Odds and Ends

 Today, June 15, was one of those days when Halifax Harbour was the scene of a great variety of shipping activity. There seemed to something happening in almost every sector.

A visitor to number one anchorage represented the bulk carrier category. Danae arrived for clearance from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before proceeding on to La Baie, QC. The ship is carrying bauxite, loaded at the west African port of Kamsar, Guinea, the world's leading bauxite exporter. Due to limits on the size of ships than can load there a whole class of bulk carriers are named "Kamsarmax". With a maximum length of 229m, ships of the class are also sized to navigate the Panama Canal, so are limited to 80,000 to 85,000 tonnes deadweight.

 Built in 2012 by Penglai Zhonghai Jinglu, in Penglai, China Danae is a gearless bulker of 44,060 gt, 80,989 dwt. The ship arrived during the late evening June 14 and sailed late morning today. It is destined for Rio Tinto Alcan's unloading facility in Port Alfred. Its cargo will feed the giant aluminum production complex in the Saguenay region.

Intermittent fog during the day did not seem to delay shipping to any degree, but some ships did perhaps sneek in or out more or less invisibly. The Kingston class HMCS Moncton wearing its commemorative disruptive paint scheme, was one of them. The camouflage was applied to the vessel as a tribute to vessels that served during World War II's Battle of the Atlantic.

The fog partly concealed the tanker Acadian at anchor. It is due to move alongside Irving Oil's Woodside terminal this evening.

The fog was thicker in a seaward direction, but as it lifted it also revealed container ship activity at PSA Halifax. The MSC Nuria remained hidden at Pier 42, but the ZIM Luanda could be seen at Pier 42, even if the tops of idle cranes were not.

 

The 40,030 gt, 50,697 dwt ship dating from 2009 has a capacity of 4253 TEU. Samsumg Shipbuilding + Heavy Industry Co Ltd built the ship at its Koje (now khown as Geoje) shipyard. The ship is a long time regular caller on the ZIM Container Atlantic (ZCA) route.

There was only one herring seiner in Halifax today. The Morning Star arrived in mid-morning and sailed at noon time after unloading its catch to tank trucks. (The gull escorts accompanied the boat in from sea).

The difference in size between the Danae and Morning Star presented quite a contrast.

Autoport received an unsual vessel, the Grande Togo one of about 27 Container / RoRo's operated by the Grimaldi Group. (Grimaldi also owns the Atlantic Container Line, which has five more ConRos.) The ships of this increasingly rare type usually operate between Europe and Africa, where they can handle a wide variety of cargo at all kinds of ports. Grimaldi is one of the last operators of ConRos of any substantial number. Its presence on a transatlantic run is certainly an "one of".

Built in 2011 by Uljanik Shipyard in Pula, Croatia, it is a 47,232 gt, 26,650 dwt ship with a capacity of 1318 TEU and 3037 cars. It is equipped with two cranes (probably of 40 tonne SWL capacity).

Of note are the truck cab/chassis units stowed on the open deck. It must be the first time in many years that vehicles have been seen here in the clear like this. There is some evidence of protective panels on the front grillles of some of the cabs, but they must have taken at bit of a saltwater shower en route. The ship is not taking the usual transatlantic route. Although it loaded in Antwerp, Jun 3-6, it also called on Vigo, Spain June 8-9 before embarking on its transatlantic voyage.

Another consignment of wind farm pylons arrived this afternoon on the GPO Sapphire. The ship is a fleet mate of GPO Grace which delivered a similar cargo in May.

GPO Sapphire was built by CSBC Taiwan Corp in Kaohsiung in 2019. Measuring 49,091 gt and 63,581 dwt, it is a semi-submersible specialist heavy load carrier, one of four sister ships in the GPO Heavylift fleet.

The six pylons, including pilings, bases and towers will be assembled and transferred to the installation vessel Orion at the IEL pier in Dartmouth. The Orion is currently installing the first six units in the Vineyard Wind project off Massachusetts.

 

There is one more type of vessel, not covered in the above "catalog" and that is pleasure craft. While Halifax is home to scores of small craft, from PWCs on up (see yesterday's post), it is also a way point for larger vessels en route to and from the various pleasure ports of the world. Two such "boats" are in port now, and are perhaps worthy of mention.

