New and Renewed

 New

 Another new auto carrier arrived at Autoport today, October 4. This time it is the Lake Qaraqun, the latest in a series of a dozen or more"Eco Friendly" Lake class ships built by China Merchants Heavy Industry in Yizheng, China. 

With several efficiency characteristics, it can also use shore power (where available) and is dual-fuel powered by LNG. The 71,706 gt, 19,166 dwt ship has a capacity of just over 7,000 CEU and was delivered last year to Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS). In addition to the usual stern ramp it is also equipped with a side ramp. After off loading cars at Autoport it is due to move to Pier 9C to discharge some RoRo cargo.

 Lake Qaraqun was formed in 1959 when a reservoir was created by damming the Litani River in the Baqaa Valley of Lebanon.

 

Renewed 1

The cruise ship Carnival Venezia arrived mid-morning at Pier 22.  

The ship carries the unmistakable "ash can" type funnel carried by ships of Costa Crociere (Costa Cruises) of Italy. In 2000 Costa became a subsidiary of Carnival Corp and is still operated under the Costa brand name. The ship was built by Fincantieri, Monfalcone in 2018 and measures 135,225 gt with a capacity of 5260 passengers maximum (4208 double occupancy) with 1278 crew.

Renewed 2

The Icelandic company Eimskip makes weekly calls in Halifax on its Green Line service linking Reykjavik, Argentia, NL, Halifax and Portland, ME. Today's caller was the Pictor a small container ship of 10,965 gt, 12,640 dwt and with a capacity of 925 TEU.

The ship has been a regular caller here and has now changed its name for the third time. When it was built for the German owners Jungerhans in 2009 by Naval Gijon in Spain it was named Pictor J. In 2020 it was renamed Pictor then in 2021 it became the Vivienne Sheri D.  

That new name represented the interests of the Dorenkamp company  from Ontario that had plans to operate a container line from Europe to the Great Lakes. It intended to start up the line when the charter to Eimskip ended. However that project appears to have been cancelled, and the ship reverted to the name Pictor some time in July, and may still be under Jungerhans ownership.

 

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Full House at Pier C

 The PSA Atlantic Gateway container terminal occupies the two numbered berths, Piers 41 and 42 at Pier C. There are seven container cranes, and it is possible to dock two Ultra size container ships at the same time, although not all the cranes can work the larger ships. Today was a more typical situation with one large ship and two small ships.

Left to right as viewed from Shearwater, the Nolhan Ava and Vivienne Sheri D occupied berth 42 and CMA CGM Norma was at 41.

Each of the small ships used one crane.The Canadian flag Nolhan Ava was loading for its weekly run to St-Pierre et Miquelon and Argentia, Newfoundland. It will move to Pier 30 (out of picture) later this afternoon to load RoRo cargo. Vivienne Sheri D, also Canadian owned, is on long term charter to Eimskip and is en route from Portland, ME also to Argentia, then on to Iceland.

The big ship CAM VGM Norma, is not exactly super sized at 9415 TEU, falling slightly below the 10,000 TEU number and is therefore a Post Panamax size. Built in 2006 by Hyundai Samho, it is registered at 107,711 gt, 113,909 dwt.

 

The ship is on the Ocean Alliance service from Asia to North America. It sailed fromPort Klang, Malaysia February 12 and is en route to New York.

CMA CGM stated in January that they would continue to divert ships from the Red Sea / Suez / Med route for the safety of crews and ships. It is unclear whether this ship in fact did travel via the Cape of Good Hope as routes are not normally published for secuity reasons.

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Weather (again)

 Another spell of high winds (accompanied by snow and rain) has delayed some harbour activity today, April 4. The tow out of the fire-damaged MSC Sao Paulo V has been postponed until tomorrow, April 5 when the wind is expected to die down and make towing a dead ship a little more manageable. The MSC Shristi is at Pier 41 taking on some of the containers from the Sao Paulo V destined for Sines, Portugal and beyond. 

