Great Conjunctions - almost

With ships of various shipping lines calling eastbound and westbound in Halifax it is not unusual when two ships of the same line are here at the same time. Sometimes those ships are sister ships, and it is interesting to see two of them in port at once. So today's arrivals (May 7) of NYK Deneb and NYK Constellation in quick succession at Fairview Cove could not be called unusual. The sister ships are members of the ten ship NYK Daedalus class.

 NYK Constellation completed working cargo late this afternoon, but held its berth at Fairview Cove until NYK Remus made its way to Bedford Basin. This left lots of room to pass (but I was not in suitable spot to take a photo with both ships in the frame.)

NYK Remus inbound in the Narrows with Atlantic Fir forward and Atlantic Oak astern.

NYK Remus was built by Hyundai Samho in 2009 with tonnages of 55487 gt, 65,981 dwt and a container capacity of 4922 TEU, including 330 reefers.

NYK Constellation outbound in the lower harbour, picking up speed.

 

NYK Constellation dates from 2007 when it was delivered by Hyundai Ulsan. It has the same gt of 55,534 but measures 65,919 dwt. It also has a capacity of 4922 TEU including 330 reefers,

Both ships are sailing on THE Alliance's AL5 service with NYK Remus eastbound from Vancouver, Oakland, Los Angeles, Panama and Cartagena and NYK Constellation westbound from Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp for Port Everglades.

At the southend terminal, PSA's Atlantic Hub, there were to be two ships due for MSC, but they were not sister ships. First along was Seamax New Haven, reported to be on a new (but not yet announced) Turkey, Greece and Mediterranean run called Mediterranean Express (MX). Instead of docking on arrival as anticipated, the ship went to number one anchorage. This was possibly for a Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspection and clearance.

Seamax New Haven anchored in the main harbour for a few hours before going alongside.

The Semax New Haven was last here March 10 on the Indus 2 service from North India, but has apparently switched routes. A 90,449 gt, 100,807 dwt ship with a capacity of 8084 TEU, including 700 reefers, it dates from 2005 when it was built by Samsung, Koje. It carried the name Ever Charming until 2017 [so much for the staying power of charm!]

The second MSC ship, that was intended for anchorage, instead put back to sea and will now arrive tonight. It is MSC Hong Kong, on Canada Express 2 service bound from Italy and Spain for Montreal. It is expected to reduce draft to meet St.Lawrence River restrictions by dropping some cargo here over night, then sailing early in the morning. Its departure may be too early for a photo op.

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More Business for PSA

PSA Halifax's southend terminal, the Atlantic Hub, was busy today, May 2, with two small ships working at Pier 42 and one medium sized ship arriving for Pier 41.

 Tropic Lissette was working at Pier 42 south. Halifax is a terminal port for Tropical Shipping, so it unloads and loads a significant nimber of boxes on each trip.

 With Tropical Lissette at Pier 42 south, and Eimskip's Vivienne Sheri D at Pier 42 north, there was still room at Pier 41. And it was another ship with a female name: MSC Brianna 4168 TEU.
 

 MSC Brianna arrived from Montreal to top up to deep sea draft on MSC's Canada Express 2 service to and from Italy and Spain.

There are press reports that the Mediterrean Shipping Company, MSC, will be bringing another line to Halifax. Although no official announcement has been made, the new Mediterranean Express (MX) will originate in Turkey and Greece, and after calls in Italy, Spain and Sines, Portugal, will stop in Halifax starting May 6, en route to the US. The first ship is reported to be Seamax New Haven, 8084 TEU, which was here in March on the Indus 2 service.

According to the reports I have seen, the new service will employ ships that can use either the Atlantic Hub or Fairview Cove terminal. (In other words, 9,000 TEU or less.)

MSC will also be sending an "extra loader" ship later this week. MSC Manya, 2762 TEU, is due May 5 to pick up empties and redistribute them to "needy" ports. MSC has recently passed Maersk to claim the title of world's largest container line in terms of carrying capacity. 

MSC Santhya 3007 TEU is due tomorrow, May 3, on the Canada Express 1 service en route to Montreal. On this trip the ship is skipping Sines, Portugal and coming directly from Naples, making Halifax a true "express" port, rather than just a convenient place to reduce draft.

I can see MSC rationalizing its services through Halifax in a similar way as back logs now begin to plague US east coast ports too. The added perk is "two terminals - no waiting".

MSC's putty coloured boxes are the most common sights, but they also use red oxide coloured boxes too. I believe they are rentals, like this Florens Container Leasing box marked for MSC. Like other lines it also has reefer boxes that are generally white.

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Morning, Afternoon and Evening

With longer days, and with Daylight Saving Time iminent, the opportunities for ship photos increase almost daily. Today, March 10, the arrival and departure times and the sun cooperated, permitting photos of several interesting ships.

The most interesting arrival is actually covered in a separate post - see Kopit Hopson 1752

An unusual mid-morning arrival for Autoport was the Morning Calypso a Eukor car carrier working on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen transatlantic service.

Once inside Maugher's Beach, tugs take charge of the ship to assist it round  Macnab's Island to Autoport.

 

Built in 2013 by Imabari Zosen in Marugame, Japan, the 59,590 gt, 18,713 dwt ship has a capacity of 6142 car equivalent units (CEU). Once it had completed loading the ship made a 1700 hrs (AST) departure time and there was still enough light to catch it in roughly the same position after it rounded Ives Knoll and was outbound for New York.

 

 Another caller was the Seamax New Haven on MSC's Indus 2 route from Northwest India to the US east coast.  It arrived early yesterday, March 9 and tied up at PSA Halfax, and had a pilot order to sail at 1730 hrs today. With the usual routine of raising cranes, making fast tugs and letting go lines, it was after 1800 hrs when the ship was clear for a photo.

 

 An unsual charter for MSC (possibly a short term or spot charter, because the ship does not carry an MSC name), the ship is owned by Tranship LLC and under the commercial management of Seamax Capital Management LLC of Stamford, CT. The company manages a closed private equity investment fund and currently runs twelve (older) post-Panamax container ships totaling more than 100,000 TEU. All are named for cities in Connecticut, which has become the "haven" for New York shipping companies.

 

The Seamax New Haven was built in 2005 by Samsung, Koje as Ever Charming for Reederei NSB [Niederelbe] on charter to Evergreen Marine Corp of Taiwan. It is a 90,449 gt, 100,887 dwt vessel with a capacity of 8084 TEU including 700 reefers. It was acquired by Seamax and renamed in 2017. As with many US owned ships it is registered in the Marshall Islands. Technical management is entrusted to Fleet Ship Management Pte Ltd of Hong Kong.

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