Make Room

Unloading the ship Onego Bayou at Pier 27 has been a laborious process. It has probably been made more so by cold weather and snow since the ship's arrival February 21. The cargo of rails that the ship is delivering for CN must be craned off the ship in small bundles 12m (39 ft) long, then stockpiled on the dock, much liked stacked lumber, to be held until needed by CN. It is then loaded on special rail cars and sent to Winnipeg for welding into continuous welded rail (CWR) ribbons to North American standard 400m (1/4 mile) lengths. [See Shipfax for February 22 .]

Today, February 28, with draft barely reduced since it arrived, the ship moved out to anchor to free up berth space for another ship.

That other ship is the Puka - the oft renamed Nirint Line vessel, with a cargo of nickel sulfides from Cuba. See November 25, 2022  Shipfax post. (It has sailed for Nirint as Trinitas, Hollandia and Nirint Hollandia).

Puka's cargo for Halifax consists mostly of bulk bags (approximately 1m x 1m x 1m / 33" x 33" x 40") which must also be craned off the ship in groups. Once on the dock the bags can be forklifted for storage in the transit shed or loaded onto waiting railway gondolas for shipment to Fort Saskatchewan, AB.

Unfortunately the port now has only one berth for breakbulk shipments like the steel rail or concentrates where a large laydown area is needed and a number of  rail cars must be accommodated. Richmond terminal (Piers 9 to 9C) does not have enough laydown area to store the rails, nor rail siding capacity for either cargo (besides being very awkward for rail access). Pier 30-31 was decommissioned as part of the southend container terminal expansion, leaving Pier 27 as the only remaining open pier. The other Ocean Terminal piers do not have overhead clearance for cranes because of grain galleries.

While the rail and concentrates break bulk cargo may not have the profitability and scale of container traffic, it is an important and regular part of the port's business and having only one berth will inevitably lead to conflicting demand such as it did today.

Puka is expected to complete unloading tomorrow by late tomorrow March 1, allowing Onego Bayou to move back to the berth on March 2.

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Return Engagements and a First Date

 It was a return visit this morning (November 25) for the ice breaking tug USCGC Morro Bay WTGB-106 arriving once again at the Tall Ships Quay as it did on May 23 of this year. [See Shipfax of that date] Today however the weather was clear, so there were no dramatic fog effects (visual and auditory).

As noted on its previous visit en route from its base in Cleveland, OH, its hull paint was (and still is) absolutely pristine. This time it arrived from Boston and is returning to the Lakes where its duties will involve icebreaking, which will certainly mar that coating.

 Some "Yokohama" type inflatible fenders should further protect that paint while it is in port. A squad of Navy matelots met the ship and took its lines.

A first time caller this morning was sent to anchor in Bedford Basin where it will await its turn at PSA Halifax. Sailing for Melfi Lines, X-Press Machu Picchu arrived from Italy and Spain en route to Cuba.

Dating from 2006, the ship was built by Naikai, Setoda, Japan as Constantin S for H+H Schepers, then renamed in 2018 when acquired by Paterson Pte Ltd of Singapore. The 27,191 gt, 33,355 dwt ship can carry 2529 TEU, including 300 reefers and is fitted with three 45 tonne SWL cranes - two forward and one aft of the superstructure. It has a number of tank containers on number one hatch, likely empty, which could be used to carry sugar based commodities (for exmple rum), one of Cuba's prime exports.

Another of Cuba's exports was also processed in Halifax this week when off loaded from the Puka at Pier 27. Bagged nickel sulfides in bulk bags will be sent on by rail for primary processing in Fort Saskatchewan, AB.

Renamed as of October 1, the ship was previously named the Trinitas when built in 2007 by Damen Okean, Mykolayiv, Ukraine and completed by Damen Hoogezand, Foxhol. It is an 8999 gt, 12,016 dwt ship with a capacity of 684 TEU (including 80 reefers) and carries two 80 tonne SWL cranes.

It was renamed Nirint Hollandia on delivery, then in 2012 became Hollandia before reverting to Trinitas in 2019. It has continued to sail for Netherlands based Nirint since new, and has called in Halifax under each of its names.

(March 25, 2022 photo)

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