Rotterdam - shortest stop on record

Rotterdam, co-flag ship of Holland America Cruises (with Amsterdam) made one of the shortest port calls on record today. It was less than an hour and a half  from arriving at the pilot station to clearing again, and within those tight confines obviously had no time to tie up securely at pier 31. Shortly after 0800 I saw the ship in the stream off Halterm heading seaward, so it must have made very good time outbound. 

The ship is en route Rotterdam to Boston via St.John's and was originally scheduled to spend the day in Halifax. However its name was removed from the official Cruise Halifax web site at some point.

In view of the high winds and driving rain today, and iffy forecasts for the next few days, perhaps the line decided not to lose time en route to Boston and scrubbed the official visit. Why it called in at all remains a mystery.

File photo from 2002 - definitely not today.

Built in 1997 by Fincantieri Marghera, Italy, the 61,849 grt ship has a capacity of 1404 to 1685 passengers and a crew of 620. It made its first call in Halifax May 13, 2002 and has called fairly regularly since. Its current schedule sees it touring Europe in the summer, and South America in the winter, with a brief fall season on the eastern seaboard.

After arriving in Boston September 9, the ship is due in Halifax again September 11 and 25 and  October 5 and 9.

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Tiger - a Wilhelmsen giant

Wilhelmsen's Tiger made its second call in Halifax today. The first was March 1, 2016, but on that occasion it did not manage to pass my camera.

 Atlantic Oak follows the ship out to Ives Knoll, but did not have a line up. - it was just going to pier 41.

A 7th generation Daewoo car carrier design, it was built in 2011 by Daewoo's Okpo shipyard. At 74,255 grt, 30,140 dwt, it has a capacity of no less than 7,934 cars. Newer ships can carry more than 8,000.

Fitted for carriage of other roll-on, roll-off cargo, it first unloaded at pier 31 yesterday before moving to Autoport overnight. It's stern ramp is rated for 320 tonnes, so it can handle some pretty large rolling loads.

Scotia Pilot is smothered in spray as it paces the ship outbound.

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Drama Queen 1

A small drama unfolded in Halifax harbour Sunday evening when the party /tour boat Harbour Queen 1 lost power during a tour. The boat drifted inside the Halterm pier extension onto the breakwater.

It took the combined efforts of the Halifax Tugger and Atlantic Oak to get the boat off and back to its base at the Cable Wharf.

Divers were to examine the boat for damage today, and before it re-enters service there will be an investigation to determine why it lost power.

 Harbour Queen 1 shortly after entering service in Halifax in April 1987.

Harbour Queen 1 was built in 1985 in Oromocto, NB as Pioneer Princess II and operated tours out of Fredericton for a couple of years before making the voyage to Halifax. An imitation of a Mississippi river boat, it has a pair of dummy funnels and a motorized paddle that does not propel the boat.

 I am not sure anyone is fooled by the paddle, but it is part of the package.

The boat is equipped with an anchor (see port bow above) which was deployed when it went adrift, but likely did little to stop the boat.

Vessel operators Murphy Sailing Tours Ltd will certainly miss the services of this vessel as we are entering the height of the cruise season, with three ships in today (Veendam, Norwegian Gem and Insignia.)

Today Halifax Tugger was back at its more prosaic duties, wrangling the garbage scow from the cruise ships, such as the Insignia.

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Friday evening and Saturday activity

Just as the sun was setting Friday evening the container ship Brotonne Bridge got underway from Fairview Cove for sea. The Cerescorp container terminal had been particularly busy over the past few days, with ships anchored in Bedford Basin waiting to berth.

With Atlantic Oak made up astern as tethered escort, Brotonne Bridge begins to make its turn for the Narrows.

Built in 2010 by Samsung Shipbuilding + Heavy Industry in Koje, the 46,444 grt, 58,200 dwt ship has a capacity of 4526 TEU. It is working on the AL6 service of THE Alliance.

The new cruise ship Mein Schiff 6 made its first call in Halifax this morning. Completed in May of this year and christened June 1, the ship was built by Meyer Turku Shipyard in Turku Finland, for Tui Cruises of Germany.

There was quite a crowd awaiting the arrival of the ship on cool crisp morning in Halifax.

The 98,811 grt ship has a capacity of 2,790 passengers and has a crew of 1,030. The ship follows the design of two previous ships, Mein Schiff 3 and Mein Schiff 5, that have proven very popular with German passengers.

Things moved rather slowly in the harbour thereafter. The expected arrival of the small container ship Berta did not happen at 1100, but closer to 1200.

Scotia Pilot returning from the pilot station, having embarked the pilot on Berta, was making good speed and lots of spray.

This was the first chance I had to see the new pilot pilot boat Scotia Pilot in operation. It certainly appeared to be steady and fast, but generated a lot of spray, most of which was kept off deck thanks to the large bow flare.

Berta is certainly in the small range for a container ship, with a capacity of 645 TEU in a ship of 6264 grt, 7400 dwt. It is owned by Intersee Schiffarts of Germany, and flies the Antigua and Barbuda flag.

With the tug Atlantic Willow tucked in on the starboard quarter to assist, the ship will be turning to back into pier 31.

