The second Ultra class container ship in two days arrived this morning at PSA Halifax. CMA CGM's CMA CGM Corte Real was in Friday / Saturday - the usual timing for ships of the Columbus Loop service - but a week late.
APL Sentosa apparently held off until today.
The inner anchorages were busy this morning as was the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, with two ships in port for Asian Gypsy Moth inspection.
First in was the tanker Leopard from the Baltic destined for Come-by-Chance, NL. Another member of the 110 ship strong Norient pool, it was built in 2010 by Iwagi Zosen, Kamijima, Japan, measuring 28,798 gt, 47,991 dwt.
Number One anchorage was monopolized by the big bulker Berge Sarstein, a 93,967 gt, 182,913 dwt ship built by Imabari Zosen, Mihari, Japan in 2017.
It is interesting that despite the prominence of South Korea and China in shipbuilding, both these ships were built in Japan. Once the world's largest shipbuilder, it is still noted for its quality of construction.
The effects of the Montreal longshore strike are likely to be felt in Halifax for weeks to come, even though the two week work stoppage has been over for a week. Today's arrival of Maersk Palermo is just one example of how schedules have been thrown for a loop.
The ship would normally be arriving in Montreal yesterday or today from Antwerp, and would then call in Halifax on its eastbound leg next weekend.
It seems that to avoid the Montreal backlog the ship has been sent here directly instead. PSA Halifax will now have to accommodate all of the ship's cargo and dispatch it westbound.
Maersk and CMA CGM operate the weekly transatlantic service jointly.
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It was almost a parade of tankers today with three arrivals. First in was Gold Point for Irving Oil. It berthed at the Woodside terminal shortly after 0630 hrs but sailed again at 1100, giving Point Tupper as its destination.
The ship dates from 2011 when it was built by STX Shipbuilding Co in Jinhae, South Korea. It measures 29,717 gt, 51,063 dwt. The ship appears to be in ballast so today's visit may have been to take on fuel for its own use.
Around 1000 hrs Nord Swift arrived at Imperial Oil from Antwerp, Belgium. It is a product of the same STX Jinhae shipyard but in 2015. It measures 30,179 gt, 49,579 dwt. Due to its location it isn't easily photograph-able from the Halifax side of the harbour.
Finally at about 1100 hrs the Cape Gavi sailed through the harbour to anchor in Bedford Basin.
The ship is easily the most familiar foreign flag tanker calling in Halifax, as it has done so under three names, and was here before as recently as June:
http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2020/07/cape-gavi-returns.htm
The ship apparently finds most of its work from Irving Oil. It arrived this time from Saint John, but will be anchored in Bedford Basin for a time before unloading.
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PSA Halifax, the southend container terminal operator, will be hosting two Ultra class container ships at the same time this weekend. First in was CMA CGM Corte Real [ see footnote] arriving early this evening.
The ship has a capacity of 13,880 TEU including 800 reefers. Daewoo Okpo built the ship in 2010 and it measures 151,446 gt, 165,182 dwt.
The almost identically sized APL Sentosa is due tomorrow, and both ships are shown berthed at the same time. Work on the Pier C southward extension has not been completed, but it may be sufficiently advanced that both ships can be secured. To be continued...
CORRECTION
Both ships did not dock at the same time, but in fact took turns, with APL Sentosa arriving after CMA CGM Corte Real sailed.
Footnote: The Corte-Real family were early Portuguese explorers of the New World, including Newfoundland. In about 1500 Gaspar Corte-Real kidnapped 57 indigenous people in Labrador and sold them into slavery to finance his voyage. Although lionized by Portuguese propagandists, he has been thoroughly discredited in Newfoundland and Labrador. Nevertheless a memorial statue is still standing in St.John's.
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After an absence of more than a year a familiar vessel has returned to its anchorage position off Birch Cove in Bedford Basin. While the barge underwent a refit at HMC Dockyard since March 2019, its place was taken by the flat deck scow YC600 that was moored in the same location.
A veritable flotilla of small craft attended today's repositioning. Among them was the ex Provincial cable ferry LaHave2 (red hull at left) with the tug Belle-D, Connor's Diving's Northcom (blue hull at right), the navy tugs Merrickville (pictured above) and Granville and Glenevis (below) and several small scows. [That is CSL Tacoma loading at National Gypsum in the background.]
The barge is used for acoustic calibration work through the Defence Research and Development Corp, and is thus referred to as the DRED barge. (It was previously the DREA barge when it was the Defense Research Establishment Atlantic.)
My own research has determined that the barge itself is YLP451 built in 1959 by Halifax Shipyard. Every five years or so it undergoes a major refit which explains its relative longevity. The 36m x 17m barge carries a large deckhouse that covers a moon pool with an internal gantry to lower devices into the water. It also has shop and lab space on board.
The anchorage position is in 42m of water approximately one km from shore. The barge is secured with several anchors (which mat have been overhauled or replaced too) and is also powered from shore, perhaps explaining why it seemed such a complex operation to reposition it.
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The longshore strike in Montreal is over but the "hangover" persist in Halifax where hundreds of containers bound for or from Montreal are piled up in both terminals, and hundreds more outside the terminals in a variety of parking areas.
Empty containers have been moved out of the PSA terminal to make room for Montreal traffic within the secure customs zone. Normally staff parking, the storage area is along a popular jogging route to Point Pleasant Park.
Ships that normally call in Montreal are still calling in Halifax too, some to land delayed cargo. Today two of those ships arrived.
MSC Brianna made its way through misty rain to PSA Halifax. It is a 4168 TEU vessel of 51,931 gt and 51,931 dwt. Built in 1996 by Daewoo, Okpo it has carried six previous names since delivered as OOCL Germany. The sequence of subsequent names is 98: APL Germany, 02: Germany, 02: Nedlloyd Caribbean, 03: Maersk Doha, 07: MSC Columbia, 13: MSC Brianna.
Cerescorp also had an arrival:
Quebec Express is a 42,382 gt, 51,000 dwt ship with a 4043 TEU capacity. It was built in 2006 by the China Shipbuilding Corp in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and has been anchored off Halifax for a week.
These ships appear to be fully load with cargo destined for Montreal. After discharging, they will also pick up cargo from Montreal that has arrived or is still in transit by truck and by rail.
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