Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Algoma Hansa - rare Canadian visit - NO MORE

(JULY 31 - SEE UPDATE BELOW)
Although Canadian owned, the tanker Algoma Hansa rarely visits Canadian waters. It loomed in out of the fog today and tied up at pier 34, the normal roost of fleetmate Algoma Dartmouth (which shoved along to pier 33 to make room).
Soon several no-name tank trucks arrived alongside, and appeared to be pumping out slops when I caught up with it late this afternoon.


Built in 1998 by Alabama Shipyard in Mobile as Amelienborg it operated for Dannebrog Rederi of Denmark until 2006 when Algoma purchased it and sister Aggersborg. The latter ship was refitted in Halifax and modified for St.Lawrence Seaway service.It was registered in Canada as Algosea and operates for Algoma's domestic tanker fleet.
Amelienborg went into operation for Algoma Tankers International Inc, as the first ship in a new operation,  Hanseatic Pool, jointly formed by Algoma and several European operators. Following difficulties with Chinese shipbuilders*, that pool was wound up and Algoma Hansa, as it became in 2008, joined the Navi8 pool. It now operates within the Navig8 Brizo8 sub-pool. Management is entrusted to Bernard Schulte Ship Management out of Limassol, Cyprus (one of the other  original partners in the Hanseatic pool), and it flies the Bahamas flag. Tonnages are 11,290 grt, 16,775 dwt with phenolic coated tanks.
In 2013, during a regular drydocking, the ship was modified for Seaway service. The work included trimming back its bridge wings and in July 2013 it made its first trip into the Great Lakes.
As Algoma's only non-Canadian tanker (it has several non-Canadian flag deep sea bulk carriers) there has always been speculation about if and when the ship would be "patriated" to Canada. Because it was built in the US it is also presumably Jones Act eligible if it operated for US owners.
There is no sign of it changing flag at this point.

For some background on that situation see:
http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2012/12/sloman-hera-algoma-says-not-better-late.html
http://shipfax.blogspot.ca/2013/05/algoma-tankers-internaitonal-update.html


Update: The ship was registered in Halifax July 31, so is now Canadian. We would expect to see a lot more it now!
.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Sails on the Waterfront

Two sailing ships tied up at the Tall Ship Quay today. An off year for the Tall Ships events, it is a pleasure to see a few of these ships come into Halifax independently.


Yesterday's arrival was Lord Nelson - predictably a British  sail training ship. However not just any sail training vessel. It belongs to the Jubilee Sailing Trust, a non -profit that provides sail experience for persons of all abilities including those confined to wheelchairs, with limited vision or hearing.



Purpose built in 1986, the vessel was restored in 2008-2009. The three masted barque is completing a two year round the world voyage, and will be conducting trips from Halifax for the next few weeks.

Today saw Sedna IV a Canadian ship with a long history and some interesting achievements.

It was purpose built too, but for an entirely different purpose, hinted at by her stern. Built in 1957 in Germany as a trawler, it was not until 1991 that it became a sailing vessel. Since coming to Canada in 2001 it has been a floating film editing studio and research vessel. In 2002 it completed an east to west Northwest Passage and started a round-the-world trip in 2011. In 2012 it was in Halifax to start the Asia and Africa leg, and in 2013 was in Amazonia, the Mediterranean and the Arctic.

.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Brand new for Nordana



Nordana (NORwegian DANish) Lines brought a brand new ship into Halifax today - the first in a series of new ships to replace iconic oldies that broke new ground when they were built.
Back in 1979 when Skodsborg and her sisters  Skanderborg, Shackenborg and Stjerneborg were built, they among the very first combi-carriers: RoRo, container and heavy lift. They proved so incredibly versatile on the North America and Caribbean service of Nordana Lines, that they were thought to be worth lengthening in 2002 - very late in life - and reconditioned. In fact on completion the ship was reclassified as if new in 1984. Another rebuild in 2004 brought the ship up to as if new in 1990 status.

In 1986 Skodsborg had not yet been rebuilt, and only carried one heavy lift derrick.



