More comings and goings

Most of the  foreign flag tankers calling at Irving Oil Woodside have been bringing refined product directly from Amsterdam. Sometimes however they go the Saint John, NB first then come here to unload the last of their cargo. Such appears to be the case today with the arrival of Advance II, which judging from its draft it has only a partial cargo left on board.

Operating for the 15 ship strong Transpetrol fleet, the ship was built in 2006 by STX Shipbuilding Co of Jinhae South Korea and has typical MidRange tonnages of 30,032 gt, 46,101 dwt. Although no departure time has been scheduled at time of writing, it will not be in port long. Irving's Acadian is anchored off Halifax awaiting its turn at the berth.

When it was here last on June 14, I gave very little information on the container ship Gerhard Schulte.
See: http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2019/06/quitting-time.html
I was also only able to get a "going away" photo. Today I was in time to get a view from a better angle.

The ship is obviously working for ACL as its deck is chock-a-block with ACL boxes. 

Dating from 2006 when it was built by Shanghai Chengxi Shipyard, the 35,991 gt, 42,083 dwt ship has a carrying capacity of 3534 TEU including 500 reefers. Built as Gerhard Schulte it was almost immediately renamed APL Bangkok for a charter that extended until 2014 when it reverted to its former (and present) name.
The ship carries the Hong Kong flag for the anonymous owners Wealth Crown Ltd, but there is little doubt about the ships technical managers, Bernhard Schulte, the venerable German company that after 135 years in business now manages more than 160 container ships, 160 bulkers, 90 gas tankers and 190 chemical, product and oil tankers. The company also manages 40 offshore production and support vessels. from a
Commercial management is in the hands of Hanseatic Unity Chartering, a further example of the consolidation of German ship operators, which has 213 container ships in its stable from half a dozen German fleets.

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New Names for Halifax

A new to Halifax container ships arrived early this morning. Northern Guard sailing for THE Alliance is eastbound, and did not call here westbound, so may have picked up the spot in the rotation by starting in the US.

From its somewhat shabby appearance, it appears that the ship may have been laid up for time or employed on short spot market charters.

The ship was built in 2008 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan with a 4294 TEU (including 400 reefers) capacity. At 41,835 gt, 53,870 dwt, it is now considered to be an uneconomic type. Too large to be a feeder ship and too small for most major routes, it has been displaced by larger ships. From 2008 until 2013 it sailed for Hamburg-Sud as Cap Graham. The ship wears the funnel markings of Norddeutsche Reederei H. Schuldt, one of many owners now tied into the V-Ships conglomerate, which provides technical management for more than 2200 ships. Commercially, the ship is managed by Blue Net Chartering a broker for more than 270 container vessels, all German owned.

By late afternoon it was a waiting game for the NYK Line autocarrier Graceful Leader, as it sat in the lower harbour awaiting the berth at Autoport.

Graceful Leader, with tugs alongside, remained stationary in the lower harbour for nearly an hour.

Part of the Ray Car Carriers fleet, the ship was built in 2007 by Stocznia Gdynia in Poland. The 57,692 gt, 20,986 dwt ship has a capacity of about 6,000 cars.

Meanwhile the Eukor car carrier Morning Cecilie had delayed its original departure time. Once it was well underway Graceful Leader was able to move into the berth at Autoport.

Morning Cecilie finally underway.

Morning Cecilie dates from 2008 when it was built by Imabari Zosen in Marugame, Japan. It is a 60,875 gt, 22,699 dwt vessel with a car capacity of 6502.

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First Crib for Halterm

The first crib section for the southend container terminal extension was placed today. The unwieldy concrete box was built by McNally Construction at pier 9C and towed to pier 42 by their tug Sandra Mary, assisted by J.W. Whelan in an hours long operation.

The tow got away from pier 9C at 1300 hrs, with Sandra Mary pulling hard and J.F.Whelan pushing.

The base for the crib was built on a semi-submersible barge and when sufficiently advanced was floated off and moored alongside. There the additional 20 meters or so of concrete was poured in a continuous operation using slipforming. That process involves sliding the forms upward as the concrete is poured, resulting in homogeneous construction. Open cells in the crib allow it to remain afloat.

Once in position at pier 42 the crib is sunk in position and the open cells filled with gravel.

At 1700 hrs the tow had reached Ives Knoll, and it was still an hour or so before it was in place.

The harbour bottom where the pier is to be extended has been dredged and carefully graded in advance, and two barges, the dredge Derrick No.4 and the crane barge Idus Atwell were spudded down in position to guide the new crib precisely. Once all the cribs are in place and allowed to settle, final surfacing and cope walls will be built and the rest of the pier extension will be filled in. That work is expected to be complete early next year.

Firmly wedged between the tow scows, the crib is in position and now will be sunk in place.

Construction of the second crib is also complete and work has started on a third.

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Grimaldi calling

Grimaldi ships are becoming common sights in Halifax these days. The Grimaldi organization owns Atlantic Container Line, which makes twice weekly calls, and their large fourth generation ConRos all wear the blue Grimaldi funnel with the script "G".

