Norwegian Joy plus

On Sunday September 11, 2022, Halifax played host the passengers and crew of the Norwegian Joy. It was a perfect day, with cloudless skies, temperature in the low 20s (C) and the occasional breeze. All this was thanks to Hurricane Earl, which was passing well out to sea, but dragging warm weather up from the south.

 Those conditions also made for excellent lighting for photography as the ship sailed for Saint John, NB. Unfortunately even those conditions could not distract from the elaborate water slide forward of the funnel, the lurid hull graphics and the top heavy looking 20 decks of accommodation.

Built in 2017 by Meyer Werft, Papenburg, the ship is a Breakway plus class vessel of 167,725 gt, with a capacity of 3,833 passengers and 1,700 crew.

The bright sun also didn't do much to enhance the looks of the auto carrier Treasure (see also yesterday's post). The 23 year old is certainly showing signs of wear and tear. It is headed for New York.

.

Treasure for Autoport

 An unusual arrival for Autoport today (September 10) was the Liberian flag Treasure arriving from Zeebrugge on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean transatlantic 1 service.

As the Treasure rounds Ives Knoll, the tug Roseway heads to Autoport for line handling.

An antique among auto carriers, the Treasure was built in 1999 by Hashihama Zosen in Tadotsu, Japan. It comes in at 58,684 gt, 21,199 dwt with a capacity of 5,718 CEU.

Orginally named HUAL Carolita for Höegh Ugland Auto Liners, it became HUAL Treasure in 2000 and Höegh Treasure in 2006. It was renamed Treasure in 2014 for current owners Blue Arrow Navigation Ltd with management by ASM Martime BV of Amsterdam. The upswept hull colour toward the stern is a remnant of the Höegh paint scheme.

 With the assistance of the tugs Atlantic Willow (forward) and Atlantic Oak the ship makes its way into Eastern Passage, passing the Shearwater Yacht Club moorings on its port side and popular anchorages at Macnab's Island on the starboard side.

.

Odd Day

 It is an odd day when there are no commercial arrivals in the Port of Halifax. Today, July 16, was one such day. The only arrival was the patrol vessel CCGS Constable Carrière.

Normally based in Quebec, the vessel was showing no AIS signal when it arrived this afternoon, so I don't know where it was coming from. The boat is used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and its movements are not publicized. It docked at the Tall Ships Quay - not at BIO.

There were no commercial arrivals but there was a commercial departure and a commercial move. The departure was the Atlantic Star which arrived last night and sailed this afternoon for Liverpool, UK.

 

The ship threaded its way through numerous pleasure craft, and there were lots of spectators on the waterfront as the tourist season is at its peak.

The autocarrier Treasurecompleted offloading its non-car cargo at Pier 9C. (See yesterday's post for comparison of the number of units on the dock.)

Along with crated machinery, truck cranes, forestry and road construction equipment was the usual fleet of bright yellow JCBs of various sizes and types. 

Late in the afternoon the Treasure shifted (also through pleasure craft traffic) to Autoport to offload automobiles.

The pleasure craft included sail and motor boats, and there were harbour ferries, tour boats (watch for a future post on that topic) and Harbour Hopper 3.

.

Friday Roundup

 There were also several civilian ship movements in Halifax on July 15.

First was the arrival of the Netherlands flag Donaugracht for Fairview Cove. It is unusual to see ships of the Spliethoff fleet in Halifax in summer. The company has a regular container service from Europe, to the Great Lakes, but its ships will come to Halifax in the winter off season. Other ships of the fleet load forest products (usually paper) or aluminum at St.Lawrence River ports, and there is also their yacht and boat delivery service, which has called here from time to time. I was not up early enough to see if it had a deck load when it arrived today. On departure for Charleston its deck appeared largely clear, so I don't know if it loaded or unloaded cargo.

Built in 2009 by Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, it is a 13,706 gt, 17,967 dwt general cargo ship fitted with three cranes - one each of 55 tonnes, 90 tonnes and 120 tonnes (although they all look the same to me.)

The ice class ship has the usual pontoon type moveable tween decks, box shaped holds with ventilation and dehumidification. It can also carry up to 1,062 TEU containers.

The ship sailed from Singapore June 6 and callled in Laem Chabang, Thailand June 8-11, transitted the Suez Canal June 29-30 and stopped in the Gibraltar west anchorage July 6 (perhaps for bunkers or stores).

