Some Boxes Moving, Oil too

 The port was back to full operation today with PSA Halifax working two ships. While there is no glitch in PSA's operations, there may be a delay for one of the lines it serves.

The Icelandic shipping line Eimskip's vessel Lagarfoss en route from Reykjavik for Halifax had a main engine breakdown December 27, while some 230 miles off Gardskagi. The Iceland Coast Guard took the ship in tow and it is due in Reykjavik, December 31. 

A dramatic night time photo on Eimskip's website shows the ICG making up the tow:

Icelandic Coast Guard photo

Not only does the Shipping line connect Iceland to eastern North America, it also works a feeder service from Halifax to the Boston area through Portland, Maine, carrying boxes for other lines such as CMA CGM.

Both ZIM and MSC had ships at PSA Halifax today. The ZIM ship was not one of their usual vessels, but was a spot charter,  ALS Apollo at Pier 42.

Built in 2009 by Samsung, Koje, the ship was launched as Benedict Schulte but delivered as UASC Jubail for a charter that last until 2015 when it reverted to its original name. It became APL Apollo in 2017. A 40,030 gt, 51,758 dwt vessel, it has a capacity of 4253 TEU.

At Pier 41, MSC Rochelle was making another call for MSC. It had called previously during the Montreal labour dispute in August. No official announcement has been made, but it seems MSC has decided to speed up its import (westbound) Europe -St.Lawrence service by calling Halifax first, at least for a trial period.

MSC is noted for operating older, but interesting, ships, and this one is no exception. Built in 1997 by Hyundai Ulsan, it is a 53,324 gt,, 62,000 dwt carrier with a 4688 TEU capacity. It started life as Pugwash Senator for a ten year charter. In 2007 it was renamed CSAV Appennini and in 2012 became Pugwash. After a short stint as MSC Curitiba in 2013 it reverted to Pugwash in 2014, but became MSC Rochelle later the same year.

The village of Pugwash on Nova Scotia's Northumberland Shore achieved renown when the industrialist Cyrus Eaton  (a native of the village) established a conference centre and conferences on science and world affairs, eventually winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995. 

Despite good close up observation from the breakwater, stacks of boxes block a clear view. As unloaded containers pass the "gear boxes" in the foreground, longshore workers remove connector twist locks, and deposit them in the boxes, which are returned to the ship.

Both Imperial Oil and Irving Oil had ships in today. The latter had Acadian, from Saint John, and the former has Atlantic Journey from Garyville, LA. a 29,256 gt, 49,999 dwt ship, built by Hyundai Mipo in 2018. I hope they had a paint warranty - the ship is looking very scruffy for only two years old.

 

This is the second ship in the last few days from Garyville, site of a Marathon Oil refinery. Imperial had been sourcing product from Antwerp until quite recently.

Speaking of scruffy, Imperial Oil has plans to upgrade the number three oil dock next year. The jetty and catwalks are badly deteriorated. They will also be installing mooring buoys that will allow ships to remain alongside in bad weather, but will likely need the services of a line boat to secure the ships' lines to the buoys.

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More Big Ships

 There was another 10,000 TEU ship at PSA Halifax today, following on after yesterday's 10,000 TEU ship. As I have suggested previously, the novelty will soon wear off as the 10,000 TEU benchmark becomes commonplace.

Yesterday's caller was CMA CGM Chennai, a ship that has called here several times before, and is the first 10,000 TEU ship to be considered a "regular": http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2018/11/cma-cgm-chennai-10000-teu.html

Today's arrival is APL Gwangyang for its first visit. Built in 2012 by Hyundai, Ulsan, it is a 113,735 gt, 123,159 dwt ship with a capacity of 10,700 TEU (including 700 reefers.) It berthed at Pier 41.

With the re-opening of the breakwater walkway it is possible to get a close up look at the ship, but  to get an overall view is difficult  except from the Dartmouth side of the harbour. 

    There was still lots of room at PSA Halifax, with the newly extended pier. so the ZIM feeder Tampa Trader looked very small at pier 42. [See http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2020/06/trading-closer-to-home.html  ]

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A Merry Christmas

Thanks to the Longshore workers union it appears that the Port of Halifax will be quiet for a couple of days to celebrate Christmas. Overtime rates for unionized port workers are extremely high for Christmas day, which certainly discourages most shippers from scheduling ships. Even today, Christmas Eve, there were no arrivals or departures scheduled, and there did not appear to be any work on Niovi.GR which is in the process of loading wood pellets. (Not grain as per previous post).

Oceanex Sanderling was tied up at pier 36, with its RoRo ramp down, but no work going on this afternoon.

Given that there will be little activity in the harbour, there will also be little activity on this blog. However before signing off for a few days I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, hoping that the restrictions we are all experiencing will not be too onerous.

Business in the port may be quite busy between Christmas and New Year, so Shipfax is standing by for action.

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Full House at BIO

 The Bedford Institute has a full house for the holidays and as a result is farming out some of its craft to other locations in the harbour. The Canadian Coast Guard in Halifax has added two ships to its fleet this year, with no retirements, so far, so space is at a premium.

CCGS Hudson returned to port December 4 for winter layup and will be in refit until the end of March. A cocoon has already been installed to permit some sort of climate controlled work on her decks.

