Shipfax

More ideal weather and tides = more photos.

First up this morning was the tanker Las Cuevas from Norfolk for Quebec City in ballast.

Built in 2000 by Minami Nippon, in Usuki, Japan, the ship measures 27,955 grt, 45,299 dwt. It flies the British flag - now a flag of convenience (how times have changed).

It was followed not long after by Montreal Express doing a strong 20 knots as it stretched to follow the tide. Although bearing a HAPAG-Lloyd name, it is a lease from Sea Spirit Leasing Ltd and also flies the flag of Great Britain.

The ship is in itself a bit a of a history lesson, as it was built in 2003 as Canmar Spirit following the naming style of the successful Canada Maritime (a joint venture of CP Ships and Cie Maritime Belge, although CP had bought pout CMB in 1993). In 2005 the Canmar brand was dropped and CP Ships renamed it CP Spirit. Through several acquisitions, CP had become the 7th largest container line. But that position seems to be a curse, and it was swallowed up by TUI AG and merged into HAPAG-Lloyd in 2005, and in 2006 the ship acquired its current name.
Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering built the ship in Okpo, to carry 4402 TEU (including 311 reefers) on 55,994 grt, 47,840 dwt and it was intended for year-round St.Lawrence River service.

Following up at a more sedate speed, Reestborg is bound for Trois-Rivières from Vlaardingen, Netherlands. The ship features a reverse camber bow, and a very small superstructure for a ship with a surprisingly large tonnage of 14,141 grt, 23,249 dwt.

Downbound, mid-river is Dara Desgagnés.

Reestborg was built for Royal Wagenborg by Ferus Smit at the Leer Shipyard in 2013.

Once the tide had crested it was time fir the downbounds. To avoid upbound traffic, most downbounds stick to mid-channel or even use the south channel from time to time, however with no other ships in the area Alkyonis opted for the north shore to gain a little from the tidal backwash.

Just above the number two crane is the Morin Shoal buoy, marking a seamount in mid-river.

The telephoto lens shortens the distance considerably.

A comparatively new bulker of 23,2676 grt, 37,418 dwt, Alkyonis was built in 2016 by Imabari Zosen, in Imabari, Japan and is mostly used to carry coal. Its next port is listed as Norfolk, VA.

Rounding up the day with the incoming tide was another container ship, MSC Rochelle. It flies the Liberian flag, and as is common with many MSC ships on the transatlantic route, it has a long history.

Built in 1997 by Hyundai, Ulsan, it was originally Pugwash Senator named in honor of the Nova Scotia village where Cyrus Eaton founded the Pugwash Thinkers Conferences. Senator Line was a German company, in which Hanjin acquired a majority ownership in 1997, with Laiesz in the minority. Laeisz was once the owner of the famous Flying P line of clipper ships, and all its ships were named with the the letter P. Although becoming a major container line Hanjin-Senator was also a victim of the curse of 7. Even though it was the 7th largest container line, it ceased trading in 2002.

In 2007 the ship found other charters and became CSAV Appennini, 2012: Pugwash, 2013: MSC Curitiba, 2014: Pugwash and in the same year MSC Rochelle.

FILED REMOTELY

File photo: Preserver in use as a fuel shuttle, relied on tugs to move it between the HMC Dockyard and Imperial Oil after it was withdrawn from seagoing in 2014.

Although I was not in Halifax to see it go, I followed yesterday's departure of the decommissioned HMCS Preserver on the internet.

The tug Lois M of McKeil Marine got underway on schedule at 1030 hrs, and with assistance of the Dockyard tugs Glenevis and Glenbrook they were soon off the berth. The latter tug was tethered aft as stern escort.

Once out to the Middle Ground area, inside Meagher's Beach, the ship pilot disembarked to Scotia Pilot while the pilot assigned to the tug remained on board until reaching the pilot station.
By this morning the tow was making good progress and was off Guysboro.

The ship was sold to Marine Recycling Corporation of Port Colborne, ON, and there was idle speculation that the ship would be towed to the Great Lakes to be broken up. This was never in the cards. Although the ship could fit into the Seaway locks, it would have been an expensive proposition to tow it all the way to the Welland Canal. There would also be the question of the many delays caused to commercial shipping with such an ungainly tow.

