CSL Koasek for Gold Bond

 The CSL Group added two ships to its CSL Americas fleet last year, and today (December 15) marks the arrival in Halifax of the second of the ships, CSL Koasek. Its sister CSL Kajika stopped over in Halifax briefly on April 19, 2022 en route to Sydney, NS with a cargo of coal. This time CSL Koasek is en route from Sydney where it delivered a cargo of Columbian coal. 

CSL acquired the two Kamsarmax (gearless) bulk carriers and had them converted to gravity feed self-unloaders. As built by Jiangsu Newjangzi Shipbuilding in Jingjiang, China, the CSL Koasek was called SBI Electra and was 44,200 gt, 81,800 dwt ship built for Scorpio Bulkers International (Lauro family) of Monaco and New York. 

Scorpio had embarked on an ambitious program of equipping its 55 plus strong fleet of bulkers and 75 or more tankers with exhaust gas scrubbers on the assumption that fuel savings would far exceed the installation cost of $US 1.5 to $US 2.2 per ship. The plan did not work out however and what with a combination of other world events Scorpio ended up selling off its bulker fleet and racking up a loss of $US 600 mn. CSL picked up the SBI Electra and sister SBI Flamenco for a cool $48US million (for which, less debt, Scorpio increased liquidity by $US18.6 mn). (SBI then changed its name to Eneti Inc, purchased Seajacks International and shifted to offshore the wind farm installation business instead.)

CSL sent the two ships (which dropped the SBI prefix in 2019) to the COSCO Nantong Shipyard where they were converted to gravity feed self-unloaders. The dual belt configuration resulted in a "W" shape hold and a double hull throughout. The additional equipment, and loss of hold space due to the hopper configuration, gave new tonnages of 44,408 gt and 77,247 dwt. The investment in self-unloading equipment and loss of hold space is usually justified by higher unloading speed, shorter time in port, flexibility of shore facilities, and more cargo carrying trips. The new gear allows for self-unloading rates of 4,250 tonnes per hour for coal and 5,000 tonnes per hour for gypsum, aggregates, and iron ore.

On delivery to CSL in 2021 the ships were renamed. Depending on the source Koasek may mean "a young tree"and Kajika "walks without sound" in the Abenaki langage.
 

CSL Koasek was met in the Narrows by the tug Atlantic Willow on its way to load at the Gold Bond (National Gypsum Canada) dock in Bedford Basin..

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End of the Year, End of the Line

 As the year 2022 comes to an end so do the careers of several ships from the region. At least four ships  are soon to be no more as the scrappers torches may already be at work.

Two ships from Newfoundland are included, both known in Halifax at one time in their careers.

 Number 1

The tug now known as the Matterhorn was built in 1956 for the Royal Canadian navy as the St.Charles ATA 533 and was based at HMC Dockyard in Halifax. Although intended to tow large navy vessels up to and including aircraft carriers it was frequently relegated to towing gunnery targets (some of which were old ships.) In 1994 it was sold to Secunda Marine Service and renamed Chebucto Sea, and saw varied duties, including a disastrous bareboat charter that resulted in a lengthy legal proceeding. A Newfoundland company became the owners in 2009. In 2014 while lying in Mount Carmel, NL, and with the name of Matterhorn, the tug sank at its berth.

With a gunnery target on the hip, the tug was returning to port in this photo.

There have been several accounts, and many photos of this tug and its two sister tugs in my Tugfax blog:

June 18, 2012 and February 18, 2015

After several years of trying to make the owners responsible for removing pollutants from the hulk, the Canadian Coast Guard took over cleanup efforts recently and removed a 256,7000 liters of oil / water. It appears that they had to raise the wreck to do so, and  it is likely that it will now have to be cut up in place as it is well beyond any poteantial salvage.

Number 2

 Also in Newfoundland, but in the port of Grand Bank, the Canadian Coast Guard removed 292,537 liters of oily waste from the abandoned fishing vessel Atlantic Pursuit. It was damaged in a storm in the year 2006 and was towed into port then moved to different ports under different owners who never seemed to be able to get the ship back into operating condition. It was even sold off for scrap but never broken up.

Built in 1976 as an offshore supplier / pipe carrier it was converted in 1988 to an offshore clam dredger. I have recounted its history here March 10, 2016.

The ship has now been towed by the McKeil Marine tug Beverly M 1 to Sydport, NS, arriving December 12, where it will be broken up by Marine Recycling Corp.

Two more ships will be broken up in Nova Scotia.

 Number 3

The tug Irving Beech is soon to arrive in Wood Island, PE to take away the burned out ferry Holiday Island. An engine room fire on July 22, 2022 resulted in irreparable damage to the ship. Fortunately all passengers and crew were rescued. 

