Wallenius Wilhelmsen - new colour

The autocarrier Toscana exhibited the new Wallenius Wilhelmsen hull colour scheme  at Autoport yesterday and Pier 31 today before sailing for New York.

Signalling the 2018 combination of ownership between the once separate companies the new scheme owes little to tradition! Wallenius, of Sweden, pioneers in seabourn auto transport, traditionally painted their ships with green hulls and white superstructure. Norwegian Wilhelmsen, ConRo experts,  used orange for the hull and white on the superstructure. The new scheme consists of sea foam green signifying water and grey for land on the hull. Superstructure appears to be largely white, but some deck fittings such as fan hoods are grey. I could not see the new funnel mark, which consists of stylized "W" and "O".

In April 2018 the two companies created Wallenius Wilhelmsen Group, to operate the combined fleet under the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean name.   The Group also includes EUKOR and ARC operating under their own brand names.

Toscana, built in 2009 by Mitsubishi HI in Nagasaki, is a 61,328 gt, 22,250 dwt Pure Truck and Car Carrier, with a capacity of 6354 CEU. Owners are still identified as Wilhelmsen in on-line registry listings.

It appears that the new branding consists of the colour scheme, but not the ship names. Therefore it should still be possible to identify Wilhelmsen ships from their names beginning with the letter 'T" and Wallenius ships using operatic characters for their ships' names. Toscana also carries the new Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean monogram on the bow.

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Busy at Pier 9C, and elsewhere

Pier 9C, the recently developed area of Richmond Terminals has been very busy recently, certainly justifying the investment the port made in expanding the area nearest the A. Murray MacKay bridge.

Today, in addition to the suppliers Atlantic Tern and Burin Sea, regular users of the area, there is a large load of drill pipe and riser assembling for BP's drilling program this summer. The finishing touches are also being made on the new MI Swaco drilling lubricant facility at the extreme north end of the pier.

The surprise visitor at the pier is the autocarrier Toscana which seems to be in for repairs, since its ramps are in the up position and no cargo work appears to be going on.

It is unusual to see an autocarrier in the Narrows, and such a large ship at Pier 9C.

The dock area is covered with drill pipe (rusty coloured) and riser assembly (white) that BP will be using for their exploration well. There would be little room for the ship to lower is cargo ramps - especially the 300 tonne capacity stern ramp.

Toscana is not super large by today's standards, but it does measure an impressive 61,328 grt, 22,250 dwt and has a capacity of 6,354 CEU. It was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nagasaki in 2009. It is a Wilhelmsen ship operating in the Wallenius Wilhelmsen fleet that numbers about sixty auto carriers.

Speaking of autocarriers, another Wallenius Wilhelmsen ship was tied up at the other end of the port at pier 31 at the south end Ocean Terminals.This one however is a member of the Wallenius partner in the line. Aniara although essentially the same type of ship is quite a bit bigger at 71,673 grt,  30,087 dwt, with a capacity of 7,600 CEU (car equivalent units). This largely achieved by length- it is 231.6m long versus 199.9 for Toscana. Aniara was built in 2008 by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Heavy Engineering in Okpo. The ship will likely move to Autoport, but no time has been given due to weather. Pier 31 is a much better place to be during very high winds.

In the the new fenced off era it seems that ships have become more background than foreground.

At nearby Halterm both Oceanex Sanderling and Nolhanava were loading for their coastal trips. However Nolhanava has opted to go to anchor tonight in view of the winds predicted for the next 24 hours.

Fairview Cove had two ships today also, Glen Canyon Bridge which arrived this morning and YM Modesty arriving late this afternoon.

 YM Modesty is a 6258 TEU container ship built in 2013 by Koyo Dockyard in Japan. It measures 71,821 grt and 72,730 dwt.

Just to give an idea of how blustery it is already, the launch / tug Captain Jim was making a lot of spray on its way back from a chore in Bedford Basin.

The boat was built in 1989 along fishing boat lines, but is a jack of all trades, doing small towing, working as a launch and crew/supply boat in the harbour for owners RMI Marine.

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Roundup

Shipfax was beset in the space of a few days last week, but has now overhauled most of its rigging and has resumed its course. What happened in the harbour was noted but not photo'd  observed, but there is still left over info from the previous weekend.