Despite protestations in the press that they are not in the ship scrapping business, Heddle Marine of Hamilton, ON, a company associated with McKeil Marine, was instrumental in having the ship broken up in Nova Scotia. McKeil and Heddle have leased the Sydport area in Point Edward, NS as a ship repair and staging base, with an option to purchase the entire facility. They have apparently sub-leased some of the space to MRC and that is where Preserver will be broken up.

MRC has also acquired the retired ferry Princess of Acadia, the research vessel Quest and the destroyer Athabaskan, all of which will also be cut up at the facility. Heddle was contracted by the federal government to provide shipkeeping services when the ferry was retired and laid up at Sydport.

MRC will undoubtedly use the facilities of Heddle Marine to assist in the initial dismantling and removal of recyclables and re-usables from Preserver and the other ships. There is still a plan to remove the marine re-fueling gear from Preserver for re-use by the RCN.

File photo: Preserver in its role as a floating gas station allowed RCN ships to refuel within the Dockyard until permanent fueling facilities could be arranged after Imperial Oil shut down its refinery and became a deport only.

The last of the Canadian Navy's supply ships, Preserver was laid down built in Saint John, NB in 1967, launched in 1969 and commissioned in 1970. It is ironic that its arrival date in Sydney harbour will be very close to the anniversary date of August 7, 1970.

It was removed from seagoing service in 2014 with corrosion, electrical issues and other problems, and finally decommissioned October 21, 2016. Its disposal for scrap has very rapid by Canadian standards, which is partly explained by the fact that instead of the RCN's own forces removing re-usables, the MRC/Heddle operation will do that work.

Preserver's twin fleet mate Protecteur has been scrapped by R.J.MacIsaac in Liverpool, NS which has left the RCN in an awkward position of being unable to refuel its own ships at sea.

The fueler to be named Resolute is expected to come into service this fall. It was recently unveiled at Davie in Lauzon, QC. A converted container ship hull, named Asterix, that ship has been contracted to serve the RCN until 2021 (at the earliest) when the RCN takes delivery of the second of two Queenston class fleet replenishment ships. It is not clear at this point how the fueling gear will be transferred to the Resolute, but if it is done, McKeil / Heddle have lots of tugs and barges to do the work.

Sundays are often busy days on the river as ships aim to reach port on Monday. Today, despite some heavy showers, tide and time co-operated for a few photos of the dozen or so ships that passed my vantage point.

The speedy Maersk Penang overtook the slower Strandja as they made their way upriver early this afternoon.

Maersk Penang is a familiar sight in Halifax, one of five ships that maintain a Maersk CMA CGM transatlantic service. Calling on Montreal Monday, westbound, the ships then stop in Halifax eastbound, usually on Saturday.

Strandja sails for Navigation Maritime Bulgare of Varna, Bulgaria, whose ships have been regular callers on the St.Lawrence for many years. Their tan superstructures make them easily identifiable from a distance. Launched in 2010 by Shanhaignan Shipyard in Qinhuandao, China as Eastward York, it was renamed on delivery Federal Yangtse, but almost immediately renamed Strandja.
The ship measures 19,865 grt, 29,9800 dwt and is a Seawaymax vessel.

As the showers cleared in the early evening a faint rainbow formed the background as Camilla Desgagnés passed close by upbound. The ship is returning from its first northern supply trip of the season.

A veteran of the Desgagnés fleet, the ship is the former Finnish newsprint carrier Camilla, that was salvaged off Newfoundland in 2003. Declared a total loss, Desgagnés bought the ship and installed a crane and carried out other modifications to suit it for work in the north.

The northern supply run is in full swing, with most ships back from their first trips and loading or sailed for the second. It is an especially busy year since the port of Churchill has been cut off by railway washouts and is no longer a staging point. In fact some lines are delivering cargo to Churchill for local use.

Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping, has added a fifth ship to its fleet. It was downbound this morning at the crack of dawn, too dark for a photo. Named Nunalik (meaning "community"), the ship arrived in Sorel July 30 and was registered Canadian August 4. As with the other ships in the fleet, it was acquired from Spliethof's, the Dutch carrier, which company operates the ships in the off season.
Nunalik has a somewhat different history however, as it was not for Spliethof's.
It started life in 2009 at Jiandong Shipyard in China, and was originally named Beluga Fairy, 9611 grt, 12,662 dwt and as a member of the Beluga F class, was fitted with a pair of 180 tone cranes that can combine for extra heavy lifts. When Beluga failed the ship became HHL Amazon for Hansa Heavy Lift. In 2016 it was renamed Hemgracht by Spliethof's and used by them until needed by NEAS.

