Two Grachts, etc.,

The Amsterdam based Spliethoff Group, which includes Big Lift Shipping and Forestwave, operates about 145 ships. The company has found several niches for trade that can take their ships to the four corners of the earth. Even so it is rare to have two of their ships in the Port of Halifax on the same day (but not at the same time.)

Today, November 11 was such a day, and despite it being a national day of remembrance, there was some activity in the port. The truck gates at the two container terminals were closed, but the two ships at PSA Fairview Cove sailed in the morning.

The first to sail was the Jamaica followed a bit later by the Muntgracht [see yesterday's post.]

The Jamaica ex ZIM Luanda outbound in the Narrows this morning has cleared the A. Murray MacKay bridge and is passing Pier 9 (left background).

The Muntgracht with a deck load of unusual objects sailed from Fairview Cove and is headed for Matane, QC. Number one hatch has been left clear for future load or unload. That port handles a variety of cargoes including export of paper pulp, import of wind turbine components and due to a train and car ferry services to Baie Comeau and Sept-Iles, can also transship other products.

The second "Gracht" (Dutch for 'canal') arrived this afternoon From Belfast and docked at Pier 9C.  

One of Spliethoff's niche trades is yacht transport, and on this trip, it is carrying new boats representing several models from the same builder. 

Since visiting the Great Lakes in early September, the ship has been to Naples September 30 to October 3, Gdansk October 10-18, then Belfast October 28 -29. On sailing today the ship gave Palm Beach as its destination. (Despite having been to the Lakes, the ship does not appear to have suffered the same case of "lock rash" as its fleet mate.)

On arrival the ship made a neat turn off the dock, assisted by the Atlantic Oak and came alongside starboard side to. 

 

Predictably, the ship off loaded a large aircraft component package (loaded in Belfast), which was landed directly on a trombone (extendible) truck trailer and whisked away.

The Floretgracht is a member of Spliethoff's "F"class and is similar to the "M" class, and was also built in 2012, but by Jiangsu Yangzi Changbo Shipyard Co Ltd. The 8620 gt, 12,500 dwt ship is a multi-purpose type with box shaped holds and full width hatches. It has three cranes rated at 80 tonnes SWL, which can combine and can carry 658 TEU.

 Etc.,

There was also activity at the Irving Oil terminal in Woodside with the Algoma East Coast arriving with product from Saint John.

 And at Autoport it was the Morning Cornelia on an interesting rotation. 

 

The ship sailed from Nagoya September 5 and Toyohashi September 7 and was next reported in Sagunto (Valencia) Spain October 13. That would indicate a Suez passage, but was not reported as such in my usual sources. It then called in Portbury, UK October 18, Zeebrugge October 20-24 and Goteborg October 26 to 28. 

Built by Imabari Zosen in Japan in 2010 it is a 60,002 gt, 22,530 dwt ship with a capacity of 6,458 cars. In addition to the usual stern ramp, it has a small starboard side ramp as well.

As a bit of an update, the asphalt tanker ATB Leo A. McArthur, John J. Carrick was still unloading at the McAsphalt dock, and the orange buoy in the photo above marks the mooring point for the tanker's stern line. (seen from a different view point in the photo below). The sun was behind heavy cloud cover this morning, so there was no glare to spoil a picture.

 

Not to be left out, there was another arrival in Halifax today, the Atlantic Star made its way inbound from Liverpool and berthed at PSA Fairview Cove and then another coincidence occurred.

Later in the afternoon the big stern trawler Mersey Venture moved from its berth at COVE to an anchorage in Bedford Basin.

 It is a 2337 gt freezer trawler built in 1988. Construction was started by Tangen Verft, and completed by Langsten Slip, Tomrefjord. It fishes predominantly in the Greenland area for shrimp and cod but during seasonal layup it is often hired by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for research work. It is likely doing some calibrations or other preparations for another research trip.

The coincidence is that it is also based in Liverpool, but not the same Liverpool. Liverpool, Nova Scotia is a small port on the southeast shore of Nova Scotia, predictably situated at the mouth of the Mersey River. (The original British settlers had a cruel sense of humour). It is home to Mersey Seafoods, owners of the trawler pictured above. 

