Saying Goodbye

The cargo ship Ethan (ex Melissa Desgagnés ex Ontadoc) sailed this afternoon after fueling yesterday. [see previous posts]

Heading out into windy conditions and rough seas, in ballast. 

After a delay of nearly two hours when the aftermost crane apparently broke down while trying to retrieve the gangway, the ship finally got away from pier 31.

The last piloted shipping movement from Halifax for the year and the decade, the ship is heading for Freeport, Bahamas. The Caribbean seems to be a black hole into which old ships are sucked and sometimes vanish. Perhaps this one will be an exception.

.

Full Astern

It seems that all the photos I wanted to take today had to be from astern. Not my favorite angle for a ship photo, but that's just the way it turned out.

Ethan tied up at pier 31 and spent the day fueling from RST trucks.  RST is a company owned  by the J.D.Irving side of the Irving family, and not the Irving Oil side of the company. However the trucks generally do carry Irving Oil.

The Togo flag flies from the stern of the Ethan.

The ship may sail tomorrow, with Freeport, Bahamas as its destination. [see previous posts for more on this ship.]

The only vantage points I have to get photos of Fairview Cove result in stern shots, and so it was with Dalian Express and Atlantic Sun.

There was no cargo work on Dalian Express but there was a dive tender along side (believed to be Captain's Pride).

The tanker East Coast made a late afternoon arrival at Irving Oil, Woodside, with the tugs Atlantic Willow forward and Spitfire III.

And at pier 25 the tug/supplier Siem Commander remains idle after towing in the oil rig Noble Regina Allen.

Note in the background, under the spouts, the bulk carrier Federal Churchill due to sail this evening.

.

Back to Normal and belated wishes

The port was back to normal work today, with the usual Saturday activity and some catch up work.
Federal Churchill was under the spouts at pier 28 loading wood pellets and displaying an attractive hatch cover, not usually visible except from aboard the ship.

As with many bulk carriers, there is a designated helicopter landing spot marked on the hatch cover between the cranes. However in this case it is more than just a large letter "H" but also an inscription with the ship's name.

At the southend container terminal, PSA Halifax, CMA CGM Ivanhoe occupied pier 41 and Maersk Palermo pier 42, until sailing late morning.

Lightly loaded for its eastbound transatlantic trip, the workhorse ship is beginning to show rust streaks again. By the time spring arrives it will be in serious need of paint.

Autoport was busy too with Victoria Highway unloading its consignment of cars.

Rounding Ives Knoll Victoria Highway heads for sea and its next port.

Just a year old - delivered by the Tadotsu Shipyard Co in Japan, December 14, 2018, Victoria Highway carries the new K-Line autocarriers "super graphic" paint scheme. The 75,528gt, 21,114 dwt ship has a capacity of 7,450 cars.

For some reason I neglected to wish readers a Merry Christmas on December 25 as I usually do. I hope to atone for this oversight by doing so now with the following photo. Probably not original and not unique to Nova Scotia, but appropriate - a lobster trap Christmas tree (with video surveillance).

 .

Red, White and Blue

After a lengthy refit that included removing and rebuilding the ship's crane CCGS Sir William Alexander moved out into Bedford Basin for some trials today.

Not far away the MOL Marvel was making its first visit to Cerescorp's Fairview Cove terminal.

Built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Kobe in 2010 it is a 78,316 gt, 79,460 dwt ship with a capacity of 6724 TEU including 500 reefers.

At the other end of the harbour Titania discharged a load of cars at Autoport.

Still wearing the old Wilhelmsen orange and white colour scheme, Titania (and Atlantic Bear) pass Shearwater outbound from Eastern Passage.

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering in Okpo built Titania in 2010. Its 74,255 gt, 31,108 dwt gives it a capacity of  7934 cars.

Federal Churchill also got underway to make the short trip from anchorage to pier 28.

There was more blue to be seen, but it was so far offshore that it was not clearly legible.

Anchored outside the port limits, Ethan is waiting for something.

.

Ships at anchor Federal Churchill, Ethan

December 26, the day after Christmas, Boxing Day, is almost as sacred as December 25 when it comes to longshore labour agreements, and there is usually no work done in the unionized parts of the port.  Ships do come and go at the non-union oil terminals (Elka Glory sailed from Irving Oil this afternoon) and they can arrive and depart from anchorages. But any activities that involve organized longshore labour incur huge premium charges, so are avoided.

Federal Churchill arrived from Montreal and anchored with the intention to go alongside tomorrow.

Built in 2016 by Oshima Shipbuilding in Saikai, Japan, it is a Seaway-max vessel of 20,789 gt, 34,564 dwt. It passed up the St.Lawrence Seaway in late November, arriving in Hamilton, ON November 30. It lay at anchor there until December 8 then spent until December 18 unloading (probably a cargo of steel). It then sailed for Montreal December 22.

Also arriving from the St.Lawrence is the veteran Ethan finally released from years of legal entanglements in Quebec City.
See also: http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2019/04/court-ordered-sales-1-ethan.html
and: http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2018/02/desgagnes-sheds-oldies.html

Now registered in Lomé, Togo, the ship is bound for Freeport, Bahamas. So far it has not entered port, but is anchored outside.

.

Christmas Eve

As usual work in the port slows down to a complete halt for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Rather than having their ships stuck in port for two unproductive days, shipowners like to see their ships at sea. Surprisingly this year there will be a couple of ships in port. Oceanex Sanderling will be at Pier 41 and the tanker Elka Glory at Irving Oil Woodside.

Elka Glory is becoming a regular at Irving Oil after calls in April and November  - all from Amsterdam.

Several offshore suppliers remain in port too, but Atlantic Osprey was off to the Thebaud field this afternoon.

The harbour will be very quiet for a day or two with perhaps only the lobster fishers at work.

.

Big Moves

There were a couple of big moves in the harbour today, keeping the tug fleet very busy (see also Tugfax).

The biggest move was the arrival of the jack-up drill rig Noble Regina Allen.

Siem Commander and Atlantic Osprey brought the rig into harbour where harbour tugs came along to assist.

The rig is just coming off some work with Exxon Mobil in decommissioning gas wells off Sable Island. It will spend January and February in Halifax at the IEL dock in Woodside in refit then go to work for Encana until June when it will return to the IEL dock again before heading for Trinidad.

Built in 2013 the rig is a Friede Goldman type JU3000 capable of working in 400 ft of water and drilling to a depth of 3500 ft. The three jack-up legs are 554.7 feet in length.

Also moving at the same time as the arrival was the autocarrier Torino. The Pure Car and Truck Carrier had discharged some industrial vehicles at pier 31 and was moving over the Autoport to offload cars. Two of the harbour tugs carried out that move leaving two others for the rig.

Torino sporting the new Wallenius Wilhelmsen colour scheme.

The ship was built in 2009 by Mitsubishi,  Nagasaki and has a capacity of 6,354 cars (RT 43 type) and measures 61,828 gt, 22,160 dwt.

.