ESPS Patino

The Spanish naval replenishment ship ESPS Patino arrived this morning at HMC Dockyard. The ship will assist the Canadian Navy in upcoming TGEX-216 exercises with the USN, since we no longer have any support ships that can put to sea.

There will be 35 Canadian crew on the ship during the 2 month period. They will be training in various aspects of replenishment at sea.


Patino was built in 1995 and carries 9,000 cu.m. of fuel, which can be transferred at sea, in addition to large quantities of stores, equipment and ammunition. It also has hospital facilities and a helicopter landing deck.

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Palmerton unloads gas pipe

 
The heavy lift ship Palmerton unloaded its cargo of gas pipe at Pier 9C and sailed this afternoon. Its twin 450 tonne Liebherr cranes (which can combine for a 900 tonne lift) were not tested with this cargo, but its box shaped single hold was suitable for carrying these 40 foot long components.
Its utilitarian occupation is in contrast to its elegant superstructure, with a projecting lounge - which might be quite exciting in bad weather - and an almost full width wheelhouse with a walk around bridge.

Built in 2009 by Taizhou Kouan Shipbuidling Co in Taizhou, China the 11,474 grt, 10,124 dwt ship is part of the Combi-Lift fleet of Harren+Partner Reederei GmbH of Bremen, Germany. The fleet consists of a variety of ships that include specialist heavy lift, oversize and floating cargoes.
See Harren-partner.de/en
The heavy lift business has its own web site at http://www.combi-lift.net/home.html

Palmerton carries pontoons which can be floated alongside the ship as counterweights while lifting heavy cargoes.They are the gray painted objects stowed aft athwart the funnel.

Trucks started to take the pipe off to the finishing plant in Dartmouth even before the ship sailed. It arrived yesterday following a heavy snow fall, but the pier was cleared off for laying out the pipe and unloading went swiftly.

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CMA CGM - stopped and drifting

The container ship CMA CGM Titus has been stopped off Halifax since midnight.




The ship left port at around 2130 hours and after disembarking its pilot set out on its normal course for New York however at about midnight its speed dropped off from better than 13 knots to .4 knots and the ship began a leisurely drift southward.




With severe weather approaching from the southwest it seems a strange thing to do. It is possible that the ship is carrying out some routine maintenance that would have kept it in port beyond its normal sailing time.


The 96,817 grt, 109,000 dwt ship was built in 2011 and has a container capacity of 8465 TEU, and is on the Columbus Loop service of  CMA CGM in partnership with UASC and CSCL.



For a photo of the ship, see yesterday's Halifax Shipping News

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HMCS Iroquois - what a difference a year makes

It was just over eleven months ago that I took a picture of HMCS Iroquois from the harbour ferry Christopher Stannix. At that time the Tribal class destroyer was alongside at HMC Dockyard, with a shore feed of steam and some members of her crew removing ice from her deck.

Today (as she was last week, when I misidentified her originally) she is boomed off at November Bravo with no signs of life. Not only that her pennant number has been painted over and her aerials and weaponry are gone.

No announcement has been made about her disposal yet, but let's hope that when spring comes she is on her way to Sorel to be preserved.

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Nordana Sky damaged

The cargo ship Nordana Sky was damaged in the Kiel Canal Lock in Brunsbuttel Germany this morning. The ship was entering the lock which was partially occupied by the container ship Vera Rainbow. Nordana Sky was unable to come to a stop in time and "rear-ended" the container ship.


Nordana Sky is still "listed" on the Canadian Registry, and was operated by Transport Desgagnés during 2015 on charter. It may have been reflagged since it returned to Europe, but was due back in Canada again next summer. A frequent caller in Pugwash, NS to load salt it also visited a number of Atlantic Canada and Quebec ports last year.

It had departed from St.Petersburg headed for the Suez Canal when the incident occurred and has now been detained. Damage was reported to both ships, so there will be a trip to a shipyard in the offing.

Nordana Sky was built by the Ferus Smit Shipyard in Leer, Germany in 2015. Soon after delivery in February 2015 as Symphony Sky, and under the Singapore flag, it was chartered  to Nordana, registered in the Netherlands and renamed. It arrived in Quebec City May 15, 2015 and was reflagged to Canada May 20. Its current status as "listed" versus "registered in Canada" is one I have never seen before, but I assume it acknowledges a continuing management by Desgagnés, but a return to the Netherlands flag. 

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MSC Cristiana - something different for MSC

The Medterranean Shipping Comany, better known as MSC, and for more than ten years the number two container shipping company in the world after Maersk, is not well known for its other shippping interests which include tankers and even autocarriers.
Today may have been the first time an MSC auto carrier has called in Halifax.

The ship appears to be fairly freshly painted. There is some black overspray on the white around the bow and along the side.

MSC Cristiana wears the black and white colours and yellow funnel of MSC, but also sports a pair of white stripes. That is really all that distinguishes it from the many other auto carriers that ply the seas. Most autocarriers are built in Japan and Korea, but this one was built by STX Dalian in Wafagdian, China.
(STX is a Korean builder, and at one time fourth largest shipbuilder in the world. It established the yard in Dalian as part of its global expansion. About a year ago the yard was declared bankrupt and liquidated.)

The ship is longer than many autocarriers, giving it greater capacity.

MSC Cristiania, dating from 2011 is owned by MSC and flies the Panama flag.(Most of MSC's container ships are charters.) It measures 59,835 grt, 22,287 dwt, with a car capacity of 6,700.
Its last port was Sagunto, Spain and before that ports in Italy and Turkey, Malaysia and Singapore.

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UASC More Big - for now

The Columbus Loop service operated jointly by CMA CGM, China Shipping (CSCL) and United Arab Shipping (UASC) brought in another of their large ships today. UASC Umm Qasr at 9034 TEU ties sister ship UASC Zamzam , which arrived here 2015-10-17, as the largest container ships to call in Halifax.

The tug Atlantic Larch makes fast at the bow as UASC Umm Qasr looms out of the fog.

This is the first call for the ship on the Columbus Loop service that started in August 2015, but got into full swing in October. Those calls (15 ships) in the fourth quarter of 2015 boosted the Port of Halifax's yearly statistics into positive growth territory compared to last year's fairly dismal numbers.
See http://portofhalifax.ca/cargo/statistics/

The big ship begins its turn to back in to Halterm. The tug Atlantic Oak is on the starboard quarter assisting in the move.

There is much speculation on the future of these joint services as mergers come into play. One of the Columbus Loop partners, CSCL, has been forced to merge with China Ocean Shipping Co (Cosco) by the Chinese government. The two lines participate in competing alliances and it is any body's guess how that will shake out.

With Maersk breathing down everyone's neck, other lines are competing for business, with an oversupply of ships and diminished deamand.

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