Built in 1971 to operate seasonally between Cape Tormentine, NB and Borden PE, with sister ship Vacationland, it was moved to the Caribou, NS to Wood Islands PE crossing when the Confederation Bridge was completed in 1997.

Now the Antigonish, NS based company R.J.MacIsaac Construction Ltd has been contracted for $1.6 mn to scrap the ship. It will be towed to Sheet Harbour, NS where the work of removing hazardous materials and cutting it up is to be completed by Febrary 28, 2024.
 

Number 4

The same  R.J.MacIsaac Company has also been sontracted to break up the CCGS Hudson (see my post of November 30, 2022. ) However cutting up will not begin immediately. First the ship will be moved from its berth at the Bedford Institute to another location in Halifax Harbour where initial work will be carried out. It will eventually be towed to Sheet Harbour for scrapping. 

Even when showing obvious signs of deterioration, the Hudson's graceful lines could not be concealed.

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Let it Blow (x 3)

 The weather outside is frightful, but at least it was not snowing in Halifax (unlike northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, where there was heavy snow) today December 13. But it was the wind that probably accounted for today's relative dearth of shipping activity in the harbour.

The coastal tanker Algocanada was straining at its anchor in #4 anchorage in the lower harbour.

Although there were few whitecaps to tell of high wind, the bar taught anchor chain was the giveaway as Algocanada bides its time at anchor.

 The ship arrived Thursday December 8 from Sarnia but anchored awaiting its turn at Imperial Oil. (It had to wait for the Gaia Desgagnés which arrived from Lévis, also on December 8 and sailed on December 10, and the Algoscotia which arrived December 10 from CornerBrook.

 Gaia Desgagnés, a rare visitor, sailed from Halifax with cargo for CornerBrook.

On Monday (December 12) when the Algoscotia sailed, it was Algocanada's turn at Imperial Oil, but  later the same evening it moved out to anchor again.  With the winds predicted to die down the ship is expected to move back to Imperial Oil tonight.

The only container ship in Halifax was the ZIM Luanda but high winds may have have slowed or stalled crane operations.

 Built in 2009 by Samsung Shipbuilding and Heavy Industry in Koje, it is a 40,030 gt, 50,697 dwt ship with a capacity of 4253 TEU. It has been a regular caller for many years on ZIM's Zim Container Atlantic (ZCA) service. It is not schduled to sail until tomorrow morning.

The only real indication of the high winds and rough conditions was a bit of splash at the bow of CCGS Jean Goodwill as it returned to its BIO base from SAR patrol.

 The ship was the only Canadian Coast Guard all weather ship available in Halifax for the past few weeks as several ships are in refit and others have been relocated to cover for them.

Noteworthy however is CCGS Kopit Hopson 1752 [See December 2 post] which has moved from Irving Shipbuilding's Woodside facility to the BIO base. Whether the ship is fully commissioned yet or not is unknown, but it must be close if it has been handed over to the CCG.

After such multi-year VLE refits, the ship must be stored, equipment must be tuned and crew must be oriented - a process that could take weeks.

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Weather is the story

Unseasonably warm air and ocean temperatures have kept winter at bay in Halifax until today's (December 12) arrival of the first snow flakes of the season. There have been high winds however, on and off for weeks, but a lull on Sunday (December 11) allowed for two tugs and their barges to move. Unfazed by the weather a big bulker arrived from Montreal via a more northern route and showed what winter will bring.

The articuated tug barge (ATB) combination Genesis Eagle and GM11103 arrived December 7 [see previous post] from Albany, NY and unloaded at Irving Oil Woodside. On December 8 they moved to anchor in Bedford Basin awaiting better conditions before returning to the US in ballast. Despite my previous comment that with the Articouple connection system tug and barge remain connected in severe weather, the operators presumably thought better of placing too much strain on the system. When the pair were converted from conventional tug and barge to ATB in 2017 the towing winch was removed from the tug, and it no long has a towing capability except in an emergency when it would be forced to use a tow line on a towing bit. (I do not see an insurance wire rigged for emergency towing. There is usually a pump operator and deckhand on the barge at all times, and they may be able to deploy a line if needed.)

Yesterday evening, winds had died down sufficiently and the ATB sailed from Halifax giving an undisclosed US port as destination. This afternoon I see on AIS they have passed Yarmouth and are cutting across the Gulf of Maine on the shortest course.

