Notorious Barge arrival

 The barge at the centre of the controversial tidal power turbine in the Minas Passage, Upper Bay of Fundy, arrived in Halifax today.

For more on the barge Scotia Tide and its towing tug, Atlantic Elm - see today's post on Tugfax

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New for Melfi, the Imedghassen

 Melfi Lines, the trading name for the Melfi Marine Corp is a long time user of the port of Halifax. Its regular trade from Europe to Cuba, and onward connections to Caribbean and South American ports, now consists of a twelve day rotation with five days transit from the PSA Halifax terminal to the home port of Mariel. Over the years, the company has used a variety of chartered vessels, some short term and others quite long term. Today's arrival, on its first trip for Melfi Lines, is fairly typical of the ships the line uses, which is to say, multi-purpose, fitted to carry containers, and generals, and equipped with cranes for cargo handling.

    

The smart looking ship was built in 2012 by Daesun Shipbuilding + Engineering Co, Pusan as Majority and has carried the names 2013: Dignity C, 2017: Sofrana Surville, 2019: Majority and taking up its present name in 2019. It measures 9998 gt, 12,754 dwt with a capacity of 1048 TEU and carrying two 40 tonne cranes.

The ship is owned and operated by Global Maritime Algerie SpA, and flies the Algerian flag. Its name also refers to a temple-mausolueum dating perhaps to 200 BC and considered to be one of the country's major heritage sites. 

The ship arrived with some sort of technical deficiency and was escorted from the pilot station by the tug Spitfire III. It then tied up at pier 34, a berth usually used for repairs or layups. Its scheduled departure date was January 8, but that has now been extended.

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Augusta Luna - in the news, twice

 Most ships lead uneventful lives, seldom appearing in the news or attracting much attention to their activities. That has certainly been the case with Nirint Shipping's Augusta Luna, a regular caller in Halifax. It plies its normal route from Europe to the Caribbean and back via Halifax with nickel sulfides from Cuba. The cargo, which is very tricky to handle in bulk, (it tends to behave like a liquid) is therefore shipped in large bags which prevents liquification and means that it can be handled as break bulk cargo.

A versatile ship of 12,772 gt, 17,370 dwt, Augusta Luna has a capacity of 903 TEU (nominal) including 60 reefers. It also carries two 150 tonne and one 80 tonne cranes. Built in 2011 by the Xinshun Shipyard Group in Yueqing, China, it started life as Rickmers Yokohama. In 2015 it became Lolland and Augusta Luna in 2019. 

To assist in loading heavy cargo the ship carries a pair of large spreaders, stowed starboard side forward at number one hatch (painted the same colour as the cranes.) Those cranes were put to good use "recently" when the ship loaded "a number" of Russian built railway locomotives for Cuba. The press release about the move was rather coy about details, but did state that the engines weighted 86,000 kg each - fairly light work for this ship. Even at a 31 meter outreach the larger cranes have an 80 tonne maximum capacity. 

The other newsworthy recent event occurred on December 25 in Mariel, Cuba, when the ship allided* with the tug Capricornio I, causing a 50cm dent in the hull in the way of the starboard number 1 ballast tank. No dent was obvious today while seen through a couple of layers of fence. The press item also stated that the dent was 7.4 meters above the waterline. Even at light draft that would seem to me to be very high on the hull for a ballast tank.

(* The term allision, which I like, means coming into contact with a stationary object, as opposed to a collision when two moving objects come into contact.)

After completing its cargo work tomorrow, the ship will be returning to Rotterdam to start its cycle again. It is due next in Halifax February 18.

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Maersk Nimbus

A.P.Moller-Maersk A/S (known as "Maersk") is only one component  of the huge Moller family of companies, which includes real estate, supply chain management, retail, port terminals and others. (It hived off its oil and gas investments in 2016). Best known as the largest container shipping company in the world, Maersk also owns the largest tug company in the world (Svitzer), a significant offshore support vessel fleet, autocarriers (in joint venture with Hoegh) and tankers.

Today's arrival, Maersk Nimbus is one of five "cloud class" tankers built in 2016 and 2017 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan. However they were not built for Maersk but for BP Tankers. British Nimbus, as it was originally named, was delivered in 2016 and measured 28,137 grt and 39,999 dwt. With its sisters it was among the smallest ships in the BP fleet, intended for MidRange trade in North Europe and the Mediterranean. The ships are equipped with exhaust gas scrubbers and other state of the art equipment to ensure economical operation.

In late 2019 BP did a lease back deal with Maersk to take over ownership of eleven tankers, and lease them back to BP for three years. These sorts of deals are more common with new ships, but they are also a way for companies to take debt from its books and to raise funds.

The ship became Maersk Nimbus in February 2020 and the Maersk funnel colours were applied. That does not disguise the huge scrubber casing installed aft of the superstructure. 

The ship's last port was New York, and it tied up at Imperial Oil.

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Algonorth - again, and close up

 I was not expecting Algonorth to remain in Halifax when I made yesterday's post. However,  once the ship finished unloading last night it moved over to pier 25-26. That berth is used to unload grain, so is often selected for short term stays for repairs or for winter layups.

The ship is certainly showing signs of wear and tear from transiting the St.Lawrence and Great Lakes locks. The "lock rash" is all the evidence needed to show why the attractive Swedish paint job is impractical for working the Seaway.

It now appears that Algonorth will be staying in Halifax for a maintenance period. "Fire wires" have been deployed over side forward and aft, which will allow tugs to move the ship in case of emergency without having to rely on a ship's crew to rig lines.

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Algonorth

 The tanker Algonorth arrived in Halifax January 3, and due to high winds, it anchored in the harbour. When things calmed down this morning it moved in and tied up at Imperial Oil's number 3 dock.

Oddly, the ship docked with its bow facing south - the first time I have seen this that I can recall. The only explanation I can give is that there may have been frozen spray on the starboard side manifold.

Algonorth is unusual several ways. Most obvious is the red hull paint, a carry over from its previous owners, Alvtank Rederi of Sweden. The ship was built in 2008 by Tuzla, Turkey, as Gan-Gesture  but was delivered as Ramira. Measuring 12,164 gt, 16,979 dwt, it is an ice class vessel, suitable for Great Lakes trading.

Algoma Tankers acquired the ship late in 2018, but have not repainted it in traditional Algoma colours of very deep blue hull and beige superstructure.  The white hull stripe is also a fashion statement that is not much indulged in by shipowners these days. It therefore stands out and has drawn a lot of favourable comment.

The other notable thing about the ship is that it was the last ship to exit the St.Lawrence Seaway system before it closed for the season on December 31, 2020. Algonorth loaded a cargo at Imperial's refinery in Nanticoke, ON for Halifax, and will presumably spend the winter working the St.Lawrence River and east coast.

For more on the ship see: http://shipfax.blogspot.com/2018/12/new-for-algoma.html

HMCS Halifax send off

 The waterfront was lined with well wishers at mid-day today to send off HMCS Halifax  FFH 330 on a six-month deployment with NATO's Operation Reassurance in the Mediterranean Sea.

The ship's company lined the rails to wave to family and friends. Lead ship of the Halifax class of Canadian Patrol Frigates, the ship was launched in 1988 and commissioned in 1992. It has since received major upgrades to systems and weaponry. It was also reinforced to carry the Cyclone helicopter. It had a year long refit in 2016-2017 and returned from its most recent posting with NATO in January 2020.

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