MaxPax and other action

 Today (October 6) was the busiest day of the cruise ship season with a reported 10,000 visitors  disembarking from Caribbean Princess (3100 passengers / 1200 crew), Enchanted Princess (3560 passengers / 1346 crew), Adventure of the Seas (3100 passengers/ 1185 crew) and Ocean Explorer (160 passengers / 74 crew). Unfortunately it was a very rainy day, with thunder showers and I expect many opted to stay on board. 

The Port is reporting a banner year so far with ship occupancy rates nearing 90%. The cruise industry is rebounding from COVID more quickly than expected, as the Port had expected closer to 50% capacity  when cruising resumed this year.

If the exhaust gas pumping from the Enchanted Princess was any indication, it was likely on full "hotel load" while tied up at Pier 22. 

 

Several years ago the port invested in "cold ironing" (providing shore power for ships), but today's demand probably exceeded capacity. The building in the left bottom foreground is the "cold ironing" facility - within  sight of a ship that certainly should be using shore power.

 

 At the other end of the port the Large Car and Truck Carrier (LCTC) Tulane arrived at Pier 9C to offload RoRo cargo. As usual the ship went into Bedford Basin and turned so that it could tie up starboard side to the pier. It is always impressive to see ships of this size in the Narrows, and passing under the bridges.

 

 

The British are coming (and going) and shipyard news

 It was a minor British invasion of Halifax this morning (October 5) as P+0's Aurora and Cunard's Queen Mary 2 (both actually part of Carnival PLC) tied up at adjacent berths. What with gloomy overcast conditions and early evening darkness I was only able to get underway photos of only the Aurora.

 There was a stiff breeze at 1700 hrs as Aurora was getting away and the tug Atlantic Beaver was called in to assist. Once Aurora was off the dock it let go the tug and sailed north and east of George's Island outbound for Sydney.

Built in 2000 by Jos. L.Meyer, Papenburg, the 76,152 gt ship has a capacity of 1,950 passengers (all berths) and 850 crew. It is also one of the better looking cruise ships despite the stylized Union flag graphics.

The ship is on an extended re-positioning voyage, sailing from Southampton September 18 and calling in Quebec City September 27-29 (extended stay due to Hurricane Fiona), Saguenay / Port Alfred September 30, and CornerBrook October 2. The brief last of smoke on departure was offered in lieu of a whistle salute.

Queen Mary 2, as befits the last great transatlantic liner, tied up at Pier 21-22, (with its bow extending part way across the end of Pier 23).

Constructed by Chantiers Atlantique St-Nazaire and delivered in  December 2003, the 149,215 gt ship has a capacity of 2,695 passengers and 1,253 crew and staff. 

Queen Mary 2 sailed from Le Havre September 16 and arrived in New York September 23, skirting Fiona. It then sailed to Quebec City, stopping over from September 29 to October 1 and Sept-Iles, QC October 3-4. It is now due in New York October 7.

On the more mundane commercial level, it was another first time caller for the Mediterranean Shipping Company. MSC Odessa arrived on the Turkey-Greece service via Spain and Portugal.

The ship was built in 2010 by Hyundai, Samho as Rio Chicago and carried that name until 2014. It then became Schubert. Earlier this year it was renamed again. Its new name pays tribute to the Ukranain port that has been under siege during the invasion by Russia.

The 41,331 gt, 51,687 dwt ship has a capacity of 4255 TEU.

Other News

The rumours have been spreading for some time, but it was made official today that Groupe Océan has acquired the Verreault shipyard in Méchins, QC. Océan, well known for its tugs, marine construction activity and dredging, also owns the Industrie Océan shipyard in Ile-aux-Coudres, QC (currently building tugs for the RCN) and a major ship repair unit (including a floating drydock) in Quebec City. The Verreault yard consists of a huge 800 ft x 184 ft (243.84 x 56.08m) graving dock and ship repair, fabrication and construction facilities on the north coast of the Gaspé peninsula. 

Verreault can accommodate the largest Great Lakes ships and regularly services Marine Atlantic ferries and Canadian Coast Guard vessels. The previously family owned yard will now be part of a large corporation with access to a huge pool of capital through Quebec government investment funds.

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Still at full steam and "Why This"

PSA Halifax's Atlantic Gateway is still processing a quite steady stream of ships. They continue to arrive, some from offshore anchorage where they have been waiting their turn.

Today's arrivals (October 3) started (in the dark) with Tropic Lissette for Tropical Shipping. The next arrivals were in full daylight this afternoon. 

Lagarfoss is westbound from Reykjavik and is en route to Portland , ME.

 The Lagarfoss has been a regular since 2014 when it was built by Rongcheng Shenfei Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Rongcheng, China. Measuring 10,119 gt, 11,811 dwt it has a capacity for 880 TEU (875 according to Eimskip) and carries a pair of 45 tonne SWL cranes. It likely has a good many reefer  plugs, but I can't find a reference to the number.

Also arriving this afternoon was MSC Aniello en route from Italy, via Sines, Portugal for Montreal for MSC's Canada Express 1.

 A 40,631 gt, 56,903 dwt ship with a capacity of 4056 TEU, including 150 reefers, it was built in 2000 by Hanjin Heavy Industry + Construction Co Ltd, Busan. On arrival it took the centre berth at Pier C, between Tropic Lissette at Pier 41 and Lagarfoss at Pier 42.