The other major northern supplier, Desgagnés has four former Beluga F class ships in its fleet, and has found them especially useful for their heavy lift capability.

The veteran Canadian icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent completed sea trials today and headed for St.John's.

In mid-river, well out of the normal shipping channels, CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent conducts trials. The town of La Pocatière is to the left on the south shore.

Leaving Davie shipyard early this morning, it made its way down river past Cap-aux-Oies where the river widens out to about 12 miles, and spent a few hours doing evolutions as far downstream as Kamouraska, and upriver off La Pocatière.

It then returned up river as far as St-Joseph-de-la-Rive, where it disembarked a party of shipyard workers via the tug/workboat Ours Polaire.

With trials completed, the ship is met by the tug Ours Polaire and an outboard powered aluminum skiff, which seems to be on standby for lifesaving.

Forced along by the tide, the ship is directly off the St-Joseph-de-la-Rive ferry dock.

Ours Polaire with a deck load of shipyard techs, heads in where a bus is waiting to take them back to Lévis.Since they were not wearing PFDs I assume the skiff was a precaution.

"The Louie" turns up the revs. The stern squat is real.

It made a very tight turn to port, and then took off, soon reaching 17 knots.

The ship had been on a $14 mn refit since February and really took the chance to kick up its heels. Perhaps it is moving with such alacrity because there is still time to participate in northern operations.

While awaiting the return of "The Louie" there was more shipping to see from the vantage point of St-Joseph-de-la-Rive.

Upbound the HAPAG-Lloyd container ship Ottawa Express was getting a little boost from a powerful full moon tide.

Ottawa Express also making haste.

Built in 1998 by Daewoo SB+ME Ltd, Okpo, the 39,174 grt, 40,879 dwt ship has a modest container capacity of 2808 TEU. It was designed for year round St. Lawrence service to the restricted drafts of the time. It has carried the names Canmar Honour to 2005 then CP Honour to 2006.

A ship that is actually older (in part) than "The Louie" was creeping down river against the last of the tide. CSL's Cedarglen is an amalgam of the 1959 German-built Ems Ore. That ship was acquired by Hall Corp (with two sisters) and in 1977-78 Davie built a new forebody, and moved the island bridge aft. (That necessitated extending the funnel.) Renamed Montcliffe Hall it served Halco until 1988, when that company went out of business. It then went to N.M. Paterson + Sons Ltd where it served as their Cartierdoc. Paterson wound up their business after sister ship Windoc was badly damaged by a untimely bridge lowering in the Welland Canal. CSL acquired the Paterson fleet in 2002.

With a full load of grain, and against the last of the rising tide, Cedarglen makes no haste.

As Cedarglen the CSLer is one of the oldest cargo ships still operating on the St.Lawrence. It is headed from Montreal for Baie-Comeau, and at 6.4 knots was soon overtaken by the racing "Louie".

A large swath of the Gulf of St.Lawrence is effected by the temporary speed restriction imposed by Fisheries + Oceans Canada in a perhaps futile attempt to reduce North Atlantic Right Whale mortality.

With up to ten whales of the endangered species found dead in the Gulf of St.Lawrence this year alone, there are fears that the surviving 500 or so whales may be beyond saving.

Ship strikes and fishing gear entanglements are thought to be the cause of the deaths, and some fisheries have also been curtailed, and an order has also been issued to remove phantom fishing gear.

The whales formerly inhabited the mouth of the Bay of Fundy where shipping lane re-routing appeared to have been successful in reducing strikes. However in recent years, for reasons yet unknown, the whales have left the Fundy area and moved to the Gulf. The animals feed on krill near the surface, and perhaps it is that the Gulf provides better feeding. As the western Atlantic warms up, the Labrador current still pumps cold water down through the Strait of Belle Isle into the Gulf and it is likely that the whales have moved to take advantage of better feeding.

That certainly appears to be the case for other whale species. I have seen more minke whales this year than any year I can remember. They feed on small fish such as herring and smelt, but the same water temperature issues may be a factor with them as well.