Following up on yesterday's observation, since amended, the large crane at the north end of the Pier 41was operating today, so it may only be its ability to raise the boom that is (or was) impaired.

 When the tow does depart, vacating the berth at Pier 42, the Vivienne Sheri D will move alongside. The Canadian owned Eimskip charter anchored on arrival this morning.

In the teeth of a stiff breeze in the Narrows, the NYK Meteor arrived and made its way through to PSA Fairview Cove in Bedford Basin.

The ship is sailing for Ocean Network Express on THE Alliance's AL5 service from Antwerp. The NYK Meteor is another of the familiar Daedalus class built by Hyundai Ulsan - this one in 2007. The 55,534 gt, 65,935 dwt ship has a capacity of as much as 4922 TEU (some sources report 4888) and 330 reefers.

Over at Autoport, the 230 members of Unifor have accepted the latest contract offer and returned to work. Replacement workers were brought in during the five week strike and handled numerous ships. There is now pressure to ban replacement workers. A bill to do so in federally regulated work places was introduced in the Canadian parliament last November. A motion by the opposition to ban replacement workers across the board has been introduced in the Nova Scotia legislature.

Today's arrival at Autoport, the Morning Peace, was due to move to Pier 9C late this afternoon to offload machinery, with another autocarrier the Grande Marocco to take its place and the Morning Cindy is due tomorrow. Press reports state that Autoport handles 185,000 cars per year. (By comparison, the Dundalk termonal in Baltimore - currently blocked due to the bridge collapse, handles more than 850,000 cars per year.)

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Eimskip - changes coming

 On about March 14 Eimskip, the Icelandic shipping company, announced that a Joint Venture with Ernst Russ has acquired an unidentified container ship to be delivered in the second quarter of this year. The 1025 TEU ship will be chartered to Eimskip for up to three years and renamed Bakkafoss. It will be placed on the line's North American Green Line route which runs from Reykjavik to Halifax and Portland Maine (acting as a New England feeder for CMA CGM from Halifax) and return via Halifax and Argentia, NL. 

Due to the added ship's size, Eimskip expects to reduce the number of ships on the Green route from  the current four to three while still maintaining what they call "system capacity" [I'm not sure I understand their arithmetic, nor how they hope to maintain a schedule]. This will mean the redeployment of two ships currently on the route. Almost certainly one of those will be the Canadian owned Vivienne Sheri D - which sailed from Halifax this morning, March 15, after waiting out weather. The gearless 10,965 gt, 12,640 dwt vessel was built by Naval Gijon SA in Spain in 2009. It has a capacity of 925 TEU including 200 reefer plugs. Intially named Pictor J it became Pictor in 2020.

Vivienne Sheri D at anchor March 14.

Of the other ships on the Green route, Lagarfoss 880 TEU and Selfoss 724 TEU are owned ships and will likely remain on the run, while the Skogafoss 698 TEU will likely be reassigned by another branch of  the Eimskip/Russ JV- Feederstar.

When the Picton, ON based Doornekamp Shipping Ltd acquired the Vivienne Sheri D in 2021, it was already chartered by Eimskip as the Pictor and  Doornekamp reportedly stated they would keep the ship with Eimskip for up to two years or so then transfer it to their own Transatlantic shipping operation. That operation, in coordination with Spliethoff, so far has only one ship, the Peyton Lynn C which runs into the Great Lakes seasonally.

So far Eimskip's published schedules are not showing any revision, but the second quarter of 2023 will soon be upon us and we will see how the Bakkafoss is slotted in.

Knowlegeable sources speculate that the Bakkafoss is currently sailing as the Elbsummer, built in 2009 and lengthened in 2014, now rated at 11,550 gt, 14,669 dwt. More on this ship later, if it appears in Halifax. 

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Taking Shelter

 With a major Nor'easter storm on its way from New England to Nova Scotia, several container ships are remaining in the Port of Halifax, rather than risking conditions at sea, particulary in the Gulf of Maine. Container ships are vulnerable to loss of containers in severe storms, so the ships are taking a wise precaution of staying put. 