Built as Dana Africa by Nippon Kokan KK in Shimizu, Japan, the ship only started calling in Halifax after renaming in 1984. Owners Dannebrog Rederi AS had formed Nordana Lines, with Norwegian shipowners Fearnley+Eger, trading to the Med and Caribbean. Fearnley's backed out when they quit shipowning, but the line kept its name. As trade expanded to include the North American east coast, they became rare callers in Halifax, preferring Saint John, NB.
Measuring 12,076 grt as built, 14,805 as rebuilt, the ship was fitted with one 36 tonne crane and two 120 tonne derricks, and could carry 654 TEUs (as rebuilt) and substantial RoRo cargo.In 2012 it was sold to Italian owners, but chartered back by Nordana.


Now after all these years Nordana is upgrading its fleet with new generation ships. The first of the projected new ships, Wedellsborg, arrived today at pier 41. It measures 23,030 grt and was delivered in June by Cantiere Navale Visentini in Port Viro (near Venice) Italy. It carries two 40 tonne cranes -seemingly having forsaken the ultra-competitive heavy-lift market in favour of containers, RoRo and oversize/project type cargoes, including yachts. 

 Wedellsborg sails for Algeria after calls in Mexico and the US east coast.

.

Princess of Acadia - deadlines continue to pass


The elegant old lady of the Bay of Fundy, Princess of Acadia, has apparently been granted a stay of execution. As various parties hastened to Saint John last week to hear an announcement by the Minister of Transport, they were anticipating news of the ship's replacement. Instead they could conclude that she will probably still be in service two years from now (which gives the government time to call another election and re-promise for the umpteenth time that a replacement is just over the horizon.)

Princess of Acadia puts some reverse on her props as she glides into Digby this afternoon in a postcard perfect arrival.

Built in 1971 for CP Ships the 10,108.58 gross ton ferry, at 150m long and with a passenger capacity of 650 is certainly a big ship, but for her sometimes bumpy 92 mile run between Digby, NS and Saint John, NB, she has proven to be the right size, though nowadays never loaded to capacity. Her four GM locomotive type diesels are inefficient by current standards (and polluting too), and the ship is certainly tired despite numerous refits and redecorating.

In 1974 the Minister of Transport took over ownership of the ferry and in 1976 management was transferred from CP to CN Marine (later to become Marine Atlantic). Bay Ferries became managers in 1997.  

The government previously announced  that they wanted to "identify" a replacement by January 3, 2014, select one by May 31, 2014 for delivery July 31, 2014 to undergo modifications by December 31, 2014 and to go into service in March 2015. Minister Rait merely announced $58 mn over two years of funding for three ferry services: Digby-Saint John, Caribou-Wood Island, and Souris-Grindstone, with no new ferry in sight or even hinted at.

The "new" ferry for Digby-Saint John was in fact to have been a used ferry, built not before 1995. How a 20 year old ship could even be contemplated for this service is beyond me. Not only that it was to be 85m long versus the 150m of Princess of Acadia. The 399 passengers (they threw 250 overboard in one stroke of the pen) will be sick as dogs on rough days due to pitching, even if the "new" ship is bristling with stabilizers. Maybe they found that their inadequate spec was not going to be met without huge refit costs and terminal upgrades and have gone back to the drawing board. I hope so. After all British Columbia Ferries and Société des Traversiers de Québec are building new ships overseas. They aren't going to fall into the trap that the feds went for of buying bargain basement trains and submarines abroad. Surely they have learned from those fiascos by now. Let's hope that instead of buying time (and trouble) at a low price they will decide to buy new for quality and the long term. 

Perhaps the new ferry is is just over the horizon, but I suspect it is sailing away from us, and it will be several years before the great old Princess is finally tied up for the last time and the Bay Ferries logo is affixed to a new ship.


