Still More and More Boxes

 The continuous stream of ships at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway continued today with little let up. The COSCO Shipping Himlayas sailed last evening and this morning another similar sized ship arrived. APL Sentosa (built by Hyundai Samho in 2014) is a regular on the joint Ocean Alliance, CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, OOCL service. Although not a record setter for Halifax, its 151,015 gt, 150,936 dwt and 13,892 TEU still rates as among the larger callers. Its first call here was April 10, 2020.

Again all but the very highest of the cranes had very little room over the deck load.

Also at the south end terminal was Oceanex Sanderling which used Pier 42 for containers then moved to Pier 36 for RoRo. The ship normally uses Pier 41 (which has a RoRo ramp, but also has the largest cranes). It usually sails on Fridays for St.John's but is now scheduled to sail  late this evening  (Saturday, October 1).

As soon as Oceanex Sanderling cleared Pier 42, Eimskip's Vivienne Sheri D was inbound from offshore anchorage. That leaves ZIM Yokohama still at outside anchorage waiting its turn.

The Vivienne Sheri D is a gearless 10,965 gt, 12,640 dwt vessel built by Naval Gijon SA in Spain in 2009. It has a capacity of 925 TEU including 200 reefer plugs. Intially named Pictor J it became Pictor in 2020 and has been a regular caller for Eimskip on its Rekjavik, Halifax, Portland, Argentia, Green Line service. 

In 2021 the Canadian company Doornekamp Shipping Ltd of Odessa, ON acquired the ship with the intention of operating it for their own fleet once the Eimskip charter elapses. Doornekamp also owns the Peyton Lynn C which runs on Spliethoff's monthly Cleveland Europe Express (CEE-Way) liner service from Antwerp along with Spliethoff ships.

In the non-commercial port activity CCGS Sir William Alexander moved from BIO to Pier 9C then to the SMRT Atlantic buoy off Herring Cove, before returning to BIO. See previous post from August 22.

The ship still looks fresh from its recent refit.

Also from BIO the visting British research vessel RRS James Cook (see previous post from September 27) moved over to Pier 9C. I expect it will be loading some specialist equipment there - I see a huge winch and spools of wire and a crane setting up on the dock.

I neglected to mention in my last post that this is not the ship's first visit to Halifax. It was also here December 22, 2019.

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Afternoon Activity

There was a good deal of activity all at the same time later in the afternoon with departures and an arrival.

Algoterra sailed from Imperial Oil. It is giving Quebec City as its destination, so may be going for another shuttle run. [see previous post.]

The autocaarier Tortugas was sailing from Autoport, with its place to be taken by Graceful Leader. The two ships met in the number one anchorage area where there was room to pass.

Such are the vagaries of international shipping that the nationalities of builders and operators bear no connection to each other.
Graceful Leader was built in 2007 by Stoc. Gdynia in Poland. The 57,692 grt, 20,986 dwt ship operates on a charter the Japanese company NYK Line.
Tortugas a 61,321 grt, 19,628 dwt ship dates from 2006 and Mitsubishi HI in Nagasaki. It is chartered to Wilhelmsen, a Norwegian company.

Also sailing this afternoon was CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent (which I missed) headed back to the Gulf of St.Lawrence, and CCGS Sir William Alexander, which does not appear to have taken fuel from Edward Cornwallis. (see yesterday's post). It headed southeast.

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Back to the Basin

The action was in Bedford Basin this morning, with ACL's Atlantic Sail arriving for the Cerescorp terminal at Fairview Cove.

Second ship in the G4 series of ConRos, Atlantic Sail was out of service for eight months in 2019 for unspecified mechanical issues. It has been back in regular rotation since January 2020.

At anchorage in the Basin CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent was tied up with CCGS Edward Cornwallis transferring fuel. The Cornwallis will be going into a major vessel life extension (VLE) rebuild at Shelburne, so will not be needing much fuel in the near term.

The navy pup tug Merrickville was likely tasked with positioning fenders between the two ships.

