2013 in review

2013 was a good year. we had the most readers yet, and set records for page views in a month and a single day.

In Incidents - the year began in an eventful manor. January brought the tow issues with HMCS Athabaskan. The Tug Craig Trans was abandoned in Halifax,  The Lubov Orlova also broke her tow, and is presumed sunk.

At Halifax Shipyard, The Hero Class program continued, with launched. the FELEX refits continued, and the AOPS Design Contracts were signed. the Joint Support Ship design was chosen and the ships named. The Expansion Also continued, with new piers, and Parking grarage, and the removal of older assembly buildings.
several vessels being

In Service news, March brought the announcement of the New G6 Service. November brought a signed Yarmouth ferry deal

April brought the french warship FS Aquitaine. the year was light in ship visits, with a few USCGnorthland, Seneca, Morrow Bay, and Eagle) Visits early in the year. The german Navy research vessel FGS Planet visited, as did the JMSDF training Squadron, and Royal Navy Survey Vessel HMS Scott. the sole US Navy visitor was USS Nicholas, likely due to the American Budget situation


Several new ships joined the Canadian Fleet - Scunda Bought Scotia Sea, Degagnes bought Bella Degagnes, and Atlantic towing Bought Atlantic Merlin for 2014 Delivery.  HRM also Bought a New Ferry for april 2014 Delivery. Oceanex took delivery of the Connaigra.

New Cranes Arrived at Halterm in August. The Dartmouth Refinery Shutdown, and Converted to a terminal in the fall, after a June announcement. The CSS Acadia turned 100, and Shell spent the sumer looking for offshore oil

MSC Container Ship in trouble off NF

The JRCC is reporting that 2 helicopters from 103 Squadron have evacuated all non essential crew from a MSC Container ship. Also on scene is CCGS Teleost, and a C-130 from Greenwood. There were 24 persons Aboard.

No word on the Issue, However the ship is reportedly in danger of sinking, 34 NM South of Portugal Cove NL.

More is it becomes Known. Details and Photo from JTF Atlantic Via Twitter.

I believe the vessel may be MSC Aniello,  though that is speculation on my part.

CBC reports the Vessel Is MSC Monterey, Lehave for Newark NJ. Given her location off the great circle route, trouble likely began earlier, and a decision was made to sail for NF.

UPDATE: GCaptain made a phone call to the JRCC, seems a crack has developed in the Hull. Distress call was made around 11am.

The ship was built in 2008 - the same year as the MOL Comfort, which broke its back and sank earlier this year. Halifax Regular Yantain Express rescued the crew off yemen, after a crack in her hull was discovered.


UPDATE: Video from one of the Helo's below. The SAR case has now been closed, and the vessel is the responsibility of Transport Canada.



JRCC Reported that she was at anchor, Marinetraffic.com shows her position as Placentia Bay

UPDATE DEC 30: The Ships owners today issued a press release.

Liberian flagged container vessel MSC MONTEREY was on her way from Antwerp to Boston when on Friday 27th of December a crack of approximately 1.5 m in the main deck near the superstructure was discovered by the crew. At that moment, the vessel was situated southeast of the coast of Newfoundland. After the crack had extended by approximately 30 cm into the outer hull and the further measures had been coordinated with the Canadian Coast Guard and Transport Canada, the vessel was anchored in the bay of Cape Pine.
The crew consisting of 20 seafarers from Europe and the Philippines is well. Four passengers from the United States and Switzerland which were travelling on MSC MONTEREY have been taken on shore by helicopter as requested by themselves and are doing well. MSC MONTEREY is not posing a danger to the environment. The crack has not resulted in any oil spillages or other hazards.
After close coordination with the authorities, MSC MONTEREY will proceed from Cape Pine to St. Mary’s Bay on Monday morning. This bay provides better shelter against the predicted adverse weather conditions. In St. Mary’s Bay, a local surveyor of Germanischer Lloyd will board the vessel. In addition, a representative of a shipyard and the insurance will inspect the vessel. Jointly, they will develop a concept for a provisional repair which will enable MSC MONTEREY to continue its voyage to its port of destination Boston. REEDEREI NSB is in constant contact with the Emergency Response Service of Germanischer Lloyd in Hamburg.
MSC MONTEREY is expected in St. Mary’s Bay in the early morning hours of December 30.

