Tulane again

 Wilhelmsen's Large Car and Truck Carrier (LCTC) Tulane, a regular caller was back at Autoport and Pier 31 over the past two days. As usual it unloaded cars and machinery at the two terminals (respectively).

Unlike on previous calls in 2019 and 2020 I was able to see the ship from the starboard side and noted the absence of a side ramp. Most car carriers have them, but they are never used in Halifax, or most other ports, so they have been apparently been omitted from some newer vessels.

The ship is also still sporting the "old" Wilhelmsen red hull colour. The merged Wallenius Wilhelmsen fleet, is gradually being repainted in a new paint scheme,with a two tone blue/gray hull. That may not occur for this ship until June 2022 when it is due for its next "five year" drydocking and class renewal survey.

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ZIM Tarragona

 On one hand the arrival of ZIM Tarragona today was routine as the ship is a regular caller for ZIM, however another ship operating for ZIM did not sail on time and so ZIM Tarragona was forced to "loiter" (the naval term) in number one anchorage until the feeder Tampa Trader had vacated Pier 41 at PSA Halifax. 

ZIM Tarragona used the western channel, which has recently been marked with additional navigation buoys as the preferred channel for larger ships. Thus the outbound tanker Torm Helvig, as the lighter draft vessel, used the eastern channel as it departed for Amsterdam.

ZIM Tarragona, 40,542 gt, 50,088 dwt, built in 2010 by Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipyard has a container cpacity of 4256  TEU, including 698 reefers.

Pier 42 was occupied by MSC Eleni on its first regular call for MSC. Ships of that line will be stopping in Halifax to drop off containers thus reducing draft while inbound from Europe (in this case Sines, Portugal)  before sailing on to Montreal. The ship was here in 2019 for the same reason, but as a "one of".

MSC Eleni dates from 2004  when it was built by Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Ltd in Busan. At 54,881 gt, 68,254 dwt, it can carry 5060 TEU including 400 reefers.

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Torm Helwig arrives

 The tanker Torm Helwig arrived from Saint John, NB today and tied up at Irving Oil's Woodside Terminal.

Ships of the Danish company Torm are easily recognizable for their unique colour scheme. Torm Helvig dates from 2005 when it was built by STX Shipbuilding Co in Jinhae, South Korea and measures 30,180 gt and 46,18 dwt.

The ship presumably sailed from Irving Oil's Amsterdam facility, with refined product, and judging by the ship's draft, delivered most of it to Saint John.

Looking from a different angle, it appears that the ship has been retrofitted with an exhaust gas scrubber system housed on the ship's funnel. Not as bulky as the one on the Irving tankers, it is still far more prominent than a typical funnel. Sister ship Torm Ragnhild (also built by STX in 2005) on a previous visit to Halifax in June 2015 exhibits the original profile.

The scrubber system allows the ship to continue to use heavy fuel while meeting more srtringent emission requirements recently brought into force.

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Lifting On

 The Canadian Coast Guard lifeboat Cadboro Bay took to the air briefly today. A crane lifted the boat aboard the re-purposed offshore supplier Atlantic Condor as the first step in its transfer to the west coast.

After a dry run yesterday, the boat returned to the BIO base, then came back alongside this morning at the IEL dock in Dartmouth where the operation began in earnest.

Cadboro Bay was built by Chantier Forillon in Gaspé and arrived in Halifax for the first time October 12, 2020. It has seen some service as a stand-in for the Sambro lifeboat while it was off for refit.

See http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2020/10/cadboro-bay-first-of-two.html

Sister boat Florencia Bay, which arrived from its builder, Hike Metal Products in Wheatley, ON on October  13, 2020 is also at the Bedford Institute, and will also be loaded aboard for the westbound trip.

See: http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2020/10/florencia-bay-second-of-two.html

The Atlantic Condor was been a familiar sight in Halifax, following its construction by Halifax Shipyard in 2011. It worked a ten year contract supporting Encana's offshore gas activity. When the gas was depleted and the installation decommissioned last year the vessel was laid up Stephenville, NL.

http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2021/01/new-gig-for-atlantic-condor.html

Atlantic Towing Ltd contracted to transport the two Bay class lifeboats to Victoria, BC before the end of March. The Atlantic Condor just returned to Halifax October February 8 after drydocking in St. John's. It has been fitted with special cradles (not visible) to support the boats for their voyage.

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Trawler Primo sinks in Lunenburg

 This winter has been hard on old trawlers, with two coming to grief in recent days.