.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

From the St.Lawrence back to Newfoundland




A consolidation of ownership* among St.Lawrence River tour boat operators has resulted in three boats going to Newfoundland - one of which is returning to its previous stomping grounds.
Croisières AML, already the largest tour boat operator on the St.Lawrence, took over Croisières 2001 at Tadoussac and Croisières Le Coudrier at Quebec City and Trois-Rivières.
The result was some newer boats for AML and the opportunity to sell or retire some of its other boats. AML now has a fleet of 21 boats, ranging from the larger Cavalier Maxim out of Montreal and Louis-Joliet at Quebec City, but also a small flotilla of whale watching boats in the Tadoussac area.

Among those is now the aluminum catamaran AML Zéphyr, the former Le Coudrier de l'Anse. Built in 1992 by Katamarine International of Paspebiac, QC, it measures 170 grt. Formerly based in Quebec City, it has now moved to Rivière-du-Loup, easily reaching the Tadoussac area for whale watching and nature tours.

 AML Zéphyr at Rivière-du-Loup last weekend.

AML Zéphyr replaces the venerable Cavalier des Mers, which has gone back to Newfoundland.

 Cavalier des Mers arriving at Rivière-du-Loup after a tour in 2004.

Built in 1974 by Camcraft Inc of Crown Point, LA, the 28m long triple screw boat was delivered to Marine Atlantic and named Marine Sprinter. Built along the same lines as Gulf of Mexico crew boats, it proved to be a speedy (24 knot) vessel, but as a replacement for traditional Newfoundland coastal boats on the south coast, it was much criticized. It was sold to Quebec in 1984 and modified for whale watching and nature trips. A bow pulpit was added and eventually an ungainly covered sun deck.

Prior to AML ownership, Navimex Inc owned the Cavalier des Mers, and operated it out of the same location, adjacent to the ferry pier at Rivière-du-Loup. As you will see from the Zéphyr photo above, a wheelchair accessible pedestrian passenger station has been added for use by the ferry Trans-St-Laurent, now in its 51st year of operation. 

Based in Tadoussac, then in Rivière-du-Loup, Cavlier des Mers added St-Siméon to its itinerary for a time, but that was later dropped. It is understood that in its new role, it will be operating as a crew boat in Newfoundland for transporting workers to the Hebron Gravity Base Structure project, at Bull Arm.

Also going to Newfoundland as part of the same deal, is AML's Cavalier Royal. Built as Bob Cat in 1963 by Breaux's Bay Craft of Loreauville, LA, it is a 279 grt, 28 kn aluminum crew boat type hull, but with more advanced tourist accommodation and the mandatory bow pulpit. It came to the St.Lawrence in 1990, and has been based in Tadoussac.

 Cavalier Royal off Pointe-au-Pic, QC in 2003.

A third boat included in the deal is Katmar built in 1994 by Les Bateaux Denis Servant Inc of Tourelle, QC. It was also based in Tadoussac.

All three boats are now owned by the anonymous 71275 Newfoundland + Labrador Inc, and so far have not been renamed. (71275 shares its address with McKeil Marine.)

Whale watching is big business at Tadoussac, with a variety of craft, including inflatables, rigid inflatables and bigger tour boats. The Tadoussac wharf also accommodates the Canadian Coast Guard's rescue boat. From the left: Famille Dufour (Dufour), AML Suroît, Grand Fleuve (AML) and CCGS Cap Percé.
.

(* In an unrelated move, Captain Luc Harvey retired, along with his tour boat Jacques Cartier from Trois-Rivières at the end of last season. It made trips to Tadoussac each summer also.)

.

Ships at anchor



Halifax harbour anchorages have been busy this year for two reasons- bunkers and moths.

Two ships anchored for bunkers today. First was Lady Clarissa (which I missed)
and Unique Developer.

Unique Developer lies at anchor with the Nova Scotia Community College's waterfront campus as a backdrop.

  The product tanker arrived at Imperial Oil from Houston on Saturday, and after discharging, moved to the anchorage this afternoon. Built in 2010 by Onomichi Dockyard in Japan, the 26,914 grt, 47,366 dwt ship is operated under the Hong Kong (Chinese) flag by Palomar Maritime of Greece.

The last arrival at anchor was Clodomira for Asian Gypsy Moth inspection by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Clodomira in number one anchorage, with the launch Halmar under her stern, waiting to disembark CFIA inspectors as the harbour tour boat Mar crosses her bow.

