ownership and Niederelbe management.

The ship appears to be heavily loaded, but is scheduled to transit the Narrows to Fairview Cove tomorrow, September 22. Based on its German ownership, it is likely filling some of HAPAG-Loyd's tonnage commitment to THE Alliance. (With ONE, Yang Ming and HMM.)

It is a large ship for the Narrows, so its airdraft must be minimized. 

Also at the Fairview Cove terminal today was NYK Rumina, a 55,487 gt, 66,171 dwt ship built by Hyundai, Samho in 2010.

The ship has a capacity of 4922 TEU, including 330 reefers, and it is on THE Alliance's AL5 service, which connects western Europe with the west coast of North America. Its last European port is Antwerp and first and last North American port is Halifax, so it is in competition with several other lines on the North Atlantic. 

One prominent and highly reliable Halifax subscription news source stated earlier this week that PSA's takeover of the Cerescorp / NYK operation at Fairview Cove is a "done deal" awaiting regulatory approval from Competition Bureau Canada. No date was given for when the green light will be illuminated, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out if it is approved (which seems likely).

Major investment in equipment is needed at Fairview Cove, and is underway at PSA Halifax's Southend Container Terminal (formerly Halterm.)

Some shuffling of shipping lines is also expected, in part to ease road traffic issues in downtown Halifax. The city will be entering a period of extreme congestion when major re-developments of several roadways are set to begin soon. Keeping heavy truck traffic off the peninsula's streets (and onto trains) should be a top priority.

Halifax has so far avoided the congestion that is backlogging ports in many regions, but careful management of landside activity will be required. As one pundit stated recently "ports are a mess, but shipping company profits are at record highs." 

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