Grimaldi also operates a large fleet of autocarriers, some of which now call in Halifax regularly.

Last week the Grande Torino made its first call here, arriving and sailing July 4.

Built in 2018 by Yangfan Group in Zhoushan, China, it is a 65,255 gt, 15,853 dwt vessel with a capacity of 6700 CEUs.

Today two Grimaldi ships passed in the lower harbour, one inbound and one outbound.

ACL's Atlantic Sun was inbound on the eastbound leg of its regular run. It held off just east of George's Island to allow the other ship to clear the Narrows. That ship was the first time caller Grande Sierra Leone.

Also a ConRo, but not less than half the size, it was built in 2011 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan and measures 47,659 gt, 25,665 dwt. It is also equipped with cargo cranes. The ship has been called in to assist ACL during the prolonged drydocking of Atlantic Sail in Hamburg. Some that ship's capacity has been taken up by conventional container ships, but the RoRo capacity is still needed.

ConRos (container and RoRo) are rare commodities as owners concentrate on cellular container ships or Pure Car and Truck Carriers.  Combining both capabilities in one ship is costly, but Grimladi has found the markets and has more of the type on order.

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Sing a little Industrial Song for me

The much traveled Industrial Song made its arrival in Halifax this evening. The ship was in the St.Lawrence Seaway upbound on June 20 and reached Duluth, MN where it unloaded wind turbine components June 26 to 28. When it sailed from there it gave Halifax as its destination.

On arrival today both CCGS Sir William Alexander and CCGS Edward Cornwallis were outbound, so Industrial Song took the western channel, giving the two CCG ships lots of room in the main channel.

However with the number of pleasure boats present it was not completely clear sailing. The ship had to sound it signal on two occasions - once five times and once twice, to alert small craft to move away.

The heavy lift ship, built in 2017 by Huanghai Shipbuilding Co in Rongcheng, China, carries a pair of 250 tonne capacity cranes that can work together for a 500 tonne lift. The ship, operated by Jungerhans Heavy Lift, under the Intermarine banner, measures 11,619gt, 12,337 dwt.

The reason for its arrival in Halifax is still unclear. It tied up at pier 27, but there were no fuel trucks waiting for it, so it may have some below deck cargo to offload.

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Safe demolition

The issue of ship scrapping has raised its ugly head again with the arrival off  destination of Alang India of the former CN Marine / Marine Atlantic ferry Sir Robert Bond. The likely presence of contaminants may be the reason that the ship was towed is under tow to India instead of the much closer scrapyards in Turkey. With the assistance of some shipowners, notably Maersk, several Indian scrapyards have improved their practises to meet an international standard. However there are still many yards in Alang that have no responsible programs for handling contaminants and for the safety of workers.
[the ships is still off South Africa and has not yet passed the Cape of Good Hope]

Most Canadian ships going overseas for scrap recently (and there have been two so far this year) have been going to Turkey where the breakers are equipped to handle the safe removal of hazardous materials and have a much better record for worker safety.

A ship of the age of the Sir Robert Bond can be expected to contain such materials as asbestos, lead paint and PCBs, and as such there are restrictions on exporting hazardous materials from Canada. However these rules are often thwarted by means of sales through third parties. The new buyers re-register the ships under a flag of convenience and appear to be prepared to re-use the ship, but it ends up in the scrapyard instead.


The complicated trail of ownership of the Sir Robert Bond (renamed Bond) for the tow to India, on the surface certainly appears to follow that method. When the ship left Canada in tow of the tug Nove it was reported to be heading to a shipyard to complete a refit that was suspended when the shipyard in Newfoundland went bankrupt. However some people familiar with the ship stated that it was beyond repair. The main engine had been dismantled and could not be rebuilt to meet current emission standards without significant upgrades.

This is the second ship that was to have been rebuilt to carry peat moss to the United States. In both cases work to refit the ships was suspended and both were scrapped. In the first case the Canadian government had to step in and secure the ship. In this case the ship was apparently cleared to sail without any over sight.

The question now is whether the owners of the Bond had proper clearances in place to export the ship, and if not whether there is any action the government can take. Recent instances of hazardous wastes exported to the Philippines and Malaysia under the guise of recyclables, and mislabeled meat products indicates there is a lack of export control in Canada. This has left the country open to repercussions and tarnished our reputation abroad (unless it is for naiveté).

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CMA CGM Norma - new to Halifax

Another change in the CMA CGM ship rotation on the Columbus service saw CMA CGM Norma arrive mid-morning. 

With a blazing sun high behind the ship it was still possible to see the three tugs used to get it in at pier 41. The Maersk Penang was at pier 42, leaving as much room as possible for the bigger ship.

CMA CGM Norma is a 107,711 gt, 113,909 dwt ship rated for 9,415 TEU including 700 reefers. It is a product of the Hyundai Samho shipyard, delivered in 2006.

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