Morning Calypso - more cars

 Today's (January 25) auto carrier caller was more typical in terms of its route than yesterday's arrival. The Morning Calypso is on the usual Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean (WWO) run from North Europe to North America. Its last port was Southampton (January 15) from Zeebrugge (January 14), Bremerhaven (January 12), and Gothenburg (January 10) en route for New York. As a EUKOR ship it can be slotted in to the parent company (WWO) schedule as needed.

After off loading at Autoport this morning the ship moved to Pier 9C to discharge "high and heavy" and other RoRo cargo. As usual it headed to Bedford Basin and made a quick turn with the assistance of the Atlantic Larch (forward) and Atlantic Oak (aft) then returning to the Narrows and Pier 9C.

Built in 2013 by Imabari Zosen, Marugame, it is a 59,580 gt, 18,713 dwt ship with a capacity of 6200 CEU or 6142 RT43 size cars. I can't find a published figure for the capacity of its stern ramp, (but expect it is in the 250 tonne range) nor its small starboard side ramp. 

 

It is always a treat to have one of these moves in the afternoon as the ship transits both bridges and navigates the Narrows, in clear skies and bright sunshine, never mind the -5º C temperature.

Although the ship carries the EUKOR Car Carriers Inc banner, it appears to be chartered from Japanese owners. It is operated by Excel Marine, a Japanese company that manages some 135 ships for itself and others. The ship's movements over the past several months show a wide range of port calls starting from Japan and Indonesia in November 2024 via the Panama Canal to Spain and North Europe. After its US port calls it is likely to head back to the Pacific.

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Tanker Time

Halifax once had two oil refineries on its shores, Imperial Oil and Texaco Canada, but both have long since closed. Imperial (owned by Exxon Mobil) ceased refining in 2013 and uses only one of its three docks to receive and distribute refined products. The company continues to use its multitude of tanks for storage, It also receives product by rail and has a large truck loading facility which is used for regional distribution, including to other companies.

The Texaco facility in Eastern Passage, through a variety of mergers, passed through Gulf Canada before closing in 1997. The 475 acres of land including 33 acres water lots had by then been acquired by Ultramar which is now Valero. The storage and distribution facility ceased operation in 2017. Most of the tanks have been removed and a land remediation process is now underway. Some shore side tanks and dock, have been retained, although they are not in use, and the remaining area will be sold for redevelopment.

The other petroleum related facilities in Halifax include Irving Oil's Woodside terminal dock and large storage and distribution site. It also imports product by rail, including propane, and distributes by truck. Irving Oil brings in refined product by tanker from its Saint John, NB refinery and from Europe.

A smaller distribution centre, built by Petrofina, is now operated by Wilson Fuels. Located in the Richmond area in the north end of Halifax, it is chiefly served by truck. However it does have a pipeline to Pier 9, which is rarely used. The company operates service stations and distributes home heating oil.

Two companies that are involved in road building have asphalt receiving facilities on the shores of Halifax harbour. McAsphalt Industries, of the Miller McAsphalt Group, uses the former Dook's dock in Eastern Passage, adjacent to Autoport. It is connected to storage tanks by a heated pipeline. Since 2018 the company has been owned by Colas Canada, which in turn is owned in France.

The Municipal Group has, among its many interests, a large road building operation. It owns General Liquids Canada which receives, processes, stores and distributes asphalt. It uses the Cherubini dock in Eisner's Cove to receive the asphalt and pipes it to storage tanks adjacent to the Imperial Oil refinery. It has a second facility well inland in Waverly which is served by rail. Whether product is moved from the Eisner's Cove facility by rail to Waverly is not known to me.

McAsphalt Marine Transportation has its own tanker barges which supply both McAsphalt and General Liquids. They also have a combination bitumen / asphalt tank ship on order in China for delivery later this year.

All of the above leads to today's (May 22) tanker activity in Halifax harbour.

The coastal tanker Algonova which arrived Friday May 19, indirectly from Sarnia, ON, unloaded fresh product at Imperial Oil and on Saturday May 20 moved to number 2 anchorage  - just off the Imperial Oil docks at the entrance to Eastern Passage.

The number two anchorage is rarely used and then only by smaller ships and for short term. Last night, Sunday, May 21, the ship moved to Pier 9C.

This morning there was a pumper truck on the dock offloading something, possibly slops. The truck carries 'Green for Life' logos, so the material may be going for recycling or incineration.

Sunday Morning May 21 one of Algoma's recently acquired ships, the Algotitan, arrived at Imperial Oil from Sarnia. The former Chantaco arrived in Halifax December 30, 2022 where it was brought under Canadian registry as of January 11, 2023, with the new name Algotitan. It entered service at the end of January and after some coastal voyages, was reported upbound in the St.Lawrence Seaway March 25 for Sarnia. It made one trip down to Sorel April 1-4 then returned to Sarnia and Nanticoke. On this trip it was reported clearing the Seaway April 18. It sailed this afternoon heading back to Sarnia.

 As the Algotitan departs, the auto carrier Morning Calypso , in the background ,is preparing to get underway from Autoport. The remaining Valero tanks appear between the two ships.