En route from Havana, Cuba, Clodomira is in ballast. A geared bulk carrier of 22,414 grt, 34,931 dwt, it was built by Shanghai Shipyard, and is also Greek owned, by Nordstrand Maritime + Trading of Athens, and flies the flag of Panama. It is expected to sail later this evening.

Despite its Greek ownership, for official purposes, the ship is one of ten built for Cuba under a complex financing deal. Since some countries (notably the US) have trading restrictions with Cuba, it may be convenient to have the ships' beneficial owners somewhat shrouded.

.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Algoma Dartmouth - off to New York (again)

No sooner had Algoma Dartmouth finished bunkering Ocean Odyssey (see previous post) than she set sail for New York. RMI Marine's workboat Captain Jim was standing by to relieve the 'Dartmouth of her fenders, and and soon as she was clear, the tanker headed outbound.


By my count this is the fourth trip that the bunkering tanker has made to New York.Until the closing of Imperial Oil's refinery last fall, the ship had never strayed from Halifax harbour, except for refit. Now the nearest source of ship's fuel seems to be New York

.

Sunday roundup

Perhaps unusual for a Sunday, there was a fair amount of traffic in the harbour today. Aside from the asphalt sailings this morning (see previous post) there were the following:


 A well worn Atlantic Conveyor made a very brief call at Fairview Cove. On its eastbound leg it was alongside for little more than three hours.
 
 The seismic ship Ocean Odyssey arrived early this afternoon. Soon after tying up at pier 30, the bunkering tanker Algoma Dartmouth was alongside for refueling.


There was also a brief visit from the cruise ship Pearl Mist. It arrived this morning and sailed early this afternoon, on a sunny and hot day.

  Like an old time coastal schooner, it slings a skiff off its stern. Unlike those boats, this one, named Launch 7, has a landing craft type bow door.

 Arriving for the G6 Alliance, NYK Meteor made its way to Fairview Cove with the assistance of tugs Atlantic Spruce on the bow and Atlantic Oak on the stern. Built in 2007 by Hyundai Heavy Industries of Ulsan, the 55,534 grt ship has a capacity of 4922 TEU.  The port of Halifax seems to have been added to its usual Asia / US East coast route of NYK ships.

Other comings and goings included the departure of suppliers Scotian Sea (for Shell seismic ships) and Atlantic Condor (for Deep Panuke) and the wood chip carrier Taiho Maru dropping off its pilot on return from Sheet Harbour. The tug Atlantic Willow had gone to Sheet Harbour yesterday to berth the ship and unberth it today. It also returned to port this afternoon.

.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Cargo Transfer in the Basin - Updated




Two tankers met in the Bedford Basin this morning for a transfer operation. Bunkering happens frequently in the Basin, but this is different.

First to arrive was the handymax tanker Asphalt Eagle owned by Chronos Shipping of Athens, and flying the Greek flag. A typical product of the Onomichi Dockyard in Japan, measuring 27, 284 grt, 46,178 dwt. Since it was built in 2004 it carried the names Iver Eagle to 2005 and Seto Eagle to 2009. It is understood to be under charter to Sargent Marine, of Boca Raton, FL, the world's largest asphalt tanker operation. ]The company is presently embroiled in an internecine feud between father and two sons against a third son, but that may not be relevant to this particular ship arrival.]
[For all you need to know see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Sargeant_III  and: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304744304579248483324834704 ]

No sooner had it secured at anchor, in came the much smaller 6,292 grt, 9,240 dwt tanker Asphalt Sailor. The Marshall Islands flag tanker was built in 2006 by Kraljevica Shipyard in Croatia, and is owned directly by Sargent Marine.  It came alongside and tied up to the anchored Asphalt Eagle and transfer operations began soon after.