April 1

The bulker Longshore (ex Ethel -16) 23,456 *grt, 34,399 dwt arrived and anchored in Bedford Basin.
After few days of hold cleaning the ship moved to pier 28 and loaded grain.

It sailed April 8. Although the AIS shows its destination as Belledune, NB, that is clearly not the case since it headed south.
* with a grt of 23456 it should have a dwt of 34567!

Sailing April 1, the cargo ship Saimagraacht made its second call this year, on what has become a regular service for Spliethoff's.
Built in 2005 by Szczecinska Nowa in Poland the 18,321 grt, 23,660 dwt ship has side loading doors and enclosed elevators specifically for forest products, but as on this trip she was also carrying a few containers on deck. She can carry 1273 TEU.

The ship is also retro-fitted with an exhaust gas scrubber system (and none too elegantly either)  - which like most of those installation smokes like an old stogy. Nothing like removing SOx and NOx and leaving a trail of particulate.

The Frankenstein version scrubber system was added after the ship was built.



Also sailing on April 1, the CCGS Alfred Needler on temporary winter assignment to work out of Halifax, the research trawler headed for the Gulf and Argentia.

The ship was built in 1982 in Pictou and based in Halifax. After an engine room fire in 2003 it was laid up, but then rebuilt and transferred to Newfoundland,replacing sister ship Wilfred Templeman when it was retired in 2011.
Three replacement ships (one for the west coast) will be built by Seaspan as part of the National Ship Procurement program now under way.

April 2: becalmed 

April 3: in irons

April 4: broached to

April 5: decks swept

April 6: abacked

April 7: bilges pumped , jury rigged

The veteran Newfoundland based offshore patrol vessel Cape Roger sailed on another of its frequent patrols. It works out of Halifax in winter (February to April) then returns to Gulf and Newfoundland waters.
Built in 1977 by Ferguson Industries Ltd of Pictou it was modernized in 1996 at Shelburne, and wintered over in St.Catharines, ON 2010-2011 where it was refitted at the Port Weller drydock. At that time its flight deck was decommissioned and hangar removed.
Construction was well underway April 1, 1976 when fisheries minister (and later Governor General) Roméo LeBlanc announced its name and spring 1977 delivery. This year is its 40th anniversary.
A later vessel of the same basic design and class is CCGS Cygnus, built in 1982, and distinguishable by its full width all weather bridge and some smaller details such as mast placement. It is alo based in Newfoundland.

April 8: re-rigged and underway 

The big cable ship Dependable got underway for a cable repair job off Nova Scotia. It arrived April 6 to load cable for the work. Followng that job it will return to its normal base of Baltimore.

Dependable arrives in misty weather. The davit forward of amidships is used to deploy a buoy to mark one end of a severed cable while the ship goes off to retrieve the other end.  

Built in 2002 the ship is one of six sisters operated by TE-Subcom (formerlyTyco) world-wide. Some of the sisters, including Reliance and Responder have worked out of Halifax in the past.

 A 12,184 grt ship, built in 2002, it does its cable work over the stern through multiple sheaves.

There is also a gantry (here in the stowed position) that can be hoisted out over the stern to deploy is trenching plow.

The blue structure at left is the shoreside cable loading conveyor.

The usual run of  "car boats" visited Autoport during the week. However Wilhemsen's Toscana unloaded a large quantity of wheeled material and odd loads at pier 31, before shifting to Autoport.

Built in 2009 by MHI Nagasaki Shipyard and Engineering Works, the 61,328 grt ship can carry 6542 cars.
Odd loads? How about a shrink wrapped helicopter?

It was transferred from its Maafi trailer to a highway trailer today, ready for the next leg of its trip.

April 9: arrived in port

There was early morning activity in the harbour as the small chemical tanker Lutsen prepared to sail after taking bunkers overnight.

A.P.A. No.1 takes the pilot out to the departing Lutsen at number 2 anchorage, as Toscana unloads at Autoport.

Lutsen was built in 2006 by Samho Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Tongyong as Songa Diamond. It weas quickly renamed Brovig Bay, then in 2007 it became Liquid Velvet and Ben. It was renamed Lutsen in 2016. Measuring only 8,450 grt and 12,901 dwt, it is small by contemporary standards.  It headed for Montreal.