Epiphany (with the "i" given as "!") is a 132 gt motor sailer built in 2003 in New Zealand. It previously carried the names Nephele and Ipanema. The 34m x 8m aluminum hulled craft can accommodate six guests and five crew (in 3 cabins). It arrived from Newport June 12. Its mast is visible from blocks away.

 On the other side of the pier, the motor yacht Vive la Vie provides something of a contrast. It is a 60 m long miniature ship of 1277 gt, built in 2009. Its more spacious hull can cater to 12 guests in six cabins and has eight double berth cabins for crew. It arrived from Gibraltar June 13.

These two craft are tied up at a new timber pier built on the site of the old Foundation dock, which to my mind was a lot more interesting when it was home to the tugs of Foundation Maritime and later Eastern Canada Towing. It was a little less pedestrian friendly however.

There are nine tugs tied up at the Ectug pier in this 1977 (ca. May 1) photo.

(One tug is hidden behind the cook house / dispatch office with only its mast showing.) 

The tugs are from the left:

1, 2 (hidden) and 5: three of the same class Point Vim, Vigour, and Viking; 

3: Point Valiant; 4:Point Vibert; 6: Point Valour, 7 and 8: Point Gilbert and/or/and Point James 

and 9: either Point Carroll or Point Spencer

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Welcome back

 The population of harbour gulls welcomed two herring seiners today, when they arrived and offloaded their catch to waiting tank trucks.

The Lady Melissa (foreground) and Morning Star (background) tied up at Pier 9.

Herring seiners have not been seen in Halifax for some time - they did not appear last year at all - although the Morning Star was in port yesterday. One boat usually acts as a scout and when (and if) it finds the migrating schools of fish it calls in other boats. They fish at night, and land the fish at the nearest port, to be trucked to the processing facilities in the Yarmouth area.

The fluctuating populations of herring over the years have resulted in a boom or bust fishery. At one time there were dozens of boats calling in Halifax. In the mid nineteen-sixties there were so many fish that boats came in from British Columbia.

Three or more other herring seiners are reported underway in the Yarmouth area, so depending on the position of the fish, we may see them in the coming days.

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Some New Names, Some Familiar

 There were some "new to Halifax" arrivals today, July 18 and some familiar returns.

 New 1

An early morning arrival was the IT Infinity, an offshore support vessel re-purposed for cable work for IT International Telecom. It tied up at the company's marine base at Pier 9A where workers were at the ready with a crane and other gear to fit the ship out.

It was built in 2008 by Aker Tulcea in Turkey (and likely completed at Brattvaag, Norway) to a ST-216L CD platform supplier design. The diesel electric vessel is ice strengthened. Named Volstad Princess it operated under Tidewater Management until 2017 when it became Standard Princess, managed  by Fletcher Supply Vessels Ltd of Aberdeen, Scotland. IT International Telecom seems to have acquired and renamed the ship late last year. However on arrival this morning it was still wearing a "Fletcher" logo.

At some point since 2019, when it was working out of Aberdeen, posssibly for Equinor, it acquired a 75 tonne SWL deck crane, mounted well aft.

It reportedly sailed from Aberdeen May 29, arriving in Cape Canaveral June 15. It left there June 19, but was back in port July 10 to 13 when it sailed for Halifax. The ship is currently flying the flag of Barbados.

New 2

Another arrival for Canadian Food Inpection Agency (CFIA) inspection put in this evening and anchored in the short term anchorage #1 in the lower harbour. The Liberian flag Marianna is en route from Itaqui (Sao Louis), Brazil with a cargo of bauxite or alumina for a port in Quebec. The ship must be declared clear of LDA moth larva by the CFIA before it is allowed to proceed to a Canadian port where the invasive species of moth could harm the coniferous forests. 

 

Built in 2010 by IHI Marine, Yokohama, it is a 31,532 gt, 55,753 dwt ship fitted with four 35 tonne SWL cranes and is equipped with four grabs.

Familiar 1

With Marianna occupying anchorage #1 the following inbound vessel passed west of George's Island, giving spectators a closeup treat. Perhaps many did not realize that the Atlantic Sky is one of five sister ships maintaining a weekly container and RoRo service for Atlantic Container Line (ACL).