No oil booms were deployed, which indicates to me that the smaller tanker may be bunkering the larger one. If it were a cargo transfer operation I assume that there would be more stringent precautions taken against a spill. However, the larger tanker's hose boom is in use, so it may in fact be a cargo transfer


I do not recall a foreign tanker ever bunkering another ship in Halifax. From the 1980s or so, only Imperial Oil provided bunkering service in Halifax. Before that Irving Oil and Foundation Maritime also did bunkering. When Imperial stopped refining in Halifax last year, Sterling Fuels took over port bunkering service, chartering the Algoma Dartmouth, which had previously been used by Imperial. Sterling has been acquiring diesel fuel from Imperial, but they send the Algoma Dartmouth to New York for heavier fuels. To date it has made three such trips.

As for cargo transfers, they are equally rare. There have been instances where ships with damage came in to Halifax and transferred their fuel to other ships, but there has not been one of those in many moons either.



Update: A closer look from a different angle reveals a transfer hose slung from Eagle's boom.


Update 2, 2014-07-13
Both tankers ailed this morning and it was obvious by the draft marks on Asphalt Sailor that it has indeed transferred cargo from the Asphalt Eagle, so it was not a bunkering operation.


Asphalt Sailor was the first to go, and it was well down on its marks, indicating that it had loaded cargo from Aspahlt Eagle. Note the elaborate heating plant amidships to keep its cargo in liquid state to allow for pumping. Its destination is Providence, RI.

Next along was the tug Roseway with two fenders, one on each side, which had been used to keep the two ships apart during the transfer. There was no oil boom used.

Asphalt Eagle took some time to weigh anchor, but once underway made its way through the Narrows, giving Portland, Maine as its destination.

As stated previously petroleum cargo transfers in Halifax are not unheard of, but are rare except in case of emergencies where casualties have to be lightered off, or for ships to reduce draft. There have been transfers to ice class tankers for transit up the St.Lawrence. It is rare however to have a transfer for what appear to be solely convenience or commercial purposes.

.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Novadock for the Nackers

Sorry for the spelling, but it really looks like the end of the line for Halifax Shipyard's Panamax floating drydock Novadock. Thanks to Halifax Shipping News for breaking the story that the dock is in such poor condition that it would cost more to repair than replace.


Built at a cost of $63.5 mn in 1982, it came to Halifax in November of that year in two sections. The first, and by far the larger section, was built by Marine Industries Ltd of Sorel QC and arrived in tow of the tugs Irving Miami and Irving Cedar on November 15, 1982.


To help out local industry the Province hired Ferguson Industries Ltd of Pictou to build a smaller section. It arrived in Halifax November 21, 1982 and the two parts were joined off pier 6, with the completed unit moored to dolphins outside of the Scotiadock - a smaller floating drydock.

The  idea was that a Panamax sized drydock would bring more business to Halifax Shipyard (which had been on a downward slide under various owners) and it certainly did bring in the work. The previous floating drydock and the graving gave the yard several alternatives for docking ships.

So sure was the province that the new dock would be a success that they registered the Novadock name as a trade mark in 1979.

Magically, ownership of the Novadock was transferred from the Province to Halifax Shipyards as part of the Ships Start Here campaign, which lead to HSY being awarded the lion's share of the federal government Ships Procurement work in 2012. Maybe it wasn't such a nice gift after all.

Now thanks to Halifax Shipping News we learn that in April HSY had to refuse business because of the condition of the dock - not only because most of the rest of the shipyard was being demolished. Plans for the Shipyard modernization have been revised several times, but in the latest iteration, a floating dock will be used to "launch" ships from the new building site, by transfer and float off. A new floating dock would be needed for that work alone. Whether the yard will trouble to find another floating dock for repair work remains a good question. It is much more likely that one floating dock would be all they would need.

The nearest comparably sized facilities (and they are all graving docks) are in Quebec City, Boston and Belfast, Northern Ireland (if you don't count the Azores, southern US or the Caribbean.) Would Halifax Shipyard be happy just building new warships and not be in the ship repair business at all, leaving that work  to others, including Irving Shipbuilding's much smaller Shelburne Ship Repair facility?

It will be interesting to follow this story, which certainly isn't over yet, but it is certain that we will never see the likes of CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent perched in Novadock for its yearly (or sometimes twice yearly) refit. The ship returned to Halifax this week after drydocking in Quebec.