Also memories are still fresh, despite the passage of thirty years, of the loss of the Gold Bond Conveyor in just such a storm. Sailing out of Halifax for Tampa, FL with a load of gypsum, the ship went down with all thirty-three crew members on March 15, 1993.

The rare scene in Bedford Basin was two MSC ships at anchor.

 The Rockingham railyard was not the only place to see MSC containers.

MSC Rossella arrived from Montreal March 10 and moved out to anchor March 11 (see also Shipfax of March 11.) Headed for Italy and Spain on MSC's Canada Express 2 service, the ship would have to cross the storm's path while crossing the Atlantic.

It was joined at anchor by MSC Brianna which arrived yesterday March 13 from Sines, Portugal on the Canada Express 1 service, en route to Montreal. Rather than cross the storm's track somewhere in the Gulf of St.Lawrence, the ship opted to move out to anchor.  It now appears on tomorrow's (March 15) pilotage assignments to be moving to PSA Fairview Cove, instead of PSA Atlantic Gateway, to complete "decanting" of cargo to meet St.Lawrence draft restriction.

 Anchoring in the lower harbour was Eimskip's Vivienne Sheri D. which also arrived yesterday (March 13) from Iceland en route to Portland, ME. It moved out to anchor yesterday afternoon.(pictured today)

Today's arrival at the PSA Gateway, the Tropical Lissette spent the day at the pier, then in the late afternoon moved out to anchor in the lower harbour. It would not be safe to remain alongside the exposed pier face, due to swells, during a major storm.

It is scheduled to move back to the pier tomorrow to continue loading, before heading south.

 The non-container ship arrival today was the Canadian flag cement carrier NACC Argonaut from Setubal, Portugal.

The 9255 gt, 13,977 dwt sahip was built in 2003 by Kyokuyo Shipyard Corp ii  Chofu, Japan as Arklow Wave. It was acquired in 2016 by NACC Shipping Canada Ltd (the initials stand for Nova Algoma Cement Carriers) and initially renamed NACC Toronto but that was changed to the current name in 2018, presumably to honour the Canadain Football League team the Toronto Argonauts.

The ship sailed from Corner Brook, NL January 11, arriving in Setubal January 22. The mild weather in Portugal allows for painting and other work that would not be possible in Canada at this time of year. (Not to mention the few Canadian ship repair yards). On completion of the work, the ship sailed from Setubal February 19. It has apparently been creeping across the Atlantic at slow speed (perhaps on a southerly route.)

It tied up at Pier 25, I am assuming to await the opening of the St.Lawrence Seaway on March 23. 

The Gold Bond Conveyor's history has been give here before, see: September 14, 2014.

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Back to Normal

 After a brief period of record cold temperatures February 3-4 when the mercury dropped to -25 degrees C (-13 F) in Halifax, there was a quick return to normal, and above, on February 5-6 when the high reached  +5C (41F). Several ships were late in arriving, probably to avoid the high winds and dangerous freezing spray.

Among the February 5 arrivals were two ships coming from the south, where conditions were slightly better. Viviene Sheri D running for Eimskip was en route from the US to Argentia, NL then Iceland and AS Felicia was on ZIM's Florida feeder service. 

Vivienne Sheri D had a dusting of frozen spray on its sides forward.
 

There was no frozen spray visible on AS Felicia.

On February 6 the NYK Deneb and Algoma Integrity arrived from the south, Cartagena and Portsmouth (Newington), NH respectively:

NYK Deneb headed directly for Fairview Cove.

Algoma Integrity also headed for Bedford Basin, but anchored waiting the CSL Kajika which was loading at Gold Bond Gypsum.

On February 6 the container ship MSC Alyssa arrived from Montreal, having travelled through a lot of ice on the St.Lawrence and very rough conditions in the Gulf. By the time it arrived in the afternoon, any sign of frozen spray had disappeared. It will top up cargo to ocean draft before heading back across the Atlantic.