UPDATE DEC31. The TSB has announced they will be sending investigators tomorrow.

Irving Oil to Replace Wharf?

Reports are that as a result of the refinery shutdown, Irving Oil is looking to rebuild their wharf at woodside. Irving currently Has a tank farm at woodside, however since their old wharf was condemned, have been accessing it via Imperial Oil. recently core drilling has been taking place in its vicintiy.

With the Shutdown of the refinery, Other Oil Producers will want to have less reliance on Imperial Oils facilities - Especially Irving, who now operated the only east coast refinery in Canada.


(Above - Irving Tanker Acadian at Imperial Oil Wharf) See this ShipFax Post for photos of the old Irving Oil Dock

1 ship Christmas Day

With the port mostly shutdown for christmas, Only one vessel Arrived. The bulker Garganey arrived and proceeded to anchor. The 24th Brought the arrivals of container vessels Amanda (to anchor) Oceanex Sanderling (Pier 41) and Soul Express (Fairview Cove)

Garganey arrived with a load of grain from the great lakes, and will be topped off before heading overseas.

Cornelia at Pier 31

the Bulker Cornelia arrived yesterday, and tied up at pier 31. Owned and operated by Minship, she was built in 2001. She has a single deck, with box shaped holds, and can be unloaded via crane and clam shell bucket. Compare this to CSL Acadian's Self unloading boom, in this case capacity is increased for a decrease in unloading time.

Unsure of her cargo intentions.

UPDATE: Apparently in For hull repairs after bumping a lock on the St Lawrence system.

Pier 9 Circa 1928

From Library and Archives Canada

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAYS. HALIFAX OCEAN TERMINALS. PLAN OF WHARVES AND WATER LOTS TRANSFERRED. 

Online MIKAN no. 2161386 (1 item)

CSL Acadian

Hot on the heels of sister ship CSL Metis first visit to Halifax for a load at national Gypsum, CSL Americas Bulker  CSL Acadian arrived last week for some repair work. Like the Metis, She was built as an oil tanker in 1981, and when purchased by CSL, the tanker portion was removed, and a new build bulk carrier forebody installed.

She moved to Anchor this morning. It is believed this is CSL Acadian's first visit to Halifax.


UPDATE: Apparently she was to have her prop removed and repaired, however the work crew was unable to remove it. She Sailed on the 23rd, but is due to return where another crew will attempt it.

HS Beethoven sails Tuesday

After having a bunker tank punctured, HS Beetoven has now been emptied and cleaned. She is now due to sail on Tuesday for Spain where she will undergo a repair.

Photo and info via @halifaxsig on twitter

Boat Construction At MMA

With the Maritime Heritage store gone for the winter, the NSMMA has opened up their shed to the Halifax Art Boat Project.  From their Website:

The Halifax Art Boat Project is a community-focused art project where everybody can come join in building a real, floating, traditional boat right on the waterfront! We'll launch the boat in Spring and turn it into a beautiful artwork as a community.

Funded by HRM Community Arts and in partnership with the Khyber Centre for the Arts and Eyelevel Gallery, the Halifax Art Boat is a community project inviting all ages and interests to collectively build a carefully designed boat. The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and Waterfront Development have generously contributed space and resources as well.

This boat will be used as artist-in-residence housing, waterfront gallery and exhibit space, and sustainable off-grid living model. Featuring the five principles of youth involvement, community building, sustainability, artistic inspiration, and coastal exploration, everyone can explore their recreational interests while enjoying a traditional and fun community building project.

This project promotes individual participation by people who might be interested but who would be limited by financial barriers or otherwise unable to afford enrolling in a program that would offer similar skills and experiences.

Our core team guides the process of this multi-phase project and works hard to create opportunities for involvement of people from different age groups, culture identities, and backgrounds.