The effect on scheduled shipping is yet to be determined, but will obviously mean increased speed in other zones in order to maintain schedules. The reduced speed zone will result in cost savings for fuel, but the increased speed necessary to make up the time will more than offset any savings.

Right whales do not have "sonar" capability of some other species do, and thus cannot sense the presence of ships. They are so intent on feeding and so used to ships that they not distracted by their presence. Let's hope that the speed limits will work in saving this important species.

CCGS Pierre Radisson has been conducting engine trials off my place since Friday. Ranging between Gros Cap-à-l'Aigle and Cap-aux-Oies, the ship has spent most of its time anchored off the Kamouraska Islands, in the south channel, directly across the river from my front door.

About 3 miles off Gros Cap-à-l'Aigle on Friday, the ship began its trials.

The ship is conducting propulsion trials, which seem to be related to a major Vessel Life Extension project (VLE) announced August 10, 2016. Verreault Navigation of Les Méchins was awarded an $8.6 mn contract for the majority of the work, which included hull re-coating, steel work, reconditioning the flight deck and hangar, and replacement of the windows. At about the same time Canadian Maritime Engineering was awarded a contract to replace the steering system.

ABB received a separate $3 mn contract to provide new hardware and software including eight new drives in the power distribution system. All this follows a 2011 project that replaced its six main engines and 3 generators.

Last year I caught the Pierre Radisson heading for refit at flank speed.

The ship was decommissioned for the Verreault project, with the crew due to return to the ship in January 2017, with the shipyard work to be completed by January 31. The ABB contract was to be complete and commissioned by June 2017, but that my be what they are working on now.

The ship is propelled by six MLW- Alco (Fairbanks-Morse) diesel engines of 2,950 hp powering six General Electric Canada AC alternators which in turn drive two GEC DC shaft motors producing 6800 hp at 100% = 13,600 shp at the two propellers.

Built by Versatile Pacific Shipyards Ltd in Vancouver, CCGS Pierre Radisson was delivered to the CCG in June 1978 and conducted its trials and delivery voyage by the Northwest Passage. It is based in Quebec City. It is the lead ship of the Type 1200, Arctic Ice Class 3 Medium/River Icebreaker.

The wharf at Pointe-au-Pic, QC sees on average two ships a month to load paper. The paper is produced by the Resolute mill at Clermont a few miles away and trucked to the wharf warehouse by a shuttle truck and drop trailers running weekdays.

The most frequent caller for the past few years has been Royal Wagenborg's Oranjeborg a multi-purpose RoRo, side loader, dedicated to the forest product trade. It arrived at noon today and began loading immediately.

The ship cuts close in to the K64 buoy as it lines for the wharf at nearly full tide.

A flotilla of forklifts bring the paper rolls out of the warehouse and load them through the side door onto ship's conveyors, whence they are moved by elevator to the appropriate deck where ship's forklifts stow the cargo. The ship's holds are climate controlled, since humidity levels are critical to protecting the paper.

The ship's controllable pitch prop and bow thruster allow it to come alongside without a tug.

Oranjeborg was built by Stocznia Gdynia in Poland in 2004 and measures 18,289 grt, 15,126 dwt.

The temporary speed restriction in the Gulf of St.Lawrence is having an effect on the whales it is intended to protect and on ship schedules.

No ship strikes have been reported, and no dead whales have been found since the ban was instituted. The fallout for shipping has been predictable.

Some inane suggestions about helicopter escorts, special sonar and other speculations on how to speed up ships and save whales have been proposed by some in the shipping industry. If these geniuses would turn their minds to the environment instead of the bottom line for a few moments, they might realize that they and their customers will just have to pay for the privilege of sharing this planet with whales.

Oceanex Connaigra used to be a daytime Saturday sighting, now it passes at night.

The effect on domestic shipping has seen Oceanex introduce a temporary fuel charge to pay for the higher speeds required in other areas to make up for the five hours of slow steaming in the Gulf. Oceanex competes with trucks and Marine Atlantic on what is a far from level playing field, and any change of schedule or costs would certainly hurt them.

CTMA Vacançier is back to early Thursday mornings.

C.T.M.A., which serves the Magdalen Islands, has curtailed stops in Gaspé in order to keep their cruise ferry CTMA Vacançier on schedule. After a couple of weeks of trying to maintain the schedule, the ship is now reaching Quebec and Montreal on close to the old timetable.

