Grimaldi calling

Grimaldi ships are becoming common sights in Halifax these days. The Grimaldi organization owns Atlantic Container Line, which makes twice weekly calls, and their large fourth generation ConRos all wear the blue Grimaldi funnel with the script "G".

Grimaldi also operates a large fleet of autocarriers, some of which now call in Halifax regularly.

Last week the Grande Torino made its first call here, arriving and sailing July 4.

Built in 2018 by Yangfan Group in Zhoushan, China, it is a 65,255 gt, 15,853 dwt vessel with a capacity of 6700 CEUs.

Today two Grimaldi ships passed in the lower harbour, one inbound and one outbound.

ACL's Atlantic Sun was inbound on the eastbound leg of its regular run. It held off just east of George's Island to allow the other ship to clear the Narrows. That ship was the first time caller Grande Sierra Leone.

Also a ConRo, but not less than half the size, it was built in 2011 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan and measures 47,659 gt, 25,665 dwt. It is also equipped with cargo cranes. The ship has been called in to assist ACL during the prolonged drydocking of Atlantic Sail in Hamburg. Some that ship's capacity has been taken up by conventional container ships, but the RoRo capacity is still needed.

ConRos (container and RoRo) are rare commodities as owners concentrate on cellular container ships or Pure Car and Truck Carriers.  Combining both capabilities in one ship is costly, but Grimladi has found the markets and has more of the type on order.

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Sing a little Industrial Song for me

The much traveled Industrial Song made its arrival in Halifax this evening. The ship was in the St.Lawrence Seaway upbound on June 20 and reached Duluth, MN where it unloaded wind turbine components June 26 to 28. When it sailed from there it gave Halifax as its destination.

On arrival today both CCGS Sir William Alexander and CCGS Edward Cornwallis were outbound, so Industrial Song took the western channel, giving the two CCG ships lots of room in the main channel.

However with the number of pleasure boats present it was not completely clear sailing. The ship had to sound it signal on two occasions - once five times and once twice, to alert small craft to move away.

The heavy lift ship, built in 2017 by Huanghai Shipbuilding Co in Rongcheng, China, carries a pair of 250 tonne capacity cranes that can work together for a 500 tonne lift. The ship, operated by Jungerhans Heavy Lift, under the Intermarine banner, measures 11,619gt, 12,337 dwt.

The reason for its arrival in Halifax is still unclear. It tied up at pier 27, but there were no fuel trucks waiting for it, so it may have some below deck cargo to offload.

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Safe demolition

The issue of ship scrapping has raised its ugly head again with the arrival off  destination of Alang India of the former CN Marine / Marine Atlantic ferry Sir Robert Bond. The likely presence of contaminants may be the reason that the ship was towed is under tow to India instead of the much closer scrapyards in Turkey. With the assistance of some shipowners, notably Maersk, several Indian scrapyards have improved their practises to meet an international standard. However there are still many yards in Alang that have no responsible programs for handling contaminants and for the safety of workers.
[the ships is still off South Africa and has not yet passed the Cape of Good Hope]

Most Canadian ships going overseas for scrap recently (and there have been two so far this year) have been going to Turkey where the breakers are equipped to handle the safe removal of hazardous materials and have a much better record for worker safety.

A ship of the age of the Sir Robert Bond can be expected to contain such materials as asbestos, lead paint and PCBs, and as such there are restrictions on exporting hazardous materials from Canada. However these rules are often thwarted by means of sales through third parties. The new buyers re-register the ships under a flag of convenience and appear to be prepared to re-use the ship, but it ends up in the scrapyard instead.


The complicated trail of ownership of the Sir Robert Bond (renamed Bond) for the tow to India, on the surface certainly appears to follow that method. When the ship left Canada in tow of the tug Nove it was reported to be heading to a shipyard to complete a refit that was suspended when the shipyard in Newfoundland went bankrupt. However some people familiar with the ship stated that it was beyond repair. The main engine had been dismantled and could not be rebuilt to meet current emission standards without significant upgrades.