If the dock is beyond economical repair it will be heading to the scrapyard, joining the parade of other shis that seems to be accelerating of late.
.

Scrap Parade

 
The sale of veteran Canadian ships continues apace. Most are being sold for scrap, but there is some life left in a few of them, so they may avoid the torch for a while longer.

CABOT


Latest to go is Cabot the Oceanex veteran which was finally retired at the beginning of this month. It had been retired twice before, but was brought back into service to fill in for Oceanex Connaigra  when its prop malfunctioned.
Cabot arrived in Halifax February 3, 2014 to be retired, for the second time, but was brought back into service from April until June.


I have recapped the history of the ship here before, but it ran out of Halifax to Newfoundland as Cavallo for predecessor companies Atlantic Searoute until 1987 when it went to the St.Lawrence. It occasionally filled in Halifax in subsequent years.
Built for Ellermans Wilson, but rejected, a Fednav company bought it in January 1981 and on its arrival in Halifax some of the hastily applied Fednav red had washed off, to show Ellerman's green. Fednav kept the traditional Ellerman name Cavallo, which survived into the successor company Atlantic SeaRoute Ltd. (Combining Newfoundland Container Line with Seaforth Fednav or Fednav).


 ASL operated the ship out of Halifax until 1988 when it was transferred to the St.Lawrence to work for Atlantic Container Express (ACE), a Clarke Company and it was renamed Cabot.  In 1990 ACE and ASL formed Oceanex, and in 1996 the ship was lengthened.


 The ship ran faithfully between Montreal and St.John's until September 2013 when replacement Oceanex Connaigra was delivered. Cabot was laid up in Montreal, but was pressed into service in November 2013. It came to Halifax to be laid up when Connaigra returned to service, but its problems recurred, and Cabot's sail for scrap was terminated when it went back into service again in April. By the end of June Connaigra was on its way back from Ireland, Oceanex Avlon was ready to come out of refit at Méchins, and Cabot was finally finished with engines for Oceanex.. 

Soon after tying up in St.John's it was reflagged to St. Kitts and Nevis and sailed almost immediately.The initial rumour that it was headed for scrap in Turkey, seems to have been premature. The ship has been renamed Cebu and is headed under its own power for the port of the same name in the Philippines. It is slow steaming across the Atlantic, at about 10 knots. It is due at Gibraltar in a day or two, and is giving an ETA for Cebu of August 8.
.

JOHN CABOT


Another veteran former Canadian ship, that shared a name with the Oceanex ship is the cable layer CCGS John Cabot . On July 8 it was towed out of Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta by the tug Sea Patron en route to Aliaga, Turkey for scrap. It is due off the beach on July 13. The two ships are unlikely to cross paths in the Med, since the cable layer has a couple of days head start.


As the world's first icebreaking cable ship, CCGS John Cabot came into service when Canada was the world's leader in telecommunications. Canadian Vickers built the 5097 grt ship in 1965 and it was fitted with a capacity of 400 nautical miles of cable. It could do multi-tasking for the Coast Guard, but was primarily on standby for cable repair in the North Atlantic under the direction of the Canadian Overseas Telecommunications Corp (COTC). Trawlers were continually ripping up cable and John Cabot was there to repair. Eventually the ship pioneered use of a seaplow that trenched  for and buried the cable. Its diesel electric drive, powerful enough for icebreaking, was also ideal for the plowing operation.

It also did cable laying, notably the shore ends of CANTAT 2.
Among the various jobs it did was in ice infested waters off Thule Greenland for the US Navy. It also worked from Ireland, where it rescued two men from the semi-submersible PISCES III when it was disabled in 500 m of water in 1973. It also assisted in recovery operations following the 1985 Air India bombing.

When it was retired by the CCG in 1994 it went to work for Teleglobe, the privatised former COTC, and was based in Halifax, with the British company Cable+Wireless as managers. It also worked out of Baltimore, Cork Ireland and in the Caribbean.


In Teleglobe colours off white over light, light blue green, it carried sea plows and semi-submersibles aft, above a tiny umbilical sheave.

