Oceanex Connaigra pinch hits for Oceanex Sanderling

A baseball analogy seems appropriate as spring is here and the baseball season will soon be in full swing.
Spring is also a good time for ship refits after enduring the rigours of winter. Oceanex is taking this opportunity to send two of its ships in turn for refits in Gibraltar. First to go was Oceanex Connaigra. Its place on the St.John's / Montreal run was taken by the chartered Stena Carrier. On its return from the shipyard, Oceanex Connaigra shifted to the Halifax run, arriving here yesterday morning, tying up at pier 36. It shifted to pier 41 this morning.

Linehandlers have singled up the headlines as the ship prepares to leave pier 41 for Autoport.

This afternoon it shifted again, this time to Autport to take on a load of cars for Newfoundland. It will move back to pier 41 this evening and to complete loading containers and RoRo trailers tomorrow.

Showing off its fresh paint, the ship moves through number one anchorage on its way across to Eastern Passage. High winds are picking up some spray and creating a mist.

According to the Oceanex schedule the ship will serve Halifax until mid-May when Oceanex Sanderling is due back from its refit in Gibraltar. Stena Carrier will continue to operate to Montreal until that time, when Oceanex Connaigra will return to its customary route.

Oceanex Connaigra was built in 2013 by Flensburger Shiffbau Gesellschaft in Germany especially for Oceanex to operate on either the Halifax or Montreal runs. The 26,768 grt ship can carry 10,000 1,000! TEU and has 5 RoRo decks with a capacity of 95 trailers or 500 autos. After some initial teething problems that kept it out of service for lengthy periods in late 2013 and early 2014 it settled in to the Montreal run, maintaining close to its 20 knot service speed.

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Long Weekend Roundup

Thanks to an interruption of internet service from March 23 to 28, I was unable to post my usual weekend round up until now. Here are the highlights on a better late than never basis:

The Atlantic RoRo Carriers ship Warnow Star made its first Halifax call on Good Friday March 25, no doubt discharging Its usual cargo of  depleted radioactive material. ARRCC ships usually make only a brief call of a few hours, but this time it remained over night and sailed on Saturday.

After leaving Fairview Cove Warnow Star lines up for the MacKay bridge on a windy morning.

The ship was built in 2010 by Zhejiang Ouhu Shipbuilding Co in Zhoushan, China and carries four 60 tonne cranes. It measures 22,863 grt, 33,150 dwt. It is a sister of Warnow Sun that was in port February 28-29, but for some reason is not listed on the Atlantic RoRo Carriers web site, nor does it appear to be owned by ARRC of Hoboken, NJ, but by Atlantic Ship Manangerment of Odessa, Ukraine.
As I mentioned before the Warnow name comes from Warnowerft yard in Warnemunde were ARCC's Astrakhan class RoRos were built.[see below for more Warnow.]


A rare visit of a bulk carrier took place on Saturday March 26. JS Missouri was on its way to Baie-Comeau and stopped in for bunkers.  The ship will be loading grain in Baie-Comeau and the crew was busy cleaning and airing the holds, so the ship arrived looking a bit like an accordion as the hatch covers were cracked open.

JS Missouri strides in to port with anchor ready to let go, and hatches ajar.

The 35,812 grt, 63,500 dwt bulker came from the Yangzhou Dayang shipyard in Yangzhou, China in 2013. It flies the Singapore flag for Greenship Bulk Manager Pte Ltd of the same port. Sister ship JS Sanaga called in Sheet Harbour March 15.


Also a rare sight these days is an Indian flagged ship. The tanker Swarna Mala is a typical handysize product tanker built by STX in Jinhae, South Korea. It was laid down for Greek owners as Zefiros,  but SCI purchased it "on the stocks" and it was launched and delivered as Swarna Mala.

The ship's typical handysize measurements are 29,993 grt, 51,196 dwt.

It has been a long time since the bicycle wheel funnel mark has been seen in this port.


The Shipping Corporation of India was once a frequent caller in the general cargo ship days, and operated its own cargo liner route under the Scindia label. The ships all had names begining with "Jala".
 

Jalamani was built in 1970 by VEB Warnowerft in Warnemunde, East Germany It carried one 60 ton jumbo derrick and sixteen 10 ton derricks on bi-pod masts. It measured  9556 grt, 13814 dwt and was broken up in Calcutta in October 1986. It is shown at what is now navy pier Bravo, but was then a National Harbours Board pier in the spring of 1971.


