Arctic Research

As the year progresses, and the north becomes accessible once again, research activity is gearing up. Today's arrival of CCGS Amundsen is en route to the north once again.

Thanks to a gypsum train blocking the road, my plan to photo the ship as it sailed up the Narrows was foiled and I had to settle for this view as the ship made for its berth at BIO.

Built as a Pierre Radisson class icebreaker in 1979, the former Sir John Franklin (ex Franklin 1979-1980) had been declared surplus in 1996 and actually decommissioned in 2000. Thanks to NGOs that found outside funding, the conversion of the former hold for extra accommodation and other work, such as installation of a moon pool, was carried out by Verreault at Mechins in 2003.

The scarcity of other marine resources in the Arctic has meant that its research work has been interrupted by emergency work. Last year's grounding of the Akademik Ioffe for example took the ship away from its main mission.

The ship tied up at BIO this morning to load equipment for its 2019 season. Its trip from Quebec City was not without incident however. It experienced a propulsion failure May 31 off Cacouna, QC, but the crew managed to effect repairs while the ship drifted.

This class of vessel - among those to be replaced by new ships as part of the fleet renewal recently announced - have had a history of engine issues with their Alco main engines. Equipped with six of the engines, working through electric drives, the ship generates 17,700 shp for its two props.

Amundsen is believed to have accompanied another vessel for at least part of the trip. The 66 ft William Kennedy is the only research vessel dedicated to Hudson Bay. Owned by the non-profit Arctic Research Foundation and operated with the University of Manitoba and the Churchill Marine Observatory, the boat has a surprisingly large capacity. It can house up to 14 researchers in addition to its crew.

Built in 2002 as a crab fishing vessel White Diamond  it was converted to research work in time for the 2018 season when it sailed out of Summerside, PE for Hudson Bay. Now tied up at The Cove, it is also being readied for summer work.

Built of Kevlar reinforced fiberglass over a wood hull, it has extra reinforcing for work in ice. Its 12 foot draft allows it to work in shallow water. The bay's extreme tides make that a desirable attribute.

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More band aids for the Port of Halifax

Not to disparage Johnson+Johnson, whose trademarked product (which has a hyphen and a capital A) has become a collective for all products of the type, but their self adhesive bandages were never intended to be a substitute for major surgery.

Canada's Minister of Transport came to Halifax on Sunday to announce a couple of expensive projects which will perhaps stop the blood flow temporarily but will not be the long term solution to the Port's major problems.

The $100 million price tag is pretty steep for an interim measure however. (The federal government will pick up "at least" 50% of the cost.) Flanked by local politicians, and Port officials, who will have to ante up the rest, the press conference made some big promises, but also dropped a few hints of reality.

The essence of the promise is as follows:

1. A new rail line from the southend container terminal (Halterm) will be built as far as the Cerescorp terminal at Fairview Cove. (CN ripped up the second track a few years ago to make its revenue figures in terms of tons per mile of track look better, and to reduce maintenance costs, make life more difficult for VIA Rial, etc.,)
Four new "rail mounted cranes" - presumably two at each end - will load and unload containers on shuttle trains that will run between the two locations. The intent is that all containers arriving and departing from Halifax by truck, will be worked at the Fairview Cove terminal.

The provincial minister of Labour and Advanced Education, and MLA for a riding that includes the southend of Halifax (and Sable Island by the way) stated that the project will reduce downtown truck traffic by 75%. This seems to me to be an optimistic statement. It may reduce port related truck traffic that much, but the grain elevator, the flour mill and the break bulk piers in the southend generate a fair amount of truck too, and that will not change, at least in the near term. Non-standard loads and RoRo trailer traffic for Halterm will still have to be accommodated. Dozens if not more truck trailers arrive and leave for Newfoundland from Halterm each week for example. 

Dedicated shuttle trains will reduce truck traffic to Halterm. The truck marshaling yard in the background will be still be neeeded, but may be reduced in size. One twice the size will be needed at Fairview to accommodate incoming and outgoing traffic. How Halterm will handle the additional rail traffic is a big question. Changes may be needed to South Marginal Road (in the  centre background to enclose some the tracks on the left.

(View from Young Avenue bridge looking east.)