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MFO charters

 The Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans has once again turned to private industry to provide research capability. With their own ships unavailable due to refits or retirements (see previous posts on CCGS Alfred Needler) the department is continuing needed research but with hired ships. They have recently signed a new three year deal to charter ships, thus ensuring consistent and reliable reports on fish stocks.

Mersey Venture at pier 9 on February 22, 2023.

As it did in 2018 and 2020 the DFO has turned to Mersey Seafoods of Liverpool, NS to charter their Mersey Venture, which is usually idle at this time of year.

See Shipfax  for March 19, 2018 and December 5, 2020.

 Mersey Venture 2020-12-05

From my observation it appears that the ship has made two trips to George's Bank so far this winter, to conduct surveys normally carried out by the now retiredAlfred Needler. DFO's new ship Capt Jacques Cartier has also gone to George's Bank this week.

CCGS Capt Jacques Cartier 2022-03-09)

 

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Odd goings on

 It was a day for some non-typical activity in the harbour. The ZIM feeder ship Taipei Trader (see yesterday's post) moved from Pier 36 to anchorage in Bedford Basin. 

The ship appears to be fully loaded, so must be either getting a repair or waiting out a schedule. ZIM seems to have a lot of empty boxes in Halifax, so maybe it is hauling some of those away.

The newly delivered CCGS Jean Goodwill moved from the Bedford Institute to Pier 9C where a crane lifted off a large cylinder and placed it on a truck. The cylinder looked like a stern roller, but was secured on deck when the ship arrived. (See previous post)

There was another unusual arrival at Pier 9C, the factory stern trawler Mersey Venture.

The attractive vessel was built in 1988 in Norway (started by Tangen Verft, and completed by Langsten Slip, Tomrefjord). It is a 2337 gt freezer trawler, usually engaged in the shrimp fishery for Mersey Seafoods Ltd of Liverpool, NS. The shrimp fishing grounds are in the far north, off Greenland, and trips can take up to two months. However its recent track shows it coming from the Gulf of Maine, headed for its home port of Country Harbour, NS. Its visit to Halifax must represent a change of plan of some sort.

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More dollars for research, and some tanker traffic

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is again hiring outside vessels to conduct research due to the unavailability of ships from their own fleet.

Mersey Venture fueling up at BIO today. The 2337 grt ship was built in 1988 and has been in the northern shrimp fishery.


Mersey Venture, owned by Mersey Seafoods of Liverpool, NS, is the latest hire. It will cost $290,000 to conduct an abbreviated  winter fisheries survey on George's Bank. The annual survey collects important data on fish stocks and usually takes five weeks. However the DFO's aging fisheries research fleet is unable to conduct the work this year due to problem refits.
CCGS Alfred Needler, built in 1982 was to have completed its refit in St.John's February 14, but more steel work was needed so it will not be ready before April 1. Last year when it was unable to complete the survey due to mechanical issues, the work was completed by Teleost (built in 1988). However this year that ship is also in refit, which has been extended from the end of February until at least March 30.

Both DFO ships are up for replacement but delivery dates for the new ships are still somewhat up in the air.  The first of three new ships, Sir John Franklin is fitting out in Victoria, BC after is was "launched" by Seaspan's yard in North Vancouver. It is expected to enter service sometime in 2018, followed by the next two ships in 2019 or even 2020.

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Today the coastal tanker Algoscotia took a break from its routine of shuttle trips from Lévis, QC to Imperial Oil in Dartmouth. The ship moved to pier 26 - likely for some repair work.

The Algoscotia has been working through the winter and certainly shows signs of wear and tear on the hull.

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Based in Come-by-Chance, NL. the 2985 grt, 3569 dwt  tanker North Atlantic Kairos arrived at pier 9 today with cargo for Wilson's Fuels. Built in 2008 in Tuzla, Turkey, to the same design as Algoma Dartmouth, it is primarily a bunkering tanker, but can also carry out coastal voyages

As North Atlantic Kairos approaches pier 9, the tug Roseway in the background, is towing a containment boom that will be placed around the ship while it discharges its cargo. An underground pipeline connects pier 9 to Wilson's tanks on Barrington Street.

Built in 2008 as CT Wicklow is was acquired by North Atlantic Refining Ltd in 2016 and arrived in Halifax July 9, 2016 for fitting out and renaming. It returned to Halifax in August of that year with a cargo for Wilson's.

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