MSC Kim was hurry up then wait on Tuesday afternoon.

Foreign flag container ships are making up the time at sea, but there has been some increase in speed on the river too. I note reported speeds in excess of 18 knots, which is a pretty good clip. Schedules however seem to be in some sort of disarray, as the MSC Kim, charged past my place at 18.6 knots, but then anchored off Pointe-au-Pic for about four hours. Perhaps they were overly enthusiastic about opening up the throttles and had to back off so as not reach Montreal too early.

OOCL Belgium made up its time at sea, but was still moving at a good rate this afternoon.

Non-scheduled Great Lakes ships are effected too. Even though the speed reduction does not bother many of them, since they do not go that far into the Gulf (the zone extends as far west as the eastern tip of Anticosti Island) their speed would only be reduced by a knot or two.

Algoma's newest ship, Algoma Strongfield does not venture far enough east to be effected by the speed limit.

However with a limited shipping season, they need to get in as many trips as possible. Salarium carries salt from the Magdalen Islands, right in the middle of the zone, and it would be difficult to make up lost time in its relatively short trips.

Salarium transits the zone on every trip with salt.

So far I have not heard of any violations of the speed limit.

To add the container shipping misery however, the container carrier Maersk Pembroke was disabled by fire west of the Lizard Point, in the Celtic Sea, August 21. It appears that the ship, which was en route from Antwerp to Montreal, will have to be towed to back to a European port. That will certainly throw a wrench in the weekly service operated by Maersk and CMA CGM.

There has been lots of daytime shipping activity in recent days, but many of the ships appear to be lightly loaded.

Detroit Express with its ungainly cranes, and light draft is carrying a normal load. Built by Hyundai Heavy Industries and Construction, it was not however built in Korea, but at their satellite shipyard in Subic, Philippines.

Carrying no cargo at all the sailing vessel Mondango 3 made an impressive sight as it motored up river, on its way from Halifax to Quebec City. The skein of geese is an early sign of autumn.

Federal Mosel was also quite obviously carrying little if any cargo, but did sport a lone container on deck. The ship is new this for Fednav. Built by New Times Shipbuilding Co in Jingjiang, China, it measures 22,947 grt, 36,583 dwt, and is max-sized for the Seaway with its plumb bow and no bulb. It is destined for Hamilton, ON.

The tour boar Cabaret has been operating from Pointe-au-Pic this summer, with nature and sightseeing trips to the Gros Cap-a-l'Aigle area, usually twice or three time daily.

The tanker Patras was also in ballast. It is returning from a delivery to Sydney, NS. The ship is working on a coasting license for Pétro-Nav, due to a shortage of Canadian flag tankers. Pétro-Nav sent two of its small tankers north this summer to refuel various outposts, and so were not available for St.Lawrence cargoes.\

The cement carrier NACC Québec was upbound this afternoon on its second trip to the Seaway. On its first trip last week,it discharged at a new terminal in Cote-Ste-Catherine. This trip it will be going to Oshawa.

Built by Tuzla Gemi in Tuzla, Turkey in 2011 as Tenace, the ship was brought into Canadian registry this spring by NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers (NACC). A 50/50 joint venture between Algoma and Nova Marine Holdings SA of Luxembourg the company was established to carry cement in bulk form. This particular ship is in dedicated service to the new McInnis cement plant in Port Daniel, on the south coast of the Gaspé peninsula. It will also be making international voyages seasonally.

The ship started life as a conventional bulk carrier of 9286 grt, 14,600 dwt, but with a special cement loading and discharging system installed its revised tonnages are 10,243 grt, 14,906 dwt. Immediately recognizable by the forest of cargo handling pipes, and the outrageous funnel, the ship will become a regular sight on the river.

The ship was in Halifax briefly August 12.

Another ship that may be a familiar sight on the St.Lawrence for some time to come is the bulk carrier Ferbec. The largest ship in the CSL domestic fleet, it is also the second ship to carry the name for the comapny and is plying the same route as its illustrious predecessor.

The ship carries ilmenite ore from Havre-St-Pierre to Sorel-Tracy on a continuous shuttle operation for Rio Tinto Fet et Titane.