In Halifax, commercial and Coast Guard crews are still at work removing contaminants from the Hydra Mariner (ex Cape Mira) which drifted ashore on Navy Island after parting its mooring line in a storm January 14. See January 30, 2021

Now secured with a line ashore (!) Hydra Mariner is boomed off at Navy Island with CGE 310 alongside.

The latest casualty - and a far more serious one - is also a product of the same  George T. Davie + Sons shipyard in Lauzon, QC. The Primo also dates from 1963 when it was built for St.Lawrence Sea Products as a side trawler.

Primo preparing to haul out at Dartmouth Marine Slips.

The vessel was delivered in March 1964 and made its own way through 740 miles of severe ice en route to Lunenburg, without icebreaker assistance. In December of the same year it had a fire on board while 23 miles off Halifax. Crews from HMCS Terra Nova and HMCS Gatineau put out the fire, but five crew were injured suffering from exposure and one was missing and presumed lost.

In 1982 it tipped over on the slip at Sydney Engineering and Drydock, but was righted with only minor damage. 

Safely on the slip at STENPRO in Liveprool, Primo shows off its fine hull lines.

After several changes of ownership it was converted for scallop dragging and fished out of Riverport, NS until 2005 when it retired from fishing. New owners planned to convert the boat to a cargo ship to work under sail, but this work seems to have stalled and it has remain neglected in Lunenburg for many years.

Zebroid (at left) was converted to sail, but Primo (at right) languished at the pier.

Under the weight of a heavy deck load of snow from the storm of February 7 the boat gradually sank alongside its berth.

Prospects for anything beyond scrapping seem unlikely for the veteran vessel.

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BBC Opal - in before the storm

 With a major winter snow storm approaching ships have the option to come into port or to remain out at sea. The auto carrier NOCC Oceanic will be taking the latter course and riding out the predicted high winds and heavy snow, rather than tying up at Autoport. That facility relies on mooring buoys and has only a light jetty which could well be damaged by a high sided ship alongside during a storm. Also attempting to unload autos during a heavy snow fall may not be wise.

The heavy lift ship BBC Opal took the former option, entered port and tied up this afternoon. What appears to be a heavy object, such as a transformer, is awaiting the ship on a rail car at Pier 27. It is unlikely that it could be loaded before the snow starts later this afternoon, but perhaps blocking and other prep work in the ship's hold can proceed under cover.

BBC Opal was launched as Senda J. in 2011 by Sainty Shipbuilding (Jiangdu) Corp in China. It is a 12,810 gt, 14,359 dwt vessel with two 400 tonne and one 80 tonne capacity cranes. The two large cranes can work in tandem for an 800 tonne lift. The ship's holds are box shaped and "open hatch" (meaning that the hatch coamings do not overhang the sides of the holds).

The ship can also carry 958 TEU (nominal) or 683 at 14 tonnes, and has 28 reefer plugs on deck.

The ship was renamed Industrial Faith on delivery, but reverted to Senda J. later in 2011. It became Mirabella in 2015, Industrial Faith again in 2016 and finally assumed its current name, BBC Opal in 2019. [There was a Dutch heavy lifter named Mirabella - a different ship - which called in Halifax in 1986 for Jumbo Shipping, carrying locomotives to Indonesia. See October 27, 2016.]

The ship is one of more than a dozen ships of this design in the 150 ship BBC Chartering fleet operated by Briese Schiffahrts for a variety of owners. Interestingly the ship is also listed in the owner's Reederei Juengerhans fleet, managed by the specialist heavy lift brokers ARKON Shipping and Projects. Also oddly the ship is still carried on the Juengerhans fleet list as Senda J (with no period after the "J").

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Follow up on Giulia I

 I feel that I did not express my sympathies adequately in yesterday's post. 

To the families and crew mates of the deceased seafarer from Giulia I I do wish to express my deepest condolences. I understand that the wonderful local Filipino community in Halifax is providing what support they can to the crew and as always the Mission to Seafarers is there to assist. Also the International Transport Workers Federation is working on behalf of the crew to arrange for relief / repatriation since their employment contract(s) ended some time ago.

To free up Pier 27 for tomorrow's arrival of the heavy lift ship BBC Opal, the Giulia I moved this afternoon, with tug assistance, to Pier 9C. The ship seemed to be in good order, moving under its own power, so perhaps it will be cleared to sail as soon crew issues are resolved. As their are no international airline flights in and out of Halifax, it may take some time to bring a new crew from overseas.

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