A tug towing a barge on a conventional towing line has been making its way for Halifax for the last week or more. The veteran W.N.Twolan is towing the barge NT 1802 with a truck crane and other equipment on deck. The pair set out from Matane, QC and sheltered in Gaspé for a few days. They then sailed the southern course via the Northumberland Strait for the Strait of Canso. After passing through the Canso Canal they headed out in Chedabucto Bay but met with adverse conditions. They turned and put back - possibly to Mulgrave. I don't know if tug or barge received any damage, but they waited out the worst of the winds until yesterday when they set out for Halifax again.

They arrived this morning doing a stately 4.5 knots and tied up at the C.O.V.E. pier in Dartmouth (the former Coast Guard Base) just as a light drizzle turned to light snow.

The W.N.Twolan has been an on again - off again visitor to Halifax since it was built in 1962 by Geo. T. Davie + Son Ltd in Lauzon, QC. The 2038 bhp, twin screw tug was built for the Port of Churchill, MB and would sometimes winter in Halifax. It was replaced in Churchill in 1986 and began work on the Great Lakes out of Thunder Bay. After several idle years it was acquired by the current owners and reconditioned. Listed as Halls Bay Marine Services, Springdale, NL, they also appear to own the tug R.J.Ballott (ex Foundation Victor, Point Victor, Kay Cole, Jerry Newberry) and the former RCN fireboat Firebird.

I have covered the W.N.Twolan's early story in Tugfax a couple of times, including May 16, 2011.

The barge also has an interesting story. Built in 1974 by Burrard Dry Dock Co Ltd in North Vancouver, the 1094 gt craft worked for Northern Transportation on the Mackenzie River, the Beaufort Sea and into the eastern arctic. It was built with a shallow stern notch for pushing. Now owned by Les Barges de Matane Inc it has been fitted with four spuds.

(It is unusual see a barge of more than 1,000 gross tons entering Halifax without a pilot.)

Reports indicate that the barge will be used to transport some equipment to the McInnis cement plant in Port Daniel, QC. It is getting very late in the year for towing in the Gulf (towing in ice is not advisable) so it is hoped that decent weather prevails for the new few weeks.

Also arriving today, December 12 was the bulk carrier Sunda to top up its cargo.

The ship was coated with a very thick load of frozen spray likely acquired in the northern Gulf and Cabot Strait. It is normally required that ship's anchors are free and clear of ice on entering Halifax in case they are needed on short notice. The Sunda's anchors were well iced in (and so were the anchor windlasses I expect), so were probably not functioning.

Built in 2010 by Shanghaiguan Shipyard in Qinhuangdo, it is a 19,906 gt, 30,692 dwt ship equipped with three 30 tonne SWL cranes. Originally named Emilie it was renamed in 2015. Current operators are Canfornav, whose green painted Seawaymax bulkers are frequent users of the St.Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes and sometime callers in Halifax to top up to ocean going draft. 

The ship loaded soybeans at Johnstown, ON December 1 to 8 after previously offloading at Sillery, QC and Côte-Ste-Catherine, QC.

Canfornav ships are named for species of ducks and indeed there is a Sunda teal, native to the Sunda Strait area (between Java and Sumatra) in Indonesia. The area is known for its severe volcanic activity including Krakatoa in 1883 and the more recent Anak Krakatau tsunami in December 2018 that killed more than 400.

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CMA CGM Adonis

The Mediterranean Shipping Company, MSC (4.47 mn TEU) has attracted the headlines while overtaking Maersk (4.26 mn TEU) as the largest container line. Meanwhile the French company CMA CGM has also been building its fleet. It is currently in third place with more than 580 ships and 3.30 mn TEU capacity. Until earlier this year the company was taking delivery of one new ship every month. Its order book consists of 57 ships to be delivered by 2025, which will see a similar uptake.

One of the new built ships was today's arrival (December 10), CMA CGM Adonis. The company took delivery of the ship on March 4, 2020, the fifth and last of the Hercules class of Ultra Large container ships. At 154,839 gt and 156,500 dwt, it has a capacity of 15,536 TEU. It was built by the Chinese state owned Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group in Shanghai.

The CMA CGM Adonis is equipped with the latest nitrogen removal and desulphurization equipment which removes more than 80% of those pollutants from engine exhaust. Nevertheless it is CMA CGM's last ship to be powered by conventional fuel. Most of its newbuilds will use LNG or bio-methane gas.

The ship also has a newly developed  anti-rolling system intended to reduce container losses at sea and to provide added crew comfort. 

The ship is sailing on the Ocean Alliance service for CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen and OOCL, from Asia via Suez to east coast North America.

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Queen Esther for COSTCO

 Big box "warehouse" retailer COSTCO brought in another of its in house container ships today, December 9. The Queen Esther is the fourth ship to call in Halifax since COSTCO set up the service to meet its own transportation needs*. All the ships are chartered from NOOs (non-operating vessel owners). The Asia / North America trades are slumping and cargo rates and charter rates are  in steep decline, with some shipping lines dropping some services altogether. While this means that COSTCO might be able to ship more cheaply now using regular container lines, they now have better control over reliability and  delivery dates.