The Siem Cicero Confucius arrived off Halifax February 3 and waited out the cold spell offshore until February 6 to enter port and tie up at Autoport. The ship sailed from Emden and is now headed for Baltimore.

The pilot boat Scotia Pilot accompanies the ship outbound. Rather than standing by at the pilot station in the lingering slop and swell, it remained in the harbour until it was time to set out to disembark the pilot.

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Still More and More Boxes

 The continuous stream of ships at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway continued today with little let up. The COSCO Shipping Himlayas sailed last evening and this morning another similar sized ship arrived. APL Sentosa (built by Hyundai Samho in 2014) is a regular on the joint Ocean Alliance, CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, OOCL service. Although not a record setter for Halifax, its 151,015 gt, 150,936 dwt and 13,892 TEU still rates as among the larger callers. Its first call here was April 10, 2020.

Again all but the very highest of the cranes had very little room over the deck load.

Also at the south end terminal was Oceanex Sanderling which used Pier 42 for containers then moved to Pier 36 for RoRo. The ship normally uses Pier 41 (which has a RoRo ramp, but also has the largest cranes). It usually sails on Fridays for St.John's but is now scheduled to sail  late this evening  (Saturday, October 1).

As soon as Oceanex Sanderling cleared Pier 42, Eimskip's Vivienne Sheri D was inbound from offshore anchorage. That leaves ZIM Yokohama still at outside anchorage waiting its turn.

The Vivienne Sheri D is a gearless 10,965 gt, 12,640 dwt vessel built by Naval Gijon SA in Spain in 2009. It has a capacity of 925 TEU including 200 reefer plugs. Intially named Pictor J it became Pictor in 2020 and has been a regular caller for Eimskip on its Rekjavik, Halifax, Portland, Argentia, Green Line service. 

In 2021 the Canadian company Doornekamp Shipping Ltd of Odessa, ON acquired the ship with the intention of operating it for their own fleet once the Eimskip charter elapses. Doornekamp also owns the Peyton Lynn C which runs on Spliethoff's monthly Cleveland Europe Express (CEE-Way) liner service from Antwerp along with Spliethoff ships.

In the non-commercial port activity CCGS Sir William Alexander moved from BIO to Pier 9C then to the SMRT Atlantic buoy off Herring Cove, before returning to BIO. See previous post from August 22.

The ship still looks fresh from its recent refit.

Also from BIO the visting British research vessel RRS James Cook (see previous post from September 27) moved over to Pier 9C. I expect it will be loading some specialist equipment there - I see a huge winch and spools of wire and a crane setting up on the dock.

I neglected to mention in my last post that this is not the ship's first visit to Halifax. It was also here December 22, 2019.

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More Business for PSA

PSA Halifax's southend terminal, the Atlantic Hub, was busy today, May 2, with two small ships working at Pier 42 and one medium sized ship arriving for Pier 41.

 Tropic Lissette was working at Pier 42 south. Halifax is a terminal port for Tropical Shipping, so it unloads and loads a significant nimber of boxes on each trip.

 With Tropical Lissette at Pier 42 south, and Eimskip's Vivienne Sheri D at Pier 42 north, there was still room at Pier 41. And it was another ship with a female name: MSC Brianna 4168 TEU.
 

 MSC Brianna arrived from Montreal to top up to deep sea draft on MSC's Canada Express 2 service to and from Italy and Spain.

There are press reports that the Mediterrean Shipping Company, MSC, will be bringing another line to Halifax. Although no official announcement has been made, the new Mediterranean Express (MX) will originate in Turkey and Greece, and after calls in Italy, Spain and Sines, Portugal, will stop in Halifax starting May 6, en route to the US. The first ship is reported to be Seamax New Haven, 8084 TEU, which was here in March on the Indus 2 service.

According to the reports I have seen, the new service will employ ships that can use either the Atlantic Hub or Fairview Cove terminal. (In other words, 9,000 TEU or less.)

