Back to Normal

 After a brief period of record cold temperatures February 3-4 when the mercury dropped to -25 degrees C (-13 F) in Halifax, there was a quick return to normal, and above, on February 5-6 when the high reached  +5C (41F). Several ships were late in arriving, probably to avoid the high winds and dangerous freezing spray.

Among the February 5 arrivals were two ships coming from the south, where conditions were slightly better. Viviene Sheri D running for Eimskip was en route from the US to Argentia, NL then Iceland and AS Felicia was on ZIM's Florida feeder service. 

Vivienne Sheri D had a dusting of frozen spray on its sides forward.
 

There was no frozen spray visible on AS Felicia.

On February 6 the NYK Deneb and Algoma Integrity arrived from the south, Cartagena and Portsmouth (Newington), NH respectively:

NYK Deneb headed directly for Fairview Cove.

Algoma Integrity also headed for Bedford Basin, but anchored waiting the CSL Kajika which was loading at Gold Bond Gypsum.

On February 6 the container ship MSC Alyssa arrived from Montreal, having travelled through a lot of ice on the St.Lawrence and very rough conditions in the Gulf. By the time it arrived in the afternoon, any sign of frozen spray had disappeared. It will top up cargo to ocean draft before heading back across the Atlantic.

The Siem Cicero Confucius arrived off Halifax February 3 and waited out the cold spell offshore until February 6 to enter port and tie up at Autoport. The ship sailed from Emden and is now headed for Baltimore.

The pilot boat Scotia Pilot accompanies the ship outbound. Rather than standing by at the pilot station in the lingering slop and swell, it remained in the harbour until it was time to set out to disembark the pilot.

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Fairview - big ship, big change

 The view of PSA's Fairview Cove container terminal is changing gradually as the oldest crane is gradually being dismantled. The crane has not been operable for some time, and is too small for some of the larger ships that are now calling, including today's arrival. Since PSA took over management of the facility last year they have been upgrading or replacing older equipment. There has been no announcement of another crane however, as the present complement seems to be able to handle the traffic.

Work on dismantling the old crane began in early January. As the above January 8 photo shows, it is much smaller than the other cranes. A large crawler crane (red colour) was positioned next to the old crane.

January 9 (above)

January 18 (above) a second crane was brought in.

January 19 (above), the second crane has a telescoping main boom and a fixed jib.

January 27 (above) work progresses after the outer boom is removed.

February 1 (above)

Rival terminal operator DP World has just received two cranes for its expanded Saint John NB pier (granted they are second hand cranes from Charleston SC, but they are long reach), and the Southend Atlantic Hub terminal will also be getting more cranes this year. 

Ships served at PSA Fairview Cove are limited in size due to restricted bridge clearances, and today's (February 1) arrival is just about as large as they can handle. (The ACLS ConRos are the largest ships).

NYK Virgo arrived on THE Alliance's EC5 service. Built in 2007 by Hyundai, Ulsan, it is a 97,825 gt, 103,284 dwt ship with a capacity of 9,012 TEU. It employed three tugs to make its way through the harbour to Bedford Basin and Fairview Cove.

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Wallenius Wilhelmsen - double header

Autocarriers from Wallenius Wilhelmsen are such familiar sights in Halifax that they draw little attention. However when there are two in port at the same time, it is worthy of mention.

Don Carlos picks up its tugs inbound for Autoport.

As per a previous post the Don Carlos arrived at Autoport on Sunday January 29. After discharging a mix of European autos it sailed again at noon time on Monday. While it was at Autoport, its younger sister ship Elektra arrived at Pier 9C early Monday. It offloaded RoRo cargo consisting of the usual hoard of JCBs, several Sandvik mine trucks and a mix of shrink wrapped boats an other wheeled equipment.

Only a small portion of Elektra's cargo had been offloaded when I took this photo.

Elektra dates from 1999 (Don Carlos from 1997) when it was built by Daewoo Okpo. As with its sister, it was lengthened 28 meters in 2005 and is now 67,264 gt, 28,126 dwt with a capacity of 7,194  autos.  Its stern ramp is rated for 125 tonnes. 