The CCGS Alfred Needler is idle for Christmas, but not undergoing any specific major maintenance, so has taken up temporary residence at Pier 9.

Despite delivery of new vessels, Alfred Needler is scheduled to remain in service for some time to come, and in fact was scheduled for drydocking this month.

Also at BIO is CCGS Jean Goodwill, recently delivered, but not in full service yet. That may not happen until after March 31, so it will need to be alongside a lot until then.

Also the Capt. Jacques Cartier will be in port over Christmas, taking up some more dock space. Most research vessels do not go to sea during the holidays.

Even with the additional ships, BIO is still down two vessels from normal strength. CCGS Edward Cornwallis is in Vessel Life Extension at Shelburne and CCGS Earl Grey is in drydock in St.John's.

CCGS Sir William Alexander was in today, possibly for crew change, occupying the last open berth. It soon returned to SAR patrol.

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NIOVI.GR - new twist in naming

 In some of my more curmudgeonly posts, I have decried current naming themes for ships, due to lack of originality [oh yes - see previous post] but today's subject is a member of a fleet with an originak scheme for naming. Many of M-Maritime's ships have a domain name followed by the extension for Greece. Thus Niovi. Gr. (Niovi or Niobe is a figure from Greek mythology.)

The ship is tied up at Pier 28 loading grain, and is thus almost impossible to photograph (maybe when it sails I can do better).

The ship itself is quite new, delivered in October 2019 by Namura  Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Hakodate Dock. Following current practice for Handysize bulkers, it is double hulled, with five holds. Holds 2, 3 and 4 are box shaped and served by four 30 tonne cranes, with grabs.

M-Maritime, based in Greece, manages about fifteen ships of several different classes, and assigned to operating pools. Niovi.Gr appears to be in the Hamburg based TMA Bulk Pool.

This is not the first time that a domain name has appeared on a ship however. In 1998 Canada Steamship Lines was among the first - if not the very first - to show the company's web address on the ship's side.

The ship was Atlantic Erie *(built in 1985 as Hon. Paul Martin, renamed in 1988) a self-unloader of Seaway size. It was repainted as part of a drydocking at Verreault Maritime in Méchins, QC, and when it emerged in October 1998 the ship had " www.csl.ca" on its sides instead of Canada Steamship Lines or the simpler CSL of its fleet mates. 

Web sites are de rigeur for companies now, but CSL was certainly ahead of its time in 1998 posting theirs on the ship's flanks. 

Seen here in the pool between the Snell and Eisenhower locks of the US portion of the St.Lawrence Seaway, the Atlantic Erie displays CSL's web address.

 * Atlantic Erie incurred severe bottom damage when it grounded January 11, 2015 in the Magdalen Islands. It was patched up sufficiently to be towed to layup in Montreal. In 2016 it was towed to Aliaga, Turkey for scrap.

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Halifax - lots of integrity

Use of the word "integrity" seems to be on the increase. Once it was just an assumed characteristic of most people and things. It now seems necessary to assure others that you, your company or its product has integrity. Overstating it does little to reassure me, but it does make those companies that can bring themselves to use it a sort of cachet, if only in their own minds. 

The Port of Halifax has had lots of "integrity" lately with three ships of the name showing up in within a few days. Yesterday it was the autocarrier Integrity operating for American Roll On Roll Off Carriers. (That company likes the name so well it also has a ship called ARC Integrity in its fleet too.)

When IT International Telecom added another cable ship to its fleet, based at Pier 9A in Halifax, they named it IT Integrity. It returned to port December 12 from a repair mission to Cabot Strait.

Passing Pier 9A today on its way inbound to National Gypsum, Algoma Integrity caught the sunlight quite nicely.

The ship more or less inherited its name from its original owners, Canadian Gypsum who called it Gypsum Integrity. Since they intended it for use in our northerly climate, they equipped it with enclosed bridge wings, giving excellent weather protection year round. The ship is on a more or less regular run these days delivering raw gypsum to Baltimore, and other US ports. It was here twice in November.

Current owners Algoma Central Corp, gave the ship its current name in 2015, and placed it in the CSL Americas pool.

Aspirational and perhaps inspirational names for ships seem common nowadays, but as with many fads and fashions they do get overworked after a time. Perhaps this particular word has hit that mark and thus lost its integrity. 

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MSC Poh Lin and Carmen

 Another MSC ship arrived in Halifax today. This one is a first time caller, unlike the December 12 arrival MSC Brianna which was here before August 24.

MSC Poh Lin is slightly larger at 54,774 gt, 66,786 dwt, with a capacity of 4862 TEU. The ship was built by Hyundai Samho in 2004.

I took the pictures from the newly opened walkway on the extended Pier 42 at PSA Halifax. I am grateful to have access once again after a year, during which it was closed for rebuilding.

The new walkway gives a much closer view of ships, compared to some other vantage points, such as the one I chose for the arrival of Carmen a short while later.

Built by Daewoo, Okpo in 2011, it is a 74,258 gt, 31,143 dwt ship with a capacity of 7,934 cars (RT43). Its name is not a pun but follows the Wallenius practice of naming ships after operatic characters.

MSC on the other hand selects women's names for its ships, but as far as I know they are generic, not recognizing any specific person.

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