2. In order to make the shuttle service work, a major reconstruction of the "Windsor Street Exchange" will require a re-alignment of the Bedford Highway, upgrading Lady Hammond Road and new traffic signals. All this to get those trucks in and out of the Fairvew terminal. Many of the trucks are using the A. Murray MacKay bridge, and the approach ramps and left turns at unsignaled intersections are a nightmare. There is significant container interchange between the two terminals as it stands now, all taking place by road, and with that eliminated by using the shuttle train.

There is room within the existing rail cut for the second track because CN once had a second track.

Some of that track exists now as a siding, but peters out just around the bend in the background of this photo, well before reaching Fairview.

 VIA Rail co-exists within the space with alternate-day trains. Commuter rail proponents hoped that the second track could be restored for that use. That will no longer be possible. 

(View from Young Avenue bridge looking west.)

While this work is welcome there are a few reality checks.
- the work will not begin until 2020 (supposing the current federal government is re-elected in October?) Some design work has been done, but the work is not "shovel ready".
- the second rail line through the southend rail cut virtually eliminates any chance of commuter rail service to downtown. CN has never wanted this, so they will be relieved.
- the work will take four to five years (from now). During the same time period the Cogswell interchange will be reconfigured in the middle of downtown and utter chaos will reign when even the roads that exist now will be torn up and trucks will jam alternate routes all over town.

In view of the large numbers of trucks that use each terminal already, there will have to be a new marshaling area at Fairview for the southend traffic. Exactly where that will be and how it will be accessed remains unanswered. It seems that with rail mounted cranes the trucks may be loaded / unloaded directly truck to train or train to truck. If so truck marshaling and ordering will be a big part of the operation. If it is to occur inside the Cerescorp terminal fence an expansion will be necessary.

Faced with a transfer fee or delay to get their boxes in and out of downtown, some lines may opt to move their business from Halterm to Cerescorp. I have been suggesting that for some time, as a no cost alternative to truck traffic. I am sure Halterm's new operators will not be amused by this suggestion.

No mention was made of a terminal railway operation, run by the Port, so presumably CN will run the shuttle. They will certainly not do it for free, so how will they be compensated? Shippers, shipping lines and terminal operators are normally averse to extra charges. It seems likely to me that there would have to be something like hourly shuttle trains each way to avoid congestion and backlog. They would have to be confined to the new track so as not to conflict with the other rail traffic and so there will have to be cars loading and unloading at each end simultaneously with a push/pull unit in transit and several dedicated tracks at each end to accommodate. I foresee South Marginal Road between pier 24 and Halterm relocated (again) or (horrors) closed to the public to eliminate the many grade crossings that may be required.


As I stated in the opening paragraphs these projects, supported 50% the National Trade Corridor Fund, do not address the core issue for the Port of Halifax. Fixing roads and rail lines is all good as an interim measure, but in fact that just delays the inevitable decision on how best to increase the capacity for container ships while maintaining the existing south end port infrastructure to serve cruise ships, break bulk, RoRo and bulk ships.

During peak cruise season it is not unusual to have four or more ships in port at once. Two of the ships shown above occupy space that is to be filled under Phase 2 of the current master plan. That would leave no berths available for those ships. 

Anchoring and ferrying passengers ashore in tenders would not be a workable alternative.

Even under-utilized facilities such as the grain terminal are important assets of the port and should be retained and even promoted.

The grain elevators are in regular use, served by rail and road. Cutting off sea access would be short sighted. As a footnote, an imaginative re-coating would improve the Port's image, at least in my mind, since they are highly visible to every incoming cruise passenger.

I hope the significant investment of $100 million will not constrain against a relocation of the container facilities in the future. Maybe these measures will give the Port some breathing room to re-visit their master plan and come up with a bold new plan as promised by their CEO at Port Days in 2017.

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Yantian Express sails

After unloading its entire remaining cargo in Halifax, and loading some 1,000 empty containers, the Yantian Express sailed this afternoon.

Atlantic Oak assists in aligning the ship for the MacKay bridge. 

It is notable that by sailing today, five months less a day from when fire broke out on the ship, it will likely be in almost the same position tomorrow that it was in five months ago. At that time it was bound for Halifax, from Colombo, Sri Lanka and had sailed safely through the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean and most of the way across the Atlantic without incident.

Rough weather may have been the factor that caused something to occur in a container on deck forward that caused it to erupt in flames. The weather almost certainly prevented the crew from quelling the blaze that eventually damaged or destroyed several hundred containers.

