Court Ordered Sales - #2 Scotia Tide

A barge, built in 2015 by Aecon Atlantic Industrial Inc in Pictou, NS to carry the Cape Sharp tidal turbine has been ordered for sale by the Federal Court. Tied up in Saint John, NB since lowering the turbine into the fast flowing waters of the Minas Passage (twice), the barge is heavily in debt to a variety of service providers.

Open Hydro Technolgy Canada Ltd, owners of the barge, have been declared insolvent and there was no other way for the creditors to recover some of their overdue bills except to apply to the Federal Court to have it sold.

The turbine was first lowered into the Bay of Fundy  in November 2016 but was raised in June 2017 after it malfunctioned. It took until July 2018 to repair then reposition the turbine again on the seabed. Shortly after that Open Hydro Technologies parent company in Ireland and its Canadian branch were forced into bankruptcy when its major shareholder Naval Energies withdrew financial support.

A separate outfit called Cape Sharp Tidal, owned by 80% by Open Hydro and 20% by Emera (parent company of Nova Scotia Powder, the electrical utility in Nova Scotia)  actually owned the turbine. However Emera withdrew when Open Hydro went into bankruptcy.

In September 2018 the turbine stopped working again and has been sitting on the bottom ever since, not living up to its expected production of 2MW of electricity.

The sophisticated barge measures 1282 gt, and consists of two hulls bridged in two places, forming a uU shaped well. A winching system holds the turbine in position for transport and can lower or raise it from the slot between the two hulls. The cost to build the barge was reported to be $30mn in 2016.

En route from Pictou to Saint John in July 2017, the barge, with the turbine slung between the two hulls, made a stopover in Halifax.

 
There were initially several creditors with charges against the barge, but RMI Marine, claiming $444,719 forced the sale. Others interested are believed to be DP World (terminal operators in Saint John where the barge is tied up), Atlantic Towing Ltd, and several other service providers in Saint John. 

An ad appeared in the Halifax newspaper The Chronicle Herald on April 12 giving two weeks for filing claims. Interestingly instead of naming a local sheriff  the ad gives British ship brokers Marint (Offshore Services) Ltd as the point of contact, with an e-mail address and a London telephone number.

The Province of Nova Scotia apparently holds a bond of $1.2 mn against the turbine, and on April 3, 2019 ordered its removal for failure to comply with the terms of its license (insolvency being one of several violations).

It would likely be possible to recover the turbine using conventional salvage methods, but it would likley  be easier if the barge were available. There is little doubt that the bond is insufficient to pay for recovery, some say it would be twice that at least.

For a third court ordered sale see Tugfax: http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2019/04/court-sale-ex-panuke-sea.html

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Court Ordered Sales - #1 Ethan

A ship that was a sometime caller in Halifax is now advertised for sale by Federal Court order.  Ethan, registered in the unlikely port of Zanzibar has been idle in Quebec City since 2015.

The ship was built in 1975 by Collingwood Shipyard for N.M.Paterson & Sons Ltd of Thunder Bay, ON as Ontadoc. It was a bulk carrier of 4488 gt, 7405 dwt intended for trade to smaller ports and occasional overseas work. The ship was one of six similar vessels built in pairs.
Initially it had no cargo handling gear to serve its four hatches, but two cranes were fitted in 1989 to facilitate unloading on northern supply trips. It then became a general cargo ship too.

In 1990 Transport Desgagnés purchased the ship and renamed its Melissa Desgagnés. In 2001 it made one of its rare appearances in Halifax in tow of Magdalen Sea from the area of Port aux Basques where it presumably had been aground. The next day, July 23, it entered the Novadock at Halifax Shipyard where its rudder, prop and shaft were removed. New shell work was visible on the port side just forward of amidships, but there was likely bottom work too. The ship exited the drydock August 17 (minus prop and rudder)and lay alongside pier 6 until April 23, 2002 when it entered the Graving dock for completion of repairs. It emerged May 24 and sailed for Pugwash May 27 to load salt.

Melissa Desgagnés shifting berths in 2001. New shell plating is visible just forward of amidships.

