PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub

 PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub, had both berths operating the South End Container Terminal for a brief time this morning. The ONE Madrid sailed from Pier 41 soon after the MSC Shannon III arrived ar Pier 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.

Due to its size the ship required two tethered escorts astern. The Atlantic Ash (left) and the Atlantic Maple (right) are positioned to turn the ship into the western, deep water channel.

 

The ONE Madrid is currently on the EC5 Asia to North America service of THE Alliance (Hapag-Lloyd / ONE / Yang Ming / HMM). Next month when Hapag-Lloyd drops out, the remaining lines (ONE, Yang Ming and HMM) will carry on as the Premier Alliance. If you can imagine the ship without any Hapag-Lloyd containers, you will have an idea of how the reduction will effect both the shipping companies and the Port of Halifax. Hapag-Lloyd has joined with Maersk to form the Gemini Cooperation and so far will not be calling in Halifax.

The Mediterranean Shipping Company is the largest container line and will exit the 2M Alliance with rival Maersk as of next month and remain unaffiliated. It operates several services through Halifax, including the Canada Express from the London Gateway, Antwerp and Le Havre to Montreal with an outbound call in Halifax.

MSC Shannon III arrived from Montreal this morning and appears to be new to the Canada Express route. It and was previously running between Antwerp and St.Petersburg, until this trip.

Hiding behind a forest of cranes and RTGS, the MSC Shannon III lies at Pier 42, with the ONE Madrid on its off side (its bow and funnel are visible to sharp eyes) sliding back into berth 41.

MSC Shannon III is another MSC veteran, built in 1991 by Bremer Vulkan AG in Vegesack as Berlin Senator and renamed NSC Shannon in 2004. In 2023 it had "III" added in a company- wide effort to classify ships by size. The 37,071 gt, 56,127 dwt ship has a capacity of 2668 TEU.

 

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"Can Overboard"

 Maybe not as recognizeable a cry as the legendary "Man Overboard", but it certainly is a common occurrence these days for containers (Sea Cans in popular parlance) to be lost overboard. Usually we hear of these losses from ships in the Pacific, such as the Zim Kingston off  Victoria, BC, in December. However the most recent case of loss overboard is a lot closer to home.

On January 7 the 13,900 TEU ship Madrid Bridge, owned by K-Line and operating for Ocean Network Express (ONE) reported a stack collapse "mid-Atlantic", with several containers washed overboard. Whether it was a case of underestimating by those aboard ship or a bit of news manipulation by the owners, the number of lost boxes seems to increase every few days. At first it was 30, then it was revised to 60 and as of the latest news 130 - certainly an exponential increase. It strains credibility to think that the ship's people could mistake 130 for 30! There are also reported to be a further 80 damaged containers still on board. Assurances that hazardous materiala are not involved should also be questioned. Once again the Zim Kingston comes to mind where fires continued to break out after the ship reached port. Its intial loss overboard of 109 boxes and damage to other boxes, caused hazardous cargo to ignite.

The Madrid Bridge was on ONE's EC4 service from Europe to the US East coast (Halifax is not on the route) and heading for New York at the time. After a few days standing by offshore the ship changed heading for Charleston, but has had to divert from a direct route to avoid weather. Presumably at least some of the damaged containers are still at risk of going overside or incurring further damage. Safe arrival in a port is a high priority for the crew, the ship and the cargo.

 Containers are rarely stacked five high - even empty - on land, but seven or eight high stacks are not uncommon on ships at sea. Most ships have very little support or protection, and lashing is impossible at these heights.

Ships of the Atlantic Container Line are the exception. They are quite rightly proud to say that they have never lost a container overboard since the line was started in 1965. Their ships have solid structural support and protection for deck cargoes.

Fires and container losses on container ships have apparently not reached the point where ship owners, insurers, cargo owners, classification societies, flag states or the IMO have decided to do something. These episodes are seemingly still part of the "cost of doing business".

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