I have made numerous posts over the intervening months tracking the firefighting and salvage efforts, the ship's arrival in Freeport, Bahamas to discharge the damaged boxes, and its eventual arrival in Halifax to unload all of the intact containers. Those boxes are now taking up all the spare room that can be found in the Cerescorp container facility in Fairview Cove.

As late as yesterday morning the ship still had a lot of containers on deck to be unloaded or re-distributed.

On departure today it was certainly apparent that even with the empties on board to aid in stability, that the ship is still very lightly loaded. There are no containers stowed in the forward holds where the fire did the most damage. The hatch covers were also damaged, and have likely been welded closed for safety. Unlike bulk carriers and tankers, container ships usually do not make lengthy ballast voyages. They do not have large tanks or holds than can be filled with seawater, but only smaller trim type tanks and double bottoms for fuel or water.

The Nova Pilot sets out in advance to disembark the pilot off Chebucto Head. With gusty winds, the coxswain will  advise the pilot on which side to disembark and if the ship needs to alter course to create a lee.

The ship's destination is given as Tanger Med, Morocco, perhaps to take on more empties as it works its way east to China for permanent repairs.

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Saga Sapphire - back again

With the early year cruise season ramping up, there are more ships arriving despite the unpredictable maritime "spring" weather. Passengers aboard Saga Sapphire almost got a glimpse of the sun this morning as the ship made its way in toward pier 22. By the time it was tied up however and passengers could start their shoreside excursions, thick cloud had moved in. Environment Canada has issued a rainfall warning for Nova Scotia today, so it seems likely that the visitors have a chance to get thoroughly soaked by our brand of spring showers.

Entering service in 1982 as HAPAG-Lloyd's Europa the ship has had many lives since delivered by Bremer Vulkan of Bremerhaven. It has sailed as SuperStar Europe 1999-2000, SuperStar Aries 2000-2004, Holiday Dream 2004 to 2008 and Bleu de France 2008 to 2011.

Current owners, the British company Saga Cruises, gave the ship a major refit from 2011 to 2012 before it began sailing as Saga Sapphire. Saga opted for the 'less is more' attitude for exterior appearance, with a black hull and white superstructure topped by bright yellow on the funnel. This was no doubt aimed to appeal to its target market of people over the age of 50.

Saga has ordered two new ships, one to be delivered this year and one in 2020, which could mean that Saga Sapphire will be moving on. The new 1,000 passenger ships will be considerably larger than the Sapphire  which carries about 720 using lower berths only. (It can exceed 1,000 if all berths are used).

I have harped on this topic of classic lines before:

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2018/09/classic-redefined.html

http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2018/10/saga-sapphire-ex-europa-good-from-any.html

Today's will be the only visit this year from the ship as it heads to Europe. I hope it is not the last time we see it, but that seems likely.

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Cargo for St-Pierre

The regular vessel serving St-Pierre et Miquelon for SPMI, Nolhan Ava, returned to Halifax on Thursday May 30 and tied up at pier 9C. The ship sailed from St-Pierre in mid-April for refit Freeport, Bahamas. Whatever refit work was done there, it did not include much paint above the waterline, because the ship's superstructure and upper hull still shows signs of a hard winter's work.

The substitute ship Lomur which has been on the weekly St-Pierre run since April 26, passed the idle Nolhan Ava this afternoon, outbound from Fairview Cove.

Lomur is carrying a variety of cargo including a box from its former charterer Eimskip. Note also one of SPMI's 53 foot sea going containers stacked on a Zim 40 footer.

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Container Competition

Halifax has always had competitors in the container  business, but now there will be a new one. The Port of Quebec City has just announced that they have selected Hutchinson - a world wide terminal manager - to develop and operate a brand new container facility in the Beauport sector of the Port of Quebec.

Quebec City's new container terminal will be on newly created land at Beauport.  The city itself is toward the bottom left, and there is a small sandy bay to the top right.

As the closest port to Europe on the North American eastern seaboard Halifax has always enjoyed an edge over other ports due to the desire of shippers to land their boxes and get them on the train or on the road to destination as quickly as possible. Main competitors have always had a number of disadvantages that have helped Halifax, but these are all gradually diminishing. New York had draft and bridge clearance issues, but those have been eliminated, at great expense, in recent years. Rail constrictions have been and remain an issue. Nearby ports of Baltimore and Philadelphia have picked up some of the slack.

The many ports farther south on the US East Coast were farther away from ports in Europe, but had the advantage of being closer to US distribution points. With manufacturing in the US moving south, they now have the advantage of being closer to the source of export cargo and needed imports.