CCGS Sir William Alexander moved from BIO to an anchorage in the Basin. It may be getting some fuel too. As part of the Edward Cornwallis VLE it will be getting new lifting gear - maybe a crane like the Alexander.

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Buoy oh buoy

Due to the many rocky shoals and shallows, navigation into and out of Halifax harbour requires skill and knowledge. Harbour pilots have this in abundance, and coupled with their use of radar and satellite technology, they make hundreds of safe transits every year.

However not all mariners using the port have that skill and local knowledge. And surely there are times when the radar and Satnav may not be working. In such cases finding the channels and maintaining a safe course may have to rely on such centuries old devices as buoys and lighthouses.

Unless of course that century is the 21st and the year is 2020 and the time is right now.
I have it that at least three buoys and one lighthouse are currently unlit and have been so since before Christmas. Although these failures were reported to the CG nothing has been done to make repairs.

The Canadian Coast Guard has the responsibility for maintaining what are known as NAVAIDS (Aids to Navigation) and has its base right in Halifax harbour, at the Bedford Institute.

Under the jurisdiction of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Bedford Institute is also the Canadian Coast Guard base.

The buoy maintenance and repair facility is right here in the port and is to the left in the photo.

The buoy yard at the old Coast Guard base in Dartmouth (seen here in 1977) was relocated to the Bedford Institute when the old Coast Guard base  was shut down.

Even though the CCG is responsible for maintaining the buoys and lights in Halifax harbour (and throughout much of Nova Scotia and beyond) I cannot place all the blame for this on the CCG. Thanks to government policy (or lack of it) they have been chronically underfunded and under resourced for years. With aged ships constantly in need of repairs and the others stretched thin, it is no wonder there is a waiting list for work. Nevertheless working Navaids should be essential in a busy harbour.

There are three Navaids ships based in Halifax, but with multi-tasking required of CCG ships these days all are also expected to do Search and Rescue and icebreaking, so are only part time Navaids vessels. So where are these ships now?

CCGS Sir William Alexander has been undergoing a lengthy in water refit at the Bedford Institute, that included rebuilding its crane. Despite some sea trials recently, the ship has not yet returned to service.

CCGS Edward Cornwallis 

In December the ship was sent to the Great Lakes to cover the closing of the St.Lawrence Seaway. Presumably this was to break ice and prevent a recurrence of late season blockages, or maybe to lift some summer buoys.  This trip must have been to cover for a ship in the Central Region that was unavailable.

The Edward Cornwallis was then sent to the Gulf of St.Lawrence for ice breaking and is currently in Sydney., NS.

CCGS Earl Grey

The Earl Grey has been at work icebreaking in Newfoundland, as far north as the Strait of Belle Isle and now in Botwood. Again it is probably covering for a ship from the Newfoundland region that is unavailable. CCGS Ann Harvey, which ran aground in 2015 and was extensively rebuilt afterwards may or may not be in service.

The federal government has finally decided on how they will get around to building replacements for these three ships (and several others including heavy icebreakers) by going with Davie Shipbuilding in Quebec. In one way this was a good decision - Davie has the physical capacity  to build the ships and a very thin order book. However they have no recent experience building icebreakers and no track record of building multi ships orders, quickly. Yes they should be building two or three (or four or more) big icebreakers but that is it.

In order to re-equip the CCG quickly with smaller ships, there needs to be at least one more shipyard brought into the equation. There is the skeleton of a shipyard in St.Catharines, ON, the former Port Weller Dry Dock. To re-equip it to build ten to twelve new navaids ships would be worth the investment if a suitable operator was selected. (The federal government already owns the drydock and land). Heddle Marine thinks they are capable of operating such a yard,but a proper selection process is still needed. Particularly if it is a build / maintain contract, a dedicated CCG shipyard might be worth considering.

But back to Halifax. There is no doubt that the CCG is in need of many replacement ships, but is that the reason why Halifax harbour navigation aids are being neglected?

Perhaps the old question could be asked - how many Coast Guard ships does it take to change a light bulb?