It is operating for Nirint with bagged nickel sulfides from Cuba. After discharge, using its own 40 tonne cranes, it will be heading for Rotterdam.

Meanwhile out at number one anchorage the CMA CGM Nabucco had completed its Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspection for Asian Gypsy Moth larva, and had weighed anchor, but awaited the passing Berta before moving alongside pier 41.

Using three tugs, Atlantic Oak, Atlantic Fir and Spitfire III the ship gets underway from the nearby anchorage area.

The ship first called in Halifax in May of this year, but I did not get a photo. It is one of four sister ships (the other are CMA CGMs La Traviata, Otello and Tosca) in the CMA CGM fleet. So far CMA CGM Otello is the only other one of the class to appear in Halifax on the Columbus Loop service. Built in 2006 by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, the 91,410 grt, 101,810 dwt ship has a capacity of 8488 TEU (including 700 reefers).

The ship used three tugs, but this did not cause delays elsewhere in the port, as Atlantic Towing Ltd appears to have augmented its Halifax tug fleet to four tugs - something that has been needed for some time.

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Bigger ships for ZIM

With the opening of the enlarged locks in the Panama Canal earlier this year, ZIM has been bringing larger ships in. Theses ship, too large for the old canal, can now go transpacific and continue on through Panama to the North American east coast.

Many of these ships do not belong to ZIM, but are chartered in. Such is the case with today's arrival, Asklipios, a 113, 412 grt, 118,815 dwt vessel with a capacity of 9954 TEU (including 1400 reefers). Although not breaking the through the "magic" (but arbitrary) 10,000 TEU barrier, it is still a big ship for Halifax.

 Asklipios towers over bow tug Atlantic Fir with the high horsepower Spitfire III braking at the stern.

Built in 2011 by Samsung Shipbuilding and Heavy Industry Co in Koje, South Korea, the ship started life as Hanjin Spain under the Panamanian flag. With the collapse of Hanjin as a victim of the shipping recession, and declared bankrupt in February 2017, its ships were put up for sale. Capital Ship Management, owned by Evangelos Marinakis, snapped up five sister ships from the fleet. He acquired the former Hanjins United Kingdom, Netherlands, Korea, China and Spain for a reported $31mn [US] each, and arranged for charters to other lines, allowing them to replace smaller and less efficient (former Panamax) ships.

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Ferbec - Quebec Report #11

Another ship that may be a familiar sight on the St.Lawrence for some time to come is the bulk carrier Ferbec. The largest ship in the CSL domestic fleet, it is also the second ship to carry the name for the comapny and is plying the same route as its illustrious predecessor.

The ship carries ilmenite ore from Havre-St-Pierre to Sorel-Tracy on a continuous shuttle operation for Rio Tinto Fet et Titane.

The current Ferbec entered service in May of this year when it was registered in Sorel May 18. It was previously sailing for CSL's international fleet as CSL Melbourne since 2010. Built in 2002 by Nantong Cosco KHI in Nantong, as Orientor and carried the name Orientor 2 from 2002 to 2010. It is a Handy Size bulker of 27,198 grt, 49,502 dwt fitted with four cranes and grabs to work cargo.

Its predecessor of the same name was a gearless bulker, built in 1966 by IHI, Tokyo as Fugaku Maru and acquired and renamed by CSL in 1977. Its sale for scrap in 2005 raised the ire of environmentalists, because it was known to contain hazardous materials. Renamed Michalakis under the Mongolian flag, it sailed to Alang, India where it was beached for scrapping March 24, 2005.

Havre-St-Pierre is the loading port for the ore, which is mined at Lac Allard 43 km inland and transporter by rail to the port. Established in 1950 by Quebec Iron and Titanium (QIT) the mine yields high grade titanium dioxide which is refined to development metal powders used as white pigment for paints, paper and numerous other commodities.

The mine has been operating at reduced capacity for some time and will only run for 24 weeks this year, however that may result in a sufficient stockpile to keep the ship running. However Rio Tinto has another mine, this one in Madagascar, that could potentially supply the Sorel-Tracy operation at lower cost.

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NACC Québec - Quebec Report #10

The cement carrier NACC Québec was upbound this afternoon on its second trip to the Seaway. On its first trip last week,it discharged at a new terminal in Cote-Ste-Catherine.  This trip it will be going to Oshawa.

Built by Tuzla Gemi in Tuzla, Turkey in 2011 as  Tenace, the ship was brought into Canadian registry this spring by NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers (NACC). A 50/50 joint venture between Algoma and Nova Marine Holdings SA of Luxembourg the company was established to carry cement in bulk form. This particular ship is in dedicated service to the new McInnis cement plant in Port Daniel, on the south coast of the Gaspé peninsula. It will also be making international voyages seasonally.

The ship started life as a conventional bulk carrier of 9286 grt, 14,600 dwt, but with a special cement loading and discharging system installed its revised tonnages are 10,243 grt, 14,906 dwt. Immediately recognizable by the forest of cargo handling pipes, and the outrageous funnel, the ship will become a regular sight on the river.

The ship was in Halifax briefly August 12.

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