Changing Seasons

Now that is autumn-at least officially-the days are shorter, but we are still getting June like weather, with lots of sun and warm temperatures. Occasional fog and rain make it unpleasant for cruise ship visitors, but the old adage goes - if you if don't like the weather just wait an hour.


On Thursday however it was more like eight hours, but the weather changed dramatically from morning to evening.
Veendam  's passengers were treated to a genuine Halifax pea-souper when they arrived for 0900.

By late afternoon however the fog had gone, the skies were beginning to clear and the sun was blazing through at a low angle.


The Halifax side of the harbour was in shade as the bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth returned to her berth.

However the sun was still catching the tanker Hector N as it prepared to get underway after bunkering. The ferry Viola Desmond returning from Woodside was just entering the shadow from the Halifax side.

It was a good time to test a new pocket camera, which explains the low resolution of the photos.

.

Big Day in the Port of Halifax

It was a big day in the port of Halifax in many ways.

For one, it was the presence of no less than five cruise ships, Veendam at pier 20, Carnival Sunshine at pier 22, Insignia at pier 23, Zuiderdam at pier 30-31 and  AIDAdiva and pier 33-34.

The container ship Itea outbound early this morning with the Zuiderdam inbound.

It was also another big day for ZIM as one of its 10,000+ TEU ships arrived. Zim Antwerp was also here in June and was the second ZIM ship of that size to call here.

The 114,044 grt, 116,294 dwt ships came from the Hyundai Samho shipyard in 2009. Its 10,062 TEU capacity just squeezes past the magic 10k threshold to qualify as a large ship. US ports are seeing 14,000 TEU ships already and we may be in line for some too.

While not a large ship by Autoport standards, Siem Cicero is quite new, having been completed as recently as June of this year by the Uljanik shipyard in Pula, Crotia.

The ships comes in at 56,677 grt, 17,416 dwt.

And at Irving Oil in Woodside, a relative rarity, a Maersk tanker.

 Maersk Matsuyama dates from 2008 when Onomichi Zosen in Japan delivered the 26,911 grt, 47,165 dwt handysize tanker. As usual with foreign flag ship (in this case Panama) at Irving Oil, it arrived from the Netherlands with refined product. We should expect European import cargoes at Imperial Oil too after recent events in the southern US.

On top of all this September 13 and 14 are the annual Port Days where the Halifax Port Authority organizes a number of events to highlight the Port. [ A boat trip around the lower harbour on Harbour Queen 1 was one of the vents, and made most of the above photos possible.]

This year the concentration was on Supply Chain Innovation, and various speakers emphasized the importance of cooperation and teamwork to make the shipping process more efficient.  This is also an occasion for the Port to celebrate its achievements and certainly the projected 17% increase in traffic this year is a major one. Last year the Port of Halifax's volume increased by 15% making it the fastest growing container port in Canada, although its total volume is still well behind Vancouver and Montreal.

Although the Port hinted at critical infrastructure changes using all of the harbour, that the  port is on the edge of something big and that it is time to take a big leap, there were no details. Perhaps this is a run up to the revelation of the Port's long term plan - let us hope so - it is indeed time. 

.

Nord Taipei for bunkers and Veendam

The general cargo ship Nord Taipei dropped in for few hours to take bunkers. It was due to sail at 0730 hrs but may have been held up for a short time.
Built in 2011 by Kando Zoshensho in Kawajiri, Japan, measuring 21,483 grt, 33,143 dwt, and judging by its ports of call is likely in the bulk trades. It carries four cranes and grab buckets on deck.

The ship's last port is given as Fairless Hills, PA and it is bound for Baie Comeau, QC in ballast. US Steel's famous Fairless Works, 30 miles upstream from Philadelphia on the Delaware River, is now the home of  the Keystone Industrial Port Complex, where the highly polluted former steel and chemical plant site has been redeveloped for other industries. The huge mill was built to process iron ore from the Orinoco River region of Venezuela and named for Benjamin Franklin Fairless president of US Steel, and once employed 7,000 people.

The ship's departure might have been delayed for a few minutes to allow the arrival of Veendam which came in east and north of George's Island to berth at pier 22, bows south.

Veendam and sister Maasdam have been regular cruise ship callers for many years.

.

It was a quiet week...