The Elektra moved to Autoport this morning (January 31) to unload cars, while the berth at Pier 9C was immediately occupied by the BBC Topaz (see previous post). Autoport operations were delayed today by a 5cm snow fall, so the ship is now scheduled to sail tomorrow Febraury 1.

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BBC Topaz at Pier 9C

The heavy lift ship BBC Topaz arrived at Pier 9C this morning, January 31, to load a consignment of four package boilers, which arrived in Halifax some time ago on rail cars. The boilers were built by IST (Innovative Steam Techologies) based in Cambridge, ON. The "Once Through Heat Recovery Steam Generators" employ waste heat from gas turbines and other industrial processes, to generate steam.

Large green and yellow package boilers on rail cars are positioned along the pier face ready to be lifted on the ship by its own cranes.(A fourth unit is out of sight to the right).

BBC Chartering operates the BBC Topaz which was built in 2010 by Sainty Jiangdu shipyard in China. The 12,810 gt, 14,288 dwt ship is equipped with two 400 tonne capacity and one 80 tonne capacity cranes. It also has large and unobstructed holds with two position tween decks and can be configured to carry a wide variety of heavy and oversize cargoes. With its accommodation block and wheelhouse forward, it can carry high deck loads that would otherwise obstruct visibility. 

The ship was launched as the Eris J but delivered as Industrial Fighter. In 2013 it became HHI Everest then Eris J again in 2014, Daniella in 2015, Eris J in 2015, Industrial Fighter again in 2018 and BBC Topaz in 2019. Although operating in the BBC Chartering fleet the ship is owned by Jüngerhans Heavy-Lift and is still shown as member of the fleet on the Reederei Jüngerhans website as Eris J.

Weather permitting (it is expected to snow all day) the loading should be completed by late afternoon. The boilers, built as package units, are relatively easy to stow, as they don't require special rigging to secure. The destination for the boilers is unknown to me, but the ship is giving an ETA of February 7 for the Panama Canal.

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More Algo - revised

 Algoma Tankers Ltd continues to make the news, this time not with a purchase, but with a sale*. The Algonorth a frequent visitor to Halifax has been sold* to an Algoma partner company Furetank and is en route to Kalundborg, Denmark for handover. A reliable report says that it will be drydocked, then renamed.[Algoma and Furetank operate a 50/50 owned company in European trades]. 

[ Revision - there ship may not have been sold, but has been transferred the 50.50 operation]

The ship was last in Halifax earlier this month, arrriving January 11 from Lévis, QC. After unloading at Imperial Oil, it moved over to Pier 28 where it was bow to bow with one of Algoma's recent additions the Chantaco, which was subsequently renamed Algotitan. The latter is still in Halifax and is due to sail this evening, January 30, for Sydney, NS, with its first cargo.

On January 17 Algonorth moved back to Imperial Oil and loaded for Sydney, sailing January 18. Arriving there January 19 it discharged cargo and departed January 20 for Baltimore.

The purpose of its visit to Baltimore is unknown, but its sailing draft was reported to be 6.7m (nearly 22 ft), so it must have loaded some cargo there. It sailed January 25 and is now due in Kalundborg on February 8.

At 12,164 gt,16,979 dwt, 144m x 23m, the Algonorth has a slightly smaller cargo capacity than the Algotitan's 11,793 gt, 18,734 dwt, 143m x 23m. Built in 2008 it is one year newer than the Algotitan. Both were built in Turkey, but at different yeards, Algonorth at Tuzla Gemi and Algotitan at R.M.K. Tuzla. There must be some feature of the Algonorth that makes it desirable to Furetank, but as previously reported it is due for survey this year.

Algonorth's bright red hull paint and white racing stripe made it an easily identifiable (and admired) member of the Algoma Tankers fleet.

 

Unfortunatetly, several years of work in the Seaway locks left the ship much worse for the wear (at least in appearance).

Algoma did not own the ship long enough for a required drydocking and repainting in traditional Algoma colours, so it was a standout in the fleet even if a bit shop worn. Originally named Gan-Gesture for various Turkish owners it was renamed Ramira in 2009 by Swedish owners Alvtank Rederi AB and carried that name until 2019 when renamed by Algoma.