So far the tanker's funnel has been repainted in Algoma colours, but the "bear" medallion has yet to appear.

The Irving Oil Woodside terminal received the company tanker Acadian from Saint John early this morning (see recent posts with pictures - the ship was also here last week).

Due to the angle of view, most of the background tanks belong to Irving Oil's next door neighbour Imperial Oil. The checkerboard topped tank is part of the CFB Shearwater military base, and is close to their aircraft runways and heliport.

 With the Woodside dock occupied, the tanker STI Pimlico, also destined for Irving Oil, arrived mid morning and went to anchor.

The ship is arriving from Amsterdam with more product. Irving Oil imports specific product from  Amsterdam storage facilities on a regular basis.

Built in 2014 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, the STI Pimlico is a handysize tanker of 24,320 gt, 38,734 dwt. It is operated by Scorpio Tankers Inc (a New York Stock Exchange publicly traded company it is headquartered in Monaco), which currently has 113 tankers in its fleet. Most are scrubber equipped. 

A ship's full width enclosed bridge usually indicates that it is fitted for winter navigation. The ship is rated Ice class 1A under Det Norske Veritas classification.

 The STI Pimlico's funnel mark includes a stylised Scorpion tail crossing the letter "S". STI was founded in 2009 by Emanuale A. Lauro and is a separate outgrowth of Scorpio Ship Management founded in New York in 1976 by Lauro's grandfather Glauco Lolli-Ghetti.

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Morning Calypso - tidy ship

 Maintaining the appearance of a ship may not be at the top of the shipowner's ToDo list, but deterioration of the steel hull can be delayed by the quality of the paint coating, both above and below the water line. "Rust Buckets", as they were once called, are rare these days. Quantities of surface rust are visible on many ships, particularly in the spring after the rigours of winter, but that is  normal and not of particular concern. Ship's crews are rarely sent over side to scrape and paint anymore (they do work on the superstructure however when conditions allow).

Hull painting is usually done during regular drydockings, where old paint is removed by high pressure water or abrasive blasting. (Silica sand is an inhalation hazard so is rarely used.) The raw steel can then be primed and new paint is applied to a properly prepared surface to ensure good adhesion.

All of the above serves to explain why this morning (May 22) the auto carrier Morning Calypso looks so neat and tidy.

Built in 2013 by Imabari Zosen, Marugame, it is a 59,580 gt, 18,713 dwt ship with a capacity of 6142   CEU. The ship was delivered March 30, 2013 and its classification society, NKK, conducted its ten year survey in March of this year. That exercise would have involved drydocking, and no doubt provided an opportunity for repainting. 

Tracing the ship's movements over the past few months reveals that it was in Hiroshima, Japan March 25-27 and Nakanoseki March 27-28, then proceeded via the Suez Canal April 19, to Barcelona April 24-25, Antwerp May 2-3, Portbury May 5, Goteborg May 9, Zeebrugge May 11-13 and Southampton May 14-15.

Despite its EUKOR label, the ship is not carrying Korean cars, but has European cars on board and is on Wallenius Wilhelmsen's usual transatlantic service.

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Morning, Afternoon and Evening

With longer days, and with Daylight Saving Time iminent, the opportunities for ship photos increase almost daily. Today, March 10, the arrival and departure times and the sun cooperated, permitting photos of several interesting ships.

The most interesting arrival is actually covered in a separate post - see Kopit Hopson 1752

An unusual mid-morning arrival for Autoport was the Morning Calypso a Eukor car carrier working on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen transatlantic service.

Once inside Maugher's Beach, tugs take charge of the ship to assist it round  Macnab's Island to Autoport.

 

Built in 2013 by Imabari Zosen in Marugame, Japan, the 59,590 gt, 18,713 dwt ship has a capacity of 6142 car equivalent units (CEU). Once it had completed loading the ship made a 1700 hrs (AST) departure time and there was still enough light to catch it in roughly the same position after it rounded Ives Knoll and was outbound for New York.

 

 Another caller was the Seamax New Haven on MSC's Indus 2 route from Northwest India to the US east coast.  It arrived early yesterday, March 9 and tied up at PSA Halfax, and had a pilot order to sail at 1730 hrs today. With the usual routine of raising cranes, making fast tugs and letting go lines, it was after 1800 hrs when the ship was clear for a photo.

 

 An unsual charter for MSC (possibly a short term or spot charter, because the ship does not carry an MSC name), the ship is owned by Tranship LLC and under the commercial management of Seamax Capital Management LLC of Stamford, CT. The company manages a closed private equity investment fund and currently runs twelve (older) post-Panamax container ships totaling more than 100,000 TEU. All are named for cities in Connecticut, which has become the "haven" for New York shipping companies.

 

The Seamax New Haven was built in 2005 by Samsung, Koje as Ever Charming for Reederei NSB [Niederelbe] on charter to Evergreen Marine Corp of Taiwan. It is a 90,449 gt, 100,887 dwt vessel with a capacity of 8084 TEU including 700 reefers. It was acquired by Seamax and renamed in 2017. As with many US owned ships it is registered in the Marshall Islands. Technical management is entrusted to Fleet Ship Management Pte Ltd of Hong Kong.

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