As Garrison Keillor used to say every week on the Prairie Home Companion (NPR Radio in the USA)- It was a quiet week in Lake Wobegon.
Halifax harbour somewhat resembled Lake Wobegon this past week. There was the usual traffic of regular callers, but nothing too much to catch the eye. Some different tugs (see Tugfax) but that was about it.
In cases such as this it is time to dip into the shoebox for some older things. I have pretty much played out 1986, so skipping ahead a decade, here are some choice images from 1996.

Northern Progress sails in ballast. 

Among the regular winter and spring callers were the ships of Alcan Aluminum (now Rio-TintoAlcan). These were ice class ships, that ran year round to Port Alfred (now La Baie). They made frequent stops in Halifax for ice advisers and bunkers to and from their loading ports in Jamaica or Brazil.
Northern Progress was purpose and built in 1989 by Nippon Kokan KK in Tsu, along with sister Northern Venture and  measured 21,69 grt, 36,445 dwt. They sailed under the Bermuda flag until January 2002 when both were drydocked and renamed in Halifax upon sale to Fednav. They became Federal Progress and Federal Venture under the Hong Kong flag and continued in the alumina trade, but no longer exclusive to Alcan. They extended their range to Camsar, Guinea.
In March 2013 the pair were sold to Greek owners and renamed Progress and Adventure in Montreal.
They did not last long under those names. In July 2014 Progress arrived in Gadani Beach and was broken up starting July 26. Adventure followed and was broken up starting September 3.

When cruise ships were more often converted passenger liners, they really looked like ships.

IslandBreeze started out life in 1961at the John Brown + Co shipyard in Clydebank as RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Transvaal Castle for the Union-Castle Line. One of the last of world's truly great liners, it operated at 22.5 knots powered by steam turbines delivering 44,000 shp to twin screws. It was also one class, operating more like a hotel, the only (passenger) ship in the fleet that did not have first class accommodation.

It became S.A.Vaal in 1966 under Safmarine ownership, but continued running from Southampton to Durban via Capetown until September 1977 when it was the last of the line to follow that route, sailing from Southampton, returning October 10.  Passenger ships like her were hit by increasing air travel for passengers and mail, but also the loss of cargo to containers. Her 11 1/2 day run to South Africa was no match for a 12 hour plane ride.

Carnival Cruises bought the ship, renamd it Festivale and carried out a reconfiguration at Kawaski HI that nearly doubled passenger capacity from 728 to 1432, by fitting decks in the cargo holds and adding superstructure. Fortunately these did not utterly spoil the ship's handsome profile.

As new ships were brought in Carnival sold it off to Dolphin Cruise Line in 1996. Renamed IslandBreeze [one word, but with a capital B in the middle] it was chartered to Thomson Cruises and called in Halifax twenty times (one more was cancelled due to weather) in 1996 only, including the infamous Titanic cruise. On that occasion scores of Titanic buffs and three actual survivors (one at age 102) observed the recovery of a 10 tonne hunk of hull plate by flotation bagfrom the recently located wreck.

The ship was sold again in 1998, this time to Premier Cruise Line and renamed The Big Red Boat III . After suffering that indignity for two years, Premier went broke and the ship was laid up until 2003. It was finally renamed The Big Boat for the trip to the scrappers, arriving Alang, India July 9, 2003. 

 Nanticoke self-unloads a grain cargo at pier 25. Ships from the lakes usually work all night to discharge.

Built in 1980 by Collingwood Shipyard, the ship was one of  the new breed of Lakers that could also go to sea. It was originally to be called Gleneagles, after a previous CSLer, but became Nanticoke to recognize the port on Lake Erie that was, at the time, a major destination for coal and iron ore. 

The ship often called in Halifax with grain and loaded gypsum for the return trip to the Great Lakes.  As a self-unloader, it discharged directly into a hopper and its cargo was transferred by conveyor to the grain elevator. 

In May 1997  it was one of the three CSLers converted in Dartmouth to carry magnetite for ballasting the Hibernia gravity base off Newfoundland.

In March 209 it was renamed Salarium when it took up a long term charter to carry salt from the les Mines Salines in the Magdalen Islands. It is still doing that work, but is probably soon due for replacement.

 CCGS Parizeau looks quite smart as it sails out on another research trip.

The ship's red paint was barely dry, having been applied in September 1996, covering its previously white hull. The s 1328 grt survey ship was built in 1967 by Burrard Dry Dock in North Vancouver and transferred to the east coast in 1992. It was laid up in 2000 at BIO, renamed 2001-04 and eventually posted for sale.