Those US ports, particularly Charleston, Savannah and Jacksonville have been given a big boost with the expansion of the Panama Canal. Very big ships can now reach those ports from Asia and the ports have responded with huge investments in dredging, berth expansion, and larger cranes, more rubber tired gantries (RTGs), etc.,

Halifax's position is reversed when it comes to ships from Asia via the Pacific/Panama. We are the farthest away, and with the smallest source of, or destination for, cargo, the port is the last on the list if we appear on the list at all.

Ships sailing directly from western Asian ports, via the Suez and Mediterranean can still compete with the Pacific/Panama route but in order to make time must not stop at too many Med ports. Halifax is an ideal port for them since it involves the least sea time.

As for other eastern Canadian ports, Halifax had many advantages, but again they may be eroding. When container shipping took off in the late 1960s, Halifax was soon ready. However Canadian Pacific Steamships, as they were then, established a container facility in the Port of Quebec. It was a good idea at the time, since there were no bridge height limitations. It was well down stream of the Quebec bridge and the St.Lawrence River above Quebec City was too shallow for large ships. It was also in a somewhat better position than Montreal in terms of winter ice. CPSS and Manchester Liners  working together already had ice class general cargo ships that they converted to carry containers.

CPSS established a small, one crane terminal close to their own rail line, which served the area of the port below the famous ramparts and connected to the main line via an 1800 foot long tunnel under the Plains of Abraham battle field. Built in 1930 to serve the needs of passenger ships, it was restricted to single stack containers and had grade and icing issues. It imposed severe restrictions on container traffic and within ten years CP closed the terminal and moved to Montreal.

Since then Montreal has become a major container hub despite being a thousand miles inland. Not only has the port invested in infrastructure with rail on dock, cranes and other equipment, it has the advantage of three rail connections. CN, CP and CSX, all serving the US mid-west, the major destination for a large portion of import cargo. It is also a fact that transatlantic trade has not suffered the ups and downs of Asian trade and this is the major area of concentration for Montreal. Montreal, and Toronto (reached by rail or truck in less than 24 hours) are also the major population centres in Canada.

To help matters, the St.Lawrence River channel between Quebec City and Montreal has been deepened, but more importantly has been widened. Shipping lines have been able to use some quite large (and wide) ships, loaded to less than their maximum depth to serve Montreal. Some lines have built ships specifically for the St.Lawrence route, with improved ice capability, and relatively shallow draft. Montreal is also working on a new container facility downstream on the south shore at Contrecouer, that will have excellent rail access, but also far less congested road access. As free standing adjunct to the Port of Montreal it has expansion capability, unconstrained by other port infrastructure.

Big container ships, lightly loaded to reduce draft, can operate at speeds of 20 knots on the lower St.Lawrence. They could load to maximum draft if sailing only as far as Quebec City.

Montreal will always have the ice and draft issues, and Contrecouer is not expected to host much larger ships, but will add to the Port of Montreal's capacity and speed in clearing cargo. (Montreal is a terminal port - that is to say that most container ships unload all their cargo there, and load afresh, whereas Halifax in most cases is a way point on a string of ports.)

Quebec City, which, since CP closed their terminal, has had no dedicated container terminal and no regularly calling container lines. They have apparently been jealously watching that traffic sail by their piers without stopping.

Another lightly loaded container ship turns its tail to Quebec City and revs up its speed. It has just exchanged pilots and is about to make the wide turn around Pointe Levis.

Quebec's new facility, to be called Laurentia, will be state of the art, and have a small carbon foot print (read electric RTGs - Halterm take note), is on a brand new site, which does not exist at this point. It will be created on fill at the end of the current string of Beauport flats bulk docks, so will be able to take ships of any length. And it can be expanded more or less indefinitely. It also has deep draft - the river gets shallow farther upstream). There are no bridges to restrict the height or width of ships between the port and the Atlantic Ocean and it will have direct, free air, rail access via CN Rail with rail on dock. Ships can travel at relatively high speed almost all the way from the Atlantic to Quebec City (except for whale protection zones), unlike the upper river with its winding channels where speed is restricted, pilotage costs are higher and winter delays can be expected due to ice. The time for a ship to reach Montreal from Quebec City is roughly a day. A truck can do it in 90 minutes half that time.

The current Beauport docks (which would be off to the left of the aerial view) host bulk commodity cargoes such as petroleum, coal, and ore. The new extension would be to the right of these views.