 In 1996 it was sold to McDermott Subsea, and after conversion back to a cable layer (as opposed to a cable repairer) it was resold to Elettra S.p.A. of Italy and renamed Certamen. It went to work
in the ice free Mediterranean, under the management of Italcable and based in Catania.

On June 25 it sailed to Valletta,  Malta. Its name was quickly changed to Certa and it was reflagged to Belize to for the tow to the breakers.


.

Pioneer on its way to the scrappers, Ambassador may follow

The sad parade of ships to the scrap yards continues, so this is only one in series of ship "obits" that will appear in the coming months.

Pioneer is the latest on the list. It was one of two Canadian-built ships that were often seen in Halifax over the years that have now been removed from service. Both were built in the early 1980s - the last heyday for Canadian shipbuilding - by the same owners, in their own shipyard, for essentially the same service.

Pioneer


 

Older of the two is Pioneer, built as Canadian Pioneer in 1981 by Port Weller Drydock Ltd. The Upper Lakes Group owned both its own shipping line and the shipyard, and was always an innovative outfit, even though some of its ideas didn't work terribly well.

At 730' long x 75'-10 1/4" wide, Canadian Pioneer was of the then maximum permissible size for the St.Lawrence Seaway. Where it differed from other Great Lakes type self-unloaders was that it had a deeper hull and could load to ocean drafts, and could sail deep sea. At 24,113 gross tons, 37,448 deadweight tonnes at seagoing draft, its capacity was only 23,625 (pre-metric) tons at Seaway draft.  The intention was that the ship would sail seasonally on the lakes if needed, but mostly on coastal and ocean routes. Deep sea self-unloader capability was in its infancy then, and demand was fairly good as CSL discovered, and was also building "Salty Lakers".

The ship was fitted with a single contollable pitch prop, driven by a 9,000 bhp Doxford 76JC4R engine - the last engine built at Doxford's factory in Sunderland, England. Known for their durability and longevity, slow speed Doxfords have also been credited with ensuring the longevity of the ships they powered.

For the first few years the ship followed its intended pattern but by 1988 the demand for iron ore on the lakes had dipped, but there was work for it outside - however, not with Canadian pay scales and regulations.  On December 18, 1988 it arrived in Sorel, QC, and was re-registered in Port Vila, in the Republic of Vanuatu. That little known flag of convenience had recently come in to existence when the joint French/English territory of the New Hebrides became independent in 1980.


Renamed Pioneer by parent company Marbulk Shipping Inc (then a subsidiary of Upper Lakes Group) the ship went deep sea and only once revisited the Great Lakes. In 2002 it delivered a load of coke from Baltimore to Port Colborne. As part of Marbulk, Pioneer received the blue funnel with gold seahorse, originally the colours of Island Shipping, an Upper Lakes offshore company.

Canada Steamship Lines had formed a pool of seagoing self-unloaders with their own subsidiary CSL International Inc as operators. Pioneer joined the pool and was often seen in Nova Scotia, particularly in the Strait of Canso with coal or loading aggregate or gypsum. Halifax was also a regular port of call to load gypsum.It did go further afield, running coal from Norway to Germany for a time and also carrying aggregates on the west coast.

In 2000 CSL purchased Upper Lakes' 50% of Marbulk (Algoma had the other 50%) and the three Marbulk ships Ambassador (ex Canadian Ambassador) and Nelvana continued to work in the CSL pool.

In 2014 Pioneer made six visits to Halifax, mostly short runs from National Gypsum to Baltimore, MD or Burlington, NJ. On March 11 it experienced a propeller problem and was in port until March 23 until it was repaired. The ship was ballasted down by the bow and made an inglorious procession with tugs, from National Gypsum to pier 25-26.



The writing was on the wall for the ship as mechanical problems became more common, and it passed the thirty year mark. With a number of new ships coming into the CSL pool, it was now obsolete too. 

On June 19 it unloaded its last cargo in Cameron, LA and headed out to sea bound for Aliaga, Turkey and the scrap yard.It is due there July 18.

