Ocean Force closeup

The Ocean Force moved from anchor to pier 9C today, allowing a for a bit of a close up look.

As mentioned previously the ship is reported to have semi-submersible capabilities, and this seems to be confirmed by the unusual feature of draft marks extending all the way up to the main deck. Certainly not something one would want to see on a normal ship!

The ship is registered in Belize City, Belize (formerly British Honduras), a flag of convenience, and one normally reserved for aging vessels working in the Caribbean.

After completing its substitution on the St-Pierre et Miquelon service last month, the ship has been idle at anchor in Bedford Basin awaiting orders.

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Riviera marks the end of the season

Riviera's arrival at pier 20 early this morning marks the end of the 2019 cruise season. All indications are that it was a successful year for Halifax, with very few outright weather cancellations and all cruises reportedly sold out, maximizing the number of passengers.

Fincantieri's Sestri Ponenete yard completed the 66,084 gt Oceania class ship in 2011, with a passenger capacity of 1250 and 800 crew. Operator Oceania Cruises is one of the brands in the Norwegian Line Holdings portfolio, that also includes Norwegian Cruise Lines and Regent Seven Seas.

The ship obligingly arrived east of George's Island and turned north of the island to berth bow south (seaward) at pier 20. With clearing skies, it seems that it will be a good day for shore activities. Previous cruise seasons have seldom extended past November 1 to avoid the risk of wintry weather.

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Miscellaneous Basin Activity

Bedford Basin was the main centre of interest today for the Coast Guard, Navy and commercial vessels. Coincidentally several of the vessels had connections with the month of November.


The Container/ RoRo ship Atlantic Sky arrived at Cerescorp's Fairview Cove container terminal.

The fourth of five ships in the G4 series built in China for ACL, it made its first call in Halifax May 23, 2017, six months later than expected in November 2016. The first ships in the series have had a number of mechanical issues and the second ship, Atlantic Sail has been out of service since April when it was drydocked in Hamburg. It is now scheduled to sail from Liverpool November 17 and is due in Halifax November 25.

The Canadian Coast Guard's Arun class lifeboat Clarks Harbour made a trials run from the Bedford Institute to Bedford Basin.

The boat is likely completing its yearly refit before the start of the District 33, 34 lobster season, the last Monday of November. As the busiest SAR lifeboat, working from its home port on Cape Sable Island, it needs to be in good working order.

Last year however it broke down off Halifax November 10, 2018 when returning from refit in Cape Breton. It was towed into Sambro, and made it to Lunenburg before it needed more attention. The boat apparently had fuel system related problems. Clarks Harbour was built in 1996 and should be on the replacement list.

HMCS Shawinigan MM 704 made its way to Bedford Basin, tying up at the Bedford Magazine.

The fifth Kingston class coastal defence vessel, it was launched at Halifax Shipyard November 15, 1996.

The ship was named for the hometown of then Prime Minister Jean Chretien and was the second ship of the name in the RCN. The first, HMCS Shawinigan K-136, a Flower class corvette built in 1940 by Davie Shipbuilding + Repair, Lauzon, QC, was torpedored and sunk by by U-1228 in Cabot Strait November 25, 1944 with the loss of all 85 hands.

Not quite in Bedford Basin (yet) work is ongoing to launch the second Arctic Offshore Patrol vessel, AOPS2 Margaret Brooke.  Halifax Shipyard has once again marshaled the multi-wheel dollies that will transfer the ship to the launching barge Boa Barge 37. The barge was repositioned yesterday to bow north, aligning it for loading the ship. It may be floated off by the end of the month.

Also on hand is an aluminum landing craft, built by Abco in Lunenburg for AOPS1 Harry Dewolf. One of these craft will be assigned to each of the AOP ships.

Still in Bedford Basin Ocean Force continues to swing at anchor. The container RoRo (and sometime semi-submersible) has been idle in the Basin since completing its assignment with TMSI last month.

That service to St-Pierre et Miquelon and Argentia, NL, has encountered another glitch as its ship Nolhanava may be subject to detention / arrest due to an unsatisfied  claim by a supplier according to court filings.

Meanwhile  those who have been missing the familiar sight of the Defence Research and Development barge in Birch Cove were encouraged by the presence of tugs and a dive tender at the location last week. Perhaps they were making preparations for the return of the barge which has been tucked away in HMC Dockyard undergoing some refit for many months. Its place has been taken by a flat deck barge - much less interesting than the house like structure we have grown accustomed to.

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CMA CGM Aquila - big ship

The ships keep getting bigger and bigger and with today's arrival Halifax has passed the 11,000 TEU mark again. With a capacity of 11,200 TEU the CMA CGM Aquila is among the largest container ships to call in Halifax - so far.

The 11,000 TEU threshold was passed in January 2019 and bigger ships are anticipated. So far at least only CMA CGM is bringing these large ships to Halifax. Nevertheless Halterm is expanding to accommodate two 10,000+ TEU ships at one time.

It is not only a question of length however, as these ships are 18 or more containers wide and require long reach cranes  to service the entire breadth of the ship.

CMA CGM Aquila dates from 2009 when it was built by Hyundai, Ulsan with tonnages of 131,332 gt, 128,550 dwt.

Supposed to be the "largest" ship to call in Halifax do far, CMA CGM Libra was rated at 11,338 TEU with a dwt of 131,246, but its dimensions of 363m long x 45.6m wide are almost identical to CMA CGM Aquila.

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Silver Wind - second last but better this year

For its final call this year Silver Wind could hardly have asked for better conditions. Perhaps a soupcon of drizzle early in the day, but that cool clear air in the afternoon was ideal autumn weather.