The brand new cruise ship Norwegian Prima arrived in Halifax for the first time this morning. I was mystified as to why it was assigned to Pier 31 when there were no ships scheduled for the usual berths at Piers 20, 21 and 22.

The ship was delivered by Fincantieri Marghera on July 29 of this year and entered service in August - the first of a projected six ships in the Prima class. At 143,535 gt it is a huge ship with a capacity of 3,215 passengers (lower berths).
 

Once alongside it was apparent why the ship went to Pier 31. It has what appear to be pairs of spiral waterslides projecting out from the ship's sides. These overhang the dock to such an extent that they would interfere with the port's gangway structures, and the buildings at Piers 20 to 22. To eliminate any such risk, the ship docked at the open pier - which is hardly welcoming to cruise ship passengers. (Due to port industrial activity there, pedestrain access is not permitted - passengers are bused to the Pier 22 terminal.)

Of course I consider these apppendages to be ridiculous, but the Norwegian Cruise Line (incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami) apparently knows what sells, and (quite obviously) are not concerned about traditional ship's lines. The ship is due again on October 8.

Another arrival this afternoon was Atlantic Sky from Antwerp for Atlantic Container Line, docking at PSA Fairview Cove.

As mentioned in a previous post, dockworkers in Liverpool, UK initiated job action eleven days ago, but have now returned to work and entered negotiations with the employer. They may walk out again October 11 to 17 if there is no agreement on demands. Atlantic Sky last called in Liverpool September 16-18, but has skipped the port westbound, calling instead at Antwerp (eastbound September 20-21), Hamburg (September 22-23) and Antwerp (westbound, September 24-26).

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BBC Nagasaki with plane parts

The general cargo ship BBC Nagasaki arrived at Pier 9C this morning (October 2) from Belfast, Northern Ireland.

 The 6351 gt, 9739 dwt ship's shell was built in 2011 by Jiangsu Changbo Shipyard Co in Jingjiang, China, and was fitted out and completed by the Volharding Shipyard in Foxhol, Netherlands. Launched as Sinus Aestuum it was chartered out on delivery as Thorco Commander and in 2016 shifted to BBC Chartering under the current name. Unlike many BBC ships its cranes are fairly light duty with a rated SWL of 60 tonnes each. They can work in tandem for a 120 tonne lift. The ship has the usual removable pontoon type tween decks, box shaped holds and ventilation of  the multi-purpose type ship.

With a last port listed as Belfast, it was no surprise when the ship began to unload aircraft components for Bombardier. The former Short Brothers factory in Belfast builds tails and fuselages which are shipped to Halifax and trucked to the final assembly plant in Quebec. 

The components, mounted on special frames and Mafi trailers, are usually sent from Belfast to Liverpool, UK from where the Atlantic Container Line carries them to Halifax as RoRo cargo. However British dockworkers are conducting rolling work stoppages in Liverpool and Felixstowe, so Bombardier has presumably chartered the ship to maintain deliveries.

Several tail sections and cylindrical fuselages were off loaded and will likely be on the road to their destinations in the next few days.

 

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Still More and More Boxes

 The continuous stream of ships at PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway continued today with little let up. The COSCO Shipping Himlayas sailed last evening and this morning another similar sized ship arrived. APL Sentosa (built by Hyundai Samho in 2014) is a regular on the joint Ocean Alliance, CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, OOCL service. Although not a record setter for Halifax, its 151,015 gt, 150,936 dwt and 13,892 TEU still rates as among the larger callers. Its first call here was April 10, 2020.

Again all but the very highest of the cranes had very little room over the deck load.

Also at the south end terminal was Oceanex Sanderling which used Pier 42 for containers then moved to Pier 36 for RoRo. The ship normally uses Pier 41 (which has a RoRo ramp, but also has the largest cranes). It usually sails on Fridays for St.John's but is now scheduled to sail  late this evening  (Saturday, October 1).

As soon as Oceanex Sanderling cleared Pier 42, Eimskip's Vivienne Sheri D was inbound from offshore anchorage. That leaves ZIM Yokohama still at outside anchorage waiting its turn.

The Vivienne Sheri D is a gearless 10,965 gt, 12,640 dwt vessel built by Naval Gijon SA in Spain in 2009. It has a capacity of 925 TEU including 200 reefer plugs. Intially named Pictor J it became Pictor in 2020 and has been a regular caller for Eimskip on its Rekjavik, Halifax, Portland, Argentia, Green Line service. 

In 2021 the Canadian company Doornekamp Shipping Ltd of Odessa, ON acquired the ship with the intention of operating it for their own fleet once the Eimskip charter elapses. Doornekamp also owns the Peyton Lynn C which runs on Spliethoff's monthly Cleveland Europe Express (CEE-Way) liner service from Antwerp along with Spliethoff ships.

In the non-commercial port activity CCGS Sir William Alexander moved from BIO to Pier 9C then to the SMRT Atlantic buoy off Herring Cove, before returning to BIO. See previous post from August 22.

The ship still looks fresh from its recent refit.

Also from BIO the visting British research vessel RRS James Cook (see previous post from September 27) moved over to Pier 9C. I expect it will be loading some specialist equipment there - I see a huge winch and spools of wire and a crane setting up on the dock.

I neglected to mention in my last post that this is not the ship's first visit to Halifax. It was also here December 22, 2019.

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