Contship Cup - back again and Franbo Lohas move

 Contship Cup

The ZIM feeder ship Contship Cup is back in Halifax after making a month-long loop to the west coast of South America. It made its first arrival here on March 25 on the ZCA service, and has since returned to New York, Kingston (Jamaica), Callao (Peru), Paita (Peru), Kingston, Miami, Philadelphia and New York.

The ZCA's southern terminus, Paita, was founded in 1532 and is a major seaport for Peru handling 650,000 TEU annually. From the number of temperature controlled boxes visible on the Contship Cup it appears that the ZCA carries a substantial amount of produce cargo. It is also a linking service to ZIM's wholly owned Intra Asia shipping company Gold Star Line, which also has reefer containers on board.

The ship appears to be carrying more containers this time, but as Halifax is the northern terminus of the ZCA it is not surprising that the ship is not deeply loaded.

Franbo Lohas

At Pier 9C the  Franbo Lohas completed loading cable racks and moved out to anchor in Bedford Basin.

This is the usual pattern for these ships, which sometimes remain at anchor for weeks before sailing to Portsmouth, NH to load fibre optic submarine cable. I note that a sister ship the Franbo Logic cleared Cape Town April 20 and is due in Halifax May 12 - presumably also to load cable racks.

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Mixed Bag

 Halifax harbour is noted for its variety of shipping activity. Today, April 28, lived up that reputation, as follows:

An unusual early arrival was the ferry Fundy Rose in for a week's in-water refit. As a result there will be no ferry service between Saint John, NB and Digby, NS until May 5. Operators of the service, Bay Ferries Ltd, also run the CAT service from Yarmouth to Bar Harbor, ME and the Northumberland Ferries between Caribou, NS and Wood Islands, PE. 

Fundy Rose was built in 2000 by Daewoo Heavy Industries in Okpo, South Korea as Superstar Ithaki, but was delivered as Blue Star Ithaki. It was temporarily renamed Canada 2014 for its delivery trip from Greece to Canada in November 2014. After its first refit in Halifax, it was registered as Fundy Rose April 8, 2015 and entered service soon after. Because it is owned by the Crown by way of the Minister of Transport, it is registered in Ottawa. Bay Ferries Ltd is the operator and responsible for maintenance.  

The ship had initial modifications and subsequent refits in Halifax in previous years, but must go to another port when drydocking is required as Halifax has no available drydock. (Saint John does not have convenient facilities, in part due to the extreme tidal range.)

Halifax is a busy container port, handling about 500,000 TEU per year. (2024 statistics are not available yet but will likely be less than that number). However this morning's container ship arrival was not to load or unload containers. The Adams arrived to undergo invasive species examination by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. 

The ship has recently been transferrred from an Asian container service and requires clearance before it can enter other Canadian ports. It operates for Hapag-Lloyd under charter on the new Gemini Cooperation, with Maersk. The AL1 / TA3 service from North Europe to North America is not scheduled to call in Halifax, so this is a "one of" call. Its port rotaton is Saint John /Hamburg / Wilhelmshaven/ Newark / Norfolk / Baltimore and Saint John.

The Adams was built in 2003 by Koyo Dockyard Co in Mihara, Japan. It was orginally named APL Ireland, becoming ACE Ireland in 2012, and Venetiko in 2013. It was renamed Adams in 2021. The 66,462 gt, 67,009 dwt ship has a capacity of 5928 TEU. It sailed after a few hours at anchor.
 

The bulker CSL Tacoma arrived for a cargo gypsum. The stockpile at Gold Bond's lower Burnside / Wright's Cove has seldom been so large. CSL Tarantau, is a Trillium class ship, built in 2013 by Chengxi Shipyard in Jiangyin, China with a tonnages of 43,691gt comes and 71,279 dwt.It was built for CSL Americas pool partner Klaveness and named Balto. In 2016 Klaveness withdrew from the pool and its ships were divided up with the other pool partner, Algoma.
 

The ship is a regular caller in Halifax carrying its gypsum cargoes to several US east coast ports. 

