Some Business as Usual

Following ACL's decision to divert ships from Halifax and today's statement by HAPAG-Lloyd that it will likely follow suit, things were not noticeably quieter in the Port of Halifax.

At Autoport the Grande America made a scheduled stop. The CN owned facility served layoff notices yesterday to its own staff. However it may well be able to accept deliveries of cars since these are generally offloaded by members of the Longshoremen' s union. CN's own employees prepare the vehicles and load them for onward delivery. Because CN also has a great deal of storage space and usually keeps cars until they are needed, they may well continue to receive deliveries.

 The Grande New York, outbound from Eastern Passage, passes the drill rig Noble Regina Allen which is due to sail tomorrow.

At Cerescorp Fairview Cove MOL Motivator (not pictured), a first time caller for THE Alliance, arrived and sailed on schedule on its westbound leg. Whatever it unloaded here that was to go on by train will be sitting on the ground for a time unless it can be trucked. The ship would normally pick up eastbound cargo in a week or so when it comes back on the return leg. Unless rail service resumes soon, there may not be much of that.

At PSA Halifax the terminal was working today with arrivals and departures and ships alongside. The ZIM feeder Hansa Meersburg made its regular call from New York, but with a very light deck load, and very high in the water. Its arrival is timed with tomorrow's arrival of Zim Monaco but it is apparently not planning to take any of that ship's cargo, as it will have sailed from Halifax before Monaco arrives.

ZIM will certainly be one of the lines weighing its options if there is a prolonged loss of rail service in Halifax.

Not affected by the lack of rail service the small general cargo ship BBC Kwiatkowski got away from pier 9 destined for Cristobal, Panama. It appears the ship has been fitted out to carry undersea cable and is off to pick up a load.

The ship has been known to call here before, sometimes carrying rail for CN. Built in Gdansk as Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski in 2008, the 6155 gt, 7732 dwt ship carries a pair of 120 tonne capacity cranes.

Also unaffected by rail serve, the naval supply vessel Asterix moved over to the Irving Oil Woodside terminal this morning as soon as Acadian had sailed.

Acadian arrived yesterday and sailed this morning.

Because the ship has now been alongside all day, it is safe to assume it is taking on more than its own fuel. It is likely also taking on re-supply fuel for other ships for annual spring exercises.

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Why No Posts

It's not as if there has been no activity in Halifax harbour since Friday, but weather has not been conducive - particularly for photography. Here are some highlights.

On Monday the Liberian flag, Greek owned tanker Elka Eleftheria arrived at Irving Oil Woodside from Amsterdam.

Photo taken Tuesday, by which time some cargo had been discharged. The large white shapes that appear to be on the ship's deck are in fact on shore and are part of Irving Oil's propane terminal. The Imperial tank is actually next door to the Irving facility, and the checkerboard tank on the horizon is part of Canadian Forces Base Shearwater.


The 27,539 gt, 44,787 dwt ship dates from 2001 when it was built by Brodosplit in Croatia as Fulgar. It was very quickly renamed  by European Product Carriers Ltd of Athens, part of European Navigation  Inc. All its product tankers carry the name "Elka"  followed by a Greek geographical or mythological name.

Arriving Tuesday under marginal sea and weather conditions the diminutive cargo schooner Avontuur tied up at pier 26.

The crew rig tires as fenders as they prepare to berth. Sea conditions outside prevented the pilot from boarding at the usual place, and so it had to lead the vessel in to a point inside Maugher's Beach where it was safe to get aboard. Conditions did not deter lobster fishermen as they enter the final weeks of the season and try to maximize their catch.

Built in 1920 by Otto Schmidt in Stadskanal, Netherlands, the 138 gt vessel plies the world's trade routes with paying crew, transporting cargo (for example coffee) and spends as much time under sail as possible.

On Tuesday pilotage operations were suspended due to extreme high winds and building seas. Operations did not resume until late this afternoon, and even then some ships did not arrive until  after 1900 hrs.

Grande New York was one, and it only became visible through the rain when it was well into the Middle Ground area.

The 62,134 gt, 18,360 dwt ship was last here 13 months ago - to the day. With a 6700 CEU capacity, the ship was built by Jinling, Nanjing in 2017. After off loading some cars at Autoport, the ship will move to pier 31. Its last port was Valencia, Spain, and unusual source for autocarriers, but it likely came from Italy before that.

Also inbound a few minutes earlier, YM Movement was barely visible until it got well into the harbour.

 It was still raining heavily when the ship passed under the MacKay bridge. A regular caller on THE Alliance EC5 service, the ship has a 6258 TEU capacity, and measures 71,821 gt, 72,370 dwt. Koyo Dockyard in Mihara, Japan built the ship in 2013.

Last to arrive this evening was the little cruise ship Fram. It sailed from Saint John yesterday, expecting to disembark passengers in Halifax first thing this morning. Instead they spent the day rolling around outside the harbour, before finally tying up about 12 hours late. The ship was to sail this evening, but will now stay in port until tomorrow afternoon.

The famous Norwegian coastal passenger line has extended its range to include the arctic and antarctic regions, but so far has bot included Nova Scotia fog and rain as highlights of their cruises.

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Grande

The second of three new Pure Car and Truck Carriers in the latest series for Grimaldi Group discharged its cargo at Autoport today. The shining white and yellow Grande New York brightened an otherwise gloomy day.

Built by Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, China, the 62,134 grt, 18,360 dwt ship was delivered to Grimaldi Euromed SpA November 7, 2017.  The ship can carry 6700 CEU (car equivalent units) or a variety of RoRo cargo and cars, loading over a 150 tonne capacity quarter ramp or smaller side ramp.

The first ship in the series, Grande Baltimora has called in Halifax twice since its delivery July 19, 2017.
We anxiously await the first visit of the third and last ship in the series, Grande Halifax which was delivered January 10, 2018.

Grimaldi Group has owned Atlantic Container Line since 2001 and their stylised "G" is a familiar mongram in Halifax.

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