Hmcs Athabaskan update

This past week saw Athabaskan tied up at imperial oil to be fueled. This is presumably a pre-requisite for testing engines and mechanical systems.

Yesterday it was reported she returned from some sea trials, so she is able to get out and sail on her own now.

Hagen

The Panamain register Bulker Hagen, who I belive is in for Bunkers. The vessel was built in 2009 and is operated by the Bulgarian firm 'Ahilleos Maritime-Varna' LLC.

488 Million for new Coast Guard Vessels

The Chronicle Herald is reporting that the Federal Governmnet has announced  488 million dollars to procure new vessels for the Coast Guard. Minister MacKay made the announcement during the 2013 Mari-Tech Conference, an annual event providing marine engineers and those in the marine industrial community with opportunities to develop their knowledge, stay current with industry development, and network with key industry stakeholders.

The construction of these vessels will be available for competitive bids by Canadian shipyards not selected under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy and will provide jobs for small and medium enterprises and shipyards across Canada.

Of the 18-21 vessels, the Coast Guard will procure:

• Search and Rescue Lifeboats
• Specialty Vessels
• Near-Shore Fishery Research Vessels
• Channel Survey and Sounding Vessels
• Mid-Shore Science Vessels
• Special Navaids Vessels

Vessels will be constructed over the next seven years and will replace existing vessels of the Coast Guard fleet and will be stationed across Canada based on operational need. This investment is in addition to the larger vessels to be constructed at Vancouver Shipyards, the vessel life extensions and mid-life modernizations for 16 vessels and 2 hovercraft and up to 24 new helicopters.

Since 2009, the Government of Canada has delivered over 100 vessels to the Coast Guard, including: four Hero-class Mid-Shore Patrol Vessels (CCGS Private Robertson V.C., CCGS Caporal Kaeble V.C., CCGS Corporal Teather C.V, and the CCGS Constable Carrière); the hovercraft CCGS Mamilossa; five Search and Rescue Lifeboats; two Specialty Vessels; three Near-Shore Fishery Research Vessels; 30 environmental barges; and 60 small craft.

Woodward tankers

Today: Travestern, Sister Alsterstern was here 2 weeks ago.
Given her low freeboard, she appears to be loaded, Given  her last destination was St John's, she is likely carying refined product for the Ultramar facility, or is here to get bunkers before hading back to Newfoundland and points north.

First G6 Vessel, on G6 Rotation

The APL Cyprine Arrived around 10 pm last night, and is the first vessel to reach Halifax on the New G6 Service. She sailed Just after noon today, bound for New Jersey.

Halifax previously had visits from Hapag Llyoyd vessels Dalian Express and Yantain Express, which will be assigned to the new G6 service.

Photos to follow in Daylight Tomorow.

On concrete Ships

Readers of Gacptain's Maritime Monday feature will noticae that today features an Article on Concrete Ships throughout the years..

Probably unknown to most, Halifax has a Fero-cement Sailboat.

Ferry updates

It was announced today that the Government of Canada will invest in a replacement vessel for the federally-owned MV Princess of Acadia. Economic Action Plan 2013 provided funding for the new vessel and costs associated with acquiring the vessel. The procurement process to be launched soon will involve the identification and assessment of suitable candidate vessels from all over the world, including Canada.

Travelling the 70 kilometres between Digby, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick, the MV Princess of Acadia, built in 1971, operates on a year-round basis carrying passenger and commercial traffic with a total of 155 cars and 33 tractor trailers. The MV Princess of Acadia is owned by Transport Canada and is operated by Bay Ferries Limited, a private company. Transport Canada also owns both ferry terminals and supports other private operators who provide ferry services between Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island and Caribou, Nova Scotia; and Cap-aux-Meules, Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec and Souris, Prince Edward Island.

what This means that an off the shelf vessel will be procured, rather then a new canadian build, as was the case with the most recent Marine Atlantic acquisitions. The government also announced funding for upgrades to the caribou and wood isle ferry terminals and new engines for Holliday Island.

10 days remain for bidders to make proposals for a Yarmouth cruise ferry. One of the bidders last time around was QuestNav who have a vessel the Norman Leader. It's possible that if they do not rebid/are unsuccessfully again that they offer this vessel to the Feds. For more see this post

FLORIJNGRACHT for CFIA Inspection

the genearal Cargo Vessel FLORIJNGRACHT is currently inbound to anchor for Asian Gypsy Mothe Inspection. She is sheduled to sail at 13:30

Photos to follow

Dartmouth refinery to Convert to Terminal

 Looks like Imperial Oil is hutting down the refinery, and Converting to a terminal operation, Like Ultramar did previously. this means that Imperial Oil will basically operate a tank farm which recives refined product by tanker, and then distributes it, by tanker, truck or Rail.

