Quiet Saturday

Things were quiet in Halifax today-see Tugfax to see what I did instead.

The small general cargo ship Vera made a morning visit for Asian Gypsy Moth inspection en route Charleston, US to Sorel, QC.

In glass calm conditions, Vera's anchor cable is straight up and down.  Anchored northeast of George's Island, that is Chebucto Head in the background - the entrance to Halifax Harbour.

The ship was built by the Dongang Shipbuilding Group Co in Yueqing, China in 2011. It measures 7138 grt, 7930 dwt and carried the name Vera under Antiguan flag for owners Vera GmbH+Co KG. In 2013 it was renamed Industrial Karoline for a charter, but reverted to its original and present name in 2016. This time however it was registered under the Portuguese offshore registry in Madeira.
Vera carries a pair of 80 tonne cranes and is a multi-purpose ships that can carry bulk, breakbulk or containers (444 TEU capacity) and operates for the four ship Concord Shipping GmbH+Co KG of Jork, Germany.

Friday inaction

There was lots of action in Halifax harbour today - unfortunately I was somewhere else when most of it was happening, so almost all the photos were of static ships.

The autocarrier Manon finally got out of port after a lengthy stay. It arrived  Tuesday at pier 31, but when it completed unloading machinery, it remained there until late Thursday while Columbia Highway and Oceanex Sanderling did their work at Autoport.

Offshore fog swirls outside Eastern Passage while Manon completes unloading at Autport..

Manon sailed late this afternoon.

Back in service:

 Chebucto Pilot getting underway looking very smart after its refit. It is heading out with pilots for the inbound Budapest Bridge and will disembark the pilot from the outbound UACC Manama.

The Atlantic Pilotage Authority will soon be welcoming two more pilot boats. Under the current names of SC Lynx and SC Cheetah they are water jet propelled boats with 20 knot plus cruising speed, they were built in 2011 and 2012 respectively, and have been working in Europe.


In for CFIA inspection:

 Just getting underway after inspection UACC Manama exhibits no less than 27 manifold connections, signified by the dots between the "A" and the "C". This means that the ship can carry a wide array of chemicals at the same time. Note also the array of piping on deck compared to typical product carriers.

The chemical tanker UACC Manama bound for Quebec, stopped off for Asian Gypsy Moth inspection. A 2010 product of the SLS Shipbuilding Co in Tongyeong, South Korea, the 29,124 grt, 45,612 dwt ship was built as Bunga Balsam for MISC Bhd but was acquired by United Arab Chemical Carriers and renamed in 2014.

Short end of the pier:
K-Line's Budapest Bridge got the short end of the Fairview Cove container pier on its arrival on THE Alliance AL6 service.

The 4526 TEU ship is one of 5 on the Med/Transatlantic service, and is relatively small and lightly loaded, so can be served by the smaller cranes at the east end of the pier.

Long end of the pier:

Yang Ming's 6258 TEU  YM Movement occupied the west end  of the pier and used the bigger cranes.

The ship, an "old" post-Panamax is the leading edge of the wave as the new Panama Canal permits much larger ships to reach the North American east coast from the Pacific.
Although Cerescorp, operators of the pier, have not announced any future plans, they need to step up to the plate with bigger cranes and a longer pier if they are to stay ahead of this development. Most of the 6,000 TEU ships can make it under Halifax's bridges, so should be able to use the piers for some time to come.
I expect some announcement soon as the primary Japanese container lines consolidate, and Cerescorp's owners K-Line may have access to more capital.

Meanwhile back at the downtown waterfront the three herring seiners that have been in and out of Halifax for the past week, sailed again this afternoon.

Lady Janice II foreground and Lady Melissa back, sailed soon after, following Morning Star which had already sailed.

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Memorial Day Visitor

Monday May 29 was Memorial Day in the United States. As usual there was a United States military presence in Halifax, to  commemorate U.S. war dead. This year it was a color guard from a United States Navy submarine that did the honors.

All US subs are nuclear powered, and restricted to the Shearwater jetty in Eastern Passage (known to the RCN as November Alpha). The sub sailed this morning.

There are several sites in Halifax where US service persons are buried, including Deadman's Island in the Northwest Arm and Holy Cross Cemetery.

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What's in a name

As a self- proclaimed connoisseur of ship's names, I do like to see a ship that shows some originality in its name. Today I managed a bit of a double header.

First was the bulk carrier Desert Serenity, arriving fully laden from Baie Comeau. The ship tied up at pier 31 and was met by at least one fuel truck. It also appears to have taken on a couple of containers on deck (most unusual for a bulk carrier).

Built in 2008 by Kouan Shipbuilding Co in Taizhou, China, it was launched as Serenade. However it was renamed on delivery with the pleasantly evocative name Desert Serenity. The 31,091 grt, 53,280 dwt bulker is fitted with four cranes and is operated by The Greek owned, Marshal Islands based Atlantic Bulk Carriers Management Ltd. Their fleet has several ships with the "Desert" prefix.

While arriving it passed a lobster boat, tending traps (the season closes in the Halifax area May 31.) Named Hurtin' Unit it was built in 2008 by Wedgeport Fibreglass Ltd. It is 12m long and 27.44 grt with a 200 bhp engine.

While difficult to see in a distant photo, Desert Serenity's hatches are tarped over. However the tarps did not appear to be in great condition, so perhaps that may have something to do with why it called in Halifax. It's destination is listed as Lagos, Nigeria.

Harbour Spot Check

With intermittent fog and drizzle, there were a few opportunities for spot checks on the harbour over the weekend.

