Cutlass Fury 2021 - big navy day

 It was a big day for the Royal Canadian Navy as hosts for Operation Cutlass Fury 2021. There were three visiting warships in port and eight Canadian ships participated in a sail past and several aircraft carried out a flypast. Unfortunately there was some glitch in the proceedings and a lengthy delay in the start and a lagging ship at the finish, so I was not in the best position when it finally got going.

First to leave port was USS Thomas Hudner which did not participate in the sail past. I barely caught site of it as it headed outbound, passing the inbound container ship MOL Experience (see more below).

With all the Canadian ships and the French ship Aquitaine in Bedford Basin, HMCS Windsor also headed for the Basin before returning to a position on the ferry track to take the salute.

No points for appearance, but Windsor appears to be fully clothed with its acoustic jacket patched in place.

The Canadian ships eventually headed for sea in line ahead, HMCS Toronto in the lead:

Followed by HMCS Montreal:

and HMCS Halifax:

The line then continued with the three MCDVs, HMCS Kingston:

HMCS Moncton:

and HMCS Summerside:

Certainly a rare scene of six Canadian ships in line:

USS Forrest Sherman sailed directly from HMC Dockyad and did not participate in the sail past.

Astrerix was also in the sail past but was well behind the rest of the Canadian ships:

FS Aquitaine , anchored in Bedford Basin, took its pilot pretty much on time at 1530, but didn't seem to be in the same time zone and didn't sail until about 1900 as far as I can figure:

All this activity didn't effect what little commercial traffic there was in the harbour. The container ship MOL Experience, mentioned above, managed to slide in to Bedford Basin before the naval vessels began to leave.

Built by Hyundai, Ulsan in 2007 it is 54,098 gt, 62,953 dwt ship with a capacity of 4803 TEU including 330 reefers. From 2008 to 2010 it was named APL Experience. It is now on THE Alliance's AL5 service for ONE.

Due to the extensive leaf cover of Shipfax headquarters, I missed the flyover, but did catch an errant helo earlier in the proceedings:

It flew out over Bedford Basin, then circled back inland and I did not see it land on any of the RCN ships.

.

CITIES

 Container Lines are fond of naming ships after cities - usually ports - but also those  centres where cargoes may come from or are destined for. Three arrivals today more or less fill those categories.

Kyoto Express (pictured during its August 20, 2020 visit) called in at Cerescorp's Fairview Cove terminal. It is just about as big a ship as the facility can accommodate due to bridge clearances. A 93,750 GT, 103,890 dwt ship it has a capacity of 8749 TEU, including 750 reefers and was built in 2005 by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan for HAPAG-Lloyd. Named for Japan's "second city" Kyoto was once the country's capital, it is now the cultural capital, but with neighboring cities of Kobe and Osaka it is also an important industrial hub.

At the southend terminal, PSA Halifax, APL Miami made an early afternoon arrival.

It is named for Florida's largest city, the centre of much of the state's commerce and a significant port. With a capacity of 9200 TEU, the ship is just under the "Ultra" class of 10,000 TEU. Nevertheless it is a sizable vessel of 109,712 gt, 109,712 dwt. Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd, Okpo delivered the ship in 2014. Owners APL (American President Lines) merged with Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), in 1997 and in 2016 CMA CGM acquired 100% ownership of NOL so that APL is now a wholly owned subsidiary of CMA CGM.

Autport's arrival is named for Canada's largest city, and thus a major market for the automobiles that Toronto carries. The ship operates in the now merged Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean fleet, but it was built, and is owned by Wilhelmsen Lines. It is that company's policy that all its ships names began with the letter "T".

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nagasaki delivered the 61,482 gt, 19,628 dwt ship in 2005 as a Pure Car and Truck Carrier, with RoRo capability for other cargoes. The ship has a capacity of 6,354 RT43 car equivalent units. 

Wilhlemsen has been hard hit by the drop in demand for vehicles brought on by the pandemic. Up to ten ships were to be put in cold layup in June to reduce the ship's fleet operating costs, and others will be redelivered to charterers. Another four or five ships, more than 24 years old, were to be scrapped. Cold layup, where machinery is not operating, nor maintained, can save US$3000 to $4000 per day, but requires significant outlay to re-condition the ships the longer the layup goes on.

.

Toronto in Halifax

The Pure Car and Truck Carrier Toronto arrived last evening at pier 27. The British flag vessel is a member of the 31 ship strong Wilhelmsen Line of car carriers and operates within the even larger Wallenius Wilhelmsen group. It measures 61,321 gross tons and depending on your source was built in 2004 or 2005.

Although capable of carrying 6350 cars, the ship can also carry project cargoes and containers in its specially constructed internal decks.

The ship did not go to Autoport as mighty be expected for a PCTC, so may have some special cargo on board.
.