MSC will also be sending an "extra loader" ship later this week. MSC Manya, 2762 TEU, is due May 5 to pick up empties and redistribute them to "needy" ports. MSC has recently passed Maersk to claim the title of world's largest container line in terms of carrying capacity. 

MSC Santhya 3007 TEU is due tomorrow, May 3, on the Canada Express 1 service en route to Montreal. On this trip the ship is skipping Sines, Portugal and coming directly from Naples, making Halifax a true "express" port, rather than just a convenient place to reduce draft.

I can see MSC rationalizing its services through Halifax in a similar way as back logs now begin to plague US east coast ports too. The added perk is "two terminals - no waiting".

MSC's putty coloured boxes are the most common sights, but they also use red oxide coloured boxes too. I believe they are rentals, like this Florens Container Leasing box marked for MSC. Like other lines it also has reefer boxes that are generally white.

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More Weather, More Boxes

 Thursday's heavy snow vanished over night Saturday / Sunday (December 11-12) as another storm blew through with thunder, lightning, wind and heavy rain. Snow removal is a huge headache for container terminals, and it is a time consuming and costly operation to clear and dispose of the white stuff. However when rain washes it away for you, operations can get back to normal very quickly.

PSA Halifax was wall to wall with three ships alongside Sunday morning December 12. MSCLeigh took the centre berth with Eimskip's Vivienne Sheri D at Pier 41 (right in photo) and ZIM's feeder Taipei Trader at Pier 42 (left in photo).

MSC Leigh arrived from Montreal December 11 to top off  before setting out for Valencia and Barcelona on MSC's Canada Express 2 service.

Built in 2006 by Daewoo Mangala the ship was launched as Buxtime but was delivered as MSC Leigh. It is a 50,963 gt, 63,411 dwt ship with a capacity of 4884 TEU including 560 reefers.

Things were also busy at Fairview Cove, with NYK Constellation arriving in the morning of December 11, and sailing mid-morning today, Sunday December 12.

NYK Constellation outbound with the pilot boat Capt. E.T. Rogers in attendance, bound for Southampton.

NYK Constellation is on THE Alliance's North Europe - North America AL5 service, eastbound. The ship was built by Hyundai Ulsan in 2007 and is a 55,534 gt, 65,919 dwt vessel with a capacity of 4922 TEU including 330 reefers.

As soon as the NYK Constellation was clear of the berth, the Hyundai Faith began to move in. It had arrived late yesterday afternoon, December 11 and spent the night at anchor in Bedford Basin.

The HMM ship (Hyundai Merchant Marine rebranded itself as HMM in 2020) was built by - wait for it - Hyundai, Samho in 2008. The 95,681 gt, 98,967 dwt ship has a capacity of 8562 TEU. It is on THE Alliance's EC5 Asia-North America run and arrived directly from Singapore.

 

All was quiet in the rest of the harbour, but was considerably brightened in the "grey ship" zone, where HMCS Montreal was showing off its new, bright blue, anti-fouling hull paint.

 

The ship is perched on the Syncrolift, an elevator - like platform that was built to lift ships (including submarines) out of the water, using banks of electric motors (the light blue objects), all carefully synchronised as to speed. The facility is being upgraded to increase its capacity for the future drydockings of new frigates (not yet built), but it does not have the capability of lifting the very heavy Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessels. They will have to be drydocked in Newfoundland or Quebec, or on a semi-submersible barge.

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Vivienne Sheri D - and Sackville end of season

 The container ship Vivienne Sheri D arrived today October 8, on the eastbound leg of its regular trip from Iceland to Portland ME, via Argentia and Halifax, and return. This is the second rotation since the ship changed its name (from Pictor and before that Pictor J) and made its first call September 13, 2021

Since that first visit the crew has had time to paint the ship's new name on the bow (it is an awkward place to reach). The name reflects the new Canadian owners, Doornekamp Shipping Ltd, of Odessa, ON. They have purchased the ship but will continue its charter to Eimskip and stay with F+L Schiffahrts, its German managers, while ship sails under Antigua and Barbuda flag. In about two years time when the charter ends they may reassign the ship. In its present arrangement it also operates a New England feeder service for CMA CGM on the Halifax / Portland / Halifax leg. 