The Queen Esther docked at PSA Fairview Cove to work cargo. COSTCO also hired its own fleet of containers from Triton, which gives the ships a uniform appearance. I do note one white box on deck and one on top of a stack. The white colour normally signifies a temperature controlled container. At this stage of the ship's route they would likely be empty, as in fact would be most of the containers.

Built in 2016 by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard Co Ltd in Guangzhou, China, the Queen Esther is a 25,145 gt, 25,000 dwt ship with a capacity of 2194 TEU including 490 reefer plugs. It is also fitted with three 45 tonne SWL cranes. The ship is named for the biblical figure who became Queen of Persia by marriage and saved the Jewish populace there from certain slaughter.

The ship is managed by Lomar Shipping Ltd, part of the multi-national Libra Group from Greece, with interests in energy, aviation, hospitality and transportation. Lomar also trades in ships and its fleet can vary in size at any given time, but seems to be between 65 and 80 ships of all types at present. Ownership of the Queen Esther is vested in Queen Esther Shipping Ltd, a joint venture between Lomar and CIT Group Inc a division of First Citizens Bank.

The ship sailed from China November 2, transited the Panama Canal November 27-28, and called on Jacksonville December 2-3 and Baltimore December 5. These dates would indicate the possibility of  some of the cargo reaching COSTCO shelves before Christmas. 

*The previous COSTCO charters have been: Carpathia August 23, AS Carlotta October 15, Protstar N November 27.

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ATBs and FOG

 Fog, that bane of ship photographers, decided to visit Halifax today, December 7, of all days. Normally a spring and summer phenomenon, today's version was just as thick and just as unwelcome. The fog was accompanied by drizzle and rain - all of which is most unseasonal for the first week of December. This autumn has consisted of very much higher than normal temperatures, so I guess anything is to be expected.

The fog precluded photos of one of two Articulated Tug Barge (ATB) combinations that were in port at the same time. A very common sight in US ports, they are relatively rare in Halifax, with the exception of the tug Leo A. McArthur and its barge John J Carrick. That pair arrived on Monday December 5 at the appropriately named McAsphalt dock in Eastern Passage to deliver a cargo of asphalt from Montreal. The barge is specially built with boilers and heating coils to ensure that the cargo is "pumpable" when it reaches port, and delivers asphalt to Halifax regularly. The 6916 gt, 11,800 dwt barge and 5,354 bhp tug were built in 2009 by Penglai Bohai Shipyard in Penglai, China.

The tug was originally named Victorious when it was under the management of ULS Group (Upper Lakes Shipping). When ULS was liquidated McAsphalt Marine Transportation Ltd was formed to operate McAsphalt's two ATBs. (The other combination Everlast / Norman McLeod no longer leaves the sheltered waters of the Great Lakes and St.Lawrence.)

I have seen the Leo A. McArthur / John J Carrick many times, so was not disappointed that it was largely invisible on departure for Sarnia this afternoon.

 

The other ATB pair, arriving this morniNg, was much more interesting and unusual, and I was able to capture at least a partial photo:

 

The tug is the United States flagged Genesis Eagle a 6,140 bhp vessel built in 1996 by Bollinger Shipyards Inc in Lockport, LA. Built as Grant Candies it became Eagle Service in 2005 and in 2016 took its present name when Hornbeck Offshore Transportation sold its fleet to Genesis Marine Co of Houston. Genesis is a major tug / barge operator with 130 tugs and barges in its stable, both inland and offshore.

The tug is paired with the barge GM 11103 built in 2005 by Manitowoc Marine Group's Amship Toledo shipyard. The 8290 (US) gt, 16,174 dwt barge is also equipped with boilers and heating coils in order to carry hot oil cargoes. It has a capacity of 11,100  bbls.

In 2017 the tug and barge were rebuilt with an Articouple connection system that allows for some limited movement between tug and barge, but has proven to be so reliable that the tugs do not have to resort to towing, even in bad weather.  (The McArthur / Carrick pair also use the Articouple system). As usual for these ATB configurations, the tug is equipped with an second, elevated, wheelhouse for visibility when the barge is in ballast.

The Genesis Eagle and the GM 11103 arrived at Irving Oil's Woodside terminal from Albany, NY. Irving Oil's "turn around" project at its Saint John refinery that was to see the facility shut down for eight weeks this fall may have caused the company to source product elsewhere. In any event I do not recall product arriving from Albany before today.

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