2017 - a slow start

There was not a great deal of traffic in the port yesterday, nor today, which most people took as a holiday.
Mitiq completed its work at Fairview Cove and sailed mid-morning - obviously in ballast and for Trois-Rivières, QC.

 
Atlantic Huron arrived in ballast, and tied up at pier 25-26. Most Canadian Great Lakes ships go into a form of hibernation called winter layup, but for many it is a time of intense maintenance and repair work, sometimes extending over several months.

The tanker Ridgebury Cindy A after returning to Imperial Oil December 30, tied up at number 3 dock, then today went out to anchor. It did not appear to take bunkers and is due to sail at midnight, very much in ballast.

A new arrival at Irving Oil's Woodside terminal is the handymax tanker STI Wembley, part of the Scorpio Tankers Pool, headquartered in Monaco and arrived from Ijmuiden, Netherlands.

Built by Hyundai, Mipo in 2014 it measures 24,162 grt, 38,734 dwt and looks quite different from the usual Korean built mid-range tankers. It is an ice class vessel with a full width bridge structure. This is the second overseas arrival At the Irving terminal, both have been from the Netherlands. The first was Energy Panther which delivered a partial cargo October 22.


Also arriving, but too late for a photo,  Atlantic Sea is still missing its starboard anchor.

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Frosty Winds Make Moan

One of the lines in the Christmas song In the Bleak Midwinter says that "frosty winds make moan". There was no frost but a fair amount of moaning today as high winds wreaked havoc on transportation generally with the usual Fundy and Newfoundland ferry cancellations, bridge and causeway restrictions against high sided vehicles and numerous shipping delays and incidents.

In Halifax the tanker Ridgebury Cindy A began to drag anchor in Bedford Basin and a pilot was called to re-secure the ship. And at pier 42 Halterm, the container ship ZIM Virginia also called for tugs and pilot, likely due to parting lines. It kept the tugs Atlantic Oak and Atlantic Willow alongside all day.

Surf crashes the onshore at Herring Cove, with Chebucto Head in the background.

Several arrivals were also been delayed due to unfavourable conditions at the pilot station and farther afield. NYK Deneb, CSL Tacoma and Bruarfoss all postponed arrivals in Halifax until later in the day. They had been scheduled for early this morning but those ETAs were adjusted yesterday in view of the forecast. They finally made it in starting at 1530.

NYK Deneb was doing some pretty good rolling off Herring Cove.

CSL Tacoma was in ballast but didn't seem to be rolling too much.

Bruarfoss was pitching more than rolling

All ships are trying to get in and out before the New Year's Day holiday, so they are squeezing up against deadlines with these delays (hence the moaning).

The only departure was the supplier Venture Sea.

There were some fair swells off Macnab's Island - but probably much larger at sea.

Farther afield the bulk carrier Atlantic Huron took shelter well into St.George's Bay, at the western entrance to the Strait of Canso, far off its intended course for Halifax. Had the Canso Canal been open, the ship would likely have transited yesterday afternoon. However the Canal has been closed since November 1 and will not re-open until mid-May to allow for bridge repairs. That meant that Atlantic Huron will have to go around Cape North to reach Halifax. With winds in that area predicted to exceed 170 kph, the ship sailed down the west coast of Cape Breton instead and sought shelter in the lee of the land. It will mean at least two days extra sailing time once the winds abate. Former fleetmate Atlantic Erie (renamed Spirit of Shpongle) also took shelter near the same area last month while in tow of the tug Pacific Hickory for the trip to the breakers in Turkey.

Fortunately the frost in Christina Rossetti's words is not present. In fact some of the warmest temperatures in Canada accompanied the winds, with +7 to +9 degrees C common in many areas.

Both CSL ships Atlantic Huron and CSL Tacoma will be loading gypsum in Halifax, but another one of their fleet mates, once a frequent caller, will not be back in Halifax.


CSL Atlas was sold recently and is heading for the breakers in Bangladesh under the name of Anita.
Under the current economic conditions, with widespread scrappings in the container and bulk carrier market, ship owners are favouring India for container ships, but Pakistan and Bangladesh are getting the bulk carriers. India's move toward responsible practices is attracting many ships, particularly from German and EU owners. Pakistan's appalling safety record, particularly after recent tanker fires and huge loss of life, has seen only a short-lived drop in business, due in part to the desperate need to scrap ships.


CSL Atlas , built in 1990 with a deadweight capacity of 67,634 dwt and 41,173 grt, was too large to take complete loads at National Gypsum in Halifax, but it was a frequent caller at Auld's Cove where it loaded stone for the US market. Nevertheless it made many trips from Halifax as backhauls after unloading coal in Cape Breton. Its last call in Halifax was June 11, 2016.

CSL Atlas in January 2016 was looking quite seedy when it anchored in Bedford Basin. The writing must have been on the wall even then.

When built in 1990 in Brazil it was the only panamax self-unloader in the world. Its holds were lined with Teflon and it had a revolutionary boom, with the outward 100 ft slewing on a pivot from the inner boom which swung from its own pivot. This arrangement allowed it much greater flexibility in unloading.


I wrote about the ship here: http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2011/04/csl-atlas.html


Interestingly the ship's last port of call was Iskenderun, Turkey. Apparently scrap prices at Chittagong were higher than Turkish prices, warranting the trip all the way to Bangladesh. The ship is now mid-way down the west coast of India, in the Arabian Sea.

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Wait your turn

Ships in Halifax are bit like bananas - they come (and go) in bunches.


The tanker  Ridgebury Cindy A arrived off Halifax yesterday and waited at anchor until the berth at Imperial Oil dock 4 was clear. When Piltene sailed late this morning, the ship headed in. Docking was not to be - at least not right away - as two tugs were also needed for the followIng ship, Hapag-Lloyd's Berlin Express - and there are only three tugs to serve the port.

Dominion Diving's launch Halmar returns to Dartmouth Cove after disembarking the pilot from the Ridgebury Cindy A at the inner anchorage.

Atlantic Oak (bow) and Atlantic Fir (stern) take up positions as Berlin Express passes the Middle Ground area in a diminishing drizzle.

Berlin Express is a big ship, at 88,493 grt, 100,019 dwt and requires the most powerful tugs. As a container ship it also has priority and so the Atlantic Oak and Atlantic Fir took charge of the ship while Ridgebury Cindy A went to an inner anchorage. The container ship then went west of George's Island - one of the largest ships to to do so - to avoid the anchored tanker and the Woodside ferry.

The sun began to peak out as the ship entered the Narrows. 

Built in 2009 by Hyundai Ulsan, the ship has a capacity of 7506 TEU including 700 reefers.

After the tugs had shepherded Berlin Express to the Bedford Basin and tied it up at Fairview Cove, one of the tugs could be released to assist the third tug Atlantic Willow to dock the Ridgebury Cindy A.

Built by SPP Plant + Shipbuilding Co in Sacheon, South Korea, as Yasa Ceyhan for Turkish owners in 2009, Ridgebury Cindy A has worked in the Norient Tanker Pool ApS of Hellerup, Denmark under its present name since 2013. It has typical tonnages of 29,905 grt and 50,162 dwt for a Mid Range product tanker


Surely these arrivals could be arranged with a little more finesse. Ridgebury Cindy A was put to extra expense by requiring one pilot inbound to anchor then an hour or more later another pilot from anchor to dock. It could have been done in one move if the arrival had been postponed by an hour.

While three tugs are normally enough to cover requirements in the harbour, it does result in delays from time to time. The business case for four tugs would be hard to make, but three tugs could handle all the work with better coordination.

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