In 2015 the ship was laid up in Quebec City and sold, with Canadian registration closing July 21, 2016. Renamed Ethan and flying the flag of Tanzania, the ship remained in Quebec City over disputed payment. The ship lost its classification by Lloyds in 2017 and was arrested in January 2017. It shifted around from berth to berth with court permission piling up costs for towing, berthing, repairs, agency, etc.,

Finally on April 2 the Federal Courts ordered the ship to be sold, free and clear, as is where is. The submission date for bids is May 1, 2019 with the sale closing June 28, 2019.

This ship's nearest sister ship Amélia Desgagnés ex Soodoc was sold in June 2017, and renamed Amelia. Under the flag of Micronesia (port of registry Malakal) it sailed directly for Aliaga, Turkey where it was beached August 17 and broken up.

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Unusually Busy

The port of Halifax was business as usual but busier than usual today with something happening in most sectors of the port.

Viewable in its entiretly only from across the harbour, CMA CGM Musca takes up a good piece of Halterm's pier 41-42  face.

 
At Halterm the regular Saturday callers were in: Maersk / CMA CGM's CAE (Canada Atlantic Express) ship was the regular Maersk Penang en route from Montreal to Bremerhaven.
Not so usual for the Ocean Alliance service (CMA  CGM ,  Evergreen, Maersk, COSCO) was the 10,000TEU+ ship CMA CGM Musca.


It is the first time in Halifax for this ship, built in 2009 by Daewoo, Okpo. Its impressive stats are 128,600 gt, 131,830 dwt and the (all important) container count of 10,980 TEU, including 700 reefers. The Port of Halifax is counting on ships of this size and larger to come to Halifax, thus justifying huge and disruptive expansions to its container handling capabilities.

Assuming the cranes are in the same position as in the previous photo, about 1/4 of the ship is not visible in this view.

 

The fact remains that this particular route can apparently operate well with 9500 TEU ships. But every once in a while they must send bigger ships to take away empty containers that are clogging up terminals due to lack of export cargo. The trade imbalance with the Far East is such that we import far more containerized cargo than we export. Shipment of raw materials, such as grian, ore, and forest products narrow the gap somewhat, but finished goods are way out of balance.

Hoegh Brasilia arrived in the morning but had to undergo a Canadian Food Inspection Agency  inspection for Asian Gypsy moth larva before it could dock.

Halmar takes the pilot off Hoegh Brasilia while it undergoes inspection at number one anchorage in the lower harbour.

That procedure took only an hour or so, and it was then able to move to Autoport. Built in 2007 by Tsuneishi Cebu in the Philippines, the ship is owned by Chijin Shipping and managed by Kambura Kisen Co Ltd. It is on long term charter to Hoegh and  is registered in Panama.

Once cleared by the inspectors, the ship took another pilot and a pair of tugs then headed for Autport. That is Tulane in the background at pier 31.

 
It was not the only autocarrier in port . Wilhelnmsen's Tulane (see yesterday) was at pier 31 unloading RoRo cargo which included a couple of shrink wrapped helicopters as well as wheeled machinery for farm, forestry and mining. (Another trade imbalance).



Another ship made only a brief call in Halifax. The tanker Silver Venus en route from New York to Come-by-Chance in ballast anchored for about an hour before it sailed. No reason was given for this short stay but it was likely another AGM inspection. 'Tis the season.

Silver Venus with barely any way on, slides inot anchorage position.

 
An entirely typical product of Hyundao, Mipo in 2015, it measures 29,327 gt, 49,635 dwt. It appears to be still under Korean ownership, but registered in the Marshall Islands to the cryptically named Silver No.29 SA. Management has been entrusted to Sinokor Maritime Co Ltd.  Sinokor (Sino=China, Kor=Korea) operates container ships and cargo handling concentrating on trade between the two countries. It also has a fleet of bulkers and tankers trading world wide.

Up in the Narrows it was time for the BBC News. (Two BBC ships sailed in the last two days - see previous posts.)
Today's arrival was BBC Kwiatkowski 6155 gt, 7732 dwt multi-purpose carrier with two 120 tonne cranes. It won't be doing any heavy lifts while it is here, but instead will load steel frames to carry fibreoptic cable.