Back from mid-life refit at the Davie Quebec yard, CCGS Earl Grey was tied up at BIO on Easter Sunday.

Earl Grey joins Louis St-Laurent at BIO, filling up available pier space.

 

The Canadian Coast Guard is planning a major Search and Rescue exercise off Nova Scotia this week and CCGS Sir Wilfred Grenfell came in from Newfoundland to participate. There was no room at BIO so it tied up at pier 9A.

 Sir Wilfred Grenfell at pier 9A this afternoon.

The Newfoundland based Teleost was also in Halifax recently as was the Cape Roger.

Teleost sailed on Friday March 25.

Arriving Easter Sunday morning, Wilhelmsen's Talia proceeded directly to Autoport. However Autoport is so full of new cars that unloading took much longer than normal as each car had to be driven a much greater distance to a remote storage facility. Demand for cars is so high in Canada (with low interest rates and lengthy payment periods) that it is hard to keep up with demand.

CN which owns and operates Autoport and also provides the rail service to move the cars inland has had some weather challenges this winter, but it is more  the shear volume of imports that is stretching their ability to move the cars out.

Talia dates from 2006 when it was built by Gdynia Shipyard in Poland. Its capacity is listed as 6,658 cars in Lloyd's but 6500 on Wilhelmsen's site. Its gross tonnage is 57,692 and deadweight tonnage is 21,021.

Talia was finally able to sail Tuesday afternoon March 29 - surely a lengthy stay! It will be followed almost immediately by Manon with more of the same.

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Tongala - one of the big ones

Wallenius Wilhelmsen's Tongala is one of the biggest car carriers to call in Halifax. Built in 2012 by Nagasaki Shipyard and Engineering Works, it measures 61,106 grt and 22,585 dwt. Its capacity is 6,459 cars, worked via a 300 tonne stern ramp. The side ramp is not use in Halifax.

Tongala looms over the Autoport pier this morning.

The ship's size is hard to judge without some context.

On arrival May 27, 2014, it dwarfed the tugs Atlantic Willow and Atlantic Oak as the Divecom III passed inbound.

The ship flies the Maltese flag and belongs to the Wilhlemsen Lines part of the Wallenius Wilhelmsen consortium.

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Gypsum Upswing

With the US economy on the rise there is an increased demand for gypsum. It is not exactly a boom time, but there seems to be more product moving out of the National Gypsum facility in Wright's Cove theses days.
The most frequent ship recently has been CSL Metis, which arrived this morning.

CSL Metis swings east around George's Island as the pilot boat Chebucto Pilot comes in west of the island. That is Energy Progress unloading at Imperial Oil.

Arrival time was coordinated to allow the tugs Belle D (towing) and Halifax Tugger (pushing) the McNally crane barge Derrick #4 to clear the Narrows. The barge had been spudded down in Turples Cove near the MacKay bridge, and was moving to the Woodside area. McNally has at least four tugs in port right now, but they were all busy with other work, so they called in RMI Marine to do the shift.

CSL Metis with Atlantic Willow in company, crosses the ferry track heading for the Narrows.

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Meta makes up the slack for ACL

Atlantic Container Line chartered the Meta to take up some extra cargo that was not handled by the usual ships. Winter weather delays may be at the root of it, but ACL is expecting to bring more cargo through Halifax as their new ships come on line, so perhaps this is a sign of those additional bookings.

Meta was first here March 6 on the westbound leg, and tied up this morning as the last stop on the eastbound leg.
Built in 2001 as Meta it was renamed on launch as Maersk Perth. It carried that name until 2006 when it reverted to Meta for owners Stefan Patjens Reederei GmbH of Drokerstern, Germany. The 32,322 grt, 39,128 dwt ship has a capacity of 2732 TUE (including 450 reefers) and was built by Stoc. Szczecinska SA of Poland.

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Weekend Roundup

There was a lot of harbour activity this weekend, so I will compress it chronologically.

Saturday March 12

The Italian tanker Valle Azzurra completed unloading at Imperial Oil and moved out to number one anchorage briefly for bunkers.It arrived March 8.