Algoma Tankers also operates the 2004 built Algoscotia on the east coast. It is a 13,352 gt, 18,610 dwt ship. The company also has ships that see mostly Great Lakes service and rarely travel to the Atlantic. They sold one of those ships earlier this year too. The Algoma Hansa, renamed Algo sailed from Halifax January 21 and is due in Las Palmas February 2 where  it will be drydocked before taking up a new career reported to be as a shuttle tanker, possibly in Africa.

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Polar Circle - heading north

 The icebreaking tug supplier Arctic Circle made a splendid sight when it sailed this afternoon (January 30) for St.John's, NL.

Its Norwegian owners, G.C.Reiber Shipping AS, withdrew the ship from work in the Russian north late last year and it sailed via the Panama Canal arriving in Halifax October 7. Since then it has spent most of the time at anchor in Bedford Basin aside from one quick trip to Boston and back December 16 to 22. It also came alongside for provisions.

There has been much speculation on what might be in store for the ship, including work for the Canadian Coast Guard, to fill in for the CCGS Terry Fox which will be entering a life extension  refit. So far no official announcement has been made, but if a trip to St.John's includes a drydocking, then there might be some news forthcoming.

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Meet and Greet

 The navigation channels leading into Halifax from sea and within the harbour itself can be narrow in places (viz. The Narrows) and therefore large ships heading in opposite directions need to coordinate their "meets". Failure to do so can have disastrous results, and the December 6, 1917 explosion is still a reminder of what can happen. 

There were two big ship meets in Halifax Harbour today, January 29, and both were well co-ordinated by the respective harbour pilots and went off without a hitch.

The first meet was between the inbound MOL Experience heading for PSA Fairview Cove from Antwerp on THE Alliance's AL5 service and NYK Rigel outbound for Southampton on the eastward leg of the same service. The ships arranged to meet "port to port" in the broad section of the lower harbour north of George's Island, with NYK Rigel taking the channel west of George's Island and MOL Experience taking to the east.

As MOL Experience rounds George's Island inbound...

...NYK Rigel passes close to the Halifax shore outbound...

...giving lots of room...

...for the ships to pass each other safely....

.. and for MOL Experience uninterrupted passage to the Narrows and into Bedford Basin.
 

MOL Experience built by Hyundai, Ulsan in 2007, is a 54,098 gt, 62,953 dwt ship with a capacity of 4803 TEU including 330 reefers. It carried the name APL Experience from 2008 to 2010.

NYK Rigel built by Hyundai, Samho in 2009 is a 55,487 gt, 66,051 dwt ship with a capacity of 4922 TEU including 330 reefers.

The other meet was in mid-afternoon and conditions were not quite as placid, as the wind had picked up a bit, however visibility was unlimited and conditions were good. At PSA Halifax Hub, Southend Terminal, the MSC Aniello was getting underway. The ship arrived early this morning from Italy and Portugal to lighter off some cargo to reduce draft before proceeding to Montreal on MSC's Canada Express 1 service.

Once clear of the berth the ship met the inbound autocarrier Don Carlos in the Middle Ground, the area between the Ocean Terminals and the Mauger's Beach lighthouse. MSC Aniello favoured the western side of the channel for a "port to port" meet with Don Carlos in the eastern or main channel.

 

MSC Aniello continued on to the western channel as tugs met the Don Carlos and headed for Autoport.

MSC Aniello dates from 2000 when it was delivered by Hanjin Heavy Industry + Construction in Busan, and is a 40,631 gt, 56,903 dwt ship with a capacity of 4056 TEU including 150 reefers.

Don Carlos was built in 1997 by Daewoo, Okpo and lengthened 8.6 meters in 2006 by Hyundai Vinashin in Vietnam and is now 62,141 gt, 28,147 dwt with a capacity of 7194 CEU. When the ship was lengthened the large billboard lettering on the sides of the ship was not re-centered, giving a slightly unbalanced look.

Not only were these meets an example of well planned pilotage, but the ships themselves represented the major shipbuilders of South Korea.

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