Next in was the elderly autocarrier Treasure which went to Pier 9C to unload RoRo (non car) cargo.

Built in 1999 by Hashihama Zosen in Tadotsu it was originally named HUAL Carolita but in 2000 became HUAL Treasure. In 2000 Leif Höegh acquired Ugland's 50% of HUAL (Höegh-Ugland Auto Liners) and in 2005 renamed the company Höegh Autoliners and the ship became Höegh Treasure in 2006. They sold the ship to current owners and it was renamed in 2014.

It is a 58,684 gt, 21,199 dwt ship with a capacity of 5,718 Car Equivalent Units. It will move to Autoport tomorrow to unload cars. The ship is apparently on a spot charter for Wallenius Wilhelmsen's SVC1 transatlantic service - possibly to cover for ships in maintenance. Its last ports of call were Bremerhaven, Zeebrugge and Southampton.

Imperial Oil's berth number 3 was not vacant long today, as Algosea sailed at 1130 hrs, and its place was taken by the Largo Excellence, which had been waiting offshore. Shipfax was asleep at the switch and did not get a picture of the ship until after it was tied up.

Another in the endless stream of MidRange tankers, the 29,416 gt, 50,118 dwt ship dates from 2017 when it was delivered by Hyundai-Vinashin in Ninh Hoa, Vietnam as EcoSeven. It was renamed Steanweco Elegance soon after and in 2020 assumed its current name. Its last port was Antwerp.

.

Treasure

 

 The photo I posted yesterday of the arrival of the autocarrier Treasure did not do the ship much justice in view of the fog and rain. Today (May 29) however, conditions were pretty much ideal when it sailed for New York, which certainly justified another shot.

The well worn ship was built in 1999 and is now owned by the Blue Arrow Navigation Ltd and managed by ASM Maritime BV  It is operating on Wallenius-Wilhelmsen's SVC1 transatlantic service, likely as a short term charter.

The 58,684 gt, 21,199 dwt vessel was built by Hashihama Zosen, Tadotsu and has a capacity of 5718 to 6100 CEU depending on the source. It is still of a useful size, but must be showing more than just outward signs of age.

It was initially named HUAL Treasure. The well known Norwegian shipowner Leif Höegh formed a joint venture with Ugland Rederi in 1970 called Höegh Ugland Auto Liners (HUAL) but in 2000, not long after this ship was delivered, Höegh bought out Ugland's 50%, but did not rename the company until 2005 when it  became simply Höegh Autoliners. The next year the ship was renamed Höegh Treasure in recognition of the change in company name. 

Höegh acquired 12 autocarriers from A.P. Møller-Maersk in 2008 and, A.P. Møller Maersk became a 39% shareholder in 2008-2009. The company now operates 33 ships and is styled Höegh Autoliners ASA and is listed on the Oslo stock exchange.

The Hoegh Treasure was sold out of the fleet in 2014 and efficiently renamed with a swipe of paint. It seems to have been operating in the Mediterranean until picking up the Wallenius-Wilhelmsen route in Zeebrugge May 11-13, then the usual ports of Southampton May 13-16 and Bremerhaven May 18-19.

The grey hull with upward slant at the stern was once a familiar sight in Halifax, but Höegh Autoliners no longer call here regularly. 

In the "pre-autoliner" days, Leif Höegh operated a fleet of handsome general cargo ships in a Europe/ North America / Asia and return service. Their light grey hulls were quite unique, and immediately recognizeable.

 Höegh Elite was built in 1964 by Chantier Dunkerque, Bordeaux, and was sold in 1979. It lasted until 1985 under a string of far east owners.

The company made the transition into containers by awkward conversions. Many of its regular ports had no container facilities, and so the ships still carried general cargo, including heavy lifts.

Höegh Clipper  was built in 1979 by Kawasaki, Kobe, was sold in 1997, and lasted until 2009.

Some of their early autocarriers were also conversions, from large passenger cargo ships, such as Royal Mail Lines' 1959 Harland and Wolff built Amazon which became HUAL Akarita. By building garage decks in the holds and on deck, then moving the bridge forward they "suddenly" had an autocarrier.

Mercifully purpose built ships followed soon after.

The Höegh parent company eventually shifted away from general cargo, and into bulk carriers, before concentrating on auto carriers. They now also operate gas tankers.

.

Two for MSC and one each for the rest

 It was a busy day in Halifax today, Saturday, May 28, but rain and fog obscured some of the activity and made in downright unpleasant to be out. 