 
Built in 2007 by SPP Shipbuilding Co Tongyeong, South Korea, measuring 29,987 grt, 50,697 dwt it is  owned by Navigazione Montanari SpA, Fano, Italy.

Meanwhile the tanker Ajax remained at anchor in Bedford Basin. It arrived March 9.

Built in 2005 as Western Baltic by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, South Korea, it flies the Bahamas flag for Tsakos Shipping + Trading SA of Athens and took its present name in 2006.

The handsome Bahri Tabuk made one of its regular appearances. The last two visits by Saudi ships have been to Fairview Cove, forsaking their former berth at pier 31. The new arrangement will make it impossible to see the interesting variety of RoRo cargo they handle (including the recent controversial military vehicles.)

It also worked containers, which were handled more speedily by Cerescorp's cranes than they would be by the single crane at pier 31.

Galaxy Ace was an Autoport visitor. With a 6400 car capacity it is among the largest pure car and truck carriers that call in Halifax.

Built in 2012 by Imabari Zosen in Marugame, Japan, the 59,583 grt, 18,878 dwt ship is owned by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd of Tokyo and flies the Liberian flag.

Onego Batz completed unloading rails at pier 27 and sailed in the evening.

The ship was in port for eight days.See also March 4
It probably lost some time due to last Saturday's heavy snow and Friday's added snow. Only a little of that was left by the time it sailed.

At BIO the research ship Teleost was tied up alongside. The Newfoundland based trawler often calls in Halifax when there is ice in the Gulf.

 
 Nearby the former CCGS Matthew (now renamed 2015-03) is being readied for disposal after a four year layup. A crudely applied coat of red paint over its CCGS markings has already been washed away near the waterline.

Built in 1990 by Versatile Pacific Shipyard in Victoria, BC for hydrographic survey work, it was named for John Cabot's ship (and John Cabot's son) and appropriately did a great deal of its seasonal survey work in Newfoundland. Laid up in 2012 due to budget cuts, the ship was in prime condition at the time.

Originally based in Newfoundland, it was transferred to the Bedford Institute in 1991 when CSS Baffin was decommissioned. Painted red in 1997, it looked immeasurably better in white.

Sunday March 13

An overnight arrival, CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent went to anchor in Bedford Basin.

The icebreaker has been working mostly in the Strait of Belle Isle this winter, which has not been a particularly heavy one for ice in the Gulf of St.Lawrence.  Nominally based in Newfoundland by the last government, lets hope it can be returned to its real home of Halifax where it spends a great deal of time.

With two anchors out, the ship was twisting around into all sorts of strange positions in the gusty wind, while the nearby supplier Jones Tide maintained station by dynamic positioning and barely moved and inch.The laid up trawler Hydra Mariner is in the background in Wright's Cove.

Atlantic Compass sailed this afternoon, making a quick half day visit. I am taking every opportunity to get a shot of the G3 ACL ships as they are on their way out. Atlantic Conveyor is now en route to the scrappers, having made its last call in Halifax March 2. Its replacement, Atlantic Sail, is due later this month.

The escort tug Atlantic Oak is not visible astern of the Atlantic Compass. It has veered out to port to make the turn past the Pier 9A - Pier 9 knuckle.

The Nova Scotia Power Corp generating station at Tuft's Cove can burn natural gas or heavy oil, and was due for some of the latter today aboard the tanker Overseas Jademar. However at some point on its inbound transit it was decided to bypass the power plant and go to anchor in Bedford Basin, more than likely due to the high winds blasting down the Narrows.

With Atlantic Fir forward and Atlantic Willow aft, Overseas Jademar passes the Halifax Shipyard. Soon after, Atlantic Fir peeled off and the ship headed directly to Bedford Basin, bypassing the power plant.

At 4,000 bhp Atlantic Willow does not usually escort ships through the Narrows. That work is left to the 5,000 bhp tugs [see Tugfax]. It also took up an unusual close tethered position hard on the ship's stern.

A product of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co in Okpo, South Korea, the ship was delivered in 2002 as Jademar and was renamed in 2005. Slightly larger than the typical 50,000 dwt handysize product tankers, the crude oil tanker measures 40,343 grt and 69,708 dwt. It is registered in the Marshal Islands for Overseas Shipholding Group of New York.

Next through the Narrows was NYK Constellation bound for Fairview Cove, joining Dalian Express (not pictured).

