Three's Company at PSA Halifax

 The benefit of the recently completed pier extension at PSA Halifax is not restricted the Ultra size (10,000 TEU and larger) container ships. Today the terminal accommodated three ships at once and even a fourth for a short time.

The largest ship was ZIM Shekou a 4250 TEU vessel, which tied up between berths 41 and 42, leaving enough room for Oceanex Sanderling at the RoRo ramp to also work containers. That still left lots of room at the extension for the 1102 TEU ZIM feeder Taipei Trader.

Not long after it finished work, it moved to Pier 36 (also now within PSA's area) to allow Eimskip's Pictor to tie up at the extension. There is no crane at pier 36 now, so the  ship could not work any cargo there.

I am not aware if the Port will be naming the new PSA extension Pier 43, or just spreading out the number 41 and 42 to cover the whole length of the pier.

The bow of ZIM Shekou is just visible under the crane at the left, at what was originally pier 42, leaving lots of room for Taipei Trader or a much larger ship.

The wonderful walkway on the breakwater and pier extension is inexplicably still not open to the public.

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CSL TACOMA - light load

 The self-unloading bulk carrier CSL Tacoma sailed today with less than a full load of gypsum. Built in 2013 by Chengxi, Jiangyin, it is a 43,691 gt, 71,552 dwt ship that can load to a draft of 13.5 m (summer) [about 69,000 tonnes deadweight at winter draft of 13.2m]. However it does not load to full draft in Halifax due to the depth of water at the National Gypsum pier. The ship's AIS signal states that its draft at sailing was 9.2 m which would give a deadweight of 42,000 tonnes. I could not read the draft marks, but it appeared to be much less than that - say about 8 meters giving about 34,000 dwt.

I know of no draft restrictions at its destination port of Savannah, GA, so it is likely just the Halifax restriction that causes it to sail with a lighter than maximum load.

The ship is a regular caller in the CSL Americas pool.

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Tankers Coming and Going - updated

 The oil terminals were busy today with arrivals and departures. The familiar Elka Nikolas arrived at Irving Oil, Woodside. This tanker has been in Halifax several times, mostly recently in September  when it brought product from Antwerp for Imperial Oil.

This time the ship has cargo from Amsterdam. Irving Oil's Woodisde terminal is a little more visible now that the leaves are off the shrubs.

Last evening the tanker Largo Desert anchored in the lower harbour awaiting its berth at Imperial Oil, which was occupied by Irving Oil's Acadian. When that ship sailed this morning Largo Desert moved in. *

Distinctive for its all gray colour scheme, the ship is also unusual because it was built in Ninh Hoa, Vietnam, by Hyundai's Vinashin Shipyard. It is nevertheless a pretty typical MR tanker of 29,463 gt, 49,703 deadweight. Delivered in 2018 as  ECO Palm Desert it was renamed in March of this year when it was acquired by the anonymous Jupiter 2 Ltd. It also changed technical management at the same time and is now operated by Anglo-Eastern Ship Management Singapore. 

Anglo-Eastern manages more than 600 ships, including 200 tankers, and 100 container ships. Commercial management is handled by another rather opaque corporate based in London, UK.

Meanwhile at Pier 27, Onego Deusto [see previous post] has just about completed discharging its cargo of rails. It is showing a particularly clean looking hull, suggesting a recent drydocking and painting.

The ship is due to sail at midnight, so no closer picture is likely!

* Forgot to mention that the Largo Desert arrived from the Marathon refinery in Garyville, Louisiana.

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An Ill Wind

 High winds and rough seas continue to cause delays to harbour traffic. Movements within the harbour are possible, but conditions are too rough at the pilot station to embark or disembark pilots.

CSL Thunder Bay completed loading at National Gypsum, then  rather than staying at an exposed berth overnight, moved to anchorage position number 1 in the lower harbour.

The ship will remain there until pilotage operations resume - perhaps this evening. Number one anchorage is for short term visitors, and it can accommodate large ships. I suppose Thunder Bay chose this anchorage to leave lots of room for other ships in Bedford Basin.

Dalian Express completed its cargo work at Cerescorp, Fairview Cove and moved to anchor in Bedford Basin yesterday, allowing Budapest Bridge to tie up. Dalian Express, 88,493 gt, 100,006 dwt, built in 2001 by Hyundai, Ulsan has a capacity of 7506 TEU (including 700 reefers).

Naval vessels also came in from sea to anchor, including HMCS Fredericton, which has been exercising offshore for several days.

Fredericton's helicopter sits on the flight deck as the ferry Vincent Coleman makes its way from the Halifax terminal to Woodside.

Yesterday's self-piloted departure from Imperial Oil, the Algoscotia [see: post ] left number 3 dock free, and Irving Oil's Acadian moved in there from Irving's Woodside terminal.

Irving and Imperial Oil used to share terminal and tank space, but it is now rare to see an Irving tanker at an Imperial dock. Irving Oil also used to be the only source for furnace oil in the region, so there may be a similar reason for this visit.

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Business - not as usual

 Very high winds have had widespread effects on navigation and marine activities in the Atlantic region today. From cancellation of ferry service between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and delay to the start of the lobster season in southwest Nova Scotia, many mariners are sitting comfortably on shore or in port. 

Of course there are many others having a rough time of it at sea. Those include crews on ships scheduled to arrive in Halifax since this morning, who are now looking at tomorrow at the earliest before pilots are able to board. Departures from port are similarly effected, but with an exception.