This will also mean an end to the Larger tankers Visiting Halifax, as refinded product tankers tend to be smaller then the Crude Oil Carriers.

From the Imperial Oil Press Release:
Despite interest in the refinery assets over the past year, Imperial was unable to attract a buyer to continue operating the refinery. The initial start-up of the converted facilities is planned for later in 2013 depending on progress with facility modifications in the coming months. Decommissioning surplus facilities will be a multi-year process.


The refinery began production in 1918 and has throughput capacity of approximately 88,000 barrels per day. Approximately 200 employees and 200 contractors are employed at the refinery and related terminals. Minimal changes are expected to the operation of the related terminals located at Dartmouth, NS, Sydney, NS, Corner Brook, NL, Sept-Iles, QC and Cap aux Meules in the Magdalen Islands.

Sailing around the World

Sailing vessel Lola was being sailed, by Maarten Klinkenbijl, Danielle Stolwijk thier Son (born on the trip) and cat. They have a website about thier journey from Holland, Around the world, and finally up to halifax.

You can find them at http://www.maartendaanopzee.nl/. Incidently, the Boat is for Sale. 165000Euro.

Dorothea under Sail

HMCS Sackville Returns to the Waterfront + Update on Battle of the Atlantic Place.

Today at 10am, HMCS Sackville made her way to Sackville landing for the summer season.


On the 4th and 5th of June, 5 teams pitched their concepts for Battle of the Atlantic Place. Bellow is how they got to that point.

A significant milestone has been reached in the plan to commemorate the remarkable contribution by Canada in the Battle of the Atlantic when a jury, established to evaluate design proposals for the new Halifax waterfront landmark, compiled its short list.

Proposals were submitted from 10 consortia representing more than 100 companies from Canada, the USA and Europe. The selected design teams ( in alphabetical order) on the short list are:

• Barrie and Langille with Moriyama & Teshima; 
• Fowler Bauld Mitchell in association with Schmidt Hammer Larsen;
•  Stantec Architecture;
•  WHW Architects with Diamond Schmitt; 
• William Nycum Associates in collaboration with Smith Group JJR.

Those five move to the second stage of the selection process which requires a presentation of preliminary design ideas in early June.

Battle of Atlantic Place, an initiative of the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust, will be the new home for HMCS Sackville, the last remaining Corvette - the ships critical to victory in the Atlantic.
Ted Kelly, a director on the Trust’s Board, said Sackville is a fitting symbol of the extraordinary effort by hundreds of thousands of Canadians, who “came from what was largely an agrarian society to develop a capability to engage in a war at sea.”

Battle of Atlantic Place will be more than home to Sackville. The facility will provide a memorial to more than 4,000 people who gave their lives in the conflict and have no known grave.  Perhaps most importantly, Mr. Kelly said, “it is intended that the story of amazing achievement of that generation of Canadians will be told in a manner such that future generations know of the struggle and sacrifice of their forebears in the accomplishments that shaped the character of their country.”

Members of the evaluating jury are drawn from across Canada.  They are: Andrew Amos, engineer, senior partner in the firm of Catalyst Engineering Consultants and Project Manager; Paul Merrick, internationally renowned architect and founding principal of Merrick Architects Ltd. of Vancouver and Victoria; Randy Mosher, quantity surveyor and cost consultant based in Moncton; Jamie MacLellan, public art consultant, Halifax; Guy Larocque, engineer, who served as director of facilities at the Canadian War Museum; and Ted Kelly, a former naval Captain, who heads the Battle of Atlantic Place project team.

The federal, Nova Scotia and Halifax Regional Municipal governments, along with several corporations and individuals have made contributions towards the development of a design concept for Battle of Atlantic Place.

The New Cranes Have Shipped!

A Quick Scan of marine traffic indicates that the ZhenHua 19 Departed Shanghai within the last few days. Today the Port Authory Tweeted the Above picture of Halifax's new Super Post Pananmax Cranes. The vessel gave its destination as Panama, who are liekly the purchasers of the Dark blue Equipment seen in the phot.

A coasting Licence Application was made to Move the Old Crane at the end of pier 42 to Pier 36 with a target date of July 15. We should expect the ZhenHua 19 to Arrive in mid July, as she is too large to pass through the Panama Canal, and must go around the Cape Horn.  Cape of Good Hope, since her Panamianian destination is Christobal, which is on the Atlantic side.

Yantain Express to the Rescue!

