After the Holiday

It was quiet in the harbour for the July1 holiday, but things picked up a bit today.

Irving Oil welcomed the tanker Elka Hercules from Amsterdam. This is the ship's second call in Halifax. It was here January 29 to February 1, also from Amsterdam, with a cargo of refined product. Its visit will be a short one as it has to vacate the berth tomorrow for the arrival of Irving's Acadian.

Elka Hercules unloads at Irving Oil, Woodside as the tug Spitfire III heads to Autoport.

A 2002 product of Brodosplit shipyard in Croatia it is a 27,539gt, 44,481 dwt MidRange tanker. It is part of the European Product Carriers Ltd fleet from Athens, and one of about twenty ships with the "Elka" prefix, several of which have called here recently.

The autocarrier Hoegh London made a brief call at Autoport this morning. This is the ship's first visit to Halifax according to my records. It is on an eastbound routing, so may have loaded export cargo.

Hoegh London has a side ramp positioned well aft. Most autocarriers have them nearer midships.

The pilot boarding door is just forward of the ramp.

Built by Daewoo, Okpo in 2008 it carried the name Alliance Charleston from 2010 to 2013 and flew the US flag as a non-Jones Act vessel. As a ship not built in the US, it was not permitted to trade between US ports, but was eligible for certain preferences in foreign trade, such as US government cargo.
The 68,871 gt, 27,100 dwt ship has a capacity of 7850 CEU.

It was an unusual mid-day arrival for Oceanex Sanderling returning from St.John's. The ship sailed from Halifax on Friday as usual but must have done a quick Sunday turnaround in St.John's to avoid the holiday.

The ship is carrying a large number of Oceanex (blue) 53 foot containers. These are among the few "sea going" 53 footers, as most container ships can't accommodate them in their cellular holds. Therefore most 53 foot containers are not built to IMO sea-going standards, and are restricted to intermodal or RoRo traffic.

Queen Mary 2 made a return call today. With Celebrity Summit overnighting at pier 20, the big ship berthed at pier 22, and had to extend lines across the camber to pier 26 in order to be properly secured.

It is not only container ships that are getting bigger! The port has to accommodate some large cruise ships too, and with three in port today, Insignia had to take the back seat - at pier 27 - in amongst a lot of unsightly commercial port activity. If I were a tourist I would not be impressed.

Queen Mary 2 made its stately way out of Halifax this evening nicely catching the sun on its way to the pilot station. 

To make room for tour boats at the Tall Ships Quay, the yacht Sycara V shifted north to the Salter pier, and appeared to be undergoing some maintenance. There may have been divers working at the bow. Note the hatch doors open at the forepeak.

Into the doldrums

June in Halifax can be foggy and wet or mild and sunny. This year it was the former. Coupled with the usual summer dearth of interesting shipping, the port resembles the doldrums.

That intertropical convergence zone usually found between 5 degrees north and 5 degrees south latitude has been the subject of legend, not to mention Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner where:
Day after day, day after day
We stuck, nor breath nor motion
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Nothing so picturesque is happening in Halifax, with the ordinary arrivals and departures of scheduled ships, the intermittent visit of a typical MidRange tanker, punctuated by random cruise ships, it really is the slow season.

One tanker called in at Imperial Oil this week, Platytera arrived June 28 from Amsterdam and sailed again today for the same port.

Built in 2009 by Onomichi Zosen in Japan, the 26,900 gt, 47,401 dwt vessel flies the Maltese flag for the perfectly anonymous Dax Shipping. That anonymity extends to the orangey hull and featureless funnel of the same colour. The only giveaway is the obviously Greek name:
https://orthodoxwiki.org/Panagia_Platytera
The ship's technical managers, Executive Ship Management, are slightly better known, but are based in Singapore:
http://www.executiveship.com/

Getting away today with the assistance of Atlantic Fir and Atlantic Oak , Platytera signaled a warning blast to a passing sailboat - which was largely ignored. In the background Citadel Hill was in Full Dress for Canada Day.

It turned into a damp experience for passengers from Celebrity Summit despite all the events planned to mark Canada's 152nd birthday. The superyacht Sycara V moored nearby was the subject a previous post.

Also flying the Maltese flag, Celebrity Summit emerged from Chantiers de l'Atlantique in St-Nazaire in 2001 as Summit. The 90,940 gt ship is powered by gas turbines, (a supposedly more environmentally friendly option than diesels) driving electric azipods. The ship was renamed in 2008 and has had several makeovers, the most recent earlier this year. That refit included re-doing all the cabins and adding 30 more to give a capacity of 2,218 in double occupancy. The crew numbers 999.

The lack of excitement in Halifax harbour has meant that Shipfax has been unusually quiet of late. That may continue for a time!

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Friday and Saturday Round Up

A fist time caller Friday was Glen Canyon Bridge another of the many K-Line ships we are seeing now with the new service THE Alliance that has replaced the G6 Alliance. Although HAPAG-Lloyd is a primary partner in the service, their ships are not included in the various strings that call here.

Three cranes work the ship Friday evening.

Glen Canyon Bridge is a 2006 Hyundai Ulsan built ship of 68,570 grt, 71,291 dwt with a capacity of 5624 TE (including 600 reefers).

Today's arrival at Fairview Cove is Berlin Bridge another K-Line ship on THE Alliance service, this one on the AL6, Transatlantic run.

 

Only one crane in operation to work the smaller, more lightly loaded ship.

The Hong Kong flag ship is owned by Seaspan International and chartered to K-Line. It was built in 2011 by Samsung, Koje and measures 46,444 grt, 58,200 dwt, and carries 4526 TEU.

Today at the other end of the port CMA CGM brought in another first time caller, CMA CGM Pelleas on its Columbus loop. The ship dates from 2008 when it was built by Hyundai, Ulsan. At 111,249 grt, 120,854 dwt it has a capacity of 9658 TEU including 700 reefers.

Two tugs alongside are in position to turn the ship to tie up at Halterm, starboard side to.

 
Although a few hundred boxes short of the 10,000 TEU figure, it is still a large ship. It is owned by the Claus Peter Ofen group of Germany and was renamed Pelleas between 2010 and 2014 only, as it served some other service than CMA CGM.

After the July 1 - July 4 United States Navy presence of an aircraft carrier and three accompanying vessels, this week there was a lone USN ship. Arriving Thursday USS  Jason Dunham sailed this afternoon.

An Arleigh Burke class ship it is designated DDG-109 and is homeported in Norfolk, VA.

Halifax is a way point and a destination for all sorts of pleasure craft, from small sailing vessels to large super yachts. The latter usually attract considerable attention (and speculation about the owner). Today's arrival Sycara V registered in Georgetown, Cayman Islands, is certainly a super yacht. Built in 2010 by Nobiskrug in Germany, the 1566 grt vessel can accommodate 14 (not including crew) and is equipped with all imaginable amenities.

Sycara V has been for sale for some time with a sale price originally quoted in the euro 75 mn range, but now reduced to Euro 62.5mn (around $US 71.6mn). If that is too rich for your blood you can charter it for $US 671,000 per week. 

Tied up at Salter's wharf, boardwalkers were able to get a close up look.

Roll Out continued...
Following today's restricted open house in which hundreds visited Halifax Shipyard ( and tying up traffic for a mile) workers rolled out mega-block #3 of the future HMCS Harry De Wolf. By late afternoon they had it aligned with mega-block #2.

 

 

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