An early morning arrival was another 15,000TEU class ship, CMA CGM Mexico, from Colombo on Ocean Alliance service run by CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen and OOCL. It was a pre-dawn arrival and a midnight departure, so the only view was a poor shot from the Young Avenue bridge. The ship stretches out of sight, but its bridge structure is framed by the last crane on the right.

Built by Hyundai Samho in 2019, it comes in at 149,314 gt, 157,076 dwt and most sources indicate a capacity of 15,128 TEU.

Despite its size there was still room at the southend terminal (PSA Atlantic Hub) for another ship at Pier 42, and that was the afternoon arival MSC Angela eastbound on the CANEX 2 service from Montreal to Italy and Spain.

The ship dates from 2008 when it was built by Zhejiang (Yangfan) Shipbuilding Co, Ningbo. It is a 41,225 gt, 50,568 dwt vessel with a capacity of 4254 TEU, including 550 reefers. Due to draft restrictions on the St.Lawrence River, the ship is lightly loaded, but it will top up in Halifax before resuming its voyage.

MSC was also present at the other end of the harbour at Fairview Cove where MSC Mandy arrived westbound on the Canex 1 service from Italy (via Malta and Portugal).

It was performing the reverse operation to its fleet mate, that is to say it was off-loading some containers to reduce draft before sailing on to Montreal.

MSC Mandy is a true old-timer, built in 1993 by Bremer Vulkan, Vegesack. It is a ship of 37,701 gt, 46,852 dwt with a modest container capacity of 2650 TEU, including 100 reefers. It sailed as Bremen Senator until 2003, then as SCI Vaibhav until 2004.

When it sailed late this afternoon, there were some large gaps in its deck load, which was no more than four tiers high.

There was also activity at Autoport, but short of a visit to that side of the harbour, the ship was barely visible. Treasure is another "classic" dating from 1999, when it was delivered by Hashihama Zosen, Tadotsu. A 58,684 gt, 21,199 dwt PCTC it is rated at up to 6100 CEU (some sources say 5718). Initially named HUAL Treasure until 2006, it then became Hoegh Treasure and in 2014, took its present name.

Looming through the rain and fog, the ship still betrays it previous ownership by the paint scheme. However it is now owned by Blue Arrow Navigation Ltd of Haifa and managed by ASM Maritime BV of the Netherlands. It is en route from Bremerhaven for Wallenius Wilhelmsen and will sail for US ports .

Arriving from New York and occupying an anchorage, the cement carrier NACC Providence is in port for CFIA invasive species examination. Once it has been determined to be free of LDA moth, it will likely sail for Port Daniel, QC to load for McInnes Cement.

The 12,047 gt, 20,200 swt ship dates from 2006 when construction was completed by Labroy Shipbuilding and Engineering Pte Ltd in Singapore. The ship was laid down at Nahindah Mutiara Shipbuilding at Batam, Indonesia in 2005 and launched a year later, but it is unclear how much work was done there. Labroy completed the project in less than six months.It was named Glory Atlantic until February of this year.

NACC Providence is operated by Nova Algoma Cement Carriers, a joint venture between Algoma Central Corp of St.Catharines, ON and Nova, from Luxembourg. The ship is registered in Panama, and as its name implies will deliver cement to McInnes customers in the US northeast.

Meanwhile, despite the gloom and rain, Halifax Shipyard was in a festive mood for a double naming ceremony. 

The future HMCS Max Bernays, the third Artctic Offshore Patrol Vessel, was dressed all over and various banners and bunting were on display at Pier 6 -7 in the Shipyard. A special marquee tent was also erected to keep dignitaries fresh and dry. A naval trials crew has been busy on the ship starting in January when its captain was named. So far it has been known as AOPS 3, but will now be known as Max Bernays. (The HMCS designation will not be used until it is handed over to the RCN  and commissioned.) I believe the ship will soon be sailing to its west coast base in Esquimalt before it is actually commissioned. Post acceptance trials will be held en route or after arrival in Esquimalt.

Margaret Brooke (AOPS 2), at its Pier in HMC Dockyard was similarly decked out  and will also be named officially. The ship has been in RCN hands since July 2021 and has conducted post-acceptance ice trials and warm weather trials. The badging / naming / trialing and finally commissioning is a long and complex process, particularly with the sophisticated systems in use on naval vessels. I understand the ship will be commissioned in October, on the anniversary of the loss of the Newfoundland ferry Caribou in 1942.

 .