We're also offering an Artist-in-Residence program and gallery which will be curated and operated by a team of artistic peers chosen from and by the local communities. This openness allows for innovative ideas to be quickly implemented and provides a safe mechanism for experimentation and exploration amongst the community and the artists.

In a Maritime province with long-standing cultural ties to coastal recreation, community boat building and strong families and communities, the Art Boat is a celebration and reinvigoration of this identity. Come join us on the Halifax Waterfront!

Last winter the NS Sea School Rebuilt their vessel Dorothea

The plan is to Build This:

So far, they have 2 sides built.

HRM Looks to build More new Ferries

HRM released an Expressions of interest for the construction of 2 new Ferries. These new vessels will be built to the same plans as the 4th ferry currently under construction by AF Theriault & Son.

From the Document:

Metro Transit's existing ferries were constructed in 1978 (Dartmouth III and Halifax Ill)
and 1986(Woodside I). As such, these ferries are approaching the end of their economic
lifespan. Metro Transit is currently engaged in a project to expand the ferry fleet with the
construction of an additional vessel in support of planned service improvements on the
Woodside ferry route to be completed in the spring of 2014 and as awarded to A.F.
Theriault & Son Ltd. - (Tender No. 13-009).

HRM now plans to construct two more ferries in years 2014-2015 and 2017-18

The documentation presented to Council surrounding the construction of the 4th ferry mentioned that it was the start of fleet renewal, and that engineering work would be transferable to replacement ferries fro Halifax III and Dartmouth III

Top 10 Photos Of 2013

In No particular Order

Boston Express in Trouble, In the Pacific

The Hapag Lloyd Container ship, and Halifax Regular, Boston Express is reported to under tow by the tug Koyo Maru.

The Vessel was en route to Takoma, got disabled south of Aleutian Islands on Dec 9 - the cause of the trouble is unknown. Salvage tug Koyo Maru was contracted for salvage or for towage, reached distressed vessel and took her on tow on Dec 15, most probably to tow back to Japan. Boston Express left Tokyo on Nov 26 bound for Takoma

 Boston Express works on Pacific Atlantic Express Service - and has been a regular caller in Halifax, Most recently as Boston Express, but prior as Essen Express. She was renamed to free the Essen Express name for a newer larger Container ship.

(File Photo)

HS Beethoven - Cleaining Underway.

The Latest news on the HS Beethoven is that she is currently being cleaned by Atlantic Industrial Cleaners. This would require the Bunker tank to be drained, and all oily residues removed from inside the tank and the hold. There is no word on when/where repairs will occur.

She will likely need to move, as both Fairview Cove piers are scheduled to be in use this evening.

UPDATE: 1550: Confirmed - APL  Pearl and Singapore Express are now both inbound. HS Beethoven is due to move to Pier 36. Harbour is going to get Busy Shortly.

Harbour Fashion for Pier 9

Today brought the arrival of Harbour Fashion, A Products tanker to Pier 9.
Wilsons Fuels has a facility there to top up their Barrington street tank farm, and sees a couple of vessels per year.

She Sailed from Trois Rivers Quebec, on the 5th. I see no active coasting trade license, so is suspect she is importing oil, ad making 2 deliveries.

Photo to Follow.

CSL Metis for national Gypsum.

Yesterday evening brought a first appearance (At least in my 5 years of records) to CSL Metis. As part of CSL's international fleet, she is part of the pool that regularly servers national gypsum  including Pioneer and Atlantic Superior.

CSL Metis was built in 1981 as an oil tanker, and had a new forebody was installed in 2007 to make her into her current geared self unloading panamax bulker form.

Scheduled to sail at noon - Photo to Follow.

HS Beethoven has serious issues

I have received word that the HS Beethoven has a significant hole in a bunker tank and currently may not be sea worthy. Apparently a stack of containers in hold of ship toppled piercing bunker tank and base of the hold. (Above) HS Beethoven sits at the pier Thursday Morning.