Ambassador

 

Fleetmate Ambassador (ex Canadian Ambassador) built in 1983 by Port Weller DD, had a parallel career, but went foreign in December 1986, when it hoisted the Vanuatu flag in Sorel, QC and took on the golden seahorse funnel marking.

It also measured 730' x 75'-10 1/4" with tonnages of 23,094 gross and 37,263 deadweight on a summer draft of 34'-5". It had a 4 cylinder Sulzer engine of 8,796 bhp and was generally similar in appearance to its fleet mate. A wider bridge, and slightly longer bulwark at the bow were the only noticeable differences.

On December 31, 1994 when unloading rock phosphate in Belledune, NB, a bearing failure in the conveyor system, ignited a rubber belt, causing a extensive damage. An estimated 25% of the accommodation was gutted and there was structural distortion. The ship was repaired and returned to service several month later.

It also worked overseas, running coal transatlantic from Norfolk for a time, and in Indonesia. It mostly worked in eastern North America however, from Newfoundland or the Strait of Canso as far as the Caribbean. The ship visited Halifax consistently for gypsum, and had several repair and refit sessions at Halifax Shipyards.

It was also notable for having delivered three cargoes of coal to Halifax -one each in 2000, 2002 and 2003. It unloaded onto the ground at pier 9D, for Canada Cement / Lafarge's Brookfield, NS plant.
 

On April 13, 2000 while in Halifax Shipyard, the ship was renamed Algosea and brought back under the Canadian flag, with Halifax as the port of registry. After meeting Algoma's short term need for another domestic ship, it reverted to Ambassador and the Vanuatu registry on December 31, 2000 at Trois-Rivières, QC.


In 2003 it was refitted with sliders in place of its roller swing gates at Gdansk Shipyard in Poland. On July 12, 2006 it damaged ballast tanks when it made heavy contact with an approach wall at the Canso Canal. It then seemed to enter a period of frequent repairs until late 2012 when it was sold.

Renamed Pramudita under the Indonesian flag, it was acquired by Jakarta owners to carry power plant coal. However, on September 12, 2013 in repetition of 1994, a fire broke out in the self-unloading area while discharging coal at Banten. Despite the efforts of fire tugs, the engine room and accommodation were gutted, and areas of the hull in way of the engine room and cargo holds were badly distorted. The ship was laid up, and it is unlikely that it will ever be repaired.   



Both ships were built with finer bow lines than a normal laker, however they were fitted with twin rudders and a bow thruster for improved maneuvering. They had no bridge wings, to ensure Seaway lock clearance, and continued until the end with their flimsy "fold-up" bridge wings, so they were something of a hybrid. As noted they rarely re-visited the Lakes, but they remained capable of doing so until the end.
All in all, judging by thirty or so years of service, they must have been a success.

.

Ernest Hemingway's first visit to Halifax

I am not sure if Ernest Hemingway (the writer) ever visited Halifax. He certainly visited Nova Scotia, one of many celebrities who fished for Bluefin tuna from Wedgeport, NS in the heyday of sport fishing for the giant fish.  It was his legendary fishing tale story The Old Man and the Sea, among others, that won him world attention and a Nobel prize. However he has been gone lo' these many years, so it was not he that visited Halifax (for the first time) today.

Instead it was the German owned, Liberian flag container ship Ernest Hemingway that called on the Zim service. Built in 2005 by Hanjin Heavy Industries in Pusan, South Korea, the 54,271 grt ship has a capacity of 4944 TEU (400 refrigerated). In September of last year, it came off a long term charter to Maersk as Maersk Davenport, hence the colours of the hull and superstructure.
The ship is owned by Norddeutsche Reederei, and is one of several ships in their fleet named for famous people. Sister ship Charles Dickens has called here for HAPAG-Lloyd.
Halterm was busy with Ocean Emerald at pier 42 and Oceanex Sanderling at pier 36, but still had three cranes available to work Ernest Hemingway.
As the major container lines shed chartered ships, we can expect to see more of these "one ofs" on short term or mid-term charters to other lines to cover for other ships in refit or to increase capacity without building new ships. 


.