The 55,534 grt, 65,919 dwt NYK Constellation came out of Hyundai, Ulsan, South Korea in 2007. With a capacity of 4922 TEU (330 reefers) it is considered to be a small container ship on major routes in these days of giants.It flies the Marshal Islands flag for Kobe Shipping Co Ltd.

It was not all work in Halifax harbour today. The first day of Daylight Saving Time saw temperatures rise to plus 7, however the wind was very brisk and very cold. A great day for winter sailing, and the Royal Canadian Navy's STV Tuna took full advantage.

The 36 foot sloop, dating from 1985 is based at the Shearwater Yacht Club in Halifax and offers sail training opportunities to Canadian military and civilian employees. Let's hope this is a sign of an early spring.

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Tenacity 1, Atlantic Pursuit- the hammer will drop again

Two more abandoned vessels will go under the hammer in the coming weeks as the painfully slow process of cleaning up derelicts continues.

First to go was the tug Craig Trans see Tugfax here: sold in Halifax February 17 for a mere $1,000, to a buyer who promised to take it away and dispose of it.

Next to go on the block will be Atlantic Pursuit "as is, where" in Grand Bank, NL. On December 5, 2006 it was struck by a wave which broke the wheelhouse windows and it lost all power. CCGS Cygnus and Arctic Endurance took off the crew of more than 20 and landed them safely. The tug Point Vim towed the derelict into Bay Bulls and eventually back to its home port of Grand Bank. Since the boat was to be retired in 2007 anyway, it was sold for scrap.

Atlantic Pursuit on a rare visit to Halifax - it fished out of Grand Bank. NL

It was built as a North Sea pipe carrier by Jadewerft in Wilhelmshaven for Surf + Cie, Chambon of France as Atlantide. Seaforth Maritime Ltd of Aberdeen, Scotland acquired it in 1982, initially naming it Ashburton Lion, but renaming it Seaforth Prince later that year. Clearwater Seafoods bought it in 1988 and it was delivered to Pictou for conversion to a clam dredger.

Seaforth Prince was a typical pipe carrier with a wide open after deck, seen here shortly after arriving in Pictou, NS for conversion.

That rebuilding was completed in 1988 and it fished out of Grand Bank. At some later date the wheelhouse was widened (as seen in the upper picture).

As a clam dragger it worked its dredge over the stern. The forward structure was largely unchanged, but there was more crew accommodation added and processing equipment added below deck.

The second set of funnels aft seem to have been for auxiliary equipment. 

The first scrap buyer removed useful equipment but resold the boat for conversion to a cargo ship for a planned service between Newfoundland and the Azores. That owner fell ill and resold the boat to Yacht Bilgin Shipyard Europe LDA, which seems to have gone out of business, leaving the boat to pile up wharfage and other costs, forcing a Federal court ordered seizure in November of last year.

Early next month the abandoned trawler Tenacity I will be sold by Federal court order "as is, where is" in Riverport, NS. Built in 1967 it enjoyed a long working career until it was sold for scrap. However that buyer walked away from the boat and left it at the Kraut Point Wharf at the mouth of the La Have River.

Seen at La Have, NS, under Himmelman ownership in 1996, the name was painted out oas if it were to be renamed, however it remained as Tenacity I.

Built in 1967 as Scotia Point by Saint John Dry Dock and Shipbuilding, it was one of four sisters designed by the noted trawler architect Conrad Birkhoff for Superior Sea Foods of Yarmouth, NS as a herring seiner. The company was owned by K.C.Irving and Samuel Bronfman, and intended to build nineteen seiners, but the fishery collapsed and the boats were sold. Scotia Point then went to Scotia Point Fisheries in Wilson's Beach, Campobello Island, NB, and in 1982 to Connors Brothers in Black's Harbour, NB who renamed it Senator Don. Laurence Sweeney Fisheries of Yarmouth bought it in 1986, renamed it Tencity I and converted it to a scallop dragger. David Himmelman of a Have, NS bought it in 1994 and finally Clearwater Fisheries of Halifax acquired it in 1996. After a few years in that service it was laid up and sold for scrap.

Neither boat is expected to fetch enough to cover accumulated claims due to low scrap metal prices, but if they are sold they will at least be removed from their current resting places.

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