At Irving Woodside the Vroon tanker Iver Exact arrived Friday and sailed later the same day.

The Dutch company Vroon, active in tankers and the offshore, distinguish their ships with a large letter "V" near the bow.

Built by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan in 2007 the 29,456 grt, 46,858 dwt product tanker is a slightly larger version of Irving Oil's chartered fleet, which are also owned by Vroon (known now as Iver Ships BV) and under long term charter.

On Saturday CMA CGM brought in another of its split superstructure ships, APL Danube. The ship was built as CMA CGM Danube in 2014 by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co and at 95,263 grt, 112,560 dwt, it has a capacity of 9,365 TEU (including 1458 reefers).

 Monopolizing number one anchorage for a few hours, APL Danube had to undergo Asian Gypsy Moth inspection before tying up at pier 41. The ship's last port of call before Halifax was Colombo, Sri Lanka.

In 2016 the ship was renamed NileDutch Orca for service with the family owned NileDutch, which as the name suggests operates between Europe and Africa, although its concentration is more on West Africa than it once was. It also serves North America and Asia. Earlier this year, the sip was reassigned to the Columbus JAX service and was renamed APL Danube. APL (American President Lines) is owned by CMA CGM through APL's parent company Neptune Orient Lines, acquired by CMA CGM in 2016. NOL and APL will retain their identity to a degree for a time.


Also new this weekend was NYK Terra, filling a slot on THE Alliance's service.  Built in 2008 by Hyundai Heavy Industry, Ulsan it is a 76,928 grt, 80,282 dwt ship.

The tug Spitfire III has a line up on the port bow and Atlantic Oak (not visible)  is on the stern as NYK Terra passes under the A. Murray MacKay bridge outbound.

With a capacity of 6661 TEU (including 460 reefers) it is about equal in size to the OOCL ships that used to call on the G6 service, which THE Alliance has supplanted.

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Atlantic Sky

The long awaited fourth ship in the ACL fourth generation (G4) series made its first call in Halifax today. Under typically gloomy May skies, Atlantic Sky was in and out of port in less than 12 hours, working both containers and RoRo cargo.
Driving rain deterred this photographer from catching her arrival, but things had improved somewhat for the departure.

Atlantic Sky is clear of Fairview Cove and is lining up for the Narrows with assistance of the tug Spitfire III.

Built by Hudong-Zhonghua in Shangai the 100,430 grt, 55,828 dwt ship made an impressive sight as it glided out through the Narrows.

Despite the gloom and mist, the ship's white paint was almost glowing. 

Note the unusual rubbing strakes on the ship's side. These are protection when using the Gladstone lock in Liverpool to reach the Seaforth Dock. The ship is 37.6m wide and the lock is 40m, so some scraping is likely to occur!

This ship, and the fifth member of the series were due to be delivered before the end of 2016. However both ships were held in the shipyard - possibly to deal with issues experienced by the first three ships of the group. Atlantic Sky conducted sea trails in July 2016, but it was not until March 22 of this year that owners Atlantic Container AB (part of the Grimaldi Group) accepted delivery.

The fifth and last ship Atlantic Sun conducted sea trials in November, but has not been delivered yet, and as a result the two veteran third Generation (G3) ships Atlantic Cartier and Atlantic Conveyor are carrying on into this summer. The first G4 ships are apparently still experiencing issues, and early drydockings for them may extend the lives of the G3s into the fall.

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Long Weekend - Assignment 2

What could have been a serious incident was averted today more by luck than good planning.

The cruise ship Maasdam arrived this morning and tied up at pier 22 on one its regular visits.

Maasdam gliding in to port this morning.

 

Soon after tying up it was joined by the tug Gulf Spray with its scow and motorboat, used to remove garbage and recyclables. The barge tied up on the waterside of the ship and the transfer got underway. Normally the barge (or sometimes more than one barge) remain beside the ship all day, along with the motorboat. The tug usually does not remain.

Gulf Spray sets out from the old Coast Guard base in Dartmouth to pier 22 to remove refuse from the Maasdam. The motorboat and barge remain alongside for most of the day.

Late in the afternoon the CCGS G.Peddle S.C. entered port and raced up the west side of George's Island, paying no heed to the barge alongside, leaving a significant wake, which tore into the barge tossing it about madly.

By the time CCGS G. Peddle S.C. reached the Narrows it was travelling at a sensible speed.

Fortunately the barge and motorboat crews were alert and took precautions, and there were no parted lines nor injuries.

This incident raises two questions:
1. Is the CCG immune to the harbour speed rules?  There was no emergency which would have caused the G.Peddle to exceed the safe speed in the harbour.
Who was on watch on the G.Peddle that could not have seen the barge alongside the cruise ship or would have been so unaware that there was likely to be a barge alongside?
The only objective as I could see was that  the G.Peddle was in "hurry home" mode.

2. Who was on watch at Halifax Traffic? Surely an attentive watchstander at Halifax Traffic would have noted the G.Peddle's speed and been aware that it was bearing down on the barge.
I do not know if the barge had asked for a "low wake" notice - if they did, then Halifax Traffic was really asleep on the job. But even if they didn't, Halifax Traffic should have alerted the G.Peddle to the effect that there was a barge alongside.

There is a great reluctance by Halifax Traffic (and most VTS services) to interfere with the ship's master's conduct - but if there had been an injury or damage, I think Halifax Traffic would have been found to have a duty beyond that of a spectator like me. I could see a potential disaster about to happen but had no power to stop it. Halifax Traffic did have that power.

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