An early afternoon arrival was the tanker CL Virginia Woolf with refined product from New York for Irving Oil.

Just less than a year old, it was delivered by New Times Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Jingjiang, China,  in June 2024. With tonnages of 30,259 gt, 49,359 dwt, it is classed as LR1 (Long Range 1). Despite its Chinese ownership it is managed by Synergy Denmark A/S  a 700 ship operator of tankers, bulkers and auto carriers.

 There was also activity in Bedford Basin where two ships have been at anchor.

The Franbo Lohas arrived from Capetown, April 24 and anchored well out in the northern anchorages. It is a familiar ship in Halifax as a submarine cable carrier. Each time it has a cargo of cable to load in Portsmouth, NH it comes to Halifax to be fitted with special racking in the hold to spool the cable.

  The Honda shipyard in Saiki, Japan built the ship in 2016. One of a dozen or more similar ships, built for Thorco, it was delivered as Thorco Lohas. The 13,110 gt, 16,966 dwt ship has box shaped holds, moveable tween decks and a pair of 50 tonne SWL cranes. It was renamed Frambo Lohas in 2021.

It has now moved in to Pier 9C presumably to be fitted out again.  It was very windy in the Basin and the ship was assigned two tugs to keep in on course and to turn it off Pier 9C.

The two newest tugs in Halifax, Atlantic Ash and Atlantic Maple were assigned. They seemed a bit larger than needed for the job, but one of the Halifax tugs, Atlantic Fir appears to be out of service after its crunch yesterday [see post].
 

When the Atlantic Pilotage Authority's regular pilot boats are unavailable to transfer pilots inside the harbour, Dominion Diving Ltd provides a launch service. Today their usual boats were all over the map - as far away as the Strait of Canso, working elsewhere in the port or well offshore (unknown reason). They therefore called out the Dominion Pursuit to take the pilot out to the Franbo Lohas. It was certainly a splish-splash trip with stiff winds kicking up white caps in the Basin.

As a vessel of under 14 gt, it is registered by number (which never changes), C15244NS and its name is unofficial. Its original "name" - also unofficial - was Louis Bérubé. It was built for the Department of Fisheries, by AMT Marine Inc in St-Antoine-de-Tilly, QC. Acquired by Dominion Diving in 2004 it was "renamed" in 2007. The boat also sees duties as a dive tender and lines boat.
 

The other ship anchored in Bedford Basin is the crude oil tanker Goldway which arrived in ballast April 25. As noted in this blog on that date, it had recently changed ownership and as predicted the transfer includes a change in funnel marking and name.

 

Seen from afar today the funnel has acquired new colurs - although what I could see may not be the final scheme. The ship's name Goldway still appears on the stern, but it has been renamed - officially - and appears as Nordic Moon on official web sites.

If a better picture becomes available later today it will be posted below:

 

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Amazoneborg delivers

Ships of the Durch company Royal Wagenborg are well known at St.Lawrence River ports where they load "forest products" - generally paper, but also aluminum ingots. They have a variety of ships including stern and side loaders as well as the more common , multi-purpose, open-hatch, crane equipped type. They generally trade to North European ports in Ireland, England and France. Thw company runs more than 160 ships in

Last year, when Atlantic Container Line stopped handling the RoRo cargoes of aircraft components, manufactured in Northern Ireland, a variety of spot charter general cargo ships have landed the parts by ship's cranes at Pier 9C. Since Wagenborg ships are regularly crossing the Atlantic - usually light - they would be a likely carrier depending on availability.

Today, April 27, saw the arrival in Halifax from Belfast, of Wagenborg's Amazoneborg, a 11,864 gt, 17,355 dwt ship built in 2007 by Hudong Zhonghua, Shanghai. It is a multi-purpose type with all the usual features of open hatch (no overhanging of hatches over holds - no understow), fully box shaped holds, double hull, moveable pontoon tween decks and the other typical features, including de-humidified holds and three 60 tonne SWL deck cranes (partly combinable). It is a two hold ship, with hydraulically operated pontoon hatches. It is  also ice classed and can carry containers in the hold and on deck, but no container capacity is listed.