Several prefabricated frames wait on truck trailers, to be loaded aboard the ship using its own cranes.

The ship was launched in 2008 as Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, but renamed on delivery. The ship 's hull was built by Polocna shipyard and finished by Remontowa, both in Gdansk. It was last here in January 2014 (in a blizzard) with project cargo that it unloaded at Woodside. This time it anchored off port on April 7 and waited for its fleet mates to clear before coming in today. 

The Cerescorp terminal in Fairview Cove was also a busy spot with the 6402 TEU Dimitra C alongside until late afternoon. The former Priority -81, MOL Priority-14 dates from 2002 when it was built by IHI, Kure. At 74,071gt, 74,453 dwt it is among the largest conventional container ships that call at the pier.

Tugs are pulling Dimitra C off the pier.Atlantic Willow, on the bow will go to assist the next inbound, and Atlantic Fir on the stern, will stay with the ship as stern tethered escort through the Narrows.

The largest ships to call at Cerescorp are the ACL container /RoRos. Today's arrival was Atlantic Sun built in 2016 and totalling 100,436 gt, 56,700 dwt. Built by Hudong-Zhonghua, Shanghai, it and its four sister ships have had more than their share of teething troubles, and in fact Atlantic Sail has been in dryock in Hamburg since April 10 for unspecified issues and is missing at least one rotation trip.

Taken a few minutes prior to the photo above,, Atlantic Willow plunges past Atlantic Sun as it strides up the Narrows with Atlantic Oak on the stern.

Atlantic Sun loafs off Cerescorp waiting for Dimtra C to clear.

Atlantic Sun is eastbound, but its westbound counterpart, Atlantic Sky, which was in on Wednesday brought a variety of RoRo cargo including many army trucks, an aircraft fuselage and a tail section:

About the only place in Halifax Harbour that did not look busy today was the Bedford Institute. CCGS Cape Roger sailed at some point and CCGS Sir William Alexander arrived late evening. However the pier looked quite bare earlier this week. (photo taken Thursday)

Something is missing! Indeed the former CCGS Matthew is gone. I believe it was towed out by Dominion Victory earlier in the week for North Sydney where it will get a serious going over. Renamed Miss MJ it was acquired by Newfoundland owners, based in Goose Bay.

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Comings and Goings

After transferring some of the deck cargo of wind blades from BBC California, [see previous posts] BBC Brazil sailed this morning for  Montreal. Since the California must pass Montreal en route to its destination of Ogdensburg, NY, there must be a reasonable explanation as to why the transfer was necessary.

BBC Brazil has several interesting features, including the turtle deck over the bow and the full width enclosed bridge. It is certainly lightly loaded if it has only three blades on deck.

A new to Halifax autocarrier arrived at Autoport this morning then shifted to Pier 31 this afternoon. I doubt that that there any connection between owners Wilhelmsen Lines and Tulane University in New Orleans, but the choice of name shows the variety available when the fleet standard is to name ships beginning with the letter "T".

With Atlantic Willow (bow) and Atlantic Bear (stern) the Tulane turns to back into Pier 31.

Tulane flies the Maltese flag and sails for the Wallenius Wilhelmsen joint fleet. Built in 2012 by Hyundai, Ulsan, the 72,295 gt, 28,818 dwt ship has a capacity of 7,934 CEU. With a 320 tonne capacity stern ramp, it can handle large RoRo loads as well as cars.

Arriving in Bedford Basin is the small container ship Lomur. The ship had been on a charter to Eimskip and was scheduled to continue calling in Halifax until at least May. However it has now been replaced by another ship.

Lomur at anchor in Bedfrod Basin awaiting orders.