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Sir William Alexander - crane refit

At the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, CCGS Sir William Alexander is in the midst of a crane refit. The ship was built in 1987 by MIL Sorel and is one of the many Canadian Coast Guard ships that will be getting a life extension refit in the next few years. Its crane however dates from 1998 when the ship was also given a major refit. Sister ship Edward Cornwallis has a conventional derrick for buoy handling.

Rare sight - sisterships together

Although the two ship are based in Halifax, it is certainly a rare sight to see CCGS Edward Cornwallis and CCGS Sir William Alexander side by side as they were for time this afternoon at the Bedford Institute dock in Dartmouth.
Ostensibly sisters, members of a larger class called the 1100 series, the two ships are not identical. Edward Cornwallis was built in 1986 by Marine Industries Ltd in Sorel, QC and launched July 12, 1986. She had engine trouble on her way to Halifax, but has had a largely trouble free life in service as a navaids tender and light icebreaker. She is powered by three 3,500 bhp Alco diesels (built by Bombardier) through three 2,100kW generators to two 3,550 shp electric motors. Total power is given as 10,500 hp.
Sir William Alexander was built at the same yard in 1987, and was launched October 19, 1986, leaving the yard May 14, 1987, and arriving Halifax May 20 with a stop in Charlottetown on the way. She had a grounding in 1994 but was repaired at Halifax Shipyard. In 1998 during a two month refit her derrick was removed and a crane installed instead. This change in her profile makes her easy to distinguish from her sister. She is also less powerful than her sister, being driven by three 2,991 bhp Alco diesels (built by Bombardier), through three 2,100 kW generators to two 2,991 shp electric motors, giving total power of 8,973 hp.
These are both the second ships of the name to to serve the Canadian Coast Guard. The first ships were not sisters however.

The first CCGS Edward Cornwallis was built by Canadian Vickers Ltd in Montreal in 1949. She was steam powered, by engines built by Canadian Vickers. At the time the CCG did not exist, and she served for the Department of Transport in their black hull/ tan funnel scheme until the CCG was formed. Originally classed as a lighthouse tender, she was a buoy tender and light icebreaker also. In May 1986 she was renamed Edward to free up the name for her replacement. In 1987 she was towed to Coburg, ON by the tug W.N.Twolan to be converted to a hotel, but the scheme did not last and in 1993 she was broken up in Port Maitland, ON.

The first CCGS Sir William Alexander also pre-dated the Canadian Coast Guard, and was launched by Halifax Shipyard December 13, 1958. She was delivered in 1959 and was reputed to be the best ship the Coast Guard had at the time. Power came from four 1333bhp Fairbanks Morse engines (built by Canadian Locomotive Works in Kingston, ON) through two 865kW generators to two 2,125 bhp electric motors. In 1987 the ship was renamed William to free up the name but served concurrently with her replacement until she was decommissioned in July 1989.

In February 1990 she was renamed H22 and put up for sale. She moved around to various berths in Halifax until August 27, 1992 when she moved to Shediac, NB. Then in 1993 she was reported sold to Belize flag interests and renamed Pilar Del Caribe. Lloyd's still lists her under that name, but now with no flag and no owner.

Both of the current ships are on the long list for replacement someday (at 24 and 25 years old they have a few years to reach to the 38 and 30 of their predecessors.) However new ships will likely not repeat the names. Edward Cornwallis, the founder of Halifax, has been discredited for his treatment of indigenous people. Sir William Alexander had the idea of colonizing Nova Scotia , but is now considered to have been merely a well connected speculator.

Update: Thanks to Jason - see comment below, I have been directed to a photo of Pilar Del Carib ex William, wrecked on a beach in Jamaica. http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1575484

It turns out that the ship was operating in Jamaica when cocaine was found on board in 1995. It was seized by the Jamaican government and sold for scrap. However it went ashore and became a favourite for photographers. It has since been broken up in place. The last photos of her in more or less intact condition were taken in 2008.

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