Also at anchor April the general cargo ship Norderney underwent Asian gypsy moth inspection before proceeding to pier 9c.

At pier 9c work began to fit the ship with prefabbed cable tank components. This is a regular activity at the pier, with several ships fitted with the steel frames in the past few years.

Built in 2012 the ship measures 4591 grt, 5475 dwt. It flies the Antigua and Barbuda flag for German owners. It carries a pair of what appear to be 40 tonne cranes, serving box shaped holds.

Container traffic continues apace with several new faces, but some familiar ones too.


OOCL Kaohsiung a 5888 TEU (including 586 reefers) ship built in 2006 by Koyo Dockyard in Mihara, is operated under OOCL long term charter by Nissen Kaiun Co Ltd.

Where it will go when OOCL finally leaves the G6 Alliance, will be interesting to see since larger ships are displacing "old post Panamax" ships in large numbers.

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Zim out, Zim in with fog

Dense fog descended on the south end of the harbour when it was time for Zim Constanza to sail this afternoon. The incoming Octavia, also for Zim, was inbound at the same time and the two ships passed without seeing each other - except on radar.
Their automated fog signals were well synchronized, and from my vantage point the sounds bellowed most impressively and continued to echo back and forth from the fog and the land for several seconds after the initial blasts.

Longshoremen are standing by to let go the lines as Zim Constanza readies to sail.

Once clear, the ship was almost totally enveloped in fog.

 

This what I saw, but the camera could be coaxed into revealing a bit more:

Zim Constanza dates from 2010 when it emerged from the Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipyard. It measures 40,252 grt, 50,107 dwt with a capacity of 4256 TEU, including 698 refrigerated. On June 28, 2010 it initiated a new Zim service from the Mediterranean to Halifax, New York, Savannah and Kingston, Jamaica before returning to Tarragona and Haifa.It flies the Liberian flag for Rickmers Ship Management (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

The somewhat larger Octavia barely emerged from the fog.

 

What I saw,

 what the camera revealed.

The tug Atlantic Larch, which was alongside, but barely visible in the photos above, is swinging the ship around,

and it almost disappears as it comes alongside.

Octavia was built in 2005 by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan for the Herman Dauelsburg company under the Atlantic Lloyd banner. Its capacity of 5117 TEU, including 500 reefers, is carried in 53,807 grt, 66,501 dwt. The ship is registered in Majuro, Marshall Islands.

Earlier in the day it was quite clear as Toscana worked cargo at pier 30-31.

The supplier Scotian Sea at pier 27 unloads some special gear as Toscana unloads.

Toscana later moved to Autoport (also in dense fog) to work its automobile cargo.

Toscana was the last of a series of ten sister ships built for Wilhelmsen Lines by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagasaki. Completed in 2009 by Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard and Engineering Works, it measures 61,328 grt, 22,144 dwt and has a capacity of 6350 CEU. It is specially fitted to carry other types of RoRo and project cargo, and has a 307 tonne capacity stern ramp.

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Snowed under at Autoport

As previously reported, Autoport is experiencing major delays, both in shipping out automobiles by rail, but also in unloading new ones. The reason is a foot or more of what used to be snow. Several heavy rains on top of  heavy snow, and more snow on top of that, plus some melting last month has resulted in solid ice. It looks like snow, but in fact is thorough and through solid ice.

Bumper height solid ice encapsulates thousands of cars at Autoport.

Attempting to remove it from parked cars would be sure to cause damage, and therefore the car storage areas are full of iced in cars that will have to wait for spring to thaw out.
Not only that but the arrivals area is also full of iced in cars. New cars arriving by ship must be driven, one at a time, several miles to temporary storage areas at Canadian Forces Base Shearwater, and that takes a lot more time than the short drive from the ship to the normal receiving area.

Toscana at Autoport was painfully slow to unload.

Toscana arrived Thursday, unloaded at pier 31, then moved to Autoport. It was finally able to sail this afternoon, after taking two full days or more to unload. The operation would normally take one working day.

Finally able to sail this afternoon, the ship shows off a fairly fresh coat of paint.

The next ship due was Apollon Leader, and after waiting at anchor four twenty-four hours, upped anchor and sailed for the US Friday afternoon. Whether it will come back here to unload its cargo is doubtful- two more ships are due. 

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