CSL times two

 Ships of Canada Steamship Lines carry gypsum out of Halifax on a regular basis - both domestic, Canadian flag ships and the foreign flag ships of CSL's international fleet. It is therefore not unusual to see one ship loading at the Gold Bond Gypsum dock in the Bedford Basin and another waiting at anchor. (CSL Americas operates the CSL International pool of of self-unloader ships with Algoma Shipping Inc.)

Most ships are in and out relatively quickly, loading in eight to twelve hours, but occasionally a ship takes longer. That is certainly the case today, May 12.

The CSL Americas ship Sheila Ann arrived in the late evening of Friday, May 12 and berthed at Gold Bond on arrival. The 41,428 gt, 70.037 dwt ship dates from 1999 when it was built by Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. 

April 21, 2024 photo

The ship is named for Sheila Martin (née) Cowan, wife of the former Prime Minister of Canada, Rt. Hon. Paul Edgar Martin, PC CC KC, and former owner of the CSL Group. Mr and Mrs Martin's three sons now own and operate the company.

The ship is one of three sister ships in the CSL Americas pool, CSL Spirit and Algoma Victory (the former Sophie Oldendorff). A Panamax vessel of 41,428 gt, 70,037 dwt, it has an unloading rate of 4,200 tones per hour (tph) to 6,000 tph depending on the cargo, with gypsum rated at 4,200 tph. Loading is another matter however as the midships mounted unloader housing makes for slow work as the travelling loader on the dock cannot make continuous passes the length of the ship, but must be raised and lowered to work around the housing. That may be the reason for the lengthy stay in port this time.

This afternoon (May 12) it was possible to see the Sheila Ann at the Gold Bond Dock and fleet mate Rt. Hon.Paul E. Martin anchored waiting its turn. The "husband and wife team" may not be seen at the same time very often.

The Rt. Hon.Paul E. Martin was built in 2012 by Chengxi Shipyard in Jianyin and is a similar size: 43,691 gt, 71,405 dwt, but is one of the Trillium ocean class with the more common aft mounted conveyor arrangement and with the same unloading rates as its fleet mate. It actually arrived earlier on May 10, but anchored, despite being a quicker loader.

While at anchored yesterday. May 10, the ship conducted lifeboat trials.

 The "free fall" type lifeboat was in the water when I saw it, so I don't know if they made an actual  free fall launch or not. These rapid evacuation type enclosed boats are common these days, but take careful maintenance and rigorous crew training in order to work safely in an emergency.

At time of writing this post the Sheila Ann is due to sail at midnight (2400 hrs ADT May 12) with the Rt. Hon. Paul E. Martin moving to the Gold Bond dock as soon the berth is clear.

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All systems go

 The port was bustling again today, December 28, after a few slow days during the Christmas break.

Fairview Cove completed working the Atlantic Star this morning. It arrived last night on the westbound leg of its regular crossing.

 Sailing outbound this morning Atlantic Star had near perfect conditions.

(Sunny, +1 C and no wind.)

Fleet mate and sister ship Atlantic Sun made the headlines when its anchor winch brake slipped and the ship started to drift off Almwch, North Wales on Christmas Day. The ship called for a pilot and stood off until December 27 when it was able to dock safely in Liverpool. It will be on its way to Halifax when the windlass problem has been rectified. The press report noted that the ship was in direct contact with the winch manufacturer while attempting (without success) to correct the problem. 

After Atlantic Star cleared the berth at Fairview Cove the Conti Contessa was in position to back in alongside.

The Port is gradually filling in a large area adjacent to the Fairview Cove terminal to enable a pier extension. The facility also needs more backup space on land and some new cranes.

PSA Halifax was also full out busy with ships coming and going. MSC Angela was alongside, topping up on its Canada Express 2 service from Montreal. MSC Naomi arrived on the Indus 2 service.

On its way inbound MSC Naomi passed the anchored ZIM Qingdao which is scheduled for PSA Halifax when MSC Angela sails.

MSC Naomi is a first time caller as the new Indus 2 service works its way through the roster for the first time. Built in 2015 by New Times Shipbuilding Co Ltd  in Jingjiang, China, it is a 96,333 gt, 109,510 dwt vessel with a container capacity of 8800 TEU.

The ship's exhaust gas scrubber was working away leaving a large plume of water vapour which was eventually absorbed by the cool dry air.

Scrubber retrofits no doubt take considerable ingenuity, but are usually clumsy looking. This ship's "side saddle" unit is no exception, but it did not take up any valuable cargo space. 

 

Autoport was also busy with another visit from the Morning Peace which was here as recently as November 19. It sailed late this afternoon, as did the bulk carrier Sheila Ann with a load of gypsum for Tampa FL. (see yesterday's post).

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Sheila Ann - back again

 The Bahamas flag CSL self-unloader Sheila Ann arrived in Halifax to load gypsum today (December 27) after a lengthy absence. The ship has been operating on the west coast for the past several years, so it was bit of a surprise to see it in these parts again.

Tracing the ship's movements over the past year I see it was delivering aggregates from British Columbia to Redwood City and Los Angeles, California on a monthly basis until November when it was reported in Morro Redondo, Mexico, November 12-14. It then arrived off the Panama Canal anchorages November 23, transiting November 26 and arriving in Boston December 4-5. I'm not sure what cargo, if any, it had for Boston. The Boston suburb of Beverly, MA is the home port of CSL Americas Inc, the division of Canada Steamship Lines that manages the ship and the CSL self-unloader pool. 

It then headed for Puerto Bolivar, Colombia where it loaded coal and sailed December 12-13. It delivered the coal to Point Tupper, NS December 21-24 and Sydney, NS December 25-26. (And yes Nova Scotia Power, the electric utility owned by Emera, still generates electricity by burning coal.) 

Sheila Ann was built in 1999 by Jiangnan Shipbuilding in Shanghai and is registered at 41,428 gt, 70,037 dwt with a self-unloading rate of 4,000 tonnes per hour for coal and 6,000 tonnes per hour for ore.

With the assistance of the tug Atlantic Fir, the ship makes for Gold Bond Gypsum's dock in Bedford Basin.

The Sheila Ann has a 79 meter swing out boom conveyor for discharging cargo.The boom has a telescoping feature which allows for a 69 m outreach. The boom slews through 135 degrees each side of midships, allowing for convenient positioning of the cargo on shore. The ship has seven holds with double hopper shaped bottoms, each feeding a conveyor leading forward to the single inclined belt conveyor that feeds the boom.

The ship is named for the Sheila Ann Martin (née Cowan), the wife of the former owner of CSL, Hon Paul Martin, and the mother of three sons who are the current owners of the company. Paul Maritn was also Prime Minister of Canada from 2003 to 2006.

CSL has recently acquired more ships for its international fleet, CSL Kajika and CSL Koasek. The former called in the Strait of Canso with coal for Point Tupper December 26 and is now anchored off Sydney. The latter is trading between California and Mexico. These acquisitions may mean more relocations of ships. CSL also has interests in Australia and Europe.

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