Part 2 of September 30, 2025

 As per Part 1 of today's posts, it was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada and many businesses, government facilities and schools were closed. It was also a rare day with no container ships in port. Private terminals (which is to say those not under the umbrella of the Port of Halifax) were working however and that included those leased by the Port to private operators. 

To clarify that arrangement, Richmond Terminal in the north end of the port, incorporating Pier 9B and Pier 9C, is operated by Logistec Stevedoring, and it had an early afternoon arrival, the general purpose / heavy lift ship BBC Everest. 

The ship was built in 2011 by Xingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry in Tianjin, and is a 8235 gt, 9282 dwt ship with a pair of 350 tonne SWL cranes which can combine for a 700 tonne lift.

In order to make those heavy lifts, the ship carries external ballast  pontoons that can be lowered overside and filled with water to counter balance heeling. The "boxes" are stowed on deck, and have their own small cranes to deploy them. A port in the ship's side contains the rigid connection point which secures the boxes

By early evening, just at sunset, the ship had already unloaded one aircraft component package and was lifting off another.
 

The components are not particularly heavy, but due to their size, they need two cranes to ensure they remain balanced. The units are placed directly on extended trailers operated by Total Transport and Rigging.

Another privately operated facility, not within the Port's limits is the Gold Bond Gypsum (formerly National Gypsum) dock in Wright's Cove, Lower Burnside, on the eastern side of Bedford Basin.  It loads out raw gypsum from the Milford mine, which is brought to the site by dedicated unit train and stockpiled. Today's arrival is one of several regular callers, CSL Tacoma, a Trillium class 43,694 gt,71,405 dwt self-unloader built in 2013 by Chengxi Shipyard in Tianjin, China.

 

Accompanied by the tug Atlantic Willow the ship is about to clear the A. Murray MacKay bridge en route to Bedford Basin.

At the other end of the harbour and technically outside of the Port of Halifax's limits are several other privately operated facilities. Adjacent to each other in Eastern Passage are Autoport, operated by Canadian National Railways, (CNRail) and McAsphalt Industries private dock.

At Autoport today, it was the autocarrier Glovis Sunrise and at McAsphalt the new tanker McAsphalt Advantage (see September 11 post)- the latter partly blocking the view of the former.

 

Both facilities use jetties and have mooring lines set out to anchored buoys. This requires the use of line boats, provided by Dominion Diving. Usually these are small tugs or workboats, but today it must have been the smallest tug in the fleet that lead out a stern line from the tanker. 

 

 

The Glovis Sunrise is a first time caller according to my records. Built in 2024 by Hyundai Samho, it is a Pure Car and Truck Carrier of 64,717 gt, 20.056 dwt with a capacity of about 7300 CEU.

 It is not clear what route the ship may be on as most references indicate it arrived from Brunswick, GA and is heading for Davisville, RI.

Not tying up at any dock, but instead anchoring in the lower harbour is the heavy load carrier White Marlin.

 

The ship was in Halifax in October and December of 2024 with a topsides structure for the Vineyard Wind project in the United States. I understand that it was taking up too much space in the harbour and so moved to Sydney, NS where it spent last winter and finally sailed August 3. It must have delivered its load, and then anchored off Saint John, NB for the past month. It may be here awaiting orders, or simply waiting out Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda, both making for Bermuda 

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Sub sandwich

 Today's photo "catch of the day" was the container ship NYK Meteor, but the picture was sandwiched between two semi-submersibles.

The semi-submersible Forte arrived mid-morning from Rotterdam and went directly to anchor deep in Bedford Basin.

A heavy load carrier, built in 2012 by Guangzhou International, it is measured at 36,653 gt and 48,312 dwt. It is semi-submersible to a draft of 26 meters, allowing it to float on and float off large cargoes.

The ship is a fleet mate, but smaller version, of the White Marlin which arrived in Halifax October 25 carrying a topside structure for Vineyard Wind. It sailed November 3 for Sydney, NS arriving there November 7 (and it is still there.)

 White Marlin in Halifax, October 25.

The ships were once at the centre of a major legal proceeding. In 2012 the company Fairstar Heavy Transport had taken delivery of two new semi-submersible heavy load carriers, Fjord and Fjell, with options for two more of the same class on order: Forte, Finesse. Another company, Dockwise, commenced a hostile takeover but some managers of Fairstar had ordered a fifth ship, to be called Fathom, "off book" (that is without financing in place and without the knowledge of the corporate Board of Directors and thus of Dockwise) as a poison pill to saddle Dockwise with more debt. Dockwise upgraded the order for the 'Fathom' and it was completed as the White Marlin. Dockwise took legal action against the four Fairstar managers. (They had also made adjustments in their compensation without the knowledge of the Board of Directors.) In 2013 Royal Bos Kalis Westminster took over Dockwise and continued the legal action. Eventually, in 2019, the Fairstar directors were found jointly and severally responsible and ordered to pay compensation. In 2011 the "Fathom" was valued at $110 million.

The container ship referred to above, the NYK Mercury, is another of the Daedalus class that are regular callers on THE Alliance's AL5 route from North Europe. Built by Hyundai Ulsan 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. 

 The ship kept its escort tug Atlantic Cedar as it made its way through the Narrows outbound for Port Everglades, FL.

The other "semi" in the sandwich was the Boabarge 37. Fresh from its transfer of AOPV 435 to Bedford Basin and its float off. (see previous post, December 9).

The barge left Halifax this afternoon for Sydney, NS in tow of the Atlantic Fir. All the AOPV's cradles and other gear have been removed, and the barge is sailing light.

 The barge was built in 2015 by Nanjing Wujiazu and comes in at 15,185 gt, 29,500 dwt, and is capable of taking a load of 30,000 tons. It is on long term charter to Irving Shipbuilding Inc, but still retains Norwegian registry. Each time it is to be used ISI applies for a coasting license. It has been used to transfer ships components, such as bow and signal mast, from Woodside to the Halifax Shipyard, and has been used as a launch platform for all six Arctic and Offshore Partrol Vessels. 

So far no application has been made to use the barge elsewhere in Canada, but since it is heading for Sydney, I expect it will have something to do with Vineyard Wind. Sydney is the staging area for the construction of that project. (The same may apply to the Forte also).

Footnote:

Another semi-submersible heavy cargo carrier is arriving tomorrow, December 16. There will be more about the Triumph when it hoves into view.

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