OOCL Washington - Halterm for a change

Ships of the G-6 Alliance normally dock at the Fairview Cove container terminal, but this afternoon OOCL Washington opted to tie p at Halterm instead. The ship was quite lightly loaded, even though there were a lot of containers on deck.

It is likely is that with deck replacement work under way on  Angus L.Macdonald bridge taking place on weekends, and with work this weekend right in the centre span area, it was wisest to remain outside the bridge. Although it was low tide when the ship arrived, and its departure at 0430 tomorrow morning will also be at close to low tide, there might not be adequate air draft clearance for the ship due to the work, or there might be hot work going on above and it would be unsafe. This could cause delays, which shipping lines do not like.

The ship is a regular now since September 2015, and was here most recently on June 9. At 89,097 grt, 99,631 dwt and 8063 TEU it is still classed as Post Panamax. However when the Panama canal's new locks open for business June 27 it will then become possible for this ship and scores of similar size and larger  vessels to pass through with ease.

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Challenging afternoon

Strong winds persisted into the afternoon and evening as cold air continued to pump in.

The regular caller Frtiz Reuter  arrived on its 16th trip for Melfi Line and tied up at pier 42.

Atlantic Larch begins to push Fritz Reuter around to back in to pier 41 in a stiff breeze.

The next three callers were presented with a number of challenges, particularly since they were all due at the pilot station at 1600.
 
First in was OOCL Washington, which required the services of all three tugs to tie up at pier 41. Both the car carrier  Dignity Ace and the ConRo Atlantic Cartier took their pilots, then returned outbound to delay their arrivals until the tugs were freed up.

Yesterday's mirages were nothing compared to today's as OOCL Washington (right of centre) and Dignity Ace (left) approach the pilot station. Air temperature was -7C but water temperature remains a balmy 0C.

Dignity Ace then made its "re-entry", when the tugs Atlantic Larch and Atlantic Willow were available to take it in to Autoport. However once at Autoport the tugs could not hold the ship alongside in the high winds, and it left Eastern Passage for number one anchorage. Its anchor would not hold there, so it opted to head out to sea and try again in the morning. High sided ships like auto carriers are notorious for their sail effect, and must be handled with great care in windy conditions.

Meanwhile Atlantic Cartier took the tug Atlantic Oak as stern escort through the Narrows to Bedford Basin. Once there it had to await Atlantic Willow before it could get alongside Fairview Cove. The ship is also high sided and subject to windage too, but was able to dock safely eventually.

Dignity Ace is a first time caller, and at 6697 car capacity, it is the biggest ship in the MOL ACE car carrier fleet of 120 or so ships. It was built in 2010 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, and measures 58,767 grt, 20,589 dwt. Flying the Bahamas flag, it is owned by Ray Car Carriers of Douglas, Isle of Man, and is on long term charter to Mitsui OSK Lines Auto Carrier Express.

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Big Sunday

With ten arrivals and six departures, today was an unusually busy day for a Sunday. Tomorrow, although it will be a holiday, Canada's Thanksgiving Day, the port promises to be even busier, so I will cram much of today's activities into one post.

The early riser was rewarded with an impressive sunrise, even though cloud cover actually blocked out direct sunlight for the rest of the day. I like sunrises, but don't usually see them unless they coincide with ship arrivals.

Eurodam leads the inbound parade at sunrise.

A triple arrival at sunrise was worth getting up for, so I took it in this time. In the lead, Eurodam was followed by Albatros and finally CMA CGM Tancredi.

Eurodam is a regular caller in cruise season, but on departure passengers were given a pair of treats. First was Atlantic Oak going full speed in reverse. The tug was outbound to meet the arriving OOCL Washington (see later) and because of that timing, Eurodam took the western channel, giving the second treat coming close to the shore off York Redout.

  

 Next inbound was Albatros.

Albatros came in east of George's Island to tie up at pier 20.

Albatros has now reached the veteran status. Built in 1973 by OY Wartsila, Helsingfors as Royal Viking Sea, it was lengthened in 1983, adding a new 93 foot long mid-section. It became Royal Odyssey in 1991, Norwegian Star in 1997, Norwegian Star 1 in 2001, Crown in 2002 and Albatros in 2004.
 

Royal Viking Sky was one of the best looking ships of its day.

The albatross was thought to be the bearer of bad luck by ancient mariners, but it must have been good to current operators Phoenix Reisen, since this is the second ship to carry the name for them.

The first Albatros' ancestry was well hidden by many changes to convert it to cruising.

 
The first Albatros was also a veteran. Built on the Clyde in 1957 by John Brown as Sylvania, it was the last of four Cunard transatlantic liner sisters initially operating to Quebec and Montreal in summer and Halifax in winter. It was also given the R.M.S. designation as it carried mail on its regular liner service.

In 1961 it was transferred to year round operation Liverpool to New York, It was sold in 1968 becoming Fairwind, the Sitmar Fairwind in 1988, Dawn Princess in 1988 (and refitted for cruising), and Albatros in 1993.
In 2003 it was renamed Genoa for its trip to the breakers in Alang, arriving there in December of that year.

A well loaded CMA CGM Tancredi takes its tugs off Halterm.

Another first time caller for CMA CGM's joint service followed the cruise ships. CMA CGM Tancredi is another 8530 TEU ship (including 700 reefers). Built by Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industries in 2011, it measures 91,498 grt, 101,386 dwt. Owners Danaos Shipping Co Ltd of Piraeus operate it on long term charter to CMA CGM.

A pair of Algomas at pier 25-26.

A rare arrival for Halifax in recent years, is a ship with grain. Algoma Mariner arrived from the Great Lakes mid-morning and began to unload what seems to be a partial cargo. Before unloading operations began, the ship bunkered from fleet mate Algoma Dartmouth.

 No matter that she is old and worn, Hudson is still a classy ship.

After hydrographic work south of Nova Scotia CCGS Hudson returned to the Bedford Institute. I will be sad to see this classic ship go, which it will do, probably next year*, when its replacement is completed. First steel for the new ship was cut by Seaspan in Vancouver in June. [*Oops, replacement due in 2020 ar the earliest - see comment below. First steel was cut of the trawler type researchers.]

Speaking of classics that will go: Princess of Acadia remains tied up at the old Coast Guard dock in Dartmouth, but has been kept in ready condition. It was said that this was to enable the ship to sail to the breakers under its own power, and that will likely be the case. But in the meantime, as reported by the Ottawa Citizen, the ship will be used in naval exercises starting next week. It will pose as a "vessel of interest" in counter-terrorism training operations south off Yarmouth.

Last inbound ship of interest for me was OOCL Washington, which arrived for Halterm, taking CMA Tancredi's berth. (It took the western channel to allow room for the inbound.)

The OOCL ship called here for the first time September 29 at Fairview Cove on the G6 westbound service. Now that it has discharged at US ports and is on the return eastbound leg, it is high in the water, and berthed at Halterm to avoid bridge clearance issues. Built in 2010 by Samsung Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries in South Korea, it measures 89,097 grt, 99,631 dwt. Its container capacity is 8,063 TEU, including capacity for 1400 reefers.

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