This is the second ship that was to have been rebuilt to carry peat moss to the United States. In both cases work to refit the ships was suspended and both were scrapped. In the first case the Canadian government had to step in and secure the ship. In this case the ship was apparently cleared to sail without any over sight.

The question now is whether the owners of the Bond had proper clearances in place to export the ship, and if not whether there is any action the government can take. Recent instances of hazardous wastes exported to the Philippines and Malaysia under the guise of recyclables, and mislabeled meat products indicates there is a lack of export control in Canada. This has left the country open to repercussions and tarnished our reputation abroad (unless it is for naiveté).

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CMA CGM Norma - new to Halifax

Another change in the CMA CGM ship rotation on the Columbus service saw CMA CGM Norma arrive mid-morning. 

With a blazing sun high behind the ship it was still possible to see the three tugs used to get it in at pier 41. The Maersk Penang was at pier 42, leaving as much room as possible for the bigger ship.

CMA CGM Norma is a 107,711 gt, 113,909 dwt ship rated for 9,415 TEU including 700 reefers. It is a product of the Hyundai Samho shipyard, delivered in 2006.

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USS Billings

This year July 4 celebrations in Washington, DC, featured an exhibit of US military might reminiscent of the many Kremlin displays of yore.

In a much lower key, the US showed the flag in Halifax today, with the arrival of USS Billings * LCS-15 the latest in a series of Littoral Combat Ships. On its delivery from the Marinettte Marine shipyard in Wisconsin, the ship is the eighth in a series of sixteen to be built at the yard. Another series of a different design, carrying even numbers is under construction in Mobile, AB to be based in San Diego.

Although not commissioned yet, the ship carries a naval crew, and likely some civilian technicians, on what is in effect a shakedown voyage en route to its home port of Mayport, FL.

Festooned with rubber fenders the ship transited the St.Lawrence Seaway June 17 escorted, and sometimes towed, by the tug Ocean Echo II and tied up in Montreal for a courtesy visit. In getting away from the berth June 21 the ship came in contact with the cargo ship Rosaire A. Desgagnés that was tied up ahead. It is apparent that wind and the strong Ste-Marie current swept the Billlings into the stationery ship.

Damage was apparently superficial to both ships, but Billings returned to a berth and on June 27 the ship's commander was removed due to "loss of confidence in his ability to command." This is almost certainly a career-ender for the officer.

After a complete damage assessment the ship left Montreal July 1 and sailed directly for Halifax.

There have been several incidents involving these ships on their delivery trips, including the LCS-9 Little Rock that was forced to winter over in Montreal when ice formed in the St.Lawrence.

All eight of the Marinette built ships have called in Halifax on their delivery trips.

The LCS program has been highly controversial, as have most new naval vessel contracts.
Wikipedia offers this summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littoral_combat_ship

For more on Billings specifically see:
https://ussbillingslcs15.org/the-ship/


*ADDENDUM -thanks to commentator-see below - it is not USS yet!

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After the Holiday

It was quiet in the harbour for the July1 holiday, but things picked up a bit today.

Irving Oil welcomed the tanker Elka Hercules from Amsterdam. This is the ship's second call in Halifax. It was here January 29 to February 1, also from Amsterdam, with a cargo of refined product. Its visit will be a short one as it has to vacate the berth tomorrow for the arrival of Irving's Acadian.

Elka Hercules unloads at Irving Oil, Woodside as the tug Spitfire III heads to Autoport.

A 2002 product of Brodosplit shipyard in Croatia it is a 27,539gt, 44,481 dwt MidRange tanker. It is part of the European Product Carriers Ltd fleet from Athens, and one of about twenty ships with the "Elka" prefix, several of which have called here recently.

The autocarrier Hoegh London made a brief call at Autoport this morning. This is the ship's first visit to Halifax according to my records. It is on an eastbound routing, so may have loaded export cargo.