The current Ferbec entered service in May of this year when it was registered in Sorel May 18. It was previously sailing for CSL's international fleet as CSL Melbourne since 2010. Built in 2002 by Nantong Cosco KHI in Nantong, as Orientor and carried the name Orientor 2 from 2002 to 2010. It is a Handy Size bulker of 27,198 grt, 49,502 dwt fitted with four cranes and grabs to work cargo.

Its predecessor of the same name was a gearless bulker, built in 1966 by IHI, Tokyo as Fugaku Maru and acquired and renamed by CSL in 1977. Its sale for scrap in 2005 raised the ire of environmentalists, because it was known to contain hazardous materials. Renamed Michalakis under the Mongolian flag, it sailed to Alang, India where it was beached for scrapping March 24, 2005.

Havre-St-Pierre is the loading port for the ore, which is mined at Lac Allard 43 km inland and transporter by rail to the port. Established in 1950 by Quebec Iron and Titanium (QIT) the mine yields high grade titanium dioxide which is refined to development metal powders used as white pigment for paints, paper and numerous other commodities.

The mine has been operating at reduced capacity for some time and will only run for 24 weeks this year, however that may result in a sufficient stockpile to keep the ship running. However Rio Tinto has another mine, this one in Madagascar, that could potentially supply the Sorel-Tracy operation at lower cost.

With the opening of the enlarged locks in the Panama Canal earlier this year, ZIM has been bringing larger ships in. Theses ship, too large for the old canal, can now go transpacific and continue on through Panama to the North American east coast.

Many of these ships do not belong to ZIM, but are chartered in. Such is the case with today's arrival, Asklipios, a 113, 412 grt, 118,815 dwt vessel with a capacity of 9954 TEU (including 1400 reefers). Although not breaking the through the "magic" (but arbitrary) 10,000 TEU barrier, it is still a big ship for Halifax.

Asklipios towers over bow tug Atlantic Fir with the high horsepower Spitfire III braking at the stern.

Built in 2011 by Samsung Shipbuilding and Heavy Industry Co in Koje, South Korea, the ship started life as Hanjin Spain under the Panamanian flag. With the collapse of Hanjin as a victim of the shipping recession, and declared bankrupt in February 2017, its ships were put up for sale. Capital Ship Management, owned by Evangelos Marinakis, snapped up five sister ships from the fleet. He acquired the former Hanjins United Kingdom, Netherlands, Korea, China and Spain for a reported $31mn [US] each, and arranged for charters to other lines, allowing them to replace smaller and less efficient (former Panamax) ships.

Just as the sun was setting Friday evening the container ship Brotonne Bridge got underway from Fairview Cove for sea. The Cerescorp container terminal had been particularly busy over the past few days, with ships anchored in Bedford Basin waiting to berth.

With Atlantic Oak made up astern as tethered escort, Brotonne Bridge begins to make its turn for the Narrows.

Built in 2010 by Samsung Shipbuilding + Heavy Industry in Koje, the 46,444 grt, 58,200 dwt ship has a capacity of 4526 TEU. It is working on the AL6 service of THE Alliance.

The new cruise ship Mein Schiff 6 made its first call in Halifax this morning. Completed in May of this year and christened June 1, the ship was built by Meyer Turku Shipyard in Turku Finland, for Tui Cruises of Germany.

There was quite a crowd awaiting the arrival of the ship on cool crisp morning in Halifax.

The 98,811 grt ship has a capacity of 2,790 passengers and has a crew of 1,030. The ship follows the design of two previous ships, Mein Schiff 3 and Mein Schiff 5, that have proven very popular with German passengers.

Things moved rather slowly in the harbour thereafter. The expected arrival of the small container ship Berta did not happen at 1100, but closer to 1200.

Scotia Pilot returning from the pilot station, having embarked the pilot on Berta, was making good speed and lots of spray.

This was the first chance I had to see the new pilot pilot boat Scotia Pilot in operation. It certainly appeared to be steady and fast, but generated a lot of spray, most of which was kept off deck thanks to the large bow flare.

Berta is certainly in the small range for a container ship, with a capacity of 645 TEU in a ship of 6264 grt, 7400 dwt. It is owned by Intersee Schiffarts of Germany, and flies the Antigua and Barbuda flag.

With the tug Atlantic Willow tucked in on the starboard quarter to assist, the ship will be turning to back into pier 31.

