Saga Sapphire - back again

With the early year cruise season ramping up, there are more ships arriving despite the unpredictable maritime "spring" weather. Passengers aboard Saga Sapphire almost got a glimpse of the sun this morning as the ship made its way in toward pier 22. By the time it was tied up however and passengers could start their shoreside excursions, thick cloud had moved in. Environment Canada has issued a rainfall warning for Nova Scotia today, so it seems likely that the visitors have a chance to get thoroughly soaked by our brand of spring showers.

Entering service in 1982 as HAPAG-Lloyd's Europa the ship has had many lives since delivered by Bremer Vulkan of Bremerhaven. It has sailed as SuperStar Europe 1999-2000, SuperStar Aries 2000-2004, Holiday Dream 2004 to 2008 and Bleu de France 2008 to 2011.

Current owners, the British company Saga Cruises, gave the ship a major refit from 2011 to 2012 before it began sailing as Saga Sapphire. Saga opted for the 'less is more' attitude for exterior appearance, with a black hull and white superstructure topped by bright yellow on the funnel. This was no doubt aimed to appeal to its target market of people over the age of 50.

Saga has ordered two new ships, one to be delivered this year and one in 2020, which could mean that Saga Sapphire will be moving on. The new 1,000 passenger ships will be considerably larger than the Sapphire  which carries about 720 using lower berths only. (It can exceed 1,000 if all berths are used).

I have harped on this topic of classic lines before:

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2018/09/classic-redefined.html

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2018/10/saga-sapphire-ex-europa-good-from-any.html

Today's will be the only visit this year from the ship as it heads to Europe. I hope it is not the last time we see it, but that seems likely.

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Saga Sapphire ex Europa - good from any angle - and a bonus

As Saga Sapphire sailed early this afternoon [see also yesterday's post], it backed out into the stream from pier 23 and turned off the pier. It was a chance to see the ship from several different angles, and remark that it always looks good.

The ship's stern configuration has been modified - I believe during the 2011-2012 refit at Fincantieri - by building out "blisters" that are not really all that noticeable. Stern blisters improve the ship's stability, usually at the expense of appearance.

 The stern blister appears to have been banged up a few times.

Although it does not show well in this night shot, as built Europa had a more rounded cutaway stern.

 (Europa often stayed in port over night, as did Saga Sapphire.)

Bonus:

Another ship that looked good from any angle was HMY Britannia. By coincidence it was in Halifax shortly before the night shot of the Europa, and with the negative only two frames away, I had to scan it too.

Laid down by John Brown  Co in 1952, launched in 1953 and commissioned in 1954 it served HM The Queen and family until it was finally decommissioned in 1997. It has been preserved in Leith, Scotland and is one of Edinburgh's most popular attractions. No wonder.

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A bit of everything

There was a bit of everything happening in Halifax harbour today - tankers, container ships and of course  cruise ships.

The Panamanian flag Challenge Procyon arrived during the night and anchored for bunkers, then moved to Imperial Oil;'s number 3 dock.

At sunup Challenge Procyon was bunkering in number 5 anchorage.

 

Built in 2011 by Shin Kurushima Dockyard Co Ltd in Onishi, Japan, the 28,735 grt, 45,996 dwt tanker arrived from Mongstad, Norway.

Meanwhile at Imperial Oil, the tanker Steel moved from number 3 dock to number 4. It had arrived from Porvoo, Finland on Wednesday October 3, but appears not to have unloaded any of its cargo.

As of yesterday afternoon, Steel appeared not to have unloaded any cargo.

 

Built in 2000 by Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan, as Rocket, it changed names in 2013.  It measures  23,248 grt, 37,889 dwt.

Imperial's usual source of supply for refined has been the US Gulf, mostly Texas. With recent hurricanes, I am assuming supply may have been limited and they chose to buy on the spot market.  Finland has no domestic source of fossil fuel, much of their oil-based supply coming from Russia, but they do have refining capability and export gasoline to other Baltic countries. Perhaps this cargo did not meet Imperial's standards.

Fairview Cove was keeping busy, with NYK Atlas and Atlantic Sail sailing and Glen Canyon Bridge arriving.

With the sun making a short visit, Glen Canyon Bridge strides up through the Narrows, with Atlantic Fire providing tethered escort. A crew on the forepeak are washing the anchor chain in readiness to anchor, but the ship was due to go alongside directly to the berth vacated by Atlantic Sail.


Built in 20016 by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, the ship has a capacity of 5624 TEU on 68,570 grt and 71,291 dwt.

Early arrivers this morning were two cruise ships.

The veteran Saga Sapphire was in the lead, with a tug alongside to assist it backing in to its pier. Viking Sea was then able to overtake.

Built by Bremer Vulkan, Vegesack in 1981 it has carried the names Europe, 99: Superstar Europa, 99: Superstar Aries, 04: Holiday Dream, 08: Bleu de France, finally taking the name Saga Sapphire in 2012.
The ship has a capacity of 720.

Second in line was Viking Sea. Built in 2016 by Fincantieri Italiani in Ancona, it carries 930 passengers and measures 47,842 grt. It was launched as Viking Sky but switched names with a sister ship delivered this year. Both ship are callers in Halifax this year.

Later in the morning a third cruise ship,  Norwegian Dawn added 2300 more passengers to the count.

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Oldies Day

It was a day for a pair of oldies to add something extra to the usual activities in Halifax harbour

Princess of Acadia sailed for the Yarmouth area to participate in a naval counter-terrorism exercise.

Something of a sad sight, the run down Princess of Acadia is still elegant as it sails out at noon.

What the fate of the ship will be after the exercises is pretty certain except for the details. The ship will be heading for the scrappers, likely in Turkey, but the only question is when.

Squeezing in to a familiar berth at pier 23, Saga Sapphire took a tug to do it, since Pearl Mist was at pier 24 following an unscheduled overnighter due to weather. After Pearl Mist sailed, there was a clear view - except for a number of speculative gulls.

Stern in at pier 23, with Serenade of the Seas in the background at pier 22.

In its earliest iteration as Hapag-Lloyd's Europa, this was also the ship's usual berth, and it was also an over night caller in those days, and often the last ship of the cruise season.

Bow in at pier 23 back in 1991 as Europa.

 Built in 1981 for Hapag-Lloyd by Bremer Vulkan, Vegesack, the ship took the name of its illustrious predecessor, the lovely former Kungsholm. While it didn't have the clasic looks of that ship, it was still a striking looking ship of 37,012 grt.

Hapag-Lloyd moved on with another Europa in 1999 and this ship was sold and carried several names since, finally ending up under Acromas Shipping's banner in 2012. See Wikipedia's potted history:
MS_Saga_Sapphire
 
Saga Sapphire will also stay overnight, so there may be a chance for a photo again tomorrow.

I couldn't resist dipping into the files for Hapag-Loyd's previous Europa simply because it was such a beautiful ship.

This Europa was very little changed from its days as Kungsholm when it called in Halifax in 1978. Hapag-Lloyd had initially painted the ship's hull black, but it had really meant to be white, just as it was when built, and so it was repainted and started the 'modern' Hapag passenger colour scheme. Wisely they did not add the blue painted cap to the funnels, which were among the most beautiful ever applied to a ship.

I had a great affection for the ship ever since my grandmother sent me this postcard in 1959

For those of you who are wondering - no I never throw anything out.

Kungsholm was built for Swedish America Line in 1953, became Europa in 1965, and Costa Line's Columbus C. in 1982. After striking a breakwater at Cadiz in July 1984 it sank and was declared a total loss. It was raised and broken up at Barcelona in 1985.

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