In late 2003 it was sold, but it was not until 2005 that the new name Destiny Empress was scrawled on its hull. It remained under Canadian registry and sailed for Shelburne and then headed south, only to return after engine trouble near Bermuda. It eventually made its way south again and was resold perhaps more than once. 

On December 22, 2009 it was seized off the Spanish coast carrying a tonne of cocaine and its crew of seven (including one Canadian) were arrested, along with 16 people on shore. The ship was sold for scrap and arrived in Aliaga, Turkey July 19, 2011.

So many ex Canadian government ships have been implicated in drug smuggling, one wonders how the government can justify the paltry returns it gets from surplus sales. Many of the ships were fit only for scrap anyway, so there was really no need to go to all the trouble of selling them.

Halifax Shipyard was busy cranking out coastal defence vessels in 1996. Shawinigan was preparing to launch in November.

The major shipbuilding program by Irving Shipbuilding Inc delivered 12 ships over the span of three years. All were stern launched in the traditional manner, with only one launching ship itself ahead of time!  The MCMDVs continue to serve the RCN, in a variety of roles. HMCS Kingston has just returned from the Caribbean from drug patrol work.

In the background of the photo is HMCS Endeavour AGOR 171. The survey ship was transferred to Halifax in 1995, and was finally decommissioned in 1999 (after being decommissioned for a time in 1998 and 1999). It left Halifax in October 2001, classed as a yacht. It was last seen in Green Cove Springs, Florida in 2002 where a planned luxury yacht conversion had stalled. 

Veendam sails under a glowering sky. The black clouds overhead compliment the ship's black hull. In the background the tanker Irving Eskimo unloads at Irving Oil's Woodside terminal, which after many years of inactivity, has been re-opened in 2016.

Veendam was brand new in 1996, delivered by the Fincanitieri yard in Venice, and is still sailing, although much modified. Two passenger decks were added in the stern during a 2009 refit. It had another refit in 2012, but had serious engine problems in 2014 and was forced to cancel cruises for a three week drydocking.
For several years it was paired with twin sister ship Maasdam as regular Halifax callers. This year Maasdam was replaced by Rotterdam, but Veendam made twenty during the 2016 cruise season, including the inaugural cruise ship call April 30 .

The cable ship Sir Eric Sharp sails on a repair job.

The ship was named for the Chairman and Chief Executive of Cable + Wireless plc from 1980 to 1990, Sir Eric Sharp, later Eric Sharp, Baron of Grimsdyke (b.1916-d.1994). He oversaw the re-privatization of the company which had been nationalized in 1947 and placed under the control of the (British) Post Office. The ship was built in 1989 by Swan Hunter, Wallsend, a company with several Halifax connections, most notably as builder CSS Acadia, the flag ship of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

Cable and Wireless reconfigured itself many times over after 1990, but the ship was acquired in 2005 by IT International Telecom, the Canadian communications operator. Renamed IT Intrepid and placed under Barbados flag, it continues to carry out cable work, primarily in eastern North America, often working from Halifax.

I pictured it in this blog on October 6 when it arrived for a refit at pier 9. With that work nearly done, the ship is due to sail this week to repair a cable break on the St.Lawrence River between Pointe-à-Santerre and Forestville.

Aside from the twin stacks, it is very much in the traditional style of cable ships

.

Veendam - first cruise ship and other business as usual

The 2016 cruise ship season began today with the arrival of the Veendam. Built in 1996 as a Statendam class ship, it was refitted in 2009 with the extension of two decks aft and a "duck tail". Now rated for 1295 passengers (maximum) and 568 crew, it is still one of the smaller cruise ships we will see this year.
 

A pair of hardy kayakers greet the ship as is arrives for the first time this year.

A regular caller since 1996 it will have different fleetmates this year with the reassignment of former sister ship Maasdam. Instead Rotterdam and Zuiderdam will do the honours. In 2014 it had propellor problems and had to cancel three October cruises when it went into drydock for three weeks.

Veendam rounded north of George's Island on its way in to pier 22.

Otherwise it was business as usual in the port: 

The Liberian flag Callisto followed and and anchored for Asian gypsy moth inspection. It is the third ship to arrive for clearance by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. (MSC Cristiana was first March 20, and Cap Lara was the second last Saturday)

Built in 2010 by Yamanishi in Ishinomaki, Japan, the 15,861 grt, 25,981 dwt ship carries three cargo cranes. It is owned by Heinz Corleis of Germany and is bound from Providence, RI for Montreal.

In the afternoon the Canadian tanker Havelstern anchored for bunkers and will remain in port over night.