Recent Halifax visitor Yantain Express was first vessel on Scene After the MOL Comfort Broke her back and sank, of Yemen.

MOL Issued a press release:

MOL-operated containership MOL Comfort, while under way from Singapore to Jeddah on the Indian Ocean (12’30”N 60’E) at about noon JST (07:00 local time) on June 17, 2013 during inclement weather, suffered a crack amidships and ingressing water in the hold. This made it impossible for  the vessel to continue on under its own power.

Some of the containers on the vessel were lost overboard or suffered damage during the incident. Details are being confirmed.The damage to the MOL Comfort is extensive, while the 26 crew members took to lifeboats. All were safely rescued by other vessel in the area. 

Photo via Gcaptian 

MOL Vessels previously Stopped in Halifax as part of the Grand Alliance with K-line, MOL is also a partner on the new G6 Alliance, which will see Yantain Express  making regular calls to Halifax, though MOL will not be providing vessels to this service.

UPDATE: MOL Comfort was previously APL Russia. APL will once again be calling in Halifax as part of the G6 Alliance. MOL Comfort was relatively new, Built in 2008, and at 4500TEU well within the size of vessel that normally calls in halifax.

UPDATE: It seems the 2 haves are still Afloat.

 (Above 2 photos MRCC Mumbai via Gcaptian)

 (photos Above and Below from Andrew Mcalpine and G-Captain via twitter)

5th Hero Class Launched today

the CCGS G. Peddle launched today, just after noon. She is the 5th Hero class to be launched, with 4 more remaining. after launching, she was taken to Pier 9 for outfitting. Hero #6 CCGS Corporal McLaren MMV, which was painted in mid May, should be rolled out within a few days.

Alas, I missed it. Photos of her along side at pier 9 to follow.

See Shipfax for photos.

Saudi Tabuk

The Saudi National Shipping lines vessel Saudi Tabuk. She is due for the scrappers and will be replaced by Bahri Tabuk. NSCSA is in the process of building new vessels, and is scrapping the current class as they come online.

Bahri Abha, which replaced Saudi Abha was here last month.

French STV Rara Avis

The french sail training vessel Rara Avis put into port this afternoon. She was built in 1957, and does regual cross-atlantic Journeys.

You can find her on the Waterfront By the Visitor Center.

Atlantic Towing Buys a second vessel from Jaya

Atlantic Towing, Limited has purchased a second Anchor Handling Offshore Supply vessel from JAYA, and is expected to take delivery of the vessel during the first quarter of 2014. She will be known as the Atlantic Merlin.

This vessel is a Wartsila designed VS 4622 CD anchor handling offshore supply vessel and is the sister ship to the recently acquired Atlantic Kestrel which is currently serving off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.  The Atlantic Merlin has 16300 brake horsepower from its main engines and the new ship is also Ice Class 1A giving it the ability to navigate in moderate level ice conditions and northern regions. The ship has been designed to Norwegian Maritime Directorate standards (highest in world for offshore vessels) and carries the Clean Design (CD) designation from Det Norske Veritas (DNV classification society).

The state-of-the art ship has been constructed with a variety of features incorporating the latest offshore technology available. These features include:

• 400 tonne anchor handling/ towing winch
• Anchor handling tools (centering devices, rail cranes)
• Oil recovery capability
• DP2 dynamic positioning system

The new vessel is designed specifically for offshore support and is capable of oil rig towing, oil rig positioning and anchor handling, offshore oilfield supply, stand-by rescue, and iceberg towing/ ice management. It is capable of carrying large quantities of cargo to offshore installations with a large deck area and deck strength as well as a high volume of cargo tank space.

(JD Irving Photo)

HMCS Kingston and HMCS Glace Bay off on Great lakes Tour

Her Majesty's Canadian (HMC) Ships Glace Bay and Kingston departed Halifax today to conduct a seven-week period of coastal operations and training exercises until the end of July. As part of their deployment, these two Kingston-class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels, and the Naval Reservists who crew them, will visit various ports of call along the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes, providing Canadians with opportunities to tour the warships and interact with their crews.

In between port visits, HMC Ships Glace Bay and Kingston will conduct various coastal operations and training exercises to maintain operational readiness to deploy on joint operations at home and abroad. This tour will also provide opportunities to inform and educate Canadians about how the Naval Reserve contributes to the protection and security of our maritime waters and approaches by working with our allies and other government partners in maritime security.