It is operating for Nirint with bagged nickel sulfides from Cuba. After discharge, using its own 40 tonne cranes, it will be heading for Rotterdam.

Meanwhile out at number one anchorage the CMA CGM Nabucco had completed its Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspection for Asian Gypsy Moth larva, and had weighed anchor, but awaited the passing Berta before moving alongside pier 41.

Using three tugs, Atlantic Oak, Atlantic Fir and Spitfire III the ship gets underway from the nearby anchorage area.

The ship first called in Halifax in May of this year, but I did not get a photo. It is one of four sister ships (the other are CMA CGMs La Traviata, Otello and Tosca) in the CMA CGM fleet. So far CMA CGM Otello is the only other one of the class to appear in Halifax on the Columbus Loop service. Built in 2006 by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, the 91,410 grt, 101,810 dwt ship has a capacity of 8488 TEU (including 700 reefers).

The ship used three tugs, but this did not cause delays elsewhere in the port, as Atlantic Towing Ltd appears to have augmented its Halifax tug fleet to four tugs - something that has been needed for some time.

A small drama unfolded in Halifax harbour Sunday evening when the party /tour boat Harbour Queen1 lost power during a tour. The boat drifted inside the Halterm pier extension onto the breakwater.

It took the combined efforts of the Halifax Tugger and Atlantic Oak to get the boat off and back to its base at the Cable Wharf.

Divers were to examine the boat for damage today, and before it re-enters service there will be an investigation to determine why it lost power.

Harbour Queen 1 shortly after entering service in Halifax in April 1987.

Harbour Queen 1 was built in 1985 in Oromocto, NB as Pioneer Princess II and operated tours out of Fredericton for a couple of years before making the voyage to Halifax. An imitation of a Mississippi river boat, it has a pair of dummy funnels and a motorized paddle that does not propel the boat.

I am not sure anyone is fooled by the paddle, but it is part of the package.

The boat is equipped with an anchor (see port bow above) which was deployed when it went adrift, but likely did little to stop the boat.

Vessel operators Murphy Sailing Tours Ltd will certainly miss the services of this vessel as we are entering the height of the cruise season, with three ships in today (Veendam, Norwegian Gem and Insignia.)

Today Halifax Tugger was back at its more prosaic duties, wrangling the garbage scow from the cruise ships, such as the Insignia.

Wilhelmsen's Tiger made its second call in Halifax today. The first was March 1, 2016, but on that occasion it did not manage to pass my camera.

Atlantic Oak follows the ship out to Ives Knoll, but did not have a line up. - it was just going to pier 41.

A 7th generation Daewoo car carrier design, it was built in 2011 by Daewoo's Okpo shipyard. At 74,255 grt, 30,140 dwt, it has a capacity of no less than 7,934 cars. Newer ships can carry more than 8,000.

Fitted for carriage of other roll-on, roll-off cargo, it first unloaded at pier 31 yesterday before moving to Autoport overnight. It's stern ramp is rated for 320 tonnes, so it can handle some pretty large rolling loads.

Scotia Pilot is smothered in spray as it paces the ship outbound.

Rotterdam, co-flag ship of Holland America Cruises (with Amsterdam) made one of the shortest port calls on record today. It was less than an hour and a half from arriving at the pilot station to clearing again, and within those tight confines obviously had no time to tie up securely at pier 31. Shortly after 0800 I saw the ship in the stream off Halterm heading seaward, so it must have made very good time outbound.

The ship is en route Rotterdam to Boston via St.John's and was originally scheduled to spend the day in Halifax. However its name was removed from the official Cruise Halifax web site at some point.

In view of the high winds and driving rain today, and iffy forecasts for the next few days, perhaps the line decided not to lose time en route to Boston and scrubbed the official visit. Why it called in at all remains a mystery.

File photo from 2002 - definitely not today.

Built in 1997 by Fincantieri Marghera, Italy, the 61,849 grt ship has a capacity of 1404 to 1685 passengers and a crew of 620. It made its first call in Halifax May 13, 2002 and has called fairly regularly since. Its current schedule sees it touring Europe in the summer, and South America in the winter, with a brief fall season on the eastern seaboard.

After arriving in Boston September 9, the ship is due in Halifax again September 11 and 25 and October 5 and 9.