There was Naval and Coast Guard activity as SAR crews (likely CG college students) exercised with CCGS Sir Wilfred Grenfell outside, on returning to port, it tied up at the old Coast Guard base.

HMCS Charlottetown and HMCS Shawinigan both sailed.

HMCS Charlottetown takes aboard several matelots from a RHIB as it sails. This was the mooring line party that let the ship go when it slipped its berth at HMC Dockyard.

HMCS Shawinigan builds up speed after passing George's Island.

See also Tugfax.

.

Veendam returns

After cutting short its 2014 fall cruise season Veendam arrived this morning, apparently restored to good order.

With a recorded wind speed of 3 knots, Veendam arrived in ideal conditions, its bulbous bow sliding just below the surface.

 
Last September the ship was working on one prop only*  and used tugs to berth in Halifax September 22 and Quebec City September 27. The ship then cancelled its September 28 cruise from Quebec to go to drydock in Philadelphia for repairs. Those repairs took three weeks (cancelling three cruises) and put it beyond the end of the 2014 season for Halifax.
The ship resumed regular service with an October 18 departure from Boston for San Diego.

The ship passed east of George's Island inbound and picked up the morning sun on its port side as it swung around for Pier 22.

Veendam, was built in 1996 by Fincantieri's Venice yard as a sister to Maasdam. In 2009 it had a major refit in Freeport, Bahamas,  that added two decks aft and projecting galleries, and a "duck tail" stern sponson.  Its passenger capacity post-refit is 1295, with 528 crew. The new grt is 57,092, up from 55,451 as built.

*the ship's propulsion system is diesel electric, with two diesel engines and three generators, driving two props. Holland America did not reveal the exact nature of the problem, but it had to be more than a bent prop blade, since that could have been repaired quickly.

.

Cruise News - updated

It is the height of cruise season with some days seeing three or even four ships. It is also the time of year when weather may interfere with schedules but it is not often that mechanical repairs mess up cruise plans.
News is in that Veendam has now cancelled the October 11 cruise, in addition to the September 27 and October 4 cruises out of Quebec City due to propeller problems. The ship will be drydocked in Philadelphia. The ship is passing Halifax southbound as this is being written.  Its October 16 date in Halifax is still shown on the Cruise Halifax website.

Veendam's September 22 tug assisted arrival.

Meanwhile Pearl Mist spent Saturday night in Halifax. It had been intended to sail Saturday morning. Instead it left on Sunday morning.

Morning arrivals are now difficult to photograph due to sun angles and evening departures due to dark. This morning's attempt at Norwegian Gem bore mixed results.

 The tug in the background is returning from pier 31 where it stood by Arcadia for its tight turn into the berth. Legend of the Seas is also arriving this morning.

Update:

Arcadia, one of my favourites, made a splendid late afternoon departure.

Arcadia with Chebucto Pilot alongside. Does the ship have a slight squat to the stern?

Ordered originally by Holland America as a Vista class ship, it was transferred to Cunard during construction, and hence has a Cunard QE2 type mast and Cunard funnel (less the cowling at the base) and the clean appealing lines of a Cunarder. Shortly before launch parent Carnival transferred it to P+O and it took to the water at Fincantieri's Porto Marghera yard June 26, 2004 as Arcadia.

An adult only ship of 83,781 grt, with 11 decks, it carries 1952 passengers in normal configuration, but can max out at 2388, with 950 crew. It is propelled with diesel electric azipods, which makes me wonder why it had a tug in attendance this morning.

It was also closely accompanied by the pilot boat on departure. The ship had to signal for several inattentive sail boats to clear the channel (with 3 very longs and 1 short, double barrel blasts), so perhaps the pilot boat was there to ward them off. It soon shifted to the ship's port side and went out ahead.

For the record, the other ship in today, Legend of the Sea tied up at pier 20.

 Mackerel fishermen on the Tall Ship Quay were paying no attention to Legend of the Seas before it sailed.

.



Veendam cancel

My earlier post noting Veendam using an escort tug on arrival at pier 20 on September 22 was apparently the result of a problem with one of the propellers.

Arriving September 22, with tug assistance.

The ship also used tugs to berth in Quebec City on September 27.

The ship's sailing from Quebec City on Sept 28 was canceled due to the need for immediate repairs to propeller(s) according to one source. Passengers on the seven night Maritimes-New England cruise were refunded and given other incentives for future cruises. So far the scheduled October 4 cruise is still on.

