Top Photos of 2015

CSCL Oceania for the Oceans 3 alliance

CSCL Oceania tied up at pier 42 for the oceans 3 service today. To my memory this is the first call for a China Shipping Company Line ship in Halifax.

The ship itself is owned by Vancouver based Seaspan and is on long term charter to CSCL.

HH Emilia for repairs.

 Due today is the HH Emilia -  On arrival, she is set to discharge all her containers due to engine troubles. presumably this will be picked up by the next Maersk vessel.

The ship is part of the Vespucci Service,  Asia and the US East Coast via Panama. The port rotation is Qindao - Ningbo - Shanghai -(Panama)- Cartagena - Savannah - Charleston - Norfolk - New York - Norfolk - Charleston  - Savannah - Qingdao, so the ship came north to offload.

This is the second time a CMA-CGM Ship has failed in Halifax - The Stadt Cadiz spent time at Pier 9B in May sorting out engine troubles. She also unloaded all her cans.

If the Ship looks Familer, she is the Ex Dresden Express -  sold by Hapag Llyod earlier this year. - Hapag-Llyod is disposing of her class - either selling or scrapping the vessels.

Correction: I Originally posted that the ship was filling CMA-CGM's slot on the weekly Maersk Service. this was incorrect, as now noted above.

New Caller At Fairview

Word is the Bahri, the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia Has switched terminals and will now be calling at Fairview Cove. Yesterdays Stop of Bahri Janzan was the first.

I Suspected that as ships get larger, the smaller vessels would call at Fairview Cove, to leave space at Halterm on Piers 41/42 but Bahri Typically calls at pier 30

The Shot below provided by a Longshoreman.

Busy Day..

Oceanex Sanderling took to the anchorage with ZIM Texas and ZIM New York at piers 41/42. While there she was passed by Northern Debonair Outbound from the Basin to Sea, and Inbound by Atlantic Compass for Fairview Cove, and the Bulker Alice Oldendorf for the basin.

NORTHERN DEBONAIR At Anchor

The Container ship Northern Debonair Worked fairview cove yesterday, then proceeded to anchor in the Basin over night. Filling in for ACL, She is bound for Liverpool, and either has an issue, or is waiting out weather.

UPDATE:
Balchen, a bulker scheduled to load at National Gypsum arrived and anchored in the basin on Arrival this morning.

UPDATE:
The Car Carrier TOREADOR took a tug to help stay alongside this morning at Autoport.

OOCL Italy last night

Tied up last night at Fairview Cove. She Sailed around midnight.

Dinkeldiep Waits Her Turn

Dinkeldiep waits off the Ocean terminal for Chicago Express to Clear Pier 42. Dinkeldiep Now serves the Saint Piere Run. because she has no ramp, RO-RO cargo is tied down to pallets, craned aboard and stowed below deck.

AQUAMARINE ACE Sails

Carmen With Cars

The PCTC Carmen tied up at Autoport yesterday evening she sailed from Southampton UK.. She Moved over to pier 31 over the noon hour, and is due to depart later today  for New York.

Container Lines Shakeup

CMA-CGM, the french shipping line, this week purchased NOL, also known as the Neptune Orient Line. NOL are the owners of APL ( aka American President Lines). Both Companies Currently Call in Halifax - APL as part of the G6 Alliance, and CMA-CGM as Part of the Ocean Three (or O3) alliance.

It has been stated that on completion of the transaction, APL will pull out of the G6 Alliance, and Join O3 - this likely means their ships will continue to call in Halifax, Just for the Weekly CMA-CGM Call.

The G6 Alliance will also likely still call, though another line will need to provide vessels to replace the APL Ships. The O3 Alliance is currently CMA-CGM, China Shipping and the United Arab Shipping Co. The Current G6 Alliance members include American President Lines, Hapag Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mitsui (MOL), Nippon (NYK) and OOCL. the Halifax Legs are currently staffed by ships from OOCL, NYK, Happag-lloyd and APL.

Dalian Express - Time lapse

Beverly M1 to ECTug wharf

Mckiel's Tug, Beverly M1 arrived today and tied up at ECTug on the Halifax waterfront. She left Quebec Nov 16, spent time in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, before arriving in Sydney NS. She departed Sydney yesterday and arrived in Halifax over the Noon Hour.

Marbacan Spends the Night

The Bulker Marbacan tied up at pier 28 this afternoon. In the morning she will top off her load of grain.

She initially loaded in Montreal, to Seaway draft, and will now top off before sailing to her final destination. Built in 2010, she flies the Portuguese flag.

Marina L for Bunkers

Sailing from Rio De Janerio, She stopped in Halifax today for bunkers. Shes likely bound for Sept Isles for grain or iron ore.

newest US Warship, USS MILWAUKEE

The Latest Littoral combat ship, LCS5, USS MILWAUKEE arrived in Halifax overnight on her way to her home port. This Variation of the LCS is built in the great lakes built by Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin and commissioned on 21 November 2015.

So far each of the Ships has stopped in Halifax (Freedom in 2008, Fort Worth in 2012) on their way to thier home port. USS Milwaukee's Home port is San Diego, California.

Shes currently riding at anchor, and is due to move to a navy pier tomorrow.

foggy today

New Navy Tugs - Charter?

The Navy went looking to Purchase 4 new Large tugs to replace the Glen and Fire Class Boats in 2012. That procurement hasn't gone anywhere, and the government is now looking at the price and availability  to charter tugs for 5 years, with options on renewal for up to 20 additional years. They are looking at four tugs; Two for the East Coast; and Two for the West Coast.