 Peaking out from astern of the ship was its tethered escort, the tug Atlantic Oak, ready to provide braking and steering assistance as the ship made its way toward the PSA Fairview Cove terminal in Bedford Basin.

(The use of the pre-fix name "Atlantic" for the two vessels is coincidental - there is no connection between the Grimaldi owned Atlantic Container Line and the Irving owned Atlantic Towing Ltd.)

Familiar 2 (3,  and 4)

Tied up for the night at the Bishop's Landing area docks, were the three herring seiners that have been fishing out of Halifax for the past few weeks. They fish at night, unload their catch in the morning and rest up during the day,before putting out to sea again in the evening. However this evening they appear to be staying in port.

The largest of the three, Lady Melissa, arrived this morning (and despite appearances did not have a naval escort) and off loaded its catch at Pier 9.

 The Morning Star arrived a little later and also unloaded at Pier 9, pumping its catch into a waiting tank truck. 

It then launched its bug boat (seine skiff) and moved along the pier to land its seine net for repair.

The third boat, Fundy Monarch (the former Dual Venture of 2014), seems to have tied up without unloading, so presumably had no catch. It also eluded my lens.

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Arrivals, Departures and Moves

 Most days in Halifax harbour there are several ship arrivals and departures and often some moves within the harbour. The arrivals and departures often coincide with the normal hours of the longshore workers, so tend to be early in the morning for the arrivals and late in the afternoon for the departures. Moves are usually unpredictable.

However there are times when the ship movements are at odd hours, more conducive for photos.Today June 20 was such a day, with several mid morning arrivals.

The container ship NYK Romulus was due at the pilot station at 1000 hrs, followed by the auto carrier Grande California at 1030 hrs.

Built in 2009 by Hyundai, Samho, the NYK Romulus is a 55,487 gt, 65,883 dwt vessel with a capacity of 4922 TEU including 330 reefers. It is sailing on THE Alliance's AL5 service (North Europe - North America).

Heading for Autoport, Grimaldi's Grande California may be making its first call in Halifax.

Just a year old, the Grande America was delivered by the Yangfan Group, Zhoushan in early June 2021. It is a 65,148 gt, 15,853 dwt ship with a capacity of 7700 cars in 5,000 lane meters of deck space. It is arriving from Salerno and Gioia Tauro, Italy and Valencia, Spain.

While these two big ships were arriving, two smaller vessels were putting in an appearance.

 

Lady Melissa, built by Ferguson Industries in Pictou in 1990 and owned by Comeau's, Saulnierville, NS. Morning Star was built by Caraquet Marine Ltd in 1991 and is owned by Scotia Pelagic of Yarmouth.

 

Both are herring seiners, and have not been seen in Halifax for some time. The commercial herring and mackerel fisheries were closed by government order in April, so these boats must be operating for research or for a limited bait fishery. The collapse of the herring stock on both Atlantic and Pacific coasts is worrisome, but has happened before.

One ship arrived this morning and will sail again this evening - Irving Oil's tanker East Coast

Built in 2005 by Hyundai, Mipo for long term charter to Irving Oil, it was orginallly named Nor'Easter and sailed internationally out of Saint John, NB. It was brought under Canadain flag and renamed in 2014.It is a handysize vessel of 23,552 gt, 37,515 dwt.

Most of today's departures are echeduled for early evening (after this is posted) but one late afternoon sailing was the Royal Canadian Navy's chartered supply ship Asterix.

As usual with naval vessel movements, its destination was not given.

Movements within the harbour were limited to small craft as far as I could tell. Among these "craft" was the "Harbour Hopper 6", giving its cargo of tourists a cold and damp ride.

The Halifax Fire and Emergency Services "Fire Boat 1" was exercising its sealegs in the harbour too:

The boat is also named Kjipuktuk , the first nation's word for Halifax Harbour, which the early English settler-colonizers corrupted to "Chebucto". [I have "defaced" one of the crew men to avoid identification.]

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How Windy Was It

Very high winds earlier in the week forced many ships to remain in port and even dredging off Halterm was suspended for for Tuesday and Wednesday. Conditions improved by Friday and some ships decided to sail, others opted to wait until today, but then winds picked up again. However but it was business as usual.

The cruise ship Fram must have changed its itinerary a couple of times after arriving 12 hours late on Wednesday. It was supposed to sail later then same day, then yesterday, but finally got underway today.