Quebec City has its eyes firmly set on larger ships and is in direct competition with Montreal for business. Naming the facility "Laurentia" focuses on serving the huge St.Lawrence Basin area, which includes the Great Lakes region. (Whether they have any thought for Halifax is doubtful.)

It all sounds ideal and it certainly has numerous advantages. Except that there are serious environmental issues relating to adjacent wetlands for migratory birds and recreational activity. The once bucolic basin where the Riviere St-Charles empties into the St.Lawrence has become an industrial hub, but the north side is a recreational zone for wind surfers. The tidal flats still host snow geese and other migrators that have somehow survived this desecration. They will continue to take the back seat to port development.

This 1860s view of Quebec from Beauport, with the Citadel off to the left of centre, shows the St.Charles flowing in from the right. From there almost to the foreground is now heavily industrial.

(Edwin Whitefield lithograph Mac Mackay collection- edited for this post)

How will this new port effect Halifax? With many of the restrictions to St.Lawrence ports reduced or eliminated, cargo will no doubt be siphoned off to Quebec. I still see ice as a major encumbrance since few if any of the giant container ships (10,000 TEU and up) are ice class, and in fact few of the intermediate size (7500 to 10,000 TEU) are ice rated. Nevertheless many non ice rated ships would still be able to serve the port for at least nine months of the year.

Whether the project is successful, depends more on the efficiency of the rail connection, and the demand for ships that are too large for Montreal. Its distance from the ocean will still be another important factor, but not for the strictly transatlantic trade. Quebec is also looking for trade via the Panama Canal, but I see this as a major stretch, Quebec is even farther away from Panama than Halifax. However Hutchinson's deep Asian roots are not to be discounted.

CN Rail, which also serves Halifax and the other major Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert is a common factor. Since their bid to acquire an interest in Halifax's Halterm container terminal was not accepted, their loyalty to Halifax will be put to the test.

Certainly the news about Quebec will not be well received by Sydney or Melford, NS, both with aspirations to become container ports. (see more below)

It is another reality (proven over and over again in history) that Halifax does not have much political clout, and therefore port infrastructure built with pots of federal money will always go where the most votes are. That is why it is imperative that the Port of Halifax develop a master plan that looks into the future while still performing emergency surgery on its current port infrastructure.

A green field site is the only answer and it will cost billions. If the money is not available, the container trade in the Port of Halifax will die by inches. Will that be the end of the port as we know? Likely. It will become a minor adjunct and outport, concentrating on cruise ships and small feeder services shuttling containers to major hubs.

Halifax should be one of those major hubs, but lack of progress on re-development may mean that the opportunity has been lost. Certainly overhauling the current port lands is necessary but there is still not enough room for what is needed in the long term.

Nothing short of a multi-berth (four 10,000 TEU ships at a minimum) facility with unlimited backup land and clear rail access, to completely replace what we have now is the least that will be required. Ice free, deep draft and no bridges are what we have to offer, and it should be promoted intensely in the run up to the federal election. Regrettably there is no mature plan to promote, and we will end up with a short term fix to the determent of other port business.

Read more about the Port of Quebec's plans on their website: https://www.portquebec.ca/en/

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Variety of Shapes

Another gloomy day greeted cruise ship passengers today, although one benefit of their mid-morning arrival meant that showers had largely ended. Sales of hoodies were expected to boom as cool temperatures remained.

Adventure of the Seas features a plain white livery with barely visible blue stripes running almost the entire length of the ship. So far Royal Caribbean International has not succumbed to the super graphic / alias graffiti of other lines, although on this ship a huge water slide mounted high over the stern does detract from its clean lines. The yellow lifeboats and tenders are change from the usual safety orange.
Built in 2001 by Kvaerner-Masa, Turku, Finland, the 137,246 gt ship has a passenger capacity of 3,114 and crew size of 1,180 according to most sources.

As a contrast in appearance the next arrival lacked some of the grace of the previous one.

Carrying more than enough cars  to outfit every passenger and crew member of the cruise ship, Victoria Highway arrived an hour later. The 73,528 gt, 21,114 dwt ship was built in 2018 by Tadotsu Shipyard Co in Kagawa, Japan. It has a capacity of 7,450 CEU.
The ship features the new paint scheme adopted by K-Line for its autocarriers and looked quite striking as the tugs Atlantic Bear and Atlantic Fir came alongside to nudge the ship towards Autoport.

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