The Stated requirements are:

•Twin engine/propulsion plant capable of delivering an approximate bollard pull of  40 tons or an equivalent total power of 4,000 BHP;
•Firefighting capability (FiFi 1);
•Full speed of at least 12 knots (fully loaded);
•Draft not to exceed 6 meters;
•Vessels not to exceed 5 years of age at the start of the contract.
•Preferred length overall not to exceed 33 metres;
•The vessels will be operated by a civilian crew holding Transport Canada certification;
•The tugs must have a Transport Canada Certificate of Registration;
•The vessels must meet regulatory requirements to operate in Canada and be in full compliance with the Canada Shipping Act; and
•Daily in harbour operations consisting of hot or cold moves of existing and future warships up to 25,000 tons displacement;
•Assisting in closing harbour gates, delivering supplies or fresh water, buoy operations and other routine harbour tasks

Interestingly, they are looking at both Bareboat Charter, or as a Time Charter. In a bareboat charter, the Navy would crew the vessels and only pay for using the Hardware (Much like leasing a car) the other option would be to provide a fully crewed tug, available on 15 min notice for an hourly rate. this is very much the arrangement commercial shippers use when they pay for tug services. The difference is that the tugs would be dedicated to navy use

OOCL Italy for Fairview Cove.

OOCL Italy arrived over the noon hour bound for Fairview Cove. Her last port was Cagliari, Italy. Built in 2007 in Japan,  the ship is Registered in Singapore. She sailed as Vietnam Express from April 2010 to April 2013, and stopped in Halifax under that name.

The tugs Atlantic Larch on the Bow and Atlantic Oak on the stern

Late Arrival - Norwegian Sailboat Flekkeroy

the Norwegians always seem to be the first to arrive in the spring, and are seemingly the last to depart in winter. The lovely, but well worked wooden sailing vessel Flekkeroy is currently tied up at the Museum wharves.

Centio with Product.

the product tanker Centio  Arrived yesterday from Texas, and tied up at imperial oil. Built in 2009 in Guangzhou China, She is registered in Napoli Italy, and operated by LGR Di Navigazione.

HANZE GOTEBORG for bunkers

The loaded bulker HANZE GOTEBORG arrived very early this morning. She sailed this afternoon around 2:30, giving no destination. Dutch registered, she was also built in the Netherlands in 2013.

Her recent sailing is somewhat odd. She spent 7 days in Tuxpan Mexico, then took 16 days to sail to Savannah. She spent 2 days there before sailing for St John's NFLD. She spent 13 hours there, then sailed for Halifax, Took Bunkers and sailed.

Update: I have been told (in a comment below) that she stopped in St. John's, NL due to contaminated fuel.  Once she offloaded it and made repairs, the crew realized they did not have enough fuel to continue the trip.  They had to revert to Halifax to refuel before continuing trip across to Europe.

Sanderling moves to AutoPort.

 Oceanex Sanderling Makes the move to Autoport after unloading at Pier 41. After loading her cars, she will move back to 41 for Trailers and Containers.

ZIM Virgina, heading west.

ZIM Virgina arrived over the Noon hour and backed into Pier 42. Sailing from Jamaica, she worked her way up the East Coast, and from Halifax, will go back to Jamaica, then take the Panama Canal for Russia.

As this is a westbound leg, She is very lightly loaded.

GENCO ARDENNES for Pier 28

 The bulker Genco Ardennes arrived unladen from Quebec for pier 28. The General Cargo Ship Onego Pioneer is tied up at pier 27 delivering rails for CN, with her bow out in the stream (Bottom)

She will probably load wood pellets.

Leeway Odyssey - reincarnated.

The Leeway Odyssey arrived this morning and tied up at the Museum Wharves. She is the reincarnation of the CCGS Louis M. Lauzier.

Leeway Odyssey was built in 1976 by Breton Industry Ltd.of Port Hawkesbury as  Fisheries patrol vessel Cape Harrison. In 1983, she was converted to a survey vessel and renamed CCGS Louis M. Lauzier. She was finally laid up in 1995. In 1998 she was chartered to MUN, until 2005, when she was converted back to a Patrol Vessel in Burlington Ontario, to be crewed by the RCMP and CCGS. After the Conversion, she was assigned to the Quebec region. to patrol the St Lawrence. With the New Hero Class coming into service, she was declared surplus, and Renamed 2014-03.

(below) Hastily applied lettering of her new name,  her former 2014-03 name can be seen through the red. (note the freshly painted out CG markings in the photo above)

She was Registered under her current name in Halifax as of Oct 30/2015 to LEEWAY YACHTS LTD.

 (below) A stop in Halifax in 2011. Note the Stern Ramp for the RHIB.

Nova Dock Is gone

I missed the actual departure, but the Boa Odin Took her pilot (Above) and connected towing lines. (Below). She sailed for Tampa at 13:00

containers off the Pier at Halterm

CBC Is reporting 2 containers were lost in the water at Halterm.
ZIM Vancouver and ZIM Haifa are both tied up at Pier 41/42. the most likely scenario is a container was swung by a crane  into the stack aboard ship, knocking 2 into the water.

Update:

I'm told it happened Early into the Night Shift, and shipfax stated it was 2 20foot containers. these can be handled as a pair, so its possible the spreader on the crane failed.

Zircon for bunkers

The unladen tanker Zircon took to anchorage 1 for bunkers. She appears to have run product from New York to Montreal, and is now on an outbound trip for additional product. She is expected to sail later today.

Out with the Second Half

The Second Half of the Nova Dock being loaded on  Boa Barge 33 for delivery to Tampa.
the First half was moved in October.

UPDATE: shes due to sail tomorrow. Work is underway from barges to secure her to the deck.