Tucked in out of the wind at pier 24, the ship had an extended stay in Halifax.

Another departure after a short stay in port was the schooner Avontuur.  It arrived in Halifax Tuesday (see previous post) May 14 and off loaded a part cargo of fair trade coffee beans.

Getting away early this evening, the vessel made a maneuver that is rarely seen today. Berthed bow in at pier 25, the ship turned in camber using a spring line from the starboard quarter.
 

(The spring line ran to a bollard on shore, that appears just off the ship's stern in this photo)

Once turned about 180 degrees, the line was let go and the ship moved out quite smartly under power, destination Horta, Azores.

Arrivals seem unhindered by today's weather, but precautions were taken.

Glen Canyon Bridge took its stern escort tug Spitfire III well before reaching the lower harbour and had the tug Atlantic Oak on its port side until rounding George's Island. It then stood round to the starboard for the bridge passages and the Narrows. A fair amount of spray was in evidence.

Geln Canyon Bridge, still wearing K-Line colours, is now part of ONE ( Ocean Network Express) the amalgam of the three primary Japanese container lines. Built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan in 2006 it is a 68,750 gt, 71,291 dwt ship of 5624 TEU (including 600 reefer) capacity.

Happily in shelter for the weekend were three herring seiners. The familiar Sealife II, Morning Star and Lady Melissa are the usual scouts sent out to find the spring migratory herring run.

Also sitting calmly in the harbour discharging its cargo at Imperial Oil is the Koean tanker DL Rose

Although the vast majority of MidRange tankers were built in Korea, we don't often see them owned and flagged from that country. DL Rose is the rare exception. Built by SPP Shipbuilding Co in Tongyeong in 2007  it is owned by the Daelim Corporation. Management is by Wilhelmsen SM's Indonesia operation. It is of typical MR size, 39,990 gt, 49,997 dwt. It also exhibits its name in Korean lettering on the bow, just above the name in English. Its last port was Antwerp.

Arriving early this morning at Autoport was a new to me autocarrier. Morning Celine belongs to the Eukor fleet and was built in 2009 by Imabari Zosen in Marugame, Japan. At noon it moved over to pier 31 to offload some  other RoRo cargo.
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Tugs Atlantic Fir and Atlantic Bear have accompanied the ship from Autoport and are preparing to turn it to back in to pier 31. They are in the lee of the north wind.

After unloading some heavy cargo at pier 31, using the ship's 100 tonne capacity stern ramp, the ship sailed early this evening.

With the tourist season now in full swing the tour boats are back in business, including Kawartha Spirit returning from a Northwest Arm tour butting right into the headwind.

What ever happened to the plan to rename the boat something more appropriate to Halifax?

Waterfront walk

The downtown waterfront is a popular walk for tourists. Here is some of what they would see today (especially if they took photos with their cell phones as I did.).

The major attraction on the waterfront is the Maritime Museum of  the Atlantic. At its dock is the CCS Acadia, joined to today by Bluenose II

 While most of the Museum's artifacts are indoors, there is a collection of ironmongery outside, including a very distinctive Trotman type anchor (lower left in the photo).



At the pillot dock the boat Fundy Pilot has been called in from Saint John, NB as back up boat.  Built in 1983 by Gladding-Hearn in Somerset, MA it is a classic US style boat, and worked for Virginia Pilots and Boston Pilots before joining the APA fleet in 2005.

It will be backing up Nova Pilot while Scotia Pilot is in Lunenburg for repairs. The two boats were acquired from Sima Charters in Holland last year and have been in service here less than year. They are water jet propelled former crew boats from Rotterdam, built in 2010 and 2012.


At Bishop's Landing and Tall Ship's Quay the herring seiners that had been held in port all week by weather were getting ready to sail.

Morning Star left, Lady Melissa centre, Sealife II right. A fourth boat, Tasha Marie had already sailed when I happened by. They were finding herring about 40 miiles east of Halifax last week.

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Herring Season

The annual arrival of the herring seiners is a sure sign that summer must be on the way. As the boats follow the migratory fish northward in late May and early June they usually put into Halifax. If the fish are close by they will unload their catch here.
At mid-day today there were three boats in Halifax.