The plan is to fully unload the ship Dec 5th. She will then likely be repaired at the pier or at anchor. I suspect the containers will be put on the next vessel on the run currently listed as Berlin Express on Friday.

More details to follow as known. File photo Below

Task Group at Anchor

 (Above) Task Group at Anchor

 (Above) HMCS Ville De Quebec (Below) HMCS Halifax and HMCS Iroquois

HMCS Kingston, Fredericton, and Windsor were in the dockyard. - the 6 vessels are taking part in a Task Group Exercise

RCN Sails for Task Group Excercise

Several warships sailed from Halifax, today, to participate in a Task Group Exercise (TGEX) from Nov. 25 to Dec. 6, 2013. The TGEX is part of NORAD exercise Amalgam Dart which runs from Dec. 3-5, practicing interoperability between the RCN, RCAF, and USAF.  RCN ships participating in the TGEX include HMCS Iroquois, Ville De Quebec, Halifax, Fredericton, Kingston, and Windsor.

Exercises like this TGEX are key for RCN units to maintain operational readiness and deploy on joint operations in a rapid and effective manner. TGEXs strengthen Canada’s ability to work in a multi-national and joint environment on a wide range of potential operations and missions.

HMCS Chicoutimi to enter the water today

The Times Colonist of Victoria is reporting that HMCS Chicoutimi will enter the water today after completing her refit.

She Departed Halifax in April 2009 for BC for repairs.

UPDATE: Photo Left via RCN - HMCS Chicoutimi rests on a floating dry dock in preparation for return to water, a significant milestone

Oceanex Connaigra for repairs

Oceanex's new vessel pulled in To port yesterday and tied up at pier 25. She is reported to have an issue with one of her propellors. It is unclear if repairs can be made at pier 25 or if she will require the nova dock.

The Connaigra runs the Montreal to St Johns route and passes 2 dry docks large enough to accommodate her Davie shipyard and Group Ocean. 

Halifax Shipyard Expansion

Circa 1942, From the Library and Archives Canada

Ships loosing power!?!??

Head over to ShipFax and read his Piece - "It Could Happen Again"

late on Nov4, OOCL Oakland Outbound lost power in the Narrows. An incident was averted thanks to the use of a tethered tug that was able to stear the ship and stop the ship.

Probably the worst case scenario is a ship hitting a bridge. The towers are protected by rocks, so they are likely safe, however most of the large container ships must pass directly in the center of the bridge, and then do so with about 2m to spare - the height of an average doorway.

(Left) You can see on of the tugs tethered to the side of the OOCL vessel. there is another at the rear. This shot is from the MacDonald bridge, and you can see how close the vessel comes.

I posed some questions to Halifax Harbour Bridges, they were very prompt with their responces. Alison from Halifax Harbour bridges Confirmed they Monitor Marine VHF. And also provided the following about this specific Incident

On commercial shipping we primarily deal with Halifax Traffic. In this incident a PAN PAN call was not issued. However, we set up for a PAN PAN situation (standard procedure). We remained in a heightened state of readiness until the ship cleared the bridge and was put at anchor. Our operations centre monitored the passage through our zone using our security cameras (standard procedure) .

HHB routinely conducts drills on emergency procedures internally and in partnership with HRM and the provincial EMO for incidents on, under and around our facilities.

The ship could also ground. This most recently happened near Woodside on 07 June 1992, the Swedish-flag container/roll-on roll-off vessel "CONCERT EXPRESS" was under the conduct of a pilot in Halifax Harbour in dense fog. During a manoeuvre around a vessel at anchor, the "CONCERT EXPRESS" grounded and sustained extensive hull bottom damage.
(Photo Below of Concert Express Aground by IOL thanks to Wave Point Consulting)

Lets also not forget the possibility of a collision with another vessel - HMCS Preserver had power issues not to long ago and Struck the Nova Dock. 

Travestern for the Nova Dock

With the Departure last Thursday of the Holiday Island from the Nova Dock, Space was freed up for the Woodward Group Coastal Shipping Ltd tanker Travestern to enter this morning.

