Ocean Explorer - aground in Greenland

 A small cruise ship that called in Halifax on April 29 has run aground on the northeast coast of Greenland. The ship found a rocky ledge on Monday September 11 and although in no immediate danger, it is unable to free itself from its perch and the nearest help is a ship 1200 nautical miles away.

The unusual looking ship was built by China Merchants (Jiangsu) in 2021 using the patented Ulstein X-bow, to improve sea keeping. At 8228 gt it is very small by cruise ship standards and is rated for a maximum 170 passengers in eighty cabins, and 70 crew.  At the time of grounding it reported a total of 206 people aboard, but only 134 of which were passengers.

It will take some time for assistance to arrive. Depending on weather, it may be Friday. The Danish authorities, who are responsible for Search and Rescue in Greenland waters have asked if Iceland can assist. The site of the grounding, in Alpefjord, is about midway between the northern and southern tips of Greenland, on the east coast, to the north of Iceland and well inland in the deeply indented coast.

Updates will follow on a new post.

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Saturday Report

 The CMA CGM Osiris was a first time caller when it arrived in Halifax this morning April 29.

The ship used two stern tethered escort tugs and took the western, deep water, channel inbound, giving a nearly broadside view as it approached the south end terminal. The use of two escort tugs is part of a familiarization exercise for pilots and tug operators. In case of propulsion or steering failure in one of these large ships, it would take two tugs to control the vessel. The two 5,000 bhp tugs are in fact more effective than one 10,000 bhp tug (no such tug exists in Halifax) as they operate independently to steer and / or brake the ship as needed.

Use of the western, deep water, channel will become standard for large ships and new buoyage was put in place last year to mark the course. The main or eastern channel is quite straight, but the western channel has a dogleg bend and requires good tug coordination to make the turns. A third tug is made up well forward to assist in turning and docking.

The CMA CGM Osiris is a 154,995 gt, 155,979 dwt ship with a capacity of 15,536 TEU. It was built in 2021 by Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing. It operates in the Ocean Alliance service from Asia with its last Asian port call in Colombo, April 5-6, and after transitting the Suez Canal April 14-15 it also called on the Tanger Med port in Morocco April 22-23.

As predicted yesterday the auto carrier Grand Pavo moved from Pier 9C to Autoport this mornnig and finally discharged a quantity of cars. Whether some of them were the ones that had a brief shore excursion at Pier 9C yesterday, I cannot tell.

 

It sailed this afternoon for New York.

Although it is still early in the cruise season there were two cruise ships in port today - albeit small ones. Coincidentally both ships were also in Halifax May 1, 2022. [see my post of that date for details]

Ocean Explorer arrived from Gloucester, MA, and once again squeezed in to Pier 24. It was interesting to see its X-bow from a different angle as it departed for Louisbourg, NS.

Ocean Navigator, which has called here under most of its previous names, again tied up at Pier 23. It is en route from Portland, ME to Charlottetown and on to the Great Lakes where it will operate all summer.

 

To round off the day's activities there was a perhaps less noteworthy arrival. It was the articulated tug / barge combination Leo A. McArthur /  John J. Carrick with a cargo of asphalt from the Great Lakes for General Liquids. They tied up at the Cherubini dock in Eisner's Cove and offloaded by pipeline to General's tanks nearby.

The lattice boom crane in the photo has nothing to do with the unloading process, and in fact blocks the view of the ship's sold black boom which appears to support the offload pipeline. Cherubini Metal Workers, the owners of the dock, are a steel fabrication company and own a number of cranes for use in their own projects and for rental under the R+D Cranes company name.

An event which took place yesterday, April 28 is also worthy of note. It was the official naming ceremony for the William Hall, the fourth Arctic Offhsore Patrol Ship to be built by Irving Shipbuilding Inc's Halifax Shipyard. It is designated AOPV 433.

The ship was floated out November 27, 2022 and is fitting out at Pier 7.  The ship is named for a Nova Scotia who was awarded the Victoria Cross. His Wikipedia entry is worth reading at: William Hall VC

 

 

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Oceans Apart

 Two "Ocean" cruise ships arrived this morning, May 1, and tied up at adjacent berths.

First up was Ocean Navigator on its second visit this year. It inaugurated the 2022 cruise season on April 25.

As the ship was inbound for Pier 24 I couldn't see any passengers out on deck. Despite the bright sun, perhaps the air temperature of 2 degrees C (35.6 degrees F) discouraged them somewhat.

Following soon after was the Ocean Explorer bound for Pier 23.

Built in 2021 byChina Merchants (Jiangsu) Haimen, the ship is certainly distinctive enough. The patented Ulstein X-Bow is better known on supply vessels, and improves sea keeping on smaller ships.

The Ocean Explorer can carry 170 passengers in eighty cabins (and only 162 beds). Unusually there are fifteen single berth cabins and some "Trilux" three bed units. Crew strenth is reported to be 70. The 8228 gt ship is also ice strengthened. Due to the tight squeeze at Pier 23, the ship took the precaution of using a tug. If the tug leaves scuff marks they will not show as much as they would on a white hull.

The tug Atlantic Oak comes alongside to assist in berthing at Pier 23.

The Ocean Explorer was in Nassau April 14, Freeport April 16, Palm Beach April 17, Norfolk April 21-22, and New York April 23-24. It worked its way up the New England coast to Bar Harbor April 29 and Lunenburg April 30. It then made a slow overnight passage to Halifax.

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