Note the prominent paravanes, in the stowed position. These movable outriggers are now seen in one form or another on all the smaller boats and are used to steady the craft when it is at sea.

Morning Star is one of the newer smaller boats, built in 1991 in Caraquet it measures 180 grt and fishes out of Yarmouth, NS.
 

On the other hand Lady Melissa is the largest boat in the fleet. It was built in Pictou in 1980 and is operated by Comeau's Seafoods Ltd of Saulnierville, NB.

 Lady Melissa did some trials in the harbour this afternoon, allowing for a good view of the boat's huge seine net stowed on deck aft and its bug boat perched on the stern.

 A third boat, Sealife II, was also in port today.
Other boats, from the southwestern coast of New Brunswick, mostly from Grand Manan Island are also frequent callers.

Long Weekend Assignment - Part 1

The Victoria Day weekend - a Canadian holiday to commemorate the birthday of Queen Victoria (May 24) - involves little celebration of that notable empress, because it generally marks the first weekend of summer. This year's weekend was no exception, including some summer like weather on Friday with record high temperates for the date, but it was a much cooler Saturday with stiff a stiff breeze off the ocean.

Friday saw another new to us K-Line ship, Brotonne Bridge another member of the same class of ships serving THE Alliance AL6 service (also Zim's ZCI).

Samsung SB+HI Co Ltd delivered the 46,444 grt, 58,200 dwt ship in 2010. With a capacity  of 4526 TEU it is operated by Seaspan on a 12 year charter (with two three year options) to K-Line.

Another new to Halifax ship showed up on Saturday. YM Movement is also on THE Alliance service, but this time the EC5 run.

The ship dates from 2013 when it was built by Koyo Dockyard Co in Mihara, Japan. It rates 6258 TEU on 71,821 grt, 72,370 dwt.

Arriving Thursday, the Radcliffe R. Latimer discharged its grain cargo from Thunder Bay at pier 25. On Friday night it moved to National Gypsum to load and is due to sail overnight Saturday/Sunday.

Named for a now retired President of Algoma Corp, the ship is the former Algobay built in 1978 by Collingwood Shipbuilding for Great Lakes and ocean work, called the "Nova Scotia class".  After a three stint under the Liberian flag, from 1990 to 1993 it then had a three year charter from 1994 to 1997 to CSL as Atlantic Trader, after which reverted to its original name.
It was laid up in 2002 but in 2007 Algoma announced it would be rebuilt in China. With its engine and self-unloading boom and other gear removed it was towed from Hamilton, ON (May 13, 2008) to Shanghai, China (September 7, 2008) then to Jiangyin 100 miles upstream.
The forward part of the ship was removed and broken up and the superstructure attached to a new self-unloading cargo body.
It returned to North America via the Panama Canal, arriving in Portland, ME, December 30, 2009 where it wintered over, entering service in 2010. Its first load out of Halifax was September 11 of that year.
Since then it has been a infrequent caller, but with the closure of US Gypsum's facility in Little Narrows, NS, we can expect to see it more frequently.

Also in port is the general cargo ship Thorco Luna at pier 9c. It arrived off Halifax in early May and entered port May 15 (in less than ideal photographic conditions.) At pier 9c it is being fitted with cable racks.

The ship was built by Honda Heavy Industries Ltd [no relation to the car] in Saiki, Japan, in 2014, one of ten ships of the same class for the Danish Thorco Shipping. Sister ship Thorco Liva was here in October last year, also to be fitted to carry cable.
Measuring 13,110 grt, 16,953 dwt, it carries a pair of 50 tonne cranes that can work in tandem.

As the crew closes the forward hatch, several portable tween decks are stacked forward. Note also the yellow 100 tonne spreader on deck behind the forward crane (right in line with the base of the transmission tower). 

Another sign of spring - is the annual arrival of the herring fleet. Four seiners appeared on the waterfront over the past few days.

Left to right: Morning Star, Lady Janice II, and Lady Melissa. The fourth, Dual Venture was also in port and possibly another - not visible due to waterfront congestion.

And as a bonus to the May 7    post, Ningbo Express sailed today on the eastbound (return) leg of its trip - this time in clear weather. It sailed just in time to allow YM Movement to dock, and this time it was Atlantic Cartier at the east end of Fairview Cove yesterday and Itea today.

assignment to be continued..........