Thorco Legacy - in the news. Well sort of.

 Many ships show up in Halifax only once and unless they are assigned to a regular line, never to return.  They are soon forgotten (almost) unless they make the news in some other port.

Such is the case for two ships that have visited Halifax in the past year or so. The cargo ship Thorco Legacy spent some time in Halifax this winter. The ship arrived on December 22, 2022 and went directly to anchor in Bedford Basin.

The ship remained at anchor until January 7 when it moved to Pier 9B to be fitted with racks to transport sub sea fibreoptic cable. When that work was completed, the ship made a brief sea trial on January 20, then left port on January 21 for Portsmouth, NH where fibreoptic cable is manufactured.

The ship remained in Portsmouth from February 2 to 23, I assumed, loading cable. The process of loading cable is slow work as it is carefully nested in the racks without exceeding its bending radius.

A current report indicates that the Thorco Legacy is now in Freeport, Bahamas with the cable ship Durable, but not to transfer cable to the cable ship but to remove cable. The Durable had damage to a main propulsion thruster and put in to Freeport on February 22. Thorco Legacy sailed from Portsmouth directly to Freeport, arriving February 26. It is to take on board the Durable's cable - a 21 day process. Durable will then go to Charleston for repairs in drydock, then rejoin the Thorco Legacy to reload the cable.

 The Durable has also been in Halifax too, arriving August 12, 2021, and possibly on other occasions including March 30, 2022.

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Snow Day

 The first significant snow fall of the winter today (January 20) - about 10cm and counting - resulted in some delays and re-scheduling due to conditions on shore.

The tanker Algo - the former Canadian tanker Algoma Hansa -was due to sail, but the departure was cancelled. The ship has been alongside at Pier 25 since January 7.

The ship was retired from the Algoma Tankers Ltd fleet earlier this month and has been sold, renamed and registered in Liberia. (The ship's new owners are incorporated in the Marshall Islands). Informed opinion is that it will be used in shuttle or bunkering service somewhere in the third world. According to on-line sources, all the ship's certificates were renewed this month and it has from February 2023 to March 2024 to renew its current classification. (That classification may not be renewed depending on the Owner's plans. Twenty-five year refits to maintain status are very costly and therefore rare.)

Another long-stay ship was due to sail today, and return tomorrow - possibly for sea trials - but that has been delayed. Thorco Legacy arrived on December 22, 2022  and took up an anchorage position in Bedford Basin. It then moved alongside Pier 9B on January 7 where it has been fitted up with steel racks for undersea fibreoptic cable.

 While alongside the ship may also have undergone some maintenance which requires testing before the ship can sail to its next port. Most ships fitted with cable racks go on to Portsmouth (Newington) NH where the cable is manufactured by Subcom Cable Systems LLC. Subcom also installs, manages and maintains cable networks world wide.

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More twins - Franbo Lohas and Thorco Legacy

 After yesterday's meeting of Canada Steamship Lines sister ships in Bedford Basin, there was another twin meet up - also in Bedford Basin - today,  December 22. This time it was two multi-purpose 'tween deck general cargo ships.

Franbo Lohas has been in Halifax since since November 6. It was at Pier 9B from November 10-22, and made one brief "day trip" to sea for trials December 3. The rest of the time it has been at anchor in the Basin. As per previous posts, the ship was in Halifax in March 2022 to load fibreoptic cable racks and was reported in Vancouver. IT International Telecom had a major submarine cable project in British Columbia, and I am assuming the ship delivered cable there.

Today Franbo Lohas was joined at anchor by the Thorco Legacy a 13,110 gt, 16,966 dwt product of the same Honda Heavy Industries shipyard in Saiki, Japan. It is two years newer however and was completed in 2016, the last of nine sister ships all of which originally carried "L" names and were owned or chartered to Thorco Shipping A/S of Denmark. (Franbo Lohas was Thorco Lohas until 2021.) It carries the same 50 tonne SWL cranes and featues box shaped holds of the "open hatch" design.

Thorco, based in Copenhagen (and merged with Clipper Projects in 2013) operates about 70 ships- many on charter from other owners. Franbo, based in Taiwan operates a variety of ships, many of them bulk carriers. Thorco prefers to charter ships than to build up a fleet of owned ships, and can thus reduce long term commitments while meeting short term needs.

The two ships were anchored near each other and were not the only ships at anchor in Bedford Basin. Also arriving this morning after a brief trip to Boston [see December 16 post], was the icebreaking tug Polar Circle.

 

As Thorco Legacy (right) approaches anchorage positon number 9, it passes the Polar Circle and nears the Franbo Lohas (left - blue hull).

As with the cargo ships, the purpose for Polar Circle's presence in Halifax is not known. Why it should sail to Boston only to take on bunkers is also a mystery.

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