The ship tied up at Pier 9C where there was just room enough to land what appears to be a fuselage. (Many wind generator monopiles take up most of the open pier space.)

 The component sits on its own multi-axle trailer, which will require special permits to travel on the highway,and then probably only in the middle of the night.

It only took a few hours for the ship to land the component, and it was ready sail in less than five hours. When it let go from the pier it did not use a tug, and headed directly for Bedford Basin to turn and head for sea.

The ship's next port is given as Sept-Iles, QC where it will likely load aluminum ingots.

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Algoma East Coast - good bye kiss

 The new tanker Algoma East Coast arrived in Halifax April 13 fresh from the Hyundai Mipo Shipyard. It carried the Liberian flag for the delivery trip, but was registered in Saint John, NB on April 14. The 23,451 gt, 37,242 dwt ship underwent some post-delivery maintenance and was made ready to sail this afternoon April 26. It is headed for Saint John, NB to take on its first cargo on long term charter to Irving Oil, replacing the 2005 built East Coast. That ship's charter to Irving Oil ended last month and the ship is now in service inTurkey.

Getting away from Pier 9C the ship had the tug Atlantic Fir made up astern. It had no tug forward as it is equipped with a bow thruster.

 

Once clear of the berth the ship was to make its way northward to Bedford Basin then turn and head southbound for sea. However things did not go quite as planned. I believe the intention was for the tug to swing in alongside and accompany the ship to the Basin and assist in the turn.

However as the tug came in there was a steel-on-steel grinding crunch. From where I was standing (between Pier 9B and 9C) I could not see the actual contact.

 

But as the tug backed away the damage became evident.

 Apparently the tug got in under the ship's overhang and there was contact with the tug's davit/crane and the operator's platform.

 

The platform was partially displaced and deformed and the davit arm was knocked off its base. There did not appear to be any contact with the tug's hull or superstructure.

There was a brief pause in the operation but the move resumed and the tug accompanied the ship to the Basin and assisted in the turn... (that is the tanker Goldway at anchor - see yesterday's post).

 ... than let go and proceeded independantly.

As the two passed the Africville boat ramp I could not see any damage to the ship - other than some scraped paint just aft of the draft marks.

Damage to the tug has certainly put the boat davit out of commission for a time.

 

 The Algoma East Coast will be a frequent caller in Halifax in future, and I am sure that tug operators will be very wary of operating close under the ship's stern overhang.

 

The following photo shows the configuration of the davit and platform:

At one time the tugs rigged a rigid hull inflatible (RHIB) rescue boat under the davit, as in this older photo of sister tug Atlantic Oak...

...but that does not seem to be the case anymore. It seems now that the davit is used as a stores crane only.  I also think the access platform around the crane base was not original equipment but was added later. The davit may have been added later too.

 

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Big Tanker for the Basin

 The crude oil tanker Goldway arrived in Halifax this afternoon, April 25, and headed directly for an anchorage in Bedford Basin.

 Built by Sungdong Shipbuilding in Tongyeong, South Korea, the 81,545 gt, 154,781 dwt ship is classed as Suezmax even though the Suez Canal has been enlarged since the classification was initially devised. 

The ship is equipped with an exhaust gas scrubber, which is housed just abaft the funnel, in a prominent housing painted with the same markings as the funnel. The scrubber was retrofitted by Germak Shipyard in Tuzla, Turkey (date not known).

The most notable feature however is the patch of fresh black paint on the hull. That is where the "EPS Tanker" logo has been painted out as part of an ownership change. Orginal owners Eastern Pacific Shipping sold the ship, and a sister ship Diamondway, to Nordic American Tankers for a cool $68 million US each, with effect at the start of Q2 2025. The deal is financed through Ocean Yield with a leaseback and eight year charter and purchase obligation at the end.

The ship arrived from Canaport (Saint John) NB and previously Rotterdam. Its call here may be related to the sale, which could involve a name change or repainting of the funnel colours. 