That new ship, called Pictor J has already started work for Eimskip, but will not be calling in Halifax until May. Eimskip's ship rotation has been juggled somewhat as a result of the new ship.
Lomur was battered by a storm on its way from Iceland to Argentia, NL in March and there was damage to several containers and to the ship itself. See previous post:

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2019/03/lomur-revisited.html

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Reflag, Rename and Reload

 Reflag

After three days at anchor outside, Acadia Desgagnés entered port and tied up at pier 25. The ship is still flying the Barbados flag and as it did last year it has come to Halifax to transfer back to Canadian flag.  The ship was acquired by Transport Desgagnés in 2017 and registered in St.John's, NL. It worked that summer and fall in Atlantic Canada then shifted to Barbados on January 1, 2018.

Last year it arrived in Halifax May 23 and returned to Canadian registry May 29. On January 1, 2019 it went back to Barbados flag on a charter arrangement for international work.
The ship was built in 2013 by Shantong Baibuting in Rongcheng, China as Sider Tis for Italian owners. Measuring 7875 gt and 10,396 dwt it carries a pair of 40 tonne cranes. Although ice classed it does not normally work on northern supply, but instead works around the Gulf of St.Lawrence and into the Se3way will bulk cargoes.

Rename

The tanker Parsifal II arrived from New Orleans for Imperial Oil this morning.  This is not the ship's first visit here. Its last call was Just a year ago, April 28, 2018.

The ship as it appeared today from over George's Island.

 

On that trip however it was carrying the name Conti Agulhas. The name change took place when the ship changed ownership between two obsurely named companies on May 1, 2018. Previous owners Conti 145 Conti Agulhas became Condor 220 Schiffahrts. Management remained with NSB Niderelbe Schiffahrtsges however, so aside from the name change there is no other difference in the appearance of the ship.

 The ship as it appeared a year ago from a position I cannot access today.

The 23,403 gt, 37,606 dwt tanker came from Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan in 2008. Its last port of call was New Orleans.

Reload

BBC California sailed this evening from Pier 9C giving its destination as Ogdensburg, NY. While in Halifax the ship transferred six wind turbine blades to fleet mate BBC Brazil. The latter ship is due to sail tomorrow.

Yesterday in the midst of moving one blade the longhoremen took their lunch break with the load suspended in mid air. A thick coating of fresh snow was melting away all the while.

On departure today, there was insufficient room for the ship to turn round at its berth in the Narrows, so it headed north into Bedford Basin then turned outbound and headed for sea. 

The ship still had a good many blades on deck, along with a couple of tower sections. No one seemed concerned that the tarps on those sections had gone adrift on the way to Halifax, It may have other components below deck, but it is lightly laden.

The pilot boat Scotia Pilot paces the ship outbound. The boat had been out of service since January, but now appears to be fully operational again. 

 

Tanker Traffic

What little tanker traffic we have nowadays is usually limited to MidRange type product tankers for Irving Oil or Imperial Oil, bringing in refined product for local distribution.
Imperial's winter shuttle from Lévis using the Algonorth has stopped with the opening of the St.Lawrence Seaway. The ship is now in the Great Lakes headed for Sarnia.

Occasionally another tanker drops in and today there are two such vessels in port.

Arriving this afternoon was Swan Biscay, tying up at pier 27. It will not be loading or unloading cargo, as this appears to be a pit stop for fuel delivered by truck.

Built by Torlak in Tuzla, Turkey in 2008 the ship was originally called Ozay- 6 for a variety of Turkish owners until 2014  when it was acquired by the current owners, identified only as Swan Biscay LLC.  Management is by Norstar from Singapore, with offices in Westport, CT, and the ship is registered in the Marshall Islands.
The 8198 gt, 11,530 dwt ship has a "turtle back' over the forepeak, somewhat unusual in tankers, but in view of the very low freeboard, quite sensible. The ship is en route from New Orleans to Port Alfred (La Baie), QC, so is likely carrying some chemicals for the aluminum industry.
The ship works generally in the Atlantic Basin and Gulf of Mexico, although it did enter the Great Lakes in 2015.

 The other tanker is in fact an articulated tug barge combination,. Leo A. McArthur (tug) and John J. Carrick (barge) operate for McAsphalt Marine Transportation Ltd and arrived at the newly refurbished McAshpalt dock in Eastern Passage on April 9. The pair were among the early vessels to exit the Great Lakes when the Seaway opened for the season. Despite being held up by ice in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario for several days, they cleared the Seaway on March 31.