Hoegh London has a side ramp positioned well aft. Most autocarriers have them nearer midships.

The pilot boarding door is just forward of the ramp.

Built by Daewoo, Okpo in 2008 it carried the name Alliance Charleston from 2010 to 2013 and flew the US flag as a non-Jones Act vessel. As a ship not built in the US, it was not permitted to trade between US ports, but was eligible for certain preferences in foreign trade, such as US government cargo.
The 68,871 gt, 27,100 dwt ship has a capacity of 7850 CEU.

It was an unusual mid-day arrival for Oceanex Sanderling returning from St.John's. The ship sailed from Halifax on Friday as usual but must have done a quick Sunday turnaround in St.John's to avoid the holiday.

The ship is carrying a large number of Oceanex (blue) 53 foot containers. These are among the few "sea going" 53 footers, as most container ships can't accommodate them in their cellular holds. Therefore most 53 foot containers are not built to IMO sea-going standards, and are restricted to intermodal or RoRo traffic.

Queen Mary 2 made a return call today. With Celebrity Summit overnighting at pier 20, the big ship berthed at pier 22, and had to extend lines across the camber to pier 26 in order to be properly secured.

It is not only container ships that are getting bigger! The port has to accommodate some large cruise ships too, and with three in port today, Insignia had to take the back seat - at pier 27 - in amongst a lot of unsightly commercial port activity. If I were a tourist I would not be impressed.

Queen Mary 2 made its stately way out of Halifax this evening nicely catching the sun on its way to the pilot station. 

To make room for tour boats at the Tall Ships Quay, the yacht Sycara V shifted north to the Salter pier, and appeared to be undergoing some maintenance. There may have been divers working at the bow. Note the hatch doors open at the forepeak.

Into the doldrums

June in Halifax can be foggy and wet or mild and sunny. This year it was the former. Coupled with the usual summer dearth of interesting shipping, the port resembles the doldrums.

That intertropical convergence zone usually found between 5 degrees north and 5 degrees south latitude has been the subject of legend, not to mention Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner where:
Day after day, day after day
We stuck, nor breath nor motion
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Nothing so picturesque is happening in Halifax, with the ordinary arrivals and departures of scheduled ships, the intermittent visit of a typical MidRange tanker, punctuated by random cruise ships, it really is the slow season.

One tanker called in at Imperial Oil this week, Platytera arrived June 28 from Amsterdam and sailed again today for the same port.

Built in 2009 by Onomichi Zosen in Japan, the 26,900 gt, 47,401 dwt vessel flies the Maltese flag for the perfectly anonymous Dax Shipping. That anonymity extends to the orangey hull and featureless funnel of the same colour. The only giveaway is the obviously Greek name:
https://orthodoxwiki.org/Panagia_Platytera
The ship's technical managers, Executive Ship Management, are slightly better known, but are based in Singapore:
http://www.executiveship.com/

Getting away today with the assistance of Atlantic Fir and Atlantic Oak , Platytera signaled a warning blast to a passing sailboat - which was largely ignored. In the background Citadel Hill was in Full Dress for Canada Day.

It turned into a damp experience for passengers from Celebrity Summit despite all the events planned to mark Canada's 152nd birthday. The superyacht Sycara V moored nearby was the subject a previous post.

Also flying the Maltese flag, Celebrity Summit emerged from Chantiers de l'Atlantique in St-Nazaire in 2001 as Summit. The 90,940 gt ship is powered by gas turbines, (a supposedly more environmentally friendly option than diesels) driving electric azipods. The ship was renamed in 2008 and has had several makeovers, the most recent earlier this year. That refit included re-doing all the cabins and adding 30 more to give a capacity of 2,218 in double occupancy. The crew numbers 999.

The lack of excitement in Halifax harbour has meant that Shipfax has been unusually quiet of late. That may continue for a time!

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