Doornekamp has also recently inaugurated a container service called Cleveland Europe Express (known as CEE Way) serving the  Great Lakes from Antwerp in cooperation with the Dutch company Spliethoff using another of their ships, the Peyton Lynn C. Depending on cargo demand the ship may call at intermediate ports, including Doornekamp's Picton Terminal. That service is expected to use Halifax  in the winter when the St.Lawrence Seaway is closed.

On the eve of Canadian Thanksgiving weekend Canada's naval memorial Sackville winds up its summer tourist season and moves (with tug propulsion) from Sackville Landing to HMC Dockyard. It is also an opportunity for a short trip to a position off Point Pleasant Park for a salute to the War Memorial and sometimes a committal of ashes.

Sackville looks quite jaunty as it returns from Point Pleasant. With only the mast of the tug Glenevis showing it is not hard to imagine the vessel as it appeared during World War II service.

After a major hull rebuilding over last winter, Sackville is now assured of many more years of service as a largely static display, open to the public. 

The "pup" tug Listerville provided an escort off the bow, as Glenevis provided power. There was also a RHIB motor boat in company.

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New Name Times Two

 Two ships arrived in Halifax September 13 wearing new names. Both ships have been calling in Halifax for some time under their previous names, so they are familiar to the port.

First to arrive was the Netherlands flag Trinitas arriving from Cuba for Nirint Shipping BV. The ship was a regular in Halifax under the name Hollandia with cargoes of nickel sulfide from Moa, Cuba as back haul cargo on Nirint's Netherlands and Spain to Cuba container and generals service.

Built as Trinitas in 2007, with the hull by Damen Okean, Mykolayiv and completed by Damen Hoogezand, Foxhol, the ship was delivered as Nirint Hollandia. It was renamed Hollandia in 2012, but remained on Nirint service. It started to call in Halifax in 2014.

It is a 8,999 gt, 12,016 dwt vessel with a container capacity of 684 TEU, including 80 reefer plugs on deck. It uses a pair of 80 tonne SWL cranes to handle cargo, which in the case of the nickel concentrates is in bulk bags. It has movable tween decks and ventilated box shaped holds, so is an adaptable multi-purpose vessel capable of carrying bulk cargoes.

The ship was renamed Trinitas again in 2019, but had not called in Halifax under that name until now. Normally a name change while under charter indicates a change of owners, but this ship is still owned by a single ship company called JW Danser + PJ Danser of Delfzijl, Netherlands and managed by Wagenborg. The ship is not shown on future Nirint schedules so may be reassigned soon.

The second renamed ship is now called Vivienne Sheri D. While still carrying the Antigua and Barbuda flag, it has reportedly been sold to the Doornekamp Shipping of Odessa, ON. They have just started a container service from Europe to the Great Lakes and will include a feeder service out of Halifax. Their first ship Peyton Lynn C is currently on the Great Lakes after inaugurating a service with Spliethoff's Cleveland-Europe Express. The ship will also call at Doornekamp's home port of Picton, ON. Its calls here in Halifax will more likely be in the winter when the Seaway is closed to traffic.

Vivienne Sheri D has been so recently renamed that it has no name on the bows yet (too difficult to reach I guess) but only on the stern. A 10,905 gt vessel built in 2009 by Naval Gijon, Spain, it measures 12,640 dwt with a container capacity of 925 TEU including 200 reefers. Classed as a container feeder it has no cargo cranes.

Better known as Pictor J until 2020 and Pictor since earlier this year, it has been working on Eimskip's Green Line from Reykjavik, Argentia, Halifax, Portland, Maine and return since 2019. Eimskip also operates the ship as a New England feeder for such lines as CMA CGM. That may be supplemented by Doornekamp's feeder service.

According to media reports Doornekamp will keep the ship on the Eimskip charter for up to two years, but plan to place it on the Cleveland-Europe Express eventually.

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