.

Surf's up - cruisers down - UPDATED

High winds and driving rain swept over Halifax last night and early this morning, resulting in power outages on land, and high seas in the harbour approaches.

 

It was great for early morning surfers, but it meant that three cruise ships that were due at the pilot station for 0730, 0745 and 0830 loitered offshore until after 1000. By that time conditions had calmed down considerably, but it meant that two of the ships were not alongside until nearly noon. This would certainly cut into the passengers shore time.

Regatta creeping along past the deepwater piers to make its turn into pier 23.

Veendam came west and northabout George's Island. Interestingly it took the tug Atlantic Oak to assist with the turn. It is rare for cruise ships to take a tug, and in this case it wasn't due to weather since the wind had died down. Perhaps it has a faulty thruster or the small space left for it to squeeze into pier 20 astern of Norwegian Gem which was the first to tie up.

Update:
The scheduled 1630 departure of Norwegian Gem was put back to 1830. There was still a light salty spume in the otherwise cloudless air and surf pounding in on Point Pleasant as she made her way outbound. Thank goodness for stabilizers, because I think there would be quite a swell farther out.

Veendam pushed its departure out to 1730, then opted to stay in port overnight and Regatta also remained in port. Both are due to sail at 0600 tomorrow.

.

Veendam takes the fog away

On its first arrival this season Veendam emerged from the fog, and today on its second arrival it left just as the rain had stopped and the fog was lifting.
The ship is on the return leg of its St.Lawrence River / Eastern Canada cruise (one week each way) and has not always had the best weather for it. Yesterday's stop in Sydney, NS was cancelled due to high winds in the Cabot Strait area. I am not sure what the ship did with the time, but it remained at sea until is put in this morning.
I had a chance to get a better look at the ship's uninspired new stern ducktail and "rumble seat" cabins. They would be the last place I would want to be in high seas.

.

Cruise Season - Silver Whisper first

The answer to yesterday's question about which cruise ship will actually tie up first to start the 2013 cruise season has finally been answered. It looked like Veendam would be it, but a last minute change saw Silver Whisper directed to the pilot station first.

1. Silver Whisper emerges from the early morning fog - taking the prize as first cruise ship of the 2013 season.

The Veendam followed then proceeded east and north of George's Island, allowing Silver Whisper to slip into pier 23.

2. Veendam follows by about a mile to tie up at pier 20.

Comparing today's photo of Veendam with the one posted yesterday, you will see the added "duck tail" at the stern, and more cabins high on the after deck. Not an improvement in appearance!

Cruise Season - race to the start line

The 2013 Cruise Season kicks of Monday May 6 with two ships. Which one will actually tie up first remains to be seen, as both are due at the pilot station at 0730, and to tie up for 0900.

In alphabetical order, Holland America's Veendam starts her season with a cruise from Boston to Quebec City, with waypoints such as Halifax. The Statendam class ship has been a frequent visitor. Its September 20, 2012 visit was under a bit of a cloud with twenty passengers exhibiting the notorious "flu-like symptoms".
Built in 1996 by Fincantieri-Venezia, it was modified in 2009 with additional upper deck cabins and other improvements.It will make about 18 more calls in Halifax before the end of the season.Passenger capacity is listed as 1266 on the Port of Halifax web site, although company information shows a capacity of 1350.

Next is Silver Whisper:

A much smaller, but more luxurious ship, it was built in 2001, also in Italy. The hull was built by the Visenti Shipyard near Trieste, and then fitted out by the T. Mariotti yard in Genoa. Catering to 382 passengers, it will tie up at pier 23. It made a visit to Halifax on its first cruise in July 2001, and has been a regular ever since. On this trip it is sailing from New York en route to Southampton, UK and a summer's cruising in Denmark and Sweden. It will return again in October for a couple more visits.

Veendam - flu like ship bound for Halifax

Press reports indicate that the Holland America ship Veendam arrived in Sydney, NS this morning with 2,000 passengers. Among them were twenty exhibiting the proverbial "flu-like symptoms." The sick passengers were reportedly confined to their cabins.
The ship is due in Halifax tomorrow, September 20, which may result a repeat of the last similar incident. when contagious passengers and crew were unleashed on Halifax infecting many on shore. These nasty gastro-intestinal ailments are common on cruise ships due to improper sanitation and  are entirely preventable.
Perhaps the whole ship should be quarantined and forced to sanitize itself and sent off to some other port-preferably in another country.