HMC Ships Glace Bay and Kingston will sail from Halifax through the St. Lawrence Seaway starting today and returning to Halifax at the end of July. During the tour, Glace Bay and Kingston will visit the following ports of call:

- Sydney, Nova Scotia, June 14-17;
- Chicoutimi, Quebec, June 20-23;
- Toronto, Ontario, June 28 - July 2;
- Oshawa, Ontario, July 5-8;
- Port Colborne, Ontario, July 12-14; and
- Kingston, Ontario, July 12-15.

HMC Ships Glace Bay and Kingston have participated in a number of exercises and operations including their most recent participation in the campaign against illicit drug trafficking in the Caribbean as part of Operation Caribbe in 2012.

Inside the Asian King

 The PCTC Asia King Put into Halifax today, and tied up at Autoport. The Follwoing photos were sent to me by a reader, of the Inside of Her.

(Above) moveable ramp (below) bulk cargo

(above and below) Maserati

 (Above) Line up to board (below) parking

(Below) More then just cars, Also Heavy equipment.

Coast for Melfi

The Container Vessel Coast called over the wekend for Melfi. She spent Saturday at anchor in the basin, presumably waiting out weather. She moved to Pier 41 Sunday morning, and is still there, though she has appears to have completed cargo Operations

2 sailing vessel Arrivals

 2 sailing vessels put into halifax this afternoon, (above) Hong Kong registered Silver Linings  and (Below) German registered Falado Von Rhodos

Carnival Glory - First visit of the year.

Today brought the arival of Carnival Glory, on her first Cruise to Halifax of the year. Once again she will be a regular, making weekly stops.

Back Fishing

After a Weeklong layup in port last week, the fishing fleet departed for the  grounds yesterday at noon. Some vessels eturned to offload catch, before heading out to sea again.

The Processors are offloading at Pier 9 this year.

Another Early G6 vessel - Dalian Express

Another Hapag Lloyd vessel Scheduled for the upcoming G6 Rotation, Dalian Express will be making her second trip to Halifax. She was last here on May 27th, and has since turned and is making the trip back in reverse. Like G6 service Mate Yantain Express, who stopped in halifax earlier in May,  Hapag Llyod is in the process of reshufeling vessels to accomidate new builds and the new g6 service.

Photos to Follow

Riverton Puts in

Over the Lunch Hour, the supply Vessel Riverton Put into Halifax. Riverton is currently woirking for shell on their offshore exploration off Nova Scotia, and is shuttleing supplies back and forth from the siesmic vessles.

USCGC Morro Bay for a visit.

USCGC Morro Bay is a Bay Class Icebreaker, Homeported in New London, CT. She is 140' long, ans was built in 1981. She arrived Saturday for a visit, and will be departing tommorow, June 4th. Unlike Most USCG vessels visiting, she is tied up at Tall Ships Quay, and not at the dockyard.
 
Bay Class vessels are stationed mainly in Northeast U.S. and Great Lakes. Although specifically desinged for ice breaking duties, they also perform law enforcement, environmental protection, search & rescue operations and support for aids to navigation activities.

WTGBs use a low-pressure-air hull lubrication or bubbler system that forces air and water between the hull and ice. This system improves icebreaking capabilities by reducing resistance against the hull, reducing horsepower requirements.

New support ships to be German Berlin Class

The Government of Canada today announced that a ship design for the Joint Support Ships being acquired for the Royal Canadian Navy has been selected, as part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy.

The selection of the Joint Support Ship design was conducted through a transparent assessment process, involving multiple government departments and third party advisors, based on three criteria: operational capability, affordability, and the cost and schedule risks associated with building the ship. The process was monitored by audit firm KPMG, as an independent third-party. First Marine International, a recognized firm of shipbuilding experts, provided ship construction costing expertise. 

Two viable ship design options were commissioned for the Joint Support Ships: an existing design and a new design by BMT Fleet Technology. Based on rigorous analysis and assessments by government officials and military experts, the proven, off-the-shelf ship design from ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Canada was selected as the best design option for the Royal Canadian Navy and for Canadian taxpayers.

Canada will provide the design to Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd, to review in preparation for actual production. This design development work will be led by Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd., as part of the Joint Support Ship definition contract to be negotiated between Canada and the shipyard. Once these steps are completed, Canada will acquire the required licensing for the ship design. This license will enable Canada to use the ship design and build, operate, and maintain the Joint Support Ships - right in here in Canada. This effort will also enhance technical skills and knowledge among Canadian shipyard staff, to be leveraged as the shipyard builds the subsequent ships assigned under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy.

The Joint Support Ships, which will be built by workers at Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd, will supply deployed Naval Task Groups with fuel, ammunition, spare parts, food and water. They will also provide a home base for maintenance and operation of helicopters, a limited sealift capability, and support to forces deployed ashore.