Algoscotia arrived in Halifax November 30 in breezy conditions. The tug Atlantic Willow assisted it to dock at Imperial Oil.

The tanker Algoscotia arrived yesterday, November 30 from Sarnia, ON and docked at Imperial Oil.  It sailed again this afternoon "self-piloted". That generally means that the ship's master or a senior officer has a pilotage waiver. Having satisfied harbour pilots of acquaintance with the harbour over number of previous voyages, a waiver can be issued. 

It has been known for a master to take a ship to sea without pilot and without waiver, but that is extremely rare, but might occur in an emergency.

Imperial Oil has been importing most of its refined product from Antwerp and some more is coming soon from Louisiana, but it is rare to bring cargo from Sarnia. Imperial operates its former refinery here as a storage and distribution centre for the area, so has a variety of fuels in storage, including gasolines, diesel and aviation fuels.

Algoscotia was built in 2004 by Qiuxin shipyard in Shanghai and measures 13,352 gt, 16,810 dwt. Algoma Tankers purchased the Imperial Oil tanker fleet and carries their product extensively.

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Grande Houston - new for Grimaldi

 The Grande Houston was delivered to the Grimaldi Euromed SpA by Yangfan, Zhoushan, China in January and entered service in March of 2020. Although slotted into Grimaldi's Mediterranean / North America service, today marked its first visit to Halifax according to my records. That it has not been here before indicates the current state of the auto industry with plant shutdowns and fluctuating demand.

Grande Houston  is the third of seven new ships ordered from Yangfan. The first, Grande Torino has called here, but not Grande Miafiori so far.

Measuring 65,148 gt, 15,863 dwt, it has a capacity of 7600 CEU and can carry a variety of RoRo cargo using a 150 tonne capacity stern ramp. It is also fitted with the usual side ramp, but these are rarely if ever used in Halifax.

The Grimaldi Group, which also owns Atlantic Container Line (ACL), continues to have bad luck with its autocarriers. Yesterday Grande Europe experienced an engine room fire while en route between Antwerp and Southampton and lost all power. A tug was dispatched to tow the ship. In May 2019 the captain and two other of the ship's officers were arrested on arson charges after two separate fires on the same ship while in Spanish waters. Some crew had to be evacuated by helicopter during the ensuing firefighting. The company however identified faulty car batteries as the cause. [I have been unable to find any further information on the arrests, except that the three were granted bail.]

Grimaldi also had the Hoegh Xiamen on charter when it caught fire in June 2020 off Jacksonville, FL. In that case it was thought that faults in the used cars on board were the reason for the outbreak. In addition the container ship Grande America was lost in the Bay of Biscay after a container caught fire. All these incidents occurred while the Grimaldi Group is in the midst of a $2 billion newbuilding and upgrade program to reduce emissions and increase the efficiency of its ships.

The company has been very proactive in measures to ensure the proper declaration of cargo in containers.

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Onego Deusto brings More Rails

 The Canadian National Railway, known as CNR or simply CN is celebrating 25 years as an independent company. Formed in 1919 by the Canadian government when it folded its own government railway into a mix of failing companies, it was truly a national railroad, running from coast to coast and operating in all ten provinces. (Rails in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland have since been removed.)

CN celebrated its 100th anniversary last year.

In 1995 the government of Canada privatized the company and shares became available on the market. It has since become one of the most profitable North American railways, and has also expanded its reach well into the United States. That growth has fed an inexhaustible appetite for steel rail - either for new track or for upgrade / replacement. All of CN's new rail seems to come from Poland, and enters Canada through Halifax where it is stockpiled. It is then sent on special rail cars to Winnipeg where it is welded into huge lengths before being sent out for installation as "continuous welded rail".

Another rail shipment arrived in Halifax today aboard the Onego Deusto a Netherlands flagged vessel of 6312 gt, 9832 dwt. It is an open hatch type multi-purpose ship with box shaped holds and pontoon tween decks. It carries two 40 tonne capacity cranes.

The ship's hull was built by Vahali Shipyard in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2008 and completed by Volharding in Foxhol, Netherlands. Initially named Beluga Skysails it attracted considerable interest due to the large paraglider type kite which was rigged for wind assist. There are several online images and videos of the ship with the "skysail"  deployed. See: Skysail

The Beluga company failed and the ship was taken over by Briese in 2011 and renamed BBC Skysails. In 2019 management was taken over by Onego Shipping and Chartering B.V. and the ship was given its current name, which seems to commemorate a district of Bilbao, Spain, and makes no reference to sail. 

The ship tied up at Pier 27, the worst place in Halifax to take photos, but that is the pier where rail cargo is stockpiled until needed.

A black painted crane device mounted near the ship's bow was used to secure the paraglider, and remains in place, but is not likely in current use.

The black crane forward and amidships appears to be the telescopic jib used for the skysail.

Also at Pier 27 is the Port Authority's workboat Maintainer 1 hauled out for its own maintenance. 

[See previous post,  Wednesday November 25.]

The ship's current voyage from Szczecin was not without incident. On November 7, while ten miles off Beachy Head in the Dover Strait, the ship experienced a cooling problem and had to make an emergency shut down of its main engine. The ship drifted for about half an hour while the crew effected a repair. The Dover Strait is one of the word's busiest stretches of water and such incidents have widespread possibilities for disruptions and perhaps the crew were wishing for some sail assistance at the time.

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