See today's post of companion blog Tugfax for more news. 

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MSC over Maersk - amended

 Since over taking Maersk last year the Mediterranean Shipping Company has increased its lead as the largest container shipping company. As reported in the previous post, MSC now counts more than 900 ships (including owned and chartered ships) under its control. It was able to build its fleet by vacuuming up older ships from various owners. 

Two of those older ships arrived in Halifax today (April 24) and by coincidence, both are ex Maersk ships.

 MSC Rita V was acquired from Maersk in 2024 after serving as the Maersk Bentonville. It was built in 2006 by PS Werften Stralsund (Volkswerft GmbH) as a 48,853 gt, 53,702 dwt ship with a capacity of 4504 TEU including 1400 reefer plugs, It is unusual to see a ship with engines amidships these days. Although built as Maersk Bentonville it was renamed Bentonville from 2010 to 2013, but reverted to Maersk Bentonville again. Its Maersk hull banner was hastily painted over last year, but is still visible.

 The ship was named for Bentonville, Arkansas home and headquarters of Walmart - a major customer of many container shipping lines. On this trip it is serving MSC's Mediterranean Express and is en route from Sines, Portugal to Montreal.

Today's second arrival was the MSC Anya dating from 2005. Built by Hyundai Samho it is rated at 55,510 gt, 74,938 dwt with a capacity of 4993 TEU. It has also been reported at 5018 TEU and 550 reefer points.

 

Launched as  Santa Pelagia it was renamed Maersk Detroit on delivery and carried that name until 2010 when it reverted to Santa Pelagia briefly before becoming Cap Serrat the same year. It became Santa Pelagia again from 2012 to 2014 when it was renamed MSC Anya. The ship is arriving from Liverpool, UK on the Montreal Express to Montreal. Ships on that service don't usually call in Halifax, so it may be here to reduce draft to St.Lawrence River requirements. Curiously the ship's funnel does not carry the MSC emblem. (It is not owned by MSC but is under their management.)

Amendment:

Maersk ordered seven high speed container ships to run between China and the US west coast. Capable of a maximum 37 knots and a cruising speed of 29 knots, the ships consumed an estimated 300 tonnes of fuel per day to achieve that speed. The "B" class, which included Maersk Bentonville were delivered just as the economy took a nose dive, and the ships were laid up for nearly a year and never operated on the intended high speed route. Reducing speed to 12 knots also reduced fuel consumption to a more manageable 50 tonnes per day level.

I believe there was some incentive to built these high speed ships for future strategic (that is military) use. They could deliver needed cargo quickly over long distances in case of emergency.

The ships' huge Sulzer / Wärtsilä 12 cylinder main engines, delivering 58,344 kW / 78,240 hp. were too large to squeeze into the narrow after part of the hull, so had to be installed midships. The 96C type engine is a two stroke, turbocharged slow speed engine availabelin various sizes.   

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Carnation Ace

 The cars keep on coming, but today's arrival (April 23) was a bit different. The Carnation Ace, unlike most of the ships arriving at Autoport, did not come from a European port. Instead it arrived from Japan via the Panama Canal and the United States.

The Carnation Ace was reported in Tsuneishi, Japan from February 10 to March 9 - likely in refit - hence the tidy paint work.

 

The ship sailed from Yokohama March 14 and Hitachinaka March 17 then sailed non-stop (via the Panama Canal) to Brunswick, GA arriving April 13. It sailed the next day for Davisville, RI arriving and sailing April 18. It then arrived off Halifax April 21 and anchored until early this morning.

Operated by Mitsui OSK Lines, the ship usually carries Japanese cars, but not exclusively.  Built by Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding Co Ltd in 2011 it is listed at 60,975 gt, 16.416 dwt with a capacity of 5196 to 6202 cars (some say 6400) and has a 100 tonne stern ramp. It also has a small starboard side ramp.

Owners, Mitsui OSK Lines (known as MOL), with a fleet of about eighty car carriers, use the "Ace" in their ships' names to indicate Auto Carrier Express.

On sailing today it gave a destination of Baltimore.

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