It has become the norm for the pair to arrive in Halifax in early spring as the first visitors from the Great Lakes.

Purpose built in China in 2007 to carry asphalt (which must be kept heated) the barge has a gross tonnage of 6916 tons and a capacity of 80,000 bbls. It is double hulled and ice strengthened.. The tug remains connected to the barge at all times, even while travelling to Saint John, NB and Newfoundland.
The tug was named Victorious when built, but was renamed in 2017 to recognize one of the co-founders of McAsphalt along with John. J. Carrick.

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More changes

There are more changes coming in the Canadian short sea shipping business, with several sales and purchases either completed or in the offing.

Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping Inc (NEAS) operates northern sealift supply. Majority owned by Nunavik's Inuit Birthright Corporation, Makivik Corporation it operates Transport Nanuk Inc (jointly owned with Logistec Corp and the North West Company)  and through several  corporations owns the ships that make several trips each summer from ports on the St.Lawrence River to the far north.

After listing two of its ships for sale, I hear that they have now been sold and replacements are coming in time for this year's supply runs.

Avataq and Umiavut were built in the late 1980s and there have been issues with their reliability recently.

Umiavut upbound in the St.Lawrence Seaway for Valleyfield, one of its usual loading ports for northern supply.

Avataq was built by Miho Shipyard in Shimizu, Japan as  Poleca and carried the names 89: Mekhanik Volkosh, 91: Tiger Speed, 92: Mekhanik Volkosh, 92: Lootsgracht, when it was acquired by the Dutch company Spliethoff's . In 2007 Transport Inukshuk Inc at first chartered, then purchased the ship and renamed it Avataq. It has carried out summer supply ever since.
Although it has never called in Halifax it was drydocked in Shelburne in 2012.

For several years it reverted to Netherlands flag for winter work for Spliethoff's but that ended in 2011. The 6037 gt, 9588 dwt ship carries two cranes

Umiavut dates from 1988 from the same shipyard, and was built as Newca, but renamed Kapitan Silin on delivery. In 1992 it was acquired by Spliethoff's and renamed Lindengracht. Umialarik Transportation Inc acquired the ship in 2000. It measures 6037 gt, 9653 dwt and also carries two cranes. From 2000 to 2011 it was usually chartered back to Spliethoff's in the "off season" November to June and sailed under the Netherlands flag.
Last August 12 it ran aground in Lac-St-Pierre while returning from northern supply and had to be lightered off in a four day operation before it could be refloated.

Umiavut was able to use its own lighterage barges and tugs to offload empty propane cargo tanks and other cargo after it grounded last summer.

It is understood that replacement ships have been acquired from Spliethoff's "E-class". These are 12,750 dwt ships equipped with three 60 tonne cranes. They are sister ships to the former Edisongracht, now Qamutik in the NEAS fleet since 2008.

 The E-class Qamutik in Halifax in 2015 while still on winter charter to Spliethoff's.

McKeil Marine Ltd is expanding its dry-bulk fleet, and getting into the tanker business. Long a tugboat and barge operator, in recent years it has acquired small bulk  carriers fitted to carry cement and other cargoes. It has just been announced that they are acquiring another ship, similar to the two already in its fleet. The new ship is due in Canada from Italy in May.

Evans Spirit is one of two similar ships in the current McKeil fleet.

Currently named Sider Gagliarda it is a 9286 gt, 14,600 dwt ship built in 2010 by Tuzla Gemi in Turkey as Gagliarda. It was renamed last in 2018.


McKeil previously announced that it had bought a pair of tankers currently in the far east. These are also Turkish built ships: Turquoise-T, 8638 gt, 13,947 dwt, built in 2008 and Topaz-T, 8638 gt, 13,966 dwt built in 2009. No ETA has been given for their arrival in Canada.

All three ships will be renamed by McKeil before entering into service under Canadian flag.

It is encouraging to see Canadian shipowners investing in ships rather than relying on chartered in foreign tonnage under coasting licenses.

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