Since the formation of THE Alliance earlier this year, there has been a dearth of HAPAG-Lloyd ships in Halifax. Other members of the block have been providing the ships on the various routes that call here.
However with the Chilean company CSAV holding 34% of H-L since 2014, the nature of H-L has changed and several CSAV ships have been folded into non-South American trade routes. The current H-L fleet consists of 219 ships both owned and chartered, with a capacity in excess of 1.6 mn TEU.

Among them is Palena which is owned by something called HL-4160 chartering (possibly associated with Southern Ship Management of Valparaiso, Chile) and since earlier this year the ship has been carrying full HAPAG-Lloyd livery, but still with a traditional CSAV name.

Palena sails this morning as the fog clears.

Palena is a 6541 TEU ship (including 600 reefer plugs) of 73,934 grt, 82,248 dwt, built in 2006 by Hyundai, Ulsan. It is a regular on the EC5 service for THE Alliance (Halifax, Jedel Ali, Singapore, Laem Chebang, Singapore, Colombo, Halifax and various east coast US ports).

ZIM continues to bring in bigger ships. Today's first time arrival was the Hyundai Mercury, a ship owned by the nebulous Arzel Shipping Inc, and managed by Eastern Pacific Shipping (UK) Ltd. The latter is the London branch of a Singapore company that manages more than one hundred ships of all types. This particular ship, not surprisingly built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, Ulsan in 2009, has a capacity of 8562 TEU and measures 94,511 grt, 9581 dwt.

Hyundai Mercury just clear of Halterm, heads for sea.

The crane shadow neatly frames the pilot door let into the side of the ship.

The ship serves the ZIM Container Service Pacific route, and has worked its way up the astern seaboard from Savannah (Sept 2), Charleston, Norfolk and New York. It has now sailed for Kingston, Jamaica, then on through the Panama Canal to China and Korea before returning to the Canal, Kingston and Savannah by mid-November to start the rotation all over again.

Leaving its last east coast port and heading for the hub port of Kingston, Jamaica, the ship is fairly lightly loaded, since most cargo is likely imports from China and Korea.

The cruise ship Rotterdam arrived and tied up in bright sunshine this morning unlike the short look -in last week. It apparently reached New York and sailed on schedule after its transatlantic crossing.

Many cruise lines are adjusting their fall and winter schedules due to severe hurricane damage in some of the ports of call. While this may mean some changes in the Halifax cruise season, it is hard to pre there will be as the routes of developing storms are far from certain and the next one may reach our waters.

After only four days in port Onego Ponza is sailing this evening after unloading a cargo of rails from Poland. This is not the first visit for the ship. It was here in August 2009, March 2011 and again in September 2015, also with rails.

Onego Ponza with fresh looking paint, beginning to unload. Pontoon hatch covers have been lifted off by the traveling gantry and stacked fore (not visible) and aft.

Daewoo Mangalia shipyard in Mangalia Romania built the ship's hull and superstructure and it was completed by the Bodewes Volharding shipyard in Foxhol, Hoogezand, Netherlands in 2002. Launched as Sider Ponza, it was renamed Sider Monique on delivery. In 2009 it was renamed Onego Ponza by Eckhoff GmbH+Co of Jork, Germany. It has the usual box shaped holds and pontoon type hatch covers of a multi-purpose ship. It is also equipped with a pair of 40 tonne cranes.

As with many German ships it is is registered in Antigua and Barbuda. Its builder, an offshoot of Korea's Daewoo Industries (51%), and co-owned by the Romanian state (49%) is the biggest employer in the country. However with Daewoo's current financial woes at home and $1bn in accumulated losses for the Managalia yard alone, its share is likely to be taken over by Damen according to recent news reports.

Quebec Report #2

Presever to the scrappers

Quebec Report #3

Louis S. St-Laurent and others - Quebec Report #4

Speed limit - Quebec Report #5

CCGS Pierre Radisson - Quebec Report #6

Oranjeborg - back again, Quebec Report #7

Schedule disarray - Quebec Report #8

Light Loads - Quebec Report #9

NACC Québec - Quebec Report #10

Ferbec - Quebec Report #11

Bigger ships for ZIM

Friday evening and Saturday activity

Drama Queen 1

Tiger - a Wilhelmsen giant

Rotterdam - shortest stop on record

HAPAG-Lloyd ships

Hyundai Sunday

Rotterdam arrives

Onego Ponza - another load of rails