The last of 295 passengers straggle back on board before the ship sails from Halifax for the last time this year.

Last year Silver Wind shared last ship honours with Insignia on November 6, 2018 and it was a less than ideal day: http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2018/11/finale.html

Today's departure for Bar Harbor could only be described as idyllic, if a little chilly. I could only detect two or three passengers on deck despite the calm clear conditions.

The low afternoon (now standard time) sun made the ship glow as it sailed.

November 6 will be last day for the cruise season again this year, but the last ship is to be the 

Riviera with 1250 passengers.

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Catch Up Day

When yesterday's high winds and seas diminished over night, pilotage operations resumed and it was a very busy morning as several ships arrived and sailed. In view of the sun direction and location of the ships, I stationed myself in Eastern Passage to see most of them, even though from a distance.

Starting with Halterm, the Tropical Shipping substitute Vega Fynen (see October 30) moved out to anchor last night and sailed this morning. Thanks to news received, I understand it was called in to take the place of the new Tropical Lissette which has some mechanical problems. The normal schedule for Tropical ships is Monday, so the breakdown and the weather have meant a major delay.

Giving Tropical Shipping good advertising, Vega Fynen prepares to get underway from anchor.

The overnighter Hansa Meersburg filling in on ZIM's feeder service also got underway.

With the piers clear, the arrivals were able to tie up. First was ZIM Monaco for pier 42.

On ZIM's transatlantic service, the 40,030 gt, 50,800 dwt ship flies the Malta flag for owners Danaos Shipping Co Ltd. Built in 2009 by Samsung SB+HI in Koje, the ship has a capacity of 4253 TEU.

Following not long after Maersk Patras managed to dodge the weather and arrived on its usually scheduled day from Montreal.

The 2090 TEU (400 reefers) ship is on the eastbound leg of its regular transatlantic run.

Autoport's caller was the Hero [High Efficiency RoRo] class Theben. A 75,283 gt, 23,786 dwt ship, it combines the capabilities of a Pure Car and Truck Carrier [PCTC] with a capacity of 8,000 cars, with those of a RoRo carrier, employing a 300 tonne capacity stern ramp.

Built in 2016 by Hyundai Samho, the ship has no side ramp, but carries accommodation ladders and even a lifeboat in hull recesses. I hope they demanded a refund on the paint. Normally a sparkling orange, many of the recent Wilhelmsen ships have a washed out faded look.

MOL Paramount sailed from Fairview Cove and Gerhard Schulte arrived for ACL this morning and early this afternoon Nolhanava moved from its storm berth at pier 9C to Fairview Cove to load for Argentia and St-Pierre et Miquelon. Presumably some ACL cargo from France was to be unloaded from Gerhard Schulte  and loaded on Nolhanava.

Nolhanava glides past the Atlantic Condor stocking up at pier 9C. 

Next along for Fairvew Cove was YM Modesty. However it had to wait in Bedford Basin until Nolhanava sailed.

The 71,821 gt, 72,370 dwt YM Modesty carries 6258 TEU. Built in 2013 by Koyo Dockyard, Mihara, the ship is on long term charter through Zodiac Maritime to Yang Ming Line.

Two other departures were noted. HC Svea Kim completed unloading its cargo of rails for CN in good time and was able to sail this morning. (See October 27 arrival).

and the tanker Elka Eleftheria sailed from Irving Oil and headed back to Amsterdam. (see October 31 arrival).

With tonight's shift from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time, photographing late afternoon arrivals and departures has likely come to an end until February. Despite more light early in the morning, photos at that hour will continue to be difficult due to the sun position. Shooting directly into the sun is a challenge!

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High Winds, High Seas

High winds lead to suspension of pilotage operations in Halifax over night and this morning. Conditions will be reviewed at noon time.

Ships that do not require pilots are free to move at their own discretion and that includes ships of the RCN. HMCS Ville de Quebec put out to sea this morning.

Pilot boats remain tied up at their dock as Ville de Quebec heads outbound.

( left to right: Capt. E.T.Rogers, APA No.18, and Nova Pilot occupy the north side of the Svitzer Canada wharf.)

Several ships will remain in harbour until pilotage operations resume. Hansa Meersburg, Vega Fynen, HC Svea-Kim and  MOL Paramount remain tired up.

The tanker Southern Quokka tugs on its anchor at number 5 anchorage. The ship arrived late last night from Rostock, Germany and was to sail early this morning. On the small size as product tankers go, it registers 14,965 gt, 26,077 dwt. It was built in 2017 by Asakawa Shipbuilding in Imabari, Japan, for Southern Dragon Chemical SA. Japan. [The quokka is a cat sized marsupial found in a few areas of Australia.]

The more common size of tanker we see is the Medium Range of up to 50,000 dwt, such as Elka Eleftheria which arrived yesterday from Saint John for Irving Oil. It measures 27,539 gt, 44,787 dwt. Built in 2001 by Brodosplit in Croatia, it was launched as Elka Eleftheria but delivered as Fulgar and carried that name until 2009.

Ships due to arrive in Halifax today are loitering offshore until conditions improve. These include the container ships Gerhard Schulte, Zim Momaco and Skogafoss and the autocarrier Theben

"Surf" was breaking over the cells of the pier 42 extension this morning, although filling was still underway where it could be reached by a shore based conveyor.

McNally Marine demobilized its barges to pier 9C yesterday in view of the predicted weather.

The tug Mister Joe heads north yesterday with Derrick No.4 making an early start for the weekend. 

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