Photos to Follow.

First Visit for Singapore Express

This Morning brought the Maiden Arrival in Halifax of Singapore Express, Now serving on the PAX Service. She is Owned by Costamare Shipping of Greece and is on long term charter to Hapag Llyod.
At 4890TEU, She is a Panamax Vessel, and the same class as Oakland Express and New York Express, Both of which have called on Halifax.

MSM Don With Rails

MSM Don Arrived earlier in the week with another load of rails for CN.

Based on photos on Marine traffic, the 2 cranes are a recent edition within the last year, as they are absent in 2011 photos

WellServicer

The British Diving Support Vessel Wellservicer made a brief appearance in  Halifax yesterday, spending just under 11 hours tied up at Woodside. She sailed Just before 10pm.
She recently completed work in the Whiterose field off Newfoundland, and Is now  going to be used to perform the following operations on the Sable Venture Pipeline, off the coast of Nova Scotia:

1. to remove mattresses from the spool, cut off the ends of the spool and recover them to the deck;
2. to perform metrology activities to confirm the measurements of the new spool;
3. to deploy the new spool and place new mattresses over the new spool;
4. to remove mattresses, perform scour remediation and install pipeline supports.

Yarmouth Ferry Deal Signed

The province and STM Quest Inc. have signed an agreement to support a new cruise ferry in Yarmouth, to begin in May 2014.  The province has received a signed copy of the agreement and amendments from STM Quest Inc. The company has committed to a May start.

The province and company agreed to make amendments to the letter of offer announced in early September. The parties have:
-- clarified language and added more detail including how the province will provide funding during the start-up phase, and the terms of senior management salary deferral during the start-up and if there are operating losses
-- revised deadlines for conditions the company must meet
-- clarified how and when ST Marine will provide its $3 million contribution
-- added auditing rights for the province for more accountability

The province's financial commitment remains the same. It will provide $21 million to the company over seven years, including $10.5 million toward start-up costs, with $1.5 million each year for marketing.

There are a number of terms and conditions for STM Quest Inc. to receive the assistance and earn forgiveness for the loan.

For a ferry to start operating in 2014, STM Quest, other levels of government and partners must work on: having border services in place in both ports, upgrading the Yarmouth ferry terminal, signing berthing agreements in the two ports, and getting all licences and permits needed to operate a ferry service.

Marketing the ferry and Nova Scotia to potential visitors from the mid-Atlantic and north eastern United States are key parts of the service. The Nova Scotia Tourism Agency has been meeting with STM Quest Inc. to co-ordinate the province's tourism marketing plans with the company's detailed plan.

Background information is available at http://novascotia.ca/econ/ in the Initiatives section.

Thomas Harold Beament; Artist and Naval Officer

HMCS Prince Robert in Drydock (n.d.)

Thomas Beament Was born in Ottawa. During WW I he served in the RCNVR as an ordinary seaman, then was promoted to warrant officer. Following the end of the war he returned to Osgoode Hall and completed his studies to became Barrister-at-law (1922). The same year he attended evening classes at the Ontario College of Art, Toronto. He Continued serving with the peacetime Naval Reserve, was promoted to the rank of officer in 1924 and finally Lt.-Commander, Mtl. RCNVR Division in 1930.

HMCS Iroquois (n.d.)

At the outbreak of WW II, Beament entered full-time service with the RCNVR, as a ship commander on North Atlantic patrols for three years, rose in rank to Commander (1943); then as official Canadian war artist going back to sea to paint scenes: in the Mediterranean; on convoy in the North Atlantic; in Newfoundland; making a visual record of assault landings and minesweeping duties in the English Channel. The Canadian War Museum has some 76 paintings by him.

Motor Torpedo Boats Leaving for Night Patrol off Le Havre (1945)

A Collection Of Naval Art Decorated the Chambers of the Speaker of the Senate for the Canadian Naval Centenial. You can view that collection at http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Senate/WorkofNavalArt/index-e.html.

All Works above Are part of the Beaverbank Collection of War Art at the Canadian War Museum